David Aitken

Nope, you've got to find firing positions yourself. A marksman needs to be careful not to get spotted, so it's unlikely that the computer would be able to move him itself without him being noticed and dealt with. Because CM is three-dimensional, you can visually scout out appropriate firing positions (use view 1). And keep in mind that the marksmen in CM are not actual trained snipers, they're just good shots.

Some Damn Fine German Weapons A pictorial diary following Hitler's finest on the assault Today we are clearing a village of some pathetic British scum. We have nothing to fear from them. C platoon makes best use of available cover on the left flank with D platoon HQ and a squad from B platoon. They are supported by two of our glorious Sdkfz 251/9's and a Wespe. The rest of B platoon and D platoon deploys on our right flank as we await our barrage of 150mm rockets which will surely destroy the village and send its cowardly defenders running for England. As well as another three 251/9's, they are blessed with the presence of the mighty Panther. The scurrilous Englanders have used underhand tactics which are surely a direct breach of the Geneva Convention in order to spot our troops and drop some of their inferior artillery. We lose a haltrack due to mechanical failure. Our artillery observer has a sudden attack of hayfever and retreats to a nearby house for a lie down. We shall wait for him, there is no rush. In the meantime we conduct exercises to maintain our edge. The sight of even this will surely break the will of the enemy. They cannot touch us – we shall simply deal with them in our own time.

It's official, I was cheating in order to beat Fieldmarshall. How else could my feeble Brits have hoped to overcome his übermensch? <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Here you are friend who will be crushed by his own ego, words, and some damn fine German weapons.....remember...YOUR on the defensive,,,,,hhahahahahah and so on....<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> The lineup; on my side, two rifle platoons, a 4.2in mortar FO, two 17lb AT guns and some barbed wire. On his side; as far as I can tell, a company of infantry, five Sdkfz 251/9's, a Wespe, a Panther, a 150mm rocket FO, and whatever else I haven't seen yet. While he waited for his barrage to come down, I dropped some shells onto a platoon with two of the 251/9's, taking out one of the latter. Partial FOW allowed me to identify his FO sitting out in the open, so I switched the barrage to him and sent him panicking into a nearby house. Meanwhile Fieldmarshall was running his forces back and forth to avoid my artillery, and the most recent turn ended with his Panther mooning one of my 17 pounders. He has presumably seen the results of my ordering the gun to open fire, whilst switching my barrage towards his other two platoons, which were sitting precariously near the map edge – but suddenly he's busy, and he has a job, and another PBEM, and he's probably washing his hair as well. So, the next time this chap complains about the mighty Peng Challenge Thread, I think we ought to concede to him and shut the place down, as we don't want to invoke his wrath and tactical genius.

Damn, you found me out. It would have been really tough shelling all your troops sitting in full view of my positions unless I hacked the game... and as for the Panther, everyone knows it was invincible, even to 17 pounder shots from the rear. And of course you were crippled by that 150% force strength thing... you're right, we really ought to have a rematch on more even terms.

Hey Fieldmarshall, you owe me a PBEM file! If I remember correctly, I was just about to put some AP through the back of your Panther...

PBEM Update The tally after turn four of my wee scrap with Panty Liner: Me – four StuG-type thingies, a Wirbelwind and a PzKpfw IVJ, plus a platoon HQ and maybe a few other mensch. Him – seven Cromwells and three marksmen. His remaining forces live in fear of my company llama.

Don't worry, I'm not a terrorist – it was an act of war and therefore perfectly legal. Now I'm off to make a RPG attack on Downing Street. *Echelon agents tap in to thread*

If you want to be realistic, withdrawal is a better option than surrender. See this thread. However, if your troops are surrounded or you can't possibly disengage without taking heavy casualties, it makes sense to surrender. [ 07-12-2001: Message edited by: David Aitken ]

Now that is cool. I've always fancied making tanks out of Lego, but I never had enough bits...

CM is a ground warfare game. Aircraft are beyond what BTS would or should be expected to model. They have done very well in including CAS at all. If you want planes, get a flight simulator. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>I would be satisfied if we could just have some sort of recognition that one has been shot down<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Last time I shot a plane down, I heard an explosion and the shadow disappeared.

• Deputy Moderator knows the rules? So now we know what Seanachai is really doing. Meeks is back! Deceitful gamey bastard. I think I owe you a surrender or a withdrawal or something (caution: the latter could take weeks – just ask Dzhugashvili's Vili).

I try to play realistically. In my current game, I have plenty left to fight with, but they are green troops, which are useless at nighttime. I went in to the attack, and ended up with half of my men lying around panicking. I have not lost, I just know that I am going to lose a lot of men unnecessarily if I resume the attack – so surrender is not an option, unless I want to turn over a lot of healthy men and serviceable equipment to the enemy. Ceasefire is less than ideal, as the enemy holds the VLs – maybe he would consider giving them up in a game, but in reality I doubt it. Moreover, as has been mentioned, if I request a ceasefire I am indicating to the enemy that I cannot continue fighting. In the situation where I am desperately trying to rally my troops in order to withdraw them, and enemy counterattack would be disastrous. Therefore, withdrawing is the only option, and it is too complex a procedure to allow the computer to handle. This may be a combat simulator, but in war preserving your forces is as important as destroying the enemy, so I do not regard a careful withdrawal as a waste of time which I would rather fast-forward.

