Why No Tank Riders?

[sburke]

Ugh. Again, Normandy had FOs to control aircraft. Eastern Front doesn't. Eastern front has tank riding and assigned tankodestaniki . The west doesn't. Also, in CMFI Italian infantry can't split. In CMRT the Russians take a bad command hit when they split. In CMBN not to much. CMBN has many more radios within units. Also CMRT has deep marsh terrain and cabbage for crops while the others don't. CMFI includes winter weather and terrain, the other's don't. The different titles are DIFFERENT. They were meant to be DIFFERENT, they were designed to be DIFFERENT. That's the whole point of having different titles!

I know folks probably hate hearing that, some folks anyway. It is a really good point though. Yes MikeyD has another good point.

I play these games for fun and also to learn. The game is designed to force me to deal with the issues each nationality struggled with at the tactical level. The point of tank riders wasn't because every army has soldiers who don't want to march but to represent a specific tactical capability and practice in the Russian army that was not present with any of the other combatants. We all want the capability for folks to ride vehicles for a broader tactical mobility. BF has stated their reasons why they did not include in the CMBN and CMFI upgrades and it was a workload/labor issue. However I am in agreement with MikeyD. I like the national characteristics in each release. I don't consider it to be BF being too rigid but rather true to what the game is trying to do. When the Bulge game comes out I expect we will probably see it there. Pictures of German soldiers piled up on tanks due to a lack of transport are iconic however that to me is primarily an operational characteristic, not a tactical one. If BF decides that isn't how they want to develop the game so be it, I can live with that.

[eniced73]

Hmmmm...

Version 1.11 Feature List

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Turn-Based Replay

•Turn-based action is pre-computed with a "blue bar" before the action is displayed. This allows for improved performance of large battles on older computers, and for convenient "skipping ahead" in the early turns of a battle before enemy contact.

•Craters, vehicle bog status, damaged buildings, walls, and trees display correctly (not too early).

•Smoother vehicle and soldier movement.

•The Fast-forward and Rewind buttons normally change time by 5 seconds, but will change by 10 seconds if the Control key is pressed, and 20 seconds if the Shift key is pressed.

•Incoming rounds from air support attacks are displayed at the correct elevation.

•Moving vehicles sound better in email replay.

•Cease-fires and surrenders activated in mid-replay don't "forget" what happened later in replay when calculating victory.

•Correct animation is shown after a soldier switches weapons.

•Corrected a problem that sometimes caused unbuttoned vehicle crewmen not to be shown in replay.

•Corrected a rare case where, after replay, a casualty could be shown using the animation he had just before becoming a casualty.

Vehicles

•Improved pathfinding and obstacle avoidance.

•Vehicle secondary explosions do not continue for too long in email games.

•Improved coordination between the rotations of vehicle hulls and turrets.

•Fixed a bug that sometimes caused vehicle ammo to increase.

•Stryker MGS uses an improved APFSDS round, the M900, rather than the M833.

•LAV-25 will use its coax MG, not its 25mm cannon for "Target Light".

•LAV-A2 series armor thickness reduced.

•Modified ammo loadouts on early-model T-72 tanks.

•MTVR trucks have a new floating icon image.

•In the M7A3 Bradley BFIST and the M1131 Stryker FSV, if an artillery or air spotter/observer/controller is riding as a passenger, he will switch seats with a vehicle crewman so he can use the vehicle's powerful FS-3 optical equipment. Note that the vehicle must unbutton to use the FS-3.

•The Platoon HQ Stryker ESV, with only one crewman (a driver) will use its MG if a passenger is aboard to man it.

•Corrected a problem that sometimes caused ricochets off vehicle armor not to be displayed.

•Fixed "twitchy" vehicle movement when moving to a destination very close to another vehicle.

•Crews will not retain a pop-smoke targeting order after bailing out of their vehicle.

•Fixed a potential problem with a BMP-3 crew re-entering the vehicle but then not using its weapons.

•Passengers consistently close the rear doors on the LAV-25 when required.

•When a vehicle driver is hit, another crewman takes his place even if there are passengers on the vehicle.

•Increased time penalty for reloading a vehicle-mounted weapon with a destroyed autoloader.

•Light vehicles have tighter suspensions.

Infantry

•Improved soldier pathfinding.

•Soldiers can "fire on the move" when inside buildings.

•Fixed a bug that could make soldiers moving in a building suddenly drop down a level, or stand too close to the walls.

•When a squad splits into teams, the teams divide ammo amongst themselves more evenly.

•Corrected a problem where a soldier could become "stuck" moving up a steep slope.

•When a squad splits into teams and later reforms, its original targeting orders from before the split won't still be active.

•Accuracy of marksmen slightly increased.

•Split squads reform when aboard vehicles.

•Grenade throwing between adjacent levels in a building works better.

•RPG-16 reloads correctly.

•A slight difference in elevation will not prevent soldiers moving from rooftop to rooftop.

•Corrected a problem where soldiers could lose a weapon recently acquired from a vehicle on the next turn of an email game.

TacAI

•Improved infantry team evasive movement logic.

•Soldiers with area-fire orders are better at taking aimed shots at individual enemies who subsequently appear in the targeted area, especially in buildings.

•Suppressive fire: when you order direct fire at an enemy infantry unit, and that enemy unit later disappears from sight, the target order is not immediately canceled. Instead, your unit will continue to area-fire sporadically at the enemy's last known location for a short time if the LOS is sufficiently clear for area-style targeting (note that sometimes it won't be). Volume of fire is lighter versus open terrain, and shots will be taken at other targets of opportunity as usual. If the enemy reappears, it will again be targeted directly. If it does not reappear for about 45 seconds, the target order is canceled. A similar behavior applies to individual soldiers who have fired on enemy infantry without targeting orders from the player. They will continue to area-fire at their target's last known location for about 30 seconds.

