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The full installers should be patched to the latest patch. 

That was my experience playing H2H back in CMSF:1 days.
While it's still possible to have fun as Red, it's either from the hopeless comedy of "10 min into the battle and my entire tank company is already on fire" or the occasional rare events such as "an Abrams parks next to a KO'ed BMP3 just as it detonates with the power of an areal bomb, KOing the M1".
My advice is to try playing Red-vs-Red - that's what we did with my few buddies a decade ago and it was a blast! Truth be told, other than running through the campaigns and some community scenarios I rarely play BLUFOR.
The beauty of RvR (and CMSF in general) is the huge variety of formations to pick from. Two types of UNCONs, Militia, Reserve Army, Regular Army, Mechanized, Airborne, Republican Guard, and nearly BLUFOR-equivalent SpecOps. Huge variety of equipment as well - T-55/62/64/72/90, BMP-1/2/3, BRDMs, BTR-60, Shilka, and of course the trusty Hilux.
Primarily however, it all comes down to lack of Javelin doom-sticks in every ISC, lack of thermal optics in every MRE Happy Meal, and lack of MBT armor made from unobtanium that can magically stop a sabot round from a 125mm cannon.
While RvR scenarios aren't very numerous, Quick Battles actually work out decent even with automatic unit purchase. If you end up playing QB's and picking your own forces, don't always go with the "default" BMP-2 Mech Infantry. Mixing and matching will provide a surprising amount of battle variety.
Militia cannon-fodder supported by SpecOps platoon with Attack Helos? That sounds fun. Buying a ton of Static T-54's when defending because they are dirt cheap? Yes please. Adding an extra 4-5 RPG teams to each of your infantry platoons? Who needs IFVs!
I just wish QB's had a option for "Any Red" force composition - so you can mix UNCONs with Syrian Army units.
p.s. And this is why I think a Red-focused module for CMSF would be amazing.
 

Great reply by @domfluff
Playing and winning with RED forces in CMSF2 is certainly possible, also in PBEM. Obviously one needs to take into account the capability mismatch between forces.
Both the unconventional and the Syrian army do have sharp teeth, however in a direct conventional 1vs1 fight against NATO forces they don't stand a chance. Which is actually why asymmetric forces do exist in realilty, in some way at least.
Syrian conventional forces have some capabilities but one certain fronts they are very much outclassed by BLUE forces. Mainly c2 structure/organization and optics. 
So, one needs to come to the battle with a different mindset. However, in proper (complex) terrain and reasonable objectives RED can surely give BLUE a very bloody nose in CMSF2. Use the hide and target arc command to make sure your forces only open fire close, when the BLUE advantage has gone. Use kamikaze doctrine.
AT-14s, RPG-29s, VBIED, IED, enough assets to damage BLUE forces. 
A clip from a PBEM with Unconventional against USMC (QB ME). Partly due to the urban terrain I was able to force the surrender of USMC:
 

I'm deeply suspicious of Red vs Blue in CMSF in a multiplayer sense. I'm sure it's possible to win as Red, and it's possible to have balanced scenarios, but the disparity is so large that this is extremely difficult - even in an ideal situation, you'll be working significantly harder than the Blue player to keep level.

Still, if you're up for the challenge, this is the theory:

Imagine a Quick Battle, where the enemy are a US Bradley platoon. These are three squads with attached assets, javelins and the Bradleys themselves. Each element outperforms you in every way.

The main threats in order are then:

- Javelins
- Bradleys (TOW and 25mm)
- Infantry

So, how do you take this apart in the attack?

You obviously have cheaper forces, so you can build around an infantry platoon (say, BMP-1 or BMP-2 mech infantry), and attach assets to them.

- The Syrian army is derived from the Soviet army, which means the single most important asset is your artillery. Planning a good fire mission (or missions) are critical for success. The main artillery at this level would be 120mm mortars (on or off-map), ideally with a TRP or pre-planned. This assumes great recon, since the call in times are inflexible. Mortars aren't going to hurt the Bradleys, and can't be relied on to kill the infantry, but they will do an excellent job of suppressing the Javelins, so a lighter, longer fire mission is what you're aiming for. This obviously implies taking an FO.

- The second most important asset are reconnaissance forces. Having a squad or two available for recon - even just doing a leader recon with the platoon's HQ and the FO - is tremendously important. You need to know where they are. 

- The Bradleys badly overmatch either model of BMP, so you'll need something to improve the odds. Typically Soviet platoons would have a single armour asset attached, so bung in a T-72 or T-62 there. Either should give you a chance to hole a couple of Bradleys at least, but obviously the more modern the model, the better the chance. ATGMs are also possible here - all of them can take out Bradleys, but the AT-7/AT-13 are the ones designed for use in this scenario, since they're a little more mobile. The ATGM can join in the leader recon quite effectively, especially with the better models.

