RockinHarry

Sounds like the half measure BFC made to "fix" the "retreat" to odd places crap in previous game version. Pity they didn´t "fix" anything, but just added new issues to game play. If it´s your own scenario creation, I´d try lowering some the Volkssturm´s soft factors, like experience and leader rating. I see it´s "regular" and a +1 leader for squad in question. Maybe green or conscript with -1 leader would react the way you want, but IDK ATM. Where´s this squad´s Plt HQ btw?

good enough for guvmint work. I had a buddy who did these for me but he has a young baby now and hasn't been on the forums in a long time.

slowly getting there...

...working on bringing over enough French terrain stuff to make the scenarios seem to be France.
skybox for the horizons
a few buildings
some trees since Italy is more arid
other stuff
flavor objects...I MEAN...objet d'flavour
 

@Falaise

Here´s some Easy Red 2 example pics of me playing around in map editor. Applied bits of Reshade magic as well but nothing too fancy. Map is just for placing stuff and experiment with it and editor features generally.
As can be seen quite a lot can be sculpted into and out of the 1m resolution terrain mesh (similar to CM). With multi layer (out of 8 ) ground textures nicely blended together freely, it all can look fairly realistic IMO. I also get my realistic size and depth trenches out of all that. lol 😁 And even better.... the AI bots recognize them as cover and use them! Great.
Overally the map editor is easy to use, though has its rough edges and lack certain features (yet). The game (and editors) is in constant development, so I expect more goodies to come later. Easy Red 2 example pics and map editor capabilities

Here´s some Easy Red 2 example pics of me playing around in map editor. Applied bits of Reshade magic as well but nothing too fancy. Map is just for placing stuff and experiment with it and editor features generally.
As can be seen quite a lot can be sculpted into and out of the 1m resolution terrain mesh (similar to CM). With multi layer (out of 8 ) ground textures nicely blended together freely, it all can look fairly realistic IMO. I also get my realistic size and depth trenches out of all that. lol 😁 And even better.... the AI bots recognize them as cover and use them! Great.
Overally the map editor is easy to use, though has its rough edges and lack certain features (yet). The game (and editors) is in constant development, so I expect more goodies to come later. Easy Red 2 example pics and map editor capabilities

The developer that made the game "Hex of Steel" is also working on something that is in line with ER2 . Below is one of the work-in-progress videos from development from the FPS underway. 
He seems like another of the new generation of developers making interesting games with an eye towards keeping everything rooted in a historical basis.
 

another scouting (with vehicles) tactic I´m using is fast move between observation points, preferably from then hull down position. If possible furtherly refining to turret down so that just the commander peeks over the crest. For more "secrecy" one can also fast move from point to point in full cover, then disembark. The crew then does the recon similar to infantry at very short distance. It´s not without risks, but if you just want to observe, not draw fire, it´s very effective. Another RL tactics as taught for german WW2 motor recon troops (and tank units in same role).

another scouting (with vehicles) tactic I´m using is fast move between observation points, preferably from then hull down position. If possible furtherly refining to turret down so that just the commander peeks over the crest. For more "secrecy" one can also fast move from point to point in full cover, then disembark. The crew then does the recon similar to infantry at very short distance. It´s not without risks, but if you just want to observe, not draw fire, it´s very effective. Another RL tactics as taught for german WW2 motor recon troops (and tank units in same role).

That using small HQ´s is unrealistic is not quite true. German HMG Plt commanders, Battery commanders and staff personal from other HQ´s were frequently sent for recon. Of course it was more for scouting a particular units (new) combat positions, but other staff personal was oftenly sent for actual combat recon. Anyway... unless I want "sacrificing"  a normal split off team, I keep prefering small teams that MUST have a binocular for watching at stand off ranges. Anything else of course is always situational dependent. And if given scenario doesn´t include spare HQ teams.
Yeah agree. Putting too much time pressure on a player by giving ridiculously short mission times, is more to hide a scenario designer´s unwillingless to put more thought into his design. It´s sort of an extra very artificial "difficulty" level. 😛 There´s maybe cases where real time pressure is part of a particular engagement  (grab a bridge, before it gets blown up etc.) but otherwise. The CM mission editor allows multiple ways to make a scenario more challenging and interesting.

Thank you Steve to take the time to answer.
I know having différents views from damaged or burned vehicles are not very useful in the game and they are only "candy", but can we perhaps see in the future, a way that we have différents views, on burned or damaged vehicles, the tracks for exemple when is also only a BMP file, this will not take too much change in the code I guess ?
I don't know exactly the system that you are using, I guess is the same system like the dead soldiers, that we never see nowhere a BMP file that we can eventual replace, but I think this will be interresting.
Of course for the "pure" tactical gamers this will be a drop in the ocean, and not important, but, I think, a little more details, will be welcome !
Thank you in advance to your answer
 

Yup, what I´d said. Though what do we know about the games under the hood features that BFC never tell us about. I hate all these superfluous discussions just because BFC keeps up this totally unnecessary secrecy on many issues. But oh well.... It may be time to move on.

