RobH

JJ Sent you an email. Let me know if it works. Rob Edit: JJ, your ISP is refusing my email. Email me! [ May 21, 2002, 12:59 PM: Message edited by: Robert Hall ]

Pacestick - thanks for pointing out about the Ostwind and the Wirblewind. You are correct they should have been in the "Excluded" section and were discussed when the tables were finalised. I think I must have picked up the wrong version of the tables when I was including them in the final html document. Anyway, the last page "Detailed Balanced Force Rules" has now been corrected on the Rugged Defense site to remove these FlaK vehicles from the "Included" list. Rob

Thanks Randl. The Recon Rule table of allowed vehicles has now been corrected to reflect the inclusion of the H-39 Hotchkiss. I think the limited availability of the Hotchkiss resulted in us overlooking it . Rob

Many CM players use Fionn Kelly's 'Short-75' and 'Panther-76' Rules to play Combat Mission PBEMs. A number of Tournaments are also run either to these exact Rules or based around Fionn's Rules. Two of these Tournaments are currently the subject of AARs being posted at Rugged Defense Combat Mission Tournament website. Fionn's Rules have seen 2 versions published so far. The original version and then an update shortly after CM v1.12 came out to account for the changes made to Combat Mission with that release. Although these Rules have worked effectively for a considerable time, a number of areas needed to be tightened up and certain aspects of the Rules needed clarification to avoid confusion. The result of these changes is a new set of 'Rules' from Fionn Kelly entitled Combat Mission 'Balanced Force Rules'. To quote Fionn, "I decided that rather than simply updating them again slightly, I would change the entire ethos behind my 'Armour Rules' and create a new Rule-set which would address the current needs of the CM community in recognition of the fact that needs today are very different from when the original 'Armour Rules' were created." To read the new Combat Mission 'Balanced Force Rules', just proceed to the embedded link. I am sure there will be a lot of discussion regarding these new 'Balanced Force Rules' and some people will simply not like certain aspects of them. This is entirely to be expected amongst a community as large as the Combat Mission Community. Also, please remember the 'Rules' are optional, not mandatory. If you do not like them, simply do not use them. Nobody is forcing you to play by them. The aim of the 'Balanced Force Rules' is solely to try to create a series of more balanced overall sets of forces for CM players to play by. Now, I have one very simple request BEFORE you post anything to this thread. Please READ the entire set of 5 pages covering the Combat Mission 'Balanced Force Rules'. Some of those pages are to give a background and commentary as to how and why the 'Rules' have evolved the way they have. It is very important to understand the background and the reasons for the new 'Balanced Force Rules' since they provide a valuable insight into their development. Having read the new 'Balanced Force Rules', all constructive comments are welcome on this thread for discussion. Just please make your comments constructive and you will receive a response. Finally, I would like to reiterate the comments from version 2 of the 'Rules' which are retained with slight amendments at the end of the 'Balanced Force Rules': "Despite the above so-called 'Rules' and limitations listed here, it is still up to PBEM opponents to choose whatever type of Combat Mission battle they wish to play and the rules by which they wish to play them. These guidelines can be either helpful or just plain irritating depending on your point of view. No one, least of all Fionn, is forcing you to use these 'Rules'. If you do not like these 'Rules', simply do not use them." Having said that, I think there will be a very large number of CM players who will wish to play balanced CM battles using these new 'Balanced Force Rules' and will get one hell of a lot of fun and enjoyment from doing do. Rob

Couple of comments regarding questions and points raised earlier by Walker: 1. The "b" half squad always joins the "a" half squad's location so if you wish your joined squads to always be in a say foxhole, make sure the "a" half squad is placed in the foxhole and bring the "b" half squad up close and personal to it. 2. The Rules for this Round of the Tournaments prohibited plain AT mines and Roadblocks but it allowed Daisy Chain mines and AP mines. Rob

