Juardis

Havermeyer and I were discussing this during lunch. The object is to have a meeting engagement without flags. Is it possible to do the following? Enter the scenario editor, let the computer autogenerate a map, but don't put any flags on there. Is that possible? If so, read on. If not, stop me right here. If that is possible, then you can buy your troops based on a previously agreed upon number of points. Just line them up along the edge of the map, save it, and send to your opponent. That way, it won't matter if he sees your troops (it'll be almost impossible to not see them) because you're going to change their location during the setup phase of the PBEM game. Your opponent would then buy his stuff and line it up along his edge of the map. Save it. Then begin the game. The first phase is the setup phase so you would then move all your troops within your setup zone. He would do likewise. Play on. The only drawback I see (provided you can set it up without a flag) is that you have to trust your opponent. Trust him (or her) to stick to the agreed upon number of points and to not look at your army when he's purchasing his. The payoff is that now you are both truly blind. You absolutely positively have to use good tactics to win the day. Plus, you get to peruse the map prior to buying your forces (might want to generate the map, send to your opponent so he can study the map, let him buy his stuff then send it back to you so you can buy your stuff to allow a proper studying of the map without fear of giving away the details of your force). Fight to the death. Sounds juicy. The only thing I don't know is how the computer would score such a battle. I think Havermeyer and I are going to try this to see how it works. If anyone else has tried this already, how 'bout letting us know how it worked and what snafu's you ran into (game mechanics wise that is). ------------------ Jeff Abbott

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Jeff Heidman: I wonder how far I will have to drop my resolution? Hopefully not at all, since I have a 64MB GTS and an Atholn run at 1.1 GHz. Is 4x FSAA doable on a very high end machine at 1600x1200x32? Jeff Heidman<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> WOW! That's quite a machine you got there. Don't know the answer to your questions, but if any machine can do it, yours should be able to. BTW, why 32 bit color on your desktop and in CM? Seems you could change that to 16 bit and get half your frame rates back, especially since CM is 16 bit color. Do you do that for other games or just because you can? ------------------ Jeff Abbott

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by kump: Tale of the 2in Mortar Blaster... Well, well, I finally found that 2 inch mortar. It was almost out of ammo when I stumbled on it (on other side of river). Since the 2in mortar had taken out six vehicles, about 75% of my armor, I was excited to get my revenge! I gleefully moved a surviving 251/9 to slam it with a 75mm round when BAMMM!!! A hidden 6pdr AT gun beside the mortar opened up and my 251/9 went up in a catastrophic giant fire ball! I fell out of my seat grasping my chest. Fortunately, the sounds of battle ceased as I wreathed on the floor. Remembering it was just a game, I finally got up. Now I can take an ambush from a hidden AT gun, that's fair. But that 2in mortar with six vehicle kills can not survive this fight. NO! I'll send all the guys to their doom if need be, but I won't let that evil tank busting 2in mortar survive! Woops, my soldiers found the mortar to be flanked by infantry squads and my troops are now kissing bridge. That blasted mortar is going to live....NOOOOOOoooooo.... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Kump, that was the funniest damned post I've ever read on this forum. Tears are still coming down my cheeks. Thanks for saying how I feel sometimes. ------------------ Jeff Abbott

Sabrewolf. I do not know how to post screenies on this forum. But if you send me your email address, I can send you some screenshots. But as I said above, screenshots do not do it justice. Nevertheless, the screenshot illustrates the smoothness of 4X FSAA provided you're used to watching it without FSAA.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Jeff Heidman: Baah, humbug! FSAA is over-rated, in CM and otherwise. If you want a sharp image, crank up the resolution. The best available picture is obtained by cranking the resolution as high as possible. I run CM at 1600x1200, and I have never seen any glitches, but then, I have a GeForce 2, and not one of those Voodoo thingies 8). Jeff Heidman<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Well, I hate getting into these debates because it's all so subjective. But...here goes. Some people do not have monitors that support 1600x1200 or anything higher than 1280x1024 for that matter. If you do, then some people do not have the cpu to drive such a high resolution. And if you do, then there are still jaggies and pixel popping, no matter how high the resolution. Screen shots do not do FSAA justice. You have to see it in motion. And if all you've seen is the nVidia implementation of FSAA, then you're not seeing it done right and your statement about it being overrated is probably correct for your card. So, in a game like CM where speed is not an issue, I'll take my V5 5500 anyday of the week. Oh, and I only need one driver to make it work with all games I play. The original poster asked that this not turn into a nVidia vs. 3dfx discussion. Why do you guys insist on turning it into one? ------------------ Jeff Abbott

Ron Alderdice (aka Longknife) on theblitz.org. One thing though, I actually like the guy based on our email correspondence. So while I'm extremely pissed after watching my tanks brew up, I really can't get mad at him. So I get mad at myself, the monitor, the AI, BTS, all the damned beta testers....well you get the idea If he's willing, I intend to keep playing him until I win a game. I ought to get something like quadruple points for doing that, don't you think? [This message has been edited by Juardis (edited 11-02-2000).]

