Dar

I nominate Stuka for the title One-Handed Typing Champion of this forum. Yeah, Denise Richards does some great things with a uniform, but note that you can see her totally out of uniform in "Wild Things". Yowsa! Dar

How can you include "Full Metal Jacket" in this thread? That's one of the best war movies of all time! The boot camp sequence is especially the best. I have to go with "Heartbreak Ridge" (let's all bunch up and forget all sound discipline, so one grenade can take us all out!) and "Starship Troopers" (we have spaceships, nuclear and chemical weapons, and laser/plasma guns, but no tanks, APCs, or artillery, so we'll have to fight on foot). Dar

That may be an effect of the night setting. Try it again in a daylight, good weather environment and see. Dar

"Rommel" sez: <tt>Befor this game I use to hit my desk and keyboard for loosing or loosing men. </tt> With your head? That explains the spelling and grammar. Have fun executing helpless prisoners, Big Guy<SUP>TM</SUP>. Dar

I'm playing this operation right now, too, only from the German side. I'm quite upset because in the first two battles I've played so far, I've blunted the AI's attacks and stopped him cold. However, when the next battle began, I find my setup area and surviving units being relocated a couple hundred meters behind where I started! There is no reason for my forces to be pulled back and give up ground like that. They stopped the enemy cold, and then decided to give up the ground they just fought over as a consolation prize? Methinks this is something that needs investigating. I am not happy about seeing my units willfully retreat. If they were "persuaded" to retreat during the battle, I could understand. Dar

How'd you get 32,000 points in a Quick Battle? Is the 1.03 patch out already? Dar

I understand the reasoning for that during the battle, but I fail to understand why we can't get accurate kill totals after the battle. During the battle, I expect the "fog of war" from revealing details about units I haven't seen or identified yet, but at the end when I can walk through the map and see every unit my opponent has left and every detail down to ammunition level and casualties, I would certainly expect to have accurate kill totals for my own units in return. Yes, it's trivial, but it's another way of "keeping score" and determining not only which were my most effective units, but also which are the most effective weapons platforms for future reference. E.g., if I can't determine how effective that quad 20mm flak on the SdKfz7 was, or that 75mm IG, etc., I may never buy it again. I hope you'll reconsider this for subsequent versions. Dar

Woo hoo! Thanks, Charles! <--The Hardest Working Man in Show Biz! Dar

You shouldn't drink and post. (smiley added in case no one understands my sense of humor) [This message has been edited by Dar (edited 06-30-2000).]

To add to what Michael was saying about area fire: Another great thing about having on-board mortars hit an area is that you can create a pattern as needed to suit the situation. For example, if you see units running out of some trees and into a wheatfield, you can target one mortar on the trees, one on the clearing between the trees and field, and one on the field to create a depth pattern. Or you can stretch them all out across the trees to create a breadth pattern. Or make up another pattern. It's a lot more flexible than having one and only one spot for your off-board arty to plaster. Plus, you don't have the one or more minutes to wait! Dar

Buckeye: With a minimum 100m firing range and not enough power to hurt units in buildings, those mortars are pretty ineffective in city fighting. Engagement ranges are usually less than 100m, and beyond that units don't stay in LoS too long (darting across streets, etc.). I don't recommend using them in the city unless they can cover some wide open areas, like the approaches. Redleg: That's the key to using an HQ to spot for them. As long as they're in the command radius of the HQ (brown line connecting them), the HQ can spot for them and the mortars don't need to see the target. Just ensure that the HQ can see the spot you want to hit and order the mortar to target it (ignore the color of the targetting line--if the HQ can see the spot, the target will stick). The HQ is spotting, not firing, so it's not attracting attention. The mortars are out of sight, so they're not attracting attention. But the target gets plastered, and the high rate of fire and short response time of the mortars is *very* impressive! I had three 81mm mortars with one HQ spotter chase two platoons out of a wheatfield last night--too cool! If only they had the ammo to fire more than 2-3 turns... *sigh* Dar

Scott: <h3>Possible Villers-Bocage Spoiler!</h3> Well, it was turn 11 when all the reinforcements showed up and the British squad surrendered--and they stayed routed 'til the end, which I believe was turn 30? If it's a bug, it's pretty minor. If not, it was just unusual to see it after ordering other captives around on the next turn. Oh, well! Dar

I gotta say that CM is the first game I've ever played that actually shows what mortars can do! Every other game I've played has reduced mortars to the state of ineffective pea-shooters. In fact, after playing most other games, I was left wondering why most armies even bothered with mortars if they were truly so useless! CM, however, finally gives the mortar it's due. I'm not referring to off-board mortars with spotters, but rather individual on-board mortars. The ability of a mortar to hide and use an in-command HQ unit to spot is fantastic! With their high rate of fire and accuracy, I have been using mortars to beat off infantry attacks with ease, and I love it! My only regret is that they don't carry enough ammo to keep firing all game long! Thanks, Charles, for finally giving the mortar its due in a wargame! Dar

Seadog: I noticed this myself and posted such a "bug" topic in the Tech Help forum. I understand that units shouldn't be credited during the game with kills from unidentified units, but I feel they should be at end of game, when you can walk the map and see all details of all enemy units. Dar

I thought "burp guns" were MP40's? Guess I was mistaken? I alternately love and fear the current MG42 sound, depending on which side I'm playing! It's a great and distinct sound that is a great contrast to the .50 cal steady beat. Dar

After playing some scenarios with less-than-ideal visibility and weather conditions, I've noticed that the casualties inflicted by a unit are not updated for an accurate display at end-of-game. For example, in one rainy battle, I had a 120mm mortar spotter blast the bejeezus out of a pair of advancing platoons w/support teams crossing a wheatfield about 300m distant from the spotter. I could see units getting waylaid, and there were a couple of "bodies" left in the field. During the game, my spotter was credited with inflicting zero casualties. That's fine--at the range and under the visibility conditions, it couldn't be verified. At the end of the game, when given the chance to view the map and every detail about every enemy unit, I discovered two 2" mortar and one company HQ had bought it in that field. However, my spotter was *still* credited with zero kills. As his arty was the only thing hitting those units in that wheatfield, I know he was responsible for at least 10 kills--and I'd like to see him get the credit for it so I can nominate him for the Iron Cross (2nd class). Additionally, in that scenario, one 75mm AT gun took out two vehicles that were only partially identified as possible Churchill and Cromwell tanks. At game's end, I could see they were Cromwell VIIIs. That ATG was credited though with two "unidentified vehicles" destroyed throughout the game and at end of game. As long as we have full intelligence of enemy units at the end of the game, I'd really like to see full intel regarding the casualties inflicted by my own units. Dar

There have been quite a few threads covering the PBEM mechanics and how security can still be maintained while using only 2 emails/turn. Do a search in the original CM folder for this. Hopefully we can see this implemented in CM2. It is rough on players PBEMing across multiple timezones. Dar

I still maintain it's a bug, but it's so trivial I don't expect it to get fixed. I've captured many units after putting them through some severe punishment, and everytime I've been able to order them to move to the rear on the turn after they were captured--except for this one time. That unit was not in any real danger for the rest of the game yet stayed "Routed" for the duration. Additionally, as I stated earlier, I don't see how a unit is going to calm down in close proximity to enemy units. Oh, well--unless Steve or Charles gives the authoritative answer, it's just a matter of conjecture. Dar

Play some quick battles! It's much better when you don't know exactly what you're facing. That puts you on more of an even level with the AI, as it never knows what it's facing either. Even at 1000 points/side (the current max.), the battles are relatively small. Try some of the lesser visibility/bad weather settings, too. It always makes for a good hair-raising knife fight when the woods are full of sound contacts but you can only see 40m in front of you. Dar

With all due respect, Dale, even though I'm not a tank crewman either, I would find an enemy tank at my two o'clock position much more threatening than a mortar crew at my eight o'clock, and if that tank popped smoke, I wouldn't think, "Oh, it's gone! If I can't see it, it must not be there." and rotate the turret 180 degrees to engage the mortar crew. I'd always want my thickest armor and gun facing towards the most serious threat, and a threat that pops smoke is still a threat. Don't get me wrong: Charles has done a phenomanal job with the AI! However, the Villers-Bocage scenario and operation particularly reveal that the Tac AI crews are lacking in short-term memory, and having a Cromwell re-emerge in same spot after the smoke dissipates and nailing your Tiger with a rear turret shot as it's picking off routed half-track crews is quite frustrating. However, I don't envy Charles on this-- Regardless of what he comes up with, it won't satisfy everybody! But he's still my hero. Dar

Well, after playing a little more last night, I took several units prisoner, and the very next turn I was able to order them to move back to my lines. I still claim that the immobile prisoners was a bug, albeit a fairly trivial one. Dar

Begging your pardon, but it seems to me that "Routed" is one of several morale stages on the path to surrendering, and not an actual state to experience after surrendering. Every other time I've taken prisoners, I was able to order them to move the turn after. Considering most units have to be persuaded rather severely to surrender, they were therefore likely to be in a "Broken" or "Routed" state immediately before surrendering. Additionally I fail to see how a captured unit is going to "calm down" from routed status--if "Routed" is a valid state for a captured unit--when there's an enemy SS PzGr squad in the same house and several Tigers less than 50m away. As I understand, enemy units in close proximity are not conducive to the morale of units that have been shaken up. And as far as realism, any prisoner that refuses to obey, "Los! Los! Mach schnell!" is going to get a bayonet in the ass to encourage him. Dar [This message has been edited by Dar (edited 06-28-2000).]

We love you, Charles! If for nothing else, for tolerating us so well. Dar

Poor Charles! His work is never done... Several of us had discussed something similar to this in the thread about "Slow Turret" tanks. I would certainly like to be able to assign a sector or rotate only the turret to cover an area, forcing the vehicle to concentrate on those areas and ignore others--unless it sees what it considers a dire threat. I've been playing those same Villers-Bocage scenario and operation with the Tigers, and it's been quite frustrating to watch the Tiger rotate away from several tanks in the 12 and 2 o'clock positions that popped smoke to engage a routed 2 in. mortar crew in the 8 o'clock, only to be popped with a side turret hit when the smoke clears. It seems the problem isn't the target "stickiness" as fixed in 1.01. The problem seems to be the Tac AI rotating from target to target after the player-designated target is killed or has popped smoke--and in a target-rich environment like the Villers-Bocage scenarios, those Tiger turrets could double as fans if they had the speed! Dar

<h2>Possible Spoiler for Villers-Bocage scenario!</h2> Noted last night when I was playing Villers-Bocage scenario that I captured an English squad that remained at "Routed!" status after capture. They would not accept any orders in that state, and remained fixed in that one spot for the duration of the scenario. I can't give any consistent repro steps. However, the squad was being suppressed in the house nearest the crossroads where the lone Tiger starts the game by that same Tiger during Turn 10. When Turn 11 began and the German reinforcements magically appear all around the house and crossroads area, it surrendered. So I'm wondering if the sudden appearance of extra enemies that weren't there in the previous turn caused some sort of glitch or race condition causing the unit surrendered without updating its status? Dar