A Canadian Cat

Interesting I had no idea you put your toe in. What version of CM was that in? And we appreciate you chiming in with valuable insight. I can appreciate that a full fledged SDK would be quite an effort and distracting. I think the developers reading this can totally understand that. You have stated in the past that your philosophy for choosing features for a release is to add value that will appeals to various groups. The idea being to move the game forward incrementally to satisfy many constituencies. 2.0 being an excellent example: You added several map editor features for the scenario designers, several commands and other features for the game play itself. And you added a whole lost of graphics improvements that the modders are happy with (plus a taste that you will do more for them with regard to uniforms). What several of us would like to ask is that you consider the 3rd party tools guys when you are creating your feature list. You already have @GreenAsJade with a released tool for managing turns. I have one in the final states of testing. There are several people @noob and @Broadsword who have operational rules and games on the go - they are doing it totally manually. Plus @JapPanzer creating interesting UI manipulation tools to extract information about OOB and casualties at the end of the battle. I am sure none of us want to be a drag on enhancing the game - I know I do not. So, a big bang SDK is not in the cards. Understandable. Here is my request: consider spending some time on direct features in the game that we can leverage to help the community. For your consideration here is a list of smaller features that would add value for those of us wanting to create a community of application development around your game: A command line argument for launching the game so a specific PBEM turn could be started on game start. Have the game produce a OOB with casualties and combat victories recorded in an XML, CSV or similar format. Have the game produce a new game map (just the map) with the original map updated with the battle damage from the game that just ended. Allow additional command line arguments that would start a new game using an OOB (same format as your report above) and a map name. I am sure people would have other suggestions for you. And again I would reiterate we don't want you to stop everything else and create all this for us. But please consider adding one or two things every now and then to move the game forward in this additional area. Just like the way you do for other aspects of your game. And you have an excellent track record of doing just that. I am looking forward to new releases.

+1 to that. I really miss the better helmets on my Brits.

Well explained. If things quiet down for #2 and he does not get shot at for a while and he stayed with or you move him back to his buddy's last location he probably will preform buddy aid and pick up the tube.

Thank you glad you are enjoying it. Yeah that was a really bad move on my part. A -2 moment. It comes from me not paying proper attention to the forces under my command. When I setup the flanking maneuver I was not paying attention to the fact that they were StuHs and not Stugs. Really bad move on my part and my men paid for it. Interesting I think I am being very careful and methodical and exercising lots of patience. That is the plan. I guess the Panthers near the river tank are not really in close formation but I agree I should be bringing them back together. Near the town they are working closely - I know one is a bit a head right now but my last orders will bring them back together. Good philosophy but I am not a fan of flanking hastily without knowing it it is safe. For example my flanking of those two Churchill tanks was done after scouting that flank and then pouncing. The Panther's near the town cannot go wide right now because the town is certainly not safe and the open ground on the left is covered by his Achilles in over watch. So they have no choice but to go head on at the enemy. Yes those Stugs are officially banned from going head to head with Churchill tanks. Except when they have to protect softer targets. That is the plan Yeah and considering the name is right there on screen you would think I would get that one right.

Yes, please do. I am pretty much committed to my attack now but would love to hear your thoughts. I agree. One thing to keep in mind is we already played a battle on this map and sweeping wide to the right and by passing the town was exactly what I did in the first game. That game was a 12 000 point affair and this time I did not want to do the same thing. So the main attack was planned to happen on the other end of town - in the centre. I did have 3 Battery sweep wide to protect that flank. I don't like to do the same thing twice when battling on the same map. Good points. Sadly the LOS from one edge to the other is not very good. This is a very hilly area and the AT gun I have setup on the on edge has seen nothing across the valley. The town has ridges on either side of it and those ridges have LOS to each other. My opponent has taken control of one ridge and is keeping me off the other. Thanks for your thoughts - keep them coming as you read.

If these are just maps then you will most likely have to add setup zones and objectives as well. In that case you can decide what kind of QB you want to have and create objectives and setup zones to match.

In South Ottawa now, near Manotick.

Oh small world. Many years ago I lived in K ville as well. On Alfred street behind the Anglican Church Mance.

I had the same problem with my launching code. It is a change in libraries needed by the .exe. Now there are some that need the working directory set on launch. Set the third parameter of the exec function to the path to the path..exe. That will fix it.

