Michael Emrys

*Warning: Flesh-eating bacteria have been reported in this site by the EPA.* Michael

You kind of have that part turned around. The game was designed by Big Time Software, which is what Charles and Steve were calling their company before Battlefront started up. And it was distributed by Avalon Hill. Sorry that I cannot help you with your other problem. Michhael

Yeah, water towers are definitely a must. And railroad stations. And maybe even airfields, even if they are just grass landing grounds with a hangar or two. Michael

Too late. Heh, heh. Michael

During the first couple of months of the Normandy Campaign tactical air was mostly of two varieties. Either it was sent out on a preplanned strike on a previously spotted target, or was a free-roving armed reconnaissance along roads and other places where they might reasonably expect to find the enemy. During those months, cooperation with ground troops was not all that great. But by the time of the Cobra breakout, techniques had improved and ground controllers who were themselves fighter pilots were placed with the leading ground units and equipped with radios that allowed them to speak directly to the planes in the air. This greatly reduced the response time and increased the accuracy of the strikes. Michael

Enough about fords, what about fjords? When do we get those? Huh? Huh? Michael

We don't talk about that kind of thing here. Michael

You'll never know. Michael

Serves it bloody well right too. :mad: Michael

True, the armor was very thin; however, bullets and cannon shells from strafing aircraft would tend to strike it at such a shallow angle that penetration would be far from assured. From my own readings, most penetrations were scored against the rear armor, which also tended to be thin, if not so thin as the top. But that was more than compensated by the projectiles striking more nearly square on. Michael

I suppose if you believed that the US is really, really evil, and that their enemies are really, really virtuous and good, it could be seen as an idealistic gesture. But to believe all those things would require having your head in a very odd place indeed. Michael

Nap of the earth with a vengeance. Seems like they'd be higher (5,000' ?) in order to be out of range of light flak. They'd need altitude if they are going to make a diving attack, say 15,000' or so. Michael

Just thought I'd report on something I observed last night. I had an ongoing strike from a 155mm battery and my troops were over 250m out but moving in that direction, when during the turn a couple of my men fell over seriously wounded. These were from airbursts and all were somewhat in excess of 220m, moving in open terrain. Be forewarned. Michael

Historically, the vast majority of meeting engagements in Normandy would have been squad sized patrols accidentally bumping into each other in no-man's-land, so Tarquelne's last paragraph above comes pretty close. But again, I don't think the two sides should have the same objective most of the time, unless it was some point from which good observation of both sides territory could be realized. Michael

Interesting analysis, Vanir. Thanks for giving us the lowdown. I do think that some of my objections as stated above do stand however, but I wouldn't state my case so strongly. Michael

Meeting engagements as fought in CM are ahistorical in several ways. The point of including them is not to try to recreate history so much as to present the players with the most chess-like game possible within the system. If you want to make the game more historical, you might try giving them different geographical objectives on each other's side of the map. Michael

When Steve disappears from the Forum for an extended period, it usually means that he is hard at work on the next title(s). Alternatively, he may be on a long drunk. Michael

Well that's worth knowing at any rate. I can stop making a special effort to have my troops end their movement in shadow. Michael

This does not sound good. Michael

One elite/+2 FO team protected by one elite/fanatic/+2 infantry platoon and a full regiment of artillery against anything on foot. If that's not enough, throw in a dozen or so TRPs. Michael

And I thought I was slow... My whole-hearted commiseration, sir. Michael

Of course I'm up, you dolt. The fact that you are just now noticing it is yet more proof of how dulled your senses are. And BTW, you neglected to bold my name. Sloppy there, jones, sloppy. Michael

I'm not sure that 'ridiculously' is quite the fair word. I purchased some for my current QB just to see what all the fuss is about, and what I found is that they tend to scatter their strikes over a considerable area. Unless one lucky rocket happens to find a target, about all they do is make the enemy duck for a turn. In addition, because their pattern is so large and random, it is dangerous to use them within 500 meters of your own troops, so they are just about useless for on call support. That said, having them lay down a preplanned prep fire on an area where German troops are suspected but not positively identified, and using their entire stock of rockets in one go is just ducky. Michael

Especially if it's the bazooka and/or its rounds you are after. Michael

Mentioning shadow reminds me of a question that has been plaguing me: everything else being equal, does anybody know off-hand whether troops in the shade are less likely to be spotted? Seems like they should, but I don't know if the game takes that into account. Michael