Kinophile

Fully engaged all along my line. Intense suppressive fire by both sides. I've commuted my right flank reserve to form a stronger line,  and pump that attack to seem larger than it is, also bringing my central reserve forward,  to act as reserve for Center and Right Flank. 
His m1A2s seem to be displacing constantly,  trying to get a fat armoured target I suspect. This is fine by me, gives me more time to build my ATGM FOFs. 
LEFT HOOK has achieved it's initial objective (capturing and passing through the Housing Row).  My empty BMPs hooked cleanly around the gable end, suppressing as the went.
However, once they were clear of the Housing Row disaster struck when a BMP was too slow turning it's turret and got nailed by an AT4, fired from across the main diagonal Boulevard,  perfect keyhole strike. Especially vexing as I was  fully aware of that danger,  but manoeuvred  the supressing BMP (that died) before its turret was ready. 
It didn't end there,  as that dead BMP blocked in a second,  close follow-on BMP,  which also died.These two carcasses then slowed a platoon racing around the corner,  with HMG fire through that keyhole cutting them down in seconds. One man survived. 
This complete cluster **** blocked one  approach street,  forcing the following second wave of empty BMPs through  a parallel gap where,  despite heavy suppression, a Javelin team nailed a THIRD BMP! That JAV team actually fired from deep within an apartment building through the disintegrating stone and glass as BMP fire stripped away  the facade in front of them. 
About 15 men dead in 90 seconds. 
So,  that happened. 
After the second BMP died I directed my Right Flank ZSU to fire north east along the entire length of the boulevard. Boy,  that thing lays down a hell of a smackdown! It's revealed it's position now though so I'm going to move/fire next turn.  
I've also pushed into the diagonal housing row facing onto the main boulevard. MMainly nade launchers and Snipers for now,  but I've a breach team blasting it's way north within the Row itself. Very heavy Inf fire on that row, the cross fire is lethal. 
I'm bringing up a third wave of empty BMPs,  going to use two of them to blast a gap in that diagonal housing row, then fire through, enfilading his central positions. This will happen just before my Left Hook begins it's final assault. 
Of course,  all this contact has had the intended effect - it's revealed l the primary  US positions,  especially facing my Left Hook. 
And hey look,  my FO is unsupressed! So,  about 12-18 tubes of 152 are receiving firing solutions. I'll hold on by the fingernails,  reorganize, until that Arty smacks home then it's gonna be a full left hook rush across the Boulevard,  swamping his front line. For that Ill bring up BOTH ZSUs and blast through the smoke and dust into his second line. I'll take the chance of losing AA cover for the unholy bollocking his infantry will receive! 
My biggest problem right now is that his M1a are still very much alive and intact. 
Realistically I cannot attack until I've either killed at least one, or distracted two if them over to my right flank.
An alternative is to blast gaps in his central positions and enfilading his armor as it displaces across to counter my left hook final assault.
My second big problem is his Bradley's... Or even strikers. I've seen zero of either. Perhaps they're sitting at the far back,  as a counterstrike force. 
Oh well, I'm sure they'll reveal themselves at a singularly bad moment! 

My first ever PBEM and AAR, versus Abbasid111.
 
I'm RUS, he's NATO.
 
