nijis

O-kay, second of two tries I got 531 Germany 136 Italy 694 total, with Low Countries, France, metropolitan Vichy, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Egypt, and Yugoslavia conquered in that order. Got bogged down in Greece. Rumania, Hungary, and Bulgaria all signed up for the fun. I think the real prize might be the Iraqi oil fields, but so far they elude me. I also tried an April Barbarossa to try and get a city or two, and pick up the Finnish MPPs on the cheap, but I declared war too late and got neither. Good challenge, this. It might also be worthwhile having a separate category for FOW on. That makes wiping out the British fleet in the Med, and the capture of Alex, substantially more difficult. [ May 27, 2002, 11:03 AM: Message edited by: nijis ]

Having tooled around the West Bank for most of the last week, I don't think the Palestinian forces have much in the way of RPGs, nor is the terrain in the West Bank necessarily RPG-friendly. According to an IDF infantry platoon leader who did house clearing in Jenin refugee camp, the alleys were too narrow for APCs. Infantry went in on foot, and only later did the bulldozers come in and clear lanes for the M113s. A Palestinian fighter in Hebron, which was not invaded, said that in the event of an Israeli incursion he would place butane gas cannisters in the street as anti-tank mines. I don't know how well that would work. It would also be difficult, I would think, to get an RPG into position to fire. Houses in much of the West Bank, outside the camps, are spaced relatively far apart, and there's little other cover. Helicopters are usually overhead, making it difficult to use the roof. I don't think the Palestinians have the command and control skills necessary to respond to Israeli movements. On a regular IDF patrol route, or an obvious invasion route into a town or camp, large explosive charges are cheaper, more effective, and don't give your position away. Maybe this one ought to go the general forum? [ April 16, 2002, 05:01 AM: Message edited by: nijis ]

The point was that even if you know that combat is going on, and even if you can hear rounds passing overhead - we could hear the machinegun rounds if not necessarily the rifle shots - I'm not sure that going to ground is a natural reaction. Admittedly, it might have been different had there been explosions, or had we seen someone get hit. As I understand it, mobs who are fired upon might run for cover, or run away, or sometimes in rare cases even attack, but don't lie down. Irregular troops, as I understand it, also sometimes don't go to ground. I recall that point being made in an account of how Afghani mujahideen fought that was quite widely circulated back in October, including on the board here. This is just a guess, but I'd imagine that going to ground is something that soldiers learn either in the kind of training that you'd get in today's basic, such as by crawling through wire with machineguns firing overhead, or you'd learn from the veterans in your squad. I'd not sure if you'd get that kind of training in WW1 or even WW2, but then I'm just guessing. [ February 07, 2002, 09:20 AM: Message edited by: nijis ]

Re green/conscript troops under fire, about a year ago I'm fairly sure that my wife and I were shot at a fellow firing a semi-automatic rifle from a hundred yards away or so. At the same time there was machinegun fire from an armored vehicle passing over our heads, which we knew was not aimed at us and which we'd gotten used to. When we realised someone was actually shooting at us we both stood around stupidly for quite a number of seconds before walking, not running, to the other side of the street, and the adrenaline didn't kick in until some time later. Neither of us had any military training, needless to say. Hitting the pavement I think would have seemed to us more dangerous - the risk of bruised elbows and what - than staying standing up. I wouldn't think that humans have any sort of instinctive reaction to gunfire. I know that one guy with one rifle isn't anything like a machinegun, but the stories of WWI troops walking blithely into gunfire because they can't think of anything else to do I find believable. [ February 06, 2002, 06:34 PM: Message edited by: nijis ]

Look, those are sick reactions, but it happens. The Palestinians have been on the receiving end of a fair number of American munitions lately. Lebanon has been hit by US-made munitions for well on three decades, including white phosphorous and cluster bombs, yet folks are still friendly to Americans. Don't let a few creeps on the TV make you want to wipe out a country. I can tell you that nobody seems to be dancing or shooting off firearms in the streets of Cairo. And there's a lot of Afghans that don't care for OBL and his Taliban hosts, too.

Pawbroon -- I know you weren't trying to point the finger at anyone, just describe a scenario. Again, sorry to get PC on you. It's just that a lot of folks with the wrong last names got their teeth kicked in after the first WTC and Oklahoma, and it would be a shame if that repeated.

