Talorc

Try putting an Ambush marker down in front of them. (About 100 or so meters out should do it) They will engage any decent target then.

According to this site the projectile also "accelerates in flight" http://www.geocities.com/Augusta/8172/panzerfaust13.htm#piat So the spring and charge must not be responsible for all the velocity attained. No plume in CM though is very cool. One other feature of the PIAT is that you can fire from indoors without the AT team automatically going to suppressed status afterwards due to the rocket exhaust. Personally though for actual military service the Bazooka of Panzerfaust/PanzerShreck seem superior.

The Panzerfaust website has good information on the subject, and why the schurtzen is effective against hollowcharge rounds. (Fausts, Schrecks, Zooks etc) Im pretty sure though that stopping hollow charge rounds was the intended effect of the schurtzen, not an unintended side effect. http://www.geocities.com/Augusta/8172/panzerfaust1.htm#spaced Basically the hollow charge rounds are extremely deadly to anything in front of them when they go off. If you can get them to prematurely detonate on the shurtzen, the destructive potential is wasted on the air between the hull and schurtzen. (You get a big hole in your schurtzen, but who cares right )

I would have to say that I am coming around to steve's version as well. I originally though rare AFV's would ALWAYS cost more than their relative combat value would indicate. Eg if a tiger is twice as good as a PzIV - it should be twice as much. I then though the "rarity" modifier would be put on top of that. But if you can get a price break, and the price of a Tiger is LESS than normal this should work OK. Every now and then you will still see rare AFV's. Is it your intention that forces picked using the rarity system will be balanced in Combat Power? Also will you be modelling the tendency of the Waffen SS units to get the "choicer" equipment earlier than most Heer units? Also I think this system should be optional. Please fix or do somefink BTS. ------------------ Talorc

Panther - Remember that pricing in the current CM is based solely on "Combat effectiveness" Thus if your Tank Model A was identical in performance to Tank Model B, the price for both would be identical. This would be the same regardless of production numbers. (eg even if Tank A was a prototype only of which 5 were produced and Tank B was a production model of which 10,000 were produced) So your discussion should be based upon the relative combat effectiveness of each vehicle, rather than the production numbers. You seem to be making quite a few good points in that direction, but upon which I do not feel qualified to comment ------------------ Talorc

Steve, If the Optional rarity system is implemented in that way, why would you ever choose a Tiger or similarly "rare" vehicle? (Heh, I know you said don't say "No Tigers") But I believe that even if the multiplier randomly changes there still would be no rare AFV's. Theoretically, the base point values represent the combat ability of the unit concerned and this point value is relative to the other units in the game. (And IMHO they are fairly well balanced in CM1. I assume CM2 will be the same) If I have to pay extra to buy a Tiger (at a multiplier to base cost - even if this multiplier changes it is still MORE than base cost), I am not getting as much "bang for my buck" as if I had just bought a couple of PzIV's, at no multiplier (Or any other suitably common AFV - eg the StuG or T-34). Obviously the point of the rarity system is to place limits representative of the historical availability, but you still want to win right? Personally, I think the system as outlined above could actually lead to underutilisation of the "rare" vehicles. Picking your forces will just become a min/max process, trying to get the most value for your points. Which will I think take the fun out of a historically limited game. Endless hordes of StuGs and PzIVs cold quickly get as boring as King Tiger vs Pershing slugfests. The point (in my opinion) of a historically limited game is to enhance your enjoyment of a QB by making you pick a force that is well balanced, but still along historical lines. Thus you get to play with the not so Uber toys (eg PzIVs), without fear your opponent is going to have 5 King Tigers (or JS IIs) running around. But I would still like the occasional Uber Panther! Fortunately I have an alternative suggestion. (Might be a bit tricky to implement, I dunno Im not a coder guy) First keep the same points = combat value system. This applies to all games. QB's are chosen with the existing force limits (eg 1000 pt battles). Now if you DONT want to historically limit your game, skip to end and choose your units/play like normal. Next (if you want a historical game) have a completely SEPARATE (and OPTIONAL, that is OPTIONAL "rarity" points pool to spend. Each unit has its own separate "rarity" value. Probably you would base this upon multipliers of the base cost (But you need not - you could just make these up, so long as real rare AFV's just cost a bunch more than common ones). The multiplier for each AFV would change according to the time of the engagement. You could also have the random multiplier here. (So maybe you got lucky, and your cousin in the General Staff got your unit equipped with Panthers first). OK now to implement a Historical QB you just set the number of "rarity" points available to spend to a multiple of the actual base points available. Want a real historical battle? Have the number of rarity points available = the number of base points available. For a bit "looser" (Historically speaking) engagement you could go for x2 points etc etc. (The multipliers will need playing with obviously) Now when you are choosing your units you have to satisfy BOTH points limits - the base "combat effectiveness" limit AND the "rarity value" limit. This way when you play a (OPTIONAL, OPTIONAL!! historical Quick battle, both sides will have a roughly equal "combat value" (from the base points) and satisfy the rarity value. (Which has a slightly more random nature to it, due to the possibility of random individual Unit rarity costs. The randomness of the rarity pool doesnt matter so much though - each side had the SAME amount of combat points available) Comments, suggestions anyone? Talorc [This message has been edited by Talorc (edited 01-08-2001).]

Got mine in two weeks Also. Living in Perth , WA. ------------------ Talorc

DigDug - If you liked CC you will love CM even more! CM has the same real time excitment as CC, but much better control etc. You can finally tell if you have a commanding hill position for starters.. Best bit is that infantry is actually useful, and a serious threat to Tanks at close ranges. No more driving to Moscow and back with the same couple of tanks...

Ah thanks Fionn! Covers all of it nicely thanks - It was the A1, A2, A3 stuff that was confusing me the most. Most of my previous tank knowledge was limited to German and Russian types, had no clue on the American types. ------------------ Talorc

Can anyone point me to somewhere where I can get some info on the various Sherman Types? I currently have no idea whether or not a Sherman M4A3(76)W(MOO)HVSS is better than a M4A2W+XYZ PK (EX) or whatnot I've had a search on the board, but most of the posts regarding Sherman types seem to be real detailed, and I need something to start off on. Any pointers on which are the best Sherman Variants would be much appreciated also. If you ask me the Brit system of giving the Shermans Mk numbers or names had a lot going for it.. Thanks ------------------ Talorc