General Liederkranz

Just realized this depends on whether they have a loader's hatch. 

Thank you gentlemen (and some ladies too), especially those who didn't come back. Let's hope we will never forget.

I know that a target order at short range also triggers the use of grenade. The grenade throwing is quite staggered and unreliable though. When you assault a house or a pillbox or whatever, it really counts. You don't want your guys to wait, or even worse, fire their rifles than to throw their grenades. 
Yes, seriously. The sound effects in combat mission games are disappointing. 

There are a few problems with that in my experience.
Grenades are not thrown rapidly, the throwing can be spread out. I would rather have several thrown at the same time.
Also, smgs will also often fire, this using up the clip and reloading as they are charging in.

For CMx3: 
Crouched run. Some way of moving faster than the crawl while keeping a relatively low profile.  A new target order exclusively for throwing grenades (while staying prone/in cover, if possible). In close assault situations, you don't want your riflemen to stand up and go "peng, peng, peng!". You want them to go "boom!" An easier way (requiring fewer clicks) to make soldiers stay prone but NOT withhold their fire. Right now, the way to go is to use a "hide" command in combination with a 360° target arc (which in turn, means that you can't fine tune the facing/usage of cover). Also, the hide command reduces spotting capabilites (soldiers go through "hide" tasks, not just idle and spotting).

Asked and answered. The link above is Steve's response to:
"Question:  Is the new "evade towards the enemy" behavior a bug that will be addressed by these patches coming soon too?  Or has this been addressed in a different thread?  Thank you."
To which Steve replied:
"Yup, that's been tweaked a bit as well.
Steve"
 
 

http://community.battlefront.com/topic/134466-fortress-italy-bugs/page/6/?tab=comments#comment-1791287
 
 

Minute 32-31:
The video above was intended to show the action from the ground in AOA 1. It is a very different perspective and impact than a static picture. But what's going on? 
This turn is a surprisingly noisy one from tank fire, but fairly quiet in terms of actual combat. It’s a turn of consolidation, and preparatory fire. The ample HE ammo the Russian tanks receive is very welcome here as my only effective source of artillery.
AOA 1
Over on AOA 1, my infantry is in the tree line, as well as the small copse at the left map edge, eyes peeled forward to look for enemy units. The HMGs that were originally spotted have disappeared after my initial tank fire but I want to make sure they are indeed destroyed or suppressed before moving forward.
In addition, the large building on the left and that vicinity has several infantry contacts and I want to shake them up. I let the T34’s hit the HMGS, and one JSII fires on the buildings. I’m hoping the massive shell will affect nearby troops and not just those hiding in the building.
My last tank, the other JSII, is set to armour overwatch. I don’t want him distracted by any infantry that pops up. If the Germans have armour here I want to be ready to react immediately.
You can see all the unit orders and dispositions in this composite shot.

 RU140
There is no fire from either HMGs, nor from the buildings on the left, but my overwatch JSII is hit with the occasional small arms round. Either the enemy can’t see my infantry or is shooting at the closest target.

 RU141
The bombardment proceeds painlessly. After a while, what may be the source of the sporadic fire, a contact in one of the houses, resolves into an infantry unit. At this distance he isn’t much of a threat, and I want to degrade the enemy closer to me first.

 RU142
Another contact appears at this time as well - another Marder, like the one I destroyed on AOA 2. The inset shows its facing, with the green arrow pointing right at my JSII. Neither of us can see one another. In fact, none of my units on AOA 1 can spot the Marder. I wonder who can?

 RU143
Zooming out, I discover that the only unit that can spot the Marder is 3/1 Squad all the way across the map on AOA 2. It can’t do anything about the Marder, but it will have its own adventure in the section for A0A 2.

