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herr_oberst

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Posts posted by herr_oberst

    F&R Inspiration

    in Combat Mission Red Thunder

    Posted

    (re)Working on the 'Regiment Eicke' map as time permits (work sux, but that's a different story).

    It's a 3x6 km map at the moment. Working on revising the 'contour line' mapping method (fast and pretty easy to draw) into a more visually appealing 'spline' map -- taking the high points/ridges, and lower valleys and mapping them with points to get rid of the stair-step that appeared so frequently. Some steepness definition is lost, but in favor of a visually appealing map.

    Just started mapping the "streams" that appear on the map, but they have significant elevation changes, so using water isn't going to work -- it isn't flat. Marsh is teh current choice, but that will need some adornment to indicate 'not really vehicle crossable' at points...  still thinking through this part.

    1

    Do 'ditchlock' trenches provide more/better cover?

    in CM Red Thunder Maps and Mods

    Posted

    Interesting (on both replies - thank you). 

    Sounds like the ditchlock doesn't get what I'm after. From my reading, the concealment was a big issue for the Axis attackers, and the positions were pretty resilient to arty. Vanilla trenches and foxholes sounds like the better option.

    The keyholing with terrain sounds like a good option as well, and not too hard to do.

    So many options, so little time to implement and test.

    1

    Do 'ditchlock' trenches provide more/better cover?

    in CM Red Thunder Maps and Mods

    Posted

    Working on a Campaign around Summer '43 in the Ukraine around the Mius river bend/Stepanowka/Gerassimowa/Marinowka (L-37-6-B for those map-inclined).

    Lots of fighting, and I've been thinking about trench systems, re: vanilla 'trenches' vs 'ditchlocked trenches'.

    Anyone have some experience or done some tests of the two? Perhaps ditchlocking a trench and putting trenches on top of that? 

    Haven't experimented yet, but figured I'd ask in advance...

    0

    F&R Inspiration

    in Combat Mission Red Thunder

    Posted

    So I'm a dummy... got the email, downloaded F&R, installed... without doing a TimeMachine backup first.

    F&R is in, and activated, but my 'Regiment Eicke' map is gone the way of the Dodo...

    Rule #1: Never split attention between work and CM goodness. Important steps get forgotten.

    0

    F&R Inspiration

    in Combat Mission Red Thunder

    Posted

    Still working on terraforming my “Regiment Eicke” map... the attack southeast down towards Gerassimova.
    Cutting the number of points in almost all the contours (roughly 1/5 the density).
    Flat eliminating some contours in dense areas to get rid of the stair-step effect in the rendered map, letting the engine do its thing.
    It’s a tedious process, but made a tad easier by dropping an 8-story building where I’m working so I can zoom right there in the 3-d view to see how the terrain rendering is working out.
    Placing some deep marsh for streams that need to follow the land contours to help with visuals/map orientation.

    Once this is done, roads and buildings will be next.

    0

    F&R Inspiration

    in Combat Mission Red Thunder

    Posted

    Yup, earlier stuff. Fewer big cats. IIRC, Nipe mentions something akin to “Of the 8 Tigers, 4 were serviceable.” The rest were MkIV or III-ish.

    ”Assault on Hill 213.9 - The Death Ride of SS Panzer Regiment 3.”  - Might not be popular to enter a scenario where “less death” is the win (some touch objectives in the early stuff, winning happens later), but I’m thinking historical/educational, not “appease the “I have to win every scenario” gamers”.

    1

    F&R Inspiration

    in Combat Mission Red Thunder

    Posted

    Inspiration? F&R coming out, soon-ish, CMCW soon-ish, and going slightly stir-crazy for world-wide reasons...

    First pass of map work roughly done for a “Regiment Eicke” assault towards Gerassimova (6k x 3k, so its big). Contour line mapping yields a map that looks, well, poor. Probably have to monkey with it a bunch. The terrain is replete with ravines off west side of the valley that don’t render particularly well. Not to mention streams building to a river — probably hint at the streams using marsh/some other terrain tile on the sloped portions until they reach the valley floor-ish and the terrain is relatively flat.

    I’ll probably make a second attempt at mapping that uses “ridges vs ravines” and see how that looks.

    I think that terrain will have a significant effect on play, which is a piece of this battle that has always intrigued me.

     

    0

    F&R Inspiration

    in Combat Mission Red Thunder

    Posted

    Been re-reading "Decision in the Ukraine, Summer 1943, II SS and III Panzerkorps", and have scanned maps (L-37-6-B Dmitrijewka, 1939-ish) from the archives at the Library of Congress.

    Time to finally break down and try to create a Campaign based around Aug., 1, 1943. Tons of action in the book as the Germans try/push the Russians back across the Mius. First comes the map work. Probably multiple master maps as the scope of the battles spans from east of Gerassimova to south of Marinovka, some 10km by 10km, at least at first blush. First up, where to divide the map?

    L-37-6-B-rev2-oriented.jpg

    5

    Fire and Rubble: What are you looking forward to the most?

    in Combat Mission Red Thunder

    Posted

    Forget the vibes... release it already!!!  lol

     

    I have 6 weeks of vaca this year (a bonus from the company), and I can't think of anything better than:
    a) playing CMFR,
    b) finishing my map et al based on scans of Library of Congress maps "L-37-6-B Dmitrijewka" (covers Dmitrijewka and Stepanowka). Gotta find the right units and books about that area, and build a scenario/campaign.

    1

    Bravo!

    in Combat Mission Fortress Italy

    Posted

    On 12/3/2019 at 9:14 AM, Combatintman said:

    I don't know - double negatives = positives?  I wish I'd added 'Bravo' to my initial comment … 

    My all time favorite quote from work:

    "Well, it is not known not to work..."  when asked whether the software we build will actually do a certain, specific task.

    1

    Interested to hear if you are trying a Combat Mission 2 engine game for the first time because of the new nations now available?

    in Combat Mission Fortress Italy

    Posted

    No.

    I purchase games/modules in order to support BFC and what they are doing.  Since the early Alpha AAR with 3 pixeltruppen marching abreast, and "Holy Crap, it's Squad Leader in 3D" (my initial reaction), through the current release, I've pre-ordered all the WWII games/modules. Don't have near the time I'd like to play, have 3 different battle maps in various states of completion (1 CMRT - Mius River bend, 2 CMFI - Kertsch peninsula) from 1:25000 copies of captured Truppenkarte maps gleaned from the Library of Congress vaults. 

    Even have CMBS, though I'm not a fan of modern stuff.

    I think of it as placing a wager against my future retirement -- when I finally do retire, I'll have all kinds of content to explore and play.

    2

    Here is What I Dont Understand about BF?

    in Combat Mission - General Discussion

    Posted

    On 9/26/2019 at 1:54 PM, 76mm said:

    No, but they could be accused of biting off more than they could chew.  The long wait for the infantry patch is one example, and at the risk of sounding like a broken record, a gap of six years between the release of a base game and the first module for it is...well...very lame.

    Hmm... would I be more happy if BFC stuck with working only on the period and theaters I am interested in?  Most certainly!

    Are there other advocates/client/customers who are interested in other periods and theaters than I?  Certainly.

    Should BFC pursue other ventures (i.e., stuff we'll never see as John Q Public) for non-gamers who see the value of a tactical sim that could be tailored for their needs, and pay potentially much larger dollars for it?  Certainly.

    Should Steve and Charles do what they want with their company, directing its investments and time?  Certainly.

    Sometimes, reality is a b@#$h.

     

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