Biltong

Come now Apache - get your priorities Right! RESIGN!! How can you let work interfere with the campaign!! Happy hunting and hurry back

Catching up on all the posts – where the rules have been changed/clarified etc in the meanwhile addressing the question I’m skipping it. So if you don’t see an answer, check the latest V1.3 of BCR/Intro Doc etc. If it still does not answer your query – please post again. Hopefully I’ll be up to date for a change Apache 29/11 “I still think it's a bit OTT that a unit panicked at end if it only just broke gets a double whammy against a bunch that broke early on and came back only to sit and quiver in the woods until the end mind. Not sure about the tank and other vehicles killed in favour either. I presume if a tank is burning it is counted once as a burn, not once for burning and once for KO?” The whole Core Sheet hasn’t changed much from the original rules, but it’s due for a revamp! - This week? SuperSulo 29/11 “Apache, yes, there are some things in the Core Sheet that I don't agree on/should be made clear... Like: That "KO'd" and "KO & Burn", in my understanding you only apply one of these. Could also be "KO'd" = - 8, "Burn" = - 2. And if any of these, KO, Burn or abandoned, happens, doesn't the crew automaticly get "broke panic"? Or is it just they get the little "dot"? Hmm come to think of it, what does "broke panic" mean? I always thought it was "if they have the dot"? I'm still not sure what I think about the negative experience for say surviving a blown up tank... should teach you something, like seeing your buddies die as it is now.” See above Vils 29/11 By looking at the prerolled numbers, i gahther it is a d10 that should be used, right? Right! See Intro Doc Random Numbers – A Sheet containing 1,600 random numbers (between 1 and 10) that you use in conjunction with the Rules to roll up the Parameters. You can use these over and over simply by starting one number further on or going backwards/from the bottom etc. etc. Max 29/11 …. Page 77 of the manual says: "Valid sewer entry and exit points are only the large heavy 2-story houses usually found in cities." No other limitation is listed as far as I can see. I haven't looked into if the QB map generator will use these buildings in anything other than a Large Town. However, since Biltong has maps coming in, we may have some of these buildings in something slightly smaller than urban combat zones. Probably most likely sewer movement only needs to be considered in a Large Town.” This is going to need some testing… not a mayor issue at the moment, but later in 41 and thereafter it does become one. Andy 30/11 Re a non-excel auto sheet… “I'm working on a program, so far it has all the tables through the Allied-parameters, but the user-interface is virtually non-existant (or maybe it's a user-inteface only a programmer could love ). In addition to parameters, I'm hoping it will eventually be able to track units' experience , favor, and automate replacements -- but that sort of functionality is a long way off.” How’s it going Andy – any news there – I’m following this with some interest. Walpurgis Night 3/12 “Now, would someone do me the favor of explaining in simple 'stupid' terms how to set it up? I've downloaded all the zip files, but I don't know if I need all of them to play, and I don't know where to put these new "folders" anyway. Someone help a computer rookie!!” Get the Intro doc from the websites (see 1st post of this thread)… It has a walk through for 1st timers. It will help to get you going. Welcome and enjoy!! Apache 4/12 “Favor sheets seem fine. There is one issue that's been pointed out so I won't repeat.” Please do – In the first weeks things were quite chaotic and I missed some issues…. If it hasn’t been addressed in the meanwhile – please post again “One thing did occur to me though when I was running through some manual sheets. The layout at the moment begs you to fill in the numbers knocked out against the '2 x' for instance in the box below unit type. This still leaves the player to either calculate the total per unit and scribble it elsewhere on the sheet or try a 'in the head' calculation as you go through. Would the layout of the sheet not be improved by putting the 1x, 2x 4x 