TERRAIN



 
STRATEGY



 
FORCES



 
TACTICAL NOTES



 
- KP -

HUNTER TWO ACTUAL,  THIS IS KINGMAKER.  WHAT IS YOURE CONTACT STATUS. 
KINGMAKER, WE ARE  FULLY  COMMITTED. ALL UNIT'S ENGAGED. FREE FIRE IN EFFECT. FORWARD ELEMENTS ARE REJOINING MAIN ADVANCE. 
HUNTER TWO ACTUAL,  SOLID COPY ALL THAT. WHAT'S YOURE MECHANIZED SIT REP?
... . 
HUNTER TWO ACTUAL, ARE YOU MOBILITY POSITIVE?
KINGMAKE, KINGMAKER, THIS IS HUNTER XO. HUNTER TWO ACTUAL IS KIA. I REPEAT, HUNTER TWO ACTUAL IS KIA. HOW COPY? 
HUNTER XO,  SOLID COPY. YOU ARE NOW HUNTER TWO ACTUAL.WHAT IS YOUR CONTACT STATUS? 
KINGMAKER, SOLID COPY ON CHANGE IN COMMAND. WE  HAVE FLANKING INFANTRY FIRE, MULTIPLE FORMATIONS WITH HEAVY A.T. SUPPORT. F.O. IN OVERWATCH HAS ID'D TWO,  COUNT TWO HOSTILE  MBT INBOUND, OUR VISUAL IMMINENT.  OBJECTIVE WRENCH IS ACHIEVED. ADVANCING  TO PHASE LINE GREEN. HOW COPY? 
HUNTER TWO ACTUAL,  KINGMAKER COPIES ALL THAT. STATUS ON YOUR FIRE SUPPORT.
KINGMAKER, NEGATIVE COPY ON THAT. 12 TUBES OF 155 FIRE REQUESTED THIRTY PLUS MINS PREVIOUS. NO EFFECT YET. STAND BY FOR F.O. CONFIRMATION. 
EAGLE ONE,  EAGLE ONE,  THIS IS HUNTER TWO ACTUAL. 
HUNTER TWO ACTUAL, UNDER MBT FIRE,  STATE YOUR QUESTION. 
EAGLE ONE, UPDATE  ON THAT 155 FIRE.  SUPPORT. 
HUNTER TWO ACTUAL,  PROVIDE REQUIRED SECURITY CODE
EAGLE ONE,  HUNTER TWO ACTUAL IS KIA. THIS IS HUNTER XO, ACTING ONE PER KINGMAKER COMMAND. 
HUNTER TWO ACTUAL,  PROVIDE REQUIRED SECURITY CODE. YOUR AUDIO IS SCRAMBLED,  SOLID COPY? . 
EAGLE ONE,  HUNTER TWO ACTUAL IS KIA. REPEAT,  KIA. I DO NOT HAVE SECURITY CODE. I NEED UPDATE ON THAT 155 FIRE SUPPORT REQUEST. 
HUNTER TWO ACTUAL,  PROVIDE REQUIRED SECURITY CODE. YOUR AUDIO IS STILL SCRAMBLED.  
(f*ck me )EAGLE ONE KINGMAKER HAS UPDATED COMMAND STATUS. CHECK YOUR SCREEN, EAGLE ONE. 
*Transmission garbled *
EAGLE ONE,  HOW COPY? 
KINGMAKER, KINGMAKER-
*Channel Override -*
ALL UNIT'S BE ADVISED THIS CHANNEL NOT LONGER SECURE. PROTOCOL CHARLIE ALPHA IN EFFECT. 
Hello my ruskie  friend!  Enjoy these incoming rounds, courtesy of the US Army!
KINGMAKER KINGMAKER! NEGATIVE! DO NOT FIRE ON THIS TRANSMISSION!  FOR GOD'S SAKE DONT-
*Connection Lost*

Next turn more of the same.  My SU25 is coming around, if he did an attack run I missed it.
Troops ID'D another foxhole with enemy infantry, this is where the 40mm grenades must have been coming from.  Infantry and a BMP are targetted on the new foxhole.
My hero T90 thats taken 2 double battery precision strikes moves his target of Ainet rounds to a foxhole a few meters north and to east of the original foxhole he was targetting. Ill switch back to the first next turn - Im giving the capitalist lackeys a chance to go rabbit and run so they can be gunned down in the open.   I also adjusted my 155mm fire again near the Orekhovsk VP - now it'll be a linear mission running roughly from the treeline, over the foxholes my T90 and other troops are engaging, and end roughly past the house with the 50 cal in the second story and the foxhole near it.
I also plotted a linear 155mm mission along the length of the map running west to east from the northwest VP to the NE VP along the road and buildings that lie in that axis.  This is pretty much speculative prep fire but as my men advance and take more ground it becomes clearer and clearer where the enemy must be because of the obvious - ground we.'ve taken and places we haven't been shot at from...

pics and a map! pics and a map!  
We aren't huddled around the radio listening to commercials for an Ovaltine magic decoder ring!!!

This. 
I couldn't  articulate it any better myself. 

