Erwin

I thought Aris was slowing down his modding. But, these are wonderful. We reap the benefit of all his experience with previous titles. Please don't burn out, Aris!

Thank you for the JagdPanther, Aris!!

Amazing work. Thank you.

Thanks for your note. The problem with these other d/l sites is that it's hard to know which button to click on to get the d/l you want. It's too easy to find yourself downloading something you don't want. These sites are clearly designed to be confusing like that. I For example: I just the site again and clicked on the file itself. Pretty logical, yes. But, I immediately got a pitch for some gambling operation. Then I tried the blue button to the bottom right, and I get some British Telecom promotional ****. Then the one under the big arrow, and I get some other pitch for Adobe... My AVG tries to debug it and nothing happens. Somehow in all of this, the screens file did get downloaded(!) and am installing now. However, a very scary experience. BTW: The screens all look very good. The force-specific screens include the ones in the splash screen folder, so one isn't missing anything. Thank you...

Be aware there may be something malicious on this site. I tried to d/l the file and my AVG went on alert. Then, I got an alarming message - voice and text(!) - supposed from MS warning me that my computer was infected and that my bank details and CC info was being stolen, that MS had frozen my computer, and that I had to immediately call MS to get problem fixed. My computer would not respond to any commands or clicks. What I did was turn the machine off and reboot. Seems fine now. I'll do some AVG and Spuyot scans now, just in case. I wish people would simply upload to CMMODS. These other d/l sites can be very weird or malicious.

I didn't say that I was 35. But somewhere around that age is a dividing line between folks who were brought up in the new interface environment and us oldsters.

Yes, Very good Campaign concept. Looking forward to it.

Remember that many here don't have English as their first language. It's a miracle we understand each other at all. I can barely understand American English (or Scottish for that matter). One has to be so careful what one says here in case one inadvertently starts a blood feud with some psycho coming after you, your family, your pet... and everything you loved. ...Oh wait... that was a movie I saw... Never mind...

I agree the "rag tag" is better in CMFB. However, AFAIK AFV and IFV loadouts are still identical. In the previous CM2 titles all units were very cookie cutter. CM1 seemed more random in the way units were armed and supplied.

Re the rag-tag look, a related issue is that all the squads of a CM2 platoon are identical to each other in terms of weapons and ammo load-outs. It seemed more believable in CMSF, but not from what I read re WW2 era. CM1 did a much better job featuring the rag-tag assortment of weapons etc found in WW2 squads of the same platoon. It's one of those odd retrograde steps of CM2.

I checked the effect of CF at the start of Missions 1-4 vs fighting to some sort of victory. It seemed that at the start of #3 and #4 at least, there were a lot more intact US forces at the start when one was defeated in the previous battle vs when one won. So, yes there is a reason to win each mission. Also, the resupply takes place at the start of mission #3 (am guessing that is only if one chooses to rest for the night for resupply). So, one can be profligate with ammo, and probably men and machines, in #1 and #2. But in #3 and onwards, one needs to become very conservative in expending either. That wasn't stated explicitly in the briefing, or I would have been less wasteful of ammo (especially in #4 where I blasted everything with every gun and MG that could get LOS). So... If one ends up with not enuff stuff in #4 (Stavelot) or #5 (Stoumont), it may be necessary to replay #3 to get a victory (ensuring that you will face fewer US units in #4) with less expenditure of KG Peiper's ammo and equipment in both #3 and #4. That way one hopefully ends up with sufficient ammo and machines for #5 onwards.

************ SPOILER ************* I made multiple saves during mission #4 (Stavelot) and CF'd to see what effect the final result had on the next mission #5 (Stoumont). Well... I couldn't see any difference in the starting situation of #5 regardless if I had a Total Defeat all the way thru Major Victory at Stavelot. The advantage of ending the Stavelot mission early with a CF (turn one Total Defeat even) is that you save your units, keep all your 81mm and 120mm mortar ammo and also all the vehicles' ammo - NONE of which seems to be resupplied/replaced for Stoumont. That is horribly gamey of course, and I hate to do that. But, I would hate even more to fight 2 hours of Stoumont only to find out that it's not possible to win with the minimal amount of mortar ammo and the badly depleted units (especially infantry and engineers) one may have to start that mission (assuming you used a lot of mortar and vehicular ammo, and took over 5% casualties in earlier missions). On the other hand, I am having such a great time with this campaign, maybe it IS possible to win with depleted units. I'll probably tough it out and see if I can win with what I am left with. Of course since one doesn't get resupply in the Stoumont mission or thereafter, if one is very low on ammo at this point, that may be an even worse problem in the following missions even if one has the units. Note: One only gets a resupply in one mission of KG Peiper. But, the briefing doesn't tell you in which mission. You have to pay attention to which mission that occurs, and be frugal from then on. I didn't notice, and for that reason I am tempted to replay this campaign from the start now that I understand that better. However, that is a major PITA as it's hard to forget where the enemy units are positioned so soon after playing KG Peiper the first time. The good news is that (am pretty sure) one can simply CF at the start of each of the first 4 missions without penalties, and get to Stoumont with 100% intact forces and full ammo. The apparent lack of any need to win in missions 1-4 is this campaign's only glaring "issue". PS: Once again, I got more than a platoon of tanks plus Halftracks across that bridge with no problems. Try making lots of small waypoints across the bridge so the units don't get confused. And yes, one probably wants to get across when the Allied arty isn't falling. Hint: If needed, use lots of vehicular smoke to quickly create a smokescreen that hides the entire bridge and its approaches.

