Seanachai

Scott, thanks for the reply. In general I don't think the 'guard duty' thing is usually a big deal. If nothing else, I just command my 'new chums' to move to the nearest of my units, and hunker down to await developments. However, they can become 'collateral damage' then, of course, or even manage the dreaded 'escape'. I had a mortar in a Quick Battle game this afternoon (US 60mm) that was far off to the side, and was reduced down to one guy. He surrendered (mortar was knocked out), even though there was no German closer than 70m (Not that they couldn't have shot him, of course). He stayed there with his hands raised for a couple of turns, then the Germans nearest moved into the meat grinder battle that was chewing up both sides' infantry squads, and I had another mortar crew pass nearby the captured unit. Next thing I know, his hands are down, he's now 'unarmed', and I grabbed control and had him beat feat to the rear. On last report, he's still cadging drinks with the story of his 'great escape'. I was interested in your reply on this because you'd actually given this sort of thing some thought, and represented a 'contrasting' (as opposed to 'opposing' viewpoint). ------------------ 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 kump: BTS, just how long must I wait!? I pre-ordered CM2 an hour ago and I just checked my mailbox and you know what! That's right! NOTHING!!!! This stinks! You know how long I've been wanting to play Russian tanks in CM2? ALMOST ALL DAY LONG!!! How much more waiting must we endure? You ask of us too much!!! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> You don't have CM2 yet? A bunch of us got it on Monday-Tuesday of this week. Bet wargame on the East Front I've ever played...it even puts CM1 to shame! ------------------ 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 MacAuliff: I cannot afford to spend much money on books, but I admit, I renewed membership of the local public library. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Yeah, money's too tight for book buying right now, but I've been impressed with what I've actually managed to get at my local 'regional' library. Problem is, once I want to reference something in it, or look at info for scenario designing, I realize it's back at the library. ------------------ 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 Germanboy: I believe it is, IIRC from Michael Doubler's 'Closing with the enemy'. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I have been/am reading Doubler's book (after many posts about it here). I haven't played anything in bocage, yet, but one of the points Doubler seemed to make was that the Rhino's only helped so far, and that AFVs found them most useful against the lighter weight hedgerows, but for the nastier types they had to use engineers and explosives combined with the 'rhino' blades to get through. Is this modeled? Wouldn't Ami afvs moving through the hedgerows (albeit slowly) with just 'rhinos' allow Ami advances that were too fast, compared to the historical situation? Or is the slowness of movement meant to model the more complex process of hedgerow busting that Doubler discusses in the book? ------------------ 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 Kevin Peltz: maybe the US could invade us and make it stick this time as the 51st State <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Okay, just a quick, oldy joke for our long-suffering Canadian brethren: An American, an Australian, and a Canadian go into a bar, and each orders a draft beer. The American downs his in one long swallow, pulls out a pistol, throws his empty mug into the air, and shoots it. He turns to the other two and says: "In America, we're all rich, we've got so much money we never have to drink out of the same glass twice!" The Australian downs his beer, pulls out a pistol, chucks his mug into the air and nails it. He says: "In Australia, we've got sand coming out of our bums, glass is dirt cheap, and we never have to drink out of the same glass twice, either." The Canadian downs his beer, grabs the American's gun, and shoots him. He tells the Australian: "In Canada, we've got American tourists everywhere, there's so many of them, you never have to drink with the same one twice..." ------------------ 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 pathfinder1: I am personally going to try and have any I put in a site tested, but that may not always be possible, so a ranking system at least will at least let folks know the better ones from the... ehem, not so good . <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Although I would love to see a rating system (however rough) I agree that ranking or rating scenarios will be extremely difficult, so maybe we will just have to let the marketplace (number of dowloads type thing) and word of mouth determine status. Downloads are small, but sometimes you have to play a ways into something to find out it's either seriously flawed, or something you could just as easily run up yourself on the Quick Battle generator (and in fact, that might well be all it was). I'm sure we'll have our share of strange, annoying scenarios designed by 15 year olds (NOT any kind of dig at anyone on this Board, just what I've experienced with other games) of the type: Hey, dudez, check out this awesome scenario I designed it rocks! (on another board, anyone who posted a description or personally described their scenario and used the words 'awesome', 'rocks', or 'cool' gave me the identifiers I needed to avoid downloading it). ------------------ 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 06-29-2000).]

