MOS:96B2P

The portability part is a negative if you go with a desktop. However what I did was keep my laptop and use it mostly for the internet. In fact I'm typing on the laptop now. (I'm busy losing a PBEM on the desktop.) I still have the CM games on the laptop but of course I just play them on the gaming rig now. Hmmmm, I am not a computer guru. I did some research to decide what I wanted in the gaming rig but I don't recall any concerns over SSD being small. @c3k would probably know more about it and give a better answer. Or delegate the question to his intern..... My SSD (Solid State Drive) is a Samsung 850 EVO (One Terabyte) I have windows 10, all the CM titles except Afghanistan, One Total War game, screenshots, files, a bunch of folders with mods etc ......... No problem so far. I brought up the storage setting thing on the gaming rig. It advises 214GB used out of 931GB. And one of the reasons I got a desktop for gaming is that hardware can more easily be added and switched out. So if I ever did run out of space I would have the option to add more.

I had a rig built about six months ago with this hardware and an SSD. I am very happy with it. I think mine is stock 4 GHz but it can be over clocked to 4.5GHz. It runs very well at 4GHz so I have not bothered to over clock it but the option is there if I want to in the future. I came from a laptop with a built in graphics card so to me this new rig is just amazing.

Okay.... I screwed that up. I was referring to the screenshot of the Greif. Very cool.

I have found the below tactic which I learned from @womble a few years ago works well. womble just re-posted it in the below thread again. Used with TRPs there are no spotting rounds. Hope this will help or give you some ideas. http://community.battlefront.com/topic/122074-artillery/?do=findComment&comment=1657841

This is a good description of what I have observed in game and this tactic works well. A partial counter to this is to place troops in foxholes on the Hide command during a barrage. They will not look up as often. However if they are not looking up and shooting they are not interdicting your maneuver with fire and that still works in your favor. This is a great TACSOP and I have been using it with good results since the first time I read a post (a few years ago) you made about it. Thank you. The direct lay I found is good for light mortars especially the US 60mm. Do you also use medium mortars in direct lay or just light? I have not tried this with the mediums.

Yes, I had the same thing. For people just downloading the BP (At least for windows) it will ask for your original CMBN activation key. I ignored that and entered the activation key for the Battle Pack. Everything worked fine.

A lot of good interesting information to think about. Thanks for taking the time to post it.

Nice one.

This would be cool and make initial set-up of a new PBEM so much quicker.

Thank you. May he rest in peace. His contributions to the ongoing study of how soft factors effect the buttoned vs unbuttoned hatch are appreciated.

Just curious. If it is not giving away to much in an ongoing AAR ................. what are the soft factors of said TC? Especially interested in original assigned morale level.

If you had an M8 or a Stuart near-by ................. their canister shot would get you the payback your looking to give..........

This is an interesting question and I hope someone can provide a better more complete answer than I can. IMO opinion barns are the least solid building. How / if the other building rate I am unsure. Just know they are all more solid than a Combat Mission barn.

Below is an interesting link to a discussion about bogging / immobilization. A few of the things I thought was interesting was @womble pointed out that vehicles will slow on their own when crossing obstacles they can crush, (fences etc.) demoed bocage and light forest tiles. So just give them Fast. @Vanir Ausf B advised that speed makes no or little difference. I did find in the 3.01 game engine manual (page 44) To some degree better quality crews lessen the chance of bogging. http://community.battlefront.com/topic/120465-trucks-kubelwagenjeeps-too-robust-cross-country/#comment-1627189

I was getting tank TCs hit fairly often. It seemed like the OpFor was full of very accurate snipers. I then change my TACSOP and take a more proactive approach with the button/unbutton command. My TC hits have gone way down. When I have a tank area targeting (building, woodline, down a street etc.) the TC does not need to be looking out the hatch because I am telling him where to shoot. I now check and make sure the hatch is closed. If I am moving a tank to change positions or arty is coming close I will also check and make sure the tank is buttoned up. There are probably two circumstances I check and make sure a tank is unbuttoned. Conducting overwatch and hunting another tank. In both cases (tank engagement range is such long distance) my tanks are usually in a hull down or keyhole position with my infantry at least a hundred plus meters ahead of them. (a few exceptions for Normandy bocage fighting.) Since I have adjusted my TACSOP my TCs live longer. Also I use regular motivated TCs. I think they are more quick to disobey an unbutton order when rounds start to come close by and will button on their own.

