Erwin

Yah... If there were female units that could have appeared in CM2 battles, then it would be an interesting addition equal to other unique units that people often request. Why not?

IIRC, CM2 walls & buildings have holes that can be made by shells, bullets etc, so exactly what you are saying can happen.

Ironically, when CMBN first came out, didn't we beg for a mod to remove the Musette?

Designers could make this more like RL by making friendly casualties have larger penalties - rather like we often saw in CMSF scenarios. If a player could more easily lose a game cos he was profligate with his men's lives, it would probably make CM2 battles more realistic. And re Michael's good point about CM scale. That is the reason many of us still play and enjoy CM1 as it has a different feel to it... being less "bitty" and not requiring as much micro-management as CM2 - thus enabling much larger but very playable scenarios.

Since missions in a campaign can easily be considered to be weeks/months apart (with additional actions in-between), that one could realistically have units gain experience as well as be allowed to promote and award medals - rather like we can in the Silent Hunter submarine series. Always seemed that it would greatly enhance the game and add to immersion. Not holding my breath tho'.

Very interesting. Thanks

I hope this works. Getting an operational level would revolutionize both CM1 and CM2 campaigns.

******spoilers******** This is a very simple and short 30 min scenario. No time for finesse. Maybe the only real challenge is doing it with no friendly casualties. Playing WEGO Elite, I won a Total Victory with 12 minutes left. 3 KIA, 3 WIA, and only 3 Russians still alive. I simply ran my guys thru the Left flank trees which gets you most of the way up the map. A bit boring. It was easy to get into the woods bordering the RR tracks. I took 1 casualty. But, as long as you keep the platoon mostly together, any Russian who fires, is quickly killed. It was easy to run across the RR tracks to the other side and then attack the tower from that side. I took most of my casualties doing that a bit too close to the tower. Had I run them over a couple dozen meters further from the tower, I doubt they would have been seen. The other casualties were from moving towards the tower through the first set of woods on the side where the Germans start. (Had to overcome 3 sets of foxholes with a Russian team in each.) By firing on the tower, it was easy for a team to enter and take possession. My suggestion is to put ambushes in the woods all over the place to slow the Germans down. (I basically ran them everywhere without resistance.) But, then double the time allowed so it's more of a "sneaky" recon mission rather than a run till you get contact.

Especially big chicks.

We have long asked for a system that automatically shifts MG's (at least) so that the gunner would attempt to get LOS to the target. Currently, if the 3rd ammo carrier can see the target there is usually no way to get the gunner to see and therefore shoot at the target. It may be impractical to program this. But, it is one of the last glaring irritations in the CM2 system. In this regard CM1 works better.

I am now on the 7th mission of this campaign. I just had to post what a terrific campaign this is and how much I am enjoying it. Every mission has been different with a different character and challenges. I really like the fact that many missions seem to be on parts of the same map, so one feels there is a progression - rather like the way Operations worked in CM1. The mix of units is terrific. You get everything from conscript and green religious factions, Regular and Veteran Mercenaries thru Veteran and Crack (even at least one Elite) Para and Special Forces units. You get to operate every soft "technical" vehicle available armed with MG's, HMG's, AA guns and Recoilless... And of course there are the awesome BMP3's and T-72's with a variety of arty and even occasional air support. So, far I have even had a Shilka. A major aspect of what makes a scenario great is when you can have lost of "micro-battles" occurring all over a large map, and you have to decide which ones to reinforce or back away from in order to accomplish the overall objectives. Every mission in this campaign has been lovingly designed that way. And with all the amazing UNCON mods available, this scenario, while about Libya, easily looks like a scenario about Syrian or Iraqi govt forces fighting ISIS. Excellent effort by this designer.

Agreed. What makes a a great scenario is that it offers many smaller battles within the mission that all are required to support/achieve the overall objective.

It's ironic that we are given this huge "non-realistic" advantage of being able to check LOS to a target from any waypoint. But, then this is taken away since so many times when one's unit actually gets to that waypoint, one's unit actually doesn't have LOS to the desired target. Ya just gotta learn to live with it. On the whole it's a huge aid to be able to see LOS from a waypoint as it usually works.

It would be useful to have the choice of a shorter WEGO time frame(s) and 60 secs. But, we have so many other "God-like" advantages when playing this game that allowing the AI 60 secs to get back at us seems fair.

