LongLeftFlank

Remember, CM is at its design core a conversion of a hex-and-counter squad tactical wargame (ASL or Tobruk) to a graphical format. It isn't going to be Arma with enhanced formation command features (and fewer superheroics), in spite of its quite nice visuals. 1. .... because CM subformations not in buildings are deploying on an invisible chessboard (the grid of Action Spots), they tend to bunch more closely than would actual troops under fire. Individuals generally conform to where the group is. This renders them vulnerable to HE. 2. the terrain cover value of each square in CM is itself abstracted. 3. slit trenches, the most basic fortification of all, are not explicitly modeled. In RL you'd need a direct hit to kill a guy in one at most tactical shell calibres. But fortifications are a separate topic.... 4. since CM units must spot to be combat effective, non-cowering men are autoprogrammed to 'prairie dog' up and down, exposing themselves 360, far more than would any actual human being under heavy fire. Pixeldogs also don't have the veteran's 'sixth sense' to duck down when a round chugs in (I think this issue could be addressed). ...In RL, troops would spot through narrow embrasures (gap between sandbags or whatever hard cover is handy), but this 'microcover' isn't easily modeled in the game. Again, fortification issue. All these problems have been well known to BFC ever since they (wisely) traded the bobbleheads for 1 for 1 man representation in CMx2. The programming headaches are significant, and you'd always risk massive unintended consequences (e.g. troops failing to spot enemies walking right up to them). ...So their major workaround to retain play balance and stop players from standing off and shooting each other out of their holes (without bothering to maneuver or assault) has been to nerf HE blast and splinter effects somewhat. It is sensible, if not strictly WYSIWYG. HE is still a killer especially against men not in hard cover. Which is realistic, as most infantry attacks peter out once the enemy calls in mortars; continuing to move above ground is a death sentence.

I think this sums it up quite well. We are blessed to have CM in our world, run by a few dedicated fellow grognards who do it for the love more than the money. A larger, better-resourced gaming enterprise with a private equity board to answer to would have long ago written off our entire demographic as high maintenance, buy-only-a-couple-of-games-a-year aging white guys. With that in mind, your observations are factually accurate, and are made in good faith. At some point, BFC will need to update its platform and UI, so it's important they and we keep an eye on what's going on in the wider world of gaming. Forum members (addicts) alone cannot keep the business going. P.S. I'm plodding along slowly (alpha channels are a huge time suck) on a 'Ramadi (Iraq)' combo mod pack that should make Mideast streetscapes look a lot more 'lived in', insh'allah.

So the Chally is a modern day Martello Tower then?

@JasonC, sadly long lost to these Forums, had the following comments on the British armoured forces last Sept. over on BGG, in his usual pungent style: Ouch.

It's a postwar monicker, adopted with classic British irony after the Regiment got slagged off by Ryan in "The Longest Day." This was on the hearsay of Lord Lovat's Commandos who were miffed at having to storm some bunkers the first wave was supposed to clear. They then just assumed the Snappers had panicked and cowered on the beach under shellfire, accumulating "bodies stacked like cordwood". That was in fact a distortion. It's in the paper.

