WinSP MBT: Das Reich

[RecruitMonty]

Dear All,

Since we now have a mod section I thought I'd post up anything related to my ongoing mod project here.

As some of you may know I began a mod project to create a new German OOB filled with all the tech the Germans would have had from 1946 onwards. It started out as a response to a few forum members asking for an OOB that simulated a German victory at the end of the war or, at least a continuation.

Since then the mod has taken on other dimensions. So your typical "Fatherland" setting - complete with Swastikas etc - is no longer on the cards for the first release. As it is, I will make some adjustments to the mod upon its completion to allow for a continuation of the Nazi Germany OOB too for those who prefer that sort of thing. Shouldn't be too hard. :)

Those of you interested in all the late 40´s tech, German VTOL aircraft of the late 50s and early 60s, abandoned Bundeswehr projects etc will still find this mod to their liking as all of those goodies and a few more besides will be included in it.

Now, for some acknowledgements and an update on progress.

Firstly, I would like to thank the following forum members for their contributions to this project:

1. Oragus, thanks for the icons you made and for having inspired me to improve my own icons.
2. Pierre, thanks for your lovely icons. They too were an inspiration.
3. PlasmaCrab, thanks for your icon work for the mod and for your advice on OOB restructuring.
4. Cross, thanks for teaching me how to make soundfiles properly.
5. Troopie, thanks for your advice on the inner workings of the game, more specifically on morale and country specific dates.

Secondly, I would like to thank Andy and Don for their stirling work. :) Without them this mod would never have been possible. Thanks for making a game that is both fun to play and also very mod friendly.

As for progress:

Almost all of the turreted armoured units have been put into Shape files (18 at the moment). Infantry icons also completed. Aircraft, turretless vehicles and helicopters pending. OOB work set to begin soon. Will dig up my old files from 2008 and see what can be salvaged.

Am working on self propelled artillery for the Germans at the moment. Will then do some more work on aircraft - mostly transport - while editing the OOB. Am also collecting pics for LBMs.

Will, more than likely need help with the pick lists down the line as well as I am fairly sure I won't quite understand the existing tutorials. This will be the last job I plan to do before releasing the mod.

Many thanks,

Monty

- Update: 03.05.2012 -

Have finished most of the icon work on the self propelled arty.. Have coded in MBTs, SP Arty. and am working on SP Flak right now. Weapons coded in for both German OOBs. Looking forward to the infantry in July or August.

- Update: 07.10.2012 -

1) completed the first ORBAT - subject to further inspiration,
2) created a set of amphibious transports (2) for Imperial Mechanised Marines and,
3) begun work on the second - colonial and QRF -ORBAT.

- Update: 24.10-2012 -

1) re-worked both TPz. Fuchs 1 and 2 icons (there are now three variants in total: transport, anti-tank and mortar carrier),
2) created Wiesel 1 and 2 icons (Wiesel 1: 20mm and ATGM / Wiesel 2: APC),
3) and have begun collecting pictures for use as .lbm files.

-Update: 21.02.2013 -

Due to recent improvements in my over all style while re-doing my Leopard 1 series of icons I have lately been updating all my other tanks as well.

1) Completed work on Leopard 1 ("0-Serie" - 1A5)
2) Completed update of E-90 "Kaisertiger (A-F)
3) Completed update of E-50
4) Completed update of E-75
5) Have begun an update of E-100
6) Updated 1st German OOB with new Leopard models (0-Serie) and new E-90
7) Continuing work on 2nd German OOB (Colonial, Airmob. etc)

-Update: 29.12.2013 -

1) Icon work for both project OOBs (98 and 99) at present now all completed subject to one or two additions if need be
2) Progress on 2nd OOB past the armoured unit phase now at APCs etc
3) Leopard 1A5 icons now also complete and downloadable
A belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!

- Update: 19.07.2014 -

Work on the second "colonial/QRF" OOB is finally drawing to a close. I've completed all of the APCs (incl. two types of amphibious vehicle for the Marinetruppen and something for the Fallschirmjäger too), helicopters (transport and attack in various configurations), aircraft (VTOL and additional "Luft-46" goodies), rocket artillery and, last but not least, the usual mix of trucks, jeeps and other misc. suppt. vehicles. With any luck I'll be able to move onto the next phase - searching for and making .lbms and adding in sounds for weapons. Then it will be a simple case of adding in the .shp files full of icons and going through both OOBs one more time to make sure everything is where it should be.

Some icons - trucks and a couple of jeeps are still under development. At least one plane - listed below (Me. P. 1101/99) is also under development.


Infantry included in the second OOB:

Marinetruppen - A much bigger and better equipped Seebataillon (much like the Soviet naval troops in terms of scale)
Fallschirmjäger - also fulfill the role of airmobile infantry in my OOB
Schutztruppen - The backbone of the oversees colonial army
Kolonialpolizei - A police force for the colonies

Some of the special aircraft making an appearance in the second OOB:

Me. P. 1110
Me. P. 1101
Me. P. 1101/99
Me. XVJ 101 B
EWR VJ 101 B - E
MBB AVS
MBB A400
Do. 31

[RecruitMonty]

-Update-

Finished most of the .Shp work for now.

Am now coding in weapons into a new .obf file. When the weapons are done I will begin coding in the infantry, artillery, usw.. Then I will add the .shp files and start work on the armour. After that I will be working on formations. Then I will be beta testing and adding in anything that is still missing.

[troopie]

Are you going to do things like the Schmetterling and Rheintochter SAMS, the Lark SAM, the TA-183 and ME-1101 fighters, the AZON and RAZON glide bombs?

troopie

[Richard_H]

Troopie

As this mod has been so long in the making (no criticism, RecruitMonty, I know how long they can take, especially when you get upgrades in the interim!), I've started a 1946-49 version of my own, which will include a good deal of the projects that were being worked on/tested at the time - Schmetterling, Wasserfall, Ho 229, Ju 287, follow-ons to the earlier glide bombs etc etc. Could be a while yet: I've just finished converting my mod to V6 (yup, unit by unit), have 4 countries to go to make WW2 & MBT as fully compatible as possible, need to get the colonials that were never available because of date restrictions in somewhere (prolly Red), then Deutschland is probably next on my list - say a couple of months?

My starting point is different from Monty's, and hopefully rather simpler: the July 44 Stauffenberg plot succeeded. With no Hitler, Canaris comes out of retirement to lead a new government acceptable to the West, if not to the Soviets. There are elections confirming Canaris as head of state (which could also give rise to a nice little campaign between SS & government forces?), and the Western Allies accept the result. Accordingly, German industry is allowed to continue and develop . . . .

Richard H

PS That's the first time I've put these thoughts down, although they've been in my head for a while.

[Agesilaos]

I enjoy the what-if scenarious and orders of battle and have been waiting with anticipation for someone to complete a what-if World War Two beyond 1945. I can't wait for this one Richard. Thanks very much.

[gila]

Speaking of whaf if's..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landkreuzer_P._1000_Ratte

[gila]

If the last one is too a bit extreme,
How about this one..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzerkampfwagen_E-100

[Aeraaa]

The Ratte could almost occupy 2 hexes instead of one...:D

[RecruitMonty]

I do believe someone made a Ratte icon at some point. I will not be including it in my mod though as it is, quite frankly, too big. As for the E-100, well, it will be making an appearance ;).

Now for an update.

As of the 07.10.2012 I have done the following:

1) completed the first ORBAT - subject to further inspiration,
2) created a set of amphibious transports (2) for Imperial Mechanised Marines and,
3) begun work on the second - colonial and QRF -ORBAT.

That is all I can report for the moment.

[oragus]

Monty,

You are correct. I built an icon for the Ratte years ago. As far as the E-100, I have the hull I built for your Crocodile sitting here. I could whip up the turret and send it your way if you like?

[RecruitMonty]

Hi Oragus, Sorry for my late reply. Many thanks for the offer. I've made a few myself as it happens. Your "Crock" was very well made though. If you could make a winter, desert and camo variant I'd appreciate it.

I'm working on my Leopard icons again. Re-doing the whole Leopard 1 set. I've finished the Leopard 1 (0-Serie), Leopard 1, 1A1, 1A2, 1A3 and 1A4. Just got the trickier 1A1A1, 1A1A2 and 1A5 to take care of. I will then revise my 50s tanks so they are up to date too. Have also finished coding in armour to the second OOB.

All the best,

Monty

[RecruitMonty]

The SAMS will be in the Mod. The fighters too. As for the bombs, well, I'll try. I don't have much info on them at the moment.

[Richard_H]

Sorry all, got caught up with MBT mods. I'll do this as a stand-alone, without picklists, but with lbms and icons. Give me a couple of weeks . . . hopefully ;)
Richard

[RecruitMonty]

Dear WinSP Community members,

Recently my hard drive has suffered a mechanical malfunction and is therefore duly being sent in for repairs, so there is no progress on the modding front per se right now.

I have gotten most of the APCs coded into the second of my German ORBATs and I had backed most of that up prior to the malfunction but, crucially, one batch of amphibious vehicles is missing and I'd rather wait till all the data has been recovered and then move on from there.

Some icons are now also missing, which is another reason why I have halted progress for the time being.

When my data is safely back in my hands I will continue putting in the remaining APCs - Fallschirmjäger and Marine stuff mostly - and then I'll move on to trucks etc. After that we're looking at Helicopters - transports & attack, then the infantry and after that the air support. Then the second ORBAT will just need to have the formations put together and then my ORBAT work is done and I can match up icons and lbms to units in the ORBATS. After that the mod will be ready to beta test.

[MarkSheppard]

Good to know you're still OK and working on the mod. Losing your information sucks. :-(

[Anthony_Scott]

Always, always ALWAYS backup your files to a jump drive or something similar. I am pleased to know that this mod is still alive and well for the most part.

[RecruitMonty]

I have begun work on the second OOB again and it is progressing nicely. I still feel like a bit of an idiot for having forgotten to back-up the last bit of work before the harddrive packed in :o.

Oh well... .

Amphibious stuff is done. Now I'm working on my wheeled troop transports as well as the Fallschirmjäger APCs.

[RecruitMonty]

I've updated the first post. Thank you all for your patience and for sticking with this project. The last few weeks have seen an explosion of activity on my part due to more free time. The end of the development phase is drawing nearer and the biggest mod project I've ever had anything to do with will soon be available for all to enjoy. Lets see how long the rest of the work I've got left will take.

[Warhero]

Hey Recruit, do you use Germany or another (for example Red/Green) OOB/flag? And do you have any guess when mod is available here?

Warhero

[RecruitMonty]

Dear War Hero,

Due to the scope of the project I will be using two OOBS. Germany and another appropriate OOB. Not sure which one yet.

At the moment I am putting the finishing touches to the second OOB's formation roster.

After that I'll be adding in .LBM files and some sounds. Then the icons will be added in. I will need to figure out where some of the planes and turret-less vehicles should go. I have a few.

My apologies for the late reply. Have had a lot to do IRL. Gets in the way sometimes. ;)

All the best and thankyou for your interest,

Monty

[Warhero]

Nice to hear that development of mod still exist:). Keep up great work!

Warhero

[RecruitMonty]

Sitrep (07.01.2015)

Work on the OOBs is complete. Now the fun with shape, .lbm and sound files begins. Most of the sounds are sitting in a folder ready to be implemented. The icons are also more or less all done. Just need to incorporate them into the directory and update a few of the older ones I did way back when. The .lbms are a pain in the posterior. I will re-read the tutorial and work some magic.

Monty

[RecruitMonty]

Sitrep (03.02.2015):

Work on the shape files is coming along nicely. All the Panzers are now loaded up. At present I am working on the self-propelled arty.. After the Arty. come the recon vehicles, then the APCs and then the jeeps, trucks etc.. Am about a third of the way through. After the shape files are done then I move on to finishing off the .lbms and then finally sounds. Couple of months work still to do but I am confident that a playable mod will be finished this year. I will, however need some help with the AI-picklists as well as some coding help for both OOBs regarding start and end dates as well as morale.

[Wiking]

Hallo hallo Monty. Was always curious about this project (as I have attempted similar things on my own with no real knowledge or talent for .shp editing!) and I was curious if this was still going or had been shelved for the time being!

[RecruitMonty]

Both OOBs are finished. Icon work too, more or less. Sounds are the next big hurdle. Then finishing touches. Soon. God willing ;).

[Wiking]

This pleases me more than you can imagine! You'll have at least one dedicated tester upon release! :D

[RecruitMonty]

Thanks! It has been an interesting project so far. Finished my sounds. At the moment the mod is compatible with version 8.0 or thereabouts. I've got some fine tuning to do this end still.

Anyone know by any chance how to edit start and end dates for the nations in the game? Anyone also know how to edit experience and morale base-values?

