Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy Video AAR

[AslakH]

And I am getting a divorce..

[AslakH]

Oh, and I noticed something last night.

When firing the rifle grenades, the old 203 sound from CMSF is used..

Now that's just lazy.

[A Canadian Cat]

<snip>I would say maybe 90% of our customer base would actually rather we spent more time on mechanics over visuals though, particularly the CMx1 fans many of whom suggested that they were actually happy with the visuals as they were.<snip>

Count me in that statistic too. I discovered CMBB and CMAK only a month or so ago. When a couple of my friends were excited to find out about CMBN. I said what is Combat Mission? We have been playing CMBB and CMAK for the past month. I am loving it. I would buy CMBN even if it looked as good as those earlier versions as long as it played as well. The additional soldier level detail and the even better graphics are a real plus.

I am looking forward to the new game for sure. But unlike many people here I still have that "its new and cool" feeling about the old games.

About the only thing I'll be missing when the new games comes out are the Canadians and soldiers riding on tanks. I'm sure I'll be just as happy with CM BN and its expansion modules as they appear.

Ian (a happy Canuck customer)

[Barkhorn1x]

About the only thing I'll be missing when the new games comes out are the Canadians and soldiers riding on tanks. I'm sure I'll be just as happy with CM BN and its expansion modules as they appear.

Ian (a happy Canuck customer)

No doubt you will. Just don't refer to the 2nd module as the "Commonwealth Module".

([ducks] INCOMMMIIIIIING!!! )

[ChrisND]

Oh, and I noticed something last night.

When firing the rifle grenades, the old 203 sound from CMSF is used..

Now that's just lazy.

Be....ta.... repeat it with me.

[Battlefront.com]

CM seires relates to a certain type of gamer, COH to another, both are great games and do well at what they were designed to do. /debate!

Heh... no debate from me! I love playing Dominos and Cheap Ass Games products with friends. I do not expect, nor WANT, the same experience from playing Kill Dr. Lucky as I do HALO. I play each for completely different reasons and enjoy them equally well. It's all about having standards and expectations that are relevant to whatever is being discussed. I never said CoH is "crap", but if I'm wanting to play a game with an even remotely realistic feel to it, CoH is not going to make the list. And if I want to have a gritty RTS slugfest with a bunch of people, CM:BN wouldn't make that list. Therefore, comparing the two together as if they are somehow comparable is really not very useful.

Steve

[AslakH]

Be....ta.... repeat it with me.

It was merely an observation.

The lazy part was added to get some response, and I got it. I love you, man.

And even if it wasn't beta, it'd be an easy fix. No?

[AslakH]

Heh... no debate from me! I love playing Dominos and Cheap Ass Games products with friends. I do not expect, nor WANT, the same experience from playing Kill Dr. Lucky as I do HALO. I play each for completely different reasons and enjoy them equally well. It's all about having standards and expectations that are relevant to whatever is being discussed. I never said CoH is "crap", but if I'm wanting to play a game with an even remotely realistic feel to it, CoH is not going to make the list. And if I want to have a gritty RTS slugfest with a bunch of people, CM:BN wouldn't make that list. Therefore, comparing the two together as if they are somehow comparable is really not very useful.

Steve

People tend to compare Steel Fury and World of Tanks. They aren't in the same category, but they see tanks and - BLAMMO! Must be the same.

[Barkhorn1x]

Be....ta.... repeat it with me.

If I do a bit of reading between the lines here I believe this is Normal Dudes way of telling us that many of the actual CMBN sound files have yet to be added.

[AslakH]

If I do a bit of reading between the lines here I believe this is Normal Dudes way of telling us that many of the actual CMBN sound files have yet to be added.

Well, there goes my smile..

[Battlefront.com]

Did anybody mention the CM:SF artillery voice effects yet? They were in the 2nd video, but they aren't in the next Beta

On the whole though, our philosophy is to reuse as much as we can from previous games. This does three things:

1. Keeps development costs down

2. Allows us to focus our energies on more important things

3. Speeds up development (which is sorta tied to the above two)

Sounds can be Modded quite easily, and 10 people will likely not agree on which Mod for a specific weapon sounds best, so we don't see sound effects as a priority for redoing if what we already have is adequate.

