Mark IV

Peng: Perfect General was way ahead of its time, but wasn't it great? I loaded it on an old black and white Zeos laptop and flogged its AI like a rented mule on airplanes, in motel rooms, and even during the most boring meetings. When I finally saw it in color I couldn't believe my eyes at how visually lush the experience was. Of course now I realize that the lush was me, and that it was to computer game graphics what the cave paintings at Lascaux are to Vermeer, but I liked it (had the whole Perfect Trilogy, still on my shelf). The sand color hurt my eyes and my aversion to desert wars probably stems from that. I remember Kharkhov and Saipan as 2 of my favorite scenarios.

Interesting comments. But the man is not going hunting! He clarified that he is interested in long-range target! So, with that in mind .30-06 is overkill, painful, and expensive for bench shooting. Stopping power is of zero concern (60 rounds of .30 for a grizzly? Ugly story.). I like the BOSS system and muzzle brakes in general. I believe it is available on the Browning bolt-actions as well. No way is the auto-loader gonna keep up with a tuned 700 or any other good bolt at the range. "Black" rifles (modern military "assault" type weapons) are at the top of every gun-grabbers hit list. They are expensive, accurate, fun, and a high risk investment in Canada. Argie: My host also had an FAL (you need back-up against the antelope, they'll tear a man up! ), but I opted for the traditional elegance of the classic bolt. No president was ever assassinated with a .30 cal. rifle, and only Kennedy was shot with a rifle- a WWII military Italian 6.5mm Carcano. Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley were all killed with cheap handguns; Reagan was the only one to be shot and survive, and that was with a .22 with exploding bullets.

Bolts enhance accuracy and to a lesser extent, reliability. The breech is locked into a closed position and remains so until cycled by the human, unlike recoil-operated weapons. Fewer moving parts means more accuracy. The M1903 Springfield will shoot rings around the M1 Garand, because the platform is so stable. In the gas-operated Garand, the receiver is being forced back by siphoned-off gas from the discharge while the round is still moving through the barrel. This translates into barrel (or weapon) movement, and a millimeter of movement is a miss by a bunch at sniper ranges. Garand was a fine rifle and only an on-topic example- the same would be true of any automatic weapon. Target rifles have much heavier (thicker) barrels than hunting rifles, and are often specially bedded, to reduce vibration. They also have special or modified triggers to reduce mechanical lock-time and over-travel (when the trigger continues to move past the firing point) for the same reasons. A lot of fine tuning goes into tightening your groups beyond the capabilities of a standard infantry or hunting rifle. Target shooters worry about things like whether a bolt's locking lugs are in the front or the back, and the relative humidity. The "barrel band" on WWII military rifles, which clamps the wooden stock to the barrel up near the muzzle, is anathema to target shooters, because it induces distortion in the barrel.

One of the thorniest "gamey" issues is edge-hugging: advancing up one edge of the map, which reduces your exposure to enemy fire by having one of your flanks to an unrealistic void. On many smaller maps the only alternative is what amounts to a frontal assault. How far from the map edge is gamey? Therein lies the rub... seems to have a lot to do with who has the upper hand. Playing the same folks repeatedly tells a lot. There are those who always do so, even on large maps. And there are those who cry "foul" to any advance not made squarely into their 88s. "Search" for voluminous discussion.

Listen to Fionn on this one. Gebirgsjaegers. Maybe not that common on the battlefield, but more bang for your CM buck.

Good questions and sound advice. The primary question is, what is the rifle for? The .308 (aka 7.62mm NATO) is a perfect choice for all-round North American big game hunting, or medium-high caliber target. Remington 700 is a fine choice. I killed an antelope in Argie's backyard with my host's Rem. 700 .308. Tasty bugger, too. Being a military standard, practice ammo is cheap. I like Rugers (they're a scale model of the Mauser action, with which I am very familiar) and have an M-77 in .270, which is marginally better for some things that probably don't interest you, and worse for others (more expensive ammo for sure). The M77 is also available in .308 and other calibers. The optics (the scope) on a big-bore are as important, and expensive, as the rifle itself, if you're serious about long-range. Zeiss is the best and I can't afford it. Leupold is outstanding. DON'T buy a Nikon. If you just want to spray-and-play, the Ruger Mini-14 and Mini-30 are loads of fun, but Canada might have a problem with semi-autos. Personally, I would still recommend a .22 before the big gun, because the principles are the same and the ammo is lots cheaper. The Ruger 10/22 is a perfect starter gun and you will never tire of it. Many attachments available. Old military rifles are a bargain and a blast. Decent surplus Lee-Enfield .303s are a dime-a-dozen and suitable for hunting. German Mausers were snapped up at the reasonable prices long ago, but many of the South American and Spanish versions are serviceable hunting and plinking guns for under $200 USD. Make sure it is in a commonly available caliber like 8mm. Lastly, in the unlikely event that you want the weapon for self-defense, a rifle is a very poor choice for a home-owner and worse for an apartment-dweller. A pistol is arguably worse, unless you plan to spend a lot of time at the range. THE universal weapon system is a pump 12-gauge shotgun. It works for any sport, and functions as your own personal cannon on short notice. It would be my first choice as a weapon in almost any non-military circumstance. No home should be without one. As I reflect, I realize that I would feel naked if I didn't own one of each of the above.

