JoshK

On large maps I use 8 for my first playback of each turn. That way I am not surprised by units entering from the map edge (often as sound contacts) that would not show up in any other view (including 7).

Try going to http://www.defenselink.mil/. Then link to the army. I am from the states, but sometimes army.mil only works through this link.

Thanks Matt. That is great news. I will d/l tonight.

Madmatt, based on my limited knowledge of the impact on sound quality on hardware, I have no idea if this mod will tax my hardware more than the stock sounds? The download sounds great, and is real sharp and distinct (the main improvement I think). However, I am curious if my old HP pavilion with its original sound card can handle it. Any idea? Thanks, Josh

I often felt that the AI didn't utilize arty too well until yesterday. I had a perfectly placed pair of 76mm AT guns take out a Mark IV and over a half dozen halftracks. I had totally shut down the German advance. Two minutes (and some highly accurate mortar fire) later, no more AT guns, and in fact, no more right flank for now.

I had an M8 take out an StuH, an 81mm mortar halftrack, a 20mm halftrack, and a standard 251 halftrack. Plus kill seven infantry. Not back for the little guy. [This message has been edited by JoshK (edited 07-03-2000).]

What is you FOW setting in VoT? From my experience, if you put your FO in anything other than open terrain on hill 216, and you keep them still, they are very hard to spot (it has never happened to me, much less in turn one). I am assuming here that you have not let the German's approach the hill.

Marcusm In answer to your question, neither one of these terms is commonly used in the USA. My take on the reason why is that our national identity is as a nation of immigrants. Our patriotism is often based on the fact that we (or at least our recent ancestors) chose the land (so to speak). However, we were not born of it. Hence, it is not our motherland or fatherland.

Good point Dar. I haven't checked in the full version, but I noticed in VoT that after the game, when FOW is turned off, my units seemingly were not credited with all of their kills. For example, I had an 81mm FO hammer an infantry platoon located in the woods. It was really zeroed in, and used nearly all of its ammo. At the end of the game, I was able to see that this platoon was nearly decimated. While I am sure that some of their casualties were caused by other troops, my FO showed zero casualties caused.

There is one significant way that CM undervalues the effectiveness of U.S. artillery. Due to the proliferation of radios in U.S. formations and the surprisingly easy to learn grid system, U.S. artillery was routinely called down by company and even platoon officers and senior NCOs. This practice became more and more common as the war dragged on, but it is safe to assume at a decreased effectiveness compared to trained FOs. In addition, the FO radio nets were often tied into USAAF forward air controllers, which allowed for close air support in a much less abstracted way than is handled in CM. However, I can understand how it would difficult to have separate artillery rules depending on what country and what month your battle or operation was in. One way to abstract this would be to have a greater number of U.S. FOs than you would expect to see.

One lesson regarding sneaking learned the hard way: If I am running into a building, I now stop my movement at the very entrance of the building. Then I plot a separate sneak move into a position where I think the enemy is most likely to be in LOS. This is the difference between getting massacred as soon as you show yourself in the building "windows" and getting the first shots off unseen.

From what I remember from various books (sources are at home), there were several techniques that were developed by both the Americans and British for dealing with bocage. Most of these were unit-specific. The one you describe was relatively effective, but it was found that if was to be replicated theater-wide the amount of explosives needed would prohibitive. The technique that was most widely (and successfully) used was field modifying AFVs with steel rams that would allow the tanks to penetrate the bocage. I believe (and as mentioned above you should search) that CM models this by allowing allied tanks to move trough hedgerow terrain while other vehicles can't.

Did you notice the size of the 14" shell explosion as compared to the pillbox! From VoT experience, those pillboxes are quite large. Yet the HE shell dwarfed them. What is the KZ on those things? I want to add my voice to the question of framerate hit though. My machine (P1 233MMX w/ Voodoo 3 16mb card) is somewhat marginal when it comes to the game's specs. Thanks and great job BTS!

