US Army AFV's (USMC Module/v1.1)

[Peter Panzer]

It looks as if the USMC/v.1.1 module is going to be a welcome step in the right direction in a number of areas. Among several of the gameplay enhancements, I was pleasantly surprised to see the inclusion of new M1's and M2/M3's.

Question:

In terms of the Scenario Editor, how will the M1 (TUSK) and M2/M3 (ERA) be incorporated? Will they appear as a result of the value in the "Equipment" (excellent, good, normal, etc.) dropdown menu?

If so, after installing the USMC module will these AFV's also appear in pre-existing scenarios where the "Equipment" value was/is set to the appropriate value?

Question:

Will directional smoke be available for AFV's in v.1.1? Unless I have missed something, it seems that AFV's can only deploy smoke over their frontal arc. Why? These systems are attached to fully traversing mounts, be it a turret or RWS.

Thanks for any clarification.

Somewhat relatedly, the inclusion of secondaries is a fantastic touch - well done.

[SgtMuhammed]

On the secondaries; just wait till you see them in action. VERY nice. Has you doing a lot of searching around to see WTF is shooting at you. The new sound package, as a whole, is fantastic.

[MikeyD]

AFVs deploy smoke in the direction the smoke dischargers are facing. So I either give a cover arc or quick fire order in order to get the turret (or RWS) facing the right way before I pop smoke. It works for me. Some Stryker types the dischargers are bolted to the hull. These vehicles get a face command before I pop smoke. Of course the command vehicle creates a giant circular smoke cloud around the vehicle.

[Peter Panzer]

Mikey:

Thanks for the tips and noting that some launchers are fixed. It may very well be that I have not played around with this enough. To clarify, I play in WEGO exclusively.

That said, wouldn't it follow that if a player selects "Pop Smoke" the directional line should not "snap-to" the front of an AFV? Rather, during WEGO, it would be great if the line could be positioned anywhere within 360* of the mount/waypoint. The mount would then traverse accordingly and fire the launchers during the next turn in the specified direction.

Muhammed:

If I am not mistaken, there was a M1 heavily damaged from a secondary "cook-off" from a burning T-72 (?) during the 1991 Gulf War. This new detail will add a great tactical wrinkle to the action.

Any insight into the Scenario Editor selection of the new US Army AFV's?

[Peter Panzer]

In the event others are interested, it looks as if my original question regarding AFV selection is answered on page 128 of the new online manual.

[Moon]

BTW, you can link to specific pages of the online manual directly, like so:

http://www.battlefront.com/index.php?option=com_flippingbook&book_id=2&Itemid=223&firstPageNumber=128

(in other words, by adding &firstPageNumber=X at the end of the URL link)