Erwin

1) Am having a problem playing the Russians in scenarios where one needs to deploy significant arty support - particularly in an urban assault. One can't use heavy arty like western forces in CMSF as they usually have an 8-11+min delay and are not quite as accurate. I tried preplotting 3x152mm arty (medium/long/general) along a route I wanted to advance along and then saved and ceased fire to see the result: One dead and a half dozen wounded. I looked at the end screen map and the enemy was there but just not affected. I had expected to have severely depleted enemy forces. Makes the Russian arty rather useless? What am I missing? What are the best techniques? 2) The other issue I noticed playing the Russians (exclusively so far) is that the Muj seem to have radar or psychic skills to easily spot my Russians in ambush positions whether it's day or night. Many of the CMA scenarios are ambush-type. When my Russians are lying in wait even at night, usually the first I know there is enemy about is when grenades land amongst my Russians killing them. How is it that I can't see the Muj moving about but they can spot my guys in hiding? When I am the one moving I find it virtually impossible to surprise the Muj, and my ambushers end up being the ambushed. Is there a bias in the game or design in favor of the Muj or against the Russians - kinda like it was for the US forces in the original CMSF??? Anyhow, any hints on how to play the Russkies (or Muj for that matter) much appreciated.

All good advice snake_eye. One of the things I like about your design is that one has to perform recon - which is possibly my favorite aspect of the CM1 and CM2 games - discovery of enemy positions so one can call in arty or otherwise safely deal with them. I have heard it said that the CM games don't require recon and that CM1 and CMSF simulate situations where the recon is done and now the forces go in to shoot everything up. Scenarios like yours show that CMSF can sim the recon phase rather well. Congrats. Hope you do more scenarios and hopefully a campaign.

All good points. It's just a matter of taste re how one enjoys playing a game. No right or wrong.

abneo: I was commenting on the way the CMSF game originally dealt with the US forces. It seemed like a valid tactic to shoot at everything b4 allowing inf to advance. People forget that CMSF is an xnt game first and as a simulation of reality a very distant second - altho' it is brilliant at verisimilitude. Hence the nature of my response to Euri. For what it's worth... If CMSF were a great simulation of reality, we would all be playing the Syrians and Muj (in CMA) cos it would teach us great lessons on how to defeat them. However, it seems very few have played the Red side and one can draw ones' own conclusions. In addition, anyone in the biz who has enjoyed the DoD Verification and Validation process for sims would tell you that CMSF is a non-starter as a realistic sim. While I suspect that getting DoD contracts may have once been a motivator when CMSF was being designed, I applaud BFC for deciding that it is not worth the hassle to go in that direction. (For some reason I will have to discuss with my therapist, it always gets me going when anyone compares a CMSF game tactic to RL. Apologies for giving you back more than you expected. Rant over...)

Euri raises an interesting point since in CMSF many times one is in open desert and often (for the US at least) it's guns free.

Actually, I just noticed there are 5(!) ammo columns. Any clue what the 5th is for?

For CMSF two of the best places to find Mods are here under REPOSITORY (see BFC website main menus at top of page), and GAJ's CMMODS site (http://cmmods.greenasjade.net/). Download what you want (you may have to log in first). Create a NEW folder under DATA in your main CM directory, tradition is to call it "Z." Unzip d/l Mod (if necessary) and place the folder or .brz file into the Z folder. It should work. For CM1 games like CMBO, CMBB and CMAK you can d/l most things from CMMODS (see above). For CM1 mods, unzip the d/l if necessary. That should give you a set of .bmp files. Locate your BMP folder in your main CMBB (or CMAK, CMBO...) directory. Copy the mod .bmp's directly into that BMP folder (to replace the existing old .bmp's.) Important, it is highly recommended that you copy the same numbered original .bmp's first so if you don't like the look of the mod in the game, you can easily copy back the original .bmp's.

Re sounds card (and all else actually)... I agree with Redwolf... When I bought my system a year ago I was told that with modern tech. the onboard sound is now fine and no need for extra sound card for gameplaying. Have found that to be true. And yes, a "more than you currently need" power supply will serve you well if and when you decide to get a more powerful video card or a 2nd one to match the first. BTW: My philosophy re bang for the buck is to get the 2nd best system which gives me 95-99% of the best for a lot cheaper. So, I only have a 2.67 GHz single core, but it scores 7.0-7.6 out of a max of 7.9 on the windows key system performance scale. Just curious: Folks who have 3+ GHz , what are your speed ratings?

This has been an interesting thread. It's surprising that after all the hoohah about T-34 genre sloped armor, modern western tanks are returning to the near vertical slab look. Why is that? Also, since the biggest threat these days is ATGM's that can attack from above, is anything being done about that? Otherwise, it seems that these expensive weapons are only good vs relatively primitive 2nd and 3rd world countries, and deathtraps vs anyone possessing Javelin-type ATGM's.

Clearly, we need to have an option for moonless nights where one only sees a black screen and you have to give orders in total darkness!