Was curious: I know that if one loses mission #5 (Stoumont) the campaign ends. But, does it matter in the first 4 missions whether one loses, draws, or even what scale of victory one achieves? Because one is given so few infantry, and it is so easy to lose infantry, am wondering if it's better to aim for a draw (or maybe even a loss is fine), or a minor victory and not bother attempting anything better since achieving a higher victory level is usually costly in losses (which do not seem to be replaced), and I cannot see any benefit from a higher level of victory (or is there a benefit??). Also noticed: The arty in mission #5 (Stoumont) is missing one 105mm battery (according to the briefing). Regarding resupply and replacements, the Stoumont briefing warns that there will be no further ammo resupply, and to conserve mortar ammo. However, I didn't receive any 81mm or 120mm resupply after mission #4, so Stoumont starts with already low ammo for the mortars. Is that a briefing error, or have I misunderstood the resupply issues? PS: Re the Stavelot Bridge (or any bridge) issue, try always putting the max number of waypoints across a bridge plus MOVE or SLOW. I put a platoon and a half of vehicles across that bridge with no problems.

I LOVE this campaign. Am on mission #4 and so far this is one of the best campaigns of any CM2 title - great maps and very interesting situations. Congrats to everyone who had a hand in it's creation.

Yes, you are correct. I removed all my sound mods and the default is the same track for both. I do not know why I thought I was hearing different music. My bad...

ok, thanks, I'll give it another try. However, I know that the pretty pictures of all the CM games in Scenario Depot are not clickable, so why have them...? Am having the same update irritation with Windows 10. Windows 7 does everything and runs everything I need. It's a major pain to be forced to learn a new OS... And there will be something else in a couple of years. Other than making $ for MS, it's daft. When they come up with an OS that is 100% reliably voice activated, then I will get up to date, and save the hundreds of man hours trying to learn a new system to do exactly what I am already doing. Yes, I guess I'm getting old and cranky. All you chaps out there, don't age over 35. It gets horrible!

Just remember Aris that you only get one chance to make a good first impression. I got into lots of trouble cos I was being begged and begged to show something I was working on that wasn't completed to my satisfaction. The begging is flattering, but I lost a lot of credibility by giving something out that I was still working on. In my experience, many people are SO easily disappointed and picky.

Am pretty certain that the default splash and intro music files are different. It's just the user-made mods that have trouble.

Thanks again to you and of course Vin. Am on a ship somewhere in Atlantic, so finally lots of time to play CM2 and these mods are all wonderful. Speaking of mods and user-made scenarios etc. I have a hard time figuring out the new CMMODs and SCENARIO DEPOT iii. I used the old versions of these sites all the time. Now, they seem less intuitive and it's a lot harder to find anything (from say last year) - unless you are downloading everything as soon as it appears. Is it just me?

Thank you. That's nice of you. FWiW I use "heavy" version in all CM2 games.

Ah... so the BF default music wavs play as they should, but the mods do not play as they should. Ok, thanks for letting me know... I was spending ages renaming and messing around with the files lol.

Ok, I figured this must have been thought of b4. Thanks tho'... I might see if one can put Vin's text back to "Casualty" for this item now there are so many red crosses. The text word would more easily distinguish the state from merely light WIA (your red cross in white circle). (Or, maybe use the default yellow.) Not a big deal anyhow. And thanks again for your superb work!

Trying use some sound mods created for CMFB. The weird issue is that whatever sound mod I name "music intro.wav" also insists on playing when the "music splash.wav" should be playing instead. Any thoughts?

I can't believe no one else has not first thought of this, but FWIW: I love the little circular white & red cross symbols Juju uses when a guy is slightly WIA. But, a red cross symbol is also used for KIA - and in the heat of the action it's confusing. How about another symbol for KIA eg: skull and bones or a cemetery cross or something similar to visually get the idea across that this soldier is out of action permanently?

"it will be released when finished." Quite correct. The same excellent philosophy as BF. Take whatever time it requires to get it "right". And thank you. It must be a lot of work.