von Lucke

Actually, yr warning came too late --- I ended up walking home! Yup, those easy pickin's only get tougher!

Count me in! Something I found myself wishing for during that scenario, was the ability to face the turret in a direction wholey independant of the hull. A seperate Command, maybe called "Rotate Turret", that would work like the existing "Rotate" command. As it is, you can only aim the tank hull, and then the turret points wherever it wants --- this makes it hard (as was pointed out) to "aim the tank" at a target you really need to engage.

I've played this scenario on/with various platforms and game systems --- everything from cardboard to miniatures to computers. So, of course, it was the first scenario I loaded up when I finally received The Game (v1.01 and MadDog Mod). I put the hammer down, and my single Tiger Fast-Moved toward Villers-Bocage... My first kill as Wittmann was a lowly Universal Carrier: The little APC was driving full-speed away from me, a Catastrophic Explosion ensued, and then it crashed into a small house (half in / half out), where it stuck, burning and smoking... And that's when I knew this was the game I'd been waiting for! Thanks Steve, Charles, and everybody else who had a hand in this! Most thoroughly excellent work! [This message has been edited by von Lucke (edited 06-24-2000).]

Ya Freyland, we know just how ineffective 'shreck teams can really be, eh?

Ah, to hell with sleep! Where did I leave that dexamphetamine...? Must play more CM!!!!

Game finally in hands... been playing all night...Fantastisch! Must... sleep... now... zzzzzzzzzz

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Seanachai: I am so pleased to be playing a wargame that actually deals with infantry as something other than window-dressing thrown in to round out the table of organization... There's not one inch of ground gained by armour that didn't have to be held by infantry, and not many tanks that went into combat without infantry to lead the way.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Exactly! That's what I love about CM, too. It's an Infantry wargame that just happens to include tanks!

Because it beats being shot at for real. -------------- "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar". --- Sigmund Freud

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Germanboy: Any idea how many Panzer IV were lost there?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Unfortunately, I can't seem to find that anywhere --- but I did come up with this: In May of '44 OB WEST had approx. 1600 panzers and StuGs available, and of those: 674 Mk IV 514 Mk V (Panther) So, as somebody else pointed out, the breakdown was about 50/50.

Since I don't have CM to occupy my time with, here's some numbers I dredged up: Total production run for the Panzer IV ('36 - '45): 8544 The Ausf H reached the largest production figures of any model with 3774 from 4/43 to 7/44. In 6/44 the Ausf J went into production, finishing off in 3/45 with 1758 units produced. The Panther (Pz V), during 43 - 45 saw 5976 units produced, broken down thus: Ausf D: 850 (12/42 - 9/43) Ausf A: 2000 (8/43 - 5/44) Ausf G: 3126 (3/44 - 4/45) A total of around 400 Panthers were lost in the Normandy campaign. Then, of course, you have to take into account losses and deployment to other fronts, so total production numbers really don't give a true percentage of what was where when.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Big Time Software: Just think of this as a grace period to get some jobs done around the house before CM "ruins" your freetime<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Like re-carpeting that bare strip I've worn in the rug from pacing back-and-forth in tense anticipation... [This message has been edited by von Lucke (edited 06-21-2000).]

Damn, JK, from the way you described it (and the way I visualized it in my head), it sounds just like an AAR from an inexperienced US commander trying to justify to his CO how he got his ass handed to him by some well prepared Waffen SS troopers! No offense intended, ya unnerstand! Just the level of realism impressed me...

Somebody in Hong Kong has received theirs?!? My feelings are hurt now...

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Lee: What gives? All I know is that when I check the mail tomorrow that wonderful CM box had *better* be there.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Amen, Brother!

Well, it seems to be in Denver, which is right above me --- I'm in New Mexico --- so hopefully it will hit us Sou'Westerners by tomorrow...

Hey, Leftwing! I keep clicking on the "Play Scenario" button and nothing happens! Your version of CM is obviously broken! Tell ya what, you send it to me priority overnight mail, and I'll see what I can do about fixing it for ya...

