Tank Hunter
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Posts posted by Tank Hunter
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This is just a damn game and people do not actually die when playing it!
Hmm I'm not sure about that.
I just saw an episode of Through the Wormhole on Discovery about "The Creator" and one of the theories one of the scientist had was that our whole planet may be a simulation just like we program simulations of our own. Apparently if you zoom in enough everything that we see is also made of pixels. First thing that came on to my mind were all the pixeltruppen I have watched die! 
What if their world is for "real" just like "ours"?? On a more serious matter, I'm glad MG was not cancelled. I want the entire simulation of WWII.
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Here is your backdrop to the whole Russia vs NATO in Ukraine scenario
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Hi Noob
Sign me up, I can play any side but if I can choose then I'll take the Germans.
I have v 2.01 and CW. I can do 1 turn/ day or more.
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Tank Hunter,
nice work
Out of idle curiosity, what game is providing the underlying map and counters in the image in the first post of this thread?(and, out of even idler curiosity, what does the T/T/T/T/T etc across the top of the counters mean :confused: )
Thanks
Jon
Thanks JonS! I've actually created the map myself and the graphics. Some of the rules were inspired by Battle for Normandy game. The map is not finished yet, only part of it is. I'll see about the graphics, will probably not change too much for the first release. I'm not satisfied with every tile right now but it serves its purpose I guess.
There will be a lot of work involved in documentation because there is a lot of stuff you can do at the moment. I've just been adding along the way stuff like, tactical reserves, half and full mounted units, paradrops, strategic bombardment, supply and so on..
The T/T/T/T/T is for tracking unit quality in CM. T stands for Typical.
From left to right it is: Experience/Motivation/Fitness/Leadership/Supply
Some of these also affect unit's A and D characteristics on the operational layer.
Just few minutes ago I added a function that decreases headcount for units that paradrop to simulate losses during deployement. =) These included both KIA and MIA.
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Thanks guys for showing interest. I've been spending couple of hours each night trying to put it together. It is progressing fine. As of last night I have included airborne, it is now possible to launch airborne assault which often results in units splitting and landing few hexes of intended target.
I have also added simulation capabilities so not all battles have to be fought in CM. Few more things to add, I should however be able to show a battle soon. Stay tuned...
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Will be Interesting to follow. Is this PzC Sicily 43? What terrain mod are you using?
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The problem is not that there isn't an external game that can be used to simulate the higher operational dimension. On the contrary there are many. In fact there is actually no need to use another game as a vehicle for the operational layer, one could merely use a map and some operational symbols with a basic art editor and move symbols around on a map. And all this without the territorial abstractions of hex boundaries.
True there are many games out there that can be used but I have so for not seen one that is directly related to CM. Players have to do their own interpretations of the pieces and try to translate these into CM context. My idea here is to provide unit counters with the same characteristics as they have inside the game. In the screen above each unit has a certain value for Experience, Leadership, Headcount and so on. All units also have properties that show how much equipment they have. Number of tanks, mortars, MMGs and so on is all in there. When the battle occurs the players just have to look at their pieces and set up the units in CM accordingly. When the battle is finished you just have to look at the end screen and adjust your losses in Operational Layer. Units characteristics may also change based on the outcome of the battle.
The general idea here is to keep all the tracking and bookkeeping in one place rather than use excel sheets and own interpretations of rules that are designed for a specific board game.
No that isn't the problem, the issue is this; the current CMx2 file format does not provide the capability to edit an ongoing battle. This creates an insurmountable difficulty because a player is unable to reinforce his forces in the middle of a battle. This means every battle (whether it be a scenario or a QB map) in CM is a separate event; it is isolated from the dynamics of a wider operational front -or actions across multiple maps.
Not necessary true, the idea above is to be able to set units in support role where they cover adjacent hexes but also to have units as Tactical Reserves, these reserves can be thrown into the battle if they are close enough. By setting up scenarios rather than QBs you could also decide when the reinforcements should appear. Either that or throw them into the battle directly. There are limitations of course but a certain ability to reinforce is still there. In a perfect world CM would have access to the whole operational map so that units could be aware of their surroundings.
There are a number of CM enthusiasts who have made an operational layer work by conveniently ignoring this element of an operational battle (as mjkerner alludes to above) - which is fine if one is willing to accept such limitations and be happy with an abstracted concept. However, for me such a shortcoming leaves much to be desired. :-(
There will always be limitations in all systems unfortunately. We just have to accept what we have now and work with that and hope that someday something may surface that will do the job much better.
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Hey guys
A while ago i followed couple of discussion on the board regarding the operational layer for CMx games. In some of the posts people were mentioning VASSAL which is a computer game engine used to transfer original board games into computerized versions that people can play against each other. This got me thinking. Can we use this engine to create something that can be used together with CMBN? I spent the little free time I have for the last 3 weeks trying to understand VASSAL and I'm now at the point where I have decent skeleton that can be built on for CMBN.
