FlemFire

By Fall... wouldn't there be another in the CM lineup being released on Steam at that time?

British tanks are offensively ugly. Most look like first cousins to field tractors.

I mostly use snipers for spotting with restricted firing arcs. I think the way it depicts their accuracy in actually hitting targets is fairly on point. I did have a PBEM game where I setup an Elite US marksman squad in a forest to spot out of, and it got bumrushed by Syrians. They peeled back to a cozy spot just before exiting the treeline and ended up shooting over a dozen Syrians coming through the brush. Not even sure they ever missed, but the lethality from what was basically a couple guys was pretty shocking. My opponent also never could make a spot on them despite the close proximity. The .50cal rifles I'll let them shoot now and again. In SF2 they can sometimes penetrate BMPs. The conversational ricochet with its occupants is usually enough to make abandonment an agreeable choice.

Once you get past like 1943 the up-gunning is winning the armor battles to the point where getting hit at all is pretty bad for your health and things like fire control, range finding, accuracy, etc. begin to take primacy. I think it was in one of Glantz's books where he stated by that year the T34 was getting penetrated something like 90% of the time at ordinary ranges whereas earlier in the war it was more like 30%, then 50%. So if it's late war my choice would be one of the American tank destroyers, as the doctrine was typically fire support & counter-attacking instead of head on mano y mano. The M18 also looks sexy, if we're going by which metal coffin is most aesthetic.

Likely, but the U.S. military does seem to have a growing import placed upon mobility, speed, flexibility, etc.

Interesting... the obstructiveness of destroyed vehicles isn't simulated quite right. Here's another thread where tank-rounds are going through the destroyed vehicles: As far as the soldiers themselves, this can happen sans-vehicle. The AI will sometimes do this with the attached grenade launchers so they do seem rather cavalier at times with their explosive content. Example: https://streamable.com/pthird I'm assuming they ran out of ammo and the AI prioritizes the target over reloading and ends up blasting a grenade round at pointblank. (IMO, the bigger point here is they need melee combat back in there...)

I sense PaperTiger's aura in this post.

IMO, sandbags and similar static defenses should be even easier to spot ...

Patch what, exactly? Constructed defenses are very visible by design. There are still ways to obscure them and keep them in keyholes and the like, but if an attacker is just staring across the field it's not like a big stack of sandbags is going to go unnoticed.

500m+ is very, very far. Considering people who are shooting at each other are usually doing so from prone positions and/or behind cover, I can't imagine the targets to hit being particularly easy. My understanding is that they learned very quickly during WWII that such engagements weren't worth the effort. As the fire support tech got really advanced, it became extremely problematic for defenders to engage at such ranges. After all, if you shoot at someone at 500m, and that someone has a radio who can chit-chat with a guy who has a much, much larger gun than yours, or perhaps even an airplane or jet, then you should probably not take that 500m potshot. And so all those visible fortress networks which dominated defense budgets leading up to 1940 quickly fell out of use by the time 1945 rolled around. With static bunkers going the way of the dodo, defensive engagements turned into close-range ambushes or fluid skirmishes meant to draw attackers into counter-punches. As someone who just plays Normandy & Shock Force 2, the primary thing I notice is that the lethality of ambushes has ramped up considerably (which I think is what you're referring to about guys being minced very fast). However, I think you might be running into a smaller scale instead of sheer lethality by itself. Getting shot at in the open is bad for your health whether it's an MG42 or an M249, and the end result as a basis of time when being ambushed by WWII tech or modern tech is mostly a matter of seconds. SF2 feels particularly punishing because the assets on hand aren't so 'epic.' You probably feel the sting of those short-range firefights because you're often operating within the constraints of a smaller engagement, as opposed to Normandy where a typical battle has you maintaining large tactical reserves just cause there's so many bodies available. After all, it's extremely common for SF2 bluefor objectives to be, in essence, don't lose a squad. This is actually why I find the Cold War setting rather appealing -- because we'll basically be seeing those two elements being smooshed together. So instead of fearing lethality, I'm curious about lethality + large peer-to-peer engagements. My opinion, of course.

Would it shock you guys to say I also have a video clip of ricochets causing casualties https://streamable.com/scffu2

To clarify, I was speaking to CMx1 and that it as you say not modeled at all in CMx2.

