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Section Leaders:
June Archive
23:10 EST You may not have noticed this but one of the scenarios included with Combat Mission is in effect a 2nd Tutorial! The scenario is Grafenwöhr and it serves as an excellent Infantry Tactics Primer. Now that the game is out we can provide you the documentation that originally accompanied this scenario. Carlos 'Los' Lourenco is the author of this scenario and it was always meant to be played along with this article to serve as a guide and learning tool and now you can do both. Los brings many years of real world military service into his writing and draws upon established military principals in his many valuable lessons. Head over to the Articles section and have a look at what Los has in store for you in this one. In an interesting dichotomy, Max Molinaro has offered up two diametrically opposed pictures. The first is a sullen and sad picture above in the coveted POTD slot and is a testament to the inevitable futility of war. Click here to have a look at the ultimate sacrifice of conflict. The second picture is available in his Gallery and is located on page 4. Surrender, Dorothy! Have a look at his Gallery Pages right through HERE. Local Mirrors of the new v1.02 Demo have been posted and can be found in the Patches / Demo Section. Site News: In the very near future I will be including updates from the plethora of Combat Mission related sites that have cropped up. I will still be providing the quality content that you have come to expect from CMHQ, the pace will just be slowing down slightly to merely manic in scope. If you have a CM site and want some free press, then drop me an email whenever you get some news or something you want me to mention and I will give you a blurb and a link! Free of charge! ;-) I recently announced on the BTS Forum that we have begun work on Mac Conversions for the popular Mad-Dog Mod Packs. The conversions are going well and we should have some updated info as soon the testing period is complete. -Madmatt
19:45 EST In a bold and surprising move over at Battlefront.com, Big Time Software has released a new version of the demo upgraded to the current v1.02 patch level. This gives you a variety of Ai tweaks, PBEM big fixes and most important, THE NEW EXPLOSIONS!!!! Head over to the Combat Mission Demo Page and grab a hold of this newest offering. Unless, of course, you already have the full version and then you can just scoff at all the silly people that don't have it yet and load up another DYO battle! Have a look at the Demo POTD Above! Click HERE for Full Screen Version!!! -Madmatt
19:00 EST Big Time Software announced recently that they in fact had 'SOLD OUT' of Combat Mission! They are now well under way into their second CD pressing and they expect about a one week delay before they will begin shipping out orders again. Seems orders placed in the last few weeks or so will be the ones most affected by this short delay. One added benefit of this '2nd pressing' CD will be that it will contain the forthcoming v1.02 patch already installed. Don't fire until you can see the whites of their Hetzers! Just some more peaks at a few of the new textures being worked on for the MDMP-2! Have a look at this most desperate defense position HERE. Urban Combat... Close, dirty, brutal, deadly... Nothing comes easy during a city assault and that point was hit home time and time again with the stubborn defenses in the German town of Aachen. Fionn Kelly spins a yarn of one brave German Company Commander as he holds his position against incredible odds! Have a look at this newest Herors Corner entry right through HERE. -Madmatt
19:15 EST A very few people have reported intermittent crashes with the MDMP-1 sounds and after talking with Charles Moylan, I have remixed a few sounds with versions that SHOULD work better. Please note that we were not able to replicate the crashes but all versions of the Sound Pack were updated with these newer version files and there is also a patch file that only updates the effected files. If you downloaded the Pack prior to today you only need to grab the patch. If you download the pack after today then the newer versions are already included in all the versions. There is also a graphics patch available that fixes some very small graphic glitches. Head over to the MDMP page right here and check out the patches.
