Bob Willett

IanL, again you are right on for both of our PCs having this mushy sound disappear in 1-2 turns! Thanks a bunch!

Just curious if anyone other than my opponent and I are hearing a loud steady monotonous sound coming from in-progress battles that were patched in the middle of one of the battle when the latest 2.11 patch and module came out. We each patched the game as instructed after a completed full turn and both somehow sound-corrupted our in-progress battle with the latest patch and module. Both were patched with the mods folder removed and tested without any mods and both still had the corrupted sound emitting from the battle once the play button was pushed. This sound actually continues to occur even though the turn was over and the only way to shut it off was to mute it or exit the game to the menu screen.

I gotta chime into this discussion. I am a longtime player of CM and my CM buddy and I have been playing PBM battles back to back since CM's release. He does a lot of map making and scenario making and I am one of his chief play-testers. I have to say, I too, as much as I hate to say, lose more of these battles than win. At first I blamed it upon trying to move forward and attack too fast and learned the hard way...so now I feel I play strategically better but now I blame my losses upon bad luck....skirmishes that have the highest priority for me to be successful I lose out. I can never rely on timely support attacks ever and accurate arty. In spite of all this I still enjoy this game and continue to strive to even up my odds. It's too good to not play and to not to be a big fan of it. The great assistance of this Forum, Admin, and all the mod makers and scenario makers has made this game even better. As for this Bloody River scenario I am playing it US vs Ai Axis. I know it is not recommended but I had missed this recommendation of making the US the Ai. So far the US is holding them off but I have found this is a very intriguing map and requires a lot of CM experience to prepare a balanced decent set-up. The reinforcements haven't arrived yet so my entire set-up has not been highly challenged yet. I recommend this scenario for others to play. Its got it all and on a small scale and it is not a short battle.

I am Rocketman's initial PBEM's partner for this battle. For the record with both started playing this battle with him using the CM Helper version 1.7.5 and I the newest (the alpha version). When the corruption issues occurred we started experimenting and noted this difference so I deleted off my alpha file and used his CM Helper version thinking this might have caused a conflict. But after retrying this with both using the same CM Helper version we still got the same results. I then had Live No More try and start this battle with me and he too got the same results as did Rocketman. Hopefully, the submitted ticket will help figure this out because this looks like a definite must battle to play. Thanks to all that chimed in to help us try and figure this out.

I got them finally to move. They just decided to move after sitting and spotting for 3 straight turns..........weird. Thanks all for your help/suggestions!

The terrain is wide open grassland. Some other vehs are rolling past them with no problems. I know some have long movement plots but some have shorter with the same results just "spotting". I had an issue in a previous CMCW battle where a veh did the same thing so I backed him up and gave him more of a side route but still in the same terrain and it worked. I haven't tried that yet in this current battle. It looks like it may be my next ploy to get them to get moving and join the front lines.

I am playing as the Soviets in the battle "Killing Time at Kirtof". It is a PBM H2H battle. I have 5 vehicles ignoring my vehicle movement commands. They are all on green grass hexes just dead in water stating they are "spotting". No arty falling nearby just remaining stopped. They are still at my rear area of the map and only moved early in the battle and stopped where I wanted them to stop but now they are being told to move forward and they are ignoring my commands. They are all about equal distance from each other that take up about one half of the map from center....all about 50 yds total from each other. Any others seeing this happen at times? Any suggestions?

In the past, I bought SF1, the original Marine Module and the original British Module but never bought the original NATO module so now I only have 3 of the 4 old activation codes and I now want to have the complete SF2 game with all three of the modules including the NATO module this time but how do I at this time acquire access to the NATO module with an activation code so I can apply an activation code when asked to enter one if I purchase the "big bundle" SF2 package with all the module upgrades? I see no reference to purchasing just a NATO module that does not require asking for an original activation code, Am I missing something here? I was expecting anywhere from $35-45 for me to obtain a completed upgraded package once SF2 was released and new modules were to be released. I am aware that new 4.0 The British Forces and Nato modules have not been released yet and are a work in progress and maybe that is why I am not seeing those being sold separately now

Thanks for clearing away the mud for me. I thought that was the case....I recently had sought to purchase the old NATO module finally after hearing of this new upgrade package and to my surprise the entire old CMSF and modules were taken off the store shelves.....my wallet awaits to be used enthusiastically! I don't usually say that kind of stuff regarding my wallet......

