Probus

Its on the drawing board:

I've never tried the POV trick. That does 'sound' a bit gamey.

I've always thought of the individual trees and bushes in Combat Mission as decoration. But it seems like my tank shells are taking them out. It may just be my imagination or graphics card or something. Is it possible to clear trees using area fire or accidental hits on trees? (BTW, in my opinion, if a shell hits a tree, it shouldn't explode if its AP or APDS etc... Maybe be deflected, maybe lose some energy, but not explode. What is the community's opinion on this? Also, his leads me to my next observation:) When firing shells at armored targets, I think I may have found a bug. Again, it might be my imagination (I have a rather large one ). Does it seem like the shell type expended sometimes depends on what the shell hits? For instance, if it hits the ground the program reduces the HE, if it hits an AFV then its AP? Does the program calculate the trajectory then, depending on the final destination, reduce the appropriate ammo for best effect? Sort of a quantum type action? This shouldn't be so since the ballistic arc of an APDS shell should be way different than the arc of a HEAT round.

Where did you see it @MikeyD? I couldn't find it in the manual. And they don't say much about it in the Quick Battle area. I was asking to see if it had cluster munitions. I'm guessing it doesn't.

Is shooting at unspotted AFVs or infantry in your LoS that are spotted by friendly units considered cheaty? Is shooting up a tree line that has zero spotted units but looks like where you would put defenses considered cheaty? If an infantry runs into a building and disappears in the clutter, is shooting at their last known position in the building still considered cheaty? If tanks are crossing a field behind a smoke screen or light woods and you are having trouble getting a hard spot on any of them, is it cheezy to area fire through the field hoping to get a hit or a suppression? Also, how is it done in real life. Does an AFV go rolling through an enemy village firing at windows in hopes of suppressing enemy bazookas or RPG teams? Do those rules change from WWII to the Cold War to modern combat? Lots of questions, I know, but they all are related to the same question: Essentially, #7. Do you have to wait until your unit spots an enemy unit before shooting at it?

Looking through the Cold War manual I see no reference to the MT-12 used as artillery. Am I missing it or is it just not there in its off-board artillery configuration?

Ah. Well if you don't know what the A and B are it can be hard to find. I thought this thread would have 2 or 3 comments, max. But on the Battlefront forum ABHE is as interesting as football is to norm... *hrm* ...to most people.

What the heck is an ABHE Round? It is not in the Black Sea Manual that I could see, but it is on board my tank. Air Burst? Maybe Anti-Bolshevik?

I was thinking about that and I had a couple questions. For underground simulation, what about this. Use terrain that is very mountainous and multi story buildings that are very high. So that the highest peaks would be the same level as, or one level lower than building's flat roofs. You would really have to use your imagination until the graphic models caught up, but this would allow you to go 'down' into the building simulating going down into tunnels. You could even blow some buildings to simulate collapses. I am sure there are problems with this model. What would they be? Tactical mini nuke grenades could maybe be simulated with the largest of explosions. Can craters cover more than one terrain square? One of the problems that I see with Starship Troopers (in the powered armor used by the Mobile Infantry) or BattleTech/Mechwarrior are the jump jets. Also wings used by the bugs. I'm not sure if Warhammer 40K has units that jump. How could we simulate Jump Jets? If combat mission had this ability it could be used for helicopters and harriers also. I guess we could replace one of the buttons like 'Fast' with 'Jump' or 'Fast/Jump'. Is there a separate graphic in the models for vehicles going fast? The elevation would change also. Is there a stat that changes the height of a vehicle dynamically, like getting taller when the commander pops his head out? Could be used to make the unit VERY tall.

I'm no expert, but from what I've seen: How is the moon handled by the CM skybox? I've seen fan based skyboxes. Would it be possible to replace it with the earth, possibly with a functioning terminator? Ditto. Should be the same as above. Would it be possible to drop CM WWII flags, faction names ,uniforms, weapons & voice files straight into CM:BS, CM:CW or CM:SF2 depending on when exactly it was set? I've seen it done with scenario tags. Or something very similar. Similar to [snow] or [polish] you could use [moon], [spaceLobsters] or [2050s]. It would be fun, both to build and to play. I'd put it right up there with an Arab-Israeli Conflict or Early WWII.