@Green as Jade I experienced the same error with my turn management program. My code was launching the game without setting the working directory. I just tweaked it to set the working directory to the same place the .exe is located and it is all fixed.

The UK 57mm gun was the 6 pounder not the 2 pounder http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordnance_QF_6_pounder

I have the explosion mod still in 2.0 and it appears to be working fine. And I have had a few really good explosions the in last two turns. A Fire Fly going down to two 120mm mortar rounds and a second Fire Fly ding to to a Panther.

Not sure but just in case you are not joking: the Washington with the "legal" weed is Washington State not Washington DC. So, no, not near Baltimore. And if you did make the trip to Washington State, I would not recommend trying to transport any of that weed back to Ireland. The US Federal government is *not* OK with this whole "legal" weed thing. Ian from Canada but used to live in Washington State

LOL - damn I just sprayed coffee all over my keyboard laughing.

I order the Strummel to move forward again and put one more rounds on the scout team’s position for insurance purposes. The advance along the river continues along the tree lines. At the town entrance the infantry are now ready to make a break for the barns. Now that additional Churchill tanks have been spotted forward the other two Panthers will move up to engage. Meanwhile the Stugs will stay in the tree line and protect the Panthers’ flank in case a threat appears from the town. At the other entrance to the town the Stug will pause for a few seconds to fire the round already chambered and then back out of trouble. The barrage on the town ended before I wanted it to. I am not really sure what happened there. The plan was for the first barrage to end and allow the infantry to enter the town while the second barrage continued on the right side of the town. But both barrages ended already and the guns still have amo. I am not really sure what happened there but the FO is heading back to his over-watch location to bring the fire back on the far side of town.

In over watch of the town the Stug that moved forward to protect the flank is successful. First it gets a penetrating hit on one of the Achilles on the opposite ridge. Then it turns its gun on the Churchill that escaped the barrage and gets a penetrating hit on it as well. Near the river crossing the infantry continue to advance alongside their armour support. They meet no resistance this turn. In the orchard the Stug that was hit last turn manages to retreat to safety. The Strummel comes under fire from the scout team but scores a direct hit on their position and silences at least part of the scout team.

The assault on the town is progressing. The lead Panther spots and destroys a Churchill after coming under fire itself. Shortly thereafter two more Churchill tanks are spotted. The Panther is hit multiple times but is undamaged. The crew however is a bit freeked out and show as pinned. Right behind the Panther the lead infantry meet no additional resistance as the move to the edge of the tree line. The rest of the company move up behind them.

Good to hear. It is always good to have recommendations on scenarios. When it is all over let us now what you thought about the balance. And by that I mean did both players *feel* the had a chance to win according to the objectives. I have no idea about real life but I use the Cromwell's speed. Moving fast to the enemy's flank. The do not withstand as much punishment as a Sherman (that says a lot I know). I have used them in an urban environment to zip around blocks and come up on the enemy from the side / behind. Same in a forested situation where they flanked and disabled (which was as good as destroying) a Tiger. If the enemy gets their guns on them they do not last long but if you keep them moving they can buzz around like flies and be really irritating.

Due to confusion around upgrading I can say that I have a game that I opened in 2.0 that my opponent saved in 1.11 and it worked just fine. Not that all turns will but mine did. Note: we are both on 2.0 now - we are not trying to go back and forth:)

Excellent, I will dig around there next time I am setting up a QB. I am very glad you guys made the tweak. They are a fun vehicle to use - very fast and way tougher than a half track.

So close we can taste it. I for one am really looking forward to what @Darknight Canuck will be able to do with what you give him.

My request would be for the The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada. My father's original regiment (from the 1960s). He still helps organize reunions and other events.

LOL that is too true.

LOL Just started a new PBEM game. It was pure joy giving my AT guns and Shrek teams a cover armor arc command. I know I will just love having the movable way points feature there too - I use it all the time in CMFI. There were lots of 2.0 improvements that I liked but the movable way points did not do anything for my on paper. But playing with them - awesome. That is such a helpful feature. Well worth the $10 or $10.41 Canadian

Yes, you can have many versions and patch levels all happily living next each other (with no additional activations required). Someone should post a message like this every time there is a patch. I already have opponents saying my latest turn will not work and sending me turns that I cannot see. I am not against upgrading my games but it takes some coordination. Coordinate people, coordinate. Thanks @Rocky Balboa