16:45 EST Coming to you live from CMHQ Headquarters we have the Sunday night update! Tonight's POTD just goes to show you that Tigers and Panthers and vehicles with the word "jagd" in them are cool and all but there is a wealth of other vehicles in Combat Mission that just as nice to look at and even more fun to play with. Have a look up close right through HERE. The Heroes Corner section has had a little facelift and as well as some of the stand outs from before we have a new inductee courtesy of Bullethead. Have a look in HERE and see what Lt. Jork acomplished in the defense of Plomville! And lastly, and yes there is a reason for it being last, Max Molinaro has sent in another breakthrough medication from the pharmaceutical powerhouse, ReichsShctift. Have a look at Page 4 of Max's Gallery right HERE. -Madmatt
23:00 EST Got a wide load tonight so lets jump right in! First off how about another sneak peak 'in progress' of what the Mad-Dog Design Team has in store for you in the MDMP-2. A pair of StuG III's prowl down a gentle slope in an updated version of Last Defense. Have a look for yourself HERE. Just a short four days ago we debuted out new Scenarios&Operations section with a brand new offering from Wild Bill Wilder featuring the US Tank Ace Lafayette Pool. Tonight we again offer a Wild Bill scenario and it again feature S/Sgt Pool. This time it is a historical scenario will Pool and a heavy US Armored taskforce butting heads with the defenses near the fabled German West Wall. Fionn Kelly again offers insight and suggestions for both sides in his Analysis of the battle. Also of note is that members of Lafayette Pool's family recently contacted Bill and made some corrections to the events covered. Bill has uploaded a revised and more accurate historical overview and I have included it into BOTH scenario briefings here online. Head out to the Scenarios&Operations section and grab this sucker! It's a blast! And batting last is our weekly POTD Archive which now has its own dedicated section (if you hadn't noticed). There is a link in the Nav-Bar on the left that will take you right to it but then you just know that I will include a link right here at the end to, don't you? -Madmatt 22:00 EST Seems people really like the MDMP-1 so we felt it was high time to give you all a little sneak peak at what will be in Mad-Dog Mod Pack-2! Bil Hardenberger's work will be featured prominently this time around and one of the textures he has been toying with is that of the German Wehrmacht Infantry. Again, just like the Hetzer, these textures will only appear when there is snow on the ground. They do not overwrite the existing skins. We also plan on including at least one additional vehicle (looks to be the StuG III at this time) and I will be upgrading some of the other nationality sound effects to the new Hi-Action standard. I don't have a handle on when these goodies will hit your hard drive but one thing you can say for sure about me is that I hate to keep you folks waiting! Have a look at this winter camoed Germans HERE and from the back HERE. On the Mac conversion side I have some people looking to try their hands at it but none of them have received their copies of CM yet. I will keep you posted. Errata: In the Passwords text for the Sunken Lane AAR's it says that the British Password is: BILL, it is in fact bil with only ONE 'L'. Sorry for the confusion. -Madmatt 20:30 EST It seems that more and more people are receiving their coveted copies of Combat Mission. As such we are beginning to switch our focus from 'Hey, look how cool this is!' to one of ' How can we make it cooler together?' To begin that process we have uploaded the actual movie files from the earlier Sunken Lane battle fought by Fionn Kelly and Bil Hardenberger earlier this month. In order to watch these movies you must have the RELEASE VERSION of Combat Mission. In fact, you must even use the non v1.01 patched version! Instructions are enclosed in each file and they broken down into 2 zip files. Each contains all the movies from one side and they are both just 4 megs. So head over to the Sunken Lane AAR page and check then out! I mentioned yesterday that I went hog wild and dropped a large wad of money on a new GeForce II GTS card. Tonight's POTD shows just how CM will look with this card. For the record after about 10 minute search on-line I was able to find a mail-order company selling the same card for one hundred dollars less and that INCLUDED overnight shipping! DOH! See how I blew my money right HERE. -Madmatt 17:25 EST ITS HERE!!!! I got home today with a brand assed spanking new GeForce II Prophet 64mb Video Card tucked under my arm and did I find bulging out of my mail box but a envelope packed with Combat Mission. In a word the manual is just, "WOW!!!" So I fired up my new GeForce II and began playing around with the FSAA selections. The newest leaked driver (5.30) now support 9 levels of Full Screen Antialiasing (well only eight if you don't count OFF as one!) and although I play in the ungodly high resolution anyway (usually 1280x960) I could see a huge improvement in overall color vividness and quality. This card just screams and I am afraid that my measly little P3-600 may not come even close to taxing this bad boy. Have a look above at this 4x FSAA POTD shot and pay particular attention to the troops off to the right in the fog. The detail that can be made out with this card is astonishing! But then I always though PONG rocked! Wow, what a day eh? What could top it? How about the release of the MAD-DOG MOD PACK??? That's right, as promised the MDMP-1 is ready for your downloading pleasure. Be sure to check out the ReadMe.txt as it goes over the proper installation and a full list of the replaced sound files. Here is a list of the files that are in the pack: All New Hi-Res Grass textures! (Low-Res and No-Grass Options also available) All New Trees All New Tree Bases Improved Brush Terrain Tiles Improved Marsh Terrain Tiles 1 New Building New Jagdpanther Texture (replaces stock texture) New Winter Camo Hetzer (only appears when Snow is on the ground) Plus don't forget the over 17 megs of new and improved sound effects! So, use the link over on the Nav-Bar to your left and chose the download option that is right for you! Get Moving!!! One last thing, I added a sound patch that has two wave files that were re-mixed after I posted the MDMP and I also added a BMP patch that corrects a small graphics error (An ugly pink pixel!) in two textures from the stock game. Just copy these files into their respective folders. Those patches are both available on the MDMP download page. -Madmatt 15:00 EST We would like to begin today's update with a special CMHQ shout out to all the Papa's, Daddies, Pappies, Old Men, Gramps, Seed Bearers, Sperm Donors and DAD's whom without this would be a very empty world. I lova ya Dad!
