Wicky

Another set of snow modded vehicles to go with Kohlenklau´s new CMFI campaign.
 
This time it is the Sdkfz 7 vehicles and accompanying AA-guns that have been lightly sprinkled with snow. They have also been supplied with the the mod tag [snow]. The tag should ensure that these mods only show up in games with snowy ground conditions.
 
The base textures are - as always - made by Aris, I only applied the snow.
 
Get them here
 
Enjoy
 
rekl

Finally, time for my obligatory useful post! 
 
Laser warning receivers apparently work versus bandwiths of the laser hitting em.  This causes some neat/unintended effects. For instance, lets use the Arena system as an example.
 
Anyone remember the Greek trials for tanks back in... 2006 I think?  The Shtora system on the Russian tank was 100% mitigated by the LRF on the M1A2.  It didnt detected it whatsoever.  At first, this looked like it was due to the system being outright non-functional, but when you look at it it makes sense.
 
The M1A2 has a carbon-dioxide laser rangefinder.  
 
The Shtora was never meant to function versus carbon-dioxide lasers.  It was meant to operate versus the absolute most common (at the time) laser,  Yttrium Aluminum  Garnet lasers.
 
So much like the constant tweaking of ECM system ranges to counter specific threats, laser rangefinders and defensive systems that register laser hits need to operate under a range of frequencies at which.the likely targeter is going to use.  The Arena and later assumedly dont have this issue

Michael Emrys,
 
I really don't get this whole thing about voting on posts. What's next? An on-camera interview in ball gowns in which we'll all answer "world peace" so that people will support our posts? I have enough to deal with just getting the actual posts coherent and out.
 
Regards,
 
John Kettler

Previously released:
 
Sdkfz 7 vehicles and accompanying AA-guns
 
rekl
 
Tigers:
 
reklame
 
German greatcoats, helmets, boots and gear
 
rek

pnzrldr has started dishing out pain, rather than watching his forces die and die? Alert the media! Wait. Someone has!
 
(Stentorian intonation and blaring graphics WAR IN UKRAINE!)
 
"We interrupt this program for breaking news. CNN has just learned that main force US-led NATO units have arrived at (insert location) in Ukraine and are in heavy contact. We would've had this report sooner, but heavy jamming interfered with cell phones and our satellite systems. We go now to (insert name of war correspondent not allowed to be an embed).(Helmet and body armor clad field reporter is seen momentarily and with intermittent audio before screen dissolves into unrecognizable hash and producer tells anchor to come back) (With aplomb anchor states) We'll come back to (insert name) just as soon as technical difficulties have been resolved (which doesn't happen, since Putin's mightily determined not to show the flaming wrecks his once triumphant force is being turned into). Judging from early reports, it appears that the defending Ukrainian forces (details), together with unknown numbers of American advisers (more details), were previously savaged by (insert pejorative) Russian artillery, tanks and infantry fighting vehicles. It is feared the relieving force may be too late, though CNN has learned the newly arrived American tank and mechanized force is exacting terrible vengeance on the Russians, as it smashes through the Russian force in a headlong effort to destroy the besiegers and rescue what's left of the stalwart defenders. We turn now to our (talking head) military adviser (show Ukraine map first, then Digital globe hi-res imagery and maps of combat zone) who will use his expertise to fill us in on what's likely happening there." (Pontificating begins and continues until anchor becomes exasperated and abruptly breaks off because military adviser won't shut up). We'll keep you abreast of details as this important story continues to unfold. Stay tuned to CNN.
 
(Cut to same as at beginning)
 
"We now return to our original program."
 
(Gets back just in time for a cat food commercial)
----------------------------------------------------------------
 
AMP round info from Army.mil site on March 2013.
 
That was then. Here it comes. Presolicitation from Department of the Army. Lots of changes and amendments right through November 4, 2014.
 
Regards,
 
John Kettler

John,
 
I agree that the professionalism in the american army is superb and i'm not saying the contrary. It reinforces what I'm saying. What i'm saying here is whichever army you are, fighting an intact and numerically superior US army unit is a losing proposition and in a big way, Whether you are syrian, russian, chinese, german. You need to work it up first and strip it of its fighting power before engaging it with your main units. It has a tech edge and very often a  profiency edge. However little that edge is, it will be multiplied if it outnumbers you and is at 100% combat power.
 
