Seanachai

Damnation! Bullethead, Mark IV credits tips from you for the performance of his artillery in our current PBEM game. I would appreciate it if you would stop by some time and help me write letters to the families of my infantrymen... ------------------ After witnessing exceptional bravery from his Celtic mercenaries, Alexander the Great called them to him and asked if there was anything they feared. They told him nothing, except that the sky might fall on their heads.

Er (snivel), will there be a Mac version of this wonderous new engine? (Flinches, and cowers back...) ------------------ After witnessing exceptional bravery from his Celtic mercenaries, Alexander the Great called them to him and asked if there was anything they feared. They told him nothing, except that the sky might fall on their heads.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by PacifistButLikeWarGames: Down to my last bazooka team, only one man able-bodied..... He had one shot left.... He crept from building to building, waiting, waiting... The tank hunter that had taken out 3 halftracks and 2 Shermans was lumbering around town with impunity (or so he thought)... Then BLAAAAMMM!!! Bye-bye tank hunter, hello victory!!!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Huh, try this one! Quick Battle, all my other AT capacity gone, AI has a King Tiger wandering around my front, shooting up my positions. One lone Piat crew creeps through the woods, only 2 rounds left, gets up close to the Tiger, hit the target command and get the message 'chance to kill: rare'. Fire, and Clannggkk! Upper Hull Penetration, Knocked Out. ------------------ After witnessing exceptional bravery from his Celtic mercenaries, Alexander the Great called them to him and asked if there was anything they feared. They told him nothing, except that the sky might fall on their heads.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Elvis: I didn't even know you could set the QB for reinforcements. I guess I should check it out before I install v1.03. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> As far as I know, you could not get reinforcements in a Quick Battle. They are obviously in the regular scenarios, they can be introduced into Scenario Creator scenarios, but the Quick Battle generator in versions 1.0 and 1.01 had no option for reinforcements. ------------------ After witnessing exceptional bravery from his Celtic mercenaries, Alexander the Great called them to him and asked if there was anything they feared. They told him nothing, except that the sky might fall on their heads.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by guachi: Yes, many people have requested an OOB screen like in SP. The SOON TO BE RELEASED FAQ has about a dozen of the most common questions, including this one. Jason<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> You know, I just stopped in here as part of my usual ritual of checking out new posts, and I am moved to say what I have kind of subconsciously noted for a long time, and that is that: Jason, you are one of the most consistently helpful and positive people on this forum. Thank you for that, and keep up the good (and usually thankless) work! ------------------ After witnessing exceptional bravery from his Celtic mercenaries, Alexander the Great called them to him and asked if there was anything they feared. They told him nothing, except that the sky might fall on their heads.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by kunstler: d'oh! (blush) Fixed it. Forgot to move a file . . <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Whoa, wait! How can we recreate this effect?! I used to have to pay money to see something that weird... ------------------ After witnessing exceptional bravery from his Celtic mercenaries, Alexander the Great called them to him and asked if there was anything they feared. They told him nothing, except that the sky might fall on their heads.