I mentioned this over on another thread, but this thesis paper is a great read for those interested in the British "PBI" experience in NWE, although it is not confined to Normandy: From D-Day to Bremen with the `Unspectaculars'- the roles of the infantrymen of the 2d East Yorkshire Regiment, 8th Brigade, 3rd Division [2007] The Schaddenhof Farm siege of Feb 1945 would make a terrific scenario ("Banger's Here!") for a future CMFB British module. Detailed map in the PDF. Would even make a nice miniseries: "The Unspectaculars", complete with its true-blue British schoolboy hero, Major "Banger" King (although WokeBeeb would likely take some liberties with that 'bachelor' thing. Well, who knows?). History The East Yorkshire Regiment had a long and illustrious record of service, dating back to 1685, when it was known as the 15th Regiment of Foot. The regiment's battle honours include General Wolfe's success at the Heights of Abraham in Quebec, Canada in 1759. Subsequently, ten officers of the 15th went on to become governors of provinces in North America. During the American War of Independence the troops gained their nickname of the `Snappers' when, at the battle of Brandywine in 1777, their ammunition ran short. Lt Col Bird ordered that the remaining ammunition be handed to the best shots, while the rest of the soldiers `snapped' (fired small blank charges of powder) to give the impression they could still fire effectively. ...Waiting on the beach at La Panne for their [1940] evacuation, the soldiers of the 2d Battalion incurred around eighty casualties. Cadre ...The majority came from working-class families, with jobs ranging from millworkers to miners, brewery workers to butchers. Only one who was not an officer, stayed on for further education past the age of fourteen. ...Montgomery insisted that all commanders took training seriously, with emphasis on the practising of battle drills, a concentration on realism with the use of live ammunition, and the opportunity, where practicable, to rehearse operations in advance. He keenly advocated battle drills as a way to speed up the prosecution of operations. "We were introduced to live ammunition and being fired at, and the Bren gun was on a fixed line. It couldn't move, and it was firing about three feet above the ground, and you came to this place and there was a big sign and it said "crawl or else". Of course, these three lads went straight out, straight into the machine gun fire and were cut to pieces." There was also ample opportunity for house-to-house fighting to be practised including the technique of `mouseholing' whereby soldiers learnt `tunnelling from one house to the next when we couldn't go out. You knocked a hole through the wall'.... Specialist street fighting skills were practised in Glasgow. Sword Beach "The next thing, the ramp dropped, the steel doors were opened and a machine gun fired up the middle of our landing craft, hitting a lot of the chaps. We were up and out. Capt. McGregor was shouting everyone out and we were all slipping on the vomit and the blood." `The Commandos who followed us were surprised at the mortality rate and put it down to inexperience. This wasn't the case. We had been well trained. But heavy artillery and machine gun fire was pouring down on us. There just wasn't anywhere to go'. Two-thirds of [one] platoon became casualties in the initial landing, leaving just eleven men available to advance inland. The Sharp End The casualty rate among the young Canloan officers was very high. Of the original 673 Canadians involved in the scheme, 20 per cent were killed and a further 50 per cent wounded, principally in Normandy; junior officers in particular, faced the attendant risks of `leading from the front' It was increasingly recognised that some recruits would not be suitable to withstand the rigours of active service in the front line. Despite this, the increasing need for manpower overrode the warnings of the Army psychiatrists. In the battle of the Chateau de la Londe, Lt Fetterly sent back a former wrestler who `kept at me to turn back before we all got killed. As he was useless, I told him to take back the two wounded. He took one under each arm and actually ran carrying the two'. Stragglers from another battalion which was taking heavy casualties, attempted to retreat through 2d Battalion lines. After [Major] Crauford ordered the men to return to their unit, a nearby soldier remarked: '"they didn't get away with it with you Sir!" and it occurred to me then I had been dead right. The good soldier doesn't want to see the scroungers get away with it.' 'You didn't get any proper sleep. You were in a slit trench with another chap and you'd grab an hour or two and then he would. There was nowhere to sit. You just got your head down as best you could'. The ability to dig a slit trench quickly was essential. Often the interviewees would dig more than one trench a day - as soon as the soldiers stopped, it was the first duty that was performed. Maintaining a constant high level of patrolling is a feature of [CO] Lt Col Renison's memoir. Patrols varied according to their purpose, whether for reconnaissance, or to protect the position (a `standing' patrol) or to demoralise the enemy by engaging them, and in doing so, perhaps capture a prisoner for intelligence (a `fighting' patrol). Their different purpose would determine how many men went, and what weapons would be carried. 