Hardradi

- cellars 
- staircases/stairwells
- fortified buildings 
- buildings with internal extended lines of sight (open factories horizontal and vertical)
- camouflage (vehicles, guns, men, fortifications)
- improved trenches (strong points where you shoot from and maneuver trenches (where you can move out of line of sight)
 

Lets begin with the US:
 

I have been experimenting with using virtual corkboards for  war gaming such as  capturing AARs.
 
Here is a few experiments I am  at present doing in regard to  how to best capture an AAR for CM.
https://padlet.com/rlwbeachbum/s7h9xuail45a
The cool thing about a virtual corkboards is that  one has almost unlimited size to past stuff into them. Also one can export the cork board into a PDF document or and Excel spreadsheet.
There are a number of providers for virtual corkboard/white boards and most it seems have a free version. I am finding padlet is working well for me.
https://padlet.com/features
Also, I came up with a idea for a display format for action/event timelines that might be cool to add someday into  some future version of CM and that too is in my little fledgling AAR.
 
 

MINUTE 14
Mortar fires continue in the woods but there is nobody left.

By anticipation, I have fallback the remaining troops just in time to prepare the other progression axis.

My Scout team is back. Next turn, I will use HUNT command to search for the enemy. Something I have not done well until now...

Steve from BFC said the below in italics.  The forum thread is linked at the bottom. 
The engine is not capable of dynamic weather. If it's raining at the beginning of the scenario it will be raining until the scenario ends. Ground conditions, can change from the simulation side of things in limited ways. Such as ground getting soggier as time goes on.
I don't know how long the ground conditions take to change but apparently they can.  However, I don't think the "listed" ground condition in the Conditions Menu ever changes what's listed. 
Example: At the beginning of the scenario ground condition is dry but weather is rain.  One hour into the scenario the ground condition changes as far as bogging etc.  However I think the Conditions Menu will still read, dry.  I don't remember ever seeing the menu change during a game even though the actual ground conditions, in game, can.  This would probably make testing how long it takes ground conditions to change (from dry to wet during rain etc.) difficult.       
But @Bulletpoint could probably spend his weekend testing this and let us all know on Monday ...............    
 
 

MINUTE 6
My plan, if I can call that a plan 🙈, is developing. The squad is taking position on my right wing to probe the village.


In order to distract the enemy, I am asking my HQ team to pop smoke to obtain a reaction from the other side. I would like him to ask himself the question of what I am doing. I am secretly asking myself the same question. 🤣 Assaulting with a ratio of 1:1, I am sure that I am doomed.

MINUTE 5
Well, I was wrong. Not a single shot was fired last turn. No new contacts were discovered. My squad in reserve is approaching the main line.

I will merge the two-man scout team with its squad next turn.

Now, given the sound contact I had, I am sure now that @JoMc67 has some troops inside objective number one. So, basically, I have no choice. I must attack. I have decided to use my reserve squad to try a flanking maneuver.

I have uploaded three videos to Youtube regarding the pathfinding problems. Links are pasted below. 
I have also started a thread that might get us some idea as to whether there is actually a coding solution to this problem. 
 
 
 
 

MINUTE 3
The A team of third squad is arriving at the edge of the woods. First houses of objective one is in sight.

The scout team is also in the area. Advancing carefully toward the houses.


The rest of the third squad are catching up.

So far, there is still no contact with the enemy. I have just send my orders to @JoMc67 for next turn. Now, this is really a DAR. Any advice for next turns, guys? Any comment on my above analysis?

MISSION
This is a meeting engagement. My mission is simple, my main goal is to hold the two objectives located in my zone.
ENEMY
Intel is indicating that I am facing troops from Commonwealth most probably a Reinforced Infantry Platoon followed by one armored car at turn 10.
TERRAIN
The two objectives are two small towns separated by a small farm in the middle. The two towns are linked together by a road. A ridge follows roughly the path of the road. This allows my setup zone and the enemy setup zone on the other side to be hidden from each other when the battle starts.

TROOPS
At my disposal, I have a Reinforced Infantry Platoon almost all men are "green" soldiers. I am expecting an armored car in 10 minutes.
TIME
I have really 20 minutes (this time) to reach both objectives plus 5 minutes extra possible.

