Questions and feedback in regards to Theatre of War

[Paulverisor64]

I’ve been looking forward to Theatre of War Kursk since before Christmas.

Since that time I have purchased TOW Africa which I have been pleasantly surprised with. Of course the demo was released this week which increases my anticipation for the upcoming game.

In playing both games I have been compiling a list of things that have me perplexed as well as made observations on things that appear buggy or could use varying degrees of improvement.

I pledge to continue on regardless of issues; I’m just hoping to see this game polished enough to where the whole gaming community takes notice. This game helps me learn while having fun.

I’ll start with some of my questions and I’ll work into the issues.

-One thing that I’d like to understand better is the allocation of experience points. I understand that by allocating experience points the soldier becomes more experienced in Accuracy(Marksman), Scouting, Driving and Gunning. A gunner naturally would be very well effected by giving him Gunner points. A sniper would be well effected by spending a lot of Scouting points on him. What I am not sure about is how important it would be to round off a players experience with different skill sets. For instance would it help a tank gunner hit targets better if he had Accuracy and Scouting skills on top of his gunning skills even though the tank commander might have a good scouting rate? Would it help an infantryman to add good scouting skills on top of accuracy skills even though his officer had good scouting skills? What primary skills should the loader have? Would it be necessary for an artillery crew to have any driving skills? (the AI gives them driving skills sometimes)

-Is it possible to see where a minefield is laid? I frequently lose tanks to a lost track and since they happen often in close quarters to the other de-tracked vehicle(s) I am suspecting they were victim to a minefield.

-What is the best use of smoke? I’ve played many games but really haven’t used smoke yet. Would this be for protecting a stationary position or concealing advancement?

-Is it possible to load infantry into half tracks or on top of tanks? I have not seen the load symbol for either one yet. (Of course I haven’t gotten around to the German campaign in TOW Africa). In Combat Mission I know this was possible (even though it wasn’t possible for loading some of the half track choices).

-Does this game factor in a greater speed for traveling on a road versus moving in the open? I haven’t observed a difference but that doesn’t make it a fact. If it does make a difference does that apply to infantry as well?

-With tanks or other guns is there a way to tell which round is high explosive? The demo suggested using high explosive rounds but I wasn’t sure which ones that was.

-There are many types of vehicles in the game. It is confusing which one to pick according to the anticipated need. Is there a way to demystify the selection process? For instance I actually thought the SDKFZ 232 was a communications type vehicle, but as there isn’t actually that type of communication in the game it would be just another vehicle to be considered amongst the several half tracks. I am not a ballistics purist; I don’t know what all the round size designations would signify except that a bigger number might take down a bigger target most of the time.

-Is there a communication delay if I were to cancel out an action and replace this with another action? This was present in Combat Mission which simulated the delay of reissuing an order.

From here I will list some of the things within the game that appear not to work optimally.

-It was very noticeable in the demo that if a gunner did not want to turn to a target that I pointed out, he flat out would not do it. Yes the targets in question had a red cross hairs. When I needed to land a shot before the enemy did this was quite a disadvantage.

-At times it was very labor intensive moving a vehicle from point A to point B. In specific there were 2 half tracks that I finally was able to move after about 10 times. There wasn’t any message saying “I can’t do that” which would have been helpful.

-The infantry was not very good at being stealthy. I would give a move to position command by sneak and the buggers always wanted to stand up in the most inopportune times. I observed this even when I used the hold position option.

-There have been times when I run into a tank that just won’t die. I can get the initial crippling blow but after that I can not wipe the tank out. I had 2 tanks that would not die at the same time. I was behind each tank landing blow after blow with no result. One was a Panzer V and the other was a Panzer III. I emptied my entire supply of 76mm shells. I observed I had over 30 rounds to begin with in one of the instances.

Lastly I’d like to make a bit of a petition to ask for certain features that would help the game player a little bit.

-I wish there was information for the scenario objectives available by mouse cursoring over the appropriate item. For instance the mission told me to destroy the enemy HQ. I destroyed many buildings not knowing which one to take down. I was not sure whether I captured the correct village or not as there was nothing naming the town that I could see. It would also be nice to get some kind of visual cue if there is only one unit left that I need to destroy. I have spent close to an hour trying to tie up missions because I don’t know what remains to be taken out.

