aka_tom_w

I am not quite sure how realistic that would be for AP. While I can see the point for HE (as long as you are remotely near target, you are likely to do damage, or at least suppress), for AP aiming is crucial. You miss even by an inch, you do not achieve anything. Does anyone have historical examples of tanks or guns going all-out when firing AP?[/QB]</font>

Almost all units in CMBO have substancially less ROF than the historical counterparts could reach. Neither real world nor CMBO units could sustain the highest ROF very long, for reasons around exhaustion and weapon wear, and also for expending too much ammo. CMBO does model running out of ammo and it could easily model crew exhaustion based on shots fired the last minutes. It would be hard to make a suitable computer model to decide when the unit should switch to "burst" rof. Imagine BTS tried to do that: you would bet that the TacAI would always blow lots of ammo when you don't want it. And you would always have tired loaders when you actually need high (or even normal) ROF. So I guess it is not a bad compromise overall, however it nags me a little bacause it contributes to the lack of defensive benefits in CMBO.</font>

Yes YES!! I agree with this completely Well put Thomas (that's my real name when I'm not aka_tom_w ) " After all, in the middle of combat the battalion commander usually doesn't have the option of testing multiple movement paths or assessing firepower lanes. He just has to make his best decision based on limited (maybe even wrong) information, and go with it." Perfect! That is why I prefer TCP/IP games when I have the time, PBEM is better because you can invest small amounts of time here and there and still play, BUT the real joy for me is 3-4 FREE hours of TCP/IP on the timer with someone who I know can beat me or give me a REALLY good game -tom w

That sounds like a Question for Rexford? That is VERY interesting if True "HE rounds had a minimum distance/time in flight before priming" vehicles in CMBO should "theoretically" never be able to blow themselves up because some smart person figured "Hey! if this HE round goes off before it is in the air for "X amount" of time then that may be hazardous and we don't want that so these HE rounds can't go off with the vehicle that fired the round inside its leathal blast radius" (or some such technical nonsense ) Quite a proposition??? anyone else ever heard of this? Maybe its not too late to get that handy little feature into CMBB?? -tom w [ June 07, 2002, 03:16 PM: Message edited by: aka_tom_w ]

um no sorry you cannot import scenarios into the Demo. -tom w

I agree other folks who are our friends (but who we know like wargames) take an inordinately LARGE amount of time to come around to this "crazy game" (with NO HEXES it must be blasphemy! ), that we all think is so GREAT! I have had this problem as well. My first experience with the CMBO beta demo was relatively painless as I recall, it sort of seemed somewhat intuitive to me, but it was by no means "DEAD EASY" to figure out, especially mortars FO's and LOS and command radius, those issues REALLY tripped up my wargamer friends who could not at all understand my complete addiction to this great game because LOS Mortars and FO's "rules" seemed (at least to them) so non-intuitive. -tom w [ June 07, 2002, 02:19 PM: Message edited by: aka_tom_w ]

No I prefer that 5-7 minutes after the movie. Thats why 7 minutes on the timer is good for me. Watch the movie once or twice (twice at the most) and plot the move for 5 minutes, and do it quickly! Makes the game go by faster and I find it more of a Rush -tom w

Ah.... the curse of the "early adopter" got me. Quick Time 6 Public Beta just came out. SO I install it on my Mac Open Combat Mission Error message "Sound Sprocket for 3D sound missing" Not the end of the world, but I suspect a fresh install of QT 6 public Beta will mess up the nice legacy apple sound sprocket we old Mac guys are using. I doubt this is a big deal but if you are on a Mac and you upgrade to the QT6 beta let me know if you get the same error message OK? Thanks -tom w

ALL THE TIME... especially that Cheap Allied shortbarreled M8 HMC howitzer, kills its self routinely when opposition infantry try to swarm it. -tom w

I really prefer the timer because then I know my opponent will not be "doddling" and/or just goofing off, I prefer to be under the time constraint and am generally more content knowing the same time constraint in TCP/IP is on my opponent. (5-7 minutes is good!) I like the adrenaline rush of the timer, but then again I think RTS gamers like Age of Empires and Warcraft and Myth are fun too ! -tom w

3000 pts worth? (with some armour) average move (AFTER set-up) no longer than 5-7 minutes I think -tom w

another marketing tactic is to actually release the game, (sarcasm!) and see if they can in fact keep up with the number of orders they will get in the first 2-3 weeks after public release given the demand from this forum ALONE will be HUGE! -tom w [ June 07, 2002, 09:30 AM: Message edited by: aka_tom_w ]

very nice Many nice NEW CMBB pics COOL!! thanks -tom w

seen this one yet: 3 more new screen shots here !!! http://www.wargamer.com/articles/combatmission2_screenshots/ -tom w

That is why I used Mr. Lewis as an example, and yes I probably should of used exempli gratia instead of id est. I still say that Jerry is a Dork. possibly one of the largest.</font>

FUNNY you would use "Jerry Lewis in any of his movies" as an example (quick lesson in Latin here I.E. means in English "That is" whereas E.G. means "For Example"). Anyway the French as a Nation are known to absolutely LOVE Jerry Lewis. The people of France are know as the BIGGEST fans of Jerry Lewis ANYWHERE in the world and Xavier is from France so that may not have been the best expample of Dorky... Bill Murray in the old old Saturday Night Live skits with Gilda Radner as Lisa Loopner with Bill Murray playing her boyfriend Todd (Nerd/Dork) would IMHO be a better example of "Dorky" (Just my opinion) -tom w [ June 05, 2002, 06:00 PM: Message edited by: aka_tom_w ]

at this point I will speculate that I do not expect the release on June 22 of CMBB but that's just my "gut" feeling I would be happy to be proven WRONG of course -tom w

