IICptMillerII

I've been playing around with reshade recently and have been getting some pretty nice results for the most part. Besides the reshade, these pictures feature a handful of mods, such as the DDR mod, the US OD reskin, as well as S-Tank's excellent MERDC reskins, to name a few. 

I've been playing around with reshade recently and have been getting some pretty nice results for the most part. Besides the reshade, these pictures feature a handful of mods, such as the DDR mod, the US OD reskin, as well as S-Tank's excellent MERDC reskins, to name a few. 

This pair of shots gets its own post. A with and without reshade, for comparison. Guess which one is stock?


Might just be me, but the reshade Abrams looks really incredible to me. Might end up as a wallpaper on my computer.

This was my first dive back into the world of reshade. Some are better than others (at least to my eye) as I was figuring out how reshade works again and trying out different settings. Not sure why I decided to go with CMFI to test this out, something about this game always seems to pull be back from time to time. It's got a certain character to it. There are a handful of mods alongside the reshade in these pictures. 















 

This was my first dive back into the world of reshade. Some are better than others (at least to my eye) as I was figuring out how reshade works again and trying out different settings. Not sure why I decided to go with CMFI to test this out, something about this game always seems to pull be back from time to time. It's got a certain character to it. There are a handful of mods alongside the reshade in these pictures. 















 

This pair of shots gets its own post. A with and without reshade, for comparison. Guess which one is stock?


Might just be me, but the reshade Abrams looks really incredible to me. Might end up as a wallpaper on my computer.

I've been playing around with reshade and have gotten some decent results. These images feature a WIP reshade preset as well as numerous mods.

I've been playing around with reshade recently and have been getting some pretty nice results for the most part. Besides the reshade, these pictures feature a handful of mods, such as the DDR mod, the US OD reskin, as well as S-Tank's excellent MERDC reskins, to name a few. 

I've been playing around with reshade recently and have been getting some pretty nice results for the most part. Besides the reshade, these pictures feature a handful of mods, such as the DDR mod, the US OD reskin, as well as S-Tank's excellent MERDC reskins, to name a few. 

I've been playing around with reshade recently and have been getting some pretty nice results for the most part. Besides the reshade, these pictures feature a handful of mods, such as the DDR mod, the US OD reskin, as well as S-Tank's excellent MERDC reskins, to name a few. 

I've been playing around with reshade and have gotten some decent results. These images feature a WIP reshade preset as well as numerous mods.

I've been playing around with reshade recently and have been getting some pretty nice results for the most part. Besides the reshade, these pictures feature a handful of mods, such as the DDR mod, the US OD reskin, as well as S-Tank's excellent MERDC reskins, to name a few. 

This pair of shots gets its own post. A with and without reshade, for comparison. Guess which one is stock?


Might just be me, but the reshade Abrams looks really incredible to me. Might end up as a wallpaper on my computer.

I've been playing around with reshade and have gotten some decent results. These images feature a WIP reshade preset as well as numerous mods.

This was my first dive back into the world of reshade. Some are better than others (at least to my eye) as I was figuring out how reshade works again and trying out different settings. Not sure why I decided to go with CMFI to test this out, something about this game always seems to pull be back from time to time. It's got a certain character to it. There are a handful of mods alongside the reshade in these pictures. 















 

This was my first dive back into the world of reshade. Some are better than others (at least to my eye) as I was figuring out how reshade works again and trying out different settings. Not sure why I decided to go with CMFI to test this out, something about this game always seems to pull be back from time to time. It's got a certain character to it. There are a handful of mods alongside the reshade in these pictures. 















 

All fair points! Again, not trying to poopoo. 
I get it, something to do with the anticipation generated energy. 
Like you, I am really interested in seeing how Chieftain ends up performing. It is a tank with quite a reputation to it, and I wonder if some may be a bit chafed by its in game performance. Or not!
I also agree that it should generally speaking be a bit more survivable than the M60. The ability to take one on the chin (even if its a marginal advantage over the M60) could end up being decisive. 
I think I am most interested to see Chieftain take on T-64 equipped Soviet formations.

