Sgt Schultz

Gerry, the best thing to do is sit down with the plan in mind that you are not leaving the depository for an hour or so. Just run down all the vehicle and gun mods, then Vein's and Juju's mods. Voices, sounds, uniforms and faces, and you are good to go.

Any/every mod that is made by Vein, Juju or Ari to start. That will take care of terrain, GUI and vehicles. Then Mord's faces and voices. Then pick some uniform mods. It depends on what kind of battle you want as to map choices.

There is already an Ambush command and behaviour present in CMBN. Too bad for you that it is not available to Puny Humans. It is an AI Group Order choice, and it works rather well. Set it at the distance required, and when someone trips that wire, bad things happen. How does the AI say nyaa nyaa nyaa in Binary? -

So now the question becomes ... If you bounce a WP round off a roof into an open-topped vehicle ... what happens? Talk about friendly fire incident ... a Priest eating a WP round.

I love the things and will have them featured soon™. Pros - almost 50/50 smoke HE is very nice Smoke screens are breath-taking Cons - I believe they are FO-only access Long target times even so ------ Test one out. The smoke screen they generate can be a two-edged sword. A linear with the right wind can cover a fair percentage of a nice map with smoke for a good while. I could make an American AI plan with those shooting constant smoke along the upwind map edge to make a forest fire scenario. -

1. It has been a while since I tested, so take with grain of salt. I think the process involves a face command so they are up against the blasting wall, then next turn I think you can just press the blast button all by itself. If you are worried, then time the assault team/squad's entrance so they pile through the opening right after the blast. Pause button ftw. A demo charge in mousehole mode inside a building sorta messes the defenders on the other side up, so running through isn't as dangerous as busting a bocage row. 2. Yes, the Face command rules inside buildings. I miss the old mode of placing in one corner and facing the opposite. Now one cannot even stay in the middle unless it is a multi-tile modular. You are Edward Bates to one side or another.

The charts above have call-in times for FO and HQs. I have yet to test how Motivation and Experience of both the calling unit and battery affect these times. There is no way that I have found yet to make any FO attach to any unit to change the color or shape of the "compatibility" icon. A yellow triangle is a yellow triangle, so motivation and experience may be the only variables.

There are tables posted somewhere .... let me seee .... ahhhh here they are ... http://combatmission.wikia.com/wiki/German_Artillery_Characteristics http://combatmission.wikia.com/wiki/US_Artillery_Characteristics http://combatmission.wikia.com/wiki/US_Naval_Fire_Support_Characteristics print them, learn them, live them, or regret it. I thought we were all old wargamers here. Everyone has a thick binder full of printed CMBN crapola they need to refer to constantly to play ... right? right??

When I went to the Toyota dealership to look at Tundras, they never mentioned the Zuni option package. They would have had a sale on the spot.

This floating icon issue seems to be one of perception that conflicts with certain play styles, rather than a widespread flaw. The icon elevation scales with distance from the POV, stacks due to proximity to other units, and changes due to both unit and POV elevation on the map. In RT play, this could be a real time-killer, until you find some work-arounds(mods, different view angles/elevations). Then it is just part of your muscle memory. Find an angle and distance that works and stick with it. This behaviour is almost beneath my notice personally. I watch the movie once for casualtiy flashes from one flank or the other. This allows me to see all the icons. Then I spend a few movies at level 1 or 2. Icons are no worries there either, because they are turned OFF so I can immerse myself. 'No red cross' mod as well. During the orders phase, I know who I want to deal with and go to them. Level 3 or so, slight downward tilt, and a few hundred meters back from the unit(s) in question is my orders POV. Every time. This means I know what icons will look like from the angles I am seeing them from. They are my men, I better know where everyone is already. I am unsure how they can do much better than what we have with all the variables that must be accounted for. If they change one thing, then some icons may get buried in terrain or fly way up. On a hill map icons could be hidden behind a hill. The only quick and dirty thing that comes to me would be to scale icon size with distance from POV. While it would not solve all the perception issues, it would help.

There can be only one ...

