Aquila-SmartWargames

Bloody Ride Panther and Halftrack Camo pack. 
+1 @Aquila-SmartWargames.  Nice mod.  

Here´s a quick-fix mod set for the R2V Shermans.

@DougPhresh made a request for Sherman mods for R2V the other day. I replied that I dont really have the time to make mods from scratch. Luckily, I discovered that I had an old set of Sherman  Photoshop files that Aris´ once sent me. This was only the files for his CMBN Sherman IC mod, so most of the mods in this set are based on these. 
I have simply taken each bmp for the hulls and turrets of every Sherman in R2V - and placed the dirt, mud and grime from Aris´  Sherman IC on top of them. So most of the mods have the excact same layer of dirt on top of them. Luckily, it doesn' t really loook like that, because the base bmp´s are relatively different.

In some cases, the bmp´s were so different from the Sherman IC´s layout that I couldn´t use the method described above. In that case I have taken files from other CM games and renamed them to fit. Or done a bit of modding myself.
In short: This is not a set of mods made from scratch - but a quick-fix that will allow you to use "Aris´ed" R2V Shermans. Sherman grogs might find errors in camo schemes and such, but as far as I am concerned, they are as good as they get.
I am sharing the mods via this Dropbox link - until they are available on Cmmods IV.
 

Bloody Ride Panther and Halftrack Foliage Camo Pack (CMWW2):

- was made for a Bloody Ride campaign playthrough in mind, so not all Panther and Halftrack models are done.
- should work with all WW2 games where this Panther and Halftrack models are present
- modular, you can remove vehicle version you don´t want to modify (for example only camo specific support halftracks etc.)
3D Foliage Camo German Helmet (Experimental)

- it seems there are some texture amount limitation when modding helmets, status quo is that the foliage adapts the helmet texture. Didn´t find out yet how to overcome. So only woodland/green/camo helmet textures should be used alongside it. See previous videos model tutorial videos for details. I recommend to stick with the "classic" texture based camo mods by other authors.
M8 (Mid) Foliage Camo

This camo mods should work with all CMWW2 games where the vehicle versions are present. The foliage camo also adapts to winter snow.
Download:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1tviryry89g6py7/AAAJpSvGH6u1iEx4WzwVLSnJa?dl=0
 
For more details check out the Youtube videos, especially this playlist:
Video Playlist for CM 3D Model Editing with Showcases, Workflows, and Tutorials (latter with commentary)
 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlUX4ALH7zTNgpWGBYSFUCnZK-Sf7SCcl

I see it also in this rather optimistic way. Sure there are always people that make out of proportion or rude demands but you have stuff like this in in every game forum. From what I´ve seen it appears even worse in forums of more casual games which might have something to do that a game like CM might attract more mature individuals in the first place, which additionally might be looking for the most definitive wargame representation, while understanding that the market and dev resources are different here. I personally see the bar CM has set as one of its biggest strength and selling points, absolutely not as its enemy. 
About graphics, I am not a graphics fetishist but not a nostalgia grog either. I like beautiful and authentic games, I have a strong machine, and alot of recent strategy games like Steel Division 2 or other genre games like PS, HLL etc. at my disposal and still when somebody would ask me "show me the most beautiful and definitive audiovisual experience in a ground strategy game" I would show him CM2 footage. Never gets old too look at the detailed vehicles and uniforms, never gets old when a big firefight errupts and the surrounds start to go down in an absolute apocalypse of gunfire, explosions, and shouting. No other strategy game reaches even close to this and I am talking here only about the (audio)visuals. Furthermore the terrain - not in a how much diverse objects there are - but talking rather about terrain complexity: In alot of strategy games you have this rather abstracted "wood, plains, urban, high ground etc." terrain features but in CM its on another level, hard to put in words but if you ever reconnoitered terrain for whatever reason, you might understand what I mean. Better than any real strategy game, even better than in some military first person shooters.
Sure I run a heavily modded audiovisual setup together with a personal fav of Reshade profile there. Some might argue "thats not part of the game" but I don´t make this differentiation. If I can do something myself in order to improve a situation or to better met certain criteria, I do it. Personal conclusion: CM2 looks to me beautiful like any current gen strat game with some aspects like uniform, vehicle detail, and combat fidelity even being on an higher level.
This of course doesn´t mean that engine overhauls or visual improvements are not welcome. Wouldn´t say no to improved rain visuals, problematic shadows in certain situations, better backgrounds, a more attractive void (the empy space beyond the map), ballistics analysis, better briefing and campaign/core force interfaces etc etc.. But if it would be gameplay/content vs. visuals right now I would go with the first. And when CM3 eventually becomes a thing, well then we´ll see 🙂

Mature? I hope you are not accusing me of being mature. I take that very badly....I am always in touch with my Inner Child. It's the Outer Adult I have difficulty with. 😉
 

