Rhet

Historically speaking, recon vehicles were not equiped with special equipment to aid them in spotting the enemy. They were however fitted with more powerful wireless systems so that they could transfer the info they gathered to the commanders from further away and with less interferance. The reason a vehicle was chosen for recon duties in WWII was based on it's cross country ability vs the expense to produce it. If Recon units are able to more effectivly spot the enemy in CM it will likely be because of unit training and implementation rather than any specific atributes of the vehicles themselves. ------------------ Rhet Steve you must have posted just as I started typing. [This message has been edited by Rhet (edited 06-03-99).]

and is there a way for the computer to determine if replacement troops and/or reinforcements are warrented or not? Lets take Caan for example. Say the Axis player is very skilled and the Allied player is not so good. The Germans are holding Caan and the Brits are taking horrendus casulties. Can the computer determine (with aids previously determined by the scenario designer) which units only need replacements versus units that need additional support to take an objective? After all, the OKW would never send reinforcements to an area that is holding well and taking relatively light casulties. For that matter Monty would have poured everything he had (and almost did ) into taking such a vital position. ------------------ Rhet [This message has been edited by Rhet (edited 06-01-99).]

Yeah, especially in the "Guards Counter Attack" scenario imagine how unnerving it would be to look at the building across the street and see 3 full platoons of Russians pointing ppsh-41's at you. ------------------ Rhet

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>This Canadian wants to know what 'Memorial' day is?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Tom, Memorial Day (sometimes called Decoration Day ) is the day that we Americans remember our servicemen that gave there lives for this country. Unfortunatly, most people in the states do not know what this day is for. Most people think it is a great excuse to go shopping or get drunk and play bumper boats on our lakes and rivers. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for having a good time on Memorial Day, I just wish more people in this country would take a little time to remember those who have made our lives (and the Worlds for that matter)possible. ------------------ Rhet [This message has been edited by Rhet (edited 05-25-99).]

Charles, the bridge they used to shoot A Bridge To Far was over the Ijssel. They used this one because the original roadway & railway bridges were rebuilt after the war. The bridge over the Ijssel more resembled the original Arnhem bridge so they shot it there instead. I agree with you in that all major bridges were blown before the allies got close (suprise situations not withstanding). So if I read you right, bridge battles (involving the possible destruction of the bridge) in CM will focus on smaller bridges. For situations such as Arnhem, is the bridge tile able to pass over terrain other than water and can units pass under it? Can LOS be traced under a bridge tile? ------------------ Rhet [This message has been edited by Rhet (edited 05-24-99).]

All of this talk about Arnhem got me thinking about one of my previous posts under the CM's Tile System thread (currently under lockdown). <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>How does a tile for a bridge work in this 3D environment? How does it affect LOS? Can bridges be placed over any terain and can units pass under the bridge? How many levels high can the bridge be set at?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> This is important for Arnhem in that the bridge in question entered the town over a city street (Ryn-Kade) and at approximately the level of a 4 story building. Also, a long, long time ago we discussed the "demo-ing" of bridge structures. I belive the response was that bridges will be able to be demoloshed from preset charges from a specific location on the map? How is this comming along? Just a few questions. ------------------ Rhet

From the Combat Mission front page: <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Fight during the day, at night, or into the early hours of the next day. It all depends on the campaign and your skills<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Does this mean that the weather can change durring a battle? If so, this is just too cool! Imagine having a battle start just prior to dawn. During the course of the battle the skies would brighten and sighting distance would increase. The attacker could use the early darkness to close with the defender and if timed correctly, have his forces in proper position when effective lighting conditions materialize (just like the real thing). Is weather going to be a random, fixed or selectable variable for battles and/or campaigns? Finally, does weather in CM effect morale? If so does it effect it on either a unit base or a global base? I ask since bad weather usually affected the "home team" a little less than the visitors (eg. Battle of the Bulge & The Russian Campaign). ------------------ Rhet

How does a tile for a bridge work in this 3D environment? How does it affect LOS? Can bridges be placed over any terain and can units pass under the bridge? How many levels high can the bridge be set at? Are we alone in the universe? To many questions, to many questions, Aahhhhhhh. ------------------ Rhet

Speaking of Pzkw IV's I am curious if you guys have shot any Bazookas, PIATs or any other shaped charge for that matter, at armored skirts and/or spaced armor to see if they work the way they are supposed to? ------------------ Rhet

Fionn, LOL, I thought we were fighting in close combat. Well, if you get to pick the terrain then I think that John and I should team up and I get to pick a new weapon. John quick hop on the top of his turret and start hacking away while I go and get my... Bummer you did not see the picture of the flamethrower it was a great pic. ------------------ Rhet