'Every time you went out you'd wonder if you were coming back'. [But]`it meant that next day you could get your head down without being disturbed for five or six hours'. For the 2nd Battalion, the strain that resulted from being in action became apparent by the end of June. German troops counterattacked and `some of our bomb happy crowd beat it'. Eric Cooper-Key of the Royal Norfolk Regiment revealed that after two months, when his battalion had been turned over with 100 per cent casualties, he was content if he, his platoon commanders and sergeants and perhaps half a dozen men of his company, reached the objective in an attack. The rest would appear over the next twenty minutes or so following the worst being over. 'We set off to clear a small wood. Chris Lochran said "Do I have to lead you buggers everywhere? " and I took umbrage and said "No bugger has to lead me, I can lead myself. But he's getting paid for doing the job". So Chris Lochran said "If you get paid will you bloody well do it? " and I said yes. So I was section commander just like that.' [But] it is clear that displays of initiative and leadership from the ranks were not commonplace. The argument that certain men will display leadership abilities, regardless of rank, reflects John Keegan's idea of the `big man', the person who can wield power over the others and who is a `key figure in the way battles work'. Such `big men' are the ones who bring battles alive and who encourage others to follow them, yet may not hold any rank at all, indeed `authority may disapprove of him and his comrades may even dislike him'. One section commander remembered calling to his section to follow him into a wood. Having advanced quite some way, he discovered that no-one had followed him and he was making the advance single-handed. Banger The ideal military leader is one who manages to combine excellence as a task-specialist with an equal flair for the social or heroic aspects of leadership. Major Charles King (DSO & Bar), company CO and later Battalion 2IC, a prewar regular officer known throughout the battalion as `Banger', inspired men within the battalion, and also the 3rd Division, with his bravery, energy and inspirational leadership. An able and witty raconteur, he wore his hair overlong and his hat off the regulation line. "`Banger" was father, mother, big brother, you name it, all rolled into one'. On D-Day, King read extracts from Shakespeare's Henry V to his men aboard the landing craft. Later, King wrote to return money he had removed from his batman's wallet for safekeeping, `plus something to have a drink with me when you get out of hospital'. After crossing the Escaut canal, `King had gone across and taken the battalion objective. He'd gone miles ahead and was holed up in a farmhouse'. Lt Fetterly complained to `Banger' that he had taken patrols out four nights in a row in Holland. The Major asked Fetterly to take that night's patrol as `you Canadians have that Indian blood in you' and then gave him time off. Major King understood fear; before sending out a patrol he would brief the NCO and `as soon as you went in he'd have the rum bottle out and he'd put you in the picture'. If `Banger' came to see you and you were under fire, he would never get down. He'd get down on one knee but never lie down. After one patrol, King threatened a soldier that he would shoot him if he behaved in the same way again. He then told him that he would receive the backing of the other men in the patrol to do so: `if you let them down they won't object to you being shot'. King's charmed life ended on 15th April 1945 when his jeep ran over a mine. Signalling to the tanks, particularly regarding ceasefires, was most successful using the phosphorus smoke from the 77 Grenade. The Overloon and Venraij battles were a prime example of battalions and at a higher level, brigades, working together to successfully take their objectives. It was usual procedure for Divisional level attacks to involve two Brigades while the other was held in reserve, allowing the men of one Brigade to have some measure of rest, while all the battalions involved in the two attacking Brigades, worked in concert. Overloon [13 Oct] 2nd Battalion's leading companies, `C' and `D', were held up by the enemy in the `dog-shaped' woods, while suffering shelling and mortar fire. Although each of these forward companies had a troop of tanks in support, the armour, which also included flame-throwing Crocodiles, faltered due to the high number of mines.... `D' Company reached the south-west corner of the woods by 2pm but could not advance further, as they had lost their officers and CSM, and were being commanded by a corporal. "Once on the move I only went to ground when under extreme small arms fire, hit the ground, roll over, or crawl to a good position and begin to fire, then move by ones, and groups, always covered by withering fire of the others. It