I'd appreciate any help on these two matters.

[scorpio_rocks]

Anyone know by any chance how to edit start and end dates for the nations in the game? Anyone also know how to edit experience and morale base-values?

AFAIK these values are hard coded and unchangeable.

[RecruitMonty]

I believe that Plasma had managed to change the start and end dates for the DDR in his mod. I may be wrong though.

[RecruitMonty]

Any advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

[Wiking]

Might have to take it on the chin with this one. You're using the German ORBAT, right? Though I don't know of a solution for pushing back until 1950's, at the very least I'd think you can probably leave morale and experience alone for the most part. Even a victorious Germany would likely be totally exhausted as a result of conscription and the things it had endured, so I don't think letting morale and experience drop into the 60's and low 70's is too terribly upsetting. You could also bolster paratrooper and commando units in the formations by granting them larger bonuses to keep them in line with what they ought to be.

Really wish I knew what to suggest for the dates though, that might not be something that can be fixed.

[RecruitMonty]

Morale and experience isn't too much of a problem. That is true. I'm thinking of using Denmark and the FRG. I do have two OOBs chock-full with various units, after all.

As for start dates... , I will attempt to fix this. Maybe there is a work around.

[Wiking]

Hey Monty, I have a suggestion. Why not just use Austria in addition to Denmark? It kills two birds with one stone: a surviving Greater Germany, Nazi or not, would likely still control that territory and it allows you to go from 1946 to 2020 with no problems. FRG would be unsatisfying as it ends in the beginning of the 1990's, right as the really fun stuff comes around.

I think most people who would be playing this would not really care about the fate of Austria or Denmark anyways, as far as playable ORBATS goes ;)

The only other question I have is what sort of campaign locations would be generated by using one or both of those ORBATS? I think that's mostly hardcoded isn't it?

[RecruitMonty]

Austria has the wrong infantry colours. By FRG I meant West Germany i.e. Germany proper. Good point regarding the maps. I had completely forgotten that :doh:.

[Wiking]

Oops, forgot East Germany was GDR! I'm more of a World War 2 guy than Modern truth be told :) And I forgot Austria changed infantry colors. Is West Germany still the only one that has the grey infantry sprites? A little surprising.

I know for Random Campaign generation, if you're fighting say, the USA or the Soviets as Germany in MBT you'll mostly get battle-locs in Central Europe (Germany, Czech Republic rarely). Obviously you can load custom maps up or make your own in the middle of a campaign but if there's a way to freshen that up it would be nice.

Thankfully if you take Germany adventuring out against say, Egypt or China it works perfectly fine and you get a nice exotic locale :)

[RecruitMonty]

Italy, Spain, Denmark, Albania and the VC have the Grey infantry colour. A few others too. Not sure which ones though. Good to know that exotic locales are not completely excluded.

[Wiking]

Out of curiosity, and since the original postings are so old, I was wondering if you could give a brief summation of the forces you're representing?

Will it be primarily Heer and Luftwaffe troops, or will SS and various secondary forces be available? You mentioned using two nations to represent two OOB's, so I was curious what the game plan was in more detail. If you don't have the time to get into it I'll understand, but I started thinking about the kampfgruppe's I'd be making and I wanted to inquire :)

[RecruitMonty]

In OOB 35 the following troops are represented:

Regular Heer infantry (leg/motorised - trucks and later wheeled APCs), Pioneers (Leg, mechanised - halftracks and fully tracked) Panzergrenadiers (halftrack as well as fully tracked), Gebirgsjäger and Waffen-SS (Leg, mechanised - fully tracked). In each case the full accompaniment of scouts and pioneers are there where applicable.

In OOB 44:

Fallschirmjäger (leg/aircraft/KraKa), Luftlandetruppen (Fjgr. in Helicopters), Brandenburgers (in various guises). Additionally I have colonial troops in the form of both lightly equipped police type units (leg/motorised) followed by regular colonial infantry (think Afrikakorps or Mediterranean theatre in a COIN role). Last but not least a Marine landing element(a Seebataillon analogue with more appropriate kit and implied troop strength). The Marines, Paras and Brandenburgers all have pioneer units and scouts. The regular infantry have scouts too.

I am toying with the idea of adding in mounted troops (these would be in the Green OOB along with a couple of other loose ends).

[RecruitMonty]

Armour wise 35 is where the heavy tanks, Jagdpanzers and heavier MBTs are. 44 has a lighter emphasis. I'm play-testing and ironing out kinks in the OOBs. There was a real doozy of a problem with some formations not showing up in the special companies I created. Fixed most of it now though.

[Wiking]

That is actually really logical and cool. I am more excited for this than ever, as I've been wanting to really sink my teeth into MBT for a while but the default German ORBAT just never did it for me. :D

[RecruitMonty]

Who wants to Beta test? I take it, Wiking and mkr8683, are in? Who else? A couple more should suffice for now. Should be uploaded to drop-box by the end of the week. I'll provide the beta-testers with a link via pm when its uploaded.

[scorpio_rocks]

count me in

[RecruitMonty]

Ok. That's three. :)

[Wiking]

Without question, me! :up:

[RecruitMonty]

Three will do nicely. Should be loaded up to drop box by tomorrow evening (Central European time) unless unforeseen difficulties hold the process up. I'll PM you the link then.

[lukerduker123]

A bit late to throw my hat into the ring, eh?

[RecruitMonty]

Four is a nice even number compared to three. :)

[RecruitMonty]

Quick update: It looks like I'll be ready to upload by tomorrow. Ran into some additional trouble. Nothing serious. Just tedious. Might be done by tonight but my better half mentioned something about going out for dinner. We'll see. Never a good idea to get between a woman and her dinner ; ).

[Wiking]

I'd be lying if I said I was being patient about this, but great things are worth waiting for. So I keep telling myself. :D Have fun on your night out!

[RecruitMonty]

Loaded it up to dropbox. Should be downloadable for Beta-Testers. If not I'll know soon enough.

[RecruitMonty]

Oh and Lukerduker123 you need to do something with your account so you can receive PMs otherwise it will be a bit tough for you to beta-test without a link.

[scorpio_rocks]

Having a look now...

[Wiking]

Got it, will devote the rest of the night to some first impressions and maybe a few questions. I'll also try to start a few quick scenarios :)

[Wiking]

One quick comment, after playing around with it for about five minutes: Holy crap, this is insane. The next comment would be perhaps offering an "alternate" Kasierreich styled flag for those who have issues with or cannot legally play with a Swastika in their country? Just a quick thought. The readme was very clearly laid out and easy to follow. Did not expect to have to swap out the executable but it makes sense considering the vast number of changes I suppose. :eek:

I'm going to have a blast with this, I can tell already!

[scorpio_rocks]

Would you Prefer questions / comments in this thread or by PM?

[Wiking]

:doh:Just found the alternate flags, sorry for jumping the gun. And yes, it might be good to make a fresh thread to address everything at once!

[scorpio_rocks]

I will hold off posting comments, etc until you get on and let us know whether you would rather it not done in public.

but...

Must say a HUGE amount of work has gone into this and it shows! Thanks!
(and dont worry most of the notes I have are very minor, nitpicks, etc)

[RecruitMonty]

Hi everyone!

Glad to see the download worked! Am working on those missing icons for the amphibious mortars. Will load them up for you guys when they are done. Lets keep comments etc in this thread. With the title: "BETA-TEST".

[Wiking]

BETA TEST

Hello Monty, I've only managed to finish a single battle so far but I have some thoughts already. I took a fairly mixed force of mech infantry and various armor, SPA, SPAA, etc. Starting at your suggested date of May 1949 (I noticed you could force the battles to start earlier than that for OOB35 but it causes oddities like the flag on the player start screen changing to the Red Flag and you can only buy support from 35 if you select something else and then 35 again). I have to say the sprite work and the sounds are utterly fantastic, as is the attention to detail. I was quite overwhelmed, and normally I like having so many choices but this time I had to spend a long while thinking about what each formation did and its role. I'm still digesting quite a lot but I wanted to say that you've done exemplary work here, and I commend you on doing your best to make the LBM's all "hang together", even if the infantry are once again given the short end of the stick in this regard, though no fault of yours I have to say! Probably not much artwork out there of alt-history German soldiers.

On that note, I actually was perusing the opponent lists thinking "This is almost too good, the only ones who can possibly fill out an interesting roster to face this would be USA and Soviets..." which I think is the only real downside to your mod. It is abundant in detail and character matched only perhaps by the Marine OOB. Makes me sad that nobody else has the time or devotion to give us some proper opponents for this. I will say though, that the situation is probably less dire for the "Police" and colonial troops: Mujahadeen, USMC and other less "heavy" OOB's will probably stack up against them and that might be a fun campaign to try out.

As to any OOB issues I have with 35 in particular: I do think the infantry companies are over-weighted, with 4 platoons versus the WW2 and Modern standard of 3 platoons. I would suggest deleting one of the infantry platoons, unless you have a particular reason for 4? I'm very curious if there is one, and I can see the rationale if you intend them to be used as the core for a campaign force. But as part of a combined arms campaign core they do soak up a lot of points and slots, leaving less room for the other goodies (oh the goodies! So many of those). On a more positive note, the weapon platoons being built into the infantry companies is welcome, as is the integral SP-AA support; considering the number of aircraft I had coming in at me last night, I definitely appreciated this addition and I feel it would be a logical extrapolation of German experiences with low level attack aircraft in WW2. I am a little puzzled at the lack of rocket artillery though I may have simply overlooked it in the huge unit selection. Was there a particular reason for this or was there just no room for it?

The sound effects, as I said earlier, are spectacular. Machine guns especially have a lot more "heft" to them now as do rifles, and I enjoy the 'hit' sounds that play when you impact armor. The classic Steel Panthers clicking sounds on the menu were a nice easter egg, appreciated that muchly. As for errors, I did notice the ones you mentioned but the only real sprite issue I came across was Icon 8167, the Me.262 HGIII-1k which has white pixels appearing below it in the encyclopedia entry. I don't know if this happens during gameplay but it was an oddity so I thought I'd mention it.

[scorpio_rocks]

Das Reich -BETA TEST

Hiya folks,

Great work! - A few points (most small niggles) from looking over the OoBs, etc.
Please do not take any of this as criticism - just my thoughts.
I have a version of cross' sound mod - I will dig deeper to find the sounds you added.

General

1. LBMs - Great job finding some of these! however seeing black borders on some is distracting, perhaps artificially enlarge the pic with white space.

2. Having both OoBs called Germany can be a little confusing (I know you are limited in characters). Following on from this; both having the same flag can cause confusion - perhaps use a variant flag for the second OoB. This becomes especially apparent if anyone (like a mad beta tester) fights one Vs the other!

3. I persume that the many duplicated units are to allow each OoB to stand alone for a campaign? If they were only ever to be used in battles & scenarios then this is superfluous.

OOB 35

1. Unit #1 "Title" - make class = 216 "No Unit". Put in dates of country and LBM of flag. This is for consistancy across other OOBs and is a good way to give info to players - If it has correct country number and No unit class it will appear in Encyclopaedia (allows info on country) but will NOT appear as a unit in purchase screens.

2. Weapon #111 "13,2cm FlMG-131" - I believe this is a typo or its a VERY big MG (1,32 cm or 13,2mm ?)

3. Icon #8246, 8247, 8248 Ju-132B - Have a black line at bottom of icon (not tested in game, yet)

4. Icon # 8167 Me.262 HGIII-1k - White pixels below icon, visible in game

5. PpPz Leopard (everyones favourite cancelled tank!) Units # 225, 227, 228 - (If germany saw no need for it in '42/'43 why would they resurrect it in 47? - That said its in my fantasy extended reich OOB :)) I would question its armour values however.
12 seems high for 50mm armour (and sides seem low). From the research I did, drawings and using the SP armour calc program I came up with a couple of options:
a) Using less armour but slope to acheive equivalence with PzKw II J armour (8,5,5,8,5,5,3)
b) from what little info does exist I got = 8,4,3,5,3,3,2 (with possible addition of Schürzen for 10 heat on flanks) - I use this in my alt WW2 OOB.
c) from drawings and "Real" turret on SdKfz234/2 = 8,4,3,4,1,1,2 + Skirts

Also If this existed would the MBT also have been called Leopard? If they were recycling names why not Tiger for the MBT? OR the "next" big cat name?

