ratdeath

I've just finished streaming mission 2 of the Soviet campaign, will finish the rest of the mission over the course of the next few days: 
I suggest those who claim that sOviEt SpOtTiNg SuX!!! take a look from the 1 hour 14 minute mark.

Hey folks, thanks for the support - yes, even you @dbsapp
All reviews are taken with a grain of salt.  Steam is pretty good if one looks at all the reviews (about 86% positive) and these are early days.  As to the issues, well they are well known and big reason for the push to CMx3.  That said, CM will likely always be the Dwarf Fortress of the wargaming community with a dedicated following of people who really love the game but still a niche for the hardcore.  We are doing fine as far as I know - game sales once they go on multiple distribution platforms is a labyrinth- and the BFC Modern Titles group is becoming a real thing with the Superpack release (that CM modern meta-verse idea is really sticking in my head). 
Again, big thanks to the biggest bunch of hardcore and salty grognards the industry has ever seen in supporting us so far.

I left a positive review (I know, I know, you are surprised). 

Semmes
I think everyone that plays the game has opinions on ways that the game could be better.
And I do beleive the guys that work on the game and the company itself is constantly working on ways and want to make the game as realistic as possible. It is a part of the goals they have in general.
But they can only do so much, they already have list of many items they would like to see. That list is full of items placed from high priority to low. 
Some times, items on the list cannot be addressed. The programming in the game engine is just not there to do it.
Sometimes its not addressed because the amount of programming for what is gained in the game is just not worth the amount of effort needed to make it happen.
So one needs to understand that only those people doing the work will be the ones that will decide how and what the game will ever be. So we need to keep that in mind.
What we as users can do, is try to make suggestions with logical data or historic facts as to items that might be improvements in the future.
But so many players get upset when they dont see the items they would like to be improved happen after doing nothing more than making the request here on their site.
But I wanted to just let you know that, yes, some of your issues have good points and yes they could be done better and no the game does not have it right presently. but what level each issue has to how the game plays and where it fits in the endless list of possible improvements for the future. Only the designers of the game know and its out of our hands. And no one that has commented in this thread has the power or understanding as to if it matters to the designer.
Some of us Beta testers do know what they are focused on improving for the near future and that is about it and we get to make suggestions and such to those efforts, and what we read on the forum helps us remember things that could be improved but it still comes down to the people writting the code and making it actually happen. And being people, there is limits as to what they can do.
But I personnaly respect the BF team and all the hard work they have done and what the game is and what they have adcheived. Others do also. That does not mean anyone thinks the game is the greatest thing ever and that its perfect or that it cannot be improved. What it means is that they have done something no one else has done and so yes, they are the best option that is presently available, but if someone else could do a better job and make a better product. I am sure the loyal following would drift away onto those better things. But for the time being, I think they need not worry, because there is nothing out there pulling people away because it does a better realistic job, that is for sure.
 
So in that sence, yes there is a attitude as to the game being Great because what else has adcheived the same.

Or at least make it so the password is saved.

No comments!
 

Actually we testers did notice and complained about it a lot, but problem is you are trying to graft a system, PBEM+++, onto the CM engine which was not designed that way ... so you have to use a lot of duct tape and cross your fingers 🙂.  Hopefully, it will be improved, the team has been working on it a lot over the past few months.

Hello all,
I'm trying to login to PBEM++ using my Slitherine Account data. However, I have a pretty long, auto-generated PW stored inside a PW Manager. I tried to type it in two times, two times "invalid credentials". I'm a bit fed up about the fact that Copy & Paste does not work in the login dialogue. My PW about 25 chars and maybe I made a typo somewhere or mistook a 0 for an O, but this would be a moot if Copy & Paste would work as expected.
I don't think I'am the only one using a PW manager with a long and complicated PW, so it would really be a quality of live improvement if Copy & Paste functionality could be added.

Yes.
Yes.
Yes. I aim for test setups that allows easy "all else being equal" comparisons - not necessarily representing usual in-game situations.
Thanks - and I am happy to clarify if you can be more specific. For the M1911, I took a Battalion HQ and emptied all their ammo with area fire. Then I sent them to a supply truck and ordered them to pick up only .45cal. Similar procedure with the other guns.
Yes, you are reading it correctly - under the test conditions, the pistol shooter would likely spend all his ammo before hitting anything. I provided each team with a ton of ammo, so it wasn't an issue.
I believe this can be true in reality, just note that in the CM tests I could not find any difference between Commander/Leader/Gunner/Soldier in handling their weapons. Marksman is the only specialty that made a difference.

