graham

I don't know if any one else has mentioned this but there was one thing that US units could have done but didn't. When they were approached by the Hanomag in the field and the airborne(?) bazooka squad took it out, why oh why didn't they grab the MG34's from it? (and the dead crew's weapons?) The whole thing about the last battle was their limited ammunition and firepower with which to defend the town. A couple of captured MG34's would have contributed quite a bit. The main characters were a ranger unit, correct? And the para's were pretty highly trained, so you can't say they wouldn't have the technical capability to operate German weaponry. What does everyone think?

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by s bakker: Right, a pound is one quarter of a kilogram, 250 gram. Thus the 17-pounder shell would weigh 4,25 kg. Trust the brits to have an offbeat reference system. Tom is right about the calibers ..... but i always thought the 25 pounder was 88 mm. grtz. S Bakker <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I know. I know. Nothing easy like your feet and inches and miles. eh?

I've played 3 games fully through and have managed to win total victories each time. Once as the Axis player in Last Defence ( I didn't lose a tank and took out all three Hellcats in the first turn that they appeared on top of the hill). Once as the Americans attacking Reisberg. And in the last game as the Germans defending Reisberg the whole of the American force surrendered! I took out all four Shermans (2 by an 88, one a panzerschreck and one a panzerfaust). The AI got the Americans to mill about around the road and to their left a bit whilst I used up all my 88HE and mortar ammo blasting them. I swung a pltn out right and attacked their left flank which was uncovered and counter-attacked with my reserve pltn on the front right of Reisberg to eject an Allied foothold gained there. I had taken three units prisoner by then and around turn 27-28 the whole lot surrendered - Company HQ and everything. I don't have a 3d card yet so it takes ages to play one game (maybe 4-6 hours with horrible mouse lag) but I haven't been giving anything like a decent game yet by the AI. Is this a statistical fluke which will iron out when I get a 3d card and can play more games and will then get hammered or what? The fact that I play these four-hour games shows what a great game I think this is by the way.

I read an account of the battle for central Berlin (May 1945) where the last, die-hard Nazi troops were holed up in the big government buildings and were defending a canal. Many times the Russians tried to advance - with infantry and tanks - but the Germans were too well concealed in the purpose-built bunkers in the buildings and they were pushed back on each occasion. The Russians finally got over the bridge by putting a pot of burning oil onto the front deck of a tank and then driving it over the canal bridge. Each of the German AT crews thought that the other had knocked it out and it was able to get into cover on the other side of the canal and begin to undermine the defences.

Did I read that there are snipers? (Sharpshooters or whatever). This would be a good thing. As well as being good shots I think snipers had the sort of mental makeup which was required. i.e.; they could actually pull the trigger on another human being and not just blaze away in the general direction of the bad guys in a conscience-buffering manner. If this was the case then I would think that they made up a relatively high proportion of the combat strength of a unit for a single soldier. In that case they should be represented and be effective in CM. Anybody have any views on this?

My mouse behaves very oddly. It jumps around the screen and doesn't respond very well to movements. I can still play the game but it is sometimes quite difficult to click on a small unit. Is this just a speed issue? P233 - but no 3d card.