@BerenOneHand I have replayed this mission about a dozen times and even used the map to make my own personal missions for fun. Playing both sides is really just a good time and seeing the tank roll up while I'm trying to load the emplacement mg's was terrifying

@HexagramCheng & @AzDesertRat , thank you both very much! The words mean a lot and make me want to polish the mission up a bit and add some much needed detail to the British lines. I love going into camera mode to fly above the fight and go flank-to-flank watching action all along the line.

I usually hate tank gameplay in this game, but the wonky AI kind of works when every side of the tank has a weapon... I love seeing the A7Vs roll up to the point before they turn to broadside the defending brits with twin mg08s

Just a phenomenal experience overall, thank you!!

Admittedly, this is the best WW1 themed workshop mission in Easy Red II. So well done, this map has some great atmosphere and the battle lines alongside the slower pacing of the AI in recent updates makes this feel like a real battle and not just AI running around capping objectives. Well done!

@rodeo This may intrigue you, but I am one the minority that largely is still skeptical with scripting as it pertains to AI. I do not have any extensive knowledge of Lua itself, but i know the general mechanics of the AI and they are surprisingly limited. I have discussed Melee scripts with a few authors though it is extremely difficult to make AI scripts that work without having some huge drawback. It'll either cost 30 fps or cause general inconsistency within the behavior of the AI squad in question. Man, this game is so completely different when you spend 99% of the time within the editor or camera mode when testing. The AI acts like they are playing a game of musical chairs and sometimes they see something that they can shoot at before they reach their 'chair'. It may sound abstract, but it'll make sense after making a few missions.

@BerenOneHand makes sense man, I have no idea about scripting or how any of that works as I am just a peasant who critiques everyone's missions. Maybe one day if I figure out how to script I'll try my hand at it. But I appreciate the response, thank you. Also @BerenOneHand, @Jaybee, @Bcarreon93 (shout out to @Sentry87 and @Nutella the Hun as well), your guys workshop stuff all kicks ass, it's one of the main reasons why I come back to ER2 so thanks and keep it up!

@jaybee & @Bcarreon93 thank you legends immensely! There is honestly influence from both of y'all's works within this mission (phase layouts and proper storytelling)! @rodeo, Man it would be amazing if I could somehow get it to feel more structured. The AI strangely seems to have almost no idea what a trench is and it is random chance that an attacker AI will chose to walk in it. I have a ton of spawns that do occur within the trenches, though they almost immediately will exit into the open ground. I have wanted to add more details like barbed wire traps and blockages within the trenchline- but since the AI uses the trenches so little I backtracked the idea.

Speaking strictly from the German side, I think an initial artillery bombardment for the advance would be really cool. Also, Idk if there is a way to have everyone start in a trench to simulate going "over the top" with guys blowing whistles but that would be cool. Going over the top with whistles blaring, artillery barrage, and NPC's charging would be a really great start to this.

He's done it again <3

I love you

+Note for all who play. This mission is a great experiment in ER2 AI behavior- you may witness AI that prioritizes craters rather than the giant expansive trench network laying right beside them... The artillery+automatic fire does well to mow down anything that isn't hunkered though so it all balances in the end.