-It would be nice if the mini map had a small N with an arrow underneath it. I am pretty sure that north is on top, but in many games I’ve played the map revolves with the point of view.

-Finally I would really like it if vehicle movements could not only be made by waypoints but also be concluded by a facing command. Company of Heroes allows a series of waypoints and a facing command at the end. (Shift, Shift, Shift, Right mouse held and turned to appropriate direction). To make things even better it would be great if you could specify movement types for each movement segment. For instance sneak up to a road, sprint across and sneak once again.

I will appreciate any help with my questions. Hopefully this will help others as well.

[AslakH]

-Is it possible to see where a minefield is laid? I frequently lose tanks to a lost track and since they happen often in close quarters to the other de-tracked vehicle(s) I am suspecting they were victim to a minefield.

Well, that's the point. If you see the minefield, what's the use?

Just scout more.

As for the different ammo types, they are named appropriately (HE, HEAT, APCR, etc).

I haven't had many of these problems, except when they are downright buggy.

One time while playing the Kursk demo, I was scouting (sneaking) into a village, and the soldier stood up, and would NOT get back down. So he died. A lot.

Many, many times the tank crew would select the wrong shell. It sucks hunting T-34s with HE or smoke.

The Sd.Kfz 232 (the 263 was a command and radio vehicle) is used for recon purposes, like the Pz II, Sd.Kfz 222, etc. I am not debating what they were initialy intended for, but in TOW they are light/medium recon vehicles.

Halftracks? Yep, they can carry infantry. The 251/9 can't. The 251/2 can't.

Sometimes when clicking at a target, the gunner can't see it. His LOS is lower than the cupola of commander (this is what we call "firing height"). That is what I have learned. It sucks, sure. But is completely realistic.

But the game is not perfect. Sometimes it downright pisses me off. But I'd rather play TOW than Command & Conquer!

[Paulverisor64]

Well, that's the point. If you see the minefield, what's the use?

Just scout more.

As for the different ammo types, they are named appropriately (HE, HEAT, APCR, etc).

I haven't had many of these problems, except when they are downright buggy.

One time while playing the Kursk demo, I was scouting (sneaking) into a village, and the soldier stood up, and would NOT get back down. So he died. A lot.

Many, many times the tank crew would select the wrong shell. It sucks hunting T-34s with HE or smoke.

The Sd.Kfz 232 (the 263 was a command and radio vehicle) is used for recon purposes, like the Pz II, Sd.Kfz 222, etc. I am not debating what they were initialy intended for, but in TOW they are light/medium recon vehicles.

Halftracks? Yep, they can carry infantry. The 251/9 can't. The 251/2 can't.

Sometimes when clicking at a target, the gunner can't see it. His LOS is lower than the cupola of commander (this is what we call "firing height"). That is what I have learned. It sucks, sure. But is completely realistic.

But the game is not perfect. Sometimes it downright pisses me off. But I'd rather play TOW than Command & Conquer!

Thank you so much for taking time to help out.

As far as mines are concerned I believe in real life the Germans took after the problem after dark with their Engineers. They were stalled terribly by the extreme ammount of mines. They really couldn't use their Panzer tactics very well. They also used Goliaths. You suggested better scouting. How would you effectively scout something like this out? Does this just mean making lesser vehicles expendable?

The demo at one point suggested the use of High Explosive type shells. I didn't see the HE type listed. I will attach a picture from my game at the end of this post. The alternate round types I saw listed were both DT? I agree that it would be quite aggravating if your tank crew selected HE against armored targets.

I think with ample care that it is possible to keep all the selected soldiers in the dirt. I just discovered how to switch stances. That combined with hold position seems to keep my squad glued to their position. It would be nice if the Sneak command kept them that way automatically.

Even though I had heard the SDKFZ 32 was a communications vehicle I thought it might of had a duel role. I wonder if it is any better in any respect to the other vehicles which could be used in a recon role. Anti tank guns seem to eat all the mechanized special purpose vehicles up.

That is very helpful in what you suggested about the sighting level of the gunner being lower and not seeing what the commander sees. I wonder if giving the gunner better scouting capabilities would help or if this is entirely a line of sight issue?

Perhaps in the real game there will be half tracks which can be loaded. That would be great for getting the infantry from Point A to Point B quickly with improved protection. It doesn't appear that infantry can hitch a ride as in Combat Mission.

With every answered question this game becomes that much more playable!

[Paulverisor64]

I am sorry about the size of the picture I posted. It obviously came in much smaller than anticipated. After the fact I looked at my pictures file size and it was over 1 meg; this most likely is why it shrunk down so much.

Anyways; I wanted to add the my discussion about one of the most frustrating quirks of the game. I want to call this a bug but perhaps this is what was intended.

This was actually in Theatre of War Africa. My German tank (either Panzer III or IV) spent 10 minutes strafing the enemy trench with no effect. I was managing other aspects of the game up to that point. The US counter attack comes from the West so I click the target which is a fair distance away and out of line of sight. I anticipated that the tank would make this as a priority and scoot over to obtain a line of sight and shoot the Sherman tank. I micro'd the other tanks and came back. The gunner still was aiming and shooting ineffectively at the trenches. I manually moved the tank beyond the trenches and tried targeting again. It did not show the red targeted icon, but I just wanted to swing the gun around. It would not do it. I did a manual facing change which it allowed. In which afterwards the gun went right around once again strafing the trenches. I started to move my tank towards the threat. I tried targeting, the gun would not swing around. Finally when the target broke into the open the tank agreed to turn it's gun. It is a good thing I was on Novice level because the Sherman landed a couple free hits.

I'm just looking for an honest answer; is this the way the game engine is supposed to be or is this a bug? If this is not a bug what is the prerequisite for the tank to obtain a new targeting assignment? The tank was visible to at least one of my units otherwise I would not see it. Would I be able to work on the targetting bead if another tank had a firing solution? (As the tank crews did communicate by radio). It seems that radio chatter would say (in German of course) "Hey we've got US tanks making a bead towards the village; look for your target due West".

[Sneaksie]

DT is a T-34 MG; select the main gun instead of MGs to be able to select HE ammo.

[Paulverisor64]

DT is a T-34 MG; select the main gun instead of MGs to be able to select HE ammo.

When I read your reply it dawned on me that even though I can not see the HE shells displayed that these shells must be accessable. Sure enough; I just didn't expect there to be another layer hidden under the default rounds. Excellent! Thanks for your help.

Sneaksie: If it wouldn't be any trouble could you comment on my previous post in this thread? Does the game purposefully ignore the target you want to focus on unless the tank can see the target? What is the recommended way to gain the target acquisition to prevent having the gun pointed in the wrong direction at the wrong time? Would scouting abilities help? Would having another armored vehicle which has a line of sight help? Perhaps one of the recon vehicles?

[Sneaksie]

If the unit can't see it's assigned target and the free mode is active (not hold mode), it will move closer to it. It will engage other visible targets until the assigned one w'd be seen. To avoid turret rotating at the direction of other targets you can order the tank to move to a spot closer to enemy. This command makes the unit ignore all visible targets and just move to the assigned point, parking the gun. When your selected tank sees the enemy (enemy icon would became normal instead of dimmed), order it to engage by right clicking on enemy icon.

BTW, you can micro-manage your tank if you know that the enemy, for example tank, will be seen soon at the particular direction. Set your tank to hold position, then left-click on the main gun, left-click on the defend order button and then right-click on the spot on the ground at the direction of the threat. It will rotate the gun to this direction.

You can also just turn the hold mode on and right click on an enemy unit currently not seen by your tank. It will wait for it to become visible.

[AslakH]

"As far as mines are concerned I believe in real life the Germans took after the problem after dark with their Engineers. They were stalled terribly by the extreme ammount of mines. They really couldn't use their Panzer tactics very well. They also used Goliaths. You suggested better scouting. How would you effectively scout something like this out? Does this just mean making lesser vehicles expendable?

The demo at one point suggested the use of High Explosive type shells. I didn't see the HE type listed. I will attach a picture from my game at the end of this post. The alternate round types I saw listed were both DT? I agree that it would be quite aggravating if your tank crew selected HE against armored targets."