was the only way, otherwise one could have stayed there all day, or weeks, like the 1914-18 war." Operation AINTREE [Venraij, 16 Oct] Three supporting tanks of the Coldstream Guards became bogged down in the mud. 2nd Battalion came under Nebelwerfer fire and did not set off until 5pm, waiting for the Suffolks, who were held up by heavy mortar and machine gun fire, to advance. From Venraij, the battalion area was under [enemy] observation. `B' Company crossed the stream and headed left, followed by the rest of the Battalion. Progress was slow as the tracks were difficult to follow and sniping in the vicinity `made people rather jumpy in the dark'. The following day the attack on Venraij continued, with `C' Company on the left, heading for a road junction towards the north-east of the town, and `A' Company on the right, making for the church and market square. `D' Company would follow `C', to cover the gap between the two forward companies. This is the classic set-piece battle with two companies forward, a procedure that Hastings argued too much reliance was placed upon. Brigade was informed of the good progress being made, but the battalion was told to wait.... As it started to become dark, `D' Company, under Capt Reg Rutherford, had also reached the town and decided to push on past their objective, reaching the town centre before any other troops of the battalion, in the knowledge that `A' Company had become held up before the market square. During the night German patrols continued to enter the town and `D' Company troops found themselves engaged in continued fighting until 4am. The Breaking Point Battle exhaustion cases were high [1:2] in proportion to wounded during the battle for Venraij. [Exhaustion was both mental and physical:] `cold and wet weather, inability to dig proper slit trenches due to the waterlogged ground; a prolonged battle with not very much progress and the continual fear of mines'. Around three-quarters of the exhaustion cases were `returned to unit' following proper care. [Other factors included] loss of Company Commanders with no real leaders to take their place, and a lack of `esprit de corps' within the troops, particularly relating to the arrival of new reinforcements. At the end of January 1945 freezing conditions in the Maas area had necessitated calling a temporary halt to offensive action. The men had time to live together in their sections without the relentless turnover from casualties and had therefore formed closer bonds, so that `each section had got its team spirit'. The section, rather than the company or battalion, was considered in the same light as a family. Each man had at least one `mucker' that he would dig-in with and with whom he would share a trench. Schaddenhof Farm Operation Veritable `was a killing match; slow, deadly and predictable', as the Germans defended tenaciously. Infantry of the Battalion worked alone in their area, supported by the artillery. [Schaddenhof Farm, 27-28 Feb 1945, map] One platoon waded through the Mühlen-Fleuth to capture the garrison at Schaddenhof. The Germans counter-attacked, with tanks and infantry and panzerfausts which fired directly at the farmhouse walls. The only armoured support was provided by the tank of the artillery forward observation officer. The Germans attempted to cut off `C' and `B' Companies by infiltrating the woods between the farm buildings and the bridge and the dwindling ammunition made the situation desperate for the forward companies. Peter Brown threw a potato at a German soldier, fooling him into thinking it was a grenade, at the height of the battle. The Germans entered the outbuildings and called on the battalion to surrender. The forward platoon of Lt Glew had to withdraw to the farmhouse after being attacked by paratroopers [who] `all looked to be about 7 feet tall. Whether they were drunk or drugged I don't know but they appeared to just keep coming forward without trying to take cover'. The isolation of the two forward companies was compounded when the Germans attacked the Middlesex heavy machine-gunners in the copse near the bridge and drove them out. Major King's timely arrival in a Bren carrier with ammunition for C company, having driven through a German-held area, was confirmed by wireless with the brief message: "Banger's here"'. Two of the most seriously wounded men were then evacuated in the carrier on the return journey. For his actions, King was awarded the bar to his DSO. The efforts of the entire Corps artillery was called for, and by shelling right up to the farmhouse walls, they managed to hold off the German attacks. 83 German dead were recorded in the area in front of `B' and `C' Company positions and around 150 POWs were taken. By the following morning nine officers of the battalion and 147 soldiers had been killed or wounded. The Divisional Commander named the bridge `Yorkshire Bridge' in honour of this battle. From Normandy to Bremen the 2nd Battalion suffered 1072 dead, wounded or missing, a complete turnover of the rifle companies by two and a half times. This is clearly a high rate of loss, although not an exceptional figure for an infantry battalion of this period.

