Joachim

Expensive? Compare them to the price of a PzIV. The Sherman has a weaker gun, but better armor. Both can kill each other. But while the PzIV has a weak 50mm turret front and can be killed frontally by almost everything the Allies have (at least in the game), the Sherman is well armored vs. anything below the 75L4x gun. So which one should be cheaper based on battlefield value? Yet both have a comparable price in the game (and I'm happy with that). a) Remember that the ratio of prices is not based on circumstances that favor the big cats - open country with dry ground. 2 Shemans vs 1 Tiger or Panther in a city, woods or on wet ground is a different thing. Combined arms is the thing. US planes are cheap. TDs are cheap. Unit price is probably not based on 1:1 comparisons. c) It is a tactical wargame. Not strategic with real production assets. Wait... 10 Shermans or T34s vs 2 German AFVs - most of them StuG or PzIII or IV. A real challenge for the Axis player. d) Do you really want to play a game where you can afford to field 10 Shermasn vs a lone Panther or 3 Marders? If yes - you can give a bonus to whichever side you want. e) If you see too many Tigers or Panthers in PBEM games - either select other opponents or set weather, time and map to random. Fog, night, wet groudn and dense terrain decrease the value of the big cats. Or use am ancient method used by Prometheus: One divides the asset into two heaps, the other chooses. For CM this means that one chooses the parameters, the other then choses which side to play. Gruß Joachim [ August 23, 2004, 01:29 AM: Message edited by: Joachim ]

"Wer lesen kann ist klar im Vorteil" (Those who can read have a distinct advantage) Still the problem of shifting setup zones and unsupplied troops during battles remains. But I'm not sure if this is solved by longer battles. The last section is not as convincing. Those who had too much ammo drowned first. And there are certain techniques in CM to avoid excessive use of ammo - like covered arcs. The ammo plt of the 352nd was on the wrong beach. From what I read long ago, they had to fire tracers when MG ammo got scarce - giving away their position to the Navy. Guess they'd do this only if they had a shortage. At least of non-tracer ammo. Dunno how much tracers they had. Gruß Joachim (Sorry, RL intervenes with thorough testing. Not sure if sorry for you or for me as it looks interesting.)

I'm a bit wooried by the huge amount of short battles. Given CMs notorious problems with the setup zones I'd advocate less but longer battles. I fear that during setup for each battle the allied commander will have the advantage of getting unpinned and unbroken troops at the location he wants them. He ain't forced to move a company lateral to the frontlines to reinfoce an attack at a weak point. He can just wait till next battle. The action at Omaha did not stop for some ceasefires. IMHO it would be better if you change it to 10 scens with 30+ turns each. More supplies to make up for this. Lots of ammo for US squads is debatable, too. Many men would not reach the shores. This would mean lots of ammo for the BARs and MGs (plus the guns themselves) lost. CM correctly depicts that a moving HMG team that is understrength loses ammo. Squads do not suffer from this - they still have their full LMG/BAR ammo. Only rifle ammo is lost (by loss of firepower). LMG/BAR ammo should be treated in CM just like it is in recce squads (8men, 2LMG ->ammo 28. 10men, 2 LMG -> ammo 32). Gruß Joachim

Proving Grounds has my "A Big One". Beware of 10000+ points for both sides. Won't play as US vs AI. Maybe Axis vs AI So I did a quick search myself: Go to http://www.the-proving-grounds.com/scenario_finder.html Enter "North Africa" as battle location and "US" as Allies. 11 scens found. Gruß Joachim [ August 20, 2004, 02:16 AM: Message edited by: Joachim ]

Trench in a house? Why not. If there is a cellar you just have to stabilize the wall for the slit with some logs, add some sandbags and overhead protection (more logs) and voila- a nice little bunker comparable to a wooden bunker. But with better camo. Trenches are discovered from 150-200m. Given that spotting is rather deterministic in CM, I'm a bit surprised. Did the sniper have LOS to the trench line or did he just see the firing gun (which is a bit higher than the trench)? Gruß Joachim