In this scenario, maybe the russians have been given an equal experience rating, but you need at least a 2-1 numerical superiority to have any chance of succeeding considering the equipment involved. The Russian stuff is good, but not good enough to fight on equal terms against a HUMAN US army opponent. As an example, the russian infantry has a low chance of destroying no more than 2-3 abrams out of the 14 involved. The american infantry, on its own, with the javelin could devastate that russian force almost entirely. The T-90, as Bill said, cannot fight the M1s on equal terms and have problems even with perfect ambush. You need to engage them from multiple directions. You cannot do that when you are fighting to avoid numerous Javelin fire and M1A2s that outnumbers you, even more so on a small map.
 
Now, if you put all the US force at conscript level and the Russians at crack or elite, they would have a chance. Shows what you were saying, training is everything. But like I said, in real life, there are many things the Russians could do that could seriously erode that serious US edge before the two armies meet in the field, at least in the first week of any war. They do have some powerful and numerous long range stuff and the ability to use it effectively, especially so close to their backward. Who would have thought they could pull such an operation in Crimea under the nose of the West, quick and effective. They are supposed to be slow and lumbering. Dont underestimate them. They are much less corrupt than they were in the nineties, the huge money spent on modernizing mostly goes where it should and they learned from the Georgian war a lot and applied those lessons. They train way more regularly and in a realistic way. Things have changed. Even Breedlove (SACEUR) admitted so. There is a lot of waste of money in the US department of defense too and the US military budget represents the budget for a global force with the money needed to maintain such a huge infrastructure around the world.
 
The US could mop the floor with the Iraqis because it was a perfect situation for the US, everything was in favor of the US. WAY superior training, maintenance and equipment. Total air supremacy and a big flat pool table (desert) where all our fancy stuff could be used with utmost effectiveness. It was like pitting an NFL team against a high school team (an I'm sorry for offending all high school teams out there). Even the Russian army of the nineties would not have had much trouble soundly defeating them. Their ammo was crap, their tanks and equipment were old monkey models and were abysmally maintained. They couldnt hit the side of a barn even at close range. They were demoralized and their commanders in most cases amazingly inept. It was so lopsided you have trouble believing the reports. Even when they took the US by surprise tactically (Fright night), they couldnt do much with it but disable one of two M1s.

14012015
1500
 
I scorched the earth before me. My nostrils are filled with the sweet savor of smoking carcass and ash. With modern weapons, the cacophony of destruction that is meet out will sanctify me in the eyes of all who behold it...publicly. 
 
Enjoy this screenshot of my last game.

grunt_GI,

Yes, I did get my metrics crossed up. Probably because I've seen speeds like that on my Internet connection altogether too much!

aleader,

Red Baron, Flight of the Old Dog and multiple disastrous outings--too much to track; won the sector battle but lost the war--with Red Lightning, experiences so traumatic I swore off computer wargames for good. Until a friend moved in, bringing MOO, some huge Star Trek game and PE. Was his weapon dev guy for the first two, then first pundit, military advisor, tyro and pretty good PE player and dev group (not to be confused with DEVGRU) member. An ad on PE got me into CMBO's Beta Demo, for the first CMx anything! I wrote an entire novel on my Amiga, learned to run image processing software and MatLab or something akin thereto. Piddled with 3-D randering and ray trace, digital painting and other cool stuff. A real shame Commodore royally screwed up on the Amiga, for it was simply astounding and inexpensive, both for the rig and the software. There was some talk of marketing the wonderful OS, but they screwed that up, too. The Amiga provided me my first look at the internet--via a browser which showed a a whole four-inch tall segment, a kind of virtual vision block view, if you will.

Regards,

John Kettler

sburke,
 
You are clearly not getting it. Causation we can discuss separately. The discretion lies in what I say, how much I say and when and in what manner I present it. At any given time, I'm sitting on a trove of intel of varying sensitivity. Information which I may or may not be allowed to use subsequently, in whole or in part. This information has been and is provided to me as deep background. It provides a context in which I can understand certain aspects of what I receive and, where permitted, judiciously convey certain aspects of that overall view still going on behind the scenes, so as to better inform my readers. It also consists of material on US and foreign weapon developments, US and Allied operations, areas of operations, live fire trials and much else. Whole categories of important-shocking-mind-bending matters of which you likely know nothing. And never will unless you bestir yourself. That's about as far as I dare take this here. You know where to find me should you wish to have an unfettered discussion.
 