OOB 44

1. As note 1. above: Unit #1 should be "title page"

2. Gepard - same name for airborne light tank and Heavy Flak tank on different chassis? (need another name for airborne stuff Units #62 through #80)

3. Weapon #111 Believe the Mg131 isnt 13.2cm as above

All for now :)
as I said minor niggles and typos - great stuff

Will start doing some force builds and playing now

[scorpio_rocks]

Suggestion:

Names "GDReich" and "ReichST" ?
(this echoes the names from Mobhack and is within character limits)

[RecruitMonty]

BETA TEST

@ Wiking (Post #59):

I am hoping that the mod will prompt the community to develop mods for the existing OOBs (USA, USMC, GB, USSR etc). Both the US and the USSR have some interesting heavy tank projects of their own that are not in the OOBs at present. I've been modifying the Muja OOB a little myself to make them into more challenging opponents for the Colonial troops. When I'm done I'll publish it too.

I'll look at the plane.

Regarding rockets: please read section "D" of the Readme. The rockets are in OOB 44 - West Germany.

OOB 35 is useable from 01.01.1946 onwards.

Regarding company sizes: the coys. are designed with four platoons because two of them are heavier and are meant to support the other two lighter ones. It occurred to me that in this way the combat possibilities of the smaller units could be increased beyond their size.

[Wiking]

I see now there's a bit of difference between them. The various naming conventions are not always clear, you may wish to update the Readme to address what they mean for those of us who are thick-headed :)

[RecruitMonty]

BETA TEST

@ scorpio_rocks:

Thanks. Will change armour values for Leopard. Name can stay the same since the MBT is brought in when the recon tank is on the way out. Good point about the Gepard. Problem is I can't think of another appropriate big cat. I'll think about it some more. The heavy Mgs will also be renamed accordingly ;). Indeed the duplicates are for stand-alone ability. I provided an excel document so you can see which sounds I edited. Take a look in there. The coloured stuff (Red, Blue is mine). Some of the orange and yellow too.

[RecruitMonty]

@ Wiking: What would you write as a suggestion for the readme?

In the meantime, I`m off to bed. Its almost 02:00 am here and its been a long Sunday.

[Wiking]

I was mostly just thinking an explanation of what the designations for each company meant. PAK, + and - are self-explanatory but what is a "B" company or an "A" company? You can somewhat guess through glancing at their layout but I might be missing obvious cues, I apologize.

[RecruitMonty]

Good point. I will do that. :)

[Wiking]

BETA TEST

I found it kind of curious that the Kasiertiger and Mammoth tanks are in service for the duration of the period, with upgrades to keep them competitive. Was that just for fun, for those who like goaliths, or was there a design intent there? They seem a bit redundant with the advent of the Leo 1 and 2, but for the time being I'm really enjoying the Kaisertiger itself. It can bully its way straight through most opposition and only determined infantry AT attacks seem to even slow it down. I imagine this will change once Soviet ATGM's start appearing and ruining my day :D

The variety and firepower of the Luftwaffe is a nice change of pace from West Germany, who when I played as would frequently have to "borrow" aircraft from the US Airforce to fulfill some of the missions asked of it. As a suggestion, perhaps a weapons lexicon could be built not just for the more obscure named air-weapons but for all the ground weapons too. Not quite asking you to write a complete alternative history for these weapons but a quick summation of what each system is and its intended purpose may be helpful for players. I did figure out what was an air launched missile and what was a rocket pod at least :)

I also see your point about the infantry companies now. I really like the variety you offer here, especally things like motorizing the Mountain troops, as that was always an annoyance to me in WW2/MBT: sure, they might fight better in bad terrain but what if you got a map with good roads? I solved that in MBT by buying them helicopters but I think this is a good compromise. Saves you on support points for sure. Regarding transports, one minor quibble I have is that sometimes its annoying to try and fit all your support weapons (MMG's, Fliegerfaust/Panzerschreck/X-7, etc) into the availible transport space for the Panzergrenadiers.

This isn't a problem for the trucks, of course, but for the IFV's I noticed that if you load them in the wrong order or too much in the wrong one the weight limit gets triggered. This is more of an MBT engine quirk than an OOB design issue though.

So far I'm loving it.

[RecruitMonty]

BETA TEST:

I decided to keep them on partly for the tank-heads but also because the Soviets kept their heavies for quite some time. I also like the idea of a dedicated heavy tank in the age of standardised MBTs. I think there is a niche for them until at least the 70s as they are. I may upgrade the models from the 90s on to make them more in-line with the MBTs. A re-design of both turrets. The chasis is fine, more or less. Just need some inspiration.

Have produced a manual of sorts within the readme. Will post it up with the other stuff so the link should still work.

[scorpio_rocks]

If you would like help writting unit and formation info texts let me know, glad to help out!

[RecruitMonty]

Yep! There is an order that you have to stick to. First load up the infantry squads and then load up the support weapons. Which Coys. did you have problems with in particular out of interest? Can you give me a number and designation? Maybe there might be a problem there.

[Wiking]

The ones I was toying around with were formations 520 SS-GrenKp. (B/-) and 530 SS-PioKmp (B/-) Everything mostly fits into the IFV's but sometimes the specific order you load the support weapons in seems finicky. I eventually figured out how to squeeze it all together. I've had no problems with the mountain companies or motorized Panzergrenadiers because their trucks have much larger carry capacities so their weapon platoons don't need a specific load order.

[RecruitMonty]

I'd like that very much Scorpio. I'll get back to you on that. Just tested a platoon of Kaisertigers - suppt. by Pz IV Js (a Plt. of five) against a few armoured Coys. of Soviets. Slaughter!

[RecruitMonty]

Say, did you guys get the latest update that I pm'ed you guys with? How did you like the new flags? How is the readme now? Easy to follow?

[scorpio_rocks]

Sorry mate - Yes got the update, Love the Afrika Korps flag!

I will get more time to play a couple of full games tomorrow so hopefully will have some feed back thursday night / friday morning.

[Wiking]

Just got it, Monty! Looks great, much less confusing now :) I'll try to give you more feedback soon, school's just got me over a barrel lately.

[Wiking]

BETA TEST

Had a closer look at the readme and went over all the updates in detail. Its much improved and easier to understand now, thank you. I have noticed a slight issue with some of the helicopter sprites while playing around with OOB 44 in mobhack:

Sprites 6264 - 6266 - 6265 for unit 729 (Do. H34 TTH-55) seems to have parallel lines running through the sides of its hull, like the pixels are missing. These do not appear to be on the gunship version of the H34, so I wanted to make sure this wasn't an error? It appears in the normal, winter and desert icons each.

Also, was unit 734 supposed to have a designation beyond TTH-95? It seems a bit out of place; for the moment I designed it Do. 310 as the "successor" to the 214 as that was kind of annoying me. Please let me know if you had intended an actual designation for it!

One thing that really strikes me about your release is how relatively few bugs I'm finding. Errors and things here and there, sure, but far less than I'd expected for the amount of work put into it. You really are fastidious.

[RecruitMonty]

BETA TEST

@ Wiking:

"Had a closer look at the readme and went over all the updates in detail. Its much improved and easier to understand now..."

Great! :)

"Sprites 6264 - 6266 - 6265 for unit 729 (Do. H34 TTH-55) seems to have parallel lines running through the sides of its hull, like the pixels are missing."

Not much I can do about that I'm afraid. It shows up correctly in the game but for some curious reason it doesn't in Mobhack. Same goes for the bombers with the black lines as far as I can tell.

"Also, was unit 734 supposed to have a designation beyond TTH-95?"

I'll look into that. Must be a loose end. Although I do dimly remember not being able to figure out who was behind the real world contract. Probably EADS or Eurocopter.

"One thing that really strikes me about your release is how relatively few bugs I'm finding. Errors and things here and there, sure, but far less than I'd expected for the amount of work put into it. You really are fastidious."

Thanks! This project was (still is) my "baby" for a good number of years. Sunk a lot of hours into it. To hear praise like that from members of the community is the reward :D.

[RecruitMonty]

Suggestion:

Names "GDReich" and "ReichST" ?
(this echoes the names from Mobhack and is within character limits)

I'll use the flags to differentiate between the two OOBs. There are already a lot of acronyms in the OOBs themselves and it would be a shame to have an acronym for a name.

[RecruitMonty]

"DASA TTH-95" is the best I could come up with. I had to go back in the producers history a bit.

[Wiking]

I wondered if it was a MOBHACK quirk or an oversight, but glad to hear its just the former. I'm hoping to getting around to playing with the helicopters soon, its just been really hectic the past couple months. I pretty much haven't touched any other games except MBT so I could focus on Das Reich.

After skirmishing against the Americans, I really really really appreciate all the integral AA in the 35 OOB. I'm used to fighting third rate or second rate forces (or Soviets at worst) so you're kinda getting me out of my comfort zone with this mod!

Regarding your comment about the slaughter of a couple platoons versus multiple Soviet companies, I specifically toned down my armor usage because of that! Something interesting has resulted from it: I am using smaller companies (and in the case of the Kaisertigers I bought a company and trimmed it to just one combat platoon and the leadership element for rallying) and somehow managed to lose one against a Pershing (side shot on the turret I think). That was like 130 points lost right there! That and the loss of a Panther J elsewhere meant I was actually pushed from a Decisive to a Marginal Victory! :eek:

I'd sort of noticed this before in MBT where losing valuable units hurts more than in WW2, but I think the expensive toys of Das Reich really brought it home for me. I feel this is a good thing; you have the best stuff but replacements really are not up to snuff and its a ton of points for your enemy! Incidentally, that Kaisertiger's replacement crew is 58 experience and 60 morale! Thankfully they'll probably live long enough to improve, but infantry and others may not be so fortune...

[RecruitMonty]

"Regarding your comment about the slaughter of a couple platoons versus multiple Soviet companies, I specifically toned down my armor usage because of that! Something interesting has resulted from it: I am using smaller companies (and in the case of the Kaisertigers I bought a company and trimmed it to just one combat platoon and the leadership element for rallying) and somehow managed to lose one against a Pershing (side shot on the turret I think). That was like 130 points lost right there! That and the loss of a Panther J elsewhere meant I was actually pushed from a Decisive to a Marginal Victory!"

Yep. You have to be careful with them. That is the downside to all the tech.. Glad to hear someone can blow them up. Makes you think, eh? Those machines would have been real monsters on the battlefield. I'm thinking of designing some Russian heavies so the Russkies have more of a chance.

[Wiking]

I suspect they would have been rather less impressive if we could model all the "soft" factors like maintenance, the inability to cross wooden bridges and general reliability. But I agree, they are quite fearsome as is. I enjoy them but do not feel invincible.

I'm all for bolstering the Russians, though I actually picked the Americans as my opponents for their heavier equipment and higher morale and experience. If possible, consider porting some of the Soviet monsters you come up with to the Chinese as well, they'd probably appreciate having something more exciting than a T-54 for most of the 1960's and 1970's...

[RecruitMonty]

BETA TEST

Update!

I've done the Russians a little favour in providing them with the IS-7. I've also revised the German tanks a little. Will provide you with the new files tomorrow.

[Wiking]

What were the changes to the German armor, if I might ask?

[scorpio_rocks]

Am I just not seeing them or did the Horton Ho-229 and H.XVIII "Amerika Bomber" not make the cut?

[RecruitMonty]

One of the flying wings is included as an icon but I have not got any space for it in the dedicated OOBs. I will probably put it into the Green OOB along with a few other odds and sods that could do with being implemented but were not high priority.

BETA TEST:

"Update 04.07.2015" (see post from yesterday) is now available to download from the usual link.

Please, when you have time, tell me what you think of the Russian OOB changes mentioned in the readme and try the new tanks (four of them) out against the bigger Tigers as well as the regular German tanks. The main gun packs a nice enough punch. Penetrating the side armour on the bigger Tigers is still your best bet. The tanks can also absorb quite a bit of punishment but are not invincible.

Also take a good look at the German gun stats.

Enjoy!

[Wiking]

There's no LBM picture for the T-7M or the IS-7, not sure if you hadn't gotten one together yet or what. Thought I'd mention it :) I'll be looking this over today.

[RecruitMonty]

There's no LBM picture for the T-7M or the IS-7, not sure if you hadn't gotten one together yet or what. Thought I'd mention it :) I'll be looking this over today.

Ooops! Forgot that. :doh: Posted it up under "missing lbm".

[Wiking]

Thanks! :up:

[scorpio_rocks]

Prezzie for Mr. Wiking:

Roundel Objectives and Small ID flags for Das Reich! :)

Zip contains altered Icon0095.shp and Icon0097.shp ONLY
(you will need other files [96 & 98] from appropriate Mods)

Let me know if you have any problems

[Wiking]

Scorpio, you DO rock! This is too awesome. And thankfully you still get to appreciate Monty's flag work on the battle and player select screens, so it in no way diminishes his work. Rather, it enhances it! :cool:

[Wiking]

A small request which I feel awkward making after your generosity but would it be possible to have a Kaiserreich appropriate mini-flag rather than the swastika? I'll understand if you decline but I'd much prefer it myself. :o

[scorpio_rocks]

Hehe - some people are never satisfied :p

Not terribly easy in only 13x9 pixels! How about one of these?

