James Bailey

DC area guys, Could somebody post a mail sitrep on today's action? I trying to see if its worth leaving work early AGAIN (I am running out of excuses) for the chance at THE package. Thanks a lot, James.

Oh no, you guys are killing me... I am sitting here at work, thinking for sure that the package had hit my home in Arlington, VA and now I read this. I am sure my mail is on the same time table as yours is ARCHANGEL. Thanks for the update, despite its bad indication.

A big YES from downtown DC! Thanks for the updates DC folks. Just a little over 3 1/2 until I am home... James.

Kingtiger, I did a White matting with black edges on the cutting (the inside edge of the matting that hits the prints) with a black frame. I have all seven and each one looks great. James.

jgdpzr: The man you want is Matt Hyra ("Citizen") - he is the GM in charge of personnel. Drop him an email at: loyalcitizen@home.com Let Matt know you are interested, and he will handle things from there! (Fionn just forwards everything to Matt H). James Bailey, CMMC GM

Maybe I can explain the Bug a little bit better so somebody can answer Ariel question and we can move on. Ariel and I were PBEM'ing VoT. He dropped a whole bunch of ordance on Plomville, resulting in several buildings collapsing. He charges a platoon of GI's into one of the remaining light building on the far right of the town. I have a squad of Germans across street. My troops are throwing grenade after grenade into the building the GI's are in - probably 5 grenades in one turn. At the final grenade throw in Second 60, the grenade explodes and the building collapses. This building had taken a lot of '05 hits, so I thought the event was not extraordinary. I send the PBEM file to Ariel. He watches it several times, each time the grenade lands and down comes the building. On about the 6th or 7th time watching it, the grenade lands, explodes but the building remains standing! He watches the same movie again and again after this change and the building remains standing each time. He sends me the next turn so I can plot orders and sure enough that damn building was standing there, GI's intact! We decided to go with the orginal version I saw and he saw several times. That time through there are no problems. I don't know what happen nor do I care, but will someone please help Ariel. Thanks, James.

This is a very rare Bug, occurring only when computers in Argentina (particularly Macs) are involved in high volume email exchange with computers in the United States of American. It is especially virulent when large amounts of '05 battery fire are being simulated! If these conditions match your situation, your best solution may be to immediately destroy your computer, cut your electricity, and go make tools from rocks. Hope that helps, James.

Maximus, DETAILED OoB's vary depending on what battle you are looking to do... There is no omnipresent source that covers all the WTO/OKW in one spot. This is especially true for Wehrmacht - tended to be VERY different TO&E's across units. If there is a specific battle you have in mind, maybe I can help... I have some very detailed Allied AND German OoB's.

Pat, What Arnheim scenarios are you doing? Just curious because I have some very good info that might help you... In hard copy only, so if you let me know what you are planning, I will let you know if I can help. Reply in this thread or to my email address: jbailey@resolutecapital.com

Boris, For logistical reasons we are trying to limit all discussion of CMMC to the email list and keep it out of the forum. Nevertheless, with the email list experiencing technical problems, we are having trouble conducting discussions and the list is temporarily closed. So, the short answer to your question on MG recovery is that it will be a random event, subject to our battlefield recovery rules. Sometimes you will recovery the gun, other times it will be lost depending on a whole host of factors, not least of which is chance. And you are absolutely correct - force preservation will be a decisive factor in success as a CMMC commander. Losing 50%+ of our troops in winning one battle will be a fast way to losing the overall campaign! So practice playing CM with the objective of keeping your troops alive and fighting tomorrow. James Bailey, CMMC GM

Killmore, If you want to 'kill more' GI's put that earthshaker BEHIND the heavy house near the Victory Objectives to the left of Plomville (looking down on the village from the German side). Don't fire it until Hill 216 (# ??) is clear because that is in the LOS. Guard it with an infantry platoon. Then blow any infantry that stumbles into view to bits!!! Almost immune to Shermans anyway but on that Ridge, in Plomville or on Hill 216. Make sure you don't fire the thing to early... have plenty of soft targets in view. Sit back and enjoy the sound effects. James.

Lost Victories. I own and have read it. Required book if you are into operational issues facing German military commanders as tide of war turned in Southern Russia/Ukraine. At times, overly critical of Hitler, but a clear consideration of the see-saw battles that over-time simply wore the German Wehrmacht out. Excellent account of the relief attempt of the Sixth Army at Stalingrad, the counterstroke at Krarkov to save an Army Group, and the battles along the Dnieper. Not much good if you are into tactical stuff - its worthless if you are looking to improve your CM prowl...

Prehaps I am an idiot (that is the truth), but I don't see the German OoB anywhere on the CMH website. Is there a link somewhere that I am missing? German Intel Officers in CMMC certainly want to check out that site - I just want to insure US Intel Officers are privy to the same clear and concise info on their enemy... Thanks Echo, James.

That guy is definitely from USMA. He is wearing his class ring - I can tell its a West Point ring because it is on the correct finger and facing the correct direction (everything related to West Point has a SOP). If your friend really wants to know who the General is, he should contact somebody at the West Point Museum. They know everything about every Cadet that made General. I will ask some of my classmates, but we are all probably to young.