Not directly responsive to your query John, but Brigadier Hubert Essame (43rd Wessex) and Eversley Belfield wrote "the Battle for Normandy" (1965) which alas is no longer in my possession but has a lot of ground level detail of the kind you mention. Another good read on a similar topic: From D-Day to Bremen with the `Unspectaculars'- the roles of the infantrymen of the 2d East Yorkshire Regiment, 8th Brigade, 3rd Division [Thesis paper 2007] 'We set off to clear a small wood. Chris Lochran said "Do I have to lead you buggers everywhere? " and I took umbrage and said "No bugger has to lead me, I can lead myself. But he's getting paid for doing the job". So Chris Lochran said "If you get paid will you bloody well do it? " and I said yes. So I was section commander just like that' Classic Yorkshiremen, lol!

Yes, these are indeed spectacular graphics, photorealistic!

As I've noted before elsewhere, battles (outside Hollywood and HBO) very rarely consist of 'mad minute' dramatic charges with all guns in continuous action one after the other for 1-2 solid hours, yet that is the norm in CM. Actual combat, even high intensity combat with forces in close contact, is nonetheless punctuated by extended lulls to observe, regroup, rally, medevac, call in fire support, etc. While most of the poor blighters simply cower in holes, overcome by fear, shock, exhaustion, and dehydration while a tense silence settles over the eerily empty battlescape. Until another stonk drops, or someone exposes himself to a sniper, or urgent orders to get moving again are finally obeyed, most usually by fresh troops. Like a few others here, my focus is on designing (and occasionally even publishing ) well-documented historical tactical (infantry) actions, fought in their historical tactical footprints: Makin Atoll, Ramadi (Iraq), Le Meauffe-le Carillon. And the RL timeframes involved run from 4 hour blocks to most of a day, at the end of which both forces are generally spent and regroup to 'tie in' for the night. In apocalyptic city fights like Stalingrad and Mosul (ht @Sgt.Squarehead), or cave fights like Peleliu and Okinawa that's why you hear about entire companies being spent taking a few rooms in a building or a hundred yards of lava, or a single Norman hedgerow. Most of the men aren't literally dead or maimed, but by the end of the day they are in no condition to do much more than hold their holes. So as far as reflecting this in the game is concerned, I just abstractly assume that these lulls are in fact occurring, but off the clock, and that most of the guys who show as 'casualties' aren't in fact hit but have simply hit their limit and are unavailable for further orders (so they might as well be dead as far as the player-CO is concerned). So when we say that scenarios 'forcing' us to take meet our objectives in 2 hours seems unrealistically short, the constraints we are actually racing against are remaining daylight (ok, night actions are a different beast) plus the actual endurance limit of the formations involved. Anyway, that's how I think of it, and design accordingly.

Sorry, confused? The map overlay file says 'Kirovograd', but the imagery and architecture is totally Holland or maybe Friesland. And that's the nacelle of a P-38, if I am not mistaken. But yes, you definitely wouldn't want to be underneath some of those bomb strikes.

Love your picks, bro, but don't bogart the thread! (wait, am I "tone policing"? lol)

Freddie Mercury and the band defend the Habanniyah district against infidel crusader!

Being in Asia, I can get Xiaomi products (they just got pulled off the US sanctions list) which in my experience are of Korean level quality (yup, the Chicoms can make great stuff when they choose to). Last October, I got their 34 inch curved gaming monitor, basically a straight knockoff of the Dell Alienware (probably made in the factory across the street in Shenzhen). For 1/3 the USD price. Used daily and still going strong. However, CM won't display fullscreen, only 2/3 at best, but that may be a Macbook issue. I also remember way back in 2007 CMSF1 was promoting a Matroxx somethingorother multiscreen capability. As to shortages, I'm in the energy business and will say that betting on long term scarcity of any commodity is a sucker play IMHO; all the modern conveniences of civilization that Pax Brittania-Americana once provided to the Western masses cheaply remain entirely available today, but only for those who can pay. The rest must double up or do without. [/politix]

Thanks for the compliment, but there are no cellars in Ramadi, Iraq, which is the subject of this thread. Could you take that discussion elsewhere? And this is also not a best place for a scenario tutorial. Cheers! Don't want to be a fascist, but longtime Forumites will know I'm more than a little particular about keeping my threads on topic.....

