Mark IV
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Posts posted by Mark IV
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<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Fionn:
5 Cool Points to the first person who tells me what was "special" about the Theban Royal Guard? Hint: there were always roughly 600 of them.. For the purposes of the question we'll assume there were 600... Hint to answer is "300".<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Possibly better known as the Sacred Band, it was an elite fighting force composed exclusively of pairs of homosexual lovers; undefeated until part of the general Theban defeat at Chaeronea by Alexander.
I don't know of any other example of this in history....
Perhaps the dirt under THEIR toenails would be indistinguishable, being painted?
[This message has been edited by Mark IV (edited 05-14-2000).]
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<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Fionn:
My understanding was that after the initial clashes the Greeks pulled back from the forested regions and into more constricted but less forested terrain?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
They pulled back big time.
Thermopylae was to buy time, not stop the Persians (something like Reisberg- see this IS on topic). The navy was engaged nearby at Artemisium and fought to something of a draw; Thermopylae was chosen to make the stand because, of all the mountain passes, it allowed close communications between land and naval forces.
After Thermopylae the Persians fanned out into Thessaly and Attica, burning and pillaging, more or less unopposed. Athens itself was evacuated (the people didn't want to leave, but when the Holy Snake refused to consume its monthly honey-cake they were convinced), and the army and population withdrew to the Pelopennesus, or with the navy to Salamis.
The oracle had predicted all this, and said that Athens would be saved by a "wooden wall". Some thought this referred to the wooden palisade around the Acropolis and held out there; beseiged by the Persians they were burned and slaughtered.
It turned out that the "wooden wall" referred to the ships of the Athenian navy (with much of the refugee population on board), who shortly after destroyed the Persian fleet at Salamis and sent old Xerxes packing back to Persia. He pretended to have accomplished his mission of burning Athens, declared a victory, and left.
P.s. Thebans always were good for nothing !
This opinion seems to have been universal among Athenians and Spartans, who otherwise didn't agree on much.
[This message has been edited by Mark IV (edited 05-14-2000).]
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Hmmm...
I'm using DirectX7 and the drivers that came packaged (11/99) with the card.
I guess I'll try the January driver update (though it's 6+ meg, so it'll wait):
http://www.3dfxgamers.com/drivers/voodoo3/voodoo3_win9x_1.04.00.stm
Also, I never updated to DirectX7a; may as well (little download).
3DFX seems pretty good about posting patches and notes for particular games; if we ever figure this out it might be worth bringing to their attention.
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Backspace. Undoes one waypoint at a time.
You got a Tiger reinforcement? The rest of us got Panthers. Someone at Battalion must owe you a favor.
[This message has been edited by Mark IV (edited 05-14-2000).]
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<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Mike Zeares:
Another thing the HQ's are good for is controlling support weapons<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
...including keeping them from firing prematurely. If you issue the Hide command, some MGs and mortars will blow it by targeting and firing on their own. A local HQ seems to prevent this.
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Thermopylae was entirely forested with oak, according to Herodotus.
Weather conditions were shaded:
"One of the Trachynians [Persian army] told [Dieneces, the Spartan] that such was the number of the barbarians that when they shot forth their arrows the sun would be darkened by their multitude. Dieneces, not at all frightened by these words, but making light of the Median numbers, answered: 'Our Trachynian friend brings us excellent tidings. If the Medes darken the sun, we shall have our fight in the shade.'"
The Thebans were really there as hostages, as they were suspected by other Greeks of being friendly to the Persians.
The good fellows who refused to abandon the Spartans were the Thespians who elected to remain with them, and were also wiped out.
"Go, stranger,and to Lacedaemon tell,
That here, obeying her behests, we fell."
[This message has been edited by Mark IV (edited 05-14-2000).]
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No. Read the Manifesto and/or search. You can mail a check if you're not into net purchase, but that's the deal. No risk, high gain!
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Something that gives away the details of a new, "fresh" scenario, and which will deprive those who haven't played it from a certain side yet, information which they "shouldn't" have and don't want, if they're sportsmen.
Someone who hasn't played the Gold Demo yet might not know about the FW190 strike, for instance. If he was tipped off in advance, he'd screen with the quad .50s to protect the Pershing reinforcements. That sort of thing. Ruins it for everybody.
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Well, it kind of went through this when the beta was released.
The threads will stabilize after awhile. But a scenario thread makes some sense...
We're gonna want SPOILER in the HEADER when the game ships.
There will be a lot of newbies (y'know, the cash-paying customers who guarantee there will be many future CMs to come, but don't know the ins and outs) here. Flaming them is the worst thing we can do. They're not going to "search" until barked at... where's that FAQ?
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SPOILER alert!
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I haven't seen this mentioned yet, but the scenario briefing for the Germans says there are 3 anti-personnel minefield and 3 anti-tank minefields (plus the daisy chain).
Mo matter how hard I look I only find 1 anti-tank minefield in addition to the daisy.
Typo? Or am I missing something?
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If it makes you feel any worse, it took me until turn 25 to reach the state you're in. Destruction of the Panther was the final straw.
Now I must immediately try again...
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You're the 3rd person I know of (I'm one of the others) to report that. No other problems to report.
I just toggled the other smoke on- no biggie.
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I just surrendered (Germans, VoT) to the AI. I am shamed. I had O men OK.
The AT pillbox got one Sherman before being knocked out. The Panther got one more before taking a Gun Damage hit. And the AI, which used to obligingly send out a squad or two at a time, sent 4 Sherms and a company into town on the heels of an absolutely ridiculous barrage.
Absolutely nothing went right and it was one of those days. I can't believe it. Incredible.
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Interesting table. Questions:
How exactly is "readiness rate" defined? I assume it means fit for service ("green" operational status, in motor pool parlance)?
