Erwin

I just don't think the German Wehrmacht has quite the killer music that it used to have:

"But you can still make and sell your own versions of the original story." Yes, exactly. Disney only owns copyright to their version. And yes, I was thinking creative business a la Disney. If you are a potter in Serbia it doesn't compare - unless you put Disney characters on your pots. Then, it's a big problem.

The music may be out of copyright, but I bet the performances are all owned. So, BFC could have simply pasted in the score at the start of CMBB instead of music. Re Disney: That is what "Disneyfication" is all about. They change it to make it copyrightably THEIRS. And so does everyone else in the creative world.

I vaguely recall they couldn't get/afford the rights to Ride of The Valkyries.

The important thing is that he looks really good thanks to HUGO BOSS.

Vein's interface improvements are also terrific. Also, I prefer WEGO for anything other than the smallest scenarios.

You can also place folders and even .bmp files in the Z folder you create as well.

It was really nice to play a series of small scenarios. (Normally I only enjoy large scenarios.) It was a great re-learning experience to brush up my skills. But, it was a bit "dry" when one does not have much of a variety of units/support. If you do a different verision or another small unit camapign, be nice to have a light mortar, Humvee etc just for something else to play with. FYI: The two major things I learned; 1) Scen 3 - having to advance vs enemy located over 500m away... I don't recall ever having been faced with that without any support. I found out that (in CMSF at least) the Marines' handheld auto grenade launchers seem quite accurate at 500m+. 2) Scen 4 - assaulting a Warlord's base... Once inside the walls of the compound, I found that working my way through rooms of the manion like I always did in the past gets you killed. Instead I found that QUICK moving on the OUTSIDE of the walls to a point where your troops can just shoot into the next room worked repeatedly like a charm with no friendly casualties. (Of course it assumes a safe flank for those troopers - which in this case was the edge of the map.)

CMSF started to handle that quite well, when designers made the friendly casualty costs become very high when calculating victory levels. One can have fun being Rambo and ignoring friendly KIA and WIA. But, for those who enjoy the significantly added challenge...

Suggest writing a simple program that erases all messages containing the words "...release date..."

I doubt that "Kill em all" will be needed. Soft/general is fine. It is basically a "kill em all" based on what the AI considers the most critical target first. If your tank is plinking away at inf and an enemy tank appears, I WANT my tank to go after the more important target.

Small error above: "So, once you pick them up you can put them down." You CANNOT put any ammo down. You can however SHARE ammo in the latest patched version of CMSF. So, if you are close to another unit that is "out of ammo," that "ooa" unit will draw on a nearby unit's ammo. Note however that (IIRC) it will become "ooa" again if the "resupply" unit is no longer close by.

Yes you can reload lots of stuff at the same time from a vehicle. It's one of the things many people do right at the set-up turn. Only the Brits have on-map small mortars. The scale of CMSF is smaller than CM1 so no on-map mortars. In CM1 it was easy to KO guns with on-map mortars. (Loved the accurate Brit 3" mortar for example.) But, were mortars in CM1 unrealistic, anyone?

The CM MODS SITE: http://cmmods.greenasjade.net/ For BFC (here), I guess you contact the admin and ask.

It's way too expensive and time-consuming to do an "in-game tutorial.' But, a written guide through a scenario explaining the basics is essential if you want to broaden the base. I get the sense that some folks don't really want "outsiders" (non grogs/milpros) coming in.

Wow. You have quite a find! It would be great if you could zip all of them and upload to GAJ site or BFC as a compilation.

"The idea of the tutorial caught my eye and thought it would be great if I could play the game on one monitor while scrolling through the pages of the manual on the other." Nice idea. We do not need an in-game tutorial. But, "typical" newbies who are not milpros or grogs are not going to have the patience to try scenarios over and over again for weeks or months till they "get it." I personally do not know any young folks with that sort of persistence any longer. It really comes down to whether there is any motivation to appeal to a market outside of milpro/grog. If not, then I agree, the need for user-friendly aids is mitigated.

Thanks for the useful comments: jnt: "The MK19 has an effective range of 1500m. The M203 around 300m. You take a MK19 round and try to put it in your 203 and it will dislocate your shoulder (though I doubt it will fit)." I forgot there was a tripod or vehicle mounted automatic grenade chucker - that is NOT the one I was referring to. I don't have the manuals here, but I recall that the manual says that the two handheld grenade launchers (the underbarrel and the handheld grenade chucker one the Marines use) use exactly the same ammo. Is that inaccurate? My question was prompted by my experience in CMSF that the Marines' handheld grenade chucker was able to fire reasonably accurately at over 500m in CMSF. I wondered if that was realistic. Re scouting a "relatively restricted route" in urban or when you have vehicles, yes I play primarily vs the AI. That may account for my "one size fits all" theory since I am getting better at fighting the (rather good imo) AI. I love PBEM in CM1, but I find CM2 PBEM requirements just too onerous. The files too large for e-mail etc. Also, CM2 is so much less forgiving that CM1 and thus requires so much more brainpower and thought than CM1, that by the time I get a CM2 PBEM file back I forget what intricate move I was going to make. Errors in CM2 can be so costly as to immediately ruin the game. Thus the frequent need to restart (which I virtually never do in CM1) simply in order to continue to enjoy the challenge. You can't do that with a human oppo. However, I find my scouting techniques to be a lot more more successful than what c3k describes. I recommend moving by HUNT and HIDE, with frequent waypoints - each with a 10-15 sec pause. The pauses are important in helping spot. Also, one needs to try to use units with binoculars. (I think they spot better in the game?) The pauses also help the guys recover so they don't tire too quickly. I have learned that when scouts suddenly hide for no apparent reason (no enemy icons appear), one needs to take that warning seriously and be very cautious from there on. For longer distances (several hundred meters) on roads - I like to send a less-valuable vehicle on FAST for part of the distance followed immediately by REVERSE to not as far back as where it started, followed by FAST to further than the last FAST, and REVERSE and so on etc etc. Am hoping to attract fire with the vehicle almost immediately reversing away from danger. I like larger scenarios and with the time constraints one usually has, the above is the only way I have found to efficiently recon longer distances esp along roads. What do you guys do?

Looks good. Thanks for your work.

Might work.

Well, I will happily playtest... But, to me that means playing it like I would any scenario. I could try 2 or 3 different routes to make sure the game can't be easily "broken." Not sure what else you require.

One needs to find out the max distance it takes an AI unit to spot an enemy in (say) 60 seconds. Then, do the same test with exactly the same situation/parameters, but this time the spotting unit is human-controlled. If the human-controlled unit spots within the same time limit, only then one can claim objectively that the AI has no spotting advantage.

We have to be clear if we talking about THE GAME or RL. In CMSF, roof hits are effective vs units grouped around (and inside IIRC) the building at ground level. Just one of the weird "bugs/features" that one has to learn and understand to play well. So, in the game is Armor or General arty ammo better vs inf in buildings?

That some players don't use covered arcs much is a big surprise to me. I want my guys looking in the desired direction at all times - both to facilitate quicker spotting as well as quicker max fire. (That is the major reason I really miss the single click 180 degree arc of CM1.) So what is the story with the machine grenade launchers? Are they able to fire accurately at 500m+ compared to the declared range of the under-barrel version of only 150m?

wot he said.