[dlazov]

Hello, I am a complete newbie to this series of games, although I have been playing board war games since 1977, and computer war games since 1992, I have never ventured much into the CC series, I think I may have downloaded a Russian Front demo from MS way way back but nothing much.

I am a big time fan of Steel Panthers WW2 from the SP Cammo guys, and as far as board games goes Advanced Squad Leader is still the King of them all (I have been playing ASL since 1987 and still play it face to face to this day, in fact I have been teaching my 14 year old son how to play and we just got him into his first taste of tanks...lol).

Anyway, I slowly reading through the COI manual and found this page. I just install the latest update from Matix and found a ftp link that I put in FileZilla which is allowing me to download quite a lot of scenarios, mods, and plugins.

I must say with the mods and plugins I am a bit overwhelmed especially since I have not even yet played the default game.

So my first question for now is not about the default game in general, I think I can figure that out myself, but what is all the mods, plugins and what not, and even though my COI is an East Front game why are their plugins for say NA, Grossdeutchland, the Pacific, the West Front, etc?

Oh, and lastly could some kind soul post a few links that maybe of use or helping out a new (old) guy?

Thanks, I'll probably mostly play solo but one never knows.

[US_Brake]

Hey dlazov,

When you start your game up you can see MOD SWAP button. That is a built in program that will allow you to add and remove modified player made versions of the game. In order for it work you will need to download a Mod. Unzip the mod (make a folder) take the PLUGIN file and cut/copy and paste into the PLUGINS Folder. Once you have a plugin in the folder the mod swap will recognize it and you will be able to install or uninstall the mod quickly and easily. So in addition to the stock game you will be able to play anything from WW1 to Vietnam.

Along the same lines. Maps. Most mods come with a built in grand campaign or GC. In order to play these you will need to download the maps that match each GC, unzip them and place them in the MAPS folder. Maps almost always come in a map pack so you can download them in a group. COI owners can use any CC3 map in COI no converstions needed so when you want a few new maps just download maps from the CC3 custom maps section of this site.

We use a free game site called gameranger.com for h2h matches and all versions of CC are supported.

[dlazov]

Thanks US Brake, I'll check into the GameRanger thing if I get to a point of wanting to do h2h. I am assuming that is similar to the Matrix thing Battle HQ or something?

Almost done reading the main manual, and the I wanted to finish reading the Grand Campaign manual thing.

I am downloading all the maps/plugins and scenarios from Matrix ftp site now. I installed about 4 map packs for plugins I maybe interested in the future.

But this morning after another pot of coffee I am going to walk through the tutorials and run a scenario or two to get my feet wet.

[US_Brake]

Start a good habit of using your hotkeys and check out your in-game options to assign info like individual unit morale soldier outline and bar indicator for cover. With those selected you will have valuable info while playing. Use your space bar frequently to keep troops in the command radius of co and ncos. Another good thing is to set your screen resolution high so you can see more of the battlefield, and you get to see all those nice details on the map and vehicle graphics. Set your time limit to 15, 18, or 20 mins. You will get the most quality game vs the AI that way.

Good Hunting.

[dlazov]

Thanks US_Brake, went through all 5 tutorials yesterday and did 'A Day in Russia', lost the Stug early, in the end the Russians called a Truce and I did not know how to accept it so I clicked the truce button and apparently that causes a cease fire. My command group had one soldier left standing, my guy was unconscious and one killed.

Going to take me some time learning this game, real time combat is different then IG-UG systems that I am used to.

Big learning curve but so far I do like CC:COI.

Thanks for the tips.

Still feel lost in the woods...lol

[thumb]

[dlazov]

Thanks thumb on the mods.

Well my son and I play ASL, but he is not so much into CC, he plays a little Steel Panthers but mostly for gaming he plays XBox.