New to FI - Recommendations

[Werewolf]

I'm fairly new to Fortress Italy (had it a while but not played it much). Recently though it has drawn my interest to a much greater degree.

So to get the most out of it I thought I'd get the recommendations of the experts about two issues.

1. If one mod was all you could have what would that one must have mod be?

AND

2. Should I get Gustav Line? If so - why?

[Lt Belenko]

Mods only affect graphics, sounds and user interface. Mods do not effect weapons, units or damage or anything like that. What mods would I use? Right now I only use a few. Grid lines on terrain. This helps me see contours in the landscape.

The other one is the empty sound file for the opening music.

Gustav Line adds the additional time frame. This provides units available at the designated time frome and contains additional types of terrain features for that part of Italy. It also provides the additional battles.

And one more thing: I'm not an expert just a player.

[Jim1954]

First off, mods. They are only cosmetic and highly personal. Everybody probably thinks there is a "must have" in their own opinion. Every bodies opinion is different. That one is difficult to answer.

Gustav Line? Yes, unless you only want to fight with US forces in Sicily. Without GL, no Allied armies, Brits, Canadians, Kiwis, or Polish. Also no Salerno, Monte Casino or Anzio (and all points in between). You get to play in the snow.

So I would get GL and be sure you upgrade to all the way through 1.12. There were some problems in earlier issues that were corrected.

[z1812]

Grid lines for the map. This really helps one to see the lay of the land at a glance.

Gustav line is an expansion and in my view worth my money to have access to more varied unit types.

[A Canadian Cat]

Gustav Line is an excellent module that adds a lot of good things to the game. As for mods I like to get all of Aris's work but I personally like the terrain and vegetation as is. The only mods I think of as indispensable are Vin's animated text (for CMBN, for CMFI) and a mod that changes the thing that looks like a compass but isn't into something that clearly shows what direction the camera is looking (sorry can't find the lnk). Juju's UI enhancements are also very very good but he does not have a version for CMFI

[mjkerner]

I'm fairly new to Fortress Italy (had it a while but not played it much). Recently though it has drawn my interest to a much greater degree.

So to get the most out of it I thought I'd get the recommendations of the experts about two issues.

1. If one mod was all you could have what would that one must have mod be?

AND

2. Should I get Gustav Line? If so - why?

This is a must have :

http://cmmods.greenasjade.net/mods/4958/details

(Hey, if I don't promote myself, I'll never get anywhere in show biz!)

[MG TOW]

Fortress Italy without Gustav Line is a mere introduction. Its Gustav that completes it. Plus as a whole the scenarios in the gustav lot are the best I've played, they gelled with me, but that's my opinion.

[Freyberg]

Gustav Line is what makes FI a great game, in my opinion. The Italians are fun though a bit of a pushover, but the Brits, other Allies, Luftwaffe, and the Gustav Line itself, make this a really gritty historical game.