Broadsword56

But many times I see only one icon (the jeep) when there are passengers ( a HMG crew) riding in it. Even when I canceled all its move orders, the dismount button is still greyed out. How do you get the two separate icons to show?

And, as a reminder to all, my 4km x 4km map will be set up the same way, and will match up with LLF's map to take the mapped area all the way east to about the St Lo-Isigny highway. (I've got my last 8 contours left to lay down, then it's on to the land patterns).

But it would also be nice to be able to use it for QBs (unless it's in there already too). So splitting it out as a separate map would be nice, and also make it customizable if someone wanted to do that for some reason.

+50 to all the rave reviews of this map! But can I again beg for this map to be posted separately on the repository, so that we would be able to open it in the editor and see how George MC worked his magic? It would be a tremendous help to budding CMBN mapmakers.

One of my PBEM opponents turned me on to dropbox (www.dropbox.com). It's a remote free file sharing app. You just put the turn file in dropbox, "share" it with your opponent, and then your opponent can DL it without using e-mail.

I appreciate the point. Maybe it's because there's only one type of "panic" in the game, and that triggers the running-around behavior. But maybe it's not so unrealistic if you consider a couple of things: *Propensity to panic is controlled somewhat by units' quality and experience levels, if I understand correctly. So "greener" units are more likely to do this and end up running around stupidly. *It might sound like a good idea to freeze and hug the ground to avoid more mines. But soldiers know that wherever there's a minefield, there's also an MG and/or artillery pretargeted on the minefield. So as bad as a mine might be, if you freeze in place you'll be facing even worse to come, and making yourself an easy target to get pinned and mortared. It's a terrible dilemma, but which would you choose: Certain death on the spot, or run like hell out of there and some random chance of death if you happen to step on another mine? I agree though that human instinct after the first mine probably would be to hit the dirt and freeze (which is just what the enemy wants you to do). Maybe someone with actual military experience can enlighten us on this?

OMG! So sorry to hear that. Take a break, crack open a frosty cold one, and relax a bit to get some distance and a fresh perspective before resuming -- that's my RX in situations like that.

Great work -- any chance of a US equivalent? Beard stubble, thousand-yard-stares...

Bravo, LLF!

Got through Mission 1 on elite with only 1 KIA and 2 WIA, total victory.

+1 to that, sounds like a better fit.

Best bet is not to think of them as ideological Nazis -- at least not the average low-ranking Wehrmacht trigger-puller. Just think of them as generally apolitical young boys trying to survive, doing their duty, and following orders, just like the Americans. A little more motivated because now they're defending European soil, and mad because their parents and girlfriends are getting bombed back home. They're confident that they're the superior soldiers and have better weapons. But they've seen the Allied resources and firepower, they're starting to doubt the official propaganda now, and it's started to dawn on them that they could actually lose the war. The NCOs can be cynical but tactically smart and battle-hardened veterans of the Eastern front. And then maybe a Nazi or two in the officer corps, especially if it's a replacement one who comes fresh from training or a rear HQ and hasn't had time to appreciate the facts on the ground.

Just one thing I do know (because I just read about it recently): If you want an Omaha Beach that resembles the historical one on D Day, do not put craters all over it for infantry and FOs to take cover in. The craters were supposed to happen, but the actual naval bombardment landed farther inland and the troops were stunned to find the beach uncratered. That's one reason why the Omaha landings were so bloody for the 29th ID. OTOH, a cratered beach would make the scenario a bit easier and more fun for the Allied player and perhaps make for a better game experience. Your call.

OK, what's the best forum or site for finding a good solid PBEM opponent who won't quit or disappear, but without all the competitive ladders, chest-thumping tournaments, or organizational commitment and clubby stuff?

Does it take any special scenario or campaign-making tricks to create options like this? I have a feeling once I experience it, I may never feel satisfied with a vanilla campaign again...

Oh, I see -- of course! With "shallow ford" as your water you can actually have the Americans wade ashore (don't forget some mines on the beach obstacles!)

Change your tool to "direct" when you just want to assign an elevation to a single clicked tile at a time (or to draw a line of that elevation by dragging with the LMB). Question about your map -- how do you plan to get soldiers onto the beach, since there's no landing craft? If they start already on the beach, that battle becomes a bit odd since the germans have no chance to kill Americans in the water and disrupt the landing. If you do start units on the beach, I'd recommend that you so a lot of reductions in strength, limit ammo, and reduce their morale and stuff to simulate all the disruption of having just hit the beach under fire. It would be fun if you set up just about all the US units to arrive as reinforcements, with some variation in when/where they appear, so that even the US player doesn't quite know where the troops will debark.

While we're on the heights topic... I understand that the fewer "black spots" on my map, the better (for faster framerates and less strain on the computer). But once I have my contour lines all drawn in, should I actually go in and remove parts of the lines (to make them more of a dotted line)? Should I not be drawing them as solid lines? Or is it generally OK to have solid contour lines?

On the first (crossroads) scenario, I did OK for most of the battle with the mortars in the manor courtyard and my spotters upstairs in the manor house. But once I secured the farm, I double-timed that platoon's mortar team to the far hedgerow and got them a direct LOS onto the objective -- they had just enough ammo left to obliterate the AT gun and the units along the road, leaving the way open for my armor/infantry juggernaut to hedge-hop briskly down the main roadway and right side of the map -- total victory.

+1 to the mix and match -- I'd love to see it on the Repository and give it a spin. Yes, I feel my eyes burning and feeling tired, too, after looking at the bright textures for a while.

They should be outlined for better visibility, IMHO. No matter if that's a bit ugly, since they disappear when you start the battle. Or let a player toggle the lines on/off.

Watching my 82nd Airborne (in authentic uniforms now) patrol spot enemy, hit the dirt, unleash a murderous volley or two, then fall back through a hedgerow (with the assault command, they even leave a couple of men behind to cover the retreat). Then after they've pulled behind the hedgerow, one brave trooper raises his Garand, aims through the gap, tand akes a parting shot.

When you want the 82nd uniforms to appear in-game, do you have to remove the 101st mod? And vice-versa? Otherwise how does the game know which "airborne" troops to use?

So, aside from the "Nationale" numbered highways and the the Bayeux-St Lo and the St Lo-Isigny ones, what would the secondary and lower roads have been like? I'm assuming that the little lanes around farms and between fields would have been dirt. And the roads through villages would have been paved, but about the single-lane roads in between?

Also, did you make sure to put your F Co HQ in the upper floor of the manor house with a view out the window facing the German lines? I think the manual also says to put your scout team up there. Once you do, check your mortars' C2 display -- even with the HQs in the building, they are still close enough to shout spotting instructions down to the tubes, apparently.