Major Tom

OK, I would like to clarify things right now. It wasn't SS_Panzerleader who posted anything proponing it is ok to steal things only if it is from big compainies. I originally posted a rant about microprose, and the closest thing that I said to proponing theft was "I would not shed a tear if someone copied their stuff". I did not mean to state that it is ok to steal, frankly, I consider any theft to be wrong as I have been on the other end of it. I deleted my old message, but, I still feel that it is my duty to see that SS_Panzerleader is not attacked for anything that I have posted. I should have posted earlier, but, didn't really pay that much attention to the argument. Manta Ray, you should look closer at posts before you go and start randomly accusing people. You should have rightfully been attacking me. I appologise for stating that post, I didn't mean it to be a proponent of thievery, and I am very sorry SS_Panzerleader for causing you this grief. I really didn't think people would take that rant so seriously.

Sorry, this post is getting too hot for me! [This message has been edited by Major Tom (edited 01-21-2000).]

"I don't know, Chruch told me that stealing is a crime" "Do you think that sealing a loaf of bread to feed your starving family is a crime?" "Well, no" "What if you have a large starving family, and you need to steal a lot of bread, is this a crime?" "Hell, no" "What if your family doesn't like bread, say they like cigarettes, is this a crime?" "Well, when you put it that way I guess not" I have to say, if I somehow stumbled upon the Beta Version, let alone the FULL VERSION OF CM right this moment I would not download it, even if I did still buy it from BTS. I would report those bastards the first chance I get. It is all morality. [This message has been edited by Major Tom (edited 01-20-2000).]

When my Italian mother married my father, my grandmother wasn't too happy, him being a non-Catholic Welshman. Of course, she did say at least he isn't a German. I think that this Anti-Germanic feeling has been with Italy since Austira occupied much of the north east after the Napoleonic wars. So, this bitterness stems much before WWII.

Well, I have a more interesting relation between my Grandparents. Although my father's father didn't see combat, he was an aircraft engineer for the RCAF. My mother's father served in the Italian Army. Ok, stop laughing. He served in Ethiopia from 1940-1941. He died in 1980 so I was too young to talk to him about this, but, from what my mother has told me he was deeply scarred by this conflict. The Commonwealth assault on Ethiopia isn't mentioned much in the history books, but, it was very bloody, for both sides. The Italians showed an uncharacteristicaly strong resistance if you are a believer in the inability of Italy to fight a war. He was in a POW camp until 1947, he just married my grandmother right before he was shipped out to Ethiopia. The first 8 years of their marriage was spent apart. My Grandmother told me of the horrors of hearing news about the new and casualties on the Eastern Front. Virtually the entire Italian 8th Army was destroyed. Many of her friends and family members were in that army. She also has stories about the First World War when she was a child. A German regimental HQ was stationed in their family house. A lot of people base their assuption that the Italian army didn't have a good showing because of it's soldiers. On average the Italian soldier was as good as his opponents. Bad relations between the Officer class and the Regular soldier caused a lot of the problems. The same goes with equipment. Only Northern Italy was sufficiently Industrialized by the 1940's. There were about 60 Italian divisions by 1941, however, they only had enough equipment for 17 Divisions. Many of the weaponry was left over from the First World War. However, the Italians had some quite good modern weapons. Many of their aircraft were state of the art and used by the Germans after 1943. Their navy, horribly led and insufficiently supported by the airforce was very modern. By 1943 the Italian Industry was just coming into its own, and they were designing AFV's which compared very well to Allied contemporaries. The Italians also developed a good 4 engined bomber. [This message has been edited by Major Tom (edited 01-20-2000).]

The only thing I am high on is Love for my Son and Daughters. Yes, a little LSD is all I need.

"That's Specious reasoning" "What do you mean?" "By following your logic I can say that this rock keeps away tigers" "Huh?" "I have this rock, and you don't see any tigers around, don't you?" "I would like to buy your rock!"

. [This message has been edited by Major Tom (edited 01-21-2000).]

Here's a freakish example of an unsuspecting AA gun. You might think it wierd and impossible for a vehicle such as the Tiger having a weapon with AA capability or firing AA rounds (even though it doesn't). The Japanese Battleship class Yamato had the capability to fire its 18" guns as AA defense. It wasn't too good in shooting down anything, but, the FlaK bursts must have been a sight!

