Wild Bill Wilder

Thanks, Sidekick. Standing by...Let us know ------------------ Wild Bill Lead Tester Scenario Design Team Combat Mission-Beyond Overlord billw@matrixgames.com

Yes, I know of at least one WW2 vet who is a faithful player of CM. He wrote me about a scenario I did on a battle in which he was indirectly involved. I posted something on it earlier. He loves the game. ------------------ Wild Bill Lead Tester Scenario Design Team Combat Mission-Beyond Overlord billw@matrixgames.com

THanks CDIC! Watch your back over there . And in the scenario too ------------------ Wild Bill Lead Tester Scenario Design Team Combat Mission-Beyond Overlord billw@matrixgames.com

Nicely done, Clubfoot. I designed a commando scenario also, Bruneval, 1942 when Major John Frost and his lads raided the radar installation on the French coast. This one is also the CMHQ Scenario Depot. As Fred has said, they can be done, complete with exit from the battle. I'm delighted to see you have done these and will pick them up right away. ------------------ Wild Bill Lead Tester Scenario Design Team Combat Mission-Beyond Overlord billw@matrixgames.com [This message has been edited by Wild Bill Wilder (edited 11-16-2000).]

It all hinges on what you want in a scenario and what you can get, Bil. I highly respect your work and your intense desire for as much historical accuracy as possible. I think that is admirable. I congratulate you for it. In no way does my note minimize your efforts. I've supported both you and your work way back to the beta days of CM when we were, along with others on the team, working hard to make the dream come true. I remember well the excellent first terrain mods you did. You may remember it too. So I look forward, as I always have, to your fine work both in scenario design and also in the "mod" work you do. No one is trying to play down your talent or your devotion to your projects. And there is room for all kinds of scenarios, "totally" historical, historically flavored, hypothetical and arcade style shoot-em-ups. And there can be large ones, small ones, quick ones and slow ones. Let the "buyer" choose his own preference. Everone to his own tastes and that does not make one person's choices superior to those of another. That is what makes the world go round. ------------------ Wild Bill Lead Tester Scenario Design Team Combat Mission-Beyond Overlord billw@matrixgames.com

I'm used to it Compassion! Let it all hang out, guys! This is probably the game that has been cursed at and prayed over more than any other in history! That could be an exaggeration too WB ------------------ Wild Bill Lead Tester Scenario Design Team Combat Mission-Beyond Overlord billw@matrixgames.com

It would be nice to make a scenario where everything happens just as it happened in the real battle it portrayed. That is not possible, however, for a number of reasons. 1. The limitations of the game. Many things cannot be recreated in a game because you are limited by the things a game does not provide you. 2. Lack of historical information. Unless you can interview someone who was there, you are limited to a minimum of third hand information, often flavored by an author's bias. In addition, how do you know how much ammo each squad had, or what the names of all the squad leaders were, or where exactly each was located? Or how many trees were in the area? A couple of trees too many could block a line of sight and cause the scenario to take a different turn. And so on. 3. How the Game develops. You can't predict or dictate to the AI how it is to fight the battle. It may not choose to fight in the same way as the country fought in the historical battle. The AI may choose to send two or three units down road b instead of road a which the historical units used. 4. Unpredictable results can change the course of history again. What if a tank gets a shot and a kill of a tank that in the real battle was the hero and survived? Example, Wittmann scenarios. There is no guarantee that Wittmann and his tank will survive until the moment it was disabled by a 6 pdr AT gun in an ambush. What if Wittmann gets killed early on? Then is it no longer historical? So do you quit and start again? Good luck! So yes, you can set up a battle that is generally historical, but totally historical? Impossible! Now if you don't care about playability and just want a scenario done that reflects all the historical elements, you can get it. How well it will play and what the outcome will be may not be challenging at all, or may be impossible to win. And think about this. If you were able to recreate a totally, totally historical setup, exact # of men in each squad, all names and ammo supplies accurate, every hill and tree in place, would it still play historically? Probably not. The human element and the unpredictablity of the AI negates such a possibility. So when someone does design that "perfect" historical scenario that plays out EXACTLY like the real battle, I would really love to see it! Have you ever thought about if the real battle had been fought all over again, it could have had a totally different outcome? Some battles have hinged on one or two units being very fortunate and/or performing heroically. The chances of such a thing happening exactly the same way twice historically is absurd. How many "chance" elements affected the battle of Midway? But as soon as one of you has that "perfect" scenario, send me a copy. I want the one that plays out to the end just like the real battle. I can't wait to try it. ------------------ Wild Bill Lead Tester Scenario Design Team Combat Mission-Beyond Overlord billw@matrixgames.com

