Vacillator

At the risk of replying to myself, my investigations have revealed;
Yes the lack of ammo sharing was due to units being from different formations.
Yes a single FO can place multiple arty strikes in the set-up phase prior to the first turn- big news to me .
Thanks @Erwin and @MOS:96B2P for the wisdom 👍.

I've not played this scenario but did open it. 
Some heavy off map artillery can only be requested by an FO.   Even a HQ team can't request very heavy off map assets.  In the CM WW 2 titles a scout can't request any artillery, on or off map.  It seems all your heavy off map requests could be handled by only one team in this scenario.  However, during Setup phase the FO team can request multiple fire missions from multiple assets against different targets.  So the first turn all your assets could start firing at different targeted areas.  I might give all the heavy off map assets a light mission with maximum duration against the likely OpFor avenues of approach.  Then adjust during the mission.
Be aware this adjustment will cause problems in some CM titles.  This is because if you adjust one mission all the original (setup fire missions from the same spotter) fire missions will adjust onto the same new target.  However the last I knew CMFI, CMSF & CMA did not have this problem.  CMBN, CMRT, CMFB & CMBS did have this problem. 
If CMFI does now also have this problem I would probably still do the above.  It's the only way to get all heavy off map assets firing on turn one in this scenario.                

Well, with the exception, and this may not be what you are looking for, that you CAN create a scenario, with AI actions, triggers, and objectives for both sides. If you browse the scenario depot at A Few Good Men, you may see that some are H2H only (this means most likely that the creator did NOT include any enemy AI so it requires two humans), or one side or the other only, or best. If "only" then only the other side has AI, if "Best" it may mean that the best side only has minimal AI coding if you wanted to switch around. These things are strictly up to the scenario designer to determine. Some scenarios in the game are listed similarly. Part of the reason also can be that it just doesn't make a very interesting scenario from one side compared to the other. But yes, you can't change the "physics" of the game.
You can also create an entire campaign, with losses carried over, reinforcements, and with theoretically any number of scenarios. It's a lot of work, but there are campaigns included with the game, and there a quite a few user created ones. To create a historical campaign takes map building, which can be quite time consuming to get accurate, for historical actions, and programming the AI for each campaign scenario (H2H campaigns are not possible). You could do an easier campaign by making use of Quick Battle maps that already exist and selecting some to use to string scenarios together. Still not quick and dirty but it takes some of the work out.
Your questions about medals, leveling up, gaining experience, promotions, etc....those aren't in the game and it's highly unlikely they ever will be. For good or bad, that's how it is, so you have to decide if that's more important to you than all the other parts of the game that are there. That's strictly a matter of taste, so we can't decide for you. Personally, I don't miss it. The game really portrays a level above that, unlike ARMA, where you are at man level. You just don't get that involved with what one particular individual is doing in the course of a scenario or even a campaign. There ARE one or two scenarios where it is important to keep a particular leader alive, but those are by far the exception. In one case I believe it was recreating a mission from a movie? (can't have the movie star get killed, would ruin the movie 🙂 )
Dave

You can Acquire ammo and/or Share ammo. 
To Acquire ammo a team needs to be in a vehicle with ammo or in the same action spot of an ammo dump.  Acquire  allows for the taking of thousands of rounds and AT weapons.  The vehicle does not have to be in the same platoon as the Acquiring fire team.  
Ammo sharing distance is two action spots (about 16 meters).  Ammo sharing only takes place within an organizational unit (whatever highlights when you click that unit is a more practical definition).  Basically ammo sharing is within the same platoon and within 16 meters.   Sharing is done in small amounts, about a magazine at a time as @Erwin said.   
Probably the easiest way to observe ammo sharing is to move a mortar ammo bearer team (with mortar rounds) to within 16 meters of the mortar.  Then move the ammo bearers away.  In the user interface for the mortar you will see the number of mortar rounds available to the mortar team increase and decrease as the ammo bearers move in and out of ammo sharing range. 
In some cases a vehicle parked next to a building can share ammo with a fire team inside the building.  For the fire team to Acquire ammo from that same vehicle they would need to enter the vehicle. 

