stone75

Could not agree more. The maps are either really good or just not good at all. Some really odd defensive positions from designers like the middle of a field on a bocage map. 3 times ive played..3 times was a turkey shoot. Anyway i pick maps myself in the hope of a better game and avoid the dire maps. steve

Hey Guys. Just a really brief AAR which showed me how great this game can be at times. Setup was a QB of small force German attacker against a village. Forces were picked using suggestions but not reading the details. (Works really well) I was expecting a few StuGs against me with Inf support. I was expecting to have just infantry with a few Mortars and some antitank guns. As it happens i had 3 57mm ATG and a stuart M5a1 I dispersed my troops in the village with one ATG on the far right in a small wooded area. Then the first shock...a heavy barrage hit the town causing a few troops dead and a MG to leg it. My biggest concern was the targeted the ATG in the wood also....had they seen him ? No idea. The barrage lifted and the ATG was pinned with ammo guys dead. The enemy appears not where i expected but way out on the flank running straight at my pinned ATG. i see 1 StuG and at least 4 251s' with more infantry. I quickly realise my other 2 ATG can't see them at all and i'm now relying on one pinned ATG and my Stuart. I decide to accurately hit the Inf with all my 81mm mortar ammo. I need to delay so end my Stuart around the back of the village to cut down any infantry who push at the ATG. As 81mm rounds start to fall amongst the 251s' and Infantry, the Stug races forward....the Stuart is spotted....and then dead. My ATG crew are now in pinned and ready. They have a Stug 40 feet away and alot of infantry taking 81mm mortar hits and some 30cal from the village in the center. I realise ive positioned badly the ATG. A small rise in the ground blocks LOS is is probably why hes not dead yet. With most the infantry dead or pinned 2 of the 251's push forward. The ATG crew crank the gun round as fast as they can and get a shot off !! Straight through the first 251 and rips into the second !! Both crews bail and are killed by 30cal from the village. AT this point the Stug rolls not 10 feet from my ATG...my gun is facing 90 degrees away from him but they cant see him due to the rise. I panick and crank the gun myself....the Stug rolls forward right alongside my gun which ive just turned from the best shooting direction. The crew try so hard to rectify my mistake and get the gun back...expecting doom. The Stug sets off and rolls away down a gentle slope....they have not seen me !!! amazing ! Just as the crew lines up the shot the Stug rolls over the hill and out of sight into the village...ARRGGHH a missed oppertunity to swing the ballance of this scrap !! Then boom !!! the stug is dead ! One of my other ATG finally got LOS and gets a shot off. At this moment im elated, i can still win this scrap and then i see on the oposite flank...at least 2 platoons of infantry heading down the hill...its going to be a long hard scrap !! and it was but thats another story Amazing game Battlefront !! QB suggestion to all...use force suggestion and see when you getting a mix of core units that you like. Don't look inside these units as it still throws up suprises. So much better being able to avoid massive tank or arty heavy games by looking at the points distribution. steve

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N59msUnyy1g After watching this im pretty sure i'd be suppresed by an MG42. It must have been hell. steve

If i remember right, CMx1 had catagories for Inf, Guns and Heavy inf weapons Vehicles and Artillery. A mixed force had a percentage of each giving you your force balance. Im thinking though if the AI still buys without much intel, would it be so hard to have preset forces for the AI to choose from ? Just lots of variations for the points avaliable. Anyway, hope they can sort something as im finding my self, booting up the game and turning it off once i realise forces are not good. Guachi, thats not a bad idea by the way. steve

I should read more carefully

This can be done, by chosing the larger force and removing many of the units from it to free up points. Then add single units or a larger group, then go through them deleting units untill you get your points. Just watch who your assigning individual units too, i believe a yellow arrow in the purchased list signifies which HQ unit they will be attached too. The only downside to this, i don't think you can get rid of the highest HQ ie battalion. steve

Yes thats what i mean. The way i look at it, a small action ie tiny, small QB, does not have to be a solitary action. You could look at it as your playing a smaller part of a bigger battle. As such my Infantry platoon as part of X div, is suppoted by X armoured division. The armour is working with the infantry along a broad front so in this small sector of the front, a couple of tanks are working with my infantry. Also if you look at how the Germans defended bocage so well, one tank working with a few PzGren could hold much larger allied forces as they figure how to winkle the tank out of their way. Anyway, im glad im not the only one missing the old CMBO force mix for smaller games. I hope it can be remedied. steve

