AlexUK

Would really like to see better modelling of smoke grenades (more immediate smoke cover through detonation), see for example 17':50 in video. Not sure what ww2 era grenades (and rounds) would do but presumably something similar. 
 
 

Lots of issues with current taxation basis. In practice, income tax can be highly regressive, as many citizens with significant wealth avoid paying income tax through various means (use of offshore trusts, using capital gains allowances/capital gains at lower rate, drip-feeding capital gains, and offsetting against losses, avoiding payment of national insurance through employment setups). Makes me rage.
Tax is not an expense, it is a contribution to public services. I can't get my head around the US model - it would drive me crazy to have the risk of medical bills either through lack of cover or excesses even with cover - I just can't imagine the extra stress of all that. 
I am much more in favour of the Scandinavian model in general. High taxes and high social security. Just seems to make sense to me, pity I can't speak the languages (and it is freezing cold/dark for half the year).
For the UK, they screwed up while part of the EU. They had lots of ways to control migration but didn't use them. Maddening that the EU gets blamed for that! Here in Belgium, EU citizens can move here freely but if you don't have a job within (3?) months, out you go, and they are very strong on enforcing that (and mandatory registration/ID cards to track people, with police visits to confirm you live at the address.
And the UK are really struggling now in lots of areas. Many of the migrants have gone, but it is a struggle to find UK citizens to fill the jobs they vacated. Fruit pickers, HGV drivers, Social carers, the list goes on and on. 

Lots of issues with current taxation basis. In practice, income tax can be highly regressive, as many citizens with significant wealth avoid paying income tax through various means (use of offshore trusts, using capital gains allowances/capital gains at lower rate, drip-feeding capital gains, and offsetting against losses, avoiding payment of national insurance through employment setups). Makes me rage.
Tax is not an expense, it is a contribution to public services. I can't get my head around the US model - it would drive me crazy to have the risk of medical bills either through lack of cover or excesses even with cover - I just can't imagine the extra stress of all that. 
I am much more in favour of the Scandinavian model in general. High taxes and high social security. Just seems to make sense to me, pity I can't speak the languages (and it is freezing cold/dark for half the year).
For the UK, they screwed up while part of the EU. They had lots of ways to control migration but didn't use them. Maddening that the EU gets blamed for that! Here in Belgium, EU citizens can move here freely but if you don't have a job within (3?) months, out you go, and they are very strong on enforcing that (and mandatory registration/ID cards to track people, with police visits to confirm you live at the address.
And the UK are really struggling now in lots of areas. Many of the migrants have gone, but it is a struggle to find UK citizens to fill the jobs they vacated. Fruit pickers, HGV drivers, Social carers, the list goes on and on. 

Lots of issues with current taxation basis. In practice, income tax can be highly regressive, as many citizens with significant wealth avoid paying income tax through various means (use of offshore trusts, using capital gains allowances/capital gains at lower rate, drip-feeding capital gains, and offsetting against losses, avoiding payment of national insurance through employment setups). Makes me rage.
Tax is not an expense, it is a contribution to public services. I can't get my head around the US model - it would drive me crazy to have the risk of medical bills either through lack of cover or excesses even with cover - I just can't imagine the extra stress of all that. 
I am much more in favour of the Scandinavian model in general. High taxes and high social security. Just seems to make sense to me, pity I can't speak the languages (and it is freezing cold/dark for half the year).
For the UK, they screwed up while part of the EU. They had lots of ways to control migration but didn't use them. Maddening that the EU gets blamed for that! Here in Belgium, EU citizens can move here freely but if you don't have a job within (3?) months, out you go, and they are very strong on enforcing that (and mandatory registration/ID cards to track people, with police visits to confirm you live at the address.
And the UK are really struggling now in lots of areas. Many of the migrants have gone, but it is a struggle to find UK citizens to fill the jobs they vacated. Fruit pickers, HGV drivers, Social carers, the list goes on and on. 

