kipanderson

shadowgrinder, what makes it all the more amazing is that CM, in its various forms, has been around for the last four years. Yet… as you say, it is still by far the best wargame out there. It is a generation ahead of anything else. I constantly search the net looking for new wargames that may equal CM in quality, but no luck yet. Added to all this, the next release will be with the new engine, CMX2, and will be a further generational leap forward. All good fun, All the best, Kip.

Hi, The only thing that I know is a small comment from Moon to the effect that they, BFC, have been listening to those asking for some form of operational layer. (I call this setting CM in greater context.) But this does not mean that there will be a full operational layer…only that BFC have taken account of the request for operational features. To some degree. BTW. It was always the case that once North West Europe and the Eastern Front had been done there would be the odd release from BFC in a setting that is not in favour with all. Amongst wargamers NWE and the Eastern Front are safe bets. I am one of the most unhinged fans of a Cold War setting…… and then back to NWE followed by Eastern Front. My all time favourite, by far, is the Eastern Front.. not very original. But even I like a change now and then. WWII for “every” version of CM/CMX2 would be shame, in my view. All very good fun, All the best, Kip. PS. Steve did say a couple of years ago that one of the design specs of the new engine is that it should be possible to increase the production of new games.

Hi, Looks great…outstanding idea… I look forward to reading it. Great stuff All the best, Kip.

Hi, Surrey, UK. All the best, Kip.

Hi, Yes, a great find, very fine site full of good stuff. Thanks, All the best, Kip.

Hi, It has long been on my wish list for CMX2 to have a toggled terrain grid. Such that one could play with the grid turned on in the orders phase, but turn it off during the one minute movies. During the first run through of the movie I always like to have all settings at their most realistic, so that everything looks at its best. All the best, Kip.

Rexford, hi, Thanks, very good of you to go to the trouble. Always good to hear from you. Very interesting stuff, but the article you read must have been quite old as I certainly have not written one in the last year or two. Of course, truth be told, our hobby of CM is now four years old… hard to believe… so who knows what I wrote in the early years. I still regularly turn to your great book on the subject…. Very much “the” single source authority on such matters and sure to remain so. Hope you are well, All the best, Kip.

Hi, Thanks to all for your help . I greatly appreciate it and it has done the job perfectly. Thanks again, all the best, Kip.

Hi, I realise this is me being very think, but here goes anyway. How do I set my graphics card to adjust antialiasing? I have a GeForce3 Ti200/WindowsXP and did have antialiasing set to maximum using aTune, but with very out of date drivers. I have now updated my drivers and downloaded the latest version RivaTuner in the hope of allowing me to set the antialiasing. However, even within “Powersettings”, in RivaTuner, I cannot see how to set antialiasing. Given my setup, GeForce3 Ti200/WindowsXP/detonator 44.3 how do I adjust the antialias setting? Thanks for your help. All the best, Kip.

Hi, Well deserved indeed. Simply reflects the reality of how great a leap forward the CM series has been. I constantly search the net for new wargames of a quality that may interest me. However, even four years after CM first turned up there is still nothing that comes close. No one else has managed to put together the same mix of graphics engine and serious wargaming features. All the best, Kip.

FWB, “Yep. Second that. It'd make it near perfect. Can't play AK since my system is too slow, so not sure what features it has, but I'd also like to see allowing multiple players to control a side - dividing up forces between them. This could allow for "coop" or 4 player games.” You have reasons to be cheerful, I think . I would be very surprised if CMX2 does not have a multi-player feature. But who knows for sure outside the magic circle at BFC. All the best, Kip.

Hi, CMAK gets a Game of Distinction Award, plus the comment that being on sale for just £20; it is a ridiculously low price for such a fine game. What I think is so amazing is just how far ahead of the pack CM still is although it is now around four years old. As serious wargames/simulations go CM is still in a stratosphere far above all others. I constantly search the net for new games, and sometimes throw my money at new games, in the hope of finding something of even close to the quality to CM. I am always disappointed. However, this particular reviewer does mention two features he would like to see in future versions of CM, both of which are close to my heart . Firstly some form of operational layer. I think of this as some way to set individual CM games in greater context. Secondly, the need for a grid overlay in the orders phase to better spot the undulation in terrain. I would love to see a toggled, grid overlay so that you can spot undulations from camera settings 4 and 5. All good fun, All the best, Kip.

