Ultradave

Late seeing this but CM runs just fine on High Sierra, on my MacBook Pro. That includes changing resolutions for various reasons (my laptop is used for scientific computing research also). And mine gets stressed pretty well with Beta testing. Good luck. It would be fun on a big screen like that.

I had only C rations in my time in the Army. I was in the 82d Abn too, so it was a lucky, lucky day when we got a hot meal out in the field.

We extensively tested it in beta. But they just couldn't get it to work reliably. Chris (I think) posted a good explanation somewhere that in summary said they decided not to include it since it wasn't reliable and therefore would probably generate lots of complaints. We tried to like it :-)

Yup. I'm going to have to run some more. But the title of this is about making the campaigns unplayable. So far I'm not seeing that. One discussion we've had though is that when artillery zeroes in on entrenchments in CM, the entrenchments here are kind of hasty positions. There isn't overhead cover. Foxholes are scrapes in the ground with sandbags. If the artillery has you dialed in, it's time to move, entrenchment or not. What I want to check is the behavior described where some will run the wrong way - right toward the enemy, or out into a street covered by enemy fire, that sort of thing. The issues that I've seen with entrenched positions so far to me seem more realistic than they used to be actually, but I'm going to keep looking.

I don't know about Battlefront but a few of us Beta testers have been running some scenarios and watching behaviors. I had a QB that I played PBEM where my US guys were constantly breaking and running, but after in retrospect was probably ok. My German opponent had more than his fair share of mortars :-) and it was a fairly open map, so he was able to drop mortar rounds right on top of every position my guys took up. The proper reaction there is to get out of the kill zone. I'm currently running Courage Conquers campaign in FB and so far, things look ok, although I haven't gotten very far. I've had a couple of US halftracks that panicked quickly, however, they were surprised in the woods by MG42 fire from two directions. Also a caveat that I've not played this one before so it's hard to compare. I did run the first scenario of Road to Nijmegan and my US paratroopers behaved just as they the first time I played it. Subjectively they might have gone to ground more quickly this time, however, again, I think that's realistic. That's a wide open map and the defenders can sweep the fields with MG fire. Also running Conrath's Counterattack in FI and so far in that one everything looks normal, and I've played that one before so I can compare. I'm only in the second scenario of that one. More to come. I set up two QB where I was defending a densely packed town as the US, with German attackers. Mortars and MG42 did not dislodge the defenders in buildings. I still plan to look more as time permits. The things that I've seen have probably been more on the side of things being more realistic, where troops under heavy accurate fire fall back. I haven't seen troops exit buildings into a kill zone yet, but since it's been reported by at least a few people I'm going to keep looking. [edit] Not using any Beta version to do these checks. This is all just with the newly issued update, because I'm curious :-)

I love how you put this: "closely supervised by the platoon sergeant." This is SOOOO true. When I was a young lieutenant (field artillery) I was lucky enough to have a fairly senior SSG as my team sergeant. He considered it his mission to turn me into a LT that wouldn't get us all killed and to turn our RTO into a potential replacement for him. I'd like to think I was smart enough to take good advantage of that. We had a great relationship that started with him teaching me and then became a really good team as I gained knowledge and confidence. When they pin gold bars on you, they've only sort of taught you how to be an officer. They really didn't teach me much how to actually do the job, day to day. SSG "Sam" taught me that. BTW when he got promoted to SFC and later I made CPT we were together again with him again as my top NCO, and that RTO by then was a SGT and did indeed take his place in our old team, and did it very well. One revolution in the cycle of leadership and learning.

Yes, I checked and it looks the same on mine (and also 42). I'll submit it. Submitted to Mantis bug tracker.

Good match for real life. The mantra when I was in the Army was always - "If you can be seen you WILL be hit. If you are hit, you WILL be dead" And that was some years ago. Weapons systems are even more deadly and accurate now.

I'm ON the beta test team. It was a joke. Which also means I can't say anything. :-)

The beta team its still recovering from shell shock from beating that TO&E into submission :-) (Note that I'm specifically not giving any kind of answer to the question :-) )

Have you contacted the help desk? (sorry if I missed that you said that). Steve had said previously that there are a handful of people for whom the upgrade licensing is really quirky and needs some custom help. I've forgotten the obscure reasons why. If you haven't, please do and I'm sure they'll be able to help. Apologies if you already did and this is old news.

