In the WWII titles I have found it useful to give platoon HQ's a 50 meter 360o Target Arc. (100 meters across) This serves the purpose of keeping the HQ from firing at far off targets and drawing return fire. But it is also a visual reminder of the automatic C2 voice distance. I attempt, with a few exceptions, to make this the area of operations for the fire teams of the platoon. I will especially keep the forward (in-contact) fire teams in this arc. The reserve squad, teams giving medic aid, 60mm mortar etc may fall a short distance behind this arc and are called forward when needed. My self defense arc for Company HQs & Forward Observers is 32 meters.
In CMBS with the communications gear that is present I am still experimenting with the target/command arc concept. It is not needed as much for C2 but I still like a defined area of operations for my platoons.
Just FYI reference the Hide command. It will reduce the automatic 50 meter voice C2 to about 16 - 20 meters.
What they said
Here is the procedure for upgrading a PBEM game.
open and watch the turn as usual
press the BRB to get to the command phase - save it (I usually add _save to the end so that the auto number does not get messed with - this is not requirred)
exit the game
apply the patch - (note if you are worried about the doomsday scenario that @Bud Backer describes make a copy of your game install and patch one of them so you could revert back to the unpatched version if you need to)
open the saved file with the newly patched game
finish your orders
press the BRB to generate the new email file - (delete the _save 001 off the end if you did the optional name change in step 2)
Continue happily with your PBEM game as @Heirloom_Tomato describes.
Note: if you hear odd sounds or constant air attack sounds just ignore them. Sometimes that happens usually they are just for the first minute after the patch. The longest I have had it happen was 2 minutes.
All I can say is this. I personally feel that Steve and the rest of the development team have brought all of us grognards an excellent series of games. I am also glad that they did away with some of the other non-Combat Mission games and devoted all their efforts to Combat Mission series. I have been playing Combat Mission since it first hit the market so many years ago. I recently, in January of this year, bought a computer rig that was capable of handling the graphics of the new game(s) and I now own all the titles and expansion sets. I am very much looking forward to the Fortress Italy and Red Thunder expansions as World War II is my all-time favorite period of history. I would enjoy seeing some new weapons systems developed for CMBS but I am just glad that the team is working hard to bring us an even better series of games. Many kudos to Steve and the development team. All the best to BFC in 2019
**Chris**
The Relationship between Soft Factors, Morale & Fatigue
Preface
Hi all, I'm pretty new to the BFC forums but I've been milling about over at the FGM for a little over a year. I recently created the below post and it received a lot of positive feedback to the point that it has now become one of the sitcky threads over there.
I have been prompted to post the thread here and after a conversation I had in another thread on this forum, I thought that by placing it here, then non-FGM members can have a read through without me having to copy and paste snippets from the original post at the FGM.
Introduction
Whether selecting unit attributes in a quick battle or whether in game wondering if you should use your +1 Leadership squad or +2 Motivation squad to assault a farmhouse. it can be difficult to make an informed decision due to the fact that there is not a lot of information in the manual which explains how the attributes of Experience, Leadership, Motivation and Fitness (hereby collectively known as the 'Soft Factors') affect certain game concepts such as Morale, Suppression, Firepower and Fatigue.
The forums can be slightly misleading as some posts describe exactly how something works whilst others are more how people feel something is working and it can be difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff.
The information below is based on a painstaking process using the editor to separate out the impact of different factors by isolating them and testing them under different conditions. By isolating and testing these factors, the mechanics behind the concepts of Morale, Suppression, Accuracy, C2 and Fatigue start to reveal themselves and after several red herrings, dead ends and lots of repetition the information below has been teased out from the game.
2 videos accompany this post to explain some of the findings, however all of the findings can be backed up by video evidence.
The editor used was the one for Fortress Italy v2.00 Engine 4.0.
SPOILER ALERT - if you prefer the murkiness of not knowing how the Soft Factors affect gameplay then please stop reading.
Having said that the following information does not quantify the game concepts affected by the soft factors but instead generalises as what is likely to happen within a certain concept under certain conditions to units with high and low values for the soft factors.
Morale
Before being able to explain the characteristics of the 'Soft Factors', it is imperative to understand how Morale works in the game.
Morale reflects the psychological state of a unit and determines its ability to respond to orders and fight.
