sttp

Don't be confused. The AI does *NOT* have any special protection. If someone has tests that show otherwise lets see them. Such claims have to be near the top of the ridiculous pile of BS made on here.

When I take a look at towns and cities in my copy of Final Blitzkrieg I often feel that they seem unfinished. There are quite a few things that could be added to the scenario editor which would help to make cities, towns and villages look better. One small thing that I think could make a great change would be to add pedestrian walks to the editor. It is possible to use for example cobbled stone tiles for the streets and other tiles to serve as pedestrian walks. But that method still doesn't make the streets look the part.

Imagine if CM got as much dev time as this thread 😭

Ha, well you all inspired me after Chuckdyke killed the thread.  I went to check out my CMBN and realized the last update I had for it was 2.0!  🤣
So this evening I purcased upgrade 3.0 and 4.0.  Oh, and Market Garden.  Oh yeah, and the vehicle and battle pack too.  And then downloaded the All in One Modpack with all the scenarios and campaigns and soundscape and Vins icons, etc!  😎 😁
I'm kinda in awe at the moment and started Devil's Descent (which I played years ago and remember loving it!) and also started a medium battle as the Germans around the Falaise pocket.  Let's just say my CM options just got HUGE.  I didn't realize how much content had come out for BN over the years.  My only real WWII play has been with RT/FR.  It's really fun to fire up the Americans again and I missed those paratroopers!!

I just realized guys, if someone wanted to they could now make an insanely large multi module  campaign following a whole division from the beaches right through Germany when the next blitz module comes out. 😮

It is a snippet from the Utah Beach Master Map. The little house and barn in the distance is the 'Red House' that was used as the identifying landmark by the first US senior officers to land to determine they had landed in the wrong spot. The Master Map will extend north to the intended landing spots that were in front of additional German strongpoints that were cleared by 3/22 IR that morning.
True the Utah landings by the 4th ID were comparatively peaceful (though it could be argued the Airborne forces took the causalities instead), doesn't mean there aren't good tactical problems for players to solve. But then nothing stopping players using the master map for a little 'what if' for some bloody H2H battles.  
Omaha and the Commonwealth beaches are not part of this pack. Waffen SS and Fallschirmjager forces were missing at the time the base game was created that focused on the US vs German (Heer only) forces. The ability for CMBN to simulate the battles in this part of the theatre is now possible. So yes, players will require all modules and the Vehicle Pack to get the most out of this pack. (Like other Battle Pack releases).
Luckily this pack isn't a one man operation to get it out the door. A core group of experienced map makers are working away on this using BIGOT maps and aerial photography to get the most accurate mapping possible in game. Once the more formal announcement is made you'll see what it coming and I think any Normandy wargamer is going to be...

We just want to make sure we have geography sorted before providing more solid details. This little tease was more about answering some of the posts about a possible 'beach map'.

I think it's important for him diplomatically and politically to signal that he is open to negotiations. Whether he really is, I don't know.

Agreed that it's about the bigger picture, but if Ukraine doesn't enter Nato, and cannot build up its own defences, then isn't that just setting things up for the Russians to attack again some years down the line, and maybe getting things right instead of squandering their forces?

I didn't watch the video because of one single statement - "NATO expansion". That's how you know it's a complete and utter BS.
NATO doesn't expand. It is joined willingly.

I really thought the interviewer didn't really do his homework before this interview.. there were a ton of hairbrained questions, like "do you think BFC will update CMBB or CMAK in the future?".. no, why would he ever do this? those engines are a technical dead-end, fun to play in 2001, not fun to play in 2022.  Anyway, I thought Steve was being nice and I'm not sure I would have reacted the same way.

Woohoo! Early D-Day! Here's hoping for DD tanks! Assault Team organizations! And an awesome OOB remake of The Road to Montebourg! Or some 22nd Infantry Regiment WN clearing! And Ernest Hemingway as a playable unit. 😛

CMx3…Any comments?

Here is the normal version, https://www.dropbox.com/s/gbheemjzlafev7l/A Once Quiet Town V2.zip?dl=0
Here is the Easier version with another route across the river you will have to find.  https://www.dropbox.com/s/sq08pc5b9r5hfwl/A Once Quiet Town Easier V2.zip?dl=0
 
Enjoy and again, many thanks to Jim das Selvas for taking the time to put this on YouTube.  I know editing can take a while and Jim has a great style to his videos.  Had to put Jim in my scenario notes he deserves it very much.
Semper Fi.
James.

