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**//COMBAT OPERATIONS MOD CHANGES//**
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CREDIT: alienzombie101, Jagre3-3 (Both usernames of original author)
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//BGroups//
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--This was altered to give AI units better morale, tactical, strategic and leader stats. My testing of the AI showed that these new settings increase the ability of the AI.
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//FPools//
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--All unit slots were unlocked. In Panthers of the Fog, there are more units than the prior releases, so this ends up with some hectic and intense firefights.
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//Weapons//
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--I maintained the game's current ranges, with the exception of close range weapons. I brought those ranges into more historically accurate frame. They are assault weapons, not rifles.
--I did extensive research on the blast radiuses of explosives of the period, including the HE rounds fire by vehicles and tanks.
--I changed every single tank, anti-tank weapons, and assault gun's armor penetration, again with extensive research.
-Be wary around assault tanks, even. Those bad boys fired HEAT rounds when necessary, some of them penetrating 5 inches of armor.
-The armor penetration of thde 88mm rounds from german weapons is quite a bit less than before. Due to German tungsten shortages in WW2, APCR shells (had a tungsten core) eventually became very scarce.
-On that note, I've used the values for the less effective, but still deadly, APCBC shells
-Also, I researched different ammunition types for said weapons to make sure the penetration values matched the most common or standard issue rounds of the period the games takes place in.
--Again with research, I made sure to include the proper nomenclature for weapons.
--I removed the Panzerfaust 60 from the game. Even though it was the most common Panzerfaust of the war, it didn't start production until September 1944. The game takes place in July.
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//AlsTeams//
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--Rifle Team and BAR Team are now broken down into two even teams: Able Team (Commanded by the Leader) and Baker Team (Commanded by the Assistant Leader).
-On paper, the rifle squad was assigned only one BAR, and was split into three elements: the Recon Element, the Base of Fire, and the Maneuvering Element.
-In practice, squad leaders found it more advantageous to split the team into two halves, one commanded by himself and the other the assistant squad leader. Squads were also partial to carrying two BAR's into the field, one for each team. These modifications made tactical maneuvers, like Fire and Maneuver, more effective and easier to conduct.
-The same modifications have been made to the Armored Infantry. They are renamed from Armored Infantry to Mech. (for Mechanized) Infantry.
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//AxsTeams//
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--German Grenadier Rifle Squads are now broken into two teams: the LMG Team and the Rifle Team
-These squads, contrary to what the game will portray, did not carry two MG42s. The squad was very reliant on the LMG's rate of fire for suppression, and almost every man would carry an extra barrel with him at all times to keep the gun going. They were outfitted with a single LMG, and the gun was crewed by 3 men. The other 6 men were a maneuvering element that moved while the LMG kept heads down.
--PzGrenadiere (gp) squads are now a single team with two LMGs.
-They were mechanized teams that rode in halftracks with the armor.
--PzGrenadiere squads are now broken into two even teams, each with a LMG.
-These men were outfitted for powerhouse suppression to aide in maneuver and the taking of positions during a hard push by the armor (Blitzkrieg).
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//Vehicles//
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--Every armored vehicle, with the exception of thin-skinned vehicles, has had its armor thickness brought to historically accuracy. These thickness are also based on the revision of the vehicle itself.
-For instance, the Panther G had 100mm front armor, whereas the Panther A had 110mm front armor.
--All vehicle names have been changed to include the proper nomenclature based on what each faction designated them as.
-For example, the original name Panther A has been changed to PzKpfw Panther Ausf. A.
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//UnitStructure//
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--The Armored Infantry Platoon has been changed to include 2 rifle squads (Aplha, Bravo Teams), a 60mm mortar, and a MMG.
-This reflects a typical Armore Infantry Platoon's field deployment. Apparently, they didn't draw the mortar or MG from a weapons platoon.
-I modified the Armored Inf HQ Squad to have the MG and Mortar.
--PzGrenadiere (gp) platoons, both SS and regulars, have three teams and three halftracks.
-As stated above, they were mechanized infantry. These are the halftracks they belong to.
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**//REVIVAL MOD ADDITIONAL CHANGES//**
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Because the Combat Operations Mod (alienzombie101, Jagre3-3) had set out to do the exact same thing I was looking to do, as far as historically accurate units and combat realism, I obtained the permission from the original mod author to use it as a base. Any changes below to the same files that the Combat Operations Mod made changes to is in addition to those changes, which can be found in a separate text document.
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//Misc.//
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--Modifications to the original Combat Operations Mod, v1.5, for correcting any small errors or ommisions the original author had missed.
--Using the workbooks of other games in the series, specifically for their calculators on armor, I verified that the vehicle armor data was correct per how Close Combat does its armor calculations.
-Where there were errors in the armor thicknesses, I corrected the data.
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//Maps//
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--All maps were cut down to CC2 map size, in terms of deployment zones. Panthers in the Fog's map sizes are higher scale, with an increase deployment zone of 192x192, where CC2 and following titles were 120x120. This means a larger map size, in pixels. So, I narrowed it down to matching the CC2 max deployment zones or lower.
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//Elements//
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--Using the terrain elements data from Close Combat 2: A Bridge Too Far, I modified the stock elements data to have the same cover, concealment and top protection data as A Bridge Too Far.
-This has made cover and concealment, in addition to the realism changes, and the correct use of that cover and concealment, absolutely important in the conduct of the firefights and the survival of troops.
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//Vehicles//
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--Modifications to the original Combat Operations Mod, v1.5, for correcting any small errors or ommisions the original author had missed.
--I used historical references on the weight, top speed and armor thickness of every vehicle in the game, then converted them to how Panthers in the Fog reads and uses that data (using a calculator sheet I got from The Longest Day's data wokrbook) to make every vehicle historically accurate in its speed, acceleration and armor protection, excluding the jeep, kubelwagon, Dodge WC51 weapons carrier, GMC CCKW truck and opel blitz. For those vehicles, I just made the speed and acceleration historically accurate, because calculating the armor would've been pointless.
-I also left the anti-tank guns alone, being protected only be a gun shield, which would only be effective against small arms. I also left the speed and acceleration be, as in-game, unless towed by a vehicle, are pushed around by their crews on foot.
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//Soldiers//
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--Modifications to the original Combat Operations Mod, v1.5, for decreasing the amount of smoke from 4-6 on leaders to 1 each. While it's nice to have alot of smoke for your troops, smoke grenades were a commodity, and most combat operations used mortars to lay down smoke for assaults and screening.
-I also removed smoke from sniper and bazooka/panzerschreck teams, because it was usually the regulare infantry and engineers/pioneers that had first dibs on smoke, moreso the engineers/pioneers.
