Javolenus

Hi Ryujin, Thanks for this - much appreciated. Hopefully some more details will come in. Thanks again.

Hi Sergei, That's brilliant - will upload the file as soon as I can. I really appreciate your work on this. Thanks again and all the best.

Hi There, CMSF is an excellent game. No question. Been playing a while and am still a novice but gaining experience and help from the community. Many thanks. I got a couple of suggestions and thought I'd mention them - no offence, so don't get mad. 1. For me, it's difficult to read the clock in night scenarios. If the clock was bigger or the numerals brighter, that would help. 2. I would like to have a "Replay Scenario" button on the menu. As a new player, I still do a fair amount of replays, but I have to quit and then reload a Save Game. But a "Replay" button would be more convenient. 3. I would like to know how many casualties my force is taking during a scenario. OK, I know you can see if vehicles have been destroyed, and if soldiers have been hit, so I guess this is not crucial. But in larger scenarios, it would help if I could quickly see how much damage I'm taking - even if it's just an approximation. An alternative might be a SITREP feature, with some basic stats coming through at intervals. Perhaps this feature might depend on available C2 assets and so vary accordingly? Well, I hope no one minds me mentioning this. None of the above is crucial, but thought I'd offer some feedback. Thanks again.

Hi There, I got a question about morale. I just started playing a few scenarios as RED and noticed that Syrian troops won't hold ground like Brits or obey order like US if they're taking casualties. This is OK and fair enough, but I was just wondering how morale is modelled for the various units? For example, can morale actually go up in a scenario? I mean, if my Syrian guys score some hits against the enemy, will they stop cowering or running away? Or is their morale fixed for the whole scenario no matter what? Or can troops get morale boosts if certain conditions are met? Another question, but this time about campaigns rather than scenarios: do morale factors get carried over as the campaign progresses? For example, if you score a major victory in the opening campaign scenario, will you get a morale boost for the next scenario? Apolgies if this stuff is covered elsewhere, but thought I'd ask while I had it in mind. Thanks in advance for replies.

Yeah, I like this scenario, now I've had some help. I ended up scoring a major victory when the US Brad pushed towards my position and was taken out with an RPG. Most of the US infantry got hosed in the street. Meanwhile, my BMP worked right around the US position and poured some fire into occupied buildings. For me, the key lessons here were speedy deployment to the key (i.e. highest) building, placing riflemen on the lower level, C2 and AT on the upper levels, not hiding troops, setting up arcs of fire, using the BMP to hunt around the flank. Thanks again for these tips. I think I was also lucky!

Hi and thanks again for good advice. I'll definitely follow your guide here. I just played another scenario as RED and scored a major victory against a US Stryker assault. I agree that playing the Syrians can be fun, and am gradually learning how best to organise them. Thanks again - help much appreciated.

OK, I am replaying this scenario and following the advice given above. So far, so good, and I'm on course for a victory. I really appreciate the help. Also, playing as RED as well as BLUE has helped me appreciate the game more.

Thanks again for the replies. And that's a good and valid point about infantry quality. I did realise that US troops would be better quality than the Syrians, but I didn't realise just what a big difference this would make in combat. I assumed that, if in a good position, the Syrian troops would try to hold it. I am now thinking that, in order for the Syrians to defeat the US, they need to strike first, as they seem unlikely to survive the loss of morale incurred by casualties. I think this is fair enough and makes for a good challenge. I think CMSF is the best war game I've played so far in 10 years of PC gaming. Each side has its strengths and weaknesses. I hope that future modules will follow this pattern, so that each national force has its own characteristics.

Hi There and many thanks for the feedback. That's interesting stuff and I'll sure bear it in mind for future scenarios. My thinking in the above scenario was to throw everything at the US forces before they could deploy their superior firepower or call in off-map fire missions. I expected the AI to give me a harder time, and no doubt a human player would. The way the scenario played out was quite spectacular. But I was brought back down to earth by the next scenario I played as RED, where my force got wiped out in 5 minutes!

