Sunbather

Since I greatly enjoy Cold War right now, I cannot help but think how great a depiction of the Arab-Israeli conflict would be. Of course, I would love to see a Merkava. But what about the Sho't? What about that weird WW2 Soviet equipment the Arab forces were attacking with around ~1970s? I think it would be as interesting as the Cold War, maybe even more since those Arab-Israeli conflicts actually happened and there is less speculation about how the respective TO&Es worked out in actual combat. Man, the more I think about it! What a perfect CM title it would be! Every single tank in those conflicts is unique: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanks_of_the_Israel_Defense_Forces#1967_Six-Day_War

Well, Cold War has become my favourite CM game in the past couple of weeks. The clash of forces at this particular time is, albeit fictional, wildly interesting. But where are the Bradleys? I have played a couple of scenarios, looked inside probably all of the scenarios, but no Bradleys. I know from a Youtube video that there are some Bradleys as a back-up in Rumpenheim Rumpus. Is this the only scenario? Am I crazy? inb4: Campaign-wise I have only played the NTC campaign to mission 3.

Wow, the English in this thread has gone to ****. Reading this page alone made my head hurt. Can you guys at least read your posts one more time before you click on "submit"? It would go a long way to raise the IQ back up again and prevent us all from further headaches. Also, I too am very disappointed that we don't have any news on, well, anything really. Where is the Steam release of the WW2 games? Where the battle pack for CW?

I overlooked that one. Thank you very much! (Edit: The version with the combined and tagged mods would still be great to have.)

You don't have to explain to me how the game utilizes hardware. I also never said that it is a GPU issue. All I can say is that with the guide linked above, the CM games run pretty fine for me now. (There is a lot of headroom for optimization, clearly!) One thing I haven't asked: are you playing in real-time or turn-based? Because the real-time thing is a nightmare performance-wise.

Yes. They won't happen as long as the real stuff is still going on.

Unfortunately, the Dropbox link is dead.

Did you also try to crank up the resolution to 8k in the text file? And turn off shadows and set 3D model quality at "improved" or even lower. Increasing the resolution will force the game to load more textures beforehand, you will still be playing in your native resolution though! See this guide here, works for every CM game: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2601713366

I liked that you arranged the release of the games according to the year's seasons whether intentionally or not. I was looking very much forward to play FInal Blitzkrieg in Winter. Oh well... Glad to hear that a module for Cold War is in the works though!

Where do I say that it has?

No worries. I was kinda snappy myself. However, as others stated already, I have somewhat of a justification for my pessimism because some Modules took forever to release and the Steam version of Cold War was delayed many months. But to be sure, I am very much hoping for a on-time release for BN. I am not very interested in that particular CM iteration but bringing out BN on time means that the other games will probably release in the respective months as well. I also don't want to disrespect the hard work Battlefront are obviously doing and on how many stuff they work simultaneously. But I do share @Darren1989's urge to see those games released on Steam since they will have much better regional prices and maybe even an early sale and so I don't have to spent 100 euros (2 or even 3 weeks of food for me) on a Fortress Italy Complete Bundle.

Official release date given is March/April, so pretty sure that next week is not a sure thing. They have another 5 weeks, and when you count in the previous delays for CM games releasing on Steam, it could well be May 2022. Don't give other people hopes you have no justification for.

Coming here for a year old post in a 7 year old thread. But I have some real difficulties finding books about the two operations depicted in the base game of Red Thunder. As mentioned by OP in their very first post, the book "Battleground Prussia" by Prit Buttar seems perfect, regarding the scope and the depicted OOB. However, it focuses on Prussia, and only starts a couple of months (or even only weeks) after Oshra. Another book by Buttar "The Reckoning: The Defeat of Army Group South, 1944" is covering the exact right timeframe, but as you might have guessed from the title, only the southern Eastern front (Romania, Hungary, Yugoslavia). Does anybody know a book that has a similar scope as Buttar (focusing on a few months rather than a whole year) and specific operations, but exactly fitting to Red Thunder's two campaigns? Edit: So far I have found this one: https://www.amazon.com/Soviet-Blitzkrieg-Battle-White-Russia/dp/1626379769/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Soviet+Blitzkrieg%3A+The+Battle+for+White+Russia&qid=1647902842&sr=8-1 But I would really prefer a book that covers both Belorussia and Poland in Summer/Autumn 1944.

Well, I have a Ryzen 3600 with ~3950 Mhz. However, clock speed is not everything which is why my processor is much faster than yours (comes down to IPC and how fast your memory is etc.). That being said, it would be the very first time that loading into a game wouldn't depend on the speed of your storage. Anywho, I have no problems with loading times which is why I think there could be a solution for the problem.

@luigim Have you tried to install the game on a SSD? I load into the game within 30 to 60 seconds. Saving is almost instantly for me.

(Link is in 37mm's signature. And I only wanted to direct to the other mod that because I misunderstood 6plus1SMC.)

