A Canadian Cat

I should have added that my friend and I agree that the only way to "make this better" is to have H2H campaigns. That way pushing your men to the breaking point would have real consequences for future battles and successfully breaking contact and withdrawing would have real positive effects on future battles. See wish list item 2) below:-)

+1 to that. A friend and I just finished Huzzar. My initial move to contact and flanking maneuver after the scouting phase was a disaster. I lost 3 tanks and two HT to bogging in a ford and three tanks to a Panther right after first contact. I am pretty sure IRL they would have pulled back at least to recover the bogged vehicles and try a new plan. I did pull back a bit and spend time getting some artillery to help out. Then I managed to break through one flank and the proceeded to rollup the rest of the defense. I am pretty sure IRL the Germans would have pulled back to fight another day. In the end my opponent had only a hand full of men left and no AFVs. OTOH we had loads of fun. What a great scenario. The initial scouting was interesting and with that sized map there were options on how to attack - just coming up with my plan was fun. Highly recommended.

I do the same. I often watch the turn from on high (level 5 or 6) to get an idea of where things are happening. Then I watch the turn zoomed in to level 2 or 3 in the areas where stuff is happening. When giving orders I focus on what each company's job is one at a time. You can even save the game and come back to a turn if it is taking too long. I find that a 4, 5 or 6 company game works really well when you think of the two or three avenues of advance one at a time. While initial setup and planning can take quite a while once the battle gets going you will find that you don't have to mess with the orders for everyone every turn. Very enjoyable!

Once you have FRAPS running: switch to or start CMBN adjust your camera to watch the action of interest pause the game when the turn is showing what you want to capture consider turning tress on fully, turning off floating icons, turning off hit text and deselecting units - depending on what you want to show us press the F10 key repeat as you wish Now FRAPS will have saved your captured screen images in the directory you can configure on that same tab where you saw that F10 was the hot key for screen capturing. Looking forward to seeing cool stuff...

LOL - What a mental image I had not really thought about how much effort that would actually be - and I am a software developer. Where I work have have a huge support department which essentially does just what you describe. I guess we will have to settle for that list - I look forward to seeing what is on it. I really appreciate that BTW - both the fix and the telling us about it. Twice now - wait three times:)

Brilliant! Glad to hear things are looking up.

That was just what I did when the first patch came out. I had two versions of game installed for a while. One without the patch applied and one with. One opponent did not want to try update our game to the patch so I just used the original copy to play those turns. One game failed to work after trying to upgrade so we played that game with the original game as well. One opponent and I successfully upgraded our game and I played those turns with my separate install of the game plus patch.

Thanks guys I will look into it.

I have an AMD Radeon HD 6770 that I picked up recently to improve my experience with the game. I am a photographer so my monitor is colour calibrated and I cannot mess with that. I am not a big gamer (I only play CMBN) so I have little experience tweaking settings on video cards. Is it possible to have settings that are only applied when running the game? I'll have to check my game settings but I do not recall settings in game that control colour or brightness. Now that I have the new card I have the game's model and texture settings maxed out.

Nice looking photo. The terrain looks good. I tired Aris's terrain mod but it was way to drab on my monitor. It kind of has a half desaturated look to it. But yours does not look like that at all. Anyone have a theory?

Correct and Yes. I wish at Elite level they would redact the squad / unit information. Heck I think they should remove all the info in the lower panel. However if they do that they have to make sure that things like AT guns get their own icon. While I agree that spotted enemy soldiers should have icons of just generic soldiers, if my guys spot the AT gun itself or the 81mm mortar itself then the icon needs to reflect that. It is not fair to me to see a generic infantry icon but the spotting soldiers can see an AT gun. That is why I try to play on Warrior level - because Elite level takes away information I should have (at gun icons) and leaves me with information I should not have (2nd squad B team).

Like Ranger33 suggests: set a short cover arc on your squad. Then issue their move order. At the end point place a face command. That way the cover arc will apply until the squad gets to the end of their move order and then the cover arc will change to a face command. Tada no one should start shooting early.

OK just to clarify, with your tank you can Target or Target Light. Target means the crew will use the main gun. Target Light means they will use only their MGs. If the tank itself can see an enemy unit then you can use either of the two target commands to target said enemy unit. Or you can use either of the target commands to point at an area on the map (this is what people mean when they say area target).

Do not dismiss HE as not dangerous to tanks. In a recent game I have an AT gun on the side towards the back of a hill covering the approach to the opposite hill. That made it pretty hard for the attacker to deal with. After some time the gun had used up all its AP rounds. My opponent sent a Sherman skirting around the edge of the trees on the hill to attack the gun. All the gun had left was HE and with the Sherman really close they hit it point blank with an HE round and took out the Sherman. It is a smoking wreck.

