nijis

This is just a guess, but what I imagine the shells represent is not the total number of ammo that the battery has, but the amount of claim that the FO has on the battery's resources, including both ammo and time. Hence, whatever ammo the battery fires, you're asking them to devote to you scarce resources that are needed for other battles, prep bombardments, counter-battery, etc. Or I could be totally wrong.

Editor of an English-language newspaper in Egypt/specialist in stagnant military dictatorships and hopelessly divided and coopted opposition movements. Hence, the attraction to WW2 and other periods of history where Great and Momentous S**t Happened. Ta'alla sharafna fi ard Al Azhar, ya Chris.

Thomm -- It was from BTS's response to the UPS/USPS thread: "The only other service that is available is through the USPS (general Post Office), but the problem with that is it isn't available to all cities in all countries. This is not something we are set up to deal with since each city has to be looked up and then priced accordingly. In short, shipping around the world stinks. We are looking into having at least European shipping capabilities, but this isn't likely to happen until late summer." I'd read this to mean that while shipping time might be 10 days, BTS might not be able to choose a shipper for some time, particularly if you don't live in one of the big cities. This might only be in reference to express shipping, however. Nijis [This message has been edited by nijis (edited 05-18-2000).]

Sorry if I'm asking a question that has already been answered, but I understood, or perhaps misunderstood, from an earlier thread that BTS won't be shipping to Europe and beyond until late summer. If this is true, I can arrange to have my preorder shipped to a third party, but I'd like to know if I have to make such arrangements. [This message has been edited by nijis (edited 05-18-2000).]

I take it from BTS's answer that if one is living in Africa, one is not going to see the game any time soon? I pre-ordered, and would gladly pay the $60 or $70 extra to have it shipped here via Federal Express or DHL, but if it can't happen, it can't happen. [This message has been edited by nijis (edited 05-17-2000).]

I once had the Tiger in LD lose its main gun to what could only have been a 60mm mortar shell. I understand mortars have been weakened versus armor, but this might only refer to their ability to knock out open-top vehicles.

I can commiserate with CDIC on Third World servers. My original estimated download time was 313 hours at 23 bytes per second, which was adjusted to six hours as the server picked up speed. Now that shipping draws near, my only fear is that military intelligence will impound the game and refer me to a state security court for Conspiracy to Unlawfully Simulate Combat for the Edification of Anti-State Elements. But at least I know that BTS are the kind of class guys who would submit an affidavit on my behalf.

It's a pity that this kind of stuff happens to interesting historical threads, even if they do get a bit O/T. Wargaming and military history only work when you can look at war, a pretty emotive subject to begin with, in as value-free a way as possible. Re, other gay unit arrangements in history, I recall hearing somewhere that the household Companions had a similar arrangement to the Sacred Band, at least after Alexander assumed the kingship. It wasn't linked couples, but individual troopers were encouraged to take lovers from among the ranks. That might just be revisionist history, however. And of course, we have the SA. [This message has been edited by nijis (edited 05-15-2000).]

Steve, uh, that wasn't actually a question. I spent years playing Squad Leader and I'd feel I'd gotten my money's worth if the game just simulated M4s, M16s, M3s, Priests, 75mm StuGs, 105mm StuGs, Mark IVs, Brummbars, and infantry weapons (anything else other than the Russian stuff? I forget) with only four possible maps. The gameplay is the rub. Just sort of a satirical exercise, was all. Cheers.

"The white phosphorous was thick on the battlefield that day, mixed with the smoke from the Ami infantry's grenades. Nonetheless, through the haze I could spot a Sherman at 300 meters distance as it lumbered over a hedgerow. Its belly was exposed--a perfect target. Luckily our rocket section, trained in the art of long-ranged direct fire, had decimated the American infantry. I seized my Panzerschreck and sprinted through the haze, identifying and avoiding the enemy's kill zones by the fallen bodies of my comrades. I threw myself prone in a spot of soft, beachlike sand. Although the tank was obscured 90 percent by an intervening building, I was able to polish it off with a single round." Pik De Taile Obscure Moments of the Second World War

Ignore post. Many apologies. [This message has been edited by nijis (edited 05-01-2000).]

