Andreas

Oh look, it is Pantsyleader. *splash* [sound of dynamite stick thrown in behind PL.] Ahhh, Druckwellenfischfang...

Done. Next time you should maybe put 'successful' in at the point where you mean it to go in, and not rely on people reading your mind. Offensive operations were launched against the Germans too, but they were not successful. On that we can agree. The question is whether that was because of better efficiency of the Germans, or because of their better equipment and motivation. Probably a mix of both. Regarding the statistical research by Dupuy. I am not sure what the unit of analysis is in there, is it the squad, or something higher? I always thought that it meant that on the whole, the Germans no longer outfought anyone else as clearly. That does not mean that in specific segments they don't outfight them, or are being outfought. Artillery would be an example of the latter, I guess. I fully agree though that putting the date when comparative German combat effectiveness deteriorated in late 1944 is probably too late. I think the effects of constant losses, reduced training, Notabitur etc. were probably felt long before then. More so in the specialist branches with higher losses. A comment by a German officer in Glantz 'The early period of war' clearly states that from mid-war on German junior officers were probably worse than their Soviet counterparts because of the shortened training period. I would be interested in the institutional mechanisms for sharing knowledge in the Wehrmacht. Somehow or other, the Red Army managed to learn from its defeats (Kharkov 1942) and failure to fully exploit successes (Little Saturn) to a degree that when it had digested all these lessons, they wiped the floor with the Wehrmacht. The Wehrmacht does not seem to have had that ability. Was there someone doing general staff studies comparable to the Red Army ones that Glantz is now bringing into English?

Numbnuts. You are getting mushy in the brain after all.

96:4 then? No file until next Wednesday, I am off to Germany to party on a roof in Berlin, and then see my relatives and watch my cousin get married. Not to another cousin, if I may point that out, which may come as a surprise to the Americans in this thread.

I am not quite sure what is worse - him spilling pilfered stuff in this thread that we all know already anyway, or the alternative, which would be him posting his own 'writings'.

Oh, you still hang out here. Whatever next, Peng too? Well then, a game it is. I expect you to run down to ye olde software shoppe and send me a setup on the night of the 20th. Where's that Hoth book? Which Folk CDs do you want? Answers in an email please.

Clowns with a brain, eh? So who did you steal that from, and do they actually want it back now that it was befouled? Seanachai, also stop that filthy singing and hammer your head against a wall or somefink. It is vile (imagine how that sounds with my German accent). Your head and the singing. Well, I had a scan through this thread, and all I can say is that Joe is still the pompous git I remember him as, Seanachai has delusions of being classy, and the only two people in here I would want to have any dealings with are Berli and his lovely wife. Well, and Elvis (aka Mace's sheep IIRC, so not really a person). The rest of you lot will have a really bad time on the Steppe if I ever come across you. Fortunately enough my acute sense of choosing only the deserving as PBEM opponents will prevent that. Berli - what was that score again? My personal guess is 90:10. Which would make you what? A case to be dealt with by the unit Commissar? I am off to blow up T34s in the east now. I am also quite convinced that the CMBB AI is more of a challenge than any of you non-flossing gits. You lot are not even funny. Tossers.

Took you a while, too.

Hehe, both of these paras are very very funny. BTW Athkatla is English AFAIK, so if he smells a rat, it is probably because he is using the internet terminal in the Indian take-away again...

Hey we can't think like the Red Army or Soviet head honchos here. "Yes, infantry very good in Red Army. Enemy fire NOT problem. After the first wave, we send the second. Then the third. Then the fourth. They pave the way for the fifth, you know, comrade. Then we send the..." and so on. I care about my little polygon men!</font>

Newbie. And I'll still have to reply to that email of yours...

I am never quite sure whether people who say this have a good understanding of how ranks work in the German army, at least to the time when I did my service. Not sure about you Michael, I would assume you know it, but just to make it clear for others: Lieutenants are perfectly normal as company commanders. Once you are 'Oberleutnant' (1st Lt.) you are qualified for this. NCOs of the ranks Oberfeldwebel or higher are not unusual as platoon commanders (usually Hauptfeldwebel though). This has nothing to do with attrition, it is just the way it at least was in the Bundeswehr in my day. You would have grizzled old Hauptfeldwebels commanding platoons next to a fresh-faced Lieutenant on a regular basis. I would be surprised if the Wehrmacht handled that differently.