10x etc. in the box with the unit type in question, leaving the box underneath blank for the total to be filled in? Players could then just tot the lot up easier IMO.” When looking at the battle map after a battle it’s normally quite easy to see which tanks are burning etc. You can just add them up in your head. As for the mortars: You have to use the ‘+ key’ to move through all your and the enemy units in any case… I would like to keep the Favor Sheet on one sheet and keep things simple… expanding it like that will spread it over 2 printed sheets… KISS SuperSulo 4/12 “…you should use the correct setting for Quality when you do the Auto QB, not Random or Unrestricted. Use the 56 Normal Replacement and Appendix A to see what Experience Level you should use. I know, this isn't very clear from reading the rules, it even says "Always use unrestricted" somewhere. Even I am not sure what to do, but what I said above seems to work for me. I'm sure it will be corrected/cleared up sometime soon…. It just has…. See next Fridays (13 Dec) update. Max 4/12 “I'd like to look into the use of Favor points to improve one's force…..” Listed – to be scheduled – sounds interesting – tell me more SuperSulo 4/12 “Regarding that "Experience Gain Problem / Solution" Biltong posted above...” Great post Super – clarified a lot of stuff… If everything goes well – this is on the list for tomorrow Apache 5/12 “I think the favour purchase is a good idea too. Given the purpose of favour it may be that if your CO thinks you are a particularly fine chap ….” Good! Added to the suggestions above Mare 5/12 “Regarding ways to limit the experience gain, my thought was that applying a diminishing returns modifier, like square root, to the experience … “ Interesting solution – added to the possibilities Apache 6/12 “I've only played a couple of the map battles so far (too busy printing/reading rules/changes etc.) but I think the ones I have currently played from Manstein are first class. “ He’s been putting a lot of work in and feedback like this might just make it a bit easier “I think CMBB QB generator does a resaonable job mind, I just think the logic of where and how things are placed is a bit bizarre at time, esp if you start to involve towns etc.” I agree – my only ‘real’ problem with them is flag placement – quite like some of them, but they can’t beat a human designed one. But it’s easy to criticize: I can just imagine the amount of code that was needed for the map generation… It’s not as if BCR are that clean or perfect either LOL Mare 7/12 “Proposal for Major Actions Have a 'major action' die roll. On a 1-7 do nothing. On an 8-9, set an auxiliaries-multiplier to 2x. On a 10 set an auxiliaries-multiplier to 3x. Use appropriate modifiers for dates when major operations were taking place….” Sounds good!!! On da list!! SuperSulo 7/12 “Biltong, the latest version is indeed very close to being "done". Good job! Just those last few issues, then it's off for '42, right? “ Thanx and yes – but it will be some weeks still... "I'm nowhere near '42 yet (still July), but I'm very interested about what will happen then. I have no idea about dates and such of the east front, so playing "by the rules" also gives me a small history lesson." I’ve started reading up – in fact 42 is very similar to 41… Axis having a go in the summer and being hammered in the winter… LOL In the South in any case.. "Also, I think it would be fairly easy to convert the rules to a human allied player against the axis AI. Don't know if anyone would be interested it that, but it should be easy." shouldn’t be too difficult… had one request for that already… But by the time we’re finished with 45 in Berlin CM3 is bound to be out and then we’ll have to start again Finally – Up to date with my e-mails & posts Yahoo!! Now I just have to sort and filter the Update doc (14 pages!!) The feedback on this thread has been absolutely terrific! Without your input the rules would still be nowhere… Please keep it up and if I have forgotten to answer or thank anyone – please forgive the old brain… I hope to do this every weekend so that you’ll be able to see (by checking the Update doc) if I skipped/forgot your suggestions. Thanx Guys – keep it up we’re getting there!! Biltong