Totally different question on same subject: What factors does the engine for Quick Battles take into account when designing forces? Is the nature of the terrain taken into account? Day or Night? Weather? Does the engine consider the nature of the operation type or 'defender' or 'attacker' status when pulling together a side? And does the engine use historical or realistic criteria when putting together a force? I'm talking about things under the hood here, not the obvious things like what units were available at what time period. I've found the Quick Battle generator very intriguing and a wonderful tool, and would like more info on what's going on its 'head' (if anything. I suppose it could all just be random, within the limits set by user selections). ------------------ 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 Zamo: Seanachai, I'm glad somebody thought that was funny, 'cause I was just about peeing my pants writting it. What can I say? Sometimes my sense of humor gets the best of me. Zamo<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Well, none of us might win comedy awards, but my sick sense of humour dictates that inserting elements of CM into a children's software title would be a firking howl. It might traumatize them for life, or it might keep them on their toes enough to survive High School. ------------------ 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 SS Peiper: snagdad I know what you mean I was up until 3:00 a.m. and when the battle was over I still had to go online to check the Forum. SS Peiper<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> A couple of times lately I've finished Quick Battles that took place at dawn/dusk, which have a lot of ambient 'early morning' bird sounds. I finish the game and turn off my computer, and they're still there...only they're outside the windows now. Also, this game is affecting my thinking. The owner of our 4plex hadn't mowed in many days because he's been too busy, and the grass out front was reaching 'haying' heights. Yesterday I walked out and found he'd cut it nice and short, and I hesitated at the top of the steps thinking "I'll never make it to the car...there's no cover at all." First time in a long time when I've thought: Thank god I don't have a girlfriend, because she'd just have left after the game arrived. ------------------ 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 Scott Clinton: Thanks Steve, I think this will help and I am sure it is much easier than the "AI fix". <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Hey, Scott Clinton! I see where the concerns that started this thread have been wrapped up by BTS, but I was thinking a lot about some of the implications. Personally, I wasn't completely opposed to having the AI handle bailed or useless crews for me, and I too liked the idea that crews that the AI had designated 'fanatic' might still take part in a battle or in the game. But on this issue of 'guarding prisoners', which is the only way I ever used them while under 'my' control. I agree with you that it's completely unrealistic for bailed tank crews and such to be guarding prisoners, and, historically, therefore, freeing up other units that would have had the task. But what about mortarmen or bazooka teams that would fall under local command, and, now with knocked out or empty weapons, are pressed into the duty of guarding prisoners? Would this still be gamey, or a realistic useage of local resources? I want to get into more PBEMs with people, and I not only believe in 'realistic' composition and use of forces, but want to avoid 'gamey' behaviour because I don't want that kind of rep (this does not imply cheating, or disparage anyone elses game useage or tactics; I'm not here for that. I have a certain stance on this that I wish to take for myself alone, and that's what's behind this post.). ------------------ 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 Stuka: Does Tori Spelling cheat when she gets her dad to cast her in one of his shows? You see gentlemen, cheating has a million forms and although I don't like it I am honest enough to admit that I am guilty of at least some of them. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Okay, you may be right about a certain amount of 'cheating' going on in life, but if it turns out that you have anything to do with keeping Tori Spelling working and inflicted on the American people, than you're going down, man! ------------------ 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 Madmatt: Thanks and Mac On! Or whatever the hell it is you Mac weirdos say! Madmatt <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> What joy! I suffered serious depression when I first realized this mod pac wasn't available for our platform. But now, the hand of cross-platform brotherhood has been extended. And you can't ask for fairer than that from those Microsoft Lackey PC users! ------------------ 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 Zamo: No. Don't buy it. It sucks. Go buy "Fruity-pants Love Duckies". Now that's a REAL good game. It's about these cute baby ducks who swim around in this little pond. Great immersion there (when they bob for weeds). And when Snuggle-bunny hops over to tell them about the new baby that Mr. & Mrs. Robin had! Oh, thats great too. But the best part is when Ubersturmfuhrer Von Hapsdorf leads his 2nd SS panzer battalion into the farm and blasts the place all to hell! Oh, wait, I think that's part of CM... I get these two games confussed... Zamo (just go buy it...now. You won't be sorry!)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Okay, this was a great thread, because the guy's going to buy the game, and Zamo's post actually made me laugh out loud. ------------------ 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 aka_tom_w: OK..... I post here with this story most recently (like 30 minutes ago) from another thread. Please read this.... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Yeah, I read Red Dog's post as well, plus I can relate something I also encountered in a Quick Battle. I had moved halftracks in for machine gun support on some small houses that my German squads were trying to occupy as part of a 'Meeting Engagement'. One halftrack was knocked out, the crew bailed, and I moved them into a small patch of woods and told them to hide. There was no good way for them to move further back, no cover, and I'd purposely made the Allied side way strong, and they were consequently overrunning and trashing my positions. So I just tried to put these guys out of harms way. Well, it turns out this 2 man halftrack crew was 'fanatical'. When the rest of my squads in the forward position had been destroyed or routed out, this crew unit, which I'd had hiding, came up and started duking it out with the advancing allies. I issued them no orders for the rest of the game, concentrating on trying to rally and 'escape' the rest of my force off the map. Actually, their actions (again, totally under AI control) held up quite a few Ami units who ended up trying to root them out rather than pursuing my other shattered units. I didn't bother to try and move them out, because they would have been cut down in seconds, figured, hey, they're heroes, let them do their thing. As to gamey use of crews, I'm in two minds. I don't really see any problem with having them guard prisoners, but I won't use them as 'combat' troops, and certainly wouldn't use them for recon work as described here. Both in single player and PBEMs, I figure I move them out if I can, or put them somewhere safe and have them just stay hidden. But I'm not sure I just want to turn them over to the AI, and I sure don't want them just beating feet towards the horizon, especially if they get ventilated in the process. ------------------ 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.

I agree with Simon Fox, he's come here with no apparent bared sword, and I, personally and with never having played CC, think it's a shame that one wargaming community would ever be involved in sectarian violence with another. Hey, MaxTork, welcome back. Any good word to share with folks round here? ------------------ 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 Jimmy 4 Eyes: TeAcH has been nice enough not to mention that he was playing me in this game. I have to admit that I was surprised that my tank not only targeted his tank, but fired and hit it. I watched from my end with the unit locked and on screen level "1" and I could not see his tank... This may be a bug worth looking at. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> What, are you guys all blind?! The shell is passing through windows kitty corner to each other on the first house, the same again on the second house, and just squeeking by the corner of the third house! ------------------ 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 sabres33: but today, BOOM, this game I never heard of is smoking everybody. I am not complaining though. I had never heard of Combat Mission, and until I saw the votes I would never have checked it out. CM does look interesting. If there are only 6 of you guys, and you are just voting over and over again, oh well, but I'll have to see if this game is well liked (the fact that it sold out already is a good sign). Thanks for the eye opening, my game smoking, voting process.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Hey, sabres33, welcome to the board! I'm with Mark IV, see how peopele can be attracted to the game when others don't go over and taunt and rail? Glad to have you here, man, this is a good community. I'd check out Ground Control, but I imagine no way it's available for Mac, so no joy for me! Going to go vote now, and check out the site. Man, it's starting to sound like Daly's Chicago around here, except the votings all on the up and up. ------------------ 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 Hannibal: well I did get a confirmation e-amil on 6-18 but since then my card has not ben debited and i have sent 2 e-mails .I order by secured method so i did not get a check my info so i assume i might have mave a mistake <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> As BTS is temporarily out of stock, I imagine they have chosen not to charge your card until they have the stock back on hand. I would email them for a response before reodering. Returning duplicate orders that were caused by your duplication is a hassle for everyone, and you'd certainly have to pay return shipping, as well as making sure it got back to them in good shape. I was afraid my original preorder hadn't gone through, and even wrote them a slightly testy email about it. They contacted me after a couple of days about it, and were very nice. Wished I'd been a little more courteous when I'd written the original! ------------------ 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 Eridani: I will yeild to popular opinion that my gameplay was "gamey"... Honestly at the time, I wasn't thinking about how I could exploit the computer, I was thinking "how the hell can I use what I have to NOT DIE here"... If that counts as gamey, than I'm sorry. -EridanMan<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Hey, I believe there was no bad intent, that's why I went with the 'without malice' disclaimer. I would have to say you acted imaginatively; there's been times in some battles against the AI where I was doing the same, going 'okay, we're basically screwed, what might make this better?' No implied personal criticism, just having to chime in on concept (basic: community deciding what is 'other' type thing!). Personally, I started laughing at the vision of all those MMGs circling the beleaguered tank ("Quick, pull the wagons into a circle, here they come!"). Probably frustrating to be on the receiving end of something that weird, though, and, like I say, makes me want to make sure future opponents are taking the same approach to the game I am. These MMGs are an interesting vehicle. Against primarily infantry set-ups they're very useful and powerful (an armoured machine gun that can advance and retreat quickly is a real godsend, in some situations), and seem worth more than what they cost. Against armour or heavy AT formations, of course, they are extremely fragile, although quick. I've used them in a couple of battles against the AI, and am still pondering them. ------------------ 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 06-27-2000).]