Regards,
 
John Kettler

Ketz,
 
Welcome aboard!
 
pnzrldr,
 
There's a simple, very effective and nasty trick that can be used to defeat thermals and visual detection if back in a wood line. I learned it from my dad, who honchoed the technical side at Hughes EDSG (Electro-Optical and Data Systems Group) of the DTV for the Abrams and the TWS for individual and heavy weapons. The approach goes like this. Build a wooden frame wider and taller than the tank. Cover it with aluminized Mylar. Erect in front of tank. Visual observers will see trees. Thermal devices won't see the tank, but will instead see the thermal background of trees and soil. Wait until the enemy gets close enough (spotters), then drop the screens. Holy deadly surprise engagement, Batman! This has been tested in the field and worked great.
 
MikeyD,
 
You wouldn't be drawing any conclusions from the veritable annihilation of pnzrldr's Ukrainian BMP-2s, would you? It's like watching a master class in massacre! As for Ukraine's drones, if they're COTs, then they're effectively wide open to jamming, with crashes being the likely outcome. 
 
Regards,
 
John Kettler

In that time frame only the US possessed nukes, they only had a handful, and they were all earmarked for strategic use. It's doubtful that any would have shown up on the battlefield. I think it was only in the mid-'50s that the US began making serious moves to produce a tactical nuclear arsenal.
 
Michael

Look for bargains in the refurbished section of the store (bottom left store front page)

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac?mco=MTM3NDc3NzY

Mord,
 
Wanting to play and having the means to play CMSF are two interrelated issues, at least for me. The subject most definitely interested me, especially since my brother was in the first SBCT ever deployed into battle; was mortared,rocketed and nearly blown up by a VBIED while out patrolling Anbar Province in an armored Hummer. My computer (800 MHz iMac) back then lacked the cyber horsepower, which was moot, since there was no Mac version of the game. Given my Cold War intel analyst background, not to mention the current excitement there in Ukraine, I'm quite interested in CMBS. But since my 3.06 Intel Core 2 Duo iMac is wheezing along, while dealing with CMBN 3.1, I doubt it'll be able to hack CMBS, where my anemic 256 MB of VRAM may well die of overwork!  Meanwhile, I can't run the latest browsers (YT keeps telling me mine is obsolete and makes a face at me) or Mac OS, and Wordpress just kills me in terms of demands it makes on my rig. Sadly, Santa didn't bring me a new iMac. Consequently, am pinning my hopes on the Cyber Fairy!
 
Regards,
 
John Kettler

Does it rain constantly for three or four hours though. Probably not usually in the real world environment. It would be more realistic if we could vary the type of precipittion or have it stop raining altogether, go to just overcast and a bit later start rainin again. For clear weather to become overcast and then styart raining/snowing as appropriate. For mist and fog to evenually clear etc. In short for the game weather system o mimic the real word environment (pardon the expressio  ) a little more realsticly than is possble at present but obviously within certain realistic perameters.

There are many aspects and pieces of equipment of warfare that aren't simulated on the CM battlefield yet, including medevac equipment, logistics vehicles, engineering vehicles, bridge laying, aerial warfare, NBC, etc.  Not that these things could never be added, but development resources are limited.  That said, if you really wanted to simulate a post-nuclear battlefield you could place lots of leveled buildings, stripped trees and units with fitness set to -1 or -2 to simulate cumbersome NBC equipment and hostile environmental conditions.

pnzrldr,
 
In light of the proliferation of first, TV backup systems on SAM systems for operation in jamming environments, and now, FLIR to do the same thing, I decided to look into the question of FLIR on Tunguska. I think some corrections may be in order. From the amazing Dr. Carlo Kopp and his Australia Airpower site.
 
http://www.ausairpower.net/APA-96K6-Pantsir-2K22-Tunguska.html
 
Optical Sensors
Early variants of the Tunguska series introduced an electroptical tracker to provide silent angle tracking in jamming environments. The electro-optical tracking system includes a longwave (8 - 14 μm band) thermal imager for target acquisition and tracking, and a dual band short (3 - 5 μm) / midwave  (0.6 -1.1. μm) IR tracker for angular measurement of the missile beacon.
 
