Hundminen

I am often on the lookout for a good reference book that covers many important battles of WWII, but I have yet to find a really good one. The closest was the Times Atlas of WWII, but this was very strategic in scale. The book I am looking for should include for each battle, a narrative of the battle, plus a detailed map with starting positions and OOB. Smallest units should be platoons or companies. It would make a good reference work for scenario editors, for CM or other wargames. Does anybody have any suggestions? Has such a book ever been published? Anybody? Hundminen [This message has been edited by Hundminen (edited 02-17-2000).]

Just a note of warning... Never mind the fact that AOEII isn't even a wargame - it isn't even a decent game, period! I don't even classify it as a RTS game! It is an ACTION game - whoever clicks the fastest wins. I think most visitors to this board would be sorely disappointed by AOEII.

An interesting read of 1945, West Front, ETO, is Roll Me Over by Gantter (?), which is a G.I.'s experience from after Bulge to VE-day. Some powerful images of this most wasteful point in the war. For a more thorough account Citizen Soldier can't be beat. [This message has been edited by Hundminen (edited 02-16-2000).]

Excuse my ignorance if this has already been covered in detail ("supply" search yielded little info). Is the concept of supply going to be modelled in the campaign structure of the game? I recall several older games (V for Victory series, TOAW, and Talonsoft Battleground games) where the concept of supply was modelled (more or less - Battleground used a simple ammo wagon which could be shot up), and provided the numerically inferior player with the opportunity to encircle a pocket of resistance, and wait for their ammo and food to run out. I always enjoyed this feature as it allowed for some very interesting and surprising tactics, such as going around and cutting off supply routes, rather than full frontal attacking. In fact, for a while, I would not even consider playing a wargame unless the concept of supply was modelled (at least until CC2 came along). I realize that ammo re-supply is not really feasible in a single 60 minute scenario, but my understanding is CM scenarios are linked on a continuous map, and I would think that supply, or cutting off supply routes would be an incredible feature. At the end of each scenario, the supply route for each unit would be traced, and the ammo allocated would be affected by factors such as enemy control, terrain, and route length. Just wondering. If not for CM, then for CM2? Hundminen [This message has been edited by Hundminen (edited 02-13-2000).]

Ok,I think I finally got this figured out. Thanks for setting us straight Capitalistdog. War War II Chonicles (History Channel) is a 7 video set, 500 minutes in all. Amazon's own reviewer pans it. Apparently not consistent in presentation of maps, video doesn't match narrative, but lots of things get blown up real good. World at War (HBO) is a 9 video set, 1,000 minutes long, 26 episodes. The same Amazon reviewer plus all 5 customer reviews describe it as a landmark acheivement - the definitive WWII video account. What seems to impress is the range of interviews, the footage, the narrative (Olivier), and the musical score is used to great effect. Well, my local video just got World at War back in stock ($90 Candian or US$60). That's where I'll be spending my hard earned dollars. I only wish I could find 1,000 minutes Hundminen By the way, the World At War is reviewed at: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ts/video-customer-reviews/0783107 986/ref=pm_dp_ln_v_1/102-4588313-0550434 [This message has been edited by Hundminen (edited 02-12-2000).]

Actually, the box set they have remaining is not the World at War (they sold out of that one), but is called WWII The War Chronicles. It is also from the History Channel. I wonder if it is a smaller version of the World at War series. Hundminen

My local video store has the History Channel WWII The War Chronicles Box Set (narrated by Laurence Olivier)on sale for $50 ($72 Canadian). It is 7 videos with two episodes per video. Does anybody know if it is any good? Is it good footage and details, or just basic stuff we all know? That's more dough than CM so I wanna be sure. Hundminen [This message has been edited by Hundminen (edited 02-10-2000).]

Would it be "Soldat"? I haven't read it, but am considering it for my next book. It covers the life of one gerry (i dunno if he is SS) from France '40 to East front to West front to Hitlers bunker. Looks interesting. Hundminen

My just-ambushed troops will make the best use of this rest and refit. Hundminen

Well said Madmatt. It is truly sad to see this type of behavior, especially on this board, where I have come to expect a higher level of intelligence and tolerance, than other gaming boards. Oh well, I only hope others don't reply to MantaRay. Let that thread die quickly, please! Hundminen

Thanks for the link SeekStrikeDestroy! It's what I was looking for. My laziness pays off again Hundminen

Steve: Are you saying TCP/IP will be included with the game up front? I certainly hope it will, but was I pessimistic about that after the vote whether to delay the release until on-line multiplayer was ready was a resounding "NO". PBEM is okay, but on-line multiplayer rocks! Hundminen [This message has been edited by Hundminen (edited 02-07-2000).]