Read the OP. This is fan based. BFC would only be asked to get involved if there is something the fan's can't do and it would be minimal so they can concentrate on the historical DLC and CMIII. I'm guessing you really hated Cold War, CMSF2 and Black Sea since they are not strictly historical? I would like to see the Combat Mission engine applied to any game genre's that can fit it since, in my opinion, Combat Mission is one of the best wargaming engines on the market. This thread is for fun and stretching your imagination. Historical only Grognards need not get worried or feel threatened.

@z1812, I don't think you are taking this seriously.

I agree with you Ian, that's why I suggested it be a fan based mod, see step 3. I don't want Battlefront distracted from Early WWII or Taiwan vs China or even CMIII. Let the fan's hand them the content and they can package it up and reap the profits on Steam.

So many possibilities, so little time.

Ogre by Steve Jackson (or Bolo by Keith Laumer) Ogres - Giant Intelligent Tanks vs all kinds of Sci-Fi equipment, other Ogres, GEVs - Hovertanks with all kinds of Sci-Fi weapons, on Moons, distant planets or Earth.

Starship Troopers Bugs, Skinnies, Drop Ships, Tactical Micro Nukes, and, of course, the bad-ass armor that the movies never included!

Was it Dr. Who that uncovered the Reptilian Overlord plot? (copied from the Bundle thread) Science Fiction Combat Mission should be a fan based micro DLC. Ask the fans a series of loaded questions of what they would like to see in a SF Combat Mission Theme (Starship Troopers, Space Lobsters, MechWarrior, Ogre...). Maybe even something like Starship Troopers with mechs and dropships vs the Space Lobsters in Ogres. Let the fans decide what units they would most want. The fans could provide the stats of the units, terrain graphics, some of the unit graphics (we have some very talented fans). Battlefront could contract out the last of the graphics creation. Watch the sales pour in on Steam. It would be a win-win for a paid DLC module. I'd pay $39.95 for that! You have to admit, something like that would go over like gangbusters on Steam. Nothing like it is available that mixes genres. If you have a favorite Science Fiction trope that you would like to see a Combat Mission DLC and/or Mod for please upvote the post with your favorite(s). I'll get 'er started:

I think I'll start another thread with this SF topic get some good ideas that we can vote on to see what folks like. How long does this bundle sale last @BFCElvis?

Oh you're kidding @Zeb II. That is concerning.

What are these Self Propelled Guns?

That may be true, but Taiwan will probably not stand alone. If they do it's David vs Goliath. They would have to rely on a miracle to survive.

@Megalon Jones, dang you! I saw this and looked it up and saw it was 50% off and cha-ching $$$, out came the wallet and the credit card and down went my bank account balance. And it's yourfault! Reminds me of a super advanced game of Harpoon.

The N Korean dictator(s) will never start a war. Just sabre rattle. They want to stay alive and in power, not end up like Sadam or Khadafi. So your thoughts on a civil war seem a very realistic scenario in the future with China and 'the West' being drawn in. If Battlefront creates material for Korea it can reuse a wealth of assets. The assets created could be used for Taiwan (both Chinese and American forces) and the historical Korean conflict (American CMFB and Korean maps). Great idea so when do they start BFC? Wait a sec, they are strategy wargamers. They are prolly working it already right @BFCElvis? But there are those who would say: "Quit distracting BFC from their real responsibility, a Sci Fi Combat Mission! I mean an Early War DLC."

I'm not sure I agree with that. China wouldn't be able to leverage there #1 asset, their massive army, if all they have is a beachhead. They still have to rely on their Navy and air forces for logistics. If their lines of supply are cut for too long, Taiwan would be able to repel the invasion. EDIT: Just noticed you said the same thing. I still believe a CM Taiwan DLC module to Black Sea is viable. It could also be modded in, as China and Russian forces are very similar in many areas.

Really. I was thinking about reading that. It's hijacked, but only temporarily. You see: I have all 3 modern titles already. They are great but brutal. Mistakes cost you dearly. Don't move without recon. Don't sit still or your the target of a ATGM (that's Anti-Tank Guided Missile for you WWII folks) or precision artillery guided in by a drone behind your lines. They kind of remind me of chess, in a way. If you make the wrong move in chess your piece is taken. Same way in modern warfare. Precision munitions and high armor penetration means you really need to pay attention. The M1 Abrams is a real battlewagon. It is one of the few tanks that can shrug off hits. Just keep the FRONT TOWARD ENEMY.