Erwin

Interesting discussion excerpts "For a fully automated sim tool the AI has to be smart enough to do a reasonable job of managing subordinates. The behaviours have to be realistic. The units have to be situationally aware and able to: • develop realistic plans based on an assigned objective, including the ability to: o assess the situation (terrain, enemy, friendlies) o develop courses of action (COA) based on doctrine o allocate resources across tasks o schedule tasks o analyse and select the best COA • issue orders to their subordinates • reschedule tasks if progress changes (both slip and crib) • react to developments as they occur (eg take cover, return fire, retreat if need be, call in fire support, advise their boss if they are in trouble etc), • periodically reassess their plans (eg plot a new bypass route if enemy too strong ahead, bunker down if under serious threat, switch from Move to attack if so authorised, pull back to a secondary blocking position if delaying etc) and if need be re-send orders. In short they have to be able to implement a realistic military decision process and cycle. The base mechanics of fire, move, rest and reorg have to be modelled well. Modelling of soft factors like morale, cohesion and fatigue are just as essential as hard factors like weapon effectiveness. I’m not saying it is easy. It’s not and it takes a lot of time. But it is do-able. We have spent over fifty man years of effort getting our Command Ops engine to the point where it does this and we still get a lot of feedback from users that this needs tweaking or that is not quite right. But overall our user base which comprises a very large proportion of military and ex-military users are happy with the AI’s performance especially in regard to its management of subordinates. This frees them up to focus on what commanders should be focussing on and not the minutiae of controlling every sub unit." "IMO the sim community within Defence should be focussing on those areas that > are going to make compelling arguments for funding. Focussing on COIN when > the political will is moving away from it won't make for a compelling > argument. That is not to say that at some point in the future it won't be > needed but it's not going to garner precious funding under the current > climate. > > To my mind there are two compelling argument for funding the use of > simulation within the military. First and foremost is the provision of a new > warfighting capability to support operational decision making. More on that > in a minute. The second one is the cost savings derived from using sims in > training and experimentation & analysis. > > The cost argument appeals to the managers and accountants but it's the > decision support argument that will appeal to the new breed of operational > war-fighters. This is the sexy argument and the one that has the greatest > chance of going forward. There are quite a few older commanders who are not > comfortable with the use of simulations in the operational decision support > role but certainly the younger commanders and many of the senior ones too > that are willing to embrace it. The Chief of Defence Force in Australia is > an avowed advocate of the use of simulation. > > Both of these roles require a low overhead operational warfare engine. The > days of the high overhead SAF are numbered. They cost too much to run and > are too slow to be effective as on operational decision support tool ( other > than in pre op planning, where there is sufficient time and resources ). To > be effective in the operational decision support role you need a sim tool > that can take a commanders intent, prepare three courses of action (COA), > wargame them, analyse them and prepare a report with recordings to > demonstrate the results and the recommended COA for the commander's review. > Once the commander has made their decision and modified the plan as they see > fit, it needs to be able to upload the plan to the C2 command boxes for > implementation. All this needs to be done in two hours at a Brigade HQ. SAF > products cannot meet these requirements. Only a fully automated low overhead > sim tool can."

Well I uninstalled ZA and CMA suddenly started working fine(!) I previously got rid of the ZA Toolbar, but maybe it came back during an auto update. Forgot how to find and delete the Toolbar part, so plz let me know as I will probably reinstall ZA (after I reinstall CMSF).

For those who liked Peck's review, he has a blog: http://www.defensenews.com/article/20120116/TSJ01/301160006/Blog-Save-Sims

So the game is the same, only the scoring has been adjusted?

Yeah, I'll get rid of ZA. My tech says that with Win 7 the security is good enuff that one doesn't need ZA so much as with XP. Makes me feel naked tho... Thanks...

Fine, but pleeeze retry the first turn. I can't understand how your trucks didn't move all over the place trying to get out of the line of fire. It's unnecessary, since none were hit. But, it just felt silly, and I know how much work you put into your designs to make em good. I would have thought that a good commander would leave the trucks and AA truck in safety while he recons ahead. Bring up the AA only when specific targets were located. And only bring up the trucks when the enemy is neutralized. Failing that, I urge you to consider starting with the trucks dismounted, so it's not such a silly circus.

Frank: Was about to start testing today, but I forgot to transfer the gamefile onto my flashdrive from my other location. Could you resend plz (assuming I'm not too late to help).

Thanks. I know you don't believe me, but I actually know all of that. The only issue I have is the idea that in the very first turn one should area fire at a very large area "just in case". In your scenario, there are literally acres of potential spots in which the enemy could be hiding, including the hills to the road's immediate left. I concluded that area firing even 180 degrees around the convoy to take into account ALL possible ambush spots was a waste of ammo until some contact had been made. Maybe you made assumptions that a player is going to think like you and play like you - presumably assuming that there were only a few good places to shoot at across the valley. Personally, I like to move my recon scouts carefully forward until they detect something assuming that the enemy doesn't fire or otherwise reveal themselves right at the start - which in this scenario they conveniently do. If you are trying to recreate an ambush that has already started, I can understand the set-up. But, your briefing gives no clue that one is already being ambushed, so...? Otherwise, I guess I would prefer to have the trucks be able to start in a safe location and move forward only after the combat troops have scouted our ambushes. At least that is what I would do in RL. As I said, I did NOT move my trucks from the original set-up positions, (well maybe the AA truck), but the game system makes em all move around trying to get away. It didn't affect anything materially, since no trucks were damaged, but it was irritating. I simply wonder if they should start dismounted. BTW: I am enjoying the scenario. Am just giving you player feedback in the hope that it's helpful.