Wouldn't the average age of the vehicles be interesting? Since the PzIV had been in service so much longer, we could assume that at least some of the PzIVs in the table were of an older vintage (mixed with the current production). The Panthers and Tigers had to be younger as a group, with lower mileage/hours (balancing this might be the argument that Panther and Tiger were internally more complex, so that readiness was more difficult to maintain).
At any rate, the author's conclusion is puzzling, since the chart shows PzIV as more "ready" than Tiger in the East. Still, one would think that many lessons in reliability had been learned in active service, and improvements would have been made in later designs...
[This message has been edited by Mark IV (edited 05-13-2000).]
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Not me. Smarmy bastard.
If National Endowment for the Arts will fund elephant dung paintings, shouldn't Peng be given the Big Game winning ticket? His own White House intern pass? A live, bolt-matching MG42?
I ask you (smileys withheld upon request).
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Yeah, wait til the backblast from your 'zook or 'schreck sets your wooden building on fire.
Some details kind of suck.
Losing units sucks, too
.But losing them the way they really got lost- ah, that's CM
. When's the last time an AI made you go "ah, s&@*!" and pray for reinforcement? -
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Username:
...the PZIV was no longer a main battle tank by mid 44...
The PzIV had a good gun but couldnt trade shots. Period. It was over.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
It was still winning tank battles on both fronts in 1944, as you probably know. Every weapons system's time comes and goes. Panther was looking pretty lame by 1950, but that doesn't mean it was poor.
But once 3 man turrets on two fronts and oppressive firepower like the allied airforce and artillery stood against the panzer force, PZIV was a has been.
So was the rest of the Wehrmacht.
The precious few tigerIs and slowly developing Panther force was too late. The heavy tanks were labor intensive and everyone realized the benefit of scrounging guns, engines, tracks, ammo, training, etc.
Then why argue that the MkIV should have been scrapped? When resources are scarce and time is limited, you don't just scrounge weapons, you scrounge tooling. Which is why the Germans used the PzKpfwIV carriage for so many purposes, because they were already equipped to build it.
Having a three tank army and a multitude of support armor was dumb.
Oh.
Germans blew up a hell of alot of panzers they could have fixed. Fixing tanks is hard when you are giving ground.
OK, and...? Maybe if you use smaller words?
PzIV production should have been diverted to PnzrJgIV and StuGIV. Bottom line.
It was. Production of any armored vehicle was a diversion of resources from other armored vehicles in 44-45. Pity for the Germans that Panther wasn't developed and refined earlier. But the turret wins shootouts, and assault guns are a weapon for not losing, not for winning. They corner poorly and are at a huge disadvantage in melee. The MkIV served well in its day and was eventually eclipsed, as was the Panther.
You might as well take the position that the Germans were wasting their time on anything less than Leopard, since all the other AFVs were bound to become outdated. It appears the world's biggest tank producers have still failed to eschew the turret, as assault guns hardly predominate among modern AFVs.
[This message has been edited by Mark IV (edited 05-12-2000).]
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Thanks to all who post "spoiler" in the subject!
Finally finished the Valley as Amis v. AI (Axis surrender, Allied Major Victory) and I'm very happy with this game.
The squad-to-scout conversion utility was puzzling at first. This turned out to be a 150mm IG, which a healthy 12-man squad discovered about 64m from the muzzle, as it became a somewhat demoralized 5-man scout section. Nasty bugger. I took a great screen shot- this may sound silly but one of the big improvements is the explosions and debris. In fact, the whole artillery experience is vastly improved; the sounds and effects were great.
The Panther was lovely, for the 54 seconds it participated
. One of the 105s was just cresting the big hill when it showed up, and tried to duke it out at a little over 100m- bad idea. In that short time I bounced the 105 off the turret, landed a 60mm on the roof, and pinged a 75 off the side of the turret.3 Sherms hooked right around the hill and were able to flank it while all this was happening, and it brewed nicely
. Sort of a shame, it was so pretty.This scenario certainly has done more to make me respect artillery. I played with very little smoke, though I finally had to fog the concrete pillbox. Didn't get to use the flamers but I love my Combat Engineers (medals for all).
Nice job, BTS!
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I have submitted a personal review to Epinion ( www.epinion.com ), and done some follow-up to try to get CM included there.
I guess E3 would explain some delay in getting it acknowledged. BTS might want to submit as the manufacturer (they have a link for vendors).
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I am sorry abouting shooting the hostage during the Board Riot.
It WAS for a good cause, and the victim will be interred with full military honors. The victim's name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
I am VERY pleased with the Gold but have still not finished my first go at the Valley, so I am not reading a lot of the posts. Thanks to all posting spoiler warnings!
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Sounds like you tried it???
[This message has been edited by Mark IV (edited 05-10-2000).]
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Me, too. Same card, same effect (P300).
Not complaining, mind you.
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Thinking Too Much department:
Stuck at work, cursing my job and NT, I wondered, what if you used the Gold Demo to open Riesberg or LD from the beta demo?
Will they run?
Would we have newer effects, interface features, and graphics, in the context of the old scenarios?
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Am I turning into a Grognard?
in Combat Mission Archive #2 (2000)
Posted
When Philip (Alexander's father) surveyed the bodies of the Sacred Band after the battle of Chaeronea, where they had died to the last man, he shed tears and said:
"Perish any man who suspects that these men either did or suffered anything that was base."
This is variously translated, but comes out about the same.
This implies that, even if the ancient Greeks were a little more casual about sexual preferences, there was still some social stigma attached, probably more to do with its open practice. Philip was impressed enough with their ferocity to waive the social consequences.
Thanks for sending me scurrying to the books!