2022 Mid Year Update

[Combatintman]

8 hours ago, Artkin said:

Hey I just bought the RT battlepack that just came out and you sure can buy something 3/4 recycled. Two of the master maps that come with the pack are a recycled map - Der Ring Der Panzer just reskinned. Another just adds another 700m or so to the western side. Another map is just a cutout from a larger map included in the pack.

 

So only 10 of the 14 advertised maps added are "new". 2 are Der Ring Der Panzer redos, 1 is the same as another map with 700m added to the West, and 1 is just a cutout from a larger map.

You're full of Christmas cheer aren't you.  Der Ring der 5 Panzer you got for free in the first place as @George MCreleased that as a community scenario .  So let's say 30% is 'old content.'  Looks like you're owed $3.  Let me know where to send the money to or maybe we'll set up a crowdfund.

[Glubokii Boy]

4 hours ago, Combatintman said:

You're full of Christmas cheer aren't you.  Der Ring der 5 Panzer you got for free in the first place as @George MCreleased that as a community scenario .  So let's say 30% is 'old content.'  Looks like you're owed $3.  Let me know where to send the money to or maybe we'll set up a crowdfund.

I highly doubt this has anything to do with money ! This battlepack is ridiculously cheap considdering the amount of work that has gone into making it...It costs 'nothing' 

Good as this pack may be...It really does not bring anything new (other then more scenarios). We get NO game engine update ! NO new equipment ! NO new theatre of war ! NO new timeframe ! 

 

[Ultradave]

40 minutes ago, Glubokii Boy said:

I highly doubt this has anything to do with money ! This battlepack is ridiculously cheap considdering the amount of work that has gone into making it...It costs 'nothing' 

Good as this pack may be...It really does not bring anything new (other then more scenarios). We get NO game engine update ! NO new equipment ! NO new theatre of war ! NO new timeframe ! 

 

Which is why it's a $10 battle pack and not a new CM title or an engine update. Pretty much a work by George taking what's available and making a battle pack with a sort of theme. As usual, George's immersive and devilish scenarios are more than worth the price of admission for me.

Dave

[Artkin]

5 hours ago, Combatintman said:

You're full of Christmas cheer aren't you.  Der Ring der 5 Panzer you got for free in the first place as @George MCreleased that as a community scenario .  So let's say 30% is 'old content.'  Looks like you're owed $3.  Let me know where to send the money to or maybe we'll set up a crowdfund.

You dont think thats sort of scammerish marketing? 

14 Master maps were advertised and really only 10 were delivered.

That's not right nor is it honest marketing. 

[Combatintman]

9 hours ago, Artkin said:

You dont think thats sort of scammerish marketing? 

14 Master maps were advertised and really only 10 were delivered.

That's not right nor is it honest marketing. 

No I don't.  Der Ring der 5 Panzer was not previous Battlefront content so it is new and adding 700m to an existing map = new content.  I am prepared to concede that if one map is a cut out as you assert then 13 of 14 only are new content.  So let's crowd fund a reduced target of $1 shall we?

[Artkin]

1 hour ago, Combatintman said:

No I don't.  Der Ring der 5 Panzer was not previous Battlefront content so it is new and adding 700m to an existing map = new content.  I am prepared to concede that if one map is a cut out as you assert then 13 of 14 only are new content.  So let's crowd fund a reduced target of $1 shall we?

Thats not even a fair concession if you were being serious. 

It was pretty funny to me how I mentioned recycled content and then 2 of the 14 advertised master maps were the same. 

I didnt even own the BP when I said that. 

[Bubba883XL]

2 hours ago, Artkin said:

Thats not even a fair concession if you were being serious. 

It was pretty funny to me how I mentioned recycled content and then 2 of the 14 advertised master maps were the same. 

I didnt even own the BP when I said that. 

so, hang on.(talking of being fair) if you didn't own it then, why post the negative comments about said item? how would you know?

[Combatintman]

3 hours ago, Bubba883XL said:

so, hang on.(talking of being fair) if you didn't own it then, why post the negative comments about said item? how would you know?

