kmead

Grand Rapids, 2 pm. My wife actually called to tell me its arrived!

Actually as I recall it was the Sturmorser (sp) "Karl" and was mounted on a tracked carrier. The support veicles included Pz 4s with covered ammo racks and some with cranes to place the ammo on the firing platform. In reality the gun was not a mortar but a howitzer. The unit was very wide and had to be disassembled and moved on railcars. Hasegawa/Minicraft used to make a very detialed model of the unit. I believe they were mainly used in seige type actions Stalingrad/Lenningrad to pummel large areas. I am sure someone else will have better more accurate info, I gave all my books that covered WW2 to my dad... Karl Mead

38 (soon to join my 'older' wife in being 39), two boys: 5 and 3.5. Industrial/Product Designer by day, home remodeler, Fiat restorer, and occaissional game player by night. Long time wargamer that started with 1/32nd scale Britains (both lead and plastic) and transitioned to 1/72nd, all periods but with extreme emphasis on WW2 related recreations... Never enough time for all my hobbies...

Ron said: "Another thing I just had happen was the strange behavior of the Sherman 105 while targeting the AT bunker. I had screened the bunker with smoke and moved the tank around the bunker's flank, outside of it's covered arc. When the smoke cleared I targeted it with the Sherman but instead of firing the Sherman popped smoke and reversed away. Shouldn't the tank 'know' that it is safe to fire? The bunker had been fully spotted. I realize the chance of knocking out the bunker was rare/low but still it shouldn't be acting like it is threatened should it?" One might keep in mind that the Sherman is unlikely to know what the exact firing arc the pillbox has. You the all knowing war god do because of the way the game works. I would find it unreasonable to expect a tank to assume the gun could not target it. I mean they are driving around in a Ron(son) after all. Just because we know something and order an action does not mean that the unit absolutely will choose or be able to carry out an order. Karl

He who should not be named... Hmm sounds like Harry Potter...no wait this is CM forum(guess what books we've been reading to our 5 year old)

The answer to your question is: it will be in a patch after the release. We all were able to put our 2 cents in: in the interest of getting the game @ 6 weeks sooner we chose to get it as a patch after the final release. PBEM works well it just isn't quite as quick. Though one might argue that some of us may ruminate over our turns options more than others do so TCP may not hold any advantage beyond frustrating a fast player. It may give rise to a turn timer agreed on by both participants... Karl

Matt, is the the link to the 4th turn broken?

The answer to your first question is it will be in a patch after the release. We all were able to put our 2 centsin: in the interest of getting the game @ 6 weeks sooner we chose to get it as a patch after the final release. PBEM works well it just isn't quite as quick. Though one might argue that some of us may ruminate over our turns options more than others do so TCP may not hold any advantage beyond frustrating a fast player. It may give rise to a turn timer agreed on by both participants... Karl

I agree that a marker is needed, 1 body is a good compromise and no gore is very desireable. Consider that although a grave marker (rifle with helmet or other representation) may be a somewhat more palatable graphic representation of an awful reality, in the time span of a game 30-40 min of realtime, Graves and Registration would not have time to go around and bury all of the dead. So in the context of the game and timespan a body is probably the best compromise without adding gory details. Which I don't care to see either, and in the interests of ensuring that gore did not get easily introduced, not enabling another marker to be toggled in its place was a very good decision. JMHO Many thanks, Karl Mead

In my recollection of the last time this subject came up, Steve stated that deceleration was not depicted in the game. It was a question of fps and general processor speed/ability. This question came up because of the behavior of the hellcats which were capable of @50mph in Last Defence ripping down the hill and coming to a halt. Factors in not including it were traction of the surface driven on, different speed capabilities of various vehicles and that it really doesn't make any substantive difference in the way the game plays. So no its not in, but we all agree it would make great eye candy along with brake dive, porpoising (nose lift on acceleration) and rocking back and forth after stopping, not to mention suspension compression under gun recoil and any of a number of the manifestations of real objects and the laws of physics...

I thought of two books which are fun reads with some application to matters at hand. Boht may be rather hard to find. Sands of Fire by Robert L Crisp. A recount of his experience as a British M3 Stuart commander in the Western Desert after or around El Alamain (sp). One particularly vivid ambush by a German unit against his platoon will forever stick in my mind. As well as the description of how he got rid of the 'crabs' he caught from a purlioned pair of silk pajamas... Pub @1960. I read it @1972. Probably more appropriate when CM covers North Africa... Tanks are Mighty Fine Things auth unknown. This book was published postwar or during the war and details the transition of the Chrysler automotive factory into the Detroit Arsonel in 1941 through the end of the war. Enjoyable rah rah read that doesn't to my recollection use too many ethnic slurs that were prevalent at the time.

