guachi

Everyone else is chiming in (including lurkers!) so I'll join, too. 25 and jealous of all of you with wives/girlfriends. The last time I went on a date was, ummm, two and a half years ago. I am so pathetic. I can't believe any of you would rather spend time playing CM than spending time with your SO. Don't you people realize how lucky you are? No matter how great CM is, it is nothing compared to spending time with a woman that you love. Jason I do have two drop dead gorgeous (female) roommates, though. 36D-23-34, so there.

I second Dale's recommendation of Ryan's books. I got The Longest Day for my step-father for Christmas. He stayed up well into the night to finish it. Coincidentally, I received another Ryan book, A Bridge Too Far, from my father. I know why my step-father was engrossed in his Ryan book; Ryan is a great writer. A Bridge Too Far is filled with hundreds of first hand accounts and really brings the battle to life. When you are leading Frost's men at the north end of the Arnhem Bridge, you will appreciate the heroism and sacrifice that those Red Devils of the 1st Airborne Division made. A must read considering we will likely be getting a plethora of Market-Garden scenarios/operations included with the game and as user-created ones later. Jason

Way to go Los!!! There was a thread a few weeks ago where Los brought up the topic of rifle grenades. True to BTS's word, if enough information is provided they will include something. The information I have regarding German rifle grenades indicates that they were more geared towards AT performance than against soft targets. It's good to hear that they will be included, especially because I like to play the Americans. Jason

I was the one who mentioned the five units of ammo usage. The unit (A Rifle 45 Squad) fired a total of 11 units of ammo in one minute, five of which came in one burst. The unit had 8 men left carrying 5 M1s, 2 BARs, and one Thompson. I can only assume the 5 units of ammo represented every soldier firing of their entire clip of ammo. Jason

In reference to Zigster's comment about Little David. Just today I was watching a History Channel show about Big Guns. They showed film of Little David test firing. All I can say is, WOW!! Craters 38 feet wide and 20 feet deep. I wonder what the blast firepower in this would be? Jason

I'll take a stab at your questions eventhough the previous poster (whose name I can't pronounce) si correct that most have been answered already. 1. There is very little stopping you from putting huge quantities of troops in a scenario. I don't think there is an actual game limit (although there might be). The real difficulty is that the AI isn't really designed to handle large amounts of troops. The maps would be too crowded and your machine would slow to a crawl. A reinforced battalion is the largest size that is recommended. It might contain up to 200 units per side if there were lots of vehicles. 4. No. While captured small arms were relatively easy to use, larger ones took more time. Plus, use of captured equipment in the West wasn't nearly as prevalent as it was in the East. A more extensive treatment of captured equipment might be warranted for CM2. In a sense, though, captured equipment is modelled. Russian 76.2 mm AT guns are mounted in tank destroyers and we get a French tank. But no on the fly use of enemy equipment. 5. This was something that Steve repeatedly said was on The List. As it hasn't been announced, I'm guessing it isn't in. The end result, I'm assuming, is that it just wasn't possible, for whatever reason, within the time frame allowed. This would definitely be a really neat feature. What are you waiting for. Order the game already! Jason

I'm proud to say I gave Robert Hall his first defeat in nine games. This makes me a whopping 3-0. Well, not exactly. One of my games isn't over yet, but I can't lose. My game against Robert was really fun. It was a real game of hide and seek as my Americans tried to find the pesky Germans hiding out in the town. If this game ends up on CMHQ as an AAR, you will be my hero, Madmatt. Jason

Get your hands off me you damn, dirty ape!! ...and give me an update on CMHQ Jason For some reason I've got Charlton Heston on my mind. Wonder why.

A good little book for an overview if the American Army is US Army Handbook 1939-1945 by George Forty. It's a Barnes & Noble Book so I guess it is only available through them. It's not a book about the big battles but rather how the Army is organized. It does have TO&E for various units up to division level so you can see what Steve is talking about. The book is only $9.98 and definitely worth it. ISBN is 0-7607-0848-7 A good reference on the German military is the huge Handbook on German Military Forces put out by the U.S. War Department. This book has a huge amount of info on the German military including TO&E on all sorts of units. The book was originally put out while the war was still going on so the information isn't 100% accurate. Fabulous book. I picked it up when SP1 came out after some people said it was a good reference. Very much worth the $30.00 cost. ISBN is 0-8071-2011-1 Jason [This message has been edited by guachi (edited 01-11-2000).]

