Erwin

"the destruction of the mines only happens if there is a barbed wire or other object on top of the minefield" We're sure this is accurate? People post that they can destroy minefields with charges, but this is a rather important qualification. Also, re the first battle "Hill and Dale" I found one can win with hardly any casualties by advancing cautiously up the LEFT side. (Unless there are different defender set-ups that would favor advancing up the RHS.)

Someone also did a mod where if a shot soldier loses his helmet a gruesome head shot is exposed. But, I don't recall him releasing it.

I seem to be using the same parameters for CMBN, CMSF and CMA. However, while the first fill the whole (wide)screen, CMA seems to be in a different format- like movie shot in old 3x4 format on a widescreen TV - there are black bars on the right and left. Any ideas on how to get the same screen size for CMA?

This is part of the "Joy of CMA". It is different from CMSF as the Soviets don't have the hi tech observation stuff the US has now and the Muj had the advantage in stealth over the bungling Soviet conscripts - least that's how I think of it. I haven't played CMA since CMBN came out. But, I do recall the Muj advantage in moving and hiding stealthily. Let your Soviets just stay still and observe for longer periods and advance in short bursts while covering each other so most of the force is observing while a small element move forwards. IIRC it's also beneficial to area fire at all unknown contacts.

+1 for slumping. Oooh... and didn't they suffer a lot of decapitations when riding in jeeps and Jerry put a cable across the road at head height?

You click on the arty button and get a window with a list of arty available. Text will tell you if the arty is unavailable for any reason. Assuming it is available, you select it and go thru the series of parameter settings during which you should be asked whether you want to fire Point, Area or Linear. That's where you should be able to click on the map and and a line appears from the spotter to the target.

Am not aware of any such changes I consciously made... I will check when I get back to the desktop in a couple of days. But, currently when I try to start the .exe apps for either game, absolutely nothing happens, no error messages or anything. It is possible that the problem arose because I merely copied (as opposed to reinstalled) CMSF and CMA to my C:/SIMS folder and subsequently (maybe around the time CMBN came out) deleted the original installs that were in the default Program Files (x86) directory? (I know the games don't interfere with each other, I am simply using the CMBN release as a time frame whn I recall making changes like deleting the old installs that were in the "Program Files x86" directory.) I did do installs of CMA and CMBN (not CMSF yet) to a C:/SIMS folder in my laptop and both those games are running fine. It's no biggy. I will attempt to reinstall and relicense when I get back. Was simply curious re the effect of copying the games from one folder to another, as opposed to installing.

So bloodthirsty... Perhaps entrails hanging out the window like a string of sausages?

If the mortars cannot see the enemy there is no "direct fire" possible. You need to use the indirect fire menu of the HQ that is spotting.

I just realized that I have only played the first 10 minutes(!) of Battle 3 of A BLOODY RIDE and it was all action from the 2nd minute on. My cautious advance up the road led by inf was successful in foiling a bazooka ambush with at least a squad backing it up. Sent forward a 251/10 and a Panther to kill most of the ambushers and the rest flee across the river. But, heavy accurate mortar fire damage the tank forcing it to withdraw. Was fortunate I had a squad reconning the flank as they ran into a full US platoon trying to flank my start positions. Took 3 casualties, but inflicted a lot more. A German 2nd platoon reinforcement arrived around 5 minutes in at just the right time to reinforce the beleaguered flank squad. Beat back the US attack with heavy US casualties. Over 25 I think. I have to be very careful about rushing to pursue the fleeing US on the flank as I learned I can run into another ambush and lose a lot that way. Already, I see explosions from unknown source and 1 man down. I think I need to be more cautious and w/d most of my flank security forces back to the road and focus on the main line of attack Am pretty stumped on the road at almost the start positions as mortars pound even my armor if it moves further, and I can see an M10 TD keyholed on the first ford I have to cross a hundred meters ahead, and imo too dangerous to send a Panther to try and duel with a TD. Will take a while to get arty to bombard it since the Germans have no mortars (and the arty is currently plotted to bombard the farm buildings and a line of bocage on the far side of the river as that looks like a good 2nd line of defense for the US). Great beginning to the scenario. Tons of tactical decisions to make and challenges to think about. So far this may be my favorite CMBN Campaign!

I wonder why BF allows squads and even small teams to collect so much ammo? My rule of thumb for the German squads has been to calculate 400 rounds for each MG42, maybe less if it's an MG34, and about 200-250 9mm rounds for each MP40, and only 50 rounds per rifleman. so if a sqaud has one MP40, 2xMG42, and 5 rifles that would be a total of (at least) 1050x7.62 rounds and about 250x9mm. Because one usually has to take 500 rounds at a time from a transport in the game, my squads will end up with closer to 1300-1400 rounds of 7.62mm. So, about 200 rounds average per rifle/MG soldier. Maybe 25% of the units may still have to go and get more ammo if shooting a lot, but the above load will generally be enuff to get most of the way thru a scenario. BTW: Is there some rational reason why the StG44 ammo is only available in bunkers btw? Having 7.62K ammo in trucks and halftracks etc. is on my "wish list".

The AI oppo would have to receive 100%, since it doesn't know you're trying to recreate a campaign scenario.

