Henri

If you want a nailbiting two-player scenario, try Bridgehead at Benicourt. It is much better if neither player has seen the scenario before. The scenario is characterized by wide swings of the initiative along with concordant swings of mood from the highest elation to the darkest despair.Every time one feels that he has finally wrenched the initiative, he is sandbagged in the head and becomes convinced that he is dead meat, only to miraculously find a few moves later that if only... This is one of the best designed scenarios I have played, and Wild Bill must be commended for the diabolical setups and timing of reinforcements in this battle not recommended for those with weak hearts... Henri

In a TCPIP game, I sent my Hetzer over a hill to face a Jumbo; the two tanks appered in front of each otehr at about 50 m, and both bounded three or four shells off the other's front armor before the Jumbo disabled the Hetzer's gun with a gun hit. Shortly afterwards, I sent a whole PLATOON of fresh Pioneers after the Jumbo. They assaulted from the side along with a Panaerschreck at point-blank range, but they managed only to immobilize the Jumbo! I admit that's beter than nothing, but... Before that, my 88 Puppchen had bounced a number of 88 shells off the Jumbo before being killed. I'll post an AAR of this incredible battle after it is finished, which will take some time. Morale: Jumbos are hard to lill, but Hetzers are just as hard to kill from the front. I guess a hellcat has a better chance of killing a Hetzer from the front, as long as the Hetzer doesn't get off the first shot... Henri

Oops sorry, I accidently posted the same query twice. See the other one with the same title after reading the message below. Henri [This message has been edited by Henri (edited 01-02-2001).]

This may be realistic or it may be a fluke,but an incident has me wondering about the accuracy of bazookas. I was moving four tanks - 2 Panthers, a PzIV and a Puma long a road; unknown to me, there was a bazooka unit in the woods on each side of the road both 90 m away. My tanks stopped, expecting to spot some enemies in front, and during the next minute, the bazookas killed all four tanks with their first four shots as the tanks returned ineffective fire. Now this seems a bit unrealistic to me -bazookas were not very accurate weapons. What is the probability of a crack bazooka getting a kill at 90 m? Let us say it is 50%; this would mean that the probability of getting 4 hits in a row is only 1 chance in 16. If the probability is 80%, the probabiity is 41%, but I doubt that the probability could be so high.The Puma in particular is not a very big target from 90 m away, especially when the bazooka is being shot at... Was I just unlucky or is the probability of bazooka hits too high? My opponent said that the bazookas were crack units. Henri

I have noticed that prisoners sometimes refuse to follow move orders, but I assumed that this was because they were in the line of fire. I found that if I kept giving them move orders, they would eventually obey. Henri

If there were no time limit, some players would play the game by hiding in a corner and wait to bushwack the other player (a tactic known as camping in other online games); in real war, an officer has orders, and he does not have the option of disregarding them and playing the camper. Henri

If my opponent does not look happy with the setup, I always offer to start with another one; although this could lead to abuse,I haven't seen any (if he did it twice in a row, I would get suspicious). After all, if a player doesn't like a setup becaue it does not suit his tastes, I would rather find out right away than have him drop out after I have invested hours into the game. Henri

I think that many players do not reqlize that a cease-fire is not a draw: the game determines the winner based on the present situation (it can be a draw). Some people don't like to surrender, but are willing to accept a cease-fire. You can get a major victory with a cease-fire. Henri

You can implement the fuse idea in the following manner: Set up the game for x minutes (any number, say 1 minute). Then when each move begins, immediately stop the timer (both players have to do it). This gives unlimited time as long as both players want it. Whenever one player wants to start the fuse, he restarts the timer (any single player can do it). Henri

This is even more prevalent in TCPIP online play, and is very frustrating. You can make this less frustrating by having as I do a policy of never refusing a request for a ceasefire and letting your opponents know it. At least this way, you sometimes get an evaluation of the position as it stands at the time. And if the opponent just disappears, you consider it a win. Under these conditions I consider it very unethical to just abandon a game and disappearing without comment. On the other hand, there is not much point in continuing a game with an opponent who is not interested in playing. If it happens too often, make a point of discussing it with a player before the game begins. I guess all else one can do is to take note of the player's identity and not playing him again. Henri

Staroffice with the Excel version.

