Erwin

Really? Well, that would be great! I thought it was all up to Snowball, and we haven't heard anything from them.

The other problem is the weird C2 issues that I posted about elsewhere... In playing the otherwise excellent "Courage and Fortitude" campaign, I had a number of my platoon HQ's KIA in the "School of Hard Knocks" scenario. I found that neither their Co nor XO HQ's were able to give them C2 in that scenario or in the following scenarios in which the leaderless platoons appeared. However, I thought that in succeeding scenarios the platoon HQ's were slowly being replaced. However, I was mistaken. After "Bumper Cars" and "Ridge" I am now in the final "La Haye" scenario and the leaderless platoons STILL have not received replacement HQ's. While I am still enjoying the game and eking out victories without HQ's, it's amazing that after all this development time, BF has come up with a C2 system that is horribly complicated and non-intuitive, and apparently does not work properly... and I am finding that C2 does not seem to matter much either. All that was wrong with the CM1 C2 system imo was that occasionally one would have an on-map mortar get hijacked by a passing HQ. And yes, I agree that it wasn't good that any Co or Bn HQ could command any other unit regardless of Co affiliation. Can only hope this C2 issue gets fixed or done away with in following patches as it seems more trouble than it's worth re any obvious beneficial effect.

"My FOs in decent positions had no difficulty at all spotting the enemy assets across the river, even before they fired." I replayed this scenario (WEGO/Warrior) and had four sets of spotters with binocs doing nothing but looking at the right flank, and they only got to see one MG and one ATG after a few minutes. I NEVER got to spot the third gun or all of the foxholes. On the left flank I had two sets of binoc spotters looking for 10+ minutes and they only got to see one set of foxholes with a mortar in it. Never got to see the other guns and foxholes until the endscreen. I do not understand how you managed to spot em easily. In addition, in one run thru, the isolated platoon had the fight of their lives, in another they were never seriously tested. So, it depends on luck or AI plans. Based on what I saw in my game, I would not recommend being aggressive with them as they are surrounded by MG's and enemy troops (in my version anyhow) and there are a LOT of enemy troops waiting at the final victory locations. imo, it's better to cease fire early and take a lesser victory than waste men trying for a better result, as losing guys hurts you at La Haye. While I had fun with all the scenarios in the "Courage and Fortitude" campaign, I thought the Razorback Ridge scenario was a bit bogus. No one in their right mind would attack down such a restricted narrow corridor with massive ambushers on either flank. It reminded me of what the Germans went through when they were trying to retreat out of the Falaise Pocket. But, to attack INTO it?? Rather an unrealistic and unnecessarily punishing scenario imo. But, a "fun" interesting learning experience showing that you can win and NOT use the armor and MG's.

Am beginning to suspect the CMBN C2 system is currently broke. As I mentioned, in playing the otherwise excellent "Courage and Fortitude" campaign, I had a number of my platoon HQ's KIA in the "School of Hard Knocks" scenario. I found that neither their Co nor XO HQ's were able to give them C2 in that scenario or in the following scenarios in which the leaderless platoons appeared. However, I thought that in succeeding scenarios the platoon HQ's were slowly being replaced. I now believe I was mistaken. After "Bumper Cars" and "Ridge" I am now in the final "La Haye" scenario and the leaderless platoons STILL have not received replacement HQ's. While I am still enjoying the game and eking out victories without HQ's, it's amazing that after all this development time, BF has come up with a C2 system that is horribly complicated and non-intuitive, and apparently does not work properly... and I am finding that C2 does not seem to matter much either. All that was wrong with the CM1 C2 system imo was that occasionally one would have an on-map mortar get hijacked by a passing HQ. And yes, it wasn't good that any Co or Bn HQ could command any other unit regardless of Co affiliation. Can only hope this C2 issue gets fixed or done away with in following patches as it seems more trouble than it's worth re any obvious beneficial effect.

Flesh, I tried a "search" for your mod on the Repository, but it can't find you. Do you have a link? I did use your link at the start of this thread. But, I thought you were going to make em available at GAJ and Repository. Brilliant mod. Thanks!

Easy to have arty arrive as a reinforcement in turn 2.

I like the concept GAJ. Quite funny to think of that in a war movie scene.

Razorback Ridge *** possible spoilers *** I just completed this scenario and it is tough - probably cos it's a trap/ambush scenario - but you may not realize this reality till it's too late. You are very restricted to (the usual in CMBN) head-on assault with no maneuver as rivers hem you in on both sides. Meanwhile, on the far sides of both rivers are a quantity of enemy guns and arty which are mostly impossible to spot. They will decimate any thoughtless advance you may make. Firstly, the platoon surrounded at the farm can survive ok quite nicely so long as you split up the decent platoon and place em to cover any approaches the enemy could use. For the assaulting troops, after a few restarts I found that my best strategy was to leave the vehicles (and all the MG's) sitting behind in safety, and wait till one has access to the 81mm and 105mm arty. The arty is the key as you can use em to destroy anything ahead of you, plus use smoke to shield your inf from the enemy's guns firing on your advancing inf from both your flanks until they can hide behind hedges. After barraging, I used Russian human wave tactics, moving as quickly as possible/staying in one place as short a time as I could (so moving before the enemy could bring down mortar fire etc) to overcome enemy resistance and I got a major victory by taking the first crossroads and the farm (only) without using my armor OR any of the MG's. It can be expensive in infantry however. Oh, and at the start, be sure to load up with all the ammo in the jeeps and engineer truck as there is no resupply for the next and last scenario, La Haye.

