ratdeath

I think you should be able to use the CD key. I have CMBN, CMFI and CMRT CD versions but I never even unpacked the CD so it should work just fine with the downloaded installer.
Yes, you can also install it on your laptop, I do the same. You should be able to have at least 2 active installations before it complains.

The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Minutes
Minute fourteen was quite quiet, everyone was advancing or repositioning in minute fifteen things started to hot up.
KG LINKS
The HTs start to move across the bridge overwatched by the 251/17 and the StuG.

The infantry are at the crossroads. There's a lot of open space on the approaches to NAI1.

KG ZENTRUM
The infantry and vehicles pull back and reposition.

As they do so something goes bang behind them. It looks like a mortar shell so I was right to reposition. Now this cannot be a called in mortar as the Soviets take about a week and a half to organise such things so either it's an on-map mortar team firing direct, in which case it's a terrible shot, or it's pre-planned. This happened right near the end of the fifteenth minutes so I'm guessing Grunt has called a pre-planned area fire with a delay of 15 minutes. Will see what transpires over the next few minutes.

KG RECHTS
The rest of the infantry have caught up with the scouts so they start to push ahead a bit.

B team from 1st squad approach the treeline at NAI4.

Suddenly a crack rings out. A MG gunner (why is it always the MG gunner!) from 2nd squad that is moving up is killed outright. My first casualty.

B team get the spot in the trees off to the right.

This is confusing for a number of reasons. How did the scouts get so far without getting shot? Why did this OP shoot? If they have the spot then a small covered arc would allow them to gather intel without giving themselves away and given the conditions I don't think I would have seen them until I stumbled upon them. They may have just moved up from other positions, or perhaps this is one of many teams he has in the treeline (although I doubt it). Interesting.
Nevertheless the 251/17 is going to plaster the area with fire next turn and all the infantry are going to drop and see if they can spot them and return fire.
SITMAP

MMM

Hmm, well I do recognize that the openings of the Soviets is probably one of the biggest issues we have with the campaign, this statement is not entirely true in RL and definitely not true in context of the campaign.
So off the bat we were aiming for realistic portrayal of how things would look and feel should the Soviets and US had dropped gloves in 1982.  So to do that we took doctrine and then some contextual professional military judgement, mixed them together to try and give the closest we think we could get to this "what if" war.
So doctrine:   https://irp.fas.org/doddir/army/fm100-2-1.pdf  (among others)
Here doctrine for a Soviet MRR on the advance/attack (which is very much what is happening here).  There doctrine states that an MRR will have "5-10km" between the CRP and FSE. 
 
So a 10km gap would probably give a 20min window (assuming a 30km/hr push) for the CRP to bang around and try a more nuanced approach [aside, the CRP normally does not have any arty/FOs but I was in a generous mood].  OR half that if the distance is 5km = 10 mins.  But contextual factors of LOS and speed play a key factor here. 
Speed is easy.  We have the Soviet opening of a surprise attack against 11 ACR (probably the best US unit on this front), who have owned this ground for a generation by this point, so speed is essential.  The speed-pressure, normally high in the Soviet military, would be more intense given the requirement to attempt to dislocate 11 ACR. In short no way that the MRB Bn CO is going to go slow and cautious here.
Distance.  Ok, so Soviets didn't like radios for a lot of reasons so they relied a lot on LOS (flags etc).  So now we need to look at the terrain with a bit wider lens:
 
So that is Manbach on the left, that lump of trees is where your CRP starts.  That line is 5km back along the likely route of advance for the FSE.  As you can see it is already stretching LOS, 10km is out of the question, they would totally be out of contact with the CRP.
So we have situation where we are at the opening of a risky "all or nothing" attack as the Soviets come crashing over the border.  A lot of pressure to move fast and furious before the 11th ACR (or god help them the the 3rd Armd) could get into their very well prepared positions.  Add to this terrain that really did not support stretching out too far and we have the conditions for a "door-crasher" situation.  
So in that context the Soviet player does not "by rights" have the luxury of time with respect to a more deliberate recon effort, in reality the MRB "is" the Recon effort.
So is it fair?...probably not.  Is it realistic...absolutely.  Is it fun?  Well a matter of taste really and I am going to have to leave that to you all to decide.