 RU144
 
AOA 2
I’ve decided to temporarily stop pushing forward and clean up my flanks in this AOA. My infantry and two T34/85s on the far right have good sightlines ahead and I want to make sure I’m not ambushed when I resume advancing. At the same time I want to deal with the German stragglers holed up in the last building as they threaten the left flank of this force.
As I mentioned in my post for minute 33, 1/2 T34/85 is going to bombard the last house where I have some contacts. It’s the last known place that there are Germans remaining from my initial assault on the town.

 RU145
The plan is successful. The tank fire makes the Germans abandon the building and make a run for it. They are caught by 3/1 squad which is watching through a window of the third building.
Of more concern is another armour unit spotted, one that I did not know about at all.

 RU146
The unit is another Marder. This is the third one I know about. I check the contacts around the map but I can’t see a fourth. It’s possible my opponent had to trim down a platoon, but I can’t be sure so I can’t discount that there may be another lying in wait, unseen, somewhere else on the map.
The fleeing HMG team - or part of it as it’s only 2 men - is mowed down by the SMGs from 3/1 squad. It’s starting to look like I own both Key Terrain 1 and 2 on this map.

 RU147
Looking ahead:
I want to get to the buildings in AOA 1 before my opponent can shift from the east. I’m pretty sure I got his attention at AOA 2, and I want to take advantage of that. That was why I delayed appearing in AOA 1 in the first place.
 
 

This is great to hear. In general I’ve been very happy with engine 4 since the patch but the evasion thing has been frustrating. I’m looking forward to the new round!

This is great to hear. In general I’ve been very happy with engine 4 since the patch but the evasion thing has been frustrating. I’m looking forward to the new round!

Question:  Is the new "evade towards the enemy" behavior a bug that will be addressed by these patches coming soon too?  Or has this been addressed in a different thread?  Thank you.

Thank you. I appreciate that you have been on top of this issue so quickly since the patch.

Noted.... I will keep an eye out for it.  Don't think I need a save file.  Thanks for posting

Incorrect. It's the same group of people that have made everything else CM on your HD.
It is the same method that BFC have used for as long as I have been doing this (since 2001)- they do the code and OOB stuff and tell us what is and isn't possible on that basis (with other input and content where needed), they also do the majority of the art work. One person heads up organizing the campaigns, scenario list, maps, etc.. That's me this go around for RT- the guy that made half of the giant CM master maps on your HD since CM:MG and the subsequent WWII titles. The guy that did a fair number of campaigns and scenarios since GL for all modules. I know the drill.
This is not an outside job, nor is the CMFI module. Other testers are kicking things in as well, as always. So the trend you have seen in CM:FB will continue as far as number of areas mapped, quality of content, etc..
*The notion that bugs cause delays is a given* I can't believe I wasted internet ink typing that. Obviously true, and unfortunate- even with a genius behind the wheel of said code.
We are indeed on that RT module. And then some. When it comes time when things are in properly vetted visual shape, BFC will be throwing bones.

My own scenarios lean heavily on 'unit destroy' point objectives even if there are terrain objectives involved. When I refreshed a batch of CMSF1 legacy scenarios for CMSF2 I added unit destroy points so the player would at least get some credit for defeating the enemy in the field.
I do get a bit frustrated with big points terrain objectives at the far end of a huge map with barely enough time to properly recon the route of advance (not to mention stage an assault on a city center!) Often the scenario designer knows something I don't, that there's only one or two snipers between me and the objectives so he allots the time accordingly. But I don't know that. Every copse of trees and bend in the road needs to be reconnoitered for fear of being ambushed. That terrain objective looks VERY far off to me.

I play CMRT exclusively, so can't speak of the other games.
In my current scenario, I am playing with a Red Army Rifle Battalion. The embedded Platoon HQ, in 1st squad, got clipped by a mortar fragment, and all three squads went dark to one another, and the Company HQ. After the squad leader in 1st Squad, took command, the C2 link to the Company HQ was reestablished with 1st squad in the normal way. Long visual distance and all, remember no radios at all. However, the other two squads in the the Platoon are having none of it. No red command link to the new leader in 1st squad and also no link to Company HQ, even if standing right beside them. Seems these two squads are now on their own.
I don't remember seeing this before, but I could easily be mistaken.
Or is it something from having those embedded Platoon HQ's?