LEFT HOOK advances, only light intermittent contact. 
CENTER holds position, watching...waiting... 
RIGHT FLANK has made contact, US M1A1s are approaching. Perhaps he feels this is my main effort? Or is he ganging up on my weaker flank? 

Pics later this eve.
LEFT FLANK advance continues. Infantry with Snipers and an ATGM team are about to take the full housing row. BMPs are hooking around the end of the Row, pounding every single building with an eye line on them.
This  is a highly dangerous moment - a well timed Arty strike, or well placed minefield,  could cause serious damage. I have the reserves to push through but I don't want to burn out my strength here. 
I expect a heavy fight here. If not,  then that will help me deduce his actual defence zone. 
Still no fix on the US mainforce. My impression so far is that he's gathered behind my intended 2nd FSL (see first post map). 
What if  he's waiting to counter attack? I'm not over extended, my centre has taken a beating but I have the reserves to fall back without breaking my line. My right flank is not terribly strong but can still hold up any attack long enough. 
CENTER lost another T90, precision Arty strike. I've brought my left flank ZSU closer to cover the airspace better. There's a drone or two up there,  I want it down,  now 
RIGHT  FLANK has made definite contact with some form of US defence,  lost a BMP to an AT4. I've a company pushing forward here,  with strong ATGM support on the flank. 
I've pushed my right flank reserve Coy forward into the slowly dissipating cloud bank. It's a good trick to use, lay a cloud bank and use to stage/hide reserves. 
My FO in the cathedral spire is still unmolested. He's slowly id'ing US armour,  but too goddamn slow. 
My 152mm are all back online, hot and ready. 
Continuously pounding any building with good eyeliner to my forces. This reveals my vehicles but better than unfettered javelin strikes! 
Basically,  advance continues,  contacts growing, lost another precious T90, no firm I'd on US mainforce yet. 
Tense.... moments... While... Advancing... 

This. 
I couldn't  articulate it any better myself. 

Pics later this eve.
LEFT FLANK advance continues. Infantry with Snipers and an ATGM team are about to take the full housing row. BMPs are hooking around the end of the Row, pounding every single building with an eye line on them.
This  is a highly dangerous moment - a well timed Arty strike, or well placed minefield,  could cause serious damage. I have the reserves to push through but I don't want to burn out my strength here. 
I expect a heavy fight here. If not,  then that will help me deduce his actual defence zone. 
Still no fix on the US mainforce. My impression so far is that he's gathered behind my intended 2nd FSL (see first post map). 
What if  he's waiting to counter attack? I'm not over extended, my centre has taken a beating but I have the reserves to fall back without breaking my line. My right flank is not terribly strong but can still hold up any attack long enough. 
CENTER lost another T90, precision Arty strike. I've brought my left flank ZSU closer to cover the airspace better. There's a drone or two up there,  I want it down,  now 
RIGHT  FLANK has made definite contact with some form of US defence,  lost a BMP to an AT4. I've a company pushing forward here,  with strong ATGM support on the flank. 
I've pushed my right flank reserve Coy forward into the slowly dissipating cloud bank. It's a good trick to use, lay a cloud bank and use to stage/hide reserves. 
My FO in the cathedral spire is still unmolested. He's slowly id'ing US armour,  but too goddamn slow. 
My 152mm are all back online, hot and ready. 
Continuously pounding any building with good eyeliner to my forces. This reveals my vehicles but better than unfettered javelin strikes! 
Basically,  advance continues,  contacts growing, lost another precious T90, no firm I'd on US mainforce yet. 
Tense.... moments... While... Advancing... 

Current status.

 
Death of a platoon.

Current status.

 
Death of a platoon.

Thanks IanL.
 
Advance continues, sporadic sightings/hearings of M1s on the move.
 
Took the inevitable friendly fire hit, from a 152mm salvo still in the air when the cease fire order came down the wire.
A salvo of shells caught a forward platoon in the complete open between two houses.
Incredibly, 2 men survive, the two fastest at the front.
The nearby T90 has blood and parts scattered all over its front glacis.
 
