c3k

Bil, At this point, that incoming air support is just gonna hafta get some friendly kills. You know that's the way it'll roll. Love the gif of that BMP getting hit. The forest of crosses which sprouted up is a gut hit...for those who think their pixeltruppen deserve to live. Brings to mind my first AAV rolling into battle in CMSF. 27 dead inside one tin can. Never again... Or so I've tried. Enough of the bellyaching about the dead. What are the living going to do???

Well, it would be an off-map support asset. But, with a unitary warhead, I think it'd be a blast to have in-game. Expansion pack?

APS, both Russian and American, are based on SOLID current systems, with minimal future extrapolation. Israeli Trophy and Russian Arena are both tested and have operational backgrounds. A few more years of tweaking, and, IMHO, what's in the game is pretty darn close to what will be on AFV's. Hypervelocity sabot rounds are "proof" against APS. The energies needed to propel 10kg at 1800m/s require a tank to absorb the recoil. Thus, tanks fight tanks. A swarm of IFV's/ATGM carriers can destroy a tank. They need to salvo fire, and all focus on the same vehicle. That target, if it survives the first barrage, will pop smoke and try for cover. (That's why they pop smoke when lased. It's hard to keep 'em in sight.) APS is a very good protective layer. Next is ERA. Then the armor itself. It's all about layers. Like ogres. And onions. Ken

Post BS? Hmm... Germans, Russian Naval Infantry, airborne, Marines, French (just kidding! ), Brits, Poles, etc... And, at the risk of crossing genres, Chernobyl is nearby and STALKER provides plenty of historical information of what could be faced in THAT region.

I don't see Bil lasting too much longer. The Abrams is a beast. Sure, Scott will lose about 2-3 more Abrams, but as long as he keeps them paired, with one pair in overwatch and the other one bounding (one at a time), whatever hits one Abrams will be destroyed by the others. It will come down to Bil setting up a flank shot (or 2) with his T-90's to blunt the drive. He should retask the T-90's away from reducing infantry pockets and towards that (phantom) flank shot. The BMP-3's are great for pulping up the crunchies, especially in built up zones.

^^^ Thanks. The first 36 M1A2 rounds can be used without delay. As noted, there is always some dead time between engagements to simulate the cross loading from one bustle rack to the other. Assume multiple rounds of each type would be in each bustle rack. The 6 hull storage rounds are the ones which take a bit of time to get to.

In no particular order... - Congrats on the twins! - Only get 10 minutes warning that you have time to fire up the game? That's what pbem is made for. Find a good mate (or several) and take the games at your own pace. (In one pbem I'm engaged in, we sometimes exchange only 1 turn in a week. That's fine by both of us. Real Life has a way of getting in the way. This is a GAME and should be FUN. Easygoing pbem is part of that.) Without minimizing the validity of your criticisms, head to head via pbem is a great experience. (If you want to get your feet wet, PM me.) - Modding the AI will not happen. That is such a deep part of the code that it cannot be opened up to outside manipulation. - MarkEzra, answering you upstream, did not mention that he has produced virtually every single QB map...and the AI plans to go with them. I'm in awe of what he's done. He mentioned the AI triggers. The trigger function seems simple, but has amazingly complex inter-relationships. As designers, such as MarkEzra, get more familiar with the nuances and power of the triggers, the AI will act/react in a much more dynamic/realistic manner. It will continue to improve. - AI plans are NOT into their "8th year". If you look at the introduction of triggers as a whole new approach, then AI plans have only been out since CMRT. (A year?) Compare CMRT AI with CMBN's initial release AI. That's a whole new ball of wax. (Note that CMBN v3 has AI triggers, just like CMRT. Added to preclude misinterpretation by folks not familiar with the upgrade system.) - I agree that dynamic QB attacks are nowhere near what a human opponent would conduct. AI defense is quite good, however. (In most cases.) Ken

Very nice! I love the diving into the midst of the enemy in the gully! Very berserker-like. I think you've found some of the enemy.

Unless it's been changed, that's how it works. Only a few Western tanks have ammo in stowage, and only a few rounds. I'd have to dig out some stuff for exact numbers and types...

That ammo is shown in grey on the unit's ammo listing. Present, but not readily available.

