Managed to get another machine - much better.
I had a very fast XP based machine, and was looking forward to a "Clsoe Combat" engine to the modern battlefield. Unfortunately, I could not play at anything approaching a usable speed. From the moment I opened the scenario, the play hangs up, then moves, then hangs up, then moves, and it's increidbly frustrating - beyond that, it makes the game totally unplayable.
The new:
While I had a fast XP-based machine, built by one of the best known gamer-PC companies, something must have been wrong. I finally got a new PC and decided WTH and loaded it for one more spin. What do you know, it worked.
The only thing that really sucks is that the sounds used for jet strafing still sound like WWII prop planes. Somebody just missed that one, I guess.
Still, I felt it only fair to post this update since my experience was apparently due to the the PC and not the game.