I'm hoping a dev reads this and can help or sort in some way. Basically i bought the game because in CMBO i really enjoyed QB. Automatically chosen forces could throw up just about anything. I much prefer small games and as such being using Tiny, small and medium setup ups with auto troop choice. Due to the way its chosing forces im getting either all infantry or all tanks on the 'Mix' troops setting. The AI is spending on a core force and then from the main choices and then possibly something with the small change. I have played about 12 QB now and only 1 was a nice mix. Somone suggested trying a bigger game so went for medium. I chose my own force of PzGren supported by MkIVs' and a bit of arty. The AI had a stack of shermans and a halftrack. The game chose a bocage map. I just spent another hour carefully attacking only to kill one last tank and game over, not one bit of infantry support. In effect the AI did not stand a chance with armour in bocage without Inf support. I lost 1 MkIV. This is not a rant in anyway, i just need to point it out. Its killer playing for an hour or so to find the AI has a very one sided troop mix. CMBO did this so much better. All i can think of is the AI choses a core formation and they are pretty big, which leaves little else to spend. Its as though you need a different TOE for smaller games to get a nice battlegroup mix. Or maybe not force having to chose and whittle down an entire battalion but by a company instead. Apart from this, the game is a joy to play. I'll stick to the pre made games for now. steve

Ok thanks guys, at least i know im not missing something. I really enjoy small QB so is a shame they are not coming out balanced on forces with Mix as choice. Although i did get one game with 2 StuGs, a MkIV and a good few infantry in one game so it can happen. Got to wonder why its in the manual if not in game, i would of loved this to be in so is a real shame. Cheers guys... steve

Hey all. I've been having trouble getting decent QB forces using Auto. I always end up with tons of inf and little armour or lots of armour and no infantry. A look in the manual and it lists options i do not have. To quote the manual... "QB PURCHASE RESTRICTIONS The Purchase Screen for Quick Battles differs from the Editor’s in a couple of significant ways. In the Editor there are no restrictions on how many, or what types, of units can be purchased. For Quick Battles, there are restrictions on both, depending on what Options are specified. For example, when Battle Size Option is set to “Huge”, Combat Force set to “Infantry Only”, and force Type set to “Light Infantry”, your force will be large and restricted to nearly pure infantry units. Change Combat Force to “Light Combined” and some amount of vehicles can be purchased, but the majority of the force will remain infantry." Its the part about Light infantry or Light combined. I don't seem to have these options anywhere. Do i have a bum install or is this missing from the game ? I played a QB Mixed force and got 5 panthers and a mortar team... Any help much appreciated. Sorry for posting this in the first reactions thread, not really the place. steve

Superb Game and love playing but really struggling with Small QB. Can the AI select anything other than a full formation ? My force balance is way out of whack for automatic forces or am i doing something wrong. So far ive had on medium, all (lots) infantry 1 sherman. 5 panthers and a mortar team. Smaller games i tried a suggested force in purchase screen, it suggested a ton of paras and some mortars, no armour in that one. I have a feeling im doing something wrong. steve

Hey Moon. I just tried the tutorial game again. I clicked the HQ of the squad but only him and ordered him up. The 2 squads attached being the MG and mortar moved up also. But i made sure only the hq was selected not the other two. So at first i thought id figured what was causing the moves as both squads moved ahead of the HQ unit. I tried to replicate it with another move and the stayed put so now i have no idea. SOmehow ehen i slected the HQ, it selected all his units but did not light up the icons. As no others are having this, im sure its a problem at my end so don't want to dwell on it. I shall keep a closer eye on my units when selecting HQs' for sure. Thanks for the responses guys. steve

Thanks for the tips guys but its not quite what i meant. I order them to get to a position, they get there and all is fine. Later they uproot themselves and start pushing into the next field straight into MG fire. The mortar squads were ordered to the middle of a field to setup. They get there and all seemed fine but the next time i look, they have crossed the rest of the field their in, gone through a bocage line, and are on their way to Germany as far as i can tell. I'm going to play again to see what happens but these guys are not bad pathfinders, just going places i did not tell them to go after being sat around a while. Its alot like theatre of war when tanks would move up of their own accord and get dead unless you put them on guard. steve

Played first few games and must admit i think i prefer smaller battles. Just too much going on for me to keep track of especially my AI. I like.. Good frames on the whole Graphics are nice Sounds are nice Gameplay on realtime was good Look forward to smaller QB when game is released I don't like.. The lack of detail options in game ie being able to have less trees without having 50 tellegraph poles or less undergrowth causing poor frames low in the woods. Friendly AI. I order squads to a bocage line and mortars to the field behind the bocage line. I turn my attention away and all of a sudden i have 3 squads running into the next field into a hail of MG fire. I carried on and then noticed now my mortars are leading the charge. Baffling !! The unit icons are huge and clunky. I'd love to be able to graphically mod them in the future. Anyway on the whole looks to be a great game. Just a shame i'm having to babysit my units for fear of stupidity. steve

