not here

>i thought tanks didn`t use smoke to make smoke screens often I always thought it was to block los from a target to engage at other targets Right... trouble is, if you designate a smoke target for the main gun, that's all you get for the next 60 seconds. Sometimes they seem to fire just once, others 2 or 3 rounds (probably related to the pause built in by other externals). One or two reasonably accurate smoke rounds, and the LOS mission is usually accomplished. Next target?

For the record, I'm not that concerned about the crew issue though I do have an opinion on it. I certainly don't take offense easily. Now somebody please close this thread, the flies are getting in. >Well, what goes around comes around Gotcha last? Sheesh.

Someday, I'd like to see an extended order capability for tanks. After all, they had radios (except Russkis). I'd like to issue an order that says "Gimme a couple smoke rounds in front of that MG in the treeline, then fire HE at the little stone building". This would basically be a little macro for the guy, who of course would abandon it at his discretion if a threat came up. It would be nice to specify: Fire at this- then move there- then fire at that. I think this would simulate the guidance that a CO would issue a tank platoon over the wireless.

Dale H.: It's after you've run for cover and found it that the crew issue gets interesting. You have at least the same armament as the schreck team (though SS's original dilemma was with a bazooka and a pinned MG)and theoretically more people. 4 pistols against two- another Friday night at the crack house, happens here all the time. I think it quite likely that you WOULD be mad as hell at the schreckmeister, and once calmed down you might do the math above. You don't know what a 16 year old Volksgrenadier with dreams of glory might be up to with HIS pistol, and doing nothing would be downright stupid in close proximity to an armed enemy. These hypothetical anecdotes really prove nothing. Both BTS and Fionn have conceded that SS's move was not gamey (though a poor strategy for a campaign). I believe there is historical precedent for crews continuing to fight in some capacity on foot, and will try to find some. I wonder if the friendly AI ever has the crews fire at targets of opportunity? Come to think of it, that stunt old Sgt. York pulled with his Springfield in WWI was kind of gamey.

Fionn must have had a day like mine yesterday. You can only take so many angry trouble calls until it affects you on some level. But I don't think this thread is a problem- now for my .02: As an armored crewman I was trained in infantry tactics FIRST, and rather extensively so. The drill sergeant would ask: "Trooper, why I am I training tankers to be infantry?" "Because if anything happens to this vehicle you ARE infantry!". Then they issued me a .45, a submachine gun, and grenades. The drill sergeant (at Fort Knox in the late seventies, armor had basic and advanced combined, 16 weeks with the same beloved Drill from beginning to end)never failed to remind us that our obligation for losing the taxpayers' M60 was to contribute to the ground war in any other way we could. Now I have few illusions about what 4 or less guys could do with pistols and grease guns. But the intent was there, and assuming you found yourself in relatively good shape after the tank got whacked, it would be highly reasonable to do something about a hostile within 40 meters. Granted you would need some time to collect your wits and gear and clean out your shorts. But if an infantry officer happened by and you were sitting by the side of the road with your thumb in a dark place, I think you would be "drafted" into some kind of conmbat role pretty quickly. How effectively is up to the dice... CM represents total war on a local basis and I say use every asset you've got, KEEPING in mind the risk/benefit associated with committing a low-capability, high point value crew.

Someone asked about Three Kings- it was really very good. Definitely action/adventure, though it turns into something more... Thin Red Line was one of the worst movies I ever rented. The mumbling, depressing voice over droned me into oblivion... just awful. Reminiscent of the "horror" business from Apocalypse Now, which gets unfairly good reviews because of the chopper/Ride of the Valkyries scene. Midway had some great scenes, but as a movie suffered from a sort of disjointed, rambling narrative style that made it hard for audiences to follow. It may have been trying to cover too much ground (ocean)? The coolest scene was on the bridge, as the brass discusses strategy over the charts, with the Zero visible in the window behind them growing bigger... and bigger... And Full Metal Jacket- someone nailed it when they said the boot camp was great, the rest, crap. Exactly.

A great ra-rah flick from the period was Operation:Burma with Errol Flynn. Haven't seen it in a long time, but it made the jungle look hot, dirty, and dangerous. You rarely saw the Japs, just the casualties.

First, the drooling is quite justified. The LCD worked great until I swapped back to the presentation computer. It was... indescribable. I should qualify for VFW membership based on the experience. Re: my windows/DOS settings, I guess this really is a windows support issue (hah, hah). This is precisely my surmise; but I have no idea what really controls the display size in DOS. I am not using custom cursor controls- read about that already. It's curious that the windows display settings are OK, running at 1024x768 just fine, but that something's changed for DOS. One of the Windows troubleshooter's steps was to try running the DOS application from the DOS mode. I tried this, but received an error message when I entered the .exe, that this app couldn't be run from DOS. Does CM require windows in the "background", as it were?

I'll take HTML or printed anyday, over Adobe. What's the point of an electronic format you can't (easily) copy text from? In a fat format to boot? I was impressed with the ease of switching between the demo and its manual (though IIRC, you could only do so in the "Plot" phase). I'm not sure a printed manual matters- but a COMPLETE manual matters. This was one of SP's greatest failings. Formula: Start with the definition- go from the general to the particular- examples last. If this manual is half as good as the demo, it will be the best manual in the business, too.

This game (CM) was running great, both on my home system and my IBM380Z Thinkpad (PII-300, NeoMagic 256AV, Win 98, 64Mb RAM). Then a bad thing happened. I connected to an external InFocus LP425 LCD projector. This does not reset the onboard resolution in any way that I know of, I just send the video external. Since that connection, CM displays in a very coarse, full-screen mode that does not work correctly. Alt-X brings up the Exit, Yes/No screen, but then the cursor disappears, and the only out is Ctrl-Alt-Del. The map "tears" with cursor movement exposing text beneath. On booting or exiting windows, the evil empire flag ("Windows is shutting down...")also displays in what appears to be an outsized 800x600 or even 640v480 display, though it is ful screen. I normally run 1024x768. Since this began I have installed the IBM update to NeoMagic, DirectX 7, and reinstalled the demo, all to no avail. I have searched for driver conflicts and run all system tools- nada. Any clues? The normal Windows display (desktop, apps) is perfect; only DOS apps are oversized and pixellated. Please help! I want my CM back! (PS: I am on the road until Friday night, so I do not have the Win 98 CD available).