Hey, many thanks for these swift responses, which are very helpful. I learned a lot here - for example, I didn't realise that hiding could hamper visibility. Also, I now see how it make sense to have your riflemen on the lower floor. And finally, using the AV more aggressively makes good sense. I'll go back to the scenario and try these ideas. Thanks again for the pointers.

Just played the Al Huqf Engagement as Red and had an illuminating experience. This scenario is an engagement between small infantry units plus vehicle support. The brief is to clear and occupy the city centre. The city centre is dominated by a tall building: whoever occupies that will have the advantage re. LOS. And so I quickly get a squad into the upper storey of that building and set up a defensive arc of fire. Next, I get my second squad into an adjacent building and set up another arc of fire. Next, I get my AT and C2 units onto roofs of nearby buildings and set up arcs of fire. All my soldiers are 'hiding' and my vehicle is in reserve. I now occupy the city centre, hold the 'high ground', have excellent LOS, with units able to give supporting fire. No sign of the enemy, so all I have to do is wait for him to show up. But wait, what's happening? My vehicle just exploded. Meanwhile, all my soldiers are 'pinned' and 'panicking'. Yep, they're actually running out of their houses into the street, where they are gunned down by US troops who have walked right through my LOS/arcs of fire without a scratch. Game over. Major defeat. Mmm, did I miss something???

Just played the Abu Susah battle as Red (for a change). I played turn-based, veteran. I placed most of my Syrian guys in the Mosque with a few in outlying buildings on both flanks, but generally in line with the Mosque. In other words, everyone was up front and packed into three or four buildings. I placed all IEDs on the approaches to the occupied buildings. When the US vehicles showed up, I let them advance to within 400m and then opened up. Within a couple of minutes all vehicles were destroyed and the remaining US soldiers trapped under MG fire (Mord's cuss mod came into its own at this point). I scored a major victory with 163 points v. 50. My casualties were: 6 KIA and 6 WIA. US casualties were: 27 KIA, 9 WIA, 19 MIA, 7 AVs lost. For me, this illustrated how unconventional forces can hold up regular forces, if armed with half decent kit and concentrated in civilian areas or UNESCO-protected buildings. And if prepared to keep a steady nerve. I guess a human opponent would have dismounted the infantry before engaging, tried to work round my flanks, while pumping in suppressive fire from a safe distance. Maybe I'll try the scenario from the US perspective now . . .

Hi Tyrspawn, And thank you very much for posting the videos - a really great resource, especially for those new to the game. You did a great job and deserve a lot of praise and thanks.

Hi There, I like the night missions except for two things: 1. All the buildings keep lighting up - I think this is an NVIDIA thing? 2. I find it difficult to tell the time because the numbers on the clock are also dark.

Many thanks indeed, Moon - that's much appreciated.

Hi Moon, Many thanks for clearing that up! It's not a major problem - as noted above, I just re-install the module and carry on.

Hi There, I have the same problem with the Brit module. Every now and then, the module just disappears from the menu, even though all the files are in tact. I just re-install and the module then reappears ingame. This has happened 5 or 6 times so far. My AV prog is Kaspersky but I'm not sure that AV software is the issue.

OK, I think that it's my fault for not looking deeply enough into the game/scenario requirements. As Moon observed in a related post I made, I should have "RTFM"! I think I got confused between "Touching" and "Occupying" an objective. In this scenario, I assumed that, with units placed on the objective, I was occupying it - I didn't realise that more needed to be done. This was my lack of knowledge (both game and military). But everything is OK - the forum worked as a knowledge base and I soon discovered what I needed to know. Thanks to all for the input.

Hi Moon, Thanks for this. I didn't think of checking the manual for a definition of 'occupy' - but now I know better!

Thanks BlackMoria - now I understand what needs to be done. Thanks for taking the time and trouble to sort this out.

