Wolfe

It'll probably take a little while to get sued to the new look. But one thing I already dislike is the forced auto-refresh of the main forums pages. This tag: {META HTTP-EQUIV="Pragma" CONTENT="no-cache"} is on every page and does not allow you to simply hit the back button on the Netscape browser to return to the page you just left without reloading it (it doesn't seem to affect IE, BTW). If I need to refresh/reload a page, I can easily hit the appropriate button on my browser. The forum really doesn't need to do this for me. Any chance you could nuke this "feature"? Thanks. - Chris

Electrical specs: http://users.erols.com/chare/elec.htm Or directly from AMD: AMD Tech Doc Directory The hang-on-exit thing seems to be an intermittent prob with various versions of Windoze. Win95 (and I think 98) had it in some circumstances and Win ME seems to have it as well (not sure if the prob is related). So it wouldn't surprise me to see that Win2k has it as well. I don't know if MS' Knowledge Database or one of their newsgroups might have something about it. Might be worth checking out. Good luck. - Chris

Where did you see that 145F (63C) is really bad? According to AMD's datasheets, the allowable die temp is 95C (203F) for your CPU. I do realize that the temp measurement on Athlon systems is outside the CPU (unlike the P-III and P4, the Athlon doesn't have an on-die temp probe), but that temp should be OK for the chip. If the temp probe was in the upper 70's to low 80's (celcius), I might start getting worried and thinking about other cooling methods. But you should be OK. Although doing anything you can to get excess heat out of the system is never a bad thing. My 900MHz T-bird can make it into the mid-50's when playing games. Your 1.3GHz will naturally be a bit higher. - Chris

Just so you know what you're getting yourself into. Thanks. Same to ya. Yeah, this board can be pretty good. Atleast some of the time. Good luck with your upgrade. - Chris [This message has been edited by Wolfe (edited 04-03-2001).]

Even though it turned out to be one of the best chipsets ever made, even the 440BX had teething probs. A large segment of folks had problems when trying to use APM on their new BX boards. The system would hang when trying to come out of suspend mode. A BIOS work-around was fashioned, but it took 4~5 months to get it. And Intel released a new chipset revision so the work-around was no longer needed. Even the best of the best can and do have errata. As for PC-100, sheesh. Where to begin? At first people weren't even sure what exactly PC-100 meant. Various modules were incompatible with certain motherboards; modules from different manufacturers wouldn't work together in the same board (even though they would individually); some boards would refuse to boot at all with DIMMs that didn't have the SPD chip (even PC-66 stuff). All in all, tons of fun. Of course, DDR SDRAM and the KT266 won't necessarily suffer the same problems as these, but some flavor of teething problems (some worse than others) always do occur. Even on hardware that turns out to be some of the best in the business, like the 440BX. It's certainly a matter of personal preference, but dealing with a finicky piece of new hardware can be very frustrating. Particularly for first-time builders. The second revision of any tech is always faster, cheaper, more compatible, and induces fewer headaches. I try to either buy slightly behind the curve, or wait for the bug fixes. I guess Guinea Pig just isn't my favorite game to play. Although I *did* buy my Voodoo 5 the first day it hit the shelves. I still haven't seen a video card powerful enough and with enough useful features to consider replacing it yet. Even the GeForce 3 isn't enough of a step up to bother with. Although I doubt the V5 will hold out quite as long as your BX board. Excellent! Great value. Even for an early adopter. Ditto. Good to see decent prices, especially since SDRAM has started to creep back up in price. - Chris

I'd second that sentiment. Even though DDR has been 'up-and-coming' for a while now, chipsets are just starting to emerge for upgraders now. Don't get on the bandwagon too early; there are *always* problems with every new chipset. Let someone else be the guinea pig debugging the new chipsets. Besides, no matter what you choose today, it won't likely be upgradeable by your next upgrade cycle. Faster DDR (PC2400 and PC2700) is already in the works, as is a new version of Rambus (4-bank), both of which will require new chipsets. And most upcoming CPUs will need a new motherboard anyway. Palomino and Morgan (upcoming Athlon/Duron) and Northwood (upcoming P4) CPUs will probably all require a new socket; meaning new mobo. DDR does show some performance gain over SDRAM now, but newer chipsets will be able to handle newer, faster versions of DDR and will likely be better optimized for DDR too. Buy one or two versions behind the bleeding edge, and you'll get both the power that you want and better value for your money too. Just MHO. - Chris

Yep, they don't seem to fire at more than 55m. Atleast I haven't seen any fly at 60m or more. What was cool was the Inf squad, after killing the Flak tractor shouted "Yeah, got him!". It was about time, too. That Flak tractor had absorbed fire for 4 turns from a Hellcat, a Sherm-75, and a Sherm-76. The FlaK took out the Hellcat, and damaged the gun on the Sherm-75. My tanks had IDed the vehicle as some sort of FlaK AFV, not a tractor with Flak, and so they fired AP shells at it instead of HE. Which (if you check a couple of other active threads on killing SdKfz's), isn't gonna help much. - Chris [This message has been edited by Wolfe (edited 04-02-2001).]