Again, both circumstances are the same weapon, firing directly at the soldier - so both are the AI aiming and firing at a man-sized target.

The end result is that the shots that are targeting the tank commander/gunner are significantly more accurate that those on a target on foot.

They are trying to target the individual soldier in both cases (and granted they're not exactly the same, but they're as close as you can get), but that the dispersion from the first is significantly more.

This is clearer with automatic fire, since that will inevitably spread more for all of the obvious reasons. This really looks like a bug in the underlying calculation, rather than something intentional or working as designed.

Where that bug actually is obviously not known (it'd require a look at the algorithm, for a start), I wouldn't take my suggestion of the cause as anything other than baseless speculation, but it's where I'd start looking personally.

The comparison I made was between the same weapon system targeting a single soldier, on foot and on the ground, compared to a single soldier sitting in a TC seat. Both are targeting the exact same size of target - they're both targeting one individual human.

The former has shots that spread over the entire action spot. The latter has shots which spread on a significantly tighter cone. It's as if (arbitrary values here) the first test has a spread in the trajectory calculations of +- 20% and the latter has a spread of +-5% - the latter spreads far less at the same distance, and for the same target.

This is behaviour which has been known and demonstrated on this forum for years. The root cause was my speculation, but that's not necessarily what's going on here. My mention of the 8x8 vs 1x1 was a suggestion that perhaps the deviation is a common percentage (i.e., they spread an arbitrary +- 10% for that weapon at that distance), but what they are deviating *from* is different. E.g., if the starting point in that calculation was a much smaller area, than a constant deviation percentage would spread far less. Purely speculation though, obviously.

To be clear:

I am not referring to the reaction times of tank commanders to button up. This used to be bad, but this behaviour has been tweaked, and I think I'm happy with how this is.

I am also not trying to say that unbuttoning a tank commander within small arms range is a good idea, or shouldn't get your TC killed. I imagine this is part of the reason why this has persisted for as long as it has, because the end result is "working as designed" - it should be a risk to unbutton, and it is. The issue is that this risk, which should exist and be a real problem, is larger than it should be.


 

The gun shields do help if you use them correctly, but the main issue is that the accuracy has been shown to increase dramatically when targeting gunners/tank commanders.

This has all been tested, logged, etc. The data is all there. Shots versus tank commanders are more accurate than against a single individual in the open - the cone of fire is significantly tighter.

In my case both times it was a single shooter who engaged and killed my gunners between 2-400m and 1-3 shots. 

So there have been tests. The first clue was some forum posts from here years ago that showed SMG tracers firing at the unbuttoned tank commander, or at the vehicle. The vehicle had tracer fire going all over the action spot, and the unbuttoned one had a focused, tight cone going straight for the TC. The same weapon firing at the same range, but suddenly much more accurate?

The main methodology to generate the data was to set up firing ranges with unbuttoned tcs/halftracks and individual HQ soldiers, at the same distance and on sand. I don't have the test results to hand (can dig this up), but it showed a marked increase of accuracy towards the commanders, over the soldiers on foot. Same weapon, same distance, statistically significantly more accurate fire.

I think there is. You put a single trooper in the open, and see how long it takes a squad to kill them from a given range.
It may not be a perfect test, but it is indicative of the underlying problem, especially when you consider that 1 man in the open is roughly twice as big as a head and torso showing over a vehicle hatch, especially if there is a turret shield involved.

This isn't so much about crews not buttoning up, it's about tests indicating that pixeltruppen are far more accurate when shooting at unbuttoned crewmembers,

I see gunners die way too often in the M113A2. I didn't say the M113A1 because it's just like a ww2 halftrack - nothing at all to hide behind. If you watch the video I posted it shows the insane shots AI make from time to time. And then the turn I submitted was the minute after

Well sure, but 215m for a one shot precision kill on a target the size of a helmet (Which had just come to a stop from either a fast or sprint order) seems pretty absurd. 
The 400m shot took 3 rounds which was far too good still, but after a few rounds the crew should either duck or be given some kind of bonus. If someones vehicle was taking fire they would certainly hide behind the gun shield better if not drop down entirely. 
I have to recheck the veterancy but I dont remember putting any green m113s in that scenario. 
You cant see that video? It's ridiculous

You are a star...many thanks

Help!
I've finished a campaign build, BUT the zip file is 26MB...therefore breaches the 20MB limit on https://www.thefewgoodmen.com/tsd3/
If anyone can help it'll be appreciated. Already to go on the 16th Dec as well!
 

