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My bold. Nothing I said, implicitly or explicitly came remotely close to implying that combat in Iraq/Afghanistan was not fighting. You may be mistaking someone else's comments for mine. My comments were meant to underline the disconnect between sending units into combat, but making them use ridiculous ROE. Easy for a politician to say and it causes many needless casualties. I don't see how you thought I meant that it "is not fighting". My "doctrine" would be that NO ROE exists except that which the ranking officer on-scene states. By "on-scene", I do NOT mean the Theater HQ. Nor the TacCP. I mean the guy who is in the dirt and can see and yell at nearby soldiers. That is the on-scene commander. If he says "shoot the big gun", then shooting the big gun is okay. If the President tells the General to tell the Colonel to tell the Lieutenant to tell the Sergeant to enter the building without a loaded weapon to "win the heart and minds", then everyone up that chain needs to get a boot up their ass. Compare the last victory the US won and its ROE vs the ROE we've been saddled with by "optics" minded charlatans. Just sayin'... But, yeah, I want big caliber HE and massive ROF weapons on every AFV we have.

One of buddies flew little birds. I'd bust a gut laughing as he would talk about the difference between training and reality. "shoot it! shoot it!" stands out as common phrase not used in training. "Skid monkeys" is a very descriptive term, as well, for the guys they'd carry in. Regarding the thread topic, my father was a chopper pilot in Vietnam for the 101st. He only got shot down 3 times. (Ended up commanding a chopper battalion in the Guard.) Now, a Huey ain't a Blackhawk. But modern ops ain't Vietnam, either. Just look at the Bin Laden raid to see the dangers just in flying helos. 50% loss rate without any incoming fire. Any helo within range of a medium or heavy MG is not gonna last. Let alone one operating near an autocannon. To simulate a chopper insert, load up a company on about 20+ trucks. Drive them over a ridge onto a sloped field about 500m long, and have them dismount at the bottom, then return across the ridge. Set up whatever defense you want. Let us know what kind of losses/cohesion hits that company ends up with. Ken

Excellent! I'm glad to see you moving on this. The friction which this will induce should cause a VERY different game experience. That's a great set of rules you've come up with.

Thank you for posting this.

...and somewhere, far away, an old man struggles against the bonds which tie him to the bed in a vain attempt to free himself and break his eyes away from the thread which bears his name. And then the door opens and the nurse he has named "The Intimidator" sees what he is up to. He knows what is in store for him for this feeble attempt at freedom. Still, he is glad he made the attempt. It is the struggle which defines him, not the outcome... Dammit, Michael, pipe up!

ATG: HIde is good (best you can do with arty about to kill you), but you need to keep an armored arc on it. Otherwise, they will ignore any tank which they see. In the case of HIDE + Covered Arc it means Hide until something enters the arc, then shoot it. It's the new ambush command. Schreck: If you're moving them out of the beaten zone, I'd use SLOW until they get to some cover between them and the impacts. (Like a stone building or bocage.) Then, move 'em faster. Of course, SLOW more than an action spot or two means they'll be "tired"...or worse. Ken

What a great idea! I'm on the East Coast, so a bit far. Surely we have some Texans on this board?

Excellent plan! Once you've exhausted her, and she's sleeping soundly, sneak back up to the machine and get cracking!!! I like the snipers. Infiltrate, or overwatch? Panthers? Of course. Which route are you thinking of using?

"Conga Line": Now, THAT was funny! More is better.

^^^ I =think= this is modeled by the reloading pauses. LMG does it more often. I don't know that barrel swaps, per se, are modeled, or if the ROF is adjusted for the two the platforms. There was once I time when I knew this...

Nice video: That really showcased the terrain for me (after I got over my motion sickness!). Ordinance: Laws and rules. Ordnance: Things that go "boom". If you plan on deluging Bil with 1,000 points of "ordinance", I -do- think you'll win! As far as ANY plan against Bil, don't bother. He is the plan-master. Seat of the pants should do just fine... I suggest a surprise attack! Ken

Have you given much thought to loading a platoon+ on those trucks and sending them over that bare hill? The map looks great. Nice force selection (M10 in a Sherman platoon? Niiiiice.) The channelized terrain affects both of you. Awaiting MOAR!! Ken

I'd deploy an HMG42 in that 2nd floor location...

kohlenklau, Thank you for doing that show of devotion and letting us know the results. Without Emrys, I fear we all would suffer a loss. Well, not so much a "loss", as a lack of someone who would lose to us. I mean, has anyone ever lost to Emrys? Seriously...hope he's well. Let us know. Ken

Exactly! LOL!

