MOS:96B2P

I just did a short experiment and had similar results. I had engineers mark a minefield 3A/S deep. I then moved infantry teams through the marked path. Then I cleared the marked path with a Sherman Crab and again moved infantry teams through it. The further apart the waypoints the more likely a troop will go off the path and hit a mine. Also after the Crab blasted a path through the mines the teams seemed to avoid the shell craters. I also had the teams run through some shell craters placed on the map with the editor. No problem, the teams ran right through the editor craters. So I think Jo might be onto something. The craters made by the Crab were recent explosions and the AI has been programmed to avoid explosions??? Vehicles followed the path no problem but not infantry. I even waited about 7 minutes thinking the explosions would not be recent any longer but the infantry still avoided the craters.

Thank you.

During a recent PBEM game I noticed Russian Bn. HQ and Company HQ teams did not have radio C2 after using the Assault Team split (Platoon HQs are to small to split). I noticed the behavior in CMBS v1.04 Engine 3 just before the upgrade. I tested and confirmed the behavior in CMBS v2.0 Engine 4. I tested this with a Battalion Tactical Group BMP. Below are screenshots showing the behavior. I'm thinking this is not intended behavior but a bug. Or maybe I'm missing something. What do you think?

THIS!!! This is the first huge step. After CMSF is updated to the 4.0 standard it can then more easily be kept at the same engine level as the other CM games. So when the others go to Engine 5.0 it won't be such a big job to also bring CMSF up to 5.0 from hopefully 4.0.

I don't think illumination from burning vehicles makes a difference. Wish it did. Below is a final post on a thread that talks about illumination in night battles.

Sorry, I didn't explain that very well. What Ian said.

I have often used this to get teams to buddy aid in WEGO. I use the Slow command and then cancel when they are in the same action spot near the casualties (can be a little fiddly but they just have to be close). I finish it off with the Face command aiming it over the casualty. With a crater it would probably be easier since the crater is bigger and the AI seems to be attracted to them anyways.

This would be worth a try. We have similar rigs and I have no problem running any of the CM game titles. I have an i7-4790K, 4GHZ, 16 GB RAM, GTX970 and a SSD. I'm not a tech geek but I don't see an obvious problem with your system. There is a thread on the forum about settings for Nvidia that may also be of use.

It would be a good fit for Iron.

This is interesting and I have seen this play out in two ways. I think there is a minimum two spotting rounds fired per mission except for when a TRP is used. (Please correct if I'm wrong). After the second spotting round if the spotter can't see, the asset continues to fire spotting rounds. IIRC I have had this spotting round phase drag on for four or five turns firing several spotting rounds. I then intervene and adjust or cancel the mission. The second way it plays out is the two spotting rounds are fired and then an off target FFE starts. What I can't figure out is what makes one spotter continue to fire spotting rounds trying to get the correct target and the other spotter give up after the customary two rounds and FFE. Experience of the spotter maybe? I will have to pay more attention but in PBEM games my spotters are typically veterans so not sure that is the answer. The next question (after what causes this) is what to do about it when it happens? Basically two choices: adjust or cancel and start over. I have done both but I'm not sure adjusting helps much and the time factor in starting over is often not practical. The great game mechanic @womble once typed something to the effect: "Adjusting" the mission will not inherently make it any more accurate. All the accuracy possible has been dialed in during the "Spotting" phase. (Circa 9 June 2015) If this is true then maybe adjusting is not even a good choice? I think a cue we sometimes get now is when/if the spotter continues to call for additional spotting rounds. Then, if paying attention, we know something is amiss and might hit friendly positions. Not sure if adjusting is the answer (see above). And of course if the spotter calls FFE after two wild spotting rounds there is no cue to warn us...........

My understanding is Its a game engine limitation not a bug. However it does suck when it happens. This. It can be hard to understand but it does get so dark you can't see your own hand in front of your face. Even when the power goes out in an urban semi-urban area on a cloudy night there is usually still power a few blocks or a few miles away that sends up light which bounces off the cloud cover and provides a low level of illumination. Or if no clouds there are the stars, moon, vehicles etc. providing some light. In a rural area when it is cloudy (as is normal during a storm) and a significant portion of the county loses power (so the town several miles away isn't lighting up the horizon) it is the kind of dark where you can't see your hand in front of your face. Then the stand-by generators kick in and all is good again .............

LOL that would be annoying. I guess you could look at it as the ground was being increasingly churned up as each vehicle passed until it became a bog. But then that immersion of course would be dashed when a different vehicle on a following turn drove through without a problem .

IIRC in US units (and I think German) The platoon HQ has a smoke grenade and every squad has two. If you do the Assault Team split (A-team) first they get the two smoke grenades and use them both at the same time when ordered to Pop Smoke. They just make a bigger smoke screen than the platoon HQ. Most Company HQs and some XO teams also have the ability to Pop Smoke. A team with the ability to Pop Smoke can do so once. Wind speed plays a big role. Medium speed can be difficult for smoke screens and more than medium does not work at all for smoke IMO.

