MOS:96B2P

Very Cool!! Your menu screens are a must have. They give a player some bad a$$ combat immersion when a game is loaded. BFC should just contract you to make the menu screens for all the CM games. The CMRT menu screen was my favorite and makes me smile every time I load CMRT. Now it will have some competition with these CMFB menu screens. Thanks!!! +1

+2 Very impressive. It amazes me the talented, accomplished people we have here on the BFC forum. Definitely not a typical "gaming" forum. Sounds like you have had an interesting life. Thank you for your service. The book sounds very interesting for the tactical level and has good reviews. I just wish it was available with a Kindle edition.

Thank you for taking the time to create and post the video. Very nice job, I enjoyed it. +1 I was also impressed with how you handled yourself in the CM conversation on the Grogheads forum. Very diplomatic and cool under fire. Keep up the good work! I hope someday you have the opportunity to make a video of CM Fulda Gap!!

Been awhile since I noticed you on the forum. Glad you are still around and thank you for your service!!! +1

Excellent post. +1 Reference infantry actions at waypoints. The above is true in my experience also. Because of this I will often give a small Target Arc at the second to the last waypoint to keep the first troop that arrives at the last waypoint from shooting until the entire team arrives at the last waypoint. Then the last waypoint has a large Target Arc or Face command which cancels the small Target Arc that was given at the second to the last waypoint. This way the fire team will hold fire at the last waypoint until the entire team is in place and ready. In this situation I typically have the team Slow into the final waypoint so hopefully they are not noticed and don't draw fire until they are ready and are shooting.

Below is my pop smoke drill for infantry. I always give a Face command to make sure of the direction of the throw. 1. Check wind direction & strength1. 2. Position throwing team so the 20 meter thrown grenade lands where needed. 3. On the turn of the throw don't move the unit popping the smoke (Team “A”). 4. Give team “A” a Face command in the direction you want the smoke thrown. 5. With team “A” still selected, choose the Pop Smoke command. 6. Next turn, Fast the moving team across area (If Quick they may stop to shoot). Notes: Smoke grenades, thrown by one team, can reliably obscure up to 3 A/S (24 meters). Smoke (not frag) hand grenades are automatically thrown 20 meters by the AI (three action spots). 1) Wind strength not more than medium.

Interesting. I almost never use the Assault command. I'll have to try this.

I found this from May 2017 in the thread The Cove Australian profession of Arms. Steve said in response to uncons in CMBS. Yup, that is entirely possible. Though with CMSF2 on the way it won't be too long before those things will be covered in the existing Syrian scenario. Link below: http://community.battlefront.com/topic/125144-the-cove-the-australian-profession-of-arms/?do=findComment&comment=1713288

Very good. Thanks. +1

In October 2017, in the thread Another Reason for a Centralized Forum, Steve said, CMBS is owed a Module. CMBS is theoretically next after CMRT. Marines are an obvious selection for the first Module and the work being done for CMSF2 is going to pave the way for that to happen. In June 2018, in the thread CMRT Module 1 Bones, Steve said, Partisans could be introduced in Pack form to CMBN, CMFI, or CMRT. I want to say Steve said uncons could be released for CMBS but have not found that yet.

Hmm, I like the compass directional part of the mod but it looks like there is no time on it? The digital clock on the compass (I think) is the only place in the game that tells what the actual in-game time is. If a briefing states that 2nd platoon will arrive at 1330hrs it is nice to be able to look at the compass/clock and see what the time currently is. I didn't download the mod yet but just looking at the photo of it at CMMODs I don't see the clock. Maybe I'm just not seeing it and the time is actually displayed since it would be a useful mod otherwise ...................

A lieutenant, either 1st or 2nd, is normal for a US platoon leader. When I was in the US Army in the 1980's our platoon leader was a lieutenant. If you got a brand new lieutenant (from the Citadel, West Point, ROTC) he was a second lieutenant (butter bar). IIRC the 2nd lieutenant would make 1st lieutenant after one year. It was kind of like a one year probationary period. As long as the butter bar did not screw up he got 1st lieutenant (I think) automatically. So it was common to see both 1st and 2nd lieutenants as platoon leaders in our battalion. This of course was in peace time. In WWII with casualties, especially in rifle platoons, they probably had more 2nd lieutenants than 1st. I've read many accounts where they had only a platoon sergeant and no Lt at all. I think BFC makes a normal full strength TOE with all ranks in their typical positions. Then a scenario designer can modify things somewhat to account for casualties if the scenario designer wants too. Just as a side note I remember reading in Band of Brothers that the 101st had two lieutenants per platoon prior to the Normandy jump in anticipation of casualties.