I lived in England for some years for work. Paid taxes, enrolled in the NHS. It all works out. If you weren't paying the VAT, then income taxes would be higher. Expenses have to be paid one way or the other. I was talking to my brother once about taxes. Living in Rhode Island and working in Connecticut I had to fill out 2 state income tax forms, prorated against each other for income earned in each state. He, being in Texas, gloated that he had no income tax at all. Of course, comparing notes, his property taxes on a smaller house than mine were higher than my COMBINED property taxes plus state income taxes. And I live in *supposedly* high tax Rhode Island. Towns, states, countries have to be run and the money has to come from the same places, just by different means 🙂

Dave

As with many hyperbolic discussions, this one appears rooted in something real, but the signal to noise ratio clouds the message.
One has to refer to this thread, more specifically the comprehensive testing done by @Drifter Man to see where this is coming from. 
 
On page 23 of the PDF he posted, one can see that at 40m the M1911 pistol is showing a higher kills/min rate than 2 of the rifles: the Lee Enfield MkIV, and the Kar98k. At 80m they are roughly on par, as seen on page 24. (I’m discounting the rifles firing rifle grenades as the RoF would be low and their purpose is not the same as rifles firing bullets). 

However, context is king. This is not a first shot kill probability chart. Comparing someone firing a pistol at a target as quickly as possible and easily reloading is not the same as a bolt action rifle. Give each man one bullet and one would see a different result. 
I’d be inclined to say this is a poor understanding of the test and the results, but given the bombastic posting style it’s hard to take as much more than trolling. I find this unfortunate as an open and honest discussion of these results would lead to greater understanding of how things work and why they work a particular way (and perhaps an object lesson in statistical analysis). 
 
 
 

The VA needs more funding, more facilities, more doctors. I worked on the dialysis ward. Some patients were there because of wounds, some because of disease. One young strapping Marine had a reaction to an antibiotic that shut down his kidneys, probably permanently. The card they received was great. A couple of the techs were were veterans, as am I. But these people sometimes had to drive 2 hours one way, spend 3-5 hours hooked up to dialysis, drive home 2 hours, 3-4 times a week. Imagine how much of their life they could reclaim if there was a second VA hospital in the other end of the state. Just one anecdotal example.
on the good side, without exception that I saw, the staff are incredibly caring, and respectful of the veterans. This was Durham, NC which has a good reputation. 
 
more regional clinics are needed for veterans to just make doctor appointments or get labs done. You can get those things outside of VA if locally not available, but why should they have to. Staff at VA facilities much better understand issues faced by veterans, which can be unique. Not always of course. Many reasons are the same as anyone would have. 
 
Just some thoughts. It’s better than it was. It still needs to be better, and better includes expanded access and facilities. 

Well the problem is more that people come on the forum and complain and don't do any testing nor do they back up any of their arguments with actual facts...but moving on.  I am still not sure how your "spotting cycles" is unrealistic if we are seeing a range of spotting times from near-immediate.  Again, you are not articulating the problem...you are simply re-stating your position.
Ah, so you want the TAC AI to have more agency?  Disobey orders, run away and decide to go in the opposite direction?  Sure that would be very realistic, too realistic but then of course I could just send the enraged customers to you for a coherent explanation.
Ok, well let me be the first one to break it to you, and I say this in the spirit of brotherhood and kindness...no you cannot.  In fact I am having real trouble following you on one train of thought let alone multiples.  We are pretty much at the point where I want to break the doll out and say "show me where CM hurt you" because right now I cannot figure out your logic in any of this.  You position is loud and clear "CM not realistic - zombie something", it is how you arrive on that point that is eluding me.
Anyway, I think we are at the point of "Thank you for purchasing our product and we hope you enjoy it.  Any questions or concerns please forward them to customer support"

Congrats to BFC!  I hope you sell a gazillion copies. 
And more importantly I hope this frees up bandwidth for the development team to make all the things we want, like BS modules, CW modules, Ost Front 43/42/41, etc.  And to have them all done by Xmas, this year.  Thanks in advance

It is official.

Yes, and again it creates a situation where competitive German players are picking Panthers. The issue isn't so much that this creates a balance problem but that it denudes QBs of variety because players aren't going to waste points on Stugs and whatnot.

