Dropping in to say hi Mr. Stuart

This is a great video by MalarckeyITA from the REI squad. Watch how they drive an opel up to a stuart, deploy MS and sapp him, just meters away. AFK? No way, check out the video and try to figure out what the Commander of the Stuart is thinking.

Meanwhile at the bridge of La Fere

The bombing of Sechault

David06photo reported from a bombing run over the allied held town of Sechault: " I did som low-level bombing of the allied-controlled town of Sechault. Despite the town being 20km from an axis airfield, the allies had achieved total air dominance so it was difficult to avoid the horde of enemy fighters."

Still problems with brigades, chat and spawning in

The maintenance today did not fix the problems some are experiencing. For days and weeks players have tried fiddling with the settings to make it into the game and there is still no official word from CRS apart that it is the players connection that is the problem. So there's still more people reading the Community support section (24) then the Barracks (13) which is not common (48 in OT reading about KFS1 post on Motormouths love for droids).
To logg into the game is no problem, you choose your persona and then wait on the Order of the battle to appear, so far so good althou it takes a while longer then it usually does. Then to choose a brigade doesn't work with a righ-click on the map so you have to highlight the brigade on the order of battle and then click Brigade HQ, it doesn't work either. If you reboot the game a couple of times you can about 1/10 of the times make it into the Brigade HQ and choose a mission, the same problem with the missions as the brigade selection occurs and if you are really lucky you can spawn in only to experience that chat doesn't work and that after a while you lose your connection to chat and after a while CTD.
So judging by the forums and the lack of players in-game we eagerly await an official respons from CRS on what's up. In the meanwhile other MMO's are up and running with no problems to connect to at all.

About the CTDs and missions pending

For some the massive outbreak of mission pendings and crash to desktops started a couple of weeks ago and some over a month ago. Yours truly experienced problems with the connection to CRS's game server three weeks ago, starting with the "mission pending" bug, followed by the occasional crash to desktop and Bloo commented in the Barracks that it was the players connection, not CRS that was at fault. The problem is that no other of the MMO's experienced the problems and when you run 2 accounts on the same computer, one could get the problems and the other working just fine. With no official statement other then it was a clientsided problem (the customers fault) the chat in-game and the forums have been cluttered with questions on what is going on and why they can't play.

Bloo, Director of Playnet Customer Support: " These two are connection related. Connecting to the game is actually connecting to several 'servers' or host processes. When you see those, one of those connections is having a problem. This is the same thing when you see the locked personas - one of the servers has lost connection with your persona.
These are issues we continually work to improve but they don't effect everyone and there are many intermediary points of potential complications on the route between our game servers and your desktop.
We always try to address many issues with each patch."
Topic changed: why do I CTHL all the time ? ( 1 2 3 )

Yours truly (Svedala) spent hours on brigade selection screen yesterday trying to get in, once in with primary server, there was no chat and it ended in a CTD. Today we at least got some word that someone will look into it., KFS1 will look into it.

Motormouth, Playnet Community & Public Relations: " KFS1 has been notified is looking into this to see if it's anything that he can address. I'm going to close this thread now. Thanks for your input, everyone!"
Connection to Host Lost, over and over. ( 1 2

Just in: GAME SERVER MAINTENANCE TUESDAY, NOV.24 10:30AM CST!

