IICptMillerII

The loadout for the Challenger II and every single British A vehicle in the game is as stated in British Army doctrinal publications of the time, so no it is not skewed.

I'm impressed. I've been looking forward to it for a long time, as I played CMSF more than anything else.
Despite what I knew from CMBS and CMBN I was quite surprised how differently some familiar scenarios play out. 'Ambush at Al Fubar' is an old favourite of mine and I actually found it quite difficult; gone is the ability of your troops to simply press on through fire, and urban fighting feels a lot nastier. The tendency for units to run for it when artillery falls makes some interesting situations; and the battlefield generally feels a lot more dangerous.
 
It's also very smooth on my Macbook Pro.
 
The frist time I heard the loading screen music a huge smile came across my face.

I believe so. With a Reshade installed, I think if you only enable the depth of field effect (there are a few iirc) and nothing else, you should be all set. 
@Mord Great looking screenshots! Looking forward to what you come up with using Reshade. 
@37mm Another excellent video! I wish I had the time right now to pump out a few myself. Keep up the good work!

Dialing in the Reshade and messing with filters and camera angles for screenie taking.

 

 

 
Mord.
 

Engagement at nightfall
 

Ok I spent a significant amount of time messing with reshade last night and decided to make a (took forever!) quick little  primer for people who haven't tried it yet, or for people who (like me) tried it and just had too many problems getting it to work. I solved that!
First off you'll want to head over to Reshade.me and dl the new 4.0.2 Reshade.
Now, go to where you dled it.
 


 

 
 
You can uninstall Reshade by redoing the exact same procedure. This time when you click your CM exe
it will remove Reshade. No muss no fuss.

Ok. Now comes the part a lot of us have had problems with. If you follow my instructions you'll be able to use Reshade with very little hassle. My pain is your gain. READ THROUGH THIS ONCE OR TWICE FIRST.
1b.) Start the CM game you installed reshade on. You'll see this (pic below). DO NOTHING.

 
2b.) Go to the editor (easiest to just do this in the editor).
3b.) Open a map and preview it. (You can open a scenario or QB or just a flat map. Not really important for this first part).
Now this is the tricky part. Just pay attention to your old buddy Mord and I am gonna get this working for you!
While you ARE IN THE EDITOR (AND EDITOR ONLY) hit the "Home" key. It will bring up a menu. Now, when you do this, for a lot of us the screen will rotate. If it does just pay attention to the menu box you see in the picture below. It will stay still. If it gets too much you can click "Home" again and it'll take you back to normal and you can get your bearings.
I suggest skipping through the tutorial you see in the pic for now.

 
4b.) Ok see the set of tabs? Click the Settings tab. EDITED: Go to Settings: Input Processing. Set it to "Pass on all input". No more spinning! BIG THANKS to Captain Reyes! Now choose "Effect Toggle Key". Now choose a key on your keyboard that you would like to toggle the Reshade effects. Make sure it isn't something CM uses. I use Shift+F2. Ok press whatever key you are gonna use. That will be used to toggle your effects on and off, obviously,

5b.) Now I am gonna give you some effects to get you started. These will be a good base for you to experiment with without a lot of guess work right off the bat. Ok, click the first tab that says "Home" next to "Settings" in the menu (NOT the keyboard "Home").
Now find the following and check them.
Tint [sepia]
Emphasize
FilmPass
ColorMatrix
GaussianBlur
Colourfulness
In this pic I chose all of the above and dragged them all to the top of the list so I always know where they are and I can experiment more easily. I highly suggest you do this to make it easy on you later.

 
Ok, do you have them all? Now, click the "Home" key on your keyboard.
Now, if you want to switch back and forth between Vanilla graphics and Reshade graphics you just hit the key you chose in part 4b.)
HERE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART: Before you leave the editor make sure you toggle back to vanilla graphics. NEVER toggle Reshade graphics on outside of the editor, or outside of a battle.
NEVER toggle the Reshade menu ("Home" key) outside of the editor or a battle.
 