Username is JasonC. They are spread out in several threads. Gruß Joachim

Also S Bakker might not like this. Gruß Joachim

Best way to stop this is having your men in reverse slopes. Then they can't shoot early. If this ain't possible, keep the following in mind: Usually my men stay with their CAs. But once they fear they get discovered, they shoot first. It is near impossible to keep your men from returning fire. Even indirect fire might result in breaking fire discipline (Recce by fire...). If the enemy comes close and your units are not in good concealment, they will ignore covered arcs and fire in self-defence. And they definitely hate getting cut off in bad positions. Anybody moving towards their (or the) rear is a massive threat and thus is likely targetted. Any plan relying on some of your men being heroes and martyrs is doomed. From your description, your men are doomed and fight massive odds. If you want your pioneers to keep their head down, make sure some MGs pin the Italian infatry well ahead of them to enforce an attack with tanks first. Gruß Joachim

If your unlucky tombstones are just wooden crosses or lie flat in the earth. Not really much cover.2nd KarlXII that a trench behind a wall and crest is the best cover. Exposure is like a normal trench but lots of DF HE don't come close enough to the trench to hurt the troops. It also offers the possibility of disengaging the enemy rather quickly. Once you hide, the enemy can't target you and a covered arc will pretty much ensure you don't unhide. Works as trench behind crest (better protection vs DF HE) or trench behind wall (better exposure and hiding), too. But the combo seems best. It allows more slack when placing the unit. In a position like that you don't need keyholing for your ATGs. At long ranges where mortars are inaccurate your opponent needs arty to dislocate you. Gruß Joachim

Had the same thing in a large battle (CMAK). As the designer I knew that I would get none - not even air. First I suspected that my opponent got reinforcements (they were likely that turn), but I didn't ask. I still have the file.... but I dunno which one as I keep all. But it could be around turn 25. Gruß Joachim PS: I won't send them to anyone before I move house and get DSL in a few weeks. Movie files are 3-4M and I have a 56k modem. Should anyone want them at the end of September please say so. PPS: No Mike, this offer ain't valid for you.

It's called dynamic flags. Currently works in scenarios only. The attacker chooses one from several flags. The defender doesn't know the objective. Gruß Joachim

The first part is known. There are some tables somewhere. (Dunno where). But the 2nd test is interesting. Who acted as spotters? Plain inf or binoc equipped teams? Did it help to halt the spotters fpr a few seconds/minutes to look for stationary inf? Where the tank hunters moving in the test when thy got spotted just as full squads? Does numbers affect spotting of stationary units? Are small teams more stealthy in better cover? My impression is that teams with binocs will spot stationary targets much better when halted. Teams without binos get a lower bonus for being stationary. Gruß Joachim

Daisy chain mines on roads in wet ground. Occasional AT mines besides them. Works especially well vs AI. Same goes for AP mines behind wire. If the engineers are close, the TacAI might use them to clear the minefield while the retreating inf who run into the mines is still caught in the wire. Great effect. Especially great to blunt AI mass charges. Gruß Joachim

Sorry, couldn't resist. Gruß Joachim

There is no strategy that works on every occasion. The most important thing is: Who am I fighting? The AI or a capable player? An aggressive or defensive player? Attritionist or maneuvrist? which equipment will he have/can he have. What would be my nightmare? How can I counter that Which force works best for that? Does my counter work for other likely enemy force types? After that it comes down to METT-T. Gruß Joachim

It is a problem with the AI - but the designer of a scen (no reinforcements for QBs) must know it (or find out in tests). Thus it has to do with PBEM and the designer. I designed a scen that I know will not work vs the AI from both sides. Both sides get inf reinforcements a mile from the flags. Both get transport. AI will screw up. Some changes for the Allies might enable Axis vs AI and keep the idea intact. There are several other scens that just won't work vs AI. But their PBEM value is so high that I wouldn't want to miss them or the reinforcements in them. Hint: To avoid auto-embarkeing, use 2 reinforcement slots for trucks and inf. Make sure they arrive on different turns or in some distance. Gruß Joachim

Unit scale +3. Gotta see what I got.

