Howler

Force fields are nifty when your side has them - a bug when the other side has them!

Hey;  leave CMSF2 out of your drunken ramblings! 😀
That was awesome fan service for owners of the original. Very much appreciated by many here including myself.
Otherwise, I'm not to sure what you mean by too big & complicated... what would you have them release instead?

Your learning curve will flatten if you first progress using the US forces as you work your way up to the larger scenarios. Take the time to understand the difference between the various vehicles and weapon systems. It isn't WWII or CMSF2.
The US side usually has a Javelin CLU/squad - learn the value of never leaving one unequipped.
The US spots best. The Javelin CLU will improve this even further.
If you are seen - you die. Be sure to be able to do this FIRST!
Once I progressed up to Rolling Thunder - I stayed there for a couple of sessions to work air defense and air support (UAV). The Russians have a decent force to provide lessons on how to best approach recon and air assets. It also offers a mice mix of terrain to give you a feel for masking your approach(es).
Once you are done will the US scenarios - rinse and repeat for Russia. When done - Ukraine.
Search the CMBS forum for best practices. You find this will be good use of your time. Lots of good info there.

Your learning curve will flatten if you first progress using the US forces as you work your way up to the larger scenarios. Take the time to understand the difference between the various vehicles and weapon systems. It isn't WWII or CMSF2.
The US side usually has a Javelin CLU/squad - learn the value of never leaving one unequipped.
The US spots best. The Javelin CLU will improve this even further.
If you are seen - you die. Be sure to be able to do this FIRST!
Once I progressed up to Rolling Thunder - I stayed there for a couple of sessions to work air defense and air support (UAV). The Russians have a decent force to provide lessons on how to best approach recon and air assets. It also offers a mice mix of terrain to give you a feel for masking your approach(es).
Once you are done will the US scenarios - rinse and repeat for Russia. When done - Ukraine.
Search the CMBS forum for best practices. You find this will be good use of your time. Lots of good info there.

+1.  I also use this in similar ways especially for high value targets.    
I'll often have a vehicle for each platoon (jeep, kubelwagon, etc.) on permanent Pause next to the HQ building.  Then I'll plot out the attack axis to be taken by each platoon.  I use the reverse command since the green line is easy to spot among the mostly yellow lines of a platoon's fire teams.  Then the platoons follow the assigned axis of advance.  I use a house rule that the axis can be changed after the scenario start but it costs five minutes (probably to fast for RL) to issue an updated axis of advance.  Then just drag the waypoints to the new axis.  
I also have a HQ team assigned to call for fire on TRPs.  The team is at the HQ on permanent Pause.  A waypoint is placed on each TRP with a 50 meters circular target arc.  This shows both the location and plotting area of the TRPs.  
Waypoints & their lines with permanent Pause can be used for many interesting things.     

Hey;  leave CMSF2 out of your drunken ramblings! 😀
That was awesome fan service for owners of the original. Very much appreciated by many here including myself.
Otherwise, I'm not to sure what you mean by too big & complicated... what would you have them release instead?

Some mortars such as the British 51mm team assigned to an infantry platoon are not able to fire indirectly. I don't know if that is the case with the German LMT in your screen shot but assume it is. In any event, when a piece isn't in your support tab - it may only be used in a direct fire role. This requires LOS to the target rather than being in contact with a commander. While mortars are able to target spots on the map that other weapons can't - it's not going to allow targeting of a position that is entirely out of LOS. It will allow a (limited) reverse slope target to be fired on.
You can avoid hitting your own position by using a Forward Observer who is trained to guide artillery and also by not calling missions closer than 600m (aka danger close) from friendly positions.
The big difference between on-map and off-map support pieces that populate the support tab is that the former are able to be used in a direct fire role. Other than that - both will need a line of communication to whomever is calling the mission. Without a TRP (Target Reference Point), your effectiveness will be determined by the quality of the shot caller. With a TRP - the shot caller isn't as critical as the ranging has already been worked out.

Yes, US forces start at 90%.

Best bet is to use something like Dropbox and then post a link here.

I installed CMBS on Ryzen 7 3800X with a Radeon RX5700 XT (32GB RAM, 860 Evo SATA SSD). Using the 20.2.2 driver, running a single display at 1920 x 1200 I got fairly quick load times of less than 1 minute for battles of various sizes. I'm using the default graphical settings within the game and the Radeon Software. So there is no anti-aliasing, vertical sync/FreeSync, etc. For the game I have the default settings for the 'Options', typically 'Balanced'. There wasn't much loaded up in the background (browser, antivirus, SSD util, etc.).
Running FRAPS for framerate counting I got about 21 - 52 fps in the setup of one quick battle (a map with forests and some hills). The larger the resolution, the more trees and buildings and possibly the more varied the terrain elevation, the lower your framerate will be. The in-game camera height/view and the how much of the battlefield is 'in the window' also makes a difference in framerate.
So if you're running a really high resolution (above standard HD, 1920 x 1080), you may want to reduce it in the game 'Options'. 'Balanced' for the 3D Texture and 3D Model Quality might also help. You may also want to turn off Vertical Sync, unless you're certain you're benefiting from it.

CM is certainly not dead, I can assure you. Part of the relative silence is the typical "calm before the storm" on the forums that occurs before every anticipated release of a new title/module. Essentially things tend to get rather quiet once it is known that a new release is in the "soon" phase. 
Unfortunately there is also an issue with the CM mod website, and has been for some time. Due to the transition from one version to the next, uploads are very limited and only Bootie can upload anything. Its been this way for a long time and it appears to have drastically slowed CM modding/scenario uploads. 
Best advice right now is to wait it all out. For what its worth, most non-converted CMSF1 scenario's work and play very well in CMSF2, and there are a plethora of those scenario's out there. Might as well give them a go. 

