Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

You need to replace the original icon files, with those provided in the mod - the 49 of the ICON0nnn.shp files in the game data/graphics folder. The unaltered files should be left in place.

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

Played the game for the 1st time yesterday. I was the SS in 1946 against the Soviets. I liked it alot. You guys put a hell of an effort into it and I appreciate it.

I did notice one thing. It seems like the Soviets did not have the hordes of men that they throw at the Germans in Winsp WWII. It was still challenging but I only played one meeting engagement. Maybe I'll try a defend and see how that goes.

Either way I am sure I will be putting in quite a few hours on this one :-)

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

Btw I used 3rd Reich oob at first time today:P... No any icon problem seen (yet). Looks good overall:).

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

Slight hyjack here (I hope RecruitMonty doesn't mind, LOL). But I tossed the Atlantean WW2 OBAT into MOBHack and I'm looking at it now, and I'm a little interested in the backstory you invented for Atlantis -- there seems to be a lot 'unsaid' in the OOBs (WW2 and Modern) and the files attached to them.

Like what was the history of Atlantis? What do all the names mean? :p

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

Monty, here's some (semi) convergent evolution based upon the same requirement -- massive firepower in a compact armored package.

US T31 (or is it T34) Demolition Tank = 105mm Howitzer, plus two rocket launchers on either side, capable of being reloaded from under armor.

German Pz IV project to use 7.5cm Recoilless Rifles. Attached is an icon that got done uh, ten years ago for the RGW Mod for SPWW2v2 DOS. Maybe you can use it for inspiration.

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

Btw, is it any way possible to add both (2Reich and 3Reich) oobs into game (and flags too) at same time? Just using Red/Green or someboby else oobs for them?

Just asking:P

Warhero

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

I wouldn't recommend that. You'd be replacing four OOBs for next to no effect.

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

Did you get the private message I sent you answering this? I ask because it wasn't in my 'Sent Box' and I don't want to derail RecruitMonty's thread too much.

troopie

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

I wouldn't recommend that. You'd be replacing four OOBs for next to no effect.[/quote]

I think it could be better add 2 other oobs into Red/Green (for example) than change 2 oobs all time (depending of course about player's own willing to play as 2Reich/3Reich oobs):re:... But I like to play with both sets;). Okay using Red map will be more mountain terrain but it can be changed easily into more suitable map. So it's not big problem? Another thing is possible icon "mess" by using both 2Reich/3Reich (just speculation I admit)... Any risk exist?

Just 2 cents

Warhero

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

No "icon mess" as such as both variants of 35 are identical in that regard.

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

UPDATE!

The mod is at present not compatible with MBT Version 10. I am looking into whether or not it is possible to aleviate this situation. I cannot however make any promises at this time.

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

Fortunately I left my another copy (Das Reich) WinSPMBT alone as version 9;)... But in the end of day, what new things version 10 can add into Das Reich mod?

Warhero

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

It isn't V10 adding stuff into Das Reich - it is the new icons overwritting the files used for icons in the mod...

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

Okay thanks about info. Great mod btw:)!

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

Hello Gents,

I'm almost done updating the mod. Just had a question. Someone, I believe it was MarkSheppard, supplied me with some lovely colour pictures of tanks as well as a background / title screen. Only trouble is I don't know what to do with them so that they appear in the game. Any ideas?

The update, when it is ready, will be a straight forward enough job to do.

I've copied all the files that remained the same from version 1.0P (text, ranks, names and a few odds and sods) and have filled in the gaps with all the new ones for 1.1P (which now works with version 10 of the game).

You have two choices. Make a clean copy of version 10 of MBT and then install version 1.1P of the mod over it or update the copy of mbt you installed the mod to with the version 10 patch of MBT and then install the 1.1P Update (April 2016) of the mod over it making sure you overwrite everything you need to overwrite in both cases.

Be sure to save your scenarios etc. Some of them may be broken as of this updapte as the icons were changed around for most of the turret-less units. Although when I fired up one of my scenarios after updating all seemed in order on the icon front at least. Just read the readme for the update and be sure to take a look in the general Readme too for new acknowledgements.

