Andreas

Not sure about my place - my lodger is off shagging moose in Calgary the next day, he may not be happy being disturbed in his anticipation.

Alright then, since we managed to drag Justin out last time (this Tuesday), and get buy-in from all those folks present, and realised that Forest Hill has the highest density of quality CMBO scenario designers in the world (i.e. Justin and me live about 500m apart), we decided that that is enough reason for drinks on Sat 17th Nov, a date that will even give the provincials that otherwise would have been held up by Dick Turpin or Railtrack, not sure which is worse, a chance to attend. Yes, that was one sentence, and email me if you want to know where we meet. That is all, and if you are fortunate enough to not live in the hell-hole otherwise known as London or south of England, don't bother to having read this.

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Puff the Magic Dragon: Now a personal issue: Germanboy, personaly insulting someone as Arschloch(=asshole) on a public board is unacceptable, and to do it in a foreign language to avoid a warning from the moderators shows that you are a dishonorable coward. Maybe I will be excluded from this board for this sentence, but at least I accept the consequences of my words.<hr></blockquote> There are German language moderators who can pick up on this. If there weren't, I would have said it in English. Since Scipio and I are German speakers, I thought it appropriate. On a more general note, I also thought it an appropriate reaction for being yelled at for no reason at all (you do know that caps indicate yelling, do you?) and insulted by him, since he obviously had not read my post. He did set the standards, and should not come whinging if people treat him accordingly. Your point was?

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by tero: Originally posted by Germanboy: [qb]Contrary to tero's claim, Anglo-American writers do mention the horses, at quite some length when it comes to the Falaise pocket. But you do agree that the German army (along with its horses) did travel and fight elsewhere in the beautiful French countryside. And Eastern Europe. And not just in the Falaise area. They somehow fail to mention the stout Germanic warhorse that dragged the Pak40 right up to the FEBA for emergency use though. They had to get there somehow. Can you give any narratives about how they pushed them for miles into positions manually ? Or drove comfortably on their SdKfz-10's or Krupp Protzes all the way to the position and just drop the damned piece there ? Shurely some oversight. It must be, I'm shure. Could it be that it was so commonplace they did not think it was worth mentioning in their memoires. I do not recall ever reading the recipe for the German army bread but I'm sure the field bakeries made millions and millions of loafs of it.[/QB]<hr></blockquote> Funnily enough, I have read a number of comments from British/Canadian vets on the quality of the captured German food stuff they had to live off when the supply lines came close to breakdown. So there goes that argument. I agree they fought elsewhere, e.g. Tilly, Breskens Pocket (see my above post). So I am sure that either you or Mr. Spkr. or whoever the other chap was will be happy to supply a lot of eyewitness references by German/Anglo-American/Russian/Finnish/Fidjian vets to the no doubt prolific use of the mighty horse in the frontline. That's what I asked for. I gather you are all still digging? How did they get there? Simple pushing and shoving (works for short distances, and there were harnesses for the crew - I have a picture of my grandfather in one of these) comes to mind. Certainly more sensible than exposing the fragile and large prime mover (Fury or Black Beauty in the German case; a 15cwt or whatever in the UK case) to enemy veterinarians with guns?

All that talk about eyewitness evidence of horses on the FEBA is very interesting. Now apart from Falaise (which we no doubt can all agree was a special situation), and the number of horses in a German division, do we have anything else? More specifically, were there any horses in the FEBA at Tilly? South Caen? Maltot? Hotton? Arnhem? Hochwald? Huertgenwald? Bastogne? Breskens Pocket? St. Lambert? Leningrad, Kursk, Kingissep, Mga, Sevastopol? Any other battle catered for too, take your pick. The same goes for motor-bikes. I am always interested to learn something new. I await the recollections by German participants of those actions, detailing the contribution of the brave and proud beasts in defending the Fatherland, with baited breath. Contrary to tero's claim, Anglo-American writers do mention the horses, at quite some length when it comes to the Falaise pocket. They somehow fail to mention the stout Germanic warhorse that dragged the Pak40 right up to the FEBA for emergency use though. Shurely some oversight.

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Ogadai: I know of several cases in North Africa where it occurred. One where a RAEME craftsman was awarded an MM for using oxy-acetelyne cutting equipment in the middle of the battle to cut free a Mathilda II tank turret which had become jammed by a hit in the ring.<hr></blockquote> Must have been a regular occurence, if he got an MM for it.

