PanzerMike

Just a quick scan on the internet: "The assault began as planned on the 22 June. At 4:00am the 6th Guards and 43rd Armies charged forward after a devastating artillery and air barrage. The scale of the initial assault was frightening. Everyone of the seven soviet rifle divisions involved committed two out of its three rifle battalions to the assault alongside a total of 400 armoured vehicles from four tank brigades, three tank regiments and four assault gun regiments. All of this firepower was unleashed on the small 20km area of the line occupied by the German 252nd Infantry Division and Corps Detachment D." Well, I guess basically everything is possible on the Soviet side (normal tanks and SP guns). On the German side it would probably be Stugs and Hetzers in support of the 252 infantry division.

Peng is an inspiring example of soaring up and going beyond, the image is used to broaden the outlook of the small mind; its function is thus more therapeutic than instructional.

Ow no, this thread is going to be Peng infested really bad I fear. Don't. Just don't (I am looking at you Yucknodathon)

Good job Agua. The Russians called off the attack did they :cool:. It was tricky finding the right balance in this. One more company of fresh Russians late in the game would be almost surely deliver the coup de grace. But a skillful defense should be be rewarded with a victory. I hope I struck the right balance. In real life this attack failed to take the bridge too. But a little later the bridge was captured nonetheless. Polozk fell within 4 days all in all. The German defenders of Polozk fought bravely but did not stand a chance. Of course the main goal of this battle was to create an immersive and exciting street battle, unlike ever seen before on the Eastern Front in CM thus far. A showcase for what the CM engine in it's current incarnation can do in a city fight (even playing the defender vs. an attacking AI no less). The improvements made to the engine in Market Garden really pay of in city fights. There is still room for lots of improvements, but still, not bad at all

Well, if you study my AI scenarios you will see that they are quite simple. CMRT introduced triggers and they are a GREAT improvement to teach the AI a few tricks. But I keep things quite simple. I expect BFC will be improving on this aspect of the game in the coming modules. We'll see. The patch needs to fix a bug that some players experience. Troops refuse to enter 1 story buildings. My configuration is affected by it, but for some player that is a nasty bug. Let me know the result of your play of Polozk!

Lighten up Lobster. This is a pretty nice forum IMHO (Peng thread excluded, he he he). Don't let a few wise crack remarks put you off. Checking out now means missing out. Your call.

That is one ugly looking map there Pete, he he he. Maybe BFC should use it for the next module. Ow, the horror...

Yeah. Can't have this Peng business infecting an otherwise perfectly sane forum. Although... Emrys has been known to post outside the Peng thread.

Eeeeh no John. No New Math...

Not me man, I am riding the gravy train. @TheRealLobster: yeah, put in your sig, it's a helluva start, it could be made into a monster

Nurse! Somebody forgot to close the door of Mr. Emrys' room. He's gone! And he needs his medicine. Last time we found Mr. Emrys playing a flute on a donkey. God knows what he is up to now. Let's just hope no harmless animal gets hurt. Wait! I hear an accordeon...

Ah, you have made a scenario for the community before. Did not know that. Preaching to the choir am I, he he he. Play testing these beasts is a lot of work. You just don't replay the battle for every tweak you make to it, to see how that tweak works out. Like you said, it has taken yourself a number of weeks. You need determined play testers who are willing to stick to their guns But if you pull it off, the satisfaction will be enormous :cool:

