Erwin

BTW: After you change the file and save it, IIRC you'll have to reboot.

Gorgeous. Thanks.

+1 for me. It's not that there are so many scenarios and campaigns available. But, I find it takes a lot longer to complete a CM2 mission than in CM1. But, the scenarios that you and the others have produced are much appreciated and will get played... eventually. Hopefully, before the next module and we get another bunch of novel scenarios...

As always superb weathering. I had a thought, hope you don't mind... it seemed from photos of the time that things were darker. maybe it was poor weather. But, I wonder if all your wonderful mods should be rather darker. Everything looks like it's very bright, almost as if under the North Africa desert sun. Also, could do with more shade/black between the tank and the skirts?

"I usually give passengers a 5 second pause. Probably not necessary..." Definitely not necessary. The only way inf will dismount b4 vehicle movement is if one issues a "DISMOUNT" order first. (I do not think that the vehicle needs to be given a pause to allow dismounting - IIRC it's automatic.) Anyway... pretty easy to test all this.

MikeyD: Am curious why there is no control to reduce/eliminate undergrowth like there was for CM1. Not just for tech issues, but often it's hard to see one's units in the dense shrubbery etc.

So, "not invulnerable" is the wrong question maybe. The issue is that one cannot deliberately target surrendering units(?) They can be affected by nearby fire from 50 cal and up like any other unit. I wonder if surrendering units can be affected by a nearby satchel charge BLAST, or if they are invulnerable like friendly troops are?

If the "pop up" soldier was not surrendering then it's appropriate that the tank fired at him. The surrendering guy was not being targeted but was merely an accidental "friendly fire" type casualty which does happen a lot in CM2 (as it should).

IIRC laptop graphics cards (those with "M" after the number) are slower than the equivalent desktop graphics card. Fire Brigade may have other issues. I could load the initial scenario just fine. But, after doing set-up and saving, I could never load it again. Per the quote above that CM2 is designed for company-sized battles, that's why CM1 isn't going to disappear any time soon.

Currently, every unit acts like an automaton which can instantly react in coordination with every other friendly unit on the entire battlefield. I have a hard time believing that this is a more realistic depiction of WW2 combat than having units hobbled in some way when out of C2, or having increasingly large reaction delays or some other penalty as they go from Elite down to Conscript. Yes, there were problems with delays in certain circumstances - esp the road movement issue. But, delays worked well in certain circumstances too - they forced you to treat your Green troops completely differently than your Cracks - give them different missions etc. which greatly helped one ID with one's CM1 units more than with the more "cookie cutter" type CMBN units. The greater delays in getting Conscript and Green units to do anything had more verisimilitude. So, I think that the baby was thrown out with the bathwater in this instance.

"...not being able to take a complex, but "stupidly simple", path like following a road without extra delays." Yeah, I agree with that, it did get silly in certain circumstances. Elsewhere, someone else suggested having certain ORDERS greyed out when a unit is out of C2, or a delay added. Seemed like an interesting concept that could give a bit more motivation for players to respect the C2 aspect of CM2. I mentioned elsewhere that I have been getting a lot of experience (thanks to Courage & Fortitude's "School of Hard Knocks" scenario) in handling units that have no HQ and are out of C2, and the lesson it is teaching me is that C2 is currently not that important (at least with my style of play).

Steve made a great statement which I think us fans all agree with: "Combat Mission never has, and never will be, about giving the player unrealistic degrees of control over unit behavior." Even with only one (the initial) waypoint, it was great that Green troops took longer to react than a Vet. I do agree that the time delays with 10+ waypoints got a bit silly for a game EVEN IF IT WERE REALISTIC. Cas, when all is said and done, CMBN is an entertainment product, not a DoD verified simulation of reality. Cutting down the delays would have solved that imo. However, am not expecting delays to return any time soon, despite me liking them in concept. I rather like the suggestion of greying out orders when a unit is out of C2 to simulate that unit wondering what to do. Perhaps fewer orders could be greyed out for more experienced troops to give them a realistic advantage over Green/Conscripts. To go one step (and complexity) further, perhaos the greyed out orders could return to normal accessibility after a "delay."

It would be useful in this discussion if someone could describe in detail how the progress bar progress can be used for specific advantage to one player (as opposed to merely indicating that "something" happened).

