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Ideas for a future, most probably the final pack ever for CMFI. The "Ci Vediamo Dopo" Pack (Farewell/See you later!)


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3 minutes ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

For something that rare?  :o

If we're paying out for insanely rare things, then I think I'd rather have these three for an early iteration of CM:RT:

I recognise the bottom two beasties, but what's the top one? Something Russian judging by the chassis?

Whilst we're at it I want my KV85 back ... loved those in BB. Sorry Kohl 😉 but you never know whose reading these threads.

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3 minutes ago, Lucky_Strike said:

😉 but you never know whose reading these threads.

It is cool. THREAD DERAILED! In the immortal lyrics of a Jethro Tull...

He sees his children jumping off
At the stations one by one
His woman and his best friend
In bed and having fun
Oh, he's crawling down the corridor
On his hands and knees
Old Charlie stole the handle
And the train it won't stop going
No way to slow down
Hey

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14 minutes ago, Lucky_Strike said:

I recognise the bottom two beasties, but what's the top one? Something Russian judging by the chassis?

SU-100Y:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SU-100Y

That thing really does have a gun from a warship!  :o

14 minutes ago, Lucky_Strike said:

Whilst we're at it I want my KV85 back ... loved those in BB. Sorry Kohl 😉 but you never know whose reading these threads.

I was a fan of the KV-85 too (both in CM and in my 1/72 scale model collection).....Allegedly at least one of them was retrofitted with the turret from a IS-2.

Since we're already on a slight tangent, this is an immensely cool one off:

Losgn8Dy-uS7Q4Z5vaR-eNJD-ZUYaiq5eEGuqLF5

And in a vague effort to get this train back on track I shall suggest that if you are doing a hypothetical Malta scenario, you will need these:

kv_2_39.jpg

9 minutes ago, kohlenklau said:

It is cool. THREAD DERAILED! In the immortal lyrics of a Jethro Tull...

He sees his children jumping off
At the stations one by one
His woman and his best friend
In bed and having fun
Oh, he's crawling down the corridor
On his hands and knees
Old Charlie stole the handle
And the train it won't stop going
No way to slow down
Hey

 One of the greatest riffs of all time IMHO!  ;)

 

Edited by Sgt.Squarehead
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3 minutes ago, kohlenklau said:

It is cool. THREAD DERAILED! In the immortal lyrics of a Jethro Tull...

He sees his children jumping off
At the stations one by one
His woman and his best friend
In bed and having fun
Oh, he's crawling down the corridor
On his hands and knees
Old Charlie stole the handle
And the train it won't stop going
No way to slow down
Hey

Indeed In the shuffling madness ...

Well it got me thinking and all nostalgic like - pulled out my old 70's copy of Bruce Quarrie's Panzers in the Desert, nice collection of classic photos of NA. Weirdest (other than that odd landship thing) got to be this Tonka Toy

xmvrCFz.jpg
now one of those in the garage would make me happy, that or a Kettenkrad of course!

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9 minutes ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

Thanks

10 minutes ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

I was a fan of the KV-85 too (both in CM and in my 1/72 scale model collection).....Allegedly at least one of them was retrofitted with the turret from a IS-2.

Since we're already on a slight tangent, this is an immensely cool one off:

Losgn8Dy-uS7Q4Z5vaR-eNJD-ZUYaiq5eEGuqLF5

track sag ...

10 minutes ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

And in a vague effort to get this train back on track I shall suggest that if you are doing a hypothetical Malta scenario, you will need these:

kv_2_39.jpg

Like that turret's not already heavy enough - what's with the Christmas decorations! Errr, we needed to use our petrol quota Herr Hauptmann!

12 minutes ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

One of the greatest riffs of all time IMHO! 

Fo'Shizzle!

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6 minutes ago, kohlenklau said:

My original list <now digitally desecrated?> was more bread and butter scenario stuff I think. Glad to see the rare vehicles if somebody important also wanted to do them.

now digitally desecrated augmented? Sorry I just like looking at pictures Phil, get carried away sometimes dreaming of a garage full of these oddballs.

