Dan Weaver

And the Top 10 Last Words of a Panther Commander: 10. "What's this Pershing thing everybody keeps shouting about?" 9. "Everybody knows tanks can't go through bocage!" 8. "Snipers schmipers." 7. "This is a PERFECT firing position, we can sit here all day!" (105s start falling) 6. "Calm down, Hans. Forest roads are perfectly safe." 5. "Where did all our infantry go?" 4. "Are you kidding? Americans never lay ambushes." 3. "I'll just take a quick look around." 2. "Isn't that gun awfully big for a Sherman?" 1. "Weak spot? What weak spot?" Dan [This message has been edited by Dan Weaver (edited 07-08-2000).]

This scenario is completely impossible from the American side. If you had more than 20 turns, or if your troops weren't tired at the beginning of the battle, or if the map was smaller, or if you weren't outnumbered by SMG squads in a forest, or if those damned SP guns weren't there, it might be doable. I take back everything I said earlier. You are an evil, evil man, Wild Bill. Five tries and no breakout, Dan

Are there plans to issue pistols to bazooka teams, or have they already been equipped with them? I read a thread in which BTS promised to give those plucky grunts some self-defense capability against the angry gangs of black-suited evictees they meet from time to time and I'm just wondering whether that's has been carried out. Dan

A crew can be this effective in battle. I had to make do with what I had where I had it, and these guys came through in spades. Dan

CM already allows you an insane amount of micromanagement ability you don't have in real life. Being able to specify turret orientation for individual tanks is just ridiculous. I suggest that you make better tactical choices so as not to have infantry behind your Panther and tanks in front of it. That's stupidity on your part, not the computer's. Dan

Select the gun and tell it to move onto the prime mover, just like you'd do for infantry. The path label should change to 'Embark' and the gun crew will roll their gun towards the carrier. Once they get there, they'll hitch up the rear of the gun and then it's time to move out. One of the niftier effects of Combat Mission, IMHO. Dan

I just finished Nijmegen with a Major Victory. Since I had Yank paras on the far side of the bridges and Brit tanks on the near side, it was mission accomplished for the 82nd Airborne. It was bloody as all hell, though. I don't much enjoy this sort of victory. Allies 201 casualties (48 KIA) 12 vehicles knocked out Score: 75 Axis 313 casualties (103 KIA) 91 captured 1 mortar destroyed 11 guns destroyed 5 pillboxes knocked out 9 vehicles knocked out Score: 25 The copious and timely reinforcements were greatly appreciated, Wild Bill. Dan

Jeeps are enormously useful for quick transport of spotters, high-level HQs, bazooka teams, HMGs, and mortars. They can also tow 57mm anti-tank guns. Dan

I lost 11 to the bunker...11 PIAT rounds. Otherwise it was the very picture of ineffectuality. Dan

Frequently you can research on the Web to find out how the actual battle came out. I did this for Drive to Mortain and was saddened to find that the real US attack bogged down and took heavy casualties. Dan

Thanks to everybody who wished us a happy Independence Day! We quite literally wouldn't be here without you. Dan

L'Abbey Blanche can suck that way. Just keep on fighting, though, and you should pull through. Dan

I like American paratroop squads, but what do you prefer? Dan

From the Allied side, I found Fear in the Fog beautiful but easy. Allies 36 casualties (9 KIA) Axis 269 casualties (62 KIA) 48 captured 3 vehicles knocked out Axis surrender, Allied Total Victory I took the railroad station with my first company and set up a strong defensive position, then sent a platoon and the Sherman to the northern victory flag, where they set up an (excellent) ambush position at the bend east of the crossroads. My second company arrived as one of my bazooka teams heard tank tracks to the east of the railroad station, so I moved them into reserve positions behind the station and waited. Their accompanying Sherman moved into an excellent ambush position on the railroad tracks. Two turns later a Panther tank raced out of the fog and stopped in front of the northernmost building of the station, apparently intending to engage a machinegun team located in the open. The tank commander had managed to position himself with one AT team 25m to his rear and another AT team 10m to his flank. Needless to say, the Panther was quickly dispatched by bazooka fire and the crew slaughtered in a hail of lead. In despair, the AI made a series of several suicidal charges on the outlying buildings of the railway station. The bloody results of the German charges can be seen at http://www.rdwarf.com/kioh/killingfields.gif. The Volksgrenadiers were simply slaughtered, mowed down at point-blank range by paratroops and pulverized by mortar fire. Amidst the carnage, the Germans moved a StuG and a halftrack down the railroad tracks to lend support. The StuG was wrecked by a bazooka hit, while the halftrack was blown apart by a shell from my Sherman. Repulsed at horrific cost, the Germans began to retreat towards the northern victory hex and stumbled upon my outlying platoon. They fared no better there. The platoon dropped its ambush and concentrated fire on the German stragglers. With the Sherman providing accurate fire support, the remnants of the German force were quickly mauled into rout. I think this battle would have been much harder if the AI had been more aggressive. Mowing down the Germans as they came out of the fog into perfect SMG range was fun, but not really challenging. Played against a human opponent, it would be really impressive. [This message has been edited by Dan Weaver (edited 07-03-2000).]