Hi Ken These rules have been addapted from Wreck's original rules which a lot of guys have been playing for over 8? months. What we are doing is fine tuning them. All mayor changes has been done. Most of the changes that are listed are so minor, most players won't even notice when we change them. We are just trying to get as close to historical reality as possible. So - charge ahead But be warned - it's a nasty addiction Biltong

Thanx Uber BTW all you Map Designers starting out and 'old' hands - looks like we might have a solution for the Large Battle Problem (most battles tend to be small and players would like a larger one once in a while)... So we'll need a couple of large maps... Not 'Huge' or '$%#ing Huge' - just Large Biltong

Friday … Time for the weekly BCR Update Rules v1.3 The Rules now include the new Battle Type/Casualty Force modifier so that you don’t get screwed with Purchase Points when you are on the attack – Thanx to Max for a great ‘simple’ solution. A must download. Lot of modifier refinements & a lot of rule clarifications – Claude McDaniel has been keeping me very busy – Sterling work Claude! Update & Unresolved Issues v1.3 21 Issues has been addressed – 4 pages of modifier refinement/clarification/new rules etc…. The BCR Team has been very busy… If you have a problem with one of the facets of the rules – have a look here and see if it is listed – if not post or e-mail me and it will be prioritized & investigated. There are 31+ outstanding issues at the moment. Couple of important ones, such as: Unit Experience Gain (which is too fast) has already started – see posts above… In time we will get to all of them. We are definitely into the fine tune mode… The rules are better than they have ever been before and the reason is simple: everyone is piling in reporting and helping to fix them…. :cool: BCR Map Add-On v1.3 & Map Pack 1 12 NEW MAPS ADDED! If you haven’t tried this add-on yet, give it a spin – it’s easy – no rule changes at all! You are just missing out on some really great battles! Manstein22 has been very busy!! In fact he sent me more, but I did not have time to do the rest (Next week there’ll be more). Manstein gives us our first river crossing map: ‘Bridges’ – the setup zones are such that you don’t need extra forces, but it will still be a tough nut!! I see Manstein is getting very good reviews Well deserved Man!! This week’s map pack also features a new designer: Pete Wenman with ‘State Farm 131’ – a great map suitable for rural, farm and village. The 12 maps should keep you busy till next week – I’ve got a hell of a lot of other maps to process – they are coming in fast, so you guys are in for a feast. The Instructions have been simplified and the Map List expanded so that you can use Excel search to find what you need on: Map Name, Region, Year, Battle Type, Size, Map Type, Trees, Hills and Designer. NEW! MAP MAKING SUGGESTIONS FOR BCR v1.1 I’ve had a lot of requests for feedback from the guys who sent me maps and I got behind doing each map, so (lazy bugger that I am), I’ve decided to clump all the feedback together into a doc for all the designers…. Have a look if you are interested in map design. It will tell you what BCR needs and give you some suggestions re making good battle maps. If you feel you have something to add – please do – post on the board and I’ll add the suggestion(s) to the doc. The designers would also love some feedback on their maps from the player POV… let them have it – good or bad – the end result will be better maps for everyone! Max’s Auto Parameters Max has also been pretty busy keeping up with all the modifier changes as well as giving very valuable feedback on the rules. He writes: “I have also included the basic beginnings of the After Battle Parameters. Basically just the random 1-10 rolls. The player still needs to evaluate the rolls properly. Hopefully by next week I'll get it all automated pretty-like!” Pascal’s Auto Core is undergoing testing and should be launched quite soon. As for everything – get it here from the worlds fastest web masters!!!! Scooby and SuperSulo That’s it folks... From me & the BCR Team Enjoy