•Soldiers are better at moving to advantageous firing positions inside a building.

•When appropriate, vehicles will attempt to "shoot and scoot" in cases like a BMP-1 where the guided missile takes a long time to reload.

•Grenadiers are more willing to use their rifles, not just the grenade launchers.

•Hunting units are not so quick to halt if they encounter distant explosions.

•Troops crawling behind a wall won't go up to kneeling/firing position while waiting for teammates to catch up.

•TacAI aims a little lower versus certain vehicles, especially those without turrets, for better accuracy.

•Soldiers placed near the top of of a steep slope (looking up) are more likely to crouch than lie prone, so they can get a clear LOS/LOF over the rim of the slope.

•Heavy-weapons gunners and forward observers are less likely to fire their light personal weapons (in order to keep a lower profile).

•Javelin gunners fire missiles at enemy infantry in buildings less often.

•Gunners pay slightly less attention to enemy vehicles that are abandoned but not destroyed.

Computer Player

•Computer player is quicker to surrender when most of its forces are knocked out.

•Computer player is more aggressive with its artillery and air strikes, and better coordinates its artillery smoke missions.

•Computer-player units don't arbitrarily change their facing when the battle starts.

•Computer player does a better job organizing movement destinations of its vehicles.

Bunkers

•Fixed the "floating bunkers" bug.

•Bunkers can reliably be placed near trees in a scenario without being shifted.

Medic/"Buddy Aid"

•Soldiers more reliably pick up "important" weapons from fallen comrades, but marksmen won't drop their scoped rifles to pick up grenade launchers.

•More likely to happen between soldiers in the same squad/team than in different squads/teams.

•Works across action spot boundaries.

•Less likely to happen when under fire.

Air and Artillery Support

•Building protection versus artillery airbursts is increased.

•You no longer hear enemy artillery and air support communication even if you have spotted their forward observer.

•Targeting support fire on building domes works correctly.

•If an artillery spotter loses sight of the target during the spotting round phase, accuracy of the fire mission is reduced appropriately.

•U.S. Army JTAC, and U.S. Marine Fire Control teams are faster at calling in air strikes.

•Incoming rounds from helicopter guns won't impact off-map (too early) when the game map is steeply sloped.

•Joining teams together to reform a squad when one team is already spotting for air or artillery strikes works correctly.

User Interface

•Hotkey for toggling floating icons can also toggle display of spotting contact "?" icons.

•You may change between real-time and turn-based mode between battles of a campaign, or exit to the game intro screen.

•The automatic prompt to save a campaign game now comes just after clicking away the end-of-battle screen, not after loading the next battle.

•Pause command increments are: 5sec, 10, 15, 20, 30, 45, 1:00, 1:15, 1:30, (Unlimited) Pause.

•Camera zoom up to x20.

•Engineers who are passengers on a vehicle may be given a Blast move order, provided it's not the first waypoint.

•An enemy unit will no longer remain "selected" in the game interface if it disappears from your units' view.

•The game won't allow setting area targets that are a little too low for your gunners to see.

•Split squads that have special names display their team names correctly, e.g. "Havoc 1 / A Team".

•Target orders given to a double-clicked HQ (which selects its formation) do not apply to reinforcements in that formation that have not yet arrived.

•In turn-based play, there is no longer a problem with dismounting from a UAZ and immediately plotting a move into a building.

•The target cursor shows "Reverse Slope Target" instead of "Reverse Slope".

•"Hint text" is not shown when there is a priority message (like reinforcement arrival) so they don't overwrite.

3D Graphics

•Faster frame rates in large battles.

•New blown-out building wall models.

•Updates to models: BRDM-2, BRDM-2 (AT5), BMP-3, AAV-7, AAVC-7, M1A1 Abrams USMC, and M16 rifle.

•When walls of different types abut, the sides render correctly.

•Foxholes are no longer darkened, so they won't give away infantry positions.

•Columns of smoke look correct in internet/LAN games.

•Distant dirt and gravel roads display correctly when using Better or Best 3D Texture Quality option.

•Light from moonrise appears more gradually.

•Landmark text is more readable when it's positioned below the distant mountains but above the edge of the map.

TO&E

•New Syrian Mech Airborne Infantry Battalion formation.

•Updates to Syrian Airborne Rifle Squad, Marine Fire Control Team, and a few US artillery formation names.

•Marine sniper teams carry more sniper-rifle ammo.

•Syrian forward observers have binoculars.

•M4A1 rifle renamed to M4.

Quick Battles

•Syrian forces always have a forward observer if artillery is available.

•Troop Quality parameter has a greater effect on force size: low-quality forces are larger than before, and high-quality are smaller.

•If a map was mistakenly designed with "duplicate" Occupy-Terrain objectives for each force, a Quick Battle won't import two copies of the objectives.

Miscellaneous

•Smoother internet play.

•Fixed a bug that caused some newer sound cards not to use enough sound channels.

•The effect of experience on spotting ability is increased.

•It's slightly less easy to spot enemies who have just fired their weapons, especially antitank launchers.

•Scenarios with big maps load faster.

•Surrender does not necessarily lead to total defeat. The scores for Terrain Touch, Terrain Destroy, and all

•Unit objectives are preserved.

•IEDs can be detonated by nearby explosions.

•Pre-battle Intel "?" icons don't disappear if the associated units are eliminated while not spotted.

•AT-10, AT-11, and AT-12 missiles have a 100m minimum range.

•Elite mode allows friendly fire in dark conditions.

•Trees are tougher to destroy, especially palm trees.

•If a scenario author accidentally leaves an "empty" reinforcement group in a scenario, it won't generate an arrival message during the game.

•Corrected some rare problems with LOS/LOF and buildings.

•Marine Assault (aka SMAW) squad shows an antitank floating icon.

