Bullethead

I have made the following "whacky" scenarios (I prefer doing this to historical ones). 1. Myth-inspired Scenario This is based on the Myth game type LMOTH and the Myth map "For Carnage Apply Within". The objective is to own the flag in the crater of a large volcano at the end of the game. The volcano itself naturally blocks LOS to enemy units on the other side of it, leading to point-blank slugfests in the crater. And to simulate more than 2 players and some of them camping, both sides get reinforcements on all sides of the map at different points, so they come in behind enemy forces already on the map. 2. Figure-8 Race This is a race of 8 US vs. 8 German trucks on a figure-8 track. Both sides also start with some 81mm mortars with only smoke ammo. After a few turns, each side gets a bunch of snipers in the grandstands surrounding the track, to shoot at enemy trucks and each other. The object is to have the last operational truck. But killing trucks is a 2-edged sword because crews are the most powerful units in the game 3. Cross Country Race This map is long and narrow. Both forces have a dozen armored cars starting at the same end, separated by a high ridge so they can't immediately shoot each other. The winner is the one who first gets a mobile armored car to the victory flag at the far end of the map. The cars must traverse all types of terrain, from rolling plains to forests to long bridges to a village. Both sides have an FO, some mines to block some of the paths, plus infantry to set up ambushes in the village. And after a few turns, some jabos appear as wildcards. If anybody's interested in testing any of these, let me know. The only condition is, you MUST give me feedback. ------------------ -Bullethead In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is strength, in water there is bacteria.

While we're on the subject of tweaking how the game treats various types of tile, I'd like to suggest a tweak to rough tiles. I want to see contiguous rough tiles treated like other non-open terrain tiles, such as water, marsh, and woods. By this I mean I want adjacent rough tiles to blend together into 1 solid mass of rough terrain. At present, there is always a gap of clear terrain down the seam between 2 adjacent rough tiles. This enables vehicles to cross through the middle of large patches of rough terrain totally unimpeded. This in turn makes it impossible to use a band of rough tiles as blocking terrain for vehicles. Even if the player doesn't realize he can order vehicles through such bands, the AI does and will do so given the opportunity. Thus, to make a vehicle-proof barrier, you have to either make a steep slope or use some sort of impassable tile that blends with its contiguous fellows. But in many cases, these measures introduce inappropriate contour, LOS, and/or cover/concealment issues. IOW, only a wide patch of impassable rough will do. ------------------ -Bullethead In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is strength, in water there is bacteria.

Steve said: <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>The problem here is that a house "flattens' the trerrain under it. For this to happen, the terrain downslope has to be raised. The road is on that downslope tile, connected to the "Problem Point". So when the "Problem Point" is raised to make the flattened terrain for the house, it makes the road warped like you see in this picture.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> After considering your explanation and trying to come up with alternative methods of resolving this type of situation, it is apparent to me that no such alternatives will work without allowing tile sides to fold at their midpoints, which effectively divides the 20m tile into 10m tiles. Thus, different methods of folding and flattening tiles are out of the question at present. However, this still leaves other possibilities. For example, why does a building tile have to be flat? It seems to me much more common engineering practice to only level the ground directly under a building's floor. Thus, many buildings are dug partially into hillsides, so that from the downhill side they appear as 2 stories but as only 1 story from the uphill side. OTOH, roadbeds have to be essentially flat throughout. Therefore, it seems to me more in keeping with reality to give flattening priority to roads rather than buildings. If there is a building diagonally adjacent to such a road, let its tile slope normally, coming partway up the walls of the building graphic on all but the downhill side. Of course, this raises movement and LOS issues across the building walls partially overlapped by hillside, but there might be some way to deal with these satisfactorily. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Now, where did the original house go?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Yeah, I had a Hell of a time with this. The original building is only technically there during that one editing session. If you save, exit, and come back later, it's gone from the map and replaced by open terrain. So when making that map I sent you, I kept noticing buildings disappearing when I re-opened the file. I thought the file was corrupted until I noticed these disappearing buildings weren't there in the preview even when I'd added them back in the tile editor view. So I had to adjust elevations until they all remained, making these hillside hamlets much flatter than they are in real life. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>If we used a 10x10 grid it would be possible to have fixed Bullethead's problems completely. That is only a 2 fold increase in terrain resolution...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Wouldn't switching from 20m to 10m tiles result in 4 times as many tiles as there are now, instead of 2 times as many? ------------------ -Bullethead In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is strength, in water there is bacteria.