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

The "Splash" screens are stored in the
...Shrapnel Games/Game Data/Pictures/Interface
folder.
Just replace the MCPPic, MCPPic1, MCPPic2, MCPPic3 files.

Mark's Links seem to be broken... Can get to his site but no longer seem to be able to find the screens or Das Reich files.

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

http://alternatewars.com/Games/SP/DA..._SPLASH_V2.zip
Splash v2

http://alternatewars.com/Games/SP/Wi...sReich1-0p.zip
DAS Reich 1.0P

I changed the URL from /Games/SPanthers to /Games/SP/

Sorry about that; but I intend to eventually put up an icon database, and I need to economize on URL length (even in 2016).

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

UPDATE:

Version 1.1P (compatible with WinSPMBT 10) is here!

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ayh13c8ik...v--6x2ona?dl=0

Now, who would like to help me develop and test some scenarios for the mod?

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

I've actually got an idea for a few scenarios. :angel

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

Here are three American strategic bombers.

The B36, a B52 in silver with stars and stripes on the wings and a B70.

I made these a while ago but I think you will like them.

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

Do tell :) ... ?

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

Here's a fixed version of ICON0188.shp -- the Ju 252 icons were off-color with incorrect palette conversions, losing a bit of detail. I re-input them into the SHP file and rebuilt their offsets, plus I made a modified color LBM for the Fa. 223Z.

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

This file contains 68 color LBMs that are a start at replacing the PM11211 - PM11485 LBM series that show up at random intervals on the game menu screens to add more immersion to DAS REICH.

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

Switzerland Must Be Swallowed!
Gebirgsjäger Air Assault

Date: June 1948
Location: Switzerland

Essentially, the Swiss find out in a series of scenarios that their alpine redoubt(s) are no longer impregnable, once the Heer deploys air assault units with the first primitive helicopters -- I checked, and the majority of Switzerland is well within the payload capacity of the 1.5 generation of piston helicopters (at altitude).

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

Interesting idea. Keep them coming.

My machine is on its last legs at the moment. Its an HP Compaq 6730b. So it is quite long in the tooth. I've saved all the important stuff - SPMBT related files etc. As this one likes to over-heat - leading to a BSOD in one case - I'll likely have to get a new machine. Any suggestions?

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

What's your budget? I recently put together a computer back in December 2015, and...I'd have to say, avoid build-your-own-PC now.

Apparently there's a 1-2% initial failure rate amongst PC components, so let the PC manufacturer find that out at the factory and fix it, rather than you be the one running back and forth to the nearest MicroCenter for parts.

(What happened was I think I got a motherboard with some bad parts, it could only recognize two out of four sticks of RAM in it; if you put more than 2 sticks in, it failed to boot/POST. If two or less, it booted. I didn't feel like taking everything out of the case to take the mobo out to see if it was bad, so I'll just wait until RAM prices fall enough to upgrade to 32GB (wanted that on four sticks, had to settle for 16GB on two sticks)

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

Decide what you want to do on it - word processing/winsp,etc or online gaming or whatever; desktop/laptop and buy the best (with the relevant stats) that your budget allows.

These days build your own is, as the other Mark quite rightly says, more of a hassle and in most cases no cheaper than buying from a reputable retailer.

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

Thanks for the advice, chaps. Wish me luck!

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

If you're buying a laptop, be very careful about what you buy!

They're no longer like 2005 or 2007, with easy-to-unscrew covers over the hard drive, CPU or memory locations, allowing easy upgrades/modernizations of the laptop -- virtually all laptops now shipping are sealed units -- if you want to replace the hard drive (if for example upgrading to a SSD), you have to unscrew the case, and take out the keyboard to get to the HDD cage.

There are still a few laptops that have HDD access ports, but they're the more high end lines, like Lenovo's high end ThinkPads.

So effectively in 2016, assume all laptops you buy are sealed for life units, if you're not able to examine them at the local electronics store for access ports on the bottom.

