Fizou

I seem to recall that both of my scenarios had reasonable reviews for H2H balance.  To Verdenne and Victory is a battalion (ish) on each side and a big map or if you want something Coy-sized try Probing around Poteau.

No. I am not talking about Emrys's granny panty collection
Steve's gonna make fun of my observational skills again. LOL.
Check out these pics. I issued some target light orders and the above pics are what showed up. Of course, I knew the green text gave you info about what each guy was doing but I had no idea crewman changed their weapon icons inside their vehicles as they used them.
 

 
I always thought those icons were just telling you what small arms they carried and their position within the vehicle, and with the gunner, that he was manning the main gun. That's one killer little piece of immersion. Next time you have a man (or two) in a vehicle heavily wounded pay attention to what the survivor's icons do as various fire orders take place (they could end up popping to all kinds of weapon positions).  All this long time playing these games and I am still being surprised! VERY COOL!
 
Mord.
 

I think its worth noting that toggling the trees is a quality of life thing for the player. The soldiers cannot see through the trees when they're toggled, so it really doesn't affect gameplay at all. All it really does is allow the player to see his units and give commands to them easier, especially because trees can get in the way of giving orders and can sometimes hide unit icons. Plus, sometimes on maps with a ton of foliage, toggling the trees to just be trunks can give a significant improvement to framerate. 
I suppose there is an argument for being forced to play "in the saddle" as it were, at eye level the entire time. This too would be player preference though. Would be an interesting way to play the game, especially if it was enforced by some difficulty setting higher than "Iron."

Certain work on helmets: 

In game: 


In game: 

Different variants:

The history of AAR goes back quite some ways, following the complicated and challenging path that Rome To Victory development took, as explained by Steve in various places in the past few months. The good news is that stuff we wanted but didn’t have back in 2018 is in the game now, and from a personal standpoint, it’s something Ian and I felt HAD to be in this addition to what is already my favourite of the CM series, CMFI. Like the song about the D-Day Dodgers, there are a lot of assumptions about CMFI that people make and people share. I made them, when it came out. What good was another Western Front variant? We had CMBN, and what would CMFI offer aside from Italians ? 
Boy was I wrong... 
The maps alone are worth the price. Terrain so different from anything we see in CMBN, and subsequently, CMFB. A time period that went back to the exciting days in 1943, when the Axis were first struck on their home territory - along with suitable equipment like Panzer IIIs and Elefants. I bought it with some hesitation, and it did not take long to see this game could carry half the war for me. Three years, with Rome To Victory thrown in. 
What you are about to see and read is the culmination of some historical analysis, a bit of fiction, and artistic licence. Yes, there really was a general Wolff who was negotiating with General Clark for the surrender of axis forces in Italy, at the secret authorization of Smiling Al Kesselring. This much is true. 
Just after the events in this AAR, in April 1945, the Allies began the final offensive to liberate northern Italy. Among the forces there were some represented in this AAR, the 8th Indian division, and the South African 6th armoured division. The lines in the west were south of the Apennines, and in the east, North, touching the Adriatic. Near Bologna, close to the Apennines, ran highway 8, a vital link for advance and supply. This much is also true.
And now, the story: In March, shortly before the great allied offensive, tucked in a cleft in the Apennines near Imola, a German combat group is threatening allied supply lines if bypassed. They need to be removed before April. A combined South African and Indian force is dispatched to dislodge the Germans from their cul-de-sac. 
What follows is what happened when they tried...
PS: I apologize in advance. Some documents are a bit crumpled or bloodstained. There is a war on, you know...
PPS: As always, the images are a lot larger than they display on the forum, so click on them for more detail.
PPPS: Remember the game is still in development, so flaws/errors/weirdness are because it’s WIP!

Gee, user, why make films when we can just take pictures of stuff?

Long ass day of modding. Spent another four hours on the damn German Armored Infantry and still didn't get something I liked! This is what I did manage to produce after I gave up and moved on.
 

 
I am pretty damn happy with them. Hope I still feel that way tomorrow.
 
Mord.