Morale states from highest to lowest are;
Ok > Cautious > Nervous > Rattled > (Shaken) > (Panic) > Broken
States shown in brackets () are temporary states.
The states Ok through to Nervous are simple gradations and a Nervous unit will not behave differently from an Ok one.
Rattled troops which become Pinned (or highly suppressed) will dash for safety, even if they are stationary when they become Pinned (or highly suppressed).
Shaken troops will cower in their current position in the hope that the pressure will ease. They will not respond to orders or fire their weapons.
Note: Shaken troops observed running for cover have been Pinned (or highly suppressed) in the Rattled state prior to becoming Shaken.
Panicked troops will try and run away from the perceived threat to save their own hides. They will not respond to orders or fire their weapons.
Shaken and Panicked states are temporary and will eventually revert back to one of the other persistent states depending on the situation and the Experience, Leadership and Motivation of the unit.
Broken troops will respond to orders but are 'Brittle' and will quickly become Shaken or Panicked if fired upon. Broken troops will remain Brittle for the remainder of the battle irrespective of their Experience, Leadership, Motivation and Fitness.
Morale is affected by 2 conditions of the battlefield and each of these conditions impact on Morale in different ways.
1. Combat Stress
Combat Stress has a persistent impact on Morale and is caused by casualty build up.
Casualties sustained reduce the Morale of the unit for the remainder of the game and is therefore known as a persistent effect.
Morale affected in this way cannot be regained (except under one specific condition - see Leadership). The impact of Combat Stress depends on the number of casualties sustained over time and the Experience, Leadership and Motivation of the unit.
Not only does taking casualties effect the Morale of the unit directly impacted, other units organisationally closely connected are also affected in the same way but to a lesser extent. The persistent Morale effect of casualty build up only effects other units via organisational connection regardless of geographical proximity.
Example 1 - 1st and 2nd Sqd of 1st Plt are separated by 500m. As 1st squad sustains casualties and suffers a persistent Morale impact, 2nd Sqd will also suffer a persistent Morale impact even though it is 500m away and has no LOS to 1st Sqd.
Example 2 - 1st Sqd of 1st Plt is within 10m of 3rdSqd of 2nd Plt. 3rd Sqd of 2nd Plt receives incoming fire and half of the unit is wiped out and the Sqd is instantly Shaken. 1st Sqd of 1st Plt receives no impact to their persistent Morale state due to the fact that they are in a different Platoon. 2nd Plt would have to take far more casualties before any of 1st Plt become affected.
The way that Combat Stress is distributed to other units is vertical between different platoons and companies although it is horizontal between units of the same platoon.
2. Combat Shock
Combat Shock has a temporary impact on Morale and is caused by suppression.
Suppression has a temporary impact on Morale and the affect is removed once the suppression is lifted.
The duration the unit remains suppressed for depends on the amount of incoming Firepower, the immediate casualties sustained, Experience & Leadership of the unit.
The temporary impact on Morale of being suppressed depends on the amount of incoming Firepower, the immediate casualties sustained and the Experience, Leadership & Motivation of the unit.
Suppression Indicator
The Suppression Indicator is not merely a measure of incoming fire, more accurately it represents the units perception as to how much danger it is in based on the incoming Firepower, the immediate casualties sustained, and the Experience, Leadership & Motivation of the unit.
Inexperienced, poorly led and unmotivated units suffer the greatest Morale impact from being suppressed whilst inexperienced and poorly led units can remain suppressed for sometime after the last shot was fired in their direction.
Pinned
If the Suppression Indicator becomes full the unit becomes Pinned. Stationary Pinned (or highly suppressed) troops will return fire but will not respond to movement orders until the suppression has reduced.
Troops which become Pinned (or highly suppressed) whilst moving to a waypoint will attempt to dash for cover. If no cover is nearby, they will hit the deck.
Rattled troops which become Pinned (or highly suppressed) will dash for safety, even if they are stationary when they become Pinned.
Experienced and well led troops recover from being Pinned quicker than inexperienced or poorly led troops.
C2 - Command & Control
C2, or Command and Control, reflects the effect of having a unit being able to receive orders from and deliver information to its HQ team.
Being within a C2 link does not provide resistance to the persistent impact on Morale caused by Combat Stress.