I'm not trying to be a PC policeman at a time of national tragedy, but I'm not sure references to towelheads is particularly helpful right now. I'm sure plenty of Arabs and Muslims died in the bombings/hijackings. Those who committed this atrocity are almost certainly already dead. Finding out exactly who backed them is going to take some time, if we can find out at all. In response to the Nairobi bombings, which was much much smaller than this, we Tomahawked a medical plant in Sudan that turned out to most likely have had nothing to do with terrorism. There's no question that this is going to be worse than Pearl Harbor, but let's not unleash our vengeance on folks who had nothing to do with it.

Wa aleikum as salaam, Brother Babra. Of course, some scholars would say that the Islamically correct response is "Wa aleikum lots and lots of unsalaam until such time as you're treading water off Cyprus," but we'll not have that. On the topic of the Sinai, there's a story that when Sadat arrived in Jerusalem he greeted Golda Meir with a cheerful "Bonjour, Al Ubur!", Ubur meaning the Crossing, the Egyptian army's great feat of arms on 6 October. Golda was a little taken aback, but when Sadat was ready to return home she bid him off with a hearty "Bonsoir, Deversoir", a reference to the point at which Sharon had recrossed the Canal and kind of taken the luster off the original victory. Don't know if it works in translation but it sometimes gets a chuckle over here. Anyway, if you know any scenarios where one side gets to cross a water barrier on assault boats and smash up a bunch of pillboxes, or anything remotely similar, I think it's just crying out for a rematch.

I stand bitch-slapped and shame-faced. I assume, however, that posts which offer themed abuse of individuals are pool-safe, as in, Incorrect: Long live the heroic Palestinian people and their drooling incontinent leadership!/May the flame of Zion burn brighter than a match held up to the butt of a diner at Shlomo MacKenzie's Felafel Emporium! Correct: Babra's undergarments see more colonizers than the Jericho valley casino on weekends/I cut through Nijis' defense like a Merkava through toddlers Anyway, it all ain't worth the tsouris. [ 04-24-2001: Message edited by: nijis ]

My apologies, just out trolling for abuse. But I guess it's wiser to keep the points more specific to individual poolers and/or their squires/pets/bodily fauna rather than potentially politically charged topics. So tsod off, all of you.

What's with the creeping Zionism on Formerly Trollop's sig? Jihad is for kids! It's for moms! For pops! It's the ultimate family activity. Because if you don't do it, you won't be left any place to raise your family. "The Israelis think they're pretty hot, but actually they're a fourth-rate army fighting seventh-rate armies." Marine commander in Lebanon, shortly after his troops were shelled by the IDF (paraphrased, and possibly misattributed, because I don't have the source handy, but I'm pretty sure that's close.) Astaghfarallah Al-Azeeeeem. Pause. Al-Raheeeem.

Try this: http://www.ludd.luth.se/users/silver_p/rus.html I assume that this stuff isn't protected by copyright. If so it would be quite an irony. [ 04-22-2001: Message edited by: nijis ]

Lorak, some days ago I won a victory over dalem that was one of those infantry-vs-infantry attack Frog vs. Fat Boy affairs. Nothing remarkable. I shall save the rant for our rematch, after I've handed him the baseball bat and jumped into the bucket to win the kind of upset victory that will gladden the heart of amphibians everywhere. But nonetheless, record: Nijis: Whop! Splash! Ploosh! dalem: Croak. In other news, PeterNZer, despite having demonstrated all the tactical finesse of a Cape buffalo on a PCP rush, has at last battered his way into the flag areas and will probably pick up some sort of victory. Meanwhile, the hotel which Sir Ogspiffle sent his prized flame halftrack over to inspect turned out to be hosting a bazookanists' convention, affording me an easy early kill. Marpits, for his part, will shortly see some ominous silhouettes coming to do him harm from out of the blowing snow.

For those that missed my absence, and they are no doubt as few as they are elect, I am happy to announce that I am back from a short tour of the Balkans. While the natives are hopelessly imprecise in their speech -- I was forever having to correct people who were blathering on about "snipers" up the street when in fact they meant "sharpshooters", or in many cases "slivovitz-addled wideshooters" -- I was impressed by the spirit of mutual goodwill and respect for one's neighbor, at least compared to how it is around here. Anyway, in addition to my safe and triumphant return, I have other good news to report. MR. LORAK! Nijis -- In possession of the field of battle OGSF -- Much-whupped south side last seen scurrying northward as though all the blackbirds of Kosovo Polye had mistaken it for a Serbian knightly eyeball In other news, PeterNZer the UbertankUser is discovering that there's more to an assault than driving a King Tiger back and forth in front of my lines, hoping for me to panic. Dalem, meanwhile, while he may or may not grasp the principle that Loose Lips Sink Ships, almost certainly now understands that Holes in Minefields allow in Undesirables.