Great DAR!
Cave trolls be scary weapons!

There are. Still when the briefing says he has no armour I was expecting that to be a fib but the surprise is ruined now. I quite like those “Oh c**p, they’ve got a <insert scary weapon>!” moments. 
MMM

I (53 Retired) like to play Combat Mission with my youngest (20).  He has run rings around me in RTS mode.  Including the first time he played.  He is great at RTS games and I have never been because I play Combat Mission like a Chess game (which i've been playing since I was a 5 yr old) on steroids, being a wargamer since the 5th grade.
When we switched to a middlin' battle in PBEM.  He got overwhelmed with the complexity of micromanagement of each of his units.  We got about 3 or 4 turns in and never finished that game.  He just hated the playstyle.  Had we switched the game to RTS, he would have wiped the map with me, with not a touch of being overwhelmed.
So since I've grown up playing turn based games (until High School), PBEM comes naturally to me.  Since he's grown up with computer games of one sort or another (since he was 2), he is a natural at the RTS style of gameplay.
Let me take it one step further, I haven't been beaten in Chess since I was a Freshman in college.  If you were to sit me down and make me play a game of speed chess, you'd prolly beat me the first time and almost every time thereafter.  In my opinion its a different game completely.  I play chess about 5 turns ahead of the current move.  You just can't do that in speed chess.
Lastly, like @Ultradave PBEM fits my play style perfect.  I just retired in November after a 30 year career as an Air Force Civilian and internet business owner.  Since I had to medically retire due to an injury, my PBEM style is sporadic right now.  I had no trouble playing 13 simultaneous PBEM games when I was stuck in a hotel for a month at the Mayo Clinic. 🤕 Now I'm home, I have trouble keeping up with 4 or 5.  So 1 turn a day is good right now. 
Believe it or not, I have one cherished PBEM game that I've been playing for almost a year now. 😮 And it's a real nail biter.  Something that is probably inconceivable to some of our younger friends.
Battlefront is a very conservative company.  I started out playing their games in 2000.  Bought the first 2 and then didn't rediscover the company until last year by accident.  Been playing their games ever since (with just a little bit of Kerbal Space Program thrown in, to scratch an itch 😉).

Most likely happy with any theater/force combination set in the cold war era.
But my first choice for a module would be:
CM: Scandinavia
Wintermaps!
Hypothetical scenarios between Swedish forces and Soviet or US/NATO.
And much more!
 

Even more so ....
 

Thank you all for alot of positive feedback, it seems needy of me but sometimes you need a pick me up, engaging with new communities has always been difficult for me anyway.
It's been a while since I looked back here but now I have taken the time tor ead everyones response fully. There are some very good points about community interaction in general.
Also I'm very pleased to have recieved a number of messages asking me for games which is going to be awesome so I will be replying to those.

Here I sit in front of my screen playing CM huge scenario it is 8 am and hopefully finish it at 8pm. Age 71 living of my pension. Young people are welcome to drop in and play against me.

From what I can see looking from now back to April in the find a player channel on the Discord server people is mostly looking for pbem/dropbox type of games.

They are included in "And much more!" With Norway, Denmark, possible USMC force and of course more Soviet forces. But soon this will turn into 2-3 modules!

Civilians never deserve it. The deliberate bombing of civilians was a serious atrocity committed by the Allies during WW2 (not just German civilians, but Japanese civilians as well (and I don't just mean the nukes)). I don't want to create a false equivalency mind you, what the Germans and Japanese did during the war was far worse than anything the Americans or British did (I'll not be accused of defending the Nazis). And the Germans were no less willing to bomb civilians when they had the chance. But just because someone else did something worse does not mean the terrible things we did don't matter.
Also worth noting that while the deliberate bombing of civilians is always horrific, when Allied strategic bombing (and I do make a distinction between strategic bombing and terror bombing) was directed against industrial targets the impact on the war was decisive.

No. But does that make it right?