Steve said: <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>I am not sure I understand you here. CM's engine DOES flatten out slopes for roads.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> My experience is that it does not, at least not to the same degree as it does with building tiles. What I see, unless I add a row of same-height tiles downhill of the road, is that the road tiles often get folded diagonally from the center point. Thus, the uphill 1/2 of the road surface in the center of the tile is on a flat, but the downhill 1/2 is canted at an angle. With a building, the tile is always flat in the middle where the building is--building tiles are never folded diagonally. So what you have with building tiles is a 20m flat spot on the hillside, with abrupt slopes uphill and downhill to the levels above and below on the slope of the hill. This form of terrain is pretty much identical to a road cut into the side of a hill. That's why I want to see road tiles treated similarly to building tiles in this regard. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Send me a save file if you like.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Done. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>However, with 20x20 tiles (and 2x2 subtiles) there is only so much fidelity that can be achieved. Flattening out stuff is OK if you have a limited agenda for what gets to flatten what. But when this is opened up to many different possibilities, problems start to crop up very quickly. The real solution is smaller tile sizes, but right now that is not possible.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I appreciate this. But I believe road tiles need different treatment than they havey at present because right now they do not conform to standard engineering practice. They do not appear as cuts and fills, but as normally sloped hillsides. ------------------ -Bullethead In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is strength, in water there is bacteria.

I would like to see the terrain sloping routines handle road tiles the way they handle building tiles. That is, when you place a building tile on a hillside, the hillside is flattened out around the building. Thus, you have steep slopes above and below the building with a flat spot where the building is. This, IMHO, is how roads on hillsides should also be. As it stands now, the terrain sloping routines treat road tiles the same as non-building tiles, so the hill keeps its constant, smooth slope across the road. This means the road surface isn't level but follows the slope of the hillside. To make a level road, you have to add a row of tiles of the same height as the road on the downhill side of the road, which at 20m per tile makes a 40m flat surface. This, IMHO, is WAY too wide. ------------------ -Bullethead In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is strength, in water there is bacteria.

OK, I've sent this out to several folks now and it's been several days. Anybody played it yet? Comments?

Bil Hardenberger said: <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Maybe you PTO fans could talk Steve and Charles into adding the Japanese to CM2 as a German Allie... they did have a battle or two against the Russians early in the war, right? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> EXCELLENT idea! Wild Bill, make it so . <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Of course, you won't have the Brits or Americans... oh well... just a thought.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Hopefully, we can also convince BTS to make all the CM2 units available in CM1, or vice versa ------------------ -Bullethead In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is strength, in water there is bacteria.

Doug Beman said: <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>I envisioned the forces the same way, but having Shermans in place of the Pershings. IIRC (haven't looked at the stats) the Sherman had better ground pressure and hp/weight than the Pershing. Given that Rolling Hot involved almost entirely armor vs infantry, the enhanced anti-armor power of the Pershing's gun isn't really needed, whereas the Sherman is a very capable infantry killer (as are Drake's hovertanks)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Yeah, but Hammer's hovertanks were the baddest tanks available in the known universe. That's why I was thinking Pershings if you're going to use US for the Slammers. In the books, they did have some overkill vs. most things they faced. In the books, the wogs didn't have much that could hurt them, either. Of the 3 tanks, 1 was lost to arty friendly fire and 1 to falling through a damaged bridge. The other got gun damaged but was still running despite taking umpteen hits. I don't think a Sherman could do that. As to stats, the M26 has a ground pressure of 12.5 psi and a speed of 30. This isn't much worse than the M4A3E8(76)W's 11.0/32 or the M4A3E8(76)W+'s 11.8/32. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>I plan to start with the first battle, a surprise German attack on a US firebase. Any infantry the US have will start the battle inside big buildings and/or away from their HQ units to simulate a low-security base. I might also have very few company HQ units to simulate the poor C3 the yokels had (but company HQs can command any unit, simulating the enhanced control features an HQ COULD have)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> IIRC, the firebase in question was a yokel thing and Junebug's forces were the only Slammers there. So you could make all the US infantry green or conscript, too. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>The wogs, ~a batallion, will have on map heavy mortars, along with recoilless rifles and light IGs. They'll be almost entirely green, with some regulars, but with a high fanaticism to simulate how hard the wogs pushed the attack in the book.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Sounds good. A reinforced green Volkssturm battalion vs. a surprised REMF green US battalion supported by the Slammers vehicles. ------------------ -Bullethead In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is strength, in water there is bacteria.

