Conscript Bagger

I think he meant Boys ATRs sent over by Britain. But his post does conjure up an image of a bunch of Bloods and Crips going after a T-26.

Here's a thread where you can find a link to maps of S. Russia and Ukraine. They're not quite detailed enough for a direct conversion to a CM map, but at least you can get an idea of the type of tree cover, elevations, etc. you should be using for a certain battle.

Still looking for testers? I'll give it a shot.

Thanks Atlas - coincidentally, I just read that part of "AG South" last night at Borders. Glantz's "When Titans Clashed" is shrink-wrapped, and I recently bought both of Erickson's volumes so I wasn't about to drop another twenty bucks on an unknown (though I know Glantz is well-reviewed). I see Glantz also has a "Forgotten Battles" series that might cover Voronezh, as well as Demyansk (which I've also been unable to find a lot of info about). Anybody have any of those volumes?

Thanks guys.

[C. Montgomery Burns mode] Excellent... [/CMB] :cool:

Hey Argie, if you can give me the names of some good wines from Argentina, I'll help out with that GNP thing...

Can anyone point me to sources covering the battle for Voronezh, July-August '42? (Google mostly turns up refs to the Voronezh Front's activities at Kursk, and Erickson's "Road to Stalingrad" doesn't say much either.) I'm curious about the units involved and descriptions of the fighting in the city itself, as the background blurb for the ASL "Commissar's House" scenario mentions that the German assault pioneers were "veterans of the street fighting in Voronezh" or some such.

Check the bottom of this page: http://www.battlefront.com/cgi-bin/bbs/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=024614

A spoiler warning would be nice too, since the shots appear to be of a scenario on the CD.

Small buildings and terrain elements around the outside of the factory would help disrupt LOS as well as providing some visual variety.

It's been a while since I read that, but IIRC, MacDonald served in the U.S. Army... Did the Germans or Soviets use those kind of comms at platoon level as well?

It's also nice that we get a scenario date on the selection screen - very helpful if you want to play in a certain timeframe.

I ran into an unexpected problem after installing (without a hitch on my PC that hasn't been updated since CMBO came out, BTW ) - I couldn't decide what to try first. It's very cool that just about every QB parameter can be set to random, or I'd still be sitting there! I thought I'd try defending with early-war Soviets, so I set a June '41 Axis attack at mid-day, and let the game pick just about everything else. I did use Human Purchase for the Soviets, though with random force type, so I ended up buying from the Soviet paratroop list (is it still gamey if the game made me do it?). With 700 points and no idea what the Axis were coming with, I bought (mostly regular and some green) 2xMG bunkers, 2x45mm AT, 2xparatroop platoons, an SMG platoon, 2xtank hunter teams, a Maxim, a DP LMG, a sharpshooter, and a 120mm mortar FO with 4xTRPs. The map turned out to be a small village with what looks like moderate tree cover. This is really a "During Action Report" since I saved the game on turn 13 of 20 last night, but here are a few of my initial observations: 1. It's still a bad idea to give Hide orders to bunkers. I placed them both in woods, and one was immediately spotted and KO'd by armored cars firing 20mm from several hundred meters away. They weren't in sight of the other bunker at that point, so I unhid it and the Maxim and was rewarded with the severe disruption over four or five turns of a large body of enemy infantry crossing open/soft ground. Then another AC came over and plinked the bunker. The Maxim keeps jamming, so the enemy spots it when it fires, shoots back a few times, then loses sight of it! (Will the AI try to suppress with some speculative area fire in such a case, or is it hamstrung by extreme FOW?) 2. I "drew" a covered arc (vehicle) for one of my AT guns over an area where two ACs were visible. The gun remained hidden and didn't fire the entire turn - I will have to RTFM tonight. (Yes, the gun had LOS to the ACs.) 3. The Regular 120mm mortar FO had a 6-minute initial firing delay, a 1-minute adjustment delay, and a 1-minute initial delay when firing on a TRP. In the orders phase, the game also very helpfully indicates whether your targeting line is inside the "bonus zone" of the TRP. The AI's infantry herd is coming through some scattered trees where I'd placed a TRP, and it's only because the FO is now out of ammo that I still cannot predict who will win. Some 25-30 of my battery's 40 shells looked like they fell close enough to do damage, including some treebursts. Now the AI has 7 turns to rally and overwhelm my three platoons. That's it; I'll update my post after the battle's over if this thread stays near the top tonight.

Agreed - I'm familiar with the Eastern Front only because of Panzerblitz and SL. Without them, I doubt I would've been motivated to do even the limited reading (nowhere near 80% - remember that guy? ) that I have done about the Great Patriotic War for Lebensraum. It's a fascinating part of the war, though the sheer size of the subject makes it a bit intimidating for a dilettante like me. Nevertheless, I now find myself buying books about Soviet infantry tactics and caring that the Maxim model doesn't have wheels in the game (someone please tell me this will get the "somefink" treatment in the patch). Anyway, don't let anyone tell you CMBB costs $45 or whatever. It's that plus the money you'll throw at Amazon or Nafziger (or Battlefront.com).

ezp@mail.com - we're just about done with DI (but I see you already sent the file on Friday).

I've seen a couple of comments like this today. You can tell which wives aren't familiar with CM...

What does it say? Just wondering since I never got a confirmation.

Oh, that is good news!

A sudden (and unpleasant) discovery of the enemy in Arch Enemies, and the tantalizing promise of action as I approach the flags in April's Fool. Unfortunately, I'll be away from the game all weekend, so no turns before Monday at the earliest. Smope and Craig, you should both have received turns from me in Dies Irae and Mech Bush; if you haven't, let me know. And if you guys sent me turns, please re-send 'cause I haven't gotten them.

Just a little clarification - If you select multiple units (either by bandboxing or double-clicking an HQ unit), you can issue a single move (or fast, sneak, etc.) order to the whole group. After issuing that group order, you can deselect the group (by clicking somewhere else) and then select units singly to fine-tune the order (such as moving the endpoint a little bit to get it positioned just right, or to add another waypoint, rotate, etc. at the end). If you don't use it already, you might find the "Show all paths/targets" setting helpful in the orders phase - use Shift-P to cycle through the display settings - that way you don't have to select each unit to see what its destination and/or target is. Pvt Ryan's comment is probably what you need - and it's especially noticeable when the HQ has a better experience level than the other units. [ September 20, 2002, 10:49 AM: Message edited by: Offwhite ]

I suggest we use Glantz's opening words as this forum's official motto: "One's view of historical reality is inevitably flawed."

Try moving to within 100m, and they don't seem to fire canister at troops in foxholes or craters (which I suppose makes sense). But a squad that's nearby and on the move becomes a canister target very quickly. Several times I've seen a dug-in infantry team take HE/MG fire without casualties, break, flee a few steps, and lose 3/4 of its men from a "c" shot.

I take it you've been around here long enough to know that your asbestos underwear is about to be tested.

But check out a platoon HQ in a foxhole...you can't see his base at all! Bailed out crews near their vehicles, unit in proximity to one another - all make the bases hard to see and different shaped then become irrelevant - don't they?</font>