NOTE: Saved turn-based games started in earlier versions of the game often won't work with v1.11 (though campaigns are OK if saved between battles). Please complete turn-based battles before upgrading to v1.11.

NOTE: User "mods" made to the text string table or to hotkeys are not guaranteed to work with v1.11.

v1.21 features

Soldiers

•Soldiers on rooftops receive better cover.

•Speed difference between Fast and Quick moves is slightly increased.

•Soldiers tire more quickly moving across difficult terrain or in very hot weather.

•Split teams that are in close proximity but on different vehicles will not attempt to join.

•Teams that rejoin will retain the target orders of one of the teams instead of erasing them all.

•Buddy-aid will not pick up heavy weapons from a different Team.

Vehicles

•Passengers manning a vehicle weapon may use it even if the crew has bailed out.

•Top gunner in a Humvee can use a personal weapon if his vehicle-mounted weapon is out of action.

•Vehicles do a better job using alternate crew to replace MG gunners who become casualties.

•Tanks won't waste APFSDS ammo on lightly-armored targets when alternative ammo is available.

•Refinements to vehicle damage from mines.

•Added radio to UAZ vehicle.

•Bradley IFVs and CFVs carry some 40mm grenades for their passengers.

•Vehicles move more smoothly in PBEM and hotseat replay.

Weapons

•Times to set up SPG-9 and most ATGMs are reduced.

•Powerful projectiles like sabot can penetrate trees and be slightly deflected rather than stopped.

•Heavy weapons set up near the edges of buildings won't drop to the ground after an explosion.

•Corrected a small problem where automatic weapons had a pause between the first and second rounds that was slightly longer than it should have been.

•MGs on bipods are a bit more stable than before.

•Corrected a rare instance where ATGMs could fly too low and hit the ground when they should not.

Terrain

•Roads are smoother when traversing rough ground or steep slopes.

•Large rocks (flavor objects) are more of a deterrent to navigate over.

•Flavor objects tilt to fit slopes when necessary.

•Trees are less resistant to damage from heavy artillery.

Artillery

•Updated behavior for artillery/air support time-to-target. Conventional Red formation leaders are now allowed to call in artillery from batteries at battalion level or below (e.g. light mortars).

•Corrected some issues affecting artillery arrival time after target adjustment.

•Corrected the display of artillery mission type in PBEM games.

•Artillery battery and aircraft pilot voices use the correct nationality when they differ from that of the spotter.

User Interface

•Troops may be given simultaneous Hide and Face commands, but changing facing often requires a soldier to change position slightly, during which time he will not be "hiding".

•When acquiring missiles from a vehicle, it is now possible to take the last missile without its reloadable launcher (e.g. Javelin).

•"Scenario Author Test" may be selected as a Skill Mode (1-player only). It will cause all enemy units to be fully displayed to the player, but not additionally "known" to player's troops.

Editor

•AI Plan #0 can be deactivated in the editor provided at least one other plan is active.

•In the map editor, some buttons were shifted from "Flavor Objects #1" to "Flavor Objects #2".

•Corrected some small issues with elevation controls in the editor.

Miscellaneous

•Large saved games that take longer to load do not advance the game clock in the process of loading.

•Corrected a slow framerate problem on the first PBEM turn.

•Small bullets kick up a tiny bit of dirt and dust when they hit ground.

•Computer-player air strikes aim at smaller areas, reducing friendly fire.

•Corrected a problem where some ATGM teams would appear to leave their ATGM launcher temporarily behind when embarking on a vehicle.

•Corrected a problem that caused the turn-based computer player sometimes not to dismount troops fully when instructed by the scenario AI plan.

•Corrected a PBEM synchronization problem caused by saving and reloading the game.

Marines Module Only

•US Marines sometimes have M203 grenade launchers instead of M32, especially at lower Equipment Quality settings.

•Added US Marine Mk11 sniper rifle (equivalent to Army M110).

•The US Marine sergeant in the scout team wears infantry gear, not vehicle crew gear.

British Module Only

•Jackal GMG (aka grenade launcher) can now be found in the Fire Support Section of the British Infantry Rifle Company, when the equipment rating is good (otherwise they get a WMIK).

•Loader on Challenger 2 Enhanced will not reload the top-deck MG unless ordered to unbutton.

•Warrior has slower (hand-cranked) gun elevation.

•Gunner in LMTV will use his personal night-vision gear when appropriate.

•LMTV carries more passenger weapons and ammunition.

•British Engineer Troop has 3 TUM ST vehicles, not 6.

•Corrected a problem with a US IBCT soldier carrying a British rifle.

v1.20 features

Soldiers

•Infantry on rooftops are easier to spot.

•Soldiers will not move into or out of a building, nor up or down a level in a building to perform "buddy aid".

•Demo charges will be used by the TacAI (automatically) against bunkers at very short range if no grenades are available.

•Mine marking works properly.

•Soldiers are pre-boarded onto their vehicles when first "deployed" in the editor, or in a Quick Battle.

•Aiming time is slightly increased for targets roughly 50-200m distant.

•Weapons teams won't recombine into a squad when their heavy weapons are lost.

•Some new animations.

•Forward observers are less likely to use their sidearms.

•Fixed a problem that could cause troops to move across "missing" upper levels of destroyed buildings.

•US M240 gunner does not ignore facing orders when using the bipod.

•Doors to roofs of immediately adjacent buildings can be moved through correctly.

•US Army specialist rank icon shown when appropriate (instead of corporal).

Vehicles

•Fire-on-the-move accuracy is improved for modern vehicles.

•Vehicle crew morale suffers more when the vehicle receives internal damage.

•Increased armor thickness of turret sides of Abrams tanks.

•Night vision corrected for M1046 Humvee.

•Fixed a bug that could cause a quick burst of unrealistically high rate of fire from a weapon mounted on a moving vehicle.