Yeah, Drake's "Hammer's Slammers" stuff is some of my favorite reading material. When I read those stories, I feel like I served with most of the characters As to "Rolling Hot" in particular, I think the basic plot is drawn from an amalgam of events in (not surprisingly) Viet Nam. The whole situation seems based on the Tet Offensive and Junebug's force seems to run into situations very similar to those met by forces trying to get into Hue and Saigon. I agree, this is all excellent scenario-fodder. Extremely desperate battles by a small, hodge-podge yet highly skilled force against overwhelming numbers of inferior enemies. You have many types of battle here: firebase defense, breaking through ambushes, deliberate assaults, and free-wheeling tank battles of manuever. The Slammers personnel are obviously at least crack with some elites. All of them have severe combat fatigue so the AI quirks with elite tanks would work well for them . So this leaves the question of what types of units to use for the opposing forces. IIRC, Junebug's force consisted of 3 tanks and about 5 combat cars, with no infantry. I think the only good approximation of the combat car is the US M3A1 halftrack (only 2 MGs instead of 3 tribarrels, but that's as close as I can see). So I guess this leaves the M26 as the appropriate ubertank. This means the "wog" forces have to be Germans. The Viet Cong-type guys could be Volkssturm, leaving Heers for the NVA-types. This would allow using Pumas and such for the big wog armored force in the climactic battle. A few incidents in the book will be difficult to model. I think the arty friendly fire incident can be handled by having a US jabo around. There were no wog vehicles so Junebug's tanks could well draw some fire. But the part with the tank falling through the damaged bridge, I think, is beyond CM's ability. Still, almost all of this book could be done fairly with with CM, I think, and would result in some very good scenarios. I look forward to seeing your results ------------------ -Bullethead In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is strength, in water there is bacteria.

