RMM

CMRT is the only game of the CMx2 series where you can't control air attacks.
They will engage automatically over the entire map. En route means that they are under way to the battlefield.
It is not defined on how long this can be. So they can show up very soon or rather late into the battle.
When it reads as "coming around" the aircraft prepares for a strafing run and you can expect it to engage in the next or following few turns...if it actually spots a thing that is.
When it reads something like "attacking" it is in the process of an attack (duh). So it either is about to engage, already fires on a target or disengages from the run. 
However note that while the aircraft will be active over the entire map, it probably will consider your forces as targets too (friendly fire). 
So keep your forces spread out and maybe dont so anything fancy while it is in search mode.

RT changed the way air support worked but only in that game specifically. All the others work via a spotter and point/area targets.

Ahh, ok. Well, thanks

To bump the thread - in other words to add another post to draw more attention to the thread.  Anyway, it worked 😉.

This is what I wondered.  Was the scenario meant to show this, rather than being a balanced H2H?

Playing this against a competent PBEM opponent will show exactly why the Soviets appreciated the Germans wasting so many men and so much material on ill advised attacks instead of forcing them to crack prepared defenses in good terrain consistently.
It wouldn't have changed the end result, but it would have slowed things considerably.

I played this once against AI.  the result is a draw. Yes, it is hard.  The AI mismanaged its T-34/85 fleet but the 57mm Zis-2 and 85mm AA gun caused a lot of damage to my Panzers. I would image this is a pro-soviet scenario in PBEM  
However, the statistic on the Blitiz shows this is a relatively balance scenario, interesting. 
 
CMRT Gates of Warsaw - Combat Mission: Red Thunder - TheBlitz

Right, well the thing is that the Recon AC's are just getting taken out by the hidden ATG's without even 'seeing' where they're firing from. I can obviously do some omniscient work of my own looking at the where they hot hit and the rough direction the shot came from, but when one has three out of five AC's burning after just two minutes, can't help but take a step and wonder if either I'm missing something or just need steep education in how to properly recon with such units.

I think I can attest to that particular law 😅😅!
That's some very good rules of thumb; although there really sin't any 'slowly' move using Hunt. Vehicles seem to move on that command at the same speed as Quick, which was something I commented on in the beginning. In Hunt, they really should be moving at speeds more akin to slow or certainly no faster than Move!

Fog of war should ideally be extended to cover terrain and buildings. The exact nature of it (specifics such as the potential for certain aspects of terrain being included, e.g. streams created by recent downfall, muddy terrain impassable to vehicles) isn't a foregone conclusion, but it ought to be a included in one shape or another. Firstly there's the player aspects, e.g. that the player should only know how terrain and buildings have been impacted by certain events if he can actually see them: imagine for examples fences being knocked down by passing AFVs across the map or hedgerows and buildings being breached/mouseholed by the opposing player to create defences/routes. The current ability to "sneak" around with the camera and finding out about these things is both a gameplay issue (even if the player "sneaking" isn't intending to cheat, he may inadvertently find these things out when just surveying the map to plan his attack) as well as a realism issue which would make scouting a lot more important.
 
On the topic of buildings, it really should become possible to have units enter them via windows. I think it's fairly safe to say that the notion that one should at least consider not entering a building occupied by enemies via the most obvious path predates the percussion rifle, if not even gunpowder itself.
And just as an aside: maybe if being positioned on balconies is going to be a virtual death sentence, maybe there ought to at least be some option for pixeltruppen not to use them? Their current function is a bit odd to say the least, any floor with a balcony is basically a trap in the direction of the balcony, rendering that floor wholly unusable in said direction (unless you want your unit to be killed).

1- being able to follow up and tell how one is doing on achieving the victory conditions (vs. Waiting end of scenario to know for sure)
2- to keep vehicle wrecks and building rubbles in campaign mode when returning to a map or area already played in a previous scenario of a campaign
3- being able to set markers on the map
4- in campaign mode keep a more detailed records for each pixel troopen and how they’ve been doing.
5- a medal board for the pixel troopen
6- to be able to choose a squad (or tank) leader personified to one player with the aim to lead him to the end of the campaign 

Yes, I played it against @RMM with me as the Germans.  I think he'd agree with you.

