Henri

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Ron: Tough, but not so menacing when a Sherman's first shot and hit damage the gun! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Yeah, and how about Tigers? Just now, in a pbem game, my precious and only Tiger sitting n a hill was killed by the first shot from a Sherman 900 m away before the Tiger had time to traverse But my trusty Panther 1000 m away has the $#@%$# Sherman in his sights, the only problem being that there are two of them Ten to one that the Veteran Panther misses and is killed by the first shot from the other Sherman. Geez, no wonder I lose all of my pbem games Stay tuned... Henri

In one game over the weekend, I suddenly found that I was being outflanked by the enemy, who sudenly appeared with a massive mobile force on a side road leading to a victory flag; I quickly brought back a Panther that had been decoyed into advancing by a decoy feint to the front, and blasted an enemy tanks and a halftrack. The enemy force was only a couple of hundred meters away. Enemy shells bounced off my Panther, who found himself facing a half-dozen enemies including two or three Shermans, a Priest, four or five halftracks and assorted infantry, all closer than 300 m away. GULP! My infantry and other armor were completely caught off position, so this tank would have to hold on for some minutes with only a couple of squads for support while I desperatly shifted some forces from the other side. A halftrack killed my tank commander and a shell from a Sherman went through the turret without causing any damage.This is curtains, I thought.The next enemy shell hit a track and immobilized my tank. My buttoned Panther traversed his gun and blasted two halftracks and a Priest who was trying to bypass towards the flag, then calmly turned his attention to the Shermans and destroyed two of them while shells and machinegun bullets bounced off his armor.In the meantime, the outnumbered infantry were keeping the American infantry busy shooting them up.Another shell penetrated the hull, with only minor damage. A remaining Sherman backed up through a hedgerow to get away from the Panther and advanced through the bocage behind the Panther. An arriving Panzerschreck aimed at him from 130 m away and dispatched him with the first shot. YIPPEEE!..- especially since the max range for a Panzerschreck is 100 m Just when the harried Panther was about to get overwhelmed, another Panther arrived on the scene from behind, having circled behind from the other flank. The two Panthers, now supported with arriving infantry, drove away the remaining Americans and retook the flag, which had become undecided due to the very close proximity of enemy units. The scenario ended with me and the beat-up Panther crew badly needing a visit to the bathroom, although a clean-up crew reported the smell of uring inside the tank... Henri

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Vanir: I did a search on this. Nothing. So... does a tank (or a Puma or whatever) moving around spot enemies better with riders on it (squad, MG, sniper, whatever)? I know they did in Steel Panthers. But this isn't Steel Panthers. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> If you were riding on a bouncy tank at 30 mph holding on for dear life, how much better at spotting enemy soldiers than the tank commander who has his head stuck out of the turret with a pair of binoculars? Henri

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by :USERNAME:: C'mon you potato masher, Ill kick your butt.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Well Lewis, the good news is that you can go test your literary mettle against Fionn at the war-historical usenet forum, which he still frequents; however, you might get Old Salt riled up, and I wouldn't recommend a word fight against both fionn and Old Salt at the same time Henri

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Lane: When you capture a unit or troops and you see them with there hands up. Question Do you have to stay with pow ? If you move your troops away what happens? will they stay in POW status? Thanks for any info. Lane<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Yes, the surrender with their hands up, and You need to escort them behind your ines or they might escape.You get points for capturing prisoners. Henri

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by aka PanzerLeader: I can't wait for CM2. One interesting thing to experiment, as the Germans, would be to send Soviet prisoners back toward the Russian lines and see them get shot by NKVD troops and political commissars...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Surely you are not forgetting that both the Germans and the Soviets had punishment batallions, which were the closest thing to a death sentence. Henri

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Dr. Brian: Then you're the only sane person here, I guess. You got it across. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Saying that there is only one sane person on a forum with over 100 messages is not conducive to cooling off the discussion Henri