Steve

[AslakH]

Even Hollywood gets the weapon sounds wrong.

I'm just happy there are weapons in it, not just 2D plates cut from pictures of weapons.

[Boche]

Heh... no debate from me! I love playing Dominos and Cheap Ass Games products with friends. I do not expect, nor WANT, the same experience from playing Kill Dr. Lucky as I do HALO. I play each for completely different reasons and enjoy them equally well. It's all about having standards and expectations that are relevant to whatever is being discussed. I never said CoH is "crap", but if I'm wanting to play a game with an even remotely realistic feel to it, CoH is not going to make the list. And if I want to have a gritty RTS slugfest with a bunch of people, CM:BN wouldn't make that list. Therefore, comparing the two together as if they are somehow comparable is really not very useful.

Steve

yeah ofcourse, just to make it clear the "/debate" line was actually an intent so stop it saying "debate done, finished", I suppose I should have used a more universal symbol jaja

[Gromit]

I might get lumped into some ill-thought about category for saying this, but I actually play quite a bit of Company of Heroes. I have all the expansions and enjoy it from a WW2 quick setup and play perspective. It's not very realistic when it comes a lot of things, but it's FUN and actually fairly addicting, esp. when you have some new 3rd party maps to play around on. I haven't played recently as I am waiting while the newest patch (and the first in like a year) goes through Beta testing.

I do sort of wonder if they will ever get around to coming out with a Soviet army- CoH online is dead and I don't think the Valour add-on is drawing all that many peeps... time will tell.

Anyhoo, it is good fun no matter how you look at it. The key is looking at it in context.

[Dadekster88]

Did anybody mention the CM:SF artillery voice effects yet? They were in the 2nd video, but they aren't in the next Beta

On the whole though, our philosophy is to reuse as much as we can from previous games. This does three things:

1. Keeps development costs down

2. Allows us to focus our energies on more important things

3. Speeds up development (which is sorta tied to the above two)

Sounds can be Modded quite easily, and 10 people will likely not agree on which Mod for a specific weapon sounds best, so we don't see sound effects as a priority for redoing if what we already have is adequate.

Steve

Ok, I'll throw myself on that grenade Not in the next Beta you say eh? Mentally readies self for waiting another week at least.

[Battlefront.com]

yeah ofcourse, just to make it clear the "/debate" line was actually an intent so stop it saying "debate done, finished", I suppose I should have used a more universal symbol jaja

No, you were clear I just used your quote to reaffirm that there should be no debate as long as people don't try to compare apples to oranges, but not oranges to apples.

I might get lumped into some ill-thought about category for saying this, ...

Oh, I don't think so. One thing we have always appreciated, and enjoyed, about our fan base is that the breadth of games played. Back in the old days of wargaming if you played anything but the hardest of hardcore games then you weren't a "true" wargamer. Thankfully, our customer base has never been that narrow minded because Combat Mission itself isn't. And it's part of the reason why we're still a live, thriving wargame company.

Anyhoo, it is good fun no matter how you look at it. The key is looking at it in context.

Precisely.

Steve

[Piecekeeper]

Ok, I'll throw myself on that grenade Not in the next Beta you say eh? Mentally readies self for waiting another week at least.

Yes, you seem to be forced to read between the lines here.

[James Crowley]

I'm wondering about the 'procedure' for calling down the 60mm mortar fire.

I'm no expert on arty procedures but the whole thing seemed a bit long-winded; what you might more reasonably expect in calling in a remote battery.

I thought the smaller mortars were designed for 'quick and dirty' local support, with the emphasis on 'quick'.

[Nidan1]

I'm wondering about the 'procedure' for calling down the 60mm mortar fire.

I'm no expert on arty procedures but the whole thing seemed a bit long-winded; what you might more reasonably expect in calling in a remote battery.

I thought the smaller mortars were designed for 'quick and dirty' local support, with the emphasis on 'quick'.

In the real time mode that he was playing in, I would guess that the local mortar fire took less than two minutes to arrive on target from the point at which he initiated the call to the units (he was moving around the mouse and pausing the action as well). Good mortar teams in radio contact with and in close proximity to the front line units should not really take longer than that.