Wholeheartedly support the appeal for a NA vehicle pack, might even have a palm tree or two to contribute!

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2 minutes ago, kohlenklau said:

No worry! 🙂 Trying to be funny with digitally desecrated

Tis funny for sure, I always have a giggle reading through your threads, and appreciate the immense effort you put into this forum. 

3 minutes ago, kohlenklau said:

I think I have that somewhere on my shelves!

Great and early series from the 70's, well printed and thought out, plundering the Bundesarchiv library, inspiration for many a diorama. I still have my copies from my, erm, yuoff. Surprising how often I still browse through them, usually looking for some inspiration or image I think I've seen.  

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Sorry I got a bit lost on YouTube after posting that video.....Anyhow:

24 minutes ago, Lucky_Strike said:

Like that turret's not already heavy enough - what's with the Christmas decorations! Errr, we needed to use our petrol quota Herr Hauptmann!

The full Malta kit looked like this (allegedly):

9km8FrABuikv6p6HKGXcgI0S91UvPIiqAbnV2S4_

Dodgy ammo stowage seems to be a bit of a recurring theme.  :wacko:

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Revised from inputs received. Put Germans with Germans, etc. Organized it a tad...

THE CMFI FINAL PACK

Using the CMBN Vehicle Pack ($20 for 19 vehicles, 5 bunkers and 3 backpack flamethrowers) as a template. What BFC already has done might seem doable again to them.

Some of this 3D modelling is already out there in whole or partially in the other titles but some would be new stuff. New work by Casio Lima studios and the BFC art staff. A sincere salute to those guys! If you need an intern, I will volunteer.

This vehicle pack supports North Africa, Greece, Crete, maybe a quasi-France if modded, maybe Italians vs French before Torch, Free French tackling the Germans after Torch... 

VEHICLES

1. Panzer II Ausf F

We already have the running gear of the PzII from the Marder, and we have the 2cm KwK 30 autocannon from some of the armored cars SdKfz 232. So give us a PzIIF. I guess the F. Right?

2. Panzer III Ausf F early and late

This would give us a PzIII with the 37mm and then with the short 50mm. If we get a similar CMRT Dasvidaniya Comrades final vehicle pack for earlier Ost Front, then this work (and other stuff on this wish list) gets utilized again for their sales/profits/bottomline/businessmen smoking cigars stuff. 

3. PzIV Ausf D/E/F1 with short barrel 75

4. Stug III Ausf C with short barrel 75

5. the Panzer I    (why not)

6. That funky German vehicle, captured Soviet AT guns on a half-track chassis, "Diana" (only ~9 built so maybe too rare for BFC's taste?)

7. Some cool desert vehicle for personnel transport or towing Pak38's/etc...Sdkfz 10? 

8. Italian M13/40

9. earlier version of British armoured cars with AT rifle AND THE BREN with an AT rifle also.

10. British Vickers MkVIB Light Tank

11. Valentine for western desert, MkII and MkIII

12. MATILDA! Queen of the Desert

13. GRANT TANK!!!! and LEE TANK (US/USSR)

14.25 pounder as a deployable gun on the map! the QF 2 pounder also! and the 37mm Pak for German army not just FJ.

15 Sherman II with sandskirts

16 earlier Honeys, Stuart I and II with the cool commander's box thingy, with sandskirts

17 British Crusader Tank or other Cruiser tanks

18 some French vehicles from CMBN, oooh lala

19 and a smoke and a pancake, and a bong and a blintz?

BUNKERS:

Some kind of cool desert bunker thingy, metadata to not quite be concrete, I don't know. Tobruk bunker I think it was called?

A few cool flavor objects for North Africa? Go Ben!!!

INSTEAD OF FLAMETHROWERS:

1. bring over from CMRT the tiny 50mm mortar for the Germans

2. German and British and Italian anti-tank rifles

3. French MAS36 rifle

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Edited by kohlenklau
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14 hours ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

Sorry I got a bit lost on YouTube after posting that video.....Anyhow:

The full Malta kit looked like this (allegedly):

 

Dodgy ammo stowage seems to be a bit of a recurring theme.  :wacko:

... and for a bit of balance, our Matilda with a fancy new frock ... specially for Malta apparently ...

xvivRrt.jpg
What's not to love about North Africa and the Med?

