Jock Tamson

What about the AI ?

This is a cop out, IMHO. Pixeltruppen have been refusing orders since Close Combat in the late 90s - the market for realistic wargames expects to have less than full control of their troops. What really galls, is when the AI opponent merrily sends wave after wave of squads down the same street to their deaths. At some point, there is going to have to be a more dynamic path costing algorithm for the AI that takes account of what has happened on the battlefield previously.

It's always a UI mod that causes this kind of thing.

I would like to see a new type of QB: "Challenge QB" allow the designer to create QB maps where Opfor has already been purchased and deployed and planned. The designer then sets a points limit for the player and any other purchase limitations he wants. Maps like this would have a lot of replayability and could encourage more community activity as they would take a lot less time to set up.

tough guys in leather

Wall hugging something to do with the Friendly Direction on the map?

Well, in the interest of fairness...

If you PM me with your email address I'll send you the BMP. Just a bit of trial and error.

No not yet, I'm still tinkering. Also working on these guys - right hand figure - to try and get an Iraqi insurgency look

Yes, it's one I made based on Mord's mods http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=117491 I will probably tidy it up and release it at some point

Free Syrian Army fighters knock out a government BMP1 near Aleppo

Created them for my own amusement, using Mord's Civil War mod as a base. Basically added about 14 new variants to his mod. I've only done the Reserves, real life prevents me doing anything more but it would be trivial to rename the files to incorporate these skins with his Mixed Combatants mod etc. If there is interest - and with Mord's permission - I'll release this. Terrain provided by Kieme's excellent CMSF HD mod.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/03/07/wot-i-think-achtung-panzer/ http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/12/06/wot-i-think-achtung-panzer-operation-star/ http://store.steampowered.com/app/275290/ - 34 positive reviews, 2 negative. Surprising as according to many posters on here, wargames don't have an audience on Steam. Flames. Tracks come off AFVs. AFVs occasionally slide down embankments. AI is unscripted and reactive. Operational layer. Believable night battles. Tank riders. Digging in. Field telephones. Command delays. Runs well on good hardware. Large maps. No predictable scenario designer. 8 operations for the Red Army and Wehrmacht More than 60 detailed units of the Soviet Union, Germany and UK, including Pz IV "Tiger", MkII "Matilda" and KV-1 with various modifications. Huge realistic landscapes (over 260 sq km), reconstructed by the topographic maps and photo. Quick battle anywhere in the operation areas. Mod utility set and campaign editor Features: High replayability and flexible AI. It chooses the best strategy based on behavior rather than a script. Scenarios can be replayed using different tactics, as though playing against a human opponent. Real soldier behavior: every soldier has several basic parameters, such as experience level, fatigue, and morale, which affect their behavior and effectiveness Detailed recreation of weapons and realistic ballistics: bullets and projectiles follow accurate trajectories Comprehensive vehicle damage system: engine, suspension, weapons, and aiming mechanisms can all be damaged separately, affecting the combat capabilities of the vehicle Destructible environment: nearly everything can be blasted and destroyed, from ground terrain to houses and enemy defenses. All traces of previous battles remain on the battlefield Dynamic day, night and weather effects, all of which affect combat through terrain traversability, battlefield visibility, hidden force capabilities, and more, smoke screens, light flares e.t.c. Military encyclopedia with 3D model viewer and detailed data on all units, describing their historical and in-game characteristics So it may scratch a few itches that CM doesn't.

I would love to see this mode available with a setting to limit the number of replays the players can view per turn, or limit the amount of time available to submit a move.

Small arms in WW2 CM are one of the reasons I play CMSF almost exclusively at the moment.

Yes, more than likely you were selecting dismount. That has the effect of making them dismount at the start of the turn. This does have its uses - it allows you to dismount infantry and then move the AFV, in one turn. Whereas the other method allows you to move the AFV, and then dismount the infantry. What you can't do, with either method, is move the AFV, dismount the infantry, then move the AFV, all in one turn. So, in WEGO particularly, it pays to try and finish the turn with an eye on what you want to happen next turn - eg finish turn with AFV at drop off point, start new turn and dismount infantry, moving and firing AFV in support.

My first experience of CMx2 was George McEwan's Highland Games campaign in CMSF. A long (21 battles), immersive, believable sequence of scenarios. Despite having spent 280 dollars with Battlefront in the last 2 years, that first experience remains the best one. Something I could come home to every night after work, fire up and play a few turns. Yes it is relatively trivial to take a QB map and edit it into something playable, but it is a lot less satisfying than working your way through a well made campaign. An idea I had for QBs that might prompt people to get involved - A hybrid scenario / QB style of maps. The author picks out Opfor units, deploys them, creates AI plans etc then sets a points limit for the player, and any other limitations (eg no tanks, no air support). The player can then use the force purchase screen to choose his units, within the limitations set by the scenario author. This would add a lot of replayability, but also a lot of extra involvement for the single player - choosing unit veterancy, leadership, quality etc which is currently largely the preserve of those who play multiplayer.

As I can't find a changelog anywhere, would it be fair to assume that the fixes that are enclosed with the vehicle pack are fixes for the bugs that were introduced with V3 in CMBN ie the MANPAT area fire etc ? Or is there more?

That's all fine if you want some kind of sandbox / Arma style experience Iain, not so great if you want the "scenario" experience.

Yes. Give the vehicle a move order to the unloading point. This must be the vehicle's final waypoint. Give the infantry a move order to where you want them to go. When the vehicle gets to its waypoint, the infantry will dismount and move to their waypoint. This method is nearly always better than the Dismount command, which is largely more useful during set up or Real Time play.

Will the AI know how to use them?

1980s Cold War gone hot on the North German plain

What I would like is to select a unit and then press: - a key to jump the camera through its waypoints. - a key to cycle through its waypoints without moving the camera. Clicking on wapoints to add facings and pauses can be very tediously hit or miss, particularly if you are playing it high resolutions

It is worth reading the aforementioned Castles of Steel to add quite a bit of immersion to what is going on in Steam and Iron (unless you are already a WW1 naval grog).