Kevin Peltz

I would be interested in hearing anybody's opinion on Panthers in the Shadows and Tigers on the Prowl II- games that I have been playing (and enjoying) for quite some time.

With regards to the colouring of the Cromwells- I spent years building models and poring over photos and paint chip refs until I wanted to tear my hair out in frustration. I finally decided that if I ever wanted to get a model done, I would just have to give it my best guess. When the sun, UV, different paint batches, dirt, etc. are done- the variations on a theme are endless. For the Cromwells, I say- green with some brown thrown in (or brown with some green thrown in, what the heck). I believe the black patching was known unofficially as "Mickey Mouse Ears" due to the rounded shape of the splotches.

Mike D The only weapon that comes readily to mind that fired canister and included the ammo as part of it's standard loadout was the 37mm M6 gun as carried by the M5 Stuart and the M8 Greyhound. I can't recall ever having read of any actions where the Germans used canister (which doesn't mean that's the gospel, obviously).

Go with plain old smoke for now...

Thank you, Charles, for taking the time to answer my question. KP

Pixman: Thank you for your reply. It has been my understanding that American artillery had incendiary ammunition as a standard fixture, whereas the Germans did not (except in rare cases - I think some type of round was developed for Nebelwerfers, and the version of the Hanomag 251 ("Stuka zum Fuss" or "Stuka on Foot"- that mounted those crated rockets on the sides had a round that was similar to napalm).

Will there be WP/incendiary rounds modeled for artillery?

Steve- I thought it was a bit high too. The values given by the same source for AP (57mm M1)was 998 m/s and 992 m/s for APC. I checked another source, "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare"- and it only gives info for the AP shot: 853 m/s. Other info showed that with the M1 model, the only difference between it and the 6pdr was barrel length- 43 calibres for the 6pdr vs. 50 calibres for the M1. With AP shot, the M1 could penetrate 73mm of 20 deg. sloped armour at 914m. No other info available on the HE round, unfortunately.

My source shows the 57mm firing HE. The projectile weight was 2770 grams, and the muzzle velocity was 975 m/s.

Additional to my previous remark- it just occurred to me that the Tiger was originally built to travel completely submerged, with preparation. I guess there would have to have been something in the vision ports to keep the water out. Later variants had the submergence kit deleted...

With regards the Tiger- I read a book a long while back that was put out by Fedorowicz, and it was basically about small unit actions involving the schwerer tank battalions on the Eastern Front, and in Normandy. Sorry, I can't remember the title. One action that sticks in my mind involved an attack where a Tiger was immobilized by a 45mm AT gun (took off the track), and was then swarmed by Russian infantry. It was mentioned that the driver's viewing block was cracked by MG fire, but not broken. Another tank (a Tiger or a PzIV, can't remember) knocked the Russians off the first tank with coaxial MG fire, and proceeded to rescue the crew of the first, with the help of a platoon of Panzergrenadiers. I guess the vision blocks had armoured glass in them- I know the cupola did, that I have seen in pictures. Anyway, I thought SPR was a good movie- guess they can't cover all the bases all the time. [This message has been edited by Kevin Peltz (edited 07-10-99).]

Quark: I don't think there will be any problem easing into the game- it sounds like there will be plenty of fine people out there who would be more than willing to help you learn the ropes. This site would be a good place to start, I think.

Another book that describes operations on Crete (as well as many other areas, such as Norway, the Uman, and Finland) is "Alpine Elite", by James Lucas. It covers all the actions involving the Gebirgsjaeger through the course of the war. It is a good read.

Rick: I read a couple of books written on small unit tactics by some infantry fellows who act as OPFOR at Ft Irwin, California. Although not specifically mentioned, I got the distinct impression that the unit of choice at minus platoon level is the fireteam- about half a squad. This read out (at least to me) that with the advent of more easily portable weapons (SAW's and shoulder fired AT, SAM's), more flexibility could be had right down to squad level. Whether this was in conjunction with the IFV carrying fewer men is hard to say- I suspect it may have a lot to do with "more bang for the buck," hand-in-hand with general force reductions due to cut-backs, etc (referencing the the US situation).

Rick: I think the modern IFV is a mixed blessing: the added firepower, especially versions carrying ATGM's, could make it too tempting to tangle with things that lightly armoured vehicles are not meant to handle, like MBT's. On the other hand, they become useful multi-purpose vehicles, capable of troop carrying, recon, flank security, and as shoot and scoot defensive equipment (the last two only when conditions are suitable, like good cover, and fall-back positions).

Rick: I know what you mean about the "should I or shouldn't I" dismount- from playing PiTS and ToP 2. I tend to dismount in cover now and move the tracks to some point where hopefully they can provide some sort of cover fire if necessary. It just seems a little safer to walk (in cover, hopefully).

You mentioned pre-registered artillery- is this something a player can set before the start of a scenario? One location per battery? KP

Steve-Thank you for answering my question. I will look into the video card situation.

I am very excited about CM, and I have read the sys reqs, but are these sys reqs a "minimum"? I have had games where the minimum listed was not able to run the game worth a darn. I have a 200MMX with 64 megs of RAM, and a Matrox Mystique card with 4 megs on board. Do you think this will run the game well? I may get some more RAM, but any other upgrades are not in the picture financially right now.