Edited by Lucky_Strike
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  • 3 weeks later...

I've posted about this a bunch ever since we were teased with another FI module a few Bones ago:

Quote

 

Our current plan for filling out Fortress Italy is the following. NOTE THAT THIS IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE. Nothing here is laid in stone yet.

  • Gothic Line Module (that won't be the actual name for it) that pushes the timeline to the end of the war. Details on it are already present in the first post. Basically this module pushes the timeline to the end, and rounds out missing Commonwealth and German forces.

^ Rome To Victory ✅

Quote
  • An Italian Forces Pack that adds a ton of Post-Armistice Italian forces to the Allies and Axis sides. Italian partisans, captured Italian equipment in use by Germans, actual Italian military forces operating under Allied and Axis sides, the works. This would be a pretty big Pack that will completely revolve around the Italians. I'm personally super excited for this pack, it will be a lot of fun to make and play.
  • An Elite Forces Pack that includes such things as Commandos and 1st Special Service Force. This would be a pretty small Pack, and may just get rolled into something else. Details are murky at this point.

^ Remaining Fortress Italy Modules 🔜

I've tried to sew some of those posts together, I apologize for the dead links.

A few things:

Italy 1943-45

 

What I would gently suggest is a major pack for Fortress Italy filling out the Italian roster in Sicily, then moving on to add Partisans, RSI and Co-Belligerents.

This way all of the work needed to bring the Italians to North Africa is done in advance and the pack is at least making money in the meantime during the very long development time needed for maps, scenarios, campaigns and TOE and OOBs for the other nations.

All of that Italian content needs to be created anyway, why not put it in an existing product line rather than sit on it until the base game is ready for release? 

Why Add Italians In Italy?

A few years ago where some bones came out for FI, there was discussion about possible roadmap.

iirc, a pack containing Commandos and partisans was mentioned as being a possibility after R2V, as well as adding the RSI, Italian Co-Belligerents and fleshing out the existing Italian roster to add dismounted Breda Model 35, Solothurn and Cannone da 90/53 as a module. Is this still possible? 

I would gladly pay for a pack with partisans, commandos and goumiers and would certainly pay for a module expanding the Italians from '43-45

e: I had no idea that an Italian Co-Belligerent unit liberated Venice. They made pretty significant contributions to the Allied cause.

Catching Up To The Engine:

It's more that engine updates have left Italy behind. Italy has no AT bunkers, no AA, no flamethrowers not even tank hunter teams.

Now, I'm not sure what guns they had casemated on Sicily, or if those played any part beyond the first day, so I suppose that can be discounted.

On-Map AA would make a big difference. It would be a nice addition to scenarios where the Italians are defending a static position, and in QB both for fire support and to lessen the plastering by Allied air.

The Italians have both Pioneers and the specialized assault troops - Guastatori who had flamethrowers.

There are perfectly serviceable AA guns and AT rifles mounted on the AS.42 Sahariana. They would just need to be added in the dismounted role. 

These are all small additions, more to bring Italy up to the engine standards, using much of what already exists in Fortress Italy and laying the foundations for the larger role Italy played in Africa.

Moving on from what we mostly already have:

Some of the Italian artillery in the 75mm - 105mm range would be nice to have on-map in Sicily, and crucial to have on-map in Africa. Italian Artillery was not only commonly used in the direct role (they had slow and inefficient management of indirect fires) but the Italian Artillerymen were almost uniquely courageous and competent. Field Guns were often the only component of entire Italian brigades that gave the British any trouble. They had some pretty good guns, although rare compared to museum pieces or French trophies.

The Italian Dual-Purpose AA/AT guns were also pretty good. Never as famous as the 88, they gave the allies trouble. The 90/53 is already in Fortress Italy in a SP mount.

Having a HMG would be nice, and the ballistics are already done because this is mounted in a SP mount in Fortress Italy as well.

