MengJiao

I second this. The map and the (same) one for Huzzar is one of the very best maps out there. I've been building successive mods/scenarios and changed the river to the Vire and added larger hills, but still, its the basic map that keeps drawing me back to do variations in the editor.

Sounds like a very interesting feature, but I think it would be more for some kind of specialized reconnaissance team who could be given a route as much as several kilometers long to survey in a time period of about 30 minutes. I think the scout teams just represent basic infantrymen sent off on relatively routine "take a look" type missions -- a couple of hundred meters at the most in a 5 minute time frame.

Some kind of record button would be nice. Like in IL2 or Rise of Flight.

Same here. I use scout teams for scouting as in "go look up there (where we can see you) and see what you can see"...I also use them for getting ammo out of dismounted vehicles, or sometimes getting bazookas out of vehicles. I also use jeep and truck drivers for such things and for scouting. Of course you can also re-man vehicles (such as MMG jeeps and MG half-tracks) with scout teams. Usually I check out routes for platoon advances using scouts and drivers and sometimes ammo bearers.

Like if a face falls in a forest is anything harmed except for the effort of alliteration's being wasted? Perhaps the good Old US boys have adopted the good old Aztec Jaguar Priest discipline of skinning their enemies and wearing their skins?

I'm prefectly happy to start off in Normandy. I think the commonwealth module is going to be even better than the initial chunk of CMBN, but I'm expecting the east front to top even that in terms of drama.

You can resupply AT guns, but I haven't seen any tank resupply features.

I load every squad and driver and ammo crew and scout team and sniper up with bazookas. I also add a couple of bazooka teams to each company. I figure they are like flares letting me know where the front line is. The rarely seem to hit anything, but the constant "shhupsppooonssh" sounds and tremendous arcing trajectories let me know the enemy is out there. I find them more noticible than rifle grenades due to the sound and usually higher arcs. Also since the infantry is going to shoot, they might as well shoot something that might make the enemy back up a bit.

Some detailed studies (such as the Osprey Sherman vs Panther pamphlet) have suggested that the Sherman did have a significant advantage in getting off the first shot due to the gunner's having a wider view in his optics. For me, more realistic Shermans is a definite Plus.

I'm not having any trouble with selection in the Editor.

On the other hand there weren't any games like CMSF before so it could also be the standard, hence the relevence of comparing CMSF and CMBN.

I'm never sure what is shooting at what, but in an example I've already used somewhere around here, I noticed some M10s shooting at something over a Kilometer away on a hill. One shot bounced high up so I assumed the M10s were shooting at Panthers and I moved some Shermans to get an angle on the area. Later it turned out that there had been Panthers up there and one had been knocked out and one immobilized while the rest moved on to more incredible adventures without doing any damage that I could find.

I pause the game when something big and/or relatively unexpected happens or when I want to see if it is a good point for a save or if I want to unscramble some command problem. If stuff is just blowing up all over, then I usually don't pause if things seem to be going well. I did pause one game to organize the rescue of a lieutenant and his jeep driver and get them back to a working radio.

It's true. I think the game has come so uncannily close to reality in some respects that the world of frequentist statistics is not all that relevent.

I agree, but since I rarely know what anyone is shooting at, I'm perfectly happy with any shot from 1 kilometer that immobilizes a Panther. Also, even a Panther has to spot you to hit you and if the first Panther fires smoke and blocks the LOS for the Panthers behind him while the shells aimed at him hit the other Panthers behind him who cannot see who is shooting at what either, then that's okay too. I think in many cases the game is working on situations more complex than the player can anticipate from simple Gaussian probabilities anyway.

I guess I like the problems with RT. I have some standard responses to parts of the battle that I can't pay much attention to: pull back, send out scouts, make sure they have artillery support. In one recent battle ( home-made mod of Huzzar with more hills and a river name change), I saw the M10s shooting at something far away (around a kilometer anyway). I saw some of the shots bounce off so I thought there might be Panthers out there. I sent some Shermans to get an different angle on the target area, then I went back to saving a lieutenant who had gotten his jeep shot up on the wrong side of the Vire. When I got back to check on the Panthers, they turned out to be Panthers alright, but they had gotten immobilized or knocked out without doing any damage that I could find. So sometimes things turn out ok. The lieutenant, by the way is doing ok and is back on the US side of the river directing some mortar fire at his former side of the river and his old jeep.

Not seeing who is shooting at what can be disturbing in a big RT battle. I chalk it up to realistic tension and keep going. It often becomes clear eventually, though it does cause me to pull back units that look exposed and send out more scouts.

I don't know, but my impression has been that they protect the guns pretty well from small arms and MG fire.

But in the actual operation the infantry superiority was less than 3:1 and the attackers inflicted at least 2times their loss on the defenders. Clearly the MG42 did not prove significantly magical in that set of battles.

the building thing makes intuitive sense to me. The building restricts fire and spotting. There aren't many buildings that a full US squad can shoot from. Plus, the whole building is an easy targetting reference in terms of fire distribution: 1 mg takes one window, another the next and pretty soon the defenders are overwhelmed by fire. I usually only defend from buildings in the reserve line (mgs, spotters, ammo carriers). Squads actively shooting -- I deploy them elsewhere if possible unless there's a lot of indirect fire. Buildings seem pretty good against indirect fire.

Well, if you line up enough stereotypes you can make anything sound plausible. For example, if you take the destruction of Army Group center as the most successful soviet offensive, the German defenders lost 600,000 and the attackers lost 200,000 or 1:3 in the opposite direction. So by your logic attacking at 1:3 should work fine. There you find all the facts to study the impact of open ground and how effective HMGs are to stop attacks over open ground!

I did a similar experiment using US 3-inch AT guns behind sandbag walls. 4 guns engaged tanks and halftracks at ranges of 2-400 meters for about half an hour as they emerged through some bocage openings. One gun was knocked out and the problem for the remaining 3 turned out to be running low on ammo, though it proved possible to run ammo up to them from behind another bocage line. Infantry and armored cars supprted the guns and probably occasionally distracted the attackers. The guns seemed to be spotting and firing much more quickly and effectively than the tanks that were moving through openings in the bocage.

The little dudes are uncannily real sometimes. I was in realtime trying to figure out what was going on with somebody shooting at a company HQ. I zoomed up to a paratrooper squad sitting in some trees and I was about to give them a hunt order when one of them stood up, took aim with his M1 and shot a german running across a field about 75 meters away. The whole thing seemed creepy and yet dramatic, even melodramatic.

I guess moving from the low ground beyond the forest, to slightly higher ground made it seem like there was more sun.

Yep. Same here. I played the scenario you mention with the 88s and the train tracks. Tricky!!!! I love how the sun comes up and things get brighter and if you punch on through to the central warehouses, the germans start scrambling. Brilliantly done battle and the game is fantastic. Beautiful!