The recovery discussion reminded me of something from one of my very first wargames books almost 50 years ago, you could probably set this up as a scenario:
Donald Featherstone - Battles with Model Tanks:
CHAPTER 16: TANK RECOVERY, WESTERN DESERT, 1942
The table-top terrain consists of a topographically featureless but undulating area of sand-coloured plastic or cloth draped over polystyrene or wood slabs, or even books laid in such a manner as to provide some hull-down positions for the tanks of both sides, plus the shallow bowl in which the stranded Grants lie.
Scraped together from whatever is immediately to hand, the small recovery force that moves forward consists of a very mixed bag - 2 Crusaders (cruiser tanks Mark VI); 3 M3A1 Stuart Mark IV light tanks; 1 25 pdr gun howitzer and towing vehicle; B Company, Northumberland Fusiliers, with jeep-towed 6 pdr anti-tank gun, 2 mortars and 3 Bren guns; and two Scammell tank-transporters plus crews and a detachment of Royal Engineers.
Guided by the crews who have abandoned the Grants on the previous day (travelling in two 15 cwt trucks) the party moves forward until they find the immobile tanks. The 25 pdr and the anti-tank guns are unlimbering prior to being set up in suitable positions and the infantry moving forward to act as a screen when, from literally out of the blue, a German heavy armoured car SdKfz 231 surges over the top of the ridge to their front, its eight wheels sending up showers of sand as it skids to a standstill on sighting the British party.
The wargamer may take the action on from there. Does the German heavy armoured car get away and bring back reinforcements, or is there a German force in the vicinity who will hasten over to the sound of firing? In any event there is nothing that can reach the area for at least three game-moves, and then it may only be a force strong enough to delay rather than overcome the recovery party. In all, the Germans probably cannot mass in the area more than a couple of PzKw IV tanks, a 50 mm anti-tank gun and towing half-track, plus three SdKfz 11 type HK16 half-tracks 3T and half a dozen trucks, part of a convoy bringing up reinforcements capable of carrying two companies of infantry.
This action can be embellished by progressive attempts to start the engines of the two stranded Grants - first attempt, the two dice for each Grant and a total of 11 or 12 must be scored. If successful, the Grant then becomes operational and can take part in the action, probably with decisive effect. On the other hand if one Grant can be made to move, then it can be utilised to tow its stricken comrade from the field, thus achieving the objective of the wargame which is the recovery of two stranded tanks not the destruction of a small German force!
Featherstone, Donald; Robinson, Keith. Donald Featherstone’s and Keith Robinson's Battles with Model Tanks: Wargaming 1914-1975 (pp. 116-117). History of Wargaming Project. Kindle Edition. 
Apologies for any copyright issues, I bought the kindle version of this book in the last couple of years for practical reasons, plus a physical copy for nostalgia.
 

Since I started this I'm going to pull my wish list request.  After thinking more about it I realize that I've become fixated on this issue without stepping back and looking at the rest of the picture. In any engagement, unless the mobile asset is extremely mission critical, taking another like asset out of the fight for recovery evolution is rarely done. With mission success so dependent on time, terrain and force assets, taking another mobile fighting asset out of action is going to have a noticeably negative impact on one's ability to win the fight. If you get stuck, you're  going to have to wait till night or the next day for recovery.

Or the tow vehicle also gets stuck and now you have two vehicles out of the fight. This is one possibility you have to be open to if towing is introduced. 

I played around with this a couple of years back and came up with the below example. Obviously it's too manpower intensive to use regularly, but it can easily be scaled down and still be quite devastating.
It's also worth pointing out that you can place the breach waypoint outside the building, next to the wall you're breaching. That way the unit will blow up the wall but will stay outside it instead of entering.
 
 

Once a towing vehicle is in position and given the crew is not under hostile fire (and factoring in crew experience)  it only takes 5-10 minutes to attach towing cables to the towing clevis (2 on towing vehicle and 2 on towed).  Attaching cables would probably require some form of the "Dismount" function to make realistic. After this, now its a matter of whether the towing vehicle can perform the function of getting the other vehicle unstuck.  This process can take another 5-10 minutes and may not be successful (in which case player makes decision to continue trying or cut losses and get towing vehicle back into the fight).  Now I'm talking about a straight forward tow evolution, not something more complicated using multiple vehicles or extra tow cables.