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

To elaborate, an average 1.5% failure rate of components out the box doesn't sound so bad (98.5% Chance of each component working out of the box), but because your average PC needs about 6 to 7 major parts to work (CPU, Graphics Card (if discrete), Motherboard, CPU, RAM Stick 1, RAM stick 2, HDD/SSD, Power Supply), the probability of initial failure adds up quick, reducing your crude odds of everything working out of the box to about 89% or so.

That's...not really good odds to be honest.

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

I'll keep that in mind. I guess they are moving over to the Iphone business model.

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

Agreed.

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

It's not the iPhone business model -- it's just that the market is demanding ever smaller, ever lighter laptops and that means user serviceability is no longer a prime concern -- it's a lot easier to design something really lightweight and small if you assume it operates as a (mostly) sealed unit for life.

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

Sorry, but exactly how many early helicopters does Germany have to make this heliborne invasion of Switzerland possible and how are these troops organised? What heavy weapons do they have?

I ask since I don't think even the USA in the mid-late 1960's (certainly then the leading helicopter army in the world) would have dreamed of using them to invade a first world nation, minus massive other more conventional support.

I'm curious?

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

I was thinking of using Gebirgsjaegers -- the 1st through 7th Mountain Divisions -- in operations against Switzerland, using a mixture of conventional foot/motorized infantry, and vertical envelopement.

Essentially the Fa 223 Drache in both the conventional and Zwilling form would be used.

The Fa223 could transport 1,000~ kg of cargo up to altitudes of around 2,400~ meters, and heavy experiments were done using the early Fa223 prototypes for mountain war:

In early 1944, a Dornier Do 217 crashed high up on the Vehner moor in Lower Saxony, between Osnabrück and Oldenburg, and it was decided to send the V11 to recover the wreckage. Unfortunately the V11 ended up crashing nearby before it could attempt to lift the Do 217's remains. It was then decided to attempt to recover both using the V14. Flown by Karl Bode and Luftwaffe helicopter pilot Helmut Gerstenhauer, the operation was begun on 11 May 1944. A small team of Focke-Achgelis men and a Luftwaffe recovery company had already dismantled the V11, and the V14 made 10 flights carrying loads beneath it in a cargo net and setting them down where they could be loaded on to road vehicles. All the major parts of the V11 and the Do 217 were retrieved and much useful experience was gained.

Following this, the Air Ministry decided to evaluate the helicopter's potential as a transport in mountainous regions, and the V16 was assigned to the Mountain Warfare School at Mittenwald, near Innsbruck, with the V14 as a backup. The objective of the tests was to see how the Drache would perform as a general-purpose all-weather transport, and numerous landings were made at altitudes of over 1,600 m (5,200 ft) above sea level, plus experimental transportation of artillery guns to mountain troops. When the trials ended in October 1944, a total of 83 flights had been made, with a total flying time of 20 hours.

The highest town in Switzerland -- Juf, is at 2,160 metres.

I've been reading a bit (okay I started months ago, and never finished), on Switzerland's war plans. Essentially, they planned to abandon the majority of the low-lands if Germany invaded, and hold out from high altitude strongholds.

What happens if helicopter envelopment makes that strategy infeasible?

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

The Swiss need to buy some Samhara SAMs and some Lohanastra gun missile systems.

troopie

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

That actually does raise an interesting question. How did swiss defense plans change with the advent of mass helicopter assaults in the 1960s onwards?

Suddenly, you can't count on mountain altitudes as an insta-win anymore and the armaments of alpine redoubts has to change somewhat.

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

For Recruit Monty, perhaps this could be the US tank of the late 1960s, early 1970s in the DR-verse?

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

Sitrep:

I'm still searching for a replacement machine. The search was put off due to flu. Now I'm feeling better so hopefully I'll be the happy owner of a new Laptop within the week - or so.

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

My Father did his National Service in the Gebirgsgrenadiere in the 70s. Among other things he learnt how to hold up a Btln. with a few good men and their Sturmgewehrs (etc). If you know your mountains you will always have an advantage over the enemy because you are playing on your home turf. The over all strategy remained the same. Resist as long as possible and if the enemy break through then continue the fight as guerillas.