Have to go with a 'Gamey Tactic Without Malice Aforethought'. He doesn't seem to have gone into the battle with a 'gamey tactic' in mind, just a rather bizarre and ahistorical force mix. No question, though, that when the situation arose, the actual tactic is one you wouldn't find outside a Hollywood 'Comedy/War' movie. Points up the importance of people who're going to play blind Quick Battles agreeing on what it is they're setting out to do. It would never occur to me to 'buy' that kind of force, because, well, because there's no way any battle was fought with a force like that. I wouldn't choose to put together a force that off-beat unless my opponent and I had agreed we were setting out to play an off-the-wall, points-for-weirdness type game. I don't necessarily feel you need to use rigid organizational guidelines, but the players need to be in basic agreement about the historical/realism nature of the game. A lesson to me: when playing blind Quick Battles, make sure both parties are on the same wavelength before agreeing to a game! Sheesh, multiple edits for odd typos! ------------------ 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 06-27-2000).]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Michael emrys: Cute trick, macbaldwin! I have a couple of questions. Do troops automatically dig foxholes whenever stationary, or is there an order for this? The only foxholes I've seen so far seem to be mandated by the scenario designer before the start of the game. Michael<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Troops on the 'defensive' (i.e. the other side is 'assaulting', 'attacking', or 'probing) automatically begin a scenario dug in (as long as they're placed where they can actually dig). Given the time frame of the game, there is no 'dig in' command once you're into it. Makes sense since every first hand account I've ever read indicated that the first thing troops (who knew any better, and wanted to live) did when they took up new positions was either started looking around for the foxholes and bunkers of the previous occupiers, or started digging their own. ------------------ 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 martiniman: To Teach and friend. Are both versions of the game on the CD or is it just the windoze?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I've nothing to do with the PNW, but I do know that both the Windows and Mac versions or on the same disk. CD says so, plus I ordered for Mac, and took my disk over to my Sister's house in an effort to get my Fantasy RPG and Sci-Fi gaming nephews into historical wargaming, and they've a PC. No joy, though, there was some kind of annoying cursor/graphics card problem that I didn't have the PC background to resolve. Sadly, neither did anyone who owned the PC! It's scary, that people can own a machine and have only the most minimal insight in how to use it. ------------------ 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 Manx: Pillar - Knowing the "mentality" of the British people like i have over the last 35 years, i would say that ANY attempted invasion by the germans would have been met by extreme and very violent force!!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> And tea. At least for the survivors. ------------------ 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 WSCFan: Is there a list of unit types and a description of weapons anywhere? Some times when looking at German unit types I have no idea what the name means. Also, what is a recoiless rifle for? (Other than drawing enemy fire In addition to better understanding, I think descriptions of the unit types and weapons would add to the enjoyment.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> While within the game, click on a unit, and hit return. Detailed unit info pops up. If you want more info on weapons and such, do a search (I know this is getting to be rather daunting, with the number of posts). There's some great discussions, and some excellent weblinks to sites with info. There's been several posts on a site with rather detailed but readily available info on a number of German weapons, but I can't find the URL right now. I'm sure someone will be along in a few minutes and post it, if it hasn't been done by the time I finish typing this! ------------------ 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 Germanboy: Have a look at Reynolds' 'Steel Inferno' - there are tons of possibilities in there. The book is also very reasonably priced in North America. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Hey, Andreas, I just read that one recently too. You're right, I think there's some decent info in there regarding German side of battles. I've read US stuff, and they'll have incredible detail on what the US forces were in situations, even down to very small unit info, but all references to German forces will be: "A German tank", or "German infantry". ------------------ 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.