Shep

The Tutorial Scenario...? An operation...? A scenario set in...? -early war/Finland -Stalingrad -Kursk -Late War A Quick Battle...? -with which parameters? The scenario editor...? -with which I will include which units? -with which I will make what kind of terrain?

T-28 models are not in either, for the same reason. The current game engine can't handle multi-turreted AFVs.

Virtual ASL

Conversion is not so much my bag as playtesting, which I intend on doing both vs. the computer and vs. (at least semi-)human types. However, I'd love to have your notes on conversion, as I believe it will be valuable in playtesting as well. shepfrbc@mindspring.com I do have access to both board and scenario information through VASL and other online resources for ASL. Even MultiMan has the .pdf files for their out of print scenarios.

I sold my near-complete ASL set a year or two ago, and hadn't played it much since the advent of children and CM (both seem to quash ASL equally, with the sum being a total quashing). As I recall, the scale was 40 meters/hex (about 2 CM tiles) and 30 seconds per turn (or was that half-turn?). Because of the gross weight of events in an ASL turn, the number of turns was quite limited... usually around 8-12. CM games run on the average significantly longer. What does one do with the differences in scale and event/time-compression?

ASL Vet: I'm curious why you feel the smaller-sized ASL engagements suffer disqualification in CM. Please elucidate. Mark

Okay, all. I'm willing to jump into Hill 621, and then one of the Stalingrad scenarios right after, or maybe even concurrently. Let's keep a good line of communication open through the Scenario Talk forum, and make these into fun and well-balanced efforts. I'm willing to put in some organizational leadership, but I certainly can't do it all. What should the stages for development be? Any of you scenario design vets want to chime in here?

-and- It's been a long time for some of us, and there are others who've never laid eyes on those scenarios. What were they about? What kind of unit mix did they feature?

What would be some wise and respectful guidelines for labelling the conversions?

Paw of the Tiger was a beaut, as I recall. I guess they all qualify, come to think of it, since CMBB can handle converting them all to a certain degree. Michael has a good point about the victory conditions. I think we'll really have to consider the spirit of the scenario and not the letter, especially if re-creating the letter is impossible. As for playtesting and balancing, we already have a fair number of volunteers. It would be nice to have more, and perhaps in the discussion and testing we can overcome the obstacles inherent in the task. I also recall that the Italian ASL module had at least one battle against the Russians. There were, of course, many from the ASL annuals and other publications. [ September 12, 2002, 06:34 PM: Message edited by: Shep ]

I know there was a lot of talk a couple of weeks ago about Hill 621... but wasn't that originally an SL or COI scenario? I want to open up this can of worms again to kill a little more time before we all get the game. Depends on your criteria. 1) "The Guards Counterattack" has a strong bid to be the first because it was the first... I think. 2) Or the first Beyond Valor scenario with the Finns and Russians in that burning town, "Fighting Withdrawal." 3) For sheer fun what would it be? How about "The Schoolhouse"? What rock and roll armor scenario would you favor? Here's a list of Scenarios from Beyond Valor: ASL Scenario 1 Fighting Withdrawal ASL Scenario 2 Mile 18 ASL Scenario 3 The Czerniakow Bridgehead ASL Scenario 4 The Commissar's House ASL Scenario 5 In Sight of the Volga ASL Scenario 6 Red Packets ASL Scenario 7 Dash for the Bridge ASL Scenario 8 The Fugitives ASL Scenario 9 To the Square ASL Scenario 10 The Citadel And from Streets of Fire: Deluxe ASL Scenario 1 Guryev's Headquarters Deluxe ASL Scenario 2 Berserk! Deluxe ASL Scenario 3 Storming the Factory Deluxe ASL Scenario 4 First to Strike Deluxe ASL Scenario 5 Little Stalingrad Deluxe ASL Scenario 6 Draconian Measures Deluxe ASL Scenario 7 With Flame and Shell Deluxe ASL Scenario 8 The Schoolhouse Deluxe ASL Scenario 9 Preparing the Way Deluxe ASL Scenario 10 The Final Battle Ah the fond memories! Perhaps a poll would be in order?

Perhaps they are Union soldiers, and this was an accidental slip of a screenshot of CMBA: Combat Mission: Bull Run to Appomattox. Soviet Marines is my guess too, though.

Michael, I think you have it in reverse. In the demo, there are officers in blue pants and brown tunics; in the screenshot, there are guys in light blue tunics and those funny fur hats. Kind of look like the canadian tuque or something.

Cossacks? They could be I suppose. They look kind of like that.

In the Gamespot preview, there is a screenshot that has Russian soldiers in blue tunics. Who are they? Partisans?

They really cut loose with the screenshots. Looks like there could be some spoilers in there if the screenies are from actual scenarios.

No prob. Just one of a crack team of thousands of volunteer experts. :cool:

Don't you mean penetration, not kill?

Is MG/AA gun rapid fire graphically rendered? What other new features has anyone noticed that are visually represented in CMBB? I've seen some of the new infantry AT weapons, such as molotovs and panzerwurfmines... the swaying trees... canister ammo (WOW!). Anything I'm missing or forgetting?

Goanna... Shep is short for shepherd. I am the pastor of a church by profession and calling, and many in my flock use Shep as an affectionate and respectful nickname. I'll take no offense at your jest. Good men have called me worse names than that, and likely for better reasons.

Hey!!! The American Robin thread is my original thread and intellectual property!!! Give proper reference or be tortured at the Castle Perilous!

I have yet to brew up an enemy tank. I guess early war weenie guns just didn't do the same catastrophic damage as the 88. So far in the demo scenarios I've killed tanks with ATGs, mines, rpgs, grenades... no flaming wrecks. Almost makes me miss the Shermans. Anyone else having the same experience?

My heroic CO HQ with the finite number of grenades had a rather grisly end. He immobilized the first tank, and they bailed. The crew then ran RIGHT toward him. It seems that grenade chucking is a stealthy endeavor. He then targeted the second tank, ignoring the panicked crew right next to him. Tank number two then succumbed to the stealthy barrage. At that time I thought he had it made... But then he targeted the crew, and BAM! BAM!!! those shootin' irons actually making a lot of noise as compared to the throwing of grenades. Incoming target lines appeared from every quarter and before the turn was out our intrepid HQ units were nothing more than so much swiss cheese. I thought the stealthy grenade chucking feature was cool, and I never had experienced that in CMBO. Don't know if it's new to CMBB, but it was new to me.

Dan, Thanks for the quick reply. Zowie! So the CO HQ does get his cross of iron. Posthumously though. Mark

This was new to me: a German Company HQ in the tutorial scenario was down to its last grenade; at least that's what showed in the weapons/ammo window. The two T-34s came in close to the objective he was defending, and he proceeded to throw three more grenades, causing both tank crews to spook and abandon their tanks. A medal for him, no doubt, but do squads get infinite grenades, kind of like the "low ammo" situation for small arms?