By the knife

Gefreiter Vosges45, Das Heer, reported: " I mobile spawned north of St Hubert and started to work my way south. The area was crawling with infantry and within minutes I bagged one I saw run into a hedgerow; rifled from about 10 foot away while he was paying no attention to the area he'd just ran into. I'd even tossed two grenades at him on approach and he didn't think they were meant for him I guess.
I settled down and decided to wait for anything coming into my area to kill.
The second was a guy I saw running across the north road and gave chase two. He went into one of those tree areas with the berms around them. As I was setting up for the shot he turned and noticed me. I fired and missed, he returned fire and missed also. I dropped to the ground and slew to the right and lost sight of him. I went around a tree and he fired at me again from about 5 feet away and missed. I dropped again and lost him. I hid in a bush and watched him walk right by me, took careful aim and... nothing, I'd fired my last round and never reloaded. I came out of the bushes just as he turned and dropped to the ground. He'd fired again and missed me as I dropped.
This time he dropped too and took aim at me. I kept slewing left, fumbling for my knife and managed to throw two smoke grenades. I finally got the knife selected and did a lil sprint/hop on top of him and ended it. Wild.
The third was again running across a field in the open and I fired, missing. He dropped, waiting then turned and ran right towards me. I fired with him about 10 feet away.
A few minutes later I moved to a new position and arrived too late to watch a 232 get sapped. I missed the sapper and moved to cover another nearby 232. While I was watching his back I was killed by a LMG from a distance. All in all a good mission, very enjoyable."
Started Nov 18, 2009 in a German Sapper from Champlon. Ended with 3 kills and 0 captures.

Zeebeee works on new ideas for the GUI

Zebbeee have made suggestions to improve the architecture of the user interface and some basics gameplay modifications for v 1.32 (1.31 is soon in beta).
Read his thread New suggested Graphical User Interface Unvealed
Features presented here are either ideas gathered/selected from community discussions or designed by myself . These try to take into consideration developers’ long-term vision for the gameplay , while exploiting existing code parts as much as possible or using similar approaches. I leave pictures free of copyrights but please don't forget to mention where it comes from. This study only focused on a few menus to introduce the new architecture logics : the side HQ screen , the platoon HQ, and the brigade HQ, which are the main screens used to find action and deploy.

New mission categories, mercenaries, platoon and squad missions.
Missions no longer have a fixed origin
Platoon can no longer be joined once it left ready room
MSPs are tied to brigade instead of missions

Zeebeee wants you to help him out with suggestion and comments so head over to his blog now!
Check out the full work on the official blog now !

The fall of Jodoigne

On November the 14th, the battle of Jodoigne commenced. With the german troops overrunned in minutes and french troops well prepared, turned the town into a graveyard. While allied fighter and bomber pilots constantly strafed and bombed the arriving german troops, preventing them from setting up a sucessfull defence and fresh french troops arriving to keep up the pressure on the depots, a column of tanks headed towards the town from northwest sealin the deal.

Pile of bodies marking the fall

Several times the german defenders managed to repell the onslaught and liberate the depots but soon theyfound themselves locked down in the barracks and bunker at the Armybase surrounded by enemy tanks. The floors of the baracks were soon full of dead german soldiers as the tanks started to close in on the doors. The whole battle was one of the most intense infantry battles in a long time with no more then a few squares within the depots and baracks as a safe starting point. Most who fought there will remember the adren

Major Wdwm1, eager to hasten the fall of the last
defenders blocking a door in the Armybase.

Top ten most kills in a sortie

1.	Capt Winstor	FR Army	Char	76 kills	Nov 08 0117
2.	Lt Col Gagamel	DE Army	Pz IIIf	64 kills	Nov 02 1758
3.	Capt Sss14	UK Army	Matilda	63 kills	Nov 06 1706
4.	Capt Tempest	DE Army	Pz 38t	58 kills	Nov 02 1810
5.	Capt Soulmine	FR Army	H39	50 kills	Nov 02 1708
6.	Lt Col Manni88	DE Army	Pz IIIf	46 kills	Nov 03 1305
7.	Maj Guns	DE Army	Pz IV D	45 kills	Nov 02 2319
8.	Sgt Maj Mrwinkie	UK Army	Matilda	44 kills	Nov 07 2300
9.	Lt Doctor13	UK Army	Matilda	44 kills	Nov 06 1712
10.	Capt Jck2	UK Army	Matilda	44 kills	Nov 02 2127