Ok, now on to the show! You may have noticed an addition to Nav-Bar on the left with a new Scenarios and Operations Section. This area will host scenarios and operations with an emphasis on quality and will also include special Tactical Overviews provided by our own Fionn Kelly. We debut this section today with a fun little ahistorical battle from the legendary Wild Man himself, Wild Bill Wilder! It's based on some of the exploits of another US legend, Lafayette Pool, a Sherman Tank ace. This scenario is TANKS ONLY but a later next week we will have another scenario from Wild Bill based on an actual engagement with Pool. Head over to the Scenarios/Operations Section and download this first official CMHQ scenario. Since I first started posting POTD's months ago one little voice has been constantly whining and begging me to post something of his. Well ok FIONN, you have gotten your wish! This POTD gives us another nice view of the MDMP-1 Jagdpanther and the new scattered tree bases and grass textures. Have a closer look HERE and be on the lookout for the public release of MDMP-1 later this week. -Madmatt 19:00 EST To help give the BTS servers a little breathing room (although I hear they are running SimianWares newest Monkey-Away Refresh Protection software!) I have set up local mirrors for the newly released v1.01 patch and the "gold" demo as well! Available in BOTH Mac and PC versions! Just head over to the Patches Section on the left. Deep in the Germany's Black Forest stood a fortress of almost impenetrable fortitude. It was named after the small hunting village that housed the local inhabitants. Kichien Schinck would stand fast until late in May of 1945 when a team of crack Allied frogman penetrated the defenses from below and disabled the complexes intricate waste disposal Navertarotterrouterwaffe which effectively rendered the facility unlivable. Key amongst its impressive defense array were the twin pillbox 'spigot' mounts shown HERE in this recently de-classified aerial reconnaissance photo... It has been a while since we heard anything from our resident graphic guru of guffaws, Max Molinaro and while that is assuredly MY FAULT, I will blame him anyway! So to make amends we have TWO new Max pictures available in his 4th gallery page right through HERE. We also have finished organizing this week POTD Archive and even stuck in a dedicated link to it which you will find in the Nav-Bar to your left. -Madmatt 18:15 EST With the arrival of Combat Mission literally just hours away for the majority of you we thought it would be a good idea to brush up on some basic infantry tactics and to aid this we have Christopher Hall and his informative new article about Infantry Tactics and Combat Mission. Head into the Articles Section and get ready to absorb some small unit learning's! By now most of you have heard and seen pictures for our soon to released Mad-Dog Mod Pack-1 but it's important to realize this is NOT an end all be all pack but just the first of a series. MDMP-2 is already in production and one of the new textures will be the workhorse German StuG (non-winter version, I just like the snow is all!). Check out the two pictures above to see how its coming along. Picture #1 and Picture #2 I am still working on the logistics for the release and content of MDMP-1 but it looks like it should be available by the end of weekend which should coincide nicely with the planned release of the v1.01 patch!!! I will also be releasing a new standalone Full Version Only Scenario based on the exploits of U.S. Tanker Sergeant Lafayette G. Pool and the actions around Maastricht. This is an awesome little offering from the legendary Wild Bill and has the honor of being the first CMHQ Combat Mission Scenario released in this soon to be opened new Scenario Section. In the future we will be debuting a new Book Review section and a MOD section dedicated to both the Mad-Dog Design Team mods as well as other 3rd party offerings. Lots of great stuff coming soon so be sure and stick with us! Remember, If It's In Combat Mission, It's On Combat Mission HQ! -Madmatt 23:00 EST While I have never watched the show ( something about all those couples on a deserted island and NOBODY gets naked that seems wrong to me! ) I still felt the urge to haul out the powerful Combat Mission Map Editor and 'Have at It' with my take on the popular Survivor Television Show. Get stranded with this POTD right HERE. -Madmatt 16:45 EST As promised on the Forum I have updated the POTD Archive so it is current up to last Friday. Sorry I let that get behind like that. Head over HERE to see all the past POTD'd in all their full color glory. Now while we are on the subject of POTD's have a gander at tonight's little offering. Taken from a current Operation between myself and Kwazydog (no cheating Dan!) it's a nice overview of the sleepy little town of Noville where Hell came to visit this Christmas season. Click HERE for full-sized picture. As you have no doubt noticed, Charles is a fiend at coding and has been adding new features to the v1.01 patch even now mere days (hours?) before its release. He has recently added two new features which will give you another sigh of pleasure. The first is the addition of the Fixed Point Rotating Camera. That means that you can toggle the camera to rotate around a fixed point of the ground instead of rotating on a disk. This is been asked for some time it's nice to see it finally added. The second new addition is actually a further modification to the new explosion graphics I showcased here last week. There is now a slight chance (based on penetrating shell size among other factors) that when a tank Brews Up it will Catastrophically Explode! What does that mean? Well have a look below as an 88 AP round from a King Tiger shows this poor Sherman the quick road to hell!