Me three!

There has been many threads on this. My opinion is speed has no impact on bogging. Some things that I think do are: Ground conditions, ground tile (Mud etc.), vehicle off road rating and according to the engine manual commander experience.

I guess an interesting follow up question might be: If the AI did not have any orders what would it have done on its own? If you have a save you might be able to go back, cancel the order and see what they do when left to their own devices........

Was the AI shooting on its own or did they have a Target order? If they were given a Target order my guess would be the Target order is the reason. CM Engine 3 Manual Page 48: This is the standard fire command, instructing a unit to use all of its available weapons to fire at the designated target. So as long as the weapon is in range, has ammo, is deployed if needed to be deployed and the operator is not suppressed etc. they may use it. I don't think they would have fired it if given the Target Light order.

When your in a scenario, Quick Battle, PBEM down at the bottom in the UI if you click menu and then select Hotkeys that will display the default location of key assignments. Not sure if you were aware of that. Good luck .

As far as the follow up questions: What @IanL said. Let me try again on motivation/morale. The motivational modifier is assigned to the unit in contrast to the leadership modifier which is assigned to the leader. The leadership modifier will change with the leader and the morale will change with the circumstances (casualties etc.). A unit that begins with higher motivation will endure the circumstances of a mission better than one that starts with a lower motivation level. I will also add a note of caution. It would probably be reasonable to assume the higher the motivation the better. But there is also a downside. The higher the motivation level the more likely the troops will stick to your orders and disregard common sense. A typical example (complaint) is the tank commander who is ordered to unbutton (Open Up). The tank commander starts to take small arms fire. A normal motivated tank commander is more likely to button up and save himself. A high motivated TC is more likely to stick with your Open Up order and get shot. One of the cool features about the game, everything has advantages and disadvantages. Scenario time limits are often debated on the forum. Generally speaking, I don't have a problem with them. As in RL when an order is received it generally (always?) has a time that accompanies it since your unit's mission is usually part of a bigger mission that must be coordinated. Example: Alfa Company secure and hold Hill 273 by 1400hrs in order to protect the left flank of Bravo Company which will attack the crossroads at 1430hrs etc. Having said that I often come away with a minor victory instead of a total victory because I won't push my troops hard enough for the total victory. I'm okay with that and I think the vast majority of scenario designers give reasonable times on their missions.

LOL. Reminds me of the shootout at the O.K. Corral . I like this new puff of smoke animation. Nice addition.

LOL. Post a screenshot or video of it if you do. I wonder who has what colors..........

Not sure I understand the question. I think you are asking about Iron skill level when a friendly must spot other friendlies during playback phase (not orders phase). This shows what your friendly unit knows about the world around him (to include friendly units) and IMO helps to understand the friendly unit's morale etc. Below is a link to Iron play mode. Or it occurs to me that maybe I miss-understood this question entirely . I think you have to move past the Setup phase and into the battle when stress is introduced to the fire teams before you see changes in the morale etc. The easiest way to notice a change is probably to look at a fire team that is out of C2 but is in an area where the bullets are flying. They will almost always at least show nervous morale next to the motivation level in this situation. In addition a broken C2 link will negatively effect vertical information sharing. So if the link to the Company is broken but not the platoon the fire team only knows what the Platoon HQ knows. The Company may have info that a Tiger tank is coming down the road but no way to get the info to the Platoon HQ and then to the fire team if the C2 link is broken. If I don't have a Battalion HQ in the battle to serve as a bridge of info (horizontal info sharing) between two companies I sometimes have the company XOs act as liaisons to the other company HQ (if they have radios). Place A Company XO with B Company HQ etc. Current Leadership has an effect on accuracy of fire and vehicle bogging chances (according to the Engine manual). The motivation modifier tells you what motivation level is permanently (unlike Leadership which can change as leaders are KIA and replaced) assigned to that unit . Example: Poor -2 / Low -1 / Normal blank / High +1 / Extreme +2 / Fanatic +2. (Yes, Extreme and Fanatic both show as + 2 not sure why). The morale level (to the right) of the motivation is how the unit is currently reacting to it's situation. A high motivation (+1) fire team may show nervous morale because it is out of C2 and has a tentative contact of an OpFor tank approaching. The higher the units motivation level the quicker it will recover morale levels (generally speaking, lots of variables). Yes in all WWII game titles and CMSF C2 is lost by a backpack radio when the RTO is moving. C2 is however maintained in CMBS in the same circumstance.

Interesting AAR video. Thanks for sharing. I will finish watching it in between my PBEM turns. Looks like it is a well done AAR.

Very cool!! I think the military channel runs a documentary on this mission every once in awhile. It would be an interesting one.

YES!!!