Steve Grammont has been interviewed at the Grogheads Site. Just featured today.
http://grogheads.com/interviews/21100#more-21100

Well cat's out of the bag now...so we are officially doing a CMCW module.  I will let you guys speculate on scope and scale and we are still working the features list right now.  I would expect an official announcement in due course.

Today is the big day for CMCW on Steam.
Will there be a  patch for the battlefront version today as well with the Slitherine's PBEM system?

who says LAWs don't hit

Yep, so the extra LAW in the Light squad is for the AT Specialist who is short the Dragon....how is that for detail?

Wow, looks like I lost the internal betting pool.  We are 13 days released and first time someone asks this question.
Answer.  We spent days of work on this one, round and round.  So basically US mech infantry platoon still brigaded the M60s and (technically) the Dragons at the PL HQ level where they would be dolled out as the situation dictated.  This is impossible with CM so we created variation to reflect that decision and give the player flexibility in their use. 
So: 
Heavy = a bulked up squad, obviously expecting trouble.  2xM60s and the Dragon
Medium = originally we were going to only have the medium version but it was too restrictive. 
Light = 1 xM60 and no Dragon.  There were enough Dragons in the platoons and coys for one per squad but they could taken away and sent out to tank hunting teams and some squads might wind up light.  Light also does not get the extra M60.
In any standard mech infantry platoon the mix would normally be:
2 x Heavy and 1 x Med squads.  But now scenario designers can have flex in different scenarios. 

Soviets are tricky and it also depends on a lot of factors (year and weather conditions, time of day etc).  So with the Soviets you have to remember that optics and spotting are not their strong suit (and I know some people will argue the opposite but on the whole it is true).  This makes sense as Soviet doctrine was never to elegantly out maneuver an opponent; their aim was to overwhelm through speed and mass.  Basically the choice for the Soviets is "die all at once and maybe win" or "die slowly and definitely lose"
"Uh that is nice Capt but what does it mean on the board?"
Well here are few rules of thumb that you can play with:
- Take your time picking the line.  Soviets were all about speed and violence but they were not stupid.  Look at the ground and pick a line of assault carefully and then once you have decided...commit hard.
- Make a Hole: strip off the US AT assets early and do so through attrition.  So here you actually try push in and engage US tanks and AT first, probably why Soviet doctrine has tanks leading.  BRDM AT systems are brutal little bastards here if you can get them.  In this gun battle you do not need to win the firefight, you just need to strip the US down until holes start to appear in their line.  Here trading 1 for 1, or even 2-3 for 1 is acceptable.  And concentrate, concentrate and concentrate along your line of assault, do not try and take them all on.
- Get in close and start chewing.  The Soviets are brutal in closer terrain and here the BMPs really can make the difference in close up fights.  Trick is that you need to get there.
- Arty is not a paintbrush...it is a bucket.  Drop it early and hard.  Soviets are hard to delicately time rolling drops so just wait long enough to get a sense of where your opponent may be and then drop the sky (lots of "Maximum").  Smoke works very well against ATGMs.
- Weather plays a very important role.  Soviets are in real trouble at night and in fog; however, they actually do much better in damp or wet conditions.  The reason is that guns do not kick up as much dust so their optics work better. 
- Speed, never enough.  There is a fine line between suicidal and effective momentum, judging that takes time and experience.
Finally, if you are of legal age in your country/state, try vodka, it helps. [note: BFC official policy is to always remember to drink responsibly while wargaming but clothing is always optional.]

 

Battlefront should create a tool that automatically reads the terrain from the map and creates a simplified sketch-up of key terrain, hamlets, woods, roads, hills, valleys...  

I only use real time when I test stuff sometimes.
Otherwise it's WEGO (tiny or huge) as I like to rewind and look at all the action going on
 

love your improvement ideas. I'd like to add another one, though.
When I am in the mission, scouting terrain (especially in CW with many beautifully huge maps) I can't count how many times I wished I had topographic overlay. How much easier would be to read possible routs of advance, defensive positions, covered approaches...  Really wish it would be standard to add a topographic map either in the briefing, or even better, as an overlay on the terrain that can be toggled on and off.