Minute 31-30
AOA 2
Meanwhile on the other end of the Russian lines, things were a lot more quiet. I didn’t want to advance between the two treelines with unsupported armour, but my difficulty in spotting the Marder, or worse, several Marders, makes me want to ensure my tanks can support one another better. I displaced one tank left, and brought infantry close by in the woods to make sure I have more eyes on what’s going on ahead. The smoke from earlier HE fire from my tanks made vision poorer but would not last long, thankfully clearing by turn end.

 RU154
Through the second treeline the Tankodesantniki spot a German HMG and HQ unit. My opponent is moving his men around in conflicting directions. I can’t make a pattern of it. 

 RU155
Among the houses at KT 1 I move 1st Platoon HQ and what remains of 1st Squad from 2nd Platoon to the last house in the row, where the Germans had an HMG I chased out with tank fire. Once I know this is clear, I won’t have to worry about shaped charge weapons to my flanks, just ahead. 

 RU156
With my flanks clear of nearby infantry threats, I feel comfortable giving 1st Platoon HQ T34/85 an armour arc order to wait for the Marders to make an appearance. 

 RU157
Overall, I feel pretty good about the situation. I’m picking off his men little by little, I have plentiful HE ammo in my tanks, and I’m no longer taking heavy infantry losses. I am concerned about what he may have hidden away but by now if he had a powerful reserve I think it would have made an appearance.

Just took my serial from Battlefront website and registered it on matrix "My page" and it gave me my steam key

Well the problem is more that people come on the forum and complain and don't do any testing nor do they back up any of their arguments with actual facts...but moving on.  I am still not sure how your "spotting cycles" is unrealistic if we are seeing a range of spotting times from near-immediate.  Again, you are not articulating the problem...you are simply re-stating your position.
Ah, so you want the TAC AI to have more agency?  Disobey orders, run away and decide to go in the opposite direction?  Sure that would be very realistic, too realistic but then of course I could just send the enraged customers to you for a coherent explanation.
Ok, well let me be the first one to break it to you, and I say this in the spirit of brotherhood and kindness...no you cannot.  In fact I am having real trouble following you on one train of thought let alone multiples.  We are pretty much at the point where I want to break the doll out and say "show me where CM hurt you" because right now I cannot figure out your logic in any of this.  You position is loud and clear "CM not realistic - zombie something", it is how you arrive on that point that is eluding me.
Anyway, I think we are at the point of "Thank you for purchasing our product and we hope you enjoy it.  Any questions or concerns please forward them to customer support"

It is official.

Hi Battlefront o/.
Do you have any good news for your most devoted players about anything happening before Christmas? Something I can spend all my money on? 🎁💰 Or settle down to during Christmas break? 🎄

@BFCElvis

Ambush in the snow...

The Fifty-Eighth and Fifty-Ninth Minutes - Objective ROT
A reminder of the enemy dispositions at the end of the last turn:

SBF - Panzers and 2 Kompanie (-)
1st squad reach Sgt Plucky's house, alas he is no more.



The vehicles and MGs are keeping up the fire on the objective as the Tigers start to move up a bit closer.


They get a spot in another building in sector B, it's a HQ unit so I assume that it's the platoon HQ for the squad I spotted in the other building in that sector.

They manage to take out a man from the HQ unit that was firing from sector A.

Another Maxim team pops up in sector D and is quickly suppressed. It's marked as knocked out so I'm not sure if this was the guy that was in the building behind that the Tiger was firing at or if it's the remnants of some other team. If it is another as yet unseen team then that's 4 maxims spotted and there shouldn't be any more. I'll mark it as a new team for now until we get more information.

A look at the dispositions of the SBF forces. The Tigers are pushing up to get eyes on the back of the objective and the infantry is continuing to advance.

The Assault Element - 1 Kompanie
The remaining man in B team, 1st squad goes full Rambo and suppresses the squad in sector B all by himself. I bring fire from a SPW too and he goes about tending to his fallen comrades.

The rest of 2nd zug are moving across to the left into some defilade from sector B to advance up the stream bank.


