Rick

Sounds like recon vehicles work the way they should. I wouldn't want you to give them any false advantages. I just wanted to make sure that they would be more useful than in other games, where essentially they just get destroyed without achieving much. I also suspect that I don't use recon vehicles too well, any advice?

Basically I was wondering if recon vehicles will spot any better than other AFVs in Combat Mission? This was a major problem to Steel Panthers, in my opinion. Armored cars and Light Tanks were little more than diversionary targets.

I never heard of Chain of Command, sounds like it's worth checking out the next time I can afford to spend that much time on the Internet to download something. The info on SP4 sounds great. The wait is going to be incredible. They need to make a lot of changes before it will be better than Combat Mission sounds like it's going to be. I can't comment on the loss of PBEM, never played a game that way. Shocking isn't it?

I'm glad BTS is going with the simultaneous execution. I feel that it is much more realistic, even if it is a little harder. Nothing I hate more than moving an infantry squad, only to have the entire enemy force fire on it before your able to do anything else. This might need to be in another topic, but will recon vehicles spot better than other AFVs? That was another problem with Steel Panthers. Since, recon vehicles didn't spot any better than MBTs, I felt that purchasing them for use in a campaign did nothing more than provide your enemy with an easy target.

>>SSI most likely wanted to simplfy(sp?) the game.Remember the game came out in '95 after Pnzer General.SSI saw how many PG's were selling and said to themseleves "Hey wargames can sell big! We just need to improve the graphics and make the game easier for the average game buyer to understand!"<< That was what I was thinking. It's kind of sad though, that particular feature increases the realism a large amount for the small amount of added difficulty. But then again, I know people who think Steel Panthers is too hard to understand.

Forgive me if my reply is crazy. I just got back from a Memorial Day/Graduation Party. Looks like I need to look into 101 Airborne. I already have the entire Steel Panthers series. I have greatly enjoyed the games, but one thing I can't get over, especially now after reading about Combat Mission, is the lack of simultaneous execution. I don't understand why Gary Grigsby didn't put that in SP, it was in Kampfgruppe. As far as the question of historical knowledge, I have vastly more than the average American, but apparently quite less than you guys. I wasn't actually expecting the guys at BTS to reply until Tuesday. I thought you guys were leaving for the holiday weekend.

I saw that you guys at BTS didn't like Steel Panthers. Basically my question is this, are there any currently available games that you consider worthy of respect? I have Over the Reich, so no need to plug that one to me. I like it, but quite frankly, I'm pretty terrible at it. I write this because the wait for Combat Mission is beginning to get pretty difficult, and I want a tide me over. However, I don't have the time or money to go around trying everything available.