Left Hook Infantry keep pushing into the Housing row.
I'm leery of ambushes on the other side.
Personally I'd place 2-3 MGs on the facing row on the far side, hide 'em, and then pin down the entire row.
 
Center are maneuvering into overwatch positions, T90s creep forward, light but constant coaxial/remote MG fire on every house that has an eyeline to the center.
ATGMs pushing forward into upper stories.
I already have a team watching north along the diagonal boulevard... there's an M1 down there, somewhere.
 
Right Flank is working forward steadily, I'm being careful here with MG/sniper overwatch. There are a LOT of blank windows looking at me. 
FO is about to hop out of his BMP and race up the cathedral spire.
I suspect HATO drone watching the cathedral - i dont expect my FO to last long, but all he needs is one turn. I plan a massed arty (4-5 batteries of 152) on the urban build up facing my left flank. A steady, constant, massive, prolong bombardment. 
 
I'm gonna shake him out of his hidey holes!
 
Btw, why can I only upload 14.3KB???
   
 
 
 

Lost a T90 to a deep sited Abrams, about 1-2km away down a street.
Holy sheeeet...
 
Learning some rookie mistakes with arty placement.

Lost a T90 to a deep sited Abrams, about 1-2km away down a street.
Holy sheeeet...
 
Learning some rookie mistakes with arty placement.

## Kieme's Mods are superb, but the links are buried way too deep in a constantly growing thread.   ## So, for ease of access here is the most current list, ripped from @ Page 34, Post #672, July 17 2015.   Terrain and environmental mods:



 
Buildings and structures:



 
Troops and soldiers:



 
Ukrainian Army vehicles:



 
US Army vehicles:



 
Russian Army vehicles:



 
Interface:



 
Others:



 
Total: 1.8 GB
 
Still missing: bridges, a couple of them have been done already. More interface: weapon and vehicle silhouettes (less than 50% done), plus a few tweaks here and there.

Working away on alternate, putting my pixels where my mouth is....
Keener eyes might recognise the inspiration.

## Kieme's Mods are superb, but the links are buried way too deep in a constantly growing thread.   ## So, for ease of access here is the most current list, ripped from @ Page 34, Post #672, July 17 2015.   Terrain and environmental mods:



 
Buildings and structures:



 
Troops and soldiers:



 
Ukrainian Army vehicles:



 
US Army vehicles:



 
Russian Army vehicles:



 
Interface:



 
Others:



 
Total: 1.8 GB
 
Still missing: bridges, a couple of them have been done already. More interface: weapon and vehicle silhouettes (less than 50% done), plus a few tweaks here and there.

Vinnart makes some very good points, in line with the idea of consistent visual flow in one direction, e.g. Left to Right.
 
However, I suspect you might be a bit too comfortable with the UI as is, due to familiarity..?
 
Anyhow, here is a grid suggestion.

 
This works from a 1 --> 3 --> 4 --> 5 cell horizontal arrangement,
And from a roughly 1 --> 1.25 --> 1.2  (not perfect, but a least following the Left to Right decrease in size rule.

Good points all round.
 
However:
1. Customizable UI is, As outline by Steve, of very limited value for far too much effort.
2. The less pop-ups the better - I personally value seeing every bit of information in one sweeping glance, working left to right. Requiring me to click to reveal info is guaranteed to irritate me by slowing me down and forcing me to remember, especially in a RT game.
 
2. I disagree with Steve re the positioning of sections being critical to user recognition
 - 2.1 Any info/action panel can be visually identified with sufficiently clean, clear graphics. To suggest that position alone is the only correct way to identify a panel is a bit blinkered.
 - 2.2 If we're going to justify jutting out the Support Call panel on purely priority reasons, then why stop there?  lets make a total mess of the UI top edge, allow any/all panel to jut up, dow, angle in...
 - 2.2. No. There must be a visual discipline here. The top edge is always, Always clean, complete and unbroken in the UI of every single successful strategy game. The only time the edge is broken is for a major, self contained panel, which is usually position on the extreme left or right.
 - 2.3. The Support Call panel is given disproportionate weight - yes its important, but it is still only a PART of the entire "Orders" section, and is still below Movement/Target sections in term of how often we use them.
 