NOTE: If you screw up and do one of the above you'll have to find a way out of it. It won't damage your game or anything but it can take some trickery to get it back to normal. I've done it a bucnh of times now and am used to it. Don't panic if it happens! SEE CAPTAIN REYES'S POST BELOW.
Sounds like a lot but it's really quite easy. Once you do it for one game it won't take you long to have them all running using Reshade. And trust me it REALLY is worth it. I didn't think it was but now that I figured out not to open the menu or toggle the effects outside of the editor/battle it's a whole new world.
 
The screens speak for themselves!
 
VANILLA

 
BADASSERY!

 
Anybody that has any problems just ask and I'll do my best to help. I want you guys to experience this!
 
Mord.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

@ctcharger Retired USA Colonel Jeffrey Paulding put together about six u-tube videos on Combat Missions and tactics.  Don't know if you have seen them but they are very good. Below is a link to the first video.  Enjoy. 
 
 

Ok, did some very basic preliminary tests. Mostly seeing what can be done without hex editing. Did some texture swapping and used some masks to get the results I was looking for. These aren't perfect just proof of concept/dipping my toes. This won't be as good as my old civil war and mixed combatant mods but it'll do. With the Syrian Reserves being 98% free of shared textures a very decent Civil War mod and scenarios can be produced. Best results as I see it would be Syrian Reserves (Infantry and Mech), Combatants and Fighters against Syrian Mech, Guards, Airborne and Spec Ops. The Reserves have a pretty decent selection of tanks (and access to most AFV/IFVs) so it would be a decent match up.
Here's some alpha pics to get your imagination pumping.
 

 

NOTE: Combatants are not mixed in with Syrian Reserves.

 

 

 
Mord.

Sabot from an Abrams. At just under 1000 meters, and hitting the T-72M1 in the side like that, the sabot was probably still moving close to muzzle velocity after exiting the T-72. Caused the infamous ammo carousel explosion, sending the turret into space and contributing another satellite to the Soviet space program 🤣

Defiance!!  Or sending armor on a flanking move through side streets and alleys without infantry support..........


 

It looks like the mortar bug is known and will be fixed soon with a post release patch for SF2:
 
 

Ok. Figured I'd give you guys a little peek at what I've been working on. Got all the Uncons down and in their final form. As you can see, if you look on the first page, only one of them survived! I am in love with the new Combatants! I think they kill it! There'll be two choices for them, red and green. I like the new spy a lot as well. 
Just finished a keeper for the Marines infantry. This guy is much better than the first one I was testing (which only Sburke has seen). I have made a few portraits with him to give you an idea of the direction I'll be taking them. These are all preliminary as I am still working out what kind of formations I'll be doing and how to present them. The Marines will have a special background using their globe and anchor flag.
 
Anyway, here you go.
 

 
Mord.
 
P.S. CAN SOMEONE MOVE THIS TO THE MOD SECTION?

Concerning track degradation: it is absolutely realistic for tracks/wheels to be damaged by crossing through fences and the like. In reality, concertina wire is considered an anti-tank obstacle that tracked vehicles are not supposed to cross unless they absolutely have to. The reason is essentially that the wiring and materials that forms the obstacle get caught up in the wheels/treads/bogey wheels/etc. It is also easy to throw a track or have any other number of technical failures occur. Further, even if no immediate damage occurs, the material stuck up in the wheel/tread mechanics have to be manually removed. It's a big mess
The stryker is also a bit temperamental when it comes to its wheels. As in, it seems to enjoy rupturing them so much that it might as well be a feature of the vehicle. Its not uncommon on a road march for a stryker unit to go through its entire stock of replacement tires, or at least a significant portion of them. Part of the reason for this is the complex hydraulic system used to raise and lower the truck itself.
All of this is to say, both wheeled and tracked vehicles are more vulnerable to obstacles than one might initially think. Movies constantly showing tanks driving through 10 foot high brick walls at full speed, among other things certainly do not help with the perception. 