Thanks! Nice map. Well done. I also like how the instructions are written. Nice story with good info built into it. BTW, the Axis briefing has an empty extra page in it (probably a stray carriage-return). One thing, though. The defender has pretty good LOS into the attacker's setup area (even with the small hill) and can watch enemy units moving around. You might want to raise this hill one level to prevent the defender from knowing what part of the attacker's setup area he should shell. Not sure if this is what you intended. - Chris

Had a Rifle 45 infantry squad kill a 20mm FlaK tractor yesterday at 346m. Catastrophic explosion, too (musta hit the gas tank). Though the crew didn't even suffer a single casualty. - Chris ------------------ Chris' CM Scenarios and Unit Database Charts

Well, just a few. Links to some of the better old request threads: Ideas for CM2 - Chris

Oh and one more really good tip: before uploading to a site, ALWAYS put your creations in a ZIP file. That way, people can actually download the file properly. Left-clicking on the file gives me a "The parameter is incorrect." message. Right-clicking doesn't help either. BTW, Chris, you said you lost all your previous creations when the Scenario Depot died. You might check over on CMHQ. Matt has a large zip file containing many of the old scenarios. Your stuff may still exist. - Chris ------------------ Chris' CM Scenarios and Unit Database Charts

You can, but I think it's easier to give folks the option right up front. Not every one wants to have to edit a scenario in order to play it a different way (particularly if they've never even opened the editor). And Tourney Saves can't be edited at all. Hey, you're right! I hadn't noticed. Thanks for pointing it out. - Chris ------------------ Chris' CM Scenarios and Unit Database Charts

Hmm. that's weird. The Asus page says the A7V133 can only handle up to 1GHz chip. Why would they make a *NEW* board that supports the 133MHz-bus speed, but only 1 processor using that speed can be placed on it? The 1GHz Athlon is the slowest chip that comes in a 133MHz flavor. I would think this is a typo. You might want to ask Asus, though. BTW, when I say '133MHz-based', I mean a 266MHz FSB. Likewise, a '100MHz-based' board supports a 200MHz FSB. Sorry for any confusion. - Chris

Maximus wrote: The following assumes you're referring to the older KT-133 chipset which only supports a maximum of 100MHz Front Side Bus speed. The KT-133A supports up to 133MHz (excluding overclocking, of course). Doesn't Asus have a KT133A-based board that supports a 133MHz FSB? Yep. It's the A7V133. Combine this with a 1.2GHz T-Bird that supports the 133MHz bus speed, and you'll get a bit more punch than one based on the older A7V with 100MHz FSB and a 100MHz-based 1.2GHz chip. Might be worth looking into as the price difference should be minimal. - Chris

Nice post! Lots of good things to keep in mind when designing. One thing I would definitely discourage, though, is locking all your units. Even if you have a specific reason to do so (i.e. a historical scenario where unit placement is important), try to resist. I avoid locking all units for the simple reason that most folks playing a battle (especially an historical one) will leave their units in the default setup. Especially if you tell the player not to move them in the briefing. Locking units may seem like the exact same result, but it can hinder re-playability for someone who might want to try a different tactic in the scenario. Generally, the only time I will lock a unit is when I think it can be moved to a place that gives one side a decided advantage (like an AT minefield that might block the only real advance route for an entire armored column). Use locks *very* rarely. Some other tips for terrain: * After the map is "finished", put yourself down on level 1 and "ride" along every road on the map to see how things look. Is it too bumpy or hilly or flat or straight? * Also select an AFV, hit the Place key and try to place the unit along every road to see if you can find any slopes anywhere on the road. * In hilly terrain, be sure to check around houses for slopes. They'll commonly show up there. - Chris ------------------ Chris' CM Scenarios and Unit Database Charts

From: http://www.battlefront.com/discuss/Forum8/HTML/001378.html Roger that, standing by ... - Chris

Bummer. Sorry to hear that. Hmmm Kensington does list one place in HK on their site. There are thumb-controlled trackballs, but I don't understand how that would be preferrable. A thumb just doesn't seem to me to have the range of motion to be able to control it accurately. Also seems like your thumb would get a real work-out from it. But then again, I've never tried one. Speaking of mouse balls: http://web.thock.com/humour/mouseballs.shtml - Chris

