Sgt Schultz

I would suppose that the center of the action spot is best place for troops to align towards whichever wall side they are facing. -- EDIT - Oh, and be careful trying to 'cheat' by using only diagonal roads and bocage/walls to tighten it up. The center of each tile may then be a non-vehicle spot(bocage/wall), which means no vehicles will accept a move order down that road. At least that is the way it works if you crowd buildings that way. will have to test that to be sure ... -

I try to design my recon troops/vehicles to Vet/High/+1 standards for just that reason. Crack is fairly awe-inspiring ... never even tried elite PSWs.

Two steps forward, and one step back tends to keep scout vehicles alive longer. Using reverse as much as or more than forward, yet still advancing is the mark of a recon master. Position all units that still have 'Pop Smoke' capability upwind along your linear advance line. Lead from the upwind side when and where possible. This allows for any smoke to cover downwind advances to the point of contact. If you are an American player, then it is likely you have enough smoke to walk a linear platoon right up to an enemy postion... one pop at a time with proper displacements. And don't get me started on M8 Greyhound smoke. Shades of the 'The Fog' from Steven King. :eek: -

All tips are for WEGO play. As stated above, small infantry units using Hunt or Slow tend to work best as scouts. When using scout vehicles, keep them a few tiles back from the troops screening them,in fire support positions. Use small movement orders with the Slow command for vehicles when you are not sure what is ahead. Hunt tends to make vehicles tool along at a faster clip than is warranted. If you want a quick peek with a vehicle, then set up a shoot-n-scoot. Move order from concealment very short distance forward. 5 second pause. Reverse back to original postion. Put in a Pop Smoke at the end of the Move order but before the Reverse if you are fairly certain there are enemy present. This makes the next few minutes easier for follow-on scouts. Covered Arcs concentrate the unit's attention to that area, so use those for scouts. -

Would this be hard to do as a fender decal on German vehicles? I am working on a fictional Panzer Division for a campaign, and could not think of a better logo than that! Bang Bang -

There are templates available at the Depository. Photoshop or similar to manipulate the standardised icons. -

H2H Valley of The Shadow needs a couple of pairs of volunteers. Be the first on your block to see the new fortified village of Steinwand. PM me with an email address and I will send the battle to all interested parties. ---

Have you ever found a really nice map, but wanted more immersion than QB victory conditions? How about that scenario that you would love to choose forces for? 3rd party QBs - Two players agree on map, battle type and total force rules(not points). Each player sends his force pick to 3rd party. 3rd party places forces on map with more immersive victory conditions and VLs(destroy points, multiple vls, etc), then saves it as a battle/scenario. NO briefings or AI plans; just placing forces, painting VLs and assigning destroy groups with points. ----- A battle negotiation checklist for each battle type would be fairly straightforward to work up, to speed up the pre-game process. ---- Set units in standard mode like all Reg/Norm/0, except for set number of Vet/High+1. Checklist can have "no more than" boxes to preserve fog of war. No more than 1/2/3 platoons, no more than 1/2/3 on-map mortar per so many platoons, no more than 1/2/3 tanks, etc. ---------- Before I take it farther ... what say ye?

Looks awesome! -

PIAT - Personal Ineffective Anti Tank How manly can it be to deploy a weapon that goes SPROING when you 'fire' it? The developer of the PIAT made a fortune in post-war America making the Slinky.

Don't worry, those pics are taken with clear skies and daylight. Battle starts at 8 PM under overcast skies. By the time the Amis reach town, they more or less have to push tanks closer to see the enemy. Plenty of spots and few AT teams.

Here! Give me the rest of the week. http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?p=1319016#post1319016

Here! Give me the rest of the week. http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?p=1319016#post1319016 --

Just an example of the lengths one can go to to protect yonder pixeltruppen. This is the smallest, most fragile structure in the game... the half-tile barn. That is, until I put a stone wall along one side and put the shed behind another wall. A team can hide there until threats have passed, then sneak out. Who checks every shed?