Hello...
I have started a little map project. My goal is to design a few quite large maps that still retain a fairly high level of detail. These maps will not be designed
as mastermaps ment to be split up into smaller sections but rather to be used as a 'full size' map but you as a potential user are offcourse free to cut and tweak the map in any way you please.
I will not be spewing these maps out in any great amont. I will be working on these at a relaxed pace and my current goal for the rest of 2023 is to release two more maps after this first one if you guys feel that this initial one is up to snuff.
This first map is for CMBN. Centered around a village along the Douve river, south west of Valognes. Mapsize is 2700 X 1900 meters. I have taken some liberties with the actual village but the terrain is very close to current day google earth (elevations are fictional).
I'm planning on making one more CMBN-map and then a CMRT-map this year. Dependant on RL situations i might be able to do a third one. We shall see. Two additional maps after this one should be doable though.
On this first map (Normandy) i have 'tweaked' the low boccage hedges somewhat. At various locations i have replaced a part of the low boccage with regular hedge tiles to allow for vehicles to cut through. This will come with the risk of bogging down though as the terrain tile 
at these locations are be mud ground. See pictures below. I have also included a fair amount of boccage gaps to allow for infantry movement.
These maps will have no units, no set-up zones or no objectives and no AI plans....They can be added as desired. Hopefully these maps will provide nice playgrounds for H2H gameplay or as a starting map for anyone wanting to try and design a scenario using them.
This first normandy map has been made using the majority of 37mm brilliant 'all in one' mod pack for CMBN. Hopefully the map will still look decent even if you are playing with stock graphics or use different mods. 
Enjoy ! 
Some pictures from this first map...
From google earth:


From the editor:

Some ingame pictures:
 

















This is what the boccage/hedge trick looks like in the editor:

And in-game:

Download link:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/x3h7htnzcx1ykxp/Cotentin Peninsula.btt?dl=0
 

I decided to create a new topic for this because "tool to set elevation in the editor" is no longer really a good description. Finally (from my perspective 😉) I managed to release version 2.0.0 of CMAutoEditor.

https://github.com/DerButschi/CMAutoEditor
Woah, Butschi, wait a minute CMAutoWhat? What the hell are you talking about? CMAutoEditor is a tool that takes "external" data, like elevation, and automates clicking in the CM scenario editor. This way it kind of works around "missing features" in the editor. Wouldn't it be nice to import something like a heat map instead of clicking elevations in the editor? Of course I can't change the editor but by letting CMAutoEditor do the clicking it does something similar.

 
Version 2 is really a major update as it now includes importing data from OpenStreetMap. This way you can basically use CMAutoEditor to create a whole map for you.
Still, feature creep and being overly ambitious is certain to kill such a small project so I had to triage what makes it into this release and what (maybe, provided there is enough interest on your side and enough time on my side) gets postponed to a later update.

The cut affecting most of you is that for this release only CMCW is really supported. The reason is that there are differences in what is in the scenario editor for each CM title. That means not only are there buttons at different positions but there are also different buildings, roads, flavour objects etc. which need to be programmed as a "profile". I intend to modify CMAutoEditor in a way that the community can help with that but I am not yet sure how best to do it. So, for now CMCW only. CMBS should work for everything but flavour objects.

Another thing I had to cut is support for Windows version older than Windows 10. I know, there are quite a few of you around who still field Windows 7. However, python is only supported up to version 3.7 on Windows 7 and a few of the libraries CMAutoEditor depends on require python 3.10. In addition, I don't have a farm of PCs idling at home where I can test different Windows version so I can really only develop for Windows 10. Sorry for that but maybe this doubles as a friendly reminder that nowadays Windows 7 is a security liability and you should upgrade to Windows 10 or 11. 😉
There is of course a long list of things I'd like to improve eventually and given that this is a rather complex piece of code the chances that it is free of bugs is close to zero. So, feel free to contact me here or on github if you find something!

