Gespenster

11 kgs is actually pretty darn close ... the MG42 weighs 25.5 lbs. unloaded or 11.6 kgs JT ------------------ "It is well that War is so terrible, lest we grow to fond of it" Robert E. Lee [This message has been edited by Gespenster (edited 11-11-99).]

JonS, My wholehearded apologies as well. I too am a Veteran (Desert Storm) but on Veterans day I tend to think, not of myself, but of my Grandfather ... so please forgive me. I wasn't aware that Veterans day was such an international holiday. Fionn is absolutely right, even though my family suffered great loss in WWII (as many families did)I hold no hard feelings towards our former enemies. My wife is German (from Mannheim) and her family also suffered great loss during those harsh times (4 great uncles on the Russian Front) too me, everyone is a hero who served in that war (and all the wars before and since), no matter what side they fought for. God bless them all. JT ------------------ "It is well that War is so terrible, lest we grow to fond of it" Robert E. Lee

Absolutely, we should never forget those heroes who gave up all of their tomorrows for all of our todays. My Grandfather (KIA Normandy 1944) being one of them... God bless the USA. JT ------------------ "It is well that War is so terrible, lest we grow to fond of it" Robert E. Lee

Rob, During the early 1940's there was a radio comedian by the name of Bob Burns, who used a strange looking musical instrument called a "Bazooka". The M9A1 Rocket Launcher (official name) bore a striking resemblance to this instrument, leading the soldiers who used it to dub it "the bazooka" JT ------------------ "It is well that War is so terrible, lest we grow to fond of it" Robert E. Lee

Very pleased with the demo, and can't wait for the final release. The Graphics and sound effects are second to none, heck, I actually flinched the first time I heard that MG42 go off, (I like to keep my volume up very loud when engrossed in a game, and it actually did startle me ) No real complaints to mention other than the fact that I find it kind of a pain to keep track of all the casualties, I realize this has been discussed many times on the boards and there is nothing that can be done at this time to correct it, but displaying casualties on the battlefield would make this game PERFECT in every sense of the word ... [keeping fingers crossed that we will someday soon have the technology to do it] But until then, CM is (in my opinion) as close to perfect as we are going to get for now ... and thats close enough for me, I love it. I Played the German Offensive last night, excellent fight ... was very impressed with the AI again. I got VERY lucky and manged to really softened up the entire town by bringing a HAIL of 105/81/81 in "target wide" mode all over the town from the get go. I then hit the Allied right flank (my left) very hard with an all out bum rush w/ my 4 HT's ... they covered the ground from the woodline to the first VL in a very short amount of time, and overwhelmed the still shellshocked defenders of that building very quickly ... although I barely had enough time to disembark all of my Infantry and get those HT's moving again before the Allies countered with there own volley of Artillery, and pounded the area where my HT's just were... whew! Although I must say that after the three allied tracks appeared on the horizon, I got a little worried, but my TIGER I managed to flame one and knock another out of action before falling victim to the third. I thought I was going to lose it when I lost my last STUG III, and the Allies still had one Hellcat alive... but the AI was smart and impressed me in that my forces occupied the town all the way to the river yet the Hellcat never tried to come down the road into the town. It new all its ground forces were almost completely destroyed, and it wouldn't stand a chance in the narrow streets of that town, so it chose to withdrawl ... resulting in an Axis major victory, and after a long exhale on my part, total satisfaction. I would like to thank BTS for bringing such an excellent product to the table. This game will brake down barriers in CPU Wargaming. And will undoubtedly go down in History as one of the greats. Jason ------------------ "It is well that War is so terrible, lest we grow to fond of it" Robert E. Lee

PanzerLeader, Not true at all. There are quite a few WWII reenacting groups based in the UK. Like this one... http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages /hallg/ The 2nd Battlegroup is based in the UK as well, they were the German Soldiers that you saw during the Bridge battle at the end of "Saving Pvt. Ryan". I have been reenacting WWII for 6 years, and enjoyed it very much as it is a truly great hobby. It is third only to American Civil War, and American Rev War in growth over the last ten years. I enjoy CPU wargames as well (and am very much looking forward to the upcoming release of CM), but actually going into the field at a WWII reenactment is truly the ultimate Wargame ... Jason Pz.Aufkl.Abt.11 / 11.Panzer-Division "Die Gespensterdivision" http://members.xoom.com/aufklarung ------------------ "It is well that War is so terrible, lest we grow to fond of it" Robert E. Lee

Cool, I will agree that the Playstation version of PG was terrible. But in 94' when the only Wargame I had was "The Blue & the Gray" (by "Impressions" I think) PG glued me to my machine for hours and hours ... granted, had I just bought it within the last couple of years I wouldn't be thrilled considering all the competition that is out there now. But the original PG won numerous awards for "Wargame of the year" years ago, so they must have been doing something right. JT ------------------ "It is well that War is so terrible, lest we grow to fond of it" Robert E. Lee

Tiger, All I can say is WOW. I am truly impressed that SSI cared enough to actually call you. I am a big fan of the Panzer General series, the original PG was my favorite, I bought it in 94' and at that time I considered it to be revolutionary ... PG2 was fun as well, but for some reason I didn't enjoy it guite as much. Now there is PG3 "Assault", I played the DEMO ... and granted I have been a little hesitant to purchase it considering all the other great games coming out soon (CCIV,CM,PE) but your post has just convinced me to give it a shot ... Thanks. JT ------------------ "It is well that War is so terrible, lest we grow to fond of it" Robert E. Lee

The link to download the non playable demo of Sudden Strike is http://www.gamespot.com/strategy/suddenst/index.html I downloaded and watched it last night as well, and I think it has alot of potential. Obviously the demo is just a demo, and I hope to God that the actual game isn't like that. But the graphics are excellent for this type of game, and the very nice detailed buildings and houses can be entered and used for cover... even when damaged, the buildings still look incredible. My only concern is resource management... if they have factorys churning out units like in C&C this game will be a definate bust. But if they can develope an interface similar to that of CC and allow only a certain number of Units, it could be interesting. The Maps are HUGE, and could easily provide Infantry companies to contain up to 50 men or more. This would be excellent to simulate the Russian hordes that were thrown into battle on the Eastern Front, the Vehicle detail I thought was good, heck I think I even saw a Brumbar in there. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the developers will tweak this engine and make a good quality REALISTIC WWII game... but somehow I think that they will not, and you will be able to take the field with 100 Jadgtigers (which would be cool) but not very accurate. Either way, it's not on the same level with CM (hopefully Jason ------------------ Those who forget our history, are doomed to repeat it.

Guys the M60 is actually copied from the German MG34 whcih had a ROF of Approx 800-900 RPM. The MG42 is also a copy of the MG34 with an upgraded ROF and a few other changes. The MG34 is in reality the Grandfather of all modern LMG's. And while I agree the ROF of the MG42 was probably TOO high, the Soldiers trained to use it were very good at changing the barrel, as someone mentioned earlier it took an average of 6 seconds... My Great Uncle was in the 101st Airborne in WWII... and he told me when he heard an MG42 begin to rip into the woods it scared everyone to death. So not only was it effective mechanically but also mentally. JT ------------------ Those who forget our history, are doomed to repeat it.

I've been lurking on these message boards for some time now and figured its about time to say hi... And that I am very much looking forward to the release of Combat Mission... I'm from Ashburn, Virginia (Loudoun County)Lived here all my life except the 9 years I spent in the service... ------------------ Those who forget our history, are doomed to repeat it.