Andreas

Board acting up again...

A few of us are getting together on Saturday, 11th at 1600 in The Chandos pub near Charing Cross. The brew is Sam Smith's, and there is a lot of space. Girlfriends (hahahaha) are welcome. No inflatable dolls in SS uniforms please though. You are all welcome to buy me a drink (each, not altogether!) to celebrate my promotion from Timewaster and Techynerd to Senior Timewaster and Technynerd. The Chandos Picture of me for recognition further down the page

17-pdrs were available available as ATGs in Tunisia. Check it here. There is a great IWM picture showing one in action.

Got the email? (aka BUMP)

Quick FYI - 12.PD never made it to the battle, they were suddenly needed to stop the Soviet spoiling attack at Orel. Not sure how many other of the units never did attack at Kursk.

Check your email.

Gern geschehen.

Panzertruppe, I suggest you read Post 119 in the other thread.

Well, I found your post pretty insulting. You can pull an ASL Vet of course and try to hide behind your low-level sarcasm. How about this - if you don't have to add anything to the topic, which you clearly don't, since you busy yourself with sniping, just stay out of it?

And what is wrong with that? I am the first to admit that I gain some satisfaction from honest feedback, or someone sending me an email saying they enjoyed the stuff I produced. Yes, it is good for my ego in many different ways not just related to feedback, otherwise I would not be doing it, since I certainly don't get paid for it. Posts about bruised egos, or the BS written by Hortlund and Niles really don't do anything to get people motivated. The sooner the nitwits who post them understand that, the better. They are doing serious damage to this community by posting them, probably revelling in their smartness at the same time. Let's see, we scenario designers ask for a discussion about a different review system, and we are a bunch of ninnies who can not handle negative feedback. We ask that people contact us before rebundling our scenarios, and we get called a bunch of whinging, raving egoists with allusions of grandeur. Fortunately I know that there are only a few airheads who think like that on this board, and I don't give a toss about their opinion, otherwise I would have gone a long time ago. I am not throwing my toys out of the pram on this one, my opinion from the initial post still stands, it was a good idea lacking in execution. End of story. I am however very seriously concerned, and have been for a while, that on this board it seems now en vogue to expect something for nothing, and insulting those delivering that something in the bargain is also all hunky-dory. And when they don't like it, you insult them some more.

You know Hoppenfaust, it is posts like yours that really destroy my motivation to release scenarios in the future. I put days, not just hours into a single scenario, probably a week's worth in some cases, if not more, and even then they sometimes come up lacking. You obviously are quite clueless about what it takes to do a quality scenario. If it is so easy to do, why do you not go ahead and awe us all with your great capability. Quite frankly, I think it is your post better than most others in this thread that show how the forum has gone downhill. And don't start on that silly artist-crap again. If I write a paper analysing the impact of new electricity trading arrangements on micro-generation for work, I am also going to assert my intellectual rights to it. It has nothing to do with artistry, you can take that strawman right now, take it out and burn it.

Well Franko, you must have done something wrong then, because I am raking it in.

Regarding El Cid - I think you had a very good idea. I do not know whether any of my scenarios made it into your packs, so I do not know whether there was an issue or not as far as I am personally concerned. If you just used scenarios from the Depot, probably not. Anyway, good effort, and if you had asked me, I may have given you permission to use my scenarios for such a pack. I have not thought about it though, and I would want to discuss this with others at Der Kessel. Contrary to what Nick says, we have been here before though (although I don't think many people remember), when Admiral Keth opened the Depot I think. Then there was a question about hosting all scenarios on the Depot, and it was resolved by Adm. Keth asking all the designers, IIRC. At Der Kessel, we decided that because of the way we present our scenarios at Der Kessel, we did not feel comfortable with the hosting, but a link to our main page would be a good idea. As a consequence, we probably have fewer downloads than we otherwise would have. But at least we know that those who download the scenarios learn a bit more about the group, and what we do. That is selfish, but then again, we have yet to charge for scenarios, or ask anyone for money to run the site, so I think a bit of quid pro quo is alright on this basis. I would finally like to assert that I see my scenarios as my intellectual property, and that of those who helped me create them. The fact that they are free to DL, that I have no possibility to prevent others from changing them, or to use a map and do their own scenario on that, does not change that at all. The release of a scenario to the CM community to play it for free does not make it the property of any member of the CM community to do with it as he or she wishes. I do not really see what is so difficult to understand about that.

That is almost funny Nick. Sure, it is pure selfishness that makes me, Wyatt, and others spend time to create scenarios, and build up websites for you to come to and download them. It is entirely selfish of us to expect that as a matter of courtesy, you should bother to download the scenario from the page that we have created around it. Well, now that you say it, I do of course realise the error of my ways, and to make up for it, please let me deliver my next scenario on a silver plate to you, and congratulate you in person on being such an unselfish human being.