Extract the files. Make a folder in your Data folder of CMBN and call it z. Put the All in one mod files there. Put the campaigns and scenarios into the respective folders in "Game files". 37mm has all-in-one mod packs for all of the CM games. Although I can't find a link right now.

Oh, you should see my book shelves! But unfortunately, history books still don't click with me. I just can't get myself to read them. No issues with reading "dry" philosophy though. I think that the biggest issue for me is that I don't know where to begin and so I want to start with overview books that cover the whole 20th century or at least the whole WW2 but overview books are the driest thing you can read in my opinion. But like I said: whatever I WW2 CM game I will buy, I will simultaneously read up on that theatre. Thanks for the book tips! Those books don't sound like your ususal dry history at all! I've already put them on my list. Yes, it was the Steam version. I only have SF2 as Battlefront and Steam version, I might make some tests if the Steam version really runs slower. Black Sea I only have on Steam and it runs much better than CW for me. Overclock, yes, but only to 4250 mhz savely. Tried also to overclock only the cores that are utilized the most by the CM games and I overclocked them to 4450 if I remember correctly but it wasn't much better. I am waiting for the new AMD CPUs which should come out later this year. I am pretty sure they will get close to Intel's single core performance and also have an even better IPC than both Intel and previous Ryzen CPUs. Yeah, Germans are on their way, I know but it still might take a while. Thew whole thing with converting maps from one CM game to other CM games is new to me. And I probably won't look into that before having played a substantial amount of the vanilla games.

Yes, sorry. I didn't want to put words in your mouth. You indeed said nothing about Fortress Italy. What I was trying to say is: since I am making a decision between RT and FI, your statement that RT is a bit lacking when it comes to different factions and terrain, I deduced that I should buy FI. I have 0 books that directly tackle any of the theatres of WW2, so this method doesn't apply to me. I guess, I just outed myself as a "noob". However, that is one thing I want to do together with getting deeper in realistic war simulations: read up on the history of each theatre.

Since I live in Berlin, I am very eager to play Fire and Rubble and see how it matches the modern Berlin and the one you know from photos ; ) Still, considering that it slowly (slowly!) gets warmer in Berlin, I don't know if I really want to play Winter Berlin maps right now. Also, there is the issue with CQC / house combat in CMx2 games. Regarding your previous post: I really like how you build up your arguments and how you tackle my own arguments! Let me just answer some of your statements in random order: I also like Soviet units much more than the American units because they somehow feel less familiar at least to me. And they really went full in with CMCW! I mean, you even have T-55s at your disposal! Yeah, By now, I should admit that I actually refunded Cold War because for me the optimization was MUCH worse than the other games. There was severe input lag when issuing orders. It happens with the other games, too, but not that frequently. I play turn based, by the way. I guess, my Ryzen 3600 CPU is to blame. Considering how many games I play that require a high single clock speed, I should have gone with Intel but it was just not a good option two years ago. Anyway, I decided to refund CW and will re-buy it once it gets at least a bit cheaper and/or the Engine 5 upgrade drops and/or we get German units. From what I've played though, I must say that the CW scenarios were among the best I've played in a Combat Mission game so far. Like I said, I really like your way of argumenting ; )

Summa sumarum: Due to MMM's and Landser's comments about the variety of Fortress Italy, I was adamant to buy that game before buying Red Thunder. With all the self-debating, I somehow also forgot how much I want to play as the British in WW2. I also had some Steam wallet credit left over and the Graviteam Tactis: Mius Front is on sale currently, so I could still my craving for the Eastern Front by just buying that game. Hence, my late reply to all of you who made such an effort to once again answer the eternal question of which CM game to buy. (My clickbait title surely helped though!) Aaand before a fight breaks out whether CM or GT is the better game: they are both excellent in what they do. If you like to watch a lot of cinematic action and LARGE-scale operations or quite odd war scenarios (Angola-South Africa, China-USSR), GT it is. If you like direct control of your units, maps that are somehow like puzzles and not just like flat plains, and all in all a much more granular approach to combat, CM is the game. If you like war simulations you should probably buy both anyway. However, Combat Mission is still the better game. Notice the past term in my first sentence? Yeah, that's right. I was adamant on buying Fortress Italy. After reading Artkin's list, I am unsure yet again. THANK you guys for all your advice, I have to finish this task on my own now.