Essentially I'm seeing this whole thread not as a balance request, but as a diversity request. And sure people can make the argument that you just house rule it but most players are going to be playing using the standard rules. This will only become more common once Slithirine finally released their built-in QB system.

FR Rumble at Reitwein
2304x976
This in an out-take from Fire&rubble that didn't get time to have tested to standard (though I have done many runs on it in Scenario Author mode, and in my own playtesting).
Meeting Engagement just to the west of Reitwein between Soviet 370 RD and attached armor elements versus elements of Reitwein area Volkssturm, Panther-Battalion "Brandenburg", a KG from the "Kurmark" Division, and attached stragglers from 9th FJ Division.
The scenario is fictional, but is derived from actions and forces in the area in attempting to enlarge/reduce the Soviet bridgehead over the Oder.
Play as either side. 1 plan for Axis, 2 for Soviet side. May also be suitable for HTH.

FR Rumble at Reitwein.btt

The Fifty-Eighth and Fifty-Ninth Minutes - Objective ROT
A reminder of the enemy dispositions at the end of the last turn:

SBF - Panzers and 2 Kompanie (-)
1st squad reach Sgt Plucky's house, alas he is no more.



The vehicles and MGs are keeping up the fire on the objective as the Tigers start to move up a bit closer.


They get a spot in another building in sector B, it's a HQ unit so I assume that it's the platoon HQ for the squad I spotted in the other building in that sector.

They manage to take out a man from the HQ unit that was firing from sector A.

Another Maxim team pops up in sector D and is quickly suppressed. It's marked as knocked out so I'm not sure if this was the guy that was in the building behind that the Tiger was firing at or if it's the remnants of some other team. If it is another as yet unseen team then that's 4 maxims spotted and there shouldn't be any more. I'll mark it as a new team for now until we get more information.

A look at the dispositions of the SBF forces. The Tigers are pushing up to get eyes on the back of the objective and the infantry is continuing to advance.

The Assault Element - 1 Kompanie
The remaining man in B team, 1st squad goes full Rambo and suppresses the squad in sector B all by himself. I bring fire from a SPW too and he goes about tending to his fallen comrades.

The rest of 2nd zug are moving across to the left into some defilade from sector B to advance up the stream bank.


The HQ unit in sector A takes out a man in A team of 1st squad but the advance continues.

Two of the zug's SPWs are rushing forward to support the advance from close range now that I'm fairly confident anything that can do them real harm is either knocked out or suppressed.


The squad in sector B pop their heads up again and this time one of the MG sections from 4th zug get a spot and fill his face with lead.

3rd squad are closing on the objective...

when they get some sound contacts moving into the objective - ACHTUNG! PANZER!

It looks like he's decided to reinforce the objective with armour. It doesn't appear to be a full on counterattack as they came into the back of the objective and stopped behind some buildings in sectors D and F, the full weight of the attack may be about to come. I assume he used the road from GRAU to bring them down undetected as all other avenues that he could use are covered.
Either way I am pleased to see this, it means I may not have to go into the trees to destroy these forces and I can use my advantages in the open. I love the way the C2 works in this game, by the end of the turn the info had filtered all the way up to the Bn HQ and has already started filtering down, the panzers don't have the info yet but they will soon.
I have to assume that he has another one tank at least (assuming they are T34s) and that he had tank riders on the back. Where he has stopped he has no LOS to any of my forces but if he nudges the leftmost vehicle forward a bit he will be able to get LOS on the left flank of my SBF position and the SPW over there so I need to do some rearranging.
I'll be pulling the SPWs back behind the panzers where they aren't already and rearranging the panzers so that he will have difficulty isolating any of them and they can mutually support one another.
I'll continue the assault, but my guard is definitely up. 1st zug are currently still mounted, I'll be dismounting them and bringing them up as support just in case he's debussed a platoon of tankodesantniki.
One thing that does worry me, that I mentioned before, is that 1 Kompanie do have panzerfausts and shreks but no real armour support and he could wheel around the right of the objective and hit them in the flank. The HQ Tiger has been hanging back just in case further down AoA2 but now is the time to bring it forward to support the assault and protect the right flank.

The objective at the end of the turn with the new contacts marked.