I unlicensed and uninstalled CMA successfully from C:\SIMS\ and then went to ZoneAlarm "Game Mode" and made it ALLOW communication without alerts. Relicensed successfully and installed. But, CMA still won't launch even when RUN AS ADMIN. Installed the 2 patches to 1.03 just for the hell of it, but still doesn't run of course.

There has been a LOT of discussion on this topic prior to this one. And yes, it was concluded there is a problem in the strip between road and offroad. So, we're just waiting to see if BFC will fix it for the next patch/module. Nothing else to really say about it now...

It's a struggle to get into social media tech like Facebook of you're over 35-40 I think... Am struggling to learn various social media to determine business applications, and it's just not intuitive to me. I just don't think the way that most social media requires. And you have to have an inordinate amount of trust re putting personal info on the web. I guess one had to have started when it was just a hook-up tool for college kids.

LJFHUtch: From what I have read, CMMODS permits the loading of larger files than The Repository here does. Maybe it would be easier to upload at CMMODS.

I did not move the trucks or AA truck from initial set-up and they moved all over the place as soon as the enemy was spotted/started firing. You may want to double check that. imo you shouldn't need to tell folks the "trick" re not moving past the first BMP with vehicles until the recoilless is KIA. And why would one simply pre-emptively fire at a large expanse of hill without first seeing any targets or reason to fire. One doesn't have unlimited ammo. I did dismount and move my recon ahead as that seems like good tactics. However, after all units suppressed/killed the 3 sets of spotted enemy on the far side of the river, the recon guys did not see any other enemy. It seemed that was a good time to bring up the HQ BMP. But, I only moved the HQ bmp to a position just a couple meters(!) in front of the the lead BMP and it was immediately pranged killing the HQ. And then the recoilless also shot at one of the recon squads causing 3 casualties. I suppose maybe I should have moved the HQ BMP only till it was level with the lead BMP, but even there it could have moved into a keyholed enemy kill zone if just a couple meters makes a difference. So, I don't have a problem with the killed BMP and recon HQ and squad casualties. That is war. But, the trucks not starting in safe positions, and getting the AA truck to stay still and fire was annoying (more than anything else).

Am posting this re my CMA reinstall as I didn't see tech support on the CMA forums. Re my earlier posts re CMSF and CMA no longer working on my desktop after working fine several months ago. I renamed my existing CMA folder OLD CMA and reinstalled CMA to C:\SIMS\CMA However, after the initial install it doesn't run. Absolutely nothing happens. (There is a squiggly "wait" icon for a few seconds, then nothing. So, I haven't applied patch 1.02 or 1.03.) It's been so long since I first installed and ran these games. What's the checklist to troubleshoot? (I predict I'll have the same issues when I try and reinstall CMSF.) Thanks...

I thought it was concluded that there is a problem in the strip between road and offroad and most boggings occur there.

It looks amazing. Why not release it?

Try WeBob and ask there, or DrVonCool who runs CMMODS.

You could also check out WeBoB: http://webandofbrothers.yuku.com/forums/3/Challenges http://webandofbrothers.yuku.com/forums/99/CM-BN

Nik... come on, mate...

Thanks... I did not do an OS reinstall, or anything else that I am aware of. The games were working fine up to the time I stopped playing them (when CMBN came out). So, I presume that I did the COPY ok (well over a year ago). I wonder if when I deleted the original installs made to the default "Program Files (x86)" directory (which I may have done to save HD space around the time CMBN came out) that I also deleted my CMSF and CMA elicense stuff? Or, are those safe in a completely different folder elsewhere? I will simply attempt to unlicense and reinstall and relicense both CMSF and CMA and keep my fingers crossed. I bought the games and modules individually as they were released, so I presume that means I do not have "bundles".

Ok, but just to confirm: One cannot blow up mines by themsellves with charges. So, this is a "trick" that only works if there is a minefield (or presumably something else that can be targeted by engineers) on top of the minefield - regardless of whether the minefield is AT or AP.

I have completed all the Campaigns except for Road To Montebourg, and I have only played 3 of the scenarios of the A BLOODY RIDE campaign, but ABR is so far the most interesting. ABR has really different scenarios (so far) whereas often I get the sense of doing more or less the same things repeatedly in other Campaigns' scenarios. My 2nd favorite is probably HOFFNUNG.

Ok, but you can't do anything vs minefields with charges unless there is wire on top?

Great situation and mission... The briefing was good - gave the right amount of info and easy to understand the objectives. Have just started the first few minutes, but wanted to give immediate feedback in case you can make changes: The trucks including the one with AA guns start moving trying to find cover as soon as the shooting starts. So, not only do they get in the way of each other and the BTR's, but also the twin AA cannon are hard to use since trucks do not like any fire directly at them even from long distance. I got the AA truck to stop trying to hide and force it into action only after the first enemy ambush was suppressed by vehicular and grenade fire. Ideally, there should be a safe set-up position for the trucks. Otherwise, maybe start them dismounted? BTW: The RPG is just evil. Already pranged a BMP, the Recon HQ and 3 of one of the recon squads. Not sure what one could do to avoid casualties from that bugger, since he's keyholed and one can't really avoid moving into his kill-zone. Having lots of fun from the start!

Yeah the message will go from noting first: The time b4 starting to spot, then "Receiving" then "Spotting" then time left in the barrage - eg: Firing < 1 minute.