A Number of map makers have asked me for feedback when they submitted their maps for BCR's Map Add-On... I've started compiling all my replies into a single doc... Hope it can be of some use to the designers. MAP MAKING SUGGESTIONS FOR BCR V1.1 NAMING You don’t have to include your name in the map name – it will be in the ‘Brief Description’ of the map as well as on the BCR Map List. Please stick to the following Naming Convention to make it easier for everyone: A unique name: Town or some combination name, e.g.: Balka, Shattered Woods, etc. Followed by the Battle Type: Ax As or if the map has a multiple function: Ax AsAtPr. Leave spaces between the elements for readability (except the AsAtPr) E.g.: Balka Al Pr, Shady Stream Ax AsAtPr, Blood Hill ME Please enter the Map Name and your name into the Brief Description box on the Parameter screen of the map editor, in the format: Balka Axis As/At/Pr Designer: Manstein22 VARIATION BETWEEN MAPS Vary your set-up zones, number and placement of flags for each map. If possible vary the reason for the flag position as well, e.g.: create/remove a hill/cluster of houses/farm/woods or whatever the reason was for placing the flag in the first place. Relocate/remove/expand mayor features such as roads/large buildings/farms/clusters of houses and large fields E.g.: Just by changing large fields into steppe, creating or removing a single road and changing the set-up zones and flags you have created a new map. On the Allied As/At/Pr you can have the zones one N/W - E/S corners and with the Axis As/At/Pr on the opposite corners giving the player 2 different attack/defend terrain options. Mix large and smaller (forward) zones. The ideal is to modify the map for each Battle Type: Axis As; At; Pr…Allied As; At; Pr; and ME (7 in all). The reason: A player conducting a Probe has less Purchase Points than the Assaulter and should have an easier go of it: E.g.: less flags that are ‘easier’ to reach. The Prober might/should also start out on a narrower front and (maybe) further forward than an attacker/assaulter… Defender of an Assault might need defence in depth, but could have more scattered defence for an attack or a ‘badly placed’ set-up zone on one side only for a probe. If you vary the above points you will create 7 maps out of one in a far shorter time than it would take to create 7 new ones…. More maps for the guys to play with at little extra cost in time…. SETUP ZONES Only use one colour set-up zone per side – It seems that the AI places all mines in one colour and all the trenches in the other etc… looks like it simply goes down the line from one side and places them in a single line and then skips to the next colour when the first colour is full. EYE CANDY Don’t forget hedges; fences; stonewalls – esp. to demarcate properties that are close to each other. Ask yourself: Where would the farmer/home or factory owner have placed a border division? Rough terrain/stone/trees on steep hillsides Marsh/Scattered Trees/Woods in deep valleys. The same type of vegetation/trees etc. tends to grow on the same side and height on hills/ridges. Break straight lines – curve, zigzag, split. Interrupt lines with broken ground/woods etc. Be careful of making squares… fields, walls etc – make the next one at an angle and a different shape. ROADS Roads go somewhere – a town; a large farm cluster etc – they don’t just end nowhere. When they go to a house they go to the front door. Place some scattered trees along roads. Roads follow the contours of the map – don’t charge up a steep hillside – go around it. Straight roads are boring and unlikely – give them a kink and then add a reason for the kink: a farm, rough terrain, hill etc. Paved roads are scarce. Use ‘1’ and travel along your road to check that there isn’t any sudden steep inclines or that the road doesn’t ‘lean’ unrealistically on a hillside. BUILDINGS Large doubly story structures…? Especially in the rural areas of Russia in 41? A lot of houses clustered together in a rural area with no fields to feed them? Farms have fields, an orchard, flimsy outbuildings, fences and walls. FLAGS Provide realistic objectives (flag positions) – No-one is going to risk his men for a clump of woods with no tactical importance (no view). When you have a crossroad with large house next to it, it is not the crossroad that needs to be taken, but the house overlooking it – place the flag on the house itself. The question you must ask yourself is what feature do I need to control to control the immediate area. REALISM Watch out for dams/river sides that curl up at a hillside. Don’t place fields on steep hillsides if there is flat terrain nearby. BATTLE MAPS Be very careful that you don’t force the AI to set up in an exposed position where it will be slaughtered in the opening rounds. Also provide cover for the advancing AI – hidden dips/ridges/hills/trees or at least scattered trees etc There are also discussions & documents on some of the web sites re map design – when I have time I’ll try and incorporate then into this document. As always – criticism/more ideas/feed back etc. – very welcome Please use the board to add to this list. Biltong [ December 05, 2002, 05:48 PM: Message edited by: Biltong ]