To steel our souls against the lust of ease; To find our welfare in the common good; To hold together, merging all degrees In one wide brotherhood;-- To teach he that saves himself is lost, To bear in silence though our hearts may bleed; To spend ourselves, and never count the cost, For others' greater need;-- To go our quiet ways, subdued and sane; To hush all vulgar clamour of the street; With level calm to face alike the strain Of triumph or defeat;-- This be our part, for so we serve you best, So best confirm their prowess and their pride, Your warrior sons, to whom in this high test, Our fortunes we confide. --- from "Pro Patria" by Owen Seaman. Written as something of a response to Owen's "Dolce et decorum est".

Turning to the East A fresh wind blows true Are the tidings good?

I've been meaning to ask this question for some time, but am very easily distracted by other goings on around here... But since it's late, and the whole board seems to be holding it's collective breath in anticipation of the Postman, I figure I'll ask it now: So, then, first for those who don't know, the Archer SP Gun is basically a 17lbr mounted backwards on a Valentine chassis. What I am curious about is how this is modeled in CM. Did Charles simply code it as the rear-will-be-treated-as-the-front sort of thing and let it go, or does the Archer only have one forward speed; Reverse? (By forward, of course, I mean the direction the gun is pointing --- which would be the rear).

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Germanboy: The man who lit the fuze on the powderkeg that was Europe then. I sometimes wonder if they reserve special places in hell for the likes of him.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Speaking along the lines of "What If", here's something to consider: Princip had missed out on the Arch Duke's motorcade, called it a day, and was on his way home when he stepped off a curb, looked down an alley, and saw the Arch Duke's car wedged in tight and trying to back up! Seems the Arch Dukes' driver had gotten lost trying to find the hospital where another member of the Austrian party had been sent after an earlier attack. Princip simply walked up to the trapped car and fired away... Pity really, as Ferdinand was something of a liberal reformer for his day, and had been doing his best to help Serbia form an independant state. I've always thought WW1 was the formative event of the 20th century. It destroyed the old Imperial houses of Europe and ushered in the Age of Nationalism, and set the stage for WW2.

AAAGGGHHHH!!!! The Topic That Will Not Die!

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Trooper: Now just as long as I can wear my paratrooper's wings....<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Just so long as you wear 'em on the right side of yr BDU's, no prob (US Army badges go on the left).

What If? The World's Foremost Military Historians Imagine What Might Have Been. ISBN 0-399-14576-1. Edited by Robert Cowley (founding editor of Military History Quarterly). I'm suprised nobody here has read it. Quite fascinating actually, if you like "alternate history". It covers turning points from 700 BC to 1946 AD. Gives you a perspective on things by letting you know how narrow the margin really is between what is and what could have been. [This message has been edited by von Lucke (edited 06-17-2000).]

...or was it The Plungers of Navarone?

This is, actually, a question I've wondered about myself. Divisions Francaise Libre re-equiped with US hardware in '43, and from what I can tell -- as far as equipment goes -- are pretty much identical to the Americans right down to the OD field-jackets on their 12-man squads' backs. As far as troop quality goes, it's sort of a mixed bag: While it's true certain divisions saw action with the Brits in North Africa, and then again with the CEF in Italy, many more divisions where raised from "colonial" levies in '43 and then deployed directly to France for garrison and policing duties. Of the divisions that where the most seasoned, the 1st Marche (along with elements of the 1st Armored) upon hitting the shores of la Belle France saw fit to replace several of it's colonial battalions with members of the FFI (French Forces of the Interior -- the maqui). This "whitening" of many of the veteran French divisions was supposedly "imposed by the climactic conditions" in France. This sudden influx of "irregulars" probably did little for discipline or morale among the remaining colonials. And while I'm on the political nature of the Gaullist troops, there's the 2nd Armored: LeClerc's command was mostly in reserve during the fighting in N. Africa, and then missed out on the action in Italy, because it was transfered directly to England to prepare for the Normandy invasion. They came ashore in August '44 soley to take part in the "liberation" of Paris. The 2nd holds the distinction of being the only French unit to spend most of the war under the command of foreign armies -- usually American. Of all the "French" units, the Moroccan 2nd and 4th de Montagne probably have the best combat records: They fought in Italy with the CEF from '43 until the "Anvil" landing in Southern France, then fought as part of the 1st French Army from Provence to the Rhine and the Danube. As the saying went: "The Tunisians are women, the Algerians are men, and the Moroccans are heroes." [This message has been edited by von Lucke (edited 06-17-2000).]