As I totally hate having immobilised vehicles (usually in a useless place) I like this.  The reason given for not having it was previously was that timescales for CM battles would not allow such recovery.  However, I'm in the middle of a 3 hour battle just now, so I don't think that's always the case.  If as you say it's only stuck in the mud and another vehicle can pull it out, why not?  Particularly if it's in the 'useless place' I mentioned where no enemies can see the recovery.  I would feel a great sense of accomplishment if I dragged a tank out of the mud.
I'm not sure we'll see it all the same.

My recollection is that if you order TARGET FIRE at the desired location you are blasting into, the unit will use grenades.  
However, the BLAST itself will suppress anyone on the other side for a few seconds at least - so the same effect. 
My SOP (since engineers with charges are valuable and I don't want them to get into combat when there are less valuable inf units available) is to place a FAST MOVE waypoint for the eng back to the original starting point immediately after the BLAST waypoint.  
In this way the unit BLASTS the wall which suppresses any enemy there for a few seconds enabling the engineers to enter and immediately run out to safety.  I always place an inf unit at the same waypoint that the engineers started from and it is that inf which can fire into the room if there are any enemy there.  
This tactic also neutralizes a tactic used by cunning designers (and players) who place the enemy not IN the room, but on the other side of a far wall. The way this tactic works is that your eng BLASTS into the room that is empty.  But, enemy units behind a (2nd) wall on the far side of the room are unaffected.   So, in this tactic, the enemy are able to mow down any friendly unit that stays in the room after the BLAST.  
However, since the SMOKE from the BLAST obscures visibility for a few seconds, that gives your eng unit time to run back the way they came before the enemy can see and shoot them.
Hope that explanation makes sense...

Apologies, I'm coming to this wish list late, I don't know if it's already been covered in the 38 pages of wishes (Santa has it easy!), or if it's something that can already be done and I haven't seen it. It's really great that there are pretty much 360 degrees of view movement, turn/move left/right, elevate/descend, look up/down etc.
But I find it a bit too freeform and fiddly at times. I find myself sawing forwards beyond and backwards beyond, then sideways each ways beyond the sweet spot I want to view from, especially with the mouse, so a micro move view option as well as the current standard sweeping move views would be handy.
I'd also like to have a view that I'm looking at, say a particular landscape from a particular angle, then to quickly use a hot button to view down on the whole map from immediately above for literally an overview, then a hot button to go back to my previous view of the landscape.
Apologies if this is already available.
I also recognise that Engine 5 is going to be fixes only, but I thought I'd record my idea whilst I have it.

Oh, for sure; from what I could glean in the forums, he almost died of a stroke! I could only enjoy it in its smallest scenarios however, because anything bigger just completely bogged down after a number of turns. One would end up waiting a minute (literally!) for a unit to move! Plus there's was no real multiplayer. Pity, since it really was a solid effort at eASL; however now, there's 2nd Front which is eASL in everything but looks and without the bugs of TotH

I still play, currently doing the old Courage Conquers campaign from CMFB.  But ready for some new goodies.  Or promises of new goodies.

To be fair I think Peter was unwell for quite some time and maybe lost the 'urge' when he got back.  But I now what you mean.
I was enjoying that game when I very belatedly found CM.  I haven't played it since.

I'm honestly not so sure anymore...Like i mentioned in another post...I never thought this would happen...but it has !
I have grown tired of CM 😒...
there are so many things that could be improved. Including many, many things  that could be improved quite easily and still we see...
NOTHING !
Imo BFC are currently living on OLD merits only. Their performance in recent years have not been stellar in any way and
their communications are all but non existant so their grade will be far below avarage.
A massive engine 5 upgrade or the annoncement of CM3 may very well spark some entusiasm for the game again for me...other than that...oohh well...
 
 
 

Out of curiosity, when was the last time any there was any meaningful change/update to the game rules or fundamental features?
Not a battle pack or a module with some new units, but the kind of changes people have now been requesting for 37 pages in this thread. Which is far from the first feature request thread.
The last time I can remember new features were added were in CMFB (2016), when flamethrowers and mortar halftracks were added.
Both awkwardly and buggily implemented, but at least they were new capabilities.
There was also a patch around the same time that added some new features to the editor, such as a retreat mechanic and an area fire order for the AI. But that was still eight years ago.