After a computer repair and several 60+ hour work weeks, I finally found a little CM time. Took me 6 hours of aggravation to figure out the H&E rooftop mod and then retexture it. But yes, after 20 years, the CM pixelverse finally features a corrugated tin roof! (could do without the European looking chimneys but wevs)

[Update] OK, I discovered that it was in fact a typo on texture 9. The bmp files that say facade9-exterior had an extra space between 'facade' and '9'. So CM refuses to recognize the texture and also dumps any texture above the one with the error. So I am now functioning again. I hope some other poor dumb bastard can learn from the 3 hours of troubleshooting I will never have back again.

Per the above, CMSF2 has abruptly refused to recognize any building textures higher than 1-8 (corresponding to the unmodded game). It was working fine with up to 14 textures and then suddenly it didn't. The game otherwise works normally. And yes, I've tried rebooting. And no, I'm not running a giant map, it's a small dealership test map. Creating a new map with a single building on it encounters the same issue. Now, in the Editor, I can shift click through textures 1 - 8, even if modded, but where I'd expect to see 9, 10, 11, etc., it just cycles back to 1, 2, 3. The game otherwise works and displays normally. And yes, I've tried rebooting. This affects the H&E pack as well as my Ramadi mod pack. I have checked and rechecked the bmp file labels for typos, removed them from the Z file, put them back in one at a time and removed all other mods to ensure there's no 'conflict'. No tags are being used. (And no, I haven't 'skipped' Building 9). I get little enough time as it is to spend on this game; to have to putz around with this nonsense for hours on end is simply infuriating and makes me want to find another hobby. Has anyone else had this happen, and have any idea what's going on? If I crack it (before I fling my laptop against a wall in frustration) I'll tell you how.

Yes, ISTR the Syrian SAA reverted to 73mm BMPs for urban counterinsurgency fighting; the 30mm autocannons just go in one wall and out the other. Just the opposite of the Red Army in A-Stan which found it needed main guns with 'reach'.

Ha ha, all this reminds me of one of the lines from Elford's "Devil's Guard" that persuades me it wasn't entirely fabrication (though much of it is): We crossed and took to the hills immediately, following a narrow depression that we had discovered on an old, wartime Japanese map. Strangely enough, this very important ravine had been missing from every contemporary French map of the area. More than once we discovered the superiority of vintage Japanese Army maps; they were more detailed and more correct.... Thanks to the meticulously precise Japanese cartographers we covered ten miles in about six miles, over very difficult terrain. There was good order in Japan—as there used to be in Germany. The French housekeeping was nothing but a giant whorehouse, from maps to machine guns. Nothing ever functioned properly. Not even the water closets. Ouch.

In Austria, I imagine heavy demolitions work in the Alpine passes. While fighting off VDV and spetsnaz attempts to seize the same.... (btw, this little known Jimmy Stewart film set during the 1944 Japanese ICHIGO offensive against the Chengtu B29 bases, features a fairly realistic infantry firefight, conducted at an appropriate tactical range. In 1960 a lot of Hollywood folks still had first hand experience with the real deal)

"Well who *is* on our side?" "600 million screaming Chinamen." "But last I heard there were a billion screaming Chinamen." "There were..." (WHOOMPH)

Mr. Neasbitt has learned the first lesson in How Not To Be Seen: not to stand up. However, he has chosen a very obvious piece of cover.... With regard to the OP, it seems fortification types are treated as immobile vehicles for certain purposes (though in some respects they are distinct). Therefore, they are spotted far more quickly than unfortified infantry. My longtime CM wishlist includes placeable abstracted 'camo' counters covering a single action spot. They do not hinder outgoing LOS but provide (invisible to the player) SMOKE like concealment to units in the square that have not moved or fired. Once any unit in the square moves or fires, the 'camo' is removed and plays no further function in the game. Not perfect, but an improvement....

Glad to see this thread still rocking out....

"Team Yankee" is itself set within the future history backdrop of fomer BAOR commander John Hackett's "The Third World War: August 1985". Written in 1978 as a cautionary tale, it was a very influential book as the Brzezinski doctrine transitioned into the Reagan era. Klaus glanced down into the turret. It seemed to be full of blood and roughly butchered meat. There was an ugly smell of burning.. Hackett knew exactly what that looked like, from personal experience in M3 'Honeys' at Sidi Rezegh and later, at Arnhem.