Hi, all.  I just realized that my old mod for CMFI/GL never ported to the new CMMODs III.  You can download the file here.
This mod replaces the default floating icons in Combat Mission: Fortress Italy (CMFI) and its Gustav Line module. These stylized icons are based on the U.S. War Department’s 1943 Basic Field Manual FM21-30 Conventional Signs, Military Symbols and Abbreviations. The icons have a slightly three-dimensional appearance so that they look like counters from traditional board-based war games. And, when the icon blinks (i.e., the unit is selected or wounded), the unit’s national flag is displayed.  Detailed instructions included in the zip file explain what each symbol means and how to use the provided files.

CMRT: Winter '44 - Compilation mod

I present to you a modification for the game in the winter scenarios.
I present to you a modification for the game in the winter scenarios. Mod contains winter textures of the earth, buildings, uniforms of soldiers, cars and guns as well as sounds and interface.
The following mods were taken as a basis:
Mod structure:
Test map with all units
Test map with Hungarian units
How play Hungarian? Just add tags [vengr] in scenario. Dont work in QB. For QB need unpack BZR with Hungarian skins and tags [vengr] in file names.
Maps for this mods:
Downloads:
https://cloud.mail.ru/public/4mg4/XxCCi2HWy
Total size 7.33 Gb
Place in Data\Z folder
Offical site
FAQ.
1. Soviet tanks?
Later
2. Hungarian truck and tank?
Later
3. Can I use parts of your mod in mine mod?
sure you can.
4. How many you  work in ths mod?
40% (Aris and other great peoples) 20% Me. Other Battlefront.
Screenshots:

Hi everyone,
Here is a cinematic video featuring Shock Force 2! This is meant to be a showcase, similar in concept to a gameplay trailer. Keep in mind this is footage taken from a beta build of the game, and things are subject to change and all that. Hope you all enjoy!
 
 

BF have a product which nothing else measures up to in my opinion.  Very few people will be foolish enough to pass up on it just because they are miffed about the comms.

you canot say that" it is not issue" if you canot hold your troops on cover whit out giving them perm pause command, because this affect example to all scenarios , moust of them dont offer good challenge any more . AI is too easy to drive away from positions. 
 

The H2H Campaign has been completed. It will be on the Scenario Depot soon. A special thanks to Rocketman and BobWillett for all their help. Rocketman also devised the briefing setup and completed the hi res maps.  I thought I'd let you all see what the briefing paper looks like.
To get the proper lighting and ground conditions for a fall battle, the scenarios are set in September 1943. Once Rome to Victory is released I will change that to September 1944.
 

This is the end:
I have to run to work now, but I'll be back later to write a few posts with some analysis and things.

It occurs to me I had forgotten to post part nine to the forum followers.
Here it is:
 
I have part ten recorded, and it will be posted after editing.
Part eleven, coming sometime in the next couple weeks, will feature lots of gunfire and explosions, for those of you who only want to see such things. You know who you are...  
I think, at this point, a conversation about the psychology of playing Combat Mission against another human opponent might be called for, but I have naught for time right now.

Here is part ten.
I wish I could stay and chat, but I'm pretty much posting this before bedtime.
 
Welcome back. Take your time. I certainly don't have any.

Hey, guys -- just a quick line to say that I'm back from my extended summer break. No time to start any new videos yet, but I am chipping away at the map again. Tons more work to do on it, but I've made a lot of progress. Here's  a birdseye of the current status:

Macisle out.

I personally prefer nebulous shipping dates with quality products released rather than firm shipping dates with buggy releases requiring endless patches.
 
Chris

19th Panzer Division counter attacks north of Radzymin. Poland, 1944.

Ok, seeing that the main focus is RT at the moment, it's time to migrate this from the General Mods Forum.
Anyone interested can catch up here:
Refresher:
Old vs new portraits.

 
The new portraits together.

 
Their context within (JuJu's awesome) game UI.

 
@Badger73 "These are stunning, @Mord.  I might quibble with your choices for Heer Panzer and Heer Panzergrenadieren.  I thought German army tankers wore a black coverall of sorts and a tanker's beret.  I think the German army armored infantry should have steel helmets.  I look forward very much to your finished work.  Good luck with this."
Ok. Well, it didn't take long for one of them. I am fairly confident this one is a keeper. I am pretty happy with the way it looks and the way it fits into the rest of the design.
This German panzer commander strikes a gallant pose, a fitting nemesis for the awesome Soviet tanker (which happens to be one favorite portraits).

