mrpwase

Ok, I now have a large amount of Vietnam scenarios and only a few are actually any good. While doing GCSE Geography I came across a map for an African village called Aminbhavi (it was a case study for some kind of French charity helping third world countries), asked if I could borrow the map, and made a CMAK scenario out of it (East Africa, British motor rifle and CS tanks versus Italian light infantry). Today I found the scenario, realised it would make a good Vietnam scenario, and swapped the British for the Americans and added all my VN mods. It's quite good. I'll playtest it a bit more on my own (vs. AI and hotseat ), then I'd be grateful if someone else would help playtest it properly. I also need a Vietnamese town name, since 'Aminbhavi' is not very Asian-sounding. M113s rock. I'll be concentrating on one part of the battle in the playback mode when I'll hear massed 12.7mm MGs going off in the background and Italian death rattles (as opposed to Vietcong death rattles). It brings a tear to my eye. Oh, and the M48 (the MBT I saw in Full Metal Jacket) is armed with a 90mm cannon, a flexible 12.7 MG and a bow-mounted .50 cal MG, with approx. 100mm upper hull armour. I thought a Churchill CS tank (the model with the 95mm gun) might model that better than a Sherman. Any suggestions?

The T-34/85s I can help you with - you just delete one of the tanks, but not the HQ tank - a platoon with 4 tanks. The other one I can't help you with, sorry.

That wasn't very nice.

Bump.

If you're up against tanks on a small or heavily forested map, bazookas and panzershrecks are very useful at 'bottlenecks', when you can be sure the enemy tanks are going to pass through if they decide to commit.

That would explain a lot.

In an attempt to get my friend to play Combat Mission, I decided to devise some rules. As he isn't too good at the technicalities of CM (i.e. keeping your units in good cover ), I proposed a team game - I set up a few hotseat battles, and play as both sides, but whilst on one side I can do what I like, on the other I must give him written reports with a few pictures every time something significant happens, and wait for his orders before continuing. I thought it would be interesting to share these rules with you. They are designed to reveal what a major would know about the battle before him (not exactly modelled on history, sorry). There are various rules for 'autonomous' orders and what information about the battle you may disclose. General: One player takes the role of major, while the other takes the role of commander. The major is in direct control of the scenario - he gives direct orders to the troops and plays as if he was playing normally - however, every time something happens that the major deems significant, the major must make a report (at the end of the turn in question) and send it to the commander, with accompanying pictures (discussed later). The commander then acknowledges the report, and can give or take back (can't think of the right word) orders as he sees fit. The major may not give an order to his troops without recieving it from his commander, except in a few special circumstances. Reports: Reports may be as long as you want them to be, but may only include a maximum of 3 pictures, none of which can be taken from anything but view level 1 with full tree and foliage settings. Zooming in is allowed up to 8x, which simulates the use of binoculars. Pictures may only be taken from a HQ unit that is not panicked or worse. If the HQ unit that represents the major is killed or panicked, the reports are made from the perspective of the next ranking officer (usually a captain). If there is more than one officer that qualifies, the choice must be un-panicked. If there are no un-panicked officers, reports cease until an officer rallies. If all eligible officers are dead, the commander must be informed, and will recieve no more reports, but the major can only give orders that represent the lowest of his tactical abilities - i.e. he has to 'play at half-strength'. Autonomous Orders: Traffic jams and units out of cover may be resolved by the major without any prompting from the commander. Traffic jams must result in all vehicles reaching the initial destination by roughly the same route, and units out of cover may be ordered to advance, move or run to the nearest available cover, to represent common sense. What do you think? Any suggestions? My friend and I are just about to start the first game using the rules, a modded Vietnam operation. [ December 12, 2004, 11:53 AM: Message edited by: mrpwase ]

Hey, I'm 16 and I play CMBB and CMAK. I don't really see any way to cheat anyway, so why bother?

I can't find your Sea Lion operation. What game is it for, BO, BB or AK?

I usually work at Level 3 with realistic scale and bases, then go to Level 1 or 2 with bases off to watch the movie.

That brochure said something about using Chaffees somewhere, so that's fine. The two HVSS Shermans (76.2mm medium tank and 105mm close support tank) are the ones I'll be using until any others become available. I'm well into making a Vietnam operation, and I already have a scenario made, for which I require playtesters. Please.

Hmm...I should probably get rid of my dog then.

I had a look at them, they'll do fine. In the meantime, how about the US armour? I seem to remember a advanced Sherman-type-tank from watching Full Metal Jacket, and the M4A3(76)W HVSS Sherman 'Easy Eight' and M24 Chaffee fit in with the Vietnam scenery. I've already got the M113 mod (I know about that from playing Operation Flashpoint).

Did the NVA use any tanks in Vietnam? If so, are there any tank mods for the NVA?

Sorry, I misunderstood. I've downloaded some of your Pacific and Vietnam terrain mods (which make all my jungle battles look much better, muchas gracias), and am currently downloading all your Vietnam uniform mods. Just one question: what AIW stands for? Thanks again for the mods.

Hmm...well, I have now. Thanks. Don't get cocky.

Recently I have embarked on creating a few scenarios in CMAK based in 'jungle' (massed palm trees). What my friends and I have playtested so far is alright, and so I've continued to make them, and they've got progressively larger. I've even made a few as simulations of battles within the world of my game idea (an MMOFPS/RTS). But the palm tree tiles don't make very convincing rainforest trees. Are there any 'jungle' mods out there? And is there anyone else who is involved in this kind of thing? When I've finished my jungle operation (Luftaufklarungs, based on my game idea), I'll upload it to TSD.

I vote for modelled and properly placed trees so my troops can shoot at an enemy they can clearly see. I vote for open-source so we can create mods focusing on other theatres (historical or fictional). I vote for co-operative games (against the computer or with humans against humans). I vote for subtitles so we can understand what they're saying.

If you deploy an unit in a minefield at the start of a battle, if it doesn't move, do any mines explode? A bit gamey (extremely unrealistic, unless you're thinking of using Russian penal battalions ), but as your forces retreat, the enemmy usually move in to occupy where you've just left, seeing as it's the least likely place to be mined. The only problem is, if your forces retreat, they'll blow up some mines and will REALLY rout. Hehe.

Hmm..they look pretty cool. I wish there was a way to make army-specific markers - for example, if you play as the Russians the markers will be in a certain language etc., but will be different from a German perspective, or a Finnish, or a Romanian etc. etc. That trench looks good. Incidentally, where did you get those sky mods from?

I'm not sure such a prize exists (to which the obvious answer is, why not? ), but it's still one of the better wargames, if not the best. At least you can't take a Tiger out with a 'faust shot to the tracks...stupid Call of Duty!

Maybe BFC thought it would be funny. No, really, how the hell is that meant to do anything? You'd be better off just firing it normally, at least that might do some damage.

The idea of blitzkrieg is appealing, but like others have said, you need to consider the logistics. Not only is a blitzkrieg, by nature, much faster than other sorts of military operations (and therefore harder to keep properly supplied), but it is also more expensive, in terms of building reliable tanks (panzers) and half-tracks for the Panzergrenadiers. You can only continue to fund this for so long before you have to revert to 'ordinary' combined arms warfare, which the Germans were not as good at as they were at blitzkrieg.

It's more likely to be cover panic - it's only if they're broken that they start to move to their own edge.

I couldn't think of anything else to use, except Fireworks (my image program, for making the unit notations and terrain tiles), and that would take too long and would look bad in the end anyway. Plus, Excel allows me to a) keep all the tiles in order and looking decent conveniently provides me with a grid system. Of course, your strat map looks a lot better.