•Vehicle crew "up top" as gunners or in open hatches have a more natural pose.

•Vehicle crews may "bail out" in the setup phase.

•Vehicle doors don't open too far.

•Static tanks can change facing in the setup phase.

•Vehicle radios are more easily damaged by external hits (i.e. on the antennae).

•Fixed a "jittery gunner" problem related to vehicles using covered arcs.

•Unbuttoned vehicle passengers, and passengers of unarmored vehicles are not overly vulnerable to explosions, especially mines.

•Driver casualty is replaced by an able crewman (if available) in the BRDM-2 and MTVR.

•Antipersonnel mines are not overly damaging to vehicles.

•"Target Light" is active for BTR-60, BRDM 2.

•Corrected a bug that caused vehicle-mounted autocannon to cause too much recoil.

•Vehicle crews bailing out in turn-based replay animate correctly.

•Fixed a problem with popping smoke from an LAV-C2.

•T-55MV is less resistant to Javelin hits.

•Explosion damage to vehicle tracks is calculated with improved precision.

•These vehicles no longer automatically button up even when under heavy fire: MTVR trucks, Humvees, and pickup trucks.

•M707 top hatch animates correctly.

•Strykers carry more ammo for passengers.

•Taxi holds 5 men, not 4.

•Armed pickup trucks hold 4 men, not 3.

Weapons

•Slightly increased practical rates of fire (ROF) for "LMG"-type weapons: RPD, RPK, RPK-74, M249 SAW.

•Mk19 and AGS grenade launchers have increased cyclic ROF, but practical ROF is largely unchanged.

•Hand grenades can bounce a little on the ground before exploding and will occasionally airburst.

•Lethality of large HEAT warheads vs. armored vehicles reduced slightly.

•Coaxial MGs have increased max range of 1500m.

•IED Mines are more likely to explode.

•Artillery impact pattern is more oval-shaped, especially for low-trajectory weapons.

•Rockets have slightly reduced shrapnel effects.

•TOW launcher deploys correctly.

•Heavy weapon "parts" (like a tripod) are not lost between battles in a campaign.

•ATGMs aim better at hull-down vehicles. But they will still sometimes "hit the dirt" in front of a hull-down vehicle or miss just overhead. It is intentional for this to happen some of the time.

•Helicopters launch weapons from higher elevations when required to engage a target in a valley.

•Javelins orient properly during final descent.

•When Javelins fail, it's not always at the same (very early) point in the launch sequence.

•Small model fix for M16 with mounted M203.

•Fixed a problem with small-arms accuracy at extremely close range.

Computer Player

•Computer player moves its troops faster in turn-based mode, to better match its behavior in real-time mode.

•Computer player does not change unit facing in the setup phase (although it may change its position).

•Computer player is smarter about how it faces troops when arriving at a "plan" destination.

•When instructed to set up on the roof, the computer player will adhere fully to that instruction rather than also randomly placing a few units on the top floor.

•Mines and IEDs pay attention to AI setup plans, except when it's "Group 1" (the default) and that group contains both mines and regular troops. This protects old scenarios from redeploying mines and mixing them in with positions of friendly troops.

Fog of War

•Muzzle flame, smoke and dust from enemy weapons, dust and exhaust from enemy vehicles, and shell casings are displayed only if the enemy unit is currently spotted by at least one of your soldiers.

•"Camera shake" obeys Fog of War.

User Interface

•Special equipment icons display their names when under the mouse cursor.

•Pop Smoke will not execute until any existing Face command is completed. This gives you more flexibility to "aim" defensive smoke, especially in turn-based mode, by preceding it with a Face command.

•Floating icons briefly blink for friendly units that take casualties.

•The icons of all group-selected units light up to make it more clear that they're ready to receive orders as a group.

•New floating icons for sniper and grenade launcher teams.

•Ammo bars include ammo already loaded into soldiers' weapons.

•Ammo counts for heavy weapons update correctly in replay.

•Abbreviated formation names in the chain-of-command display are more readable.

•Soldier "types" displayed on the left side of the screen (in green, showing current actions) are more accurate for soldiers inside vehicles.

•Artillery and Air Strike lines and circles look more distinct when selected.

•Smoke launchers that have run out of ammo will be shown in gray in the vehicle systems damage list (in the same way that unloaded weapons are).

•"CO" and "XO" text labels are replaced by "star" icons.

•Coaxial MGs are listed as "Coax" in the vehicle systems list.

•The "acquire" popup menu is better-organized.

Campaign Game

•When a campaign scenario is updated, you can "import" your current progress from a saved game into the new scenario. Steps:

1. Update CMSF to v1.20.

2. Using v1.20 or later, save your current campaign between battles - from the point just after you dismiss the end-of-battle screen. Importing will not work for saves made at any other point.

3. From the main intro screen, start a New Campaign, and select the updated version of the campaign you want to use. HOLD DOWN THE SHIFT KEY as you click the OK button.

4. Immediately an "import" screen will appear. You'll see your saved game here. Select it, click OK, and then things proceed as normal. The game does the best it can to match battle history and core units from your saved game to the new version of the campaign, but if the author has made major changes then this will be difficult, so the whole process of importing works best when updates to the campaign are relatively small ones.

•(For campaign authors) Campaign scripts can specify a minimum and maximum overall campaign victory level in the entry for any battle that ends the campaign. Normally, to signal the end of a campaign, the [NEXT BATTLE IF WIN] and/or the [NEXT BATTLE IF LOSE] fields are left empty. However, any of the following list of keywords can optionally be entered there instead, signalling both the end of the campaign and either a minimum required overall campaign victory (if following [NEXT BATTLE IF WIN]) or a maximum allowed victory (if following [NEXT BATTLE IF LOSE]). This is most useful for "early ends" to campaigns where you want the final score to reflect the fact that the campaign ended early more than the success or failure of each battle along the way. Note that each keyword must start with an underscore.