If your video card can support 1920x1200 that's as good as it gets for a HDTV. You have to get a monitor for higher resolutions. But, even tho' I have one, it's not worth it with CM as I don't think a higher res monitor does anything to enhance the look of the game. I'd just hook your computer up to the TV. I was clearing out my disaster area of an office today and found a brand new BOSE TV sound system I had completely forgotten about for a couple of years! (I have been a bit out of it due to injuries and pain etc. from martial arts & kickboxing a little past the recommended retirement age of 25.)

While it's become clear the CMBN and the CM2 system generally really shines in small intimate battles especially in urban settings, there are reasons why many of us love the large-huge scenarios that were so common in CM1. Firstly, one of the advantages/features of CM2 - its amazing level of detail - is also its deficit. What I love about large scenarios is that you can have lots of individual action/battles going on simultaneously all over a huge map. You can be defending at one location, attacking at another, and doing recon at a third - all in the same scenario. A large-scale battle also brings in the element of maneuver. In all the CMBN scenarios and campaigns I have played I do not recall ever having the option of racing a reserve mech task forces around the flank of an enemy. Everything in CMBN is like hitting yourself with a hammer, nearly always frontal assaults with very limited flank maneuver possibilities cos the maps are so small/narrow. When you have many options on a large-huge map (by CM1 standards), the importance of creating and maintaining a reserve becomes important - something that one rarely needs to do in a typical CMBN scenario. One can enjoy the challenge of committing a fast-moving, hard-hitting reserve formation where needed and having the discipline to create another reserve or bring the first back before it gets attrited by too much action. So, in answer to the original question, the way to approach a large scenario is as a quantity of small actions that are all coordinated to achieve a greater goal.

I believe that yours are the best vehicular mods currently available. So, I hesitate to make a couple of suggestions. But, here goes... 1) All mods have that "perfect lighting" look. ie: The light source seems like it's everywhere - like in a movie studio. There are few and usually no shadows at all. But, if you look at RL pics from the era (or even from modern battlefields) you generally can't see past the bogey wheels to the hull, due to dirt and shadow. In CM1 one could mix and match mods from different people to have lighter horizontal surfaces, and darker vertical surfaces - to achieve a rough, but effective noon-time shadowed look. While many scenarios are not set during the noon-time sun, I hope you'll think about putting in shadows from objects that stand out off the surface of the vehicle, or at least make the vertical surfaces a bit darker as it could make your wonderful mods look even more realistic. 2) Darker, muddy tracks. 3) Missing and/or beat up side plate armor, bullet scrapes, black sooty exhaust dirt, and basically dirt and grime collected on most everything especially the (currently clean and brand new) spare track links etc. I hope you don't mind me making the suggestions. It's obvious what a lot of work you have put into your mods.

"...a patch for CMA." Wouldn't hold your breath....

The idea is to sit on your sofa or armchair with the large screen TV several feet away for that cinematic experience.

Awesome. Thank you.

Don't mean to play one-upmanship, but I have a 30" Dell at 2800x1800 - and I love the larger screen. However, I recommend a cheaper solution. Just buy as large as desired HDTV, they are relatively cheap these days, and connect via HDMI cable to your computer and you can have as large a "monitor" as you want.

It depends on your philosophy of how often you change machines. Laptops can't be upgraded easily, so I tend to assume I will hold onto a laptop a lot longer than a desktop. So, I'll spend extra to get a "closer to state of the art" laptop than my desktop - which is always a generation or two behind to get "best bang for the buck". But, of course the desktop can be upgraded a lot easier.

It really is impressive. BUt, plz check out the Tiger mod for an example of great weathering: http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=99854

You are correct. I did not miss an FO in my test. Was happy to use regular HQ's, so no worries.

Is it not possible to change the hats in the .brz files? When I opened them up am pretty sure I recall seeing hat mod graphics.

Yes, one has to be very careful with the uniform mods as they conflict a lot. I had one unit that seemed a mix of 2nd Rangers, Army and Airborne. Had to remove some mods.

Wonderful weathering. Thank you! The crude and weathered numbers look terrific. So many otherwise good mods (including uniforms) have bright new numbers or patches which ruins the effect. And this tank should blend into the terrain nicely. Most of the other tank mods have such brightly colored "camouflage" that they actually stand out in terrain like brand new toys. Actually, this is probably the best-looking CMBN vehicle mod so far. (Although I like the weathered, jeep, kubelwagon and truck that someone did.)

Thank you V.

There is some sort of Chechnian mod afaik.

Beautiful work. But, so clean and museum-quality looking....

Ok PM sent.