Broadsword56

if you could hit an "area LOS" button from any action square on the map and see a shaded overlay, revealing every action square that it could see/be seen from (not revealing any units or contacts, just visible terrain), that would be a huge help. The Panther games (Battles from the Bulge, etc) have had that feature and it's a great player aid. But it's a big hit on computer power, I understand. Whether it's unrealistic is open to debate. In one sense it is, but OTOH it restores some of the situational awareness in 3D terrain that we lose by not being physically in the environment, having poor depth perception on a computer monitor, and not having good contour maps either.

It's so disappointing to see the negative tone that seems to have swept over these CMBN boards in just the last several weeks. All the threads that had so much useful and constructive dialogue about mapping, tactics, war stories, etc., have gone quiet as the ranters and haters crashed the party. Those of us who love the game are just probably busy playing the hell out of it, and not as motivated to post. And those with lives to live aren't going to hang around here to rebut and argue the merits of the game every time another "this sux!" post pops up. It has seemed like a good community until recently, and the content on the boards (of which I've tried to contribute my share) is what keeps me coming back. But if I want to see squabbling and pettiness, I can get all I want from watching CNN and the politics on TV. I hope this passes and we can all get back to enjoying this great hobby again.

The soft factors system in CMBN works great and is leagues above any other wargame out there. I was a bit surprised/disappointed, though , when I discovered that suppression state isn't modifiable in the scenario editor. It would be nice if we could go beyond specifying a unit's susceptibility to suppression problems ("fitness" or "motivation") and actually specify that a particular unit begins the game "pinned," for example. One reason would be if a scenario opens just as an intense prep barrage has lifted, and we want to simulate the suppressed state of the defenders on the first turn. Then it would be a little added handicap and challenge for the defending player to get units back into action, able to move, and starting to fight effectively before the attackers arrive within assault range.

Also, the smoke mortar doesn't have the range that the tank gun has, it seems to me. So don't expect to be able to fire tank smoke a very long way.

I don't understand the frequent pleas for beach scenarios. D-Day was tremendously important, but it makes for a extemely dull and predictable gaming. Massive frontal assault on heavily defended and fortified coast. Squads of invaders either get mowed down immediately, or they don't. As veterans of the real thing will tell you, much of that was a matter of luck, with life or death a matter of being at one spot or 50 yards away. It's a great visual spectacle, but in that case why not just go watch the opening of SPR? And frankly, no game yet made seems to be able to capture it. CMBN certainly isn't suited to it, since you can't have landing craft hit the beach and troops come off the ramps. Our issues with mines and barbed wire would only be magnified on scenarios like D-Day beach landings.

Ahh, that's nothing. I had to build a reinforced bunker in my back yard, and float a Mulberry to receive incoming book shipments... Geeez, you guys!

Yes, and for the record, the total map size is now 1888 x 2480. The battle area with all the detail and objects on it is much smaller than that (maybe 1500 x 1500). So, 4 x 4 km master maps seem to work fine as long as you keep a "clean" object-free version as your template, detail only each battle area as you fight it (deleting objects for previously fought-over places) and then cut the edges in for each battle.

Where in the world did you find those maps (the captured German diagram and the heavy weapons support one)? If it just showed a little more of the area east of Le Mesnil-Rouxelin, it would cover some of the area I've mapped. Is there anything of the adjacent area that you know of?

Agreed -- sounds a lot like the kind of Anglo-American sniping and backbiting among commanders that was rampant during the war.

Yes it's ironic that the army of a fascist dictatorship actually stressed "freedom" (militarily speaking) and initiative on the battlefield, while the U.S. democracy's army opposing it acted more like robots with top-down control. British officers often remarked on the way US commanders tended to shelter safely in the rear like 18th Century aristocrats, instead of being with their troops -- something the Brits said they learned not to do after WW I.

In light of the above, I'm cutting the master map sides around my battle area (La Nicollerie scenario) down to a much smaller size. Then we can try it again as see if that helps.

So the bottom-line question is: What is the true maximum playable size of a map on CMBN, if the theoretically available 4km x 4km size or even 2km x 4km isn't really feasible? Can anyone at BFC help enlighten us or give us some insight into this problem?