TSword - I deliberately designed the map as I say on the RD Tournament web site to be extremely difficult for the attacker to win, especially given the 30 turns allowed. Indeed I did not really expect any attacker wins at all. It turned out in 12 battles there were 3 Attacker wins so 3 players, or 25% of Attackers, proved me wrong . It takes a very good player to win as Attacker on that map in the turns allowed and that is what the Tournaments are looking for. Two of those Attacker wins you will read about over the next few weeks in AARs. Needless to say all those players who won as attacker are currently playing in the Finals. Since all players were playing the battle back to back, they each had the opportunity to defend and attack on this map and the aggregate score determined the players who went through to the final Round of the Tournaments. Rob

pilgrim - The best way with sharpshooters is to leave then unhidden, do not give them any targets and allow them to select their own. They will go for tank commanders usually as the highest priority as soon as they are in range and in LOS. They will also go for guns and mortars with a fairly high degree of priority. If you do not wish sharpshooters to fire, and there are often times when you do not wish them to fire or to give themselves away especially if infantry are near, then hide them and they will only open up if a tank comes very close within about 100m of them or less. Every time a sharpshooter fires, there is a chance of him being spotted or the enemy being given a sound contact. Obviously the further away the sharpshooter is and especially the higher experience he has, the less likely he is to be spotted. Infantry are the best units at spotting sharpshooters, so it is best not to let the sharpshooter fire when infantry are close or he will definitely not be around much longer! Rob

You view the movie files as if you were playing the game pbem. Place the unzipped files in a directory somewhere, maybe labelled "AARs" under the CM main directory. Start CM and click "Join Multi-Player", then "Load Email", navigate to the directory where you have placed the files and load up the first movie file. Instructions and passwords are on the RD AAR page and are also contained in the password.txt file to create the second movie from each turn. Rob

A river crossing of any sort is always difficult. Smoke can help you sometimes but not always. There are three viable routes into town. Up the road and surrounding terrain on the right flank, round the right hand edge of the lake and across the fords to the left of the lake - all from the attacker's perspective. Obviously infantry are the only unit type which can go over the fords. I think you will find most of the attackers either go up the right flank or across the fords or a mixture of the two, but the right flank approach has many places for good defender ambushing locations as you will see in other AARs to be published over the coming weeks! Rob

Rugged Defense is currently running 2 CM Tournaments. One is based around Fionn Kelly's Short-75 Rules, the other around his Panther-76 Rules with certain exceptions and restrictions being made to the base Rules. Both Tournaments started off with 48 players in each, players deciding which of the two Tournaments they would enter. The Tournaments are mirrored Attack/Defend battles played on a pre-designed map with each Round involving a different map with different challenges. Although playing both battles in each Round on similar maps, each player had the opportunity to choose their own forces to suit the particular map in question. You can read all about the Tournaments and the Tournament Rules from the Rugged Defense Combat Mission Tournament website. Indeed, all the maps used are still available for download on the RD Tournament website if anybody wishes to play them. Currently the Final Round 5 of both Tournaments has just begun. I asked the 6 guys playing in Round 4 of the Panther-76 Tournament if they would kindly write AARs for their battles in order to provide a learning exercise for us on how to conduct effective CM attack and defensive techniques. In addition, there will also be one AAR from Round 4 of the Short-75 Tournament. Allies Defensive Perspective German Attack Perspective and Plan View Click to enlarge images Round 4 of the RDCM Short-75 and Panther-76 Tournaments was a 3,750 point German Attack on a Lakeside Resort Town occupied by the Allies at 2,500 points. Just one little problem. It is December and although the lake is not yet frozen, it is not a very pleasant morning. Foggy and damp ground conditions with not too many leaves left on the trees to give the attackers much cover. Fog has been turned off for clarity in the above images. The large lake in front of the town surrounded by hills considerably restricts the options open to the German Attacker. The only way through with vehicles of any sort is up the attacker's right flank where a road also leads into town. A few fords on the attacker's left flank provide possible additional access to the town for infantry forces. The hills surrounding the lake provide many vantage points for the German Attacker to bombard the town with whatever long range fire-power he may possess. However, with damp ground conditions, the German player needs to be very careful about bogging with any vehicles he possesses. If the German Attacker can take the town, he also needs to try and secure the victory locations behind the town to be certain of a good victory. You now have the opportunity to start reading the players' AARs and to download and watch the movies to see and learn how the "experts" do it. AARs will be posted at approximately weekly to fortnightly intervals covering the 7 battles involved. Remember, everybody is playing on the same map but chooses their own forces according to the Tournament Rules. The AARs address the following questions: 1. The rationale behind the force selections ie why did you pick the forces you did? 2. What were your initial plans for your attack and your defence? 3. What happened in practice and how were your plans modified as the game progressed? 4. Why you think you won or you lost? The first AAR to be published is Barleyman vs Buckeye and the movies are available to download and watch too. This is a very interesting battle and there are a number of specific tips and techniques used by both players that will benefit many CM players. Go to the Rugged Defense Tournament AAR website and enjoy! Many of the players in these Tournaments are active on this board. If you post to this thread any questions in connection with the AAR, I am sure the players will respond. Alternatively, this thread may be a useful focus to discuss certain tactical points or issues for the benefit of all CM players that come out of the AARs . Needless to say, all 4 players in the Final Round 5 of these Rugged Defense Tournaments have also been asked to provide similar AARs for their battles. Robert [ May 26, 2002, 04:26 AM: Message edited by: Robert Hall ]