The Parachute Division "Nembo" was present in Sicily. It would be a nice addition, but I think more importantly would lay the foundation for the "Folgore" which became famous in Africa. The best of the Italian infantry in Africa, Italian Paras were also the better units available to the RSI and Co-Belligerents.

Why Partisans in Fire and Rubble Make Revisiting Italy, and the Italian Civil War Possible

 

The Vehicle Pack and Battle Pack for Battle for Normandy were outstanding. What I like best is how the additions of each module and pack make it over to other titles. I think that was a really smart way to do things.

I wouldn't expect Steve to tinker away at partisans just for Fortress Italy, but the addition of partisans elsewhere helps lay the foundation for an Italian module or pack (43-45) for Fortress Italy. The way I see it a pack or module focusing on Italy would require four things: The Partisans, The Co-Belligerent Army, The RSI and the Royal Italian Army. Because of how complete Fortress Italy is due to the other titles, the work that remains to be done for an Italy pack/module is also what would be needed for Africa, or at least Tunisia.

With Soviet Partisans and Volkssturm coming with Fire and Rubble, partisans may not be as remote a possibility as it used to be. Most of the work is already being done by making partisans from scratch over in Red Thunder.  Italian names and voice files are already in the Fortress Italy base game. Of course the exact organization, equipment and appearance of a partisan band in Milan would be different from one in Minsk. Luckily Stens and Brens are already in the game thanks to Gustav Line (Which is thanks to Battle For Normandy: Commonwealth Forces and that interconnected development strategy).

It's a smart way to use the work done for other titles. Allied and German equipment through the end of the war was done in Final Blitzkrieg and made it over to Fortress Italy with Rome to Victory (and the work bringing the Commonwealth to the end of the war in FI is now being used for FB). Equipment for British and Americans through the end of the war, plus the voice files, ranks and so on in the base game gets us most of the way to the Co-Belligerent Army.

A combination of the German equipment we have and the Italian Equipment already in the base game goes a long way towards the RSI. There would need to be a bit, maybe quite a bit of work done on ranks, uniforms, TOE and OOB there. Luckily that work wouldn't go to waste! Why? Because the RSI mostly used equipment and uniforms left over from the Royal Italian Army, plus some  rare mid-war vehicles and equipment which could be a nice treat like the Strumtiger, Elefant and Jagdtiger (To clarify: Not that the RSI used those AFVs! Mostly Pz IIIs and IVs - which already exist in-game - Just that the P26/40 might be fun in the way those other rare AFVs are).

The field guns, AA, AT and so on needed for their TOE from 43-45, and to match the rest of the forces across titles would also complete the Royal Italian Army in Sicily.

With a change of tan uniforms for the grey, a complete Italian Army in Sicily gets you North Africa at least through 1943.

It's a good way to add more to an existing Base Game while laying the foundations for a new title.

Give The Herman Goering Division The Right Uniforms For Mainland Italy

In Fortress Italy, the troops of the Herman Goering Division display the correct white Waffenfarben in Fortress Italy, but in Gustav Line and Rome to Victory bear the green Kragenspiegel of the Field Divisions. Simply, the tropical uniform in Sicily is correct for the HG Division, but the temperate uniform for Italy and Northern Italy is, I would venture to guess, ported from Battle for Normandy or Red Thunder unmodified. The cuff title is also present in FI but disappears in the later modules.

This seems like a pretty quick fix - just a uniform option like Greatcoat/Camouflage/etc. that substitutes white collar badges for the green and adds cuff titles for Luftwaffe troops during the dates the HG was involved in the campaign. Call it "Herman Goering" or something in line with the Gebirgsjäger option added in Rome to Victory.

With Field Divisions making an appearance, will the HG Division finally get a second look? Their depiction in Sicily is great but once the fighting moves to Italy it’s fairly apparent that their uniforms are a copy-paste from CMBN. HG in mainland Italy often had cuff titles and wore SS Oakleaf camoflauge smocks. Additionally, their ranks were white and not green as in Field Divisions. This applies to both the unit skins and the unit information screen.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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