An issue has come up with a PBEM and file sizes. We're wondering what causes PBEM e-mail files to suddeenly increase vastly in file size, after the deployment turns have been exchanged and the first player uploads the first WEGO move. Here's the situation: I created a 4km x 4km historical master map recently for a large swath of Normandy (see this thread for the background info on it) The master map has just tiles and roads -- virtually no objects on it at all, except for a couple of small forests here and there. Now, on top of the master map, I've marked out a battle area of about 1.25 km x 1.25 km and detailed it with objects, to make a scenario. The opposing forces are only company (+) versus company (-). Both players exchanged their initial PBEM turns. Each file was 1.53 MB. So far, so good. But then one player made his initial moves and uploaded the turn file. Suddenly the file size ballooned to 65.99 MB !! Needless to say, this file crashes the game when only about 18 to 70 percent of the turn has loaded. Just to see if object density is an issue, I made another test scenario on the "clear" 4km x 4km master map, without the detailed smaller battle area on it. Same thing happened -- the first actual move had a 63.27MB file size. So, I realize that a huge map size must be causing this. But we're curious about what makes the file size increase so dramatically, just because a move turn has been played. Why the difference? Could it have to do with pathfinding? I suppose it's possible that if you plot a short move of 50 meters from point A to Point B, the unit still has to "know" where the entire boundary of the map is, to know its location and reference the waypoint you've ordered it to. And that would be a strain on the computer to take the entire 16 square km into account to locate two particular action spots, no matter how close together they might be. We're also puzzled because Huzzar is a very large map and is fully detailed with objects from end to end -- not quite 4x4 km, but still it was a biggie and played just fine. Quickbattle PBEM files with battalion vs. battalion on a "large rough bocage" map averaged 14-16MB per turn, and played fine too. I was able to create and preview the master map with no problem, and it worked fine after I added the detailed battle area and played a bit of the scenario in 1 player real-time format -- just got a little drop in frame rates now and then. If I were to cut down the master map area around the detailed battle area by 25%, would that give us a 25% decrease in game file size? I'm not sure whether this is a 1:1 ratio here, or whether it's something else. I may try that, but I just wanted to throw this matter out to the community and see what the experts say.

Give me that Sherman Firefly!

sburke1959 tells me I immobilized a Stug in our recently concluded QB when I spotted it with an FO and rained a point mission of 155mm right on it.

Yes, I suspect some named locations (farm buildings, hamlets) from the WWII maps are actually in slightly different or adjusted spots today, since they were rebuilt after the war.

If you find the regimental for the 320th IR, let me know -- since it's fighting now on the adjacent map. I thought the Gestapo "chateau" was at St Gilles (?). Maybe not.

Great historical forensic detective work there, LLF. Makes me wish we had that particular steeple shape and height and style in CMBN -- I find the little independent country church has too small a steeple, so I use the independent church one -- which may actually be a bit too tall and pointy and grandiose. Our model lacks this "tent" shape at the top, which (from my looks at photos of the towns we're mapping) is the most common style in Basse Normandie.

Found it in the cav troop -- thanks!

Does anyone know where I have to look to find the 75mm M8 HMC self-propelled assault gun unit to purchase it when I'm setting up a scenario in the editor? I see the M7 Priest all over the place, but can't find the M8.

Again, it's a matter of good map-design principles. We have a lively thread devoted to making proper forests that use combinations of hedge tiles, brush, D trees, etc., on the fringes to create a realistic amount of cover and concealment for units inside the woods. It can be done, I think, with the tools we have.

Great how-to, rockinharry. But I thought the existing abstracted "microterrain" feature of CMBN action spots is already supposed to give some variation in cover on even plain flat ground, even though it's "under the hood" and not represented graphically. I wonder if the abstracted variations are any different from one tile type to another (such as lt forest to heavy forest to grass)?

The sound of the big MG on the turret of the Sherman tank when the commander is out of the hatch and thump-thump-thumping away. Gives the infantry a lot of comfort hearing that supporting fire.

Has anyone read Rommel's "Infantry Attacks?" Would it be useful as a tip manual for CMBN players on infantry small-unit tactics (especially German)?

Ordinarily I would prefer Iron, if I could just play the role of the overall commander and let the AI run the battle below that level. But confining myself to a single role and requiring C2 to every unit seems excessive, since the game also requires me to play every small unit commander's role at the same time.