Has anyone, besides me, done the folowing:a save during the game and then hit go, watch the movie. Then after the movie is done abort the scenario and reload the same turn with no changes hit go and watch the variations in the AI's repsonse. You might be surprised how many variations occur. Just another way to wile away the hours... Make sure the saved turn has lots of action. Karl

Expect little or no damage. Possible optics or maybe a slight chance of maingun damage but highly unlikely. Could damage the engine if a shot got into the intake or cooling (more likely on a Panther/Tiger with top openings) vents. Other areas of opportunity that a 50 might damage at close range would be the tracks and running gear. I would save the rounds for a HT or suppressing an MG. Karl Mead

I believe they will go Gold when its ready. I wnat them to deliver their vision of what they think is important in their game. I am a designer and I can't tell you how frustrating and it is to have others meddle with your creation in to mediocrity. I just worry that the more layered up the visuals become that the game will run too slowly on most users machines, if there are ways to adjust the level of rendering of detail for those of us wiht more plebian machines (as has been aluded to) I think it will be fine. In general I am satisfied with the general visuals in the demo game, they give me the feedback I need to make decsions. I don't have a G4 400 at home (several at work, and a few NTs) and I doubt my wife would be real happy with me sacrificing her new kitchen to the gaming gods... I think the game looks great in the latest interations and look forward to its eventual release, WHEN IT IS DONE, just as they state in the BTS manifesto. BTS is doing a great job please keep going as you are. Thanks Karl Mead

I'm glad to hear that shes doing well. My wife has been seeing too much of the inside of hospitals of late so you have my heartfelt sympathies. BTW thanks for all the great work on your website, its greatly appreciated.

I am sooooooooooooo very glad that I run a Mac!

M47's were used in Battle of the Bulge as I recall not having seen it in ten years or so and in Patton it was the M48A2 I believe which was a nice semi ironic touch. I haven't seen Patton since it was at the theaters in the 70's so the exact model variation might be different (not the A2)

Keep in mind that this is early BETA DEMO software, and is not in any way indicative of the quality of the final game's reliability. In over 4 months of playing I have had exactly 2 crashes. I have beta tested software several times in the past and have never seen something this stable and consistent early released to the public. So, please don't judge the game by the Beta Demo and issues that surround it. Instead base your decision on the quality and performance of the Gold Demo which will be released concurrently with the full game. Good Luck Karl Mead

I'm 38 and have been wargaming since I was 8 (no fooling) in various scales 1/32, 1/87, 1/285 on land sea and air with dimensional and flat games. My dad hooked me on it when I was young after seeing him prepare for and run a campaign against several of his friends in Ct. I expect that with this game I will continue for a good long time.

My wife is going to hate this game... I just saw the graphics and all of the eye candy in air attack, are you sure it will run on my iMac? [This message has been edited by kmead (edited 01-04-2000).]

Nobody here hates you, you had a rough start and you can be forgiven. Learn from the experience of others, there is a tremendous amount of info here on the forum, most of it accurate and all of it certainly heartfelt. As so many others have said to you and others delve into the archive and when you post make it worthwhile.

I just wanted to express my gratitude to Steve and Charles of BTS, Madmatt and Fionn for all of their work on Combat Mission, CMHQ and this board. I have spent many hours playing the demo game with great enjoyment and nearly as many reading the many posts on this board. I bought the game several months ago after looking at the site and reading some of the posts, the demo came as a complete surprise as I had stopped reading the board after placing my order. I have not been in the least disappointed, in fact was blown away by a piece of software that allowed me to wargame in a very effective way with almost no instruction in next to no time. I have waded through several of Atomic's products and many others and found myself just feeling bogged in their interface and not enjoying the experience of playing the game. When I was a child I read Little Wars by HG Wells and participated in battles staged by my father and some of his friends using WBritains figures and vehicles (as well as many handmade versions) and countless hours with my best friend Ben. This game is the first wargame that has captured the thrill of that experience from my youth. I have played many board games and some of their modern computerized renditions, but have until now sorely missed the intimate flow of small units tactics and the frustration attendant in my tactical failures and the reality of chance. What has been rendered here is wonderful, I anticipate many hours spent facing my opponents when the game is finally available. We have been a fine gift gratis, we should do our best to show our appreciation and also not get caught up in insignificant snits that have of late shadowed this forum. Thanks as well to the great many who have made valuable additions to its content and shame to those who have sullied it. Best Regards and thank you; Karl Mead