Do a search on the word "Weasel" and you'll see why I wrote what I did. Weasels were used in Europe, too. I believe that they were especially useful in snow. Jason Steve, a question just ocurred to me. Could you put a tape deck in your Weasel?

When we start getting Weasel sightings, we'll know the gold demo release is imminent. Jason

Units of any type can go nuts firing at close range. An American squad of mine used up five units of ammo at once firing at a German squad at 19 meters. The ammo counter went from 17 then immediately to 12. So at close range guys will blaze away. Keep this in mind when mounting a clse assault. Jason

Doug, if you both choose the scenario it isn't much of a chance encounter, is it? Jason

Steve sayeth: <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>You guys are all wussies when it comes to picking out music! I go for speed metal, Laibach (it is its own thang).<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Laibach?! Steve, you RULE!! Laibach, Skinny Puppy, Ministry, Foetus, Front Line Assembly, Front 242, KMFDM. Music to get that killer instinct flowing. My last PBEM opponent said I kept my cool while playing him, but really the music was my secret weapon. Nothing like listening to 'Enter the Exterminator' by Foetus to keep the focus on what is really important. The extermination of your enemy. Oh, and Benny Goodman is pretty cool, too. Jason [This message has been edited by guachi (edited 01-09-2000).]

If you want a good intro to the game head on over to http://combathq.thegamers.net Make your way to the AAR section and read a battle between two beta testers, Fionn and Martin. The battle is from August or so when the game was still in Alpha state. Since none of us had yet seen the game, both Fionn and Martin go into the features of the game in depth. The html instructions included with the demo are mostly answers to questions posted here. Steve basically ripped them out word for word and put them in the demo instructions. If you have any specific questions try doing a search first as it is likely your question has been asked and answered by someone, sometime. If you'll notice, the pening screen of the demo makes reference to there being 10,000 posts. That was back in late October so you can see how busy this place has been in the pas ttwo and a half months. Otherwise, feel free to ask anything you like. Jason

It's a testament to CM quality that for the first time I actually enjoy playing as the Americans. In fact, I PREFER playinga as the Americans. I can't put my finger on why, I just do. The homegenous nature of the troop types and the ubiquity of the Sherman might make for a bland sameness. I find the sameness a good thing. It makes it a little easier to more uniformly apply strategy. But when it comes to the big campaign Fionn has planned, I'll keep my fingers crossed that I don't have to face him. At least not without some air cover. Good topic Manieri. These are the types of questions we like to answer . Jason

Also, as I recall, units in the demo can't target the top floor of buildings. Jason

In a game in Riesberg two of my shermans were area firing some buildings. They stopped to engage a platoon of infantry crawling in the open 500m away. One Sherman hit one memeber of a squad I was targeting and three in a squad I couldn't even see. I love collateral damage . The AI (at least in the demo) seems to place units in the open high on its target priority list. Jason

With a little experimenting you can figure out what the command radius is and how the command bonus affects it. The +1 and +2 bonuses are DEFINITELY worth it. Jason

Welcome! I remember the halcyon days when I joined the board. I actually read every single message on the board before I posted. Of course, five months ago there weren't that many messages. Jason

The US's main contributions in Lend-Lease weren't the 'sexy' things like tanks and planes but the more mundane things. By the end of the war, two thirds of the Soviet trucks were American made. America shipped 15 MILLION pairs of winter boots to the Russians. America shipped so much food that each Russina soldier could have eaten a half pound of concentrated rations every day for the entire war. The amount of war material that the US produced was absolutely ridiculous. Just for propoganda purposes an American shipyard constructed a Liberty ship in three and a half days. Jason

If I had an ounce of talent, I'd love to try my hand at creating clown textures for the troops. Oh, No! It's Bozo versus Howdy Doody!!! Run for your lives!! Jason

Fionn sayeth: <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Players in the meta-campaign are gonna hate the Allied air umbrella also<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Huh? Not unless they bomb friendly targets. I wanna play the American/Allied side. Jason

Fionn, There needs to be a designation above "Insomniac" for you. If "Insomniac" is for 500 posts what designation for almost 2000 posts? Jason An informative 2000 posts, too.

Los, I quoted the entire section on rifle grenades. Other sections mention operational use, popularity, effectiveness. The section on rifle grenades is noticeably absent these descriptions. The only non-technical description is that the grenades were not cost effective. Jason