◦ _total defeat

◦ _major defeat

◦ _tactical defeat

◦ _minor defeat

◦ _draw

◦ _minor victory

◦ _tactical victory

◦ _major victory

◦ _total victory

Miscellaneous

•Corrected various Quick Battle problems including an issue where the player would switch sides at game start.

•"Dust" from explosions, gunfire, etc. tends to last longer before dissipating.

•Syrian Unconventional forces add a Forward Observer Spy.

•When you reload a campaign game that was saved between battles, you are given the chance to choose real-time or turn-based modes.

•LOS from building to building is blocked at steep vertical angles.

•Corrected a problem with setting elevations in the editor where "white" elevations could receive unpredictable values.

•Enemy minefields and IEDs are displayed in end-game map review.

•Scenario max time limit is 4 hours.

•New brick building facade texture set.

•ATGMs no longer have "rotation creep" after successive deployments in the editor.

•Program startup is faster.

British-Module Only

•On-map mortars can area-fire at unseen locations a little beyond LOS-blocking obstacles provided the obstacles are not too tall.

•Bulldogs and Warriors have IED-jamming ECM.

•British FBCB2 is called VUDT.

===

Version 1.30 feature list

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Combat Mission Shock Force v1.30 features/changes

Soldiers

o Teams and Squads can share ammo with other members of their immediate formation (usually their platoon).

o Soldiers with movement orders will move before reloading their weapons.

o Area fire orders are immediately canceled when any active member of the firing team/squad enters the target area. This allows for better room-clearing.

o Troops have better discipline sticking to covered-arc orders.

o New animations: idle, aiming, and reloading for ATGM gunners, and idle-prone for riflemen.

o Soldiers won't fire grenade launchers at point-blank range.

o Updated Syrian soldier model.

o Corrected issues with some Syrian soldiers having wrong uniforms.

o Operators of non-deployed man-portable AT-7 and AT-13 ATGMs won't stand up prematurely, and firing "from the shoulder" works properly.

o Fixed a bug that occasionally caused fatigue too rapidly.

o Troops are slightly less likely to use AT weapons versus infantry targets that are not in buildings.

Artillery and Air Support

o All-new Syrian air power: MiG-21, MiG-23, Su-17, Su-21, and Su-25 jets; Mi-24D Hind D and Mi-24P Hind F helicopters; AT-2 Swatter, AT-6 Spiral, AS-7 Kerry, and AS-10 Karen missiles.

o When a support mission is activated, its estimated time of arrival continues to be updated in the Support View as time passes. Note that this is only an estimated time, and the actual arrival can come sooner or later.

o "Light" artillery missions have slower rate of fire.

o Corrected a bug that prevented a few types of blue-force weapons teams from calling in artillery.

o When air support expends its ammo (marked "empty") it also displays "landed" rather than "busy".

User Interface

o Floating icons for units that are not capable of receiving commands (e.g. panicked, destroyed) are partly faded.

o Team weapons that are not deployed, and cannot be fired in that state, show a "Not Deployed" message over the weapon silhouette.

o More descriptive names are shown for ammunition types in common calibers, e.g. "7.62x54R" instead of simply, "7.62mm".

o The morale state of Shaken is highlighted in red (like Panic) instead of yellow, since, like Panic, the unit is out of player control.

o RPK and RPK-74 show the correct green and yellow icons.

Vehicles

o All BMP and BTR series vehicles have passenger firing ports.

o BMP vehicles allow passengers to acquire much of their MG ammo.

o Slight increase to Bradley vehicle armor.

o Fixed a bug that could cause a BMP-2 gunner to reload for too long a time.

o Vehicles create even less dust when driving in wet conditions.

Weapons

o On-map mortars will fire when given Target Light orders, but at a very slow rate of fire.

o Accuracy of SPG-9 reduced slightly.

o Antipersonnel mines modestly reduced in blast power.

o Updated RPG-16 rocket model.

o Updated M72 LAW model.

Sound

o New sound effects for collapsing buildings and walls.

o Sounds for armor penetrations and ricochets by large projectiles are louder.

Editor

o Changing door/window layouts on the sides of buildings is easier in the editor 3D preview. When control-clicking buildings, for convenience, door configurations are skipped for upper levels without balconies, except when your camera view is inside the building. This makes it easier to set up "interior" walls between immediately adjacent buildings.

o In the unit editor, when you rename a unit that is not a formation (e.g. squad, vehicle) the name change applies to that unit's leader, not the unit itself.

Miscellaneous

o Updated TO&E.

o Fixed a PBEM bug that occasionally caused orders to be skipped.

o Corrected a problem that could cause both players to set up in the same zones in a Quick Battle.

o Computer player can set up mines and IEDs better.

o Nonexplosive projectiles hitting dirt at night don't show "sparks".

o Doodads (e.g. grass) are properly darkened when in shadow.

Marines Module Only

o Corrected a gun barrel alignment problem on the T-90 tank.

British Module Only

o Fixed a bug related to British Jackal/WMIK crews and their dismountable heavy weapons.

o Scimitar is more likely to fire APFSDS than HE at a BMP.

o Fixed a bug where a 51mm mortar gunner could switch to his rifle and abandon the mortar unnecessarily.

Combat Mission: Shock Force v1.32 Patch

July, 2011

BEFORE CONTINUING WITH THE INSTALL, PLEASE TAKE A MINUTE TO AT LEAST READ THE "EXTREMELY IMPORTANT" AND "IMPORTANT" MESSAGES BELOW!

!!! EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!

COMBAT MISSION SHOCK FORCE VERSION REQUIREMENT:

This v1.32 Patch requires Combat Mission Shock Force updated to v1.31!!

It does not matter where you purchased the game, or if you have any Modules installed or not. If you are playing CMSF v1.31 now, with or without any one of the modules or all of them, then you can install this patch.

