LongLeftFlank

The building textures will work as is; the other mods would need reconversion.

Yes, that occurred to me too. Especially since one possible gambit is to seize those tanks on the old airstrip and turn them on their former owners! Beats shipping them across lol and adds to defender confusion and demoralization. Providing your own side and air force knows that's in the plan.... Does anyone know if the Yonghu M60 has reactive armour?

I'm reasonably good at buildings and other structures, as you know. Vehicles, not so much. @Erwin, do you happen to have that Korean war mod someone (@M1A1TC?) did for SF1? It had some good building textures: ugly green tilework, etc. My guess though is that this would become an offshoot of @37mm's H&E magnum opus, albeit with 'temperate zone' adjustments. BUT as I've noted elsewhere, work constraints strictly limit my ability to get sucked into another big project. .... But I was reading some (alarmist) stuff about how vulnerable Taiwan is to the New And Improved Xi PLA. And I was kind of, ok, well if I was Xi and didn't want to risk 80,000 young men dead at the bottom of the ocean when it turns out I don't have the air/sea mastery I thought I did, what might I do short of full OVERLORD? And 'grab Penghu' was one obvious answer. Which led me to, well, how might one do that? And I figured I'd share my musings.

Agreed, and I was thinking you might be especially intrigued! The more time I spend zooming in/street view on GoogleMaps and Wikimapia, the more interesting little bits appear; for example, the disused southern airfield appears to be a tank park now. The workshops, though, are in the main base area, that cluster of hexes at the crossroads between the main city and the active airport.

... so I'm musing that the Longmen fishing port at the east end might offer a channel deep enough to run a modified cargo ship into, based on the bigger fishing boats moored there. You stick it fast in the entrance and unload across the mole. But it would certainly be a tricky operation, and wouldn't allow too many AFVs to be carried in. Transferring troops to lighters at sea (at night) to lighten the draft would be inviting disaster; the 'Black Ditch' channel running between Penghu and Taiwan proper is known to be a treacherous piece of water.

I just spent several hours today pinning out a theoretical PLN Marine Corps coup de main against Magong Island, the largest in the Penghu (Pescadores) group. Magong, whose port was the key Japanese navy base and launch point for their 1941 invasion of the Philippines, sits about 30km offshore of the southern half of Taiwan. It would need to be neutralized or occupied by the ChiCom PLA as prelude or part of any invasion. Cursory research indicates the Penghu group is defended by 2 infantry brigades (likely reservists only activated in wartime) and the 503 Armoured Brigade with 60-70 locally modified M60s ("Yonghu"), amtracs, M113s and MLRS artillery. Part of the elite 101st Amphib Recon Battalion ("Frogmen") is also deployed there. At a guess, say a max of 4000 defenders in a position to pick up rifles in the event of a surprise attack? .... So if Chicom troops could somehow* get ashore in force, with some mech of their own, they would still face some heavy slugging, with air-sea superiority being intensely contested. Most of the old coastal forts, which include fake cement naval guns and Kyu-go tanks, are today in ruins and mere tourist curiosities. But even though Google has 'blanked' some of what are obviously military installations, it's pretty obvious that there are a lot of tunnels (the island is volcanic basalt). So it would likely be a tough nut to crack, even for elite forces with heavy fire support. * The 'getting ashore' is, of course, the tough part, and it is why Taiwan remains self-ruled today. But let's not do geopolitics here please.... For CM purposes, I'd posit a surprise attack a la 'Red Storm Rising' (Iceland) or the 1918 Zeebrugge raid, with a modified container ship being deliberately stuck fast into one of the small fishing ports (Shanshui, or wherever water depth might allow such a thing), disgorging a PLN Marine regiment including a few light AFVs and a robust selection of AT, artillery and AA assets. Simultaneously, an airliner 'emergency lands' at Penghu Airport with 100 commandos, to neutralize the Taiwanese helo and AA assets, secure key road junctions and even raid the nearby TAF HQ. By dawn, the eastern half of the island and both airstrips fall under PLA control with the ChiNat defenders in disarray as the air and naval battle begins in earnest.

