PBEM Rules

[Kinophile]

The crux is certainly  the diversion of time/effort to a code validation system, especially for multiplayer connections. 

But still - locking off the core code (eg via time stamp) and allowing copying of it into mods would be reasonable. 

Time stamping can certainly be spoofed but it would stop the casual,  low knowledge hacker/cheater. There are other,  fairly simple locking/checking mechanisms also. 

I just feel that the community is a wasted resource pool for non-structured,  non linear testing,  expanding and debugging of the code, units etc. 

But I'm fully aware this is a tilt at a windmill scenario so I'll just leave it here, with a sad shake of the head. 

Edited December 27, 2016 by kinophile

[John Kettler]

JohnO,

Make sure you have a clear mutual understanding regarding LOS into each others' setup zones, whether or not that is acceptable and to what degree. You may find yourself having to negotiate map selection to preclude such LOS.

Regards,

John Kettler

[DMS]

On 27.12.2016 at 5:51 PM, gnarly said:

In BS, those houses make excellent hiding places for all sorts of anti-tank hurt, be they javelins, corsars, etc.  And infantry can be 100m away from the house and still not detect infantry or heavy weapons team hiding within....

If its a likely hiding spot, demolish with anything you got, otherwise you'll be deaded real quick...  ;D

Yes! So it's player's decision, what he considers as gamey, what does not. I think that single houses are allowed targets, and particular building in the town - not.

[cbennett88]

My "preferences" in PBEM games are...

1. No APS(or VERY LIMITED as in 1 vehicle per platoon). Mainly b/c...until the designers add the "Israeli Army module"...no current army has APS in use. Yes,,,IF they add the "US Marines module" I will amend that statement. I get it that the US or Russia COULD try to quickly outfit their vehicles, but...we are talking what forces are USING NOW.

2. My BIGGEST Pet Peeve? Opponents who buy 2 or 3 Tunguskas and use them as "ground attack buzz-saws". I have written a whole long post on this forum about why I think that system is badly misrepresented in the game.

I would be totally fine if they added the ZSU-23-4 to the game and players wanted to use that in ground attack. There is precedent for it in Chechnya.

3. Whoever plays as the Russians in a game vs the US gets a 10%-20% bonus in points to buy forces. I just feel the Russian side is severely disadvantaged when up against the US. I understand that might be 100% accurate IRL but...IF my opponent and I want a more "balanced" game, then the Russian side needs the ability to counter superior equipment with numbers. Take the case of ATGMs... the US gets the "wonder weapon" Javelin which sees everything and almost never fails. The Russians need 4+ of any of their ATGMs (other than the AT-14) to reach parity. With the AT-14 it is more like 2-3.

None of this is "set in stone" for me. Just what I prefer...

[John Kettler]

cbennett88,

In light of what we've belatedly discovered regarding Kornet launches from the BMP-2M and changes in the AI to prevent auto cannon armed vehicles from firing futilely at tanks when they have potent ATGMs available, too, not to mention all the changes wrought by Upgrade 4.0, I would suggest your force enhancements may well be unneeded. In fact, I expect Sublime, the maven of the Russians in CMBS combat, will wreak all sorts of havoc because of these things. Indeed, my initial assessment is that the undisputed virtual immunity of the Abrams from the front may well be a thing of the past. If some people get their wish, and the Abrams no longer has ERA, then the problem grows even worse for the Americans. The Javelin is a great weapon, to be sure, but it has its own weaknesses, too. What the operator can't see, for whatever reason, a Javelin can't be targeted upon. Can tell you from experience having a Russian smoke barrage come down will really hurt Javelin effectiveness. Javelin doesn't do well against targets in trees or, for that matter, brush, depending on engagement mode. Time and again, clear LOS turns out to be fuzzy enough the Javelin hits a branch or something and detonates before it gets to the target. Real Javelins don't always work, either, but to my knowledge, that's not in the game.

Regards,

John Kettler

[cbennett88]

@John Kettler

Although I try to stay current on this forum, I may not have caught the new developments in the game since ver 4.0. Is there a good link you can share so I can get up to speed?

Part of my "adjustment factor" though is not based on the effectiveness of Russian ATGM warheads once they impact the target. I have certainly experienced having my M-1s taken out plenty of times! It has to do with the frustrating number of times Russian ATGMs go flying wildly into the dirt or off course. As a former TOW platoon commander I understand the "delicacies" of wire guided missiles. So I am not expecting "miracles".

But I have witnessed(as I am sure we all have) NUMEROUS times when Russian teams send their missiles straight into the dirt 100m in front of them even when not under fire(i.e stress). Then to have them quickly eliminated b/c they have given away their position. And...this IS with using "veteran" or better, crews. With 3X the AT teams, the Russian player can set up to compensate for "bad gunners".

On the other hand...although SOME javelin missiles will miss/hit trees, etc...it is true that even the worst trained US operator(in game) can pretty much go up against the best Russian tank and succeed more often than not. Hardly "fair"...

Russian system are old, I get it! And.. NO...IRL I PRAY that their systems are this bad if we ever have to face them!! But... an underlying principle of Russian warfighting has been to compensate for inferior quality in certain weapons by having more of them...usually LOTS MORE!  

So...especially if my opponent is the Russian player...I want it to be a more balanced fight. "Superior equipment" vs "Superior numbers"...it is the age old debate of the two sides since the Cold War right? 

4 hours ago, John Kettler said:

Can tell you from experience having a Russian smoke barrage come down will really hurt Javelin effectiveness

Thanks for this!! I will incorporate this into my strategy next time I play as the Russians. I always assumed that their thermals just saw through it like the M-1s seem to do. But this still requires the Russian player to plan farther out(since his artillery response is slower)...have MORE artillery available(because to get more smoke rds you have to "buy" better units)...and have more guns available if you want to do anything other than lay smoke all game. Hence...back to what I said about giving the Russian player more points to do all this!