Now, with all the caveats out of the way let's move on to the more pleasant stuff. 🙂 What's new in version 2? Well, of course OpenStreetMap data. You can import forests, rivers, roads, streams, railways, farmland, grassland, bushes, buildings and even bus stops, wayside crosses and much more. I improved the tools to import DGM data so that now arbitrary rectangles can be extracted. The information from this can be loaded into the OSM data converter so that you don't have to manually enter bounding boxes. (The geotiff tool is unfortunately among the things that didn't make it for this release so you are left with the previous capabilites). CMAutoEditor itself is now also much faster. Please note, that it may be too fast for what your PC can handle. If you experience "holes", e.g. when setting the elevation, that means the CM Editor is not responsive enough. I will make the parameters that determines the rate of clicking selectable from the GUI in a later update. Last but certainly not least there is a GUI for all the tools, so no more going to that evil shell, typing commands - kudos to @Dawntaker for supporting me with GUI making!

One more thing. I won't repeat the mistake and not have a manual or tutorial video ready at release: Since my previous tutorial video is now totally deprecated I am doing a new one. This time, instead of just telling you what the different features do, I'll do a step-by-step tutorial in four parts where I will create an actual map. This way I will certainly miss a few features but you should get a better feeling of how to actually use the tools in reality. Part 1 is finished already and it covers "installing" (i.e. downloading the .exe files) CMAutoEditor, installing other necessary tools, selecting a location for the map in map.army, finding and downloading elevation data, downloading OpenStreetMap data and getting historical aerial imagery and working with it. So, basically the boring stuff, some of you might say, but possibly the most important part. 😉
In the future I'd like to adapt CMAutoEditor to one of the WW2 titles, I think CMFB or CMRT would be best. Obviously present-day OpenStreetMap won't do for that. So, instead I'd like to make another tutorial showing how to use and old map or aerial image to make "OpenStreetMap data" from scratch and feed it into the CM scenario editor. Drawing polygons and tagging them is still - in my view - much more comfortable than clicking in the editor with some semi transparent overlay. So, if you have good material, go ahead and make a suggestion here. 😉
I hope you enjoy this new version of CMAutoEditor and the tutorial video(s)!

There is no borg spotting unless you play on the easiest difficulty, called "Basic Training."

No need to hurry, currently only the elevation feature is publicly available (or supported, I should say, since you can always check out the corresponding branch on GitHub). I am trying to spin both plates at once at the moment, i.e. tool and campaign. I am using the maps I'm making for this campaign to find bugs and tweak the algorithm while gathering feedback and doing research in between. I can't code nonstop, anyway. I'll make an announcement over in the general forum once it's ready to be released (soon(tm) but that depends mainly on how long it takes me to make a tutorial video. No way I'll be releasing the new features without one, again, if only for the sake of my mental health).