Filenames? I like MeYou01. First, the "MeYou" helps to separate incoming turns from other games I might have going on. I periodically move turns from \PBEM into specific folders for each battle. When You get the turn, plot or whatever and hit GO, all you then have to do is backspace once and type 2. The return file is then named MeYou02. When I'm done, I backspace once and type 3. You get MeYou03. Doesn't matter if it's a movie file or a plotted turn, the next highest number is always right. Ijit proof. It would be nice if future versions asked for the folder you'd like to store turns in, and maybe presented a sequential filename, BTW.

Originally posted by David Aitken: I think when people are asking for modifications to the game, they reckon just because something can be imagined easily, it can also be programmed easily. I just knew I would get another scolding for suggesting again. I really try to sit at my desk quietly with my hands folded like the rest of the class, but I just can't seem to do it. I don't think CM counts the number of rounds fired in any situation. Well, it does subtract them from the ammo load, one at a time, doesn't it? And it seems to count time well enough, as in the "Pause 15, 30, 45 seconds" commands. Kingfish's substantive point (that the unit quits firing when it hits his suggested target) is well-taken. I was thinking in terms of the marker being obscured by the smoke, rather than observing a specific hit. As for being smoke-specific, I was secretly lobbying for something more generally useful, which might also address ammo conservation and (ahem) excessive area fire. I know- I keep forgetting that this isn't an arcade game (my floppy drive is overflowing with quarters), and that new code isn't pasted in with yellow digital sticky notes, etc., etc. Version 1.03 is FINAL. And no talking in the hallways!!!

CM is it, now. Used to like Steel Panthers series, Great Battles series (expecially Hannibal), and Age of Rifles. And long ago, Perfect General.

Might work, but it's kind've smoke-specific. Also, the new improved smoke takes a little while before the smoke starts emanating (good), so you could still overkill the marker before the cloud forms. Other possibilities: 1) Specify the exact number of rounds to fire (that would be cool). 2) Timed fire ("shoot smoke for 15 seconds"- sounds easy, anyway).

Tank Gunner (M60A1) @ Ft. Knox, 1977 HHC 3AD, Div. G3, Drake Kaserne, Frankfurt FRG, 1977-80. We were keeping Germany free- but at one-mark-sixty to the dollar, it was anything but. I do miss Germany.

Yes, it works perfectly. You will probably need to download the latest driver from the 3dfx site. Painless and effective. Smoke's great, too. PS: I have the AGP. [This message has been edited by Mark IV (edited 08-04-2000).]

bump

Wassup widdat? Multiple tries come back with: "----- The following addresses had permanent fatal errors -----" etc., etc., then some addressing stuff, then: "<<< 552 Requested mail action aborted: exceeded storage allocation 554 >... Service unavailable" Used to work fine, please check and advise.

Hey, your wife got any sisters? Sounds like a peach!

Happens frequently, moreso in light buildings. In the wrong hands, the backblast is often deadlier than the hollow-charge projectile.

Dyenh dobre, or whatever. I not only dare but insist. Fire at will.

46 in a couple weeks

Sound advice, and real tankers must know every crewman's name at Villers-Bocage, but you might wish to put a SPOILER ALERT before such an explicit post, for others. Sorry to squawk!

"When Trumpets Fade" is the best Hollywood movie about euro-WWII that doesn't feature Private Ryan, in a long time, by a long shot. I HATE the trite and anachronistic Kelly's Heroes. And I hate MASH-the-TV-series. And Thin Red Line, too. There. I've said it (again) and I'm glad. DISCLAIMER: With all due respects, etc., etc..., no you didn't ask for my opinion, yes I'm posting to the thread with its name, yes that's how I really feel, yes it is a question of personal taste, and no I won't bite Matt. And yes, that's how I really feel, and if I wanted a life I would get one, and I have, but those are still things that I hate. And I am not an excessively hateful person and have recently been measured at a mere hate level of 23 with a recently-calibrated Pengometer. The above does not construe an endorsement of this post or of the sentiments expressed therein, by Peng, pods, nor any reasonable facsimile thereof, nor the validity of Pengometrification, which is intended only as a guideline. Have a nice day!

Evil, Vile, and utterly sadistic, carbon-based life form Well, 3 out of 4 isn't bad. I'm nicotine-based (or just de-based, for short). Looking for your setup, perhaps the weekend?

At the low end of the trouble-shooting spectrum... make sure cap lock isn't on when using the hot keys. Obviously NOT the problem if the command is missing from your menu, though.

Hilarious... I gotta get a page up one of these days. Too busy playing this damn game!

Thanks- Johnny Walker always summons the Muse.

Actually, that's how snow is. It all looks the same from a distance unless you're Inuit (politically correct for Eskimo). It is very easy to drive an AFV, jeep, or a Plymouth (don't ask) into a ditch you didn't know was there, in deep snow. You have to use level 1 a lot more, and more carefully. Also, as attacker, everything happens in slow-motion. Mess with your gamma (alt-G) a little and you'll see more. If snow was supposed to be easy they'd have it in southern California.