Wolfe

Marcus, HE penetration numbers for the Pak38 can be found by looking at the Puma. Though that doesn't necessarily help during a game. HE for the US76, 6pdr, 17pdr, and Comet gun, however aren't listed anywhere. Jason's database has listings for all the units in CM, but unfortunately, the ASL website has gone down and I don't know where else to look for his database. I also have a list I created, but it doesn't contain all the info on each unit like Jason's does. But I do believe it may be more up-to-date: http://users.erols.com/chare/cm/ Hope that helps some. - Chris

Thanks guys! Glad you like it. It was a pain to do, but thankfully I've pawned off the upkeep to Manx! Muahahahaha! Whoops! Thanks for catching that one. I've sent off a list of errors I found to Manx. I'm sure they'll be corrected in less than 5 minutes. - Chris

Best bets would likely be: 3D Chipset Reactor Critical Voodoo Source - Chris

As others have said, they don't seem to (except for the tank crew, of course). Though if you fire hollow core rounds at a tank, the largish explosion of those rounds does affect nearby units, but that's directly from the shot fired, not the side explosion of the vehicle, AFAIK. And HE rounds can also do damage to both the tank and nearby inf. Embarked infantry doesn't seem to like getting a tank shot out from under it regardless of which type of shell is used. - Chris

If neither the mortar nor faust got it (or hand grenades for that matter), it might have been an MG42 HMG. They can kill the Greyhound out to ~25m hitting the side upper hull or around 30m if they hit the side lower hull. I just lost a French M5A1 HT (8mm armor) to an MG42 at 266m! It's not an M2, but it's still a real nice gun. - Chris

Last evening, I had a Vet T8 Recon Car reversing out of LOS of a Panther targeting it. The Panther was moving at full speed across the T8's field of vision. At 970m a burst from the T8's .50cal immobilized the moving Panther! Not a bad shot at all! Can anybody beat that one? - Chris

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by wwb_99: This is the tank that lets the allies feel what having a KT is like. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Just picking on your post for this response, so please don't take this personally, WWB , but ARE YOU PEOPLE OUT OF YOUR COLLECTIVE MINDS!?! Ok, got that out of my system. A Panther can kill the Pershing with a turret hit out to about 2000m. No, that's not a typo, and I didn't misplace a decimal point. The Persh is *not* the super-tank a lot of folks seem to think it is. In fact, if it weren't for the presence of tungsten, I'd call it the Allied equivalent of the Panther. It has very good hull armor, but its turret is quite weak. A StuG can even kill the thing with a shot through the turret at 500m. It does have a very good AT gun. But one of its best traits, IMO, is its usefulness against infantry. Real nice blast, and nice amount of HE ammo to boot. Its ROF is a bit slower than the Panther's, however. But it has a fast turret, so it's more likely to get the first shot off when facing a Panther, though the Panth will likely get the second. Its 3 MGs and loads of ammo for them make it a great inf killer. Also, a pair can level one of the heavy 2-story buildings in under 2 turns. As good as the gun is, I've still seen a Persh ricochet some AP shots off the front turret of a Panther at 1100m. And vice-versa. The rounded turret on both tanks can make for some surprising head-to-head outcomes. Its tungsten can surely kill anything the Axis can field, which is what makes it so much of a threat to enemy armor. Well, you'd have to get kinda close to the JagdTiger. But if you treat it as a Panther instead of looking at it as a nearly invincible KT, you'll likely have a lot more success against one. As for the Super, it has a low ROF, smallish ammo loadout, and even *its* turret can be punctured by the Panther at 700m and less. - Chris [This message has been edited by Wolfe (edited 01-22-2001).]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Big Time Software: Jumbo turret mantlet armor reduced because we had a flawed understanding of how it was constructed. Evidence was presented to us that we had it wrong, a change was made. Benefit goes to the German player.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Steve, with this change can the Panther's gun now kill the Jumbo frontally? - Chris