There are people who could leave this board tomorrow, and the only effect it would have on me would be to lower my blood pressure. Others' departure would leave me depressed. Some I would like to actively drive away, but I know that would be wrong. So I merely try to politely point out to them that they are useless little gits, or I ignore them completely. I think there is a fair amount of misunderstanding on this board, because of the rather 'flat' nature of written communication between people who don't know each other well. I find this forum highly useful, entertaining, and informative. I'm saddened that anyone who's been here for some time would not. Even during my tenure, which is brief compared to many others, the board has changed. But I feel it likely that it will change again in the not to distant future. This board has gone past the days of 'the Faithful', the people who believed in the game when there was no game; the people who wanted to help define what that game would be. Now, the game is here. Many new arrivals clog the streets of Jerusalem (or Mecca, or er...well, Jerusalem again, in a different way, or your favourite holy city here). Some of them are fools, some of them are believers, some of them are troublemakers. A goodly few are probably pilgrims who's knowledge and belief will help keep the game alive and growing. But, by definition, none of them will be the people who were there when the whole thing began. For a while, we'll hear a lot of bickering in the streets of this little community, with new and enthusiastic brethren clamoring about their reception from the residents, and the early converts spitting dismissively while discussing the shortcomings of the newcomers. And things will shake out, and some will go, and some will stay, and the community will adjust. And then it will happen all again. I would hope that Kevin (who I don't know, but I've been reading his posts here for some time, and I feel, in my limited experience, is a valued member) will leave because he chooses to, and then, rested, might venture back and find the community one that he will again embrace. Right now, with the game an existing and palpable reality, faith and belief will be shouldered aside by 'participation'. The democratization of experience. But what will keep the game alive is the participation of those who enjoy it, believe in it, and participate to improve it. Not just those who come in with, 'hey, do you know what should actually be done with this game', or 'wow, this game would be really great if it was only completely redesigned to meet my personal expectation about x', but those who play and, in discussion with BTS and others who've been here for a long time, wonder how x, y or z might be done better. I have only been reading this board since April of this year, but I have gone back and read a ton of previous posts (by way of the dreaded search function, or because of specific postings by members), and I think this has been one of the most interesting forums I have ever encountered. And much has been made about some of the 'flames' here, especially the ongoing ones. When I first encountered them, they troubled me too (although I will point out they were very few, compared to some of the forums I've encountered). But the longer I've been here, the more I've sorted out who to accept, who to ignore, and had a quick laugh over people who came at each other with knives drawn, only to find after 15 or so posts, that they actually, at least kind of, agreed with each other. This can be a very prickly group (look, there is no way that a great wargame is going to be embraced by a group of relaxed, communal Quakers. Most of these demented swine have 'combat' tatooed across their knuckles.) But there will always be a hard corps of people who play the game, and will keep the forum on the path. But some of them might get a little tired in the process, and some might have to take a break. Many will be back. It is only the dead that we will not meet again. Gods, I'm tired tonight, and rambling like some kind of tent preacher... In the immortal words of Pogo: Don't take Life too seriously, son...you ain't no how going to get out of it alive... ------------------ After witnessing exceptional bravery from his Celtic mercenaries, Alexander the Great called them to him and asked if there was anything they feared. They told him nothing, except that the sky might fall on their heads. [This message has been edited by Seanachai (edited 07-29-2000).]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Sailor Malan: 2" are great if you use them carefully -long range (relatively) harassing fire. Dont expect big results, or effects in buildings or anything. The best use I have ever had wes 4 of them firing at a long thin wood the bad guys were advancing along. I stopped 4 or 5 squads cold with airbursts. They legged it and were never seen again. Lucky I guess! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I'll go with this and some of the more positive appraisals. This is a limited weapon, but one with a definite niche. The more of them you can flock together, the more their impact. I use them to suppress MGs, knock out guns, kill HTs/Open Top vehicles (they've been superb for this...don't know how that will change with vers. 1.03, which reduces their effectiveness somewhat), and, in a group, interdict or harass enemy staging areas. When I began this game, I used to look at mortars and ask myself what I was supposed to do with the useless little gits. Now I have a real affinity for them. And I'm still learning how to use them to maximum effect. As a humble, hat in hand, non-Grognard, it wouldn't seem odd to me if their movement rate was somewhat increased. ------------------ After witnessing exceptional bravery from his Celtic mercenaries, Alexander the Great called them to him and asked if there was anything they feared. They told him nothing, except that the sky might fall on their heads. [This message has been edited by Seanachai (edited 07-29-2000).]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Steve Clark: Thanks Fionn for taking the time, in this thread and the other one. I understand what you are saying about tactics and I used Hannibal as an extreme example. I'm a Civil War historian so WW2 shouldn't be too much of a stretch. I promise that I will put on my WW2 hat sometime and get into the game and ask questions in this forum. In the meantime, I'll keep reading this forum, as I have been doing everyday in the past 5 weeks. I know CM is a great quality game (that was why I bought it), I like reading about the different experiences (including your great AAR). <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> You know, I've read your previous posts on this concept with great interest, if some bemusement. It seems to me that you and Fionn are actually on the same wavelength; both of you immediately begin to research. I, too, feel the best way to get your feet wet is to leap in (although not against human opponents...humans are evil and crafty...brrrr). I had a decent (not great) background in WWII history, equipment, and tactics from like...20 some years ago. Right now, I'm playing PBEMs and buying AFVs (armoured fighting vehicles) on the basis of point limits, and shady remembrances, and when I get some of them into a game, I go "What in the name of all the gods is this?! How'm I s'posed to use this thing?" And then I play it, and I learn. Beyond the tutorial scenario, my understanding (haven't actually done this), is that the...I'm sorry, bear with me Grafenwohr(?) scenario included with the game is another kind of training scenario, with commentary/training text from Los, the scenario creator and longtime poster/beta tester here (who's posts I've always enjoyed), that is available at CMHQ (ah, CMHQ...Ohioans and Irish, Irish and Ohioans...could anything be more frightening?). Anyway, read up. Study. But also play. Failures and odd occurences (that is what I call all my mistakes: odd occurences and anomalies...) will help you to understand the intricacies of this game, as well as (strangely enough) helping you to understand some of the things you read about! Enjoy, and, in any case, welcome. Don't hold back, though. Play! I've very seldom found such a great community of opponents. ------------------ After witnessing exceptional bravery from his Celtic mercenaries, Alexander the Great called them to him and asked if there was anything they feared. They told him nothing, except that the sky might fall on their heads.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Juardis: Is Andreas Germanboy? Is he that good? I'm 0-1 in PBEM, so I'm just curious.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Yes, Andreas is Germanboy. I hear the evil little multi-culture boy is way good. I must defeat him, I must! He has impugned a totem. ------------------ After witnessing exceptional bravery from his Celtic mercenaries, Alexander the Great called them to him and asked if there was anything they feared. They told him nothing, except that the sky might fall on their heads.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Rommel22: Look, I can post whatever I want. Just take a joke will you. And Truman really did say that. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> You sure can. And if other people feel that what you post is boorish and moronic, then they're likely to post back with that in mind. Truman said it, eh? Then why are you trotting it out now like you just came up with it yourself? ------------------ After witnessing exceptional bravery from his Celtic mercenaries, Alexander the Great called them to him and asked if there was anything they feared. They told him nothing, except that the sky might fall on their heads.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Fionn: Seanachai, Sadly I think he WAS serious..<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Err, but Fionn...that would mean he might be completely insane... ------------------ After witnessing exceptional bravery from his Celtic mercenaries, Alexander the Great called them to him and asked if there was anything they feared. They told him nothing, except that the sky might fall on their heads.

Ah, the joys of being on very late at night. Thank you Charles and Steve for all your truly superlative work. And for not closing down the 'Peng, I Take Our Challenge Public' thread. Wonderful restraint. And I'm looking forward to each and every nuance of the new patch. ------------------ After witnessing exceptional bravery from his Celtic mercenaries, Alexander the Great called them to him and asked if there was anything they feared. They told him nothing, except that the sky might fall on their heads.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Rommel22: anyhting serious o here??? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> My gods, you mean your previous post here was serious?! ------------------ After witnessing exceptional bravery from his Celtic mercenaries, Alexander the Great called them to him and asked if there was anything they feared. They told him nothing, except that the sky might fall on their heads.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Simon: Again this argument would be mute if we could mod the OOB's or someone would come up with an editor to hack the OOB's in the tradition of most good Wargames that couldn't do every unit <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> You know, I've read several posts from BTS as to why they didn't allow this kind of modification, and they made good sense to me. I really don't think you're going to accomplish much with these little 'nudge' posts. ------------------ After witnessing exceptional bravery from his Celtic mercenaries, Alexander the Great called them to him and asked if there was anything they feared. They told him nothing, except that the sky might fall on their heads.