Zitadelle, that was the name. Koniev in his memoirs refers to it as 'Vistula-Oder' operation, and then the 'Lower-Silesian', 'Upper-Silesian', 'Prague', etc. Operations. As far as I can tell, 'Bagration' was the last time the Red Army bothered with a name for an operation that was not geographically related to the area it was fought over. [ August 06, 2002, 09:13 AM: Message edited by: Andreas ]

Fugate and Dvorestky in 'Thunder on the Dnjepr' mention a study by the logistics department of OKH under von Paulus, conducted in early 41 or sometime 1940, stating that the Wehrmacht was incapable of winning a war against the Soviet Union. Can anyone point me to some easily accessible information on that?

Gatpr, I don't actually think that is correct. There were a lot of major offensives by the Soviets during that time-frame, some of which you have already mentioned. Kharkov Spring 1942 Wolchow Jan-Mar 1942 Mars November 1942 Welikije Luki November 1942 Uranus December 1942 Little Saturn January 1943 Gallop Feb/March 1943 The Red Army went about attacking very strongly during this time-frame, and caused the Wehrmacht very serious trouble. To say they just sat back on their heels and let the Germans come for them is really not quite correct.

Terence, there is an interview with a tank rider platoon commander on the Russian Battlefield site that will answer some of your questions. It is my understanding that they would dismount when small-arms fire started. Also, the tanks would fire HE and MGs while moving to suppress the enemy (not much of a chance of hitting, but if 20 do it, you may keep their heads down), and if you advance under cover of a barrage, you are inside the enemy position before he can get out to man the MGs. [ August 05, 2002, 04:15 PM: Message edited by: Andreas ]

So, what you say is that it does not have Charlie Dimmock and her 'free-range breasts' then? (Another News Quiz line, Linda Smith this time)

As they say in Northern Ireland: Vote early, vote often.

and don't forget that he can't spell Caesar.

Alex Bowlby does indeed claim in his recollections that his platoon used it as platoon mortar, because the 2" mortar was so useless.

Olle, there is one other thing unfortunately not modeled in CMBO. The 8,8cm Flak was a deadly weapon against infantry because of its ability to produce DF airbursts combined with a high rate of fire. The Zuenderstellgeraet on the gun enabled crews to very quickly set the fuze to detonate at a preset distance. As anyone who has been subjected to a VT bombardment in CMBO knows, airbursts are not good news if you are in the PBI or a soft-skinned/open-topped vehicle. So while in CMBO there is little point to getting the gun in an all-infantry game, in Real Life, it was a truly nasty part of the German arsenal with all-round abilities to dish out hurt.

Whose grass are you using Martin?

Grisha, I agree that this is unfortunate as a development. I think that any highly competitive activity like a tournament (regardless in what) has the potential to bring the worst out in people. The good thing about CM is that you can enjoy it without that. The best way to do that is to play people you know and trust. In my case that means I have a good range of people I play repeatedly, and with whom the exchange of emails is going beyond a 'back to you' in many cases. That way, even losing a game can be an enjoyable experience, and you don't need to burden yourself to try to 'outrig' your opponent before the game even started. I can win or lose with any force I was given, and don't need any rules to make sure I enjoy the game. I guess it depends on what you are looking for in a game. I fully agree with Jon on dropouts though.

In that case I can not understand why you want to pass on CMBB. Regarding the hardware, at one of the previews at my place, CMBB ran very well on a Lime iMac (these are what now? 2-3 years old), and it is just breezy on my 2-3 year old G4/400 (first AGP model). The game does not 'beg' current hardware, on the contrary, it is designed to run well on systems that you can pick up on Ebay for a fiver. Well, almost...

Son of two cousins married to each other then? That would explain the odd thing or two... How are you getting on with the nice Social Services lady?