PBEM Update The second turn of my battle with Panty Liner consisted of me kicking his teeth in. The third turn consisted of him kicking my teeth in. Unfortunately he has an assault-sized set of gnashers, whereas I only have my economy-defence dentures. Maybe I should stick to micromanaging, this audacious-and-cunning lark doesn't seem to suit me.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>What if his force was so beat up he could only consolidate = hold current positions ?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> That's what he's doing. I know just pushing GO every turn while you wait for your opponent to withdraw isn't terribly exciting, but at least it doesn't demand much time. Much of real war isn't terribly exciting either. And your opponent might be bluffing – that's only one of many possibilities. Real war is a mind game, and the guy who gets restless first is the guy who makes mistakes. The battle isn't over until the enemy is gone, one way or another.

I know, I was just offering an idea, because I don't know the exact answer to your question.

I think on-board mortars stop firing smoke once their target is obscured.

Fanaticism is enabled by a scenario designer. I don't think it can happen in a Quick Battle.

Now look here, a successful withdrawal is a fine art! Real-life commanders don't have the option of fast-forwarding. You wouldn't view the matter with such disinterest if you had to go into battle the next day with your remaining forces. There are all sorts of things that could happen, and you'd most likely leave half your men lying around panicking. I am currently executing a withdrawal in a PBEM, and the main issue is trying to rally all of my panicking troops in order to rescue them, whilst preventing the enemy from overrunning my positions. I am finding it very engaging, and it is taking longer than any normal namby-pamby withdrawal. Bloody armchair generals... pfff.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Stalin's Organ wrote: I'll send that 251 hunting someone else!!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Please do - then I might end up with a viable fighting force! The magical morale-healing bullets of the Sdkfz 251, an undocumented feature!

Isn't it funny how we always get complaints when someone sees something they don't like which seems unrealistic, but never when they see something they do like which seems unrealistic. I have just seen something blatantly absurd which I like very much, and demand a fix immediately or I won't be buying CM2 and I may just go back to Close Combat because it's an infinitely more realistic and accurate simulation and you can run with heavy machineguns and Royal Tigers rule the battlefield. This is a picture of a decimated Polish squad which has been cowering in a state of rout for several minutes, and is now being chased towards the map edge (rather conveniently) by one of Stalin's Organ's halftracks. This is a picture of the same squad moments later. It lay down, was fired upon, took a casualty, got up again and ran. But when it took the casualty, it magically recovered, and went straight from 'routed' to 'OK'. Why, I ask you, is a decimated squad of green, broken Poles going to suddenly pull themselves together when one of them gets killed? Squad morale is averaged, so it's almost as though the morale of each man is individually tracked, and in effect two perfectly calm soldiers were being dragged down by one deeply shocked and totally insane madman. Must add the obligatory BTS, fix or do somefink!! Do want a game that works??

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Leeo wrote: "What is up with those French anyway? How come they can talk so fast?"<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> The French are talking fast because they are trying to squeeze in as much quality time as possible before the next German invasion. That is if we don't get the buggers first (either of them, they're all bloody foreigners anyway).

At this rate, we may as well start the next thread by launching the debate over the title of the one after. Maybe Matt fancies letting us go up to 500. As has been repeatedly observed, the shorter the threads, the less worth they have (if that were possible). The first half is fighting off Witless Newbies™ and the second half is choosing a new title.

My two vanilla Cromwells can have your Royal Tiger for lunch. So to speak.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Madmatt decreed: Jumped the gun on a new Peng Thread...We dont need one...yet....Soon though..<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> So let's just all calm down and get on with our pointless existences until we get the word.

PBEM Update Fieldmarshall continues to amaze with his tactics, which can only be described as... unusual. After my upsetting a few of his troops with the 4.2 mortars, he moved them back a bit towards the map corner, as though this would protect them. This has enabled me to spot another of his vehicles, a Wespe. His infantry is now gazing towards Berlin. I then felt compelled to use the mortars to counter his imminent 150mm rocket barrage, even though I suspect he has as much chance of hurting himself as of hurting me. The enemy FO is now cowering in a nearby building. Meanwhile, he has gamily send his weapons platoon HQ forward into my small barbed wire emplacement to get killed whilst exposing my positions. He's not far away from tripping a couple of ambush markers, but I shall cancel them and see if a 2in mortar can put him off. On his right flank, he rolled his Panther and three 251/9's forward with his other two platoons in case I shelled them... and then turned them around and rolled them back. I may be able to get a rear penetration on the Panther, assuming he returns the file.