Major Tom

The question is, are crews more important than vehicles, or, are vehicles more important than crews... Highly trained crews are hard to come by, even if they are rated as green, they are still specialized troops that cost a lot of manhours to train even to that level. You can always build a new tank...

I might be jumping into a barrel of fire monkies here but there are a few things that I would like to hopefully see in CM2. The main thing that I would like to see added is a larger variety of Urban landmarks. I know that CM1 is based around terrain that is predominantly Rural, but, I find it pretty difficult to recreate even small towns due to the restriction of Urban items. Even things such as streetlamps, tall walls, telephone poles, garden terrain, wood fences, and other small structures found within an urban setting would greatly enhance the reality of the maps. These streetlamps, telephone poles, etc... could just be sprites, like trees. Also, I liked how Steel Panthers did their map creation when it comes to structures and ground type. Instead of a tile (like in CM) having either a structure OR a different land type. I would like to be able to create a house or building on a piece of concrete ground instead of it always having to rest on grass. I would like the inclusion of train bridges. You can recreate a bridge with train tracks leading to it, but, you could not put the tracks on the bridge. Also, there should be a few more different bridge types, ones that are more than one lane, have upper support bars, etc.. There should be more transition roads between the Paved and Dirt types. There are many times where I wanted to make an angled paved road have a spur into a straight dirt road. However, there are only 90 degree intersections for dirt and paved roads. You can always just put a dirt road by a paved road, but, it doesn't look as good. When developing elevation for maps I would like to see some simpler mode in creating large hills or plateaus instead of having to modify it tile by tile. I would like to see some cut and paste option in mapediting. I have created many maps where I built a town, forest or hill in the wrong place and would have loved the ability to just cut out that piece and move it to the correct spot instead of having to erase the thing and start from scratch. Now, these aren't supposed to be criticisms of the existing game, but, pointing out suggestions that I would like to see in the next game. Thanks for creating such a quality product. I am looking forward to your next one!

Ooops! I did mean T-34, I thought something was up with the T-36 thing, wonder where it came from? Of course you COULD say that since the 7th Armoured was a veteran unit and suffered so much that they had inferior equipment, but, remember that their training was mostly of 2 years in the desert, and a bit of action in Sicily and Italy. Plus, they were on the attack, and got bottlenecked and nailed by long range AT fire. You may think that the terrain around Caen would be optimum for an attacking armoured force, being relatively open and all, but, you must remember that the cover avalible gave a defender a great amount of long range AT benefits. The German infantry had some great AT weapons, the 88mm and 75mm. British training stemmed from 3 years in the desert, where cover was little and armoured tactics were VASTLY different. You didn't need infantry accompanying armour ALL over the desert, but you did in a temperate zone. It just took the British a while to relearn this. The Mark IV was the german main battle tank, as it was the most common in all formations. The Sherman and Cromwell compared VERY well to this tank. It is only when they come against the odd Tiger and Panther do the Allies feel the pinch. Even still, Tigers and Panthers weren't quite as invincible as history makes them out to be. If used stupidly they can burn as well as any Sherman!

Unfortunately people are measuring the Best of the German armour to the Average of the Allied armour. The Panther and Tiger weren't used in the same numbers that the Mark IV was used in the Western Front. It is unfair to compare the Sherman to the Panther or Tiger, as, most of the Sherman's opponents were probably in reality Mark IV's. Indeed, most of the tanks destroyed were lost due to infantry Anti-Tank weapons over that of Tank-vs-Tank. Plus, we must realize that the Allies lost a lot of armour beacuse they were ATTACKING with it. Combined against Infantry Anti-tank and Dug in Tanks an attacker will lose more AFV's than a defender. When the Germans attacked with their 'superior' weapons against the Americans, British and Canadians they suffered EXTREMELY high numbers of AFV casualties. Indeed, many accounts that I have show that German tank loss on the attack approximately equaled the same proportion of allied tanks on the attack. The Germans also launched many poorly planned counter attacks, with each arm not supporting eachother. In the region of Norrey-en-Bessien the 12th SS Division attacked the Regina Rifle Battalion piecemiel and lost a large number of Panther tanks and infantry without any substantial gains. Indeed, the Panther was a virtual rip-off of the T-36. It took the Germans approximately 2 years to develop a suitable Medium tank to counter the T-36, the Panther. The Allies didn't encounter any of the 'superior' German AFV's like the Tiger or Panther until late 1943. Indeed, the Allies came up with sufficient counterparts to the Panther and Tiger with the development of the Pershing and Comet 2 years after encountering the Panther and Tiger. Up to 1942 the British tanks were on average 'superior' to their German counterparts. The Matilda II was a great tank, and was used in front line service until 1945 (albiet in the Pacific!). The Valentine series was also very good, and the Chruchill series was pretty spectacular! It wasn't until the development of the Panzer IVF2 when the Germans had a AT weapon mounted on a tank that was superior to the British 40mm 2pdr. Before that they were relying on the 50mm, which didn't have much more of a penetration power than the 40mm.

Slight problem with the website.... How can it truely be Canadian without a French part?

Well, I perfer to believe that general incompetence was the reason for the sucess of the attack on Pearl Harbor. These conspiracy theories exist almost purely to cover up stupidity

Actually, I think that the Japanese plan was to declare war about an hour to half an hour before the attack (to make it nice and legal), but, problems in timing resulted in war being decalred after the attack. The Japanese hoped that the Americans would assume that any attack would be on the Philippines, so, even after war was declared the forces at Pearl would not be on full alert (which would have probably happened). It would have been interesting if Japan had suceeded in getting off its declaration of war before the attack, as, the attack would have probably been just as successful, but, the Americans wouldn't have the excuse to go mideval on Japan because of a sneak attack.

Sure, the Colonialists did build railroads, but, they are virtually useless today. When they built railroads they were solely used to transfer workers and resources from the interior to port cities for export and import. Today the infrastructure of most African nations is not geared toward an independent African economy, but, one invariably tied to Europe. Some nations in Africa don't even have direct air flights! I cannot remember which nations, but, two neighbouring nations require a flight stopover in PARIS in order to fly to one nation from another, even though they are neighbours! This is due to the remants of colonial infrastructure which still exist today, and will probably exist well into the future. Yes, you cannot state that nations in Africa were somehow better than those in the rest of the world. If ANY other region had the same chance to dominate the world like Europe and North America they would not have hesitated to be as destructive. There are COUNTLESS examples in history in Africa before Colonialism began of African nations imposing their power on their culturally different neighbours. They just didn't have the govermental structure or weapons to do it to the same extent as the West.

Actually, the tactics used weren't that idiotic. It was not like there was any other accepted reference to fight war any other way! Sure, the Native North Americans were able to conduct themselves in a more 'reasonable' manner of fighting in wilderness areas, but, that wasn't seen as 'acceptable' tactics. The smoke put up due to the discharge of the rifles was the main reason for lining up in lines and having colourful clothes and big flags. It would be SO easy to get lost if tactics followed 20th Century style. This was the only way in which the commanders can reasonably control their troops. By the end of the war, both sides saw the benefit of the lessons learned in such previous engagements (Crimean War) that trenches and fortifications offered GREAT protection for troops. The battles around Richmond were purely static warfare, where, the Union won due to excelent outflanking tactics (they were able to extend their trenches farther than the Confederates due to more manpower). Plus, we must remember that 90% of all weapons used were muzzle loaders. You can only load them standing up (laying down doesn't work too well!).

Also quality of troops can decrease/increase the point cost. Possibly your opponent chose green/conscript troops just so he could overwealm you in numbers?

What the issue should be, is, does having CM on a free download cost Steve and Charles money? It doesn't matter if a product was taken or not, but, wether or not a product WOULD HAVE BEEN BOUGHT if they didn't have the option of downloading it. Now, CoolColJ didn't infringe on this, he still purchased the product, even though he downloaded it. I would not call it a crime if I downloaded a pirated version of CM, as, I have already paid for my copy. As long as I don't give this copy to someone else I am not hurting anyone (except myself, having 2 games of CM on my computer taking up all that space!). The only exception to this would be if they decide that due to me downloading CM off their site that it will remain up there for future people to download (possibly if the demand for it was so low they would take it off). The idea that it was a binary copy and nobody got hurt is REDICULOUS. If it wasn't up for download, possibly a few people who actually downloaded the sucker would have copped out the cash to buy a REAL copy. We won't know how many hundreds or possibly thousands of dollars Steve and Charles lost by this being put up. If I made a product, and sold it, I would be pretty pissed off if one of the people I sold it to decided to clone it and give it to others for free.

Who the hell are you? The narrator?

I'm doing a series of historical Canadian Scenarios on all of the Major Canadian battles. Right now I am working on June 7-11 engagements between the Canadian 3rd Infantry vs. the 12th SS Panzer. I can't afford to buy these highly detailed maps, but, I do have access to some basic maps (locations and sizes of towns, major forests, major roads and raillines as well as elevation) and can fill in the small details on my own (small forests, houses, etc.).

MacArthur was a better biographical war movie than Patton.

Thanks for the sites all! I recieved your e-mail gaffertape (THANKS!). I have A LOT of information (OOB's) and even many of the historical commanders (down to Company level for the SS). The only thing I really needed was the Topographical maps. Now I have everything! Thanks again guys! Hopefully I will get some of these scenarios pumped out soon! I am working on June 7-11 actions right now. Then I am going to work on Operation Totalize (Actions south of Caen) and Falise, then, actions in Holland. After all this, I might get around to Dieppe or Italy (Italy wouldn't be too hard to transfer!).

