aikidorat

Mike D: small world - Littleton High School grad ('85). Moved to Phoenix 9 years ago (job - $$$). Folks live in the same house near Isaac Newton Jr. High. Pretty darn close to ya! Too darn strange! catch ya later dave

Mike D: how long have you lived in Highlands Ranch? I grew up near there in Littleton and still visit my folks there a few times a year. dave

Phoenix, Az. Originally from Colorado. Darstand - where in Phoenix are you? I'm down south (Chandler) Dave

Ben, a few of the many books I've read included passages regarding the identification of enemy units by GI's/infantry. They pretty much all said the same thing - most of the time they didnt spend the time to ID the units until after the battle (if then), and, in the case of GI's, *any* tank was commonly called a Tiger. Resulted in Tiger's being everywhere, even if it was a PZIV, STuG, or Jagdpanther, etc. Makes for some fun interpreting after action reports that include something like 100 Tigers in the area. The rationale given for this was that the average infantry either had too much to do to memorize enemy vehicles, or was too busy trying to stay alive, etc, to accurately ID what was coming, 'cept that it was a tank or truck, etc. So, the lack of proper identification seems pretty ok to me, IMHO. I would expect a tank crew to be able to ID the enemy, but not the average infantryman. Maybe sharpshooters/FO's.... dave

Thanks BT for the rapid response (and for juggling 2 threads in one here). Good explanation - I just didnt see it the first post. Sounds like a good compromise to the very complex issue of who has spotted what. Looking forward to spending way too much time playing this later this summer. Just what my wife wants to hear!

thanks - good points...btw, it's Dave.. I was thinking more along the lines during the 60 seconds of action (each action phase, for lack of a better term). Say I tell my panzer to grind it's way up a road for the upcoming turn or two, oblivous to an allied squad laying in ambush. We start the action turn and a elite german squad happens to spot the allied squad laying in ambush, but is either too far away to fire at it, or is engaged with another target (one that places the g. squad in greater danger), so the a. squad can maybe engage the panzer... I assume the tank will continue along the orders I gave it until: 1. The tank spots the allied squad 2. the allied squad opens up on the tank 3. the end of the turn, when I can (try) to change the orders. possible actions for the above: 1. tank spots squad, determines a high threat and tries to modify their orders based on their experience, morale, etc. May or may not be successful. 2. May or may not locate the incoming fire immmediately, so if the panzer isnt destroyed they try to spot the threat and then determine action (all within the 60 sec time) 3. Turn ends with neither 1 or 2 happening. I get to try to change the orders (assuming I gave an order that would span a few turns (based on a previous thread)) or I issue new orders. The spotting by the elite g squad would not change the tank orders during the action phase , right? Or will it? Hope this wasnt covered b4 - been lurking here for a long time and thought I had read pretty much everything. Thx! dave

re: spotting from closed up vehicle: assume I have a closed up tank advancing during the action phase and the enemy has a hidden squad waiting to ambush my tank (ie, they can spot me but I cant spot them do to blind spots/terrain). During the action phase assume a friendly unit (other than my sacrificial tank) spots the enemy squad (currently hidden from my tank), will the tank automatically become aware of the enemy squad and react accordingly, or are unit actions based on what each unit can see, not what the entire force can see (during the 60 sec. action phase, of course)? in other words, if the tank remains buttoned up (with poor visibility) will it remain ignorant of the enemy squad (even if spotted by other friendlies) until the enemy attacks, the tank spots it, or the turn ends (at which point I, being supreme god-like commander with good visibility <grin>, become aware of it and try to move my tank out of danger)? Will friendlies firing at a hidden unit (from the tank) help the spotting process for the tank crew? dave [This message has been edited by aikidorat (edited 06-03-99).]

Forgive if this was asked before... wondering what would be in the after action reports, following either an individual (non-campaign) battle, or a campaign battle. Looked in the archives but didnt find much (it may be there, I may not have searched properly) A few thoughts: I think it would be interesting to reflect the fog of war in the reporting following a battle - reflect the tendency to report higher than actual numbers for KIA, etc. In a campaign this could have an interesting affect on planning and expectations (ie, if your troops report a rout, but in actuality the opfor just pulled back....) Is this possible? Would it really add anything? 2. I'd like it if the after action report didnt show *all* the units involved, unless I knew about them during the course of the battle. Didnt CC show the whole force makeup? I didnt really care for that (of course, the opfor was randomly generated and changed each battle - will CM do that as well, or is there an option to fight the same opfor over and over (if needed)? 3. maybe an option for a total, complete confidence report would be nice, just to see what you were really up against. For 2 player both would have to agree for it to work, of course dave

well, finally coming out of lurk mode. First, great-looking game, can't wait for it to come out. regarding bottle rocket wars: one night long ago we were in the middle of one and one of the guys had just lit one off and ducked behind some bushes when all of a sudden he lept out in plain sight, frantically grabbing at the bottle rockets jammed into his front jean pocket. Seems sparks from the previous one had managed to light the fuses of about 20 of the suckers. managed to pull out most of them but a few went off. fortunately he was wearing shorts and UW under the jeans - escaped with a only a few minor burns. I think the ribbing we gave him for the next year hurt worse than they did.