That's been the big deal with the F-35. The technology/metallurgy needed to tap off the turbine shaft and change the rotation 90 degrees for the Marine Corps vertical landing version's lift fan was a big hurdle. Big gear box, light, which can handle the stupendous shaft-horsepower. Oh, the clutch was pretty friggin' important, too. That "tall pole in the tent" talk went on for awhile. Anyhow, if you don't need a lift-fan ('cause you got runways), and you don't need that volume for fuel or ECM or whatnot, then a solid-state laser can get all the juice it needs. Rumor has it that's the reason the air force is no longer keen on the F22. Well, one of the reasons. It'll happen sooner than you think.

"effective range" is also "hopefully the guys using these will believe those numbers range". If you cut it in half, you stand a good chance of hitting a target. HIDE: good for barrages, but keep a covered arc there, too. That will trigger a response if the hiding guys see someone. Otherwise, they'll try to stay hidden. That can be bad. The biggest threat seems to be the guys on the road. I'd think about trying to get some mortar shells to start landing amongst them. That's always fun! Then, when they try to run out through the bocage, make sure you've got guys who can put some auto-fire on 'em. That's MORE fun! Like whack-a-mole, but better. There doesn't seem to be ANY pressure, at the moment, on the left. The right is also pretty clear. Your middle is begging for some attention. It won't take much to pin your ONE team which is holding up Ian's advance. Get some more guys on it. My .02. Once you get more guys able to fire on the road (or replace those who are up front as they take casualties), you'll bottle him up. Some HE gifts will stuff that axis.

^^^ 1:1 pixel rendering kind of argues against your statement. I'm not pretending to be an expert, but many times the screen LOOKS wider with 1080p because the aspect ratio is wider. But the left-most pixel of 1920 wide screen is the same as the left-most pixel of another 1920 wide screen. Ditto with the right-most pixel on both screens. The difference is the top-most/bottom-most vary whether 1200 or 1080 horizontal lines being rendered. I don't know of any games which change the rendering based on screen height. (This is when someone more knowledgeable than I am will post a scathing rebuttal, complete with examples and links to screenshots. ) Ken

The biggest issue isn't firepower. Although, I -do- believe more is better. Upgunning a little would be nice. The biggest issue is this: When main gun rounds are tied to higher hq approval, you're not fighting. No rant, just pointing out that equipment has to match doctrine. Doctrine should have some basis in reality and seek to be effective. My idea, bristling with firepower, would be worthless in the current US doctrine. That doctrine is one which puts ROE above every other consideration. "Optics" and social media, donchayaknow. Tracked APC/IFV? Sure. But the wheeled concept is important and fills a void.

RWS on every Stryker with Bushmaster IV 40mm. Every platoon also gets a section from the Weapons Platoon. That would be a pair of 120mm direct/indirect firing mortars. Yeah, firepower wins firefights. Big booms, fast booms, accurate booms, sloppy booms, and booms that just go boom for the fun of it. The Platoon Commander would have to have a pimped-out Stryker. I like the idea of quad-50's, but the Bushy IV would put that to shame. Gotta think on that. Yeah, been thought on: he gets the 75mm ARES. Gotta keep the commander with the big one. Every Stryker air guard spot would have a 7.62 mini-gun. Yeah. On flex mounts that allow flring over a 270 degree arc, from the front to the rear, with overlap. And against high-angle threats, as well. That's 8 gatling guns sending love per platoon. Nothing but tracers. 'Cause it looks better that way. Weapons platoon would also have some Javelin Strykers. They'd be gun-gimped, but make up for it by completely gutting the pax compartment and replacing it with vertical launch Javes....linked to every other Stryker. Any linked Stryker see a tank? Wifi-mojo causes a Jave to vertical launch from the OTHER Stryker and put some boom on the bad guy. More boom. Yeah. That'd be, what, like 2 or 3 dozen Javelins ready to go? 3 of those vehicles in each Weapons Platoon. Meted out 1 per maneuver platoon (just like the 2 120mm'ers.) So, a platoon of dismounts would have 7 lovely strykers looking out for them. Nice... How about a low-mount .50 in front of the TC's hatch? Under the 40mm's zone of travel? With, like the mini-guns, a ballistic shield. That .50 would have its traverse blocked by the RWS turret behind it, but who cares what's behind you when you're attacking? Yeah, this thing is made for offensive booms. Obviously, coax 7.62 (single barrel, chain-drive, since this is a RWS). Oh, and we'd have ammo Strykers. Someone has to schlep the reloads up to the fighting rigs. 120mm direct fire cures a whole lotta problems. If a 120mm mortar on a flat trajectory can't do it, then send in the Abrams. Or pull back and use artillery. The role of every piece of equipment is to ease the burden on the dismount. Each platoon (reinforced with its "slice" from the Weapons Platoon) would bring: 4 .50 cals 8 7.62 miniguns 3 40mm Bushmaster IV autocannon 1 75mm ARES 4 7.62 coax 2 120mm direct/indirect fire mortar 36 remote-linked Javelins (not counting those carried internally by all the Strykers. ) Yeah, you're right: we're missing some autogrenade action. Gotta think some more...

