Ultradave

Look at the end of the final candidate thread. There is a link.

Gives you something to do until the full version is ready :-) It's a nice demo I think. As far as I see they only announced the demo

This is a good point. The 155 battery will have the data for the target that it fired at and could very quickly re-fire the mission, however the infantry mortars on map WILL NOT have that data. A battery or mortar section will only have the data that they fired themselves. The "data" is deflection and elevation of the tubes (and time for a time fuse air burst), so that of course varies with where the battery is physically located. So if it's a different firing unit, they don't have the data. If the original firing unit moves, they no longer have the data and have to recalculate from their new location (not an issue in the game for off map artillery, but certainly an issue for mortars on the map.

Cool. My time was in the 82d. I was a FIST Chief in A/1-320th FA (supporting C/1-325PIR (used to be the old glider regt), then a FDO in B/2-321 FA, and then Asst S3 in 2-321. In between a Fire Support Officer for 3rd Bde. This was way back in the day when the two division's (82d and 101st) FA units were all mixed up regimental wise. We had 1-320, 1-319, 2-321 in the 82d. There have been organizational changes since then. Loved my time, especially in the 2-321. We had a terrific Bn Cdr and an equally great Sgt Major. Great unit, great people. M102 towed howitzers (105mm and towed by Goats), or carried by Hueys (and then we got Blackhawks and thought we'd died and gone to heaven). The motto on the crest translates literally to "Do not touch me" We preferred the looser translation of "Don't f*** with me"

Also tends to be used for "high value targets". Like a large concentration of troops in an assembly area preparing to move out. Maybe a higher HQ discovered. That sort of thing is just above the level of CM.

Oh, I know. Have a nephew in FA.

Sorry, I have to disagree with this. As an artillery officer and FDO from the 70s and 80s in an airborne unit (which in the airborne predates the use of any computers), we routinely fired Bn TOT missions, calculating the data at the Bn FDC. Each Battery FDC also had to have the skill to do it themselves for the whole battalion, in case the Bn FDC was unavailable (dead, moving, out of comm). We did it all manually with plotting pins and firing sticks, both at the Bn and Battery level. There was a time standard to meet to have all the data down to the batteries and off hand I can't remember what that was, but it was challenging but doable. I don't classify this as "modern" weapons, since in our case, the technology used was pretty much indistinguishable from WW2 or Korea. It's not too complicated for verbal transmission. The data is sent to each battery as deflection, elevation and time (for the fuse - if applicable). Firing was controlled by radio. All batteries on the net and Bn FDC gives the order to each battery to fire at the appropriate time. At the battery level we we set ourselves up so that the FDO had line of sight to the battery XO or CFB and gave a arm slash down hand signal to fire, immediately repeated. Only a fraction delay from the radio call (and the same in each battery so the delay cancels.) I was a battery Fire Direction Officer, and later an Asst. S3 and in charge of the Bn FDC. We even once did a DIVARTY TOT. (not for real action - as a demo/test). 54 rounds going off simultaneously - mix of PD and time fuses, was really impressive.

I'll add my thanks. Downloaded.

Yeah, you say that now. You'll see. :-) There are demos for each. Each has a different flavor. Try all the demos. You may find that one really appeals to you. As others have said, and I agree, CMFI/GL has some really interesting scenarios and equipment. Black Sea is great. I like WW2 but also in my time in the Army I trained to fight WW3 in Europe. While Black Sea is newer than that, the things I learned I can put in practice. Some of the equipment is still the same even now. So I didn't give you a definitive answer. If you buy one you'll be back. Oh, and plenty of users for each. I have PBEM games right now going in Gustav Line, Strike Force, Red Thunder and Black Sea, and just finished one in Market Garden. (being an ex-paratrooper I'm partial to that one)

Is there anywhere a correlation between the scenarios and the backstory provided in the manual? It would be nice to be able to tie the existing scenarios to the story. I realize there are dual tracks to the story, but does this list exist anywhere where it could be made available? Or are the scenarios more random and the campaigns follow the story (apologies for not yet exploring the campaigns which might answer my question)

Very tempting. I did get a flu shot, but.... and it's raining out. :-)

Downloaded this morning and installed on my MacBook Pro. No problems at all. Haven't had time to do anything other than open up a few scenarios to look at them quickly. Really good looking maps and units and scenario descriptions look like a good variety. This looks like it's going to be great. Really looking forward to it, but sadly, work beckons this morning.

As a former FO (FIST Chief actually), I strongly endorse this. :-)

Field Artillery officer, 82d Airborne Division, about 30 years ago - left the Army with the rank of Captain. At various times was a FIST Chief, Fire Direction Officer, Brigade Fire Support Officer and Asst S3 of the 2/321st Field Artillery(Abn) (the designation back then). Since then the 82d Abn regimental designations for FA have changed. My secondary specialty was Nuclear Weapons. (this was back when we had nuclear artillery shells). Best time I had while in the Army was an exchange with the Canadian Parachute Regiment where we switched personnel with one of their artillery batteries. Spent about 30 days at CFB Petawawa, Ontario as guests of the Parachute Regt. They were the best hosts. We had a wonderful time and it made up for some of the rough times. Sinai after Camp David, Panama, and various other deployments.

WP makes a very effective hasty smoke screen, compared to smoke rounds that take a bit to build up. Not supposed to be used as an anti-personnel weapons (which of course, hasn't actually prevented that, even lately).

Probably in simple terms the same thing we were told in real life. The modern battlefield is LETHAL. If you can be seen you will be hit. If you are hit you are dead. Keep that in mind all the time. (and a way to not be seen is to keep the other guy's head down, not just by hiding).

Waiting on you buddy.

Ok sent back with my purchases.

Send me a new game. The other one still crashes CM even after the patch. Must be some other problem. I can run that scenario just fine single player so there is something wrong with the file. Start over.

Also for those who like them big and complex, War in the West is out also. I played the old DOS based version a lot and the new version so far looks very good. Managed to come to a draw as the Allies invading Sicily - introductory scenario to get the hang of the basics. That was my third time through - but first time to the finish since I realized partway through the first two times I had totally dorked things up. Anyway - complex, big, and so far a lot of fun.

10012015 at 0900 ( eastern time) Because paratroopers go All the Way

They are all more or less the same. A wide variety. Have you tried sorting the scenarios by increasing size and picking some of the smaller ones. No matter which game/module the smallest are very manageable.

OOOooo, and can we have the Navy A-7s strafe our own Bde TOC too, just to add some realism ? <unasked for sarcasm/humor = had a friend shot through both legs when that happened>

They came on line while I was in the Army. As one of those receiving support, I think it was one of the best designs we've come up with. When you combine effectiveness and cost into some kind of metric to measure, you'd be hard pressed to beat it. But my experience is old. For nostalgia's sake, I'd love to see them stay around, and I think cutting them may be a silly budget move. There is cost in everything, but I think (and this is not backed by any evidence), that there is still a role for them. I do see that unmanned drones can fulfill much of that same role now and even in the last few years their capabilities have greatly increased, so I can understand the con argument too. I'd like to see some hard analysis of how much of a replacement an armed drone could be as I feel my "evaluation" is based more on what was, than the current state of affairs. Great aircraft though, and incredibly effective.

I was thinking he just mistyped. I've never seen one wrong in the game.