Unless there has been another update/patch that changed how things work, units from the same formation will share ammo (if one unit is out of ammo) on a magazine by magazine basis if close enuff.  If they are from different formations they will not (for reasons in the game that are not explained).

Hey thanks man, glad you liked it! Yep that’s the basic premise of the battle, blowing sh*t up! 😀 I like oddball fictional type scenarios. 
Yeah I’m not sure what bomb that is, forget, have to take a peek in the editor. 

Just finished Bear Claws, great fun dropping the buildings with the Sturmpanzers to get LOS/LOF to tanks and clear out those pesky US infantry.  Thanks to @MeatEtr! 
All Sturmpanzers survived but my infantry took some sorry punishment.
Was interested in the Allied air support which was new to me, and which buzzed around for what seemed like ages.  What the heck did it drop here?

Anyway it appeared, just as my flakvierling was moving up.  First turn with it on attack, strafed my infantry with little result.  Second turn, same again a bit more damage this time.  Third turn, strafed its own infantry, say no more but I was grateful.  Fourth turn flakvierling fired twice on it, and it strafed distractedly with no results.  Fifth turn, with no obvious reason my flakvierling crew dismounted and ran off (perhaps ground fire from a long way away).  Sixth turn, as per picture above, no damage done at least to my troops.  Seventh turn, a more nasty straf on my infantry.  Eighth turn still buzzing around.  Ninth (I think) had turned for home.  I suppose 9 minutes on target is not a lot but it seemed like forever?
 

I dont think I have many more original mods for CMFI. But I made a lot of snow mods that are primarily based on Aris´ work. These are Shermans, plus a lot of german vehicles. Find them on CMMODS III:
http://cmmodsiii.greenasjade.net/?cat=14&paged=4

Okay, let the blood and tears commence...
Thanks to @BFCElvis for a pain-free purchase and install (not to mention my 300 Mbps broadband), I now have the CMFI bundle .
We may be in for a 'dark winter', but I will be consoled by travelling to Italy's warm and sunny climes.  When I'm not in Normandy or on the East Front of course...
KG Peiper will have to wait for now 😮

Thanks my friend, will give it a go 👍. 
Hang on, I don't have a 'Welcome to Sicily' campaign, unless it's the 'Invasion at Gela'?

Got it thanks plus a lot more.  Also went back to CMMODS3 which has a lot more vehicles and other stuff than CMMODS4?  I am using every vehicle of Aris' that I could find, I think I'm still short of a few but it's a good start.  Oh and got Juju's UI working nicely, with Ithikial's R2V addon.  Apart from that Aris' smoke and dust, Mord's portraits and Umlaut's loading screen picture compilations.  A busy download and install session.  Happy days 😁.

Yes please, I remember having my fingers soundly rapped by hardened conkers.  Ouch!
Please ignore people like me and take your time 😉.  Time is a precious commodity so do what you are able to and take care of all the other things as well.

I've played CMx2 titles with 3 or 4 different video cards installed, and shadows have been "shimmery" like that with each one. Shadows look pretty much the same on all the Combat Mission 2 AAR videos I've seen as well, so I'm pretty sure the issue is with the game engine itself, not your video card or any graphics setting.
I guess most people have just gotten used to the fuzzy and distracting shadows? I have not, personally, and always play with shadows off. It's a shame, really, and is just one more reason the CM Engine 3 can't arrive soon enough, IMO.