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Bigdog: QB 3000pts Combined Arms, Meeting Engagement, Fionn Kelly's Panther 76 Rule<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I've been wondering about the impact of the changes as well, and have been going through some sample force choices. It seems to me that the German player now may have an overall edge despite having fewer armor points. If both sides go infantry-heavy, the German player in a 3000pt QB can afford (all reg units) 4 Pz Gren (Mot) Co, 1 Pz Gren (Mot) Plt, and 1 VG SMG Plt. The Amis get 3 Rif-44 Co and 4 Rif-44 Plts. So that's 13 Ger PzGren platoons and 1 VG SMG plt vs. 13 US Rif-44 plts. FP decidedly goes to the Axis player (the staying power of a 12-man squad can only help so much against a 41% FP advantage at 100m). The Allied player would likely have to counter with a good deal of arty (though the Axis player can still have 2 or 3 120mm FOs himself) or have atleast 2 mobile HE belchers left after all is said and done with the tank fight to be able to beat back the German infantry. So the Allied player may *not* want to use his extra armor points to stock up on hordes of Hellkittens. And even with this number of points spent on infantry, the Axis player can still get 2 Hetzers, 1 StugIV, 2 120mm FOs, and a 251/9 Assault. Although infantry-heavy, it's still a reasonably balanced force, IMO. The US can afford 3 81mm FOs, 2 Hellcats, and 3 M4's. Which doesn't quite take advantage of the extra armor points for the Allies. To do so would require subtracting infantry or arty, making the inf situation even worse. The prob isn't as severe at 1000 pts (1 Pz Gren (Mot) Co and 2 VG SMG plts vs. 1 Rif-44 Co and 1 Rif-44 plt), but it seems to get worse for the Allies as you go up in points. Though I haven't played enough to get a real feel for it, it does seem to tilt towards the Axis to me. Erm. Hope I didn't ruin your QB, guys. Sorry. But feel free to prove me wrong. BTW, BTS must have really thought the Assault HTs were a truly significant prob to make these changes. In 1.05, armor and inf points were the same. In 1.1b16, the Allies got 33% more armor than Axis and infantry stayed equal. By 1.1b23 (or perhaps 1.1b22), armor went up to 50% more for Allied and inf went to 11% more for Axis (presumably to compensate for the extra Allied armor???). If the Assault HTs were this significant of a prob, wouldn't it have been easier to just move the M8 HMC to the vehicles category and not change the point structure? Just a thought. - Chris

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Iron Duke: If you minimize the game by hitting [Esc] once you maximize the game again, everything is corrupted?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Yep. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Is there a workaround?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Nope. Well, you can not use FSAA and it'll stop doing that. But since FSAA is likely the reason you bought the V5 in the first place... It's a really nice card, but some of its annoyances can be ... well ... annoying. - Chris

Hi, Harv. Love the database! Just a thought: Wouldn't it be easier if you wrote up a list of what info you wanted, posted it here, and we just filled it in and sent that in the email? You wouldn't then have to go through the scenario to pick out the info. And if you see any probs with the submission (forgetting to fill in the number of turns, etc.), then you could just email us back or DL the scenario from the site listed and look at it. Seems like it would be less work for you. And it would only take a couple of extra minutes for folks who already have spent hours designing it. - Chris

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by jasoncawley@ameritech.net: They are however able to move themselves around, and have thin armor to stop small arms fire (like MGs, nothing more).<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> And in the case of the M2, very often not even that. A .50cal can kill the Nashorn and Hummel out to 600m in CM. - Chris

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by M. Bates: Sounds like a used car salesman to me!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> LOL! She only has a few scratches and dings from the occasional 75mm shell. Not the greatest gas mileage, but she's the ultimate in comfort and safety. Perfect for any family outing! - Chris

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by jasoncawley@ameritech.net: But there was nothing whatever motorized about them, in TOE terms.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Thanks for the info. Must have been real fun shlepping those guns around on mountainous terrain. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>You can have trucks, buy your Gebirgsjaeger units then change your force over to Herr and you can buy trucks.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Yeah, but mixing forces can easily get you into some gamey behaviour. I prefer not to do it unless agreed to beforehand with my opponent. - Chris

