Hurricane

Ok, another thing: What about a battle briefing including a small map of the area, with *victory flags *your setup area *landmarks *exit zones *expected enemy setup area *expected point where reinforcements will appear The two last points are IMHO the important here (the others you can just as well look at during your setup phase). First, in everything except meeting engagements, you usually have a rough idea of the enemy's expected position. Pre-battle scouting is supposedly taken care of, so why is there no mention of the enemy's position? This would also add a whole new aspect to the game, i.e. "how much should I trust this intelligence?". It is of course up to the scenario designer to decide how much he wants to reveal to either side, and how correct that information is. Second, reinforcements (especially when defending) sometimes appear at the most unexpected places. I was just the other day playing a scenario, where I had left the main flag lighty defended, because it was furhest behind on one flank. Imagine my surprise when all reinforcements then appear on the other flank, just a short distance away from the enemy. Again, this is also something a good scenario designer would have included in the briefing, but my experience is that writing briefings is not the scenario designer's favourite task, so why not make everyone's life easier by adding some nice maps to them?

I guess many are designed with the AI supposed to be defending. As well all know, the AI isn't too smart, so the scenario designer might beef it up to make single-player a challenge. Of course, this means human-human play suffers.

Am I missing something, or is the only reason to camp your guys on the lower floor that they can withdraw faster? I.e. if I want my squad to hide until enemy infantry assaults my house, should I place them on the upper floor? Until now I always placed them on the lower floor.

Very good observation, Pud! And a good explanation by Dschugaschwili. I wouldn't call this a bug, but I can see two big problems with this "feature". First the fact that a reversing tank only can fire at targets at 0 degrees angle to its hull front. I get the feeling that the reverse command is more like a withdraw command for tanks than a "move backwards". I think a "reverse hunt" would make much sense. The shoot and scoot command would of course use the reverse hunt command after scooting. My main gripe, however, is that this is an undocumented "feature". If no firing while rotating while reversing is the desired behaviour, I think the manual should say so clearly. I only read this forum sporadically, and I don't think you should be forced to do so just to get to understand how the main commands in the game work. If a tank will stop to fire while doing a "rotate" command I expect it to do the same while rotating as a part of any other command. UNLESS it is documented otherwise, which it is not. Pud could have solved his situation by using a 'fast move'-'rotate'-'reverse' combo to kill the marder, but by using the more simple 'fast move'-'reverse' he killed himself. Since the manual at several places encourages you not to micromanage your moves this is a problem. [ February 28, 2003, 09:08 AM: Message edited by: Hurricane ]

I have managed to complete one game of FITE+SE. It took about one year (played against my brother) and ended with me as the axis winning! I still love those games, but nowadays I neither have the time nor space to play them. The map is HUGE and fills an entire room. Does anybody know what GR/D is up to now? Do they even exist anymore?

View 5 is also a normal view level in CMBB. I think it also could be mentioned that view 6 is good for micromanaging units inside buildings.

I think the real problem will be with the patches. How is some American guy supposed to understand to download the european patches from a german website instead of the US patch? Expect lots of "patch doesn't work goddammit!!!" threads.

Here is a link to a ranking by the respected Finnish magazine Tekniikan maailma: http://www.battlefront.com/cgi-bin/bbs/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=23;t=004533.

The very widely read Finnish magazine Tekniikan maailma (http://www.tekniikanmaailma.fi), which mostly reviews cars and home electronics has in its latest issue ranked the best computer games for 2002. Of the 3 categories Console games, PC games and Children's games, CMBB gets the first place in the PC category, and is the only game with 5 stars out of five! As this is a ranking article more than a full-scale review, the text is short and consise. This is my very quick translation: "CMBB is a turn-based, WW2 east-font era strategy wargame, which also can be played by email. You can for example send your next turn's orders from your desk to a collegue at the other side of the office. This way your working days go swiftly by while thinking of tactics, and your boss won't have a clue. "Gosh, it will take me the whole day to reply to all these emails." However, PBEM is nothing particularly new or revolutionary. CM2 instead draws interest through its realism and error-free depiction of tactical combat. The field units work like their real counterparts, and the shouting of the individual soldiers is like something taken straight from "Tuntematon sotilas". (the by far most famous Finnish war movie, my comment) Even the computer is a worthy opponent, and in order to beat it you need to use the terrain and resources at your disposal in their best ways. Good: - Profound strategy - Needs dedication - Longlivedness Bad - Roughish graphics No 2 was Battlefield 1945 and No 3 Mafia, No 4 Elder Scrolls 3:Morrowind and No 5 Unreal Tournament 2003.

Having played against some real newbies (and what I first stubled upon), here are some examples of what you could cover: * Which movement command to use at which moment. * How to embark/disemark vehicles effectively (where to put waypoints). * How to use HQ:s as spotters for mortars (how you know if they will fire or not, and how to avoid getting command from the wrong HQ). * How to use artillery (like not to try to take out IS-2:s with mortars) * When to open fire (especially for defenders, and how to make an ambush) * Understand the difference between a PzII, a Tiger and a ISU-122.

Well, I think the lesson is "don't assault up slopes". That's all I have to say about this matter.

Same as Boo_Radley, modem at home, so I download all stuff at work and burn on CD. A 56K modem works perfectly ok for TCP/IP and PBEM:s. I am still waiting for the energy company to come and install broadband through the electricity net so I finally can get rid of my line phone.

I would also really like to know a bit more about the guide. Will it be of any use to other people than novice players? I have no trouble beating the AI in almost any scenario, but I am well aware that there are lots of better human players out there. But will this strategy guide give me any tips on how to improve my gameplay from "good" to "excellent"? By the impression of the TOC and introduction, it won't. Quotes like So this guy is a total outsider, with no "inside" information whatsoever. I am especially disappointed that there seems to be next to no information about artillery and air tactics. So, all in all, I think I will try to live without this book. At least until you guys here at the forum who bought it can say if it's worth the money or not.

And I thought 64Kb should be enough for everyone.

At least according to Antony Beevor, most of the Russians in penal units were perfectly ordinary soldiers who had just been unlucky. If a Russian soldier retreated, escaped/was freed from captivity, talked negatively about bolshevism/positively about capitalism, picked up nazi propaganda leaflets etc. ect., he could expect to be put into a penal battalion. Real criminals were just a small minority.