Sounds like you want to make a monster scenario. For some people battles just can't be too big. I like em smaller. All a matter of taste. Polozk is a medium scenario I guess (rating the size of a scenario is somewhat arbitrary), but I wanted to capture the feel of a massive urban battle. The Polozk map is just a part of the city, but is representative of the rest of the fighting in Polozk. You can start playing right away (with the default setup) and within ten minutes the battle rages with full fury. Even if you wish to alter the setup positions, that is not too much work either, because the force size is quite modest. So starting the scenario is not daunting. Heck, you can replay it a few times within a reasonable timeframe I guess. And by keeping size down, players with less powerful systems can play it too. My rig is a few years old, but manages something like Polozk quite nicely. But hey, if you want to make the Mother Of All Battles, knock yourself out I am sure a lot of players would love it. One word of advice on "If I do tackle this, I'll be skipping the "packaging" candy like spiffy-looking briefings and spending my time on the map itself.": do not skip this. A good briefing in my opinion is the starting point of a good scenario. The battle starts when the player reads the mission briefing before even hitting the GO button. It sets the mood and draws the player in, if done well. I like a historical background without the battle necessarily resembling the real thing in everything. Close is close enough. But a good back story is crucial IMHO. Immersion! Immersion! Immersion! And one more thing (and then I will shut up!), building, play testing (especially play testing!!) and finishing up a monster battle is a TON of work. Sometimes you start all excited but run out of steam because it is just too much work. Especially if your aim is to make a scenario fit for eventual release to the crowd (which is quite different from making something just to tinker with for yourself). Good luck on your project Macisle!

Shoot the donkey. Why? It plays a mean accordeon. And flute. Emrys on the other hand...

Thanks, the downing of MH17 is real tragedy

Actually, that is exactly what I did. As I wrote in the notes of this scenario, this map in it's raw form was made by Benpark. So lots of credits to him. The map received a massive make over for this battle, but still, starting with a raw map and molding it till it suits your needs is easier than making a map from scratch and saves a LOT of time. The map was bigger originally and was a pristine city without a river and railway bridge. After I was done with it, it was a war zone If look at google maps at the city of Polozk, you will see that this map only loosely resembles the real thing. Close enough to have a helluva fight I also deliberately kept the size down of this map, all the detail can really hurt framerates you know. I can't wait to see city scenarios like this in Berlin with the Reichstag for example. Apocalyptic! @all: thanks for your comments (and compliments of course, that is always nice). Keep the feedback coming! More and better feedback = more and better scenarios!

Translating ASL scenarios literally is often not a good idea. The ASL scenarios are a great source of inspiration though. As a starting point (especially) the OOB is great. No need to copy the map, make a 'real' map using google maps and period maps. Once you start playtesting the OOB usually needs some tweaking. But as I said, they are a good starting point IMHO. In fact I am looking at some ASL scenarios right now for inspiration for 1945 scenarios.

Left Click on his name above his post. Wollah!

MikeyD will demand a sacrifice. He wants... a shrubbery!

A draw he. You might want to try again and do better . There are multiple AI plans in this one too, by the way. And thanks for the compliment of course :cool:!!

Not a lisp, just alternate spelling. I like it better that way. As a Grand Vizier I can do my own spelling you know. Tomorrow I might feel like spelling it: atmoosferic. Ow wait, the Scots already spell it that way don't they?

Now this one hell of a first post Welcome to the forum Aquatica. And yes MikeyD won't be hard to reach, like Pete said.

Nice accordion music! Very athmospheric. Has a sort of Allo Allo feeling to it. Thank you for sharing this...

TheRealLobster: welcome to the forum first of all. But like others said before me, your introduction to the forum is not exactly stellar. Take some time to familiarize yourself first. You don't know who is who yet. JonS makes great scenarios and actually made a great guide to making scenarios in CM. Still grateful for that JonS! In fact, that guide has helped me a LOT in getting into making scenarios myself. It is probably safe to say that without it, I would not be making scenarios at all (for your information, I am a Beta for BFC and make scenarios too). Anyways, making scenarios/campaigns that are fit for release to the community is a LOT of work. I enjoy doing it immensely, but a lot of work it is nonetheless. I have cranked out 5 extra scenarios in the last few months after CMRT was released. Just to do my bit for the community and the enjoyment of this GREAT game. The amount of content for CMRT is up to par IMHO, and new scenarios are being released all the time. No campaigns yet, but that may come too. If possible, maybe you could have a go at making scenarios/campaigns? All contributions are highly appreciated by the community.

@General Lee Irked: nice pictures, must have been a real slugfest. And don't you just love Hetzers, he he he. @Frederico: the russian SMGs are lethal, they shine in close combat like in this battle Thanks for sharing your comments! Much appreciated!