SITMAP

Here we go! It's about to get tasty! He has a few choices with the armour he brought to the fight as far as I can see:
He can use them to try and get some nice keyhole positions from the objective onto my SBF forces and try and take them out one at a time. This would be difficult to pull off, there aren't that many places he could place them that my armour couldn't see him move into. He could wheel around the objective into 1 Kompanie's right flank and disrupt the attack. He could leave them where they are as infantry support, but that would be risky as my infantry are well equipped for close quarters battles with armour. He could be using them as transportation to bring more troops up to defend the objective and then pull them back. He could be bringing them up to evacuate troops back to the lines. They might not have any organic transport of their own and will be hitching a ride? They are part of a larger force/counterattack from as yet undetermined directions. The tension is palpable, you could cut it with a knife.
MMM

Really impressive DAR ! Really enjoying it, thanks for the labour of love. 

@Monty's Mighty Moustache, this is a very well done DAR!  I am very happy to see you take the care and time to craft us something so exquisite.  From your initial analysis to your detailed play by play with your atmospheric screen shots... very well done.  Feels familiar somehow too.   
Happy that you are using my floating icons. 
I'll be watching you.
Thanks for the entertainment, Bil

OK, let's look at Shermans (any Sherman) versus the Stug:
both can penetrate each others' front armor in a direct confrontation at long range the StuG's gun will score quicker, however at those same ranges the StuG shell starts bouncing off the Sherman's hull the HE from the Sherman is substantially more powerful, useful for anti-infantry work the StuG only has a single MG crippled by low ammo. Sherman has two regular MGs with lots of ammo, and a .50 cal on top Sherman has a 5-person crew versus the StuG 4 obviously the turret is a difference. The Sherman doesn't only have a turret, it has a fast turning one the Sherman has self-defense smoke launchers, the StuG does not And that applies to all US Shermans, starting from the 190 points costing one. And the StuG is 299 points. How can that look right to anyone?

This is a petition from players over at thefewgoodmen CM playing community. It regards Quickbattle pricing of common tanks that we think should be adjusted.
In our opinion a basic 75mm Sherman, a basic PzIV long and a basic StuG long should roughly be priced the same.
As for changing the pricing model we feel that:
the turret on the tanks is worth quite a bit, so the StuG should be discounted for the lack of it. CMx2 is good enough to really make a turret count same for the additional MG and ammo loadout on the real tanks - right now secondary weapons seem not to influence prices much at all. Again, current CMx2's engine mechanisms provide good utility from these MGs although the PzIV has a better gun than the 75mm Sherman the 50mm front turret puts it right back into the same price class. And the Sherman has better HE Currently the prices are (in CMBN):
basic Sherman M4M1 (mid) 190 points Pz IVJ (early) 241 points StuG III (mid) 299 points We feel that the current pricing is getting in the way of both historically accurate force mixes (not enough StuGs) and also of general fairness between the sides. Pricing these three the same would improve both and lead to more even, realistic forces. Our community makes a lot of use of QB-purchased vehicles (we are probably the experts on it) and we feel the combat capabilities are fundamentally equivalent between these three.

The name is my WIP reference name and refers to a rather confused action around the village of Jasienica and the town of Tluszcz in Poland mid August 1944.
This map is fairly large (4x3km) but has been giving me a bit of trouble to sort out. Its low laying terrain with a rather complicated rail network on often embankments. looks easy but trying to get everything to match up... Also progress has been glacial slow due to RL. Still getting there.
This is the real world location on period maps and aerial images taken before the actions occurred (though judging by the shell holes it was getting some hot attention from bombing raids I suspect!



So first step was sketching out the map in CM.

This was pretty quick to do as effectively this is just sketching using the overlay. I'm not a fan of zig-zag roads. So i end up making compromises to 'fit' the overall 'feel' of the road/track/rail. I think this makes it easier for the player in game to plot road movements etc. So I compromise map accuracy for ease of play.
The real work comes when you start adding the elevations... This was a tough one as there are also lots of water features. Lots of do and re-do to only re-do-re-do...

So slowly taking shape. This is the railtrack at the north of the above maps looking west.