When units dismount from a vehicle of any type, there can be a delay of varying length before that vehicle is able to move off again ie it allows time for the units to dismount and sort themselves out! If this delay is more than the normal delay for the vehicle in question - in your case 13 seconds - the delay is not cumulative but defaults to the longest. Not sure about the answer to your other question.

Note there was an update to Ham and Jam from the initial version on the Release 1 CDs of CM.

Mike - Flag being emailed to you. Let me know if it is any good.

Fionn's "Official" Rules, as sanctioned by Fionn Kelly, are posted only at one location, that is on the Rugged Defense site here. Other sites either refer to this Rules location or have had Fionn's express permission to copy and post them on their respective sites. Fionn is naturally very keen that there should only be ONE version of his Rules to avoid confusion but it is also true to say these Rules have been under consideration for an update and clarification for some time, including arty limitations. By default, Fionn's Rules DO NOT include ANY arty limits. However arty limits are SUGGESTED by Fionn in order for some sort of consistency with armour limitations. Thus arty limits are really up to the two players to agree before selecting forces or whatever ladder/tournament limitations may apply if playing in a tourney. Thus if you feel you want to exclude VT arty or include British 4.2" arty, then that is really up to the individual players to agree before selecting forces. This topic has pointed out the need to update Fionn's Rules and I will endeavour to try and arrange this through the man himself. However, other commitments may mean this could take a little time. In the meantime, I suggest players agree between themselves what they wish to include by way of arty limitations within individual games. Rob

Check out the map "Klein Maastricht" on Der Kessel and you will realise there is no limit to the number of buildings you can display. The only reason I know of for their disappearance is, as others have said, you are changing levels on the map either under or around the buiding. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't!

Murray, in producing the "updated" Fionn Kelly 'Recon', 'Short-75' and 'Panther-76' Rules for Rugged Defense recently, I was in communication with Fionn about the question of the Hetzer. Fionn stated to me: "Well, at one stage I was thinking about having it in. Then I decided, no, it shouldn;t go in... Kind of like how the Tiger wasn't in but now is except in reverse." The reference to the Tiger in the above quote is obviously in connection with the 'Panther-76' Rules which now allow the Tiger. So no, the Hetzer is NOT included in Fionn's Official Short-75 Rules. Of course, there is no reason why you should not include it in a game if you wish by mutual agreement with your opponent, but Fionn does not accept it under his Short-75 Rules. Robert