The first Red Thunder Tournament has been announced

[BFCElvis]

Combat Mission: Red Thunder
Grand Tournament

The Tournament will begin Sept, 25, 2023 and you can join now.

This Tournament will feature 3 rounds with 3 different scenarios.

Dawn Patrol - Reinforced Soviet Infantry company probes the German lines. Allied Probe

Delaying Action at Ogledow- Armored action on the west bank of Vistula. Allied attack

Where Forefathers Fought – Guards Rifle Battalion accompanied by tank, attacks weakened German
battalion in village. Allied Attack
 
Before joining the tournament, please take a moment
and carefully read these instructions that are specific
to all Combat Mission Tournaments!!!
 
-          Because of the way that Combat Mission’s original “play by email” system works, both game
files have an in-game field for password protection of the file. This field should be left blank. For the
Axis side the password has been selected before the battles were sent and that field is to be
left blank. You can use a password for the Russian side but it isn’t needed because the Tournament
feature handles protection from cheating without using the in game system.
-          The Tournament will have you playing 2 individual battles where you are playing both sides of
the same battle. If you get into the game before your opponent, you will see 1 game turn to play. If
your opponent has gotten there first then you will see 2 turn files and each turn thereafter should
have 2 files.
 - Once a tournament begins you will receive the files in the "Saved Game and PBEM"; drop menu
under Automated PBEM++ In Progress. You will receive email notifications when your opponent has
sent you turns. 
- You will need a Matrix user name and password to play any tournament (or PBEM++ battle). If you
don't have one already you can get one here:

https://www.matrixgames.com/login

Sign up now either through the game or here:

 

https://www.matrixgames.com/tournaments

[BFCElvis]

During the Grand Tournament @Hapless will be making videos for each battle in each Tournament. Here is the first to appear on the Matrix forum:
 

https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=10126&t=398182&sid=d0e0aaab3e713cd0d85b6fb7d7ede522

 

He will be giving detailed descriptions of the battles, along with helpful hints on how you might want to play it. 

[ratdeath]

@MeatEtr 

Good luck I'll try to do at least 1-2 turns per day.

[Bluto]

I just started the tournament. It looks like the tactical map in the briefing for the German side is incorrect. The Soviet side is shown instead. Also, I just did the initial set up for the German side and sent my turn; it doesn't look like it was saved. So, now I have to do the setup again? Is there any way to check if it was sent?

[MeatEtr]

15 hours ago, ratdeath said:

@MeatEtr 

Good luck I'll try to do at least 1-2 turns per day.

Yeah turn rate should be about the same from me too!

Edited September 26, 2023 by MeatEtr

[George MC]

Whoever @chic44 is FYI I’m out of twin this week so turns will be delayed till next week. 
 

Cheery!

[MeatEtr]

Quick reminder to my fellow CMRT players, you can’t save a game and return to it later. So for the German defender with lots of fortifications and freedom to make their own defense setup. This can take awhile. So if you need a break, dinners ready, baby’s crying, etc, either leave the game running or alt-tab to minimize the game.

Also completely ignore any tourney files that show up in your saved games & PBEM list. These will not get sent to your opponent. Only play the ones under PBEM ++ in Progress list. 

[Vacillator]

9 hours ago, George MC said:

Whoever @chic44 is FYI I’m out of twin this week so turns will be delayed till next week.

None of my business George but I can't see anyone with that username on this forum, which I guessed from it not being highlighted in your post?

[A Canadian Cat]

56 minutes ago, Vacillator said:

None of my business George but I can't see anyone with that username on this forum, which I guessed from it not being highlighted in your post?

I'm matched against chic44 in another facet of the tournament. I looked for him on the Matrix forum and didn't find him there either. Two out of my three opponents are not on the matrix forum and do not appear to be on the other popular war gaming sites either.

[Vacillator]

2 minutes ago, IanL said:

Two out of my three opponents are not on the matrix forum and do not appear to be on the other popular war gaming sites either.

Could they be Steam only or does it not work like that Ian?

[A Canadian Cat]

6 minutes ago, Vacillator said:

Could they be Steam only or does it not work like that Ian?

If find it a bit wonky. To play PBEM++ (including the tournaments) you need a Matrix account. It seems that if you create one for the forum community that one can also be used to play. But you can also create one for playing PBEM++ but that does not automatically create a forum account. If you log into both sites you will have two different log in experiences and even though the user name and pw are the same and clearly some syncing happens, they are really two separate accounts.

Its not how I would set things up but it is what it is. Things like this often happen organically and then get resolved to various degrees of seamlessness. At any rate anyone that created an account to play and didn't bother to create a community account first is probably not a good candidate for checking their DMs anyway so C'est la Vie.

[Chibot Mk IX]

I am afraid I have experienced a bug.  Steam version 2.13, looks like the game won't upload to the server.

Turn 0, my soviet start dialog asked me to choose a PW, I ignore that and hit OK. That brings me to "Save email game" page. I leave it as default save file name and hit OK. however the game is still under "in progress" page, it is still the same turn asking the SOV player to choose a PW.

My German side game had the same problem but bring up a more frustration experience. After I spent 1 hour on deployment, I hit the red button, save file. I almost throw my mouse on the screen when I saw the German side deployment phase game is on the list.

 

[Andrew Kulin]

11 hours ago, Chibot Mk IX said:

I am afraid I have experienced a bug.  Steam version 2.13, looks like the game won't upload to the server.

Turn 0, my soviet start dialog asked me to choose a PW, I ignore that and hit OK. That brings me to "Save email game" page. I leave it as default save file name and hit OK. however the game is still under "in progress" page, it is still the same turn asking the SOV player to choose a PW.

My German side game had the same problem but bring up a more frustration experience. After I spent 1 hour on deployment, I hit the red button, save file. I almost throw my mouse on the screen when I saw the German side deployment phase game is on the list.

 

Exact same thing here.  Sent out both initial game turns with moves plotted.  First one from my place up north (Soviet orders) a few days ago.  Looked at German side and realizing a lot of effort I deferred that setup till I got back home.  Started Monday night, left computer running and finished it yesterday and sent it out.  I am pretty sure when I opened PBEM++ here that only one turn was showing as listed on my screen which is what it would be expected as I already sent Soviet side moves.  Looked later and saw two turns waiting and to my dismay they were initial turns waiting for me to set up again.  Contacted my opponent and he confirms he received nothing.  Just installed team versions last week on both machines so should be the latest most up to date version of the game.

 

Later Added:  Logged in this morning.  Noted that for my e-mail address I had mis-typed a comma instead of a period in my e-mail address.  Corrected that and sent off my Soviet first turn (plotted moves).  There is presently only one incoming turn in my PBEM++ folder after sending the turn.  Which would be my German side first turn.  So looking correct.

Edited September 27, 2023 by Andrew Kulin
New information

[A Canadian Cat]

1 hour ago, Andrew Kulin said:

Later Added:  Logged in this morning.  Noted that for my e-mail address I had mis-typed a comma instead of a period

@Chibot Mk IX check that your email address is present, correct and the one associated with your Matrix account. See if that helps.

[Andrew Kulin]

5 hours ago, Andrew Kulin said:

Later Added:  Logged in this morning.  Noted that for my e-mail address I had mis-typed a comma instead of a period in my e-mail address.  Corrected that and sent off my Soviet first turn (plotted moves).  There is presently only one incoming turn in my PBEM++ folder after sending the turn.  Which would be my German side first turn.  So looking correct.

Got my Russian turn back from my opponent.  So in my case of the two turn SNAFUS, it may have been the mis-typing of my e-mail.

But I would add for BFC/Matrix benefit that if turns cannot be processed with an incorrectly typed or missing e-mail, the player should not in the first place be allowed to play the turn and think they are sending a completed turn back to their opponent. @BFCElvis

Edited September 27, 2023 by Andrew Kulin

[ratdeath]

Maybe add some instructions to the login screen that the email address needs to be filled in (associated with the PBEM++ account), maybe it's left blank as people don't see the need for it as they wont share the email address with their opponent.

 

[A Canadian Cat]

40 minutes ago, ratdeath said:

Maybe add some instructions to the login screen that the email address needs to be filled in (associated with the PBEM++ account), maybe it's left blank as people don't see the need for it as they wont share the email address with their opponent.

Oh yeah there is a bug there for sure. Either its optional and things should work or it isn't an you should be required to correctly enter it to successfully log in.

Edited September 27, 2023 by IanL

[laurent 22]

Ah! ah! I have the silver cup  !! Which will be taken away from me again as usual to give to others  ...

Battle over on both sides. I played the German side really badly, I wanted to be smart by not protecting my squads in the trenches and taking advantage of the anti-tank gap, but in close combat the Russians of Patrus massacred them with their numerous ppsh. 

[Fizou]

Im a bit surprised that the veteran pak38 crew opts for the 150mm heat round vs the su-76. The ordinary ap round is obvioulsy more than enough to penetrate the su76 and far more accurate at that. 

Any one else see this? TacAI error or as intended? 

[ratdeath]

PBEM++ servers down?

Error: Could not connect to FQDN server. Please ensure you have a working internet connection. Solution: Failed to connect.

Internet connection: Yes!

[Suzuya]

Got an error too, my opponent surrendered in game 1 and I then ended my turn in game 2 and got an eror, reloaded and the same so submitted my turn and now its showing as if i surrendered and we each have 2000 points for one of the sides. 

Yet to see if I will get any more turns back for game 2 or if i've broken something.

[Jackal2100]

I've run into a similar problem as above. My opponent surrendered the match where I was attacking, and now both of our scores are identical on the board, showing that I surrendered in one and he surrendered in the other. I was able to play and submit my turn for my defense, so hopefully it is sorted out, but right now it is not showing correctly.

[MeatEtr]

This is a known glitch. When a game ends, the scores are identical for like one turn and then return to normal.

[Suzuya]

That was it thanks Meatetr, GG and well played to my opponent a few touch and go rounds there but a very fun match.

[ratdeath]

@MeatEtr