PEB14

I wasn't able to bail-out from a SPW, only to dismount from it…

@Chuckdyke pointed out in another post the difference between "bail out" and "dismount". Apparently, vehciles whose crew bailed out can only be recrewed by the original crew. However strange and pointless this might seem, the difference might explain the "bug": if the SPWs were bailed out by the now deceased original crews and not dismounted, they're lost forever...

Well done, I haven't tested the difference between "dismount" and "bail out". IIRC I only tested "dismount".

A ray of hope for the WW2 early war fan club: Steve does indeed recognize there is a "reasonable way" towards early war. A first step towards the Holy Grail...

I think you misunderstand me (sorry, probably my bad!). I mostly agree with what you write, but in game terms what I describe above is what should happen. And indeed it DOES happen: taking the save file from Erwin, I was able to un-crew and re-crew several other SPW with very different units (MG gunners or HQ units most notably). Whether this is realistic or not is not my point; my point is, this is possible from a Combat Mission software perspective, which makes what happens to Erwin technically a bug.

Hello, Just to confirm that Ithikial's answer was correct. In this scenario, the bridge is clearly a one-lane bridge. The game manual clearly states that heavy vehicles cannot cross those bridges. However vague "heavy vehicles " might sound, JS and JSU clearly qualify as such and it is perfectly clear why they won't cross this specific bridge. Unfortunately this is not true. The mouse icon doesn't change when pointing on the bridge with a move order for a heavy vehicle over a one-lane bridge.

Very strange if one considers the versatility of the 60mm mortar, one of the most powerful infantry weapon of CM-WW2!

I'm surprised nobody has seen this before, it's not unusual for vehicles like trucks or SPW to lose their crew…

Well, it depends what one calls a "bug". When the game does not work as intended, to me it is a bug. This is the case of your SPW, that should be crewed by any of the troops. The issue of the FO is tied to the game mechanics, which has its own flaws, as you point out, but from a software point of view it is not a bug, as it works as intended: you got some replacement unfortunately it turns out that the replacement guy is not up to the task. As for RL… I think it depends much on the campaign itself. If you're on your own behind enemy lines, it's understandable that you won't get a new FO. If there are only 6 hours between missions 5 and 6, same thing. In other context it might be less obvious…

I checked your save. I was able to reproduce everything you found. I stay convinced that the FO issue is not a bug. You've lost the only guy able to call artillery in, his buddy is not able to do so on his own. Annoying, but technically it doesn't sound like a bug. If the campaign designer wants to pre vent it I guess he can simply not put the FO in a core unit and independently add a FO to the player's OB at the beginning of each mission: this way he would be sure the player always has got one. On the other hand, the SPW issue sounds like a bug. Whatever the troops your crew them with, they still show as "dismounted". I dismounted other SPW and recrewed them with different teams (SPW crews, a HQ, a HMG team): it always works. Do you remember what was the status of these SPW at the end of mission 5? And Wasn't the Zug they belong to completely wiped out?

I checked again and it happens it was a 81mm mortar. Sorry for the false info.

Fallschirmjägers, April 44

What do you mean? I just faced one such mortar in my last CMFI game (Hilltop to hilltop).

I wouldn't wall it a bug, even if it can ruin the game. If I understand correctly campaigns mechanics, core units are replaced only according to a replacement percentage, defined by the campaogn designer. For a 2-men team, any percentage lower than 50% means that basically you have low chances to get a replacement, whatever would happen in RL. I'm not an expert, but would this happen if the FO wasn't labelled as core unit?

That's the hell of a scenario… What a beautiful map, with incredible slopes (especially in the vineyards) and terrific line of sights… In my game, the Germans surrendered 8 minutes before full-time. The casualty rate on both sides was the highest I have seen so far, but I'm proud (and surprised!) that all my crystal vehicles survived! And the Stuart clearly won the day! Several units end the game with no ammo at all, or just a pair of hand grenades… I strongly recommend this scenario, even for unexperienced players. I learned a lot in the way of assaulting enemy positions with infantry, positioning my vehicles to support them properly, and what to do (and also NOT to do…) with light mortars. Thanks to Benpark for this very nice design. Just to correct: they are not so few. One of the challenge of the scenario is, the force ratio is not heavily in favor of the attacker (I don't give the maths to avoid spoiling). Anyway, these Luftwaffe guys seem to bear thousands of automatic weapons! That's depressing!

Well, the problem is, as you can see on the screen capture, it is impossible to seclect "Target Light", the option simply doesn't exist!! So I just cannot try to select a target, whatever its position… Interestingly, later in the game, both the MG and the gun were fired at the same target, which was roughly at 2 or 3 o'clock from the vehicle axis. So the MG is operational and it does have an operational arc a little bigger than what you describe. Anyway, the impossibility to use "Target Light" sounds like a bug to me!

Don't get me wrong: I'll certainly buy it at some point (but certainly not before the CW module is packaged as a bundle). It's just that it lacks the taste of novelty added by any other game. And now, what next?

Got ammo, the gunner is in position… So what???

Is it a bug? Why am I unable to "target light" with this beautiful beast???

I meant NEW vehicles, not sure my post was clear enough. In CMFB you pretty much find the same vehicles like in the other WW2 games more or less combined, plus the Flammpanzer38t and Sturmtiger, as you point out. That's not a lot of new stuff, vehicle-wise... And you are right pointing out that the situation today is not the same as at the time of the initial release,. As of today, CMFB is like a dead end: nothing but the basic game. No battle pack, no module, not even CW forces (at least not yet) included. For a new player it's by far the least attractive of the CM WW2 games (except if you NEED to play Ardennes, obviously...). I now that some players here love CMFB very much because of the quality of the maps and of the optimized engines. But these are not the most appealing things for a new player (at least, not for me!). Especially as you get excellent maps in the other games!

Sure, they're not done by the same people (not even by BF people?) and don't require hardcoding...

IMHO, adding new vehicles and forces is precisely what WW2 afficionados are waiting for... In a game that runs very nicely like CM does, you just want new toys to play with... That's pretty much why the only game I haven't purchased for now is CMFB. If I want to play US vs. German in the snow, or CW vs. German in 1945, I play CMFI-R2V. I think that CMFB adds too little to the franchise in terms of new toys; CMFI added to CMBN tons of vehicles, the Italians, the French and so on. CMRT added the Russians, the Volksturm and tons of stuff. CMFB does not, as any new game should. But that's just me!

That is sound. So why not starting backwards and not onwards? Development would be diluted over time if the next game starts with Kursk, then extending back to Stalingrad, and finishing en beauté with the beginning of Barbarossa! Many vehicles and forces required for Kursk are already there, and some of those developped for Kursk would be useful for Stalingrad... When is programming scheduled to start on this one?

I don't: LOS - Line of Sight: not affected by FO LOF - Line of Fire: affected by FO

I understand exactly the opposite from Steve's most interesting post: Haystacks and carts have absolutely no effect on LOS but do have on LOF: