not here

Pathetic newbie scum.

I think the invasion/defense of Singapore would be a must-have scenario. All the combined arms you want (if you're Japanese). I don't recall what, if any, British armor was present, but there were some great heroic stands of infantry vs. light armor.

Able Baker Charlie Dog Easy Fox George How Item Jig King Love Mike Nan Oboe Peter Queen Roger Sugar Tare Uncle Victor William X-ray Yoke Zebra http://www.nor.com.au/community/sarc/phonetic.htm Interesting. This site lists several variants as well as German and other languages- it does not identify any as official Wehrmacht, though.

Sound advice from Fionn and Major Tom. I have been trying to use these, more on intuition than formal statistics, for some time now, with some success. One small tactical question: How do you really know when you've truly achieved hull-down vis-a-vis a certain (enemy) location? The number 1 view has a peculiar center for armored vehicles- as you increment forward, it comes out of the muzzle and seems to drop to the ground. You can't really use this view until you've reached the actual coordinate, either, and then it may be too late. The #5 overhead fails to show enough terrain subtlety to pick the spot, either. I am never sure when I have just enough hull "up" to sight and fire, without exposing more of the vehicle than absolutely necessary. As a result, I often pick a spot that seems just a little too exposed and Hunt up to it, hoping the TC will react on his own. (He usually does- but if you're not sure where the enemy is, this is a risky strategy- they might see you first}. I wish I could choose my parking place as accurately as the real commander could! Is there a trick for this?

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Trust me I am a programmer<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Well, you've not only got some good ideas, but a sense of humor It's clear a polite "thanks, but no thanks" is being offered up here. I don't think BTS needs or wants the help to make their release date or to build their library of vehicles. I do like the idea of a custom vehicle contest, with winning designs being included in future releases (and that should be reward enough). You could get some good publicity, and maybe rope a few more graphics types who are borderline wargamers, into the fold. It would also help build the sense of community that CM seems to foster. Trust me... I'm in Marketing

...and will smoke be affected by wind speed and direction?

The US certainly trains for winter operations, but the northern troops adapt more readily. Training and prep is everything. On training and evaluation maneuvers in Germany we had a nasty winter storm near the Czech border (Grafenwoehr, for those who've been). Joining 3AD for the fun was an armored unit from the California National Guard. They showed up with smiles and suntans. The temp fell into single digits (F) and the snow flew. I have never felt so sorry for anyone who made me laugh as much. They froze- they crashed- they were utterly clueless and unprepared (they left bottled beer out at night to keep it cold- a sort of slow grenade in that weather). I watched one M60A1 try to pull another out of a hull-down position where it was stuck. As the track spun on the steep, frozen hillside, the second M60 slid in the hole to join the first with a loud clang. A humongous M88 recovery vehicle was called to the scene. It huffed, puffed, and finally threw a track. What a target for a HIND to stumble across! Those who want to free bogged tanks in a 30 minute scenario should have been there. The evaluation Major I was driving laughed til he couldn't take it anymore- and then ordered me to CS the whole unhappy crew. "Good training" was the phrase of the day (the grenade bounced off the back deck of one of the tanks and rolled pretty much into the middle of the clusterf**k, spewing a white cloud of teargas, while the NG stared at it with curiousity). Bad day in the snow.

BTS has said that the 'faust routine has been tweaked. The only times I have seen them work is when there no other targets available to the unit, and the tank is right in front of them. Come to think of it, I think the vehicle must be turning a flank or rear as well- can't recall seeing any frontal shots with a 'faust. I have two 'faust kills on Shermans that I know of- one just yesterday in Riesberg- the Sherman drove down the main road and turned 90 degrees in front of the first house on the German right of the road. The hidden squad apparently couldn't resist the engine noise and the juicy, unmissable target. You could see the backblast, but there was no launcher tube visible.

Thought provoking topic. This got me started thinking about dummy tanks- what a cool thing to model! There were certainly many occasions where dummy tanks and cannon were used to deceive the enemy in WWII. In prepared positions, actual vehicle hulks were used for the purpose, often with logs or pipe for cannon. If they were effective for that, actual KO'd vehicles would certainly be confusing on the battlefield, unless blazing. There were also instances on the Eastern Front of abandoned tanks, whose weapons were still serviceable, being taken over and converted to pillboxes by infantry. Generally I agree that we get too much information on the damage we cause enemy vehicles now. On the main gun KO issue, I would add that a main gun can be wasted without visible indications- and this may have been more common than catastrophic and visible damage. It wouldn't take much of a dimple or bend in the tube (or hairline fracture) to render the gun unserviceable, but you couldn't tell by looking from a range of 50m. Even the crew couldn't always tell, 'til they tried to fire the next round...

I've gotten to really like sharpshooters- after I learned to use them the way Fionn said- just leave them alone. They usually know what to do, and when they do nothing there is usually a reason for it. In the Riesberg I'm playing right now, the guy has fired 5 rounds total (currently turn 19). For that, I got one TC and caused another tank to button; both Shermans were subsequently killed by other squads (one 'faust, one 'schreck). Those are kills I probably wouldn't have gotten on unbuttoned, commanded tanks. The sniper was running on autopilot and I call that a pretty good return on investment, for 5 7.92mm rounds. He has also suppressed a mortar squad pretty much on his own. I wonder if some folks having consistent trouble with snipers are finding them good LOSs and unhiding them at the right times? This go, I'm very lucky in that there's not much incoming in the sniper's direction. They take a long time to acquire a moving target and some suppression fire forces them to start over.

For the record, the AI also seems a little too willing attack piecemeal. If it has to rush across open, defended spaces, for example, it will often send individual squads one after the other, rather than rushing in groups. (Once I had it launch a grand charge across the open and it was impressive). This isn't a case of using the other squads for supporting fire- it looks more as though they rush as they become available (ie, reach the treeline). Still a pretty crafty AI compared to some others I've seen.

I hope overly pink Americans will not find this thread offensive. Is there a place that describes the actual process of inserting textures into CM? It looks like coolcolj is working on them already. I'm no hacker, but I spend a lot of time with Paint Shop Pro and other graphics apps, and I find the idea of custom textures fascinating. Also, if you create custom textures, etc., how would they work in a PBEM? Do both sides see the same character set? Would my custom guys appear on both machines with the enemy's custom guys (probably he would have to load the bmp files separately)? This may be a little premature but others seem to know a fair amount about it. If there's a detailed discussion of this please point me to it.

Me too, right after Chance Encounter. I didn't need the extra convincing, just an inherent procrastinator. Amazingly my old friend Ed the Dinosaur, meticulous collector of period memorabilia, may actually buy his first-ever PC because of my glowing descriptions of CM. So I'll be committed to a lifeime of tech support.

Zamo: I mentioned Wake up around post #8, and it would be great. A what iffer ground invasion of Oahu would be kind of trick, too (I think there was one in Perfect General). BillWood: Nomonhan is a brilliant suggestion (long as we're dreaming)! I'm kind of a Russo-Japanese aficionado, and round 2, The Bear's Revenge, would be ideal for CM. Very nasty. I don't get around Gameland as much as some here, but I have never seen a Nomonhan scenario anywhere. Of course I would cheerfully settle for a 4th demo (just a little skirmish, mind you) any time before 25 DEC. Gotta a couple long flights to kill!

"...given the choice of owning a KT or a M1A1 for personal use, the choice is VERY clear..." Let's see, M1A1 gets something like 1.83 gallons to the mile. It does have some body styling, but it's hard on bridges and tough to park. And at 4.3 mil or more (depending on option package) they're a little spendy. Plus no classic plates. Fahrvergnuegen rules.