Second part (unfortunately not chronologically, something went wrong with the quoting feature) Youtube shows a lot more content now, I don't know what went wrong. The algorithm is kind of iffy sometimes. You and Landsers comments made me buy FI instead of RT. I will appreciate having a LOT of different nations instead of only Russians, Russian partisans and Germans. The incredible map variety, now that I thought about it more, has sold the game to me as well. Honking noted. Since I've been following the forum for quite some time now, I of course also stumbled already upon your different mods. I already amassed several folders with community content for all of the CM games. Thank you for the PM offer! I might come back to that. What a list! Very helpful indeed. I especially like the "deadliness" ranking. And I indeed think that CW is deadlier than BS, although the latter is always touted as the deadliest. But there is so much ERA and APS that this judgement is simply not true. I would, however, not place SF2 as the last one. I think it can be very deadly for infantry and light armored vehicles when you stumble across some well hidden unconventionals with "civilian" spotters. Or to put it differently: the amount of ambushing is incredibly high in SF2. I also think that since you are playing against unconventionals and/or a conventional force that in most departments has much weaker equipment than you do, the "weighing" of a single loss is different. Much like the the real life wars in Afghanistan, Syria or Iraq, considering the considerable superiority of the Western equipment, you should lose almost no units at all. What I am trying to say is: a loss in SF2 weighs much more than in the other games in which nearly on par forces fight each other. I also like your value list, although I think it is very odd that FI is on the bottom and not CW. In fact, after reading and trying to reproduce your findings, I am once again unsure what game to buy first. Hahaha. You really seem to like games with Russians in it and dislike Fortress Italy greatly. I do think, however, that you have valid points, at least from what I can already say about all of those games, owning all the modern era Combat Missions and having played all the demos. But even your relatable points are highly debatable, as I tried to do above. Good thing that I will eventually buy all of the CMx2 games anyway!

Part 1: I read your statement yesterday and let me just say, you and MMM convinced me to buy Fortress Italy instead of Red Thunder. I am not very fond of CQC combat in Combat Mission either although I got much better at it. In fact, I would have bought RT for the tank battles the Eastern Front is so well known for (and Leningrad, of course. And Stalingrad... And Berlin...) And just like you said, having 1943 or even 1941 with odd early war tanks, it probably would have been an instant purchase. Very good advice, and one that goes one step further than just stating "pick the theatre you like the most". Thank you for that. Agree. See above. While I think that this is generally good advice, there are still downsides to each and every of the CM games that have nothing to do (or only indirectly) with the respective theatre. That advice also doesn't help if you are interested in two theatres at the same time but you can only buy one game. I don't want so sound snarky, just stating my problems with that advice. Please excuse me for that.

Thank you very much! I was worried about lacking variety in the base game but I intend to buy the whole package anyway! The statement that the Eastern Front isn't popular in Western media is certainly true. Ahh, if only it was so easy to decide which theatre interests me the most! Ahh yes, that's the relatable answer I was looking for. My own personal harem is growing slowly but steadily by promising potential members that from now on I will keep a distance to AAA games and only have eyes for Battlefront games. In other words: a monogamous promiscuity. So far, it works great! (What I don't like is that I have to pay for my Harem but I guess, they must eat too and get engine upgrades manicures etc. etc.) Not really a fan of quick battles (AI issues) but I get what you mean! Curiously, looking for Red Thunder on Youtube gives me even less results than looking for CM: Afghanistan. It might be the algorithm or me not typing in the right trigger words. Yes, thank you for the capitols. Ehh, capitals. And thank you for your optimism. I am sure that as a trained anthropologist, I will be rich very soon! I must admit, I don't get this statement. It implies that somehow Steel Division 2, Mius Front and Red Thunder once had been popular but aren't anymore. If I remember correctly there was a severe lack of Eastern Front games just a few years ago. Suprisingly, only Call of Duty featured remarkably good Soviet campaigns in its early iterations. From a logical point, I also don't understand how "two baddies" would make the perfect wargame? Surely as a player you want to identify with at least one side? Yes! @all: Just got a call that one of my jobs is "expanded" (not: expandable, although it is) which means more cashflow. I guess, it is time to reward myself. ; )

Hello there, for almost 2 weeks now I am debating with myself whether or not to spend the money on Fortress Italy Big Bundle right now, or wait a couple of weeks and maybe be able to pick up Normandy on a slightly lower purchasing price when it comes out on Steam. (Yes, budget doesn't look so great currently...) And so I went on with endlessly ruminating the different settings, TO&Es, and timelines but as of yet came to no conclusion. Then it occured to me: why not buy Red Thunder instead? It is a bit cheaper than both the big bundles of FI and BN, has as many weather types as FI, big, heavy tanks on both sides, Partisans etc. But somehow I have that idea stuck in my head that Red Thunder is somewhat the worst game of the series. I don't know where I got this idea, or why but it is what it is... So let me ask you: are my curious apprehensions of Red Thunder somehow justified? To be sure, I've just played both battles of the demo and had a blast. It has a delightful difficulty to it as well (maybe because I am not used to put my units into the meatgrinder...). I guess, to put a at least a couple of concrete questions out there: - has RT a problem with terrain variety? does it get boring quickly because you either get wide open fields with no cover (tank battle), or you get little forest areas (ambush scenario), and not much else? - why is it so unpopular? E.g. you even find very few videos on RT on Youtube, unlike to every single other CMx2 game! - why do I at the same time feel that RT is the secret best CMx2 WW2 game? (harsh difficulty, somewhat unique equipment, well thought out scenarios etc.) Inb4: I will get all CMx2 games eventually, having finally found my way into it, and having played not much else in the past 3 weeks, which is quite remarkable for me. However, I have to think hard about for which game I spend 90 euros first. Then recuperate for a while, then buy the next one, obviously.