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