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by GolGotha999: Henri - coming from one who has been trounced in the Villers scen, I'm wondering if you have any PBEM's or anything saved of you beating an opponent - such data would prove valuable to someone such as me trying to win this darn thing http://smilecwm.tripod.com/cwm/spiny.gif<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Hmm, I'm afraid I didn't keep any record of my victories (I only won with pre-1.05 versions). when I say "won", I mean as the GErmans that I held both flags at the end -it is probably possible to get a draw by holding the original flag and destroying enough Allied tanks. I always resign as soon as my last Tiger is killed, although I could sometimes conceivably get at least a draw. SPOILERS FOLLOW Here is how I won with the early versions of CM: .. . . . . . .. It is impossible to win by going through the center, you have to go left or right. I usually go left, after advancing between the buildings to destroy the AT gun and maybe a halftrack. The idea is to eventually gt Wittmann's tank at the left end of the left-to-right road on the edge of town, from where he can snipe both at vehicles crossing the road and at those closer to the German reinforcement site. I achieve this by moving Wittmann at least halfway along the road at "fast", then maneuver by reversing and so on being careful not to expose the tank to a side shot. When the reinforcements arrive, I also send them tothe left of the woods to blast away at the enemy, maneuvering one of them towards Wittmann, the idea being for two Tigers to go through the town to get the scond flag just before the scenario ends. With 1.05, so far in 5 tries, I have not succeeded in achieving this. I am interested to hear how anyone won by taking two both flags -assuming that is possible. Henri

As one who has probably played this scenario more than anybody else (and according to one thread who therefore should be suspected of Nazi sympathies : ), I guess it is only fitting that I report on my four games playing this scenario with 1.05. The bad news is that I lost every time ; the good news is that I saw no indication of tank turrets traversing to shoot at crews from disabled vehicles when they should not have. I DID notice that unbuttoned tank commanders seem to be considerably more vulnerable than in previous versions, and in every game, Wittmann buttoned down as soon as the shooting began and about half the time, he was took a casualty before halfway through the scenario. In one case, TWO if Wittman's crew were killed in the first 30 seconds , which I have never observedbefore. It's too early for me to draw any more conclusions abut the 1.05 patch, except that the Villers-Bocage scenario now seems even tougher to win (how dahell did I ever win this ), and that the crew problem is greatly improved if not solved. henri

For some people, opining that the German soldier was the best fighting soldier of WW2 is akin to Nazi-worship. Whether we like it or not, it is a fact, although it is clear that not ALL German soldiers were of this ilk. The reasons are well-known, the two main ones being the Prussian warrior ethic and the early indoctrination of German youth into paramilitary organizations (not to mention propaganda). This was not so original, the Spartans did it centuries ago, and it DID generate superior fighting men. It is unfortunate that moderate people always find themselves caught between knee-jerk Nazi-worshippers and knee-jerk German-haters. The less said about the former the better, but it seems that the latter have difficulty reconciling the dark side of WW2 Germany with the excellence of their military (If Nazi Germany was evil then their soldiers mush have been bad). The excellence of the German fighting man is not diminished by their occasional lack of competent leadership, the evil nature of their political leaders, nor by their lack of a fully mechanized army, nor by the bottom-of-the-barrel nature of their remnants in 1945. Henri To him whose only tool is a hammer, everything in the world looks like a nail. (I wish I had said that)

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Martyr: Hello all, Is there an intelligent, humorous, ruthless opponent out there who wants to give me a try? I'm playing 1.04.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I'm ruthless and humorous (I used to be young and stupid, but now I'm not young any more), and I haven't played any of the scenarios you mention.I'll upgrade to 1.05 tonight. Make your choice of scenarios if interested.I prefer the Germans, but I also play the Allies. Henri

Last Saturday, my son called me from where he is studying medicine and sai: "If I come home for the weekend, can I have the computer?" I swallowed hard and thought "There goes Combat Mission for the weekend. I know I shouldn't have lent him the car for a month and then have to go to work on my bicycle, and now this..." "Of course, I said, your mother will be very happy to have you home for the weekend!" (She is the one who convinced me to let him have the car)."Besides, I said, I have a lot of TV watching to catch up on. No problem". "Thanks Dad, I'm on my way." My wife said "Are you sure?" The worst thing about it was that it made me feel good (for about five minutes). It was the worst weekend of dull TV reruns of the Summer What will it be when I have grandchildren? I'll soon find out, one is on the way... Henri