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

So I discovered a 1968 article by Richard M. Ogorkiewicz titled "Thoughts on...FUTURE TANK DESIGNS" in ARMOR magazine (the US Armor community's official journal).

It had a simple equation which with some modification by me, proved to be pretty good (eyeball accuracy wise) for predicting protection for weight of a conventional tank:

T = ( E * W ) * A

Where:

T = Horizontal thickness of frontal hull armor in millimeters.

E = Efficiency of hull design.

Tanks with straight sides will have lower E numbers, while tanks with excellent sloping will have higher E numbers.

Rough E#'s:
Tiger I (2)
US WWII (2.75 to 3)
Tiger II (3)
T-54 Hull (4)
T-54 Turret and IS-7 Hull/Turret (5.5)

W = Weight of tank in metric tons.

A = Aspect Correction Factor (1.0 for front, 0.65 for side)

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

1920x1080 is my Screen Resolution. Right now I've got graphics in-game set to 0 and message dely set to 0 as well. Just did a test with "Windows tips" (or whatever the thing is called) switched off and with high graphics Settings in windowed mode with direct x. It seemed to work better all of a sudden. Although I did notice it kind of nod off a for a few seconds here and there, which caused pauses in the action (right clicks or movement etc).

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

Pictures no showy. :confused:

I see you tried linking to your dropbox.

PM sent.

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

Regarding the formula given above earlier; use the following factors for Panther style tanks:

E: 3.2
A: 1.0 (Frontal) and 0.38 (sides)

It's not an exact formula, but it does help answer questions like:

"What if the Germans used the principles behind the Panther to design a tank to replace the Panzer II in the scouting role?"

in a general rule of thumb-y way.

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

The screenshots RM tried to link to earlier are in this ZIP file:

DAS Reich Screens - 12~ MB ZIP

They're 1920x1080 PNG files, that I helpfully reduced in size for him by reducing them to the SPCAMO palette.

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

Mini-Update: 1.1.5P - July 2016

Get it at the link below:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ecglz2yel...vy9wX2Mpa?dl=0

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

UPDATE:

The files are located in the original download (1.1.5P) under the pictures directory. Extract the new colour pictures from the pictures folder into the mod's picture folder (over-write).

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

Hello everyone,

So the mod has been around long enough, time for some questions.

Does anyone actually bother with the sound mod?

How do you find it?

How about the M14s? Do you guys like the way they sound?

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

I use it in it's entirety when playing with Das Reich.

I use a customised sound set for my "standard" SPMBT which is based on Cross' original mod with additions from yours, Oche's, the default and my own stuff.

Sorry I don't use your #135 and #136

Re: WinSP MBT: Das Reich
 

UPDATE FEBRUARY 2017:

Greetings Friends!

At long last version 1.1.6P of the mod is here.

LINK!(https://www.dropbox.com/sh/x0fk7og8n...lkHgnK_La?dl=0)LINK!

I had planned to release it before Christmas 2016 but between one thing and another it got held up until now.

I would like to remind everyone that this is merely an update to the mod - if you want the full version I suggest you download 1.1P and then apply the changes in 1.1.5P and 1.1.6P in that order over-writing whatever you are prompted to overwrite as you go along. The usual warnings apply. Don't modify your regular version of SPMBT. Use a copy.

Below is a copy of this release's readme with details of what has been done.

The scenarios cover a range of topics:

400 pits a Coy. of OOB 44's Paras against some FLN insurgents from OOB 22 in the Algerian hinterland.

402-404 pits the forces of OOB 35 (2R) against the Soviet Union in an infamous setting.

405 and 406 pits OOB 35 (2R) against the US Army in rural France.

409 pits a group of French troops - armed to the teeth with a combination of French and German weaponry - against Viet Minh Guerillas.

411-413 pit various German formations against the Viet Minh in the northern jungles of (still, just about) French-Indochina (ca. 1953-54).

I hope you all enjoy them (maybe someone might even post up an AAR :happy:).

As always constructive criticism is welcomed and any tips on how to improve scenarios or get around problems that crop up with them are very much appreciated. Anyone is welcome to try their hand at devising their own and to post up screenshots etc..

Regards,

Monty