In RL they seem to be successful if TV footage is to be believed(?). But in CM2, after spending hundreds of hours testing MOS's TOC scenario, have found drones to be useless in spotting infantry or moving vehicles. (These were Elite Drones with Elite JTACS!) In CM2, drones are only good at spotting stationary vehicles.
I know there have already been a few of these released, but thought I would show a preview of what I have been toying with...
These are based on the US Army's FM 101-5.1 .... with a little license taken to make them clear at any distance.
This image is an overview of the first AAR map I was playing with @Baneman.. yellow are FOW icons of course.
This set includes special colors for each nation...
...in this image I have selected a Bradley Platoon, which if you remember was playing red in this action. The icons remain the color I chose for the US side (Infantry Blue) while selected.. they will be red when not selected.
FOW icons showing a selection of different unit types... very easy t tell them apart. All nations use the same FOW icon set... so no clues as to nationality until you fully ID a unit.
The following image illustrates Syrian infantry.. also note the Blue infantry.. that is one of Baneman's irregulars and was on Blue.. Ihave included an inset of that icon selected, showing that when playing blue, Syrian units will highlight green.
BMP-3 (with one infantry unit selected) showing the darker red Syrian highlight:
On the blue side...highlight insets show a British vehicle (khaki) and a German IFV (gray)...
And finally, the overview I started this post off with, but with one US Platoon highlighted...
Coming soon.. probably this weekend. Just need to run them through some thorough tests.
Bil
Great find mate, though not much time to listen right now....
Look at how many residential blocks the JOKER 3 patrol routes covered! The concept was to be able to cut off and trap potshooters; they were not expecting an ambush by dozens of fighters, reinforced by local residents.
Playing CMFB awhile ago I noticed something unexpected. An M16 AA halftrack had run itself out of ammo so I moved it back away from the action. When I returned to it awhile later it had .50 cal ammo again. I never got an explanation of what happened. Was the M16 'borrowing' .50 cal from surrounding vehicles? I can't explain it and never saw a plausible explanation for it.
It was a battalion of tanks supported by a company of mechanized infantry. I was going for a microcosm of a Soviet-style tank regiment conducting a stereotypical Soviet armored assault. Partly because the Syrians can pull it off when given the right equipment and training, and partly because I've always loved large scale eastern bloc equipment/formations. It was a lot of fun to play through and make!
I thought about including Hinds, but ended up omitting them. They would have attacked during the opening artillery barrage (which was also cut from the final edit) and their fire would have been indistinguishable from the larger artillery bombardment.
Hope you enjoyed it!
There is a text file included with the demo that highlights many (though not all) of the changes between Shock Force 1 and 2. Copied below is the text:
********************************
WHAT IS NEW SINCE SHOCK FORCE 1:
********************************
Combat Mission: Shock Force 2 includes the following new or enhanced features that have accumulated during the evolution of the Combat Mission Engine since Shock Force 1. The following list only contains major new features and adjustments. The list of tweaks and smaller changes to the simulation of modern equipment are too numerous to list here.
***AMPHIBIOUS VEHICLES***
Water is no longer an obstacle! Many Syrian and USMC vehicles are now capable of swimming across the surface of water obstacles, giving them enhanced tactical utility.
Amphibious vehicles are capable of moving through Water, Ford Deep, and Reeds terrain. Marsh and Deep Marsh ground types remain impassable to amphibious vehicles. Ordering a vehicle to move through water is as simple as issuing any normal movement command onto or across water. When it reaches the water, the vehicle will begin swimming.
Amphibious movement speed is capped at a relatively slow maximum swimming speed. In addition, passengers and crew cannot dismount or bail out if the vehicle is in deep water (not a Ford); if the vehicle is destroyed while in deep water, all passengers and crew are lost.
***ELECTRONIC WARFARE***
Don't want modern radio and satellite communications nets for your scenario? Shut them down! A new scenario environmental setting that can be independently set for either side simulates electronic warfare attacks allows you to degrade or completely disable electronic communications, forcing even Information Age forces to communicate without the benefit of modern technology.