Actually, I found a GREAT website (can't afford to buy these luxurious books ). It is located at... http://home.att.net/~SSPzHJ/Index.html For anyone else interested in modeling actions with the 12th SS.

Inability to handle our liquer? That might be because us Canadians have more than 1.2% alcohol in their beer! We perfer our water from taps, not beer bottles... Invasion from Russia? I don't think so. See the movie "Canadian Bacon" and you Americans will realize your TRUE enemy from the north You didn't think that the CN Tower was just a big tourist item, eh? [This message has been edited by Major Tom (edited 07-04-2000).]

Hi, I am putting together a few scenarios/operations about the Canadian forces in France. I have found a lot of information about units and locations of Canadian forces, down to the Battalion and Company level, but, I cannot find any details about the German forces, notably the 12th SS Division from June 7 to June 11. There was a series of engagements where both the SS and 3rd Canadian Division were bloodied. I need information on the German units participating in battles around... Authie, St. Context and Buron (North of Caen, on Caen-Bayeux Road) ON June 7 Putot-en-Bassin, (Bayeux Road, West of Caen) ON June 8 Le Mensil-Patry (South of Putot-en-Bassin) ON June 9-11 Thanks for any information!

Here's another site... http://www.valourandhorror.com/ It is based on a mini-series, "Valour and the Horror" all about the Canadian 'disasters' during WWII (Normandy, Hong Kong, Air war over Europe). Deadline, as soon as I get my computer connected to the Internet (using Parent's for Internet) we should start a game.

I found this interesting site which covers fairly detailed histories of a few Canadian Regiments. http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Barracks/4674/index.html

I agree with those who say that the US and the USSR were fighting 2 different wars. You are more willing for casualties when defending your home soil from invasion than you are if you are defending others. Once the Soviets fought their way into Germany it was harder to justify the horrendous casualties it was recieving, even with their dominating state. However, there is a breaking point, as was seen in 1917! The USSR never reached this point, even though it suffered more, and lost more in 1941-45.

I did order it back in December 1999, after I started posting, so, that might be the reason (maybe I made it into the first group of sales?). Too bad my computer is acting up...

Well, CM has reached Canada through the national postal service. I just got my copy today. Actually, up in Guelph I live in an apartment right beside the City's post office. My window looks right into their main offices. I periodically look in and see them cleaning their weapons... er... sorting the mail... However, I didn't see any CM packages being opened

Well, the only day of the past two weeks I ask my mom as I enter the house "Do I have any mail?" and the answer today was "YES". CM finally arrived here in southern Ontario, on Friday June 30, 2000. This means I get to spend all Canada Day playing this wonderful Game! I am out in the boonies here, so, hopefully you big time city dwellers in Toronto, London, Halifax, Montreal, etc. get this game today. How goes the Canadian CM site? I am thinking of creating a series of operations dealing with the battles of Dieppe. Anyone with detailed information of unit composition, locations and regional maps of Dieppe in 1942? I could look it up on our local Library, but, it kind of sucks (I wish I was back in Guelph to use the extensive University Library!). I am going try and create historical scenarios for each of the Battalions and beaches at Dieppe. Some of the engagements weren't as blatantly lost causes as the landings on the main beaches (The South Saskatchewan Regiment, plus another Canadian Battalion actually had much success, as well as #3 and #4 Commando). There weren't many changes in unit types from 1942 to 1944 of those used in the Dieppe region (1944 Infantry squads looked much like those in 1942!), however, I will have to use the 1944 Churchill tank. Those in 42 only had a 2 or 6 Pounder gun.

Everyone forgets that the US in 1941 was not the military industrial complex of 1945+. There wasn't the same structure of command in 1941 as there was post war. The Americans assumed that any attack on US hodldings would take place in the Philippines. Sure, the British did attack the Italians at Taranto, but, what reason should the US think that their naval base at Pearl Harbor would be vulnerable to attack? There were 200+ aircraft on the Island, plus a good harbor defense (and the harbour was too shallow for conventional air-torpedoes). They didn't know that the IJN would take such a large risk in attacking Pearl, they weren't aware of the new air-torpedoes. The IJN task force to Pearl left port and kept radio silence. There was no way in knowing where the task force was going to. Also, the US were able to read the Japanese Diplomatic code, but, the Diplomatic code DIDN'T say that the attack was going to take place on Pearl, it just illuded that war was coming (and the US assumed it would be at the Philippines). We can all sit back in hindsite and say that General Short, Admiral Kimmel, Roosevelt, the US military communications system, the High Command, or Lee Harvey Oswald was the reason for the attack. Not everything has to be a conspiracy, or incompetence, sometimes **** happens.