Being within a close C2 link (Close Visual/Voice) does provide resistance to the impact on Morale caused by Combat Shock - troops within C2 range of their HQ unit are less affected by the temporary impact of suppression upon Morale as they are less stressed by being shot at and the immediate impact of seeing team/squadmates killed & wounded is reduced.
More experienced units pass on information to their buddies and superiors quicker than less experienced units. This includes verbal, visual and radio communications.
The range of visual and audio C2 is fixed for all Soft Factors, Morale and Fatigue states but will vary by terrain. In open ground;
: Voice range < 50m (unless the HQ is hiding in which case voice range drops to <25m)
: Close visual range <100m
Experience
Experience reflects the amount of training and combat experience the unit has.
Experience levels from least experience/training to most experience are;
Conscript > Green > Regular > Veteran > Crack > Elite
Experience has 6 characteristics which impact on the unit;
1. Spotting - troops with higher experience are able to spot enemy contacts sooner than less experienced troops.
2. Firepower - higher experienced troops will engage at longer ranges and have greater accuracy than less experienced troops. They therefore tend to cause more casualties to the enemy than their less experienced counterparts during a firefight.
3. Resistance to Combat Stress - more experienced troops are less affected by the psychological impact of losing team/squadmates.
This characteristic is cumulative with Leadership and Motivation.
4. Resistance to Combat Shock - experienced troops are less affected by the temporary impact of suppression upon Morale. They are more used to being shot at and better desensitised to the immediate impact of seeing team/squadmates killed & wounded than less experienced troops.
This characteristic is cumulative with Leadership and Motivation.
5. Suppression Recovery - experienced troops recover quicker from being suppressed (including being Pinned), they realise when the incoming fire has shifted away from them sooner than less experienced troops do.
This characteristic is cumulative with Leadership.
6. More experienced units pass on information to their buddies and superiors quicker than less experienced units. This includes verbal, visual and radio communications.
Leadership
Leadership reflects the quality of NCO's or other team leaders in the team or squad to organise and support the troops. Leaders can be of varying quality.
Leadership is shown as a simple modifier ranging from;
-2 > -1 > 0 > +1 > +2
Note: A Leadership modifier only applies to the unit with the Modifier (like all other modifiers). In other words it does not filter down to sub-ordinate units (see HQ Leadership Modifier Example).
Leadership has 3 characteristics which effect unit behaviour under duress;
1. Resistance to Combat Stress - better led troops are less affected by the psychological impact of losing team/squadmates.
This characteristic is cumulative with Experience and Motivation.
2. Resistance to Combat Shock - well led troops are less affected by the temporary impact of suppression upon Morale. The NCO's are better at encouraging the troops under fire and getting them to remember their training when faced with the immediate impact of seeing team/squadmates killed & wounded.
This characteristic is cumulative with Experience and Motivation.
3. Suppression Recovery - well led troops recover quicker from being suppressed (including being Pinned), they realise when the incoming fire has shifted away from them sooner than poorly led troops do.
This characteristic is cumulative with Experience.
Unlike the characteristics denoted by Experience, if the Leader of a team or squad is incapacitated, the Leadership value of the unit will change to that of the next most senior member who steps up as the Leader. This value can go up as well as down, for example, a unit with a +1 Leader incapacitated and replaced by a -1 Leader will suffer a hit on Morale which may be enough to cause a persistent drop in the unit's Morale state. Similarly however, if a -2 Leader is incapacitated and replaced with a 0 Leader, the unit will receive a boost in Morale which may be enough to cause a persistent increase in the unit's Morale state.
Note: In Engine v4.0 manual page 68 it states that a Leadership bonus will help "direct fire to be more effective". However, this has not been possible to reproduce using various tests. Whereas the difference in accuracy between Crack units and Green units is repeatable and obvious, the effect of Leadership on accuracy is not apparent.
HQ Leadership Modifier Example
Reading some posts, there is a lot of confusion over how this Modifier works with HQ units. So I will clarify it here.
The Leadership (Ldrshp) modifier for all units (from Btn Hqs through to Plt Hqs down to squads and teams) only effects the unit that the modifier is for, in the same way that a -2 Fitness modifier only effects the fitness of the unit that the modifier is for.