Maybe the issue is mute since my personal bias is that WEGO is the better way to play IF you like the "realism" of command delay. While I can understand some of the above comments re when command delay may be less than realistic, the fact is that if you want to have an emergency reaction to an event just have NO command delay for the FIRST move (only). And I thought the WITHDRAW command in CM1 handled that rather well anyhow. But, when you have multiple waypoints, having NO command delay just seems wrong - playing as if all troops are linked by satellite communications and computer like (almost) they do today. We have the privilege of "God-view" and the game should be mitigating that, not the opposite. If you are into wrist twitch games (and why not if that's what you enjoy) and prefer playing in a more exciting RT mode then yes I can see that command delays are irritating.

Those bright CMBO-like graphics will be improved??? Or, are we relying on the army of volunteer mod makers again?

Those bright graphics - I thought you were using CMBO without mods(?)

In multiplayer human-human or vs the AI, both sides issue orders effectively "at the same time." The turns are then executed simultaneously.

It will be interesting to see if there is any way to discourage a blue unit from shooting at a red AFV as soon as it's visible. Sounds a lot harder to do what you sound like you want to do than to use the red AFV to shoot at blue from a distance as it is supposed to. What intrigued me in your post was the possibility of creating a roadblock by moving or parking a red AFV in a spot on top of a massive IED and setting that off. Also, if you could find a location where a red AFV could be placed so that the blue forces cannot see it until they are almost on top of it, you may achieve what you are trying to. Other designers (Paper Tiger esp) have found how to place bunkers which are impossible to see until you are almost on top of them, (in a victory location) and you HAVE to get very close to see to kill them. If such a hidden bunker (or vehicle presumably) were combined with a massive IED...?

When CMSF came out I tried RT but quickly realized that I would invariably lose a unit or two through getting over-focused at another place. And that would invariably cause me to lose. In CM1 this wouldn't be so much a problem due to the number of units of a typical scenario and the considerably less lethal environment. But, I find CMSF to be very "unstable" - like a modern fighter that requires a computer to keep it flying in control. Small errors can be catastrophic. So, the loss of a squad or a critical unit can change the game quickly. I just tried "A Trouble In Herat" (a very good/fun CMA scenario) in RT and despite my extra 2 years experience I had the same problem again of losing units unnecessarily. Also, it still took me about 3 days of average 6 hours per day to complete it - so not a lot faster than WEGO. My prejudice is that I "feel" that the discipline of having to issue orders that are as "safe" as possible for a one minute increment is more "realistic" (to me) than the ability to pause and have everybody turn on a dime in one or two seconds. It's just a game, so it's simply personal preference. I generally hate wrist twitch games even tho' I play Call Of Duty genre games every now and then for a change of pace.

One day, you gonna regret not getting that SSD for your OS. (I know I do...) heh.

Yes I agree. I think I already went on the record as saying how much I like your scenarios and campaigns as they have that "je ne sais quoi" that make them so much more tasty than most. (And your donations to the "Save the Erwin Foundation" have been much appreciated btw.) So get off your butt and do a decent CMA scenario or campaign plz.

Argh, run from her! Women, the scourge of good time CM play every time! But, if you simply give the A/B a set-up zone, that would be easy (I hope). Oooops have ta go, wife watching...

Command delay was one of the features that made CM feel "real" and not just a video game. I have missed it in CM2. Even in the age of computers etc., it still takes time for instructions to register esp in a combat situation with noise and other "distractions." The comments earlier from BF make one think that in the effort to make things more "realistic" exactly the opposite effect is being achieved.

Just finished "A Trouble In Herat" which is a CMA scenario but serves as an example. It's a great situation and I loved playing it (assault into a town by the Soviets) But, after each session of play I would save and ceasefire to get an idea of my progress as am not experienced as the Soviets. After the first 20 mins I had a "Minor Victory." But, every time I saved and checked after that and including the final result, I also had a "Minor Victory." It didn't spoil my enjoyment of the game, but I wonder what is the point of Victory Conditions at all if they really don't change much regardless of your progress. So, when designing, please make victory conditions that change with progress. Thanks...

It's just part of the fun of CMSF! So many details.

I see you mean it to be like a historical event, but I suggest that you at least start the game with the A/B in cover. Otherwise, I felt a bit cheated when I couldn't move them to cover fast enough. Presumably, since they had already been ambushed, they would be in the best defensive positions already. BTW: Any reason you don't have set-up zones and all units are fixed at the start? I only played 3 turns, but I liked the situation. I just hope you can at least put the A/B in cover at the start or allow us to set-up as desired.

Apache: AFAIK, the issues you describe are frustrating a lot of people. Not sure if it's a bug, or simply a weird/poor design choice. It just adds complexity without any gameplay value (that I can discern). I think it's all in an effort to "look" like an accurate simulation when it's really primarily an entertainment game.

Thanks Berto. I just hope that someone somewhere does a new Campaign or two for CMA. It's rather skimpy on scenarios and only has the original two Campaigns AFAIK.