Um, if anyone wants to get back to the original Panther/Tiger thing, a previous thread, if I recall, concluded that the Tiger is up on the Panther in terms of 1) flank armor and 2) HE shell effectiveness. The Panther wins in terms of 1) front armor 2) penetration 3) mobility 4) turret rotation speed. It's also my understanding that the Germans still continued to think of the Tiger as qualitatively superior to all other tanks, at least through the Normandy battles, and organized them into independent fire-brigade style battalions. Hence, Wittmann (sp?) commanded a Tiger, not a Panther. Does anyone know why this is the case? Is it mechanical reliability? Crew comfort? Hitler had a grudge against the Panther after the early models let him down at Kursk? Elite crews had a year's additional experience with the Tiger, and therefore were more effective in it, making the Tiger the armored equivalent of the QWERTY keyboard? Or does flank armor and anti-infantry stuff make all the difference? [This message has been edited by nijis (edited 04-27-2000).] [This message has been edited by nijis (edited 04-27-2000).]

That would be the dread CCIII virus that Atomic has been rumored to have preparing. Be vigilant, keep your anti-virus programs up to date, or we'll only have a month or so to play CM before the butt-charge becomes the AI's standard tactical doctrine. "Soldiers of the Wehrmacht! Our Fuhrer has instructed us to hold at all costs! Not a single step in retreat will be taken! You may, however, twirl around in place if you wish to. (signed) MODEL Field Marshal" [This message has been edited by nijis (edited 04-09-2000).]

This is probably not going to be terribly helpful to anyone, but three weeks ago I picked up a used paperback edition, with little hand-drawn sketches of all the weapons mentioned, at a bookstore in front of the American University in Beirut for the equivalent of about $5. They had a bunch in stock. The owner said that it was apparently quite a best-seller in Lebanon about a decade ago. But I guess the new generation doesn't really relate in the same way. If I'd known the book was a collector's item I'd have bought the whole lot of them. [This message has been edited by nijis (edited 04-03-2000).]

Re Lee's point, on the accuracy of rifles versus MGs. Is this modelled by CM? Does MG firepower have more chance of suppressing versus killing, or is all firepower the same? This may have been answered before, but I haven't had any success with the search function. I apologize to all the forum vets if I'm going over old ground.

My high school history teacher was a Vietnam vet. Personally, I'd quite like to see BTS some time down the road do a Mideast version. I live in Egypt, and I've been trying to get folks interested in wargaming for some time. The military's got a high presence here (hell, they run the place) and are always trumpeting their "victory" of 1973, but people have very little understanding of what actually happened. Particularly the generation born since 1973, particularly the rich kids -- they're more likely to be the sons of the brass of the wars than of the field officers and troops, and they're also more likely to get out of military service. Egyptian vets are not encouraged to share their experiences; instead, the military puts out an endless series of pageants, movies, and documentaries carefully edited to give the impression that you run up a sand dune, plant a flag, and the Israelis surrender. '48 was only a defeat because we had defective rifles; 67 only happened because we weren't given a chance to fight; etc. Given the barrage of propaganda combat could be terrifying and unpleasant simply does not occur to people -- audiences in Private Ryan thought the beach scene was a comedy, and were laughing all the way through. Anyway, I've tried to get folks interested in wargaming via Steel Panthers and TOAW -- "See? This is how you guys crossed the canal!" -- but the format (hexes, top-down views and unit symbols) simply isn't engaging. CM would be. Of course, I might have a hard time explaining why every Egyptian infantry unit isn't related "elite," and why one RPG team can't stop a battalion of Israeli tanks. But I'd sure be grateful if I got a chance to try.

Um, is there any way of actually telling if one is hull-down to a given target, other than skedaddling across the board to that target and looking at yourself from the target's perspective? Not that I don't trust my eyesight, but sometimes it's nice to have a little text confirmation. I assume the "hull down" that comes up when you press "T" and put the cursor over the bad tanks means that it is hull down to you. I'm sure this question has been asked and answered before, but I couldn't find it by searching. Begging everyone's forgiveness in advance...

Glad to hear of the interest of a modern CM some time in the not-so-distant future. I would love to see Fionn apply his expertise to exotic armors, particularly with regard to infantry weapons. Hezbollah has a website in which there's an essay on taking out a Merkava with TOW missiles. Apparently you plink it once to set off the reactive armor, then once again in the identical spot to get through. One scenario I'd quite like to try would be a platoon of M1A2s versus as many motivated irregular infantry, equipped with whatever kinds of AT weapons your friendly neighborhood rogue state could acquire, as the game engine could handle, in moderately infanty-friendly terrain. Any thoughts on how that might come out?