WriterJWA

Don't feel bad if you haven't pre-ordered.... I did, but for whatever reason I can't download it from the site. Have an order confirmation on the site, with key, but have a "You have already downloaded the file(s) the maximum number of times, or the download period has expired" message there. For whatever reason, I have the annoucement email like everyone else.... but not download link email from last week (and I keep EVERYTHING). What a !@#$ed day.....

Light infantry all the way!

I'mn with ya' on the mods. I'm generally leery of wantonly adding mods as they come out. In CMx1 I remember adding a sound mod that better resembled with weapons and a few minor graphics mods to tighten up the look. I don't think I did any uniform mods, at least not on a long-term basis.

I was playing the "Closing the Gap" scenario as the Germans, and while carefully approaching the crossroads one of my Panthers was struck in the front armor by a shell from an M-10. The round did not penetrate, merely broke up the front armor. It also scared the daylights out of the crew, who almost immediately bailed out of the tank that was otherwise in good working order with the engine still running. The panicked crew ran about 50 meters away to cover behind an out-of-action PSW. After a moments rest to collect themselves I was able to order them back into the Panther and wheel them back into the fight. They wound up leading the attack on the town with infantry in directly support and succeeded in destroying a Sherman with a flank shot and killing a number of infantry. To me, this entire action in indicative of the quality of game put together here! I was absolutely impressed with the game mechanics and thought that went into what is typically such an overlooked aspect. Great job, Battlefront!

If so, the question then is will a sound contact come through the speakers if I click on the specific unit that hears it, then go away when I click on a unit that does not hear it? If that's the case, then the developers have certainly outdone themselves!

No ... I totally get that aspect of it, and I love it! The "Borg" spotting was a bit gamey in CMx1 in retrospect. Where I'm confused is why a unit that could potentially meet the criteria of hearing cannot because he hasn't properly spotted it. Unless, of course, I'm taking the term "spotting" too literal as meaning a solely visual action.

Here's what it says in the game manual: For the Basic Training skill level: "You can hear the voices of unspotted enemies." For the Veteran sill level: "You cannot hear the unspotted enemies." Perhaps it is the player who cannot hear the sounds, but the troops can (provided they meet the criteria -- distance, conditions, etc. -- to hear the enemy). A little clarification would be cool, though.

According to the manual, the Veteran skill level on up does not allow for friendly soldiers hearing unspotted enemy forces. Obviously that was intention, but what's the rational behind it? It seems that soldiers should be able to hear them regardless of whether they can see them. Example: A bazooka team wouldn't necessarily be able to see a Panther around a sharp turn of a sunken road 50 meters away bordered by bocage, but they may very well be able to hear it and thus gauge its approx. distance/location.