guachi

You can also play with rarity on. The Allied stuff (well, mostly US) is extremely low rarity in CMAK. The Americans ALWAYS have a Sherman at -10% rarity. Sure, it makes it fairly easy to figure out what your opponent will buy, but playing different time periods really makes for very different games. I agree with the idea of playing scenarios. I'm currently playing my first PBEM game of CMAK. I intentionally picked the earliest scenario shipped with the game - a December 1940 scenario pitting English vs. Italians. The scenario overview mentions that the British ran roughshod over the Italians, partly because the Matilda II was invulnerable. I'm the Italians and I can definitely say that's true. Quite an unusual battle. I have been getting an unnatural amount of track hits/immobilizations though. I don't even care if I lose (And I likely am. Immobilizing tanks gives me no points) because the scenario is so entertaining. Jason

Funnies - I like Sherman's Lagoon, Foxtrot, Baby Blues, and that one with the 15 yr old teenager Zits - that's it, and Get Fuzzy. Dilbert. Dilbert is funny, too. Plus classics like Pogo and Krazy Kat Jason

As far as WWII is concerned, I have a particular fondness for anything that was cheap and still effective. Cost wise, I believe the difference between a Thompson and an M3 was $250 to $15. Jason

Makes sense. Considering a dust cloud is larger and rises higher than the units, I would I assume I could see the cloud before I saw the units. Jason

CMAK, to me, is more cleaned up CMBO than new game. Think of the differences between the beta demo and CMBO. That is the kind of difference between CMBO and CMAK. Wider array of unit commands. Better graphics. Better mods. Better modeling of units because of new info. OTOH, it DOES feel like a new game compared to CMAK because of the time differences. CMBO covered 12 months of war. CMAK covers a WHOLE lot more. Playing a 1940 E Africa scenario is a truly odd experince compared to CMBO. One tank available - a little Italian tankette. These early war differences are similar to what you get from CMBB. comparing Italy CMAK scenarios to CMBO is likely the best way to see the changes. Same time frame and units. Actually, some people have recreated CMBO scenarios using CMAK. I guess that would be the best comparison. Unfortunately I don't know what those scenarios are and haven't compared them yet. In any case, I like CMAK. I think you should buy it. Then you should email and you can beat me up in a PBEM game. Jason

Doing point calculations on squads in CMBO (yes, I was bored) I found, I think, that a normal squad costs X, a conscript .8X^2, a green .9X^2, veteran 1.1X^2, crack 1.2X^2, and elite 1.3X^2. I never did find a bias when comparing squads. I'm not saying you are wrong. I never did look systematically at costs for other stuff. [added]Just checked my spreadsheet I made ages ago for CMBO. Added some columns for cost ratios. No bias in CMBO for any units. Each class of units appears to have a different, but consistent, ration for con/green/reg/vet/crack/elite. For conscripts-- 85-87% for armor 64% (mentioned above) for FOs and squads 60% for crewed guns 90% for support vehicles CMBO, at least, had no bias. [end added] Jason [ April 09, 2004, 06:01 PM: Message edited by: guachi ]

If you did nothing in an attempt to post again, I believe things got straightened out without you having to do anything. I, for example, had to re-register in Jan 2000 after some crash or another. But I managed to get the same username. IIRC, I wised up in June 2000 and sat tight so I wouldn't have to register again. Jason

My favorite screenshot was one from the beta demo. When did that come out, November 99? Anyway, it was from the scenario with the Hellcats. I remember being all excited about how cool it was to replay your turn over and over an over. AND being able to freeze the camera and zoom around the battlefield. My Hellcat had pushed down the left side of the map and the Tiger had taken a shot at it. I had the screen frozen. Now, tank commanders look back and forth when unbuttoned. The shot from the Tiger went a little wide. And, as it so happened, the tank commander had is head turned as if to look at the 88mm shell no more than a couple meters away. It was so cool. Jason Who, despite what the info says, has been registered since Sept 1999.

A "pioneer" is someone who has raised lots of money for George Bush, like $100,000+ (really!) And an engineer is someone who thinks he is a scientist. Jason

British Airborne and Glider squads in CMBO only have 1 Bren. But they do have bunches of SMGs though. Jason

Is this caused because there are dates where the '44 Infantry battalion is available for purchase but a component unit (in this case the Wasp) is not available? Jason

I have some half done (Allies only) availability charts completed. I've had CMAK for 2 weeks so I should have the rest done and looking pretty in another two weeks or so. I think mine are a little better because they include a bit more info. LIke - unit point costs, point cost changes and reasons, rarity percentages, formation point costs, and formation component breakdowns (squads, HQ, MG, etc.) Of course, mine isn't done. So, therefore, the Excel files at Band of Brothers are ovbiously better than mine now. Jason

Camberlains "Encyclopedia Of German Tanks Of World War Two". Look, Ma! I'm a broken record. Buy it, read it, enjoy it! Jason