In fact, it helps to think of the Leadership modifier in the same was as the Fitness modifier. An unfit Plt HQ does not make all of the squads in that platoon unfit aswell.
So a squad with a -1 Ldrshp modifier is not offset by the +1 Ldrshp modifier of its Plt HQ. The squad will still suffer the penalties of having -1 Ldrshp.
So how does having a Plt HQ with a poor leader affect the performance of the Platoon?
This is best illustrated with an example;
Lt Bike is the Plt Leader of 1st Plt. He has a Leadership modifier of -2. All 3 of the squads in 1st Plt are Regulars with average ability NCO's so no Ldrshp modifiers for the squads. For reference 1st Plt HQ is also Regular.
1st Plt are on a patrol and 1st Squad makes contact with an enemy force. After a couple of minutes, the casualties from 1st Sqd begin to mount. Not only does this have a persistent Morale affect on 1st Sqd, it also has a persistent Morale affect on the other 2 Squads and the Plt HQ because of their close organisational link.
However, because the Plt HQ has Lt Bike with his -2 Ldrshp modifier, it suffers a greater impact on Morale than 2nd or 3rd Sqd does from the build up of 1st Sqds casualties.
After another minute of combat, the persistent morale states of the Platoon are;
Plt HQ - Rattled
1st Squad - Rattled
2nd Squad - Nervous
3rd Squad - Nervous
As the combatants manoeuvre for position, the Plt HQ comes under fire. As the HQ team is already Rattled, it doesn't take much suppression to drop their Morale state temporarily into Shaken.
Now that the HQ unit is Shaken, the C2 link between the HQ and the 3 squads is cut. This makes the squads more vulnerable to the Morale effects of suppression (see C2 - Command & Control).
As 1st Squad is already under suppressive fire, its Morale state instanteously drops from Rattled to Shaken because of the loss of the C2 link (see C2 - Command & Control).
The HQ will take longer to recover from the supression than it normally would for a Regular unit because of its -2 Ldrshp modifier, meaning that as a consequence, the C2 link is broken for longer.
So we now have the following situation after 5 minutes;
Plt HQ - Shaken
1st Squad - Shaken
2nd Squad - Nervous
3rd Squad - Nervous
If we rewind the clock and give Lt Bike +2 Ldrshp modifier, then re-run under exactly the same circumstances the situation would have been after 5 minutes;
Plt HQ - Nervous 1st Squad - Rattled 2nd Squad - Nervous
3rd Squad - Nervous
This is because the Plt HQ would not have been so affected by the casualty build up of 1st Sqd so that when the HQ came under some suppressive fire, it was still in a high enough Morale state not to become Shaken by it and therefore the C2 link between the HQ and the Squads and the benefits it brings (see C2 - Command & Control) would still be intact.
Motivation
Motivation reflects the units dedication to the cause and their willingness to sacrifice themselves for their squad mates and commanders.
Motivation from best to worst ranges as;
Poor > Low > Normal > High > Extreme > Fanatic
Motivation has 3 characteristics which effect unit behaviour under duress;
1. Resistance to Combat Stress - better motivated troops are less affected by the psychological impact of losing team/squadmates.
This characteristic is cumulative with Experience and Leadership.
2. Resistance to Combat Shock - highly motivated troops are less affected by the temporary impact of suppression upon Morale. They are less psychologically affected by being shot at and better desensitised to the immediate impact of seeing team/squadmates killed & wounded than their less motivated counterparts.
This characteristic is cumulative with Experience and Leadership.
3. Resistance to Panic and Breaking - highly motivated troops can be Shaken but are less likely to Panic and try to run from the fight to save themselves. They are also more likely to recover to a positive morale state after being Shaken than less motivated troops and are less likely to become Broken and Brittle.
Fanatic units will not surrender.
Fatigue
Fatigue is the physical effect of running around and using up energy.
Fatigued troops cannot Fast, Assault or Hunt Move.
Exhausted troops cannot Fast, Assault, Hunt or Quick Move.
More tired troops do not move slower than less tired troops moving at the same movement command, ie Unfit troops moving at Fast Move, cover distance at the same rate as Fit troops moving at Fast Move, they just won't be able to keep up that pace for as long.
Keeping troops stationary recovers their fatigue relatively quickly. Hiding troops has no additional benefit.