Electronic warfare is represented in the game through a Data editor setting. (it is also available in the QB setup window). There are two settings: Blue Electronic Warfare Strength, and Red. The setting for one side will negatively affect the enemy systems. So for example, if Blue EW strength is set to Strong, then the Red player will feel the effects of Strong EW. These settings do NOT cancel each other out! So you could theoretically set both to Medium and both sides would have seriously degraded comms. Once in battle, you can see what the EW strength is for both sides by checking the Conditions panel.
The available EW strengths are None, Light, Medium, and Strong.
NONE:
* No EW assets are deployed against the enemy. Systems are unaffected.
LIGHT:
* Hand-held "walkie-talkie" radio communications are degraded. Manpack radios (as carried by "radio operator" soldiers), and vehicle-mounted radios are unaffected.
* Hand-held satellite communications links via PDA devices are degraded. Vehicle-mounted satellite stations such as FBCB2 are unaffected.
MEDIUM:
* Hand-held radio equipment no longer functions.
* Manpack radio and vehicle-mounted radios still function but are degraded.
* Hand-held satellite communications links via PDA devices no longer function.
* Vehicle-mounted satellite stations such as FBCB2 are degraded.
* Delivery times for artillery and air support Missions are much longer due to comms interference.
* Precision artillery missions of all types are not available.
* The ability of on-map Surface to Air Missiles (SAMs) to detect and engage enemy aircraft is degraded.
STRONG:
* All radio and satellite communications links are disabled. Units must maintain C3 links via verbal face-to-face communications or visual hand signals.
* Artillery and air support missions now have an extreme delay, often over 20 minutes.
* On-map SAM ability to detect and engage enemy aircraft is highly degraded.
***SURFACE-TO-AIR MISSILES (SAMs)***
Combat Mission: Red Thunder introduced anti-air capability to the game. This feature continues in Combat Mission: Shock Force 2 with the addition of Anti-Aircraft (AA) assets that will attack air support that is currently performing Strike missions on the battlefield. The degree to which the AA fire is effective will depend on the AA platform and the air asset involved. AA fire can miss the aircraft, drive it away and force it to abort the attack, or hit and damage or destroy the aircraft.
***PRECISION ARTILLERY***
A few fire support assets, namely American and British 155 mm artillery support, have access to precision artillery shells. These special support missions fire only one artillery shell per gun, but they are guided shells with much higher accuracy and precision. Precision missions do not have a spotting phase; the shells arrive (hopefully) on target with no warning. Precision missions are very useful for attacking enemy armored vehicles that typically need a direct or near-direct hit to knock them out of the fight, or for targeting a specific building or location while trying to avoid collateral damage.
Other important notes for precision artillery missions:
* Precision missions must use a Point target.
* Precision missions do not have a duration. The maximum number of shells that can be dropped during a mission is one shell per gun.
***MULTIPLAYER***
* WeGo TCP/IP with the ability to save but not the ability to replay combat action.
* Pausable RealTime TCP/IP option. A player can request a Pause and, if the other player agrees, the game is Paused until both players are ready to continue play.
Quick Battles
* Redesigned Quick Battle Generator that includes the ability for players to purchase formations, units and support, for their own force and for the computer AI. By deleting subformations/units, setting experience, motivation, fitness, and leadership levels, and attaching Specialist Teams and individual vehicles, the player can custom-tailor their force for the mission.
* Automatically purchased force options are still available for the player and opponent, as well as a "Suggestion" button in the unit purchase screen that will quickly buy a force that the player can then modify.
* Players can now choose their own maps, and preview maps before playing.
***USER INTERFACE***
* Two new camera control modes have been introduced in addition to the traditional Combat Mission controls: First Person Shooter (FPS), and Real Time Strategy (RTS). These new camera controls allow a player the choice to control the in-game camera in a way that is more familiar to other game genres.
* Hotkey Unit Groups. Select units and assign them to number keys for quick navigation during gameplay.
* New Load New Game dialog screen. The list of scenarios can now be sorted by size, length, or alphabetically.
* Improved Saved Game dialog screen. The list of scenarios can now be sorted by newest file, oldest file, or alphabetically, or filter between single player and PBEM saves. Save games can be deleted in the game.
* Visual Hotkey binding. A new dialog in the Options menu allows you to specify and view key assignments.
* KIAs are shown in the Soldier/Crew Panels to track soldiers lost during the game.
* The Ammo Panel has been redesigned: Ammunition is now listed by name and in discrete quantities instead of icons and depleting bars.
