LongLeftFlank

Indeed, although I have never been quite so smug about that since an American friend pointed out that our extra "u"s merely advertise that 1000 years ago, our mother country lost a war. To the French.

Know, O lions of CMSF, I scratched my Ramadi itch by building out the rest of the Anbar health complex, the high schools and (bombed out) Iraqi army depot on the master map, filling out an area of 150 x 400m, mostly industrial structures. Nice spot for some Marine LAVs to stalk AQIZ RPG gunners.

Btw, I just noticed that all my formerly removed Botophucket linked screenies have been restored, with no action or baksheesh by me. Anyone else have that happen?

So I finally have a free weekend and want to open a nice red wine and work a bit on my third Ramadi scenario SHARIF DON'T LIKE IT in the old engine. Will that be wasting effort that will need to be totally redone in CMSF2? (setting aside AI plans and reinforcements here) Basically, has anyone in playtest world tried opening one of the user made CMSF1 scenarios in the new Editor and then tinkering with it? How does that all go? Inquiring minds want to know...

Wow. An IDF officer I got to know was very insistent on the principle: "Anti-infantry armour and anti-armour infantry." You have provided his school solution here, Bil! Also, your riveting AAR has turned me into a refreshing monkey for a bit.

Wow, lighten up mate. Maybe take a walk and get some fresh air. Or just use the Ignore thingy if I really bother you that much. But anybody who reads my handle or has any idea of my work knows I am part of the OCD Mr Picky vanguard. To each his own. Peace.

"Counting cards... "

Just read this thread, well done @Kaunitz. Sad to see though that not much has changed on this front since 2013, when I ditched my CMBN Dien Bien Phu opus for many of the reasons you describe here: no slit trenches; infantry unable to hunker down and keyhole, and easily shot dead in their holes or bunkers to the last man by ranged direct and indirect fires, within minutes, as they 'prairie-dog' up and down to spot. World War 1 would have been quite different with these physics.... And, no firing slits or embrasures.... Good grief! We can be shot in the head from pretty much any angle the moment we stick our heads up to spot, Charlie Brown.

Direct answer: no OIF campaigns exist. 1. I did 2 historical OIF-2 Marines vs uncon ambush-and-relieve scenarios set in central Ramadi in 2003. 2. @Combatintman did a number of OP TELIC British scenarios set 2003-2004, plus others set in A-stan. 3. @Sgt.Squarehead did 2 bloodbaths set in the Mosul siege 2016. Apologies to anyone else I left out here. I faintly recall someone once trying 73 EASTING but hazy on details.

Nice map! Loving the CMFI Mediterranean landscape and vegetation! A few minor nits: except in winter (we can assume it here) or in well irrigated fields it won't be nearly so green. Lots more browns and yellows, even in the north highlands. And most of the year the watercourses will contain far less water relative to the cuts than in temperate areas. I might also sprinkle a few more cars and power poles to show this isn't a Volturno line time warp. Also, palms are still quite abundant until you get high in the mountains. Especially around houses.

Surprise! any scenario in open terrain like the Western Desert or Iraq is going to tax any game engine that also allows tactical control of hundreds of individual troops. At the other end of the spectrum, I did a Tiny recon scenario set in the Normandy bocage; limited visibility, even more limited movement choices. But with minor variations, the requirement is the same: locate enemy MLR, preferably without getting your unit mauled and rendered useless for the next mission. If you happen to find a gap in that MLR, call in help to secure it then crack on! Striking the right balance of daring and caution is the essence of recon work since time immemorial. Those are also very fun scenarios to play.

This thread is really wandering around here. (I've peeked back in to take a break from the banshee howls AAAAAGH! THE CHILDREN! THE CHILDREN! presently inundating my other boards and socmedia [/politics] ) Realistic cinema combat data dump: Estonian film '1944' came up recently, uneven tactically, but not too bad. Agree re "319 Platoon" being the gold standard. The 1990s Dien Bien Phu epic has some great scenes as well which seem right out of the memoirs (flamethrowers on Eliane 2, plus fighter bombers at zero height). "Battleground" is probably the best thing Hollywood has done, helped by the fact many of the actors and extras had seen the real deal not long before. I watched an ANZACs in Vietnam film 'The Odd Angry Shot' on VCR 30 years ago and remember being impressed, but I don't know how it's held up. "Black Hawk Down" tried hard to get the events right, I think, although I doubt the battlefield was quite that crowded the whole time.... The Danish film "A War" seems like the most authentic film to have come out of the GWOT. The Army attack on Burpelson AFB in 'Dr Strangelove' featured some very realistic faux newsreel combat footage, interspersed with @General Jack Ripper's epic dialogue with Group Captain Mandrake. Too bad Kubrick never tried this technique elsewhere. A little known Jimmy Stewart film, "the Mountain Road" has a very intense, visceral (for Hollywood) scene where vengeful Americans massacre Chinese bandits holed up in a tavern at an accurate combat range and fire tempo. Stewart was another actor who'd seen the sharp end. The 'Sand Pebbles' is just a fantastic film in general, on my Top 10 list, but the assault on the KMT pontoon barrier and the shootout at the end are pretty good tactically. ("What the hell happened?!") Candace Burgen is just so heartbreakingly beautiful; they broke the mould on that lady.

The actresses were both quite hot, so there's that. Italian film, ciao bella....

What vile incantation hath awakened me from my non-Euclidean slumber in the nameless deeps? Oh, and

This snip from an old thread, link now defunct: Surprise and shock were Graebner's only protection. It was a typical armoured commander's approach to an infantry problem. Panzerleute (armoured 'types') tended to disdain the resistance value of lightly-armed airborne infantry

Repeat post, but "AAAAAAA!"

"Perhaps he meant the Camargggggggggue region in France?"

Surprisingly impressed by 'Leibstandarte' (2015), in spite of the jumpy cinematography and the score lifted from a third rate hotel spa.

As many have noted before, BFC is just a couple of dedicated guys (and a disembodied brain in a jar) with a vision and mad hacker skilz, working at remote secure locations offworld, guarded by Space Lobsters and Waffelgrenadiere clones. They are the only shop that attempts to marry the tactical hex and counter wargames most of us grew up on with the look and feel of tactical shooters. The customer market is "niche" but also extremely particular, as are the designers. To paraphrase Conrad: "They are 'one of us'." So to use the ancient pillars of project management: Cost, Scope and Schedule (and in the real world, you can only really have 1 and part of another).... with limited budgets and artisan quality required, time must be BFC's slack variable. No need to be shocked. There are plenty of fantastic tactical shooters out there to divert yourself with in the meantime, but they won't scratch our particular itch. Patience!

This! This is why I like Green troops for large formation assaults that historically involved waves of units (e.g. beach landings). With green troops, you can't keep piling up fresh waves to reinforce existing waves until you overwhelm the defenders. Or expect 2/3 depleted squads to see the job through the way you might with vets or crack. The first waves are spent after securing their objectives. Continuing to shove them forward anyway is a desperation move for a commander and will result in higher incidence of panic and more casualties. It will (and should) punish a commander who is oblivious to the state of his forces. "Yew had ONE JOB!"

Pity you can't put flat roofs on the modular buildings.