Broadsword56

And could someone please add the cammo hessian strips and/or foliage branches to the netted CW helmets? The ultimate would be something like this... They still don't look right "naked," although the netting BFC gave us on some of them is a step in the right direction...

Thanks Pete, that image is hugely helpful to match the game map to the real areas covered! I really appreciated the Google Maps "pins" Sergei posted yesterday, too -- but (not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth) what would be most useful is a .kmz file with polygons showing the *boundaries* of the CW module maps, not just a pin indicating the general area. That would actually make it possible to see what the maps cover, and for the community to fill in the blanks by mapping adjoining or nearby areas.

Brilliant!! It will be perfect for my Epsom operational-tactical campaign.

Just one of those moments when I used ultra-zoom, got way down in the weeds, and felt a shiver as I saw this team pass by -- every nerve taut and listening for that first sign of the enemy...

Yay! Please keep us 32-ers posted, point us to it, and we'll look for the article.

But how? A link? Something?

So Phil, you're saying the memory access improvements are already set up automatically when we installed the CW module + patch, even if we've been running 32 bit Vista OS with no special settings? And there's nothing else we 32-ers need to do? If so, that's great.

I have Win Vista 32 bit, so can someone post the "for dummies" step by step on how to set that larger address space up, and how much to allocate?

I forgot to remove and park my Z folder before installing the CW module (too excited!) But the game looks and seems to play just fine with all my mods so far. (I didn't have any of the mods that changed icons, silhouettes, GUI or text -- mine are all uniforms, vehicles, terrain, faces, tracers, etc.)

I, too, lost my Commonwealth to Norton's zealous heuristics detector -- but all was well after I told Norton to restore and un-quarantine the file. Haven't had time to look around much yet in the module, but two things I noticed immediately that I want to thank BFC for: 1. Those Commonwealth helmets with netting on them look a lot better now! (Hoping a modder will complete the job and add those colored Hessian cloth cammo strips and/or foliage to make them look truly realistic) 2. Many historical maps! Operation Epsom is well covered from many places and times, and I can see the mappers paid close attention to using real places with authentic terrain, and listened to our request for more variety and gaps in the bocage. Is there any chance anyone at BFC could post a Google Earth shot showing colored outlines of where these Commonwealth battle maps actually are? This would be instructive, and would also help any of us making maps for campaigns so we can see what areas remain unmapped in Epsom, for example.

Looks like an excellent list, and like others I'm overjoyed at the 4GB RAM support and help with the previous OOM issues. But I, too, really want to know whether that bunker bug (units getting stuck inside) is fixed or not -- it's a biggie and makes bunkers next to useless, even though we know the Germans especially made heavy use of them in Normandy. That also compounds the Germans' vulnerability to HE and mortars, if they can't make proper use of bunkers. And of course it makes any usable D-Day, Dieppe or other coastal maps that much harder to simulate in CMBN.

Two regiments on that map would definitely be too much, IMHO. But 2 battalions each is OK, and I've found the most comfortable (just my taste) to me around Battalion (+) on each side, or Battalion (+) vs. Company (+). I'd say just use whatever the historical units and strengths were in this real space and time, and don't try to "game" it or artificially balance it through troop levels. Even a battle that's greatly asymmetrical in troop numbers can still be "balanced" by the victory conditions, in a way that still gives the overmatched side some plausibly attainable goals that the game would rule a "victory."

It will be interesting to see how BFC handles all the motley assortments of depleted German units that got thrown together to make the ad-hoc battle groups in OMG. Actually, they happened in so many different ways that it might just be best to help players with a good manual section that gives good historical OOB info, and explains how to create, say, a Luftwaffe "stomach and ear" company or a Security company using the various options for equipment and soft factors already in the editor. To me, the most important part of the OMG module would be any terrain and building changes needed to make Holland maps play realistically and be as authentic-looking as the ones we can make now for Normandy.

How could I forget? I recall practically expending all my mortar ammo, sacrificing 2 or 3 Sherman's, and at least one HMG to that one gun. But The gun was so perfectly placed that I had no way to advance on my objectives until I could destroy it. I could hear the rounds rattling continuously against the gun shield, and that German just seemed to duck down and laugh it off.

And with a bit of artistry, you can alternate high and low wall sections, leave spaces, etc., to look a bit more uneven and more like partially standing walls instead of above-ground swimming pools (a doff of the helmet to Schultzie, this is a brilliant concept!)