I'm not sure I undersand. Do I understand that sneaking units will only spot enemy units when they reach a waypoint? And that they will not stop moving unless fired upon? (A highly likely occurence when they meet an enemy unit in my experience. And if two opposing units are both sneaking will they sneak right past each other waving hello as they walk by? Assuming this is true, a move to contact order would also have its problems. What would happen if a sneaking unit spots an enemy tank on a hill 2 km away? Will it stop? How far should the enemy unit be to force a decision that contact has been made? Seems to me that a move to contact command is not the answer, the only answer being SOP orders.Otherwise there will always be circumstances where one's units will not do what one wants. Henri

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by aka_tom_w: SPOILERS ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .... .... There are TWO fords one and either side of the bridge, they help as infantry can be pushed across them. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Doh!... "Captain, are you telling me that you reached the river unopposed and that you didn't cross? "Err, General Patton,Sir...I didn't realize that there were two fords nearby and I didn't want to be ambushed crossing the bridge..." "WHAT?...There was a bridge and TWO goddamm fords across the river, and you sat on your hands and waited for the goddamm krauts to make an appearence?...Who the hell gave you your commission?..." "Well, sir I was led to believe that this was a meeting engagement and that the opposing forces would be about equal, and they had GERMAN tanks, sir, so I assumed..." "You poor ****head excuse for an officer!...Where's my pistol, I'm gonna shoot the sonavabitch!...Let me go!...Get that goddamm asshole out of my sight!...I don't want any pussy-footing cowardly officers who can't tell if a map is upside down in my army, do you hear?..."

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by aka_tom_w: This one is FAIR and if you trust that your oppenent won't cheat and run it against the AI on the "other" computer (everbody has one for those, rollie Eyes), then you are in for a real treat of a fair well balanced battle. Its fair and its fun and there is plenty of action to keep you busy. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Fair? Well balanced? I musta missed sumptin'... SPOILERS!!! ... ... ... ...... ... ... ... I played this one as the Allies on TCPIP last night, and I decided to capitulate on move 20 (out of 30) when the connection broke off for the fifth time between our computers. Unless the Allies get some heavy armor in the last few moves, I don't see how they can stand up to the Germans. The Germans have a Tiger, two Panthers and a few PzIVs against which the Allies have 2 Fireflies, 2 Sherman Vs, a Cromwell VII, a Crocodile, a few Stuarts and a single 57 mm AT gun.One of the Fireflies and a bunch of Stuarts come in as reinforcements about halfway through the 30-move game. Only the tin-can Fireflies have cannons that can stand up to the German tanks, and there is no possibility of any flanking because of the river crossed by a single bridge with the main victory flag on it.Both sides have infantry, and it is my impression that the Allies have considerably more infantry, which are basically useless, since the only useful infantry unit that the Allies have is a 25-pounder artillery unit that comes in with the reinforcements, whereas the Germans have a heavy artillery unit from the get go.The other Allied artillery units are the 2-in mortars that come with the infantry platoons. Unless the Germans decide to cross the bridge, the Allied infantry is pretty useless except for the 25-pounder, which came in much too late to make a difference in my game. In the game, I managed to position my infantry in the woods close to the river because the Germans took some time before they made an appearence. When I saw a couple of armored cars making their way between the woods, I advanced my 4 tanks together to the edge of the bridge with the intention of hitting the enemy with massed firepower, where they were immediately hit by heavy artillery that within a minute disabled one Sherman V with a gun hit, killed the commander of the Firefly and immobilized another tank. German tanks began to make their appearence, and my tanks and the AT gun killed a couple of PzIVs; then the Tiger and 2 Panthers appeared, and my AT gun bounced 4 shells in a row off the Tiger before the latter killed the gun. My crocodile which I had swung to the right managed to bounce a side shot off one Panther who dispatched the Churchill with a frontal shot on his first try; the German tanks quickly killed all my tanks in the center, who haplessly managed to bounce a few shots off their armor. My arriving Firefly, who had been sent around to the left was killed with the first shot after it bounced two shells off the same Panther on the right, leaving me with no armor except for a couple of Stuarts. In the meantime, I had managed to position my 25-pounder artillery spotter, who was now bringing down a withering barrage upon the German tanks, who had concentrated near the bridge- to no effect whatsoever! Over 100 25-pounder shells fell among the German tanks, whose commanders apparently disposed of them with fly-swatters from their cupolas while picking their noses. At this point, my opponent decided to cross the bridge with his Tiger followed by another tank, which was probably a mistake, since my infantry along the road on my side was basically intact and had a number of PIATs available.But even had I killed those 2 tanks, the Germans had more tanks left and controlled the bridge objective, which I certainly could not take with only infantry against tanks and infantry in good cover. This was when the connection was lost for the fourth or fifth time and when I decided to call it a day. Now this is a fine scenario, but given that the Germans can win without crossing the bridge and given that the German ubertanks are met by tin cans with pea-shooting 75 mm guns that have no hope of flanking them unless they turn sideways (and even when that hapened, my Churchill failed to penetrate the side of the Panther), I don't see how it can be called fair or balanced. My opponent agreed that the scenario is strongly biased towards the German player, but maybe he was being polite... Anyway, if you won this with the Allies against a human, I would be interested in hearing about how you went about it. Despite the unbalanced scenario, I am grateful to Rune for letting me have this package of scenarios designed for double blind play. maybe I'll have better luck with another one. Henri

