Allan

Well, I thought I would go see U-571 today. In case you don't know it is the ficticious story of an American plot to steal the Emigma machine from a German sub. The movie was entertaining but it was also very Hollywood. Lots of shoot'em up type stuff, including an underwater torpedo duel between two subs that almost ruined it for me. But to the movie's credit it did list the actual cases of the allies capturing the enigma from U-boats. BTW, does anyone know if the US "S" class subs had radar in 1942? Allan

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Juju: 35 here! I think my first 'wargame' was Ambush, a solitaire squadlevel boardgame. It was tacky, but man, did I have fun! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> "Ambush" was my first computer game. Ah yes, the old Apple II. There were some good wargames for that platform. Allan

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by kip anderson: Hi, I am 42 and have been waiting for a wargame of CM's standard ever since the first Squad Leader over twenty years back. All the best, Kip. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I am 42 with a MS in Geochemistry. My first wargame was AH's Blitzkrieg. I then graduated to Squad Leader and things haven't been the same since Allan

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Los: It is VERY MUCH possible for a Bazooka to take out a Tiger if it hits it in the right spot particularly with a flank of rear shot. There are enough historical examples of this happening. Los<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I believe in Burgett's "Seven Roads to Hell" he gives an example of this. During a particular foggy morning, a 101st trooper crawled out of his foxhole to a Tiger that was on a hill overlooking their positions. It was foggy so he had to find the tank by the sound of its idling engine. The trooper crawled up to the tank and felt around to line up with the flank of the tank. He then crawled back several feet and aimed for the flank. Whoosh! No more Tiger. He took out several more tanks till he ran out of ammo. Allan

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by killmore: Is there a multiplayer campain in the game? Can both players win it?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> No. Only scenarios. Allan

Well, I have EF, WF and Rising Sun. I have to say RS is the best of the lot. In WF and EF you had armor, mobile troops and open spaces in which to perform flanking actions. In RS it is a whole new ballgame. You must learn how to take out bunkers and improved postions our you will get chewed to pieces. It takes a different mindset than the European battles of WF and EF. Throw in night combat complete with starshells, caves and banzai charges and you have a very nice game. Allan

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Madmatt: p.s. I remember a game with a swarm of Bees that was pretty cool too... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> They also had a game that was like the Death Star scene from Star Wars. Pretty cool....for back then. Allan

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Madmatt: Hey now, Don't be ripping on the Intellivision! They had a cool B-17 game with actual crew SPEACH even back then! WATCH OUT FOR FLAK!!!! Now the Odyssey II, that was one powerful rig! Madmatt <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Hey, I loved the Intellivision. It was way ahead of its time. Allan

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Fionn: Sub-title will be Beyond Overlord. So the full title is... "Combat Mission Beyond Overlord... Beyond the comprehension of Dave Dial." <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> How about: "Combat Mission Beyond the PC...no really, this is the last game ever for the PC...seriously...stop laughing...I'm not kidding". Maybe BTS could have a special Dave Dial edition which would include a mint condition Mattel Intellivision. Allan

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by MCab: What exactly does that mean? Did you go to Harvard business school for your MBA or did you learn from selling your medication in high school? *end clip*<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> He is the head cheese over at the Gamer's Alliance site. He can be controversial and some people think he a total jerk. I do not know enough about him to have an opinion one way or the other. Allan

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Big Time Software: Oh boy, that was a fun read We'll send you a postcard from some South Pacific island we buy with our new found profits Steve <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Gee Steve,if you send Dave a postcard I hope myself and the other CM fans get one too. But please, no pics of barely clad women rubbing lotion on your backs Allan

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Doug Beman: I've read a couple of (admittedly PC-biased) takes on the X-Box which claim that it's not going to be a real threat to PC game machines at release date. DjB<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I just read an article in Newsweek about the X-Box. It was designed to challenge the PS2 and hopefully beat out the second place competition such as Nintendo et al. It was not designed to replace the PC but it will have many "common" factors with a PC. It will be based on a PIII 600 running under Win2000. By doing this, MS hopes that PC game publishers will port over their dedicated PC games to the X-box. By containing a DVD drive, MS hopes that many families will buy the X-Box as a "complete entertainment" tool rather than just a game box. Now back to CM.....DaveDial, would you rather BTS to crank out garbage like Hasbro or release quality products? Who knows,one day maybe CM will be ported to the X-Box thus giving larger exposure to wargaming. No, I think our hobby is safe for now, so DaveDial please go elsewhere to troll. Allan

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Boris Balaban: I am NOT looking for a finish date only a possible update on what you guys are doing and how its coming along. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I think Steve said there will be an update at the end of the month. Allan

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Madmatt: gives Mystery Men a HUGE thumbs UP, WAY UP! Laughed my big head bald I did! Very fun movie... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I give it a thumbs up too. It is definitely different, reminds me of some of the Pythons' creations in a way. I do not think it was well received because people did not know whether it was supposed to be an action movie , a comedy or a satire. I think it was all three. I vote Fionn for the Blue Raja. Allan

