ColdSober

I've got all three, plus the demos of CMBB and CMAK, still on my HD. That makes me think it's time I played the CMBO demos again. It's been a while!

I, too, would like them listed in chronological order.

S P O I L E R * * * As luck would have it, I set up everything I had at the start on the north side of the fort (where there are no minefields ), behind the ridge. I used my TRPs on as many sandbagged positions on that side of the map as possible. I used my Co HQ, along with three Matildas set to shoot and scoot from the ridge, to check for gun positions. Having located the Italian guns, I used both my arty observers to plaster them with fire, along with the three 50mm mortars. Once this had knocked out most of the guns along the edge of the fort, I used the remaining ammo from the lighter arty FO to provide a smokescreen, loaded most of my infantry up onto the Matildas, and fast-moved them across to the fort. A combination of ADVANCE moves for the infantry, and HUNT orders for the Matildas allowed me to move as far as General Maletti's HQ. When the reinforcements turned up, I simply used them to harrass the Italians' flanks. Most of the Italian Green and Conscript squads I encountered on the way surrendered to me, giving me a 82-18 victory. I didn't manage to capture MAJ GEN Maletti, but his Batallion HQ squad was panicked and retreating from the fight when the game ended.

You must have got mine, as I ordered yesterday, and still haven't had confirmation.

Bogart or Belushi? </font>

I vote Ligur writes the next strategy guide.

I accidentally disabled AUTORUN, and now I can't get it back. It's great with the CDV CMBB disk, but a bit annoying with everything else. I'd love to know how to turn that particular function back on :confused:

Too many to mention them all, but current favourites include: IL2 Sturmovik Vietcong Delta Force: Black Hawk Down Madden 2003 Am now eagerly awaiting: CMAK (of course) Operation Flashpoint 2 Pirates of the Carribean Snooker 2003

The guide isn't "s***" but the quality of some of the b&w pictures is poor. I bought the second edition on the understanding that they had been improved over the originals, but I'm afraid to say that they add little to the written text which seems quite good in itself. I know that Battlefront.com is more into serious strategy than pretty pictures, but it still looks like an opportunity missed. The people for whom the guide seems to be intended (somewhere between average player and serious grog) are probably the very people for whom decent, explanatory images would be the most useful. It would be great if the screenshots used were available to d/l in colour, but I don't think it's going to happen.

Are you assuming that the average commander in the field had a magical map that told him exactly what could be seen from every 10 square metres of the battlefield? You are being encouraged to think in terms of real life situations, and not use gamey tactics other "classic" games allow. I agree that when you're new to this game, working out what can or cannot be seen from where is very difficult. As a previous person said, getting down to level one, and skimming rapidly over the terrain is a good way to get a feel for possible lines of sight. Another useful tool is the terrain mod with an overlaid grid, which allows you to get a much better idea of slight undulations, and folds in the ground; I don't use it myself, but I've read that a number of people rely on it quite heavily. You will get better at "reading" the terrain as you become more experienced with the game. Trust me

Don't forget that objects, such as buildings, that you see on the screen are just approximate representations, and not to be trusted entirely. The only way to be sure 100% that you can't see the tank, or that the tank can't see you, is to use the LOS tool. And yes, this kind of thing has happened to me before, where two buildings seemed to "meet" at a corner.

I bought CMBO online, and would have done the same for CMBB if BTS hadn't decided to go with a European distributor: in fact I'd have preferred it that way. BTS's customer service is second to none. I might not trust them with my life, but I certainly trust them with my money.

Just browsing through the games on offer at Amazon.co.uk and discovered that Combat Mission 2 (as CMBB is known over here) is currently available with a 20% discount! Some excellent readers' reviews. Out of curiosity, I also checked Amazon's French and German websites. The French, as usual, have got everything arse about face and their description of the game says that you can take command of all the forces involved: British, US, Canadian, French, Polish, and German! And yes, they do say that the battles all take place on the EASTERN front The German site says that the game is currently backordered. I didn't read all of the reviews as my German isn't as good as it once was! I did see that the readers' ratings gave it 4 out of 5 stars.

You should have requested a cease-fire instead. I believe you always get it immediately playing against the AI. Sorry, just realised you stated it was a PBEM. Maybe your opponent would have accepted a ceasefire request? [ December 31, 2002, 02:10 AM: Message edited by: ColdSober ]

In the scenario list in CMBB, the date of the battle is included. I was delighted to see this, as I too prefered to play them in chronological order.