And why would Artkin subsequently purchase said allegedly recycled content thereafter?  But, you're right, let's hear the "how would you know?" answer first.

Edited December 26, 2022 by Combatintman

[Artkin]

9 hours ago, Bubba883XL said:

so, hang on.(talking of being fair) if you didn't own it then, why post the negative comments about said item? how would you know?

It wasn't about said item when I posted it. It was about how things have generally been pushing toward recycling lately. 

Edited December 26, 2022 by Artkin

[George MC]

First off thanks to all those who have supported the Battlepack by purchasing it, and a shout out to those who have provided their support in the creation of this project – and a huge shout out to those who have freely given their feedback and additional support publicly via various means – online streaming vids, DARs, AARs and various forum posts etc, Its truly heartening to read and see these. 

It’s just as well, being Scottish, that we are renowned for being slow to anger and not prone to unprovoked outbursts. On a personal note a mahhoosive amount of work went into the battle pack, at my end. Work of which I am truly proud off. The lion’s share of research, mapmaking and AI plan stuff was devoted to the two campaigns and the Rakow and the Dying Sun scenario. These all involved painstakingly creating huge new maps from primary sources. Research turned up several ‘loose’ ends regarding accepted historical narrative and I’m as chuffed with these as the scenarios!

I digress… In short this sucked up a huge amount of time and I was also involved in several other projects (which I was keen to be involved in including CMFR and CMCW). Creating new content, AI plans etc for the Battlepack was a significant endeavour. So yup I used bits of various previous maps (which were my own creations and made available publicly) which I then significantly tweaked – mainly because I could not positively ID RL locations, or the fact is I thought the map – like Der Ring (which by the way took nearly a year to produce) to have a new life after some major tweaking. I’ve done this on previous game families with other maps. A few astute observers might have spotted them. 

But, and I should stress this, in the case of Der Ring it was heavily reworked and I created brand new AI plans (I had to as I’d chopped and reused bits) etc. So yes whilst some stuff is based on sections of der Ring they are more the offspring – rather than the map wearing a false wig and a pair of dodgy specs…

Re the rather offensive swipes about scamming, well,  re the master maps it’s pretty clear that as stated on the BFC website that they are “New maps based on maps from the Battle Pack missions”. 

Years back I used to be with a punk band – another life another story…. One of the bands (way more successful than we were) we did some gigs with, had their singer on one of their records state this quote, it was along the lines of – “Whatever you do they’ll slate you off and criticise you to the ground…” It’s stood me in good stead through life.

So aye happy to take the constructive knocks, but I’m less inclined to give credence tae whingers.
 

[Erwin]

You have no reason to justify yourself George.  The vast majority here are fully aware of the massive work and contribution you have made to the CM universe.

[danfrodo]

2 hours ago, George MC said:

First off thanks to all those who have supported the Battlepack by purchasing it, and a shout out to those who have provided their support in the creation of this project – and a huge shout out to those who have freely given their feedback and additional support publicly via various means – online streaming vids, DARs, AARs and various forum posts etc, Its truly heartening to read and see these. 

It’s just as well, being Scottish, that we are renowned for being slow to anger and not prone to unprovoked outbursts. On a personal note a mahhoosive amount of work went into the battle pack, at my end. Work of which I am truly proud off. The lion’s share of research, mapmaking and AI plan stuff was devoted to the two campaigns and the Rakow and the Dying Sun scenario. These all involved painstakingly creating huge new maps from primary sources. Research turned up several ‘loose’ ends regarding accepted historical narrative and I’m as chuffed with these as the scenarios!

I digress… In short this sucked up a huge amount of time and I was also involved in several other projects (which I was keen to be involved in including CMFR and CMCW). Creating new content, AI plans etc for the Battlepack was a significant endeavour. So yup I used bits of various previous maps (which were my own creations and made available publicly) which I then significantly tweaked – mainly because I could not positively ID RL locations, or the fact is I thought the map – like Der Ring (which by the way took nearly a year to produce) to have a new life after some major tweaking. I’ve done this on previous game families with other maps. A few astute observers might have spotted them. 