It's been a long time since I've enjoyed a thread as much as this one.
Talent, nostalgia, and breath taking looks at CM's future.
 

LOL. Just dicking around with you guys. I took the day off. I've been modding straight for 12 days. I couldn't even begin to tell you how many hours that adds up to but I needed a breather.
 
Mord.

You owe me a new pair of underwear...
 
Mord.

Newest Release/Technique:

Okay a pair of Syrian soldiers and this radar station. Nothing new but look at the ground on the left. Here is a demonstration video what this is:
Terrain Cover
What it looks like in the editor:

This is basically a floating terrain object that allows to cover underground spaces or buildings.
Possibilities:
- Hide stashes or caches under them in caves which then need to be located by the player
- create underground tunnel systems
- create underground bunkers and basements
- the cover texture can be easily switched by any terrain or building ground texture or a new one can be created.
- if you have troubles with editor placement remove the blank.bmp texture which makes the primer shelter invisible
- with some size and height adjustments in Blender cover can be provided for deeper underground systems.
- its not hard to be located by the player, especially due to shader differences but it is still a nice method to get some underground/tunnel action into CM.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1tviryry89g6py7/AAAJpSvGH6u1iEx4WzwVLSnJa?dl=0
https://1drv.ms/u/s!Agho21MGTssHaTHHgpIcaQWqWpU?e=5rKEzK

WOW! Thanks for sharing and explaining how you do it Aquila. Amazing..

OK. Been quite a while since I posted anything, let alone an update on this mod. I knocked out a Republican Guard portrait this morning (very pleased with him) and figured I'd give you guys a peek into what went into creating him. It's all pretty cut-and-dry and should say all it needs to visually but basically I started with the first pic which I found a few hours ago and used facets of others I have collected over the last year to spiff him up and bring him in line with the rest of the mod (you never know when a pic will come in handy).  It's a constant fight trying to make the faces look uniform and not like they are all from disparate sources. The overall aesthetic isn't perfect but I think they'll do.
 
 

 
 
 
 
As it stands I have made 1173 portraits so far. The Army is done, Marines are done, Brits are done, and I am working on the Syrians. After that comes, the Canadians, Dutch, and Germans. I still need the info on the formations for them. Hopefully they won't be as big as the US and UK. That's it.
 
Mord.

I can't believe I didn't think of this before but gliders would be great atmosphere for airborne scenarios. They were highly requested for BN and MG scenarios way back. Some intact and broken ones would look incredible on the battlefield. As well as various parachute options that could be placed around.
 
 
Mord.

HOLY MUTHER #$%^&# @#*^!!!! A SHIP?! A HELICOPTER?! UNREAL! INCREDIBLE! That's beyond anything I ever thought possible! GREAT WORK, man! I am blown away! Truly a massive evolution in mods! I am running out of exclamation points!
 
Mord.

In the course of dozen playthroughs and experiments with Blender/CM2 Tools (http://community.battlefront.com/topic/118928-combat-mission-modding-tools/) several assets were created which I want to share with the community:
Big Cargo Ship

 
BF109

 
Radar Station

 
Downed Blackhawk

 
Fire Truck

 
Ambulance

 
Barricade + optional Smoke/Burn Stash (Wreck, an invisible alternative is created by 37MM)

 
Barricade (three sizes)

 
Humvee V3 Woodland (Randomized Gear)

 
Humvee V3 Desert (Randomized Gear)

 
Humvee V2 Geardo Desert (Permanent Full Gear) 

 
AFRICAN UNCON (now also including conventional African Forces conversion by 37MM, original work by MikeyD) 

 
Falklands War Scorpion, Scimitar, and Argentinian LVTP-7 conversion

 
Makeshift VBIED

 
Humvee Wreck

 
Uncaged M2 Stryker

 
Marines to Army Special Forces or Navy SEALS conversion skins (including work of mjkerner, Combatinfman, Blimey)

 
BMP1/2 to BMD1/2 conversion (with corrected hatches)

 
Desert KAMAZ Skin

 
Marines frankensteined Armored MTVR Skin

 
New Syrian Special Forces and Woodland vehicles (based on the work of various modders)