@Combatintman@IICptMillerII Wow, thanks! There is a lot of good stuff here - that will take me some time to sift through.
I was aware of the tank companies being distributed to the three MRBs that but... being able to read and count can be helpful I've been told. 😉 There are two things here: FM 100-2-1 says "Either regiment normally attacks with two reinforced battalions in its first echelon, and one reinforced battalion in a second echelon. A regiment could also attack with three battalions in a single echelon with a reserve of one or two companies." So, I read this as 3 MRBs in line instead of 2+1 are ok, if circumstances call for it. But I somehow thought that a tank battalion has 4 companies... so 1 company reserve = the remaining tank company. Which is still a far stretch to call Battalion(-), I'll admit (on the map those minus signs are very hard to read).
3 MRBs in a line seemed more reasonable for me, given the terrain: There is the valley with the Bundestraße and parallel but more minor roads to the left and the right. I have a hard time wrapping my head around leaving one flank uncovered, so 3 seemed like the way to go... But generally I have the feeling I am a little to obsessed with roads here.
So here I guess my alter ego as Roll Playing Game Master came in the way. Have a convincing backstory and the rest will fall into place. My idea here was this (as I had sketched in the intro): WW3 has already raged for a few days and is basically eating up formations left and right. The main battlefield in the region is the Ruhrgebiet with the Sauerland/Bergisches Land being considered too adverse terrain to advance with a mechanized formation (I actually don't know about this). Anyway, instead of throwing one or two reserve divisions into the meat grinder, the Soviets use an opportunity they are presented by, e.g. GDR spies. I read a few fascinating stories about Wallmeister, generally one guy with another two guys attached being responsible for placing explosives and other traps at key infrastructure like Autobahn bridges. So turning one or a few of them could possibly give you the chance to go quite a few miles unmolested. Now, if such an opportunity existed, my thinking was that you wouldn't just throw an understrength reserve division at it. You would of course use that division, because it is what is available, but you would beef it up with everything you can grab that isn't directly at the frontline - similar to a German ad hoc Kampfgruppe in WW2. So, if a platoon of T-80s, probably a remnant of a smashed up Cat I formation, is available, why not integrate it? Point taken, though, this is not really important for the story.
True, what I could find so far indicates that 5th Infantry Division was made up of 2 Brigades (in case someone is interested):
1st Brigade: 1-40 Armor 3-77 Armor 1-61 Mech Infantry 2nd Brigade: 3-70 Armor 3-10 Mech Infantry 3-11 Mech Infantry Plus 4th Squadron, 12th Cavalry. Apparently, ARNG Roundout Units aren't included in the Maneuver & Fire count, so 256th Infantry Brigade (consisting of 1 Armor and 2 Mech Infantry Battalions) comes on top here. Though given that so far I didn't find much about their equipment, especially which MBT, I am considering to use a different brigade. I just feel bad to let T-55s go up against M60s. 😉 At least some of the Battalions were equiped only with M60A1s, so that's it could be worse.
Question for the experts: Where Task Forces formed within Brigades or just as necessary/available?
I ran a few tests and at least Downpour severly hampers finding the target. You will frequently get "Can't locate" as status for an AH-1, especially when the Air Observer doesn't have LOS to the target. So, while an AH-1 can be called likely won't find the target.
Alright, thanks again, I'll report back later. 🙂