Armdchair said: <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Bullethead, thanks for sending me the scenario. The map looks great.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Thanks. That took me several days to make. But I love making maps. I run into trouble with adding units to them--I never seem to hit the right combination of fun, carnage, and play balance. So if it were up to me, I'd just make maps and let other folks use them to make scenarios <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Before I play it, is there any historical background/ info you can post here about Kohima Ridge?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> OK, here's the basic story. In 1941-42, one of the places the Japanese overran in their initial outburst was Burma, at that time a Brit colony. They threw the Brits (and Chinese) out of it completely (bigtime defeat for the Brits, BTW) and the front settled down along the India-Burma border. The Japanese spent 1943 mostly consolidating while the Brits made some understrength and poorly executed counteroffensive efforts that ended in utter failure. By mid-43, it was obvious to the Japanese that the now-massively reinforced and reorganized Brits would launch a full-scale reinvasion of Burma from India in 1944, combined with offensives by the reinvigorated Chinese further north. So the Japanese high command decided to pre-empt this by seizing Imphal, the main Brit supply base in eastern India, which would be the hub of their attack. IOW, the Japanese offensive was conceived primarily as a defensive measure. Imphal was at the south end of the only real road in the area, along which reinforcements and supplies to the Imphal battle would have to move. So the Japanese decided to cut this road at Kohima, a place about 85 miles north of Imphal, where the road turned west deeper into India, to isolate Imphal and facilitate their main effort. But here is where things started going wrong for them. The commander of the Japanese army in Burma had serious delusions of grandeur. He wanted to conquer all of India, which he thought would happen due to native revolt once he made a deep penetration. If India fell, he thought Britain would be knocked out of the war, thus pre-empting Overlord as well, and he would be the hero of it all. But the deep penetration he desired was possible only from Kohima, not Imphal. So when he made his plan, he put a whole division against Kohima instead of the specified 1-regiment blocking force, to have the strength there for further offensive action toward Dimapur once Imphal had fallen (and thereby weakened the forces going against Imphal). And due to some very arcane political moves within the Japanese army, he was able to convice the theater commander to go along with him, and also not tell Tokyo about the change in plan. This plan of campaign flew in the face of reality. It totally discounted the Allied ability to supply Imphal by air, which made it proof against the now-inadequate force sent to take it. But more importantly for the Kohima area, it ignored the supply situation for the Japanese forces there. The division assigned to Kohima had to march about 80 miles cross-country through disease-infested jungle, and across the grain of the very mountainous terrain. To do this, of course, they had to leave most of their artillery behind, didn't have much ammo for what they brought, and were short on all essentials from the beginning. However, hardship never detered the Japanese soldier. In addition, the division at Kohima was one of the best in the Japanese army, with an impressive record dating back to the 30s in China--morale was high, even if the division commander didn't agree with the plan. And, of course, they were driven by the Japanese work ethic of "succeed regardless or die trying", so despite the above problems they were a very dangerous force. The Brits were expecting an attack to take Imphal and a blocking effort at Kohima, so were somewhat surprised by the size of the force attacking Kohima. Thus, initially Kohima was held by 1 Brit battalion, recently arrived, which didn't have time to create fortifications before the Japanese arrived. The Japanese quickly surrounded the Kohima area with 2 regiments while assaulting the Kohima Ridge position with their third. They quickly captured almost all the hills in the chain along the ridge and later came within an ace of taking the whole thing, but gave up just when they (unknowingly) had the last Brit postions in their power. This period lasted about 2 weeks and was some of the most gruesome fighting of the war, with the opposing troops always within grenade range. It ranked right up there with Stalingrad and WW1, just on a much smaller scale. The surrounded Brit battalion had to have everything, even water, dropped in by parachute. My scenario tries to model the earliest parts of this phase. After these 2 weeks, a Brit division coming from Dimapur finally broke through the Japanese cordon and relieved Kohima, although it was able to support Kohima with arty before then. There then followed many more weeks of extremely bitter fighting as the Brits gradually pried the Japanese back off Kohima Ridge and re-opened the road to Imphal (which had also held, although with some difficulty). During this phase, the monsoon season arrived, bringing torrential rains. In fact, at Kohima's elevation, the forces were often INSIDE stormclouds. I plan on making another scenario of this part of the battle. All through the battle, both sides suffered heavily from a wide variety of jungle diseases and severe supply shortages, although after the 1st 2 weeks the Japanese had much the worst of this. Yet they fought on, despite this and the 1000+ shells and squadron-strength jabo attacks per day the Brits dropped on them, for months, until they were nearly annihilated. It was truly a superhuman effort and, IMHO, well worthy of coverage in CM scenarios. ------------------ -Bullethead In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is strength, in water there is bacteria.

Gr8Phrtz said: <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>So where is it? Cant find in Depot?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> It's not ready for public consumption yet. I was just trolling for people who are willing to take a serious look at it and suggest tweaks to make it conform more closely to the real thing that it does now. If you fall into that category, drop me an email and I'll send it to you. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>And I'm with you -- this world needs a good Pacific wargame. CM could easily do it -- it already has amphibious assault<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I agree with the need for a CM PTO, but I don't think CM can handle amphibious landings properly. These things were far bigger than the largest practical CM battle and IMHO any attempt to make such battles on the CM scale would suffer from serious realism problems. This is just my feeling from playing PITS, which DOES have amphibious ops on this scale. However, the beach landing was the least of the PTO show. All the really horrendous fighting took place after the troops were ashore. This is what I'd really want to see Michael said: <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Since working with you in the CPX and helping others test I would be honored to give you input and feedback.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Thanks . It's on the way. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>I too am sad that PTO wil not be included. Until then creative scenario designers can manipulate designs, MOD ppl could MOD, and sound ppl could create Japanese characters.... Could you imagine loading up such MODs to play scenarios designed for PTO?? Wow!!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Yeah, that would be very cool. Hopefully some mod makers will step forward on this. I think that would encourage others to make more PTO/CBI scenarios, and the combined weight of such scenarios and mods might change the mind of BTS. BTW, I've now sent this scenario to several people. Please discuss it here instead of private email so we can all arrive at some general concensus as to how to approximate PTO/CBI battles. ------------------ -Bullethead In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is strength, in water there is bacteria.