I take your point, jetset. If that sort of tweak makes CMBN a better game for you, then OK. But I wouldn't my CMBN to go that way. I have never been in combat or under an HE barrage -- thank heaven -- but everything I've read about WWII tells me that you'd never say to a GI whose ears are ringing, head is throbbing, and has just seen all his men killed, "Hey, what's your problem? Get moving -- it's been quiet for several minutes now!" I don't sweat whatever game details might be causing this situation, because in my view, any gun crew that's been through what you described has lost its cohesion and combat effectiveness and might as well be written off for the rest of the battle. A flesh-and-blood surviving soldier not only might not be OK to fight in a few minutes or hours -- but might never be able to lead troops again and would likely suffer the effects of this combat for the rest of his life. I know, it's just a game. But to me, part of the way I justify making my entertainment from other people's real-life horrors is by trying to show respect -- always remembering what the game is simulating and honoring what the real soldiers would have been doing and enduring.

Indeed -- I just read an account of an overrun US platoon on the first day of the Bulge, where the GI's Garand suddenly jammed and, in desperation to get away, he *threw* it at an assaulting German, hitting the astonished Landser in the head and knocking him down. Whatever works...

Cool story. But I think you're expecting an awful lot from this guncrew commander, crack or not. Maybe in real life one man *could* continue to reload the gun and shoot it all by himself, but after a traumatic combat like that and -- quite possibly slightly wounded himself -- I would expect him to count his blessings and get out of there. I don't think having that one guy continuing to load and fight would be modeling it "better" at all. It would make CMBN seem gamier and less realistic to me.

+1 to that! Arma2 and those mods are brilliant -- it's just the social dimension that can prevent the games from being all they can be. Because it's a FPS that are best played live online with lots of other people, you get all the joys and sorrows of human online society. Basically you either put up with looking for pickup games on the public servers, or join a "clan" of one sort or another. The public servers will quickly bore anyone who likes realistic play, cooperation or tactics (lots of kids, drunks, lone-wolf Rambos just running and gunning. Spawn, shoot, die, rinse & repeat). The other alternative is seeking an organized "clan" of one sort or another that commits to a certain standard of play and screens its members. But to really be part of it -- if you're admitted -- you often have to commit to an ambitious schedule of basic training, drills, and other group activities that range between annoyingly time-consuming to creepily cult-like. To be fair, I'm sure there's no better experience in wargaming than to be in one of those highly organized clan battles, fighting a force of tactically adept human opponents in a fantastically detailed and vivid 3D world. But I just never found a satisfying niche there, so for my money I'm happier with the readily accessible thrills of CMBN.

OK, sorry -- I stand corrected. I guess I was recalling that "Sprrroooinnggggggg!" sound effect the Piats made in the the old Close Combat 2 game. Ahhh, good times... :-D

And don't get me wrong -- I'm sure lots of players would love this as a map/scenario with good AI plans on both sides. You've put a lot of hard work into coding AI already. I just want to point out that you don't necessarily have to learn AI coding to make maps/scenarios -- you can create everything but the AI, post it, and then let the community enjoy it as a HTH-only scenario or let someone who's an AI expert mod it to add the AI later on. Some of us (like me) are really mappers at heart, and others are great at making AI plans but have no interest in mapping.

Being able to fire from fully rubbled buildings would be realistic, but not indoor fire. The backblast from bazookas would not have permitted fire from indoors without injuring friendlies -- it was done in IRL in dire emergencies, but not standard practice. OTOH, with the Commonwealth mod I have hoped that CMBN might let the PIAT be fired from indoors, since it wasn't a rocket-type weapon and was spring-loaded.

No, it's the map plus the OOB and setup zones, briefing, and everything except the AI. You can make a detailed deployment for each side within the zones, if you want to make it easy on players, or just dump all the forces within their respective zones and let the players sort it all out. Objectives are important, as is the briefing to help players understand what their mission is and how to win.

My recommendation is to avoid urban combat entirely in CMBN. The game simply doesn't handle it well -- at least not yet. There are plenty of other great map types that work much better.

+1 to a map release without AI -- I never play against AI and always play WeGo against real opponents. Just be sure and put "HTH MAP ONLY - NO AI" in the title somewhere, so people are aware that version is just for play between live opponents.