December 16th 05:35, the “Ghost Front” erupts in a maelstrom of noise and violence as Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein begins.
The Rollbahn D Campaign contains 35 linear scenarios built as historically accurate as I’ve been able to achieve. 
You control the fortunes of KG Peiper, SG Knittel, and Panzer Brigade 150, along with elements from KG Hansen, KG Sandig, and the 3. Fallschirmjäger-Division.
Boy did this project snowball!
The Campaign begins with a choice. Either starting at the very beginning or on Day 3 of the offensive. The latter will be an easier route as you’ll have not suffered any losses to your core units. I’ve included here what it takes to progress within the Campaign as not every engagement is balanced. The scenarios range from small to medium to Ben Hur like epics. 
I’ve made minor changes to the Day 1-2 scenarios based on the feedback from the Rollbahn D Part 1 Campaign.
Day1-2
SN01: Murky Merlscheid / Fallshirmjager Regiment 9 / Minor Victory
SN02: Leaving Lanzerath / Fallshirmjager Regiment 9 / Minor Victory
SN03: Minen The Gap / Spitze / Minor Victory
SN04: Breakthrough / Spitze Kompanie and FSJ / Minor Victory
SN05: Hurrying Through Honsfeld / Spitze and Gndrs / Draw
SN06: Bull in gen China Shop / Spitze and Spitze Komp / Minor Victory
SN07: Butchers Of Baugnez / Spitze and KG Peiper / Minor Victory
Day 3 
SN08: Laying Down The Recht / KG Hansen / Minor Victory
SN09: Poteau The Priority / KG Hansen / Minor Victory
SN10: Storming Stavelot / KG Peiper / Tactical Victory
SN11: Trois Is A Crowd / KG Peiper and FSJ / Draw
SN12: Jabos! / KG Peiper / Tactical Defeat
SN13: Probe At Stavelot / KG Peiper and FSJ / Minor Victory 
SN14: Neufmoulin Rouge / KG Peiper / Draw
Day 4
SN15: Duel In The Mist / KG Peiper and FSJ / Minor Victory
SN16: Too Tight At Targnon / KG Peiper / Tactical Defeat
SN17: Vorauskompanie Searches For Gas / SG Knittel / Tactical Defeat
SN18: Ster Way To Heaven / KG Peiper, Sandig, SG Knittel / Tactical Defeat
Day 5
SN19: Stationary At Stavelot / SG Knittel / Major Defeat
SN20: Chewin Them Up At Cheneux / KG Peiper / Tactical Victory
SN21: Treachery At Les Tcheous / KG Sandig / Draw
SN22: Closing The Door / SG Knittel / Draw
SN23: Ambush At Chenai / KG Sandig / Draw
SN24: Violence At The Preventorium / KG Peiper / Draw
Day 6
SN25: KG X Factor / Panzer Brigade 150 / Tactical Defeat
SN26: No Prizes At Noupre / KG Hansen, SG Knittel / Minor Victory
SN27: Punishment At Parfondry / SG Knittel / Tactical Defeat
SN28: TF Jordan Storms Stoumont / KG Peiper / Draw
SN29: Cold Hearts At Froidcour / KG Peiper / Tactical Victory
SN30: Persistence Prevails / KG Peiper / Draw
Day 7
SN31: Borgoumont Blitz / KG Peiper / Major Defeat
SN32: Kicking Coblenz / SG Knittel / Total Defeat
SN33: Festung La Gleize / KG Peiper / Tactical Victory
SN34: Hansens Surprise / KG Hansen / Draw
Day 9
SN35: Katz Und Maus / The Survivors / Minor Victory
 
All the maps are my own, apart from Cheneux, which is stock that I’ve modified. Ranks/uniforms can be inaccurate as command units are above the battalion level.
Each Scenario will be available as a separate download in January.
 
Good Luck!