Haha, it will be quite close to 'bung it in your Z folder', though you may have to choose what to bung in there - Sycamore or Oak, or both but not a Plane tree - choices, choices ...
Oh yes, there'll be plenty that you're not already using. In fact, I will recommend that players remove everything from the earlier versions then do a new install of the mod. It's all seen some updating with many textures getting quite a radical overhaul in the last few months.
Some of it will work, maybe, some may not. I don't have RT yet, but judging by what is in the demo that won't be too complex to mod. Waiting for FR to get the big bundle (Christmas is coming 🎄). I do have all of FI so can test it in there. It'll definitely change how they look, but much of it won't suite the environments. FI in particular is a massive beast. There are so many different terrains, textures and climates used. Still I guess I've learnt quite a bit over this year that I should be able to apply some of those lessons to making any future mods. I'll work on the rest of the mod for the BN family first though, we need some bits that are specific to the Arnhem battles and the beginnings of Autumn in Western Europe, have to keep @Aragorn2002 happy 😉
Also want to work on the 3D models addendum - this'll hopefully feature, at least, new 3D models for the bocage plus things like trees and bushes, as well as some more new textures - Horse Chestnut tree anyone, gotta love a conker. Of course all of this is dependant on how the 3D modelling goes and time ...

I can't pretend to fully follow your explanation and the mention of a 3D models addendum (I may not have read the full thread as closely as I should).
However, as I hope you already know, I am a huge fan of your work so I say 'release, release, release'. 
If you say 'bung it in your Z folder' I will make it so.
Thanks again and looking forward to the bigger, better version of what I'm already using 😉 plus anything else that I'm not.
Oh and as I just got my hands on Fortress Italy can you cast your magic over that as well?  And perhaps Red Thunder?  I don't mean bocage of course but the other flora if appropriate?  Probably a silly thought but what happens if I put Hedgerow Hell into my RT and FI Z folders?  Perhaps nothing, perhaps something which should not happen?

I´ve got all the WWII titles, but I find that I am playing BN and FI most of the time. As the others said, the great thing about FI are all the mid war hardware and different nations
And if you´re into mods, there are way more mods for FI than FB.

If it is what it is I can live with it.  I have just lost to the Tiger anyway, LOL.

In my experience this is common to CM2 series games. I'm not specifically aware of any setting that minimizes the effect (I don't know if shadows get subjected to the anti-aliasing processes in the video drivers). To my understanding it is a limitation of the shadowing system in CM2. Nicer appearing shadows would have a more significant impact on framerates.

Congrats ... wish you good hunting.

It’s a user campaign, check out the scenario depot.
One more plug for CMFI.
I have to admit I did not originally have much interest in the project. The Italian theater always struck me as a third-rate sector, in RL, but CMFI is fascinating tactically, cool terrain and cool forces. Currently playing the Encore campaign, feb 45: mountain terrain, elite U.S. vs German mountain forces, Brazilian infantry with surplus WW1 U.S. equipment....hard to get more exotic, short of the Pacific....😉

Okay, let the blood and tears commence...
Thanks to @BFCElvis for a pain-free purchase and install (not to mention my 300 Mbps broadband), I now have the CMFI bundle .
We may be in for a 'dark winter', but I will be consoled by travelling to Italy's warm and sunny climes.  When I'm not in Normandy or on the East Front of course...
KG Peiper will have to wait for now 😮

Hoho there will be blood and tears
like CMBN and CMRT will seem simple to you
when I started CMI, I felt like I had to learn to play again !!! it's a great game
Thanks for this post I hesitate to take FB because for some reason I can't explain myself I never had an attraction for this front. but I read here some arguments that will probably push me to a purchase

The blood will at least be virtual, but the tears...

CMFI will probably feel more different compared to CMFB...when comparing with CMBN...
If you can afford the bundle...go for it i say 😁...many ssems to hold CMFI as their favorit theatre...
You will get a brunch of new nations to play and by now it covers the entire conflict in that area...
And by the time your 'tour' in Italy is finished the CMFB module might be finished and avaliable as a bundle with the basegame...
 

And it works fine in my opinion, so no problem here.  Good to know all the same 👍.