Michael Dorosh

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Wildman: Sounds like he is talking about Steel Beasts. Quite a simple concept really. In SB you click on a point on the map and a "fan" of white or red colors appears. White showing terrain you are hull down to and red for terrain you can see, but are not hull down to. Three caveats to this. 1. Really only used in this manner during the setup phase. During the phase you plot movement points, phase lines, movement orders, etc. 2. During the game play it is only accessable from a point to point method on the map. You click on a point then as you drag the mouse around it changes color based on the terrain point it is over. Oh by the way the game does not stop while you are looking at the map, so you'll never know that a T-80 has popped out of a tree line and is about to kill you because your head-down in the TC position. 3. Not available from the viewing position. In other words you have to look at your map to use this feature, so during the mission itself its not that great. ---<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Steel Beasts is a first person simulation, though - simulating things at a different level than Combat Mission - hence the "if I look down to read my map I cannot look anywhere else". I kind of wish there you could set a movement waypoint and then check LOS FROM that waypoint - but as is indicated, it gives the player a lot of info a real soldier wouldn'thave. I hadn't thought of it like that before - it is frustrating though if your intent, say, is to move a MG onto a position overlooking a piece of road, say, and your squad moves up in 20 seconds - and you find that he really needed to go forward another 2 or 3 metres to find the true crest. In real life, they would just crawl til they found the perfect spot - in CM they will stop for 40 seconds until the next "turn". Don't mean to be irritatingly nitpicky - actually, the game is pretty smart in other areas - will the squad in the case mentioned above crawl the 2 or 3 meters to a better firing position all on their own?

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Dar: I was contemplating last night what great fun it would be to have CM2 (after I've worn out my copy of CM1, of course) to recreate some great slugfests on the Eastern Front. One of the things that came to mind were the battles in the sewer systems in Stalingrad. Dar<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Sewers were also used by the Germans at Ortona in Italy ("Little Stalingrad") when fighting the Canadians there. It's a good idea.

How about a section solely for "fans" to make suggestions for improvements or additions to CM or its future offshoots?

The King Tiger fanatic needs to realize that the average Second World War was decided by infantrymen. King Tigers were so rare that I am willing to bet the majority of western Allied soldiers never even saw one, much less had to tangle with one. While the inclusion of armor is obviously necessary to a game on this scale, the majority of actions were decided by what the infantry did - not how big and bad the tanks were (or how cool their camo schemes were). Anyone who can't handle infantry in this game is going to have his butt handed to him - and rightly so. Good for you, nailing his tiger! Your opponenet obviously thought he was immune to your fire. What is the fun in beating up on someone who can't hurt you back? As for historical accuracy, the quick battles have been mentioned elsewhere and I was going to comment. In action, an infantry battalion usually operated as such, assigning objectives to its companies - support was attached as necessary - and while it is possible to simulate the actions of a company within the framework of the larger battalion action, I think the assessment of quick battle meeting engagements as ahistorical is on the mark. The y are designed for fun - sort of like capture the flag - and if you look at it from that standpoint there is no harm down. There are plenty of historical scenarios out there for you to play the "real thing", I'm fairly sure the intent of the designers with the quick battles' meeting engagement was not to simulate anything historical. Should you feel bad, Mr. Johnson? Why on earth would you? I think that the game would have been most fun once the heavy armor was destroyed - even if I was playing the Germans - because then it becomes a challenge.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Yarb: I think buying yourself another copy of CMBO every two or three months you continue to be obsessed with it would be proper compensation for BTS I'm fairly sure there's at least four games I haven't bought since I got CMBO.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I would like to take the copy of Hasbro's Squad Leader that I sunk 50 Canadian dollars into and send it back to them...in a flaming bag of dog manure preferably, but I think Canada Post has restrictions about sending mail that is actually on fire. Pity. Good lord, if the designers ever asked us for our input, I alone have a million "dream" items I would like to see included. Multiply that by 10 or 20 thousand satisfied customers, and they wouldn't have time for anything but reading emails! I think most of our suggestins would fall under the heading "chrome", anyway....

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Marco Bergman: I assume this is what people are asking for. Subdued version on top. B]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Good Lord in heaven, man, are those gasoline stains on the side near the filling points?!? I'll bet you even put the spinach between the TC's teeth! Very nice work.

