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Should be a really interesting battle. I'm wondering if Baneman's tanks are going to be able to engage at the kinds of ranges those tanks would ideally want to engage at? Bill's terrain analysis makes it sound like there are very few places where you'd get to use JagdTigers and Panthers at those long distances. Could mean that Baneman's tanks might end up being a little more vulnerable than we'd normally expect. And without them... yeah, true, that's a lot of infantry he has, but... Bill has a lot of tanks. Who knows how it'll all end up though. I just know it's sure gonna be fun to watch. Edit to add: now that I go back and think about it more... this map is over 3km long. So a 'short' LOS on it is still probably a pretty good distance. This makes me worry less about Baneman's tanks than I was before. As long as there's plenty of tank ammo and he plays it straight, I think his armor will be okay. (I wonder how many rounds that JagdTiger comes with?)

One more vote for Option B.

A side note on this topic of picking forces (and I'm embarrassed to admit that it took me way too long to realize this): you can purchase formations by simply double-clicking on them, and you can deactivate sub-units on the right with the Backspace key... i.e., there's no need to ever use the mouse and those "Purchase" and "Delete" buttons (that seem so small and so very far away, especially at super hi resolutions). 90% of the people here already knew this, I'm sure, but for the 10% who don't, it can eliminate what was always kinda a minor PITA to me. I still see people on their YouTube vids purchasing and deactivating the 'slow' way -- not sure they know of the keyboard shortcuts? -- and it makes me wonder how I ever lived like such an animal. (LOL)

When I started playing (almost exactly 1 year ago), I found Games Pusher's "Monster Combat Mission Normandy Tutorial" video to be both helpful and enjoyable. It's here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbE8795rt2s -- a good passive source that you can watch as you're going to sleep or whatever. Also, Armchair General's Tactics Tutorials helped quite a bit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZ6dDlqye9Q For true depth of knowledge, though, there's really no substitute for the manuals. Sounds boring, I know, but they're all very well written and are densely packed with useful info. For more obscure issues and tips about how the AI 'thinks' or whatever, the best source of knowledge is undoubtedly the veteran forum members here. They've been tremendously helpful. So I'd say just start with the very basics -- the move and targeting commands -- and then jump right in and play and experiment. Do a forum search when you have major questions. (Note that a google search with site:community.battlefront.com appended to the end has some advantages over a standard forum search, IMO.) And when that's not helpful, just ask. Some people have been playing this game and browsing the forums for nearly 5 years, and they'll answer you without biting your head off even if your question has been asked before.... Good luck and have fun.

LOL. That has yet to happen to me. That I've noticed, at least... though I do spend lots of time rewinding between turns, so I think I would've. It's got to be infuriating. But like someone else said, pretty cool that the simulation is rich enough to allow for these kinds of rare incidents. (Who'd have it any other way?!)

Yeah, at least 10 panzers. Look how many shots these things can absorb! (This was taken very soon after it was knocked out. It's a screen grab from one of ChrisND's YouTube videos.) How many points to buy one of these monsters?

I've never been that into comics, but this... this is really well done. Thanks for your efforts. These set the mood for the new game in a way that not much else probably could. Can't wait to get my hands on this new title.

Just watched DAR #1 on The Few Good Men's channel, and that's a really nice looking map. Interesting objectives, too. Look forward to giving it a go.

Wow. The snow is up to the soldiers' shins! Looks incredible. I hereby volunteer to be the first customer. (You know, to help BFC test download speeds and such....)

Not sure about the language on the purchase page being "misleading"? I guess you could argue it could be a tiny bit more precise, but... seems clear enough? I suppose they could've explicitly stated "To get the 3.0 upgrade, you must purchase it separately for $10, but we've taken that $10 off the bundle price so that you're not paying more overall." Could be said a thousand different ways.... I don't think you'll be disappointed by CMFI. It has a totally different 'feel' and flavor to it. It's my favorite of the three games, personally. The Niscemi Highway mission is a real standout, IMO, and Catch a Tiger is also on my Top 10 list. Keep of Majella was also very intense -- use your explosives wisely! -- and is also probably a pretty good prelude to the upcoming Bulge game. (Snowy environment, and there's a well-defended bridge you've got to get across....) Gosh, all this talk is making me wish I could have another "first time" with them. Have fun with the new game.

Had no idea you were doing the sites as a kind of side thing, basically as charity. So thanks for that. Interestingly, a few weeks back I subscribed to receive updates when new scenarios are posted at TSD, so I now get a WordPress e-mail every time even an 'old' scenario is transferred from the repository to your site... and it's very obvious you're working your butt off to get all those files (several hundred, I guess) moved over. Will keep those facts in mind before offering suggestions or criticisms.

All else being equal, if troops or tanks are left on their own, with just a 'bare' FACE command, are they just as likely to fire as if they'd been given an actual TARGET ARC? (I'm talking about a target inside the hypothetical arc, of course.) It seems like setting up a target arc would compel them to fire when they otherwise wouldn't, like with low probability hits or when it'd be less effective suppression, but... after a little bit of testing in the editor, I can't seem to tell much of a difference? Does that match other players' experiences? Has anyone done some kind of thorough testing on this?

Wow, sorry to hear this. The community really benefits from you, Phil / Kohlenklau. Hope you're good as new soon, up and having as much fun around here as you always seem to be.

Very nice. Yeah, I thought I must've been missing something re: the search feature. I guess I was expecting it to be over near the jump list and top downloads and all, so sorry about that. The site(s) seem great, so keep up the good work.