- Then, when the primary threats are dealt with, the BMPs can be fully engaged. There's been a lot written on these forums about keeping a chap in the commander seat to increase spotting, but I actually disagree with that (partly as you need the space for additional attachments). You should dismount BMPs later than you would with a Bradley, keeping the troops inside for a little longer, and making use of their forward-firing smoke for cover. When deployed, the BMP and squad should (at least initially) stick within 4 action spots or so, so that they can share information with each other effectively - that way the dismounted infantry are the eyes of the BMP. The BMP-2 is a significant upgrade on the BMP-1, but points may be a premium here, and the points may be better spent on the previous assets.
The infantry attack is basically mopping up. With the co-ordinated artillery, armour and ATGM attacks you should have shifted the odds significantly in your favour, so quality differences in the infantry are wiped out by excessive firepower. Tactically, the BMP plays the role of the squad's HMG - it's a fire support asset, with the squad as the manoeuvre element.


The thing is, this is *really hard*. It's inflexible, and relies on you using all of your assets effectively and in concert, to identify and counter each threat in turn. It relies heavily on having solid recon, and if something unexpected happens, you may not have the tools to deal with it. You also need great timing and a little luck. Blue needs none of this, so the balance is firmly in their favour.

Physically then, the battle will look a little like:

- Recon phase. Scouts out, find the enemy, start setting up ATGMs and plotting a fire mission.
- Move the armour and BMPs into a forward position, out of sight.
- When the suppression has started, the ATGM and tank can start taking out their vehicles
- With the Bradleys mostly dealt with, the BMPs can roll up with infantry mounted, in line, and slowly advance under the cover of the tank and the continual suppression.
- At a reasonable distance (300m?) the BMPs fire smoke and dismount infantry, who move ahead of their transports. Again they advance in line and move towards the enemy positions, whilst the mortars are still falling, under cover from the MBT. Infantry and BMPs now clean up, mopping up any survivors.

MOUT operations in CMx2 titles have always been pretty bloody if not executed without exceptional care. I can not make a statement regarding your specific situation, but what i ve observed in the couple of years playing CMx2 is that clearing a building occupied by hostile forces is
Best avoided if possible If avoiding clearing the building is impossible, destroy the building or its occupants using heavy fire power (tanks, aircraft artillery, what ever you' ve got). If destroying the building or it's occupants using heavy fire power is not possible, prepare it for infantry clearing by first spending a couple of turns suppressing it's occupants using at least a 3:1 force ratio and the target or target light command. RPGs and the like are wonderful tools for convincing an enemy in a building to leave it. After preparing the building for assault, keep suppressing it with a target-light command and a 2:1 force ratio an send a 1:1 force ratio troop into the building, carefully. Use the pause command and suppress each room with the assault element using target-briefly for at least 10 seconds before entering (this also leads to some grenade throwing, etc). If possible, send the assault element into the building using demo charges by blowing in a wall that has no windows and from the top most floor possible (because hand grenades work best if thrown from an upper to a lower floor). If heavy resistance is encountered in a room, retreat and try to destroy or at least suppress the enemy using your over-watch element from the outside. Using above listed steps, MOUT against an inferior force as the Syrians in CMSF2 can usually be done relative casualty free. Fighting an equal enemy such as the Russians in CMBS, on the other hand, will always cause you some losses, there is no way around it. Just accept it and keep pushing forward towards your mission objectives.

I understand your frustration, I frequently have situations where I feel the same way, although it is often my own lack of suppressive fire in the preparation phase of the attack/assault.
Also, if I remember correctly, troops can be set to 'Fanatical' in the Force Selector, so maybe that is the case with this guy/unit.
Funny in my case it is often the 'lazy' Forward Observer who has the most kills.

You look over kill stats after a typical scenario, jumping from unit to unit, and the numbers usually look like 1, 0, 2, 2, 3, 45, 2, 0, 0. One hero and the rest cannon fodder. Its good news when the hero is on your team, its bad news when he's on the other side. If you played this after the patch, soldiers will be less likely to break and do something stupid, which means a harder fight.

A standing joke of mine is one day BFC will abandon us and go for a big 'cash grab' making My Little Pony iphone games for the Japanese schoolgirl market.

I completely agree with this. Very well put, and informs some of my trepidation with Steam in general. 
I'm also excited to see what new things Microprose brings. There are a few titles they are publishing that I am already excited for. I'm hoping that more comes from them in the near future. 

If SF2 is successful then dollars to donuts more titles will release before Christmas.
If Covid keeps students home en masse, then even earlier. 

Good interview.  From the payments he talked about regarding Steam and Slitherine, it seems they'll have to ~double sales to make this worth it.  So they must be expecting big sales increase, which also means much bigger community.  Good news for a weary world. 
So no Abyssinia??  🤪  I don't think BFC will be spending time on obscure campaigns & TOE, which is OK by me. 
And I didn't know that Fortress Italy was basically financed by some wealthy CM fan.  If I win the lottery there will definitely be Ost Front 1941-43.  Or should I spend my money on speeding up CMX3?  Being rich must be hard, all these decisions.  Oh wait, I'll just fund both.