I see it also in this rather optimistic way. Sure there are always people that make out of proportion or rude demands but you have stuff like this in in every game forum. From what I´ve seen it appears even worse in forums of more casual games which might have something to do that a game like CM might attract more mature individuals in the first place, which additionally might be looking for the most definitive wargame representation, while understanding that the market and dev resources are different here. I personally see the bar CM has set as one of its biggest strength and selling points, absolutely not as its enemy. 
About graphics, I am not a graphics fetishist but not a nostalgia grog either. I like beautiful and authentic games, I have a strong machine, and alot of recent strategy games like Steel Division 2 or other genre games like PS, HLL etc. at my disposal and still when somebody would ask me "show me the most beautiful and definitive audiovisual experience in a ground strategy game" I would show him CM2 footage. Never gets old too look at the detailed vehicles and uniforms, never gets old when a big firefight errupts and the surrounds start to go down in an absolute apocalypse of gunfire, explosions, and shouting. No other strategy game reaches even close to this and I am talking here only about the (audio)visuals. Furthermore the terrain - not in a how much diverse objects there are - but talking rather about terrain complexity: In alot of strategy games you have this rather abstracted "wood, plains, urban, high ground etc." terrain features but in CM its on another level, hard to put in words but if you ever reconnoitered terrain for whatever reason, you might understand what I mean. Better than any real strategy game, even better than in some military first person shooters.
Sure I run a heavily modded audiovisual setup together with a personal fav of Reshade profile there. Some might argue "thats not part of the game" but I don´t make this differentiation. If I can do something myself in order to improve a situation or to better met certain criteria, I do it. Personal conclusion: CM2 looks to me beautiful like any current gen strat game with some aspects like uniform, vehicle detail, and combat fidelity even being on an higher level.
This of course doesn´t mean that engine overhauls or visual improvements are not welcome. Wouldn´t say no to improved rain visuals, problematic shadows in certain situations, better backgrounds, a more attractive void (the empy space beyond the map), ballistics analysis, better briefing and campaign/core force interfaces etc etc.. But if it would be gameplay/content vs. visuals right now I would go with the first. And when CM3 eventually becomes a thing, well then we´ll see 🙂

I prefer historical accuracy and rather lean towards how BF/CM is handling things. In alot of tactical wargames infantry is reduced to "nice to have them around but not really threatening or battle decisive" when tanks are present aswell. Drive them up to the inf and blast them into pieces. In CM on the other hand you need to excercise the combined arms approach and thus protect your tanks from infantry and locating infantry can be difficult depending on conditions and environment aswell.  
Having enemy infantry swarming your tank was one of the worst situations a tank crew could find itself in. Some tanks came with close defense system such as dedicated mgs or firing ports but AFAIK they never prove to be an effective deterrent and even less a proper replacement for infantry support. There is a reason why some German tanks installed sohisticated solutions like  the "Nahverteidigungswaffe" which tried to protect their heavy tanks from infantry attacks by launching explosives, its quiet interesting to see it in action in CM. If infantry swarming them wouldn´t be a threat to their Tigers/Kingtigers they wouldn´t bother with it.
In the beginning the effectiveness of grenades also wondered me but when someone on these forums came up with the explanation that it represents an abstraction of the various close infantry attack tactics that were used against tanks and that the generic grenade counter/throw also represents an abstraction of various dedicated or DIY AT ordnance such as dedicated/improvised mines, charges, liquids, throwables it started to make sense to me. If true putting an explanation into the manual could avoid alot of the confusion. 
Interesting are also the results. I had Medium Tanks such as the T-34 knocked out after 1-2 grenade/close infantry attacks and I had T-34 that survived 12 of them and kept me constantly on the run. Something gave me the impression that there might be some hidden values running under the "grenade count" hood but on the other hand I don´t want to know in order to keep the "magic" which makes every close infantry attack exciting about what might happen. 
What for me is left to debate is if effect on enemy tanks is achieved too fast, if despite mobility killing them they had the means to completely knock out heavier tanks that fast or at all, force the crew outside, and if so many infantrymen would have the knowledge, guts, and equipment to undertake such an endeavour. Pretty sure there are some of these that can be at least partially answered with "not really" but I guess some of this might be tied to 1) current engine limitations 2) limited development resources, and balancing 1) and 2) out with the other aspects of the game in order to still offer the best historical accuracy possible.
But nevertheless I still think CM has one  of the - if not the - most authentic Infantry vs tanks warfare representations.
There are even ideas to go farer as somebody mentioned the idea to allow infantry to use their explosive ordnance/close infantry attack ability from buildings which I think is not that bad of an idea but might end up absolutely over the top with infantry occupied build-up areas becoming apocalyptic for tanks to drive through and on the other hand would neglect the exposure of infantry as they wouldn´t have to leave the safety of the building for that. Perhaps thats was the decision-making reason why the ability is denied from interiors.

Ack now you are making it hard. The whole point of making the WW2 just kept going scenario is that BFC would have *all* the necessary models and formations because they would have to complete end of WW2 TO&E for the Soviets and the Allies already to go. If we just create a strategic back story for fighting to continue for six more months all that would be required would be the creation of the game and the amalgamation of resources from the CMRT and CMFB plus the creation of scenarios.
Once you start adding new cool units and reorganization of armies then it becomes a whole big thing

Backstory?  Strategic objectives?  Counterfactual? ........... Why? 
The more complicated this is the less likely it would be worth while to do.  
Port over CMRT Soviet TOE into CMFB.   Then sell it.   

Completed playthroughs on this and TOC. One of the best times I had in CM.
 
Already excited for upcoming  Chiraq and Alarmeinheiten.

I saw this proposal by @MOS:96B2P in another thread with a rather unrelated topic and I wanted to give it a dedicated thread before it might get buried. I really like this idea as it would enable us to play CM in a new unique way and open up alot of opportunities for scenario & campaign designers.
 
I would not think twice about buying this and hope that it will be indeed considered at some point. 

Would be an instant buy for me.

Modern conversions done, campaign script done, campaign briefing mostly done... just the manual & a single 3D model now... oh & a few voices.
@mjkerner has also started bringing his stuff directly to the game, here are our "Bong-Hai Civil War" era "Imperial Army" troops fighting (and dying) during a recent conversion playtest...