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb192/scorpio_rocks/Kaiserreich%20IDs_zpsmgiuvxif.png

[Wiking]

Not terribly easy, but you are a wonder worker after all! I would find either quite acceptable, though the second is probably more in spirit with Monty's flags. :)

[scorpio_rocks]

Wonders worked instantly, miracles take a little longer :p

Icon0097.shp with flag 2:

[Wiking]

Well, we can leave the miracles to Monty, as I'm pretty sure he is one! :up:

[RecruitMonty]

Excellent! When the Beta Test is complete we can incorporate the roundels into a new thread along with the official download. Then I think everyone will be happy. I must say the roundels look very smart indeed. The smaller ID-flags too.

How is the Beta-testing going? I could do with some more feedback so we can finish up and then proceed to a general release. How are your schedules looking at the moment? I was thinking a month to test some more - July and then a release in August. Is that workable?

[Wiking]

Summer school is kicking me in the *** but I'm doing my best to play at least a little bit each day. Most of my focus has been on OOB35 but I like to buy support choices from OOB44 too to get a taste of what they can do. I do have a bit of feedback that I'll share now:


BETA TEST


I have been doing a short campaign and regular battle scenarios, and I've noticed that OOB35 tends to generate Denmark battlezones against most opponents (as I kind of expected, I figured there's some kind of hardcoding going on there). But what's interesting is that sometimes it actually will say "Denmark" and instead I actually get what I would expect: a Middle East battle zone or a South-East Asian one. It seems to work "properly" most of the time, but I have had occasions where we're in the desert and the Germans are still wearing their "normal" paint schemes instead of their "Tropical" ones. I'm not sure there's much you can do about this but I thought I'd mention it.

German armor is much less overwhelming than I initally expected it to be. Sure, 11 Kaisertigers or Mammoths will steamroll pretty much anything and even Panther II's are incredibly nasty foes, but if you diversify and field StuG's, Panzer IV L's and M's or even just Panther H's and J's I'm finding that Soviet T-34's remain a threat and certainly Shermans do as well. In fact, I've had most of my heavy losses fighting the Americans, as their HVAP ammo and good crew ratings make them nasty opponents. My ultimate point is that I feel like as long as there is some moderation on the player's part, they will feel sufficently challenged. The biggest thing to keep in mind is that losing even one or two tanks can bleed you a ton of points.

The infantry and artillery, since I haven't touched on them much: They seem to hold their own pretty darn well, and I actually am glad you split platoons so that only two out of 4 squads have AT. That makes things a little bit more tactical in deciding who to place where, and these guys are just a ton of fun to use with the new sound effects. I have had some weirdness with the 8cm half-track mortars seeming to have a deadzone or being otherwise unresponsive to bombardment orders, I'm wondering if it is related to the halftrack not having the mortar as the first weapon. I've only used them once so it warrents further investigation. I thought it was very curious that the Buffalo + APC can apparently fire its ATGM's as a cluster munition? Could you explain that a little better perhaps? The towed and self-propelled guns are all quite solid and I have no complaints: one thing I love about MBT is that now counter-battery is much more practical and BATTERY DESTROYED results are an actual thing now. :)

Aircraft have actually been a great help. The West German airforce had always been anemic to the point of almost uselessness before the 1980's, and now they can really bite if used carefully. The Soviets and Americans still buy far too much AA and it can get pretty expensive to keep losing Me-262's and the like to 57mm AA guns :eek: I have not tried out the level bombers yet, I admit I'm not the biggest fan of them to begin with but I'll make a note to experiment with them the next time I have a lengthy assault or advance. You know, the Fliegerfaust 45 is kind of neat if the enemy wanders close enough to it ;) Doesn't always hit but it tends to blow them in half when it does!

One last thing about infantry; did you omit the second LMG from Panzergrenadiers for a reason? I was curious if you had a doctrinal reason you feel that practice would be abandoned after WW2. I don't think the Bundeswehr does it but that's a very different beast than this continuation. I know US Army mech infantry do have 2x SAW's.

[scorpio_rocks]

Excellent! When the Beta Test is complete we can incorporate the roundels into a new thread along with the official download. Then I think everyone will be happy. I must say the roundels look very smart indeed. The smaller ID-flags too.

Thanks! :up:

How is the Beta-testing going? I could do with some more feedback so we can finish up and then proceed to a general release. How are your schedules looking at the moment? I was thinking a month to test some more - July and then a release in August. Is that workable?

Going well, Timetable seems fine.

I have been trying a few battles using both OoBs, but have tried to stay away from the "sexier" stuff and test some of the "nuts and bolts" units. A few bits and bobs so far will continue to teast and a give a more full report at the weekend.

Have to say some great sounds - they will make their way to my "main" game. :)

[RecruitMonty]

... I've noticed that OOB35 tends to generate Denmark battlezones against most opponents (as I kind of expected, I figured there's some kind of hardcoding going on there). ... sometimes it actually will say "Denmark" and instead I actually get what I would expect: a Middle East battle zone or a South-East Asian one. It seems to work "properly" most of the time, but I have had occasions where we're in the desert and the Germans are still wearing their "normal" paint schemes instead of their "Tropical" ones. I'm not sure there's much you can do about this but I thought I'd mention it.

I believe you are right. Only thing I can suggest is using OOB44 from May 49 onwards as a starting OOB - purchasing units from 35 as allies or captured - to get a bit more variety.

My ultimate point is that I feel like as long as there is some moderation on the player's part, they will feel sufficently challenged. The biggest thing to keep in mind is that losing even one or two tanks can bleed you a ton of points.

Agreed. Of course if the player wants to play with the super heavies he can but he has also to be aware that they are not exactly meant to be the main-stay of the Panzer arm.

I have had some weirdness with the 8cm half-track mortars seeming to have a deadzone or being otherwise unresponsive to bombardment orders, I'm wondering if it is related to the halftrack not having the mortar as the first weapon.

Will take a look myself. Sounds like a mistake on my part.

I thought it was very curious that the Buffalo + APC can apparently fire its ATGM's as a cluster munition? Could you explain that a little better perhaps?.

Also sounds like a mistake. Looking into it.


One last thing about infantry; did you omit the second LMG from Panzergrenadiers for a reason? I was curious if you had a doctrinal reason you feel that practice would be abandoned after WW2. I don't think the Bundeswehr does it but that's a very different beast than this continuation. I know US Army mech infantry do have 2x SAW's.

Good question. Will get back to you on that.

[RecruitMonty]

Have to say some great sounds - they will make their way to my "main" game. :)

Feel free.

[Wiking]

BETA TEST

Was going through OOB 44 and found something you may want to take a look at: Unit 171, 174, 176 (SPzMsr. 60/2 A2) are portrayed as Light SP Mortar but the icons are a SAM site. Pretty sure that's not quite correct!

Unit 172 (Sdkfz 231 8 Rad) is missing its icons entirely though these may be a Work in Progress. :)

[Wiking]

Scorpio, I'm up late so I thought I'd waste some more of your free time with pointless requests :angel

I was thinking you could use that 1st Kaiserreich flag for OOB 44 maybe, as I've been messing around and testing them too. The lack of an eagle is a subtle difference but a tangible one which would work better than trying to add the diving eagle from the national flag.

[RecruitMonty]

BETA TEST

Was going through OOB 44 and found something you may want to take a look at: Unit 171, 174, 176 (SPzMsr. 60/2 A2) are portrayed as Light SP Mortar but the icons are a SAM site. Pretty sure that's not quite correct!

Unit 172 (Sdkfz 231 8 Rad) is missing its icons entirely though these may be a Work in Progress. :)

Posted up new icon files in folder named "missing icons". This should fix the first problem. The icon for the 231/8 Rad is already loaded - I forgot it.

5494, 5496, 5498 are the right ones.

[Wiking]

Beta Test

So today in awkward realizations: one of the best long term opponents for oob35 is the Israelis! :shock: Hear me out: they have excellent morale, experience, a wide variety of armor and war gear in general. They use more than just American or captured soviet equipment so you get to sample British and French weaponry as well. Granted they are grossly over matched early on but by the end they rival anything the Imperial army has. Best of all, unlike Egypt the desert camo sprites seem to trigger properly when fighting Israel.

Probably best not to dwell too much on the implications of such a matchup ;)


I also found its easy to play with the editor to "flip" the map to jungle environments so for the most part I can circumvent the games predisposition to have me fight in southern Denmark.

[RecruitMonty]

Beta Test

So today in awkward realizations: one of the best long term opponents for oob35 is the Israelis! :shock: Hear me out: they have excellent morale, experience, a wide variety of armor and war gear in general. They use more than just American or captured soviet equipment so you get to sample British and French weaponry as well. Granted they are grossly over matched early on but by the end they rival anything the Imperial army has. Best of all, unlike Egypt the desert camo sprites seem to trigger properly when fighting Israel.

Probably best not to dwell too much on the implications of such a matchup ;)


I also found its easy to play with the editor to "flip" the map to jungle environments so for the most part I can circumvent the games predisposition to have me fight in southern Denmark.

Makes sense, the tech is good as are the stats ... :angel

Is the problem with the missing icons fixed now?

Anyone fancy making a compatible Wesserflug icon? Anyone know how to edit encyclopaedia entries?

[scorpio_rocks]

Anyone fancy making a compatible Wesserflug icon?

Happy to have a go. :)

Anyone know how to edit encyclopaedia entries?

The text on the encyclopaedia screens? Yes - every unit can have a corresponding text file, edit / create this in a text editor. Files in "...\Shrapnel Games\The Camo Workshop\WinSPMBT\Game Data\Text", filenames are ETnnnxxx where nnn is OoB number and xxx is unit number (FTnnnxxx are Formation Info Texts). {for example the encyclopaedia text for the Jagdpanther 2C (#129) in the Grossdeutsches Reich OoB (#35) would be ET035129.txt}.

As I said earlier (post #70) more than happy to help write em.

[Wiking]

Have not run into any more icon issues. If I do you'll be the first to know! Finals coming up means less time for gaming, but I check the forums every day.

[scorpio_rocks]

Can I just clarify:

You are asking for an Icon for the Wesserflog P1003 Tilt rotor, not the flying boats they made, right?

http://www.luft46.com/ksart/kswsf-2.jpg

^^^ This? ^^^ (Looks eerily like the USMC Osprey :D ) or this one:

http://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/Braas/6408.jpg

[scorpio_rocks]

BETA TEST

I have had some weirdness with the 8cm half-track mortars seeming to have a deadzone or being otherwise unresponsive to bombardment orders, I'm wondering if it is related to the halftrack not having the mortar as the first weapon. I've only used them once so it warrents further investigation.

Yes this IS due to the mortar not being in weapon slot #1.
The bombardment screen seems to take the range (and ammo) of the weapon in slot #1 for bombardment purposes.

In order for a vehicle to fire an indirect fire weapon, it must be of a class able to fire indirect (ie SP Mortar) and have that weapon in slot #1.

This can cause problems if you want a weapon with say sabot on the same vehicle ... (eg OBAT 35 #312 SPz sWS/2)
The options seem to be:
a. make it a non indirect firing unit class - the mortar then only fires direct
b. move the mortar to slot #1 - the moved weapon loses sabot.

[scorpio_rocks]

Scorpio, I'm up late so I thought I'd waste some more of your free time with pointless requests :angel

I was thinking you could use that 1st Kaiserreich flag for OOB 44 maybe, as I've been messing around and testing them too. The lack of an eagle is a subtle difference but a tangible one which would work better than trying to add the diving eagle from the national flag.

Feel free to swap the flags around however you wish! :)

You have all the relevant files - use SHPEdit to swap em in and out

[scorpio_rocks]

BETA TEST

I thought it was very curious that the Buffalo + APC can apparently fire its ATGM's as a cluster munition? Could you explain that a little better perhaps?

This is because the Bueffel + and Marder + are set to be a Rocket APC class (#245). They need to be set to a direct fire APC class (one of the unused MRV classes perhaps?)

Please excuse multiple posts (too long between them to edit), sorry.

[Wiking]

Never used SHP edit, so maybe I'll have to teach myself. :)

[scorpio_rocks]

Never used SHP edit, so maybe I'll have to teach myself. :)

Its not too hard, just a little long winded! There is a tutorial HERE. (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=47320)

As Monty said when the testing is done we will release a full version with all the relevant files including flag mods - we just need to decide which ones we want (or provide alts)

[Warhero]

Btw, are you going to add 2 different flag alternatives (Nazi-Germany and Wehrmacht(I suppose?)) into mod's sub-folder? Like in "official" game?

[scorpio_rocks]

Btw, are you going to add 2 different flag alternatives (Nazi-Germany and Wehrmacht(I suppose?)) into mod's sub-folder? Like in "official" game?
Yes - we have already done none-swastika flags see above.