I want the medievel mod. All props to the BFC crew that has given us so much over the years. While fire would be nice, it will get here when it does. Deploying AT units to buildings/upper rubbled floors would be even better, but not sure if that is even on the list. Allowing the crew of a tank to get in another tank of the same model in the same platoon would be best of all. It doesn't really matter what is or isn't in the next dozen modules or games. As long as it is set in WWII and has BFC on the box, I am buying it. They have earned my loyalty. The more modules we buy, the sooner they can afford to hire more coders to put in fire.

How 105mm can help with "immersion". Hustle hustle hustle .... woooossshh .... blam .... Took a minute to find our squad mate ... I'm thinking buddy aid is probably not required here. ----

Let me join the chorus and say thanks for the excellent work. Like others have stated, the only vehicles that stick out in battle are the ones you haven't done yet. Both StuH and the ATGs would be excellent choices. Or maybe my favorite weapon in both CM1 and 2 ... siggy The German sIG33 15cm Infantry Gun. It makes a very distinctive sound when fired at you. If you survive, remember it.

I want to see a round bounce from one roof to another, and then bounce off that one. New contest to get a double bank shot into an open Priest.

You have to look at the little green dots. If the gunner dot(under the driver dot) is empty or missing, then you need to put another unit in the HT. If the original gunner is killed, anyone can step up.

Standing next to a radio vehicle is good enough to keep radio C2. If you can shout to the radio operator, he can relay the info. And as a german player, our hannomags almost never have a gunner. XOs, Tank Hunters, Scout Teams from a squad, and ammo bearers with no ammo to bear are all good gunner candidates. This gives you some cushion if the gunner gets picked off as well. Another steps up to take his place.

Thanks for the testing. My tests all involved linear missions to clear paths through approx 100 meters of minefield. It looks like point targets and smaller linears are the way to go. -

Short-barrel JpzIV will have to stand in then. When does the IV/70 show? I don't know what is is about the Lynx, but I think it's a neat little beasty. Put a couple platoons of those against a zook-equipped Ami infantry force and watch the fur fly.

Wayne's World! Wayne's World! Party Time! Excellent! So .. Garth .. like we're standing next to this totally burning tank.

All I want for Christmas is my Three Amigos from CM1 QBs... Wespe Lynx Hetzer The cheapest, deadliest combo I could come up with to deal with any threat. May you live again soon. woot!

If a modular building loses its roof, through either action or designer placement, then mortar/artillery penetration can happen. I have seen the visual effect of, and taken casualties from, 105mm penetrations through an upper story... to the troops on the ground floor. It is a case of lucky direct hits I think. Maybe BFC put a 'critical hit' roll in there somewhere. Once the roof is breached by a barrage, then following hits tend to gnaw the structure down rather quickly. Three story multi-tile modulars, connected to other modulars, will take about 60 rounds of concentrated 105mm in a heavy linear barrage across the structure to bring most/all of it down. I would not use 60mm on any structure that still has a roof, unless the targeted units are in a dormer. 81mm will hurt smaller independent buildings. 105/120mm should wear down anything three stories or less, given the right concentration. The tall(4+) modular buildings usually have to be chopped down floor by floor using direct fire HE, or successive lucky strikes from large calibre artillery. It is a tedious ammo wasting task that is rarely needed. Once the Hummel and Wespe come on board, both sides will have mobile building killers.

Loved the video. Great amount of work went into that. The hedgerow lined with the Ami casualties was frightening. That just proves my opinion of all bocage country ... best to just the nuke the site from orbit ... it's the only way to be sure. There is a 'no red cross' mod out that may look even better.

If you are using a single on-map 81mm mortar, then directly targeting the building may be your best bet. This is where knowing which building is which type comes in handy. A 2 story independent building may be quite weak compared to a 2 story modular. This effect is increased if it is a multi-tile building. Some structures will come down in a few lucky rounds, while others stand up to every round the team has. If the building didn't come down, expect resistance of some sort. Direct-fire HE in calibre 75mm or better is always the best way to negate structural targets.

You cannot clear mines with artillery. I tried with all sorts of calibers and numbers of rounds. Even if it looks like a moonscape the mines are still there. Killed a scenario I was designing to clear mines that way.