If you try to make a mod, be prepared for the mud and rocks to be thrown at you in various ways. Some people are purists and will not accept anything but some official BFC interpretation of a WW2 timeframe. I COULD go along with them except I will not live to be 147 years old.
Some folks will look for the chinks in your armor. Chinks? Is that the right word? No offense meant.
They look for issues with the mod and will pre-criticize it. Whatever. Give up if you don't have the cajones!
I say to hang in there and shoot for the best you can deliver.
I am thinking I can deliver an 83% mod. That means I damn well know it has issues but I just got to try and I look forward to trying a few small scenarios.
ON A MORE POSITIVE NOTE!
I spent some time in the CMFI scenario editor and I think my saving grace just might be the Poles! They have a butt ton of bolt-action rifles and not so many SMG's. It seems insane but I might have to mod the Poles to speak French! Cest la Vie-ski!

self-explanatory
 
Thanks to @JM Stuff for his work on the mod.

I try to be a multitasker.
I am excited to try and mod this French R35. I am a crappy modder so I picked one of the easier R35 camo schemes that the French Army had! 
This is so good that CMFI actually has the freaking R35 (Italians). I can have my very first [france1940] scenario really be accurate down in the game code physics. The Italian crew will be modded to look French. Make Sophia Loren strip down and wear a blonde wig to be Brigitte Bardot?

First try...

ok, I did my first mdr shenanigan for this [france1940] mod. I am using CMFI by the way. I brought over the shell mdr of the German captured French flametank from CMBN MG module. I used the Churchill I as the host. I am trying for the best apples to apples there! a big heavy slow tank with BOTH a turret and a hull gun. It needs new textures to look French of course.
THIS IS MY CURRENT FRENCH ARMOR FAMILY FOR THE MOD. THEY ALL NEED NEW FRENCH ARMY COSTUMES! From left to right, the Renault R35, the Char B1, the Italian AB41 which will stand in "as is" for a Panhard AC, and French half-track (also from CMBN MG module).
I will round it out with a small staff car and an old looking truck. (using the Opel Kadett and that old Soviet truck).

MDR SWAPPING 101
I write this from the perspective of a WW2 CM game fan...
If I CANNOT get a new influx of game-coded vehicles for the early war periods, I have to look at swapping a vehicle in for a specific mod. I will refer to this as mdr swapping other wise known as "mdr shenanigans".
We're all really just staring at a screen of spreadsheets fighting each other, right? Something like that? The armor ratings, the turret turn rate, rate of fire, etc.
I have taken the mdr file of one vehicle and renamed it to the mdr filename of another vehicle to get the on screen result I wanted. But the game engine knows what it really is and all the physics stays the same. The player is not happy to see a Romanian R-35 fire off a multi-round burst of main gun fire because underneath it is still a Lynx. So, sometimes these vehicle swaps are best limited to roles of battlefield debris, damaged tanks, etc. maybe set the ammo to severe, maybe use a conscript crew, send them down a mined road as part of an AI plan. AS AN EXAMPLE FROM CMRT ROMANIAN MOD, if CMRT had an actual R-35 on the axis side, then no "mdr shenanigans" would be required. CMFI has one on the axis side. 
We have apples, oranges and pears. If we can get a fuji apple to take the place of a macintosh apple, then maybe the overall results are not so awful. The R-35 layed over the Lynx wasn't so bad, I thought. I also did a T-34 from CMRT layed over the Panzer IV to be captured T-34 training for the invasion of Malta. Also, I did the Australian R-35 in CMFI Afrika Mod layed over the Stuart. 
My terms are "shell" vehicle mdr, the one you want to see in the game. It is on the outside like the shell of an egg. "host" vehicle mdr is on the inside, it is what the gamecode and associated physics see. 
1. Go get the folder for the shell vehicle (mdr files, bmp files, UI file), bring it to the new Z folder in a subfolder.
2. Then you must find the host mdr's folder and get the host mdr's mdr files, usually 3 or so?
3. Bring them into that same subfolder with the shell's stuff. Select the first host mdr file, then I hit F2 for rename then control c to copy the filename to the clitboard.
THEN DELETE THAT FILE.
4. Select the first file of the shell and hit F2 and hit ctrl v and also add in your [france1940] modtag at the end. hit enter
5. Do the same steps 3 and 4 for the other host files until all the original host mdr files are deleted and the shell files are all renamed with modtags.
The gamecode sees the hosts name but displays the shell on the screen in modtagged scenarios.
The last bit of icing on the cake is to modify the UI in game portrait or silhouette.
I like to try and use Juju's nice UI images for the shell vehicle or make your own and rename as host filename with modtag.
The bmps do not have to be renamed for vehicle mdr swaps
For uniform mds swapping, they do have to be renamed...more on that later.
I WILL GIVE DETAILED EXAMPLES OF MDR SHENANIGANS AS THIS PROGRESSES

The last thing I will say before I actually go off for a while and do some modding is that you must fight the natural urge to dial things up to grandiose aspirations.
Keep the focus real tight and try and deliver at least one scenario with some cool stuff. I have a few small scenarios in my mind and what I will need to create.
See you later!