The HQ unit in sector A takes out a man in A team of 1st squad but the advance continues.

Two of the zug's SPWs are rushing forward to support the advance from close range now that I'm fairly confident anything that can do them real harm is either knocked out or suppressed.


The squad in sector B pop their heads up again and this time one of the MG sections from 4th zug get a spot and fill his face with lead.

3rd squad are closing on the objective...

when they get some sound contacts moving into the objective - ACHTUNG! PANZER!

It looks like he's decided to reinforce the objective with armour. It doesn't appear to be a full on counterattack as they came into the back of the objective and stopped behind some buildings in sectors D and F, the full weight of the attack may be about to come. I assume he used the road from GRAU to bring them down undetected as all other avenues that he could use are covered.
Either way I am pleased to see this, it means I may not have to go into the trees to destroy these forces and I can use my advantages in the open. I love the way the C2 works in this game, by the end of the turn the info had filtered all the way up to the Bn HQ and has already started filtering down, the panzers don't have the info yet but they will soon.
I have to assume that he has another one tank at least (assuming they are T34s) and that he had tank riders on the back. Where he has stopped he has no LOS to any of my forces but if he nudges the leftmost vehicle forward a bit he will be able to get LOS on the left flank of my SBF position and the SPW over there so I need to do some rearranging.
I'll be pulling the SPWs back behind the panzers where they aren't already and rearranging the panzers so that he will have difficulty isolating any of them and they can mutually support one another.
I'll continue the assault, but my guard is definitely up. 1st zug are currently still mounted, I'll be dismounting them and bringing them up as support just in case he's debussed a platoon of tankodesantniki.
One thing that does worry me, that I mentioned before, is that 1 Kompanie do have panzerfausts and shreks but no real armour support and he could wheel around the right of the objective and hit them in the flank. The HQ Tiger has been hanging back just in case further down AoA2 but now is the time to bring it forward to support the assault and protect the right flank.

The objective at the end of the turn with the new contacts marked.

SITMAP

Here we go! It's about to get tasty! He has a few choices with the armour he brought to the fight as far as I can see:
He can use them to try and get some nice keyhole positions from the objective onto my SBF forces and try and take them out one at a time. This would be difficult to pull off, there aren't that many places he could place them that my armour couldn't see him move into. He could wheel around the objective into 1 Kompanie's right flank and disrupt the attack. He could leave them where they are as infantry support, but that would be risky as my infantry are well equipped for close quarters battles with armour. He could be using them as transportation to bring more troops up to defend the objective and then pull them back. He could be bringing them up to evacuate troops back to the lines. They might not have any organic transport of their own and will be hitching a ride? They are part of a larger force/counterattack from as yet undetermined directions. The tension is palpable, you could cut it with a knife.
MMM

The Fifty-Seventh Minute
Objective ROT
A reminder of how we left it last time:

SBF
The Tiger with LOS take a few shots at the MG gunner in sector D.


Ouch, that's got to hurt. He's seen shortly after repositioning.

1st squad are back together, next turn they will be heading out towards Sgt Plucky's last known position in the building ahead, covered by a SPW. It's the only bit of cover around this place so once it's secure I'll bring a MG section up and see what we can uncover around the back of the objective. I suspect he has one more gun out there somewhere.

The remainder of that infantry squad we spotted last time reappears and makes a run for it across the road towards the same house in the middle.

He doesn't make it.

The Assault Element - 1 Kompanie
The 251/17 starts to suppress the MG in sector E but not before he can take another man out from 1st squad. That team is down to 1 man now.


The SPW quickly suppresses him however.

A shot from sector A takes out the gunner in one of the MG sections.

We get the spot soon after, it's the same HQ team that we lost sight of after it pulled out of the building at the end of the row.

1st squad's B team sole survivor starts taking more fire from a squad in the second building in sector B, none of it hits as I think he is on a reverse slope from their position. It's SMG fire so it could be a SMG platoon, it would make sense to put them one row back to obliterate anyone who entered the buildings in sector A.

The updated SITMAP for the objective:

KT4
We lose another man from 1st squad to the MG fire, that squad is down to two men.

One of the SPWs starts taking MG fire too, some of it is coming from the Maxims but there is some fire coming in from elsewhere in the same treeline. That fire nicks the gunner and the driver freaks out and starts reversing.
I think I hear SMG fire coming from the treeline just ahead too so someone in there is not suppressed.