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As you can see above the map is standard hex (~1.2km/hex) showing standard US Battalion being deployed just north of Carentan. The idea is to have players use this board to track their CMBN battles. The plan is to come up with some rules in order to simulate battles if desired. It will also feature supply routes that players must maintain and protect.
All the units will have parameters directly applicable to CMBN. Players will modify these parameters depending on the outcome of the battles. Just to clarify, there will be no AI, the idea is to use this for keeping track of your battles against your opponents and provide the idea of a bigger picture. Players will have to setup certain house rules and follow them. First step is to release US and German army along with a manual. If popular I will try and see this through and may add other forces (UK,SS etc..).
It will of course be free of charge. Questions? Ideas?
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Wow there is just something special about AA guns engaging infantry. I'm glad they were included. I'm sure those mobile AA unit will be usefull. Everything looks very good.
I saw some strange animation however on one of the German AAs, the gunner was floating (laying) in air when covering. I specially liked the landscape in the German AA video, love the town high up on the hill.
I couldn't really make that much of The War Movie look, I get the idea but personally I'm not sure I'll use it that much. I'll have to see it in game before I can decide. I hope it didn't take that much time to implement it so that it didn't steal too much attention from all the other features that we want.
Now that we have AAAs in the game I'm pretty sure they will show up in Market Garden also, does it mean that we will also have them in the original CMBN period? (If you buy Market Garden Module that is).
All in all, great job BF. I'm looking forward to this even though I have limited gaming time atm.
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Why just one:)
That's an idea for BF. They provide one and then you can buy additional with micro transactions
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Fallschirmjäger in the ruins of cassino.
I'm not sure about this picture. It may have been taken anywhere. It's definitely propaganda. Examine it closer. Who rests and fires his rifle/gun on a box full of handgrenades during normal engagement where the opposite side may shoot back? I sure wouldn't even like to be in the same house as this guy..
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Wow, what a bad turn this thread took. BF please close this. It has nothing to do with Russian Army anymore and it absolutely has nothing to do with CMBN.
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Flight Commander 2 was superb..infact even though I prefer WW1 or WW2 aircombat games I found FC 2 a much better gaming experience than AS or OTR.
I do wish BF would re imagine AS\OTR and FC2..or make Whistling Death into a new tactical Air Combat game.
I only wish it was possible to install FC2 on Win 7 4bit.
Actually there is a way to install FC2 on Win7 and play it.
I never played FC2 originally but it got my attention once you guys mentioned it here. It's a game that I have kind of dreamed of, a modern tactical air game.
Anyhow it seems the game is avaliable online at various sites that keep the track of old games as freeware. I tried to run it but I just got a message that it wasn't compatible for Windows 7 64 bits.
It turns out however that you can actually run it using a program called DosBox and start Windows 3.11 from there. I managed to start it last night and give it a quick run
Have glanced at the manual and boy were the manuals better back in the days. They actually thought you something.
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The average age is now 41,9 (1257/30)
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Most anonymous polls on wargaming forums yield a much higher average age. Closer to 50.
Yes I would actually expect something like that. Most people interested in millitary history and wargaming seem to be on the upper side of the 50 year mark.. People active on the forums tend to be a bit younger however. It seems that people get recruited into wargaming somewhere between 20's and 30's. Many have also served time in milltary which initiated their interest in tactics and weapon platforms.
Personally I got hooked with wargaming at around 15/16 when I discovered Steel Panthers demo on a magazine CD. From that moment it was all about Steel Panthers until I discovered CMBB. From that point it's been all about CM games. I've tried few others over the years but they never really stuck compared to CM.
From time to time I try to play an operational game but I have so far not found one as immersive as CM has been to me. Maybe it is due to the nature of operational warfare, it's only pieces with numbers on a map and resolving battles usually only shows some numbers. Being on the ground with your pixeltruppen is totally another story.
You see the result of your decsions more clearly so to say. -
So far the average age of a typical CM player is 39.7 years. (676/17)
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33 this year. Have been around since CMBB.
Owner of CMBO, CMBB, CMAK, CMA, CMSF+all modules CMBN+CW and CMFI
With other words I have seen them all
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If I remember correctly SF2 was mentioned to be played out in a near future between US/Nato and Russia in temperate setting most likely Ukraine.
Personally I welcome the near future because I think such a conflict would be pretty limited in nature and much more even than ppl think. Russia has lately been investing a lot of money in its millitary especially some units like the VDV which would probably play a big part in a Ukraine setting.
Here is a clip showing of some of the VDV
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I think there is a wrong way of thinking here. I agree that there should be no exploits in the game that allows one player to get unfair advantage over the other due to a bug or incorrect design. However allowing people to use weapons/vehicles within their proper context is OK even though they may have not been used in such a way during WWII.
If a Jeep was never used for recon during WWII but someone uses it in the game then I don't really see a problem. As long as the Jeep behaves in a reasonable way which means it can only drive as fast as it's real world counterpart while having same strength and limitations. Now if someone would find a way in the game to get the Jeep to start flying or be invurnable then it is a problem.