OK big mouth, what are you going to mod?
I am going to try and finally make France 1940 in CMX2. I see where I know I can enjoy some certain battles. It just takes a ton of time to rename things and get them tested. Some stuff needs created or re-textured of course. I have buddies that I can ask or try by myself. 
I have a vision of what it will look like!
I gotta have the German army in tall boots, the 2 tone uniforms and helmet decals. No MG42's! No panzerfausts! Grey vehicles. Waffen-SS can have smocks and helmet covers. 
French Army: well, we now have the Adrian helmet. and the kepi. We have French voices/names. We have some French AFV's. We have French buildings. I need French uniforms.
British Army: I guess we have a lot to work with. maybe less so for 1940 British AFV's. 
I predict I can get us an 83% success.

Before I get nasty and lewd in how I view CM IN MY OWN OPINIONS FROM MY MIND, let me just thank Steve and Charles for creating the game and having it be "modable" with RezExplode and RezPack and the z folder and [modtags]. Imagine how crappy we would all feel if we didn't have those things. If I win Powerball lottery, they would also work to give us a lot more editor controls to change things. Oh well.
CMBB is, in my usual dirty-minded description, where the wedding bride gave all her holes away on honeymoon night. Steve and Charles then attended a business seminar and learned to never ever do that again. They learned well! Their new business policy was to always leave the customer with a bit more appetite at the end of the meal. Leave them wanting more. CMCW shipped under that policy. No snow yet. Just USA and USSR. Next module is just BAOR and still no snow. Maybe next module you get Bundeswehr? Maybe snow too? Dutch Marine Korps? Penciled in for 2033? 
So, we can only try as forumites to mod things to look like we want. Luckily that deep down inside the CM titles are all really the same. It reminds me of a restaurant. Give them a few hours and the whole place can go from Mexican food/furniture/menus/decor/waiters/waitresses/music to Chinese. Did you ever double-click the wrong icon? You sometimes don't even notice until you're in the game. Oh crap, this is RT and not FB. the icon, the opening screen, music, UI, it all is modable. Names of soldiers, the voices, the ranks, the portraits, the floating icons can all be changed. It just takes time. ugggh. A freeware Bulk Renamer Utility really helps!
Some things cannot be changed under the hood. When you mod these things you try and go as close to an apple and an apple as you can. There are tricks you can pull off to try and fudge things. It is all we can do. I have enjoyed the results. The purists out there are not going to be happy and that is ok. Don't download it. Don't play it. No problem. 
IF YOU CAN GATHER A FEW BUDDIES THEN THESE MODS ALWAYS SEEM TO GO QUICKER. BUT YOU MIGHT BUMP HEADS OR PISS SOMEBODY OFF. SOMEBODY HAS TO BE THE OBERMODDENFUHRER.
 

I am on my last legs of CM modding!  I have just a wee bit of juice left and will tackle a big mod and leave these posts and comments for anybody that might benefit from them.
I think the CMCW guys could really go places in a similar way as I have for the WW2 titles. CMCW Yom Kippur Mod, CMCW Falklands Mod for example.
Somebody who is smarter than me will probably see ways to do it better or easier or smarter. Of course! Pipe in and tell me as it is. I am not perfect.
I am not making any fancy pdf's or any videos. Just a bunch of text posts and probably some images.
 
 

Aye sah. From the mouth of Steve.
Concealment means the enemy has a lower chance of spotting. So Haybail (haystack) and all other FO do not lower chance of spotting. They are transparent!
Cover means the enemy has a lower chance of hitting. So Haybail (haystack) and all other FO have some variably coded by Charles influence to lower chance of hitting. They are paper thin to concrete/steel.

not sure if their style of FPS is that bad. ER2 is halfway between FPS and sim and easily accessible IMO. Also seems all based on their same game engine (Unity) so I would expect it´ll be more sim than shooter and maybe progressing more towards sim after initial release. ATM I see tendencies for that in ER2 already and Tank Squad might see similar developments.

Toyed around some more with ER2 map and mission editor. Thus far achieved good results incl. molded into terrain mesh trenches and other nice stuff. 😎 Also terrain sculpting is fairly easy and intuitive.
Also did bits of tanking on my test map and that was much fun as well. Devastated my test map ...lol (with StugIIIG) and found they´d just recently added persisting hit decals on AFV and pillboxes as well. Haven´t discovered everything yet, but looks like this all keeps me busy for some time to come. 😁

Great wargaming times (again) with Second Front, a tank sim (Gunner, Heat something lol) and Easy Red 2. With more on the horizon. 😎🍻