@Bil Hardenberger noted in another thread that he wasn't able to get Syrian squads in C2 by putting them close to higher-echelon HQs. This is different from other nationalities like the WW2 Americans or Germans. For them, a squad can skip over its Platoon HQ and get C2 from its Company or Battalion HQ within voice or close visual range (which @MOS:96B2P showed to be 50 meters and 96 meters respectively). 
I thought I'd look into this and I found something interesting: it depends on the unit, and it's not just the Syrians. It seems that in nationalities organized along Soviet lines, only certain types of units are able to take advantage of the higher-echelon C2 bypass that everyone else can use.
Within a Syrian airborne battalion, for example, ordinary Airborne Infantry squads CANNOT get C2 from higher-echelon HQs. They need their Platoon HQs. I tested with Conscripts, Greens, Regulars, and Elites and none of them could, so troop quality doesn't make a difference. BUT Engineer squads in the same battalion CAN get C2 from their Company HQ. The image below shows the difference; each one is next to its Company HQ with the Platoon HQ across the map and out of sight (as you can see since the command lines are dark). The ordinary Airborne, in the inset, is out of command; the Engineers, in the rest of the image, are in command.
So then I went and looked at CMRT. There too, Soviet rifle squads CANNOT get C2 from their Company HQ. But Soviet cavalry squads CAN.
This is not because of the patch. It did some more tests and it's also that way in CMRT under Engine 4 (pre-patch) and under Engine 3. (I used the stock scenarios Dawn Patrol and Baranovichi to test rifle and cavalry respectively in each version.)
This is NOT true of the Italians in CMFI, though you might expect it since inflexible command is one of their main traits in the game. Their rifle and Bersaglieri "squads" can benefit from Platoon or Company HQs, not just their Squad HQs. 
I can only guess that this is intended to reflect Soviet-style doctrine and to give players an extra incentive to keep their Soviet-style rifle platoons together. Forces that are expected to be more independent, like engineers or cavalry, aren't penalized. It's an interesting little touch. 

Original thread: 

I did my testing in setup phase of a scenario... worked a treat.
I think I'm going to make another edit to the Hard-Cat rules to account for these differences. This is all very interesting.  
Bil

+ 1.  Interesting stuff.  Thanks for doing this. 
Also just curious, what skill level did you test at? 
Another example that some national Armies have slightly different rules can be found in Engine Manual 4.0 page 61: Syrian, Soviet & Italian Armies will suffer a morale penalty if split teams are out of close visual and voice C2 of the Platoon HQ.
Another reason to be surprised the Italian Army can use the C2 bypass.  

@Bil Hardenberger noted in another thread that he wasn't able to get Syrian squads in C2 by putting them close to higher-echelon HQs. This is different from other nationalities like the WW2 Americans or Germans. For them, a squad can skip over its Platoon HQ and get C2 from its Company or Battalion HQ within voice or close visual range (which @MOS:96B2P showed to be 50 meters and 96 meters respectively). 
I thought I'd look into this and I found something interesting: it depends on the unit, and it's not just the Syrians. It seems that in nationalities organized along Soviet lines, only certain types of units are able to take advantage of the higher-echelon C2 bypass that everyone else can use.
Within a Syrian airborne battalion, for example, ordinary Airborne Infantry squads CANNOT get C2 from higher-echelon HQs. They need their Platoon HQs. I tested with Conscripts, Greens, Regulars, and Elites and none of them could, so troop quality doesn't make a difference. BUT Engineer squads in the same battalion CAN get C2 from their Company HQ. The image below shows the difference; each one is next to its Company HQ with the Platoon HQ across the map and out of sight (as you can see since the command lines are dark). The ordinary Airborne, in the inset, is out of command; the Engineers, in the rest of the image, are in command.
So then I went and looked at CMRT. There too, Soviet rifle squads CANNOT get C2 from their Company HQ. But Soviet cavalry squads CAN.
This is not because of the patch. It did some more tests and it's also that way in CMRT under Engine 4 (pre-patch) and under Engine 3. (I used the stock scenarios Dawn Patrol and Baranovichi to test rifle and cavalry respectively in each version.)
This is NOT true of the Italians in CMFI, though you might expect it since inflexible command is one of their main traits in the game. Their rifle and Bersaglieri "squads" can benefit from Platoon or Company HQs, not just their Squad HQs. 
I can only guess that this is intended to reflect Soviet-style doctrine and to give players an extra incentive to keep their Soviet-style rifle platoons together. Forces that are expected to be more independent, like engineers or cavalry, aren't penalized. It's an interesting little touch. 