I didn't edit my post quick enough .... we already have SS & Luftwaffe in CMFB.  I'm currently in the CMRT editor and am thinking about RT stuff. 
+1   A CM title that includes both Western forces and the Soviets would fantastic IMO.  My hope is that the last release for CMFB will be an equipment pack introducing Soviet forces/equipment into CMFB.  Call it meeting on the Elbe River or something.  Then the US, Commonwealth and Soviets would all be in the same Combat Mission game.   No BFC created scenarios would be needed.  Just an equipment pack of already designed equipment ported over from CMRT.  Scenario designers and mod creators could do all kinds of cold war, neo-colonialism stuff.  Patton goes east 1945, Fulda Gap 1948, Korea, Suez Crisis, etc.    Just put them in the same game.  

The CMSF base game is still $60, the big bundle is $125.
If $125 is too steep at the moment (and you don't have the original CMSF which can be upgraded for as little as $15) you can always buy the base game now & then the module bundle for $90 (you will likely end up buying all the modules)... it'll be a little bit more expensive overall but will allow you to start playing sooner.
@Erwin isn't far wrong about the content available... I estimated there were around 800 scenarios & almost 50 CMSF campaigns (all playable in CMSF2) & that was before CMSF2 was released.
And as @mjkerner & @MOS:96B2P mentioned the Heaven & Earth 'open beta' (due very soon) will come with yet more content (2 campaigns & around 20 individual scenarios... over 40 scenarios overall, with more to come).
I doubt it's even possible to play all the content available (although @Aquila-SmartWargames seems to be trying to prove me wrong).

http://www.files.com/shared/56fde13ed7cb6/Rokossovkys_Impasse.zip
Rokossovkys Impasse is a campaign for Red Thunder. You play as the Soviet 65th army that needs to punch through the German defenses. You can do it! It's a short campaign with four scenarios (One is a decision scenario). 

Recently kohlenklau who is heading up the mod team of the Finnish Mod asked me to contribute a short campaign to go with the mod pack. Below are the details.
The Battle of Tali-Ihantala

The Battle of Tali-Ihantala is a CMRT Mini-Campaign depicting the actions of the Finnish IV Army Corps during June -July 1944 on the Karelian Isthmus. It was designed
originally with version 3 of CMRT but was finished with version 4. However none of the new features in version 4 were incorporated into this campaign. It should
play out fine in either version but let me know if problems arise.
As always let me know of any corrections or problems as the campaign has only been quick tested.
 
The battles depicted in this campaign, which is part of the Continuation War  had been going since 1941. It focuses mainly on the actions of Finnish 18th Division and
several supporting units. I tried to tag each unit with the correct Finnish abreviations as well as included the actual commanders but if any of our Finnish players
see anything totally screwed up let me know. Below is a listing of the core units:
Core Units:
1 P JR48 (1 Battalion Infantry Regiment 48) Eversti (Col.) Vaino Forsberg
2 P JR48 (2 Battalion Infantry Regiment 48)
2 P JR6 (2 Battalion Infantry Regiment 6)
2 P JR12 (2 Battalion Infantry Regiment 12) Eversti (Col.) Yrjo Hanste
3 P JR13 (3 Battlion Infantry Regiment 13) (Company of Swedish Volunteers)
1 Er.P 16 (Seperate Battalion 16)
3 Jaeger JP (Jaeger Battalion) Eversti (Col.) Albert Puroma
1 Er.Pion.K (Pioneer Battalion) Everstiluutnantti (Lt. Col.) Reino Inkinen
Panssaridivisoona ( 2 Rynnakkotykki Assault Gun Battalion) Kenraalimajuri (Maj. Gen.) Ruben Lagus
Sturm Brigade 303 (German Assault Gun Unit) Hauptman Friedrich Scherer
1/SG3 (Lufftwaffe)(Gefechtsverband Kuhlmey) Ju-87D Ground Attack Aircraft
1/SG5 (Lufftwaffe)(Gefechtsverband Kuhlmey) Fw-190F8 Ground Attack Aircraft
Soviet Forces:
45th Guards Rifle Division
63rd Guards Rifle Division
27th Tank Regiment
30th Armoured Brigade
Campaign Tree:
1. The Assault on Tali
2. Portinhoikka Crossroads
3. Counterattack at Tali
4. The Road Block at Ihantala
This campaign features the excellent Finnish Mod Pack designed by the team put together by kohlenklau and all credit goes to them. The mod pack is included
in the download. I added a Finnish Stug III mod to the pack to represent the Finnish armoured units. The mods are tagged for this specific cmapaign and should not interfere with any other campaigns or battles with the exception of the Finnish voice pack included in the mod folder. Remove this folder after playing or your German pixeltruppen may speak Finnish.
All the maps were hand created by me based on what information I could find and google maps. Hopefully they represent the battle locations reasonably accurate.
Also be sure to read the campaign designer notes as I have added some historical information about the battle.
Hope it proves enjoyable
Michael
Here is the link to the campaign. Just place the mod folder into the dataz folder in your CMRT directory and the .cam file into the campaign directory.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/i9d5icpdod3r0vs/The Battle of Tali Ihantala.zip?dl=0
 
 
 

This thing has been sitting on my hard drive for quite sometime. I was waiting for a module or vehicle pack to be released to give me the correct vehicles needed but since that doesn't look like its going to happen anytime soon I decided to finish it and put it up for play. If the vehicles needed are released I will go back and update it. It has only been partially tested.
Zitadelle:Totenkopf's March to Prokhorovka depicts actions of the 3rd SS Panzergrenadier Division Totenkopf during Operation Zitadelle, or more commonly, The Battle of Kursk, during July, 1943.
It requires the latest version of CMRT. The details are as follows:
 