But, and I should stress this, in the case of Der Ring it was heavily reworked and I created brand new AI plans (I had to as I’d chopped and reused bits) etc. So yes whilst some stuff is based on sections of der Ring they are more the offspring – rather than the map wearing a false wig and a pair of dodgy specs…

Re the rather offensive swipes about scamming, well,  re the master maps it’s pretty clear that as stated on the BFC website that they are “New maps based on maps from the Battle Pack missions”. 

Years back I used to be with a punk band – another life another story…. One of the bands (way more successful than we were) we did some gigs with, had their singer on one of their records state this quote, it was along the lines of – “Whatever you do they’ll slate you off and criticise you to the ground…” It’s stood me in good stead through life.

So aye happy to take the constructive knocks, but I’m less inclined to give credence tae whingers.
 

Someone swiped at you for a battlepack that has massive amount of excellent battles for just $10??  F them.  Your work on this was excellent. 

That does not mean that I have changed my opinion of how evil you are for wrecking so much of my beautiful kampfgruppe at Rakow. 

Edited December 27, 2022 by danfrodo
typo

[DesertFox]

2 hours ago, George MC said:

First off thanks to all those who have supported the Battlepack by purchasing it, and a shout out to those who have provided their support in the creation of this project – and a huge shout out to those who have freely given their feedback and additional support publicly via various means – online streaming vids, DARs, AARs and various forum posts etc, Its truly heartening to read and see these. 

It’s just as well, being Scottish, that we are renowned for being slow to anger and not prone to unprovoked outbursts. On a personal note a mahhoosive amount of work went into the battle pack, at my end. Work of which I am truly proud off. The lion’s share of research, mapmaking and AI plan stuff was devoted to the two campaigns and the Rakow and the Dying Sun scenario. These all involved painstakingly creating huge new maps from primary sources. Research turned up several ‘loose’ ends regarding accepted historical narrative and I’m as chuffed with these as the scenarios!

I digress… In short this sucked up a huge amount of time and I was also involved in several other projects (which I was keen to be involved in including CMFR and CMCW). Creating new content, AI plans etc for the Battlepack was a significant endeavour. So yup I used bits of various previous maps (which were my own creations and made available publicly) which I then significantly tweaked – mainly because I could not positively ID RL locations, or the fact is I thought the map – like Der Ring (which by the way took nearly a year to produce) to have a new life after some major tweaking. I’ve done this on previous game families with other maps. A few astute observers might have spotted them. 

But, and I should stress this, in the case of Der Ring it was heavily reworked and I created brand new AI plans (I had to as I’d chopped and reused bits) etc. So yes whilst some stuff is based on sections of der Ring they are more the offspring – rather than the map wearing a false wig and a pair of dodgy specs…

Re the rather offensive swipes about scamming, well,  re the master maps it’s pretty clear that as stated on the BFC website that they are “New maps based on maps from the Battle Pack missions”. 

Years back I used to be with a punk band – another life another story…. One of the bands (way more successful than we were) we did some gigs with, had their singer on one of their records state this quote, it was along the lines of – “Whatever you do they’ll slate you off and criticise you to the ground…” It’s stood me in good stead through life.

So aye happy to take the constructive knocks, but I’m less inclined to give credence tae whingers.
 

No No! Your Battlepack is a real gem and I have tons of fun playing it. 10 quid is a bargain for it. You deserve 9.99 for each sold. I really hope we see more of this quality in the future and I really hope you dont lose your motivation due to these few negative vibes. You create hands down the best content for this franchise and the maps are stellar.

[Artkin]

My posts were in no way directed at any individual.

4 hours ago, George MC said:

On a personal note a mahhoosive amount of work went into the battle pack, at my end. Work of which I am truly proud off. The lion’s share of research, mapmaking and AI plan stuff was devoted to the two campaigns and the Rakow and the Dying Sun scenario.

It's appreciated. The Rakow master map in particular looks great.

