Mike W

I know this is a bit off topic, but I'm not sure where to put it. How does a tank turn? I know this sounds stupid, but I've never thought about it before. I'm sure someone knows and would indulge my question. -Thanks.

Each battle takes place in a vacuum, so it looks like the crews just do stupid things. But, from the green crew's perspective, bailing out may make sense. Bail out, hide until the battle is over, if the tank is OK -- go try and fix it, if the tank is blown up -- tell your buddies how lucky you were to get out alive. Maybe the soldiers in CMBB look to the long term even when their commanders don't.

I'm 100% in favor of the deathclock, and I think not having it really detracted from CMBO. I haven't read many personal accounts of the war in Russia, but I have read a number of accounts relating to North Africa. One feature all of the writers note is pounding an enemy tank until (1) the crew bailed out, or (2) the tank brewed up. I don't recall reading of any instances where an enemy tank was simply hit, and another target chosen. I suspect that there may have been three reasons for this. First, it takes more time to aim at a new target than to put another round into the original tank. Second, it may be hard to tell how good a hit you got (in the heat of battle, can you tell if a shell actually penetrated). Third, "dead" tanks might come back to life at inconvenient moments. So, I'm all for the deathclock. If there is consideration as to "patching" the deathclock, I hope that it is made optional, rather than eliminated.

I don't have a color printer, so I'm really just thinking out loud... Couldn't you pull the camrea up and back from your initial set up screen, print what is on your screen, and get some paper representation?

No, but I found a great book on US tactics in Europe: "Closing with the Enemy, How GIs Fought the War in Europe, 1944-1945," by Michael D. Doubler.

Yeah, I've lost units in trees or right next to vehicles, whenI knew where they were supposed to be and was looking for them.

That was a quick reply! I had just opened the game up, pulled the camera back, and tried like hell to get back her to correct this stupid post before someone caught it. Alas....

I keep reading about the Germans having a Tiger and two Stugs. When I played as the German, I had a Tiger and one Stug. Did my other Stug break down or get lost along the way? More importantly, is the OB variable, or is this a bug? Also, will I ever get a flamethrower in the final game? Yeah, I know they aren't that common, but they are a lot of fun.

The first time I played the demo, I played as the US attacker in Reisberg. I was spending most of my time figuring things out and learning the system (not to mention saying "wow" a lot). I swear though, the German AT guns were not 88s. I want to say that they were... 75s? (Did the Germans have a 75? I thought 75s were French.) The graphic looked like a smaller AT with a front plate. Later, when I played from the German side, I had 88s. Definately a different graphic and different gun. Did I imagine this or is the OB different depending on which side you play?

I had a round set a fire the other night. Will fire spread? Also, the graphic shows smoke drifting straight up, but in reality it sometimes drifts along the ground before dispersing. Is this simulated?

First game: US Reisberg. Won the old fashoned way; used three Shermans to concentrate fire house by house. Took out heavy machine gun on roof by destroying the building.

Do the German machine guns sound right? I've heard a German machine gun compared to ripping fabric. I like to run the replay sometimes just to listen to the sounds. Problem is, I don't know how accurate most of them are.