(I couldn't use the quote function, for some reason. Quotation marks will do for now )

Well, that's the harsh reality of TOW. I just find the worst soldiers of the lot and round them up at one place. THEN save (I'm a cheater). Then scout in some direction, letting them either crawl or use the free stance. When they die, I just draw an imaginary line to determine where the minefield is. Or I use damaged vehicles for the same. But it's hard to do when the minefield is in some atypical area, where one would not suspect it (like amongst the enemy positions, not in front, sides, etc. but right under their feet!!).

As Sneaksie said, the DT is an MG. There are images of them, barrel, coax, bow. You can even get your HMG to fire (I'm guessing) closer groupings against light/unarmored vehicles.

I'm guessing the spacing, because all things considering, would the MG34/MG42 have AP ammo readily available at any random time? Gimme tracers! Rather set stuff on fire.

[Paulverisor64]

If the unit can't see it's assigned target and the free mode is active (not hold mode), it will move closer to it. It will engage other visible targets until the assigned one w'd be seen.

I have observed this behavior. I guess I can understand this as the crew does not actually see the tank ahead.

To avoid turret rotating at the direction of other targets you can order the tank to move to a spot closer to enemy. This command makes the unit ignore all visible targets and just move to the assigned point, parking the gun.

This did not seem to be the case. I will double check this but the gun seemed to stay fixated on the previous target. I would like for it to be this way as it would be a move command in which the gun aims forward irregardless of the infantry strewn about.

When your selected tank sees the enemy (enemy icon would became normal instead of dimmed), order it to engage by right clicking on enemy icon.

BTW, you can micro-manage your tank if you know that the enemy, for example tank, will be seen soon at the particular direction. Set your tank to hold position, then left-click on the main gun, left-click on the defend order button and then right-click on the spot on the ground at the direction of the threat. It will rotate the gun to this direction.

You can also just turn the hold mode on and right click on an enemy unit currently not seen by your tank. It will wait for it to become visible.

This does seem to be the only surefire way to be aimed correct that I've witnessed in both the demo and the game. This would work in several situations but not when you want to be moving to meet the enemy beyond cover and land the 1st shot.

[Paulverisor64]

Well, that's the harsh reality of TOW. I just find the worst soldiers of the lot and round them up at one place. THEN save (I'm a cheater). Then scout in some direction, letting them either crawl or use the free stance. When they die, I just draw an imaginary line to determine where the minefield is. Or I use damaged vehicles for the same. But it's hard to do when the minefield is in some atypical area, where one would not suspect it (like amongst the enemy positions, not in front, sides, etc. but right under their feet!!).

As Sneaksie said, the DT is an MG. There are images of them, barrel, coax, bow. You can even get your HMG to fire (I'm guessing) closer groupings against light/unarmored vehicles.

I'm guessing the spacing, because all things considering, would the MG34/MG42 have AP ammo readily available at any random time? Gimme tracers! Rather set stuff on fire.

I do find myself getting a little ways into the game (typically to find the direction of the enemy) and then restarting the game. I don't call it cheating myself; I call it scouting.

It appears in the German demo that it is extremely difficult to get armored reinforcements beyond the minefield. I lost all 4 of my tanks to the minefield. I thought to myself that perhaps the safest place to be was where lightning already struck. All the mines must have exploded because I hit every one. I have much to learn. I lost all 5 SP's as well as the tanks. It was an awful sight.

I do have the ammo thing figured out now. What I failed to see was that the displayed ammo was to each seperate gun and not all the ammo types. By clicking on the ammo for the main gun it did reveal all the ammo types I hadn't seen before.

Thank you everyone for helping; there are still things the game confuses me with such as the allocation of experience points as I questioned above but knowing how to deal with most everything makes the game much better.

[Sneaksie]

About the mines and dealing with them -

http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=90881

Moon will make online version of the game manual available soon, i think most of your questions about skills will be answered then. In short - drving isn't neccessary for artillery crews, assign skills for loader so he would be a replacement driver if need arises (driver killed).

[AslakH]

I do find myself getting a little ways into the game (typically to find the direction of the enemy) and then restarting the game. I don't call it cheating myself; I call it scouting.