The latest engine (v3) has an AI which can have triggered events. This is a huge benefit to AI responsiveness. As akd said, it is just a tool in the hand of the designer. It's up to him. In CMSF, the AI had fewer groups and was totally time driven. For example, given an AI on defense, the designer could create, say, 3 groups. (I really don't remember what the maximum was: it was greater than 3.). Group 1 would stay in position. Group 2 would pull back at 30 minutes, regardless of the situation, and Group 3 would counterattack from the Woods to the Big Building at 45 minutes. In CMx2e3 (the "e" stands for "engine": which version of the exe is being run), the AI could have 8 groups. (Again, I'm not sure what the maximum is, but I'm sure it's at least doubled over the number in CMSF. Perhaps 4x?) Now, the designer can break the defense into many more units instead of CMSF's limit. The triggers are defined by geography. Think of trip-wires. That counterattack? It won't happen at 45 minutes. It'll happen when the Human player crosses the road. That might be at 15 minutes or, for a slower guy, at 60 minutes. Better than a "senseless" timed attack. Etc., with the other groups. (Timer-based events can still be scripted in, and they can be stacked. Meaning, it can also be a triggered event, but not later than a certain time.) Caveat: I have NEVER designed a full-up battle and certainly none with triggers. I can only relate the above from the user perspective, not the designer perspective. There are some MUCH more knowledgeable and skilled folks who can chime in. It makes for a FAR better fight against the AI. It reacts (within the bounds of the designer's imagination) to the player. It is far short of the experience you get playing a human, but it is much better than CMSF. (Note that triggers were introduced post-CMBN. I forget when, exactly, in the line of games/modules that triggers were introduced. The battles that came before triggers don't have them, even if the game engine supports them. For example, having the latest version of CMBN (v3.11?) has triggers. The very first battle in the release version of CMBN, there is no AI plan which takes advantage of this support, for the simple reason that the support did not exist when the battle was created. It CAN be added in, of course, using the editor.) Ken

My Russian is very rusty, but this is what I heard: "WELCOME to the great parade celebrating our nation's victory over the fascist Hitlerites 70 years ago! Let us all thank Comrade Putin for his leadership! Stay behind the lines for your own safety. Any lost children can be reclaimed behind the borscht concession stand! Good! All the men you see are typical of the men in our forces. No special training has occurred. This is standard discipline! Let us thank Comrade Putin for this!" And more like that. Edited to add: I would be remiss to not remark on how well those men held their formations while marching. Having been in countless parades myself, it is not easy. The overhead shots showed them to seem like solid blocks. No snarkiness: they deserve kudos for their appearance, effort, and professionalism in conducting this celebratory victory march. The seamless integration of different vehicle/personnel streams from just outside the square was likewise impressive. It was very well done.

1920 x 1080 seems to dominate sales, even here in the US. I VASTLY prefer 1920 x 1200. (I'm currently using two, and I'm looking for a third.) Having said that, there's nothing wrong with 1080. (That's what HD TV's, projectors, etc., are (mostly).) If you're looking for 1920 x 1200, they exist. You have to hunt a bit, though. (I like IPS over TN. The latest purchase I made was a pre-calibrated Asus, PA248q. Very happy with it. Many other brands exist.) 1920 x 1200 is 16:10 aspect ratio. Most screens are the narrower 16:9 (1920 x 1080, 2560 x 1440).

Ahh, so breach the bocage, then re-breach back onto the road? That could take 4 demo charges. For me, it sometimes takes 2 to get a vehicle-sized hole in bocage. About 1/3 of the time. Unless I'm counting on it. Then it's 100%, and a random shell will always find the guy carrying the charges.

Nice. What's the plan when the tank(s) run up to the hedgehogs in the road?