Looks like we will end up with about 4(? still being decided) versions: "Nazi" and "Kaiserreich", with both standard "large" flags and Modded small ID and roundel objectives flags.

[RecruitMonty]

Can I just clarify:

You are asking for an Icon for the Wesserflog P1003 Tilt rotor, not the flying boats they made, right?

http://www.luft46.com/ksart/kswsf-2.jpg

^^^ This? ^^^ (Looks eerily like the USMC Osprey :D ) or this one:

http://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/Braas/6408.jpg

Thanks! Indeed. The tilt-rotor aircraft. If possible in winter (light grey) and summer camo.

[RecruitMonty]

Btw, are you going to add 2 different flag alternatives (Nazi-Germany and Wehrmacht(I suppose?)) into mod's sub-folder? Like in "official" game?
Yes - we have already done none-swastika flags see above.

Looks like we will end up with about 4(? still being decided) versions: "Nazi" and "Kaiserreich", with both standard "large" flags and Modded small ID and roundel objectives flags.

Five, in fact. Two variants for the Kaiserreich: to scale and roundels. For the Third Reich: with Swastika and without to scale and roundels with and without. I believe they are all present and correct?

[RecruitMonty]

The mortar problem I've now dealt with. Will take a look at the Marders and Büffels and change the unit class to something else. I thought rocket-apc was an atgm class. Oh well, never mind.

[scorpio_rocks]

BETA TEST

Hiya Monty,

Mostly good (mostly great to be fair!). Played a few games now with different force types, different enemies, etc. The main flustrations came from a few misclassed unit types and a lack of some stuff (I know no space, lol).

Can I ask that you please Edit the OoB "Info" tab so that we can have some version control???

A few further comments / observations:

OBat #35

1. Weapon #198 MUST be the 1000lb bomb (the game uses this for ammo explosions, etc).

2. SP Mortars: [see post #111 (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showpost.php?p=830795&postcount=111)] possible this only effects Unit #312.

3. Rocket APC: [see Post #113 (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showpost.php?p=830797&postcount=113) ] Marder and Buffel "+" versions (Units # 404, 405, 406, 414, 415, 416, 417, 418, 419, 420, 421)

4. Unit #248 - Sorry can we have a more suitable icon? Shouldn't this at least be a heavy truck (Jupiter or Faun perhaps)?

5. "Info" OOB comment needs to reflect your "ownership" and Version numbers/dates so we know we are looking at the same version.

6. Formations #114 & #117 and #115 & #116 are functionally identical. Naval Artillery works a little differently than normal stuff - all types (units) will be available to choose for all formations. It's probably better to just have formations for say 4,5,6 and 8 "guns/turrets/ships".

7. It can be a little flustrating organising an amphibious assault with only 1 type of barge / landing craft and no supporting vessels. (yes I know I'm running into the space restrictions)

OBat #44

1. Weapon #198 MUST be the 1000lb bomb (the game uses this for ammo explosions, etc).

2. SP Mortars: [see post #111 (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showpost.php?p=830795&postcount=111)] possible this only effects Unit #263 sWS.

3. Unit #248 - Barge carrier see point 4 above.

4. Formation #149 set to Nation 99 - can't choose a landing craft for my marines.

5. As note 7 above - lack of support for a marine landing and no Colonial battles in the river deltas of SE Asia or "Darkest German Africa"? (no boats, rivercraft, LCS, LCG, etc and the one formation of 2 barges with only 1 type of L/C with a 250 carry capacity). A Marine Company wont fit on 4 std barges...

6. Unit #201 is out of order. All naval support is "supposed" to be consecutive and in increasing size order - as this OoB will never be used by the AI this is probably less important, but when choosing our own naval bombardments they come up in a wierd order. Perhaps move Unit #996 to slot#201, 997 to 996, 998 to 997, 999 to 998 and 201 to 999? (I know a lot of faffing for little impact :o )

7. No MRVs? - spot the player testing against mujahideen!

8. as before PLEASE add a comment to the "Info" OOB tab. It needs to reflect your "ownership" and Version numbers/dates so we all know that we are looking at the same version.

Enough for now :angel

Keep up the good work! :up:

[scorpio_rocks]

Quick version of the Wesserflug P1003:

Proposed "desert" colour scheme (or perhaps "summer") - proprotors need some work (esp in heli mode) and some general blending and shading.

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb192/scorpio_rocks/p1003_zpsmfnprphw.png http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb192/scorpio_rocks/p1003vtol_zpsk71cjaap.png

Is this looking ok? Is the size about right?

[RecruitMonty]

Does it also have to be called the 1000lb Bomb or can I just take my 1000kg Bombe and stick it there?

[RecruitMonty]

OBat #35

1. Weapon #198 MUST be the 1000lb bomb (the game uses this for ammo explosions, etc).

2. SP Mortars: [see post #111] possible this only effects Unit #312.

3. Rocket APC: [see Post #113 ] Marder and Buffel "+" versions (Units # 404, 405, 406, 414, 415, 416, 417, 418, 419, 420, 421)

4. Unit #248 - Sorry can we have a more suitable icon? Shouldn't this at least be a heavy truck (Jupiter or Faun perhaps)?

5. "Info" OOB comment needs to reflect your "ownership" and Version numbers/dates so we know we are looking at the same version.

6. Formations #114 & #117 and #115 & #116 are functionally identical. Naval Artillery works a little differently than normal stuff - all types (units) will be available to choose for all formations. It's probably better to just have formations for say 4,5,6 and 8 "guns/turrets/ships".

7. It can be a little flustrating organising an amphibious assault with only 1 type of barge / landing craft and no supporting vessels. (yes I know I'm running into the space restrictions)

1 thru 5 done.

6. Naval support has to remain the way I've sorted it out. The type of weapon is listed in the name. Those buying have to stick to that. This way the loadouts on various types of ship are best represented.

7. Will take a look and see what I can cook up for 35. I was hoping that someone had some ideas for landing craft or had made some German landing craft. If not I'll do something generic for infantry and armour.

OBat #44

1. Weapon #198 MUST be the 1000lb bomb (the game uses this for ammo explosions, etc).

2. SP Mortars: [see post #111] possible this only effects Unit #263 sWS.

3. Unit #248 - Barge carrier see point 4 above.

4. Formation #149 set to Nation 99 - can't choose a landing craft for my marines.

5. As note 7 above - lack of support for a marine landing and no Colonial battles in the river deltas of SE Asia or "Darkest German Africa"? (no boats, rivercraft, LCS, LCG, etc and the one formation of 2 barges with only 1 type of L/C with a 250 carry capacity). A Marine Company wont fit on 4 std barges...

6. Unit #201 is out of order. All naval support is "supposed" to be consecutive and in increasing size order - as this OoB will never be used by the AI this is probably less important, but when choosing our own naval bombardments they come up in a wierd order. Perhaps move Unit #996 to slot#201, 997 to 996, 998 to 997, 999 to 998 and 201 to 999? (I know a lot of faffing for little impact )

7. No MRVs? - spot the player testing against mujahideen!

8. as before PLEASE add a comment to the "Info" OOB tab. It needs to reflect your "ownership" and Version numbers/dates so we all know that we are looking at the same version.

1, 2, 4 and 8 done.

3. see above

5. see above

6. I'll leave this as is. 201 is not meant to be used that often in any case.

7. MRVs? Mobile Recovery Vehicles? Those are in 35. You need to use the OOBs together for some units. Or do you mean Mine Resistant Vehicles? OOB44 isn't meant to have any of those as such. You have to be careful around the Mujas. I might update the SPz. 60 series to compensate. We shall see.

[RecruitMonty]

Quick version of the Wesserflug P1003:

Proposed "desert" colour scheme (or perhaps "summer") - proprotors need some work (esp in heli mode) and some general blending and shading.



Is this looking ok? Is the size about right?

Nice desert version! Looks outstanding. Winter and camo versions (similar to the rest of the helicopters) would be much appreciated.

[Wiking]

He means mine-resistant-vehicles, MRAPS and the like.

[RecruitMonty]

Ah! Do we need those? :o

[RecruitMonty]

I will load up the revised OOBs on Tuesday evening. Have about half the work done already.

[scorpio_rocks]

Does it also have to be called the 1000lb Bomb or can I just take my 1000kg Bombe and stick it there?

It can be called anything you like - just needs the stats to generate a bang :D

6. Naval support has to remain the way I've sorted it out. The type of weapon is listed in the name. Those buying have to stick to that. This way the loadouts on various types of ship are best represented.

Have another try at picking naval support in a beach assault - you will see that the listed formations are identical as ALL Naval artillery can be picked. I'm happy for you not to change it just seems superfluous - I guess few folks will do amphibious assaults lol

7. Will take a look and see what I can cook up for 35. I was hoping that someone had some ideas for landing craft or had made some German landing craft. If not I'll do something generic for infantry and armour

I can put some ideas together if you like (just done a marine contingent for my fantasy nation)?

7. MRVs? Mobile Recovery Vehicles? Those are in 35. You need to use the OOBs together for some units. Or do you mean Mine Resistant Vehicles? OOB44 isn't meant to have any of those as such. You have to be careful around the Mujas. I might update the SPz. 60 series to compensate. We shall see.

Sorry, yes MRAP (Mine resistant) type stuff. I know the modern German army Dingo (which appears in Das Reich) is a MRV. I believe they also used a "caged" version in Afghan.

Nice desert version! Looks outstanding. Winter and camo versions (similar to the rest of the helicopters) would be much appreciated.

Thanks, glad you like it! I will sort out the proprotors and do 2 or 3 different colour schemes - watch this space.

[RecruitMonty]

BETA TEST

UPDATE:

I have loaded up an update at the usual place: "Update 13.07.2015".

Read the attached readme for details of changes.

Look forward to incorporating the Weserflug and would like to brainstorm a bit regarding a marine landing force.

[scorpio_rocks]

Thanks Monty!

Reviewing now

Hope to have the Icons for the Weserflug done by wed evening and will drop you a PM regarding some ideas for the marine stuff

[scorpio_rocks]

Got a little free time today :)

Wesserflug P1003:
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb192/scorpio_rocks/Wesserflug_zpsmnfdns93.jpg

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb192/scorpio_rocks/p1003%20desert_zpsjpktxes2.png http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb192/scorpio_rocks/p1003%20grey_green_zpst7e3t2re.png http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb192/scorpio_rocks/p1003%20grey_zpsiwnmrczz.png http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb192/scorpio_rocks/p1003%20green_zpssagslq57.png http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb192/scorpio_rocks/p1003%20squiggle_zps3tfsw4td.png
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb192/scorpio_rocks/p1003vtol%20desert_zpsiq8ew3c4.png http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb192/scorpio_rocks/p1003vtol%20grey_green_zpso213laqf.png http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb192/scorpio_rocks/p1003vtol%20grey_zpshkhgdbbi.png http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb192/scorpio_rocks/p1003vtol%20green_zpscvv6pcbd.png http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb192/scorpio_rocks/p1003vtol%20Squiggle_zpsxn5vagfl.png

Some variations for ya! Let me know if you want any changes (e.g. "low vis" Balkenkreuz on different camo scheme, remove or addition of stripes,etc).

Feel free to use none, any or all. Attached zip includes jpeg and all 10 variants:

[RecruitMonty]

They look fantastic! :D

[scorpio_rocks]

a quick question: (please feel free to say "go away!")

What became of the other OoBs you were working on for this project? (USA, Canada, Green USA, USSR, etc)

[Wiking]

That'd be of interest to myself as well :D

[RecruitMonty]

A Good question.

At the time I thought that I would be able to work on the other OOBs in tandem with the German OOB. For a while I even did. I had added what would now be considered as rather rudimentary (in terms of the icon quality) American heavies and was working on a number of Imperial spin-off OOBs among the European nations. Increasing real world commitments and the realisation that I'd need to make two German OOBs and add many new icons for these alone killed what little enthusiasm I had for doing any extensive work on the others.

I may re-do those American heavies but for the moment I am content to just carry out minor alterations like sound editing. I do plan on releasing a Mujah OOB that is more up to the task of fighting the colonial troops.

[scorpio_rocks]

Hiya

In response to Landing craft / boats:

I am more than happy to create the icons for you - great source material, Thanks! Plan veiws always great :).

A few thoughts - You realise all the craft you suggested are HUGE, even the ELB is twice the length of the LCM-6 on which all the USMC monitors, etc were built. Either they will be enormous, unweildy icons or will need to be at a different scale / out of scale to fit (as the various LST are already in game).

Regarding upgrading and your worry that they will be antiquated - I am not sure this is true, as I understand it the current Landing craft of the British and US militaries are not that much different from those they used in WWII. (slightly improved anti-HEAT armour and speed). If you wanted a "Modern" version just make it slightly faster, increase the HEAT armour and update the weapons.