It appears in the German demo that it is extremely difficult to get armored reinforcements beyond the minefield. I lost all 4 of my tanks to the minefield. I thought to myself that perhaps the safest place to be was where lightning already struck. All the mines must have exploded because I hit every one. I have much to learn. I lost all 5 SP's as well as the tanks. It was an awful sight.

I do have the ammo thing figured out now. What I failed to see was that the displayed ammo was to each seperate gun and not all the ammo types. By clicking on the ammo for the main gun it did reveal all the ammo types I hadn't seen before.

Thank you everyone for helping; there are still things the game confuses me with such as the allocation of experience points as I questioned above but knowing how to deal with most everything makes the game much better.

If you are talking about the German demo mission where you are supposed to take the Soviet trenches, I have some tips.

1) Dealing with the ATGs:

Mortar fire, select both and count the rounds, don't waste 'em. Some may hit, killing the crew. Always works for me. Or use the Hummels with some "indirect" fire. Same goes for taking out the MG positions.

2) Minefields:

I first bombard the Soviet positions, then move my Panthers and Panzer IVs towards the right hand trench (after the ATGs are taken out) through the wooded hill. The village on the.. ridge or what ever, is home to a Flak battery. After securing the AT threat from the enemy, I race my tank up to the village. Be careful, there's a minefield infront of the village and down the slope. Just get your Panther (only one is needed) as close to the right hand trench as possible, and drive alongside it towards the village. Should be no mines then. Take out the Flak battery and get air support! Calling in the Luftwaffe would be stupid before taking out the AA.

Then advance towards the trenches. I always flank right and left. Don't waste points on the infantry reinforcements. Just take the tanks.

After that, you'll figure it out.

I NEVER use the 251/10s and 232.

Works for me!

[Paulverisor64]

About the mines and dealing with them -

http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=90881

Moon will make online version of the game manual available soon, i think most of your questions about skills will be answered then. In short - drving isn't neccessary for artillery crews, assign skills for loader so he would be a replacement driver if need arises (driver killed).

It is so good to know that your armor is not completely defenseless against mines. The linked suggestions will help quite a bit.

I did check the online manual out in regards to allocation of skills. I did learn that heavy gunners get more accurate through the gunner skill and not through accuracy. In fact it appears that this also aids in acquiring the target so perhaps scouting wouldn't help a gunner. So it appears that the loader really doesn't directly apply any skill. Most of the time I have actually been feeding points into the driving skill so it appears I guessed right.

[Paulverisor64]

If you are talking about the German demo mission where you are supposed to take the Soviet trenches, I have some tips.

1) Dealing with the ATGs:

Mortar fire, select both and count the rounds, don't waste 'em. Some may hit, killing the crew. Always works for me. Or use the Hummels with some "indirect" fire. Same goes for taking out the MG positions.

2) Minefields:

I first bombard the Soviet positions, then move my Panthers and Panzer IVs towards the right hand trench (after the ATGs are taken out) through the wooded hill. The village on the.. ridge or what ever, is home to a Flak battery. After securing the AT threat from the enemy, I race my tank up to the village. Be careful, there's a minefield infront of the village and down the slope. Just get your Panther (only one is needed) as close to the right hand trench as possible, and drive alongside it towards the village. Should be no mines then. Take out the Flak battery and get air support! Calling in the Luftwaffe would be stupid before taking out the AA.

Then advance towards the trenches. I always flank right and left. Don't waste points on the infantry reinforcements. Just take the tanks.

After that, you'll figure it out.

I NEVER use the 251/10s and 232.

Works for me!

Yes, I've never directly dealt with the fortified trenches issue directly before but it would be helpful to bombard it with the Mortars. Several times in the demo I have been de-mobilized by troops in the trenches. They must be throwing Molatov's at me.

As I have been honing in on the German mission I have been getting better at systematically wiping the enemy out. Many times I will take tanks downhill to the position straight ahead while I work on the AT guns in the woods on my right. I will draw fire with my Panzer 5's and take them out with my Hummel. I do like the Mortar Halftracks. This way I have put a %100 mechanized force on the battlefield.

It sounds as if you have scouted the mines out very well. They are all over on the map; even behind the enemy position in the woods. The route into the village you've chosen sounds like a good one.