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>In WWII when airborne forces where used they relied on suprise and the ability to put a farily large force on the ground quickly.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Dan, the problem is that when scenario designers model a parra drop they do not realistically set it up. They usually include a defensive force that is too large and is already set up in their defensive positions. In areas where you would expect a Parra drop(and the Germans did account for airborne invaision in Normandy) your defensive units have to be widely dispersed to cover the enormous amount of potential landing zones. So for a parra battle such as in Normandy, The Germans should be restricted to a relitivily small set up defensive force with reinforcements arriving from one map edge or another. The Amis on the other hand should get a large force that is scattered to the winds. While CM's ability to handle parras at this stage is not perfect but is wholly adequate for the task. Basically, it will be up to the scenario designer to achieve good play balancing (with a keen eye on reality as well). Again, just another of my opinions, I could be wrong. ------------------ Rhet

Marko, I think what they are trying to get across is that the engagement level is on the order of a company. To call it a squad level game would conjure up something like Commandos. ------------------ Rhet

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>IF so, could I then order another crew (or the same one) to come back and re-enter the tank? The question is also valid for immobilized vehicles where the crew bailed out previously.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Moon, if your men did this, the vehicle in question would most likely be appropriated by the Gerries. It was pretty standard practice in WWII to permently disable a vehicle that had to abandoned. One way to permently screw up a tank was to drain the oil from the recoil dampers and fire the main gun (from a distance of course). This would shatter the gun mount and possibly dislodge the turret. The tank was pretty much useless after this. ------------------ Rhet

John & Fionn considering your choices for Close Quarters Fighting I think that I will have to go with one of these (not my favorite but very effective aginst both of your choices). [image deleted by Webmaster 'cause it was crashing folks] Just want you to feel warm and toasty all over. ------------------ Rhet [This message has been edited by Rhet (edited 05-16-99).] [Note: This message has been edited by Webmaster]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Geeze, it sorta sounds like I know what I am talking about Hehe!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Yes it sure does! I can do some pretty cool stuff with Intergraph, Geopak and other engineering software packages but, if I could only code up a tank blowing up my life would be complete. I guess I will just have to live vicariously through you guys. ------------------ Rhet

Oh great, now I have to wait approx. 15 months to cross the Don! You guys are real pros at tempting us. I know this next question is way ahead of its time but... Are new features of the future games (theaters) going to work with the original CM, Beyond Overlord (eg. when currents are incorperated can we simulate Nijmegen). I guess the best way to say this is are these new modules going to be expansions of the "gaming system" or are they going to be seperate games in them selves? ------------------ Rhet

Steve, I do not think that anyone on this board wants to delay the release date for frivilous reasons. We are flying a little blind on this side of the board in that we don't have a clear picture of the coding that remains to be done. As they say though, even a blind squirel occasionally finds a nut. We will continue to keep the suggestions comming. A quick thought, would it free up any memory and/or reduce the # of polygons if the burning wrecks burnt out after a few turns? The players would still get the initial burning effect for a few turns then, the vehicle could be replaced with a blackened or smoldering wreck with fewer polygons. The smoke could still be maintained for LOS & reality purposes. I would think that this could really help in situations where there are large numbers of vehicles used in the battle. ------------------ Rhet [This message has been edited by Rhet (edited 05-14-99).]

Patrick, this was covered awhile back but if I recall correctly, parras will start the battle already on the ground and formed up into combat effective units. Sorry, only bombs & birdsh*t will be falling out of CM's skies. ------------------ Rhet

When a vehicle is knocked out does it still retain some semblence of it's original identity? For instance does a knocked out sherman look different from a knocked out stewart? On this same note will there be more than one wreck simulated for each type of vehicle. This is really not much more than gloss but it really is a nice detail. It just kind of gnaws at you when you see five smoldering shermans on the battlefield all with the same turret tilt, drooping gun and the same smoke plume coming from each one. On to more serious matters , on the CM overview page you show an unidentified American tank in a grey color scheme (this coupled with the blockish outline makes it resemble a Tiger Asuf E). Could you change this to be a more greenish color? I ask in that the early German AFV color schemes were greyish. It would aid to nationality recognition if diferent color schemes were used for each major nationality. Example: Americans - Light Green British - Tan Germans - Grey Russians - Brown (Future) Pre June 1940 French - Blue (Future) Again this would only be for unidentified vehicular units. The actual camoflage or color scheme would appear when the unit became identified. This is really easy for me to say (as I would not be coding it) but I think its worth an ask. ------------------ Rhet

I am very pleased to hear that assault boats are being considered. They will really make battles for bridges more interesting. With this in mind will swift current rivers be simulated? ------------------ Rhet

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR> 3. Four big things that aren't finished yet: - "Strategic" level AI - 2-player networking - Vehicle models - Full set of scenarios<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Does this mean that fortifications have been completed? ------------------ Rhet [This message has been edited by Rhet (edited 05-14-99).]

(In response to Charles first post) Charles, thanks for the extremely lucid (clear & rational) explanation. Just goes to show that one can get so involved in the specifications and statistics that they loose sight of the logistical and human factors. quote: "Incidentally, the Germans were probably the first army to realize this phenomenon, and this is at least one reason why they decided to arm their troops with more automatic weapons than most armies did" There is also a personal psychological boost when you are armed with a weapon that is capable of totally suppressing the enemies fire. This simply cannot be achieved with a bolt action rifle. Thanks for the reality check, ------------------ Rhet