Must be quantum effects. I believe there are some quantum effects that can explain this FTL Communication But seriously I have recently see the same thing. I had a rattled platoon that had reloaded into their Half tracks to move quickly to assault across a bridge. The plan was to ride the HTs up to the bridge - where I knew it was safe, dismount and assault across the bridge to support another platoon that was already across and fighting for the village beyond. The first squad made it across the bridge and came under fire and became shattered. So, to, did the other two squads and one machine gun team plus two HT crews. None of the teams that were still in their HTs driving forward could see the guys across the bridge yet same goes for the HQ unit - my bad. I figured they were close enough but thought it was a bit odd. Looks like you found out that there are some morale effects that work on a platoon level.

Grenades can cause blue on blue casualties. I once watched one of my squads shoot a german right after he had pulled the pin on his grenade. It fell next to him and went off. It took out two more of his mates.

I am not sure that will work. I think that inter team sharing like that only works between teams in a platoon. I have not tested this I just think I remember reading it. No that should work. Get the driver to dismount and then get the 5 man team to board the wagon and then they can acquire away. After that the driver can get back in to move to another location.

I use FRAPs to grab the screen shots. Using that tool you can capture as many screens as you like and they are saved into a folder on our HD. So, after I watched the action in a turn I rewound and watched the important bits again from a camera angle that would show what I wanted (usually level 1 or 2) and captured several screen shots to show what happened. The orders screens were all done from viewing level '7' (just hit the 7 key). Once I had the screen shots I processed them with Paint.NET. This is a pretty simple windows paint program but it has support for arrows that are flexible (after you draw the arrow from point to point you can grab controls on the arrow and bend it). I used white arrows for movement and red arrows for fire orders. I also cropped away the game controls and saved every image to a standard width. Clearly this takes a bit of time but I find that if you do the work after you have played the turn it does not feel too bad. Trying to do it all at the end would quickly become overwhelming. What I did was save the processed pictures into a directory dedicated to the farm AAR and I numbered each image with 01xxx.jpg, 02xxx.jpg so they would show up in the file explorer in the right order. I also added to an AAR document after each turn using each picture and writing the text for the turn.

Wreck you certainly read the tea leaves correctly and created a plan accordingly. Nice job. I wish I was not so slow in setting out for the Cafe (as I had originally planned). I started off trying to accommodate the possibility that was I facing a superior force or perhaps a force already in place so I moved slowly with lots of scouting.

Well thanks. And thanks for setting up this tournament it was fun. I am sad that I am out of the running. Now if you have oodles of free time you could setup a couple of "Bought the farm" side tournaments with those of us that lost. ;)

Minute 18-17 Action: Not much happened except the remaining members of Meissner's squad surrender. That pretty much warps is up. I don't even think I can hold the farm from an assault let alone move further Remaining Time Orders: I just try to consolidate the hold on the north end of the farm by getting Frobe's team together again behind the wall. Doing this costs me two more men. Time to ask for a cease fire. I offer and my opponent eniced73 agrees. The final disposition of my forces looks like this: Tactical victory for the US. I have four guys left to his 22. Well done Eric. Thanks for the enjoyable game and congratulations to your for playing this one so well. The final screen shows that I was totally surrounded with no hope of attaining any more objectives.

Minute 20-19Action: I was right Frobe's team did surprise the GIs outside the farm wall. They were looking the other way totally unaware of the Germans behind them. I thought this is going to be a sweet victory in an otherwise loosing effort. One of Frobe's men fires a rifle shot and misses, the GIs turn around and open up on my guys. No GIs go down and Frobe's team takes another casualty. It turns out I was not paying enough attention. Frobe was out of 9mm amo. So the hail of bullets I was planning for the GIs never came. With the MG42 still in the other barn all Frobe had was two rifle men and only one of them moved to the south window to fire on the GIs. That is not the taste of victory it is the taste of blood. Minute 19 Orders: Not a good situation. I get Frobe's remaining team to hunker down in the barn away from the GIs. Fitzemeyer moves closer the broken squad to try to rally them. Meanwhile Harmel's team finish clearing the last farm house – no GIs were home. There is a light machine gun across the road from the farm that is making it difficult to move in the open around the farm. I have also ordered Steiner's MG team to move into the cover of the barn. Minute 19-18 Action: The remnants of Meissner's former squad rally somewhat under Fitzemeyer's command but immediately come under MG fire from the bocage. They start returning fire but by the end of the minute they are panicky again and half of them surrender. Minute 18 Orders: My orders are to hold tight and hope for the best. ... post 11

