Good News and Bad News

Well here's some news on the recent development. The good news first; I previously estimated between 2 to 4 weeks after the release of the NATO module before we can start the campaign. It's now been 10 days, so I'm still confident that we will make it before 4 weeks have passed. Sorry to say we won't make within 2 weeks... And this has to do with the bad news I've got;

Unfortunately I'm struggling with a crashed laptop at the moment (where I stupidly enough kept the most recent version of some files...) I know, I know, should have backed up those files. But, I simply didn't.

I'm having hardware replaced this upcoming monday and assume this will allow me to access the files needed.

I'm hoping that we'll see the first deployment in the CaT started the upcoming week. We will start by having the OPCOs place units according to their plans along the restrictions for deployment mentioned in the rules. Oh, yes, the rules! They're done, I've finished editing them, but they're on the laptop. The, for the moment, not accesible laptop.

If things go as I want they will also be released this upcoming week.

I'm in the process of editing the ORBATs right now, based on the feedback from the last survey of active players. The ORBATs v1.0 contains all the latest changes (active players). Some people have registered at the forum after enlistment was closed. There's a good chance, if you're one them, that there will be spot free for you.

As soon as I have more news about developments I'll let you know!

Any Players left...

The NATO release getting closer and the last bits and pieces of the rules and the CaT coming together nicely means we're almost there. Next week You may expect a general poll among the enlisted players to get a picture of how many of those enlisted are still interested in participating. Quite a lot of time has passed since this MC was announced and I wouldn't be surprised if fair share of the enlisted players have lost the will to wait. I'll be making a general call for new players if it will be necessary. 

The OPrules and TACrules pages will get one last revision before the NATO module is released. After that, I'll probably need 1 or 2 weeks before the first STRATturn commences. 

I'm happy to repoprt that the issues with the CaT seem to have been resolved by exchanging the high-res counters with not so high-res versions. It still looks quite ok ;-)

NATO getting close! (...and so is the start of the campaign!)

So, the long awaited release of the NATO module for Combat Mission Shock Force is very close as the latest news on the BFC site implies. Pre-orders for the module will be up this coming week, BFC states.

This means that the start of Operation Nemesis Meta Campaign is also getting closer - expect 1 or 2 weeks delay after the NATO release before the MC starts.



Read more about the upcoming NATO module here

News on the development of the CaT

Well, I have had some success in adressing the problems with the CaT lately. I'm now changing all counters (approx 320!) to a new version with lower resolution, hoping that will take care of the problems I've experiencing with the CaT freezing up. This change will decrease the amount of memory the CaT needs.

The main problem , so far as I've been able to tell, isn't in the CaT itself, but rather inherent to Java, which is by default set to limit the amount of memory to work on older computers as well. This limitation is identical in all versions of Java, so it hasn't helped to change Java-version.

But, I'm in good spirits that the lower resolution of the counters will have a decisively positive effect on the performance of the CaT. Now, back to the counters and the CaT!

CaT Issues

The last parts of ORBATs and rules are now edited and put together. As far as rules and ORBATs go I'm quite confident they will be ready at the time of the NATO module release. That would only leave the counters and TO&Es left to be done when the new module arrives.

However, a much more serious matter has returned; unfortunately the problems with the CaT seem to be coming back again. I'm experiencing some severe stability issues with MapTool, the application used as Camapign Tool (CaT).
MapTool is in constant development and the developers are quick to release new builds - unfortunately not all of them are stable.

Since the CaT uses Java I'm trying different combinations of java versions and builds of MapTool. Hopefully I'll find a combination that might work as a solution to the problems; going back to earlier, more stable builds of MapTool is one of the solutions I've tried to no avail so far.

I'm also reviewing the installed version of Java, but frankly, if a solution to the problems can't be found by tweaking the settings for MapTool itself, then I'm afraid I might have run into a dead end. Changing to another CaT would be a huge undertaking at this late moment in the development; most of the data is already put into the CaT at this stage.

Other than these new stability issues MapTool is doing a great job as a graphical campaign manager. But it is crucial that the CaT of the MC is stable, otherwise it can not be realeased to the OPCOs/TACCOs of the MC.

We quite simply cannot have a CaT that keeps chrashing. I'll get back on this matter as soon as there is anything new to report!

Syrian Surprise in the NATO module!

Today it was revealed at the BFC site that we're getting quite a few new Syrian units with the NATO module. There has of course been rumours about some new Syrian goodies, but no one probably thought we'd get all that was asked for.
Battlefront certainly know how to please its customers and surprise them at the same time!
Here's a list of what will be included in the new upcoming module for CMSF;

Syrian Army:

• Truck Platoon - Zil-131
• Flak Battery - ZSU-23-4 Shilka

Unconventional:

• Technical Group[Heavy] - Pickup ZU-23-2

Air Support:

• MiG-23
• MiG-21bis
• Su-25
• Su-22M
• Su-17M
• Mi-24P
• Mi-24D

This will of course mean that there will be some small additions and revisions to the TO&Es and the ORBAT; it is very likely that some of the better equipped UNCON forces will be sporting some Pickup ZU-23-2 for instance. The ZSU-23-4 Shilka is already in the campaign - but up until now the ADA units equipped with them were OPUNs only - meaning they were Operational Units that couldn't participate in a TACBAT. This has changed from now on. These ADA units will be possible to throw into TACBATs as well. Very interesting indeed to see how the red commanders will use this asset.

As for REDFOR Air Support; the aircrafts in the list were already included in the campaign: they would have had "blue" aircraft to represent them in TACBATs. As of now, they don't need any blue representatives!

To read more about the Syrian units and watch more screenshots of them in action visit the NATO module Media Page

Hiding from the enemy

At the moment the section in the OPrules (and TACrules) on Unit Formations and Stealth Mode is finalized.

The formation of a unit will detemine how the Setup zones look in the CMSF battles, so it is important to have your units in the proper formation.

One other important feature of some units is the capability to operate in stealth mode, or STM as it's abbreviated. Only SF units and UNCON units have this capability however. Used wisely by the Commanders this feature will allow these kind of units to be used in variety of roles. They may perform long range reconnaisance, ambush regular units or blow up bridges for instance.

A unit in STM can not be detected by a regular enemy unit and will stay invisible to the opponent as long as it remains in STM. This means that a stealth unit can actually stay in the same hex as enemy units and be used by the commanders at the right moments. This way units in stealth may spring ambushes on weak enemy units or conduct sabotage operations against military installations like air bases or bridges.

There are of course some drawbacks to the STM as well; your unit in STM does not exercise any control of the hex it is in, therefore it is not possible to hide STM units at SVP locations on the OPmap and win the SVPs for that spot at the end of the campaign.