BTS implemented assault boats. If the AI can't handle sewer movement or trench systems or armored car dismounts or whatever, I wouldn't think that would automatically mean excluding them for use by human players. ------------------ "I can't listen to music too often... It makes me want to say kind, stupid things, and pat the heads of people... But now you have to beat them on the head, beat them without mercy." V. I. Lenin

Lorak! I done did in a dalem. Thas' right... Nijis - The Cesspuddlian Order of Victory, with oak leaves, clusters, and high-fiber additives, plus two nostril hairs and a toe-nail as the ears and tail seem to have already been taken. Dalem -- The Bronze Turd of Good Sportsmanship. Dalem launched a carefully planned attack, skillfully using the cover of woods and slopes to advance close to his objectives undetected before taking them in a daring rush, against the side of the map with no flags on it. Anyway, we'll meet again in a pair of infantry-on-infantry slugfests in upcoming weeks. Speaking of same, my little pied-a-pied with MacStompie is going well, a careful combination of assault and bombardment sending his men into "masterful orderly withdrawals under fire," as he so quaintly puts it. PeterNZ, meanwhile, has been kind enough to demonstrate the perils of the alternative approach by staging little Somme reenactments up and down my line. ------------------ "I can't listen to music too often... It makes me want to say kind, stupid things, and pat the heads of people... But now you have to beat them on the head, beat them without mercy." V. I. Lenin

I haven't quite slogged my way through the whole terminology debate here, so please excuse me if I'm talking out of my ass, but while maneuver warfare as Pillar described it round about page 5 of this thread might be a concept worthy of a military history dissertation or two, it doesn't work in CM because in CM the only way to destroy the opponent's will to fight is through attrition. CM scenarios where pure maneuver would work -- say the capture of Cherbourg, where if the allies get a tank to the gate they win the game -- are the result of lots of stuff that can't be modelled in a tactical context, and wouldn't be much fun in competitive contests. Maybe in CM3 they'll model the effect where two Mark Is in the back half of the board gives a morale hit to any troops from the green Ninth Army (notice I didn't use the generic "French"). But in CM as it stands, if you don't shoot they don't rout. ------------------ "I can't listen to music too often... It makes me want to say kind, stupid things, and pat the heads of people... But now you have to beat them on the head, beat them without mercy." V. I. Lenin [This message has been edited by nijis (edited 02-23-2001).]

I would suggest a scoring method borrowed from Diplomacy and from Avalon Hill's War At Sea/Victory in the Pacific series, among others -- start counting VPs from flags at some point before the game ends. Instead of a big flag being worth 300 points at the end of the game, have it be worth 30 points per turn held for each of the last ten turns, for example. That rewards both staying power as well as an attacker who can mount a swift and efficient assault. It would also represent abstractly the length of time you need to hold a hill for the rest of the regiment to transit the valley. If the game ends early, via either the current system or Close Combat-style mutual exhaustion or whatever, then the flag-holder should of course get credit for each turn that the game would have lasted, had it gone to its natural length. ------------------ "I can't listen to music too often... It makes me want to say kind, stupid things, and pat the heads of people... But now you have to beat them on the head, beat them without mercy." V. I. Lenin [This message has been edited by nijis (edited 02-23-2001).]

What? Deport me from Pengland, when I've been busy toiling away and keeping my mouth shut like a good resident alien? And I had not yet had the chance to pay my respects to the tomb of Hajj Mohammed Hitler, who is well known to us from Radio Berlin's Arabic service. I have taken such trouble to learn the local customs here, and like my compatriate Hani Ramzi, formerly or perhaps currently of the Bremen footballing club, I am always ready to greet my neighbors and colleagues with a hearty Heil as a token of friendship and respect. Truly, this is no way to treat a guest. PS: When is Rommel coming to Cairo? He was due some time ago to remove the British but they're still around, as is their snooker, their Hash House Harriers, their Pims and their G and Ts, and all their other filthy Zionist Freemason pastimes and phenomena. ------------------ "I can't listen to music too often... It makes me want to say kind, stupid things, and pat the heads of people... But now you have to beat them on the head, beat them without mercy." V. I. Lenin [This message has been edited by nijis (edited 02-10-2001).]