 
 
Mord.

For nigh on ten years now my biggest projects have always been my portrait mods. I have invested weeks and months on end, that have added up to hundreds and hundreds of hours of time and frustration creating them. I have made easily over ten thousand portraits, through trial and error, redesign, and updates. It's been a true struggle at times, and I am never happy with the outcome, though I'll say I am, once a project is complete. But I am always fighting the design decisions I started with way back in SF1 and it's hamstrung me artistically. After the FB portraits I decided I wanted to redo all the portraits for all the titles (the BN mod is long over do for an update) . So, after a long hiatus, I set about trying to get to someplace that would finally make me happy. I decided to start with RT to get ahead of the module release, and after a week or so of fiddling, resizing, making test bmps, and checking in game, this is what I came up with.

For about two seconds I thought they looked good. But once again I was confronted by the poor design decisions I adopted all those years ago. You see, I have been in a constant fight with what I term the "bobble head effect", which causes the portrait heads to appear bulbous and fat-headed. It occurs because I opted to show each portrait with a split face on the bmp. It has been my bane since my BN mod and it frustrates me to no end. And considering how I built each face from screenshots, pieces of faces from all sorts of pictures, and the fact I only worked on the left side of the face, well it doesn't leave me room for presenting them in any other way. And On top of all that, I have always felt there was inconsistency in the quality of the faces, and that they appeared too cartoony.  So with that said, I am putting these portrait mods to rest. I have taken them as far as they will go and they have reached a dead end. They had a good run but there really isn't anything more I can do to improve them.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Now, check out what I have been doing for the last two weeks and tell me I didn't make the right decision...



Now for some comparisons of the old style and the new.


 
Now the portraits in the context of their own mod. It'll give you an idea of the overall design.


 
And within the context of the game UI.


 
Some of the portraits are tentative/place holders until I find something that really blows me away. Or will be replaced later. The Heer Armor and Armor Infantry come to mind as far as that goes. Luckily I haven't made anything yet with them, just tests.
Now, unfortunately I will probably have to share a lot of the portraits (mostly Germans) across games, however backgrounds and the like will be changed for each setting.  And I will of course do all the battalions and regiments etc. Whether or not I will be able to keep the quality across titles remains to be seen but I will do my best. It is going to be a colossal amount of work, already has been. For the Germans alone I have created and discarded over a thousand portraits. LOL. Every time I think I have one down and start producing keepers, I stumble across a better pic, or I adjust some color to better fit the portrait into the overall look and I have to redo a ton of work. I just replaced the Heer Infantry yesterday, now I have to redo 374 that I had already made, as well as the SS Arm Infantry. I have done this a couple times already. But getting it right is what's most important. Perfection is what I am aiming for.
I don't know how long it will take. Getting the right pics is painstaking and laborious as hell. For every good one I make I throw out five. But this style will be the definitive version of my portrait mods from here on out. As I complete them I will remove the old versions from the planet. I'll start threads in the corresponding game forums as I progress.
Welp, that's about it. I was gonna keep all this to myself and wait to surprise everyone, but I have been working in a vacuum for a month and it feels good to talk a little bit about it. Especially as I have been going full bore, night and day for two weeks straight. I Hope you guys like what you see. I think it's the best work I have ever done.

Mord.
 

Minute 148: Victory
And that's game. Canadian army victory. With no casualties! Sounds like the my defensive plan to stay back and pick off the enemy as they moved forward under observation worked.

 
The Syrian army did secure Rutsey but I never planned to hold that.

 
Again no Canadian casualties so no points there. Wow I am surprised by that but I am sure Bil could have pushed further and caused some even if they might not have been any more successful

 
I also did not have any one on objective Jones so no credit for that. But no one could have pulled back from that location safely so it made sense to leave it unguarded.

 
Scored a few points for causing casualties.

 
The tanks on KT3 each scored a BMP and a handful of casualties.

 

 
The enemy ATGM I was targeting with mortar fire was not doing very well.

 
Interesting a few tanks I had not seen yet. I suppose they were waiting for other forces to deal with my tanks on KT3.

 
The enemy poised to move onto Rutsey.

 
The artillery kills are scored by the caller now. Some combination of the original mortar fire and the later 105 call.

 
Artillery kills associated with the caller – this time the second mortar call.

 
A final look at the battlefield.