Dar

David: In trying to simulate that combination of orders to move up, shoot a few rounds, and back off, I try timing my orders so that the tank moves up to a firing position near the end of the one-minute turn ("Hunt" into position). Then in the next order phase I can cancel any remaining "Hunt" order, and order it to Reverse, using the "Pause" command to delay it a little longer if I want it to engage longer. Or I'll reverse it right away and use "Smoke" if the situation suddenly turned bad (e.g., another enemy tank has joined the first and is shooting at my tank). Additionally--I don't know if this helps, but I do it anyway--I'll order the unit to target the one I want it to engage as the unit moves up to firing position, even if the target is not in LOS. It's my way of saying, "Take on this guy when you can see him!" Of course, I have no idea if it helps... Dar

Hmm... Maybe 'cause of their proximity and that they were looking downslope on these guys (meaning they couldn't drop prone and hide at all) that they were so exposed? That's something to experiment with... Dar

Cool beans! Thanks, Mikester! Dar

Gotta put some squads in there with those guys so they don't get chewed up! What if that tank had supporting infantry? Dar

Fascinating! I've never heard of such tactics. It seems you would need to do something rather unorthodox like that since towed guns really aren't that well suited for attacking. Mike, do you have more info on that <u>Grenadiers</u> book, e.g. author, ISBN, publisher? Is that the complete title? Thanks, Dar

"Superstitious" Russians? What chalk superstitions would they have, I wonder? "Suspicious" seems more appropriate, I'd think? Dar

Are you sure that wasn't 100 firepower, not to-hit chance? From my experience, only crew-served, direct fire (i.e., non-mortar) weapons have to-hit chances. Most infantry and MG units show firepower. Oh, there is also a "percent exposed" or some such stat. Any unit out in the open would probably be 100% exposed, I imagine. Dar

Thunderduck: Be sure to "Sneak" or, better yet, "Crawl" into cover when you're advancing your FOs. I normally have my guys "Fast" dash between cover and "Move" through it until they reach a point where they are nearing the enemy or the end of the concealing terrain. Then I have them "Sneak" until they reach about 1/2 tile away from where I want them. Then they crawl into their final spot and hide until I find something shell-worthy. Have you experimented with LOS into the different types of terrain? Typically, you can't see through one Tall Pines, two Woods, and three Scattered Trees from my experience (looking orthogonally; diagonally reduces that). Once my troops move into terrain that borders on exposing them given those limits, I trade the faster moves for the stealthier moves. Try using the level "1" LOS setting, too, when plotting your movement. There are a lot of dead-spots, draws, and saddles you can cross unseen if you plot your moves carefully. You can often have guys crawl unseen up a gully in otherwise "flat" territory, or circle around a small crest. I love how CM supports this! Dar

For me, random battle generator--most definitely! Going into a battle with very sketchy info about my opponent's forces will make for some great surprises and a realistic fear factor, e.g., "Gee, I better not run my tanks out there and expose their flanks, because he might still have some AT units running around out there!" The weather and time-of-day conditions are also going to rock! Dar

Perhaps we haven't been explaining it well enough, but there's no need to have a "fast" email system and give up security. It can still be done in two emails/turn with security. Basically, you have: 1. Player A sets up his forces. Email setup A to Player B. 2. Player B sets up his forces. B issues Turn 1 orders and sends them to Player A. 3. Player A issues Turn 1 orders and generates film for Turn 1, which he can not view, and sends it to Player B. 4. Player B watches Turn 1 film and issues Turn 2 orders. He sends one email attachment, which contains the Turn 1 film that Player A has not seen and his Turn 2 orders, back to A. 5. Player A watches Turn 1 film and issues orders for Turn 2. He generates film for Turn 2 which, again, he can not see, and sends it to Player B. 6. Repeat Steps 4. through 6. incrementing the Turn numbers until game is over. Basically, Player A sends the film for Turn N to B. B sends the film back and his orders for Turn N+1. A can't see the films he generates until B has seen them so security is in place. A generates the films without needing to send orders to B, so they only need two emails/turn instead of three. End result: Two emails/turn. Security is still in place. Like I mentioned, though, BTS seemed agreeable to getting this in, but not in the initial release. Dar

Wow! We're re-hashing this old thread? For a minute, I thought somebody hacked my account when I saw my post--and then I saw the date! I believe in another thread BTS agreed that the two-emails/turn is a viable option and still provides the security they want. However, it was too late in the game and they elected to postpone it for either a patch or incorporate the scheme in CM2. Dar

??? Why not just put in $50 and sit on it, knowing it's gonna be pulled out soon? Dar

Blacksilver: Yeah, I have read <u>With the Old Breed</u>. Great book -- and brutal! Thanks for reminding me about that one. I'm gonna have to dig that one out again. Another great book (although not as visceral) that I've been meaning to read again is <u>Enemy at the Gates</u>, which covers the Stalingrad campaign. I remember reading recently about a movie of the same name in production right now -- I hope it's covering the same topic? Dar

Yeah, I'd love to play a France, '40, version of CM, too. It'd be great to experiment with the Matildas and Char B1 Bis(? the monster French tank) and watch them carve up some PzKwIIIs and those short 75mm IVs. Kind of funny how the Allies had the slow behemoths when they were getting their butts kicked in the beginning of the war and that the Germans had the armored monsters at the end when they were caving in. On the Western Front, anyway. Dar

Good luck finding an actual combat veteran from any war who'll want to review CM for you. I'd wager a good sum that most veterans who've fired a rifle in anger don't want to relive the moment in their own minds--much less with a computer game. Dar

The "virtual smell" hardware is a long way off, though, from what I've read. There is an <a href = "http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/05/03/israel.intersniff.ap/index.html">article</a> on CNN that describes what some Israelis have done. However, it sounds like all they've done so far is come up with a way to digitize scents. Recreating them for end users doesn't seem viable anytime soon. Anyone read <u>Gates of Fire</u> by Steven Pressfield? It's a novel about the Spartans fighting the battle of Thermopylae. There are plenty of passages in there about the smells of guys soiling themselves in the middle of the close combat, and guys slipping in the blood, feces, and urine while scrambling over the dead and wounded. It was pretty nauseating to think about it. Still a great book, though! I think he has another book out now that I'm gonna have to read. Think it's about the Pelopennesian Wars this time. Dar

smbutler: I heartily recommend visiting Gettysburg if you can ever arrange it. It's a very moving experience, and the battlefield is well-preserved and separate from the commercialism in the town. I visited there three times in the three years I lived near Pittsburgh, and each time found myself parked for long periods in several spots (Chamberlain's end on the Union left on Little Round Top and the Angle especially) trying to imagine what it was like at that spot on those days. I agree with you on the turn-based monotony and lack of realism. I expect CM will raise the bar across the war-gaming spectrum, proving to developers that we do have the hardware capabilities to run RT sims with great 3-D graphics and a competent AI, and that gamers expect more. Certainly, "Falcon" and other flight simulators have proven that several times over, but it has taken too long for it to pervade the wargaming/strategy niche in my opinion! You mentioned different time segments earlier, and I agree. I would imagine a minimum of 15 minutes per time segment at that scale would be necessary. Any less might get monotonous and simulate an unrealistic command-and-control (unless each of your couriers is delivering dispatches while flying a Pegasus!). Perhaps we will get lucky and BTS will license the engine to another group to work on different eras while they continue on CM2, CM3, etc.! Dar

smbutler: I agree about the Waterloo concept. When I visited Gettysburg for the first time after playing "Sid Meier's Gettysburg" about a hundred times, my familiarity with the terrain was astonishing! Aside from the historical euphoria I felt, knowing exactly where everything had happened and what was over the next ridge or hill from seeing it in a game was a very novel feeling for me. Being able to drop the camera viewpoint down to the level 1 and 2 elevations that CM provides would have made it that much better, and the immersion level would have been greater. I definitely agree with you that modelling 18th- and 19th-century campaigns using those perspectives would be fantastic, especially if modelled on historical terrain! Obviously, this virtual reality concept is nothing new. I remember reading a few years ago about Marines using custom "Doom" levels in training designed to simulate embassies and other areas they were assigned to defend. However, when you're first exposed to the benefits of it, as I was at Gettysburg, it's a great feeling! Dar

A few points to make here: 1. I see while I was retracting my snide remark, which read basically something like, "Geez, you're gone for a day and you have to resurrect a thread that was closed for a good reason. Why don't you bring up the swastikas and white phosphorous debates while you're at it?" that you had just posted your reply. 2. I did not address the dead bodies issue at all. I like the idea of a casualty marker. Yes, you're right: it's a war game! 3. The reason for my original post was, disclaimer or no, your launching a new thread and attacking Major Tom was in poor taste. I'm tired of these flame wars as it is, but starting up a new thread just to continue one is really pathetic! 4. Yes, I realize that I'm being just as pathetic and quite hypocritical by posting this. So this is my final post on the subject. Have a nice day! Dar

<snide remarks deleted> [This message has been edited by Dar (edited 05-03-2000).]

There were so many Sherman variations and nearly every country that received Shermans came up with their own modifications for them. I agree with Pak40 that maybe the vehicle you're looking at is a flamethrower-equipped model. However, there was also a quad-AAA mounted model called the <a href = "http://www.cgo.wave.ca/~sbeldam/main23.htm">"Skink"</a> that got me to thinking maybe there was a dual-AAA mount, too, that you might be looking at. Ever do a look for WWII AFVs on the Web and see how many sites there are dedicated to German tanks? You'd think they had won or something! Dar

BTS: Having pre-ordered this game last summer and then having moved from Pittsburgh to Seattle, I've sent email on at least two separate occasions to "sales@battlefront.com" as notification of my address changes. Both times I've requested confirmation and received none -- now I'm looking at moving yet again into more permanent locations locally within the next month. I'm thrilled to see that end of May is looking like a release date. However, I'd like to know that I can maintain my pre-order status and get the game delivered to me at the appropriate address. Is there another email address or some other means of contacting you folks that I can use and know my order will be successfully processed? Thank you, Dar Steckelberg

Anyone else seen this special about the 101st Airborne Division? It's an excellent special--the interviews with the vets alone makes it entirely worthwhile even without the narration and background filler. A couple of nitpicks, though-- They only mention the 81st and 101st as the only American airborne divisions. What about the 17th (Operation Varsity) and I believe there was also the 13th which served in the Pacific theater. Stock footage that doesn't fit! For example, when they describe the battle for Carentan in the D-Day campaign, they talk about how the Luftwaffe bombed the area, and they show several German bombers--and a Ju52?! About as lethal as the dreaded C47! Good footage of the Bastogne area that I hadn't seen before, though, and I liked the story about the "receipt" for Bastogne, which I hadn't heard before. Dar

Doug, I understood what you meant--I was just saying I hope you don't try to be the next guy she goes home with. Or years from now we might hear about the dreaded, genital-eating bacteria "Leptospirosis Dougus Bemanus"! Dar

"Let's just say that I strongly suspect that the person she left with was NOT the same person she arrived with." Oh, man! Doug, you can definitely do better than that! Or you might wind up with a newly discovered disease named after you! Dar