New CM player (some questions obviously)

[Arno]

Hi guys,

For some reason it took me a couple of years of wargaming to try out CM but here I am :D

I just tried out the Demo of Barbarossa today and had a great time with it.

As I was surfing through CM websites I was wondering if there are mods that everyone uses?! I don't care much for graphics but a little improvement here and there couldn't hurt I guess...

Which mods should I look at?!

Do mods work for Barbarossa and Afrika Corps alike??! (Besides the grass mods obviously :p)

Regarding the game itself, is there a way to display casualties and hits after a completed turn?! I played a defensive scenario and had no idea if my units were hitting anything or not, so I didn't know if I should reposition them...

Take care, and maybe I can play one of you guys in a pbem game sometime!

Cheerio
Arno

[KG_Jag]

Arno, gutten Tag and welkommen!

The place to get mods for all three versions of CM is here:

Combat Mission Mod Database (http://www.cmmods.com/)

You will have to sign up, but it is free and painless.

The type of mods people prefer varies with individual taste. My personal recommendation is to start in this order (more or less):

1. Winter mods of units--they are not included in the games.

2. Uniform mods by Andrew Fox (aka andrewtf).

3. Vehicle mods by MikeyD

4. McMMM mod manager

That is just scratching the surface, but will keep you busy for a long while.

Most mods work in only one game. Unless the modder tells you otherwise, or until your familiar with the Battlefront BMP sytems, play it same and don't try to plug CMBB mods into CMAK. If you make a mistake, you'll have some weird looking stuff.

There are also sound mods, which I have found very helpful, but we'll leave the discussion of them for another day.

One of the great thing about the CM series is playing them with fog of war. Depending on you settings, the most realistic of these prevents you from knowing very much about what damage you have certainly inflicted on your enemy. You will have to wait until game end for a complete accounting. However, even during the game, you can get some idea of what casualties that each of you units have caused by selecting that unit, hit enter and then click the button at the upper right of the screen that just appeared to see the information.

[Bertram]

Jag has you headed in the right direction. I would also recommend you take a look at Rocket Mans mods (at Combat Mission Mod Database too) if you want to visualize the topographic elevations a bit better when planning your moves. Zooming down to the lowest elevation works too but RM's mods helps you see them in wider views.

Enjoy!;)

[mangus2000]

If i remember you can set the Fog of War to none and see all the info you need. I have never played it like this and would advise against it too. You need to be working with your instincts alot of the time in CM so you better learn the hard way.
There are ways to see how badly the enemy is doing, you can tell when they are Pinned/Taking cover by them laying down; you can also tell roughly how many troops a squad has left by the amount of troops representing the squad (3 full strengh, 2 med strength, 1 Low strength). But all this doesn't really matter, you need to be pouring fire on them and they will die or rout; either way is good:smoke:

If you fancy a game send me a file to dandanmangus@hotmail.com

[Victor Charlie]

Also shift-D will give you an idea of the morale of your troops and if no fog of war the other side as well.

[Arno]

Great!! Thanks for all the suggestions!

I won't be changing the Fog of war settings, realism is important to me.. I just thought that there might be some turn infos I could have missed.

In a PBEM game, do the players have to have the same mods installed?!

Mangus, thanks for the offer, once I get going I'll send you an email!

Thanks again for all the help!
Cheers from Munich,
Arno

[KG_Jag]

Mods only change the way things look and/or sound in the game. They do not affect performance in any way. You can play anyone, regardless of the mods each of you has.