Good thing he is not bitter about it

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Clubfoot: Oddly enough, I've been working on a GOLD beach scenario entitled Hobart's Funnies. The bunker-buster and flame-tanks are already in the game, but unfortunately flail-tanks and bridge-layers aren't possible. Same goes for the duplex-drive Shermans. That is to say, you could do a half-assed job of making a Sherman resemble a DD Sherm (sort of), but it wouldn't be amphibious.<hr></blockquote> That would not be a problem, because the Sherman did not fight with the swimming gear on it, AFAIK. They could not see or fire through it. Once they had reached firm ground, the swimming gear was blown off with explosive charges, and all you then would have is a water-proofed Sherman with a propeller drive.

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Vader's Jester: Gordon Molek had a sweet Ram Kangaroo mod at Combat Addiction, but I can't seem to download it for some reason. Dose anyone have it? If so, can you e-mail it to me at: DaBurchs@aol.com I am mainly interested in the Brittish camo or Canadian versions. Thanks! <hr></blockquote> There are some at Der Kessel, but I am not sure if those were Gordon's.

Wasn't there also a major mountain range the Red Army had to cross?

No you haven't, yes there is, and it is. Hope that answers all your questions

Lorrin, Tout is talking about this incident too, in Tank!. I think he mentions that the 75mm Shermans tried to attract the Tigers' attention away from the Firefly.

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Mr. Johnson-<THC>-: Expect it on November 11th<hr></blockquote> At 11.11am?

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Tanaka: Trying the 40s tactic or just pushing is luck ?<hr></blockquote> The latter He was ordered there, desperate times, desperate measures and all that. The German front had collapsed in the sector, a newly arrived infantry division had routed, and 1st SS Panzerkorps needed to restore the situation, so they scrounged whatever they could get their hands on. Mostly Korps assets, like the escort battalion, and some Panzer IVs from 12th SS, IIRC. The whole affair could be called a sort of success because the British stopped, but whether that was actually due to the counterattack, I can't remember (and my sources are in London). I think it was more because the British sat snugly on their obejctives and needed to clear by-passed strongpoints. Helge (Desertfox) has a scenario at Der Kessel called 'Totalize' where you can try if you would have done better.

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Brian: OK, I'll put you down for one copy. Would you care to preorder now and pay your money? <hr></blockquote> We talk about that after the beta demo. BTW - I might also be interested in a version covering Italian east africa, and if you really do your Pacific version, I expect it to start at least with the Mandshukuo railway incident in 1929 or whenever that was (boy is my memory ever going, to think I studied all this crap), so that it covers all the operations in China, and also the Khalkin-Gol battle.

As for counting casualties, I mean really... Could you please get a grip? There are really only two things that govern whether a game may ever see daylight: 1) Designer interest, to get started and persevere. 2) Market interest, to get the funding. Both of these obviously depend to some degree on whether there are interesting fights to be had (for the genre we are talking about). Now for the war against Japan, BTS and squad-level combat, I think we can rest assured that: 1) is a no-no and 2) is a definitive 'maybe' (for whatever reason) Apart from that - whether interesting fights can be had is obviously a matter of taste to quite some degree. But as I said above - nobody stops you from doing it yourself.

Oh boy, another time this topic has gone to the dogs. What a surprise that is. Now, if you want someone to do something they have stated they are not inclined to do for want of interest, is it going to help you if you call them 'glib' and 'dismissive' or ridicule their choice? Discuss. Now, if you do that, what (apart from looking stupid) does that make you? Out to Troll? Steve and Charles have feelings too, you know. The verdict on Matt is still out Maybe Brian should talk to that game company he knows in Australia (I think it was you, apologies if not) that could develop a great simulation on a shoe-string, and ask them to put their heads together to do a CM style Pacific game. Since both of you seem so convinced that BTS is not doing it 'because it does not have hordes of tanks' or because they are glib and dismissive, it appears you believe there is a market. Maybe your mates can just do the engineering version of CMBO while they are at it? Some Crocs would come in handy on Okinawa. Onagai - 'a potential market that exists' is exactly the problem, isn't it? At least for the ETO and the GPW they know that an actual market exists. Economist joke: Two economists walk down the lawn at King's College, Oxford. One says 'Look, a 20 Pound note lying there.' The other one goes, without bothering to look down: 'Impossible, someone would have picked it up'. If either of you believe that BTS is that stupid, find some partners and programme away. I buy it if it has Fascines, optional Bren tripods, and I can avenge the Rape of Nanjing.

