Erwin

If anyone knows this stuff, it would be very helpful to have a definitive list of vehicles that are best used unbuttoned.

My suspicion re why WW2 Africa desert theater hasn't had so much demand is that many folks have the idea that deserts are flat, featureless and boring.  Maybe there a a few places in the world that are like that.  But, that is very rare.  Anyone who has been in deserts knows that desert terrain is a) beautiful, b) often with rugged and dramatic vistas, and c) marvelous for long LOS and maneuver warfare.  We need to regularly chant for BF to consider an Afrika Korps module for CMFI.  (Especially if they ever get to the earlier WW2 period.)

There is a reason that the US trains on the Utah-Arizona border -  looks a lot like Afghanistan

I have played "Hammer's Flank" and well recall the challenges and frustrations of the first river crossing mission.  I agree that the SU76's seem very inappropriate as assault AFV's.  One needs to consider and use them as nothing more than mobile guns that have to be babied and put in keyhole positions so as to safely provide point HE support.  
However, by massing the Russian forces against a section of the enemy flank - I recall massing on the left using the light bridge - one can win this scenario with much less difficulty than for example many of the infamous "Courage and Fortitude" campaign missions in CMBN.  I have played many missions in CM games where I had to save and restart several times, but "River Crossing" was not one of them.  Perseverance is called for...  In many hard scenarios, one may think one is doing badly, but though courage and fortitude one should push on despite the pain as the enemy may well be suffering more than you are.

Probably better to post AAR described at about the same time, otherwise one loses the continuity.

Probably better to post AAR described at about the same time, otherwise one loses the continuity.

CMA was developed by a different company with some arrangement with BF and I noticed there are some differences in the way the mods work.  However, it plays just like a CM2 game - but CMA won't have the upgrades that all the other BF titles have enjoyed over the past 5+ years.  Some of us really like the CMA topic and game itself - it's quite different from the modern titles or the WW2 titles.  Presumably it is really cheap now, so I'd recommend getting a copy if you can.

That's great.  Looking forward to it.  Thanks...

When a unit starts off besieged in buildings one tactic that seems to work well in the game is to HIDE with a small 360 degree covered arc. 
AI units don't area fire.  If they can't see an enemy, they tend to do nothing.  If the designer has ordered the AI units to occupy those same buildings the AI enemy will attack.  But, generally that means they attack piecemeal and can get KIA easily.

Did you update the scenario?  I have a "Daraya Tank Raid v1" dated 5/9/2013.
I very much enjoyed testing and playing this scenario.  I recall moving in force down the roads with the tank turrets swiveling from side to side like Daleks and shooting anything that moved - it looked exactly like the videos one can see on You Tube of Syrian tanks moving in cities doing the same.
IIRC the secret of winning this mission is to advance slowly with everything, so that any enemy ambush is met with overwhelming firepower and quickly eliminated.
I also recall that by chance I had one of the beleaguered squads in a position to ambush the enemy inf which all attacked through the same entrance and were simply mowed down as they entered.

This imbalance during the ever increasing attempts to sim "realism" is something that has become more obvious as time passes.  Yes, it's wonderful that every rivet on a tank or uniform items for "July 1944" are accurate.  But, we also have other longstanding issues that are quite major that BF is unable to solve eg: troops panicking in "unrealistic" directions, weird LOS phenomena, pathing issues, and other items that we're not sure are bugs or simple eccentricities of the engine. 
One gets the feeling that the CM2 game engine has gotten so complex/unwieldy that solving one issue often gives rise to some other problem.  I recall the frustration re CM1 becoming problematic which led to the development of CM2.  Am wondering if CM2 is now headed in that same direction and may be becoming too cumbersome for its own good. 
I note that after all these years of CM2 development I am unable to get any CM2 game to run on my brand new vanilla Win 10 machine.  Installation issues should have been solved many years ago.  Really hope that CM3 is on the horizon.
 

"The fate of the Canadian consulate personnel is unknown."  Don't mean to sound snarky, but that sounds like complete failure if the whole point was to rescue them.  Shades of Vietnam "We won all the battles".  Yeah, but who cares if ya lost the war?