[James Crowley]

In the real time mode that he was playing in, I would guess that the local mortar fire took less than two minutes to arrive on target from the point at which he initiated the call to the units (he was moving around the mouse and pausing the action as well). Good mortar teams in radio contact with and in close proximity to the front line units should not really take longer than that.

Oh OK, I thought it was much longer than that; two minutes sounds about right.

I must try and watch the video again - my broadband is so slow that it takes ages to DL the Hi -res version.

[sburke]

Hi my name is Chris "tyrspawn" Krause - i'm a Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy beta tester. I've been given the great opportunity to make a video AAR for the community.

Barkmann's Corner - a sole panther tank lead by the eponymous tank commander joins with a battered remnant of a much larger German infantry force to hold a vital crossroads attacked by multiple tank platoons. It's basically the German version of Saving Private Ryan.

Came across an entry in Osprey's Operation Cobra 1944 "The incident was wildly exaggerated by German propaganda and has acquired mythic status in recent accounts of the Normandy Campaign.."

Wikipedia also seems to note some discrepancies depending on who you take as a source "Barkmann claims he inflicted heavy casualties on the advancing Americans and halted a major armoured advance near Le Neufbourg. This conflicts with US accounts for the area that mention an action with the Unit protecting the flank of the main US advance on Marigny (Troop A, 4th Cavalry Squadron)where 2 M5 tanks, 2 M8 AC and 6 GP were destroyed."

Anyone know of any other sources or have any other information to shed some light on what might be the real story here?

[Barkhorn1x]

http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=156158

[sburke]

http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=156158

Thanks, seems someone hit a nerve there questioning the veracity of the statement. One item that does kind of make one wonder is the info at Achtung Panzer which apparently accepts Barkmann's version as accurate. In that one he recites the incident to his comrades after escaping on foot to Avranches on August 5th. This was after he had already rejoined his company for 2 days (July 28th to July 30th) If true, the reporting of the incident becomes more distant from the actual event with one would assume less eyewitness evidence as I can't find anything citing who were the actual infantry that he teamed up with.

[Dadekster88]

Yes, you seem to be forced to read between the lines here.

Naw, was just hoping for clarification...but they are to wiley for that Just killing time, thanks to those Anonymous clowns I can't even log onto the PS3 network to get some Black Ops action in to do that. I did notice the Part 3 vid is up now though so there goes another hour

[Gromit]

Oh, I don't think so. One thing we have always appreciated, and enjoyed, about our fan base is that the breadth of games played. Back in the old days of wargaming if you played anything but the hardest of hardcore games then you weren't a "true" wargamer. Thankfully, our customer base has never been that narrow minded because Combat Mission itself isn't. And it's part of the reason why we're still a live, thriving wargame company.

Steve

Oh boy, there's a real can of worms... I must be the poster boy for gaming diversity.

Right now I am playing in some capacity the following:

Lord of the Rings Online -(4 characters, FElf Guardian, FHuman Hunter, MDwf Runecaster, MElf Warden)

Distant Worlds-Return of the Shakturi- an awesome SF 4x pausable RT game by CodeForce, a small company out of New Zealand

Arsenal of Democracy - an offshoot of Hearts of Iron II by modders

Shogun II - no intro needed, very well done. Get it if you have the system!

Academagia - a sim game not unlike going to Hogwarts yourself. Pretty neat.

Space Rangers 2: Reboot - a sweet little 1C game of open-ended space exploration and battling robots gone mad! Play it anyway you want.

Silent Hunter III w/ Grey Wolves mod - still a great sub sim

Steel Wolves - a solitaire boardgame as German BdU from 1939 to 1943

Twilight Imperium w/ expansion

Axis and Allies (Europe and Pacific)

The Kaiser's Pirates - a cardgame of WWI merchant raiders

A Game of Thrones LCG - a living card game based on GRR Martin's world

Pathfinder Fantasy RPG - working on my own world for future campaign

Cargo Noir - an easy to learn black market game

MLB 11 The Show - a great console baseball game for PS3. Love the Road to the Show and Franchise modes

Out of the Park Baseball 11 (and 12 shortly!) - best all-around baseball simulation, hands down for those who aspire to being a Manager and/or GM.

A Game of Thrones RPG - roleplay a minor house member- very interesting.

Probably missed a couple being at work...