Concerning track degradation: it is absolutely realistic for tracks/wheels to be damaged by crossing through fences and the like. In reality, concertina wire is considered an anti-tank obstacle that tracked vehicles are not supposed to cross unless they absolutely have to. The reason is essentially that the wiring and materials that forms the obstacle get caught up in the wheels/treads/bogey wheels/etc. It is also easy to throw a track or have any other number of technical failures occur. Further, even if no immediate damage occurs, the material stuck up in the wheel/tread mechanics have to be manually removed. It's a big mess
The stryker is also a bit temperamental when it comes to its wheels. As in, it seems to enjoy rupturing them so much that it might as well be a feature of the vehicle. Its not uncommon on a road march for a stryker unit to go through its entire stock of replacement tires, or at least a significant portion of them. Part of the reason for this is the complex hydraulic system used to raise and lower the truck itself.
All of this is to say, both wheeled and tracked vehicles are more vulnerable to obstacles than one might initially think. Movies constantly showing tanks driving through 10 foot high brick walls at full speed, among other things certainly do not help with the perception. 

There isn't anything you can do to fix a vehicle once it becomes immobilized. Certain terrain is much more likely to bog/immobilize a vehicle, such as mud. 
There have been a few threads that have addressed movement speed and bog chance, and off the top of my head I think the consensus that was reached was that speed does not effect bog chance, though I might be wrong. 
I also recall that the game simulates ground being torn up by vehicles repeatedly crossing over it. So if you have a field that a bunch of tanks have rolled over, the bog chance increases. Not entirely sure if that is the case, though I have seen effects in the game enough to think it is. 
There is also a bit of randomness thrown in. It's possible to bog/immobilize on a road, though the chance is low. This is to simulate a track being thrown for any number of reasons, or a tire going flat, or an axle breaking, etc. Murphy's law is a constant after all. 

I tend to pull crewmen who have abandoned their vehicles far away from combat. Partly because they do not perform well in a firefight, and partly because it isn't realistic to use them as infantry. 

There isn't anything you can do to fix a vehicle once it becomes immobilized. Certain terrain is much more likely to bog/immobilize a vehicle, such as mud. 
There have been a few threads that have addressed movement speed and bog chance, and off the top of my head I think the consensus that was reached was that speed does not effect bog chance, though I might be wrong. 
I also recall that the game simulates ground being torn up by vehicles repeatedly crossing over it. So if you have a field that a bunch of tanks have rolled over, the bog chance increases. Not entirely sure if that is the case, though I have seen effects in the game enough to think it is. 
There is also a bit of randomness thrown in. It's possible to bog/immobilize on a road, though the chance is low. This is to simulate a track being thrown for any number of reasons, or a tire going flat, or an axle breaking, etc. Murphy's law is a constant after all. 

I tend to pull crewmen who have abandoned their vehicles far away from combat. Partly because they do not perform well in a firefight, and partly because it isn't realistic to use them as infantry. 

There isn't anything you can do to fix a vehicle once it becomes immobilized. Certain terrain is much more likely to bog/immobilize a vehicle, such as mud. 
There have been a few threads that have addressed movement speed and bog chance, and off the top of my head I think the consensus that was reached was that speed does not effect bog chance, though I might be wrong. 
I also recall that the game simulates ground being torn up by vehicles repeatedly crossing over it. So if you have a field that a bunch of tanks have rolled over, the bog chance increases. Not entirely sure if that is the case, though I have seen effects in the game enough to think it is. 
There is also a bit of randomness thrown in. It's possible to bog/immobilize on a road, though the chance is low. This is to simulate a track being thrown for any number of reasons, or a tire going flat, or an axle breaking, etc. Murphy's law is a constant after all. 

The javelin is a game changer in modern conventional warfare. A light infantry company in strykers has enough javelin munitions to wipe out an armored battalion. It's a revolution in infantry anti-tank capability not seen since the first introduction of the ATGM in the later 60's. 
The TOW-2A is a conventional warhead that is effective against tanks/buildings/fortifications. The TOW-2B in Black Sea is a top-down attack munition that is most effective against armored vehicles and certain types of fortifications, such as bunkers. What the tac ai chooses to engage with what munitions is in large part dependent on the capability of the munitions. This likely explains the difference in behavior you're seeing between CMSF2 and CMBS. 
Very unlikely. 

@MOS:96B2P @Splinty @sburke here's the 82nd:
 

Thanks for the positive feedback everyone!
You're in luck, I have an 82nd skin nearly ready to go. I'll add 2ID to the list as well. Might as well throw in 1st Cav at this point too.