3. I agree with Steve, the UI should Not, absolutely NOT be designed around how current customers want it.
 - 3.1 It SHOULD be designed with some basic principles,which will guide and arrange everything in a hierarchical and flexible manner
 - 3.2 As is, there is no underlying coherent organizational grid to the UI.
 - 3.3 Simply count how many different horizontal lines, at different heights there are and you will get a sense of the visual mess and indiscipline that infests the current UI.
 
The UI is now a fat, bloated, slothful Pentagon-esque project, massively over-detailed, over-weaponed and over (visual) budget.
 
We must strip the fat away, run our 4Km each morning and do our mental push-ups.
We must go back to basics.
 
So, we need a few simple, utterly unbreakbale principles to refer to for each decision making process.
 
Principle 1
Info on the LEFT, Action on the RIGHT.
 
Principle 2
Consistent flow from MACRO Info/Action --> MICRO Info/Action,
- Again, from Left --> Right.
 
Principle 3
HORIZONTAL CONSISTENCY
 - Info/action item boxes should work to a flexible grid within a strictly delineated arrangement of rows.
 - Vertical arrangement is more forgiving, but horizontal is critical - this is because we have a very limited before the UI becomes intrusive on the the view, where as the width provides far more room to work with.
 
We can add more items, but using just these 3 Principles as our rules, will bring huge improvements in readability, usability and visual beauty.

The current info/orders panel is pretty rough on the eyes - a lot of stylistic, proportion and information flow errors.
No consistency in vertical break-up, no consistency in panel size/proportions/relations, no consistency in button design.
 

 
Here is a first draft alternate:

 
Simplification of information flow
Information flows from the left, Action sits on the right
i/e/ READ --> WRITE
Keeps orders/usage to the right hand side
Scales consistently tighter in parallel with level of information and priority of action within the game
Starts harmonising panel and button styles
 
Here are the original and alternate side-by-side.

## Kieme's Mods are superb, but the links are buried way too deep in a constantly growing thread.   ## So, for ease of access here is the most current list, ripped from @ Page 34, Post #672, July 17 2015.   Terrain and environmental mods:



 
Buildings and structures:



 
Troops and soldiers:



 
Ukrainian Army vehicles:



 
US Army vehicles:



 
Russian Army vehicles:



 
Interface:



 
Others:



 
Total: 1.8 GB
 
Still missing: bridges, a couple of them have been done already. More interface: weapon and vehicle silhouettes (less than 50% done), plus a few tweaks here and there.

The current info/orders panel is pretty rough on the eyes - a lot of stylistic, proportion and information flow errors.
No consistency in vertical break-up, no consistency in panel size/proportions/relations, no consistency in button design.
 

 
Here is a first draft alternate:

 
Simplification of information flow
Information flows from the left, Action sits on the right
i/e/ READ --> WRITE
Keeps orders/usage to the right hand side
Scales consistently tighter in parallel with level of information and priority of action within the game
Starts harmonising panel and button styles
 
Here are the original and alternate side-by-side.

## Kieme's Mods are superb, but the links are buried way too deep in a constantly growing thread.   ## So, for ease of access here is the most current list, ripped from @ Page 34, Post #672, July 17 2015.   Terrain and environmental mods:



 
Buildings and structures:



 
Troops and soldiers:



 
Ukrainian Army vehicles:



 
US Army vehicles:



 
Russian Army vehicles:



 
Interface:



 
Others:



 
Total: 1.8 GB
 
Still missing: bridges, a couple of them have been done already. More interface: weapon and vehicle silhouettes (less than 50% done), plus a few tweaks here and there.

## Kieme's Mods are superb, but the links are buried way too deep in a constantly growing thread.   ## So, for ease of access here is the most current list, ripped from @ Page 34, Post #672, July 17 2015.   Terrain and environmental mods:



 
Buildings and structures:



 
Troops and soldiers:



 
Ukrainian Army vehicles:



 
US Army vehicles:



 
Russian Army vehicles:



 
Interface:



 
Others:



 
Total: 1.8 GB
 
Still missing: bridges, a couple of them have been done already. More interface: weapon and vehicle silhouettes (less than 50% done), plus a few tweaks here and there.