Ready rack: once the ready ammo is used, there is a delay to access the stowed ammo.

Bil, That Bloodboard update looks grim. Awaiting (eagerly) your next... Ken

Very pretty!

What's with all the late entries?

ANYTHING is better than Tom Bombadill/Silmarillion posts! Really. Get back in the fight!

Bah! Tell him just to pony up and buy the pack. More observations: The Stuart's are driving me nuts. They spot first, they shrug off hits, and the nail whatever they deign to aim at. Grrrr. I won't even mention the shooting on the move hits that sfhand's tanks are getting on mine. Not one word... The battle progresses as I'd hoped: sfhand is clearly flailing and desperately seeking for an honorable way to surrender. I will not allow it. I'm exhibiting weakness in an attempt to lure him into my kill-zones. Okay, kill-zones is an exaggeration: there is only ONE, the size of the whole map! Bring it... Ken out.

LOL, an oldie but a goody. Trees are frangible, to a degree. They are far less resilient than in CMSF. One abstraction to keep in mind: close trees do NOT block outbound LOS/LOF. The assumption is the unit has micro-maneuvered in such a manner that they can see out. Inbound would be blocked. This gives a benefit to seeking cover behind trees (and other foliage?). It is FAR better than it once was.

Strategic mobility means airlift. One Abrams can be carried by a C-17. That's a lot of sorties to get a battalion of tanks in-theater. Paratroopers have outstanding strategic mobility, but piss-poor tactical mobility. Get 'em 8,000 miles away in 16 hours, and wherever they land, that's where they'll stay. It's all a balance... Strykers as combat vehicles? Well, if you call them "trucks" instead of "tanks" (or "IFV" or even "AFV") you'd be closest to their role. They're good...against small arms. Would I rather have a deuce and a half or a Stryker? Easy, the Stryker. But let me choose an Abrams or a Stryker and that's equally easy. Great for operational mobility, bring a lot of capability, but not for medium/high level threat environments.

T-90's are fully capable of taking out Abrams.

^^^ Holy spitting my coffee out as a I laugh, Batman! I like it.

Well, since sfhand says it's okay for me to be here...here I am! Some fun events: the rifle grenade sfhand fired into my farmhouse totally gutted that building's defense. Sure, some guys were upstairs (the squad was split in teams: NEVER put a whole squad in tight space), but their morale plummeted when they heard the screaming from the abattoir downstairs. The upstairs guys got a few more Ami's, but they all died in the end. (Don't we all?) There's SO much going on: I've got some schreck teams taking shots from the woods. Great ambush territory. I've got mobile units setting up defenses that sfhand shouldn't expect. I've got flak trying to destroy soft-skin vehicles and stripping away optics, etc., from armor. I've got air support putting the hurt on any movement in the open. I've got machinegun teams aching to find a target. I've got weak armor trying punch above their weight. I've got artillery support that seems to be too little, too late. I've got an enemy coming over the hills in about 4 locations. I've got one bridge. Without giving an AAR (which I don't have time to do), or giving away too much to sfhand (because he is my opponent and I want to finish him off!), this is a LARGE undertaking, but seems to have a lot of rich possibilities. (As the starting defender, I seem to be totally outclassed and outnumbered. That may bother/annoy a lot of players. Some guys quit when the game is "unwinnable". I enjoy it any which way. My goal in this is to inflict as much death and mayhem on sfhand as I possibly can. I'm sure he expects a certain amount. I'm sure he's prepared for a bit more. I want to surprise him with an even higher body count. It's like a gift from me to him. ) Ken

Sweeet. Love the friendly fire bit. In a simulation/confusion sort of way. If you can see the muzzle, you're in danger. That hit on the T-90 was nice. Certainly not a guaranteed result based on what I've seen. More vids!

You're in an excellent position: any shot you take should be guaranteed to hit your enemy! Lucky you. Find his command tank, swarm it, and lop off the head of the beast.

Bah! A defeatist attitude will lose the battle more assuredly than any casualties! You are the commander: expend your men's lives as you would use your money to buy a cup of coffee. Besides, Abrams consume a lot of fuel. Run his tanks dry, then plunge in!

Nice!