It would be nice to make a scenario where everything happens just as it happened in the real battle it portrayed. That is not possible, however, for a number of reasons. 1. The limitations of the game. Many things cannot be recreated in a game because you are limited by the things a game does not provide you. 2. Lack of historical information. Unless you can interview someone who was there, you are limited to a minimum of third hand information, often flavored by an author's bias. In addition, how do you know how much ammo each squad had, or what the names of all the squad leaders were, or where exactly each was located? Or how many trees were in the area? A couple of trees too many could block a line of sight and cause the scenario to take a different turn. And so on. 3. How the Game develops. You can't predict or dictate to the AI how it is to fight the battle. It may not choose to fight in the same way as the country fought in the historical battle. The AI may choose to send two or three units down road b instead of road a which the historical units used. 4. Unpredictable results can change the course of history again. What if a tank gets a shot and a kill of a tank that in the real battle was the hero and survived? Example, Wittmann scenarios. There is no guarantee that Wittmann and his tank will survive until the moment it was disabled by a 6 pdr AT gun in an ambush. What if Wittmann gets killed early on? Then is it no longer historical? So do you quit and start again? Good luck! So yes, you can set up a battle that is generally historical, but totally historical? Impossible! Now if you don't care about playability and just want a scenario done that reflects all the historical elements, you can get it. How well it will play and what the outcome will be may not be challenging at all, or may be impossible to win. And think about this. If you were able to recreate a totally, totally historical setup, exact # of men in each squad, all names and ammo supplies accurate, every hill and tree in place, would it still play historically? Probably not. The human element and the unpredictablity of the AI negates such a possibility. So when someone does design that "perfect" historical scenario that plays out EXACTLY like the real battle, I would really love to see it! Have you ever thought about if the real battle had been fought all over again, it could have had a totally different outcome? Some battles have hinged on one or two units being very fortunate and/or performing heroically. The chances of such a thing happening exactly the same way twice historically is absurd. How many "chance" elements affected the battle of Midway? But as soon as one of you has that "perfect" scenario, send me a copy. I want the one that plays out to the end just like the real battle. I can't wait to try it. ------------------ Wild Bill Lead Tester Scenario Design Team Combat Mission-Beyond Overlord billw@matrixgames.com

"Colorful" responses, Mates! Indeed, this game does invoke a verbal response, to say the least! I love these and can identify with all of them! ------------------ Wild Bill Lead Tester Scenario Design Team Combat Mission-Beyond Overlord billw@matrixgames.com

Great! Thanks for the update, Andy. You are a lot like me. You stay at it until you get it. I do the same thing. I guess Barkmann became a lineman so his teammates would get the headlines..good team player! WB ------------------ Wild Bill Lead Tester Scenario Design Team Combat Mission-Beyond Overlord billw@matrixgames.com

Man, am I getting old and senile or what! Its been some months since I played my own scenario and honestly only remembered Wittmann. At that time, I was so focused on keeping him alive and racking up points that I gave little attention to the reinforcements. Now I am headed over to play it again. Sorry, Actually, you are right about the tanks. What I did was sort of compress it all into one big battle, including later reinforcements. So no, it is not "historical" in the literal sense, but a playable recreation of most of what happened that entire day. Bil Hardenberger does have one that has more of the "historical" flavor you want. I have not seen it posted anywhere, but I know he visits here. You might want to post a request that he send it to you. Or it may be posted on some support site somewhere. The operation by Los is also very good and puts the arrival of units for both side in a better chonological order. Wild Bill ------------------ Wild Bill Lead Tester Scenario Design Team Combat Mission-Beyond Overlord billw@matrixgames.com

I know your pain and share it, my friend. My own father, WW2 Vet (USAAF) left us just a little over two years ago. I'm still not over that. I never will be. We are losing these heroes by the hundreds every day now. Its very sad. I wish you well. Wild Bill ------------------ Wild Bill Lead Tester Scenario Design Team Combat Mission-Beyond Overlord billw@matrixgames.com

I highly respect the talents and abilities of so many of you guys. You never cease to amaze me with what you can do with computer graphics! ------------------ Wild Bill Lead Tester Scenario Design Team Combat Mission-Beyond Overlord billw@matrixgames.com

That has to be a different one from the one I did. In mine, there is only one Tiger, start to finish, Wittmann only. It is the one titled, Villers-Bocage - TIGER! If there is more than one German vehicle, then it is someone else's scenario. ------------------ Wild Bill Lead Tester Scenario Design Team Combat Mission-Beyond Overlord billw@matrixgames.com

My pleasure, CS! Good Hunting. Hold that bridge...XXX Corps is coming (Yeah, right! ) WB ------------------ Wild Bill Lead Tester Scenario Design Team Combat Mission-Beyond Overlord billw@matrixgames.com