!!!IMPORTANT!

PATCH INSTALLATION DIRECTORY REQUIREMENT:

The v1.32 Patch needs to be installed in the same directory that currently contains your v1.31 full version. The Patch will attempt to automatically select the correct folder for you, but due to the number of different game versions out there, this check is not always 100% accurate.

**Before installing, please make sure that the Installatin Path points to the correct folder, which contains your full version of CMSF v1.31!**

!!! IMPORTANT!

During installation, this patch will allow you to select which components of the game you would like to patch. Multiple choices are allowed, and you have to choose ALL the game components that you have currently installed for the patch to work correctly. The choices include:

- CMSF (you select this if you have just the base game and no modules installed)

- Marines Module (you select this if you have the Marines module)

- British Forces Module (you select this if you have the British Forces module)

- NATO Module (you select this if you have the NATO module)

Example: if you have CMSF and all three modules, you would make sure that ALL FOUR options are CHECKED.

Example Two: if you have CMSF and only the NATO module, and no other modules, you would make sure that the options for CMSF and NATO are CHECKED, and the options for Marines and British Forces are UNCHECKED

If you make a mistake, simply re-run the patch and make sure to select the right components to update.

PREVIOUS SAVE GAME COMPATIBILITY NOTE:

NOTE: Save games from v1.31 ARE COMPATIBLE with v1.32, provided that you save your turn-based games in the COMMAND phase (not the replay phase) before upgrading to v1.32.

COMPATIBILITY WITH MODS:

Due to the potential of conflicts with pre v1.32 game Mods, we advise uninstalling any mods prior to installing this Game patch. Mod authors will need to updated their mods using the v1.32 strings.txt embedded into the new "Version 132.brz" file.

NEW v1.32 GAME FEATURES

This patch will update your core CMSF game and all modules to v1.32, which includes many enhancements and improvements. Below is a brief list of some of the new v1.32 game features.

Combat Mission Shock Force v1.32 features

* TO&E corrections.

* Computer player is a bit more aggressive in moving on the attack.

* Squads split into specialized teams and reallocate their grenades more intelligently.

* In a campiagn, vehicles with decimated crews that don't refit won't be brought to the next battle with that decimated crew only to be immediately considered knocked out as a result.

* In a campaign, heavy weapons teams will receive a new heavy weapon (if the previous one was lost) even if the force as a whole does not refit.

* Camera movement and zooming keys are smoother.

* Corrected a problem that gave too much much protection to soldiers on rooftops against airbursts.

* Explosive power of minefields is toned down.

* Marder IFVs carry a panzerfaust for passenger use.

* In hotseat games, the arrival of reinforcements does not occur until after the next player has entered his password.

* Assault moves work better.

* Flashes of light, at night, look better.

* Numerous small fixes.

* Various stability improvements.

BATTLEFRONT.COM INTERNET BROWSER COMMUNITY TOOLBAR:

This new patch includes the optional install of a new, and we think, exciting tool. This tool seamlessly attaches to your internet browser (currently Microsoft Internet Explorer

[Macisle]

Ugh. Again, Normandy had FOs to control aircraft. Eastern Front doesn't. Eastern front has tank riding and assigned tankodestaniki . The west doesn't. Also, in CMFI Italian infantry can't split. In CMRT the Russians take a bad command hit when they split. In CMBN not to much. CMBN has many more radios within units. Also CMRT has deep marsh terrain and cabbage for crops while the others don't. CMFI includes winter weather and terrain, the other's don't. The different titles are DIFFERENT. They were meant to be DIFFERENT, they were designed to be DIFFERENT. That's the whole point of having different titles!

I know folks probably hate hearing that, some folks anyway. It is a really good point though. Yes MikeyD has another good point...

I hate to be on the side debating you and MikeyD as we usually see eye to eye--but I have to disagree. I think MikeyD's post is unit-modelling apples to tank-rider-tactical-options oranges.

National characteristics like those he mentioned add flavor and interest to the game and are defendably realistic. Like modelling weapons accurately, squads also require national characteristics to be taken into account. Soviet squads did not receive the kind of training that produced lower level leaders who could generally take the initiative and react quickly to taking command. Therefore, making their teams take a morale hit when split makes sense. Italians used outdated doctrine and suffered from other problems that combine to make lesser squad-splitting capabilities a realistic and appropriate result. FO's and the other stuff mentioned speak for themselves and I like what BF has done with them.

Tank riders do not fall into the same category. People can ride on tanks. WWII photo archives are awash with images of US and CW soldiers riding on tanks. They rode on them a lot. They just didn't ride them as close to the enemy as the Soviet's did--especially the dedicated tankodestaniki Soviet tank riders.

And neither did the Germans. But they can in CMRT. In fact, the Germans were also very careful about keeping their halftracks out of danger zones. I think there was a thread a few months ago where someone (JasonC?) commented about how German HT losses were amazingly low compared to their other equipment--because they kept them safe from enemy fire.

And yet, we have been free from day one to drive our halftracks right into the jaws of the lion if we so wish. Should we cut those from the game? How about jeeps and trucks?

No. Of course not. The decision of how to use that equipment and how close to get it to the enemy should be left to the player. Players are completely free to establish house rules to more accurately reflect historical usage. And if they don't, like rushing a bunch of teams into a kill zone to capture the VC on the last turn, then they suffer the casualties of doing so.

But to say that we shouldn't expect to have US/CW tank riders based on being "historical" is, I believe, a losing argument. That genie is out of the bottle with the Germans in RT. Players like me want our Yanks and Tommies to be able to lift a ride on big maps out of harms way--like their historical counterparts can be seen doing. If we get too close, the game punishes us, just like when we get unhistorically close with our halftracks.

We want that tactical tool like the Germans have in CMRT and like everybody has with their halftracks and soft vehicles.