Minute 22-21 Action: Steiner makes his way to his team mate while the assault on the farm continues. Still no return fire from anywhere in the farm. Minute 21 Orders: Frobe's team make their final move on the barn and Harmel's team are just about to enter the farm house. This is either going to be really exciting totally boring. Meanwhile Steiner is still heading to attend his team mate under the covering fire of Fitzemeyer's command team. Minute 21-20 Action: Disaster strikes! Meissner's squad takes four casualties including Meissner himself. They break and run into the open. Clearly Fitzemeyer team's suppressive fire to the south is not nearly enough. The GIs across the field send a hail of lead Meissner's way. This is likely the end for me here. I might take the farm but there is no way I can muster the strength to push into the fields and head south to the cafe. My opponent has touched all the objectives now. I'll see how the next turns go but I don't see a way out of this after loosing Meissner's squad. The platoon does have some success this turn – they capture the farm. Frobe's team make it into the barn and Harmel's take the farm house. Minute 20 Orders: Fitzemeyer move to the barn so that he can bring Meissner's broken squad under command. If I can rally them and get some fire support form them then perhaps they can be useful. Meanwhile I see an opportunity for Frobe's squad to catch some GIs by surprise. I order his team to go to the south corner of the barn and target the GIs by the wall. With his MP40 they might get a surprise in against the GIs. Meanwhile I will leave Steiner's MG team where it is to make sure the GIs do not make a move against the south end of the farm. ... post 10

Minute 25 Orders: I decide to take advantage of the dust and smoke and rush Fitzemeyer's command team forward and tuck them behind the SE barn and shift Harmel's team behind the NW barn. They will also check into the barn buildings to see if any GIs are there. Meissner's squad are getting tired so I will let them sit still this minute. I have not decided what direction they should go yet either. On the one hand they could continue and flank the GIs from the other end of the farm but I am concerned that they are and would continue to be out of command if I go that way. Plus I need to maintain fire supremacy in the farm and I am afraid that with the arrival of the additional GIs I might be loosing it. So, the other alternative would be to bring them back into the farm the safe way under command and adding to my firepower in the farm. I'll have to consider those options after watching the next turn. Minute 25-24 Action: The smoke in the court yard meant the fire fight in the farm quieted down. Fitzemeyer's command team and Harmel's shrek team managed to touch their objectives and I think indicate that there are no GIs in my ends of the barns. Meissner's squad spotted some GIs by the farm house and sent some rounds there way but to no effect. Minute 24 Orders: I have decided to move Meissner's squad back into the farm. They will join Frobe's squad in the SW Barn just as Frobe's more rested squad move out into the court yard to take cover behind the wall. I also moved Steiner's MG team closer to the farm as well so they can see more targets. This is in preparation of having Frobe's squad assault the NW barns with the plan to then take the SE Barns and the remaining buildings after that. For all that to work I need a hail of bullets to be flying first. One step at a time. This step is get Meissner's squad in place to cover the next move. Minute 24-23 Action: Entering the farm is almost accomplished. Meissner's squad did loose another man to fire coming from the direction of the Cafe. Thankfully all will be behind the farm walls in a few more seconds – hopefully no one else will get hit. While Meissner's squad was on the other side of the bocage they saw the GI team that had been pinned down behind the wall in the farm court yard escaping – rats. Perhaps the farm has been abandoned? We will see. Minute 23 Orders: The plan is to finish entering the farm compound and with a few pauses start assaulting the barns while covering fire criss crosses the court yard. The smoke has almost cleared so it will be interesting to see what response I get from the Farmhouse. Minute 23-22 Action: The barn assaults went well and I received no return fire from the farm house or the bars. I still believe the GIs have evacuated the farm. Unfortunately Steiner lost his team member and therefore a whole lot of ammunition. The GI's from the Cafe are now taking pot shots at the back of the farm. I guess I did not get everyone into the farm fast enough. Minute 22 Orders: Steiner is not mush use as an LMG with only 30 rounds so I have sent him back to tend to his team mate and hopefully get back the over 300 rounds his team mate was carrying. The HQ team has moved back to provide covering fire. I hope I don't loose Steiner but he is also not much good with only 30 rounds on him. Meissner's squad will continue to provide covering fire for Frobe's squad and Harmel's Shrek team as they assault the barns and farm house. ... post 9

Minute 27-26 Action: The farm / bocage assault continues. The first team from Meissner's squad reached the bocage under covering fire and all in one piece. In the farm the fire fight continues and I think my guys scored a victory. However all was not perfect. The final members of 3rd squad (Heuer's scout team) were caught from behind and both killed. Minute 26 Orders: No real change just keep up the fire in the farm. I am getting Harmel's Shrek team to move up to the wall so they can get a clear shot at the American team across the court yard. Meissner's squad will continue to protect the bocage flank by assaulting towards the enemy that was there. I was intending to move Steiner's MG team into the farm but given what happened to the rest of 3rd squad I think they will stay where they are in case the GIs that took out 3rd squad try to move into the Orchard. Minute 26-25 Action: More GIs appeared in the farm buildings behind the ones trapped behind the wall. These new arrivals caused casualties for Frobe's squad but I am pretty sure they hit back too. Harmel's shrek team put some rounds onto that wall and caused a lot of smoke and dust. Meanwhile on the bocage line Meissner make it to the other side without incident. ... post 8