I haven't shared anything new yet, so whatever has gone to CMMODS are the CM1 editions. @Erwin, the file you're referencing is the Ramadi 'master' as it was in 2014. I've built a fair bit more since then to accommodate WICKED WEDNESDAY and some other stuff. ...Slowly I am starting to get the look I want; I don't want to choke my maps with thousands of objects but I want to convey an authentic atmosphere. No sterile generic looking maps for this expat.

So I take it the CMCW hive mind does not place much weight on the Kharkovite monstrosity critique? Otherwise, we would have been watching 1/3 of your T64s "definitely to work as self-digging knifes" and not even to arrive on glorious field of battle?

Merci bien for the kind words! The reason I gave up on DBP was that although bunkers have been hardened some since 2012, regular entrenchments don't provide anything like adequate infantry cover vs direct fire. So you can just stand back and blast infantry out of their holes, even with small calibres. Besides the lack of slit trenches, there are no embrasures or firing ports, even abstracted. Unpinned defenders 'prairie dog' up constantly to spot, and in time just get their heads shot off: law of averages. Alas, that hasn't changed much since 2012, as @RockinHarry and @Kaunitz have attested in their attempts to recreate positional assaults. This has potential to impact this project too, since I vaguely recall 1940 French infantry tactics were very much still rooted in seizing favourable ground and digging in deep, while preventing the enemy doing the same. IIRC, many of the late WW1 'storm' tactics the Germans get credited with were in fact French field innovations, learned by lethal trial and error in the Verdun salient. These include rifle grenades, trench mortars, flamethrowers and claymore mines. The Germans had mastered the best of these by 1918 and used them on the British.

Ha! bon chance with this project, mon copain. Did the 1940 Armee de Terre have any special tactical strengths (intrenchment, mine warfare, use of field guns, etc.) brought in from their 1914-18 Calvary? ...This brings back memories of my 2012 effort to recreate a rather different AdT, at Dien Bien Phu. One possibly relevant point I recall is that the Hotchkiss and Reibel air cooled MGs and the MAC 24/29 LMG had quite distinct characteristics (although the Bren is probably close enough to stand in for the latter). Postwar feedback from Indochina: The 1924-1929 machine rifle "is an accurate, sturdy, powerful and light weapon, remarkable in its simplicity. But our good-old machine rifle has a weak point: its cartridge clips are heavy, burdensome and rather fragile. It is these cartridge clips which cause most of the firing accidents.... The 31A machine gun (Reibell) "permits... firing at night. In an established position it is advisable to use the round cartridge clip. The 40-round cartridge clip is very satisfactory when moving....[but] the tripod mount is heavy and difficult to handle... ....

I love the burning vehicle effects, with dense gouts of smoke and flame belching out. Far more atmospheric than CM which, being still at core a tactical wargame (animated ASL), uses the flames and smoke pillar as a marker.

Hey, while we're fantasizing, how about a little Simon Stålenhag filter, for that 'Twilight of the Gods' feel?

I've never played these shooters, but have friends who are addicts. I always wondered what would happen if you held a PVP platoon-platoon tournament with a meaningful purse of, say, $2k each for survivors of the winning clan. All the latest realism mods applied, but ZERO respawns. So if you die, win or lose, you get *nothing*. ... Would you then see a tense, cautious combat tempo that looked more like an actual WWII battlefield (eerily deserted, lots of 'peeky-peeky-blamo' or bursts of area fire to suppress unseen targets and cover bounding movement)? I mean, instead of hectic every-superhero-for-himself arcade gameplay.

Yes, it's all CMSF2 now; I finally caved and upgraded a couple months ago. I just post over here because it's my Ramadi thread.