The Tunguska has a full-on FLIR, and by 2017 likely a better one than above, which allows it to conduct gun and missile engagements without any radar emissions. Said FLIR would presumably also be usable vs. ground targets, thus giving your horribly cut up Ukrainians two FLIR equipped AFVs--nasty ones at that. In short, you may be able to do to Bil's AFVs and infantry hiding in foliage something like what he's done to yours. Savage them when they think they're concealed. With something of the order of a 5 meter blast radius per shell, I'd think it would be pretty easy to grease infantry, even sans FLIR.
 
While we're on Tunguska, I was wondering whether the system and subsystem modeling is granular enough to permit multiple hits on the Acq/Track radar antenna, without killing it outright? The key component, after all, isn't the antenna per se, which is pretty projectile damage tolerant, but the small feed horn via which the radar does its thing. Also, can you stow the radar for ground engagements when not under air attack threat?
 
MikeyD,
 
I think you misunderstand how laser designation for weapons work. You don't have to lase continuously, but only in the far shorter period immediately preceding weapon launch and TOF to the target. Thus, the lasing unit might get a "two minutes out" warning for CAS and a "shot out" call from artillery. this makes tracking the target and lasing it a much easier proposition. Also a laser guided weapons these days doesn't have to be precisely aimed. Rather, it simply has to arrive in an acquisition basket in which the seeker's FOVs allows it to see the reflected laser spot from the now-designated target. When I worked at Hughes, we made a laser-guided version of Maverick for Marine CAS, and I'm thoroughly familiar with how these weapons work.
 
Regards,
 
John Kettler 

Wow you guys are making variable weather complex. How about just letting us set initial conditions and a second set of conditions at X minutes. Maybe allow a short random interval and maybe allow an optional second transition.


I bet that would be plenty of work .

Hi all
Kohlenklau´s exciting new CMFI campaign inspired me to give snow modding vehicles another try (I´d previously given up in frustration, it´s not easy).
 
The result is here: A set of CMFI Tigers lightly sprinkled with snow - and with the mod tag [snow]. The tag should ensure that these mods only show up in games with snowy ground conditions.
 
The base Tiger textures are made by Aris - I only applied the snow.
 
Get them here: http://cmmods.greenasjade.net/mods/5428/details
 
Enjoy
 

BruceK,
 
Welcome aboard! 
 
Terrific post which, with the succeeding one, was most enlightening.
 
All,
 
What a great thread. I'm learning a great deal about issues I'd never seen discussed before and am thoroughly enjoying the erudite discussion, the respect for differing viewpoints and some delightful humor, intentional and not. I, too, have seen the statement the route to the infernal regions is "paved with good intentions," and I believe the intentions here are good. We seem, though, not to merely have departed the road, but have plunged over a precipice, providing a direct route to the previously mentioned destination. Let's hope that we, like Bugs Bunny in the famous gremlin episode, will manage to come to an abrupt halt, while in a vertical power dive, before outright disaster ensues.
 
On a topical note, did you know that a former NBA basketball star co-wrote a seminal, highly rated book on the 761st Tank Battalion? The star was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and the book was called  Brothers In Arms. Here's a look at the book and how it came about. Don't know how many of you noticed, but in one of the quotes about a 761st company in combat, it says the company's strength was 5 Shermans. I read it, kept reading, and then it hit me. The strength of the attacking company was only that of a full strength platoon. There should've been 17 tanks in the company! This speaks volumes both to casualties generally and why the Americans sweeping to victory felt they were losing, one of the themes which informs "Fury" but is reflected in such books as Irwin's phenomenal  Another River, Another Town, in which a 19 y.o., with only two weeks' gunnery training, arrives in Europe, is sent straight to a repple depple in Germany, then winds up in practically the lead tank, as gunner, with no time to settle in, just as the 3rd AD begins a major attack. 
 
Overall, I'd like to ultimately see correct colors for the various races and ethnic groups, but also the right sorts of heads and bodies as regards height, size, shape, etc. There are some sterling examples of what I mean in wartime Russian photographs in which a squad looks something like a UN meeting in terms of racial and ethnic diversity. 
 
Regards,
 
John Kettler

Would it be possible for BF to develop a program routine that would allow weather to change during a battle? This might work by the scenario designer steeing a percentage chance for weather to change with branching options enabled.
 
To take a simple example the game could start off as foggy. After a specified amount of time there will be a 40% chance the weather remains this way but a 60% chance every ten minutes that the fog will become mist. Once this happens there will be a 70% chance every fifteen minutes that the mist will clear. Once that happens there will b a 50% chance that the weather is clear. oherwise it wil be overcast. If overcast there will be a 60% chance of precipitation.