I don't think it's a "bug" it should be an artifact of fog of war The kill chance is really only and estimate and doesn't really tell you all the much anyway and it should not tell you much your units see the opposing unit (whatever it is) and if you don't tell them to fire at it "maybe" the Tac AI will regardless of the "kill chance" Maybe its just part of the Fog of War to confuse you! Looks like its working in this case -tom w [ June 05, 2002, 09:46 AM: Message edited by: aka_tom_w ]

I played tactics II as well when I was younger but I did not play until the mid 70's when I was in high school ANYWAY...... Where is that Tactics II scenario? I can't find it at the scenario depot how should I search for it? Thanks -tom w

OK My appologies Dan Look on the bright side... I did give you a A+ for timing execution and meeting that tight Deadline given that whole ad was designed in 3 days I'm sure there are NO students I know (not even the good ones) that could whip off that Mag ad in three days. Good Work! -tom w [ June 04, 2002, 11:19 PM: Message edited by: aka_tom_w ]

first priority get my hands on CMBB ASAP! Second Priority get rid of the backwards "R" or use some elses Moded CD cover art which will immediately appear following the sale and release of CMBB The backwards "R" is certianly "questionable" IMHO but what the heck I hope BFC has better things to do than fix questionable cover design issues in their print ad campaign. Instead of bitching we should all be saluting the fact that they ACTUALLY have a print ad campaign (they are VERY expensive to run) and congradulating them for its timely release in the June issue, (think about it!) I would hope another full page print ad would follow in the July issue. How about this: "GREAT work BFC, on the print campaign! Keep up the solid effort!" A+ for effort and timing and execution in Advertising and meeting the deadline! (the Deadline for that full page ad in the June issue was likely 60-90 days ago !) C+ however for Graphic Design and composition on the Print Ad -tom w (P.S. sorry .... What can I say? I teach Graphic and New Media Design students at a community college.)

Anyone remember the movie ... I think it was called the last Star Fighter.. The premise of the movie was QUITE simple they used a video game in an arcade to recruit starfighters, as the game was REALLY a flight simulator for a (you guessed it) StarFighter.... So the Kid with the Highest Score got recruited by these Alien guys to fly a REAL star fighter. So Now What the Video Jocks with the Highest Score get to be recruited by the Army? here is a review of The Last StarFighter "A battle for control of the universe occurs throughout the cosmos in places far from Earth. But on Earth in a small town a popualar video arcade game is being played by the locals.The purpose of this seemingly simple game is to find capable pilots to help defend the universe. The player who finally beats this game is offered a chance to fly a starship and defend the universe along with the Galactic Federation. Eventually this man turns the offer down, but after he realizes the devestation that will be brought to Earth should the Federation lose, he agrees to join their ranks. An android replicant is left behind to fill in for him in his absence. This earthling expects to be one of many defending the universe, but discovers that he will be piloting the last starfighter the federation has. Training is brief to say the least, and then its off to defend the federation against hordes of enemy ships. In one attack maneuver the ships spends around rapidly firing in all directions. With attacks based on technique and skill rather than brute force, the human piloted last starfighter saves the universe and returns to a girlfriend and a world that welcomes him as a hero. " -tom w

first priority get my hands on CMBB ASAP! Second Priority get rid of the backwards "R" or use some elses Moded CD cover art which will immediately appear following the sale and release of CMBB The backwards "R" is certianly "questionable" IMHO but what the heck I hope BFC has better things to do than fix questionable cover design issues in their print ad campaign. Instead of bitching we should all be saluting the fact that they ACTUALLY have a print ad campaign (they are VERY expensive to run) and congradulating them for its timely release in the June issue, (think about it!) I would hope another full page print ad would follow in the July issue. How about this: "GREAT work BFC, on the print campaign! Keep up the solid effort!" A+ for effort and timing in Advertising! C+ however for Graphic Design work on the Print Ad -tom w (P.S. sorry .... What can I say? I teach Graphic and New Media Design Students at the college level) [ June 04, 2002, 09:36 AM: Message edited by: aka_tom_w ]

from this web site: http://www.hpssims.com/Pages/products/Squad_battles/SBVietnam/SBVietnam.html "Squad Battles: Vietnam is a turn-based game at the squad-level using 40 meter hexes and 5 minute turns. Scenarios range in duration from a single-squad ambush scenario up to a 27 turn battalion-level melee. The major campaigns such as Starlite, Cedar Falls, Tet, and Hamburger Hill are all covered in detail. " Well OK? But that game is not really like Combat Mission at all because it looks like hexes and card board counters on a carb board map onlythey made it into a computer game? (Big Deal ) Thats why Combat Mission is so revolutionary. I'm not sure if any one else has thought about it this way but maybe When Charles and Steve had that now famous "falling out" with Avalon Hill over the rights to a Squad Leader computer game it was REALLY a blessing in disquise because it meant they could not "just" simulate card board counters and ugly hexes on a 2D card board map (ASL) on a computer. Maybe they wanted to make a 3D simultaneous break through game like Combat Mission anyway (who knows) BUT with the requirement from Avalon Hill (I assume) that the new game NOT be a computer version of good old 2D ASL or Squad Leader, this ensured some unique innovation and the evolution of some previously untried game design decisions. and viola! Combat Mission (NOT Squad Leader converted to a computer game!) AND WE ARE ALL THE BENEFACTORS of that breakthrough -tom w [ June 04, 2002, 08:38 AM: Message edited by: aka_tom_w ]

try this I reposted it on my server The NEW Ad Splash Page Here ok? -tom w [ June 03, 2002, 10:21 PM: Message edited by: aka_tom_w ]