Alone, in a darkened room, The count. The movie "The Hunger" starts off with this song being played in some dank club. This movie also starred Catherine Deneuve and David Bowie. Wickedly wierd. [This message has been edited by Major Tom (edited 01-19-2000).]

Bela Lugosi Dead? I thought he was Undead, Undead, Undead. No, wait, it was only a flesh wound.

Sorry, meant to type P-51, for some reason P-50 seemed logical? The A6M2 Zero was in service from about 1940 (in very limited numbers, there were still some A5M's in service by 1941). The A6M5 (1943?) and later A6M8 (1944-45?) were slight modifications of the orignial. More armour, different guns, better engine, etc. However, the Hurricane I was delivered in 1937 as a production model (No. 111 Sqn?) and the basic frame was in service until 1944-45. The P-38 is indeed one of those underated planes, especially in the West front. They did a damn good job in both area's of combat. They were probably a much better plane to use against ground units than P-51's. They had the longest range before the large scale use of droptanks. Plus, if you lose one engine, who cares, you still have one more!

I think that counter battery fire is Operational rather than Tactical. Of course there is such a tactical version. If you happen to know there is a mortor/gun in an area you can use your artillery/mortor to bomb the heck out of it. So, I a way there is counter battery fire, just not large scale.

I think there is. Just check in the hotkeys area during gameplay when you have no unit selected.

An interesting thing about CM buildings. As I am driving through some old towns to and from school I am starting to notice the old buildings in CM style. Looking at a structure built in the 19th Century and thinking that it would be a good picture to use for CM. Then I started thinking about how to defend such a structure. Then I got my gun...

The Maximum map size will be 5 x 3 Km. They say you can have unlimited number of troops, but, will tend to get a little crowded! 1) I don't think that there will be pre-battle-bombardment, of course you can simulate this by having your troops hold off for a turn or so and get your FO's to fire in lots of heavy shells on your enemy, then you can advance. 2) Beats me? 3) It will be difficult to simulate this. I assume what you are going after is to have FO's target another FO's off map arty? It wouldn't be fair, to have a FO who for some apparently unknown reason has lost all of his artillery. The best counter battery attack you can do is to kill the FO's.

What I am after is what you suggested. However, it might not be WHAT you suggested is what I am after... Actually, from what I know, the Hurricane IIc was the longest serving model. Some might doubt this, but, it served from the end of the Battle of Britain (1940) until at least 1944. In Burma there were still many front line Hurricane IIc squadrons by 1944, possibly until 1945. Sorry if I made it sound like it had to be solely on the Western Front. This thing was armed with 4 20mm Cannon, frightfully better than 8 .303mm guns! What was the timespan of the operational service of the BF109E? Anyone have any other suggestions? [This message has been edited by Major Tom (edited 01-19-2000).]

Hey, Von Shrad, pick up some Skittlebru while you are there!

Kool info mch. I would guess in 1944 for Allied Ground support Plains. US P-47 Thunderbolt, P-38 Lighting (limited use), P-50 Mustang UK Typhoon, And another plane I can't remember the name of (both this and the Typhoon were direct descendents of the Hurricane) Ordinance; 500 lb. bombs, and 5" rockets? Saw an interesting show about the Mustang. Just about every single Mustang pilot, even the great aces, was shot down, or nearly shot down on a strafing run. These planes weren't designed for strafing (not enough armour and poorer control at lower altitudes) but, they were thrown into it. Ok, here's a question. What's the longest serving, unchanged fighter or fighter/bomber version during WWII. This doesn't count a classes entire set of versions (eg. Spitfire I, II, V, IX, etc...).

I did a history paper about old "Dougout Doug". That guy thought he was the best thing since God! About that Japanese Culture thing. The Japanese actions during WWII was NOT representative of Japanese history. Education was not of the Bushido code, but, rather a militarized and contemporized version. Surrendering to an enemy wasn't traditionally an "end of the world thing". If this was true, the population of Japan would have been wiped out due to their fairly ununified and bloody history. The Japanese fully understood and participated in the Genova Convention. There is NO excuse for 17% of Allied prisoners dying with only 5% of Allied POW's dying in the war in Europe.