Zitadelle: SS Totenkopf's March to Prokhorovka
Zitadelle is a CMRT Campaign depicting the actions of the 3rd SS Panzergrenadier Division Totenkopf (Deaths Head) during Operation Zitadelle, the German code word for the Battle of Kursk. It follows the divisions engagements from July 4, 1943 until July 12, 1943.
The campaign should be considered semi-historical simply because of limitations in the CMRT engine, mainly force composition and equipment. All the battles however were actual engagements and I tried to replicate them as accurately as I could. It requires the following:
CMRT version 4.
The Included Mod Folder for immersion.
Division Totenkopf was one of three SS Divisions attached to the II. SS Panzer Korps that fought in the southern sector of the campaign. Totenkopf, along with the other two divisions, 1st SS Panzergrenadier Division Leibstandarte and 2nd SS Panzergrenadier Division Das Reich, along with support units, were under the command of SS Obergruppenfuhrer Paul Hausser and would be the main offensive punch for the Germans in this sector.
The 3rd SS Panzergrenadier Division Totenkopf is commanded by SS Brigadefuhrer Hermann Preiss during Operation Zitadelle.
Note on Commanders:
I have tried to add in as many of the key commanders as possible for historical immersion. During the battle the II.SS Panzer-Korps lost many key commanders since many German commanders lead their troops from the front, so there was a lot of moving leadership around. I set the command tree for this campaign as it was in the beginning of the actual battle where I could.
This campaign features the following units as the core units.
German Order of Battle:
1. I.SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 6 (SS Sturmbannfuhrer Fritz Knochlein)
    4 x Kompanies
2. II.SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 6 (SS Sturmbannfuhrer Ernst Haussler)
    4 x Kompanies
    2 x Kompanies (Reserve)
3. III.SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 6 (SS Standartenfuhrer Karl Ullrich)
    4 x Kompanies
4. I.SS Panzer Regiment 3 (SS Hauptsturmfuhrer Erwin Meierdress)
    2 x Kompanies ( 47 MkIVG tanks)
    1 x Kompanie (Reserve) (22 MkIVG tanks)
(These represent tanks repaired  and returned to service during the battle and will be  available later.)
    1 x Support Kompanie (Flak Zug)
5. I.SS Panzer Regiment (SS Obersturmfuhrer Wilhelm Schroder)
    9.Kompanie (Tiger Kompanie) (11 MkVI Tiger 1 tanks)
6. II.SS Panzer Regiment 3  (SS Sturmbannfuhrer Georg Bochmann)
    4 x Kompanies (59 MkIVG tanks)
    1 x Support Kompanie (Flak Zug)
7. SS Pionier Battalion 3 (SS Obersturmfuhrer Georg Kinzler
     1 x Kompanie
8. SS-Sturmgeschutz-Abteilung 3 (SS Hauptsturmfuhrer Werner Korff)
    2 x Batterie
    1 x Batterie (Reserve)
9. SS-Panzer-Aufklarungs-Abteilung 3 (SS Sturmbannfuhrer Otto Kron)
     2 x Kompanies (Equipped with SPW 251 from the divisions halftrack battalion)
     1 x Kompanie (Reserve)
10. I.SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 6 (Armored Battalion) (SS Obersturmbannfuhrer Rudolf Schneider)
     1 x Kompanie (Armored Car)
     2 x Kompanie ( Halftrack Battalion)
     1 x Kompanie (Halftrack Battalion) (Reserve)
Soviet Order of Battle: (Non Core)
1. 1241st Rifle Regiment (375th Rifle Division)
2. 155th Guards Rifle Regiment (52nd Guards Rifle Division)
3. 196th Guards Rifle Regiment (67th Guards Rifle Division)
4. 245th Tank Regiment (2nd Guards Tank Corps)
5. 289th Guards Regiment (97th Guards Rifle Division)
6. 237th Tank Brigade (31st Tank Corps)
7. 96th Tank Brigade ( attached to the 52nd Guards Rifle Division)
8. 284th Guards Rifle Regiment (95th Guards Rifle Division)
9. 287th Guards Regiment (95th Guards Rifle Division)
10. 181st Tank Brigade (18th Tank Corps)
Notes on unit composition:
Due to limitations in the current CMRT engine I used Aufklarung compositions to eliminate most of the panzerfausts which were not present during Operation Zitadelle. A few of the HQ units still randomly retain a few but there is nothing much I can do. Just use your imagination and let them be very accurately thrown teller mines.
Also historically Totenkopf had the following tank strengths:
59 PzMkIII's
47 PzMkIV (long barreled 75mm)
11 PzMkVI Tigers
8 Befehls Pz. (Repair Vehicles)
With the MKIII not being available I have substituted in the correct number of MkIV's, so the tank strength is correct on numbers but not correct on tank types. If BFC decides to make the MkIII (and KV-1) I will try and update this beast. As mentioned above there is one Kompanie in the I.SS Panzer Regiment 3 that is a reserve and this represents repaired tanks that were returned to service during the battle. These will be available towards the end.
The Campaign Tree:
1. Hill 218 - Axis Assault (Dawn)
2. Breaking the Line - Axis Assault (Day)
3. Actung Panzer - Axis Probe (Day)
4. Clash at Kochetovka - Axis Attack (Day)
5. Decision - Gives you the opportunity to play the next mission with or without using some of your reserves. You must be careful here as you will need every available asset in the later battles.
6. 96th Tank Brigade Counterattacks - Meeting Engagement (No reserves) (Day)
7. 96th Tank Brigade Counterattacks (Reserves) - Meeting Engagement (Reserves) (Day)
8. Hells Bridgehead - Axis Assault (Day)
9. Tooth and Nail - Allied Attack (Dawn)
10. Fire and Steel - Meeting Engagement (Day)
For this campaign to be successful it will require careful management of your unit preservation, as the last battles will require every resource you can muster. 9.Kompanies Tigers will be especially important as you will get no replacements for them. (There was only 11 total during Zitadelle)
Artillery and air support will be available in most missions for both sides.
The Mods:
Included with the campaign is a mod folder that contains the following:
1. Veins excellent Totenkopf Uniform mod.
2. Several terrain and effects textures from different sources for immersion.
3. Aris PzMk IVG, SPW 251, Stug III and PzMkVI Tiger textures modified by me with the correct insignia used by Totenkopf during Operation Zitadelle.
4. Custom Loading Music
5. Totekopf Portrait Mod - I added the Deaths Head insignia to the portrait of the armored infantry and tank commanders from Mords Red Thunder Portraits mod. These will now show the correct insignia and are tagged to this campaign only.
The Maps:
The maps were all created by the author (me) and I have tried to make them as accurate as possible. Most are large and may task slower systems.
Be sure to read the mission briefings for each mission.
I have included some historical information that the campaign was based on in each of the designer notes for each mission. This will give you a bigger picture of the events that are happening when each mission is played out.
As always let me know of any bugs or screw ups and I will fix and update.
I hope the campaign proves enjoyable.
Here is the link to the campaign:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/jl13w5orjp2b7dz/Zitadelle.zip?dl=0
Michael

