Ranger33

I'm guessing that re-writing the code so that the soldiers run in different spots would be another of those "things that would be nice be we don't have the time". A simpler and equally realistic change might be that while marking a known minefield, engineers will reveal directly adjacent minefields. That way you can at least clear them without first getting some of your men killed, which seems to currently be the only way to reveal mines. Once you get 2-3 fields cleared, it becomes a lot easier to move a squad through.

Ah, well I won't pretend to understand what's going on under the hood. From the way you worded your previous post it seemed like it was actually a design choice and not something on the "to do" list. It isn't that high of a priority anyway. Would much rather see some convincing fire and flamethrowers sometime this decade.

I don't really understand the argument you are making here. In a real life situation where an AT gun crew can see mortars zeroing in on them, what exactly would be unrealistic about them running off to take cover and coming back a few minutes later? When tank crews are scared out of their tanks by enemy fire, they can get back in them later, why shouldn't an ATG crew be able to do the same? As far as coding goes, how would this be different than soldiers getting in and out of any other "vehicle". I guess I missed the original debate on this. It's not too big a deal for me as I've yet to experience this situation anyway, but it would be nice to have the option. I'm always impressed at how high the tension can run on this forum. All these old men so set in their ways I suppose. It's like opposite extreme of PS3 vs XBOX debate. Instead of unintelligible garble and insults being hurled, we have detailed and carefully worded paragraphs just seething with passive aggressiveness.

I am the "cheater" in two of the examples he gave. Case 1: Germany on the March! I was Red. One of my ATGMs spotted a Wiesel on the edge of the first ridge and fired a missile. I could only see the one vehicle, but after the hit there were several secondary explosions. I'm guessing his units were packed way too tight and the first explosion set off a chain reaction. Case 2: German Mix vs Syrian Mix. I was Blue. My infantry spotted a couple of his vehicles parked and facing one of the corners of the map, so I rolled a Leopard up into a hull down position from the opposite corner and took them out. There was also an airstrike right in the middle of them of them so that probably contributed. Again he had 4+ vehicles sitting way too close together. Thought I would just explain what actually happened. I also gave him the password to my turns so he can see what I saw. It's understandable when someone is just starting to play that they might not understand how everything works.

I would like to think that with the engine pretty much as stable and good looking as it's going to get (considering the improvements from CMSF release to now), the focus now would just be on unit modeling, with maybe a new command or two tossed in. I'm kinda bleh on having an entire title for Battle of the Bulge to the end of the war. I can't imagine that we would see much of anything new, besides some new versions of vehicles (compared to CMBN+modules, correct me if I'm wrong). I guess it will serve as the test run for snow, new commands, and misc. features before the epicness that will be the East front. Oh well, I'm very happy with CMBN now, can't wait for the modules to flesh it out. Just look at how much more content CMSF+modules has compared to the base game.

I think infantry should at least be able to slowly cross barbed wire, and maybe a few suffer injuries (turn from green to yellow) just like tanks running over stuff. Seems like a fair compromise to me.

I'm playing 4 people right now and they all have it and dropbox. A couple I had to tell them about it and explain how it works and everything. I imagine that it's rapidly becoming pretty much standard.

I still get lower framerates and more lag than I had during the first round of beta maps. I think punkbuster is partly to blame, since I was getting excellent pings until it was added. I imagine it will all get smoothed out sooner or later, at the rate they are patching. Look here comes another patch now! The notes say it fixes some crashes and optimizes performance, one can only hope.

Agreed, I went from playing mostly single player, with the occasional RT match, to now having 6 PBEM matches (some in CMSF even) going at once. Totally changes the game.

This made my day. @skimbo: I've experienced what you are describing with the mortars just once, and it had something to do with where they were in the C2 compared to the HQ I was using as a radio relay (a platoon HQ). You're best bet is to decide which HQ you are going to use for this purpose before starting the match, and do a "radio check" by setting them away from everything else and seeing if the other HQ's can call fire from them.

There are only a few campaigns but they are all good. Devil's Descent The Outlaws A Bridge Too Close Die Letzte Hoffnung Anyone know of any others?

I'm probably not the same person, only been using this name for a few years. Anyway, right now I have Veins sounds and like them, but I think the other ones are good too, just have a different "feel" to them. One tip on the repository is to open each mod in a new tab. Saves a lot of time! Once you get caught up it's easy to just check this forum once a week to see what's new.