"Can you swing a sack of doorknobs?" "CAN I!" "Here's the sack, you supply the knobs."

Heck, I can't remember where I heard this from, possibly from this board, but. For some other game some Beta Tester released that Beta Version to the public, but, it was so unplayable compared to the full version that it was a worthless adventure. I, and everyone else, knows that the Beta of CM in nowhere compares to the release version. Only extremely cheap people, or those who would never have bought the game in the first place would get and use only this Beta version. If I somehow got a copy of the Beta I would still get the full version (of course I already preordered, but, well, um..). Unless of course BTS is worried about someone using the Beta to copy their work. I am not sure about the process of creating every game, but, I think that Beta versions are probably easier to break into and learn whats inside than a completed version. Didn't the press and Beta testers have to sign a contract? "And what is a contract? The Websters dictionary defines it as legaly binding document, which cannot be broken. WHICH CANNOT BE BROKEN! I rest my case." --- Lionel Hutz, Attorney at Law [This message has been edited by Major Tom (edited 01-19-2000).]

Yep, and there was the firebombing of Dresdon, the two nuclear bombs of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. These three places did not have large armaments production, and, were purposely previously left unscathed. This results in most refugees from other bombed out cities to go there, as, they feel it is safe since it hasn't been bombed. Then, the allies threw everything they had agaist these Civilian targets, killing hundreds of thousands of civilians. Some might say that this is just cooincidence, but, it was all part of their plan to demoralize. Every single Allied or Axis nation would have if they had the capability, or did if they were able to. Some were just better capable. In 1941 the Russians sent bomber raids over Berlin in retaliation for invasion. The Japanese bombed Civilian targets in China as early as 1937. The Italians bombed the civilian population of Malta. The Allied airforces (including many nationalities) firebombed Germany. The Americans firebombed Japan. The Germans bombed the Dutch, Norwegans, Belgians, French, British, Russian and just about everyone else they were fighting. The return on these attacks were all pathetic for what they put into the training of the crews, the cost of the aircraft and bombs, and the loss of a significant number of these. And the destruction on the ground was even more unbearable.

My knowledge of the weapon is that it is the British 6 Pounder in American use reclassified as the dimention of the barrel (or Shell?). The British tended to state the weight of the shell to denote the size of the weapon. 2 Pounder had a 2 pound shell, 25 Pounder, etc... At least this is what I think. The Americans were issued the 6 pounder, as, I don't think that they developed an Infantry Anti-Tank Gun larger than the 37mm until later in the war with their 75mm. They had to use something to fill the gap. They had Shermans and Lees already armed with the 75mm, but, for some reason didn't make an Anti-Tank Gun version of it for a while. Since they already had the 75mm, which was a larger gun than the 57mm, on tanks there was no need to arm themselves with a smaller weapon. On the contrary, British tanks armed with the 57mm were usually upgraded to 75mm. Vehicles it was put on: Cromwell, Crusader, Valentine, Churchill. The Americans recieved their first 57mm's in 1942 when they and the British landed in Algeria. And not in exremely large numbers. The Stuart was a prewar design. Take a look at it's turret, it could barely fit the 37mm it already had! The Allies also didn't take too much to have their Armoured Cars armed so that they could take on enemy tanks like the Germans. It would result in them having Scout cars fighting instead of scouting. Plus, by 1942 with the Tiger just entering service they 57mm was beginning to show the end of its life. Frankly, I thought that it was plain idiotic to issue Allied units the Stuart in 1944, let alone the Sherman [This message has been edited by Major Tom (edited 01-19-2000).]

It is impossible to justifyibly judge military commanders in such situations. If Von Paulus did surrender very early, he could have been known as another Percival. If Percival had held out in Singapore longer, he could have been regarded as a Von Paulus. These were two military commanders in EXACTLY the same situation (Churchill also forbade Percival to surrender), each made a different decision, and each were criticised for it. It is a Catch 22 situation. To say that it is the German's fault for the autrocious situation after the surrender by holding out is just the same as blaming the American's for the autrocity after Bataan. What of the defenders of Bastogne? If the 3rd Army wasn't able to relieve them in time, would their sacrifice be seen as a vain one?