Many thanks BlackMoria - that clears it up!

I know this sounds like a silly question, but how do you know when you've occupied an objective? I ask because I just completed the 7th Brit scenario, where you have to occupy the Police Station and Crossroads. I finished the game with Inf. units in the Police Station and vehicles just outside the Police Station and right on the Crossroads (all in the green area) - but when I checked the scenario AAR I got 'Failed' on the occupy Police Station/Crossroads objectives. Now I'm wondering what 'occupy' actually means as an objective?

Thought I'd add a postscript: I played through the scenario and tried to follow the advice given. I moved my Militiamen cautiously, building-by-building, until they were situated at intersections commanding the approaches to the Police Station. I put a spotter on the roof of the Police Station, in case fire support became available. I got a Militia team to secure the QRF entry point. When the QRF arrived I moved the vehicles onto the waste ground and began suppressing buildings. I dismounted my Inf. and put them in buildings. After shooting up the buildings a good deal, I began moving my Militia and Inf. up closer to the Police Station. As reinforcements arrived, I pushed them towards the Police Station too. By now, I had no positive enemy contacts - only a few question marks. OK, so I now placed my vehicles at the entrances to streets leading up to the Police Station - I pumped suppressive fire down the streets and into buildings at the far end of these streets. Now my Militia are past the Mosque and commanding the approaches to the Police Station. When the coast seemed clear, I mounted my Inf. and sped the vehicles up to the Police Station. I got three vehicles up to the Police Station and one on the Crossroads. I got my Inf. into the Police Station under cover of smoke. But the result was a Minor Defeat. Although I had reached both Police Station and Crossroads and managed to reinforce the garrison, I got 'Failed' next to 'Occupy Police Station/Crossroads.' Not sure why. A couple of other points: 1. My spotters could not get any LOS for mortars and off-map fire. Even when on roofs, these spotters could not get LOS at all - so platoon mortars and off-map fire could not be used at all. 2. Even though I recced the approaches to the Police Station, as soon as my vehicles arrived, they were caught in a hail of fire and enemy contacts appeared out of nowhere, including RPG and MG teams - some were even in buildings occupied by my militiamen. 3. At one point, two enemy fighters walked through heavy suppressive fire, right up to the Police Station - defended by several Inf. teams and 4 vehicles - and immobilised one of my vehicles. While impressive, I was puzzled - are they suicide bombers or what? All in all, I was puzzled by this mission and am not sure it's winnable!

Hi Moon, I fixed this problem. It was a DirectX issue. I found the answer on Microsoft's website. I had to find my DirectX setup files and change the extensions from .dll to .xx and then run the update wizard. Once directX was updated ToW launched fine. Thanks for your time and all the best.

Hi Moon and thanks for the prompt response. Here's the deal: 1. Bought and downloaded ToW2 from BF website. 2. Ran the installiation wizard, but it stalled at the DirectX installation. 3. Tried to run the game and got the error message: "ToW.exe unable to locate component - d3dx9_39.dll". 4. Uninstalled game and reinstalled with same result. 5. Uninstalled game again and downloaded what I think is the most recent version of DirectX from the Microsoft website. 6. Ran the game's installation wizard again but skipped the DirectX installation as, to my knowledge, I'd just installed it from Microsoft. 7. Tried to run the game and got the error message: "ToW.exe unable to locate component - d3dx9_39.dll". 8. Ran the game's DirectX installation wizard but it stalled with the error message: "An internal system error occurred - installation failed". 9. Logged on to this site to bring you up to date. I'm not a computer aficionado, just an old guy trying to play a PC game. As for the DiF issue - the game runs but I am unable to log on and play on the server. There is no Internet option for play on the game's menu. When I try to log on, I get an error message informing me that the server cannot be found. I posted a query on the DiF forum but so far have not had a response. Well, thanks for your time - if you can offer some help that would be great. All the best.