* Option to disable music separate from other game sounds.
* Combat Victories (Kill Stats) for individual units showing how many and what types of units the soldier or vehicle has eliminated in the mission (totals tracked for campaigns).
***UNITS***
* FoW floating icons. FoW floating icons. Instead of getting a general area "?" icon and then immediately progressing to an accurate 3D representation, there is now an in-between stage where you get an icon that represents the general category of enemy unit without 3D representation. This tells the player "you know roughly what the unit is, but nothing more specific than that."
* Command lines are back! Command and Control (C3) links can now be shown on the battlefield, allowing you to quickly determine whether subordinate units are in contact with their headquarters. Use the Alt-Z Hotkey to toggle the feature.
* Expanded floating icon categories. New unique floating icons have been added for Ammo Bearer, Recon, Engineer, MANPADS, LMG, Light Truck (Antitank), SPAA.
* Dismounted vehicles function as Ammo Dumps, allowing formations to have reserve ammo stored separately on map (automatically distributed for certain Skill Levels).
* Player-placeable static defenses and fortifications such as trenches, barbed wire, and mines.
***COMBAT SIMULATION***
* Ground units are now able to fire at attacking aircraft using self-propelled anti-aircraft vehicles, emplaced anti-aircraft guns, or shoulder-launched MANPADS units. Aircraft that are fired upon may have their combat effectiveness diminished, be forced to abort the mission, or even be shot down.
* Soldiers with assault rifles are more likely to use aimed semi-automatic fire at distant targets instead of burst fire. Soldiers fire weapons faster at short ranges. Machine guns fire longer, more accurate bursts. More realistic and varied Rate Of Fire (ROF) of automatic weapons. Ammo bearers and heavy weapon assistant soldiers generally use their weapons only at shorter ranges.
* Soldiers can surrender to nearby enemy units and possibly be "rescued" by nearby friendly units. This replaces the old "routing" behavior, which has been removed from the game.
* Wide range of weather types and environmental effects, including rain, fog, heavy winds (with ballistic effects), different types of ground conditions, animated water effects, and more.
* Vehicles and soldiers equipped with night vision and thermal vision have a significantly improved boost to spotting abilities in low visibility conditions such as night.
* Buttoned-up armored vehicles spot enemies to their flanks far less effectively.
* Improved UI display for timing of pre-planned artillery missions also indicates what delay would be after the battle begins.
* Small arms fire causes more suppression than before.
***MAPS AND ENVIRONMENT***
* Game performance and load times for large maps have been improved.
* Maps can now be up to 8 kilometers long or wide (up from 4 kilometers). However, total map size is still restricted to 16 square kilometers. This means that you can make a 2 kilometer wide map that is 8 kilometers long!
* Expanded environmental assets mean that you can conduct combat operations in lush rural landscapes, dense urban settings, or anywhere in between.
* Water terrain types added: Water, Reeds, Deep Ford, and Shallow Ford. Infantry can cross Deep Ford and Shallow Ford, while non-amphibious vehicles can only cross Shallow Ford.
* Bridges are now available as a terrain type. Bridges come in multiple varieties, including wooden foot bridges, small rural stone bridges, large concrete traffic bridges, and even railroad bridges.
* Improved tree and bush models. Forest ground tiles can accompany them for proper forest terrain.
* Generic buildings can now be up to 14 stories high (up from 8).
***SOLDIERS***
* Dynamic, context sensitive equipment loadouts for individual soldiers depending on what weapon and equipment are carried.
* Expanded soldier details. A completely new way of assigning models and textures allows greater flexibility and variety of how Soldiers look in the game. It also allows for more flexible modding possibilities.
* Night vision equipment will be automatically and visually equipped in scenarios with low-light conditions.
* Many new soldier animations, stances and positions, including kneeling and sitting positions for crew served weapons, pistol firing animations, hand grenade throwing, crew functions, first aid, and much more...
* Soldiers will automatically share ammo with other nearby units if needed.
***FIRE SUPPORT***
* On-map mortars, both dismounted and vehicle-mounted, are now available. On-map assets such as mortars are able to fire in both direct and indirect modes, using their own spotters or separate forward observers.