Troops will recover fatigue whilst at the Move but it is at a slower rate.
Experience, Leadership and Motivation do not effect Fatigue states or recovery times.
Fatigue has no effect on Morale either from Combat Stress or Combat Shock.
Fatigue has no effect on accuracy nor the range at which targets are engaged at.
Fitness
Fitness represents a units physical resistance to Fatigue.
Fitness states from best to worst are;
Fit > Weakened > Unfit
Fitness has 3 characteristics which effect unit behaviour under physical exertion;
1. Fitter troops tire less quickly from Fast Move (sprinting), Slow Move (crawling) and Quick Move (jogging).
2. Fitter troops recover from tired states sooner than less fit troops.
3. Weakened and Unfit troops recover fatigue on the Move extremely slowly.
Closing
All of the conclusions made above have been arrived at through thorough isolation and testing procedures which can be backed up by video evidence.
There is more stuff in the CMx2 engine to dig up than what has been uncovered here but for now I'm unable to go further into this rabbit hole.
Hopefully the information presented here clears up some of the historical confusions that have been around on the various forums. It may also affect the way in which unit purchases are thought about, and hopefully it allows players to make better informed tactical decisions and enhance the way their game is played.
Here is a second showcase video, this time showing a successful Syrian armored assault against defending Germans. This was taken from a modified version of the NATO scenario "Bier un Brezel." Some of the better Syrian equipment is on display here, such as the T-72AV equipped with the TURMS-T as well as the BMP-2. This should pain the Syrians in a more favorable light compared to the first showcase video. Hope everyone enjoys!
@MOS:96B2P & @Sgt.Squarehead
I don't frequent this thread very much as I don't play SF2. All the images in the vid are from the demo. However looking at the content you guys are uploading, I can't help think that this track would have worked great with a vid for that.
Not sure you would agree though Sgt 😉
The other day I heard the Beastie Boys' track Sabotage which I haven't heard for years and I thought to myself 'that would be a good accompanying track to a Shock Force 2 montage'. So I took some inspiration from the track's video and put this together. See what you think.
Pure. Genius. Frikking awesome. If only you could make some pixeltruppen slide across the hood of an Abrams (like in the Sabotage video)
BFC should license the music and make this a promo trailer.
This is awesome! Careful though, you may now be contractually obligated to make a very cliche video featuring the song "Bodies" by Drowning Pool 🤣
In all seriousness though, this is great! Always a joy to see another CM vid from you.
The other day I heard the Beastie Boys' track Sabotage which I haven't heard for years and I thought to myself 'that would be a good accompanying track to a Shock Force 2 montage'. So I took some inspiration from the track's video and put this together. See what you think.
The other day I heard the Beastie Boys' track Sabotage which I haven't heard for years and I thought to myself 'that would be a good accompanying track to a Shock Force 2 montage'. So I took some inspiration from the track's video and put this together. See what you think.
The other day I heard the Beastie Boys' track Sabotage which I haven't heard for years and I thought to myself 'that would be a good accompanying track to a Shock Force 2 montage'. So I took some inspiration from the track's video and put this together. See what you think.
The other day I heard the Beastie Boys' track Sabotage which I haven't heard for years and I thought to myself 'that would be a good accompanying track to a Shock Force 2 montage'. So I took some inspiration from the track's video and put this together. See what you think.
The other day I heard the Beastie Boys' track Sabotage which I haven't heard for years and I thought to myself 'that would be a good accompanying track to a Shock Force 2 montage'. So I took some inspiration from the track's video and put this together. See what you think.
@Howler thanks, this is a good example of one of those times when having squads or sections split all the time may not be the most beneficial setup for the situation.
By recombining the 2 detachments you averaged out their morale states which allowed the unit to stay in the fight and prevent this flank from failing.
@Howler thanks, this is a good example of one of those times when having squads or sections split all the time may not be the most beneficial setup for the situation.
By recombining the 2 detachments you averaged out their morale states which allowed the unit to stay in the fight and prevent this flank from failing.
@Howler thanks, this is a good example of one of those times when having squads or sections split all the time may not be the most beneficial setup for the situation.
By recombining the 2 detachments you averaged out their morale states which allowed the unit to stay in the fight and prevent this flank from failing.
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