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Levine: 1. How can infantry in fox holes tell the difference between enemy rifle squad and spotters crawling behind a hill top 150m away? 2. What solider in the world would turn their backs to three sources of constant fire just to eliminate a fourth force, which is substantially small and doesn't even fire as them?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Look at it this way: you're in a foxhole, exchanging fire with some enemy soldiers while eating a chocolate bar; you spot a couple of guys sneaking in the open with what looks like some kind of pipe, and maybe a box or two. What do you do? 1) You think: aw heck, those guys must be going to fix some plumbing or a stovepipe to cook some hamburgers in a nearby abandoned house, so I might as well concentrate on the guys firing at me . If I spot mortar shells coming down, I'll know where they came from. 2) You think: Oh, oh, these guys look like a mortar squad, and if I'm right and if I don't neutralize them within the next couple of minutes,I'm gonna be chewing on incoming mortar rounds and plucking shrapnel out of my hide .You shoot at them. Make your choice, soldiers who survived the war usually chose option 2. Henri

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Joe Shaw: Hi guys, thanks for the replies, at least I know it isn't just me. As for zipping, I have been doing that on occassion. It's just one extra step that I'd like to avoid if possible Joe<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> In fact, zipping and unzipping files is actually faster than using text files if you put aliases for Winzip, the attached files folder and the pbem folder from CM on the desktop. When you receive a mail with the zipped file (I use Eudora), just drag the attached zipped file icon from the Eudora window to the Winzip icon on the desktop, and a window will pop up with the correct address for the unzipped file already written (if you haven't changed it since the last time).Click enter. You are now ready to play your move in CM. After you have saved your move in CM, go to the destop and drag the saved file from the pbem folder to the Winzip Icon, and type in the name for the zipped file; then from Eudora, select last received message and click reply and on the attach button and find the zipped file in the pbem folder and click on it. Send the file. That's all.It all takes less than a minute, and if you keep the same name for each game and just number the files consecutively, it is ridiculously easy and hassle free. BTW, having attached files in the main text is an option that can be turned off. Henri

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by ianc: Hey Henri, how about a little backup here? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Since I started this thread, I feel I have to clarify the issue a bit, especially since I have been a staunch defender of BTS against exaggerated criticism with respect to the behavior of tanks vs crews; so here is the issue. 1) The specific problem of crews in the game is that they SOMETIMES cause tanks to act in a very unrealistic manner by traversing their turrets away from the direction of major threats to shoot at the crews. 2) This behavior is mostly noticeable only in scenarios with a lot of disabled vehicles where the number of crews from disabled vehicles is fairly large, so it is normal that many players have not noticed the behavior, if they have not played such scenarios. 3) I suggested the possibility of removing crews altogether because I don't think that it is possible to program tanks to be smart enough to know when not to target crews: this is a problem of CONTEXT, and NO AI in the world is any good at taking context into account, and it would be unreasonable to ask BTS to achieve it in this game. 4) In most scenarios, the number of tanks is small, and it takes only ONE such incident to change the balance of battle. Yes crews did exist in WW2 battles, but cases where they were used as recon or for holding objectives are negligible in number.And I doubt whether crews from disabled vehicles actually ran all over the place in the war; it seems to me more probable that they ran only far enough to find some hiding place until things were quiet enough to move on. And yes, tank commanders DID make mistakes, but not of the kind of traversing their turrets away from the main line of battle when more dangerous threats were known to be near or were being hunted for. Comments to the effect that it would be unreasonable to ask BTS to spend a lot of time to change this excellent game are correct, which is why a solution that is easy to program is desirable. A good compromise might be to keep the crews from disabled vehicles or guns, but to make them invisible to tanks unless they are in within 20 degrees of the turret facing, and to make them unable to recon. Henri

