gaffertape

Slappy? Imagine my surprise to see my own nickname on this board. Not Forum nickname, mind you, just a real-world moniker. Feel free to e-mail me, Slaps shaun_sayer@hotmail.com GAFF

scorpion: I wouldn't get offended by sten's post, lad. I read it and it didn't seem condescending to me. I think he was just trying to be clear. The problem with 'typed text' is that its hard to infer the tone of voice. Welcome to the community! All in all its a nice family of people here. One occassionally encounters nastiness but very rarely and usually from the same few people. I dare say that CM is the best wargame you will ever own. Well, until CM2 comes out. Regards, GAFF

jgdpzr: "Grousers' is correct. GAFF

I love the campaigns, Wild Bill. The immersion level is really heightened in an operation, and one gets to experience the much-read-about frustration of fighting over the same piece of land repeatedly. I've never come across that in a wargame before. The remains of vehicles from previous battles are the crowning touch, though. Nice work all round. Oh, and Bill: Some questions were raised regarding the building / bridge height in Arnhem. I have an Osprey book with a nice 3/4 perspective drawing of the bridge and town. It doesn't look like any of the buildings are higher than the bridge. I'll e-mail you the picture tomorrow.

Steve and Charles check the board fairly frequently, so you should get a response soon. If you ordered 10 days ago, you're probably getting a game from the 'second pressing', which I understand is a 'boatload' of CDs, so its doubtful that they're all gone. Welcome to the board! GAFF

Ah yes, the Kubelwagen. Stock VWs are surprisingly good in bad terrain due to the decent suspension and the tail-end weight provided by the engine. GAFF

Well I sure stink! Sign me up. GAFF

Congratulations on the extraction. Believe it or not, I can't bring myself to even throw out the little brown envelope - its still sitting beside my PC. Where in Toronto are you Melloj? Nice to have another local on board. GAFF

My lowly machine is only really happy at 640x480, but it's well worth the quality hit to play CM smoothly. Still debating whether to upgrade heavily or just by a new PC. GAFF

In my current PBEM I've had all four of my Shermans knocked out (am I a good player or what?). Only two out of the four tanks had some crewmen live. The two other crews never even got to the hatches. None were catastrophic explosions. On the other hand, in another game I lost two trucks to incoming fire and in both cases the squads emerged unscathed - not even alerted or shaken. GAFF

Thanks for the coffee spit all over my monitor Von Lucke. LOL. GAFF

I salute men like yourself Colonel, who actually DO the things that we lazy people merely ponder. Nice work indeed. GAFF

Hard question to answer without more details... Its not a game with 'chapters' per se, like Tomb Raider or Command and Conquer, and there is no full-on 'win the war' campaign. You can pick a small scenario (15 turns) which might take you an hour at most. Larger maps and more turns make the game much longer. Operations (as opposed to scenarios) are made up of multiple battles and they take much longer as a result. There really is no "beating" the game as such. Even if you've won every single scenario and operation, more are being created by players all the time on the net. In addition, the computer can whip up random battles, and you can create your own scenarios and operations. Myself, I know this game will be on my hard drive for years, even after the sequels come out. Regards, GAFF

I use this tactic all the time. I find that kills are somewhat rare, but its good for at least a suppression. GAFF

Just to clear it up: "A Midnight Clear" starred Gary Sinise, Ethan Hawke, Frank Whaley, Kevin Dillon, Peter Berg and Arye Gross. A very haunting film, and a personal favorite. GAFF

I like this idea very much. It can be tricky keeping track of several mounted squads / HQs / weapon teams. GAFF

Possibly the best course I took at university was on post-colonial literature. There are some good points on this thread but probably a million different interpretations of each. No simple answers here, I'm afraid. Requires some heavy reading (way more than I did - wink, wink) from the perspective of both the former imperial powers, and the citizens of Africa themselves. GAFF

The window behind my computer faces north, away from the city, and strangely enough the view includes rectangular fields and rows of trees just like Normandy. Many is the time that I've pictured tanks crawling along out there. GAFF

I understand that crack is less addictive than CM. GAFF [This message has been edited by gaffertape (edited 07-11-2000).]

Puppchen? Sorry, I'm at work, and hence can't have a look myself. What AFV is this? GAFF

Great laughs guys! GAFF

Meta game system? Is this 'Venom' an operation on the CD of which you all speak? GAFF

Thanks, Turret. I haven't yet fully explored the M5's capabilities. I imagine it would have few problems outrunning a Tiger's turret traverse. GAFF [This message has been edited by gaffertape (edited 07-10-2000).]

With my kind of schedule, PBEM is the only option. there's never a time when I have the several hours available to play a straight game. GAFF

Its out, man! What may be throwing you is the fact that Combat Mission will NOT be available in stores. Read their 'MANIFESTO' at www.battlefront.com (under 'overview' I think)for reasons why. Glad you're enjoying it as much as the rest of us. The final version will make you wet your pants! Replayable like no other game. Do yourself a favour and order it, Wolf! GAFF [This message has been edited by gaffertape (edited 07-10-2000).]