An amusing little AI effect, that may or may not have come up before. A platoon of Germans, entrenched in a patch of woods, is under fire from infantry to their front and from tanks to their flank. A squad bolts from its foxhole and runs about 20 meters for cover to the rear edge of the woods, where it starts coming under fire from the tanks. It decides it doesn't much like that, and bolts back to its foxhole, but on arrival is shot at by the infantry, and heads back to the edge of the woods, and so on, and so on. On its second or third round trip it's joined by a second squad, and back and forth they go. ------------------ "I can't listen to music too often... It makes me want to say kind, stupid things, and pat the heads of people... But now you have to beat them on the head, beat them without mercy." V. I. Lenin

Mister Lorak, please be advised of the following qb result: nijis - win PeterNZer - loss It was fine sport. After swiftly disposing of his Panthers, we cheerly pursued his infantry over hill and dale as hearty antipodean lads might pursue a coy ewe. I believe I also reported a victory against Croda a week or so back that failed to get Tomed properly. In other news, after spending nearly half the game contemplating what fine victory flags we'd managed to procur without so much as fraying an earlobe, we have at last caught sight of the elusive dalem, and have begun conducting field observations. We are now testing its reaction to mortar fire, and we'll hopefully be able to submit a report to the Cesspuddlian Geographical Society on its capacity to charge uphill through a crossfire. In less happy news, MacStompie the alphabet guy, who seems to accumulate surnames faster than a third-rate Circassian Mamluke, appears to have repulsed my final counterattack. A real game for the ages it was. He learned that packing your troops in three squads to the tile in a grove of trees might not be the wisest idea if the other guy's got mortars. I learned that it's probably a good idea to put your big guns on the same side of the map where the flags are. ------------------ "I can't listen to music too often... It makes me want to say kind, stupid things, and pat the heads of people... But now you have to beat them on the head, beat them without mercy." V. I. Lenin

Beautiful screenshots, but as someone who's spent a fair amount of time puttering around the Western Desert I think they might be a little bit too beautiful for coastal North Africa, which are largely unattractive gravel plains. You don't see too much of that lovely drifting sand, although it's certainly there in some parts. You do get some spectacular rock outcroppings, normally with a whole bunch of sand piled up around the base. Other things you might find are escarpments, wadis, olive groves (particularly in Tunisia -- probably scattered trees), and prickly pear hedgerows. Buildings I think would probably be white-washed mud or occasionally rock, sometimes domed. I'm supposed to be going to Siwa oasis in a week or two, and I could take and post some pictures of the Alamein area and of traditional houses if anyone's interested. ------------------ "I can't listen to music too often... It makes me want to say kind, stupid things, and pat the heads of people... But now you have to beat them on the head, beat them without mercy." V. I. Lenin

Some grim news from the front. Having somehow switched my tanks' ammo loads for shipments of rubber-coated Play-Shells, the lawyer formerly known as Morse has did indeed mop up the last surviving remnants of my forces, and is now cheerfully violating the Geneva Convention. Marpits meanwhile continues to roll up my line after having unhinged it by means of that notoriously cheap and gamey tactic, the flanking maneuver. But all is not lost. PeterNZ is now one Panther short of a Pair O' Panthers. And Cruddy the Ruddy Duck-Chucker has at last given up his fruitless assault on my hilltop position and is waddling off to obloquy. Mr. Lorak, if you please, take note! ------------------ "I can't listen to music too often... It makes me want to say kind, stupid things, and pat the heads of people... But now you have to beat them on the head, beat them without mercy." V. I. Lenin

Happy New Year from Jerusalem, all. As far as we're aware the Messiah did not walk through St. Stephen's gate tonight. Hope that's relevant to everybody's eschatological scenarios. In the meantime, everybody enjoy the world in its present phase. Cheers. ------------------ "I can't listen to music too often... It makes me want to say kind, stupid things, and pat the heads of people... But now you have to beat them on the head, beat them without mercy." V. I. Lenin

dalem -- I welcome your friendship about as much as the local mosque would welcome a gift-wrapped case of Wild Turkey, a year's subscription to Commentary, and the video edition of Babe. I would sooner pass the time with leprous evangelical meth freaks. However, I am in need of additional material for my doctoral research into despair, humiliation, and utter abject sense of helplessness in the face of inevitable defeat, and I haven't received a post from Croda recently. (JDRackupmorstinkin'deadfireflies, Mardepths, and MacStompie are being less than cooperative in this regard). So you will be receiving a set-up shortly. PS: Apologies in advance to meth freaks who can sit still, evangelicals who can put together a coherant argument, and pretty much all categories of lepers. ------------------ "I can't listen to music too often... It makes me want to say kind, stupid things, and pat the heads of people... But now you have to beat them on the head, beat them without mercy." V. I. Lenin [This message has been edited by nijis (edited 12-29-2000).] [This message has been edited by nijis (edited 12-30-2000).]