I believe CMx1 paid attention to speeds on muddy terrain? IIRC, it's not going around fast that prevents it, but going slow. If you go too fast in mud you actually grind yourself into the earth. If you're in a regular vehicle it's one thing to fly over mud with some momentum, but a tank is too heavy so you have to go carefully. That was my understanding, anyway.

@Chibot Mk IXit's the caliber of the round. I frequently run into buildings being shot up for suppression and do not suffer casualties -- if I'm doing it with small arms. However, if you are shooting large caliber rounds then it can kill your own guys. .223, .30, etc. won't do it, but .50, I mean that's something that can punch holes in concrete. To prevent the above, give them a target arc so they're not opening up with your own friendlies in the firing lane. This is true of a lot of stuff. In one of my previous PBEM games I was the assaulting force in an urban enviro. Friendly fire was almost as big of an issue as contending with the enemy itself. But sometimes it's also just... acceptable to eat some friendly fire. (Don't tell the troopers that.) I actually have an example just like yours to show. In this case I'm using irregulars to look for contact. They make said contact, but all the US forces standing by were basically free to fire. What ended up happening was the guys running to the building side got lit up by a humvee's .50 and I believe one got killed by a 25 or 30mm cannon round. Base of fire POV: https://streamable.com/5lgg4p Irregulars POV: https://streamable.com/6dnp34

If I have my troops in awkward, hilly positions where their profile is low and enemy armor is either on an even plane or downhill, I've seen tanks sail shots over their heads and generally have a hard time dialing it in. This is true in SF2/BS as well. However, I have noticed that if tanks have the higher ground they tend to be remarkably accurate with the shot placements.

Same pathline, though a bit earlier as I rotated to CM with that demo it had back in I think 1999. I wanna say it was a on a PC Gamer disc, can't quite remember. Also wish CM shared Close Combat's eye for operational stuff. A Bridge Too Far's resource balancing was a particular favorite of mine.

Displace/egress order would be nice. For PvP, it would be a massive buff for defenders. I think it would most benefit the irregulars from Shock Force -- imagine being able to shoot an RPG and then get the hell out of dodge ASAP instead of evaporating instantly in the face of BlueFor's reaction.

Any particular favorite that sticks out, or maybe a campaign that had an awesome scenario or two?

I'm glad I have so few hobbies

Same. I've actually done it so often that I've started to recognize I'm in way too much of a hurry-up mode and will save the game to take it up another day. It's especially dangerous with the modern titles, because you can be having a clean sweep of a map, yet 60s of carelessness can end with one insurgent mowing down a full squad or something equally disastrous. Edit: the #1 reason for it btw is because I like the campaigns, so if I'm nearing the end of a mission I get in a rush because I want to see the next battle. So it's definitely a nod to those who design these maps that they got me hitting fast-forward at the expense of my troops.

I was just joking, but an IRL chess table flip is a good analog to the Fast zerg out.

If you want to communicate it in-game, take all your men and Fast their way to the nearest enemy.

Not sure what you mean, but I'll try to explain how it's been done during the campaign: I'll put a Javelin team in a spot. They usually carry 2 missiles with them (an inadequate supply for my overkilling mindset). The Marine carriers typically have a boatload of missiles in them. When the fireteam exhausts their 2 missiles, I'll bring over one of these vehicles and park it. The Javelin team then automatically starts collecting more missiles to shoot. I noticed this on Mission 3 (I think) where you're defending but get vehicular reinforcements. My Javelins were out of ammo, but able to quickly resupply without any seesaw work put in. I haven't tested this with an empty vehicle, btw, there's always someone in it still driving. If the vehicle isn't close by, then they don't collect obviously, but I haven't tested at what range they stop doing it; nor have I tested what all ammo resupply is actually taken this way. I think because the Javelin team is dedicated to that sole function it operates like this. I don't think a regular Marine squad with ATG's resupplies in the same way, but again I haven't thoroughly tested it. Might simply be the case the game has somehow assigned the vehicle itself to being an ammo carrier which I suppose makes some sense.

Might be vehicle-to-vehicle based then because I'm doing a Marines campaign run and can park those carriers next to Javelins and they just stock up instantly.

A "share ammo" button would be nice; something you can toggle on and off as needed. The whole ammo organization in general is a little weird. Sometimes it's a great labor to go and fetch some, other times you can park a carrier nearby and guys magically offload heavy anti-tank missiles into their arms in an instant.