Buzz,
 
I'll be the first to admit I know nothing useful about building a Hackintosh, or any other rig for that matter, but two weeks ago, I got to go to an electronics store that's blue and see the new iMac, notably the SAN removing 27.5 inch version. I don't love the price, not that I can afford it anyway, but man, do I love that huge Retina display. If I had that machine, I think my battlefield would look much nicer, I wouldn't be limited to small battle maps, my machine wouldn't bog, load times would plummet, and I'd no longer be in therapy over screenshot envy! And yes, I'm aware I'm not exactly setting Europe ablaze with what I have. The take of the guys working there on the killer iMac? It's a tremendous display, with a computer thrown in for free! I suspect, though, that Apple's designed this thing to require a neurosurgery license to do anything later on to upgrade it. The very problem your approach so nicely handles.
 
Regards,
 
John Kettler

Am putting this here because this Forum is where the Master Installer is being addressed already. Since BFC has committed to making sure the base game is always current, what about the various Demos? Seems to me that it makes good business sense to give the prospective buyer a true picture of how the games work, rather than, shall we say, the obsolete versions of the game. The differences these days are quite considerable, and the absence of certain features now in the games may be a big turnoff to someone trying to make a purchase decision via the game as portrayed in the Demos.
 
Regards,
 
John Kettler

ChrisND is all over the Forums and YT and is an Admin, as I can attest from direct experience, but I don't see him listed. Is he an employee or a super productive volunteer? Are we missing anyone else from the About Us? I see that at least one listed guy, Fernando Bull, is in Spain, so must be telecommuting, and there appear to be others. How many people are physically there, who are they, and where is there?
 
I looked for this information in vain on the site, and from what I've read in aggregate, I got the impression Steve lives in a log cabin in the Vermont (?) boonies, surrounded by tall things both deciduous and coniferous. And, yes, I read the warning, so shall not elaborate upon what those things might be! Since I doubt BFC is in a log cabin, I'm puzzled why there is no pic of the firm's digs, which presumably are in something altogether less rustic than a log cabin or, worse, a lean to. Speaking as someone who visited AH shortly before the Great Massacre, which was part of the Epic Betrayal, and was absolutely horrified by the terrible state of the workplace there (stupendous shock to someone who cut his wargaming teeth on Tactics II), courtesy of Dott the Miserly, I could understand why you wouldn't want to show something like that, but you guys are entirely too squared away on all fronts to operate in such a continuously disintegrating pit. Not to mention having been around for over 15 years, by which time you've presumably upgraded your workplace from doubtless humble (or is it humbling?) beginnings. Would imagine many Forumites (not to be confused with stalagmites, cheese mite or even catamites) would love to see the "Here's where we started" and "Here's where we are now" pics, especially those of us who've been your customers from the earliest days. This is where the likes of Polygon and RPS have let us down in their reportage, being several "W"s short of the standard five in journalism, though Polygon did by far the better job on BFC's history.
 
I shall await your response with bated breath, coupled with the firm hope it doesn't lead to oxygen starvation! Who knows? Maybe this post will actually put some eyeballs on the GDF, a once flourishing place (pre-Cambrian hothouse), but where even the rare tumbleweeds are now lonely and forlorn. 
 
Regards,
 
John Kettler
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

SeinfeldRules,
 
I used to work for Hughes MSG (Missile Systems Group), Canoga Park, and a sister organization, Hughes GSG (Ground Systems Group), was in Fullerton. GSG made both the TPQ-36 and TPQ-37 radars. We used to have Thursday afternoon tech briefs, sometimes classified, and one such was from GSG tech experts for the Firefinders. Using Los Angles City Hall as a thought model, we were told that enemy fire could not only be localized to City Hall, but a specific corner of the building. Additionally, we were told that with a dedicated battery, counterfire could be backplotted (backplotting done practically as soon as projectile cleared radar mask) and en route to the enemy before the hostile round even landed.During the Cold War, Russian doctrinal pubs specifically planned around taking NATO counterfire in four minutes. 
 
Regards,
 
John Kettler

No. He meant that there will be exactly two Jagdtigers in the game. Once they are destroyed they will no longer be available in future scenarios and QBs, so treat them well.