Mark IV

Grenade? Is the unit credited with the kill?

Hmmm... I waited a conservatively-estimated 32 weekends for the game itself. And I'm new here. There are people here who waited at least twice that for the demo- they were here before there was pichers... This isn't an "old-timer v. newbie" post (can't be, I'm new), just some perspective. The patch isn't like "due" or even required. How many people have actually encountered a bug that wrecked a game? Or a "bug" in the true sense of the word, at all? It's too bad they even call it a "patch". I know there are some bugs somewhere, but they just haven't been much of a factor in my CM life (I'm quite able to wreck my own forces). It's tremendous that BTS feels enough involvement to keep coding even better stuff. Their history is that when they finally release something, it's good. Damn good.

GREAT post- thanks. Long time since I read that and it's a treat here at work- great mind picture. [This message has been edited by Mark IV (edited 07-20-2000).]

My GF was looking for a new job. She's not that great at internet searches, so I helped her. I looked day and night. I scoured the net for that job. I was constantly searching. The best jobs are posted at night, you know, after she goes to sleep. Better check- gotta get 'em before those college punks in the morning! Thank god for the Escape key.

http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Quarters/8662/panzerl.htm

Never played CC. You were certainly having a bad day at Reisberg- I bounced a few myself, but the 88s generally got the job done, at least before the arty came down, or the other Shermies got the bead on me. Now Chance Encounter... I hope I never see that little church again. Or that woods. Though it was fun while it lasted. Last Defense was always my favorite.

Sure is. And vulnerable once spotted, like it was in WWII. But they're nice to have around.

There would be issues with the overall weight of the Tigers and other heavies and super-heavies, since there were bridges and culverts they couldn't cross. They were too wide for many village streets. And their fuel consumption was outrageous- no mean factor in the Germans' late war conditions.

The only acceptable music for CM is the Panzer Lied (Wacht am Rhein isn't bad, but I'm taking a stand here). "Dann ist unser Panzer Ein ehernes Grab." I get to sing that line a lot. Otherwise the sounds of battle are my symphony- the MG42, my violin.

Paullus: I don't know the ins and outs, but bogged vehicles can definitely free themselves. If I recall correctly (and a Search will reveal much discussion on this) there is a chance they will free themselves within a turn or two- after that they generally stay stuck. I have had them free themselves, and I dearly hope one I have in that condition right now does so very quickly.

This really was a nice thread. I never posted a thanks, but the Glenmorangie was great. Scapa I could've done without but I was warned. I am still eager to stumble over a bar with some Mortlach.

Sometimes, when I put my truck in reverse, there is a faint clank in the tranny... I want to look to the right to see whose armor got hit. My cordless phone at the office is an MP40. There is a perfect hull-down at the top of my exit ramp with a nice FOV.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by kunzler: and no, he didn't use his helmet.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Definitely a bad plan with a German helmet. They didn't have the Ami-style separate steel pot with a million-and-one uses. Leather liner was riveted right in there on the German one, and you would have the magic memory to cherish for the rest of the time you owned the helmet.

Once you had that arc... ...you could have a Recon by Fire command (I prefer a "Lay Waste" command): "Put one round of HE through every floor of every building in this arc, unless a person or vehicle appears, then put one through him too, or if multiples appear, go into threat assessment and kill the biggest threat first." Come to think of it I could give the whole damn army this command and just sit there drinking til Taps played...

No, they don't, and there are some good reasons not to, for a smaller company. Am Ex charges higher fees to the vendor for their services, and this comes straight out of the bottom line for BTS and thus CM2. Besides, EVERYBODY has a Visa these days!!