It all comes down to personal preferences, some players may want to follow real world tactics used in WWII which is fine while some may want to experiment and see "What if" a particular weapon or vehicle was used in this way. Would that change course of the battle?
There is nothing worng with that. It is actually what perfects and improves tactics.
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Here is a video of the latest Russian Maneuver Kavkaz 2012
Some really nice footage in there. First 8min are action packed.
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@Jaksteri
Claiming that Luftwaffe was just targeting millitary objectives is just ridiculous. If all other examples you got were not enough I'll give you one extra
After the coup in Yugoslavia, Hitler was so angered that he was determined destroy Yugoslavia a nation. Operation "Punishment" was the code name for the German bombing of Belgrade. The Luftwaffe bombed the city for 4 days without a declaration of war. More than 500 were flown against. The Targets? Well their weren't millitary that's for sure.
von Kleist said after the war: "The air raid on Belgrade in 1941 had a primarily political-terrorist character and had nothing to do with the war. That air bombing was a matter of Hitler's vanity, his personal revenge."
So much for the "professional" Luftwaffe. WWII was brutal on all sides. If you look at the latest research you will find that even the Heer which was considered to mainly be "clean" from attrocities turned out to be involved in those especially on the EF. For years the blame was put on the SS as the pure evil which they were indeed, we can however see today that Heer was there aswell and participated in both rounding up and executing Jews and others that Hitler considered to be "Untermensch". Later when the tide turned and the Soviets got the upper hand and invaded Germany people were appalled when they realized about all the attrocities that the Soviets commited. What where they expecting? Liberators with flowers? There wasn't really a single Soviet soldier on the ground that hadn't experienced the Nazi rule. Was it right? Of course not. Nothing was right in WWII. The Allies knew Hitler had to be defeated at all costs so all means were avaliable. They did what they had to do at that time.
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I don't even play Normandy anymore, I spend all the time in the Italy game since it feels and runs much better than CMBN does atm. I can recommend CMFI warmly even if your interest in the theatre is limited, it is a great tactical wargame.
There is no particular need to have major interest in the area of operations as long as you like to battle it out with WWII forces. I can't wait to have the same update for CMBN and slug it out within the Market Garden scope.
Also the future is bright for us wargamers.. Eastern Front, Modern setting while keeping all the old games fresh at the same time.
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Here is one more I found. Haven't seen it yet but it's about the D-Day landing.
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While an interesting idea - interesting enough that I have a folder set up to mod my games by division for both the pixeltruppen and the UI (and sometimes for the armor as well) - it would be a real pain for BF to code. One example is the scenario editor, selecting a unit would need a drop down with every unit represented then BF would have to code the game to represent all those and every time they needed to adjust maps they would have to touch every one of those. It is a sure fire plan to slow down any version upgrades for previously released games. So while I love the concept I would rather not have it impact game production if I am already capable of doing this myself. Once you have the folder structure done, it really isn't that hard to swap folders. DC has done a great job of preparing this for a lot of Commonwealth units in CMBN and they are already up on the repository.
I'm not sure that it would complicate things. I don't know the inside of the design of the game but I guess the biggest work would be to code a certain area on a model to a certain texture. Once that is done connecting it to units and scenarios would be pretty straight forward. One folder or file can hold all the insignia with appropriate name (101,82, 54..). The scenario designer would from drop down menu select whatever division he wants to field and then select the units. Once selected these units would be referenced to correct insignia. The designer can then select another division and pick another set of units which would get their own insignia and so on..
There is no need to change this between the versions, once it is in place it doesn't have to be touched. Changing maps does not affect forces since they have already been assigned. The only time it would affect is if a divisional insignia was removed completely from a base game in which case they did a bad research
They could also have default selection in which case the insignia patch would not be applied. For those who have no idea which forces were fielded
I know this is not something that should be high on the list, there are tons of other more imortant stuff (FIRE..
). It might however be one of those low hanging fruits which can be included with a small effort. I know that players like me who like to sniff around on the ground level during the fighting would appreciate it.
I just saw an episode of Through the Wormhole on Discovery about "The Creator" and one of the theories one of the scientist had was that our whole planet may be a simulation just like we program simulations of our own. Apparently if you zoom in enough everything that we see is also made of pixels. First thing that came on to my mind were all the pixeltruppen I have watched die! 
What if their world is for "real" just like "ours"?? 
Out of idle curiosity, what game is providing the underlying map and counters in the image in the first post of this thread?
New features/feature ideas for CM for the next few years thread
in Combat Mission Fortress Italy
Posted
I would like to se a major overhaul of urban combat. Better TAC AI movement in urban enviroments and ability to fortify houses. This is a must for EF games but it would be good to have it included in Normandy and Italy.
The general idea
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I would also like to see a general overhaul of fortifications, more variations and ability to camouflage certain fortifications in order to improve their survivability on the battlefield