*Stackable standard operating procedures as in TACOPS. *Pause command in the middle of a waypoint set *Follow command on roads *AI vs AI play to balance scenario design and to study scenarios *Order of battle display *Standard equipment types for Quick battle choices: not everyone knows what a normal understrength German Panzer Battalion is supposed to look like.A wider choice than "armored" or balanced" would be nice. *Unit info on the purchase screen; how many newbies know what a kangaroo vehicle is, or whether a Sherman V is better than a Sherman III (not much...)? *Full game movies viewable from either side. *The ability to insert user maps into the random map generator, that could be chosen at random. This could yield better maps for quick battles.Or perhaps an option to have the random map generator choose ANY map at random among all the maps available.

Try the Villers-Bocage scenario Tigers!... with the Germans. Difficult to win. Henri

How does one go about changing one's profile? I would like to change my email to my home address, but I caan't figure out how to do it without creatig a whole new identity.Can one also change one's nickname of the forum?

I probably hold the record for the most pbem games lost in a row (something like 8!).My record in TCPIP is a lot better, although I have lost 5 straight games to Old Salt... In case this gives you the idea that I am a pushover, I have really drubbed some very fine players. It didn't help that I had not noticed some things like the fact that there is an additional delay when you change movement orders, which I always used to do when the fighting started, that I didn't pay much attention to leader qualities, that I had not bothered to find out that German infantry is usually superior at ranges longer than 200 m, that I had no idea what British carriers carried, and that when I was in a hurry, I would send the file right back after watching the movie wihout giving any orders, guessing that I had likely put my units where they were for a good reason (which I couldn't remember, of course). Henri

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Wild Bill Wilder: A few others you might consider.. Le Lorey, A Hard Stand (smaller scenario) <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Le Lorey is a great small bocage scenario for either pbem or against the computer; it's also good for TCPIP play, but because the Allied player needs time to coordinate, you should give the Allies at least 5 minutes per move. In my view, the most fun (and highly stressful) is first to play the Germans without knowing what the Allies have, then if you get creamed, play the Germans again, then play the Allies after you have won with the Germans. You should be able to win with either side against the AI. For human vs human play, a player who knows the scenario has a significant advantage over one who doesn't, unless he is playing the Allies against a German player who knows how to wait. Great scenario, Wild Bill, one of my favorites.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by aka_tom_w: Seriously, get this scenario from Rune and Play it double blind via TCP/IP, I would say 5 Minute turns should keep it challenging. Try it with the new beta #23 patch that was JUST released. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Yes, these scenarios look great for TCPIP play or even pbem. I went over the the CMHQ chat room yesterday and inquired about where to get those scenarios, and bingo!, Rune immediately emailed me the zip file containing about a dozen scenarios for double-blind play.Actually I haven't looked at them because I am saving them for double blind play, (Ok, I did look at the map for "A river runs through it", but only for about 15 seconds to get an idea -I swear that's all I did...), but great job, Rune! To give Rune a hand, I will be glad to email the zipped file to anyone who emails me at <h.arsenault@videotron.ca> (I don't have it at this address). So there's a new patch? Gotta get it, I have been holding off TCPIP because of the tank bogging problem...

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by alelscot: Chronological age - 75 mental age - kindergarten war service - RAF 1943-47 Sgt.-pilot Combat Mission rules! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Wow, I think you have the record! Have you noticed that it is the young guys who complain about getting old, while we old guys are having a ball and getting better all the time like good wine! I have to say I don't much like the term "Old Farts". Here are some alternate suggestions: Golden Grognards Wargaming Lifers Fully Mature Wargamers Wise Old Veterans Old Faithfuls Keepers of the Flame Old Soldiers Who Never Die Living Monuments of Wargaming Well, you get the idea...

Sheesh! Am I really the only one here over 60? Or are you guys lying about your age? Now listen up, young 'uns, when I was your age... Henri

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Jadayne: Henri, what are you doing here? I thought you'd moved on to greener pastures. and where are the smilies? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Well, after the TCPIP vrsion came out, I began to come back here to check out what people were saying, hoping no one would notice, but I fell into the water Henri

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Kitty: www.fluffkitty.com . . . instead of this site. Kitty =^..^= <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I haven't followed this Kitty business nor participated in it, but the above site says I don't have access, so I am still in the dark.

Fionn presented a detailed account of his version on the war-historical usenet forum,which can probably be retrieved from dejanews,if one really wants to know.