Erwin

Do we give Juju his free copy before or after we give one to Aris for all the work he did on CMBN? You remember Aris? Anyone...?

Massive and mobile East Front scenarios in CMBB (and maneuver scenarios in CMAK) are probably a big reason for the continued propularity of CM1. Am enjoying a massive H2H East Front campaign tournament at BoB at the moment. What was someone saying about what a pain to have inf walk across a huge map?? That's why god invented APC's and Tanks innit? For those who much prefer mobile/maneuver warfare and huge maps, CM1 is still the only choice. (Even CMSF had mostly high mobiity scenarios on large maps (Still loving "Road to Dinas" and "Helluva Road Clearing". But, there are too many CM games now and I'm like a poor sod with ADD switching from one game/campaign to another, but not completing anything. Looking forward to CMSF2.)

Thanks Vin... Love your mod. BTW: I did have a problem in a CMSF campaign ("Road To Dinas"). All was working fine, then I got into a new battle and all the names in the bottom window were wrong. Was that anything to do with your mod, or someone elses?

"So we have turned this into a CMX1 vs CMX2 debate once again." Not sure what "again" means when you look at the title of this thread, you can see exactly what it's about. The only real issue here iis that the CM2 fanatics insist that CM1 fans join them in the lovefest for CM2. The question is, why? It doesn't bother me that people prefer CM2, why does it bother CM2 fans that many people still play a lot of CM1?? They are essentially completely different games. If you want to play large-scale maneuver scenarios with 3+ battalions and numerous companies of armor etc on each side, CM1 is the ONLY game that offers that superb experience. (Oh, and BTW, some us hated the little infantry-centric scenarios that were so prevalent originally in CMBN.) I used to think it was only drug addicts or alcoholics who just have to get everyone else to copy their example. To each their own, and that's the way it should be.

Spotting and LOS issues are problematic in CM2. One needs to learn from experience (cos you won't find that sort of useful info in any CM2 manuals) that certain terrain features like foxholes and other things that appear visually to be cover or concealment do not provide much of one or the other. Moving units should be pretty blind regarding anything that needs to be spotted via binoculars. Try looking thru binocs when traveling in relatively stable platforms, let alone a tank moving (even slowly) offroad. I recently tried it from a gently rocking boat looking for large objects (whales), and it's tough. Similarly, there have been many posts re the difficulty of placing ATG's. Apparently we have to know how many meters into woods or trees etc we need to place em so that they can see out, but not so easily be spotted from outside. This is akin to the "bad old days" of CM1 where good players were able to gauge exactly what distance from the tree edge was optimal. Of course CM1 had tree bases so that you knew pretty accurately what terrain a unit was in, and more importantly from the perspective of optimal shooting out, how far from its edge the unit was. In CM2 it's much harder to judge both. The irony is that the RL troops on the ground would be able to easily ascertain this sort of info.

Just to confirm... If you TARGET LIGHT with a mortar in direct LOS of enemy, it doesn't merely use the troops' rifles?

Yes, I agree that CM2 "workload" is considerably higher than CM1, and a major reason for CM1's continued popularity - it's just a much more fun mistress (than the more demanding CM2 wife).

It's also worth bearing mind that a good defender will often have a mobile reserve out of harm's way that can suddenly descend on and upset what seems like a safe scouted route. In that respect one plays vs the oppo's mind (even if AI), as well as the game system idiosyncrasies itself.

Your link was prefaced by an ad for the Mormons. Uh... Thanks for that... The game demo reminds me of a good 3D version of one of those Matric games, like Flashpoint Germany, or Shrapnel's ATF or BCT Commander etc.

"And a Medium scenario in CM2 = a Huge one in CM1." Au contraire mon ami... It's the other way round. The largest CM2 scenario I have seen would only be "medium" in CM1 - leastways the ones I play. CM1 comes into its own with 3 battalions plus several companies of armor and other vehicles per side. We're slowly getting there with CM2, but not close yet. (Not to mention the massive additional computer power requirements.)

Yes, it would be more impressive if they gave some details of the game. Is is RT only? Is it 3rd person view like Company of Heroes and that genre? Can one command individual units etc etc. Otherwise it's just another of the many pretty-looking pieces of garbage that are released every year which are soon forgotten.

Tip for greater enjoyment of huge battles: Buy and play CM1 games for a while (um... say 10 years). The CM1 games are close to perfection regarding their level of abstraction for scenarios and campaigns that approach operational level with several battalions on each side etc. Of course it's fine that folks like small scenarios, but from the POV of players like me, MOST of the CMBN and CMFI scenarios are small(!) There are only a couple of large scenarios in the game lol.

Agreed, it has little to do with aircraft... I just loved the AA vehicles and their use as anti-inf and AT weapons.

I have to hand it to BF... The "out of the box" graphics are better than what I saw when CMBN came out. I still think the vehicles are too clean and unworn, but the uniforms are pretty good - esp the Germans and their helmets.

Could one use ricochet fire off a wall to the enemy's rear or side? I get casualties by accident that way, so maybe it's a usable tactic. (Just curious.)

No reason to wait Cranky. Go on the BB forum threads and suggest to GreyhairBob, or whatever the organizer is named... (Honestly, I just forgot the name.)

http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2012/08/syria-pollack

The old Avalon Hill board game ANZIO comes to mind as well. There have been numerousl Sicily and Italian theater board games. Check out boardgamegeek.com and search. Also current companies like GMT, Columbia, Decision Games, http://www.multimanpublishing.com/ and there are many other smaller outfits etc.

Yes, it's annoying when it happens and you have just destroyed a mass of complex moves for a battalion. But, it's a noob error and with experience one learns to not make stoopid moves - at least I can't recall the last time I did it.

I noticed that too. However, it's a PR scene, so could have been an "elite" shooter, or faked in some way(?). I can't believe that BF's research would have been that wrong.

I find it amazing that after all the gameplay value we get from just one CM title that people are still complaining about the price. Compare it to all those other mediocre and even good games that cost as much and more and may barely last a few weeks on one's computer before one is done with them. It's embarrassing that we continually and repetitively make BF justify themselves regarding their price points. BF could have written a routine to auto-reply to many of these posts since we've seen em so many, many times. I know that I am in a minority here, but I would prefer to pay MORE... but have an entire game family available (even though releases would be much less frequent) - kinda like we had with the CM1 games. My concern with the way CM2 is being marketed is that I feel burned out on a "family" by the time another module is released. However, in any other way one calculates it, CM prices are VERY reasonable and xnt value considering what a player gets in return.

I was about to start a thread on how wonderful it is to finally have larger maps and scenarios so one can play more combined arms (for those of us who find all infantry clashes boring) lol.

Very helpful. Thanks

Great stuff. It really gave me the chills to see those young Hitler Youth chappies smoking cigarettes. Heaven knows how many years that sort of habit can deduct from your life!

It's also the same for FO's (and IIRC MG's and Snipers). The system allows certain units to TARGET or see further than anyone else can see.