I haven't have been getting infantry as replacements either, but I will sooner or later try this just to get better acquainted with German infantry. Next time I play this I will hopefully be better equipped to escape the minefields as Sneaksie has suggested.

[AslakH]

Glad to hear you are getting the hang of it.

Well, the reinforcements will come when you have accumulated enough points.

I always opt for the most expensive choice, since that one has Tigers.

After taking the trench, you will have to take out the T-70s behind the trenches, on the hill opposite to your starting point.

After all that, you must take the village down the road from the trenches.

Bombard the hell out of it, call in the Luftwaffe. I always save the air support for this last push, since the village is heavily defended (SU-76s, ATGs, mortars and infantry).

Then, I push into the village with one Tiger and one Panther. Or two Tigers. What ever tickles your fancy. Infantry isn't needed for this task aswell. But I like to move in a squad of infantry after my tanks have cleared the trenches in the village.

THEN you have won!

Regarding tank losses in close combat with infantry - they are throwing AT grenades.

It takes some time to get used to, but after you beat three-four missions, you will beat them all. TOW is somewhat repetitive.

[Piecekeeper]

Shouldn't it be possible to shoot indirect fire with the Hummel...just asking

[AslakH]

It should, but the battle spaces are so small, it wouldn't be realistic.

Like company of heroes, or worse, Sudden Strike.

I like it the way it is, now that we have on-map mortars.

[Sneaksie]

Hummel is firing indirect, but the trajectory is really shallow related to map size. Select him, click the ground attack button and scout the battlefield - if the mouse cursor is red, it should be able to fire here.

[AslakH]

And that's how I use the Hummel for indirect fire.

It's cool you can do that, using the shell trajectory to hit something outside LOS.

Even the Sd.Kfz 251/9 is good for this. Every tank, I would imagine.

[Paulverisor64]

And that's how I use the Hummel for indirect fire.

It's cool you can do that, using the shell trajectory to hit something outside LOS.

Even the Sd.Kfz 251/9 is good for this. Every tank, I would imagine.

That is one way that you know the game has good physics when you can hit indirect targets because of a shallow trajectory.

[AslakH]

Well, any game with bad physics would suck.

We are now in the year 2010, so people have come to expect rather realistic gameplay, etc.

But FPS games, it's all about the eye candy.

[Paulverisor64]

I'd like to readdress the questions I initially had and state what has been learned since the posting.

QUESTIONS

-Allocation of experience points.

SOLVED I'm not really clear with infantrymen whether there is more benefit for each member to have scouting skills or if these skills are better passed down from the squad leader. Otherwise I understand how this would work within a vehicle.

-Minefield Issues.

SOLVED http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=90881 I have tried blasting a hole in the minefield but haven't had any success yet. I haven't tried having my infantry clear the minefield but I will. This will take some trial and error but there is a way.

-What is the best use of smoke?

HAVEN'T APPLIED There are some threads which discuss this. I had one map which I inadvertantly used smoke but I'll still need to learn the best applications.

-Is it possible to load infantry into half tracks or on top of tanks?

SOLVED If the vehicle shows the open door icon it can be loaded. I still wish an infantryman could ride on top of a tank such as in Combat Mission.

-Does this game factor in a greater speed for traveling on a road versus moving in the open?

OPEN I might be wrong but the road seems to have the same movement speed as dirt.

-With tanks or other guns is there a way to tell which round is high explosive?

SOLVED I just didn't understand the interface.

-There are many types of vehicles in the game. It is confusing which one to pick according to the anticipated need.

Mostly Solved The more you play the game the more it becomes apparent which vehicles are better suited for specific applications.

-Is there a communication delay if I were to cancel out an action and replace this with another action?

OPEN It appears this is not the case, but there are many cases which I have difficulty in re-directing a unit to another assignment.

1 MORE QUESTION How do you reassign 1 soldier to a different command? I had this issue in Theatre of War Africa. If most of a squad gets wiped out in squad "A" I'd like to assign it to squad "B". I thought there was a button to reassign to another unit (H), but it didn't appear to work correctly. The way I checked this was by double clicking the leader to see who was included in his squad. It didn't appear possible to add onto a squad.