Combat air patrol

Major Mjdixon1 reports:

Aircraft: Supermarine Spitfire Mk. Ia "Z-K-L"
Mission Type: Combat Air Patrol
Airfield: Maubeuge Aerodrome, France
Date: 5th of November 1939

I Took off from Maubeuge Aerodrome in the late morning to conduct a combat air patrol between Brussels and Antwerp - both having been subject to axis probing attacks throughout the day. Leveling off at angels 10 I headed north east and arrived at Brussels a short time later, at which point I began a standard patrol patern, lasting some 5 minutes, after which I noted a Junkers Ju-87 Stuka below my starboard Wing at an altitude of what I aproximate to be between angels 03 and angels 05.
Believing that the enemy Stuka was preparing to dive upon our ground forces - and in keeping with my specific orders of conducting a combat air patrol - I dove upon the German machine with zest, scoring multiple hits on his rear and wing root area as he began to dive upon Evere Airfield on the outskirts of Brussels, it is at this point that the Jerry machine came under anti-aircraft fire from the Airfield defence Batteries, subsequently losing its port wing during its and crashing to the ground aflame.

I am unclear at present as to the cause of the enemy aircraft's destruction, being either a result of damage sustained from my attack or being due to the fire from the ground defences.

Having regained altitude after my attack on the enemy Stuka I was then vectored by control towards Bergen op Zoom to assist a Royal Navy destroyer squadron, which had found itself under attack by enemy aircraft whilst trying to conduct a naval blockade of the town.
Upon reaching the Oosterschelde estuary I noted the British Destroyers below me and identified another Junkers Ju-87 Stuka attempting to attack the blockading ships, as such I dove upon the enemy craft, resulting in a number of slashing attacks at low altitude until the Hun was eventualy downed by my machinegun fire on the outskirts of town.

Leveling off at angels 05 over the estuary, I considered my ammunition usage in the previous two engagements and decided it best to return to base due to my being low on ammunition - it was at this point however that I identified a flight of two Messerschmitt Bf 109E-4s above me at between angels 10 and angels 15 to the south east, presumably the late escort flight of the previously engaged Stuka - or otherwise a fighter intercept called by the Stuka for assistance shortly before it's demise.
Being at a clear disadvantage in numbers, altitude and ammunition, I decided the best course of action would be to dive to wave height and attempt to escape west towards the Allied airfield at Vlissingen.

I was however unable to dive away from the enemy before they were able to identify me, resulting in them both diving to attack me, as such I was forced to break a number of times during my escape to throw off the enemy aim, I also aggressively countered a number of dives by turning on the enemy and expending my remaining 60 - 80 rounds of ammunition.
Having defended myself against a number of attacks I had managed to disuade one of the enemy Pilots from continuing his course of action, leaving me with one remaining Jerry 109, who was finaly persuaded to turn for home upon encountering stiff anti-aircraft defences around Vlissingen Harbour, as such I was clear to land at Vlissingen Airfield and finish my flight with no damage to my own Aircraft.
Started Nov 05, 2009 in a Spitfire Mk I from Maubeuge. Ended with 1 kill and 0 captures.

Nov 05 18:43

Operational Sortie 01: Combat ...

Maj Mjdixon1 (UK/AF)

Intermission: 122 men strong paradrop

[AHC] Allied paradrop on October 29th 2009. 122 british paratrooper drops on a german held town.
French Country CinC Nobipure, 333rd British Knights: " I was on the lower transport and I landed IN the CP doorway, ran in and cometus was already humping the crate...lol. Died trying to defend SAB but took 3-4 with me! That was an epic para assault to be certain !S!"

Ce, 23rd Armour:" Was cool. We had 3 planes...As my plane was droppin,1 dropped right under us and the other to SAB. Looked great,but got late screenies. EXCELENT job all involved..Big drop."

Video by Cpwright


Read the whole thread in Allied discussions.