Reading small unit action reports will give you an idea of what types of equipment was fought with. There are a bunch of resources that show TO&E for various formations. These can show you what type of formation a particular piece of equipment is most likely to be in. e.g. It is unlikely you will find a 75mm pack howitzer in anything but an airborne unit. Lastly, go to the scenario editor and look around. There are piles of infantry formations that give historically accurate TO&E for all forces. Plus, in CMBB and CMAK, units have rarity listings so you can plainly see what the common/uncommon/rare equipment is. For example, for the US Shermans are ultra-common with negative rarity percentages. Therefore, without knowing anything else, you can assume you would find Shermans with any type of unit. My understanding is that the US had bunches of independent tank battalions so they could be seen just about anywhere. Jason

An American Engineer Battalion costs 1592 points in November 1942 and changes to 1668 points from March 1943 onward. That point costs change for the same organization type is not surprising. Typically the costs change because of ammo changes of constituent units (57mm ATG gets HE, or 150mm IG receives hollow charge ammo, or squads get more grenades/inherent AT capability). The battalion/company, however, retains its original name. If a squad changes its weapon loadout or manpower, the entire battalion/company receives a new name. e.g. - Standard American squad receives a second BAR so squad gets renamed Rifle 45 from Rifle 44 and battalion is renamed Infantry Battalion '45 from Infantry Battalion '44. My quandry is - what is happening to the Engineer Battalion that justifies the 76 point increase? Every unit but the machine guns increases in cost by one point. Ammo loadouts don't increase. AT capability doesn't increase. Does anyone have any idea what is going on? EDIT - It appears that this happens to all four American battalions available in North Africa. Their costs go up in March 1943 for no apparent reason. Jason Yes, this is really minor. But I'm attempting to create an easy to use spreadsheet that gives battalion organization and availibility so people can see at a glance the changes that occured. [ March 12, 2004, 11:35 PM: Message edited by: guachi ]

An American Engineer Battalion costs 1592 points in November 1942 and changes to 1668 points from March 1943 onward. That point costs change for the same organization type is not surprising. Typically the costs change because of ammo changes of constituent units (57mm ATG gets HE, or 150mm IG receives hollow charge ammo, or squads get more grenades/inherent AT capability). The battalion/company, however, retains its original name. If a squad changes its weapon loadout or manpower, the entire battalion/company receives a new name. e.g. - Standard American squad receives a second BAR so squad gets renamed Rifle 45 from Rifle 44 and battalion is renamed Infantry Battalion '45 from Infantry Battalion '44. My quandry is - what is happening to the Engineer Battalion that justifies the 76 point increase? Every unit but the machine guns increases in cost by one point. Ammo loadouts don't increase. AT capability doesn't increase. Does anyone have any idea what is going on? EDIT - It appears that this happens to all four American battalions available in North Africa. Their costs go up in March 1943 for no apparent reason. Jason Yes, this is really minor. But I'm attempting to create an easy to use spreadsheet that gives battalion organization and availibility so people can see at a glance the changes that occured. [ March 12, 2004, 11:35 PM: Message edited by: guachi ]

Thanks much for the AAR and the effort put into it. Jason

Chris, Thanks for the work. I know how hard it is to do a CM database, cuz, like, I made one for CM:BO and it took a long time. Jason

27 You know you've been a member of this board for a long time when you remember reading the first "How old are you?" thread. Jason

The unit prices aren't perfectly accurate. There are slight differences based on a few factors. One that I am sure of is ammo availability. The prices are for April '45 or whatever the latest date of availability is. Don't forget to ooh and aah at the pretty pictures. Jason (the author of said spreadsheet) PS my current e-mail address is guachi_cm@yahoo.com

To a fellow Jason, sounds like an intriguing idea. When I play the AI in QBs I make up scenarios like you have done. Rather than the same units all the time, I try to make up some semi-plausible scenario and see what happens. I'd be interested in getting my ass kicked by someone. I'm not all that good at CM but I'll give it a shot. Either side is fine with me. Jason guachi_cm@yahoo.com is my e-mail address.

The e-mail address in my profile is wrong. But be my guest and change anything your little heart desires. Jason

I live in SF and don't have a car. So any place acessible by public transportation is fine by me. A sports bar is probably the best choice but I'm game for anything. Jason

I know of what you write about, Xavier. I wrote the spreadsheet. It hasn't been updated in a year and is missing some rarity factors. The rarity factors were ripped off directly form ASL and some I put in myself. I was involved with this board from 9/99 to 9/00 but I took about a year off (gasp!) from CM. The spreadsheet is in a disassembled state as I'm (slowly) working on fixing some things and adding the the missing stuff (field guns and artillery). This means I can't email it to you because it's not in a very useful condition. I'm sure somebody, somewhere must have a copy. Jason

I'm game for a Bay Area CM player get-together. I live in SF. My current e-mail address is guachi_cm@yahoo.com. Drop me a note if you get anything together. Jason