As always interesting stuff. I noticed you had German two fire team squads in the video. Some German TOE does have three fire team squads. The one I use in most PBEM Quick Battles is: On the purchase screen, Mech. infantry selected, Panzergrenadier Battalion (Motorized), then down below select the panzerschreck option. This will give you three German fire teams per squad. I just mention this in case you wanted, for comparison purposes, to have German three fire team squads for your examples. Nice job on these videos. This was a great idea. I hope at some point down the road you can put in some TACSOPs / Drills. Example: Using the squads smoke grenades to obscure and then cross a linear danger area, attack with bounding fire teams, clearing a building etc.

Wow. Now that is impressive. Getting the HMS Abercrombie into a Combat Missions game/ story line. Your creativity just never stops. Good job.

Okay, I will try this again. I remember reading this in A Time for Trumpets. It said Mark IVs and Panthers were equipped with new infrared night sighting devices and were used in the attack on Task Force Harper. I read this in the Kindle e-version so it is kind of difficult to give an exact page number. It was 35% into the book and in Chapter 13 - The Race for Bastogne: The Second Phase. I was so surprised to see that they had infrared that I highlighted it.

Did not post correctly.

I was experimenting around with the tentative contact icons often referred to as sound contacts. The four types of tentative contacts as I understand it are: Infantry, Transport, Light Armor and Armor. Took some screenshots and thought I would share. The cool icon mods were done by @IanL

Yes, this can get the job done for AP mines and allow the infantry through. My problem is they sometimes turn out to be a mixed minefield...... what a mess that makes. On the damage report the subsystems of the vehicle are listed. To the right of each subsystem is a green dot for a healthy subsystem. As the subsystem sustains damage during the course of the battle the green dot goes through different shades/colors of green, yellow, orange, red etc. For tracks / wheels the in game effect is that the vehicle moves slower and slower. At some shade of red the vehicle will be immobilized. At that point the word "Immobilized" will also show up across the suppression indicator and the vehicle will no longer respond to movement commands.

Looks good Slim. For the US I wish there was a way to leave the binoculars with the base of fire team instead of having them go with the grenades and Thompson in the assault team. The base of fire / overwatch team would probably get better use of them.

My SOP is to move through all anti-personnel minefields (marked or un-marked) using the Slow command. This is my reasoning: Fast & Quick will likely set off a mine. Infantry can Hunt through the minefield but if any incoming fire is near them they will stop moving and you have to order them forward again next turn. Infantry can use Move however if they take incoming fire they will often Quick to the next waypoint probably setting off a mine. This leaves Slow as my SOP. Some notes on minefields: Engineers can Mark Mines in the same action spot as the mines or from an adjacent action spot. If engineers Mark Mines from an adjacent action spot they will crawl into the mine A/S when mine marking is completed. Engineers can most reliably and safely locate unidentified minefields using the Slow command. Marking a minefield substantially reduces the chance of triggering a mine for infantry traversing the minefield. Friendly mines will destroy friendly troops and vehicles. Mines cannot be placed on bridges. When using a flail vehicle to Clear Mines there is a chance that some mines will not be detonated, US Breech teams contain engineers and can also mark minefields. Minefields can be neutralized by heavy artillery (150mm+), if it scores a direct hit. Minefields can be neutralized by a blast from a demo charge if there is a blastable obstacle (wire) in the action spot. Red sign with a skull and crossbones = Active non-marked minefield. Off white sign with a skull and crossbones = A marked minefield. Green sign with a white X = Neutralized minefield (all mines detonated) As far as I know vehicle speed does not effect the chance of a marked mine field detonating. I have never tested this however so it may be possible. My SOP is to keep my tanks away from known Antitank mine fields, marked or not. Just not worth the chance of having a tank destroyed. Mixed minefields do not have as many AT mines in the 8x8 action square as a dedicated AT minefield. As a result I have seen vehicles drive through mixed minefields without detonating an AT mine. Antitank minefields can be marked but there is no effect. Infantry can traverse them without risk and vehicles don't benefit from marking. Anti-personnel mines do not strongly affect vehicles but they can cause track & wheel damage and can lead to immobilization. ALL vehicles, wheeled & tracked, take damage from driving through obstacles (This includes wire). This damage is cumulative. I have never had any luck in blowing a hole in wire with a tank's main gun. To double check I just loaded a test map and fired all 51 rounds of HE from an M4A3 Sherman at three sections of wire from an approximate range of 32 meters with no effect.

The Combat Mission Red Thunder demo. It is free. Take it for a spin and post any questions you have about it back here. Within a year you will probably own all the Combat Mission WWII titles...........

Good Job on your win! Just to follow up reference marking mines. Not sure if you know this or not but I would not be a good comrade in arms if I did not point it out: Marking mines will assist infantry in passing through a mined action square (they can still go off if the infantry panics and runs or something). Marking mines has no benefit for vehicles. A vehicle has the same chance of setting off marked mines as un-marked mines.