Glantz has done some really interesting stuff - 'The initial period of war', 'Zhukov's greatest defeat' are two very different books that do a lot of justice to the stuff they cover. 'When Titans clashed' is good because it brings out the Soviet perspective and is a nice work, very accessible (compared to e.g. Ericksson) and bringing a fresh look at something far too many people know only from reading Carell. Glantz also inspired Adair to give Bagration the full works in 'Hitler's greatest defeat', another must read. Yes his books are data heavy, but they are quite thorough, and his initial work is informed by the perspective of how to combat the Red Army, and shows a lot of respect for it, which is what makes 'The initial period of war' such an interesting read. None of the 'It was a walkover' school of Barbarossa study in there. 'In deadly combat' is very good too. I would also download the Wray work on German defensive tactics. Mellenthin is good, but has his problems - quite clearly showing that a lot of German officers did not understand what actually hit them in the east from 1943 onwards, blaming their defeats alternatively on Adolf or human wave tactics. Redwolf, since you like bashing Glantz, what do you read for operational stuff on the GPW? If you like to read at that sort of level.

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Michael Dorosh: I read just recently about a Canadian infantry battalion and a reference to "its" WASPs. I suspect, like the MMG platoons, that they were parcelled out to infantry battalions as needed? From the history of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps (paraphrase): Didn't the Canadians have a different version of the WASP than the Brits? I take it then their distribution was also different? [ 11-02-2001: Message edited by: Michael Dorosh ]<hr></blockquote> Don't know about the different version, but from my reading it is pretty clear that the Wasp was parcelled out, sort of like the poor man's Crocodile. There is a scenario called 'Day of the Wasps' somewhere, depicting the Canadian assault across the Leopold Kanaal, by 7th Brigade (IIRC), and apparently the Canadians had 27 Wasps as support to flame across the Kanaal (they still did not make a lot of headway, these things were no silver bullet) I think if you are depicting a set-piece attack in built-up terrain, or against entrenched Germans, or unusual terrain, you can be excused for bringing one or two to the party for a roast, without it being gamey.

Since I don't read teh GF much: anything by Glantz.

The other side of time by Brendan Phibbs. A great rant, and he was the combat surgeon of CCB in 12th US Armoured. Wrote it in 1987, and boy was he ever bitter.

Some people here ought to go out and have a look under the hood of their cars - what would they find? Oh right, radiators, fuel pipes, distributor caps, yada yada. Now, if you go to a Sdkfz 251 HT, guess what you find under the hood. Full marks - radiators, fuel pipes, distributor caps, yada yada. Now, a quick brush up on knowledge on what happens if a single .50cal round goes through your car's radiator/engine block/severs a fuel pipe (take your pick) - oh right, it won't run anymore. Surprise surprise. If you don't believe me, try it with your car at home. Since we all agree that the round can penetrate the armour of the HT, and that said round can destroy generic vital parts of any vehicle, why is it so hard to comprehend that said round can do both with an HT? Same goes for 20mm AA rounds going through lightly armoured parts of a TD. Unless you can show that there are no vital parts in the potential flight path of a penetrating round, you don't have a leg to stand on with your arguments. All the ignorance of Jason in the matter of what can break in an engine or pretending that the round goes through the freight compartment, and not through the cab or the engine for sake of his argument about light guns, and all the shouting and huffing and puffing by Scipio won't change that and magically make it disappear. Really.

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Offwhite: Does the reviewer mean it's a weak point in the game, or a vulnerability that your opponent can exploit? I hope the latter...<hr></blockquote> The latter - to my reading. Another quote 'I quickly realised that was missing in the graphics department can be found in the AI'. I think it is quite a nice review, really.

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Rollstoy: Quoted from the review: When was this feature added :confused: <hr></blockquote> Damn I have to read it again Proves that five hours sleep are just not enough for me...

Michael, Redwolf, why don't you try the opponent finder on the Scenario Depot (link in my sig), pick a historical scenario by a reputable designer, or one with good reviews, or both, and specify in your message that you are after historical playing? Worth a shot I would think.