So, to sum up:

The historical and/or national characteristic argument doesn't really cut it.

The "we can't do it yet because it's too much work" argument totally cuts it for now--as long as we get them for BN/FI later. After the Bulge family comes out sounds fine, though I'd love to have them earlier.

I hope I don't come off too strong here. I'm just trying to make my case as I see it. One of the golden rules of pleasing customers that one of my mentors taught me was:

In business, you can giveth, but you can't taketh away.

[JonS]

... squads also require national characteristics to be taken into account. Soviet squads did not receive the kind of training that produced lower level leaders who could generally take the initiative and react quickly to taking command. Therefore, making their teams take a morale hit when split makes sense. Italians used outdated doctrine and suffered from other problems that combine to make lesser squad-splitting capabilities a realistic and appropriate result.

So ... are you saying the Russians didn't have any lower level leaders capable of training their platoons to a level where they were capable of independent action? Was there not one single Italian company that was able to organise itself along other that strictly doctrinal lines?

(*psst* In case you missed it, that was irony ;-) The only thing the US and CW tank rider thing has going for it is 'well, maybe they did it once. Somewhere. Probably.' )

Tank riders do not fall into the same category. People can ride on tanks.

Actually, aside from the programming issue, tank riding does fall in to the same category. The Russians were the only ones who had a fully developed and deliberate doctrine and associated TTPs for tank riders - largely because they didn't have enough trucks, jeeps, or halftracks. The US and UK had loads of trucks jeeps, carriers, and halftracks, and the British supplemented them with APCs, so they had no compelling reason to use tanks as battle taxis. The Germans came close to the Russian approach on the Eastern Front, but don't seem to have used it much in France or Italy, probably because among other reasons while they definitely lacked motorised transport in general, within the panzer divisions they did not.

Lack of tank riders for the US and UK is the "realistic and appropriate result". It is not the only result but, like the stereotypical lack of Russian or Italian initiative, is is the expected one. Or, rather, it should be

WWII photo archives are awash with images of US and CW soldiers riding on tanks. They rode on them a lot.

Sure, and the archives are also awash with US and UK soldiers riding trains. But do you think they rode them into combat?

They just didn't ride them as close to the enemy as the Soviet's did

... no, of course you don't ... but you're going to make that argument anyway.

Players like me want our Yanks and Tommies to be able to lift a ride on big maps

If the only means of transport you have on a big map are the tanks, then you and/or the scenario have bigger problems than the lack of tank riders.

we shouldn't expect to have US/CW tank riders based on being "historical" is, I believe, a losing argument.

I don't share your belief, but that aside; "I want it because I want it" isn't a terribly compelling counter argument

One of the golden rules of pleasing customers that one of my mentors taught me was:

In business, you can giveth, but you can't taketh away.

Well, by that standard BFC are golden then, yeah? They haven't taken anything away, but they have provided a metric buttload more. Yay BFC!

[sburke]

LOL no sweat Macisle. This forum would be hellaciously boring if we all always agreed. I won't be disappointed if/when BF adds them for CMBN. If I felt strongly about it I am free to not use the capability. My point was more that it was necessary to do for CMRT in order to represent a specific tactical capability the Russians had. If the Russians did not have them I expect we might never have seen the feature. Now that it is in, the community seems pretty solidly in favor of having it across the board. We may see it, we might not. Knowing how much effort it will take makes me think I'd prefer to see that effort devoted to something else. If they plan on doing that effort for Bulge then it is a wash and I don't really have an opinion on it.

[ChappyCanuck]

Firstly, I am quite happy to pay the $10 for the upgrade. I own a Mac so please publish a Mac version soonest

I am disappointed about no tank riders and I am quite tired of hearing about it being an "eastern" phenomena and not a western one. I have studied Canadian military history extensively and it was common for the Canucks to ride tanks to battle, into battle, and in the pursuit. This happened during all Canadian theaters of war including Sicily, Italy, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany. I am quite sure the other western Allies did as well.

The option should be there to use at the players discretion.

[z1812]

Although the 3.0 feature list does not mention tank riders or flamethrowers, a clear statement that there would be no tank riders or flamethrowers for CMBN or CMFI in 3.0 would have provided clarity.

Since those items were a very popular part of the 3.0 CMRT engine, people can't be blamed for thinking they would have been included in a 3.0 engine upgrade.

This is a failure of customers not reading the 3.0 upgrade notes carefully, and a communication/PR problem for Battlefront in not being clear that these popular and anticipated features were not included.

[Lethaface]

I would pay for a riding pack, although I'm not sure how much I would use it given the mostly smaller CMBN/CMFI maps. It is a cool option though to have on hand, whether for daring maneuvers or transport function.

[Lethaface]

Although the 3.0 feature list does not mention tank riders or flamethrowers, a clear statement that there would be no tank riders or flamethrowers for CMBN or CMFI in 3.0 would have provided clarity.

Since those items were a very popular part of the 3.0 CMRT engine, people can't be blamed for thinking they would have been included in a 3.0 engine upgrade.

This is a failure of customers not reading the 3.0 upgrade notes carefully, and a communication/PR problem for Battlefront in not being clear that these popular and anticipated features were not included.

Flamethrowing is supported AFAIK, the actual units wielding flamethrowers will become available in packs. At least those are the rumors

[Pelican Pal]

Ugh. Again, Normandy had FOs to control aircraft. Eastern Front doesn't. Eastern front has tank riding and assigned tankodestaniki . The west doesn't. Also, in CMFI Italian infantry can't split. In CMRT the Russians take a bad command hit when they split. In CMBN not to much. CMBN has many more radios within units. Also CMRT has deep marsh terrain and cabbage for crops while the others don't. CMFI includes winter weather and terrain, the other's don't. The different titles are DIFFERENT. They were meant to be DIFFERENT, they were designed to be DIFFERENT. That's the whole point of having different titles!

