Erwin

And better coffee as well!!!!

I used it yesterday and just did a test and was able to successfuly d/l again just now. I believe you have to register at CMMODS. They are not connected officially to BF site.

I think someone did tests and apparently he concluded that the attributes do make a difference statistically. But, they have a much more subtle effect in CM2 vs CM1 where they had a very noticeable effect. Maybe it's the way I handle my pixeltruppen, but I haven't noticed any difference in CM2 even with no HQ at all. Wish the effects were less subtle.

The lowly jeep has always been one of my favorite modded vehicles in the game ever since CM1. So, thank you...

Thanks mate...

That's nice of you SLR. I was thinking the same.

I am impressed you're really doing a perfect job on this!

Well it seemed to d/l ok - seemed like a small folder actually. But, when the password window appeared those windows on my computer froze up and I can't do anything with em. Fortunately I can still get here. I will now have to reboot and hope this d/l hasn't done something malicious. Use CMMODS mate.

Oops. I didn't read the earlier part of the thread. I just thought there was a side discussion mentioning Ayn Rand. Wasn't attempting to make any argument vs anyone who posted here.

Apologies if this is a bit OT but I just happened to have completed Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and was struck at how the situation she describes re the virtues of unfettered free enterprise is almost exactly the opposite of what we're living thru today. In AR's world the heroes of industry were men of iron who invented and built things, made railways run etc. What would she or her characters have thought of Wall Street bail outs, failed executives of failed companies being rewarded with huge bonuses, outsourcing to other countries, the biggest rewards to gamblers/financial manipulators who produce nothing...? I think she and they would have been appalled - hence the lack of any AR material being used by right wing politicos today.

I got: "The file you are looking for seems to be unavailable at the moment. Please come back later." Is there some reason, health issue etc that would prevent you from posting it on CMMODS or The Repository?

Firstly, it's critical that Pandur not be penalized by other players reading the preceding posts and thinking his "KG Himmelfahrt" scenario is not worth playing. I have played only one hour of it so far, but this scenario has the potential for being a very good, challenging and entertaining scenario, (and becoming a personal favorite). It may not be big compared to CM1 scenarios, but "KG Himmelfahrt" is large by CM2 standards and I applaud Pandur for going to the considerable time and trouble of creating a large battalion-sized attack scenario with interesting objectives. And as I mentioned b4, sburke deserves thanks and credit for designing such a terrific map. I urge anyone interested in larger CM2 engagements to try Pandur's "KG Himmelfahrt" scenario. You will not be disappointed. I appreciate your apology, sburke. It takes a lot of cojones, cohones...? ah wtf... balls to do that. Thank you. FYI: I write very abbreviated. I don't intend to make my posts sound snitty. I am simply used to writing very fast and very directly to the point due to time constraints. I was fully prepared to haunt you, Vanir and Mord to the end of days about getting the discussed feedback from you, so you have saved me (us?) a LOT of trouble. Thank you again. I hope we can have a fresh start. And yes, I think the points you raise above are good. I tried to use the bridge for the first 2 companies as I figured that's what a RL CO would do rather than risk immobilizations in a ford. However, I gave up and used the ford for Co 3 and there were no bogging issues at all. Your other ideas to mitigate Co 1's pointless hour-long trudge through undefended woods also have merit. I can only presume that we haven't heard anything more from Vanir and Mord as they are deeply involved in playing "KG Himmelfahrt" in order to help Pandur out with their feedback lol. Now I have to figure out if go back to "KG Himmelfahrt" and po LLF since I promised him that I'd play his very impressive-looking Pacific War Makin Island invasion scenario, or start his Makin Island and leave "Himmelfahrt" hanging. Man... strategic executive level decisions are exhausting!