About the Campaign
This campaign covers a short and sustained period of combat operations taking place over a period of less than 72 hours, in Poland, on the Eastern Front in early August 1944. Although fictional it is heavily based on actual events.

In the campaign you take the role of 1 Kompanie Commander Hauptmann Hans von Schroif, of the 3rd Panzer Division’s (Known as the Berlin Bear division – the bear features on the city coat of arms) I(gep)/PzGrn Rgt 3 equipped with half-track carriers (SPW). Hauptmann von Schroif - AKA you - has been tasked with commanding a small kampfgruppe, to which has been attached the 6 Kompanie (Panzer IVs) under the command of Hauptmann Eric Faust. You have a sister kampfgruppe – commanded by Hauptmann Krüger – with roughly the same make-up, SPW and PzIVs. Krüger is a glory hunter with a desire for a Knights Cross. Correspondingly his unit is very aggressive. Other elements from Division will be attached given the situation – mostly recce units from Aufklärungs-Abteilung 3 (AA3). 

Reinforcements; Resupply and Refit
It is worth noting that the player receives no reinforcements and little in the way of refit in the 72 hour period.
Therefore you, the player, have to use your forces wisely, especially your panzergrenadiers. Keep your casualties as low as you can, for as long as you can. The key to success is close co-operation between your SPW, panzergrenadiers and panzers.
Key characters, including platoon leaders, are all named individually and are tracked throughout the campaign. You’ll notice, as casualties mount that key names slowly start to disappear. Don’t get killed yourself though early on, as it may lead to you ending the campaign, like your life, prematurely. 
Player Campaign Briefings and Tactical Maps
The briefings take the form of an immersive narrative. Therefore they tend to be fairly lengthy, Not everyone’s cup of tea but I like that. To help process the info I compiled all the campaign briefings into a PDF file titled Kampfgruppe von Schroif Campaign Briefing Handbook. Each brief is linked via the Campaign Flowchart so you can quickly access the briefing you want. If you don’t like reading then the Operation and Tactical Maps in each mission provide the key info required at a glance.
There is also a table showing your unit, its commanders and their ‘soft’ values e.g. experience, morale etc. In addition there are Force Tracker graphics which allow you to track casualties and effectiveness of your unit as the campaign rolls on.
In addition there is a pack of Tactical Maps included in the zip file. These are maps of all the main missions and are blank unannotated JPGs. They offer the player the ability to use them to plan their actions either on paper (print them out) or digitally on your PC/Laptop.

Mods
There are no mods required to play this campaign. It’s playable “out of the box” using the base CMRT game. If you are interested in what mods I use (and you’ll see in the screenshots) then I use the following:
Aris' vehicles (both German and Soviet)
Kieme's buildings and terrain mods
Tanks a Lot buildings (these just add more 'skin' options for buildings but they are great!)
Veins' German and Soviet soldiers
Veins' tracers and special effect s(smoke, flame and dust)
Rambler's CMBS Trees and Hedges (yup CMBS mod but it works in CMRT).
Acknowledgments
Huge shout out to SeinfeldRules for the kind permission to use his “Assault Position” scenario in this campaign.
I owe a huge debt of thanks to the guys who did the playtesting. So a big shout out and thanks to the following for playtesting, feedback, proof reading and critical comment:
SeinfeldRules, Raptorx7, mjkerner, RepsolCBR, TAKODA. BarbaricCo, olliwa, SlowLarry, Reech, borg, bangalor44, Chudacabra. 
Special mention goes to Combatintman who painstakingly proof read and checked all the briefings for every scenario and their associated tactical and operation maps. I think the words Oberleutant and Oberstleutnant will be forever etched in his brain! He also provided the “Force Tracker” graphics.
Any subsequent errors, omissions and weirdness are entirely my fault!

You can grab a slightly tweaked version 3 (some minor changes made to the first mission and corrected some typos in the brief) from TSDIII HERE.
 