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by jdl: What about NAFTA?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Damn, I've been out of this sort of thing too long. I don't think you should have had to pay any kind of duty. GST, certainly, but there's no way that amounted to $15 (Canadian or US). But I could well be wrong. Of course, anything sent in under 'NAFTA' is sposed to have that big, stupid, 'this product covered under NAFTA' form/paperwork/sticker. The problem is, as I've found from shipping, is that you pay whatever some idjit postal/customs/bureaucrat who doesn't understand the system they're a part of decides, rather than what is actually called for by law. Your package comes through, and lazy swine #1 routes it, and decides: There are no NAFTA 'documents of origin' with this, therefore, under a regulation that I used to apply 4 years ago, the duty that should be imposed on this package is x, so you have to pay it, even though the package isn't dutiable, and that rate no longer applies, and that rate was in fact for 'Children's Videos that are not Bilingual in Content'. By the time you try to recover the money, argue with your government, deal with multiple people, you'll wish you'd just put your thumb in your mouth and made small whimpering noises... ------------------ After witnessing exceptional bravery from his Celtic mercenaries, Alexander the Great called them to him and asked if there was anything they feared. They told him nothing, except that the sky might fall on their heads.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by maddmatt: After looking around here a bit, I have noticed a man going by Madmatt. Just a coincidence, actually. Certainly not trying to imitate him. I've been going by Maddmatt for some time now (5 years? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I originally posted the what's the deal, and now that I realize it is in fact veriest coincidence, my apologies if my post seemed harsh. In self defense, there were a few new members (actually, they were usually casual troublemakers who soon left), who made a point of trying to seem like people that might be considered official, or 'semi'-official. Again, as there was no intent, my apologies, and welcome to the board. ------------------ After witnessing exceptional bravery from his Celtic mercenaries, Alexander the Great called them to him and asked if there was anything they feared. They told him nothing, except that the sky might fall on their heads.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by ThomasZ: Imagine it my friends, a night mission, a small squad of german soldiers equiped with only a pf-60 closes to within 20 meters of an american tank. They move slowly forward in the building till they get a line of sight on the target and fire! Now, I don't mind that they missed, it was a desperate plan to be sure, but they CAUGHT THE DAMN BUILDING ON FIRE <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> No problem, mate. Just switch to Piats. They won't hit the tank either, but they won't set the building on fire... ------------------ After witnessing exceptional bravery from his Celtic mercenaries, Alexander the Great called them to him and asked if there was anything they feared. They told him nothing, except that the sky might fall on their heads.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by MrPeng: The addled and evil DrSenileTea has destroyed TWO (2) {II} of my lovely little SPW251/9 HTs mounted with 81mm mortars with his own puny stinking little Canadian 2 inchers (the size, I am told, of The Evil DR~Tea's fully aroused member). Peng. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Quite right, Peng. They are both 2 inches in diameter. I have noticed this vehicle/mortar issue. I noticed it with great joy, and even giggling, in the game Peng refers to. As I have come to deeply love mortars (holds finger up and frowns in admonishment over comments on the tips of every one's tongue), I'm not sure that I want this fixed! Whether it is accurate or not historically, I don't know. Obviously a player needs to keep them on the move for them to stay alive. But I do notice that during the 60 second turn, the Tac AI doesn't seem to respond to them as a threat, and it often doesn't take that long before the mortar nails them. I will say that in many of the first-hand accounts I've been reading, mortars seem to have been extremely effective and deadly weapons. It could be that, since they come almost straight down with no warning sound, they were a weapon that soldiers and vehicles reacted to with uncertainty. Where was the fire coming from, which way to move, better to stay put or flee, was it a mortar round, or a thrown grenade, or what, etc. etc. I think it bears looking at, at least now that my game with Peng is over. ------------------ After witnessing exceptional bravery from his Celtic mercenaries, Alexander the Great called them to him and asked if there was anything they feared. They told him nothing, except that the sky might fall on their heads.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by *Captain Foobar*: SS, you nefarious little toady!!! What is this disgusting posturing you are doing!!!! The honor of all grid-likers is in your hands!!! If you lose to me,all grid-likers lose. So you had better shore up your faltering nerves, because all of these poor misled souls are counting on you! (disclaimer: If you cannot see that this post is in jest, you should see a head doctor)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Git him, Captain. And if he loses, make him drink decaf for a few weeks... ------------------ After witnessing exceptional bravery from his Celtic mercenaries, Alexander the Great called them to him and asked if there was anything they feared. They told him nothing, except that the sky might fall on their heads.