VERY interesting. Well worth the 38 minutes to watch. Probably the best doc on the era I have ever seen. Lots of great first person accounts by soldiers, great footage, esp the destroyed convoys in the Salang Pass; a description of an operation that sounds like it could make for a good CMA scenario/campaign. Great sayings re the accuracy of the tribesmen's British Enfields (I assume): "You raise your head, you are dead." Wonderful stuff. And the Soviet inf carried 70 kilos(!) That's around 140 pounds. My knees ache just thinking about it. Even RL executions of Russian prisoners by the Muj. Be warned, there is some grim stuff here. But, I learned a lot. It's a very good understated film that one isn't sure if it's propaganda or not. It makes the war seem so futile and hopeless that you want to shoot yourself. It occurred to me how much better Hollywood could have done this as a "Why We Fight" film that could have helped support the US efforts in Afghanistan (and elsewhere). Maybe a good thing they didn't then. And what an ironic ending as the Soviets leave the country having "given it back to the people so they can leave in peace the way they want" or words to that effect - esp in light of the current west's pull out. Thank you for finding this.

CMMODS is the quickest and most convenient. But, it's useful to have everything at the BF Repository as it sorts a bit better. Am baffled why anyone uses any other strange commercial sites that barrage one with ads... unless someone is making money from our clicks of course.

There are some great words of wisdom in this thread. In general I think Broadsword has the overall "set-up strategy" absolutely correct when he said: "The only thing I'd add is that IMHO, deployment is at least half the battle -- maybe more -- when it comes to defense -- not only in CM but IRL." His xnt observation is also pertinent for offensive ops (certainly in any of the CM games).

"The problem is what you're suggesting is too easy and tempting for players, even players like me who are adamantly against it. Dangle an apple in front of someone and they're going to bite it eventually, it's human nature." So basically alcohol, and ciggies, porn, strip clubs, short skirts, women's hair and all those other things that prey on certain peoples' weaknesses should also be unavailable? Am not being snide. It is a perfectly legitimate POV Pak. There's many folks who would agree with you that all such phenomena be unavailable.

That is a really well produced/edited little video. Well done!

That's actually very nice of you Pandur as I DO really like your scenario and I WAS starting to really enjoy it - after I slogged through the first 30-40 minutes - which I believed unnecessary for the reasons stated above. imo the your scenario would be much improved if it started about 30 minutes later when one has maybe 15 or so minutes remaining of maneuver before one makes contact. But, my opinion is based solely on what I think makes for a fun and enetertaining game, and I couldn't care less about the traffic cop challenges of getting 3 companies across a completely undefended bridge and river. Once you've played one of those types of scenarios, you've played em all. What amazes me is the response from people who are not even the scenario designer(!) and who apparently can't even be bothered to play the scenario themselves. I am honestly hoping and assuming that SBURKE, MORD, and VANIR (and anyone else who doesn't like my feedback) will now step in and show me (and all of us) us all how it should be done. If you're going to start dumping on people and discouraging players from helping other designers who ASKED for feedback, then surely it is only reasonable that the "dumpers" take on the responsibility of stepping in and helping Pandur with better quality feedback themelves. I am sure that Pandur would appreciate the much more professional and erudite feedback comments from SBURKE, MORD, and VANIR. And I would too as I not too proud to always learn from people more accomplished and professional than myself. So SBURKE, MORD, and VANIR, I eagerly await your first instalment of your feedback. I am just curious... will you post after every 30 minutes of play, or after you have completed the full 4 hours? Or, do you have some other method? Once we read your own assessment of the scenario, we will all be able to make a more informed judgement as to whether this scenario is worth playing. So, thank you for stepping in and releasing me to go play other designer's scenarios who have also asked for feedback - I am particularly intrigued by the Pacific Front Makin scenario. I didn't think I was going to be able to get to that for weeks. But, your kind actions will now allow me to look at it right away. So, all in all... it's a win-win for Pandur to have SBURKE, MORD, and VANIR help him now, and a win-win-win for you 3 to finally show us all how a really good feedback looks like. Everyone is happy, and what a wonderful resolution to the matter. And please don't feel that I will no longer pay attention to Pandur's scenario and your feedback. I promise to check in from time to time to see how you guys are getting on...

Hard to answer easily. If you are competitive, it all depends on how hard the determination of LOS from key positions may be. And that depends on the map.