That must be one busy server! (Judging by the number of posts here, I can believe it). I tried three times to download the 2 Mb file - I have direct cable hookup - and it stalled on me all three times. The pictures look nice, though....Actually I saw some of the other posts on here the other day showing some blowup shots. Nice textures; I recognized the Desert Rats div sign which was nicely rendered. Maybe I can sneak on at midnight MST tonight and download it. Thanks for the tip.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Bruno Weiss: So do I Michael, I myself am only suggesting a little more dust, dirt, mud and stuff on the models in general, not necessarily to cover the unit markings. I was really glad to see their inclusion. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Thanks, man. I've added unit markings for universal carriers for the three infantry divisions. I'm going to mark up some armoured cars, maybe include Corps units like the 12th Manitoba dragoons. I regret that there isn't a Canadian Military Pattern (CMP) truck in the game - the 15 cwt was ubiquitous - every Canadian platoon had one - and they were commonly used throughout the Commonwealth. Even the Germans used them, especially in North Africa. Since Ford had plants in Germany before the war, they could provide their own spare parts. In a way, I feel sorry for the designers of Combat Mission. They came up with a product so attractive to so many people (armor nuts, infantry nuts, etc.) that they have unleashed all this creative energy - so many people coming up with ways to improve what is to us a game, but to them was their "baby" for many months if not years. And here we all are demanding ways to make it better and wondering why x or y was not included! LOL! (But I'm sure they realize it's all out of love, right?)

The reasoning behind this is that by the time the Pershing was available for ground combat in Europe, the US Army was nowhere near the coast! There were, however isolated ports on the Channel coast that held out until May 1945 - a fictional scenario might involve an effort to reduce one of these ports. In real life, the Allies simply "masked" the ports with friendly troops and carried on towards Germany. The German garrisons were too happy to sit in peace for the rest of the war, and the Allies didn't see the point in getting a bunch of troops killed for very little gain. They needed the ports desperately (hence the vicious fighting after the fall of Antwerp to clear the Scheldt estuary) but I guess they realized the Germans would just blow up the ports if they tried to take them. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Fan: You'd know if it was 14" guns. They make a hole big enough to fit a rifle company in. Well, almost. And what time frame does the interface say? [This message has been edited by Fan (edited 01-16-2001).]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Correct for the most part - Pantelleria was the only exception I can think of - the entire garrison of the island was induced into surrendering by airpower alone IIRC. So I wouldn't say never ever That was a truly rare exception, however. To address the original question - the Canadian national news last night had a piece on Iraq today - tons of American and Japanese goods for sale everywhere. They asked the question "who won"? I don't think the ground war went far enough. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Banshee: You have a fundamental lack of understanding of war and airpower. Airpower will make ground wars easier (by isolating the battlefield, limiting supplies, and demoralizing/destroying troops in place) but it will never, ever ,replace troops going in and occupying the ground that the enemy occupies. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Everyone jokes that we Canadians say "eh" a lot - but you know what? It's true. I never noticed it until I went to England for a month, though. I've talked to people I met on the internet over the phone and they all remark about my "Canadian" accent - I'm from Alberta and never considered that I have one. Even travelling to Oregon, I did notice the fellows there had a discenerible accent - I guess it would be impossible to recreate every accent in CM because there are so many of them. The obvious ones, to me, are New York, cajun, southern - and I suppose there are dozens of "southern" accents, depending on if you're from Virginia, Louisiana, etc. After reading MASH the novel, I came to realize that Maine has its own accent, too. The point about Maritimers being very distinct is true. It would be neat to hear some sound files of a Nova Scotia tank commander, say. The Maritime accent is just as distinct as a Welsh, Scots or Irish accent as far as I'm concerned. It's all a matter of degrees. People from Boston speak differently but I have no problem understanding them. Someone from Glasgow is another story.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Maximus: Michael, There are already some hi-res Sherman Fireflies out there. Go to CMHQ and check out Marco Bergman's Hi-Res British Sherman III, V, & Fireflies.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> With Canadian regimental/squadron markings?

