A Canadian Cat

I have my update settings set download only and not install so I can control when that happens - last two updates have reset this to automatic. Microsoft: Grrrrr I experience the same. Worse I let the install start as I walked out the door to work in the morning. My wife came home to a computer that would not boot. I got a call at work. Microsoft: Grrrrrrrrr. Note to self: don't do that again.

Oooo did I miss you saying you were doing that. You packed up the AT gun and moved it! Brilliant. Do you have a towing vehicle or are the crew schlepping it?

Good to hear the results of your testing. So true about making your own luck, but luck does play a part. And in that instance luck did not go your way. I know how you feel. A friend of mine and I are playing a mirrored attack / defend QB (two games, same map, but our own force choice so only the terrain is mirrored) right now. His guns in the treeline or in the grass are all toast already. My men easily spotted them and dispatched them loosing only a couple of half tracks in the process. One of mine is hanging on after shredding three Shermans - woo hoo. In my case I placed the gun next to a raised rail line back in some trees. They also have a sand bag wall. They are under cover and have two key whole views at about 90deg from each other. One side of the gun is protected by the raised rail embankment and two other sides are covered by the sand bag wall. It has survived the return fire from the platoon of Shermans (several hits on the embankment) as he dispatched most of them and drove off the rest. Then the crew took a casualty from fire from multiple MGs and then another casualty from a mortar barrage. So far the crew is hanging in there ready for those Shermans to try to push forward again. It really feels like a gun emplacement.

I could be mistaken and @Ron can correct me if I am but I think he means that when a unit spots the enemy if they are in C2 the information percolates up and down the chain of command and makes it easier for other units of yours also spot the enemy. Once the platoon commander has been told there is an enemy fire team approaching from the left he can direct the attention of the other squads in the platoon to also pay more attention to the left flank. I find defending more difficult than attacking in the game. Your discussion of terrain and map size are of course quite relevant and certainly play a significant part. I have a few regular PBEM partners who are pretty close to evenly matched skill wise. When we play attack / defend in QBs the attacker has invariably won. I have had the experience of defending against a less experienced player and winning the match up. So, it is possible to win on defense but I think it is harder.

I do not believe you need to wait for the map to be ready. The saved game has everything needed. After all you can start a scenario that is only on your machine and send a turn to a PBEM opponent without any problems.

Well I disagree with you there. Just because it can be done does *not* mean it would be useful. I also fall into the camp that thinks that hundreds of messages would not be helpful at all. Rather the design should be refined to reduce the distraction and perhaps then a useful amount of information could be displayed. Only then would I agree that the feature would be worth doing. One suggestion I have is that the notification be restricted to what we already get (unit sustained causalities, is shaken, is being suppressed etc. see my earlier list - and check it for completeness) and that the notification screen could only show information for units that are not currently on screen. That way the current indicators would be used for the units you are currently looking at and the notification window would only show you stuff about what you are *not* looking at. As such if there is lots of action where you are already looking the notification window will not be swamped. How ever you will be told when the s*** hits the fan somewhere else on the battlefield. Which is what we want anyway.

My selected time has come and gone... I guess there is still a chance my date could be correct though.

The latest is 2.01 *not* 2.1. People keep calling it that but I strongly suspect that the market garden module will be 2.1 and then we will have lots of version number fun. What I suggest is fresh install using the official install order (which I got from support when I had a different install problem recently): Adjust as needed if you do not have the CW module

After a little over a minute of shelling I am adjusting the barrage to the other end of town. This will allow my infantry and soon to arrive tanks some space to take up positions and help clear out the rest of the town objective. The infantry screen proceeds ahead of the Panthers. Repositioning at the farm around the edges not through the middle. 5 Company beginning to emerge from the woods.

Apparently the men at the farm were not as unobtrusive as I had hopped. One of the Churchill tanks opened fire. Thankfully the Stug fared better. Saved by foliage. Infantry screen passing a Panther. Members of 5 Company heading out of the woods. The 150mm rain. No pillars of smoke this time – yet.