I am still a bit confused on what I will need to buy...I currently own CMSF base game, the Marine module and the British module but I do not own the NATO module. What will I need to buy to have all 3 modules in the new Shock Force game system that is going to be released? Is the full $35 UPGRADE PACKAGE include a stand alone NATO module as well as full stand alone modules for the US Marines and the British that are used for engine 4? From what I can tell it appears I may need to buy the full 3 module upgrade for $35 and then purchase the base game upgrade for Nato for $10 too but I also saw from Steve he said the full upgrade package with all 3 module updates for $35 is for those who have all modules previously loaded or have just 2 modules loaded but having only one previously owned/loaded the person needs to buy the individual upgrades of the base for $15, $10, $10 and $10 for the module upgrades. This is where my confusion lies of which way I need to go to have the complete new game system with all three modules.

I agree with LiveNoMore. For battles where the attacker is making a surprise attack the defender should not already have artillery coming down on the first few turns especially when both sides do not begin the battle already in the LOS of each other. Custom scenario designers are denied that opportunity to truly have a "surprise attack" when they want to have the attacker be the only one to have artillery on the first turns under the current system. Opposing players shouldn't have to make side agreements before the battles begin to add this element of surprise to the battle for the attacker or to keep the defender from bombarding the set-up areas on the first couple of turns when hopefully this element can be added to the make-up of this already near-perfect-realistic wargame by the game designers. We will continue to make these agreements in FTF or PBEM battles until hopefully this feature can be added into the game so even the AI will eventually agree to this rule change!.

Okay lets talk in laymen's language right now. I have downloaded all the 8 files including the readme file and the readme instructions say to place all the numeric files into the Z folder but then when I get to the "shader" file I put it into the "root" directory of the game? Where is that and what file is it under? Can you be more speciffic for we simpletons that are just used to dropping stuff into the Z folder and off we go to play the game? And then there is the final file which is called the "patch" file....How do we add this and where to have it patch all the above files placed into the Z file or the "root" directory. Usually "patch" files come with their own patching programs that when executed they will patch what needs to be patched. I just need to have more specific instructions for the final two files on where to put them etc and how to use them please. The results of this mod and what it is supposed to do for the graphics of this game has gotten everyone excited including myself and I want get on the bandwagon to enjoy this mod like everyone else I just need a bit more guidance on how to add it to my game......

It appears Colonel Mosov has stopped marching............................................