The Ko. HQ gets the spot on the mystery shooter, it's a DP gunner and friend in the treeline flanking the Maxims. I'm not sure if this is a full squad. Something to keep an eye on but if he has split his squads then they will be easier to rout with long range fires.


The StuG arrives on station and starts firing on the Maxim positions, they are quickly suppressed. No fire is going toward the DP gunner though and he shifts targets several times, thankfully none of them hit but a number of my infantry are now suppressed.

SITMAP

I'm going to pull the infantry back out of range of the trees on the right at KT4, they have done their job. I will keep the fire up with vehicles, the 251/17 from this zug will come up and take the DP gunner under fire and see if we can drive him off. The SPWs firing on the nearest treeline will shift their fire slightly to suppress whatever SMG toting maniac is firing at my forces.
At the objective I'm going to start moving the Tigers up a bit to try and get a better look into the back of the town. 1st squad will check out the buildings where Sgt Plucky was hold up.
I'll be bringing fire onto the new contacts in the objective and pulling all of 2nd zug to the left to advance on the reverse slope by the stream to protect them from any fires from sector B. The MGs and SPWs will continue to provide covering fire.
MMM

As a new player to CM (CMBN specifically) I admit I'm probably not qualified to be making change proposals without earning my stripes so to speak, but hey, I will anyway.
I'll state up front I'm absolutely loving CM and as a new player I wish I'd found it sooner.  I feel like I've missed out on years of fun.
Anyway, from my relative noob perspective and having now played and experienced both "games" I'll make what is probably a sacrilegious comparison with a different game series, Graviteam Tactics and suggest some changes I think CM would benefit from and because once you've had them - you miss them when they're gone:
1. Campaign generator.
2. AI capable of reacting to the players actions.
3. Dynamic strategic campaigns and battlefields that leave destruction, lost units and vehicles in place over the course of future battles on the same terrain.  The immersion and feeling of awesomeness this gives you as a player when you notice it for the first time is seriously cool.
4. Ability to review, assign reserves your troop and vehicle load outs between engagements.
5. Better review and breakdown of engagement statistics and casualties etc.

From a battle with a friend I’ve called Hide and Seek. No terrain objectives. It’s literally us trying to find, fix and destroy each other on 15 square kilometres of map…
 

The Fifty-Fifth Minute
Objective ROT
SBF Position
The 45mm ATG is still up and firing, luckily it only gets a couple of shots off and hits trees.

The rightmost Tiger is area firing on the ATG's position (it has a tentative contact).

A SPW that was up on the firing line gets a tentative spot on the ATG too and reverses whilst spraying the area with fire. I know a lot of people complain about some of the things that the TacAI does in the game but to me this type of stuff is what makes this game so good.


The weight of fire eventually suppresses the ATG team an then they are "seen" running away. The gun is abandoned and I hope they keep running as off to the view 3 Kompanie are waiting to mow down any runners.

2nd zug are tending to their wounds. 1st squad now only has 3 guys still in the fight so I'll be bringing A team up to join this guy.

The MG covering MG section moves up to provide supporting fires deeper into the objective. I'm still not getting much if any fire on the buildings on the other side of the objective. 

At the end of the turn we get another spot. This is the same place where the squad that ran across the road a turn or two ago originated for. It could be a split-squad but I'm going to assume he's keeping them together and this is the other squad I spotted retreating back from sector A a few turns ago. He doesn't run but does get suppressed pretty quickly.

The Assault Element - 1 Kompanie

The forces continue to advance, the SPWs are providing cover while the landsers move up. I'm still moving on line at the moment, if anything pops up in sector B or E then I'll drop the infantry down to near the stream and use sector A as cover.
The weapons zug (4 zug) move up and start to dismount.

One of 2nd zug's SPWs spots the ATG on the reverse slope and reverses away (before it was knocked out). I'll move him back up now that gun is out of commission.

The latest SITMAP for the objective.

KT4
Another SPW moves up to get fire on the treeline as there have been sporadic shots coming from there.

We get a spot on someone still alive in there. I identified this as an infantry squad initially, but it's another AT rifle team. We get a spot on the dead AT rifleman this time.

His mate gets dispatched too. I know there is a HQ unit and another squad sized unit in here so I'm going to assume he still has a platoon of infantry in there. I really don't want to get sucked into the woods so I'll continue to fire from a safe distance and see if I can break them. They must be pretty close to it by now.