Quick one, I am on a computer where I have real trouble reading this board due to colour failures. When I get back home next week I will post some more. Suggestions: Bidermann is an excellent choice. I quite like anything from the "Wehrmacht im Kampf" series, although that is only available in German for the most part. Some of the suggestions here (e.g. Glantz) are extremely weak and dubious on the German side (which was what was requested initially). Duffy does a good job on showing both sides during the last months in 45. I would have a wide range of suggestions for German speakers. Regarding Carrell/Schmidt - I do not see it as my life calling to provide a literary/content critique of his work. I read it many years ago when I was young and gullible (now I am only gullible). The guy was a propagandist for the 3rd Reich and a committed Nazi, who on the dustjackets of his books lies about his past. That is all I need to know. As I said before, if you want to believe what he says, that is not my problem, you are free to do so. If you want to believe what he says about his war service, you will have to live with me pointing out that he lied about it. It is that simple. As for Guderian, Manstein, Hoth and all the others. Again, at least these people did fight in some position or other. In their memoirs, they grind axes galore. If you are aware of that, these memoirs are superb primary sources. Which means you have to read them critically. The same goes for memoirs like von Luck and Mellenthin, although it is not the personal axe problem, but one of insufficient understanding of their opponents actions. These memoirs are not historical analysis, as should be obvious to anyone who read them. That analysis is provided by people like Duffy, or can be done by yourself, if you are aware of the pitfalls. The problem with Carrell/Schmidt is that as a professional liar (spin-doctor would be the modern word) and committed Nazi, he will try to spin things much more subtly than e.g. Hoth does in Panzeroperationen. Got longer than I planned. Never mind...

Raus is another of these pop-artists of WW2. While I initially liked this particular book, I have since found another of his pieces juxtaposed with what really happened (New year 42/43 battle on the Bistraya, when he commanded 6.PD) and it bears no resemblance to reality. This stuff is, as far as I am concerned, historically based fiction. Lt. Hortlund - you ascribed to Carrell/Schmidt the job of war correspondent. I corrected you on that. Nothing more. You may choose to use your critical thinking about someone who lied about his past, or you may choose to suspend it. That is no concern of mine. Do I see reason to doubt Rudel? Never read him, but if I did, I probably would. The same as I see reason to doubt the memoirs of Soviet officers from WW2 that I read. Limited amount of insight, plus a tendency to paint the war in ideological colours. At least Rudel fought, while Carrell only lied, so to compare the two is actually an insult to Rudel.

Oh, and sorry for harping on about that old Nazi liar Carrell/Schmidt. It just gets to me if someone gets away with spewing lies and propaganda beyond the grave, and also lies about his background to pass himself off as someone more believable (how many people here would believe a word he wrote if on the cover it said "The war in Russia in the words of the Nazi chief propagandist and SS Sturmbannfuehrer Schmidt"?).

You remember Carrells (real name Schmidt) lie correctly. In fact he never came near the frontline, and was the Chief press spokesman for the German foreign ministry, and controlled Signal. He also joined the SA, and NSDAP in 1932, before it was required to do so for a career in civil service. When it became opportune, he joined the SS instead of the SA and rose to Sturmbannfuehrer. How much anyone wants to trust someone who lied about his previous career to such a degree I leave open to the critical facilities (or otherwise) of the readers. I think it is a fair judgement to say that Schmidts post-war career continued his Nazi career, in spewing propaganda about the "clean" war of the Wehrmacht (hey, we all know the SS were the only baddies) and later how poor Adolf just acted in self-defence when he attacked the nasty Josef in 1941. The real Paul Karl Schmidt (in German) German Verfassungsschutz on the preventive war (in German) [ December 30, 2002, 06:27 AM: Message edited by: Andreas ]

Leit, why don't you do a search. The topic has been discussed at length already.

Matthias, don't know yours, but have a look into the sources they used, I would be surprised if good old v.S&E did not appear there. Merry Christmas back to you, by the way - sorry I could not make it.

This should fit the bill.

Well, it sounded as if they were shipped from the UK. Been a while though that we discussed it.

Research done by a member of the beta team indicated very large amounts of HE ammo shipped to the Soviet Union from 1942 onwards, IIRC. Why that HE ammo did not show in Europe/Africa, I don't know.

Frunze, maybe re-read my post? Where did I call good old Mr. Peron a fascist? I would think that it could be argued (by those knowing more about it than I do) that his non-capitalist leaning on the labour union may have something to do with the mess Argentinia is in. Before accusing someone of 'slander', better make sure you actually read what they wrote.

Did Mike make HOFMAN angry on purpose, so that there would be much growling and showing of teeth, I wonder?