Buildings look just about the same as they did in CMBO. After watching that, i'm thinking apart from the infantry, most of the changes are not graphical. Be interesting to see same vid with the modded skins and scenery we had back then. Bet they look better than CMBN skins

Hey all. Member since CM 1 demo release. Used to be quite vocal but not for a long time. Played other CM incarnations but the western campaign is for me. CMBN was spotted only by chance. Looks great ! Its great finding a game your going to love and then finding its out soon steve edit: Joined 2006 with 94 posts...... CM 1 is older than that is it not ? Must have re-joined.

It would be bad form releasing a game on the aniversary of a day when so many lost their lives. One can only hope it comes before then steve

With the release of commonwealth mod, will we have enough gear to be able to model the battles of Sicily and Italy ? Also i really hope first half of 2011 does not mean July 31st. Played CM since release but been away some time. I think i'd of rather found out about CMBN once released, now i know, its hard to get it out of my head with it looking so good. steve

If you fancy something thats not the usual hollywood try these... Stalingrad. (1993) A film from Germany about a platoon at Stalingrad. Good action and very moving. Citroen and flame. (2008) Danish film about the resistance in Denmark. Really well acted. Soldier of Orange. (1977) Dutch fim about uni students joining the resistance in Holland. A young rutger hauer plays his part really well. Some humerous but likeable charachters. Saints and Soldiers. (2003) Low budget but really well done film about a few men surviving malmedy behind enemy lines. Brotherhood (2004) South korean film about 2 brothers fighting in the korean war. An incredible film. Days of Glory (2006) French/Algerian fim about North African soldiers fighting for france through 43-45. Also very good. Max Manus. Man of War. (2008) Norweigan fim about Norways resistance. Very gritty film really well fimed. If you like war films but have not seen some of these i recommend you try a few. Most i have seen many times. Most can be found in blockbusters etc on the world cinema shelf. Hope you find something you like steve

Im affraid this happened to me also but a soviet light tank not a T-34. He was not even on the map as he was a reinforcement. No AP left and only crippled tanks out of LOS. 20+ troops of mine in the station and still no victory. I began liking this game but find i play it less and less already. Also at dunkirk i had to search the entire map for 1 french tanker preventing my victory. Something is very wrong. Steve

@ flintlock. Do you take the creens while playing ie not paused ? Just wondering as i dont usually have time in battles to mess with pics and pause shoves a great big GAME PAUSED in the middle of the screen. @Moon Most forums for games with good visuals where people will want to post screens usually have a screenshot section. Helps promote your game to the people who just want to see the screens and dont want to pile through lots of posts. Just an idea. Steve

In the full game its different to a degree. Crew skills play a massive part in this game and believe me, ATG's will tear apart a tank that has a poor crew in it. What the skill of the said Mk III's is i dont know, but they are a damn sight more accurate than my Pz38t crews i have at the moment.

Hi guys, Thought id just try see how people rate the demo. No long posts just a simple.. G - graphics S - Sound U - User interface P - Gameplay O - Overall feeling for the game All marks out of 20 You can even shove a small comment on the end. For me G - 17 S - 12 U - 18 P - 18 O - 17 82/100 Looks a little dated now, sounds could be improved. Seems like a great game under the bonnet and by far the best in its class for a long time. Steve

Thanks for the headsup Matt. Can't believe one of my options was the one, was just trying to say it could be one of many reasons why no demo yet. I played the origional CM demo to death, lets hope this one is the same Steve

Not giving a demo early could be one of a few things... 1. The game is pap, they know it but dont want to put you off buying. 2.The game is awesome, they are worried they cant handle the volume of sales and want to spread peoples interest. Getting dedicated followers out the way, release a demo that draws in the non educated. 3.They value those who preordered and feel they should get first bite at a bit of ToW. 4.They are simply having trouble finalising whats in the demo. Going Gold has nothing to do with putting a demo together. Personally, ill see the demo first, then decide if this game is up to the standards of what they brought us before. Remeber though, this is 1c's game not BFC's. BFC are polishing what was a game released in Russia to pretty average reviews. God i hope BFC have worked their magic on this one.. Steve