Had the URL wrong up above - just figured out how to edit it - AFTER I posted the correct URL in this message. Two university degrees and I'm still a dunce... [This message has been edited by Michael Dorosh (edited 01-16-2001).] [This message has been edited by Michael Dorosh (edited 01-16-2001).]

I haven't muddied the rest of the jeep yet, but a tip I learned from a book on armor modelling years ago works out kind of well in CM. If you apply a pixel of mud colour on the windshield, it distorts it just enough to look really cool. If you remember that the windshield wipers only cover a certain area of the windscreen, you can make a really neat effect as such: [This message has been edited by Michael Dorosh (edited 01-16-2001).]

Okay, I actually searched how to do this, let's try it out. Sorry for the size. The markings are kind of bright when I look at it - I'm pleased with the camouflage on the firefly's barrel though. The CM designers cammed up the 76mm gun on the Brit Sherman but not the Firefly!

Hey guys, thanks a million. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Dogface: arrrgggghhhhhhhh ok one more time if u be using windows hit the printscreen button then hit the esc key to min. cmbo then open mspaint or like program and on the toolbar next to file it says edit click that then click paste click yes there u go <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Guys, this must have come up before but I can't find anything so please bear with the stupid new guy. How does one capture a screen shot? I do have some video capture software and have a bit of experience with that. Is there something in the manual I'm missing - ie is there a way to save a turn out of a game as a movie clip (like you used to be able to do with Red Baron, etc.)?

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by poolman: How about being able to purchase sandbags like you do pillboxes and bunkers. And then being able to mount them on your vehicle... CM2?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> The downside is that the extended wear on the drivetrain is not applicable to the game - that was the reason Patton yelled at his tank crews for using sandbags, spare track, etc. Canadian crews tended to use spare track extensively - the problem is that there are no penalties within the game for adding the track whereas in real life you could expect your engine to wear out more quickly, creating logistical problems beyond the scope of a tactical game.

Hmm...I think my markings are pretty bright too, and I was thinking of subduing them. Personally, I like the way they stand out, as unrealistic as they are. http://wargames.freehosting.net/cmarmbits.htm

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Sirocco: "I have to assume that most bomb or rocket attacks were either complete or near misses. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Was that the same bomb raid that dropped short and killed several dozen Poles and Canadians? All kinds of dangers inherent in "dumb" weaponry back then. Keller was the only Canadian general wounded in action in WW II when Third Div HQ got pasted. An American general, McNair, got killed during the carpet bombing for Cobra.

Tiger - as you may have noticed, I too have tried a "leather coat". They are called jerkins, actually. I like the texture of your jerkins a lot! It really looks like leather. And the colour is perfect. If I may, though, the collar should still be the same colour as the Battledress - the jerkin had no collar, nor did it have pockets. Also, there were only four buttons on the front. Excellent job, however! Nice sheen to the leather. In real life, some troops apparently cut greatcoats apart and sewed sleeves and hoods to the jerkins, but this was very unofficial and probably not worn in action - too constricting! The jerkin was a favourite among infantry troops for the mobility it permitted. Joe Private - thanks! My mods are VERY bright and not realistic in colour. I will need to think about doing "subdued" versions, I should think. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Tiger: I recently tried a "leather coat/smock" mod for canadian infantry for Formerly Barbara (sp?) *shrug* ~Tiger<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

...but where are the 6 pounder AT gun files? wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Manx: 3660-3664 according to the list i have. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> God, where were you with this list a week ago when I was "painting" big yellow numbers on bitmaps at random and then testing scenarios just to see which pieces belonged to which tank? Thanks to you and the creators of "the list"!

Jimmy "Scotty" Doohan was also Canadian, you guys - he served in the Royal Canadian Artillery in WW II and flew light aircraft - some sources say he was RCAF. Either way he was an officer, and a WW II vet. Tell me you knew his accent in Star Trek was fake! Shatner was from Montreal. Donald Sutherland is also Canadian.

Check out my Canadian mods at http://wargames.freehosting.net/cmbits.htm and http://wargames.freehosting.net/cmarmbits.htm <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by wwb_99: And while we are talking about mods, what about the Canadian/Polish/Free French forces in CM. I just played Meyers revenge, and it was striking how ugly the turd brown polacks are. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but I have not yet seen a single mod for any of the above mentioned forces. WWB<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>