4 hours ago, George MC said:

I digress… In short this sucked up a huge amount of time and I was also involved in several other projects (which I was keen to be involved in including CMFR and CMCW). Creating new content, AI plans etc for the Battlepack was a significant endeavour. So yup I used bits of various previous maps (which were my own creations and made available publicly) which I then significantly tweaked

I just now realized the two maps based off Der Ring are slightly different from each other. I thought they were copies of the same map with a different name at first.

Also I didn't think to check for AI plans included with master maps (Since it hasn't been shipped like that before) but that's a nice touch.

4 hours ago, George MC said:

Re the rather offensive swipes about scamming, well,  re the master maps it’s pretty clear that as stated on the BFC website that they are “New maps based on maps from the Battle Pack missions”.

It's also written as "14 new Master Maps". I can live with the der ring variations, but 1 of those master maps are not new (Cutout), and another one of them is pretty much the same map except shifted West 700m. So really it's 12.2 new master maps.

4 hours ago, George MC said:

“Whatever you do they’ll slate you off and criticise you to the ground…” It’s stood me in good stead through life.

So aye happy to take the constructive knocks, but I’m less inclined to give credence tae whingers.
 

I'll always knock something that I think is wrong. I'll also write about how great something is too. It's easy to spend more time remembering negative comments rather than the slew of positive comments most people leave. If it's your own work then you probably remember every comment.

2 hours ago, danfrodo said:

Someone swiped at you

Wrong. Yeah but F them.

What is this Facebook?

Edited December 27, 2022 by Artkin

[Freyberg]

4 hours ago, George MC said:

First off thanks to all those who have supported the Battlepack by purchasing it, and a shout out to those who have provided their support in the creation of this project – and a huge shout out to those who have freely given their feedback and additional support publicly via various means – online streaming vids, DARs, AARs and various forum posts etc, Its truly heartening to read and see these. ...

Master Maps are my favourite thing, and I'm loving the ones in the BP  

[DougPhresh]

My only feedback would be that I'm personally a bit put off with the bias towards Axis scenarios, in what feels like all titles, and would like to see more Allied and Soviet long campaigns. I realize that's a personal feeling and a lot of people are here for the Panzers and "against all odds" thing, but I would have appreciated to see more of Soviet forces and doctrine at the close of the war, and a Canadian campaign for Fortress Italy. 

 

I would gladly pay for a battle pack across all WW2 titles that gave care and attention to the Allies and Soviets in a Huge and very long campaign. I realize that researching the Soviets in particular can be more difficult, but there are mountains of information on the Free French, Canadians and Poles in Italy, and I feel like they deserve a capstone campaign each. 

Edited December 27, 2022 by DougPhresh

[Aragorn2002]

8 hours ago, DesertFox said:

No No! Your Battlepack is a real gem and I have tons of fun playing it. 10 quid is a bargain for it. You deserve 9.99 for each sold. I really hope we see more of this quality in the future and I really hope you dont lose your motivation due to these few negative vibes. You create hands down the best content for this franchise and the maps are stellar.

That.

[Anxel Torrente]

18 hours ago, DougPhresh said:

My only feedback would be that I'm personally a bit put off with the bias towards Axis scenarios, in what feels like all titles, and would like to see more Allied and Soviet long campaigns.

If you haven't done any scenarios or campaigns yourself, this is a good enough reason to start. Why not start doing it today? It doesn't have to be very historical.

[Vacillator]

18 hours ago, DougPhresh said:

My only feedback would be that I'm personally a bit put off with the bias towards Axis scenarios

You can play as Allied, for example Cat and Mouse which I'm playing against @Ultradave.  I'm the one with the IS2s, and I think I'd say it's a tough ask for both sides. 

Great work by @George MC once more, and the map for this one is excellent (and totally new I think?).

[Glubokii Boy]

4 hours ago, Anxel Torrente said:

If you haven't done any scenarios or campaigns yourself, this is a good enough reason to start. Why not start doing it today? It doesn't have to be very historical.

Playing your own scenarios is usually not the best of fun. It tends to ruin the FOW ...

[Ultradave]

12 hours ago, Vacillator said:

You can play as Allied, for example Cat and Mouse which I'm playing against @Ultradave.  I'm the one with the IS2s, and I think I'd say it's a tough ask for both sides. 