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by IntelWeenie: Instead, Canadian vs. Canadian (or French). Now you have "The battle of Montreal"! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Well, it certainly would be an improvement over the board game that came out many years ago that had the Cadadian army fighting the Quebec Provincial Police . You could have the Black Watch against the Van Doos, with the Mohawks on the side of the English and the Hurons on the side of the French, just like in the good old days Henri

Just a minute, by MSN, do you mean Microsoft's Zone? I go there to play Flight Simulator 2000, and I use Roger Wilco for speech with air traffic control and other pilots. Are you saying that there is another way to talk to other players on the zone? Henri

I haven't won any pbem games yet, and I am willing to start another game. How about a REAL scenario from the game? I dn't care if you played it before or not. Your choice. If you want to play me, send your files to h.arsenault@videotron.ca Henri

If frequency of play is an indication, it has to be the Wittmann scenario Viller-Bocage (forgot the title -Tigers something or other...). I must have played it about 20 times -and lost evry time with my five games so far with 1.04... All or Nothing and Fear in the Fog are are also very good, the first because it is a massive scenario with well-spaced challenges and nary a dull moment (despite too much micro-management to keep convoys on the road ), the second because it helped my low blood pressure to rise through the roof Henri [This message has been edited by Henri (edited 08-23-2000).]

Oops, sorry, wrong button... [This message has been edited by Henri (edited 08-23-2000).]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Captitalistdoginchina: Let your opponent storm the town - you wait and hold back - hide your men, when he reaches the town bombard the hell out of it with all your arty and your armour - then walk in and mop up!! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Ah but I didn't say that one had to TAKE the objective, and I DO agree that one who always plays the same way is apt to get his butt kicked by a competent opponent. What I am saying is that in a meeting engagement, there is little risk in rushing towards the objective during the firt move or two, because the opponent can't do much about it except rush himself.I hope that no one will disagree that it is better to take intervening terrain for free when it is available than to have to fight for it later . Indeed, if one is stupid enough to crowd all his units onto the flag, he is a prime target for artillery hell. Best is to take terrain that offers cover and that OVERLOOKS the objectives and/or the prime approaches to it for the enemy, while keeping one's units spread out enough to avoid untoward artillery casualties, and while keeping a significant reserve out of sight.And of course one should use all available cover during the advance. I hope that I made it clear that I am not suggesting not allowing this kind of play, on the contrary (read my original message).And I am not suggesting that it can compensate for otherwise harebrained play . What I AM saying is that if the terrain offers sufficient cover through hills and trees, and if one player chooses to do this rush and the other doesn't, the latter will be at a significant disadvantage, because he will be in fact fighting an assault against a defending opponent with equal forces, an endeavor that usually requires odds of 3:1 . Artillery will be of little help to stop the rush because by the time the artillery starts to fall, the rushing enemy infantry have reached cover near the flags in good defensive positions -mostly unseen by the enemy, who is still far from the flags and who must now approach them under enemy fire. And exposing one's artillery spotters on top of a hill when there is an enemy Tiger on top of a hill on the opposite side is not conducive to a long life Henri [This message has been edited by Henri (edited 08-23-2000).]