Looking south, from the west edge of the north of the map, towards the large wood block (on Google earth they are marked as 'Budziska'.

Looking back east from the above wood block - way in distanced will be Tluszcz (not started on that yet)

View of current state of work of the map. Only about a 1/4 done regarding terraforming! A looong way to go yet. The view here is the same view as above but slightly higher. I'm just starting doing the village of Jasienica itself (top right), which will take a wee while.
Cheery! 

No. It is called PBEM+++ (with three pluses) because it is a revised version of the Slitherine PBEM system. The reason is because Slitherine has to rework their existing system to accommodate the larger file sizes CM save files are. There is no reason to be such an ass either. 

The Fifty-Fourth Minute
Objective ROT
A fair bit happened this turn so I'll break it up to show what happened with each force.
SBF - The Panzers
The Tigers move up to get some fire on the buildings in sector C and to more effectively cover the road between that sector and sector A and B. The Panthers are continuing to pour MG fire onto the reverse slope.


The right-most Tiger suddenly takes fire. It looks like it's coming from the reverse slope, which considering the amount of fire going in there is kinda amazing.

It takes two shots to the hull this turn and that damage the optics and the radio, but do not penetrate.

We soon get a ATG sound contact on the reverse slope. This is so far back that my fires are obviously not affecting it enough, the Tigers will rectify the situation next turn. Strange place to site a gun, a few metres over the edge of a reverse slope where it would either be pretty much wiped out by any infantry coming over or would have problems engaging any armour that screamed over the hill at such short ranges.

SBF - The Panzergrenadiers
I'm moving the weapons zug up to get some fire on the eastern end of the objective. One section is covering the movement of the other.


The MG was recovered from the team that took a casualty a few turns ago. The other team that took 2 casualties are still being attended to.

My advanced troops take a casualty, it was the same infantry squad that I spotted in sector C that took him out. I'll bring the rest of the squad up to recombine with this lone landser and step up the fire on sector C as he's clearly not suppressed enough.

Towards the end of the turn we get a spot on a rifleman retreating across the road towards sector C. I assume this is one of the squads that was pulling out of sector A a couple of turns ago. He makes it across.

1 Kompanie
1 Kompanie advance on the objective. Their start and end positions are shown below.


The skirmish line get a spot on the ATG on the reverse slope, it's a 45mm gun, that will explain why it didn't penetrate the Tiger. So he has a mix of calibers, interesting. That could mean he has at least 2 platoons of guns in the AO, one 45mm and one 76mm.

KT4
Not much happened on the left flank, the fire continues to go into the treeline and the infantry are moving up as we clearly have fire superiority.


KG RECHTS
Now the sniper is down I have lost the armour contact but I assume he will have pulled it back to it's start position. I'm convinced he has an OP in the farm buildings, I might bring one of the SPWs online and give them a burst of fire.
SITMAP

Things are going well, I am starting to get ahead of myself and formulating plans for after the objective is taken but we'll see how it goes first. The emergence of another ATG is interesting, I'll have to assume he has more defending this objective. I haven't seen any other heavy weapons yet, they must be out there somewhere.
At KT4 I am going to advance the scouts a bit and see if they can get a spot on the treeline off to the right, I would expect something to be lurking in there.

MMM

Buongiorno, everyone. 
I'm happy to present to you some mods I've been working on for FI to better represent Italian forces, both pre- and post-armistice. Please enjoy. 
 