The radio man said T34 and "Hof". Never drove there to check that. I mean ... a private BTR... who cares for that. Does it produce enough noise to get the neighbours really shocked? If you want to see really heavy tracked vehicles on German roads - try this. Next big move is due next year. Even a Maus is a mouse compared to what's moving there. Gruß Joachim

Hmmm.... Kitty did something like that for CMBO. Just look for the Hamstergrenadier mod

But they are sooooo gamey. Gruß Joachim

I prefer the Sturmtiger vs 76mm pillboxes. Range above 100 yards, of course. Not for fear of the 76mm. Gruß Joachim

I once LMAO when I heard that several people got shocked when somebody started his own T34 in his backyard near Dresden/Germany. They called the police which checked his papers, the spiked gun, the missing MGs and then went off again. Which ie even more funny is the translation on their German site (googled). I have some reservations about the correctness. Gruß Joachim

Level 5 for the first view during execution. Details with Magnification depending on what's happening. Orders are given depending on how far I go. If I move fast on a road for 1 mile, I won't do it in level 1 but 7-8. Then all bends in the road are checked with level 1, 2 or 6-7. When enemy is in reach, level 5 for the big plan giving orders to all units (which plt goes where), then level 1-2 or 6-7 for details. Gruß Joachim

It all depends on gun, armor, range and opponent. Note that the PzIV never gets a 80mm turret front (only front hull) and thus is always in danger of getting killed by a T34/76 - especially when hull down (a bug it shares with other tanks in the game. The chance to hit the turret is bigger for a hull-down tank than for a hull-up tank. So if the turret is weak and the hull impenetrable, the tank should stay hull-up). The 50+20mm front of a PzIII is impenetrable for vanilla T34/76s at ranges above 500m, but it takes long to get a kill. The 50mm front turret of a PzIV is a weak spot, but the 75mmL43 (/L48) can kill almost anything. If you have both tanks, use the PzIII to engage the Soviets and once the Soviets are committed bring in the PzIV - hoping the T34s don't switch targets. If they switch targets you hopefully engaged the T34s from the flank and once they turn to face the PzIV the PzIII gets flank shots. PzIIIa-f: 3,7cm gun. Nice vs. Soviet tin-cans PzIIIg, h, j("short", early and late): 50L42 gun. Slight chance vs early T34. Flank shots preffered. g and j (early, short) have 5cm armor, h has 30+30mm. j (late, short) has 50+20 armor PzIIIj (long, early and late) 50L60 gun, armor is 50 (early) and 50+20 (late) PzIIIL, m: Seems the only significant difference to the IIIj(long, late) is the amount of MG ammo, maybe the amount of T-ammo and the rarity. PzIV:a-f1 short 75L24. Armor increases from a to f1. PzIVf2: the first with a long 75L43. Armor like IVf1. IVg: 75L43. "early" is just like f2. late has the 80mm hull front and is IMHO the best PzIV in CM. Dunno from memory if it has skirts. IVh: gets 75L48 gun, but IIRC the armor quality drops. Has skirts. IVj: has skirts and IIRC even less armor quality then IVh. The IVf1/2 and the IIIj came in the same period. Seems somebody halted the renumbering process. Or they got problems in a transitional/experimental period: How to number a IIIj (early, 50L42) that got 2cm of additional armor and later even a new gun in the factory. Same for the IVf. Maybe there were other components that changed and were more important to the factories than the guns. Guess some hulls just got new turrets (with minor mods for the hull) and they were IVf and thus stayed IVf. Once production was set for the 50L60 and 75L4x, the numbers increased as before. Gruß Joachim

Roadblocks (as in "fortification"). Not roadtiles. But I fear the TacAI will screw up with this. As it is now, two lanes of a road can only be used with extreme micromanaging. Gruß Joachim