Kevin Peltz

My friend's father was in the 6th Airborne Division for D-Day: he hated the PIAT because it was a terrible thing to try and cock the spring for a shot. If you didn't pay strict attention to what you were doing, you could really wreck your groin. It was also almost impossible to cock laying down (as in a trench, ditch, etc)...

If Combat Mission were a Real Time game, I wouldn't even look at it. I have had far too much aluminum in my diet to be able to play a mouse-twitchin' extravaganza

I would hate to see what Mr Peng would do to his enemies- look what he wants to do to his old friends!

I believe that the main purpose of the German IG's were for DF support, and I think that is how they should be used in the game. As stated above in a number of posts, it gave the infantry their own means of dealing with point targets that the artillery would not, or could not deal with. Also, after the French campaign in 1940, the Wehrmacht requested a more efficient weapon that could damage a tank. Krupp generated two or three different types of gun and carriage combinations that were very good, but there was no production capacity available, so the LIG 18 stayed (a hollow charge AT round was produced for it to compensate). The LIG was an excellent weapon for the Fallschirmjager, as it was very airportable (when they still did that line of work), weighing only 400 kg and could be split into four para-drop containers. The sIG 33 150mm could fire HE, smoke, and HEAT rounds. It also could fire the over-calibre Steilgranate 42 stick bomb, which had a range of about 1000 yds, and was "intended as a powerful blast bomb for demolishing strongpoints or wire entanglements." It seems to me that being equipped with AT rounds, and the stick-bomb, would point up the DF nature of these weapons. Besides, in the game, wouldn't you rather smack a tank DF than chase those little guys all over the map with shell craters? I think that there will be lots of IF fire available in the game anyway, especially considering it's scale. I mean the maps are only going to be a few sq km and less than a regiment involved per side (usually). [This message has been edited by Kevin Peltz (edited 12-17-99).]

Major Tom: The Ram was derived from the power train and suspension of the M3. Since it was expected that the Brits were going to order a large number of M3's, Montreal Locomotive Works was tabbed to build a number of them. Due to changing requirements, it was decided that a new tank could be built in Montreal, and the Ram was born. It was considered to be a vast improvement over the M3, except for the fact that it was armed with a 2 pdr. This was partly mitigated by the fact that the turret front plate was removable, allowing a gun change to be fairly easy. The Ram I had a completely cast hull and turret, and sponson doors on either side of the hull, plus the 2 pdr gun. 50 were built. The Ram II had the 6 pdr gun, and 1899 were built, many going over to England, where they made excellent training vehicles. It was decided that it was not practical to arm the Ram with a 75mm gun, so all Canadian units had their Rams switched for Shermans before the D-Day invasion. The Ram was used in other forms however, being the basis for the Sexton 25 pdr SPG, and the Ram Kangaroo. The Kangaroo was simply a turretless Ram with bench seats added inside, plus extra grab irons welded to the outside. Kangaroos formed the basis of the 1st Canadian Armoured Carrier Regiment, and were first used on the assault on Boulogne. Two more variants were the Ram Observation Post, that had a dummy gun and extra room inside for plotting equipment and radios. They were used alongside the Sexton in the artillery plotting role. The Ram ARV was fitted with a spade, winch, and jib, and was actually considered for equipping the 79th Armoured until the Churchill was decided to be more suitable.

Major Tom: Wasp Flamethrower Flame Thrower mounted on a Universal tracked carrier. 727 kg in weight, carries 358.1 litres of inflammable liquid. 100 metre range, fired by electric ignition. Each blast 2 seconds long.

Major Tom: Another variant of the Universal Carrier was the Wasp flamethrower. I am still looking for some facts and figures on that one.

This site has some interesting info on Canada and armour during WW2- plus nice shots of the Churchill Croc, the Valentine, and others- including interiors. http://www.netwave.ca/%7Ewhiskey/mlu/intro.html

Phoenix: The tank you are thinking of was the M3 Grant. It had a 75mm gun mounted in a sponson, plus a 37mm gun in the turret. Some models had a small revolving cupola with a .30 cal MG. The Grant saw much service with the Commonwealth forces in North Africa. It was not used in NW Europe.

Richard III: I may be off base on this, because I can't find the info now, but it seems to me that the Kettenkraftrad was originally designed as an air portable equipment that could be used by the Fallschirmjager to go places motorcycles couldn't get to, and to haul around the various types of AT weapons they were to use. After the utility of the design was proven, everybody wanted to use them, and did. I read somewhere that they were popular with farmers after the war- used as tractors. I also had a picture of three Marines firing a 106mm recoiless rifle that was mounted on the frame of a mechanical mule (this was in Vietnam in 1968). [This message has been edited by Kevin Peltz (edited 12-16-99).]