Original thread: 

My supposition is that you can tell even without the HQs killed off. Move the platoon HQ far away so they are only in radio contact. Now move the company HQ closer and see if the squad gains visual and voice command. If so then they are getting it from thier company HQ. 
I am certain that I have seen this in game. Now when I say that I mean I am certain in an "it has happened to me therefore true" way rather than a tested and documented way

@Bil Hardenberger noted in another thread that he wasn't able to get Syrian squads in C2 by putting them close to higher-echelon HQs. This is different from other nationalities like the WW2 Americans or Germans. For them, a squad can skip over its Platoon HQ and get C2 from its Company or Battalion HQ within voice or close visual range (which @MOS:96B2P showed to be 50 meters and 96 meters respectively). 
I thought I'd look into this and I found something interesting: it depends on the unit, and it's not just the Syrians. It seems that in nationalities organized along Soviet lines, only certain types of units are able to take advantage of the higher-echelon C2 bypass that everyone else can use.
Within a Syrian airborne battalion, for example, ordinary Airborne Infantry squads CANNOT get C2 from higher-echelon HQs. They need their Platoon HQs. I tested with Conscripts, Greens, Regulars, and Elites and none of them could, so troop quality doesn't make a difference. BUT Engineer squads in the same battalion CAN get C2 from their Company HQ. The image below shows the difference; each one is next to its Company HQ with the Platoon HQ across the map and out of sight (as you can see since the command lines are dark). The ordinary Airborne, in the inset, is out of command; the Engineers, in the rest of the image, are in command.
So then I went and looked at CMRT. There too, Soviet rifle squads CANNOT get C2 from their Company HQ. But Soviet cavalry squads CAN.
This is not because of the patch. It did some more tests and it's also that way in CMRT under Engine 4 (pre-patch) and under Engine 3. (I used the stock scenarios Dawn Patrol and Baranovichi to test rifle and cavalry respectively in each version.)
This is NOT true of the Italians in CMFI, though you might expect it since inflexible command is one of their main traits in the game. Their rifle and Bersaglieri "squads" can benefit from Platoon or Company HQs, not just their Squad HQs. 
I can only guess that this is intended to reflect Soviet-style doctrine and to give players an extra incentive to keep their Soviet-style rifle platoons together. Forces that are expected to be more independent, like engineers or cavalry, aren't penalized. It's an interesting little touch. 