Rattenkrieg is a CMRT campaign depicting actions of the German 194th Infantrie Regiment, part of the 71st Infantrie Division, during mid-November 1942 in Stalingrad. This campaign is designed to show off the excellent Stalingrad Mod created by that team. Parts of the CMRT Winter Modification Teams work is also included featuring winter conditions in the final battles. Below is a copy of the Designer Notes featured in the campaign with all the details. This campaign is untested except by me so any problems or suggestions that you may have please make me aware through this thread or PM. I hope it proves to be enjoyable.
Rattenkrieg
(The Devil Whispered " You can't withstand the storm".
The Warrior Replied " I am the storm".)
Stalingrad, November 1942.
The Battle of Stalingrad has been raging since August. The 6th Army under Generalfeldmarschall Friedrich Paulus has fought into the city but has became bogged down in endless bloody street fighting where every ruined house, factory or building has been turned into a miniature fortress by the desperate Russian defenders of the 62nd Army under General V.I. Chuikov.
With both sides suffering horrendous losses the Germans have given the campaign the title "Rattenkrieg" which means "battle of the rats". 
More and more German reserves are thrown into the inferno as the Russians desperately continue to push their reserves across the Volga River in a last ditch attempt to keep the city from falling. One such reserve is 3 kompanies from the 194th Infantrie Regiment, part of the 71st Infantrie Division which has been embroiled in the battle since August. Under the command of OberstLeutenant Roth and supported by the Radfahr-Abt 171, Pionier Battalion 171 and Aufklarung-Abt 171, the regiment is committed to the fighting in mid November.
Comprising some of the most experienced troops of the division, the regiment is sent by rail to a depot station where the 24th Panzer Division is moving its tanks into Stalingrad. The regiment, along with a platoon of tanks from the 24th, is transported by lorries towards the central section of the city where they are thrown immediately into the conflagration.
About the Campaign:
Rattenkrieg is a fictional campaign based around the Battle of Stalingrad in mid-November. It follows 3 veteran kompanies of the 194th Infantrie Regiment under the command of OberstLeutenant Roth as they are thrust into the battle. Along with their supporting units, the regiment begins a 10 day battle to try and survive in the urban hell of a city blasted to ruins. 
They must complete their missions while attempting to survive the Russian attempts to hold the city at all costs. With first snows of winter beginning to fall, time is becoming as much an enemy as the Russians.
What's Needed to Play This Campaign:
The Campaign is designed using the latest patched version of CMRT. It is based on the outstanding work of the Stalingrad Mod Team as well as the CMRT Winter Modification Team and all credit goes to them.
To play you will need the following:
Download the Stalingrad Mod as well as Umlauts Factory Mod. You MUST HAVE both mods for this campaign to work properly. Follow the install instructions that come with the mods. ( I highly recommend that you do a second install of CMRT with no mods and add these into a empty dataz folder. The Stalingrad Mod can cause some conflicts with other terrain and building mods. The Stalingrad Mod as well as Umlauts Factory Mod will give you everything you need for this campaign.)
Download this campaign as well as the mod folder titled Stalinmods. This mod folder will include all the Winter Modification files you will need as well as a few additional terrain files and modifications I have made. Place the Stalinmod folder in the CMRT dataz folder and the .cam file into your campaign directory. All the included mods are tagged to this campaign so they should not conflict with any others.
The Following Mods are used in this campaign. All Credit goes to their creators:
The Stalingrad Mod
Umlauts Factory Mod
CMRT Winter Modification
Selected files from CMFB Winter Terrain 
Selected files from Worgherns Winter Terrain Mod from CMFB.
Worgherns Sky and Smoke Mods
Aris T-34-76, T-70, BA-64 and Gaz-67 Mod
JuJu's Drop zone Mod from CMBN
All the maps were from the Stalingrad Mod Master Map as well as the Night at the Opera and Red Square maps. All credit goes to their creators. I have modified these maps slightly either adding in a few enhanced terrain files or adding and removing a few things to fit the scenarios. I also did a little tidying up such as fixing floating windows or out of align telephone poles etc. etc.
The Core Units:
Infantrie Regiment 194 (OberstLeutenant Roth)
1 Kompanie
2 Kompanie
3 Kompanie
Radfahr-Abt -171 (Bicycle Battalion)
1  Kompanie
Pionier Battalion 171
2 x Zugs
Aufklarung -Abt- 171
3 Kompanie
(OberstLeutenant Roth must be kept alive. His death will reward the enemy 1000 Points and end the campaign.)
Special Note: To try and be as historically accurate as possible the core units are actually rebuilt formations. To eliminate the Panzerfausts and Panzerschreks which were not in service at the time of the battle I built the formations using Aufklarung or recon units. Only the headquarter units carry panzerfausts and I kept re-working them until I was able to get HQ units without.
However there appears to be a glitch that lets the panzerfausts randomly appear in the HQ units so these may show up in the scenarios. The primary units will have none though.
Also the core units have high status, either veteran or crack status, to replicate their experience level.
The Campaign Tree:
Scenario 1 - A Helping Hand (Draw will advance)
Scenario 2 - Counterattack (Draw will advance)
Scenario 3- Hauptman Peipers Tank (Draw will advance)
Scenario 4 - Push to the Volga (Draw will advance to Scenario 5a)(Loss will advance to Scenario 5b)
Scenario 5a - Holding the Line (Draw will advance)
Scenario 5b- Red Tanks (Draw will advance)
Scenario 6 - The Airdrop (Draw will advance to Scenario 7a) (Loss will advance to Scenario 7b)
Scenario 7a - The Gray Line (Draw will win the campaign)
Scenario 7b - The Railway Station (Draw will win the campaign)
 