Apologies for the double post here. Wanted to break things up for readability sake. 
Generally speaking that is correct. This can vary as well depending on the mission. For example, you could conceivably see 3 regiments committed to the main effort if given high enough priority. There was some flexibility built in. 
Also, the echeloning you have is generally correct as well. As a rule of thumb, the Soviets planned to use tank units (regiments/divisions) as exploitation units, and for the motor rifle units (again regiments/divisions) to be the penetration divisions. So the motor rifles should (again generally speaking) be going in first. 
Combatintman is right, the Soviets would generally task organize the battalions to be combined arms formations, so the tank battalion would get distributed out to the motor rifle battalions, with each battalion getting a tank company. It is possible for that task organization to change though. If the regimental commander determines he needs the concentrated power of the tank battalion, there is nothing stopping him from concentrating the tank battalion. But generally speaking you have 3 maneuver elements as the Soviets in a regiment, the three combined arms battalions. (Same goes for tank regiments, tank battalions with a motor rifle company distributed to each)
Combatintman is also right (smart lad, him) in mentioning recon. At the regimental level and above, the recon battalion organic to each Soviet division would be playing a role, generally feeling the way forward in front of the regiments. Their tasks were mostly things such as making sure the maps are correct (is that road/bridge/terrain feature/farmhouse/etc actually there? Is there a terrain feature not accounted for?) You can probably get away with abstracting their job for the purposes of your campaign, especially at first for a mini campaign.
Hmm, this one is a bit more tricky and will inevitably come down to your narrative to set the stage. A lot will rest on how ready the US unit is. Have they already taken up defensive positions, or are they still arriving to the area of operations? If they have already arrived, then they will generally arrange the defense to cover the likely enemy axis of advance(s). If they are not prepositioned yet, then the engagement will start (at least initially) as a series of meeting engagements (a mix of spoiling attacks and delaying actions meant to make contact with the advancing Soviets to find and then slow and attrit them).
First off, love the graphics! I'm a sucker for these kinds of things. And I really appreciate the use of unit boundaries here. Throw in some phase lines and you've got a proper battle plan!
For the Soviets, the main thing I see is that the units proposed are too small and divided. The smallest Soviet maneuver unit was the battalion, meaning that units smaller than a battalion were not meant to perform independent combat actions by themselves, but as part of the battalion. Battalions advancing to contact (expecting a meeting engagement) would have a combat recon patrol (a CRP) and a forward security element (FSE) in front of the leading battalion, but once these elements hit contact they were not expected to fight on their own, but to set conditions for the coming parent battalion to break through whatever resistance was encountered. The important thing here is concentration. You do not want your companies to be so far apart that they cannot support one another, and by that I mean support via direct fire engagement. 
Its not unheard of for a Soviet company (or company sized task organized force) to take independent action, but their roles were more meant for things such as screening the regimental flank if other assets weren't available, or a special task such as a company sized air assault to seize a bridge or something like that. 
As for which route is best, general practice is to come up with a main route and an alternate route. You'll probably find from looking at the terrain that there are only a handful of viable routes to advance down anyways, especially when you factor in unit boundaries and terrain boundaries. Pick our routes, and from there it comes down to finding the best way through, using recon assets attached to the division/regiment and the maneuver battalions themselves. 
For the US, there would be a screen set up by recon (cavalry) units out front to act as a tripwire. The goal of the cav units would just be to determine the size, strength, and direction of the Soviet main effort. The real fighting would be up to the maneuver battalions (usually task organized into company teams, which were intended to work together). 
These look great! More than enough to start putting forces down on the map and getting a better feel for how the fight will develop, and if anything on the map needs to be tweaked by hand. This is really good stuff!
Hope all of that helps a bit. I'll certainly be following along and would love to help out more however I can!

Hi @Butschi - I keep looking at this thread and thinking ... must help - but have been a bit overwhelmed by RL stuff.  This is a shorter answer than I'd have liked but something's better than nothing.
First up, your MRR does have four battalions but once you task organize them by giving a tank company from the regiment's tank battalion to each of the three motor rifle battalions you end up with three manoeuvre elements.  Advancing three-up with all three of your battalions would; therefore, be extremely unusual. 
There's no mention of reconnaissance elements in the scheme of manoeuvre - if the finished campaign thing is going to do the whole regiment's advance, rather than just the southern axis you have scope for a series of recce battles employing elements of the divisional reconnaissance battalion and the regimental reconnaissance company.  In fact, even if you only stick with the southern axis you can still have some reconnaissance battles using those elements.
I absolutely wouldn't stretch your narrative to include T-80s in the ORBAT of a Cat III division.  This type of division would be rounded out by reservists who had probably finished their conscription period years and years before - it would be hard enough for them just to recall their skills and drills on the equipment they had used during their service, let alone learn to operate a newer piece of equipment.  Not only that, even Cat I divisions were not fully equipped with T-80 by 1980.  We don't seem to know what 50 GMRD was equipped with in 1980 but we know it had T-62, BMP-1, BTR-60 and BTR-70 in 1985.  I would suggest that in 1980, 69 GTR would have had T-62 and BMP-1, while the three MRRs would have had T-55 and BTR-60.  You can see how far down the food chain it was by looking at its artillery allocation in 1985, the 152mm D-1 which is a towed gun dating back to WW2. 
Regarding the US - I can't give a huge amount of detail but you'll see that the US 5th Division of which 256 Brigade was a part only had 3 tank battalions and 3 mechanized infantry battalions in 1978 - it was therefore massively understrength and I doubt that situation would have rectified itself much before 1980.  Link below, Table 35, page 38 refers:
Maneuver and Firepower: The Evolution of Divisions and Separate Brigades (army.mil)
I hope this helps.