MOS:96B2P

Two useful and already mentioned functions of the XO teams in the game are Liaison for C2 & back-up for the CO. In addition some XO teams have binoculars and the authority to call for artillery. This makes them very useful as spotters. On the attack I usually send the company XO team with a lead maneuver platoon. When the platoon comes into contact and needs indirect fire the XO team handles. This allows the platoon HQ to stay with the fire teams, handle C2 and attempt to continue the advance. The XO team is the team that remains stationary and does the Hide, un-Hide routine to call in the spotting rounds and get a good support mission. After the XO team has the indirect mission firing it catches up with the platoon. Often the XO team can adjust the first indirect fire mission onto a new problem the maneuver platoon has come across (max duration, light missions). This is generally the best use I have found for the XO teams. Not as quick as a dedicated FO team but much cheaper in a PBEM QB.

Not sure if you can make all the on screen text disappear in a video or not. @SLIM uses videos and is one of the community experts at it. I tagged his name here so the next time he signs on to the forum maybe he will drop by and give his advice on the matter.

Well it will, at least, be a training opportunity for the medics and/or graves & registration.

Very interesting AAR. I really like how you are demonstrating the game mechanics in action with this AAR. IMO explaining how the game actually "works" is a very useful tool of the forum. Thanks for doing this.

I agree about the retreat waypoint path. Looking forward to your scenario. I know you have been working on it for awhile (with the bunker situation). This must be one of the first releases to incorporate the new Engine 4 features. Thanks for taking the time and effort to stick with it and get it out the door.

If you have a saved file of that turn a Beta tester with access to the internal BFC CMBS bug reports might be able to verify and report it.

I have not noticed a difference in the opening bombardments so far however I have not yet tried the point target in an opening bombardment. The troop who was "stuck" sounds like a bug. If there is an elevation difference from one side of the wall to be Blasted to the other side of the wall troops will often not go through the breach after the Blast but run to the closest door instead. There is a work around for this type of situation. If your engineers did not even Blast but just ran around to a door you might have something different going on.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////SPOILER//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// //////////////////////////////////////////////////SPOILER////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Major Victory. The Battalion Commander graciously granted five minutes of additional hunting time but there was still some OpFor leftover in the northwest built up area. It was fun taking the Warrior IFVs for a spin. Very nice scenario. I recommend it along with any scenario made by Combatintman.

Hey Boss, @Battlefront.com. Well @IanL did volunteer ................. .

BFC could use the interest people show in upcoming releases to their advantage. Maybe just a twice or once a month tease on the release. If a screenshot was included all the better. (They could even issue a disclaimer the final product may not exactly resemble the screenshot if they are concerned about that possibility) For example: post a screenshot of a fire team or vehicle, from the upcoming release, with no description and no UI visible. Ask the community what type of unit and where in the TOE said unit was taken from. The grogs likely would fill pages on the forum in their (sometimes heated) discussion about said unit. A few weeks later BFC could post the answer and leave another teaser. They could conclude each tease with a short statement: Still working on it guys. Maybe early Summer instead of Spring due to some bug crushing. Thank you for your patience. IMO this would help to keep people tuned into BFC and encourage a vibrant healthy community forum. This is an example below taken from the current CMFI. Can you identify the weapon? I think this is a cool idea and I make a motion to nominate @IanL to implement said cool idea . Can I get a second aye on the motion? .....

Thank you, Sir.

Hey Jock. I remember talking to you about this mod over a year ago. I must have missed the release. You might want to think about moving it to CMMODs III. I think the BFC Repository will be shut down. Thanks for upgrading this mod and thanks to @Mord the original creator. Some screenshots are below.

Wow. Wish I would have known about this mod earlier. Makes a big difference. Thanks for posting. Thanks also to the creator @Pete Wenman.

SitRep 1428hrs. 1) FISH Action.

Old habits I guess ................. Next we will have some MOUT action! Oops, I mean some FISH action.

///////////////////////////////////////// SPOILER ///////////////////////////////////////// ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////SPOILER//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// SitRep 1414hrs. 1) Fire teams ordered into the built up area behind a smoke screen. 2) Platoon XO is a casualty.

////////////////////////////// SPOILER //////////////////////////////////////////////// ////////////////////////////////////////////////////// SPOILER ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// SitRep 1407hrs. 1) Friendly casualty. 2) Fighting across the bridges. 3) Suspected IED Triggerman spotted. (See below for threat assessment graphic.)

///////////////////////////////// SPOILER /////////////////////////////////////////////// ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// SPOILER /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// SitRep 1350 Hours. 1) IFVs are ordered to breach a wall along the east side of MSR Topeka that restricts friendly movement. 2) Fire teams are ordered into the upper floors of buildings on both sides of MSR Topeka to take overwatch positions. A Warrior IFV makes first contact. 3) OpFor RPG team.

Ditto.

For this first incident where the above Panther was knocked out. I think my explanation above is still correct and reasonable. Now this one I don't understand and have never seen before. An AI unit needs a confirmed contact that it has eyes on to be able to engage said contact. The AI will not even shoot at tentative contacts. Building are not seen through and with the rare exception explained above, are not shot through. Do you have the floating icons turned off? I don't see any in the two screenshots above. What version and engine of the game are you playing. When you first start the game on the splash screen in the lower right corner it will read CMFB v2.0 Engine 4. Just wondering, what's on your screen? (Not that it matters to much. Even in older versions I have not seen this behavior) Good job on getting Photobucket.

I think I understand how this happened. I have done this before but I had never seen the AI do this on it's own. AP rounds will go through buildings. However if ordered to area fire (which is what you are doing when you Target a building) the AI will select HE rounds (as long as it has HE rounds left) which do not penetrate. In this case the AI had a verified spot on the OpFor tank and selected AP. I use Photobucket. It's free and there are a few other sites that are also free. Not sure how the forum rules work but with a third party hosting site like Photobucket I have never had to worry about it.

Did your tank actually spot the OpFor tank and have an identified OpFor tank icon or just a tentative (?) icon? Did you area Target the building with your tank or did your tank's AI take the shot on its own?

Hmmm, I wonder if it depends on the type of vehicle and how the communications are set up in the vehicle. I just took some volunteers and did an experiment. The unbuttoned TC on an M4 Sherman was KIA. The radio operator "moved" to the TC spot. (His status actually reported him moving inside the tank) Radio C2 was maintained. This was on an M4 Sherman where the TC position I think has radio communications. So in your situation maybe unreliable radio?? Not sure. This has my Interesting now. Off to do some experimenting..................

Were they actual engineers or infantry armed with breach charges? CMBS has a difference between the two. Breach charges can only be used against walls, buildings etc. Demo charges can also be used against vehicles.

If by not following their driving instructions you mean not following their plotted waypoints, I don't think that is C2 related. Maybe AI self preservation or the terrain combined with the distance between waypoints. I have seen that when the radio operator location is not manned the tank is out of C2. If it is a platoon HQ tank with no radio operator the entire platoon can be out of C2 since the chain of command is broken. So no radio operator then no radio C2. This sounds right. What I am unsure of and don't have enough information for is when you said there was a different tank in the same scenario with no radio operator, hatches open and that tank had C2. What type of C2 does that tank have? Is it radio C2 or visual C2?