What will the game's official name be, actually? Just "Combat Mission: Battle of the Bulge"? The other titles in the CMx2 series seem like they wouldn't have been obvious/predictable, so... just wondering. I guess the answer will be just one more surprise.

Yes, it was KIA x2, no wounded. I ultimately moved the survivors to a different action square, and then they did start grabbing their dead squadmates' equipment. Took about 1.5 turns. Womble said the action square to use is the one "where that outflung leg or arm is," and that turned out to be true in this case. It sure looked like those KIA's were a bit closer to my original AS, but I guess not. However... I feel like I've seen squad members move 2 or 3 AS's to help the wounded? Am I mis-remembering that? I guess it could be different for KIA vs. WIA, a crucial distinction that others above have mentioned.

Or rather, are there ways to nudge or "encourage" a wounded soldier's remaining team members to start the medic process more quickly? I did a forum search on this, but surprisingly didn't have much luck. A few scattered remarks here and there.... Obviously, I put/keep the hopefully medic-ing soldiers into the wounded soldiers' action spot. That part of the battlefield is now safe, well masked by terrain. I've tried pointing these teammates directly at the wounded (with a FACE command). I've also tried it via cover arc, so that they know their mission right now is to not be shooting. My remaining squad members really, really need to get those stens and especially the binoculars off of their fallen comrades. But it's been three turns now and they still won't initiate the medic process. Must the future medics be placed on the exact same action spot their team members were killed or injured from? Because the wounded are in the middle of four, about equidistant from each, and I don't remember precisely which one I had them assigned to back when the bullets were flying.... II don't recall ever seeing any pixeltruppen so hesitant to help (err... pickpocket) their buddies. Ideas or suggestions?

Just DL'd it. Sounds very interesting, especially the trigger use. And who doesn't love a good mystery!? Thanks.

I agree as to the cause of the Battle Pack delay, and I think maybe I saw someone (a 'someone' who I thought would probably know) hint at exactly that? Somewhere. I really don't want to be involved in mere rumors, though, so I'll try to find that reference. Re: Bulge, yeah, it'd be great to at least get those AAR's going. But I guess BF will wait 'til a time when they feel they can do it right. I can definitely respect that. Unfortunately for them, it's probably one of those "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situations....

I really like the way they're headed with the Scenario Depot and Proving Grounds, overall. The one big thing I don't like about those sites, though, is that there appears to be no search feature? (How could this be? I'm missing something really obvious, right?) Anyway, what's your scenario's title? Normandy, Italy, or Red Thunder? I'd be happy to make yours the next one I play, so long as it's not too big. I'm a micro-manager, so don't have the patience to spend an hour between turns, LOL. Also, it could easily be a week or two before I could start. Due to the holiday, plus I'm only ~10 moves into CMFI's "Keep of Majella"... a beautiful map, BTW, so kudos to the scenario designer Kari Salo. (An added plus is that its snowy conditions are really getting me into a Bulge state of mind....) Oh, last thing: one of the problems right now with The Scenario Depot is that the BF Repository's files are still not all transferred over. So I've mostly still been downloading things from here. Not sure if that issue would be applicable to the Proving Grounds, but I suspect most people won't make the true switch in their minds until every file has been moved there.

Really like that style. Especially the overhead, strategic view, where you can see all the troop/icon movements at 4x speed... for every move. Nice. And that simulated aerial recon blew me out of the water. Had never seen anyone try that before.

Sounds really cool! When you say "'til the website shows up," you mean the CMBulge forum that'll be here, I assume? Also, anyone have any idea about when Bulge's beta DAR/AAR may show up? (For CMRT, or maybe it was CMBS, the beta DAR showed up more than 6 months prior to release, IIRC.) Very excited about the two upcoming releases! These Combat Mission games are the most fun I've had on a PC in probably 10 years. No exaggeration. Got a buddy of mine interested in them too -- a former avid Men of War player (I could just never get into those), and now we're both lamenting all the fun we could've been having with these the last 4+ years... if only we'd known CM even existed. So, to those you right now working your butts off to get these titles out the door, all these questions have got to be a bit of a nuisance... but hopefully it's obvious that they're more a function of people's interest and appreciation rather than expectation or entitlement. Thanks.

I think it's probably realistic, yes. It's a low probability hit, but still, it will happen sometimes. My educated guess is that the likelihood of being hit probably works as an inverse square law, or perhaps an inverse cube law. Meaning at 2x the distance, there's one-fourth the chance of being hit. (Or one-eighth, under a cube law.) I remember doing a bunch of mortar / arty testing in the editor several months back, all on flat and empty maps, and the injury patterns and probabilities seemed pretty reasonable. I wish I could've been more scientific about it than I was, but... I simply lack the knowledge to do so.) Yes, every now and then there'd be a really odd, low-likelihood casualty. So now I tend to think of it like this: given enough trials, even unlikely things are very likely to happen.

I left a comment over at The Scenario Depot also, but reading the scenario author'd briefing notes again, I see he's asked people to leave any comments here or to send them by email. This one is definitely worth the public praise / recommendation, IMO, so... here's what I said over there: I just finished this one, and can honestly say that this was the most fun I've ever had with any city or large town scenario. I usually shy away from that setting (since it seems like the game mechanics and animation weaknesses are most apparent there), but taking a chance on this one really paid off. Best of all, this apparently has 5 AI plans, so it should be extremely replayable. Thanks Umlaut.

Yes, it IS disturbing. I had to stop reading those comments after seeing one that said: "Poor demonized Germans. Even now people are still demonizing them based on propaganda from World War I and II" And this person was being completely serious....