Couple of interesting links on Dieppe here, including the German side takeaways: https://www.historynet.com/what-if-the-dieppe-raid-had-succeeded.htm The German View of the Dieppe Raid Dieppe convinced many in the German high command that a cross-Channel attack could be stopped right at the water’s edge. “At Dieppe,” Hitler declared, “it needed only a regiment, engaged at the right time, to repel a raid which in a few hours might have involved three divisions. In no case must we allow the landing to last more than a few days—if not a few hours. The example of Dieppe must serve as a model.” The raid therefore trumped the arguments of German commanders who favored a flexible defense based on a strong counterstroke by armored forces. Interesting take, though rather tenuous, given that by mid '44 the Germans had also faced major Allied landings in Sicily, Ozereyka Bay, Salerno and Anzio.

Still working up my Ramadi mod pack. [Squalid] tag is gonna be more squalid than evar! You'll be able to smell it. There's corrugated tin shacks filled up with kids, and I don't mean a Hampstead nursery / When you own a big chunk of the bloody Third World, the babies just come with the scenery

@Ryujin (no longer active here I think) did very nice (post-Saddam) Iraqi Army jundi and Iraqi police commandos (blue) uniforms for the CMSF1 Syrian Special Forces, which gives them body armour and a modern helmet shape (as well as RPG23s). I still have them somewhere. But they'd have to be retailored for CMSF2 wireframes, which I gather is not straightforward.

Whose 's***hole country' mod are we using today?

I will not get sucked into a Battle of Marawi reconstruction I will not get sucked into a Battle of Marawi reconstruction I will not get sucked into a Battle of Marawi reconstruction Textures need tweaking - crappy tin roofs, etc. - but that beat up cement bus shelter is about perfect for a shanty dwelling.

Yes, the opening Hindenburg line scene is about as authentic a tactical combat sequence as I've ever seen in a film. ... Except that the Russian probe would have been taking PaK flank shots and HMG from identical hedgehog positions to left and right (which was the point of that scheme), and foundered in the wire/mine belts. But it is a very nice bit of filmmaking nonetheless, and essential viewing for CMers IMHO. (You can actually glimpse the scheme on a diagram that appears in the following scene)

I mentioned this over on another thread, but... I am just awestruck by the amazing creativity that you guys have put into this project! My hat is off, truly.

Yes, the map works fine. I am updating the master, and my 2 historical Ramadi scenarios, when I can find time and hoping to push out a third. I have also been rummaging through the monumental work of@Sgt.Squarehead , @37mm and others on their Heaven & Earth epic, after being totally floored by the sheer volume of quality and creativity involved!

Good observations and data here; be interested in hearing thoughts from the game TO&E advisers who are active here. That team includes vets who have done MidEast street time, so I am confident the combat loadouts are well chosen. On a related note, is there any way to get rid of the 84mm guided AT launchers that are now organic to the CMSF2 US Army and Marine squads? In CMSF1, you used to be able to set equipment quality to 'Poor' (by 2008 standards), which would give you 2004 era kit and nothing heavier in terms of organic AT than LAWS. US forces don't lug these things around when on counterinsurgency missions. They might store a few in their Humvees for blasting suspected VBIEDs (with permission from HQ), but RoE didn't give squads discretion to level houses in firefights. ... Anyway, the only way I've found to get rid of them is to set the squad's ammo levels to Severe, which of course affects small arms ammo too and requires them to have a vehicle nearby to restock at game start, which is a kludge. I'd rather just have them at Full ammo but not carrying these bloody rockets. And yes, I could choose different formations like Sniper or Escort platoons, but then I wouldn't have proper infantry squads operating together as such. Thoughts welcome.

aBRd1Ky.png] Glad I saved screenshots of the GoogEarth imagery dated c.2004, as this area has changed a lot since, owing to the heavy war damage and subsequent rebuilding. As you can see, the gas station (immediately south of the cinema) was quite congested. Other points of interest include the Passport Office north of the cemetery. This became Marine OP HOREA in 2005, overwatching the prime IED zone around CP296. It was more or less permanently under siege from 2005-2007.

Hi mate, you've somehow posted your SOS in the most obscure corner of the CM2 fora, BFC's 'Island of Misfit Toys'. You may wish to repost this on the CMBS board to see if anyone has any similar problems, and a suggested fix. Good luck!