I've seen friendly fire in the Bruyeres scenario, which takes place at night. Some of my troops were falling back from an advance position that had gotten overrun and they drew a few inaccurate bullets from my MLR. It's not that hard to avoid, just make sure to keep an eye on what your troops are doing and where exactly those targeting lines are going. Dan

I lost the first time I played each of the Beta Demo scenarios, and won every game after that. Dan

I ran into the same problem while playing Drive to Mortain. I was getting worried that I wasn't making enough progress! An excellent URL about the real Mortain battle, which includes a relief map of the area under Photographs, can be found at http://737thtankbattalion.org/Mortain/index.htm. There's a decent map of the Carentan area at http://www.region-normande.com/musee/region3/pme3.htm and a clickable map of all of Normandy at http://gofrance.about.com/travel/gofrance/gi /dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.normandy-tourism.org/gb/02ville/0map/ndymap.html. As it turned out, I won Drive to Mortain once I reached Clairet. I haven't tried Carentan yet, though. I also noticed that the AI's deployment was spotty after the first battle. For instance, in the third battle, it placed an entire SS company, the bulk of its force, in a forest well off any sensible axis of advance. I didn't even realize that they were there until the operation ended. Dan [This message has been edited by Dan Weaver (edited 06-30-2000).]

The AI really likes to send infantry through bocage in close assaults. Once I had eight AT gun crewmen hold off an entire SS panzergrenadier platoon because the computer insisted on sending the grenadiers through the bocage about ten yards from the house the crews were holed up in. Awfully dumb for ubermensch. Dan [This message has been edited by Dan Weaver (edited 06-27-2000).]

Is it realistic to have every Allied tracked vehicle fitted with a rhino after July 1944? Also, would it be possible to make tanks leave a hole in the bocage after they pass through it? Dan

Today I won Drive to Mortain with a major Allied victory after 3 battles. The results: Allied 109 casualties (45 KIA) 3 mortars destroyed 15 vehicles knocked out (love them dime-a-dozen Shermans!) Axis 154 casualties (72 KIA) 10 captured 2 mortars destroyed 8 guns destroyed 1 vehicle knocked out After the first half of the first battle I kept well away from the road, using my tanks to bulldoze through bocage, which saved me a lot of grief and kept me out of ambushes. Infantry can get through bocage (they take about a turn) but they need cover while they do it. Artillery caused many of my casualties, and I've now learned to keep units moving through the objective. As always, combined arms were the best solution to the numerous Nazi anti-tank guns. While reading about the real-life drive to Mortain, which stalled and resulted in heavy casualties, I noticed that the officer who ordered the attack stipulated that the 737th stick to the road. Dumb idea! If I'd attacked on a one-tank front I would have gotten creamed. Dan [This message has been edited by Dan Weaver (edited 06-27-2000).]

I was going to try to do Parker's Crossroads but it looks like somebody else is already on top of that. Dan

Doh! I was all set to make a Parker's Crossroads scenario myself! Back to the drawing board I guess. Dan

Calling all grognards.... I'm trying to convert a Command Decision scenario to Combat Mission and I'm having a little trouble understanding the miniatures rules. When they say "1 M-4 (75)" do they mean one Sherman or one platoon of Shermans? Do "stands" represent one squad or one platoon? What is a gun crew (ds.)? What is the difference between a "command Pz IVH" and a regular Pz IVH? Dan

I play Americans, and British once in a while. I like to see the Nazis die. It's twice as good when they're SS. How about a few red spots to go with your brown and green, chums? That "substandard weapons" stuff is a bunch of bull. The Americans had better infantry weapons, better artillery, better combined-arms tanks, better fighter-bombers, and more of everything. Dan

Got it today (yesterday actually)!!! Whipped the AI soundly at Pegasus Bridge, take a look at it over on the scenario discussion board. I love this game. Dan