I, like MrPeng, am a total spaz, and lazy to boot. I have been scouring the landscape for a decent PE tutorial or walk-through, to no avail. If anybody knows of one please let me know. I even posted a thread on the www.panzerelite.com board, requesting a link to strategy articles, and had not a single reply (although it was read by over 60 people - losers). However, PE seems way superior to PC, which has no infantry at all. I mean, come on, how can you have a serious WWII tanker sim without the threat of zooks, schrecks, and fausts. Who cares what the infantry graphics look like. Hundminen

Hey Rich: Like Xyphorus said, we both had the problem, and I believe it is caused by your AMD k6-2 cpu. The screen would freeze (not go blank) anywhere from turn 1 to 3. Most frustrating. Took me about a week to figure it out. There is a 3rd party app called Setk6 or setk3d, or something like that (I forgot since I have upgraded to PIII in the mean time). You need to run the app in your windows dos box, each session, and it should solve the problem. There are several links to the app, and I found it at the voodoogamer site (check out 3dfx home page and link to it from there. It has nothing to do with voodoo card, but they link the fix anyway. Sorry I don't have details anymore, if you need more help you can wait for Xyphorus to get back, and he can e-mail you the full fix. Hundminen

I stand corrected. W2000 must be better than NT. I couln't get my notebook from work to run 2d games like WF, so I figure NT is useless. Hundminen

Thomas: I dunno much about pc's and operating systems, but I seem to recall Windows 2000 is NOT for home pc's or for gaming. It is evolved from Windows NT which doesn't even support Direct3d. NT is the anti-gamer system, and I would check into 2000 a little bit before deciding. Oh, the horror! Hundminen

Panic? Me? I wish that were to blame, but I think it is stupidity, not panic, which accounts for my stunning losses to you. Hundminen

Was on CC2 on the zone tonight, and they peaked out at 52 players in the room! I haven't seen that many there in a long time (since CC3 came out). Almost like old times. Maybe kill some time there 'till CM ships Hundminen

Hey Berlichtingen: Enough time wasted loitering in these frivolous threads! Get out of your foxhole, and get your ass back into the front line where Sergeant Hundminen is awaiting your next PBEM volley! Hundminen out!

Is anybody aware of any ladder service (eg. Cases) for CM beta, or if it is planned for final game? I recall in my days of CC2, posting ladder results to Cases, and then reading some incredible and very entertaining after-battle-reports by many of the players there. Just wondering. Hundminen

Got back into CC2 on the zone the last two nights, the first time in almost 2 years! I still think it's the best bloody non-beta game out there! I know it is because I've been dragging my tired butt around the office the last 2 days. Hundminen

[This message has been edited by Hundminen (edited 01-25-2000).] [This message has been edited by Hundminen (edited 01-25-2000).]

I have to agree with Lokesa, my personal favorite was definitely cc2 on the zone (never been much for solo play). Would keep me up way too late, so i had to stop . Nothing else I've seen so far has touched cc2 for excitement and play balance (except hopefully CM). Tried cc3, but way too much armor, so it turned me off the cc series. I think I might just dust off the old cc2 disc, and give it a try. I still see 25 or so playing it on the zone. EF/WF was interesting, but I got a little bored with PBEM. I also enjoyed TOAW for a while, but way too much micro-management in mid- and large-scenario's. I wonder how HPS games and TacOps compare to these. I never tried HPS games though since they look butt-ugly. How do they compare for complexity and learning curve? Hundminen

While we're all killing time here, I am interested in knowing what some of the grognards here consider to be the best war game for the pc, and why. There was a thread similar to this back in September, but many guys were making long lists of old board games and Amiga games. I'm interested in what is your favorite game released in the last 2-3 years, something I'd still be interested in playing. Besides, many those guys posting back in September seem to be gone - if they aren't hanging around for the release of CM, they probably know squat about pc war games. Hundminen

Hey BTS: Those five guys who quit Talonsoft this week wouldn't be heading over to Battlefront to give you guys a hand to finish the game quickly? Would they? Aw damn, wishful thinking I guess. Hundminen [This message has been edited by Hundminen (edited 01-19-2000).]