Major Major: The Crocodile carried 1818 litres (400 gal) of fuel in the armoured trailer, along with five nitrogen tanks and the fittings, etc. This was good for about 80 seconds of fire, either continously, or in bursts. Maximum range was about 120 yards with a tailwind, but 80-100 yds was more likely. This is from the "Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare."

Like many sequels, the first one was the best. I think I like CC1 better than the rest. One thing that CM really has going for it is the fact that you CAN do useful things with infantry. In a lot of games, the grunts are just an after-thought. I guess most people think that armour is sexier (especially if it is German...)

http://byrden.com/tiger/

System: Win95 4.00.950a 200MMX Matrox G200SD PCI c/w 16 SDRAM 64 meg RAM Latest Matrox drivers used When I first got the demo, I was using older drivers, and everything ran fine, except that LOS lines, firing lines, and waypoints did not show up very well, as did the unit selection boxes and tracers. Everything was a sort of brown-grey colour. Switching to the new drivers gave me all the above in their proper colours, and the game runs fine. However, in zoomed out views, infantry figures show up as white, when they become only a few pixels in size. At some angles, regardless of zoom, the backpack portion of the figures can also turn white. Changing the angle often fixes this. The objective flags also exhibit this behaviour.

System: Win95 4.00.950a 200MMX Matrox G200SD PCI c/w 16 SDRAM 64 meg RAM Latest Matrox drivers used When I first got the demo, I was using older drivers, and everything ran fine, except that LOS lines, firing lines, and waypoints did not show up very well, as did the unit selection boxes and tracers. Everything was a sort of brown-grey colour. Switching to the new drivers gave me all the above in their proper colours, and the game runs fine. However, in zoomed out views, infantry figures show up as white, when they become only a few pixels in size. At some angles, regardless of zoom, the backpack portion of the figures can also turn white. Changing the angle often fixes this. The objective flags also exhibit this behaviour.

Well, I 've had a belly full of this whole forum- adios

I think part of the fun in any scenario, in any game, is having to play with the hand you are dealt. Having said that- a few extra minutes for the Riesburg scenario would be nice, say, 40 instead of 30...

I would think the "10 to 2" tactic would be more beneficial to tanks that WEREN'T as well protected as the Tiger. I understand the danger of giving somebody a better flank shot at you if you do offset, but, in game turns, that would be another tactical decision a player could make. He would have to take circumstances into account, just as was done in reality. For example, maybe you should offset to your ten o'clock against the threat ahead of you, but do you risk it when you have an empty stretch of terrain 500m long with a wood at the end of it, at your eight o'clock- something you don't see might be in there. So, what's the bigger threat, and what chance do you want to take?

I would think, by extrapolation, that it would apply to all German panzers and crews. As far as everyone else, I have no proof one way or the other. It definitely is something that would be tied to training and experience.

On the subject of being tired, I seem to end up running my units almost everywhere, and they seldom seem to reach a "tired" state. I think they don't get tired enough, as it stands now. Maybe it's the electron adrenaline response...

Steve: "...this is flawed gamer logic...That was SoP..." There are several pages in "Tiger Fibel" devoted to maneuvering and positioning your tank to present a ten- or two o'clock aspect whenever possible- the tank commander even had special terms he used so that when an order was given, there was no confusion amongst the crew as to what he wanted done.

Fionn: As stated in a recent movie,"That guy's over-rated."

Ianc: Plot a movement to, say, the back side of a small rise. Leave the track selected, and at the same time go to View 1 and move out aways from the spot where your path ended. Now turn around and see how much of your last waypoint box is still exposed- this can help give an idea how much is hangin' in the breeze. You can then readjust your last waypoint marker accordingly.

If you are in WIN95 (don't know anything about WIN98, don't want to, either), after you hit PRINTSCREEN, go to START/PROGRAMS/ACCESSORIES/CLIPBOOK VIEWER. If WIN95 was installed complete, it should be there. If this is confusing, go to your C:\, right click and bring up FIND, then type *.clp If CLIPBOOK was added in the install (it is an option), your pix should be in there

For those with older systems- turn the sound off when you are plotting your next set of moves- it will help while you are panning and setting waypoints. Turn it back on when you want to watch the action.