mbarbaric

ahh that sounds awesome, and the perfect setting would be YUGOSLAVIA. It is in the middle between Warsaw pact and NATO. it is neither east nor west allied, it has diverse terrain from plains, mountains, hills, sea, dense woods... it was always on the verge of USSR intervention, heavily monitored from the western side... it wasn't overused if at all... and it has fairly strong army itself. just perfect!

just to mention that i shared the opinion of the OP regarding huge battles. it is kind of difficult to keep track of all units once you have full batallion under control. this is very valid for a first encounter with CM. when i started playing it was a nightmare to keep track of anything that went above two platoons. however, once you get more time with the game (playing we-go and not real time) things get more clear and easy to manage. it depends a lot on the mood. sometimes you just don't want to bother with full scale engagement. the bottom line is, you need to get used to the game and once there you will get intrigued about large scale battles to overcome initial uncomfortable feeling you get atm.

exactley when it became interesting!!! keep them going ant thanks for the effort!

how do you force them to fire smoke? usually it is going through the FO in mission type which isn't an option with irish guards and only other command i see is pop smoke which isnt really that, right?

i will have to go with bulletpoint's explanation as most likely in this scenario. 2: Sometimes there will be nothing visible. In this case, I think that some parts of the tree graphics are actually translucent to the computer, but appear as solid branches to the player. In other words, the actual LOS-blocking part of the tree is a bit smaller than the tree graphics. from ATG pov there should be only 2 big trees and he couldn't see any tank there. however, since they saw it, i guess it is somewhat less than perfect representation of foliage in this particular case.,

indeed it is strange and the example in the screenshots shows is taken from shooters position in the woods. but if you look the screenshots it is not that wood that hampers the ATG, it is two huge trees about 400 meters forward that lay between the gun and my tank. so the problem isn't the branches. it seems like two big trees are translucent from AI's point of view.

this sounds good enough, i just feel so bad letting the scout team run on quick only to beat the game clock. this shouldn't happen in real unless there is some time factor... mostly in CM battles time limit is totally arbitrary put by the mission creator.

interesting, i see them the other way around

Playing with Irish Guards i have encountered mortar teams that don't have the spotter meaning they can fire mortars only when in Direct line of sight of target. Now, i have no idea how to use them. normally i use mortars as a suppression tool before the platoon attacks but now that i have mortar teams without ability to be guided i need to put them on the front line and they can't supress anything if they get supressed themselves. So, how do you use this units???

i as well don't like unnecessary losses and never rush into the conflict but i find it impossible to do the mission in time by careful approach. i guess time restrain is also a part of battle situation but i think it should be reserved for certain situations and missions not for all of them. making phases as you suggests seems reasonable and useful, might try that in my next campaign mission.

It already occured to me that sometimes units can see through the woods where you wouldn't expect them but recent mission really got me wondering how it works. The screenshots are taken from ATG position that is obviously overlooking a field i was deeming safe due to a forrested area. however, the ATG got a nice shot into the side of my sherman knocking it out immediately. Now is there any mechanics i dont know beneath? di he just take a pot shot at the sound contact and got really lucky? and how do i make bigger screenshots???

seems legit, in hind sight you might have put hq squad for mortar mission down the road as they were inevitably going to be stopped by the mine. also that mine should maybe be a bit further down the road which could make a nice congested killzone. or not

recently i was watching a youtube video of guy taking on 88 mm flak gun positioned in the woods with 1 section of Irish guards. later he brought on the sherman and was able to take out the germans by driving the tank right up to the gun. now, i was surprised as just around or two should destroy the tank that went over the open ground and was thinking what am i doing wrong in this game. i play the same mission (4 of MG campaign Road to Nijmegen) and for same position i took completely different approach. the briefing already has some german positions placed on the map due to recon units being able to spot them. the gun is set up to protect the right flank while the main objective is on diagonally opposite part of the map. the main objective is quite heavily defended and i saw the right flank as a possible avenue to encircle the ai and hit them from flank or behind. I went to the position with 3 squads and 4 tanks (my main force for the flanking) and it took me about 20 turns to prepare the whole attack on that position including the mortar barrage. now that is obviously an overkill as the guy in video did it just with one squad and the tank, my main problem with the game seems to be the time. i am very slow at moving my troops and i have difficulties judging the speed of the units. i always go with scouts in front, bounding overwatch and things when i approach the enemy and it takes too much time. seeing this guy just rushing forward i thought i must be doing something wrong. how do you judge the pace of movement and beat the battle clock?

i think your idea is awesome, however, for start i'd be happy if BF just made simple topo map of battlefield. adding few basic paint options to line out approach routes, obstacles and key terrain features is already a wild dream. having your system is just wetting the pants.

i was wondering for some time why we don't have topographic maps of combat area? i ain't all crazy about "historical correctness" but i am very lazy checking the map before the game and, after all, in most combat situations commanders relied upon their maps to organize actions while they employed terrain exploration only when they had time. so, wouldn't it be possible to create a tool to make topographic maps of the battle area? or is it asking too much as it could be argued we already have better tool since we can already check the whole map environment? i've already said i'm not crazy about historical approach but it is a tad too much to being able to see exactley the enemy's side of battlefield and topo maps would nicely go around this.

ahhh that is unfortunate. thanks for the replay.

if i chose to play QB vs AI, does the fully updated CMBN use triggers when it creates those QB's?

thanks kohlen, after bit of more search i've found an archive that couldn't be better http://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/research/finding_aids/pdf/US_Army_Unit_Records_1.pdf

thanks for taking time Pak, will look for those books.

is this something really used or just a gamey adaptation?

i was searching but didn't find anything so maybe someone here could help. i am looking for testimonials, maps, after action reports... anything involving real troops depicted in Road to Nijmengen campaign by Paper Tiger. i wasn't able to find anything specific and would like to know if somebody could point me in right direction. thanks

just went through the whole thread (bit late i know) and wanted to drop in saying it was real pleasure reading this. great stuff!

errr this might be stupid but i can't find the campaign on the repository, what am i missing? EDIT: stipid question indeed... i guess i should have bought the commonwealth expansion dammit

anything, no matter how slow or fast it goes, should stop when detecting minefield. if not because of mine itself then because of shock which,on other hand, might make someone to run aimlessly. that is a well known mine field paradox. @womble anyone who is in the army should immediately know the difference between a land mine and mortar or any other shell falling from the sky. they would know it from the sound,injuries inflicted... i do agree the behavior should somehow be determined by experience of troops and the conditions on the battlefield.

that's weird