No, this is correct. That's what you should see on the title screen after upgrading. (bottom right - tiny white type)

The force picking logic was worked on and it worked much better in testing. One way to do it is to have human picking for both, and hit the suggestions button until you get something that looks reasonable for the opponent. I think it works better for medium sizes and up, because it has more points to spend on a "typical" formation. So you'll get something like a PzGren bn minus one or two of it's companies, for example. We did a bunch of testing on it and while it isn't perfect, it's very much improved over what it was. And I have a fairly empty platter right now if you'd like a game. I have dropbox. PM me and we can set something up - maybe a probe with me on defense - gives you more forces. Dave

The easiest thing to do is to open one of those other ones up, save somewhere else (desktop). Open in a text editor. Once open it's easy to see how to edit it with the CMFI name. The format is the same as the others. I've done this myself a few times. Then you can run it and it will be pointing to CMFI for activation.

They do work (at least for me). And they did in beta testing. Is there a hotkeys.txt in your Data directory in your install?

Have you downloaded all the db pictures and installed them? Because that really helps. Click on something and it's picture is in miniature at the top right. And many, many of the db entries have pictures (or line drawings if you prefer). Apologies if you know this already. And apologies for the hijacking of the thread. To make up for that, let me just say again that the TO&E work in beta testing was incredibly thorough. The finished product is going to be really great.

My other favorite. And besides being a very well done and detailed simulation also includes a very active user community with a huge amount of knowledge and really responsive developers. Just like here, it makes a good thing better. Harpoon is gone, but with C:MANO, I don't even miss it.

Tactics II, then Bismark, Midway, Blitzkreig and Africa Korps.

Squares: Avalon Hill Tactics II board game had squares. Two countries Red and Blue with equal forces Duke it out. Came out when I was a young teenager I think. (Dating myself)

Can I add that there are some people in the test group whose comprehensive knowledge of unit organizations and equipment I am in awe of. Add Battlefront's perseverance to really get it right and it makes a good combination :-) .

One thing that's kind of fun at each of our meetings is that we go around the room. Everyone states the unit(s) they were in, the years. That's so if there is anyone new, they quickly get to know everyone's background. One of our WW2 vets, who passed away about 3 years ago, would stand up and in his deep gravely voice, say: "John Grossi, 82d Airborne, 509th, 508th, 504th parachute infantry, North Africa, Sicily, Salerno, Normandy, Arnhem." How do you follow that? :-)

One more picture. Walt as he appeared recently. This is a great picture. He ALWAYS looked like this (not always so dressed up :-)

For background, I served in the 82d Airborne Division Field Artillery. Many years ago. But I and many others are members for life of the 82d Airborne Association. We gather once a month for camaraderie and food and drink. We march in parades. We post at funerals of former paratroopers. We are all ages from WW2 vets to recent returnees from Iraq and Afghanistan and everything in between. Veterans from peace and war and for most of us, some of each. And that's the part that doesn't matter. Once a paratrooper, always a paratrooper (I'm sure Marines can identify with this too :-) ) Walt Hughes was a WW2 paratrooper and member of a neighboring chapter in NY (the Walter Hughes Chapter!). Sadly, he passed away yesterday. He was a wonderful man, full of life. He'll be greatly missed by many people, but he lived a long life, and the majority in peace. BUT, he was in the Battle of the Bulge, in the 504th Parachute Regt, at Cheneux, as you'll see from the picture. One of the scenarios in FB. Here's the caption for the picture : NAKED COURAGE. Cheneux, Belgium. No helmet. No body armor. No Sherman tanks or Hellcat tank destroyers to seek protection from. Yet here, on 21 December 1944, Walter Hughes of the 82nd Airborne Division, armed with nothing more than a Tommy Gun, is storming into a hail of fire in the Ardennes as his 504th Parachute Infantry takes on the Waffen SS of Kampfgruppe Peiper, a lethal armored force determined to break through to the Meuse River. This is one of the Battle of the Bulge’s classic images. And it remains one of the clearest and most impressive illustrations of naked courage to have come out of this epic and ferocious winter battle. Hughes, a Brooklyn native, survived the Battle of the Bulge and the war. In an interview in 2013 he said, "If I died today, I would have little regret. It's been the real deal.” We'll miss Walt. It was an honor to know him. I thought everyone might be interested in a little of the reality that accompanies the games.

Very nice. This and the winter trees really add to the atmosphere. Thanks!!!

Kampfgruppe Pieper gets underway and immediately snarls the roads. Going off road might be a bit chancy - some low ground to the right.