ScottK: Perhaps I missed the mark. I was satirizing the fear that CM would somehow be distracted into a 1st person shooter, by providing a few simple props for Level 1-only play. I liked your concept and I am fine with it even if BTS never lifts a finger to support it. I thought it might make a cool PBEM option, but I would be just as happy with a shiny pebble. Please disregard. The idea got a little ahead of itself.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by GI Tom: Well, in light of all the so called "negative" posts, I am going to put up a good one regarding CM.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> GI Tom: Your post is appreciated and well-taken. I'm sure you've seen a hundred takes on the lamp/bottle*-with-a-genie-in-it, that grants you 3 wishes. Has anyone not yelled at the screen, "NO, you idiot, ask for a 4th wish!"? Or, "unlimited follow-up wishes"? Well, of course they have. And so it is with BTS and CM. We have the wargame of our dreams, and a developer who listens to us. The genie is out of the bottle and it's only natural that folks will try to get one more wish granted, while these Golden Days of Wargaming still shine. There's just an awful lot of folks and wishes. But someday, thought-typing from your rocker at the home, you'll wheeze: "I remember when Combat Mission first came out, and changed the way we did things!" or some such. And you won't remember all those "negative" posts, but a community which strove as a single entity to be the best wargaming forum it could be, under the tutelage and inspiration of proud, tall men, who asked "why not?" and cast their sails broadly before a strange new wind... ...so I hope you don't see ALL the kvetching as purely negative. We are the people who crawled out from under the flat, fetid rocks of "niche" products, and have suddenly inhaled the salt breeze of Truth, Freedom, and Hope. We have glimpsed the dawn and we crave the light! We are crawling ashore and evolving in the golden sun of this Brave New World! So forgive a false step of the newly-footed fin, these gasping gills in arid heights. Let every man proclaim "I was there- when Combat Mission waded ashore!" We mean well. CM Borg: I trust you're not implying... anything. There's an odor of a certain lunch meat here lately. *Bottle offer subject to 10 cent deposit in Michigan.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by fd ski: Just played All or nothing scenario as Brits.. what a blast... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> CM is the coolest game in the world. Could I very politely request that you put SPOILER at the start of scenario-specific information about a certain side's forces in the future? Then put several blank spaces x x x x x ... before starting what you want to say? The reason is that many people are saving scenarios for double-blind play and don't want to know ANYTHING about what the opposing forces might have. There is even a separate forum for discussion of scenario-specific info, though sometimes you need examples to illustrate a point here. Thanks- lots of guys would appreciate this. We prefer to seek our glory or our doom in the grey mists of the unknown.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by dumbo: I designed a scenario specifically designed to play in that mode. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> That sounds cool and I'll try it. I don't see the harm in asking (not demanding!) where CM can go from here. There is probably more here already than I can fully take advantage of (with all the new scenarios, the QBs, etc.) for the rest of summer and beyond. No one who's been here any length of time is looking for a first-person shooter, but time marches on and it's fun to kick around ideas. Software development in general, and CM in particular, are not democratic exercises, and if BTS thinks we're full of egesta, they'll either say so or just ignore this thread. Fine with me. It was just fun to wrap my tiny brain around for a minute or two. But if they're interested, the modeling of the trigger pull on my K98 is too light for factory standards, and the failure to factor the entrenching tool as a portion of the squad's defensive capability is UNFORGIVABLE. Spoils everything for me.

The reason your troops exposure rises after prolonged stays in the rain is because they are swelling up. Pat your squads dry or squeeze them occasionally. This will reduce their profile. Commonwealth troops tend to remain drier under all conditions.

What "cost to other aspects of the game" do you perceive in the above?

Mixing AP and tracer in with ball was indeed SOP for M1919 belts. GIs with Garands also had access to AP that could be kept for just such occasions. Rifle grenades should have been visible in the playback... We don't know the what the range was from the infantry to the HTs- Jeff? and the facing? Oooh, if from the side, that HT should have had its insurance premiums doubled.

I haven't tried this, but it sounds like it has merit. A QB option that would lock both players' POVs for PBEM would be cool, too. But I think it would wait until the oft-requested continuous movie feature can be implemented- then, at least, you could get your full money's worth out of the graphics by watching the whole shootin' match in views 3 and 4, once the game was over.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Joe Shaw:

Interesting. I found this spec (from TM 43-0001-27 "Army Ammunition Data Sheets Small Caliber Ammuntion"): "Cartridge, Caliber .30, Armor Piercing, M2 Use: M37, M1919A4 and M1919A6 Machine Guns Rifle, Caliber .30, M1 (Garand) "Description: Armor Piercing. Cartridge is identified by a black bullet tip. "Function: Penetration, fired at 7/8 inch thick homogenous armor plate at 100 yards, will not be less than .42 inch." I think most of the German HTs are shown as having 8-15mm armor. The thick front, then, is about .6" thick. Not sure what this proves, and of course most of the flying ordnance was ball, not AP, but still it's close enough to make any HT crew cautious.