In ASL I liked two things not seen in CMBN that I wish could be added besides the fires that spread etc, and that was the process of dropping paratroopers and seeing where they land plus I liked seeing the planes on the board before and after they strafe or drop bombs etc. CMBN does include the shooting graphics and it is directional so that's pretty close. I, as well of others played ASL with a passion. My biggest problem was I had only a few opponents whom I played against and in time that available time for us to play ASL H2H diminished with our family and work/career priorities etc. The battles always took a lot of time to set-up and play. To speed up start times we'd pre-plan our set-ups at home and come to the battle with our set-ups written down or already in place if I were hosting the battle. We'd try and finish the battles on another day by first writing down all the units in their positions etc on a piece of paper in case the board had to be put away. If the board could remain up it had to survive little kids or family pets possibly disturbing the game in spite of being placed in what we thought was a secure area. Back in that day I was fortunate to have a small travel trailer stored in my side yard and I could put an in-progress board game on the table in my RV. Walking it carefully out and into my RV without knocking over piles of units on the folding map sections, was a big challenge always! But, always, my biggest obstacle was finding joint time with my few buds who played the game too. I had a few friends who tried to play but had never bought the game and I ended up spending too much time confusing them with the rules that it made it hard for them to follow and caused us to run out of time to finish the battles always. The rules were just too overwhelming for the non-owners and they were always at a disadvantage while playing the game too in spite of me giving them the easier side. Finding new opponents who had the time to play was very hard to do. There was no INTERNET back then but we did have the Avalon Hill "The General" magazine that would come out periodically and there you could try and find opponents on the back page, if you were lucky. I was fortunate the store where I purchased the ASL games and modules, had "opponents wanted" message boards but ASL players were hard to find on that board that lived nearby. I tried one time using the board but I had to travel to a nearby city to play that opponent. This was not convenient nor was it time efficient but it was fun to find some other ASL addict that wanted to play who knew the rules. Most of the time I spent several hours working on set-ups for the various battles and even tried doing some solitaire battles to test out my set-ups. In time, the games got stored in the garage along with the storage trays container that housed the game pieces. Unfortunately, after a few house moves they got left behind (shame on me) to make room for stuff my whole family used. Fortunately, PC games like the "Close Combat" series came about and eventually CMBO-CMBN and the spirit of ASL got resurrected all to be stored on a PC and in a pile of CDs with their instruction manuals in the drawer of my PC desk and we no longer need a human opponent to play against! And I can play against another human if I want who even lives several thousand miles away from me. Wargaming has only gotten better in time!

Having recently finished this scenario with Rocketman and won with the Germans I found that the key to the success of the Germans is to get a kill of an Allied tank on the bridge because it will block the bridge from further British tanks from coming across "Joe's Bridge"..to help the Allies to hold that side of the bridge. As for the 88's, they are basically useless and just a target for the Allied forces early in the scenario. I was lucky and got a kill with one of the 88's having got a shot off under the bridge to an unsuspecting Allied tank diagonally away from the bridge. It took about 5 attempts of some shots hitting the bridge but one got between the bridge supports and killed the tank. Once that happened the Allies also began shooting under the bridge too to repay for their earlier loss! This battle starts heavily one-sided for the Allies and in the beginning the Germans only seem to be a target and get pushed back or eliminated from their side of the bridge and subsequently lose control of both sides of the bridge. But folks don't leave the theater yet! When German reinforcements start arriving, and eventually from both distant sides of the bridge they arrive, things start getting very interesting. With a few key kills the Germans can start regaining what they had originally lost to an eventual re-control of the bridge but not with a Helluva battle. The key for the German side is to be PATIENT and try not to get completely wiped out on your side of the bridge but try and retreat to a safe location away from the bridge and stay alive til your reinforcements arrive so you can get back what you first lost! I give this scenario a 5-Star rating!

You are very talented. Thanks for sharing!

My PBM friend and I played a GAJ scenario a few months ago just before 3.0 came out. Its name escapes me. It was a huge battle. It was a CMRT scenario and we ran across this same problem. In order to play the game without the PZIV's running around inside moving bunkers upon close-ups we had to change in the scenario editor all these PZ IVs to the "J" 's and we played the game with no more problems. We never played it with 3.0 loaded. Are you playing this scenario under 3.0? If so I believe its just a glitch in that particular scenario because we have played other scenarios since under 3.0 with PZ IV's and there are no problems like this occurring again. I hope this helps cuz you are not alone with this problem................

For info in the CM Shock Force game there are vehicles that have this mesh on them so CM designers can do this already, but Umlaut great work as always!

I missed that. I wished I'd seen it could have saved a few units from trying to find a way in. I was thrown off by the guy with him assuming he was a guard preventing him from leaving etc.........