I think Maximillian was just being a good intel officer - he wants to know what he OR his enemy has... no problem in that. He didn't say: I am playing the Allied side and am interested in knowing what I will have. Maximillian, I can tell you that we are using very historical OoB's and TO&E's for CMMC. I did the German OoB myself, and I used captured archive info (I live in Wash., DC near National Archives). Nearly down to the rifle, all the weapons the Germans had historically are there. Similar detail for Allies. Because of this, units will appear that don't confirm to the "text book". CMMC should offer a good compromise between history and FOW. James Bailey, GM

Work: Downtown Washington, DC Home: Arlington, VA

Bullethead, This has always been a great mystery to me... I have never been able to recombine a split squad (and not for lack of trying). How did you do it? James.

Trooper, I agree the Challenger is a mean vehicle, as mean as the M-1. But the Russians were not worried about equipment, they were worried about the half million highly trained NATO soldiers standing in the Fulda Gap, the North German Plain, and throughout Western Europe. In this light, the 4 U.S. armored and mech divisions plus the Cav Regts., etc. certainly scared the Russians a whole lot more than the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR)... no question there. James.

Gespenster, German Panzer Vet?!? You bet I am interested! I am dropping you an email now. Thanks, James.

Gespenster, I would love to visit the VMVM. Do you have any info on it? Times it is open? Location? Phone Number? I live in Washington, DC and it would be an easy drive if its near Bull Run. Thanks, James.

Lanzfeld, I live in DC and have been to the Proving Grounds half a dozen times. It certainly is an outstanding spot to witness history in real life. I hope with all the spending cuts doing on in the US military, this place doesn't get neglected - it has slowly gone down-hill since I started visiting maybe 15 years ago. Be the way, the M-1 may look very docile just sitting there, but trust me, when you are buried in some cold foxhole on some cold ridge with only a TOW and a few Dragons between you and that beast moving at 45 mph, you will think the Devil has let loose his horses! For all the infantryman, James.

WWII historians, According to the intro briefings, "Valley of Threats" date is late August 1944 and taking place in a hypothetical town on the West Wall between German and American units. This date doesn't seem possible given my understanding of where the front lines were at the beginning of September 1944. As I understand, these were the approximate locations of the 5 U.S. Corps in the 12th U.S. Army Group on 1 Sept 44: (from north to south): XIX Corps: ~10 miles south of Brussels VII Corps: near Namur, France V Corps: near Sedan, France XX Corps: ~10 miles west of Metz, France XII Corps: ~10miles west of Nancy, France Of these, the closest Corps are XX and XII (of Patton's 3rd Army), each about 40 miles from the Saar Region and the West Wall. VII Corps would hit the West Wall near Aachen in the middle/end of September. The rest of the US Corps didn't hit the West Wall until November. Does anyone have any historical info that contradicts this? I am writing an AAR on the scenario, so I am trying to pick the correct date. I am also trying to assign the various units involved in the scenario to real historical Orders of Battle, so I am trying to select a plausible location for Plomville. Right now, I am leaning towards 23 November 1944, near Saarburg and the Saar River (Plomville = Oberleuken). This would pit the U.S. 10th Armored Div. (formed into Task Forces), against the German 416th Infantry Div (reinforced by 106th Pz. Bgd.). Any WWII buffs with any ideas? Thanks, James.

CM commanders and Beta Tester, Since a tactical game loses value as FOW decreases, what are the chances of some of the Beta testers using the scenario editor to modify the two scenarios we have for the GD? There was some talk that once the GD was out, some of the Beta testers would post modified scenarios. Since the real thing is in the not to distant future, its not a big deal if we can't get anything. I just thought I would ask for all the folks who love "double blind"! Thanks a lot, James.

I have a question for all the technology- gifted folks on the board. Here is my problem: When the CM GD is available, I plan on downloading it to my computer at work, which has a T-1 line. I also would like to download it to my computer at home, which, unfortunately, has a 56k modem. With a projected download size of over 30 mbs, the 56k will be a very slow experience while the T-1 should knock it out in no time. Is there any way of 'transporting' the @ work CM program to the @ home? I don't have a writeable CD @ work (but do @ home, how unfortunately perverse!). I was thinking I could email it to home, which would save having to go to the BTS server twice. Or I could save it to diskettes (yes, I have that many diskettes). Is either of these two options a solution? Does anyone have any other ideas? Thanks guys, James Bailey

Spider, CMMC was the idea of Fionn Kelly - and the planning for it has taken on a life of its own. Basically, we plan to run a campaign almost exactly the way you described. Players will control Bns at the tactical level, and combat will occur via the CM system. Operational matters (or everything that occurs in modern warfare outside of combat)will be commanded by players and directed by GM's and a series of rules being written right now. These rules are going to be very rigorous historically. We have not announced what historical campaign we are going yet officially for FOW reasons (but a number of players have ideas what it is). Most of the Bn positions are filled but some are still available (we have over 200 players). A good deal of the chain of command has been picked as well (we have div/corps/army commanders, ops/intel/supply officers, etc). CMMC should much more historically accurate than the 'wwiionline' series, with less 'gamey' aspects. We have a lot of former military folks running the behind the scene actions as GM's and OoB's/TO&E are based history. If you are interested, visit Madmatt's CMHQ and select the CMMC page. That page has not been updated in a while, but things are definitely moving along well. James Bailey