In the time since release of v1.0 I have learned so much about terrain and force balance that I dove right back in for a major facelift and overhaul. GreenasJade ... this is for you and all the boys in the general forum, and addresses your concerns re: AT teams vs Tanks. General Changes - By abandoning all pretense of AI plans, I was able to do a re-balance of forces. Adjusted type, number and ammo count of artillery/mortars. Even more of the now-standard treeline tweaks for better concealment/cover. But the big one ... the reason I have not slept in 2 days ... The village has been completely re-vamped and fortified, with an eye towards infantry survival and ambush opportunities. I even added Ami armor because I am that confident. ------ From the river ... looking NE ... Same spot ... looking SE ... "The Warehouse" ... Fight from upper floors, and repair to the lower for a beer and bratwurst. From the back ... the enemy has to drop one right in the courtyard to hurt anyone. Play 'Where's Waldo" with all the AT team tactical oportunities you can see in this single pic... Here's a hint from another spot ... ---------------- It will be up at the Warehouse by Friday or Saturday... have to adjust the briefings and tweak just a few more things. Happy now GaJ? (smiley face)

To deviate a little from this well-worn path, I seem to recall that the Germans/NATO developed something in the 80's that allowed for firing from within structures. Charge in center, plugs on either side of charge, warhead in one side, counterweight of mylar confetti(? or something similar) on other. Blast and smoke is contained as the plugs travel down the tube and lock at ends. "Stuff" flies out the back and immediately starts to fall to the floor. Warhead flies out front. --- Now, back to our world ... WW2-era backpressues would smack your team senseless. Yes, there were situations where RL multistory ruins could be fired from, but here both sides suffer from same restriction. --------- Grenades and rifle grenades can and will be used by any unit from within a structure against vehicles. Tanks are easily immobilised, and open/soft vehicles are dead. Use of the top-most floor available tends to help. There are many editor tweaks that can be used to provide proper urban/suburban concealment for AT units. If you find a map you like, but the town has no cover .... fix it.

"NO Hans! That is DEFINTELY an ASIAN borer beetle. This whole forest is infected." -

NO worries ND. I have opinions and suggestions for QB maps and mechanics as well, but this is more for design work so folks like you won't have to play QBs to have fun. - I like that suggestion and will add it to my list of options for non-rhino bocage battles.

This thread is dedicated to the use of the purchase screen editor in scenario design. Please share your experiences so all may benefit and discuss. --- The following are just my personal experiences and opinions. I'm no expert... just like to share what little I have found, and get threads rolling that can help everyone. Plus you should keep in mind that I am pure Beer&Pretzels. I work within the limitations of the editor and my imagination. Varying the types of units, deleting some while adding other units, and adjusting attributes can all enhance the experience and add immersion. Who wants to play with factory standard TO&E? Names are not enough. Just because you have chosen one type as your main force doesn't preclude adding other types within that force. It's your world... make it as you will. ------------ I'll start off with my new flavor of the month unit... the 'Armor' Medium Mortar TEAM(not squad). I call it the Pocket Rocket™. 20 HE and either 2 or 4 Smoke depending on Nationality. All contained in a single five-man unit. No ammo bearers, no halftrack. Almost one full turn of 81mm indirect death, or a few select targets taken out in direct fire. Add one in anywhere you want mortar support but not map-covering explosions or lots of icons. Best of all, both sides have the same unit. Strip Ami 60mms and replace with Pocket Rockets in lesser numbers for better balance. Your German players will thank you. ------------ The American 'Airborne' second(of two choices on screen) Scout Team is the only Ami one without demo charges. You can slide one or two into Recon platoons without unbalancing. No one will mind seeing the little parachute. ------------ The vanilla Ami M3 halftrack(medium MG) is the only one that does not have pretentions of becoming armor. The twin MG and .50cal versions should be inserted with caution, as an experienced and aggresive player will use them to great effect(yes, you sublime). A "Transport" vehicle killing Pumas is not usually a design goal. :eek: ------------ The Ami tripod .50 cal. It is my answer to the common MG42. And they ARE common. Lots of MG42s vs a few .50s blowing through light armor at 400 meters. Not as mobile as a .50 cal halftrack, but seem 'better' somehow. ------------ "Recon" platoons - The first custom units I came up with, and a staple for me now. I take an infantry platoon and strip all but one squad. Then I add in scout, breach, LMG, zook teams as needed and one or two scout vehicles directly attached to platoon HQ. No recombines, less morale hits(each unit is self-contained) and easier to read unit description(scout,breach,etc). These custom units can cover a large linear area and fine-tooth-comb it. Losses do not affect 'destroy' points too badly with the small headcounts. The player doesn't have to spend time splitting and watching for recombines. ------------------------ Attributes - All those choices in that menu... they turn more battles than anything else. Experience - Reg/Vet for me in almost all battles. It's a game and I want to PLAY. We don't want Terminators, but it's no fun to babysit either. "Named" easter egg units get the big bonuses. Motivation - Norm/High. For the same reasons as above. I tend towards High to make the troops tougher. Players tend to fold, spindle and mutilate our creations rather badly, so allowances should be made. Extreme works for certain defensive scenarios where you want to make sure the boys hold to the bitter end. Fitness - Fit. I don't do historicals, and as stated before, I don't want you to babysit... I want you to blow cr@p up. Nothing here that cannot be taken care of better in headcount. Leadership - 0/+1 makes for stable forces. -1s show up all on their own when you split or take casualties. +2s are very rare, -2s should be dead by now due to Darwin. Supply - Lots of ways to make or break a battle here. Shermans with Full ammo become Deathstars. Same tanks with Limited will use covered arcs and such ... no full turns of area fire. Mortars and artillery are the units I check most carefully in regards to ammo. For instance... German infantry 81mm on-map squads on Full are basically the same as Ami squads on Limited. 28/6 HE/smoke vs 30 HE. It may be easier to delete artillery ammo than to add opposing troops to make up for the sure casualties. Think frosting ... not cake. It is Combat Mission, not Fire Mission. Headcount - Nice to play with for balance, but be careful with Amis, as they keep three teams no matter what. 70-80% is a nice place for Amis if you like lower numbers. Vehicle Status - Not quite the no-brainer it would seem. Burning vehicles add immersion, as well as illumination in the dark. Placing a burning vehicle, then placing a building on same spot, allows for a burning building. Immobilised vehicles = pillboxes. No HE-thrower Bunkers yet, so use these. Placing them in a setup zone gives player control of the ONE spot the vehicle gets to live in. Using Vet/High/+1 helps negate the fact that the crew cannot move. -------------- More to come --- PLEASE feel free to discuss and add your knowledge and opinions.. ---