Link to the campaign file and mod folder (remember you will need to download the Stalingrad Mod and Umlauts Factory Mod seperately and install)
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/mxcvelh5tvow6g4/AABUOyCebR6u5MTl6A58tRPua?dl=0
 
 
 

Hi guys I am still around and follow the threads from time to time. Just havent been able to devote any time to CM of any title for awhile. Lot of other projects and work happening. But glad to see people are still cussing my campaigns lol, even noticed a few on youtube from different titles. Maybe soon I can put something together for SF2.

akd, 

If you read the two docs carefully, you'll see there is a clear and precise distinction between AP shell and shot, listed explicitly as APCR,  Also of interest is the prohibition of firing in excess of 1000 maters. This smacks of inaccuracy at long range, a known problem with at least some APCR/HVAP/PZGr40 type projectiles. Since these projectiles were tremendously expensive in a strategic material (tungsten carbide used for machine tools) and difficult to manufacture (as the US learned the hard way with HVAP, generating months in delivery delay), the prohibition against engaging anything but the big cats with them makes eminent sense. The ZIS-2 was a potent gun, but it took twice as much effort to manufacture, consumed more strategic material, required special tooling and had far shorter service life than the in development ZIS-3 or the T-34/76s gun. The problem lay in rapid chamber erosion caused by extremely high chamber pressure. The defects are all detailed in the comparisons the Russians did themselves. 

AquiaSmartWargames,
TankArchives is run by a real grog, historian Peter Samsonov, and his stock in trade is poring through declassified internal Red Army and defense manufacturer docs, some as high as TOP SECRET and reporting on his findings, frquently presenting all or part of the source documents, pics, etc., directly. Having read through dozens, the communications are pragmatic, brutally blunt, German level meticulous, solution oriented, and sometimes scary. Stalin's rebuke to the head of the Chelyabinsk T-34 tank factory who's way behind on deliveries is one such. Samsonov feels the Red Army has gotten short shrift in terms of its military technical capabilities, weapon performance and engineering innovations. The results have been revelatory and transcend even the justifiably renowned Russian Battlefield site, whose creator was instrumental in getting Russian weaponry right for CMx1's monumental CMBB. Moreover, the site owner of TankArchives has just published a well reviewed book Osprey size (but nearly double the page count) book on T-34 development. I consider his site to be one of the most valuable, in terms of information, on the internet. Grog gold, and there's nothing else like it when it comes to Red Army AFVs,ATGs and ARTY in the GPW. Here's a review of his first ever book. Believe he's also worked with Artem Drabkin of IRemember.ru fame.
 

Regards,
John Kettler
 

Some info on APCR performance:
https://www.tankarchives.ca/2019/12/apcr-and-heat-instructions.html

I usually avoid to bring tanks into contact with AT guns at all but currently playing a campaign that might make it inevitable to do so for my Tigers.
While a quick 76mm ZIS-3 test produced the outcome that I´ve seen from various historical accounts (penetration frontal almost impossible, side penetration on short distances possible) the ZIS-2 57mm effectiveness gives me some thoughts.
In a recent test it was able to easily penetrate Tigers frontally at 500m and destroy them with 1-4 hits while most hits causes damage ranging from armor spalling (most times 1st hit) over partial penetrations (with internal damage & casualties) to full penetration. Angling the hull with about 15-20 degree towards incoming trajectory didn´t made it any better. In easy words most Tigers were taken out rather fast and often rendered combat ineffective/"stunned" after already the first hit.
The ZIS-2 was definitely was a powerful AT gun and could basically take out any <1943 German tank from any aspect and great ranges. I saw these Soviet penetration tables at WP https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/57_mm_anti-tank_gun_M1943_(ZiS-2) which are somewhat consistent what the UI Penetration/Armor Mod is showing me for the ZIS-2 which indicate that it should penetrate Tigers at 500m, although there is a disclaimer on WP that the Soviet aquisition method makes this values for some reason not comparable to Western or similar tests.
While its hard to find quick information on the ZIS-2 vs Tiger situation online most statements I found rather point towards that the ZIS-2 had difficulties against Tigers.

 
I only did a superficial research on this and would be great if one with a greater insight into this matter could provide some info on if the ZIS-2 was indeed that deadly. 
Beside this: the above results were achieved with regular AP shells. Against a similar test against a King Tiger the ZIS-2 crew was also starting with AP shells and at some point decided to use the APCR after expending dozen of AP shells.
All tests:
 

This is my "way and method" how I got to the finish. Perhaps there are steps that aren´t required or not best.
 