IMPORTANT Experience Gain Problem / Solution I think this is the last real big ‘un and Claude McDaniel came up with this one: “Here are some additional thoughts. Disregard them if they are out of line as I have NO real world documentation to back the following comments up. It is possible under the rules to go from "Green" to "Crack" long before Christmas '41. In my readings of CMBB and CMBO, the authors tended to believe that skill level advancements did not happen very quickly. So why not add seasoning time to the mixture in computing the speed of a unit's experience gain? In this proposal, units accumulate experience points normally until they reach that needed for the next experience level. Then they stop gaining experience until enough time passes for the unit to absorb and incorporate this learning into its behavior (signified by the advancement to the next skill level). Once at the next level, the unit again accumulates experience points normally till it reaches the next trigger point. Once a unit has enough points for the next level, it is on "Hold" for further experience point gains till it actually acquires the new level. While on Hold, at the beginning of each week (Item 1 in Campaign Rules), the player checks to see if the unit internalizes it's gained combat knowledge and progresses on. To check for success, compare the number of weeks the unit is on Hold to a ten sided die roll. If the Hold value is greater than twice the die roll, then the unit gains the new experience level. Otherwise, increase the Hold value by one and check again the following week. As an example, at the beginning of a week a Green unit was on Hold for five weeks. If the player rolls a two or less on a ten sided die, the unit becomes a Regular. If the player rolled a three or better, then the (still) Green unit checks again the following week. This modification requires an additional column on the Core sheet, entitled "Hold". The player leaves it blank until the unit reaches an experience gain trigger point. At that time, the player places an "X" in the box. At the beginning of the following game week, the player puts a "1" in the boxes marked with an "X" from the previous week, and increases the value by one for those units on Hold that did not advance a level. While on Hold, compute the experience points normally (including replacements). If the net result is a gain in experience points, do not record the new value. If however, the end result is a loss in experience, then record that new value. A unit may (through panic, low grade replacements, and what not) lose enough experience points to drop below that needed to gain a level. In that case, remove the value from the Hold column for that unit, and record experience changes as usual. If the player advances the calendar over several weeks between battles, then make multiple checks for the eligible units.” Any better ideas?... any faults in the logic above?... a simpler way?... disect & discuss... this problem has bugged me from the old old rules and I would love to fix it BTW Guys, Claude McDaniel is the real ‘unsung’ hero on the BCR team. He started out as the ‘language expert’ – trying to clear up my muddled mumblings, but recently he has evolved into a ‘Logic/Modifier Expert’. I tremble when I get his weekly e-mail(s)… He has razor sharp eyes for logic faults and there are a hell of a lot of them – just have a look at coming Fridays Update Doc :eek: When he’s finished with these Rules (and me) they are really going to be bloody close to perfect. TG he doesn’t post the faults on the board or no one will play them. Claude, from all the guys using these rules Can’t thank you enough, man I see, there’s some questions etc above – sorry guys – hang on till the weekend – I’ve received over 100 maps! Got to check, list and pack as many of them as I can… C’ya on the week-end Biltong

heh heh - Might do a couple myself Just discovered Big Dogs map pack - 56 maps - a lot of usefull ones there for us... I think quite soon we won't be using the QB maps at all anymore.. More about that later Off to bed - G'night! Biltong [ December 03, 2002, 05:43 PM: Message edited by: Biltong ]

Try using the 'Import Map' function (3rd QB screen - Map Type etc) - use anyones maps or get one in my sig below... ready made maps make quite a diff to QB's Well done Nippy

Just did a test - mew battle no problem setup and retreat to North/South, but once a map is saved as such you can't change it and that is what I realy needed

Thanx Apache - you're a Star! Yep - tactical = minor - just as in Nukes

Had some heh? Mmmm Cape Town ... You must come and visit again... more beautifull than ever... Summer is here, the beaches are full and the weather is perfect... sitting here in my shorts with all the doors and windows open to catch the sea breeze... Better not come - you'll stay Thanx for the encouragement... Biltong

Must be Haven't had time yet... could anyone help? Please.. Pretty please... I didn't say your name, Max - I hope you noticed that...