Great work by @George MC once more, and the map for this one is excellent (and totally new I think?).

Agreed. I'm having fun. Trying to spot the enemy tanks while not getting into a shooting match is a real challenge. (As the German in this one I'm not supposed to lose Panthers, so duking it out with IS-IIs is not recommended   ) There is a lot of time on the clock, so time for careful approaches, and sniping when I do spot something. The map is great, a and with study, you can find covered approaches, at least once you've determined that there isn't anything in "that" treeline that could get you (or at least you hope so).

I recommend this one for a different kind of challenge than a slugging match.

Dave

[laurent 22]

I also play Cat and Mouse in pbem, Russian side. The scenario seems more difficult for the German as the briefing says. Normally the Russians should not be spotted by the German scouts but I ignore this parameter and I attack. At the very beginning one or 2 long distance duels = 2 IS2 wins (between 1 and more than 2km). The German shells stick in the ground far in front of my tanks; the 75 guns lack punch. The disadvantage of the Russians is the reload time, otherwise the IS 2 are relatively fast. I'm already on my opponent's back, bypassing him to the south  Nice map.

Edited December 28, 2022 by laurent 22

[George MC]

On 12/27/2022 at 5:02 AM, DougPhresh said:

My only feedback would be that I'm personally a bit put off with the bias towards Axis scenarios, in what feels like all titles, and would like to see more Allied and Soviet long campaigns. I realize that's a personal feeling and a lot of people are here for the Panzers and "against all odds" thing, but I would have appreciated to see more of Soviet forces and doctrine at the close of the war, and a Canadian campaign for Fortress Italy. 

 

I would gladly pay for a battle pack across all WW2 titles that gave care and attention to the Allies and Soviets in a Huge and very long campaign. I realize that researching the Soviets in particular can be more difficult, but there are mountains of information on the Free French, Canadians and Poles in Italy, and I feel like they deserve a capstone campaign each. 

Aye the campaigns are only playable as Germans versus Soviets, and is more a question of game engine limitations (SPW cannot be remounted – which borks most of Five Days playing against a German AI; and Ogledow campaign would have issues cos the Soviets would wipe out a German AI core force really easily).

In saying that pretty much all the other scenarios are designed to be played against either AI (except the SPW training and Panzergrenadiere in HKL) and were designed with that in mind. So the following will all provided a fun fight as Soviets against the German AI or a challenging fight H2H:

 

• CMRT Tigers At Ogledow (the scenario)
• CMRT Heart Of The Dying Sun (want to command a massive Soviet armoured combined arms assault? Knock yersel out!)
• CMRT Bridgehead at Rakow (defend against German armoured attack)
• CMRT Cat and Mouse (sneak up and snipe German tanks)
• CMRT Deep Raid (command an advanced detachment from the 233rd Tank Brigade part of 5th Mechanized Corps deep into the German rear as part of the JASSY-KISHINEV offensive operation).
• CMRT Ill Met By Moonlight (sneak up and KO immoblised German tanks)
• CMRT Polosa Deistviya (Soviet Guards recce unit tasked with seizing bridge, guarded by German straggler unit, by coup de main)
• CMRT Panzerfgruppe Flügel (stop German panzer gruppe from breaking out)
• CMRT Tip Of The Spear (Soviet combined arms from 2nd Tank Army conduct counter recce against German recce elements).

Hope this helps?

Cheery!
 

[Vacillator]

9 hours ago, laurent 22 said:

I ignore this parameter and I attack

Interesting, this was one of my thoughts but I stuck more with the hide and snipe.  I did suggest the full on attack as a joke to my opponent.  Oh well, shoulda coulda woulda.  Plenty of fight to go though...

[user1000]

On 10/24/2022 at 10:12 AM, massinissa97 said:

How much we have to wait until we see the release of a single combat mission ww2 title on steam , at least bring us one game than add the tournament feature as a seperate update ,if it continue like this it will take years for full release of cm ww2 titles on steam bring us at least an aporoximate release date for battle for normandy or at least red thunder 

Yeah this is crazy!