Hi, My guess is that the people who converted the library to the web simply underestimated the number of military history nuts there area out there. There are simply too many of us. No doubt in timer one will be able to get through. All the best, Kip.

Hi, Do remember they are not claiming to be open for business until Monday. Then they will no doubt be over loaded for a couple of days. But in time all will come good I am sure. All the best, Kip.

Hi, “Will they include North Africa?” I would be very surprised if NA is not covered. It is “all” the aerial photos taken by the RAF during WWII. “May” even cover Burma… not sure. But an Indian Army/university archive may have that. All the best, Kip. PS. European topographical maps are very easily obtained, and of very high quality. Putting the photos, and maps, together will be child’s play. You can spot new developments easily. [ January 18, 2004, 03:34 AM: Message edited by: kipanderson ]

Hi, On Monday Keele University, in UK, is putting all 5 million aerial photos taken by UK forces in WWII on line. This is a truly unrivalled resource for scenario ideas and detailed maps. I have had dealing before with this collection and three to four years ago it was like running in chest deep mud. They had just one employ to run the collection. No fault of the single member of staff there. However, they have got the money from somewhere to put all on the web. What is even better is that next in line for this treatment is the German collection of aerial photos covering Eastern Europe, also held at Keele. For those with our interests, things do not get any better then this. I “hope” this is the link, http://www.evidenceincamera.co.uk All the best, Kip.

Rexford, hi, “Did the British mix Churchill types within large and small units, so that one might come across a small unit of 4 Churchills with a mixture of Churchill VI (88mm front armour) and Churchill VII (152mm front armour).” Yes… in all theatres where Churchills were used. And in Italy, there is more, in Italy not only did they mix different types of Churchill, but they mixed Shermans and Churchills in the same squadrons. I would have to rummage around to find the exact source, but I have a book with photos and text showing/explaining the mix in tank units in Italy, and can see the photos in the minds eye of the four or so Shermans and Churchills lined up in Italy and the explanation of how they mixed them. In summary. In both NWE and the Med, all types of current Churchills were mixed in any given unit. But 6prd Churchills were very rapidly replaced by 75mm models with both the heavy and light armour. Remember a very large number of Churchills were converted to 75mm in both the Med and NWE. In the Med using the Sherman mantlet. Plus, in the Med often 1/3-1/2 of tanks in “Churchill” units were in fact often Shermans. All the best, Kip. PS. best book on Churshills is "Mr.Churchill's Tanks", by David Fletcher. If you do not already have it, you would love it. David Fletcher is the chap who runs the archive at the Bovington Tank Museum. He is the curator as well. Good chap, very helpful.

Hi, Ruthless wrote, “(3) The problem with playing unbalanced scenarios is that most people would not be satisfied getting a few shots off, then getting overrun or routed, but relying on bonus points to make up the difference. Most players look for a "balanced" (which usually means ahistorical) scenario. However, with the inclusion of a campaign system, perhaps if the player knows he/she must conserve their forces and that they will fight again will be motivation to play more unbalanced (historical) scenarios. If one has higher-level concerns, then they might not mind trying to make do with a lot fewer troops. Just a theory.” Exactly, setting battles/scenarios in their context is of huge importance as an incentive to people to play, and enjoy playing, in a truly historical style, i.e. the real world absolute importance of force preservation in nine out of ten engagements. The briefings in scenarios and operations do give some context, but nothing like a quality operational game or system would. CMX2 first, then six to nine months to build a quality operational add on would be great. Hopefully, fun for the guys at BFC too as it would be something new and different. All the best, Kip.

