Kent Pfeiffer

Huh, I had the exact opposite reaction to the announcements of SC and HOI. Europa Universalis 2 is one of the best strategy games ever released, but I've got serious doubts about how suitable its engine will be for a WWII game.

Well, I don't know much about motherboards. I looked into replacing it at one point, but quickly became so confused I dropped the whole idea. I can add RAM, and replace something like the video card or cd drive, but that's about as far as it goes. All of my RAM is PC100 SDRAM, but thanks for the advice. For the most part, I just play wargames and turn-based stratgy games, so CM (and soon CM:BB) is the only game that really taxes my system. IL-2 Sturmovik looks interesting, but I'm doubtful my system will be able to deal with it, even with a new graphics card.

Thanks Schrullenhaft. Doug, I'm not sure what you mean by "socket 370MB". If you are referring to RAM, my computer has 3 slots for it: 2 are ocuppied the 96MB that I ordered with the computer, the third has 256MB (you can hardly go wrong for $30) that I plugged in there last month. I am basically just trying to extend the useful life of my computer for another year or so without spending too much money. At the point the CPU really needs to be replaced, I'll probably just buy a whole new computer.

I'm planning to upgrade my video card and need some advice. I've got a 450 mHz PIII with 352MB RAM and an old 16MB TNT2 video card (WinME OS). Needless to say, the hi-res terrain mods bring my computer to its knees. I've narrowed it down to either a 64MB Geforce2 MX400 or a 64MB Geforce2 Titanium. A lot of reviewers have slammed the MX400. On the other hand, it's about $40-50 cheaper than the Titanium. The question is, given the limitations of my CPU, will the Titanium be significantly (at least 10-20%) faster than the MX400 in CM?

I couldn't get the save game feature to work until I applied the v. 1.01 patch. Don't know why. I don't think there is anything in the readme for the patch about save game problems.

FWIW, I'd rather see starshells/flares implemented in a later version of CM. Particularly the Mediterranean Theatre where night attacks with illumination were more prominant.

I don't know about European forests, but I've done qutie a bit of prescribed burning of deciduous forests in the central US. They burn very well in the fall and winter (6-10 foot mid-flame lengths and an ROS of up to 2 mph). Not with snow on the ground, though.

Moon, Could you have retreated your delaying force guys off the north/south edges of the battlefield? As I understand it, this would have taken them out of the battle, but at least they wouldn't be dead or POWs Or is this too "gamey" of a solution.

HBO put out a pretty good movie "When Trumpets Fade" or something like that about the Battle of Hurtgen Forest. Not a subject you see covered very much, even in history books. Its a good example of the almost criminal stupidity exhibited at time by American leaders during the fall of 1944.