M Hofbauer

What we need to keep in mind is that while there has always been discusion about just what the minimal theoretical and practical range is, it is a fact that the maximum range for the 28 and 32cm rockets were barely over 2km. This makes it obvious that they could very well be included in CM if people wanted it in. This is also a big difference of these weapons to the 15 and 21cm rockets, which could be considered artillery weapons with their ranges of 7 to 8 km. The 28/32cm Nb.W.Gr. fall somewhere inbetween being neither a real artillery asset nor a real demolition weapon. Their limited range, large destructive force, high inaccuracy and mass use suggest they are something remotely like a short-range impromptu carpet bombing of a special kind. As to their use - someone suggested they were not used before Barbarossa. They were, but indeed only *few* Nb.W.Gr. 28/32 were used before the invasion of Russia, to be more exact, 3,212 were used until March 1941. Another 1,032 were used during the campaign in the Balkans. When operation Barbarossa was launched against the USSR, usage skyrocketed (sorry for the pun). Total usage on the russian front until the end of 1941 was 11,268 Nb.W.Gr. 28/32. Still rather pathetic number. In 1942, 46,230 and 10,190 of the Nb.W.Gr. 28 and 32 respectively were used, in 1943 this rose to 103,510 / 15,650. Now, even the 1943 figure is pathetic of you compare it for example with the ammo usage of the regular artillery pieces, for example the common leichte Feldhaubitze leFH 18 fired over 26 million rounds of ammo in 1943. 1944 saw the climax in Nebelwerfer- rocket use, with a total of nearly 220,000 of both types fired - still pethetic when compared to for example over 31 million rounds of 105mm ammo fired by the leFH 18 during the same time. Therefore, whether these rockets will be shown on-map or off-map, I hope to see the rarity factor (if there's gonna be one) applied not only to tanks and guns but to artillery as well. P.S: It's "Schwerer Wurfrahmen", Wurfrahmen is male, "he", d e r Wurfrahmen. P.S.2: I just realized Mattias made a very interesting post in the meantime.... ------------------ "Me tank is still alive me churchill's crew must be laughing there heads off." (GAZ_NZ)

Hofbauer doing a Madmatt - impersonation: "PLease take your testing to the General Forum where it belongs." ------------------ "Me tank is still alive me churchill's crew must be laughing there heads off." (GAZ_NZ)

Random end turns would be easy to implement and should appease everybody. However, IIRC this had been suggested in the same manner before CM1, but was'nt implemented, so methinks it won't happen this time, either. ------------------ "Me tank is still alive me churchill's crew must be laughing there heads off." (GAZ_NZ)

Maximus, I know what you mean, and it applies to some of the units we have in the west in CMBO, but IMHO your argument is more wrong than right w/r/t the Eastern Front. Maybe that is because you are thinking only in terms of the big engagements (Kursk, Stalingrad etc.). But the war doesn't consist solely of the big, famous operations with total ceasefire inbetween, but rather there is a steady war going on all the time, with many smaller, local operations and lulls inbetween. All I need to disprove you is have a look at one of the unit histories of units deployed on the East front. Sure there where periods of refit & rest (although rest generally took place more on an individual soldier level), periods of more and of less activity. Still, most line units in the east took part in *many* smaller and larger operations over the years. Michael Dorosh, that's a very interesting idea (and splendid page btw) though not exactly what I meant / had in mind above; and yes, I guess your system involves quite a bit of bookkeeping =-) ------------------ "Me tank is still alive me churchill's crew must be laughing there heads off." (GAZ_NZ)

One thing I feel lacking in CM1 is some sort of larger campaign. Operations are great, but fall short of what I'm thinking of, i.e., some sort of multi-op/multi-year campaign, where you will live with your unit through it's various battles. I know I'll probably get flamed for it, but I just love the character development / history accumulation and witness the fate of "my" outfit through a larger time period (*remotely* -for example- like cc3, or even SP), watch green troops evolve (I am talking about combat experience not maneuvewr training), see how my one trusty KV-1 keeps racking up kills etc. A good record in previous battles might lead to preferrential treatment resulting in earlier (than otherwise) outfitting with new equipment ("Guards" - status etc.). I'ld also guess that in a larger OP people would be less willing to sacrifice units in a risk-loving (read gamey) way, since they have to think not only about the battle at hand but about the future, upcoming battles and be more conservative about the way they use their resources (men & materiel). ------------------ "Me tank is still alive me churchill's crew must be laughing there heads off." (GAZ_NZ)