Wild Bill Wilder said: <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>I don't think it is a closed case yet, Bullethead. At least I think if the groundswell of desire is strong enough we might have an outside chance of getting a pac version. I have not given up the fight and will continue to lobby for it, for whatever that might be worth.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Thanks muchos. BTS listens to you a lot more than they do me. With you on the job, maybe someday we'll get our PTO/CBI version . I'm at least encouraged by BTS finally admitting their problem with this type of game is their perceived lack of knowledge. I think this is fixable, or at least can be supplied by willing volunteers. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>And my congratulations for attempting this stop-gap measure with a pac scenario. I'll be checking it out.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I'd be flattered to have your input on this thing. It's at the point of needing tweaks and your suggestions would be most welcome--I expect you have much better sources on this battle than me. As it stands now, the fight isn't that of any particular day, but something that gives the impression of this phase of the battle. Maybe you have data to improve on this issue. So check your mailbox soon . I really wanted to do this as an operation. Unfortunately, this doesn't seem possible due to the operation engine's inability properly to deal with front lines in battles of encirclement. If you have a way around this problem, I'd like to hear it . ------------------ -Bullethead In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is strength, in water there is bacteria.

As you all know and many lament, BTS has no current plans for any CM product dealing with the PTO and CBI theaters. I find this quite depressing, but have gotten over it and am now trying to make PTO/CBI battles using what's available. Close but no cigar, yet still better than nothing. I call this "CmBI" as in CBI battles as constrained by the CM engine. For starters, I'm trying to make a series of scenarios based on the extremely bitter fighting for Kohima Ridge. My first attempt is something approximating the early Japanese thrusts on the Kohima Ridge position, before the monsoon set in and the garrison was relieved. The map for this scenario is as historically accurate as the CM editor can make it. With 5m contour intervals, CM allows a maximum elevation difference of 100m on a single map. Unfortunately, in this 1200x1600m area, the real elevation differences are over 300m. Even so, it's a pretty steep map that at least gives the correct flavor. And because the real terrain is in the 5000 foot ASL range, tall pines instead of jungle is appropriate. The opposing forces present somewhat more of a problem. The defending Brits are standard, but I had to use Germans for the Japanese. Still, by using 1944 Heer rifle squads as the main component, I think I've achieved a reasonable approximation, especially considering the attrition the Japanese suffered just marching to the Kohima area. And by setting the scenario in June 1944 (approximately when it was really happening anyway), I was able to use the H-39 for the Japanese tanks. So here we have, from GPT Ridge to the DC's Bungalow (complete with tennis court), the Battle of Kohima Ridge. Steep hills, thick forests, and major carnage. OK, so the Japanese are speaking German, but so what? If you're interested in looking at this and suggesting tweaks, please drop me an email. ------------------ -Bullethead In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is strength, in water there is bacteria. [This message has been edited by Bullethead (edited 11-20-2000).]

109G- I love the Myth games I have made a CM version of the "For Carnage..." map and built an LMOTH-type of scenario around it. To make of for not having more than 2 players, both sides get reinforcements on all map edges, behind enemy stuff already on the map. The forces could use some more balancing, however. I've also make a race scenario which can be considered something like of the games using balls or peasants instead of VLs. If you'd like to help me tweak either one, let me know . I find it refreshing that somebody else shares my vision of realistic WW2 units in totally unrealistic, but fun and carnage-filled, settings. Most folks around here are too serious ------------------ -Bullethead In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is strength, in water there is bacteria.