-Madmatt 17:42 EST Well serves me right for not checking the Forum before posting an update! This JUST IN from Pimp Daddy Steve Grammont: OK, good news is... THE MANUALS ARE IN! Our folks will start building the units (i.e. bundling the manuals and CDs) tomorrow. Depending on how that goes, shipments *should* start going out on Wednesday. We are not anticipating a full day of shipping, if at all, so we guess that it might take until Friday or Monday to get all preorders out the door. Rough shipping times... US -> 2-3
days Please do not email me asking about when your individual order might ship (I have NO idea) or requesting some sort of expedited service (I have to get quotes for each, which I do not have time for). That's all
for now! I'll post another update when there is something
useful to say.
Steve 19:30 EST As I showed last week the new Explosion graphics are
quite breathtaking and here we see as a pair of 500 lbs bombs tear huge
gouges out of this Anti-Aircraft Batteries support elements. Open
wide and say Ahhh.... It started brutally and only grew more savage with each
passing minute. The allies, stunned by the German pre-emptive counter
attack struggled to regain the upper hand but eventually the loses
mounted to unacceptable amounts and the two sides began to count the
costs. Tonight, Fionn Kelly gives you a thorough recap and debrief of
the Sunken Lane battle and goes over some of the thinking which
he used to wrest this most vicious of victories. Have
a look at it HERE... -Madmatt 10:00 EST Well I figured I would get an early jump on an update
today as we have a lot going on and time is ever so short. First off, Dan Kowaleski has returned to us with a
incredible article on the US M4A1(76)W Sherman in hand. You will
remember Dan's earlier articles on the US Medium tank development and
this one is packed full with information, insight, pictures and
battle accounts of this famous iron maiden. Have
a look right through HERE! And to put you in the proper mood for Dan's article I
have whipped up a little Sherman heavy POTD.
This gives you a look at all 12 Shermans available in November 1944.
For the record, in June '44 there are 5 types to choose from but in May
of 1945 there are SIXTEEN variants of Sherman!!! Take
a look at this dirty dozen right HERE. In order to keep people informed of activities on
our other site I will start posting info on any Annex updates
using the following format. ON THE 'ANNEX: The Annex was updated today with our long awaited Ladder
System. Head over to the CMHQ-Annex
and read all about how it works and to get registered and begin to use
it! -Madmatt 20:25 EST There has been a lot of talk and conjecture on the
Forums about what (if anything) BTS was going to do to address
some issues that arose after the general release of the Gold based
Demo. Well some things were able to be fixed in the hours before the CD
was sent of to be mastered for all the others there is the v1.01
Patch! This patch is expected to be released the very
SAME day that Combat Mission ships out from the warehouse
which is also anticipated to be this coming Wednesday! We have secured the permission from Charles Moylan
to release the current Readme list of tweaks/fixes and
improvements that you will get with this first patch. Currently the
patch size is looking to be UNDER 2 megs in size although that could
still change. I have opened a new section called PATCHES
in which you find this Readme as well as the eventual
downloadable file and info on future patches and projected game Addons.
On the CMHQ-Annex I will be adding
a dedicated section covering the progress and development of the Mad-Dog
Mod Packs. Look for that by the end of weekend. Head
over to the Patches section and see what's in store for you! Tonight's POTD
gives us a tantalizing view of the very rear of another MDMP
texture, that of the StuG! Those explosions are stock
v1.01 though and they are truly breathtaking. But
then click here and you can see it for yourselves! -Madmatt 18:00 EST After the chaotic and exciting events of yesterday I
have decided to take a well deserved little break and get some behind
the scenes work done. I can't leave you guys hanging though so here is
a POTD from and interesting little Allied
attack I recently played. Silhouetting your armored vehicle is NOT a
good way to extend the life of your career! Have
a look at this sun setting POTD up
close. -Madmatt 22:15 EST As we mentioned on the Forum, one of the really cool
things about the Mad-Dog Mod Pack
is the ability to tap into the Winter Camo capability already
included in Combat Mission. These are textures that will appear
whenever snow is on the ground. While originally planned to be included
and shipped with the game, the task became too resource intensive to
make it within a reasonable amount of time. BTS wisely saw fit to
retain the core functionality and here is what MDMP
team-mate Bil Hardenberger has come up with...So far! Click
HERE for Full Version. Some people have asked what BTS's position on the whole
MOD project is. We have worked quite close with Steve and
Charles on this from the beginning but Charles was mysteriously
silent... Today we found out why! Included in the day of shipment release 1.01 patch
will now be included something that fundamentally changes the look of engagements
in Combat Mission. Bitmapped High Explosive graphics!