1) how much more clear can I make this? Am I typing in russian? read again: "Because they were sitting IN THE OPEN, dammit, NO FOXHOLE" open ground, you know, as in open, O P E N, _NO_ Foxhole, you know, like, flat earth, a little grass n stuff. No hole. No shelter. Imagine a cow on a lawn. Figure the cow is a mortar crew. Forget it - it might also continue to bve a cow, cause the AC still couldn't harm it. As for overrun, M.Dorosh, now the terrain etc doesn't matter since that doesn't work on paved road either in CM. A no-can-do in CM. Ever had a platoon of Jagdpanzer that ran outta ammo being chased around the open map by infantry? 2) well, Andreas, we will simply have to agree to disagree on this one I guess, you can stick to your Panzerfaust-equipped timewarp Afrika Korps mortar crews in the desert warfare, and that scout cars raiding the Hinterland never encountered mortars there, and that 40mm guns don't harm infantry, not from 100m and not from 10m, and that scout cars never engaged behind the MLR (Long Range Desert Patrol etc never happened, and scouts are for own rear-area security I suppose), and since these scouts kept to the own rear area they never encountered enemy vehicles and crews in the enemy rear area. Using scout cars for reconnaisance in force therefore is gamey. Uh-huh. Again, sorry for my bad mood and lack of tolerance, but I'm outta thisone. Have a nice day Andreas and Michael Dorosh, sincerely, M.Hofbauer ------------------ "Me tank is still alive me churchill's crew must be laughing there heads off." (GAZ_NZ)

Well, Jeff, you ask what makes me think they were sitting in the open fat dumb happy? Because they were sitting IN THE OPEN, dammit, NO FOXHOLE, and kept firing their goldurn MOWTAH all the time while FOUR Humbers were parked around them in a star-like fashion at minimal range (8-20m), firing at them like mad with their 40mm guns (and even a pistol, as you like to call the 40mm main gun, would nail the crew at that range). Even then, explain to me, even if a 40mm solid projectile is discarded by you as being unable to harm neither man nor equipment, a heavy, armored car can't just run them over, eh? If I were a scout car commander, and raided germans that were walking around with theit mortar or HMG equipment, I'ld just run them over. CM's credo was always something like "what works in real life will work in the game". Well, it doesn't. Not always, at least. I can live with it. Every game MUST habve abstratcionms and shortcomings due to modeling SOME where. But I can't take this excusionist BS, trying to talk away something. sorry. Like I said, not my day. Damn. ------------------ "Me tank is still alive me churchill's crew must be laughing there heads off." (GAZ_NZ)

Get real Andreas. I bet when a Humber parked in front of you, couple of meters away, leveling the 40mm gun right between your eyes, you would sit there happily beside your mortar, hand in hand with your comrades from the rest of the crew, and sing "neener neener, can't hurt us, doesn't have HE, only AP, 40mm AP doesn't hurt us, we wear helmets...." ------------------ "Me tank is still alive me churchill's crew must be laughing there heads off." (GAZ_NZ)

Just wanted to add that of course I know how the game works, and that the Humber's 40mm only fires solid AP rounds, and with their minimal blast these results are to be predicted...still in reality things would look a lot different. And that's what it's all about. Sometimes I am just very frustrated with the limitations. ------------------ "Me tank is still alive me churchill's crew must be laughing there heads off." (GAZ_NZ)

You people say you have problems killing HTs with small amrs / close assaults...well you aint seen nothing yet... I've long given up hope, have you ever tried killing infantry etc. with the Humber AC's 40mm gun? I had four Humbers surround a german 8cm mortar crew, from 10m away, they kept pumping round after round into that crew, but that mortar was totally unafected, and walked away unscathed after a couple of turns. Same thing with a HMG crew. They don't even bother the fat-dumb-happy 40mm main gun right under their noses. Can't say I blame them, it appears that the AC's are not firing AP projectiles but cotton candy balls of 40mm diameter. ASnd that is besides the fact that the Humber should be able to just run those teams over physically in the first place. Grrrrrrr...sorry I'm in a bad mood today :-( ------------------ "Me tank is still alive me churchill's crew must be laughing there heads off." (GAZ_NZ)