It is time to start leap frogging the infantry and moving forward. The first truck unloads with two teams taking up positions on each side of the tree lined road. My men take full control of the farm – but they are careful to stay out of the LOF of those Churchill tanks. Meanwhile the Stug takes up position where it might get a side shot of one of them. 1 Platoon from 5 Company has been assigned to help reinforce the town objective as well. First step is to from up in their half-tracks on the back side of their woods.

The town was also quiet. No sign of that Stuart pushing forward any more.

Overall this was a very quiet turn. Over at the farm my men watched as the Churchill tanks did nothing at all. The second AT gun finished setting up to cover the bridge approach. The Panthers and their escort are still getting ready to move out. The best news was the 150mm barrage started to fall – for real. Same for the barrage on the opposing ridge line.

LOL that is a very well put together video. Congratulations on your new streamlined but still quite humorous signature.

In an attempt to reset the discussion I would like to ask the OP his/her opinion on what kind of notification they want and point out that the game currently has the following notifications: A new enemy unit is spotted: A new icon appears over the location of the enemy unit (selecting it will show you who spotted it) A friendly unit takes a casualty: That friendly unit's icon flashes for a short period of time. A friendly AFV is hit: Text appears over the unit with where it was hit and there is an indication of any penetration A friendly unit panics: The icon of the effected unit dims. All of the above appear in the larger game screen but in addition if you have a unit selected you also get: A friendly unit takes a casualty: The solider who goes down gets shows with an X (both in the text status display in the bottom left and on the battle field) and is removed from the list of soldiers in the status bar. A friendly unit takes fire: The suppression indicator begins to trigger. Are you asking for any more events that this? Are you asking for them to be displayed in a different way?

While totally true I also think the OP's point is a good one. It seems that visual representation of building damage happens in steps. Which makes perfect sense. Perhaps to make a visual improvement a few more steps can be added and have them show up at lower levels of damage. Of course that would take work and require less work be done elsewhere in the game - the usual trade off.

LOL I agree. @LiveNoMore: the last thing you want is to be the guy with a whole bunch of strange behaviour that only you experience and no one can help you fix. There is, without question, going to be some other issues that have not yet been identified that you could run into. And Murphy's law says you will.

If I recall correctly there is a head wound mod that could explain it. The way the mod works AFAICR is everyone gets a head wound - even the living. The only time it is visible in game is when a casualty's helmet comes off. Given that the issue causing the scare crow crew here is with the models if a hat or helmet is missing the wound would show in the "living" crew member.

That sounds familiar Assuming you are talking about our game: Two comments: what makes you think it is a single AC firing on both targets? I am not really surprised you cannot see the firing unit(s). I spent many minutes maneuvering into that position tweaking positions after looking through the trees to get it just right. *I* was expecting them to die but am happy to see they are getting rounds on target - or at least close. Nope Don't give him any ideas

I could not have said it better myself - well done. I look forward to the details of what is shown / not shown at each level. Bill what level are you can GAJ playing your game at?

I cannot comment on their historical use but I will say - don't do it:D So far every game I have played that has a Priest or Priests one of them ended up in a huge fire ball. Believe me you do not want any of your troops or light vehicles any where near that fire ball. Go with the 105 Sherman instead. They pack just as much punch but they die less frequently (word of warning though if one does brew up it is only a matter of time before it too goes up in a huge fire ball).

Yes, he does. Remember when GAJ KO'ed two HTs with one AT gun round Bill thought it was a burst from the M16.

The dogs are kinda like the surrendering enemies - you cannot directly target them. I honestly have not noticed that there are barking dogs. Are you sure it is not a dog in your neighborhood? I promise to not eat chocolate for a few days and listen more carefully.

Absolutely on both counts. While a single tree does not do much for hiding tanks, if you are at the edge of the woods staying back between trees makes a difference in staying hidden.

I have no idea about how frequent that kind of thing was, but how often are you seeing this? I think I have seen it twice and once of those was a tank commander when the enemy missed just slightly high. There is always the chance that some poor soul will be directly in the round's path. I think it is much more likely that the AT gun is aiming area fire at the spot where they spotted enemy infantry.