When my PBEM files are not immediately forthcoming, the two phrases that I immediately apply to the situation are: 1) Lord, did I send anything off last night? And to who? Was it actually a PBEM file, or Japanese Manga erotic jpegs, again? 2) My god, where are my clothes?! Whose house is this?! Is that a goddamn Britney Spears CD on the stereo! Nice doggy, nice doggy, I'm leaving, calm down... ------------------ After witnessing exceptional bravery from his Celtic mercenaries, Alexander the Great called them to him and asked if there was anything they feared. They told him nothing, except that the sky might fall on their heads.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Calvin: Hmmm... interesting posts. I for one am alarmed at the lack of campaigns/personal involvement in both the flight sim world (Flanker 2.0 for example) and in wargaming. Sure, campaigns and advancing units are kind of "gamey." But they are often the only way to create a rationale for force conservation. Otherwise, it's all too easy to just go for the throat regardless of casualties. And the affection one develops for certain units is also in a sense realistic. Many a company commander had a specific platoon--- even a squad--- he would call upon to get the job done. Hope someone takes this up. c.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I will! I will! I admit that one thing that is disturbing in the game is that people are more than happy to throw troops into the meat-grinder as long as they succeed. I've even read posts by people who casually describe unit and vehicle sacrifices in a very off-hand way; all just part of the cost of doing business. But, on the other hand, I'd have to say that I've read a number of books on WWII, and those squads that commanders chose to 'get the job' done, were usually the ones that got chewed up the worst. Often, the only thing keeping them remotely effective was 1) they could only be called upon in this way over a fairly short period of time. 2) the unit had the odd NCO or Officer of quality that had managed to survive, and could motivate their constantly replaced personal to achieve good things. 3) it was less a 'they always get the job done' than, 'heck, send x squad again, they worked last time (command perception as a form of superstition)'. Realistically, when some company commander decided, heck, give it to F platoon, they weren't thinking: "Yeah, F Platoon, ol' Bill, and Sam, and Short Lenny, and Red, and Finnegan are the kind of guys that always get the job done." Because after a day or two, most of these guys were either wounded or dead. Also, one of the other things that I've gathered from my readings, is that although there were officers who hated it, and no one was crazy or politically incorrect (not the modern useage) enough to state it, but that Command was willing, and often forced, to feed troops into the blades to achieve objectives (and for even more objectionable reasons). Although there were obviously officers, some even highly placed, that had a care for their soldiers lives, when it came right down to it, everyone was expendable. The Americans went in with the idea that high casualties in the short run were preferable to a drawn out war. And the Germans had to contend with Hitler and the High Command's rabid insistence that everyone die in place. The Brits were tenacious about holding to a plan, long after it seemed to have gone completely wrong, and their Command seemed willing to soak up casualties rather than back down from a bad situation. So, we tender-hearted wargamers (and I admit, it chills me to take high casualties, even when I know it won't affect my victory) aren't necessarily representative of the realities of WWII combat. In fact, I'd say that gamers are more likely to be leery of wasting their resources than commanders in the field, not because they were monsters, but because the results were often perceived as more important than the cost. And, may I point out once again, this idea of 'special' units and ongoing campaigns is not consistent with a small unit, tactical level game. This kind of thinking is more consistent with an operational level game, where the focus of command is platoons, battalions, and perhaps regiments. The larger the unit of decision, the greater the number of survivors and 'veterans', and the greater the consistency of execution and tradition. ------------------ After witnessing exceptional bravery from his Celtic mercenaries, Alexander the Great called them to him and asked if there was anything they feared. They told him nothing, except that the sky might fall on their heads. [This message has been edited by Seanachai (edited 07-22-2000).] [This message has been edited by Seanachai (edited 07-22-2000).]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Bastables: Remember the eyes are linked to the brain, not each other. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I categorically deny that! My eyes are directly connected to my stomach, and certain unmentionable regions even further south. The idea that my brain might be involved in the process is completely indefensible on the basis of my day to day behaviour. If I went with your questionable theory of physiology, it would raise disturbing questions about my mind. I would prefer that you retract your concept that the brain has any impact on dealing with visual stimuli. ------------------ After witnessing exceptional bravery from his Celtic mercenaries, Alexander the Great called them to him and asked if there was anything they feared. They told him nothing, except that the sky might fall on their heads.