I use the Kensington Orbit trackball. It's perfectly symmetrical, so it should work fine for lefties (unless I'm missing something). gunnergoz wrote: Yup. I love my Orbit. Whenever I have to use a regular mouse, I get cramps from the death-grip I seem to put on it. The only bad thing about using the trackball is when I have to go back to a 'regular' mouse. Leonidas wrote: There's a raised ridge underneath the ball on the Orbit that collects most of the gunk and debris. Just pop out the ball whenever it gets a little 'sticky' in the movement, wipe off the raised ring, and pop the ball back in. Easy. Although I do have to clean off the rollers eventually when the ball starts to slip. That's no fun, but you only have to do it every so often. - Chris

Yes, that's why I'm confused. See my first post in this thread which lists the 150mm sIG gun mounted on a variety of chassis. There's also apparently a Hetzer-like mounting which I didn't mention: the sIG33 on a 38t chassis surrounded by thick, sloping armor. And the the 38t chassis seems to have 2 versions: one mounted on the front of the chassis and one towards the rear. - Chris

Clarification? Sure, I was wrong. See: Adjusting arty fire out of LOS. As Walter said, still no handy-dandy green adjust line for out-of-LOS firing, unfortunately. BTW, adjust fire doesn't apply to TRPs. If you use a TRP, you can't adjust fire off of it (except within the area of the TRP itself; approx 40m diameter). Folks were using TRPs to start a quick count-down and then adjusting fire off of them and walking it across the map. BTS changed this so you can't adjust off of the TRP without restarting a new countdown anymore. See: Target ref and TRP Adjustment Bug v.1.12. - Chris

The Red Army Handbook lists the single-shot Degtaryev PTRD 14.5mm AT Rifle and the magazine-fed Simonov PTRS rifle. 202,488 PTRDs and 63,385 PTRSs were built through 1942; totalling some 469,000 through the whole war. They also got some 3200 Boys AT Rifles from Britain. The AT Rifles were an integral part of many Infantry Battalion TO&Es as AT Rifle companies (or platoons) within each Battalion/Regiment. And some of the later Cavalry formations even had them as an integral part of their squadron TO&E (e.g.: 1xHQ, 4xCav Platoons, 1xMG Plt, and 1xAT Rif Plt). With 6 AT Rifles in the AT Rifle platoon. - Chris [Edit: fixed last sentence which made it sound like there were 6 AT Rifles in each of the 4 Cav Platoons.] [This message has been edited by Wolfe (edited 03-19-2001).]

Andreas wrote: Hmmm. Good point. Hadn't thought about that possibility. Though in the PzKpfw 38(t) section of German Tanks of WWII, Forty writes: You still might be right, though. The 'Bison' could be the gun itself and the 'Grille' the combined sIG33 with 38t chassis. I dunno. - Chris [This message has been edited by Wolfe (edited 03-19-2001).]

There's one on my site. It's more up-to-date than Jason's, but not as extensive. http://users.erols.com/chare/cm/ True, very true! - Chris

** Bump ** on the Bison question. TIA. - Chris

What were the Bison and Grille? Different sources say different things: German Tanks of WWII (Forty). pp. 33, 56 * sIG33 - PzKpfw I chassis * 15cm SP Grille - PzKpfw 38(t) chassis Encyclopedia of Weapons of WWII (Bishop). pg. 112 * sIG33 auf Geshutzwagen I Ausf B - PzKpfw I chassis * sIG33 ausf Geshutzwagen II Ausf C SdKfz 121 - PzKpfw II chassis * sIG33 auf Fgst PzKpfw II (Sf) Verlanget - PzKpfw II chassis (longer hull) * sIG33(Sf) auf PzKpfw 38(t) Bison SdKfz 138 - PzKpfw 38(t) chassis * sIG33 auf PzKpfw III - PzKpfw III chassis Handbook on German Military Forces (US War Dept.) pg. 382 * sIG33 - PzKpfw IB chassis (SdKfz 101) * sIG33 - PzKpfw II chassis (SdKfz 121) * sIG33/1 - ? chassis (Gw 38: SdKfz 138/1) * StuH43 Brummbar - PzKpfw IV chassis (SdKfz 166) Achtung Panzer website * Sturmpanzer I Bison - PzKpfw IB chassis (SdKfz 101) * Sturmpanzer II Bison - PzKpfw II chassis * Bison (Grille) Ausf H/M - PzKpfw 38(t) chassis (SdKfz 138/1) * StuG33 - StuG III chassis * Sturmpanzer IV Brummbar - PzKpfw IV chassis (SdKfz 166) That's a lot of variants for one gun. Will the real Bison please stand up? - Chris [edit: removed sFH 13 on Lorraine chassis and Hummel; these are different 15cm guns. Sorry.] [This message has been edited by Wolfe (edited 03-18-2001).]