Where there has been an improvement is in the development of air cushion craft (Hovercraft). Perhaps some form of LCAC? Budget reforms have, unfortunatley, stopped production of new Finnish, British, American and Russian designs, but without finacial restraints all would have new hovercraft - both as Landing vehicles and (at least in the Finn case) armed missile craft.

I will get some prototype icons of the MFP, ELB, AF, AL amd PiLb sorted and posted within the next couple of days.

[scorpio_rocks]

First try:

ELB
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb192/scorpio_rocks/ELB_zpstgn7hvxv.png

Needs some shading and 20/37mm AAMGs adding on rear deck.
this is on a 109x109 .bmp so around the largest "normal" icon.
Along the right lines?

[scorpio_rocks]

First attempt EL AL (not happy about radar/radio mast shadow)

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb192/scorpio_rocks/EL%20AL_zpsuuhrt43s.png

May also need guns "Beefing-up" a little (even if this means they are not in scale with the ship), thoughts?

[scorpio_rocks]

When we get these to your satisfaction then the AF D3 and MFP should be straight forward.

Playing with PiLb now...

[scorpio_rocks]

PiLB Type 41

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb192/scorpio_rocks/PiLb_zpsrlshag8f.png

Not sure how different it is from stuff already available in game however...

Bed time here, Let me know what you think and I will improve them and do the rest later in the week.

[scorpio_rocks]

Insomnia means time to play:

Improved ELB - added flak guns, some shading and a few tweaks:

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb192/scorpio_rocks/ELB_zps30ic5zwv.png

[RecruitMonty]

Hi Scorpio,

Thanks for the quick response. The icons look very good. Just what I was thinking of. Can't wait to see the MFPs.

The PiLB 41 makes for a nice infantry landing craft - probably fit a platoon in there. A winter (silver/grey) version would be great too. Could MGs be mounted on it? I know they didn't irl, but some sort of armament couldn't hurt.

Could you make the main guns on the EL AL a bit bigger and give it a turret? I think the gunboats need to have a turret that moves.

[scorpio_rocks]

OK - How does the PiLb look in grey? 1 version with AAMG, 1 with anchor/winch - preference? thoughts?

Redone EL AL with enlarged guns/ turrets (and a few minor improvements) - better?

As for giving it a moving turret - fine no problem, However only 1 turret will move - is that OK?

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb192/scorpio_rocks/show_zpsuwy2ka90.png

[RecruitMonty]

OK - How does the PiLb look in grey? 1 version with AAMG, 1 with anchor/winch - preference? thoughts?

Redone EL AL with enlarged guns/ turrets (and a few minor improvements) - better?

As for giving it a moving turret - fine no problem, However only 1 turret will move - is that OK?

The PiLb looks great in grey. I like the version with the AAMG. Logical place to put it.

The EL AL looks great too. Nice turrets. One turret is fine. I guessed that would be the case. Imagine how complicated the icons would be if you could have more than one. Imagine the layering :sick:.

[scorpio_rocks]

I am having a nightmare trying to get the MFP's to look right and in proportion - please be patient, I wanted to have them done today but may be the weekend now, sorry.

[RecruitMonty]

:) Take your time.

[Akmatov]

very interested in the alternate history continuation of WW2 with some of the new German weapons. any news on when/if it might be released?

[RecruitMonty]

We are beta-testing at the moment. Ironing out the kinks. When the landing craft/ gunboats are ready I will have all the units finished. We will then write up some text for the encyclopaedia. Then we should be ready for a general release. Not long now in other words.

At the moment the mod is compatible with version 8.0 of WinSPMBT.

I have taken a look at the new 9.1 patch and there is a conflict between one of my mod's shape files (0083) and the files provided in the patch. It effects one vehicle in the new patch (a British AVRE). It is possible that I may be able to accommodate this set of three icons elsewhere (0088) and change the entry in the British OOB to reflect this. I assume there will also be some conflicts between my .lbms and the new ones provided in the patch.

A patch 9.1 compatible version of the mod will therefore be released later when I've had more time to make the necessary adjustments.

[scorpio_rocks]

I am still not completely happy with these, what do you think? (constructive criticism welcomed)

MFP and AF version:
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb192/scorpio_rocks/MFP%20amp%20AF_zpstqgxfxas.png

If you are happy let me know and I will up a zip file of all the boats

[Wiking]

Thus far I am pretty pleased with the state of the modification. I look forward to the full release. :)

[RecruitMonty]

I am still not completely happy with these, what do you think? (constructive criticism welcomed)

MFP and AF version:
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb192/scorpio_rocks/MFP%20amp%20AF_zpstqgxfxas.png

If you are happy let me know and I will up a zip file of all the boats

Think they are great. What were you thinking of changing on them?

[scorpio_rocks]

Nothing specific, lol. I just didnt think they were that good, sorry. I guess it's never easy to be truely satisfied, especially as these can never be to scale.

I will go prepare the .zip file now with all the boats - brb

[scorpio_rocks]

Ok here it is:

boats.zip file includes - MFP, AF D3 (with moving turret and with solid turret), ELB, EL AL (again with a stationary and moving turret) and the PiLB in 2 colour schemes, with and without armament.

Use whichever you like :)

[scorpio_rocks]

Quick question: Have I messed up somewhere or is sound 255.wav missing?

[RecruitMonty]

Dear Scorpio,

As far as I am aware 255.wav is listed as "click.wav" in Sounds.ini. Same applies for the mod.

I've loaded up the last of the helicopters and am now dealing with the boats. When I'm done I'll post up the new files (along with revised acknowledgements).

Will probably be ready by the middle - end of the week. Then I'll compile a list of encyclopaedia entries. We'll work through them and then we're done.

[scorpio_rocks]

Hiya,

Sorry was looking at the "Das Reich soundguide" spreadsheet which lists 255.wav as G43 sniper. No worries.

Would you like me to have a stab at a few text entries or wait until you have a template?

[RecruitMonty]

By all means, have a go. :)

[scorpio_rocks]

Ok attached is a .zip file containing 4 examples also shown below.

****
"Das Reich" *
PANTHER Ausf. G (Uhu)*
*
WWII Vintage Panzerkampfwagen V Panther*
Ausf. G fitted with early "uhu" (Owl) IR equipment*
*
[Historical Unit]*
{Pic: SPWW2 Icon: RecruitMonty}*
**
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*****
"Das Reich" *
LOEWE*
*
Project VK 7001 (K) Panzerkampfwagen VII Loewe (Lion)*
Super-heavy Tank*
Fitted with High-velocity 105mm L71 Gun*
*
[Conjectural Unit]*
{Pic: www.somewhere (http://www.somewhere) Icon: RecruitMonty}*
**
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*****
"Das Reich" *
Panzerkampfwagen Zug (4)*
(Medium Tank Platoon - 4 tanks)*
*
Standard 4 tank platoon used up till 1955*
*
**
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*****
"Das Reich" *
SS Hauptkampfpanzer Gruppe*
(SS MBT Section)*
*
Section of 2 SS Main Battle Tanks*
*
**
My Idea is to follow a (suggested) format =

"Das Reich" - Or OoB name OR Military Branch
FULL NAME - of unit with no (few) abbreviations
(translation if required, esp for formations)
*
Description of unit or formation. Including where necessary information on who used it and what it is armed with if the weapons are very abbreviated.
*
[Classification - Historical (existed), Conjectural (designed but never produced), Hypothetical (speculative)] - If based on "real" unit namecheck it here
{Pic: ??? Icon: ???} - IF desired (or known) give picture and/or Icon credits

What do you think? Am I miles away? I am happy to do as many as you want me to (Gulp all 4000ish entries if you like) - I may need some help with some translations.

IF I am on the right lines and you want me to do it just give me a shout and I will get on it (and send results to your email :) )

[RecruitMonty]

Agreed. The format you devised is great. I will begin work on the formations today. If you like you can do the tanks for now. I will come up with a fair division of labour by the end of the work week.

[scorpio_rocks]

Hiya,

I am working my way through the tanks preparing some encyclopaedia entries and noticed an anomaly:
The "(+)" versions of the Leopard 1A4A1 forward have Thermal imaging and a CIWS, is this right?
"normal" versions dont get TI till the mid 90's and the leopard 2 never even gets VIRSS never mind a CIWS!

Seems to be a lack of consistancy for tank self defence systems - the kaisertiger for instance gets an active protection system in the early 80's which is then replaced with a smoke screen/jammer in the early 90's.

If the Reich develops some kind of hard-kill tank defense weapon system in the 80's (20 years before anyone else) why isn't it on all their tanks? And why did they drop it in favour of a passive system?

Perhaps you have great answers which I need to include in the relevant text entries.

[RecruitMonty]

The "(+)" versions of the Leopard 1A4A1 forward have Thermal imaging and a CIWS, is this right?

The thermal imaging is correct. I changed CIWS to VIRSS in the updated version. I will post it up next week. IRL has gotten in the way this week.

"normal" versions dont get TI till the mid 90's and the leopard 2 never even gets VIRSS never mind a CIWS!

The regular Leopard 1s are meant to be a bit more rudimentary by the 80s. They are more or less the equivalent of the Panzer IVs in the late war years by that time.

Should the Leopard 2s - later models get CIWS in your opinion? They don't have any at present afaik irl.

the kaisertiger for instance gets an active protection system in the early 80's

The protection systems in the mod's timeline were developed to specifically protect the heavy tanks in the 70s - about ten years before the USSR or NATO countries - from emerging threats in the 70s-80s

The passive systems are replaced in the update for all heavy tanks.

[scorpio_rocks]

The thermal imaging is correct. I changed CIWS to VIRSS in the updated version. I will post it up next week. IRL has gotten in the way this week.
No rush mate.

Should the Leopard 2s - later models get CIWS in your opinion? They don't have any at present afaik irl.No I don't believe they should - thats why it struck me as odd, lol. Seems you have it in hand already if you have changed the active CIWS to the passive VIRSS.

The protection systems in the mod's timeline were developed to specifically protect the heavy tanks in the 70s - about ten years before the USSR or NATO countries - from emerging threats in the 70s-80sI'm pretty sure no NATO country has active CIWS on any vehicle NOW nevermind in the 80's!!!
The soviet Drozd system was available in the late 70's but wasnt very sucessful and was dropped in favour of reactive armour.

The passive systems are replaced in the update for all heavy tanks.with what?

Your later comments for the heavy tanks seem to contradict what you say about the leopards (or I'm sorry, I misunderstood).

In your timeline does the Reich develop some kind of active protection system for it's vehicles/tanks? in the 70's? If they did, fine, they would indeed have mounted it on the Leopard 2's.
My, limited, understanding is that the various systems were too big, heavy, slow and limited and were universally dropped in favour of reactive armour and passive systems (jammers, IR smoke, chaff, etc) - it is only in recent times that the advances in electronics, miniturisation and radar detection that they have become viable and practicable with great claims made for the efficiency of systems such as the Israeli Trophy, Russian Arena or American Iron Curtain.

No worries. I will get the first batch of 100 or so texts emailed to you next week, so you can see if I am doing them to your satisfaction.

Don't worry about timing - Real life has to come before a game,mate! :)

[RecruitMonty]

The passive systems of heavy tanks from the late 90s are now equipped with active counter-measures. From the early 80s the heavies are equipped with passive counter-measures.

The heavier Leopard 1s (Leo. 1A4A3 (+)) get passive counter-measures from 86 onwards. Nothing active.

The Leopard 2s have strong enough armour so I don't think they need counter-measures.

Indeed, no NATO countries afaik have active counter-measures on their MBTs, but I do believe Israel has some nowadays (as you mentioned).

Thanks for the work on the text files. Am working on formations. Lots to do :eek:

[RecruitMonty]

Update available at the usual place ("Update 14.08.2015"). Tell me what you think.

One last supreme effort checking through the OOBs and I think we can publish.

In the meantime lets focus on writing up those text files. Concentrating on problematic units first - those that are not so easy to figure out - and then when we've gotten them out of the way we can publish with those text files and release a "patch" with the rest down the line.

[scorpio_rocks]

Thanks for the latest update! :up:

Loving the new gunboats! :D

Hope to get you around 600 text files by the weekend (have switched focus to "problematic units" as you suggested)

[RecruitMonty]

You are very welcome!

Here is another one (Update 19.08.2015). Updated Panzergrenadiers, SS and Marines. They now have double MGs (models 45 and 55) instead of the single MG they used to have.

Update is available at the usual spot. I think this is now a perfect load-out for mechanised troops.

[Wiking]

Thank you for your continued hard work Monty. You've really transformed MBT into something monstrous and wonderful in my eyes. :D

[scorpio_rocks]

Apologies for the delays folks - real life unexpectedly got in the way

[RecruitMonty]

No need to apologise :). Take your time.

