Peterk

The way you are doing the rules is correct. The crew has to be replaced and the experience of the tank crew may and probably will go down. There is always the possibility of the replacements being of higher quality than the original crew though. The way you worded it made it seem like you were playing so you lose the entire tank forever.

...or use the first positions at longish range to pin the enemy as he makes his initial advance. Next turn, volunatry break (Withdraw) to your fallbacks before you get attacked in any serious way. You may have killed a few enemy and delayed him a few minutes because he may have to regroup a bit.

You don't lose your vehicle or men for eternity. They just missed one battle, that's all.

Just noticed that this thread is attaining Peng-like proportions. I have a feeling we'll have our own sub-culture and cesspool pretty soon.

In any case, Biltaid, is a week or two away from final release dramatically reducing the amount of TED required. In fact, you could probably take an ordinary Joe off the street and he'll be Biltonging intuitively along in no time. And yes, the Biltong rules are a blast and in my humble opinion the average Biltong battle is more fun than the average e-mail game.

> Do I pick from the same TF all during the > campaign, or do I define a new TF for each map > (i.e. set up two QB's each time)? You set up 2 QB's each time. You can also use the Peterk Variant for that rule: 1. Do not set up 2 Quick Battles. Buy whatever you want with your points in the given category as long as the rarity <= 20%.

> That 8 hours of sleep you take each night is > getting any work done. Pah, 1/3 of your lives > wasted. Just plain wasted I can see that you, my friend, have all the credentials required to be a top-notch manager in the software industry. GIve me a call if you need a reference.

Hi Guys, Just to mention that an early, early, beta version of a Biltong tool is available for testing out. Send me a private e-mail if you'd like to try the tool out and give me feedback on it. The intention with this version is just to see if the program will run on other computers without any major problems. You won't be able to start a campaign which is in progress or customize your battle groups yet - all campaigns start on June 21, '41 with the default group. I also can't guarantee that any save files made with this version will be compatible with the more official version I'll release later on.

You don't make a choice yourself. You have to roll a die and let it decide for you. Example: I roll a 6, subtract 4 because it's june. That equals 2 and then you look on the chart for what 2 is. Probably a German Assualt or somefink.

> Yep - Casualties is a pain - once you hit the > winter you will see what the German CO's had to > contend with Just wondering? Was winter really that devastating in the southern front? I know around Moscow it was bad, but I've never heard of it also being bad south of the prippet marshes. Just curious.

Sounds like a sneaky way to escape winter _and_ presumably fighting in Stalingrad. Biltong's sadistic - he'll never go for that.

> I.e. when some bastard sees my unit...all > others with LOS to my unit "see" it too and > start firing like hell. This does not reflect > reality. Yes and no. If you're in a foxhole and you you hear some of your units off to the left shooting at something _they_ see, then it makes it easier for _you_ to see and shoot at as well. But I hear what your saying...it's called borg-spotting on the board. > They won by outnumbering the Axis... I guess this comes down to what type of battles you are playing. I've played lots of games where the Russians are Green or Conscript against Veteran or experienced Germans and then, yes it comes down to overwhelming the germans with numbers. If you're playing quick battles or scenarios where experience/forces for both sides is equal, then that goes out the window.

< First, how would you rate the difficulty of the Billtong campaign? Is it geared for novice players or more like average and up?? > The rules will grow and adjust with you as you get better. A player of any skill level can have fun with the rules. On the whole however, the campaign is extremely difficult (as it should be) < Second, someone had said they were going to do a Java version of the rules that would handle it all for you. What ever happened with that? > BILTAID is coming!!! Patience my friend. I'm not spending all my weekends and evenings programming just to let it drop. It will be out soon but it's an enormous task. A small screengrab is on it's way to give you a taste.

c3k, I think you have a career waiting for you in the military. Sheer brilliance! I don't think you can control victory locations with crews though.

> is there some guy, trying all this? Looks like the BILTAID advertsing campaign didn't work very well. Yes, read the end of the last page. There is also a Python version of the Biltong's rules already out which will do the die-rolling for you.

> Peterk, that sounds great! You're making it > very customizeable, right? Within reason, yes. You can start at whichever date you want - you can start with whatever core force you feel like just as long as there is a company HQ. The tables won't be customizable in the first version but they will be eventually.

BILTAID IS COMING!!! Will run on Windows and Mac. Biltaid not only does all the tedious calculations and generates authentic Biltong battles with a single click, the patented Biltaid General© will actually pop by your command post for beer and bratwurst and will explain where the hell in Russia you are and the whole point behind your next battle in plain English! Perform well and he'll send shiny medals for your boys which you can distribute in post-battle ceremonies. Let the Reich down and...welll...."your services are no longer required" <click> may be the last things you hear. Coming soon to a computer near you (ETA - beta version 2-3 weeks, screenshots in a few days).

You want to play Biltong but you're not a grog and you can't figure out all those complicated tables?

Your brain hurts too much after a long day of work to calculate the next battle? You just want to fight!

Turned on by random number software these days??? PAH! That's kidstuff. Harness the power of your computer to the fullest!

Well, my brief foray into the black pit of the cesspool was as underwhelming as I expected it to be. Slightly entertaining I must admit,but hardly worth the time. Apologies offered to Mace, Berli and others with Superior member numbers. The intent was never to belittle other Elders Of The Board but rather to put the riff-raff who seem to have made themselves comfortable here in their lowly place. No need to pity me for my Canadianess. Dwelling in arctic tundra is good for the soul. Is it any wonder the militaries of the world send their pathetic green trainees here for some good old fashionned extreme weather training and to build a little character? This climate sends seasoned Siberians scurrying home with their tails between their legs crying for their mothers, and yet we Of The North can take it effortlessly and even enjoy the ice and wind slamming against our faces. Is "fluffy" intended to be derogative? I see nothing wrong with fluffiness. Fluffy is good. Many of the best things in life are fluffy. So much wisdon, so little time....back to the igloo with me.

Michael Dorosh was looking for a partner in this very same crazy endeavour a few months ago. I doubt he found anyone sane, so you might try giving him a shout to check if he hasn't come to his senses yet. p. [ February 07, 2003, 12:22 PM: Message edited by: Peterk ]

Damn...mispelled wisdom.

Not another one of these. Jeez, give it a rest. Follow your own advice and sod off with these useless, monotonous Peng threads. Should anyone think of criticizing these words of wisdon, I remind them to take a gander at my vastly superior member number before acting.

Hi Biltong, Hate to burden you with more work, but I was thinking of adding a little something cool to my Java tool. I plan on maintaining a battle history for the player's group and instead of just saying Battle 1, Battle 2 etc...I thought it would be kind of neat to stick a geographical location along with it, so I could say "Battle 2 - near Russia/German border", "Battle 6 - Outskirts of Grozno", stuff like that. When you work out the modifiers, are you following the history of one particular division or battalion on the South front? If yes could you toss me a few (maybe 20 or so) city/town names along with the months that the real guys were there? On the side, development is going well - it's a total blast to work on. For anyone who is interested, it will work on Java 1.3 and up. Windows people will probably have to do a small download (I will post a link), Mac people will probably have to write a small start-up script themseleves (I will give instructions on what to do) because I'm not too familiar with that platform. p.