Mattias

Indeed, the KV and infantry fighting in the, lightly, snow covered village looks absolutely delicious M.

Have these shots been shown before? M.

Indeed I do, I don't have everything I have read at hand and it is important that remember that one might find differing statements in different sources The date of appearance of the HL grenade I got from Wolfgang Fleischer's book "Die deutschen Sturmgeschütze 1935-1945" Page 30, but I have seen it elsewhere as well. The dates for production of the subsequent versions is given by the same source as late 41 for the "A" and then onwards. As I recall it they followed in fairly rapid succession. The production figures were taken from this site: http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Waffen/sturmgeschutze-R.htm These figures correlate quite well with what I have read elsewhere about an initial shortage of AP ammunition for the 75's forcing the Germans to use of HL rather more than they would have liked at first. Later on there was again a marked shortage of AP ammunition, the effect of which is discussed by Fleischer in another of his books, "Die deutschen Panzerjägertruppe 1935-1945. On page 124, for example, he states that HL grenades was the default choice of armour defeating ammunition for a late war Pak crew. The whole subject has been discussed before, a few times. Check out this thread for one: http://www.battlefront.com/cgi-bin/bbs/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=023655 There is a bit of static in it but there is a few good bits in it. There are more in other threads as well. M.

Damn, I blame the Bovington people for putting the show on two weeks to early Well, now that the date is set the waiting will be easy (-ier) M.

This must all, surely, have been covered before? It sounds familiar at least.. As I recall it the, brief, history of the 7,5 cm HL rounds was as follows: The 7,5 cm Panzergrantpatrone 38 (HL) was made available in June 1940. The improved versions A, B and C followed, beginning at the end of 1941 and onwards into 1943. After 1943 the production of 7,5 cm HL rounds stopped after something like 1.7 million having been produced. At this time the production of regular AP munitions for the long barrelled 7,5 cm guns had been ramped up, and the new weapon had relegating the “stumps” to a secondary role. The use of the HL rounds however did not stop as there was still L/24 guns being deployed in fair numbers as well as plenty of HL being fired by long barrelled, primarily Pak, guns. The HL rounds were fired by all types of guns capable of delivering them though they were, logically, less often used by weapons that had access to a more efficient AP projectile relying on kinetic energy. However the lack of regular AP ammunition saw them pressed into use with long barrelled weapons until the very end of the war. Hmm, and on the PzGr 39.. I have a cut away drawing of a 7,5 cm “AP” round, Panzergranatpatrone rot that is quite obviously a APCBC round containing a bursting charge. It has a short, 243 mm, shell casing so it must be intended for the L/24 gun. M.

Yes, BFC has stated that you will be able to "import" a map to a QB in CM:BB M.

I hope the sun burn didn't get you to badly Justin. I stalked the streets of London this morning terrifying people with my boiled lobster like complexion It was a great weekend from beginning to end tanks and a fabulous group of people to share the experience with! And thank you Andreas, your cheerful hospitality was the real foundation for making this a truly memorable experience I'll leave my film for development tomorrow, hoping for a few good shots of, perhaps, the matilda I "rushing" by or the Comet negotiating the sharp edge The whole forum takes on another dimension when you meet your fellow CM:ers and realize they are even more, eh, what that word, eh, ah never mind, you know what I mean, in real life Hope to be back sooner rather than later! Now, time for bed! M.

Correct, here I am. The sun is away however I'll be sending those turns soon enough, at least we are not stuck on phase 1. But Cogust seem very much away... Cheers! M.

CM:BO was released "world wide" on the net back in, what, june 2000. It was distributed from the US by way of USPS. Later online orders were delivered from a "warehouse" in Europe as well. A good thing since this spared "us" from the wrath of the customs authorities. Quite some time after the online release BTS (BFC) reached an agreement with a German distributor for retail sales of CM in Europe. This made CM appear on the shelves of game stores in numerous European countries. In any event, CM:BO was available world wide from the outset, hopefully this will not change with CM:BB. M.

Hmm.. The last time we brought it up I think there was some indications that the HL rounds were put in limited production as early as 1940 but that they were withheld from deployment in the early stages of Barbarossa. This is right off the top of my head, and it sounds a bit odd to begin with... The big game starts soon so I don't have time to check it out M.

Yes... I guess it competed outside the contest though, unless BTS, I mean BFC, has a surprise in store A very nice model but I suspect the sIG auf JgPz 38 could well have one of the highest rarity penalties of all units in the game... Looking better for every day M.

It's one of the prototypes for the "Einheits-Waffenträger" (common chassis weapon carrier) series. It was intended to be a light mobile chassis upon which heavy weapons of different types could be mounted on a revolving platform and with light armour protection. A light version (Grösse I) mounting, for example, a 7,5 cm Pak or a 12 cm mortar as well as a heavier version (Grösse II) carrying guns like the 15 cm sFH 43 or 12,8 cm K 43 was planned. M.

Schnellen Brigade West perhaps? Or is it 15. Batterie Artillerie Regimente 227? The vehicles are.. ehhh.. 10,5 cm leFH auf Geschützwagen Mk VI (e), Kenn-Nummer 736 (e) early and later model. Followed by a Beobachtungspanzer based on the same leichter Panzerkampfwagen Mk VI. M. [ June 10, 2002, 05:06 PM: Message edited by: Mattias ]

Has anyone heard from Cogust? Last time I got a turn from him was early May, at which point our game was proceeding fairly rapidly. Alas, since then, nothing... M.

Unless BTS, eh, BFC, is aiming for a lot more in model variety I'd say those two KV's are of different model. The gun mounting, for example, looks different M.

Adding some.. Hmm.. the little flag on top of the rectangle points to a recon unit, the diagonal line to cavalry (but it thought it would go from low to high instead of high to low from left to right), the circle "wheels" to motorized.. I haven't seen the combination but it looks real enough. A platoon I guess, a company would have a thick bar on the left side. Fantastic pics in any event M. [ June 06, 2002, 02:54 PM: Message edited by: Mattias ]

I have it lying around here, it is quite and experience to look back now from our heavily modded CM:BO perspectives It's a 14 Mb file, would your ISP accept it if I sent it to you? M.

Thank you TB! I'll still be kept busy by the Nordic Championship finals, so with any luck I'll be able to escape withdrawal symptoms until the big CM:BB bash takes off Good luck and much fun to everyone on the tournament! M

Accept that it does not affect your life? lol.. you people who are actively objecting, by laboring on your "lack" of urgent desire, to the need of others strike me as even more irritating than those continually demanding updates and release dates. Speak for yourselves! Or better yet, let your indifference speak for itself by remaining silent. Let the rest jump up and down in anticipation and, occasionally, utter a perhaps silly but nevertheless heartfelt plea for another bone M.

Good news Schrullenhaft, and now Moon, thanks M.