As many here know, I have been a vocal opponent on this forum against adding unwritten rules about so-called "gamey" tactics such as edge-crawling, unbalanced forces and so on.I have not changed my mind. Since I have begun playing pbem recently (I haven't won a game yet : ), I have discovered the ultimate gamey tactic, yet no one seems to have complained about it. The most frequently used type of battle in pbem (and the only kind I have played so far) is a QB meeting engagement with equal forces.In such battles, the objectives are near the center of the map and opponents begin at opposite sides. It is clear in such a game that the best tactic is an early rush towards the center before the opponent has time to bring significant forces forward. I learned the effectiveness of this process when my opponent did it to me in my first game, and I am using it myself in my latest game -to my opponent's chagrin, I hope... Just like in chess, the player who manages to grab control of the center early without creating weaknesses elsewhere has a significant advantage over his opponent, because he is now in a position to apply Liddell-hart's "offensive-defensive method". However when one considers such a tactic, it is extremely "gamey", because in WW2, meeting engagements rarely began with knowledge that the enemy had no forces near the objective, was at an equal distance on the opposite side, and had a force similar in strength to one's own forces (in addition to being a balanced force, if the scenario creator chose that option). I am not proposing that the tactic be outlawed, on the contrary, I am against adding "anti-gamey" rules to the game. I just want to point out that in a game, there are many ways to exploit the constraints imposed by the game itself, just like in real life there are many ways to exploit opportunities in unorthodox ways. I am beginning to suspect that pbem meeting engagements will quickly become repetitive, with one or both sides making a rush towards the objective on the first couple of moves, followed by a slugfest with the player to whom chance has handed the better terrain carrying the day, other things being equal. Opinions? Henri PS: The appearence of 1.04 had a bad side effect for me: I had just started a game, and on the first move, my Tiger on a hill and the opponent's Priest on the opposite side of the map spotted each other and began to exchange fire. The priest's first shell bounced off the Tiger, and the Tiger brewed up the Priest , leaving me with a significant beginning advantage. After 1.04, my opponent and I agreed to restart a new game with 1.04, but this time, I was not so lucky, he kept his tanks under cover

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR> 1. Why can't immobilized tanks rotate? 2. Why can my Tank not destroy a burning building? 4. Do trees give better cover?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> 1)I think it is because the player cannot control the direction of the turret except by targeting specific objects.The rotate command does not apply to the turret but to the hull, so an immobilized tank just ignores it. 2) If the building is burning, it should not be possible for a tank commander to see whether or not there are any enemies in it. OTOH, I don't see a problem if it were changed so that tanks could shoot at burning buildings if ordered to do so. 3) I dunno, but I would like to know; I have so far assumed that my infantgry are safer from artillery inside forested terrain than in the open. What is the probvability of casualties in each case? BTS? I would guess that infantry might be more vulnerable from very close explosions (tree bursts), but less vulnerable from explosions further away, since some of the shrapnel would be absorbed by trees. About your infantry running back into the woods, that would be the logical thing to do if they were under fire from other units in addition to the artillery. It is absolutely important and urgent that I know whether or not infantry is more vulnerable from artillery inside woods, because that is where they are headed for in my present pbem game, and I am sure that my opponent has his finger on the artillery trigger Henri

Well I understand Charles' decision to close down the thread on crew-pinging tanks, but IMHO this was a legitimate discussion about game performance; Charles probably thought that everything possible has been said about this question and that it is pointless to continue this irritating thread. I respectfully disagree : because I think that I may have found the answer to the problem of tanks shooting at crews when they shouldn't. 1) The extreme solution (which may be the best) is to remove vehicle crews from the game entirely: they cause more problems than they are worth anyway.Since the survivors are not used in campaigns, they are practically of no use anyway. 2) A less extreme solution is to make crews invisible to tanks; in exchange, crews should have little or no spotting ability (how many crews from destroyed tanks carried their radios with them and used them to inform HQ of enemy locations?) 3) In any case, surviving crews should NEVER fire at enemy tanks, which they still do on occasion in 1.04, which can and does cause the tank to traverse and shoot back, which can be fatal if the crew is towards the side of the tank with a slow traverse. This problem is not very critical, but it can be annoying and cause a shift in balance in scenarios that have a lot of vehicles, where crews from disabled vehicles are running all over the map. In a scenario like Viller-Bocage (my personal favorite), it usually causes losing the game for the Germans I don't think that BTS should spend a lot of time on this problem, but one of the above solutions could be implemented with only a few minutes of programming time. What do you think? (Here we go again) Henri

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Shatter50: I ordered CM a few days ago. Right now I am playing my demo and it is by far the best game ever. I can't wait for the entire game, hope it comes soon. Anyway does anyone know how many battles are in CM and also what is the largest battle and how many troops are deployed. Does anyone know???<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> The largest scenario is probably All or Nothing; play the British. I won't tell you how many units, but you have enough that moving them has prompted some players that the scenariois tedious Henri