Senility snatched his tattered, gray robe of Cesspool Kaanniggitthood off the slimey floor, threw it over his skrawny, shivering frame, and stormed petulantly out of the torture chamber. He failed in his attempt to slam the heavy door behind him, but after much effort managed to slowly, but silently, close it, and then settled for kicking it, although at the cost of a broken toenail. "As if I wasn't already peckish enough after that so thoroughly unsatisfying demonstration," he cursed inwardly. "Why I made that eunuch rodent my Inquisitor I'll never know." Then he limped to his mediation garden and flung his silver bell at the wall with all his strength. It fell short by half, tinkling on Zen stones. "An apt metaphor," he thought. But as he bent to pick it up for another try, he felt a presence behind him. "Not now, Hiram, I'm not in the mood!" "But my most detestable master, you have trained me to attend your every need when I hear the bell. I hear it, I enter, I see you in that position, I--" "Silence, vile slave! Leave me. Go clean the seal stables, then throw yourself off the highest battlement." "Yes, Foulest of the Low-born, I--" "GO!!!!" Somewhat mollified by this petty harassment of a spineless lackey, but still feeling more than usually paranoid, Senility decided that it was again time to spy on his neighbors. With this thought, a new wave of fear coursed through his collapsed veins. Yes, he was afraid of the plotting of the others, but he was more afraid of the price he paid for knowledge. But it had been too long since he last scried so, torn between fears, he made his preparations. Locking the door to the garden, he sacrificed a virgin gerbil and, with its blood, drew arcane symbols on the paving stones and his own body. Then he positioned himself carefully and intoned the summoning spell. Soon, a cloud of radiant darkness bloomed up before him, in the midst of which glowed a huge, orange Eye. "Master of Evil, Great Girly-Thingums," quavered Senility, "I give you virgin gerbil blood. Grant me, O Dark Lord, the loan again of your senses, so that I may not be surprised by mine enemies." The gerbil blood was absorbed by the cloud of darkness. Then a thunderous voice issued from the cloud: "We currently need all our senses to encompass the doom of that maggot Witch King. But we can grant you the power to send your own eyes and ears across the dimensions. The price is the same." "But my Lord, my own feeble organs are fallable, not to mention diseased. I need the loan of yours," Senility whined. "Take it or leave it, slave. But if you decline this offer, you'll never know what that interloper Bullethead is saying about you. He shall go far, that one. You should watch him." Fear fought with fear in Senility's soul. He HAD to know, but the price.... Finally, he made his decision. "I accept," he whispered. Instantly, a tendril extended from the black cloud and enveloped Senility's head. He shivered uncontrollably at its icy touch, as the voice from the darkness said, "Another dram of brain matter gone. Not much left in there, maybe enough for two or three more scyings. Then I shall claim your soul. Truly, you are aptly named, Senility." Then the cloud of darkness was gone to a chorus of fading, evil laughter. In its place was a whirling elipsoid of blue and black light emitting the faint sound of rushing water. Senility recognized it as a modified Town Portal. As he gazed at it, it seemed to grow both bigger and louder. Then he realized this was because his eyes and ears had detached themselves from his head and were moving into the portal of their own volition. The scene suddenly shifted. Senility was gazing down into the saloon of a brothel from a position in a corner, just below the ceiling. He saw Bullethead at the bar and overheard him tell a trollop: <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>The Cesspool was boring today. It appeared to be nothing but Senility and his lapdancing Hameekster taking turns dropping the soap in their long, hot shower together.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Senility sighed in rapture. "Oh, this is lovely," he murmered, "Prison references. I feel a disturbance in my loins, something I haven't felt in years. I must try to remember this imagery for my Inquisitor's next demonstration. Still, Bullethead is purported to be a master of artillery. We'll let it pass, for now..." Hardly had the words left his lips, however, when Bullethead spun around and discharged a Chloroxthrower at Senility's vantage point. For an instant, Senility was amazed that Bullethead had detected his scrying, but then all was blotted out by searing agony as the disinfectant bit into his rotting flesh. As he choked on it, he heard the POP of the portal collapsing, then felt his disembodied organs smack onto the floor, his naked eyeballs rolling in a pool of Chlorox. Now blinded and reeling from the pain, he still made out Bullethead's voice above the startled babble of brothel denizens: "'We'll let it pass,' eh? I've passed better turds than you. You see now how the Evil One has betrayed you. He sent your mouth along as well. Barkeep! Toss this offal out with the other rubbish. I'm sure the rest of Senility, or one of his creatures, will come claim the parts eventually." Back in the meditation garden, Senility writhed on the stones, unable to scream for help, seeing nothing, hearing only flies buzzing on the trash heap upon which his ears now lay..... ------------------ -Bullethead In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is strength, in water there is bacteria.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Has anyone ever killed a Sherman Jumbo, with its front facing you with anything other than an 88mm?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Yes. The thing I've had the most luck with is the 15cm sIG. Its shaped charge shell seems to do the trick fairly often, perhaps because its looping trajectory negates most of the slope effect of the Sherman's front armor. Also, occasionally things as small as a 75mm PAK will find a weak spot, even at 800m. ------------------ -Bullethead In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is strength, in water there is bacteria.

Miss a day at the forum and miss 4 pages of this thread. Good riddance, I say. It appeared to be nothing but Senility and his lapdancing Hameekster taking turns dropping the soap in their long, hot shower together. So, on with more important matters. To wit, another report on the continued destruction of my various foes. SheepNZbed 6 Daimlers in a bumper-to-bumper draft on the home stretch, when a lone Puma rams into their midst and takes over 3rd place. All vehicles come to a halt as their drivers back and fill around those they have collided with. Somehow, my Puma survives the 0-range fire long enough to be targeted by one of the "good lads" of the RAF, who is intent stopping my leader. 2 bombs arc down and all but 1 Daimler are immobilized. The survivor is trying to negotiate the wreck-strewn rough slope and is about to be passed by my following vehicles on the road. I'm still laughing about this one. Seedy His Pumas have squandered their lead by getting out of the groove. Now it's a dead heat in the center of town, where the infantry appear too intent on killing each other to do much about the passing armored cars. One of Seedy's squads was annihilated as it attempted to cross a street and another's building is now a mass of flames following a satchel charge explosion. Qeier His pathetic rabble cowers around the VL like it can protect them, but it shall only mark their mass grave. Nothing but the flagpole will remain when we finish with this village. Gerbiltoy His snowfiend Canadians continue to stumble around aimlessly as arty and snipers thin their ranks. Attempting to retaliate, he has begun blindly shelling random sections of the map. It reminds me of the writhings of a snake after you blow its head off with a shotgun. ------------------ -Bullethead In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is strength, in water there is bacteria.

Los said: <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Well I've yet to read a single soldiers memoir that doesn't indclude liberal amounts of dialogue thrown in, whether it was exact or approximation, that's a standard part of the genre. Look no farther than "Company Commander..."<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> This is a very ancient literary tradtion. Ever read Thucidides? His account of the Peloponnesian War is repleat with multi-page speeches supposedly made by the various diplomats, generals, and politicians over the many years this war lasted. But nobody doubts Thucidides was really there ------------------ -Bullethead In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is strength, in water there is bacteria.

After several busy "days" (as humans reckon time) of walking through the Flames of Hell Itself, saving the world from being consumed by conflagration ahead of schedule, we have deigned to consider again the affairs of mere mortals: Geier Ain't it a pity when your FO blows his wad and fails to accomplish anything? OTOH, I'm sure you often hear this same complaint from each moose you sleep with. Gerbiltoy Is that a total intestinal prolapse in your trousers or are you just scared to see me? Stand in place, advance, or cut to the chase and just retreat off the map edge. It matters not, except that some choices may actually force me to wake my troops up, so that they may hurl curses at your departing backsides. SheepNZbed This is coming down to the wire. I still have 1 Puma in the lead as we enter town and turn onto the home stretch, but you have 2nd through 10th place sewed up. What will the jabos make of this situation? Speedy At the green flag, both forces charge forward. 2 of Speedy's Pumas are picked off but our columns are now approaching head-on at less than 100m. There is sure to be a nasty wreck bringing out the yellow. The rest of you eaters-of-other-peoples'-toe-jam, die of jock itch. ------------------ -Bullethead In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is strength, in water there is bacteria.

Gerbiltoy mewled in panic: <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>it seems to me we have ourselves somebody so evil in the thread now, it makes me suspect he got a degree in Being Evil with 1st class honours from the Department of Evil Studies at Evil University (aka College named after a long and justifiably forgotten Earl at Oxbridge). It is Buckethead.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Actually, I attended Marine NCO school, with post-graduate studies at Baylor Law School. But you're right, I did graduate with honors from both. And 2% of the arty rounds now headed for the positions of your simpering excuse for an army are airburst leaflet shells. Please find my resume' enclosed. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>There is a distinct possibility that I will have to hand in the ring I took of Sauron and deliver myself upon his mercy. Of which I am sure there will be none. Damn you Buckethead.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> And this after only 1 turn... True, TRPs are not limited by the setup area boundaries, but can be set up anywhere on the map. Still, being a gentleman, I refrained from placing any where I knew you would start your troops. So I really can't fathom what you're nattering about. However, I must admit being a bit surprised by your force selection and deployments. They show me that you combine the tactical skills of Ambrose Burnside, the operational acumen of Achille Bazaine, and the strategic judgment of Francisco Solano Lopez, with the imagination of a Neandro-Liddite Grunt like Girly-Thingums. I'm given to wonder how it was that you ever managed to wrest the One Ring from him to begin with. Was it like playing a game of "Subic Bay Smile", where the winner was he who could keep a strait face longest? Yes, that must have been it. And you cheated by putting ice cubes in your mouth. ------------------ -Bullethead In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is strength, in water there is bacteria.

blthd *MOL* ------------------ -Bullethead In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is strength, in water there is bacteria.

LOL, that POTD.... Now I see why Peng hates smilies so much. He must be having flashbacks of this Anyway, happy birthday, ya young punk ------------------ -Bullethead In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is strength, in water there is bacteria. [This message has been edited by Bullethead (edited 10-25-2000).]

Gerbiltoy attempted a witty sally... <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Hmm, wasn't one of the golden rules that 'If you can shoot them, they can shoot you'? You better have lots of killzones matey<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> ...but, diverting not only to put his foot in his mouth, but to suck his own toes, he fell flat on his face in the Cesspool muck. The above is only true IF your guys can see my guys. Which they can't. The hills are alive with the sound of snipers. Yes, a mere 3 rifle bullets have sent as many herds of Canadian Snow Mice fleeing in panic like Frenchmen before Germans. And the fun has only just started. ------------------ -Bullethead In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is strength, in water there is bacteria.

Having hosed off after London Stinky Finger, Gerbiltoy managed to send me the 1st turn. Grudgingly. Making the usual complaints and dire threats about the terrain. Geez, try to do the guy a favor and see what happens. He wanted a big map with low points so small forces can spend 40 turns picking daisies in bucolic emptiness. Boring, but hey, I owe the guy for some German arty data. So I do 1500 points, large map. Guess what, the map turned out to be 1500m flank to flank, but only 500m in depth. Looks good to me, he's already in my kill zones. The race with SheepNZbed continues with white-knuckle thrills. Each of us left a rear guard, but mine cunningly occupied hull-down positions at the edge of the woods and wiped his out as it advanced in the open. In shots fired down lanes in the woods, I again had the better of it, killing 1 and crippling another of his Daimlers. Unfortunately, I discovered his minefields the hard way--damn the AI for driving right into them with following vehicles--so we are left with the same number of runners: 9. However, 1 of his has just blundered into 2 of my cripples at less than 50m. My turrets face him, his faces the other direction. Meanwhile, the infantry spent the turn skulking around town but not accomplishing much. And the leading vehicles are through the woods and crossing the bridges into town. One of my Pumas is slightly ahead of 2 of his Daimlers. But next turn, the jabos arrive. Who knows what will happen then? The game with Geier has become a potlatch competition. We both continue feeding troops into a Gawd-forsaken hamlet that is being blasted to pieces by the arty of both sides. Why? Apparently simply for the amusement of our FOs. They will no doubt be the only survivors, and will then meet in the midst of the gore-spattered rubble for a joint ceremony of thanks to St. Barbara. Speedy slowly got off his ass and sent me a turn for another race. This time I'm the Brits. The racers are only now assembled on the grid, however. ------------------ -Bullethead In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is strength, in water there is bacteria.

I had a Tiger and a Sherm105 kill each. The Tiger was pivoting to face the Sherm and bring its gun to bear, but the Sherm got off the 1st shot and immobilized the Tiger nearly broadside-on. The Tiger's turret continued to creak around as the Sherm reloaded. But again the Sherm fired first. The huge shell sailed slowly through the air in a high arc, clearly visible against the sky. When it had come about 1/3 of the way, the Tiger finally fired, and its high-velocity round hit the Sherm and blew it sky high. But a split second later, the 105 round penetrated the side of the Tiger, also resulting in a catastrophic explosion. No survivors from either vehicle. I just thought it was cool that the 88 round beat the 105 round even though giving it a long head start ------------------ -Bullethead In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is strength, in water there is bacteria.