 
Syrian Winter Mod (just terrain and partial "winterization" of vehicles, created for a Hasrabit Campaign playthrough)

 
PK Pickup to PK UAZ conversion

 
Russian Forces (original work Euroscape + various modders)

 
US Army & Marines Woodland Forces (original work Euroscape + various modders)

 
All these mods and many more can be found in this Dropbox:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1tviryry89g6py7/AAAJpSvGH6u1iEx4WzwVLSnJa?dl=0
Credits to modders, 3D-Artists, and Battlefront.
For better quality footage and more information about 3D custom models check out the recent videos & descpriptions here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeK7fSyoEE8aorVLlVfNcAQ
The custom flavor objects have a "crate1" box placed into their center. Click it to interact with its placing. Zoom into the model if difficult. There are some FOV issues with bigger flavor objects can perhaps fixed by making the original "crate1" box bigger in Blender/CM2tools. Combine flavor objects with "visible/invisible" wreck objects to give them obstacle characteristics.
Good free library of 3D models you could use for importing. .max does not work with Blender. There are others.
http://www.cadnav.com/
Tutorials on Blender and CM2Tools can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkbTOSIrNV0&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXVAMaELSao&feature=youtu.be
The main intent was to explore the possibilities of this method. As I see this as accomplished I´ll step back now and hope it will motivate others to get into it. Prior getting into custom CM models I had absolute zero experience in 3D modelling, Blender or whatever but found my way into it in a short period of time and once you figure out the specifics it is not that difficult. Give it a try.  Anyone interested in custom CM models can reach out on Discord.
Happy wargaming.

Made these guys this morning. Stalled out hard on the Armored Infantry. Spent way too long accomplishing nothing so I am done for today.
 

 
 
 
Mord.

You just released a GIGANTIC mod for SF2 but that was two days ago. So, what have you done for me lately, Mord?
 

 
 
Mord.

Few things I have been working on for your gaming pleasure!


Still have work to do for the full RT mod but this was a nice change of pace and theater. It's the early stages but I have been itching to get moving on all the other titles.
 
Mord.

I just submitted to Repository a new mod, it should be showing up for downloading sooner or later:

MikeyD's 'Lily Pond' pattern Deep Marsh terrain tile.

Five or six different Deep Marsh terrains had been tried out before BFC settled on the current 'algae green mud' style deep marsh terrain tile. One runner-up (and my personal favorite) was a more distinctive 'lily pond' tile pattern. The advantage (in my mind at least) is it makes those deep marsh 'no-go' areas more immediately recognizable. Nobody's going to try to drive a tank across that!

It was submitted about 2am so it'll take awhile before it get approved for downloading.

Hope you like!

This book - bit pricey though - Commanding the Red Army's Sherman Tanks: The World War II Memoirs of Hero of the Soviet Union Dmitriy Loza - is good for tactical insight into how they were used. Lots of action at CM level as well. rare as not often you get these sorts of accounts in English. If you read Russian there are lots more to go at. Sadly I don't.

All I can say is this. I personally feel that Steve and the rest of the development team have brought all of us grognards an excellent series of games. I am also glad that they did away with some of the other non-Combat Mission games and devoted all their efforts to Combat Mission series. I have been playing Combat Mission since it first hit the market so many years ago. I recently, in January of this year, bought a computer rig that was capable of handling the graphics of the new game(s) and I now own all the titles and expansion sets. I am very much looking forward to the Fortress Italy and Red Thunder expansions as World War II is my all-time favorite period of history. I would enjoy seeing some new weapons systems developed for CMBS but I am just glad that the team is working hard to bring us an even better series of games. Many kudos to Steve and the development team. All the best to BFC in 2019
**Chris**

10-4 brother.
One difference is the grenade bundle is missing, which I would very much like to see return! Breach explosives are fine and all, but nothing is quite as intimate and sexy as a bunch of strapped together potato mashers chucked onto an engine deck! Abstractions be damned bring back the potato bundle lovin'!
 
Mord.

“When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.”-Mark Twain
Mord.