[lukerduker123]

Oh wow, this has gotten a lot bigger since my last visit. Sorry about the delays and such! Also, about the PM bit, I'm not sure how to fix this. Check my profile though and message me on Skype, I'd love to see the progress!

[Wiking]

Crazy question, how applicable would it be to transplant your sound mods to SP:WW2? I'd really some of these meatier sounds but I'm not sure if they are the same values. Guess I'll have to play around with some .wav files and see what I can safely replace. :D

[RecruitMonty]

Take a look at the spreadsheet I provided and you should be able to figure out more or less what goes where. A lot of my original work is additional i.e. I used empty slots. Having said that, 55 is the standard German AFV MG sound (its an MG42) 117 is also an MG42 and 44 is the flamethrower. Its all in the spreadsheet. Anyone heard from Scorpiorocks?

[RecruitMonty]

Will get on it when I am back in Munich. Am presently abroad.

[Wiking]

I've not seen him. I suspect life overtook him for the time being! Thanks for the advice, by the by..

[scorpio_rocks]

Sorry, Real Life did indeed "overtake" me - estranged teenaged daughters...

Got back home this am - give me 24 hours to sort my home out and I will up the text.

Will grab latest up date too and check I dont need to make any changes.

Sorry for the delay.

[RecruitMonty]

No problem :). I'm back from travels myself. Spent some time in the UK. Was good to be back over there.

[scorpio_rocks]

OK - Email sent :) Sorry it has taken so long.
Some comments may not follow your "history" and may need adjustment. also a few guesses in there.

A couple of minor adjustments needed in the OOBs:

OOB 35, Unit #247 Dates wrong - presumably should be as same unit in OOB 44, The armour also has steel and HEAT reversed for front turret (again good in other OOB).

OOB 35, Unit #826 (Wesserflug) wrong icon - still has drache icon rather than new icon (again correct in other OOB)

Looks like we are almost there :)

[RecruitMonty]

E-Mail? From what I can tell I didn't receive one. Try posting the work up here. I'll download and incorporate it. Will take a look at those errors too.

[scorpio_rocks]

Huge apologies for the delays folks - teenaged daughters...

Not sure what happened to the email - here is first batch (around 500) of unit texts.
They should at least give you a starting point to add your own "history"

I will keep plodding away at the rest of the units (unless you hate what I've done so far!)

[scorpio_rocks]

Sorry another couple of Icon issues:

OoB 44: #169,171,174,176 variations of the SPzMsr. 60/2
all have various SAM pits rather than the APC mortar carrier

[RecruitMonty]

Thanks! Great work! I am enjoying reading through the files. Will take a look at the broken icons.

[RecruitMonty]

SITREP:

I will be reviewing the text files and incorporating them into the mod. Once that is done my team and I will make one final review and then I will release a public version of the mod compatible with version 8.0 of WinSPMBT.

[scorpio_rocks]

Would you like me to carry on creating text files or do you have enough?

[RecruitMonty]

Yes please! If you could that would be great.

[scorpio_rocks]

Another batch of just over 100 text files attached :)

I could do with some info / background on:
Hyaene,
Bueffel,
Serval,
SSPz 44,
SSPz 60.

Sorry whilst I know the SSPz are amphibious APCs, is SSPz = SchwimmfähigSchützenpanzer?
(sorry my german is self taught and not great :o )

Batch 3 should do it!

[RecruitMonty]

Hi Scorpio,

"SSPz" stands for Schwimmschützenpanzer (amphib. APC). Sorry for the lateness of my reply. Have been a little under the weather. Thanks for the textfiles. Will take a look at them and integrate them too asap. I've been re-doing a lot of the lbms to get rid of the unsightly black borders as best as possible. Had to get creative in some cases. Will post up the results asap in the usual spot.

Regards,

Monty

[RecruitMonty]

Another batch of just over 100 text files attached :)

I could do with some info / background on:
Hyaene,
Bueffel,
Serval,
SSPz 44,
SSPz 60.

Sorry whilst I know the SSPz are amphibious APCs, is SSPz = SchwimmfähigSchützenpanzer?
(sorry my german is self taught and not great :o )

Batch 3 should do it!

The Hyäne is a light-to-medium cavalry tank (think Walker Bulldog or PT-76)based on the chassis of the E-25 (which incidentally is also the basis for the Jagdpanzer Jaguar). It is purely hypothetical and is supposed to serve as the mainstay of the colonial quick reaction force's armoured corps.

The Büffel is an IFV (similar to the Bundeswehr's Marder) and is based on the E-50 chassis. It is available only in SS/Gardekorps mechanised formations. It is also hypothetical afaik.

The Serval is a light (airmobile / transportable) tankette based on the E-10 chassis (similar to the Russian airborne tanks). It is used in support of airmobile formations and paratroops. It is purely hypothetical.

SSPz. 44 is based on the Landwasserschlepper II. It is an extrapolation of what a German amphibious APC may have looked like. It is analogous to the US LVTs of WWII. It is hypothetical.

The SSPz. 60 is a logical extrapolation (analogous to the USA's LVT designs of the late 50s and early 60s - LVT-5s - but with some Soviet influences thrown in for good measure).

[Wiking]

So glad to see work continues on this. Its really revitalized Steel Panthers for me, and the work you two have put into bringing it to life is incredible. Cannot wait for the final version :)

[scorpio_rocks]

Third (and probably last) batch of text files!

Plus all 750 (some redone/editted)

Most vehicles done, a few aircraft/helos done (sorry no idea on most of the aircraft). Havent done any infantry or artillery pieces - I'm guessing their info is more likely in the formations texts.

Please let me know if you need/want more or if you need changes.

[SaS TrooP]

Am I blind... or where can I get the actual mod?

[Wiking]

Monty has only released a limited beta to a few of us for testing. He's still working on the final release which will hopefully be ready before the year's out. Trust me, it'll be worth the wait. :cool:

[RecruitMonty]

UPDATE!

Here is what I would call the final version of the beta before the general release. Take a close look at icons, .lbms and unit text (especially the heavy tanks) to see if everything fits properly. Please also take a look at some of the more complex Companies to see if the full load-out is there Check both versions of 35 as well if you can.

Report back within a week and then, if everything is fine(although I have not done all the textfiles for formations and although I might want to make a few more tweaks here and there) I'll release to the general public.

I think I've kept my lid on this long enough. I can always wait until Christmas to bring out the final polish.

Update is in the usual place (Update 21.10.2015)

Readme for update as of 21.10.2015
****************************

(Compatible with version 8.0)

A. Change List:
************

1. re-worked almost all of the existing .lbm files

2. Added text files* (selected units and formations in 35 and 44)

3. Misc. small tweaks in the OOBs

* many thanks to Scorpiorocks for his sterling work on the unit texts

B. Files:
*******

"2Reich" - OOB 35 (Kaiserreich - see info tab)

"3Reich" - OOB 35 (Third Reich - see info tab)

"Obat44" - OOB 44

"LBM" - new/revised pictures

"Graphics" - all available mod graphics (just in case)

"Text"

[Wiking]

Couple bugs to report:

The PzH.18m Hummel crashes the game when you click on the "Information" tab in its unit card. I suspect this is due to improper formatting in one of the text files but as I don't know much about that, I cannot be sure. It still fires, moves and behaves normally otherwise as long as you don't press that button!

Some of the SS/Guards units (from late 1980's on) are lacking their LBM's but this is easily fixed for the most part. Pretty minor error.

[scorpio_rocks]

The PzH.18m Hummel crashes the game when you click on the "Information" tab in its unit card. I suspect this is due to improper formatting in one of the text files but as I don't know much about that, I cannot be sure. It still fires, moves and behaves normally otherwise as long as you don't press that button!

A couple of others do it too - looking in to it...

Also a couple of problems with some of the text files editted by Monty.

will give full report after weekend (I have a "significant" birthday to survive first lol)

[Wiking]

This is probably hardcoded and I don't think Monty can fix this, but I really wish I could get some more airstrikes as the Empire. :)

I do get some but jeeze, I'm drowning in Russian, Israeli and American aircraft almost every battle. At least if I had more strikes of my own I could return the favor...

[RecruitMonty]

Couple bugs to report:

... Some of the SS/Guards units (from late 1980's on) are lacking their LBM's but this is easily fixed for the most part. Pretty minor error.

Which ones?

[RecruitMonty]

The PzH.18m Hummel crashes the game when you click on the "Information" tab in its unit card. I suspect this is due to improper formatting in one of the text files but as I don't know much about that, I cannot be sure. It still fires, moves and behaves normally otherwise as long as you don't press that button!

A couple of others do it too - looking in to it...

Also a couple of problems with some of the text files editted by Monty.

will give full report after weekend (I have a "significant" birthday to survive first lol)

Well then... , congratulations are in order! :) Happy Birthday, in advance!

Download the latest text files. I've been working almost around the clock and have quite a few done by now. Put them in the same folder.

[RecruitMonty]

I do get some but jeeze, I'm drowning in Russian, Israeli and American aircraft almost every battle. At least if I had more strikes of my own I could return the favor...

In campaigns? I've not done any pick lists. Don't know how.

[RecruitMonty]

Could be that some of the text files have umlauts "ä, ü, or ö" in them. The game does not like them. I've already edited them out where I could find them. Its easy really. You just write ae, oe, or ue instead.

I've also realised that some of my text files don't fit (from left to right). I've fixed those. They've been posted up. I'll post some more up tonight.

[Wiking]

Monty: It didn't occur to me to record the unit numbers that were lacking LBM's until I'd made the changes but it would be any of the SS/Guards units from 1985 - 2020. Just run through Mobhack and you'll see it pretty quick :)

Also, Don mentioned they're up to 2025 and a slew of new Russian vehicles for the next patch of MBT. I know you've got your hands full with version 1.0 but I wanted to alert you that it sounds like we have a bit of a change coming in with the next patch you might want to prepare for.

[RecruitMonty]

Don mentioned they're up to 2025 and a slew of new Russian vehicles for the next patch of MBT. I know you've got your hands full with version 1.0 but I wanted to alert you that it sounds like we have a bit of a change coming in with the next patch you might want to prepare for.

Thought as much. As it is the mod takes up a lot of icon space. A slew of new vehicles being introduced will mean that I'll have even less space to play with. Especially since as of version 9.1 I have a space problem regarding turretless vehicles (vanilla Icon0183 collides with mine).

I have a work around for that (I take the three icons in the vanilla version and tack them on the end of mine in ICON0188, changing the OOB entry accordingly) Only problem is I am sure that that folder will not stay that empty for long and the units in 0183 are all rather important ones that cannot be posted up elsewhere as there are too many of them. :eek:

Maybe if we all ask nicely the Development Team might code in another mega-buffer like they did before. As it is, I imagine they are busy enough with additions. Let's see what happens.

2025 sounds cool. I wonder if the OOBs will be bigger too or if that is hardcoded?

[RecruitMonty]

Monty: It didn't occur to me to record the unit numbers that were lacking LBM's until I'd made the changes but it would be any of the SS/Guards units from 1985 - 2020. Just run through Mobhack and you'll see it pretty quick :)

Fixed! "35098" is the correct lbm for these units. Forgot to include it. Over-looked it.

Its in there now. Just re-download the lbms.

[Wiking]

If I can humbly make a suggestion Monty: Maybe eliminate some of the extraneous level bombers from the 35 and 44 OOB's? Just a thought. They are pretty cool but honestly I don't use them nearly as much as the strike fighters. May free up some much needed space.

[RecruitMonty]

Can't come on here until this is fixed. Do me a favour guys. Send me your e-mails so we can keep this thing going in the meantime. Will PM you. My anti-virus is not happy with the site at all. Neither are Google or Firefox.

[DRG]

All I can say is what I've seen personally and what I've been told........... I have NO problem with Internet Explorer or Edge or my anti Virus or superantispyware. It's only Firefox / Google that indicate a problem and all Firefox / Macafee will indicate is "unverified" and the only other thing I can tell you is what I'm told by Shrapnel and that is ......Google refuses to give details. Shrapnel has done everything the badware site says to check and the check shows no problem, but that doesn’t matter. All that matters is whatever google gets and they won’t help.

So Google as gotten so big it's reached "Imperial" status and therefore worse than what a lot of people feel has happend to Microsoft. Meanwhile innocent sites are being flagged and revenue lost but the organization that's claiming there is a problem is non responsive.

Don

[scorpio_rocks]

Kaspersky is also reporting trojans

[DRG]

Kaspersky is also reporting trojans

What do you do when you go where Google refers you to for help with the **non-existent malware** and that place says there is no malware but Google continues to say the site is bad and when you go back AGAIN to where Google refers you for help with the **non-existent malware** it again reports there is no malware but Google continues to say the site is bad .....ad nauseum

??