Winter Modules are coming. Expect leafless trees then.

After staying up late and getting up early to test, zooks/shreks/fausts just won't happen in structures... even balconies. However... given a little forethought on the designer's part re: placement of buildings, there is help. All tests run with Vet/High/+1 units on both sides. low brick wall corners ... One Sherman damaged. This team is under sporadic fire almost the whole turn. Target turns the corner, no problem, spin and shoot. ------- There is a price and a lesson ... never turn your back on a Sherman ... it did however take three 76mm hits to destroy wall and kill team. ------

That is a level of detail/distance thingamabobber. You are catching it at just the right distance and angle for it to waver in its decision on what to show you.

Oh ... the humanity. See the red cross with NO ONE under it? He jumped out of the M8 as the Priest blew. Raise a glass to him and all the pieces of him we can't find. --- It doesn't all go the Germans' way ... Notice that while firing .. he is still running like a little girl... The M10 lost its commander early... then made rooster tails into the woods... ---- The Aftermath ... now THAT is a crater ... Germans got a single yellow wounded man when the Priest blew. I think it was elevation and modular building that saved them. No schrek rounds were launched. I shudder to think what would have happened if US troops had been on the street level near that Priest.

Quick and dirty test. Trying to get balconies over neighboring building's rubbled floor, so AT teams will shoot from balcony and look like they are in building next door. Not looking good, but doesn't seem to matter. Infantry can close assault like ... well you judge for yourself .... roll tape ... Quiet street patrol Ambush! The Germans start playing skeeball with grenades and the Priest and the M8 takes one ... Ringer!! More to come .... ---

Firing prone is the way to go, if one can find concealment that the TacAI finds acceptable. NinjaGrass™ or as we call it VT Grass, Crop 4 and Crop 2 are the stuff of dreams for infantry. As you can see... firing prone leads to a nice flat trajectory. Resulting in ... Right in the lips! ---- GaJ .. my next battle will be a proper town fight with sadistic concealment options ... just for you. A real SPR German assault. I need to test to see if zooks can be fired from rubbled upper floors.