A Stuart taking out a Tiger is indeed highly unlikely, very highly unlikely. I would agree. If, however, the Tiger commander is careless, these things could happen. Now in my scenario, (although Count Essine and Bil Hardenberger don't seem to approve of it. Did you guys ever do your super realistic scenarios?) Wittmann is elite, which is as experienced and as expert as they come. It give the Tiger a tremendous advantage, but does not make it invulnerable to that one in a thousand shot. Now if you are referring to the operation done by Los, I can't say. Or if, as Bil Hardenberger's scenario of the same battle I can't say about that one either. I don't have the Bil Hardenberger scenario, but I checked Los Wittmann tank and it too has an elite tank commander. I guess these are the fortunes of war sometimes. ------------------ Wild Bill Lead Tester Scenario Design Team Combat Mission-Beyond Overlord billw@matrixgames.com

I just tried the link, but got "Page cannot be displayed" message. Is it down right now? ------------------ Wild Bill Lead Tester Scenario Design Team Combat Mission-Beyond Overlord billw@matrixgames.com

Hey Coralsaw! I'm glad you are enjoying the operation. It was a lot of work and to know someone is deriving gaming pleasure from it is very pleasing to me personally. Thanks. The Puma, where was it when you torched it? They usually stay put for the next battle but sometimes no. I don't know why that is. No, I'm sure it won't be back. The smell alone would be enough to keep folks from climbing in...kind like climbing in a toaster. Ammo is ressuplied in varying amounts with each new battle. You will usually have to call your shots toward the end of each firefight carefully. This is a thing the computer does automatically. It does it on the basis of "no mans land" set in the battle parameters. I don't like this either. Knowing what I know now, I probably would have made this smaller. Even so, the computer inevitably pushes you back some from your furtherest point of advance. I guess that is to simulate your straightening and strengthening of your lines. Often the deepest penetration is not always where the final line of battle is drawn. The operation was not really designed for you to hold both ends of the bridge. You need the defenses of the north side or you will get creamed. This was true historically too, of course, and I tried to reflect that in the operation. As with any game, you cannot recreate everything exactly because of game limitations. Others who have tried to do the operation in their own design have discovered this for themselves. Its very hard based on the limites of the game to recreate every historical nuance of the real thing. But no, you are not expected to hold both sides of the bridge. Historically that was to be the job of XXX Corps, to take the south end while Frost and his men held the northern end. No, it won't worsen your score. In this one it is not based on terrain conquest and holding the north end is a symbolic type of victory that is not reflected in the final score. But YOU know if you can hold it and keep enemy losses higher than yours. If you do, you have succeeded against extremely difficult odds and are to be congratulated. I hope this helps. Enjoy! ------------------ Wild Bill Lead Tester Scenario Design Team Combat Mission-Beyond Overlord billw@matrixgames.com

I hope everyone or at least those interested caught the one hour special tonight on Public television, "The Unheard Voices," Black soldiers who served in WW2. It is very much worth watching and should clarify a lot of points raised right here in this theme. ------------------ Wild Bill Lead Tester Scenario Design Team Combat Mission-Beyond Overlord billw@matrixgames.com

Le me add a couple to this list: A Second Job - Vossenack Relieving the Rangers Elsdorf the Encounter (Can be found at Colin's website and at Game Depot - CMHQ) Wiltz (on the CD) makea nice quick 2 player game. I'm sure you will be getting more suggestions.... ------------------ Wild Bill Lead Tester Scenario Design Team Combat Mission-Beyond Overlord billw@matrixgames.com

If you can get it, by all means secure the book by Stanton, World War II Order of Battle. It is one of the most complete, well organized books on US Units from divisional level on down. It has a wealth of information. ------------------ Wild Bill Lead Tester Scenario Design Team Combat Mission-Beyond Overlord billw@matrixgames.com

I know your pain, Major. I spent days designing a scenario map way back during beta testing. Then I too discovered that it would not work for an operation. Grim news indeed ! Sorry that happened to you...WB ------------------ Wild Bill Lead Tester Scenario Design Team Combat Mission-Beyond Overlord billw@matrixgames.com

A very happy birthday to you, my friend. I've had to work on many of mine. It's a shame it has not yet been recognized as a national holidy ------------------ Wild Bill Lead Tester Scenario Design Team Combat Mission-Beyond Overlord billw@matrixgames.com

It won't work. I've tried that. The game will not recognize it. Hopefully that will be changed in the future. Right now no conversions can be made from cmc to cmb or vice versa.... ------------------ Wild Bill Lead Tester Scenario Design Team Combat Mission-Beyond Overlord billw@matrixgames.com

I'll send mine to you and would like a copy of your database, Harv. Good to see someone doing this. Thanks. Did you include the ones in the game itself?...WB ------------------ Wild Bill Lead Tester Scenario Design Team Combat Mission-Beyond Overlord billw@matrixgames.com