........................... +1

You typed what I was thinking ............ +1

No problem my friend. The "Aircraft Destroyed" text disappears fairly quick and is small to begin with so it can be missed. Whenever there is a large explosion on a map edge for no obvious reason I rewind the turn and check my air defense units. I also check the status of my aircraft in the support panel since the large explosion on the map edge may indicate somebody lost an aircraft. Cool game.

There is now some feedback on if you shot down an OpFor aircraft. Sometimes you see the missile explode in flight (see first screenshot). Also a downed aircraft will crash/explode on the map edge (sometimes causing more casualties). The unit that shot down the aircraft will display Aircraft Destroyed (see 2nd & 3rd screenshots).

CM1 was before I discovered Combat Missions and it often surprises me when I read how many cool features CM1 had. That time delay depending on experience is kind of interesting. Do you remember roughly how long the delays were? Elite = 0 Conscript = 30 seconds? Or were they much longer delays?

@Mousie THIS!! What Mord said. Combat Missions is closer to a tactical military simulation than a game. In fact the New Zealand Defense force uses Combat Mission Black Sea (with some TOE modifications I think) as a training aid. See below link. Also, some military (US?) used Combat Mission Shock Force several years ago.

Yes turn base (WEGO) is very helpful, especially for beginners. With WEGO you can watch a turn over and over again and learn from it. I watch a turn the first time at a high zoomed out level to get the big picture of the battle. Then I rewind the turn and watch one of my platoons. Then rewind again and watch the next platoon etc. I also make a special effort to rewind and watch wherever I took casualties or lost a vehicle (the floating icons will flash when a unit takes a casualty). This watching and learning will speed up your understanding of the game. WEGO also adds a type of command pause to the battle. You give your orders and must watch those orders play out for the next 60 seconds with no way to pause the game and intervene with new/updated orders. Example: You have a fire team that runs around the corner of a building and into the path of a advancing enemy tank 15 seconds into the turn. You have 45 seconds to watch (and probably yell at the computer screen) as that fire team handles the situation before you can intervene. Using WEGO, rewinding the turn and watching all the small combat actions across the map is very entertaining and more important many of your "Lessons Learned" will be obtained this way.

Not really. I think it was mostly intended for real time play. I would just give the tank a normal movement order like Reverse to where I wanted the tank to go. The Evade command is good for when you have a pinned fire team. A pinned fire team will ignore movement orders. However a pinned team will usually respond to the Evade command and plot it's own destination waypoint. Then I drag that waypoint to where I want it since the AI doesn't always pick the safest locations. With this method you can usually move a pinned team.

Those three buttons are instant commands. From left to right Pause, Cancel All and Evade. Page 62 of the 4.0 Engine Manual: Instant commands are mainly used for emergencies, when you need to quickly in- tervene to prevent a unit from getting into trouble (or to get out of trouble quickly). These commands allow the player to initiate three pre-defined “procedures” with one click, which, during emergencies, is often about all the time one has. These commands simulate actions soldiers would normally take by themselves on the battlefield when finding themselves in a tight situation. Instant Commands can be used both in Real-Time mode as well as Turn-based mode. In Real-time mode they are executed immediately, in Turn-based mode they are executed immediately after the start of the next turn. PAUSE - instructs the unit to temporarily halt all active orders and wait. This is the equivalent of yelling “Halt”. This button is a toggle, and by pressing it again, the unit is ordered to resume what it was doing. CANCEL ALL - deletes ALL active commands for the unit instantly. If you have plotted a long chain of waypoints, this command allows you to delete all of them with one click without having to delete each waypoint one by one. This is the equivalent of yelling “Stop” over the radio. EVADE - deletes all active commands and instructs the unit to take immediate evasive action. This may include moving to cover as well as popping smoke, if available. This is the equivalent of yelling “Take cover!” over radio.

+1

Now that was funny ............ I registered at Grogheads so I could read what they were saying about Combat Missions. It was cool to see your CM videos over there and to read the positive responses to them. I think your videos gave a good & accurate representation of CM. Maybe you should be Combat Mission's PR guy....... Well done. +1 I wish the C2 system between Battlefront HQ and the forum was a little more robust however at the end of the day this is a very cool game.

Yes............ that would be very cool.

Very interesting read. Thanks for sharing. +1