Democracy Specialist Untied States Agency for International Development

A friend of mine is a dual U.S./Italian citizen. In 1998, after many successful delaying actions, he finally was given an ultimatum to fulfill his conscription requirements. Because his last Italian residence was in the Alpine region, he served in the above-mentioned Alpini brigade. He took a lot of pride in his prestigious unit history. I took a lot of pride in my constant ability to mock the Italian military. For example, he described the Alpini uniform to me in great detail. Their distinctive feature is a pointed hat with a bird's feather. NCOs and enlisted men have a white feather, while officers have a black feather. The rationale for this was lost on him, but to me it was clear. The Italians didn't want to give their officers anything white that could be waved in order to aid and abet their inevitable surrender. Just when I was running out a material, they go an invade Sweden. Lucky me.

I had a Sherman 105 become immobilized by the AT pillbox at the very end of the turn. I figured that it would be toast at the beginning of the next turn, but it had rolled downhill after being struck. It was out of LOS to the AT pillbox, but was lined up for a perfect shot against one of the concrete MG pillboxes. No other game could ever model anything like that.

Clearly this has been discussed ad nauseam (a discussion I had totally avoided), but in light of the Wild Bill scenario review thread, it now seems that bodies may be in. If they are, I was only postulating how it may work. One of the arguments used against bodies was that because each figure represented multiple persons, it would be misleading to have a body appear for only every third KIA. I was pointed out a way around this. If I had wanted to bring up old discussions, I personally liked the white phosphorus and bocage topics much more.

While I have no moral qualms against dead bodies, I also have no great desire for them, especially if it hits framerate. That said, the thread on W.B. AAR was fun to read. Looking back on some of the old threads on the subject, it does appear that there is a logical way that you could have individual dead bodies and still keep the one man = three or four men for the active (read living) troops. Lets say that you send a 12-man U.S. rifle squad across a 50m clearing between two patches of woods. Graphically, you would see a three-man squad running across the space to the other side. Lets say that at 20 and 40m into it dash the squad loses a man to HMG fire. Graphically, the squad would still have three men by the time it reached the other side. However, at 20 and 40m you could have a single dead body graphic. That would allow a one-one graphical representation of the bodies without abandoning the one-three or four representation of live troops. Of course, where does this leave the wounded? [This message has been edited by JoshK (edited 04-28-2000).] [This message has been edited by JoshK (edited 04-28-2000).]

I would take a look at Battle of the Bulge : Hitler's Ardennes Offensive, 1944-1945 by Danny S. Parker. I am about a third of the way into it. It is a fascinating day-by-day account of the battle. Great maps, fantastic pictures, lots of primary sources, full OOB, great balance of perspective. If you every doubted that wars are won by logistics, give it a read. Loved Company Commander. Frost's book is on my list too. Regards, Josh

Iggi, I would answer your question in two ways. First, midway through this thread you slightly alter your question to take issue with the targeting decisions of the U.S. squad. As I understand it, Tac AI targets (to a limited extent) has been altered. More importantly, units are now less likely to switch targeting against your will. Therefore, it is more likely in the final version that if you target your squad on the Tiger your men will not fire at the infantry instead. Back to your first point. Here you seem to indicate that infantry would flee buildings once they were fired upon by heavy weapons (Tank HE, Bazooka, etc.). While I am not a combat veteran, I just want to point out that there is no shortage of WW II history books that deal with this sort of scenario. To keep it within the CM scope, I would suggest picking up a book about Market Garden (Frost's battalion was battered by Tank HE for days and held out); or about the battle of the bulge, where small U.S. rearguard actions often centered on small villages, held out against armored assault by hunkering down and taking HE fire. Just two very general examples, as all of my books are at home. Regards, Josh

CM 2: Objective Moscow, Objective Berlin. CM 3: Mediterranean Theater of Operations.

I had a similar experience last spring. When I first stumbled across the Battlefront site I was left unimpressed. I promptly forgot about the game until the epic Alpha battle between Fionn and Martin last August. Like a grognard soap opera, I got hooked. Have been since. Glad to see how absolutely wrong my first impression was.

I would suggest, for some of the more "controversial" questions - dead bodies, bocage/belly armor, etc. that you give BTS' answer, but also link to the original bulletin board discussion. That will give context to those hoped-for masses of converts that play the game for the first time after it has been released and reinvent the wheel when it comes to asking FAQs.

Mark IV, I feel for you man . I am at work, but I just went ahead and watched it. OH MY GOD!!!!

I think this is a good question for those of us who have both preordered and have a lower-end system. If there has been a boost in system reqs, then this change could impact some of us here on the board.