Original thread: 

@Bil Hardenberger noted in another thread that he wasn't able to get Syrian squads in C2 by putting them close to higher-echelon HQs. This is different from other nationalities like the WW2 Americans or Germans. For them, a squad can skip over its Platoon HQ and get C2 from its Company or Battalion HQ within voice or close visual range (which @MOS:96B2P showed to be 50 meters and 96 meters respectively). 
I thought I'd look into this and I found something interesting: it depends on the unit, and it's not just the Syrians. It seems that in nationalities organized along Soviet lines, only certain types of units are able to take advantage of the higher-echelon C2 bypass that everyone else can use.
Within a Syrian airborne battalion, for example, ordinary Airborne Infantry squads CANNOT get C2 from higher-echelon HQs. They need their Platoon HQs. I tested with Conscripts, Greens, Regulars, and Elites and none of them could, so troop quality doesn't make a difference. BUT Engineer squads in the same battalion CAN get C2 from their Company HQ. The image below shows the difference; each one is next to its Company HQ with the Platoon HQ across the map and out of sight (as you can see since the command lines are dark). The ordinary Airborne, in the inset, is out of command; the Engineers, in the rest of the image, are in command.
So then I went and looked at CMRT. There too, Soviet rifle squads CANNOT get C2 from their Company HQ. But Soviet cavalry squads CAN.
This is not because of the patch. It did some more tests and it's also that way in CMRT under Engine 4 (pre-patch) and under Engine 3. (I used the stock scenarios Dawn Patrol and Baranovichi to test rifle and cavalry respectively in each version.)
This is NOT true of the Italians in CMFI, though you might expect it since inflexible command is one of their main traits in the game. Their rifle and Bersaglieri "squads" can benefit from Platoon or Company HQs, not just their Squad HQs. 
I can only guess that this is intended to reflect Soviet-style doctrine and to give players an extra incentive to keep their Soviet-style rifle platoons together. Forces that are expected to be more independent, like engineers or cavalry, aren't penalized. It's an interesting little touch. 

Original thread: 

The carrier platoon thing is more than fixed, actually, you can now do this:



(Acquire and use the 2 inch mortar whilst mounted)

This means that you can use them for effective recon - the HQ element has binoculars, so you can dismount that part to scout, whilst the other two elements can supply MG, smoke and mortar fire to get them out of trouble, in the same way CMSF Scimitars can be used, or the Syrian/Russian recon platoons.

I've noticed in the last couple of weeks that the 4.01 patch fixed several bugs I'd seen reported on the forums, even though they weren't listed in the patch notes. In many cases I wasn't aware that BFC had even officially acknowledged them. It's been fun to find these things, so I thought I'd start a thread to compile them. I'm grateful to the BFC staff and testers who have harvested these and fixed them, and I'm curious what others have found! 
Here's what  I've seen so far:
1) In CMFB, Volksgrenadier Sturm squads no longer have extra Assistant leaders. Reported and acknowledged after the 4.0 upgrade in 2016, now fixed:
2) In CMFI, Italian HMG teams no longer carry superfluous US 60mm mortar ammunition. Noted back in 2013, in 2017, and again in March 2019 but now fixed:
3) In the CMFI Troina campaign, US infantry company MG teams used to have M1919A4s instead of M1919A6s--but no longer. I noted that here in 2017: 
4) In CMBN, you can now buy Vickers teams in QBs without getting XO teams instead. @Oliver_88 confirmed this. 
5) Perhaps related to (4), in CMBN and CMFI, CW Vickers platoon 2IC teams no longer have erroneous MG icons, as used to be true (noted here):
6) In CMBN, the problem with acquiring mortar ammo from CW Carrier Platoon vehicles is fixed, confirmed by @domfluff here:
7) In CMBN, US MMG teams no longer fire off a rifle grenade as a "parting shot" after an area fire Target Light order is cancelled. I noticed this under 4.0 back in 2017 and I saw it again just now with my version of CMBN 3.0. But it seems to be gone in 4.01!
8 Another pet peeve of mine, in CMFI 4.0 US units with area fire orders would fire off their AT rifle grenade before their HE grenades, instead of saving it to use against armor. (At least, that's what I observed and noted). Not true in CMFI after the patch! (I also noticed that under 4.0, unlike 3.0, early US rifle squads carried two rifle grenade launchers. This hasn't been changed in 4.01, so I assume it was a deliberate TO&E update.)
Patch notes themselves here: