Durruti

Colin (or Steve), does that mean you can butt several houses together to form a long, continuous, European-style terrace? I thought you could only have one building per tile and none of them are wide enough to stretch from one tile-edge to the opposite?

LOL , You know the worst thing about Britain? We put up statues to and name streets after such scumbags as General Haig. I should know, I live in Haig Road, East London (couldn't find a house for sale on Orwell Street). The statue of 'Bomber' Harris has been defaced a few times though...

Great post! Actually there were some PzIVDs (and C's) still around in Normandy in 1944 - the hard-up 21st Panzer Division had a whole battalion. Some replaced captured French Somuas. If Bigtime get the chance I'd put in a request for this tank as an add-on. Quite apart from the actual numbers involved, this Division was at the heart of some of the major Normandy battles which gives the vehicle added significance...

Hmmm, the CC series is RTS? I'd prefer to call it CTT ('continuous time tactical'). As for CC4, never mind the rocket SPWs how about the direct-fire, super accurate Sherman Calliopes? Or the tanks that can't cross bridges?? Combat Mission will be the greatest but its still a game where you have god like observation and control...and why not, I say

Donan, thanks yes I found the tilt control as well in the meantime (guess it pays to read the instructions closely ) But you're right, its pretty useless; about 30 degrees to the horizontal? I want to pan towards a top down view like CM...Still I can forgive such things in an innovative game like Shogun

I know its a bit OT but I'm glad this game was mentioned here as I love the samurai period. For that reason I've persevered with the demo even though I find controlling the camera views and units in 'continous' time a bit of a steep learning curve. The camera control bears comparison with CM and I definitely found the latter far more intuitive and quick to learn. I find I want a 'tilt-up-and-down control' in Shogun but haven't found one. A pause control? Yeah, that would make it easier to command the units and I sympathise with those who hate RT games without it. Personally I have no problem with continous action as I see the learning curve of commanding units in a fast tactical action as analogous to improving unit control with the mouse. Its the sweat involved I certainly don't regard Shogun as extreme as 'C&C' in this respect. BTW did Shogun demo players know it contains a built in map editor? You can also edit the forces and create huge armies with troop types not included in the featured demos. Go to this excellent fan site to find out how: http://www.totalwar.org/links.htm

Along the same lines, there were also the larger Borgward BIV radio control HE carriers. 2nd Panzer Div and Panzer Lehr each had a unit of them in Normandy. Why don't we hear much about them? Well according to a great booklet I have called 'German Remote Control Tank Units 1943-1945' by Markus Jaugitz there was great secrecy attached to these units. Nobody was allowed to take photographs even (didn't stop some of the crews, hence the ones in the book). Their combat use and effectiveness might be a subject for further research...

Madmatt, Thanks for explaining more about buildings in CM. I remember asking some time ago if it were possible to butt houses together to form a terrace row but got no answer! Yes, we urban europeans love living in little boxes all crammed together on top of eachother. Very cosy Just wonder if it would be possible to create a nice old cruciform-plan Norman church...

So the Brits and Canadians were speeding on Benzamine, the Germans high on Pervitin and Russians out of their heads on Vodka. Leaving the Yanks stone-cold sober of course...

Brits/Canadians cos I am a Brit (though definitely NOT a nationalist) and they are not in the slightest boring . They have Crocodiles, Fireflies, Wasps, Typhoons and Kangaroos (lets hope they also get the AVRE soon ). They also had the most interesting Normandy battles. THANKYOU, THANKYOU, THANKYOU, Bigtime, for including the Brits in CM1 and not going the way of Panzer Elite and Across the Rhine with their purely US/German fictionally-rigged battles... I also like to play non-SS German units as a personal preference.