Re cheap international calling check out these two: TEL3.com and REBTEL.com

Both CMSF and CMA used to work fine. Then I stopped playing them when CMBN came out. Now I want to go back and play these games again... But I find neither will launch now. Note that to avoid UAC problems and the "saved files to the ADMIN folder" issue, I installed (or copied - I forget which) both games to a C:/SIMS directory rather than the default "Program Files (x86)" directory over a year ago. However, both games worked fine up until I started playing CMBN exclusively when it was released. Is there something in the BF license system that expires if not regularly activated from the (x86) folder or something like that? Will I need to unlicense and reinstall both games? Or, is there something else I can try? Thanks...

You surprised me with that comment. CM2 seems at its best in urban/MOUT situations. I can't think of another game or sim that comes close.

Looks like fun. Thanks.

yeah, but then for minor stuff the tanks should appear in the next scenario of a campaign, and when they don't it can ruin the campaign and then you have to replay the previous battle and hope the immobilization crap shoot works out in your favor this time. Not satisfying.

Useful info. Thanks... It makes sense that troops would take as much ammo for their MG's as they could.

You sound like you're talking about a role-playing persistent multiplayer game... Hard to mix genres on a small budget.

Thanks for the notes, Mr.X. I still recommend that you indicate at least approximately WHAT reinforcements will arrive and WHEN. Also, it would do no harm to indicate what replacements and resupply may be coming as it makes a big difference if you know you'll not see any vs at least you know you will have some replacements and/or supply. Played the first 15 minutes of Battle 3 and am loving it as it is again an original situation. I didn't expect to be attacked! And it's fun to have to scramble around to rescue flank recon units from being massacred. My beat up 2nd platoon just arrived to help out on my left flank. 2 of the reinforcing squads only have 3 guys in them thanks to the murderous first scenario! And they needed to stop for resupply b4 I could deploy them. A problem with WEGO, but I enjoy the challenge of having to think 2 or more minutes ahead to predict problems. So far, this 3rd scenario is a real winner as well, and again completely different in character from the previous two. You have done an xnt job in designing these scenarios. BTW: How many scenarios are in this campaign, and are there any branches??

I deleted my final HOFFNUNG Battle 6 files, but for some reason I do have a Battle 5 saved with only 17 minutes b4 the end (and I think it ended early), so if no one else can help you, send me a private e-mail and I can send you that.

Sabot: yes, ZZZ is read after ZZ which is read after Z etc. para: I would do that except I have maybe over a hundred mods now, and don't have time to list. I do however, separate all mods now into ZZ subfolders under the Z folder just to keep everything in order and to make it easier to compare similar mods. So, inside my Z folder I now have ZZ UNIFORMS; ZZ TERRAIN; ZZ UI; ZZ SKINS; etc...

IIRC didn't the Soviets invade Finland around the time they took over the Baltic countries? So Finland sorta joined the Axis and tried to take back what they lost. However, despite Hitler's urgings, they refused to go any further as they were already looking towards post-war reconciliation with the Soviets. The Soviets' terrible performance at that time was one of the reasons giving Hitler confidence to invade the USSR. But, as we know, the Soviets came back with overwhelming strength and that is when Finland lost even more territory to end up with the borders where they are today. Leastways that was the history I was taught...

I am glad that A BLOODY RIDE campaign has replacements, as it was touch and go whether I could complete HOFFNUNG since there seemed to be no replacements in that campaign. Looking around at the start of Battle 3 the map looks terrific and it's much larger (and wider) than the average CMBN map. One doesn't have much opportunity for flanking in most CMBN maps which are small, and initially it looks like (finally) one can enjoy flanking maneuver on this map. But, am immediately concerned re how does one get the vehicles to support the inf offroad with no engineers or charges to make holes in the bocage. I find it very hard to distinguish hedges that a vehicle can bulldoze thru vs the low bocage which it cannot. Also, bulldozing will definitely incrementally damage the tracks and I cannot afford immobilizations. The choice seems to be whether to send inf through the fields supported only by arty (lovely 210mm + 105mm), or stick to the (single) road where the tanks can support them. And even after reinforcements, there will only be 1 company of 3 (beat up) platoons of PzGr inf for this large map. So, I fear that the only reasonable choice is to have the inf flank the road to spot ambushes and stick with the armor. I hate having only one option. But, am not sure that there is enuff inf to both escort the armor and go on a flanking mission thru the fields unsupported by vehicles (so even resupply would be a problem). For such a large map I also think that one company of inf seems inadequate and will be like a herd of small rodents wandering thru the fields. Hmmm... I wonder if the designer really wants one to stick to the roads with the vehicles... In which case, why make the map so wide instead of thinner and longer? An issue in all the battles so far of A BLOODY RIDE, is that the designer does not indicate when reinforcements will arrive (or where). That makes planning harder. I assume that they would arrive on the road, but I have been wrong footed in other campaigns where reinforcements arrive on one side of a map after one has spent many turns marching the initial set-up infantry over to that side - and now one has no units where one was expecting reinforcements. So designers: Please let players have some idea of when and where reinforcements will arrive, (unless complete uncertainty is a REALLY important aspect of your scenario).

I thought one could simply put the options into (say) a ZZZ folder (inside the Z folder) and have them overwrite whatever they overwrite in the Z folder?