And this: "All I can say is wow. That takes some serious brass to say while pleading with others to create work for you to your design specs" "If you didn't bitch or have a passive aggressive comment for just about everything anybody here ever does, designers might be apt to consider your viewpoint more openly. You are one of the most demanding dudes on this board. Everything with you is "work"...CMX2 is work...the scenario is work...loading mods is work. Thing is, you aren't doing any work...you are benefiting from the WORK other people do...and apparently nobody can do any of it well enough to satisfy you. It gets f*****' old." I bet I play more CM2 than you guys put together. But, I am thrilled to be released from what I considered a moral imperative to make an effort playing or giving feedback on your scenarios since you had gone to the effort to make em. Maybe it's time you play em yourselves and then you can pat each other on the back as much as you like. I will be fascinated to read your detailed and most assuredly more accurate feedback on the games I have reported on that have upset you so much and am confident that your comments will be appearing shortly.

Guys, designers... you put out scenarios and you bitch that no one downloads them or plays them.. You plead for feedback... Ok, so I am one of the VERY FEW players here who actually THANKS designers for all their work, AND spends 4-6 hours a day playing CM2, testing out your scenarios and campaigns in order to write down detailed feedback for you. Suddenly you don't like the feedback. You argue with the person you just asked for feedback from. If you don't want to hear any feedback that disagrees with your conviction that everything you have done is perfect, then I suggest that you say you don't want to have your work critiqued, you just want to be worshipped. I was a professional writer for many years and ALL one receives is criticism of one's work. One learns to be mature enuff to understand that it's meant to be helpful, or you are forced out of the business cos nobody can stand that sort of childish attitude "that my work cannot be improved". No worries, I don't need to bother to take the time and trouble to play your scenarios so you can get detailed feedback, and you'll have to rely on... Hmm... who else...? I guess we'll see...

"So many times I have moved units somewhere that seems good tactically and their LOS/LOF is nothing like I imagine from looking at the map." Well yes, this is THE problem. That's why to play "well" one has to look at LOS from every waypoint, even setting waypoints at possible enemy locations to see what they may be able to see. And even after all that, you may not have a good LOS picture. This process is 90% of the game imo. Fighting in this way vs the game system certainly takes most of my gameplay time. The tactics are the easy part since they won't matter if you do not have a handle on the game system and how it handles LOS and spotting, and how units are likely to react in certain situations.

I have fired Stummels thru bocage, but it is another example of how one has to become good at playing vs the game system as one has to find precisely the right spot and the right angle etc. and it takes a lot of irritating trial and error.

Yes, I had to plot multiple individual waypoints for every single vehicle(!) and then give staggered pauses at the waypoints to avoid jams. This took an unacceptable amount of time as it has nothing to do with the GAME since it is an unopposed crossing. And even all of that was sometimes not enough to avoid jams. I find it strange that designers often want players to waste lot of time on unnecessary work before they get close to the battle. And as I said, one would not have processing power issues you mention if one didn't have to march an entire company for ONE HOUR unopposed thru woods to get close to an objective. I understand that this is your baby and you have put a lot of work into this. But when you ask for feedback you should be prepared to consider the comments. not just get respond as if you have already decided the scenario is perfect and you don't want to consider any alternative viewpoint. I am doing a lot of work trying to play this scenario and give you good feedback. You will notice that there have been comments from other scenario designers that no one even plays their scenarios at all. BTW: Now that I am one hour into the scenario and heavy action has started in the center town I am having a wonderful time! However, the first 30-45 minutes imo were largely a waste of time as they largely dealt with traffic control issues and watching a company MOVE thru woods.

"Actually, any player can take a scen into the editor and adjust the morale and experience levels as much as they want, with no time demands made on any already overworked scen designer, and without requiring that BFC change the game." Good point. But, it begs the question why was the capability to change experience levels en masse with one click, which was one of the many great features available in CM1, taken out of CM2? This discussion is about labor-saving features of CM1 vs the very time-consuming features of CM2 that get in the way of playing. When injured and in rehab I was playing an average of 6-8+ hours a day, so I could really feel the wasted time doing "make work" functions instead of focusing on tactics and having fun playing the game.