The scouts get a spot in the trees off to the right, it's a Maxim team. He's turning towards my forces so I'm going to have to bring up some bigger guns to fire on him, I also doubt he's alone so I'd expect at least a section of two, perhaps a platoon of four.

KG RECHTS
Still no movement. I am shuffling my forces around a bit as they are a bit too bunched up but until something happens on this flank with 3 Kompanie I'm not going to report on them.
SITMAP

At KT4 I'll bring a SPW up to where the scouts are to fire on the Maxim team as I'm confident whatever is in the trees to their front is pretty well suppressed.
On the objective the attack continues.
MMM

@Monty's Mighty Moustache, this is a very well done DAR!  I am very happy to see you take the care and time to craft us something so exquisite.  From your initial analysis to your detailed play by play with your atmospheric screen shots... very well done.  Feels familiar somehow too.   
Happy that you are using my floating icons. 
I'll be watching you.
Thanks for the entertainment, Bil

This is something we discussed with @Battlefront.combefore. We have toggleable smoke. We have toggleable trees. We have toggleable artificial brightness for night battles. Toggleable fog/snow etc is no different. It is NOT directional, there is no arc, it changes nothing in the engine in terms of showing what a unit might or might not see. Just like turning off or on smoke changes no spotting information. It makes a heck of a difference in what the PLAYER can see and that is what we proposed for fog, rain, snow etc. It is very difficult to intuitively gauge what the guys on the ground can see when the player can see almost perfectly in dense fog. 

Your DAR inspired me to take a lot of screenshots and crop them for my QB against the AI in CMFB! Lots of fun to take the time and follow the action for good pictures.

The Fifty-Fourth Minute
Objective ROT
A fair bit happened this turn so I'll break it up to show what happened with each force.
SBF - The Panzers
The Tigers move up to get some fire on the buildings in sector C and to more effectively cover the road between that sector and sector A and B. The Panthers are continuing to pour MG fire onto the reverse slope.


The right-most Tiger suddenly takes fire. It looks like it's coming from the reverse slope, which considering the amount of fire going in there is kinda amazing.

It takes two shots to the hull this turn and that damage the optics and the radio, but do not penetrate.

We soon get a ATG sound contact on the reverse slope. This is so far back that my fires are obviously not affecting it enough, the Tigers will rectify the situation next turn. Strange place to site a gun, a few metres over the edge of a reverse slope where it would either be pretty much wiped out by any infantry coming over or would have problems engaging any armour that screamed over the hill at such short ranges.

SBF - The Panzergrenadiers
I'm moving the weapons zug up to get some fire on the eastern end of the objective. One section is covering the movement of the other.


The MG was recovered from the team that took a casualty a few turns ago. The other team that took 2 casualties are still being attended to.

My advanced troops take a casualty, it was the same infantry squad that I spotted in sector C that took him out. I'll bring the rest of the squad up to recombine with this lone landser and step up the fire on sector C as he's clearly not suppressed enough.

Towards the end of the turn we get a spot on a rifleman retreating across the road towards sector C. I assume this is one of the squads that was pulling out of sector A a couple of turns ago. He makes it across.

1 Kompanie
1 Kompanie advance on the objective. Their start and end positions are shown below.


The skirmish line get a spot on the ATG on the reverse slope, it's a 45mm gun, that will explain why it didn't penetrate the Tiger. So he has a mix of calibers, interesting. That could mean he has at least 2 platoons of guns in the AO, one 45mm and one 76mm.

KT4
Not much happened on the left flank, the fire continues to go into the treeline and the infantry are moving up as we clearly have fire superiority.


KG RECHTS
Now the sniper is down I have lost the armour contact but I assume he will have pulled it back to it's start position. I'm convinced he has an OP in the farm buildings, I might bring one of the SPWs online and give them a burst of fire.
SITMAP

Things are going well, I am starting to get ahead of myself and formulating plans for after the objective is taken but we'll see how it goes first. The emergence of another ATG is interesting, I'll have to assume he has more defending this objective. I haven't seen any other heavy weapons yet, they must be out there somewhere.
At KT4 I am going to advance the scouts a bit and see if they can get a spot on the treeline off to the right, I would expect something to be lurking in there.

MMM