Erwin

I recall deploying 88mm from a SdKfz7 in CM1. However, one could never reembark the 88mm.

Possibly designed to activate after a new module is released (and purchased).

Shame that was removed. But, I expect it was not something the Brit MOD wanted to see simulated.

Gorgeous. Thank you!

I have a folder full of his mods for weapons (137 items)- my favorite version is the one that shows range and caliber. Not sure if he made them specifically for CMFI or if I copied them over from one of the other ganes.

This is all from memory as I did this CMSF test several years ago: Enemy tanks and ATGMs' were 2Km+ distance. It may have also been hazy. I chose several leg inf units. An HQ, a FO, an inf unit that happened to have one rifle with NV/IR (I forget exactly) and a Jav team. What I found was that the inf unit with rifle spotted as well (maybe faster?) as the Jav team (despite the Jav's xnt optical equipment). IIRC the FO my have also had expensive optical gear. The other units with binocs were much worse - ie: took a long time to spot. I also tried putting units literally on top of a unit that had spotted an enemy. But that did not help the new unit to spot faster. Seemed to me that the units were incapable of communicating with each other.

I tested this a lot several years ago in a CMSF mission. A scout with one rifle with IR/NV (can't recall which) spotted one of more enemy tanks - IIRC around 2Km range. A Jav team was placed nearby... and then placed right on top of the scouts. Even with its much more advanced optics the Jav failed to see the same tanks. I cannot recall if it took 5 minutes or if the Jav team never spotted the AFV's. (Just one of the many bugs in CMSF that never seem to get addressed.) FYI: Cannot recall name of the scenario. It was some sort of CMSF training or ATGM test scenario (IIRC by GeorgeMC) but I couldn't find it in my folder (it contains an approx thousand CMSF scenarios).

That's news to me. You sure? When did that change? I know that ricochets (even of small caliber) can cause friendly casualties. That can make dense unit ops dangerous. So much lead flying around ricocheting off buildings etc.

From your mouth to God's (Steve's) ears.

I plan home visits to the fallen after a campaign. Re immersion: Wish CM had the ability to give medals to troops or units that have done really brave things. Or, in campaigns, the troops would gain experience from mission to mission (assuming a good level of victory)... or get promotions.

Have found that units close together may not communicate. Eg: A scout sees an enemy AFV. An ATGM team is brought up and can be sitting right on top of the scouts. But, the ATGM team cannot spot the tank. (This was from CMSF2.)

Looks like this will be a much improved version of Dinas. And the original was very good.

Generally if playing realistically one would keep these specialized troops in safety unless in dire emergency.

Looks good. Am wondering if your rubbled terrain can be used in modern titles like CMSF etc. One usually ends up with devastated towns in the modern titles. But, they don't look anything as good as yours.

From WSJ: https://www.wsj.com/world/russia/putin-death-rumor-carlson-interview-5c58a974?mod=latest_headlines "Over the past few months, a Russian political scientist named Valery Solovei has stoked a global frenzy with a sensational claim: that Vladmir Putin died last year and today is represented in public by a body double. The Kremlin’s elite, Solovei tells his half-million online followers, controls the double and has stuffed Putin’s body in a freezer. Then on Thursday, journalist Tucker Carlson aired a two-hour interview with Putin. Solovei shrugged it off as a sham. Carlson, he said, interviewed Putin’s doppelgänger, who will now be passed off as real to millions of viewers in the West. “Putin is dead, irreversibly dead, he will not rise again, he will stay in the freezer,” Solovei said in a broadcast earlier this week." Well, that explains the weird TC interview... Of course we are more technologically advanced and have a walking zombie as President...

Things have already changed. The modern CM2 games demonstrate that long range ATGM's dominate the battlefield and tanks are now very vulnerable vs a peer enemy. The lack of usefulness of the Abrams and Leopards in Ukraine is a great demo. Secondly, we have drone warfare which is just getting started. Imagine hundreds, even thousands of drones doing an assault - and driven by AI to independently and intelligently target enemy units. Thirdly, we are in the era of increasingly effective cyberwar and the ability of enemies to devastate the "soft underbelly" heartland causing power, food and water shortages for civilian populations as well as disrupting the financial basis of a society.

I count around 40 campaigns for CMBN altho' some maybe different versions.

The emphasis on "conventional war". That is rather like the generals who expected horse cavalry to still be useful in WW1.

I was surprised/shocked that such an experienced interviewer as TC seemed to be at sea and unable to structure his interview "professionally". He seemed all over the place, repetitive, and finally unable to conclude the interview with any memorable wrap up. It was left to poor old Putin to shoot the dying interview to put it out of its misery. It was very interesting to hear Putin's perspective on how we got to where we are starting way back after after the fall of the USSR. But, imo much of the time Putin seemed rather "tricky" and "sly". While clearly stating that the US empire is falling apart and the world is changing, Putin unintentionally made a good argument that USSR was like the Roman Empire and both were dissolved - and no one is saying that the Romans should get their empire back. But,TC didn't pick up on that at all. https://tuckercarlson.com/the-vladimir-putin-interview/

Agreed - although there may be a few outliers where either thru luck or designer genius, the game is balanced - but that is v rare. Also... The best designers can also create very challenging AI oppo that may be tougher than a human. The reason is that a designer knows the map intimately and can create ambush opportunities that are very subtle and not easily seen by a human playing the game for the first time. Eg: We have all come across situations where an enemy can fire at us, but for reasons of CM2 terrain quirks we cannot see or shoot at the enemy. During his playtesting and using terrain manipulation a designer can exploit this. But, a new player will be unlikely to spot this sort of thing.

Even in CM1, once one disembarked an 88mm one could never reembark it. My understanding was that it took too much time for a typical CM mission.

With the advent of Cyberwar, and new forms of warfare tech, that is no longer a given. It is a worry that we have become like the mighty Persian army which came up against the upstart Greeks.

In middle of another campaign. But, will get to this next. Thank you!

Looking forward to this. Thank you, Frank!

Something that needs to be made very clear in the briefings is if and when resupply occurs for the offboard arty as well as the onmap units including repairs). Unless I suppose you want the player to be unsure about ammo resupply. We already chatted how that has been confusing in other campaigns. EG: In the current German campaign am playing it says that offmap arty is shared with another mission. One assumes it will be mission 2. But, Mission 2 has fully supplied arty. So, presumably ammo will be short in another mission. But, one has no idea which until one starts it. (Also, in the German campaign it's unclear if the ammo in Mission 2 needs to be conserved at it is shared with another mission.)