Hi, I am a big fan of the idea of being able to set each CM battle/operation in greater context. For me, this is the key. What I would really like to see is this, similar to what was mentioned above. My dream is for BFC to design a full feature operational game that can be played to its conclusion, if you wished. However, where one can also “zoom down in scale”, for any given contact, and fight the battle as a CM game, if the players wished. The program being very like the Quick Battle program but taking the parameters for a given battle from the Operational game. Units, terrain and such. Sadly, I realise this is very unlike to happen. BFC are a very small company and man hours are limited. A computerised version of Squad Leader was always my number one dream and BFC do that to a standard that still stuns and shocks me years later. CM is in a stratosphere apart from all other wargames… in my view. However… what I am hoping for is that Moon and co will give us fans of campaigns a helping hand by making one or two changes to the file format. The really big request is that units should be saved separately such that they can be re-launched in a new game with a new map. That is when you save a game; the units file is separate and can then be married to another map in the editor and edited in the usual way. This single feature, but I admit a fundamental change from Charles’ point of view, would make it possible for groups of chums to run their own private campaigns with ease. At the moment the lack of an ability to edit saved games makes running campaigns a very complex and time consuming operation. All good fun, All the best, Kip. PS. Simply from an intellectual point of view Moon and co. may find it fun to spend six-nine months designing a genuine operational game that could be married to CMX2. Something along the lines of a simultaneous resolution Panzer Campaigns/ John Tiller style game but just in 2D. Sold separately… as an add on. If they did do that… I think a huge percentage of their CM customers would buy it. Not just the CM addicts like me. PPS. When it comes to simultaneous resolution and war games BFC were indeed correct, and the doubter wrong. So I do trust BFC… but like all other fans am always very keen to know what they are up to.

Holien, hi, TacOps is a “platoon level” game. The manoeuvre units you move around are platoons. Fulda Gap’85 is a class battalion level game. The manoeuvre units you move around are battalions and the map is made up of one hex to one km. TacOps has a couple of advantages. One is that it is “actually designed for” live team play with/ or without umpires. The second is that it only costs $25. It really is the “real thing”. The down side is that there is no “chrome” at all. Have a good sniff around the sites and read some reviews. You will enjoy it. http://www.hpssims.com For some reviews and articles, http://www.wargamer.com All good fun, All the best, Kip.

Lou, hi, I would recommend Fulda Gap’85. I have both, the Fulda Gap game is more friendly, but still very good if all the correct options are picked. Also, Decisive Action is not available with Live Play, only PBEM. In Fulda Gap you can do Live Play or PBEM. Let me know what you get, and we can have a game. May graduate to Decisive Action…it is the real thing after all. Lou, also have think about TacOps, from BFC. It is only $25 and very much the “real thing”. Used by most NATO countries to train company commanders. All the best, Kip.

Hi, Well some familiar names on this thread . As it happens I have been giving PC…and Modern Campaigns… a go recently. I own Korsun’44 and Fulda Gap’85. I think the above sounds like a good idea, in principle. We would have to see how it worked in practice. Maybe if we have a rerun of the great, and very successful, Live Weekend we could use PCs as a base. One game on the GMs/Umpires machine and a team leader from each side invited in to take their moves in a Hot Seat game. My real dream is for BFC to design a full feature operational game that can be played to its conclusion, if you wish. However, where one can also “zoom down in scale”, for any given contact, and fight the battle as a CM game. The program being very like the Quick Battle program but taking the parameters for the battle from the Operational game. Units, terrain and such. If you follow my rantings… Anyway… short of that PC/MC may well be the answer. All the best, Kip. PS. In my view playing PC/MC in “phased mode” is a must. In its default mode I cannot get into it at all. Too disconnected from real world time lines… in my view.

Hi, Thanks for the replies.... it all sounds great, just the job. Off to download the demo now… will then put my order in and try to convert some of my CM chums. Thanks, All the best, Kip.

Hi, TacOps looks very good, and I did own an earlier version so am already a fan. However… my real interest in post WWII combined arms/mechanised war is a Cold War scenario settings. To what extent are the units/equipment of the 1980s included? Remember they also need to be firing the ammunition they used in the 1980s. All the best, Kip.

Hi, I agree with others that it would be a bit alarming if CMX2 changed the scale of the series to individual soldier from the current squad scale. Great to see from Moon/Martin that this is not on the cards. However, if BFC can manage it, having a full squad of men to look at would be great. I think I know what Dan means when he says they will only do it if they can do the job properly. It would take a lot of programming to have all ten men manoeuvring realistically. All sounds good, All the best, Kip.