Stalin's nephew is the opposing CO - all the ammo in Russia! BFC knows about it - Patience With all the BCR modifications/requests/investigations/extras etc that still need to be done BFC's bound to get there first... Have a look at the update doc on Friday and you'll understand Biltong

Hi. Would you do the me the favor of explaining where I > should put the zip files to play? I really like your > concept on this and am dying to see what you did. > > Thanks, jesse Hi Jesse, Not sure which zips you’re talking about - I assume the maps? See the Map Intro below: V1.3 Last updated 3 Dec 2002 It is now quite possible to play the whole of BCR on pre-made maps. In other words: a massive Operation covering the whole CMBB theatre of operations from 41 to 45…. HOW There are no modifications to BCR (yet)… Depending on Year, Size, Battle & Map Type etc., you will simply download the relevant Map Pack on the Map List… Create a folder called BCR Maps under CMBB and save the maps there. If you’ve already played the one on the sheet, you simply take the next one. If there’s no ‘next one’ yet, you generate as before. When you generate the Real Battle and you come to the 3rd (Map Type) screen of the QB generator you ignore the parameters there and use the ‘Import Map’ option to load the map file out of the ‘BCR Maps’ folder… and that is that! Cary on as per normal with the BCR – Buy your force and play the battle... Voila!! Once you’ve finished the battle – Put a ‘Y’ in the ‘Played’ box to prevent you accidentally playing the same map again. Biltong [ December 07, 2002, 05:35 AM: Message edited by: Biltong ]

86 writes: "I'm confused. What use is the big arty/big arty roll. It seems to serve onyl to generate bigger battles while lessening your forces. You have to choose from what the computer picked in your auto generated auxillery forces, correct? And the computer never picks big arty or big air. Example: I roll 700 points of arty. I generate the auxillery QB to see what get. It chooses a 75mm spotter and an 105 spotter. So, during the real battle, all I can choose are those 2 spotters. Thats only ~170 points. But battle size is increased by 700! Am I missing something?” Yep – Rule 7: “If you have points left in an Auxiliary Category after buying all the units you picked from those generated by the Auto QB (47) you can choose what you want to buy from the normal QB unit list (in that category only) until you have used up the Purchase Points for that Category. However - you are not allowed to change Nation or Division… If you have points for a category and there are no units on offer for that Nat/Div - tough luck - you lose the points.” Apache writes: I'm also not sure about the casualty thing. I noted that if I switched to allow Soviet purchase by human and I entered a 1000 point force at 50% casualties, it allows you to spend 2,000 (of which 50% will be deleted). I would have thought it would set you to buy 1000 and cut them by half? It would be logical, but I’m sure BFC had a good reason to do it this way – Search the posts/manual – More than likely it was discussed somewhere. "Should we therefore use any kind of modifier to take account of our own casualties? It seems to be only us and not the AI that will get losses to forces." The short answer: Yes – If we don’t most players will leave the campaign once the Nov/Dec Casualties start taking their toll. Ok, let me set out my reasons for using Max’s suggestion (and not the 100 others . Battle Type, Player Experience, Handicap, Casualties and your Force New Rule/formula: Note 11 - Provisional Force Size CMBB automatically gives the side that Assaults; Attacks or Probes extra Purchase Points at the following ratio: Battle Type Multiplier: Assault: 1.72; Attack: 1.5 and Probe 1.4 If you (the Axis) are doing one of the above you must also get extra Purchase Points or (the way we do it here) the Allieds must be given less (reduced Force Size). Also: Axis Casualties must be catered for since the Axis (player) side is heavily penalized by CMBB. Provisional Force Size = Total Purchase Points * (1 - Casualty Percentage / Battle Type Multiplier) Fill this in the box provided on the Parameter Sheet Example 1: Purchase Points: 1000; Casualty: 20%; Battle Type: AssaultProvisional Force Size = 1000 * (1 - .2) / 1.72 = 465 (round up) Note: The Battle Type only has an influence if the Axis Attack/Assault/Probe – in all other cases it is: 1. And: Casualty percentage is made into decimals, E.g.: 20% becomes .2 (see example above) ------------------------------------------ Let me explain it a bit in detail: 1. The new formula for managing player Force Size takes into account: · Battle Type: E.g.: Assault give you 1.72 times your Purchase Points etc · Casualties – E.g.: Casualties of 40% or more (esp. when combined with a bad Handicap) would chase most players out of the campaign. The formula counteracts both modifiers above from decimating your force/Purchase Points to such a degree that you are unable to have a reasonable battle. 2. Most suggestions on this topic wanted Player Experience to be included in the formula, but this is sufficiently handled by Handicap. Handicap also takes care of the historical aspect such as: time of year and Allied numerical superiority when launching a mayor counter offensive. Or, put differently: Battle Type Most of you will know this, but a side that Assaults gets 1.72 times it’s Force Size, an Attacker (1.5 x); a Prober (1.4 x). Without the new formula players would have to Assault with the Purchase Points they rolled up and never get the extra (1.72 x) points that they need to carry out a successful Assault. The new formula takes care of this problem directly. Player Experience This has a mayor influence on Handicap – or vice versa: Handicap is the most important way that Player Experience is brought into the game. A Conscript Player will have an easy go of it: 1% Handicap in June up to a worst case of: 32% in December, while a Crack will face from 38% in June to 95% Handicap in December. See Chart below. Casualties The effect of Casualties on the number of men that you deploy (i.e.: your Purchase Points) effectively falls away – NOTE: This aspect is taken care of by Handicap! BUT a very important aspect of Casualties: The disorganization of your force is kept… You still have enough points to buy/fight with (depending on Handicap), but your force could become very disjointed: Half squads, missing Core Tanks etc… Very realistic when it comes to the –30 degree temperatures and the counter offensives the Axis endured in the winter. Handicap · Handicap becomes the main vehicle to bring Player Experience into play. · Indirectly Handicap also represents casualties – The men & vehicles the Axis lost due to the winter cold and Allied counter offensives is ‘taken out’ by Handicap. This is done ‘indirectly’ since the Allieds are simply given more purchase points instead of reducing the Axis Purchase Points. Av Handicap % on 20 rolls //------June------//------Sept-------//-------Dec Con--Reg--Crack//Con--Reg--Crack//Con--Reg--Crack -1---9.25---38.5//6.25-31.5--52.5-//32.5-67.5---95 I hope this clears it up/ When I first looked at Max’s suggestion I thought it still needed Player Exp modification on the Casualty side of things, but then I started testing it and the results are spot on. Since then it has been tested over and over (for various other reasons as well) and it works and it is Simple – the ideal