A T-90 and a BMP-3 kept hitting this immobilized Abrams for about 3 minutes at a range of 600m - the T-90 ran out of APFSDS ammo and the BMP ran out of ATGM rounds.
The crew eventually bailed out.
Notice the penetration hits inside the commanders cupola and all over the RWS.

 

That's brilliant!

Okay, I lied.  One more picture.  While trying to decide what scenario to do an AAR on, I found I needed to really tweak stuff around to get nighttime looking good.

Video here: https://i.imgur.com/BggbJjX.mp4

Make it a video AAR... your reshade profiles are simply stunning!

If it were standard to have CM2 to look like the above, it would give it a few more years life re graphics quality.  Looks real...

My last bit of spamming this thread... I'm planning on doing an AAR in the near future instead.

Russian Razvedka approach a compound sitting on the commanding heights of the town.

The heights were remarkably poorly defended. A brief firefight saw the Ukrainian defenders handily defeated by withering cannon fire. (Anyone else notice that Razvedka are reluctant to use weapons other than the SVD? It seems to make them particularly vulnerable in firefights).  Strong points identified by the BRDM assault company are blasted by supporting artillery coordinated from the heights.

The BRDM company dismounts advance through the village.  Even though my Reconnaissance Battalion is facing an entire Infantry Battalion, heavy supporting fires have been instrumental in dislodging stubborn defenders.  Unfortunately, every single casualty hurts when all of my squads are 4-man teams, while the Ukrainians outnumber me two-to-one.

Thanks! It's not exactly how it looks in-game for me right now... but it could be.  I use reshade for the depth stuff and film grain - the real kicker I think is a colour lookup table I applied in Photoshop that transforms the colours to approximate Kodachrome film (my inspiration: I bought an old Praktica a few months ago and have been shooting a lot with that film).
It would be pretty straightforward for me to take that LUT and apply it back into the game, though.

...And I got distracted while typing this and just did it.  Here's a split-screen including all of the effects.  Ambient occlusion is still the toughest to get right... I'm not happy with it yet.

Here is the lookup table if anyone wants it:

Exercise West-2021 is ahead 😉 .

CMSF2, then you can have a Red vs Red battle. And both sides fight in their Toyota Pickup 😄 

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...
 

Yeah, definitely - those are fantastic ideas.
I'm actually surprised they didn't add the Gray Eagle from CMBS, since they did add the other two drones. It would be nice to see other NATO drones as well - by 2008 in Afghanistan the Canadians were extensively using the SAGEM Sperwer and the RQ-11 Raven (or some derivative of); and I'm sure the Germans and the Dutch were not any different.
As for UNCON equipment - in the ideal world, what would be amazing to see is the ability too choose auxiliary equipment in the editor - much like we're currently able to choose RPG/LMG/Sniper equipment:

 
I think that really depends on the type of battles you predominantly play in CMSF. For those mostly playing BLUFOR vs UNCON, I can see how the addition of Russian forces does nothing for their experience. On the flip side, anyone who plays OPFOR either vs BLUFOR or as Red-v-Red, would cherish the idea of more varied (and better) OPFOR units. 
For example for my taste, one of the most interesting (and challenging) small-scale battles I set up is to play as a mass of UNCONs together with Syrian SpecOps engineer platoon in BMP-3s attacking a BLUFOR urban position. Nothing quite like the feeling of flanking an M1A2 and putting an RPG-29 into it's ammo compartment.
Like I was saying in an earlier post, I would love to see CMSF depict scenarios where the Russian forces are a force-multiplier of a Syrian counter-offensive.
Exactly - that part of the CMSF "lore" is left very much open-ended, and to be honest, I always imagined that the events of CMSF took place despite any Russian presence, not because they allowed it.
I don't think it's a big stretch to imagine that the Russians "tolerated" the Syrian invasion at first, but after the (nearly historically accurate) NATO intervention in the Russo-Georgian conflict, the Russians in turn intervened in Syria.
One thing I completely disagree with is that "Russian forces are not relevant to the CMSF timeline as currently written". I think it's a mistake to treat an invasion of Syria as if it would invoke the same reaction from Russia as did the invasions of Iraq or Afghanistan - seems like the real-life events are a proof of that. Sure, currently the Russian and US forces are not in a direct opposition in Syria - but short of that they're also as far from being "on the same side" as you can get.

Don't forget Predator.....An armed drone would open up a wealth of modern scenario options.
Or how about Scout (NVG equipped) & Breach (demo-charge equipped) teams for Uncons.....IMHO the game needs these a lot more than it needs Russian forces that are not relevant to the BF timeline as currently written.
That being said, the Russian presence at Tartus is never discussed in the timeline, but I'm sure that the Russians (with their S-300 SAM & P-800 Bastion systems, not to mention nuclear tipped ICBMs) would have had a big say in whether an invasion took place or not.

Got mine keys today for base game and Marines and NATO modules. Also just bought the missing British one with 30% discount, so now i have the whole package. It's very convinient to have everything in one place. For me Steam is that place. Hope to see every other CM title on Steam soon!