There are lots on the repository, the only other big place I know of is CMMODS. *Better terrain There are a couple but right now I'm using Aris Terrain Mod and really like it. Gets rid of the super bright colors of vanilla, without changing things too much. There are a couple others that are good as well. *Better interface IMHO Juju's Tweaked UI is a must have. I can't imagine going back to the default. *Better model textures Definitely start with all of the Aris mods for vehicles, they are amazing. For infantry, I like Veins Germans and 82nd Airborne, along with EZ US Uniforms. Some others would be all of Veins tweaks like flames, muzzleflash, skies, etc. There are also a couple choices for sound mods, you'll just have to try them and see what you like.

I fired up CMSF today just for fun and it was great, really fresh after a few months of CMBN. My email is ranger33pbem@gmail.com if you want another opponent.

I solve this by moving everything as a platoon at first, more in a general direction than anything, until I get close to actually fighting. Then move individual squads. If I'm playing PBEM, I'll then split the squads into teams so they can spread out more. Once the lines are formed, you usually aren't moving more than a few units at a time, so it's easier. Just some friendly advice, don't move an entire company in one big blob. That's just begging to get hit by arty. Unless you are playing against me, then feel free to do so

23 here, I played the Valley of Trouble demo for CMBO way back when, but I couldn't really figure it out, I was 12 or something, give me a break. Then one day in EB Games (or whatever it was called back then) I stumbled upon the CMBB Special Edition with the extra disc full of mods and stuff. The rest is history.

Email sent, look forward to playing!

I do know that crossing fords will tire your guys out really fast. Not sure about running uphill or the others. Why would a crew get fatigued sitting in a vehicle?

Yes, a few assualt rifles really unbalance the game It's not like there were maps in RO1 where 5-8 people could have STG 44's at the same time. Oh wait, there were many. The bolt action rifles are still just as dominant as any other gun. At level 0 with a level 0 K98, you can still get to the top of the leaderboard if you know how to play. I know because I did it this morning.

That's certainly a great attitude to have, and its awesome to hear that you guys are doing so well with CMBN! Keep up the good work! (You guys might not want to pester them about a review because of principles, but I have no such inhibitions, off I go to write a persuasive email )

Why didn't Rock, Paper, Shotgun do a review? They posted several previews, and even announced when the demo came out, but then not a peep. They pride themselves on covering every single obscure PC game out there, and have a pretty big following. I'm not trying to criticize you guys on this, I know you don't have a massive budget, but I just love the game and wish that it was out in the spotlight a bit more. It seems the games biggest flaw is that no one knows it exists. I post about it on forums and every time at least a few people will go nuts saying how it is just the sort of game they have wanted to play since the days of Close Combat and such.

Command lines wouldn't really make sense any more, especially now when you can split each squad into three teams. Just one platoon would create a spider web across the map. The new system of highlighted icons works perfectly, I don't know why people get so hung up on this. Not sure what you mean about the skills of the squads. I haven't played CMx1 in a while, but I'm pretty sure CMBN gives you all the same info (quality, leadership, morale) in addition to being able to see each individual soldier and what gear he is carrying. I agree that there should be more reviews out there. I've asked about it several times but gotten no reply. Every hardcore genre type game out there gets fairly reviewed regardless of how niche it is. (The DCS sims, Paradox's grand strategy games, etc) I have a suspicion that not very many review copies went out, for whatever reason.

One thing that would awesome: Currently you can start the game via H2HH, but this takes you to the main menu, where you still have to manually select the save file. It would be awesome if you could go directly from H2HH to the loading screen for the scenario in question, thus skipping the save games screen (mine is several pages long, due to campaigns and such, so it takes a while to find what I'm looking for) I imagine this wouldn't be terribly complicated, but would require some collaboration with BFC. Edit: GAJ beat me to it, but yeah that would be great, make the whole process seamless

Playing my first game using this and it is fantastic. I swore off PBEM after one attempt a few months ago, but this takes all the annoyance out of it. It's actually perfect for me since I'm a student, I can sit here and study, then every so often I hear a little beep and know its CMBN time! Thanks a ton guys!

I fit this category! Email me at ranger33pbem@gmail.com if you want to play. I have dropbox and H2HH all set up and ready. I take all comers if anyone else wants a match.