RSI ENR Mod 
The mod reskins the Heer (Gerbirgsjager included) to be in-line with the uniforms and equipment utilized by the majority of the RSI's Army, the ENR (Esercito Nazionale Repubblicano), from 1943 to 1945. This mod includes reskins for winter uniforms, as well. 
The German facemaps have been replaced by Italian facemaps. The German voice-lines of the Heer have been replaced, mostly, by Italian voicelines. I say mostly, as there are fewer Italian voicelines than German voicelines, and thus not all could be replaced- so you might hear some German every now and then, but hopefully not very often.
Weapons have been replaced, also. The Gewehr 33 is replaced by the Carcano and the G43 by the Breda 30 (as it is effectively the closest in practice to the Breda). Weapons such as the G41 and MP40 have not been replaced, as both were used, albeit in limited amounts, by the ENR. 
The mod does not reskin the Waffen-SS and Luftwaffe, and is effectively incompatible with them- meaning that you should not use this mod when playing scenarios/campaigns for either. The mod is also incompatible with 1943 scenarios/campaigns. This mod does not reskin tank and AFV crew uniforms (though, it does replace the Stahlhelms used by AFV crews with the M33).
There are two versions of the mod- one that's compatible with Juju's UI mod, and one that's compatible with the basegame UI- both are named appropriately. This mod is best used with R2V content.
Juju-UI compatible: https://www.mediafire.com/file/nkkcveci4s09vy7/Pitbull%27s_RSI_MOD_-_Juju_UI.rar/file
Basegame-UI compatible: https://www.mediafire.com/file/mdum1gw3wzhzyda/Pitbull%27s_RSI_MOD_-_Normal_UI.rar/file
 

RSI Paracadutisti Mod
This mod reskins the Fallschirmjager to be in-line with the uniforms and equipment utilized by the Paratroopers who fought for the RSI from 1943 to 1945.. Wearing a mish-mash of uniforms, both German and Italian, this mod best represents the ANR (Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana) paratroopers of the I Battaglione Paracadutisti 'Nembo', of which fought at the Anzio-Nettuno Front as part of 4. Fallschirmjager Division, and later went on to be become part of the larger Reggimento Paracadutisti 'Folgore'. 
This mod can be used without needing the previous RSI mod, as the necessary content required has also been placed into this mod (weapons, voicelines, facemaps, UI, etc.) Greatcoats have also not been reskinned. 
There are two separate versions compatible for Juju's UI and basegame UI, linked below.
Juju-UI compatible: https://www.mediafire.com/file/ksvwu0gsm5lc723/Pitbull%27s_RSI_Para_MOD_-_Juju_UI.rar/file
Basegame-UI compatible: https://www.mediafire.com/file/q4homvqmhwcvkeo/Pitbull%27s_RSI_Para_MOD_-_Normal_UI.rar/file
 

RE Paracadutisti Mod
This mod reskins the Italians to be in-line with the uniforms and equipment utilized by the men of the 184th Paratroopers Division 'Nembo' during 1943. The division was sent to Sicily to perform rear-guard actions to protect the evacuation of Italo-German forces. They later went on to fight against the Anglo-American Forces in Southern Italy right up to the day of the armistice- wherein the majority Nembo's members found themselves siding with the Germans (and going on to form the majority of personnel in the RSI's I Battaglione Paracadutisti), with the remainder siding with the Allies and fighting alongside the Italian Co-Belligerent Army, with its' members notably taking part in Operation Herring. 
https://www.mediafire.com/file/3bffxv9xt6tn0q6/Pitbull%27s_Italian_Paratroopers_Updated.rar/file
 
 
To use any of the mods, just drop the folder in your Z folder, in Data. 
------
That's it for now. Again, please enjoy.
There's still many things that I would like to do, such as a mod to better represent Italian forces in Africa/Sicily, and will hopefully get around to doing and posting those things here, and things I wish I could remedy, such as importing a better helmet model for the paracadutisti- which despite my best efforts is currently beyond me.
These mods could only have been made thanks to EZ's textures, of which I used as a base for the textures in these mod, alongside several other mods.
Please post any errors found below.

Looks like the Steam release might be on the 16th of November.
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1189359974
(25 minutes into the video)

Here are two examples of the complete data. The numbers give the measured probability (in %) of spotting a Pz IVH as a full contact in a single spotting event. Flat ground, grass, clear weather, midday. The first one is for a typical tank, the other one is for an open top tank destroyer. I would say that in both cases the effect of buttoning up (or lack thereof) is consistent at all ranges. For the SU-76M, there is a noticeable penalty to the sides and rear when buttoned up, but not in the ahead direction.
Left half = opened up, right half = buttoned up
T-34-85:

 
SU-76M:

T-34-76 (M1942 Late) - special for @chuckdyke