Collingwood

Thank you IanL. Just confirming that I was able to purchase the Upgrade Bundle for CMSF2, then register my license for SF2 and all 3 modules on my Slitherine account page. Then get the steam keys, redeem them on steam, download, voi-la! I think the move to making BF games available on Steam is a good idea, hopefully it works out and more games are released there.

Years ago I owned all modules for Shock Force, but for Mac. With steam keys being available, does this mean that now I can buy the complete upgrade package for v2, then install it for PC instead via Steam? If so, that would be awesome. Thank you

Thanks for the update Steve, it's great to hear 4.0 for CMFI will be comprehensive. I love all the CM games, and I'm an eastern front nut, but there's something about the flavor of CMFI that keeps drawing me back.

Well, it's only March - mid January is a bit over ten months away, so there's still plenty of time to wait

I second the Carlo d'Este recommendation. He has another Italian campaign book, "Bitter Victory".

The version numbering is indeed confusing. But one of the best things with V4 is that now we don't have to pay for a whole new license to play on "the other" OS. So if for some reason you have to run Mac instead of Windows, or vise-versa, just download the installers. And yeah, I am champing at the bit for the V4 upgrade to CMFI. I didn't really believe that it would be available mid January, but that hasn't stopped me regularly checking the front page!

CMSF v 4 would be awesome, I'm sure we all agree. But rocketman, if you wait for it to release instead of buying the big bundle now, I'm guessing you're going to be waiting quite a while. Steve said he predicted it will happen, but no firm idea of when. In which case it's probably at least a year away or more. Unless it is the "ambitious" next release from BF that's rumoured. In any case I had to wait for years for an OSX version of it, but it did come, and it was worth the wait. And there are still CMSF youtube vids being made, it's still very much alive.

I second the recommendations for Jason Mark's books. They are well worth the money. And if you're feeling brave add the David Glantz Stalingrad volumes. I'm really looking forward to this mod being released.

This forum is running vBulletin version 3.6.10 from 2008, the latest version is 5.0.5. So it's a bit long in the tooth.

Close, CMFI was 41 days. Longest (understandably) was CMBN at 67 days.

I know 4 to 6 weeks is often mentioned on the forums but I can't find any CMx2 game or module that was released 4 weeks after the pre-order announcement. The quickest was the Commonwealth Module at 39 days ( 5 and a half weeks). Days from pre-order announcement to release for the last 3 games/modules: Gustav Line 41 days Market Garden 47 days Red Thunder 64 days Anywhere from 6 to 9 weeks seems normal these days.

I got it on sale, and got my money's worth. I've had some great battles in it, and found at times the infantry tactics for example when ordering an assault to be quite believable. The AI is no worse than BF AI. Both games can offer up some howlers and yet some really good AI. The graphics are fantastic. The UI not so good, but then I got used to it just as I got used to the CM UI. It is not, however, a good "what if" game. You have no where near as much control over what kind of battle or terrain you will fight. Then again it does have a simple operational layer which gives a meaning to the battles you fight. All up given I've spent a pittance on it compared to BFC games, it's a nice diversion. Some of the graphics - dust, flames, mud, tank crews animations etc have been breathtaking and worth the small amount of money. It's not a threat to BF, and I don't see it as an exclusive thing - we can enjoy the offerings of both companies. To be able to take the best of each and meld them into one superlative game would be a wonderful thing. But a fantasy.

+1 to Snols

Ah, sorry but I'm not sure about the rules here on linking to other sites/wargames so googling "lock n load heroes of stalingrad" will find the relevant info for you. Basically it's a PC port of a tabletop game, uncannily similar to Squad Leader. Right down to seeing the die rolls. It has a couple very annoying rules, but it's fun as a beer'n'pretzels kind of game.

Quite a few of the SL scenarios including Guards Counterattack have been converted for LockNLoad 'Heroes of Stalingrad' - which BTW plays reasonably well as a computerized version of SL.

I never understood the repeated description of it being "a german BoB" either.

I doubt that you'll find the interface improved, it's fairly obtuse. It took me a couple evenings to learn enough to get by. CM's wego is my preferred way of playing so I thought the RT in GTOS would stop me enjoying it, but I find it's not that much of a big deal. My experience is the battles are never so large that I can't keep control - there is pause after all. The lack of replay/rewind is frustrating at times - why did that squad of mine all die over there? What happened? It does look really good, although some of the infantry animations are annoying - sometimes they look like they are walking into the library, not going into combat. And I wish I could kill that damned rooster that keeps going all through battles. As for their developer being - the very fact that I can beat it means either I'm a military savant, or they're wrong. The AI is not bad though, I quite like what I've seen its TACAI do at times.

Regarding monkeys, doesn't the wisdom go "if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys". Whenever I see drama developing and am tempted to join in I try to remember a saying I heard: "Not my circus, not my monkeys". It's not fair really, monkeys get a bad rap.

There are a gazillion bugs still, apparently multiplayer doesn't work - so people resort to sharing their desktop as a workaround. I was interested but reading the support threads, it's probably 2 or 3 years from being a finished game and is best left to the hard-core who know WiF well.

There are a lot of different quick battle maps, so you'll be a long time exhausting those options especially when you can do different mixes of forces and battle types. Or you can have fun making your own maps and scenarios. I'm afraid a mod giving American forces in CMRT is probably a mod too far. CMBN is worth the money, but as far as American vs German goes my favourite is Gustav Line.

Outstanding work Umlaut. I agree with Broadsword56, urban ruins have been unconvincing - until now.

Ah yes, I'd forgotten about that. thanks

Yes, you can use all mods with the mac version of the game.

Nice first post Squallion, welcome aboard. What I like about wego is the suspense: for a full minute you have no real control, I like the feeling of chaos this brings. And, with wego you can replay the fun bits and make movies. And yet I understand others' preference for RT. The main thing is you're enjoying it. You've got a lot to look forward to

Seconded. And thanks for the explanation Phil.