Catch 22

Shrapnel is being forced to are look at new forum software.

Don

[RecruitMonty]

Kaspersky is also reporting trojans

What do you do when you go where Google refers you to for help with the **non-existent malware** and that place says there is no malware but Google continues to say the site is bad and when you go back AGAIN to where Google refers you for help with the **non-existent malware** it again reports there is no malware but Google continues to say the site is bad .....ad nauseum

??

Catch 22

Shrapnel is being forced to are look at new forum software.

Don

I thought that might be the case too when "yahoo" kept popping up in my Kaspersky AV reports. I assumed that a portion of the forum's tools (maybe even hosting?) etc were either supplied/derived by/from yahoo.

If the only reason the site is now running smoothly is because the Google equivalents are in use, then that certainly supports the assertion that something odd is afoot. It is within Google's reach. The company is rather kraken-like.

Their info page was certainly of no use.

[Wiking]

Glad to have you back Monty. :)

[RecruitMonty]

Glad to be back!

I've been busy, as I said. The next version you guys are getting is compatible with 9.1 or whatever the latest version is called.

New sounds - some revised some added;

New sound mod (USA, USMC, VC, NVA, GB, Mujahideen, USSR and FR OOBs affected);

As well as umpteen little tweaks here and there. If all goes well it should be ready by early next week. Then we may as well wait until Christmas for a general release. ;)

[Wiking]

Have you given further thought to my suggestions? To reiterate I was going to suggest perhaps eliminating a few of the heavy bomber entries that may not see much use to squeeze in things you may find useful.

Overall I'm quite satisfied with the mod with the exception of it not always coughing up appropriate maps and of course in finding equal opposition. The Soviets and the US are the only ones who can really keep up, everyone else feels a bit squishy against the regular army. Israel circa 1960's starts to catch up though.

Admittedly, its a lot more balanced when you use the Expeditionary army (OBAT 44) against Mujahadeen/China/Iran other armies that are not as lavishly equipped.

[RecruitMonty]

I'll keep the bombers. I cannot think of anything else I need to add as such. I am having another problem at the moment. My maps and scenarios do not seem to work anymore since I updated. I have no idea what the problem is. Whether the maps are at fault. The Orbats in the scenarios or indeed the icons now that the resolution is much sharper. It is getting my goat.

[RecruitMonty]

Good news!

Fixed the problem and here is an update. Usual place. Name is in the title. Any problems let me know. Then I think its high-time, right? Right :up:

Update 08.12.2015

Readme for update as of 08.12.2015
****************************

(Compatible with version 9.1)

A. Change List:
************

1.Added and revised lbm files

2. Added text files* (for selected units and formations in 35, 42 and 44)

3. Misc. small tweaks in the OOBs (Leopard 1s and 2s etc)

4. Added and revised sounds (rifles, mgs etc)

5. Edited sounds in selected OOBs (see "Soundmod")

6. Revised icon files: 0188.shp and 0183.shp

7. Changed icon entry in Great Britain OOB for Terrier (Unit 068)

8. Edited "Muja" OOB 22 (opfor for OOB 44)

* many thanks to Scorpiorocks for his sterling work on the unit texts

[Wiking]

Quick overview of the update: Assuming I installed things right and I think I did, 0 Series Leopard 1 is lacking its LBM. As are several other early Leo's:

Units 025, 028, 029, 032.

[RecruitMonty]

Sorted it out. You can find the missing lbms in a file called "missing lbms". Its a sub-file of the update. It contains the first 488 lbms. Let me know if there are any more anomalies with the lbms. If so I will do a general release again.

[scorpio_rocks]

If this is the last beta release before going "live" then a full general release is probably a good idea - both as a "dress rehersal" and to ensure we all have exactley the same files.

[Wiking]

After applying the update I noticed a few more missing LBM's:

Units 640, 641 in OBAT 35.

[RecruitMonty]

I am celebrating Christmas abroad this year with family and had, up until now, been unable to establish an internet connection.

After taking it upon myself - much to the dismay of the rest of the family - to unplug the router etc I now have an internet connection.

A general release of the mod will likely take place after the festivities. Maybe before the New Year. After one last internal dry run.

In the mean time I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!!!

[RecruitMonty]

Check your PM's chaps, I've sent you the pre-release.

[Wiking]

Everything appears copacetic thus far. Any particular things you wanted to address for a 1.0 release?

[scorpio_rocks]

Looking good :)

[RecruitMonty]

Any particular things you wanted to address for a 1.0 release?

Yes, could you please test the different flag setups and see if the unit ID tags are all working properly.

Other than that, could you check if the larger Coys. are not missing any units off the end.

How are the sounds working out?

Are all the pictures present and correct?

I've made some scenarios that I will load up tomorrow. I won't release them with 1.0 but if you guys like, take a look at them. Have a play and tell me what you think.

Thanks,

Monty

[Wiking]

WTr. K/A LeFH18 (unit 138 for OOB35) Crashes the game if you click on the information box. Likely some error in the formatting on the description.

[RecruitMonty]

WTr. K/A LeFH18 (unit 138 for OOB35) Crashes the game if you click on the information box. Likely some error in the formatting on the description.

Taken care of! Thanks. This is exactly the sort of thing I want to avoid in the general release.

[MarkSheppard]

I'll mirror DAS REICH when you do release it on my own website; to avoid the mod being "lost to the mists of time", like so many other mods.

I'm already mirroring CWC v0.8 at my SP page:

http://alternatewars.com/Games/SPanther/SPanthers.htm

[lukerduker123]

Bug report: The 7.62 MG-42 KMG (Found on the Puma and other such vehicles) makes a noise sounding like a laser rifle. This isn't game-breaking in the slightest, just a quite annoying sound bug.

The Vietnamese (North) RPG-2 also makes the same noise.

The SKDFZ-250/8 Na makes the same noise while moving.

As does the SKDFZ-250/9

As does the Vietcong hand grenades

Kundschafter are all kinds of messed up. They play bagpipes when marching and make that same laser noise.

Sounds need to be looked over, it seems.

[scorpio_rocks]

lurker did you install the das reich mod sounds?

[lukerduker123]

I believe I did. I might reinstall though, just to make sure.

Edit: Reinstalled the sounds. Still the same, unfortunately.

[scorpio_rocks]

I cant check mine till tuesday sorry

[Warhero]

I remember as I wondered same zip-gun sound errors in some another mod (was it Vietnam mod?). It was result of some sound changes in game code or something. Don and Andy can explain reason better than I;)...

[RecruitMonty]

Well that is odd! I'm looking into this now.

I don't have any bag-pipes in the mod sound files. So the problem does not appear to be on my end.

The strange "laser" noise is the "null" sound that plays in the unedited "sounds.ini" file. You need to replace everything - not just the .wav files - in your sound folder with the new sounds including the mod "sounds.ini" file.

I don't use mp3s so if you are using an mp3 version of "sounds.ini" you'll have to get rid of it for the mod.

[RecruitMonty]

I'll mirror DAS REICH when you do release it on my own website; to avoid the mod being "lost to the mists of time", like so many other mods.

Many thanks. Making some small alterations before I release to the public.

[Wiking]

Any particular day in mind for the final 1.0 release? :)

[lukerduker123]

Took me three installs, but, yeah, it was all on my end. On a more minor glitch, the SSPz. 60/1 B1 acts like a soft unit when handling infantry. That is, if it takes fire the infantry inside it disembark and take damage.

[RecruitMonty]

Any particular day in mind for the final 1.0 release? :)

I'm still awaiting some feedback from scorpio_rocks. Did you check out the scenarios?

Other than that, I'm ready when everyone else is. An installer of some sort would be good - one day. But I'm not good at that sort of thing myself.

[RecruitMonty]

Took me three installs, but, yeah, it was all on my end. On a more minor glitch, the SSPz. 60/1 B1 acts like a soft unit when handling infantry. That is, if it takes fire the infantry inside it disembark and take damage.

Doesn't seem to be any way around this.

I need two types of Amphibious APC - light and heavy - and the game doesn't provide other alternatives - I checked in the game guide and referenced other OOBs (e.g. USMC). The other APC classes are also already in use.

Does anyone know if the light amphibian has the same functionality as an APC?

Might be down to the light armour more than anything else.

Glad the sound is now playing correctly.

[Wiking]

Unfortunately my schedule has precluded any testing of the scenarios yet. I definitely want to do that as soon as I get some more free time for it though. Glad to hear things are well though!

[scorpio_rocks]

Sorry had a few computer issues

Looks good to me (possibly a couple of minor niggles) but set for a wider release (I'm sure anything we missed will be picked up on pretty fast :P )

[RecruitMonty]

Sorry had a few computer issues

Looks good to me (possibly a couple of minor niggles) but set for a wider release (I'm sure anything we missed will be picked up on pretty fast :P )

Alright then. Then I guess it will either be this week or the next. I'll give you guys 24 hour advanced notice when the time comes.

[Wiking]

I'm going to see about picking up a couple scenarios and running through them this weekend. I'm half-tempted to cook up a campaign for this, incidentally... Which should be worrying since I haven't played with the scenario editor since SP2 in the 1990's ;)

[RecruitMonty]

I'm half-tempted to cook up a campaign for this, incidentally... - Wiking

That would be smashing. That was one of my primary motivations for making this mod. I had always hoped that it would inspire people to create scenarios and campaigns and maybe even counter-mods.

[Wiking]

I really can't promise anything of course, since my time is limited! But the interest is certainly there, and if nothing else I could probably cook up at least one silly scenario to try a stab at ;) I'll have to make sure to retain a pristine copy to do this with, as I am an OOB tinkerer by habit and obsession.

[Wiking]

Since its been a while, thought I'd check in and see how we're doing for a 1.0 release. I don't doubt real life caught up with you a few times though, Monty, just hoping everything is alright!

[RecruitMonty]

Since its been a while, thought I'd check in and see how we're doing for a 1.0 release. I don't doubt real life caught up with you a few times though, Monty, just hoping everything is alright!

I re-did the heavy tanks (1970s vintage onwards) over the last couple of days. Updated icons and armour stats. I am done with that now. One more check. Then the red phone rings (so to speak), you guys get first dibs, the rest 24 hours later.

SOON.

I've made some improvements to the scenarios too. I noticed the maps on two were out of whack. I also have some settings (morale, hitting etc) that better reflect the weather conditions.

[RecruitMonty]

Update!

In the last three days I over-hauled all of my SPGs etc. It turns out they were not behaving as they should do in the game. I had put them into the wrong .shp files. I've fixed that problem and updated the OOBs.

I cannot think of anything else that needs doing - other than text files - and I'm not going to hold things up until they are all done because let's face it, it will take forever.

So keep an eye on your PMs.

[Wiking]

I had a passing thought the other day, and I know you're just finishing up a huge project that's been a labor of love. But have you given thought to doing a "Monty's Cut" of SPWW2? I always tweak the German WW2 OOB since its a bit of a dog's breakfast despite DRG's best efforts, so I was wondering aloud to myself what you would do if you could overhaul it haha. Don't take this as a demand, more just someone musing aloud ;)

[MarkSheppard]

I always tweak the German WW2 OOB since its a bit of a dog's breakfast despite DRG's best efforts, so I was wondering aloud to myself what you would do if you could overhaul it haha. Don't take this as a demand, more just someone musing aloud ;)

What exactly do you want tweaked? I may have it in my huge SP ammunition dump.

[Wiking]

I was more curious about what Monty would do if he were to tackle it. But in particular just little things like implementing the engineering half-tracks, the smaller size Sdkfz 251 and 250 sprites that he uses in Das Reich. Better LBM's for some of the vehicles (Sdkfz 221 and 222 come to mind), and especially some proper camo sprites for all of the vehicles: the Polish campaign markings with the brown and grey, the Spring 1942 camo patterns with the first applications of dark yellow over grey, etc. Just things here and there.

Hell, I'd love it if I could have some properly camo'd Infantry sprites for the Germans.

[DRG]

251 engineering HT's are a waste of time and space as they have no game relevance beyond looking cute for a tiny handful of people who somehow feel we've failed because they aren't included PLUS THE OOB IS FULL

There are over 420 new Pics in the next patch for spww2,and 235 new Icons ( and counting ) as I recall there are new PICS for the 222 and 221 . Given THE OOB IS FULL a set to cover specific camo patterns to match narrow historical events is a waste of time and is one BIG step into rivet counting....... ONE of the reasons the OOB is full is we divided the German camo from grey to camo ( AND winter AND desert ) now even THAT's not good enough :doh:

Resizing the 250's and 251's is on my to-do list but there are so many variations in standard, winter and desert and they are spread all over the SHP files I've been putting it off until I have them all done as adding them half now and half later is not an option