What does this mean? Well head over to the New
Features section and check out the New
High Explosive Graphics Feature!!! Impressive doesn't even come close! -Madmatt D-Day Nothing I could ever possibly say can even remotely
express properly the thanks and debt of gratitude we all owe those who
fought and died 56 years ago today on the beaches of Normandy. It
is a sad reflection on destiny that every day these proud warriors
finally succumb to the call of eternal peace and rejoin their comrades
in the great beyond... Please thank a Veteran. Everything you
have was made possible by their efforts, struggle and burden. Please
join me in a moment of reflection and silence as we remember what they
gave and continue to give, everyday, so that we may live free.... Thank you and God Bless... The name is Mad-Dog Mod Pack 1
(MDMP1) and it will change forever how you see and
hear Combat Mission. The POTD's
above are the exact same scene first shown with the default graphics
exactly as they will appear straight off the CD and then as they will
appear with the Jagdpanther and enhanced trees, grass and terrain bases
applied from our Modification Pack. While the exact list of enhancements to be include in
MDMP1 is yet to be finalized (we have SO much to choose
from) its a good bet that everything in that picture will make it in.
Don't forget we have many more tweaks and enhancements in store and we
are also looking at ways to accommodate those of you with Mac computers
as well. Expect to see many more pictures and sounds (yup!) in the days
to come as the release of Combat Mission and MDMP1
draw near. -Madmatt 18:25 EST The changes that Combat Mission underwent in the last
few months were quite unbelievable and one area that has really
surprised people is in the graphics. But even with their current level
of high quality there were some ideas and directions that members of
the graphics team were not able to pursue before the game was finished.
So enter the MAD-DOG MOD DESIGN TEAM!
With Dan 'Kwazydog' Olding, Bil 'Bocage' Hardenberger and errr ummm
ahhh me, Madmatt. This team combines these talented individuals with
one goal in mind: To provide you the Combat Mission Gamer with the
highest quality graphics and sounds available to increase overall
immersion and enjoyment of the game. Ok, sounds good but how are we going to go about that?
Well how about providing Hi-Resolution vehicle textures that have
several times MORE DETAIL than what's in now? How about new Hi-Action
sound effects that not only replace all the current weapons effects but
also add background sounds to many of the existing voice samples? Not
enough? How about new Winter Camo graphics for vehicles? New
replacement Hi-Res Grass textures! New Trees! And MUCH
MUCH MORE! Mad-Dog Mod Pack 1 is planned to be released
(free of charge) on the day that CM is confirmed to ship and expected
size is around 20megs. We also have many more Mod Packs in the
works with new ones being released either weekly or monthly. Tonight's POTD is a
sneak peak of the MAD-DOG MOD Pack 1
with a replacement Hi-Res JadgPanther texture (still not quite
done though!) and some of the new grass and tree effects. Check
it OUT! CMHQ-Annex was also
updated with a new Wargames section
which will host Fionn's new monthly Brain Challenge. This month he
offers up 10 new questions for those that feel they are Grog Supremes! So
head over to the Annex and check it out! -Madmatt 18:30 EST For today we now have the 19th turn report of the Sunken
Lane Battle by Fionn Kelly. It's
all but over now but Click HERE to read this second to last turn. -Madmatt 20:45 EST June has now arrived across the globe and to celebrate
I am going to... Going to... Well to be honest I am going to be sick to
my stomach and go lie down... I must have a bug or something... Hehehe
maybe I have been working too hard? Nah! Tonight, I searched through my never shown
POTD files and came up with
this one. Pretty much sums up how I feel right now! I think that GI has
the right idea! This picture was taken some time ago so the textures
weren't finalized yet and it wasn't shown due to its rather obvious
collection of casualty markers... Click
HERE for a Close Up! Fionn's Ambush and Counter-Attacking Primer against Bil
Hardenberger is almost finished and we start off the weekend with
installment number 18. Read it all
right through HERE. -Madmatt
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