Actually, the way that I find the most enjoyable for sorting out the quick and the dead is to traverse the field calling "Here, who's with Peng?" Those who answer in the negative are mine, and those who don't answer at all are with Peng, and therefore, dead... I have only been here since May of this year, so I am, I feel a relative newcomer. I have read several of the threads on the marking of the fallen, shall we say. I'm very happy with the way that BTS chose to do it. And I'm very glad they included it, as the first version of the Demo didn't have it, and destroyed units simply disappeared. When you couldn't find them, you had to assume they were dead...unless they showed up again later, then you had to put it down to lost time episodes and alien abduction. On the other hand, I am supremely grateful to BTS for doing it the way they did. I have no interest in anything other than a discreet marker. No blood, no death sprawled mounds of terror. Not even little patches of blood. It is simply unimportant, and does nothing to enhance the game, in my opinion. I understand the concept, of course, that sometimes people have trouble distinguishing them. But c'mon, is a patch of blood on the uniform really going to be any more distinguishable than the face up, leg-crooked pose? I have to say, from my own experience, if you are only playing this game at an elevation that makes it hard to distinguish between crawling and dead guys, than you are not playing it correctly. During the game I find myself constantly shifting viewpoints. In the beginning, I tended to stay in the 3 & 4 viewpoint way to much (especially 3). I missed tons of relevant details, important clues as to what was going on with my units, and with the enemy, and had a shakier grasp of terrain than I ever realized. I found when I started using views 2 & 1 more, I was starting to do much better at the game. And, at level 2, let alone 1, there's no way you can mistake the crawling quick, or the sunbathing dead. And, on that note, may I just say: Anybody else noticed how, ummmm...'odd' a dead mortar crew looks, especially looking from the head down the length of the body...with the mortar tube still in place? You get the feeling these guys died enjoying their work too much... ------------------ After witnessing exceptional bravery from his Celtic mercenaries, Alexander the Great called them to him and asked if there was anything they feared. They told him nothing, except that the sky might fall on their heads.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by iggi: Yes, from your unit. But if I want to measure the distance from a point behind the enemy, (looking for good flanking manouver jump points), the grid will help. I'm not saying that I would be so anal as to use pythagoreus' theorum to calculate diagonals 8P <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Precisely, iggi, and this is the one area where, hmmm, I hesitate to call it 'gamey' but the area where grids will convey a slight level of unreality (or rather, increase it). Sure, we can all use the LOS tool right now to judge distances from our units, and distances to targets. Grids give the player the ability to do more (if somewhat roughly), because they allow people to pick a spot on the map, and then make rough calculations of range and distance from that point, not yet reached by any unit, and maybe not even yet seen by any unit. I'm sure you could argue that the same could be done from maps issued to units (although the map your units have in CM is way better than anything I hear described by combatants in the books I've been reading). I don't really have any interest in using grids, but I don't think this sort of thing is a big deal. In fact, it might be handy for people new to the game and trying to get the hang of things. Still, when the Sargeant Major comes and stands before me and barks: "And you, you horrible little man, how did you play?!" "GRIDLESS, Sarn't Major!" Somehow, I know I will better. ------------------ After witnessing exceptional bravery from his Celtic mercenaries, Alexander the Great called them to him and asked if there was anything they feared. They told him nothing, except that the sky might fall on their heads.