For my own education I have some questions though... I have two folders each called something like MORDS COMBATANTS. One folder has 8 bmp's of UNCOM's plus a bunch of mds files eg: "syriafighter 1-lod-3 1.mds" thru "syriafighter 4-lod 5 4.mds" and 4 simpler files called "syriafighter 1.mds" thru "syriafighter 4.mds". What are mds files and what is the significance of all those numbers etc? I also have a 2nd folder that simply has 10 "syriacombatant x.bmp files numbered 1-10 and NO other files like .mds. (8 files look the same as in the larger folder, but two are different.) I was thinking of copying over the extra two syriacombatant files to the larger folder, but what does that do? Or, can I simply just use the folder that only has the 10 bmp files... and why? ALSO... I have another folder called Mord's Mixed UNCOM Combatants v1 which includes 8 "Cyrian-spy-uniform" bmps along with a bunch of the "lod mds files etc. and a subfolder called Mord's Combatants along with more lod mds files. And how to ensure files named "pyrian" or "ryrian" are used if I want? Am completely confused why this is all so complicated. Can anyone explain if I have a bunch of duplicates or if I need em all, and how to use em when several seem duplicates?

I loved the opening close up shot... For a second to two I thought it was a staged WW2 B/W propaganda film.

Kudos to that brave brit reporter.

Saferight has cornered the market on helmet nets. Looks very 3D real.

The mods that I currently have are working fine. However, before I read the above I did rename some files that just looked "wrong" - and I now learn I should not have done that. So the effects are uncertain since many of the mods are quite similar. My game plays fine. Not sure if I am seeing the mods that I should be seeing. Not a big deal... Thanks for the links I will redownload and compare with what I have. Thanks to all for your suggestions. I will be fine now.

"We would fulfill our NATO obligations and face it, the US is the bulk of NATO's power. As it stands the cost of this venture has a real possibility of undermining the Putin regime from within." I hope so. But, it's easier for us living thousands of miles away (as it was for the US in WW1 and WW2). However, family I know in the countries that would be right in the firing line are freaking out. When Hitler marched into the Rhineland he could have easily been embarrassed and possibly deposed there and then - ditto for Czechoslovakia and Poland. A year later it was too late. I don't think Putin is Hitler. He's probably a very nice chap in person and a wonderful dinner companion. (And I look forward to dinner in the Kremlin when next in Moscow.) But, I do believe he is about holding onto, and expanding his power. And am not sure who is behind him and what their strategic interests are. The threat of confiscation of all the Russian money etc. held in foreign banks (and deportation of their families living abroad including their kids in foreign boarding schools) is probably the largest stick the west can realistically use - and the most humane (vs war). But, we have made our own financial sectors (am looking at you, UK) a party to the massive money laundering of illicitly obtained Russian booty. Our own capitalists' greed stands in the way. Jon: Very interesting article and viewpoint. Although not clear why the problem is now than (say) during Tsarist times or the "Great Terror".

agusto: I do agree with you. Probably this is one problem that we could use nukes on. However, I am on principle always suspicious of propaganda. And I agree with sburke: We need the Arab states that are threatened by the ISIS and similar movements to get off their camel-limos and do some of the heavy lifting instead of getting the west to do their dirty work while they then pretend to condemn us so they can placate their own rebellious populations. And as for Ukraine, I reckon it will be %^$^ed by the west/NATO and everyone knows it. Poland and Czechoslavakia all over again. My own family's Baltic States... tricky. Putin has a real opportunity to completely unravel NATO.

"Go after Billions of corrupt money stolen from Russian and laundered in UK, EU and USA." Unfortunately, that money is bolstering their weak economies. UK/"The City" is staying afloat cos it's built a reputation as a haven for illegal money. (Source: John Le Carre.) Everyone is hopelessly compromised by corruption these days.

I couldn't find some that I have renamed... they may have come from CMMODS - and its CMSF area is not functioning.

Trouble is that we don't really know if this is anti-ISIS propaganda or for real. These days it is very hard to tell what's really true... I mean, is this a "Germans bayonetting babies in WW1" story (except these days a lot more sophisticated) etc??

I enjoy using Smash's WW2 icons. Are those Vein's flames? I think they come in different speed version - which one is this?