(blush)....ah, forget it, I found out myself...forgot that I had given the British two assault boats.... ---I see 109 Gustav was faster with his help than my slow brain was... thanks a lot, it was the assault boats indeed. now let's just act as if nothiong happened and let this thread slowly, gently float to the botttom.... ------------------ "Me tank is still alive me churchill's crew must be laughing there heads off." (GAZ_NZ)

sorry, maybe I'm missing something here, but I made a custom operation, and somehow I am not able to play it vs the AI. The only choices the game gives me is hotseat, pbem and tcp/ip, but no single player. Am I missing something? I've created quite a few scenarios and operations before, but this never happened to me before. Is it maybe because of the size of the operation??

There is no "Panzerfaust team" in CMBO. ------------------ "Me tank is still alive me churchill's crew must be laughing there heads off." (GAZ_NZ)

1. The M15 and M16 were two vehicles, so either one or none of them could occupy the #1 spot 2. As you pointed out yourself, they were not "rare" therefore they don't even qualify as entries for a "rare vehicle poll" IMHO. ------------------ "Me tank is still alive me churchill's crew must be laughing there heads off." (GAZ_NZ)

Germanboy, the idea of EU precedence is an interesting question, but note it was not brought forth by me, but suggested by M.Bates. Criminal Law itself is not within the competence of the EU, but remains with the member states (as of now). However, indeed, if a company could show that this german law (§86a StGB) hindered their free trade of their products into germany as provided by article 28 EU-Treaty, then the precedence could take place. Please note thought that the precedence of the EU is still not fully accepted by the german constitutional court; they reserve the right to step in if they see basic foundations of the german constitutions infringed upon by EU (commission/court) decisions (wouldn't apply in the case of §86a being nullified by the EU court). Art. 28 Freedom of Trade indeed is _the_ EU basic right, the right which lies at the core of this whole (stupid IMHO) idea of a European Union. I always faked out / never paid attention in European law lessons cause I hate it so much so I don't really know if this freedom of trade within the EU applies to EU-outsiders exporting into a EU country. Personally, I doubt it. However, it would take someone to challenge the §86a StGB before the EU court in Luxembourg. This is likely to take several years. Besides, again I am not sure if an american company has active legitimation (=can sue) for Art. 28 in this case. ------------------ "Im off to NZ police collage" (GAZ_NZ)

Joe Private, yes, w/r/t this issue everything is fine the way it is now. Please move along, nothing to fix here...

f l a m e b a i t

Michael Dorosh - wow, that is an impressive site you've got there! It really does help in some regards, like service branch colors etc. ! I will surely make use of your invitation and get back atcha via email soon re. the rankpage project! ------------------ "Im off to NZ police collage" (GAZ_NZ)

Jagdcarcajou, your "art" argument would apply in germany as well. The problem is, this basic human right of free pursuit of arts is not an absolute right, it is limited by other laws and rights (example: I could claim that shooting people in the head with my .45, and then taking pictures of the blood splater on the street constitutes my personal kind of "art"). Therefore, a weighing/consideration has to take place between the justified interests of the "artist" and the public interests which speak against it. I think I know what you feel. Maybe it helps if you remind yourself that germany is _not_ just any western nation. I made this reference once to someone who was arguing he loves to have swastikas on his warbirds - simulation and had a similar take on the german "censorship": think of jewish people, or people who lost relatives during occupation etc., and now, 50 yrs. later, you see german youths happily playing an online game as members of fabulous "Team Swastika", what do you think these people would feel? One could see the prohibition of NS symbology as a _remote_ insult-protection law.

Not a lot I could add to what Helge, Andreas, Scipio etc. already said; RMC already gave the basic answer what is the telos, the goal and intent of §§ 86, 86a StGB, see his post above. Since you americans are more familiar with case law, the sole leading case in this regard is the decision BGHSt 28, 394. I have the full text here. It is from 1979 and concerned the use of swastikas on scale model kits of aircraft. Through research I found that the company and product in question must have been Matchbox with the 1:72 kits PK-171 and PK-83. Matchbox's reasoning was, quote "the swastika was used as a symbol of identification for the Luftwaffe, which was not a national socialist organization, and was not used to show national socialist intent." They went on to argue that for an authentic model of a historic aircraft it is necessary to include the swastika, and that there was no ideological intent whatsoever connected with that. The supreme court rejected this arguing. They conceded that the Luftwaffe as well as the rest of the Wehrmacht were NOT national socialist organizations (use of their symbols therefore is o.k.). However, that does not matter. The swastika was used by the Luftwaffe _additionally_ to the Balkenkreuz. Even in this context the swastika remains the prime symbol of the national socialist party. The problem, they say, is that with the mass-producing and mass-selling of this commercial toy this would lead to a widespread, unreflected acceptance of this symbol among youths. IOW, it would become "normal" to them, or even become a symbol for which they harbor friendly associations because they associate it with their joy and entertainment when they encountered it in connection with their toys. This prohibit extends beyond the swastika, to all symbols of entities considered national socialist. The point of Matchbox, that the swastika was needed to make the aircraft model as authentic as posible, and that without the swastika the plane would be not a realistic, authentic reproduction, was not accepted by the court, because "the making of as authentic as possible toys is not a purpose which justifies the usage of the swastika." I will try to translate into english the wording of the essential paragraphs of the german penal code: ----- §86a. (1) A penalty of up to three years of prison or fine is given to a person who 1. in the local jurisdiction of this code distributes symbols of one of the parties or entities named in §86 I Nos. 1, 2 and 4 or uses these in public, in a gathering or in a work of writing (§11 (3)) which he distributes or 2. produces, holds stock of or imports into the local jurisdiction of this law corporal things which show or contain such symbols for use in the way and manner described in Nr.1. (2) Symbols in the sense of (1) include but are not limited to flags, insignia, pieces of uniforms, paroles and forms of address. (3) § 86 (3) and (4) apply mutatis mutandis. ------ the § 11 (3) StGB mentioned in sec. § 86a (1) StGB defines works of writing: ------- § 11 (...) (3) Audio and video recordings, databases, images and other representations are equivalent to writings in those provisions that refer to this subsection. -------- of particular note of the regulations mentioned in 86a (3) is § 86 (3): ------ §86 (...) (3) section (1) does not apply, if the means of propaganda or the action served a purpose of citizen education, of the defense against anticonstitutional undertakings, of art or of science, of research or of lecturing, of reporting on contemporary (political) processes/actions or on history, or serves similar purposes. ----- ------------------ "Im off to NZ police collage" (GAZ_NZ) [This message has been edited by M Hofbauer (edited 02-13-2001).]

M. Dorosh, I was wondering since you are a Canadian and seem to be rather knowledgeable re. ww2 ranks, and I still have some open questions re. the british ww2 rank system, would you object if I would contact you via email so I could ask you questions on the British-Canadian ranks?

M. Dorosh, oooh - if you were referring to the Meldetasche in general, then IIRC it was more common to call it a Kartentasche since that was what the "Meldekartentasche" (official designation) was used for. This was also why it was an official issue item and handed out to and carried by not only Hauptfeldwebel but also certain personnel like Forward Observers or Kradmelder. Yes it also existed as a private purchase item but as such usually only for officers. This also answers your other question, No, there was no specific prescribed pattern or design for the Meldetasche, although such an offical pattern existed in form of the offficial Meldekartentasche 35 (introduced 1936 *g*), in fact all sorts of private purchase versions and captured enemy examples were in use. yours sincerely, M.Hofbauer

M. Dorosh, oooh - if you were referring to the Meldetasche in general, then IIRC it was more common to call it a Kartentasche since that was what the "Meldekartentasche" (official designation) was used for. This was also why it was an official issue item and handed out to and carried by not only Hauptfeldwebel but also certain personnel like Forward Observers or Kradmelder. Yes it also existed as a private purchase item but as such usually only for officers. This also answers your other question, No, there was no specific pattern or design for the Meldetasche. Although such an offical pattern existed in form of the Meldekartentasche 35 (introduced 1936 *g*), all sorts of private purchase versions and captured enemy examples were in use. yours sincerely, M.Hofbauer

that is an interesting find indeed! would you care to share *any* details please?

Like the Bazooka, the Panzerschreck and the hand grenades, the pistol is one of the few items in CMBO which are hard-coded; these items do not use bitmap-"skins" and cannot be "modded". If you want further info on this, do a SEARCH under the respective keywords, IIRC there have been plenty of posts on these things and why they can't be modded. yours sincerely, M.Hofbauer