What the hell - one last thing: For those of you starting new battles with the new Force Rule (somewhere above?) You can use this as well 36 HANDICAP < 2 None 2-3 Allied +10% 4-7 Allied +25% 8 Allied +50% 9 Allied +75% 9 > Allied +100% "June -4; July -3; Aug -2; Sept -1 October (4th week) to Dec +4 Player Experience: Conscript -4; Green -2; Player Experience: Veteran +2; Crack +4; Elite +6 See Note 12 - Player Experience Note 12 - Player Experience " In Arty/Air (31) and especially in Handicap (36) your Player Experience act as a modifier. Be very careful when giving yourself a rating. If you overestimate yourself you will have a very hard time! CONSCRIPT - You have less than 6 months of war-gaming experience. GREEN - You have played CMBO/CMBB for 2 years and have some other war-game experience as well. REGULAR - I class myself in this category: 30 years war-gaming on and off with 5 years intensive war-gaming. CMBO/CMBB from the 1st CMBO demo 5+ PBEM's per night. VETERAN - You win 80% of your TCPIP/PBEM games CRACK - Maybe a 100 out of the thousands in the CMBB community? ELITE - Only two or 3 that I know of… If you win more than 6 battles in a row – increase your Player Experience by one notch. But beware of the Winter!! Off to bed - G'night

We aim to bring out one map pack every week - each one to contain a number of maps - each map having 7 versions - see post above. And Thanx for the feedback - Manstein22 will be 'most pleased' Now if I can just get off this board I'll go and start on the next one... Got a beautifull map from Pete Wenman - NOT FLAT AT ALL - Max Super/Apache/Max - take over - I'm outa here.. [ December 07, 2002, 05:21 AM: Message edited by: Biltong ]