It may be me, but when I entered the 3-sectional building where Mussolini was housed I was never able to enter the middle section of the building and get to the same room/level that Mussolini was being held. There was no access anywhere to enter this section of this tri-plex building. I thought I was supposed to take control of him and eventually remove him from this building? Either way I played it once and spent the whole time trying to find access to his floor etc and take out the soldier that was guarding him but I never could gain that access I needed. I lost eventually most of my units from the INF outside this building and from the second building before the time expired. I tried assaulting the second building and that resulted in me never entering that building before getting killed for my efforts. I tried to be initially sneaky with my initial units but some of the subsequent arriving glider units first appeared out in the open in the LOS of the enemy units inside the Mussolini building and the fight was on with no more sneakiness on my part to be had!

Well George MC, after over 2 hours of battling in this scenario via PBEM, even though there was an hour left for the battle, both sides had to hit cease fire and the results were a "draw". We saw early that it was not a "walk in the park" for the Soviets to take out the Germans that were holding Studienka. Once this side of the bridges were eventually taken now the next job was to push across the bridges and vast open marshland of recced fords to take control of the higher ground of Kutuzov that overlooks this vast open spotty Berezina River marshland. The Soviets did reach Kutuzov with limited forces only to be pushed out and destroyed by the German reinforcements that soon arrived. The Soviets tried again to cross the bridges after their reinforcements arrived and try and reoccupy Kutuzov but this time the Germans stopped the Soviets just after they crossed the bridges outside Studienka. Each side for the remainder of the game tried to either push down the hgh ground from Kutuzov (The Germans) or cross the marshland recced fords (Soviets) to be stopped in their tracks from longshots from armor from Zutuzov or from Studienka. The Soviet off-board artillery was not helpful except for the rockets since the off-board artillery was mostly mortars and they could not reach into Kutuzov since they were out of range. LOS was difficult to predetermine for both sides since the terrain varied so much. The battle remained intense throughout the whole battle. Both sides did a lot of damage to each other to the point that towards the end no one had enough left to make a legitimate offensive push into the lower region of the marshland without having their forces decimated for their attempt which would then open the door for the other to accomplish the remaining of their objectives! So both sides decided to hit "cease fire" and lick their wounds and await for another day......... This scenario was one of the longest and largest battles with the most armor clashes that we have ever played PBEM and one of the best scenarios we have ever played in CM. My long time PBEM opponent and scenario designing person himself, "Live No More", and myself give you a big thumbs up for the design and playability of this scenario. We hope others make this a scenario a must to play and test their worth!

I just tried your GAJ link above and it said "The page you were looking for doesn't exist. You may have mistyped the address or the page may have moved." I tried to find this "Modular building add-on part 4" download on GAJ and couldn't find it....just me or is anyone else having this same problem?

I've read the previous posts and saw the video someone had posted of some of the action captured in this scenario and knew I had to go and play a H2H PBM with my PBM adversary "Live No More" of this scenario. We have not finished the scenario yet but I had to post some early kudos and impressions of this scenario to the staff of Battlefront for designing this scenario. It is full of action and even though it starts off a little one-sided for the Soviets pushing ahead with their armor and taking out the lightly held German positions as they steadily move forward but with strategically placed AT German defenses they can slow and thin down the Soviet tank forces a bit. But the Germans eventually get their reinforcements and now all Hell breaks loose on this huge map! There are AP and HE rounds criss-crossing and exploding all over the battlefield as well as seeing the exploding recipients from these rounds. You'll see far away tank battle exchanges as well as a few close range exchanges but all in all hang onto your helmets and get ready for the fight of your life. The Soviets get some tank reinforcements not too long after the German reinforcements had arrived but hopefully they arrive not too late to regain and push further what the starting units could not achieve! There's arty in this for the Soviets and a little bit for the Germans but mostly this is a huge tank battle, one of the largest the staff of Battlefront has given us so far in CM. This is a must scenario to play especially if "slinging" armor around is your game!

I'm looking forward to using your mod to give the Axis/German the dark gray spotted and light gray FOW and using for the Allied/Soviet the red for spotted and the Khaki for the FOW.