My last bit of spamming this thread... I'm planning on doing an AAR in the near future instead.

Russian Razvedka approach a compound sitting on the commanding heights of the town.

The heights were remarkably poorly defended. A brief firefight saw the Ukrainian defenders handily defeated by withering cannon fire. (Anyone else notice that Razvedka are reluctant to use weapons other than the SVD? It seems to make them particularly vulnerable in firefights).  Strong points identified by the BRDM assault company are blasted by supporting artillery coordinated from the heights.

The BRDM company dismounts advance through the village.  Even though my Reconnaissance Battalion is facing an entire Infantry Battalion, heavy supporting fires have been instrumental in dislodging stubborn defenders.  Unfortunately, every single casualty hurts when all of my squads are 4-man teams, while the Ukrainians outnumber me two-to-one.

Jummy, chicken...

While a TRP speeds things up, soft factors come into play as well such as observer experience and firing unit experience.  Otherwise a lot will depend on whether your opponent is AI or human controlled and the distance between the direct fire engagement area and your indirect fire engagement area.  Ideally they should be one and the same because that enables you to concentrate the effects of your firepower.  In planning terms you would have a Decision Point (DP) that would trigger those fires so that when the enemy met the DP conditions you know to execute the fire order (or whatever other action you planned to take) which would ensure that the rounds landed in the engagement area or Target Area of Interest (TAI).

Since you have a TRP I would use a spotter that is not at the crossroads.  I generally have an HQ team in the TOC that handles all TRP fire missions.  IIRC 81mm mortar FFE with TRP is two to three minutes.    

Since you only have the 'Classic Shell Start Menu' installed, the rest of your Windows 10 interface should be the same as a standard Windows 10. The attached image (hopefully it is big enough to see decently) shows the Windows 10 Task Manager. The 'Processes' tab is the default tab/view when you open it up. I've outlined in red the 'Apps' and 'Background processes' portions of that tab.
After activating the license key of a game and exit that dialog, the game will still be running, though you can't see anything on the screen. Opening up the Task Manager (Ctrl-Alt-Del) and looking through the 'Background processes' of the Processes tab should show the game executable listed. You may have to scroll with the scroll bar on the right of the Task Manager to possibly see the game listed within the Background processes. You then have to highlight the game's listing in the list and then click the 'End Task' button in the lower right to kill it and then you should be able to run the game (assuming there isn't something else blocking its functioning). In this particular screenshot CMFB is already licensed and running (as a 'foreground app') and it is shown in the 'Apps' section.
A reboot of the computer should also kill CMFB or any other CM game that has recently been activated. You should be able to run the game normally. If for some reason you are getting a license dialog box when you run a game that you believe you have already activated the appropriate license keys for, then there is some sort of issue with the licensing of that game. With the 4.0 Upgrades you often have to have both the 4.0 Upgrade license key activated and either the 3.0 Upgrade or the base game (if the base game is based on the 3.0 Engine). With games that are 3.0 Upgrade, you would have to activate both the 3.0 and 2.0 Upgrades (to my knowledge). The game shouldn't automatically come to the license dialog box for any modules. That requires the 'Activate New Products' shortcut (since the base game can run without them and thus it will not automatically bring up the licensing dialog box).

I'm not sure what the capabilities of the Nvidia controls are, but I was able to achieve it all via Reshade, you can see in the linked video.  It's a number of effects like (off the top of my head) ambient light, depth haze, a levels adjustment, a colour lookup table to get the film look, film grain, and SSAO, plus (depending on the screenshot) a depth of field shader to blur out things out of the focus plane.
https://i.imgur.com/XTow0Iq.gifv
If there's a stubborn enemy position, but you're the reconnaissance company of the main effort, you can just blow it to smithereens.  Also a sneak peak at some new explosions I'm working on.
Looks like I can't embed gifv links.  I could use a gif but it'd be gigantic.

The .50cals, TOWs, and GLs mounted on humvees in CMSF2 have always been portable. As soon as you bailout - you're stuck with them even after you run out of ammo for them. I assumed it was the same in CMBS and never noticed what you're reporting. I'll keep an eye out for it the next time I play CMBS. Until then I'd say that was a bug and you should report it.
As for CMFI, load up the 'R2V Casili Road'  scenario and give it a go. The MG team will only show one weapon while the carrier shows none. Embarking the MG team will again provide an MG to that carrier until the team dismounts. Other units dismounting will not remove the MG on the carrier.

The MG comes back. You lose it again when the MG team dismounts. Seems like the carrier permanently loses it's weapon insofar as "R2V Casili Road" is concerned (my test case). The MG does not come back when another unit embarks... once it's lost - it's gone.

Just checked a MMG carrier in "R2V Casili Road" and it does this whenever an MG detachment disembarks. It retains it's weapon when other units are used.

This comes up sometimes.  The below workaround may help.
If your first BLAST command turns into a QUICK move on placement, select the waypoint and hit the BLAST command again. It should change and stay a BLAST command.

That was the issue, working now thank you
 

Good morning everyone,
Just a note to say that I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy.
Chris.

To be clear. Always use your best spotter to man the drone(s). Drone contact info propagates to other FOs down chain so the larger drones get manned by the CO FIST (or equivalent). Nonetheless, for pre-planned missions not requiring adjustment - use your most useless spotter. A drone operator is allowed a mission in addition to the drone. There's rarely a reason not to assign a drone to your best spotter.

In fairness, it's their contract work with various governments worldwide that pays the bills. We get updates when they are able/allowed to retrofit their "game" release with bits from their "commercial" release.
It's a win-win. They get to eat - we get to play!