* Spotters are now restricted to directing only one artillery or air support mission at a time. Assets can now be group fired by shift-left-clicking them, allowing more than one Asset to be assigned to the same Mission.
* Player-placeable Target Reference Points (TRPs) allow simulating prepared support strikes and ambushes. Support missions aimed at TRPs do not require LOS from the spotter, or any spotting phase.
* Precision artillery missions are available for Point targets. These missions are only available for certain artillery assets.
* Helicopter support no longer requires Line of Sight (LOS) for the spotter to call in a mission. In other words, the mission can be called anywhere on the map.
***COMMANDS***
* Scout Team Command splits off 2 men to act as scouts.
* Target Armor Arc Command. Instructs units to engage only armored units within the specified arc. As with most Commands, outcome varies greatly depending on unit quality and battlefield conditions.
* Target Briefly Command. Tells a unit to fire all its guns on a designated spot for 15 seconds, then cease fire. Issuing the command repeatedly increases the duration in increments of 15 seconds.
* Mark Mines Command for Engineer teams and squads.
* Waypoint dragging. A waypoint can be clicked on and moved by dragging it to a new location.
* Grouped Spacebar Command system. Instead of getting all of the commands in a big list when the Spacebar is used, you get four groups of commands: Movement, Combat, Special, and Administrative. Selecting one of these presents the Commands specific to that Commands Group.
* For vehicles with more than two weapons systems, such as an IFV armed with ATGMs, cannon, and MGs, the Target Light Command will fire only MGs on the target, while the Target Command will allow all weapon systems to be fired.
***GRAPHICS AND PERFORMANCE***
* Faster graphics, including FPS improvements, especially for infantry-heavy maps and faster video cards.
* Possible speed improvements depending on video card hardware and drivers.
* Movie Mode.
* Bright Night Mode.
* Hit impacts to vehicles and bunkers now shown graphically ("hit decals").
* Improved rendering. Normal and Bump mapping allows for more texture detail while using less system resources and improving the pressure on framerates.
***EDITOR***
* Single vehicles and specialist teams can be purchased and attached to any formation in the editor or Quick Battle purchase window, allowing players to custom-tailor their formations.
* Exit objectives.
* Improved scenario briefing format, including a new Designer Notes subsection.
* "Reduced headcount" option to simulate previously depleted formations.
* "Ditch Contours" feature. Map editor elevation changes can be "sharp" by holding the control key when clicking tile elevations. This allows the creation of realistic ditch contours.
* Ability to create AI Triggers that execute actions based on other units or interaction with Objectives.
* Improved responsiveness of 2D editing, especially for large maps.
* Improved load time for 3D Preview, especially large maps.
* Customized "Mod Tags" for most graphics. This allows for multiple mods for the same item without the need to move items in/out of the mod folder.
* Ability to specify specific mods be used for a specific Scenario. If CM fails to find the specified mod it will use the default graphics.
* Auto-Assemble linear terrain tool. Roads, walls, fences, and hedges can now be automatically drawn across the map instead of placing them one tile at a time. The old manual selection interface still exists to allow tweaking specific Action Spots.
* BMP map overlay. Instead of having to create game maps by freehand you can now trace over a real world map within the Editor. Four different levels of transparency make the process easier by adjusting for different needs as work progresses.
* More AI Groups. The number of AI Groups available has been increased from 8 to 16. This allows for greater fidelity of AI Plans and their assigned units.
* Copy and paste AI Plans. Create a solid AI Plan, copy it, and paste it into an unused AI Plan slot. Once done the copied Plan can be modified to make a unique variant without having to build the Plan up from scratch.
************************************************************************************************************
The scenario's and campaigns that came with the base game and modules are being reworked to the 4.0 standard. However as Steve stated, not all of the scenario's and campaigns will be reworked for the release of Shock Force 2, but will be worked on and released as they become available. To start, I believe SF2 will have reworked scenario's and campaigns from the base game and the Marines module.
& that's how it got the name 'BTR Of Doom!' when I was playtesting TOC for @MOS:96B2P.....Those things are homicidal maniacs!
PS - Target briefly, always target briefly.....& even then it usually gets a few extra shots in before its done.
We DID receive what I believe were spotting rounds during that TOW reload, but they were a ways away from my track and we never got the full shoot. I suspect our own artillery did a counter battery mission and suppressed the enemy guns. That afternoon as we moved in to set up our perimeter I remember driving past what looked like wrecked towed 122mm artillery pieces.