The Churchills are nice tanks, but beware that the VI has significantly less armor than the VII and VIII. It's fun to watch Panthers and Tigers back away from an Allied tank they can't kill and they know can kill them. Just keep the Churchill hull down and 700m or more from any Panther and you'll be fine. The 95mm gun on the VIII can kill Panthers, Tigers, JPanzerIV's, and Hetzers. While these tanks can't return the favor. The Churchill is a real eye-opener for opponents who regularly rely on Panthers and Hetzers to simply wade through allied Shermans. I've even seen a Churchill shed shots from an 88mm pillbox! The tank was obliqued, of course, but it was a real shocker to watch. But like Gremlin said, they're very slow beasts. And the VIII's gun is not only slow firing but rather inaccurate. So its small number of hollow core shells can be used up quite quickly. The VIII also carries a relatively small amount of ammo (only 47 shells). When used in concert with Challengers or Fireflies, they can make for a very good 1-2 punch (though I don't believe that combo is historically accurate). The Churchill acts as the bait for enemy tanks while keeping infantry at bay while the heavy-hitting Fireflies pop up to ambush his armor. With a pair of well-stocked MGs, a fast turret, a great big gun (atleast on the VIII), the Churchill is an excellent infantry support tank. It can also drop buildings in a hurry. Two 95mm Churchills can take out even the heaviest two-story building in under 2 turns. All in all a very nice tank. - Chris

Yep, it's true. Not only can Allied tanks go through bocage, they can even go through the bocage in *reverse*. Odd, but fun to watch. - Chris

Hadn't noticed before, but a PBEM opponent pointed out to me that Gebirgsjaeger troops don't have access to any vehicles of any kind. But their Heavy Weap Co comes with two infantry guns attached. Unfortunately, there's no way to move them other than PUUUUSH. Any chance us poor, tired Gerbiltruppen could get some transports? Even a truck would be a big imporovement. Thanks. - Chris

They're all still there (except for the Betas): BTS ftp Site - Chris

Congrats, BTS! You guys did a fantastic job with Combat Mission. CM deserves not only Wargame of the Year, but also Game of the Year honors. Thanks for a truly superb game and all the great support! - Chris

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Bullethead: The US AI sometimes underestimates German tanks. Take it from me, this is usually a much worse thing to have happen to you . <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> You ain't just whistlin' Dixie. Here's a pic of a Firefly bouncing an AP shell off the front of a "Panzer IV" at 357m! Any guesses as to what this beast really is (there's a hint in the pic which narrows the choices)? Warning: the pic is 315KB in size. Panzer IV? I think not. Yes, I lost this PBEM. - Chris [This message has been edited by Wolfe (edited 01-09-2001).]

If you're not going to use FSAA, then choose 'Single Chip Only'. For whatever reason, 'Fastest Performance' causes this anomaly and is, strangely, the slowest setting of all the choices. This happens with all driver revs. BTW, a cool tool for V5 owners to be able to configure the V5 settings for individual games is: V5Launch. - Chris

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Juardis: Sorry, 75mm tank guns firing AP shells. Shermans and Churchills mostly.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Hitting a very exposed lower hull, presumably. - Chris

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Vanir: Anyone seen a .50 take out a Hetzer from the side?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Yep. Had an M8 HMC dispatch one with its .50cal. Didn't even have to waste a hollow core charge on it. Have also taken out a PzIV from the rear with a M3A1 Scout car. Ma Deuce is a great gun. - Chris

Whew! Now that's an enormous amount of work. Thanks for the effort. Hope you can keep up with it. I know how difficult a project like that can be. - Chris

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Try plotting an ambush point 1m in front of the gun<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Good idea! Why didn't I think of that? Thanks. This can also work for mortar teams, but unfortunately not for MGs. You'd need to use a third party to set the ambush marker. - Chris [This message has been edited by Wolfe (edited 12-27-2000).]