CUSTOM FLAVOR OBJECTS FOR WW2 AND MODERN AQUILA METHOD:
1) Install Anaconda Python 3.X (Google)
2) Install Blender Software (Google)
3) Install a Photoshop Software. Free good Tool: GIMP2 (Google)
3) Check CM2Tools Plugin Authors Github page https://github.com/sbobovyc/CM2Tools for info and plugin download. Also his BFForums thread (1st post) Watch Plugin Author´s Import/Export Tutorial (1st Post)
4) Install Plugin like shown in these Videos
5) Take the original .brz files in data of your WW2 or Modern CM2 game and put it into "Input" of Combat Mission X/ModTools/Rezexplode and unpack them
6) Go and find a custom 3D Model of your liking in one of the Blender formats (advanced users may convert them). You can check comptatible formats in Blender under File/Import. Free 3D Databases in 1st Post and recent big post of me. Check that it comes with textures. 
7) Start Blender, delete the placeholder cube you don´t need it, with add/lamp/hemisphere in the lower interface you can make everything brighter. It is sometimes very dark.
8 ) I start with importing an original "primer" Cm2 flavor object. Without this step no custom models show up in CM2 (there is likely some essential info stored into them). They are located in your unpacked CM2 game files. Often under terrain/flavor objects/models. Import for example "shelter1.mdr" into blender with file/import/mdr. Check "import metadata" and "transform", I have 4 checkmarks there. May not be required for flavors but for standarization I always do this. For smaller projects you can use smaller stuff like crate1.mdr.
9) You see a CM2 shelter, there is a small ball dropdown in the lower interface, you can change to "materials" or "textures" so see it with textures
10) Now again file/import/ choose the format of your custom model download and import it aswell. Check if textures are shown, I am no 3d artists some models are riddles and I dismiss them because I can´t handle them. Easy model to start training was the fire truck and ambulance https://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/Index.cfm/ID/432872
11) You see it, it may be extremely gigantic, extremly small, you need to resize it and move it with these three colored arrows, some objects have multiple entities, use usual windows shift commands for multi selection to move all at once to keep them in cohesion. The original CM2 shelter is your orientation. Where the CM2 shelter is, is the center, where its fundament is, is the ground. Delete stuff you don´t want with right  click "delete hierarchy" in the right interface (I call it Order of Battle, first time is like a battle but don´t give up 😂) . You can move stuff into the space of the original Shelter, no problem but AVOID moving,modifying the box, its your center of the world. Use undo/redo under lower interface/object if you mess up. You can perhaps modify it but I don´t know how and it often leads to problems when exporting with flying models in the sky etc.
12) When you are done, move every custom entitity into the shelter´s folder in the right interface (pros call it make it parent), you can do that by simple drag and drop the symbol of the entitiy. (Author´s Tutorial shows this).
13) Textures of custom models most time come with wrong format. Start GIMP2, load textures into it, go to export, choose file extension "BMP", check 24bit and "do not write info bla" and export it. This is the required format for CM2. 
14) Now difficult part you need to replace the texture connections in BLENDER with new BMP. Its in the Right Interface looks like a chessboard ball and square. There you need to remove (x symbol) and to add the bmp. This is somewhat complicated and I to this day don´t know what I am doing. With Trial and Error you get everything show up with your texture.BMPs
15) (optional) you can turn models or model parts invisible with a blank texture (post attachment) in CM2. Also your primer shelter if it is outside the custom model for example.
15a) IMPORTANT: There is something I forget, some models need to be "triangulated". Sounds super complicated but what you just need to do is select the custom model entity, press TAB, and then SHIFT+T, done. If you ever see a "perforated" custom model in your CM game its this step you´ve missed.
16) When everything is textured you are now ready to export. In the right interface select the root entry (your shelter.mdr entitiy with all bells and whistles in it), right click, select hierarchy, everything gets an yellow outline. Check that you are on OBJECT MODE (lower interface) Go to file/export/mdr and do it, make sure that "export metadata" is OFF and do it.
17) create a folder with your new .mdr file and put all textures in it you´ve used. For reverse engineering and helping others I suggest you save an additional blender file (file/save) and put it into it so others can learn from this.
18) rename the untitled.mdr to an flavor object of your liking. Draw Distance is dependant on what you replace. Do not make a cargo ship and call it crate1.mdr, very bad idea it will pop out after 100m distance. Better draw distance comes from big stuff like shelter1,2,3.mdr and best likely are street trafic light or Black Sea monument or big WW2 shelter.
19) throw your ready folder into the Z mod folder
20) go into editor, map, flavor objects place the flavor object you just´ve replaced and check, first time errors will happen you WILL see nothing, you WILL see black models, process of learning but you will prevail.
 
CUSTOM VEHICLES FOR WW2 AND MODERN AQUILA METHOD (just different step):
16) Turn "EXPORT METADATA ON", do not forget otherwise all tire and track wheels will look like you´re watching a Transformers movie. This on the other hand means there are difficulties replacing vehicles or vehicle parts with custom models as custom models require "EXPORT METADATA OFF" so if you want a custom ride with wheels or track wheels with current CM2 tools this seems not possible AFAIK but you can do surely do boats as these naturally don´t require wheels.
HOWEVER: You can mix/match several CM2 vehicles by importing them all and switching their parts. Its a bit like playing Car Mechanic simulator, no joke 😂. NEVER FORGET when importing set "IMPORT METADATA" and "TRANSFORM" and always "EXPORT METADATA" when working with vehicles, do alot of backups, if you once miss this and save info is lost, I lost an hour work because I forgot as you don´t notice that you forgot to import/export metadata. Since this I always stop breathing for a moment when I give my custom CM rides the first move command. 
You can also sculpt and cut parts by moving the vertices or selecting specific model parts in EDIT MODE (Tab) with Wireframe Model (Z) and deselecting (A) (pixels that connect everything) in edit mode. I always USE DELETE FACES not delete vertices as otherwise I got export errors afterwards. Check my Humvee V2 creation video, no commentary for doing this live. But sculpting completely new vehicles out of existing ones requires 3D Artist maestros and is alot of work. 
I had 5-10 lines of text in mind before writing this, very naive. Honestly now after writing this I see that a written tutorial wasn´t the best idea and I don´t know if this will make any sense but perhaps it helps one and somebody can come up with a decent video tutorial. Don´t get scared by Blender´s interface, for Combat Mission stuff you do not need 99,9% of it.
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