"The fate of the Canadian consulate personnel is unknown."  Don't mean to sound snarky, but that sounds like complete failure if the whole point was to rescue them.  Shades of Vietnam "We won all the battles".  Yeah, but who cares if ya lost the war?

OMG. 
This is why am very happy to pay BF for well-developed scenarios and especially campaigns.

A "game changing" release in that it revolutionized tactical wargaming.  And saved many of us hundreds, perhaps thousands of $ from not having to buy any more substandard wargames that only stayed on our HD's for a few days/weeks.  (Installed easily as well... lol)
 

Yes... thank you

A "game changing" release in that it revolutionized tactical wargaming.  And saved many of us hundreds, perhaps thousands of $ from not having to buy any more substandard wargames that only stayed on our HD's for a few days/weeks.  (Installed easily as well... lol)
 

A "game changing" release in that it revolutionized tactical wargaming.  And saved many of us hundreds, perhaps thousands of $ from not having to buy any more substandard wargames that only stayed on our HD's for a few days/weeks.  (Installed easily as well... lol)
 

A "game changing" release in that it revolutionized tactical wargaming.  And saved many of us hundreds, perhaps thousands of $ from not having to buy any more substandard wargames that only stayed on our HD's for a few days/weeks.  (Installed easily as well... lol)
 

It just stands for "HELP!"

Glad that China's actions are finally getting media attention.  From the story:
"The United States backed India amid recent aggressive actions by the Chinese army. Ambassador Alice Wells, the senior U.S. diplomat for South and Central Asia, called Beijing’s behavior towards India provocative and disturbing. “The flare-ups on the border, I think, are a reminder that Chinese aggression is not always just rhetorical. And so whether it’s on the South China Sea or whether it’s along the border with India we continue to see provocations and disturbing behavior by China that raises questions about how China seeks to use its growing power,” she said on Wednesday."

Yes, it would be great to have a "wait in ambush, shoot then scoot" command for snipers, ATR's and AT teams as well as ambushers.

This imbalance during the ever increasing attempts to sim "realism" is something that has become more obvious as time passes.  Yes, it's wonderful that every rivet on a tank or uniform items for "July 1944" are accurate.  But, we also have other longstanding issues that are quite major that BF is unable to solve eg: troops panicking in "unrealistic" directions, weird LOS phenomena, pathing issues, and other items that we're not sure are bugs or simple eccentricities of the engine. 
One gets the feeling that the CM2 game engine has gotten so complex/unwieldy that solving one issue often gives rise to some other problem.  I recall the frustration re CM1 becoming problematic which led to the development of CM2.  Am wondering if CM2 is now headed in that same direction and may be becoming too cumbersome for its own good. 
I note that after all these years of CM2 development I am unable to get any CM2 game to run on my brand new vanilla Win 10 machine.  Installation issues should have been solved many years ago.  Really hope that CM3 is on the horizon.
 

This imbalance during the ever increasing attempts to sim "realism" is something that has become more obvious as time passes.  Yes, it's wonderful that every rivet on a tank or uniform items for "July 1944" are accurate.  But, we also have other longstanding issues that are quite major that BF is unable to solve eg: troops panicking in "unrealistic" directions, weird LOS phenomena, pathing issues, and other items that we're not sure are bugs or simple eccentricities of the engine. 
One gets the feeling that the CM2 game engine has gotten so complex/unwieldy that solving one issue often gives rise to some other problem.  I recall the frustration re CM1 becoming problematic which led to the development of CM2.  Am wondering if CM2 is now headed in that same direction and may be becoming too cumbersome for its own good. 
I note that after all these years of CM2 development I am unable to get any CM2 game to run on my brand new vanilla Win 10 machine.  Installation issues should have been solved many years ago.  Really hope that CM3 is on the horizon.
 

The technique of having reinforcements that may even arrive after the scenario time limit is reached is a way to stop the AI surrendering "prematurely".  Players used to complain that the game would end abruptly just as they were about to execute their wonderful final assault plan and it was a let down - like coitus interruptus.

Supposedly... but, not as easily as they should be...  trees stand up better to AP and HE than tanks.  They should make tanks out of that wood!