ISSUES

-It was very noticeable in the demo that if a gunner did not want to turn to a target that I pointed out, he flat out would not do it.

MOSTLY OPEN I've tried moving my vehicle ahead as Sneaksie has suggested, but this does not re-direct the gun forward. At a dead stop the DEFEND command does point the gun in the desired direction. On the move this doesn't appear possible???

-At times it was very labor intensive moving a vehicle from point A to point B.

OPEN This is at times quite frustrating. I have however at other times discovered the reason for the path finding issue.

-The infantry was not very good at being stealthy.

CLOSED There are ways around this by setting up the needed stance.

-There have been times when I run into a tank that just won’t die.

OPEN I've witnessed this in TOW Africa and Kursk; it doesn't happen often but when it does it completely reshapes the game.

FEATURE PETITION

-I wish there was information for the scenario objectives available by mouse cursoring over the appropriate item.

OPEN Sometimes it isn't very apparant what needs to be done at the start or finish of a game.

At the beginning I typically just let the game run a few minutes to see how I need to position my troops on the Setup Page. It would be nice to have a visual clue as to where the possible directions the enemy might be coming from based on scouting reports. Perhaps by placing enemy location icons on the minimap there wouldn't be as much guess work. Of course there might be maps such as Tebessa from TOW Africa where based on where I setup the enemy would change it's approach. It would still be nice to know where the possible approaches might be coming from.

At the end of a game it gets annoying when you know perhaps just one hard to find enemy unit is preventing the end of the game. It would be nice to be able to perhaps click on the incomplete victory condition to find where that missing unit is hiding. That way if you are into Easter Egg hunts you can hunt to your hearts content, and if you want to conclude the game just click the incomplete task on the tactical map to have the fog of war removed. (As I write this I wouldn't want this feature to ever be cheat coded into multiplayer.)

-It would be nice if the mini map had a small N with an arrow underneath it. I am pretty sure that north is on top, but in many games I’ve played the map revolves with the point of view.

MINOR DETAIL This is minor but it would answer anyone's question about map facing immediately.

-More comprehensive implimentation of waypoints.

MINOR DETAIL Yes Combat Mission incorporates changes of stance by each leg of the waypoints but in thinking this out that type of system was better suited for a turn based game where based on terrain you wouldn't want to be caught in a bad stance in between phases with each turn playback. It still would be nice to be able to specify turret facing within the waypoint legs.

1 MORE FEATURE REQUEST It would be very helpful if Battlefront would publish a Strategy Guide to help people to apply good tactical reasoning and application of combined arms. http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=90712

Thank you very much for your help. I'm anxious to start playing this game when it releases!

[Piecekeeper]

Should i use "compatibilty mode" if I use 64bit W7 and 6 gig ram? What is this. Does it affect perfromance?

[Paulverisor64]

Should i use "compatibilty mode" if I use 64bit W7 and 6 gig ram? What is this. Does it affect perfromance?

I can only comment on my own experience as I too am running 64bit Windows 7 with 6 gig of RAM; I do not run this game in compatibility mode. I don't believe I am running into any Windows 7 related issues. Except for the resolution which I did change I am running everything graphics wise with the default configuration, and it is running very well.

[AslakH]

You SHOULD run as administrator.

Comp modes aren't necessary.

I once forgot to run as admnin, and all my saves were lost.

Plus, I coulnd't change any settings.

I am running the games on Vista 64x with 8GB of RAM, and before that 32x VISTA with 2GB RAM. Worked fine any way.

I've run into tanks that won't die way too often.

In TOW2, little Stuarts take endless 75mm hits, all penetrating, and it would seem it would kill the driver and rip the legs of the guys in the turret, but noooo.. It keeps on, all guns blazing. And don't feed me that "APCR has no explosives, blah, blah", well, if you get a sharp lump of steel in your head - you die, or at best will be rendered combat ineffective. Oh, yeah, I've encountered the same problem with HEAT rounds.

After some lucky penetrations, they tend to catch fire.

The game rocks, that's for certain. But the Kursk demo is worrying me. New bugs pop up every time I play it.

Micromanaging?

I use the "waypoint" function, that saves me some micromanaging-hassle.