...Oh, I don't think that would be a good idea, me and writing (in english no less!) ... Just trying my luck ... And haven't there been only one map released so far?... No - each map pack comes with a number of maps and each one has 7 versions!! Axis Assault; Attack; Probe; Allied Assault; Attack; Probe and a Meeting Engagement... Go and get them! Just got the first feedback above or below? ... I'm been toying with the idea of HQ's getting better bonuses as they get more experienced, but nothing solid yet... Sounds interesting...? Let us know... and my guys are still green, no hurry Just been testing the new Player Exp modifiers... they might give you a hand [ December 07, 2002, 05:16 AM: Message edited by: Biltong ]

Give Manstein22 & the other map designers a bit more time and you'll never have to play 'flat maps' again... Have you tried the map add-on Apache? What about some feedback? Biltong G** Just rolled up a few of them - 'pool tables' the whole lot!! Not a single dip! Fixed!! 10% chance to hit one in July - Aug only. :mad: 45 HILLINESS < 2 Flat June +1; Sept - Oct +1; Nov - Dec +2 2-5 Gentle Slopes 6-7 Small Hills 8-9 Modest Hills 9 > Large Hills [ December 02, 2002, 06:14 PM: Message edited by: Biltong ]

Fixed - see post further down. The second example makes me wonder if it's not a bit unfair that my core gets 4130/800~5 experience points for basically lying on a shooting range watching 400 guys 500 meters away get blown to bits. I have had other fights, really tense ones, with heavy losses to both sides, that didn't yield nearly as much. Maybe total combat exp shouldn't be (Allied Cas/purchase points) but ((Allied cas + Axis cas)/Purchase points - 1)? That wouldn't yield a higher overall score, but would reward the close fights more than the really uneven ones. Great minds - we've been discussing this... and your formula looks interesting, but not tonight! Just been testing Casualties and Player experience for 3? days and I'd prefer to give the Excel sheets a miss for a couple of days However - your suggestions is number 2 on the new to do list Keep 'em coming... You're helping to make BCR better for everybody Biltong [ December 03, 2002, 02:04 PM: Message edited by: Biltong ]

Hiya Scooby - Welcome back Sorry that I missed the questions during last weeks mad rush... I've 'fixed' both questions already to prevent them coming up again. LOL 1) On the 'Unit Info Panel' on the game interface there's a little red button that comes on only if your guys are really panicked for good. Once on, it stays on for the duration of the game (AFAIK). Panic/Broken column heading changed to “Rattled – Note 5” Note 5: Red 'Rattled' Button activated on the 'Unit Info Panel' in the game. See 11 (p. 24) CMBB manual. 2)The empty space is there for you to use as you see fit... Extra Core/Scrounged, shopping list whatever... I left it there as an indication... Added this line to Note 7 in the Rules: "Note down the units in your Core Force and Scrounged units (if any) on the Core Sheet. You might have to use the empty lines (or insert more lines) when the composition of your Core Force changes." Hope these do the trick Biltong

Hi Sten, That was 80% of the solution... Casualties had to be accounted for as well or most players would have left the campaign before the end of 41 The rule modifications has been minimal - see post above... and thoroughly tested... works well from Conscript to Elite, for all months, and for the rest of the campaign till 45 as well. Biltong

I don’t know if this is as it should work or if it is a bug – and if so, if it has been reported yet. In the Map editor you can set the ‘friendly’ sides as North/South… I tested it a couple of times (before & after the patch), but when you generate forces they still hug the West/East borders of your setup zones. Whether they retreat North/South I did not test. However – since we assume it is a bug, it is a mayor pain for the map designers creating variations for Biltong’s Campaign Rules (Map Add-On Packs). We need to make 7 maps (Axis Ass.; Att.; Pr. // Allied Ass.; Att.; Pr. // ME) preferably from a single map by varying setup zones; flag numbers & positions; and some terrain features. If we could switch the existing map to South/North for some of the variations it would make our lives a lot easier…. Anyone knows if this is as it should be? Will the units retreat to the assigned side? A bug? Reported as such? Does BFC know about it? Much appreciated Biltong

Tried it - no luck - just the last/end map can be saved/imported... might be for cheat prevention? Would be nice... generate the one after the other until you get something you like and save... I could do with that