Speaking from experience (I'm a former Bradley gunner and commander) The TOW launcher can be reloaded fairly rapidly (in around a minute for both tubes) but the Bradley will be out of action and behind cover for that time. Reloading the 25mm takes considerably longer as there is a specific way the HE and AP belts must be loaded into their individual storage bins in a specific pattern and are fed into the appropriate feed chutes and then cranked into the gun itself using a ratchet. This is a relatively simple task, but it takes some time (between 5 and 10 minutes) to perform and that is without any problems popping up. For example, the protective plastic caps that cover the dart on APFDS-T rounds can break off and cause a jam in the feed chute. An issue that's easy to solve, but can add a few minutes to the process. My actual point after all this rambling is that it's within the realm for a Brad crew to reload TOWs within the time frame of a CM scenario, but not reload a completely empty 25mm. And definitely not a resupply from the battalion ammo section.
@Kaunitz
An example of WW2 US Cavalry doctrine ...
http://cdm16040.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p4013coll9/id/708/rec/6
There is a fair amount of picking around the above but both screen and guard missions are in there, even if they are not explicitly stated in terms of the wording of the current doctrine.
With regard to front lines, I would agree that the Western front from 1944 onwards was mostly characterised by front lines but there are still plenty of examples of fluid situations. Some examples would be:
The Allied breakout across France and up through Belgium.
The advance north from the beach heads following Operation Dragoon.
Advances across Germany in the last couple of months of the war.
The Eastern front is a very different picture following the initial breakthrough of pretty much any of the major operations the situation was extremely fluid, with Operation Bagration being the best late war example.
The map is scaled 1:1 and yes of course there are differences. This is down to what can be achieved in the map editor and this part of the map involved a road curve that was straightened out to avoid too many road zig zags. As a result some buildings got shifted further North or South to compensate for this rather than me painting the house right on the exact location. It is inevitable that the distance and space ratios will never exactly work out, if for no other reason than houses are 'locked' to action spots and can only be oriented, N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W and NW.
The 'woods' on the right are not woods, it is a combination of a line of trees handrailing the road and trees in the gardens of various properties along that road.
With regard to use of bocage tiles in woods - not my thing I'm afraid and my view is that some mapmakers over egg cover in woods. One thing I can guarantee about this map is that LOS is not what it looks at face value as I have discovered when looking for fire positions during scenario testing.
My view on map making has always been, go for realism up to the limitations of the editor which includes thinking about frame rates and processing time (so I don't go mad with flavour objects, foliage or endless fiddling with contours). Close enough for government work is more than good enough in my view, so if the player recognises the CM representation as being close to the real ground I have done my job.
I admire people who strive to get things exactly right but there is a point where the law of diminishing returns comes into play. Remember that the map is only one part of a scenario and players play CM primarily for the action/tactical problem solving aspect of the game. If you've got the most accurate/beautiful map in the World but a stinker of a scenario narrative/a massively unbalanced battle or a poor AI plan then all you have is a nice map which nobody will thank you for.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Churchills-Last-Wartime-Secret-Airbrushed/dp/1473823811/ref=pd_sim_14_1
Reviews are pretty much scathing it as Kettlerian CT.
Plenty of books on the occupation of the Channel Islands if you want that kind of thing
or the famous capture of 'vacationing' German troops by Home Guard near Walmington-on-Sea on the south coast.
Wow, this is a long thread. I have not read or re-read all of it yet but I'm working on a scenario with this map. This is an amazing map, very cool. So my question, is your Shopfront mod available? I didn't see it at CMMODs III.
Sgt.Squarehead reacted to Erwin in New Schmuck in need of advice
Sgt.Squarehead got a reaction from Keeryel in Bradly fire power
Sgt.Squarehead got a reaction from BletchleyGeek in Bradly fire power
Sgt.Squarehead got a reaction from MOS:96B2P in UKR BTR 4E firing ATGMs into hedges on Area Fire
Sgt.Squarehead got a reaction from Splinty in Bradly fire power
Sgt.Squarehead got a reaction from LongLeftFlank in RAMADI (Iraq): Mother of All MOUT Maps