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Greg Scurlock: Hey Pad, you got to admit, Steve makes at lot of sense. As for preorders, the only worry I have is that mine has been in for so long I just hope it's not lost!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> No, they still have them. I ordered back in June and they still have it. I agree, Steve makes perfect sense. Let's just all relax and let them do their job. BTS does not tell us how to run our business so let them run theirs. We all want this game really bad, that is a fact. However, we must remember it is BTS' rep and livelyhood we are talking about. CM needs to get good press and reviews, so they want the game to be very polished and working properly. Remember, BTS is not Hasbro or Microsoft (which is a good thing). Allan

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Hakko Ichiu: From "Closing with the Enemy" by Michael Doubler (p.53), describing the fighting for Hill 192 outside St. Lo: The Germans put up stiff resistance from the very beginning. One tank company lost six Shermans to German panzerfausts. Fanatical Germans defending one position refused to surrender and were run over and buried alive by one of the 741st's dozer tanks Sheesh, what a way to go. Ethan<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> In Burgett's "Seven roads to hell" it mentions Panzers parking over GI's foxholes and racing the engine thereby gasing them with exhaust fumes. If the GI's tried to escape, the were gunned down. Allan

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Fionn: Actually I believe the Germans had the better belt buckles although I don't much like some of the cheapo late-war belt buckles they had (yuck). <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Ok Fionn, I am starting to worry about you. Now you have turned into the fashion police Maybe we should close this thread before we get into standard issue underwear Allan

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Snark: Geeeez !!!! How long have you guys been waiting? Thats a lot of stuff you all have done! (Got my demo last month)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I pre-ordered CM on 6-17-99. What convinced me to order it that early was the unique design and scale of the game. Even back then the screenshots looked ok but it was the concept that really hooked me. I have been a fan of BTS and Charles' work since "Achtung Spitfire" and "Over the Reich". I guess I just like their attention to details and accuracy. If I had a question regarding on of the games, Charles would email me back with a response. No, I am not kissing up, but I do know what I like. Allan

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Fionn: Quenaelin, The book was limiting itself to describing the actions during the Vosges campaign (where the situation was more equal in terms of fighting power than elsewhere). <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Ok since everyone is giving their opinion, and opinions are like butts (everybody has one), here is mine...errr opinion that is. For the last two years I have been on a WWII reading campaign. From what I have read it seems like from the beginning of the war till late 1944, the German solier had no equal. However, dilution of the average German combat unit with poorly trained /inexperienced soldiers due to attrition, degradated his combat effectivness in battle. I think one must also look into other factors such as the "mindset" of the German soldier at that point in time and the infantry weapons used by each side. For example, the average GI had an M1 garand semi-automatic rifle. The average German had the bolt-action Mauser. From a shear lead throwing ability, the GI had an advantage (discounting other squad weapons like MG's,BAR's etc). Thus, I think the question is much more complex than a simple mano y mano scenario. We probably will never know the true answer but it is fun to discuss. Damn, we need CM to come out before we start discussing which side had the best belts. Allan [This message has been edited by Allan (edited 02-24-2000).]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by CoolColJ: She-male pack <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I saw this earlier. Very nice. However, the ladies do not appear to have enough.....3D if you know what I mean Allan

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Kraut: Like infantry that die like flies ... hmmm, wait, that's already been a "feature" of the past two titles. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Don't forget the "feature"that allows enemy armor to see your hidden infantry from hundreds of meters away. This happened to me last night yet again. I have a bazooka team hidden (ambushing) in a stone building. From 125m away, a panther spots them and wipes them out. Go figure. Allan

Let's see...while waiting for CM I have: 1) Played almost half of a Bombing the Reich grand campaign (turn 430). 2)Played a linked campaign in Westfront, Eastfront, and Rising Sun. 3) Started a new campaign CC4. 4) Finished a campaign in Mig Alley and European Air War. 5) Read the Forgotten Soldier, Soldat, Currahee, Seven roads to Hell and countless other books. 6) I can't remember anything else since I have grown old and senile. Allan

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Lindan: Linda Evangelista naked on JagdTiger. (again!)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Again? How did I miss the first one? BTW SI's swimsuit issue just came out complete with 3D pictures. I assume this is not the same type of 3D models depicted in CM Allan

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by dumbo: Perhaps we could pursuad Fionn or Mad Matt to post some screens showing the CM campign screens so we can scour them for features and curse them both to hell for having a beta copy <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Good idea...about the posting of screenshots. If you curse them both to hell that just means the devil will get to play CM before we do which would really burn me up (pun intended)! Allan

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Fionn: I think one thing that needs to be elucidated here is that many make a GREAT distinction between CC 1 and 2 and CC3 and 4. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I agree. It is almost like CC1 and CC2 were totally different games rather than part of a series. I have the entire series and it is fun especially against a human opponent. But the AI, in 3 and 4 really takes away from the game. Allan