They are different titles but that doesn't mean everything that is different is historical. There are quite a few programming limitations and a few poor design decisions.

Tank riding belongs in CM:BN. It doesn't belong in the same fashion as CM:RT. Men should dismount almost immediately when fire occurs. Because, as people have said, troops didn't ride them into combat. However, there are tons of opportunities in CM battles for men to be riding them administratively. Hell even look at the possible size of a CM map now. 8 KM long. The possibility exists for a 5KM tank ride, dismount, 1 km walk to the jump off point and then a final attack.

Cm maps aren't just 800 Meter arenas anymore.

In CM::FI Italian squads should be able to split and suffer a corresponding morale hit. I'm not sure why it wasn't changed because it is an obvious one to make. Sure doctrinally they didn't, but I also don't see how it is unrealistic for me (the SL of an Italian squad) to tell Mario and Luigi to fight from the second floor while I fight from the bottom, or alternatively to stand on the left side of the road while I will stand on the right.

CM already unrealistically depicts infantry spread and there is no reason to cause that problem to be exacerbated.

[Wodin]

I winder if some people buy a TV and then in about three months time a new version of heir TV is being sold with some new added feature they go in demanding the new TV or demand their TV is made like the new one...

[Pelican Pal]

I winder if some people buy a TV and then in about three months time a new version of heir TV is being sold with some new added feature they go in demanding the new TV or demand their TV is made like the new one...

No, but BFC did release an update to bring everything up to 3.0, but did a poor job explaining that it really wasn't 3.0. Just pretty close to it. Generally speaking BF is not good at detailing what changes are being made in their game (and which aren't). For example, AT guns can now be moved short distances without packing up. This is a potentially very important change but no one would ever know it happened. While tank riding was an assumed part of 3.0 for a number of people, but we didn't get it. We also weren't told we weren't getting it.

I understand the technical reason for not having tank riders, but that is really the only reason. Hopefully once CM:Bulge comes out with tank riders then CM:BN can get them since the models will have been updated for that game.

The 3.0 patch was also a great opportunity to make the Italian squads more realistically flexible.

[Childress]

For example, AT guns can now be moved short distances without packing up.

It appears that now AT guns never pack up unless getting hitched to a vehicle. They'll cross the entire map without fatigue at a slow Walk pace. No idea whether this is realistic or not. Maybe. You'd think that pushing a 75 uphill would tucker them out.

[Doug Williams]

You want tank riding because you want it, forget its historically inaccurate for the theater and downright suicidal in close country during gameplay. Its one of those things where after you've done it three times and lost two squads in the process the novelty wears off, so its no big deal not having it.

I have to agree. It's similar to the "WW2 halftracks are not armored fighting vehicles" lesson that I had to learn......several times.....before it finally registered.

[Daroc]

You have that completely backwards. Try a forum search for "Bovine meat sponge", and ponder what you find.

You know, I honestly can't think of anyone besides BFC that's better placed to make that call about their games. Can you?

Dafug ..... Really this harsh of response for a company making claims of retrofitting the reason we have to pay for patches.

[Daroc]

Hmmmm...

Version 1.11 Feature List

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TFL/DFR

This list a bug list all of the improvement/tweak/fix are patches not an excuse for a expansion price.

[Barkhorn1x]

TFL/DFR

This list a bug list all of the improvement/tweak/fix are patches not an excuse for a expansion price.

Dude, $10 bucks to support a company that makes unique games. Just pay it already and quite yer whinin.

[sburke]

Dude, $10 bucks to support a company that makes unique games. Just pay it already and quite yer whinin.

No no no he's gonna sell me all his CM stuff for $20!!

[Daroc]

No no no he's gonna sell me all his CM stuff for $20!!

You can buy it all for $350

Cheap compared to the original price.

[Bohemond]

Just a quick quote from John Buckley's British Armour in the Normandy Campaign about tank riders:

"Some discussion also took place regarding the use of tankriders, whereby infantry would be carried forward into battle on the tanks themselves, debussing directly into action, rather than prior to it. The increased vulnerability of such infantry to artillery and small arms fire, and other operating difficulties, fused with negative reports from North Africa and resulted in the War Office dismissing such tactics, other than in exceptional circumstances. Nevertheless, in order to expedite the initial push on Caen on 6 June, and during the fighting in the bocage in Normandy, tank riders were pressed into service, despite the supposed disadvantages"

[Childress]

... debussing directly into action, rather than prior to it.

That excerpt implies that troops were indeed commonly transported on tanks, at least to the staging area.

Oh, and welcome to the forum.

[sburke]

You can buy it all for $350

Cheap compared to the original price.

funny.... not

Hmm seems you must think it is still worth $350... from the way you hyped it it sounded like CM was near worthless.

[Bohemond]

Also from John Buckley's book:

"By Bluecoat, following discussion with VIII Corps commander Richard O’Connor, Guards and 11th Armoured were operating mixed brigade groups with each regiment of tanks co-operating closely with one battalion of infantry. An obvious difficulty was the problem of transporting the infantry with the tanks. For the motor companies this was less of a difficulty as they had halftracks and carriers, but for the battalions of the infantry brigades there were only trucks, quite unsuitable for delivering troops into action. The issue was partly relieved by carrying the infantry as tank riders, despite the concerns about such tactics dating back to training in Britain. Infantry were then immediately available to debus into action and provide support to the armour, rather than having to stop and wait for the infantry to be brought up. Infantry commanders would ride on the armoured troop commander’s tank in order to co-ordinate operations"

The Canadians also used tank riders as it's also mentioned in Mark Zuehlke Juno trilogy.

[Daroc]

All people on foot would rather ride on anything.

[Fizou]

All people on foot would rather ride on anything.

Id rather walk than ride a dildo, thank you very much..