+ Assault on Lucherberg

Re "Combat Mission never has, and never will be, about giving the player unrealistic degrees of control over unit behavior." That sounds great, Steve. But, while it doesn't spoil my enjoyment too much, doesn't that contradict the logic behind getting rid of command delays? The ability to instantaneously coordinate units across the entire battlefield down to the smallest unit is a very unrealistic degree of control. (Yes, I know this is a dead subject... am just saying, not complaining...)

There are so many different audiences/markets for this game system. Some are RT and others WEGO aficianados. Some want a simulator, others want a game. It's a real tribute to the developers that the CM system seems to be able to satisfy (to a great degree) all these differing tastes. However, it gets confusing when there are users who want ultimate "realism" but who then are happy being able to have instant God-like command over every unit without any delays to account for communication (and miscommunication) from higher command. To be able to coordinate forces in such a way is still a dream even today. I can enjoy CM without time delays, but it was a great way of abstracting communication/miscommunication issues.

It's VERY easy to copy saved game files into the game. There is a folder in the main game folder under GAME FILES called SAVED GAMES.

"...it's hard to say definitively what's going on." A very profound observation by YankeeDog that covers pretty much 99% of all issues raised in these forums.

"If the troops were Mexican that would be "No way José", if they were Canadian it would be "No way, hoser." And if they were from Indiana, that would be "no way hoosier"(?)

"...somehow limiting the scope of actions an out-of-command unit can be ordered to do." That is a really interesting idea. It would make maintaining C2 more important. (I wrote elsewhere that I lost a lot of HQ's in the arduous "Courage and Fortitude" campaign that were never replaced in subsequent battles. So, I have become quite good at using "out of command" units, and they seem to function maybe too effectively without C2.) It also sounds like it could be a relatively inexpensive and quick thing to program, since the 'condition" that would trigger the reduced orders menu would be lack of C2.

"Vehicle pack" is an interesting idea... I recall excited (happy) discussion that CMBN would allow one to play SS vs Wermacht and all sorts of other "unrealistic" scenarios, that it seemed strange that effort was being made to only have the correct era weapons systems in a particular module so as to be "realstic." As a gamer, it's been frustrating to be denied access to lots of weapon systems. A vehicle/accessory pack module could be a great (and profitable for BF) solution so that those who enjoy the CM series as a game could enjoy the new toys, while the milpro/grog purists could stick with the base game as it would be more historical.

While I still enjoy CM1 games, after the first few (disastrous) times I never used the hull-down command again. It's not hard to eye-ball hull-down position after a bit of experience (in CM1). It is a lot harder in CM2 I agree. But, given that an automated hull-down command can result in nasty consequences... There are so many limitations in a 2D screen display of a 3D environment that it's never concerned me that one can get LOS from every waypoint. It gives back a little of what the screen limitations take away - including the fact that it is hard to even figure out what terrain a unit may be in since CM2 does not provide an easy to see terrain base color like CM1 did. When all is said and done all the abstractions are needed to make CM a superb playable entertainment GAME. Many times the comments here make one think that we're discussing a multi-zillion dollar DoD simulation that is supposed to be accurate and realistic in every detail. We are VERY fortunate to have the CM series and a developer who is dedicated to continuing this sort of quality when there is so much more money in "selling out" and going to RPS or multiplayer RT games which do not require any great AI. My greatest concern for CM is that one day the the developers decide they need to make more $ to send their kids to college and save for retirement. To avoid, or at least delay that day when BF turns to more commercial projects, we need to start chanting that they never acquire girlfriends, wives or kids...

I suspect many of us still miss the command delays of CM1. They did tend to get out of hand for large numbers of waypoints. But, they were an xnt way of simulating the difference in reactions/planning capability of highly experienced units vs Green/Conscript. It made the highly experienced squads very useful as they could be used/would function effectively independent of HQ's etc. As an abstracted method of simulating C2 the delays worked better imo than the current system of C2 which is also abstracted, but in a different and unnecessarily complex manner.

Very helpful. Thanks...

Most, maybe all platoon HQ's were lost in the infamous "School of Hard Knocks". AFAIK none have been replaced in the subsequent battles. The HQ with one guy started like that at the start of La Haye. I only noticed later that he was not giving any C2 to his platoon. Anyway... am getting great experience in handling platoons that have no C2. I play WEGO Warrior, and I am as surprised as you guys probably are that I cannot perceive much difference between the platoons with C2 and the ones without C2. It was a lot more obvious to me in CM1. It doesn't mean there is none in CMBN. Maybe it is more realistic. I just cannot tell. That may be due to my fairly cautious game style(?)