Don't get me wrong. I'm not looking for advice on how to beat such a strategy (although I welcome any and all suggestions). Pillar started this radical new strategy with what he does or proposes to do. With all due respect to Pillar, I have yet to find a strategy as good as the one I'm facing in my QB. That is the model I intend to follow, or at least try to follow. Knowing what's happening and stopping it from happening are 2 different things. It reminds me of an AAR Fionn did with his pummeling of some poor schmo (Greg?). Although Fionn talks above me and I only understood some of it, his strategy is effective if carried out properly. The 3 themes were advance to contact, drop arty on contact, prevent opfor mobility with your schwerpunkt?, then repeat steps 1-3. Eventually, you commit your reserves for the final push (after softening up with the last of your arty of course). As I said, knowing it's coming and stopping it are two different things. ------------------ Jeff Abbott

I don't have a strategy that works all the time. Heck, I don't even have a strategy that works some of the time . But I am playing this one guy who has taught me a lot while kicking my butt at the same time. It's frustrating as hell, but definitely worthwhile as a learning experience. Here's what he does. He doesn't necessarily race for the VL. He does if he can hold it, but only if he can hold it. Once he comes into contact with me, he drops arty all over my butt while maintaing pressure with his troops. He keeps a AT gun or two in the rear to deny specific avenues of approach. He uses his armor to both support his troops and deny area to my troops. Since he keeps his armor in standoff, I cannot work a AT team close enough to kill. His FOs are isolated from the rest of his troops and always in LOS of choice real estate. Consequently, when he does drop it, it's deadly accurate. So is AT guns protect his armor, his armor protects his troops, his arty protects his troops, and his troops, arty, tanks and AT guns kick my butt. His strategy is quite effective in that it keeps pressure on the front lines and denies me areas of the map and mobility. I, on the other hand, know there's a AT gun or two back there and am usually vehicle/armor deficient to not have the luxury of finding it by letting him kill me . And if he doesn't have one, the fear is there so there might as well be one. So I have to either drop arty on suspected locations (wasteful), or work some troops back there somehow. The terrain dictates how successful that is. But more often than not I'm spotted before I can sneak behind his lines. Using a sharpshooter is no good because 1) it takes too long to sneak one back and 2) if the AT gun is hidden, it'll be impossible to find unless you stumble into it. That is the major flaw with any recon units. If the enemy is hidden, they're harder to find, which puts your recon force in greater danger. If my forces stay still for too long, arty is dropping on me or he is area firing SPAs into that area. It may not kill me outright, but the morale hit is phenomenal. Until I know where the AT guns are, I'm hesitant to use my tanks, so they're useless other than in a minor role supporting infantry. Also, because he has limited my mobility due to holding advantageous ground, I have to gingerly advance my tanks. Why not attack his tanks denying me access? Because I'm unlucky and my tanks never hit on the first or 2nd shot - NEVER. Sharpshooters help though in buttoning up his armor. But I'm still unlucky. But even if I was lucky and managed to kill his armor or make him move, I'm still wary of the AT guns in the rear. As you can see, his strategy works well. It is synergistic in that each of his units protects his other units. He has defense in depth so that, even if I do overcome his infantry, I still have to deal with his reserves and his covering force and his rear-guards. Very difficult to attack this. IMHO, the key is the AT guns in the rear. Once those are found, arty can bust it up provided my FOs have a LOS to it. If not, then it's a waste of arty. Unfortunately, by the time I've located said guns, I've lost at least one armored asset, but most likely more. Then I have to wait a few turns for the arty to land so it's 5 turns just to take out the AT gun. (Note: in one QB, his AT gun took out 3 of my tanks before my 4th and last armored vehicle - a PUMA -could knock it out). Very good odds for him, very poor odds for me when I slug it out like that. Arty seems the way to go. ------------------ Jeff Abbott

I like it. Keep the middle flags, add rear flags - one per side. The only way to achieve total victory is to capture all the flags. Would definitely give each side something to think about. Do I rush every asset forward to fight it out for the middle flags or do I keep a platoon or two back to protect the rear flag? Do I commit my reserve at the expense of exposing the rear flag? Maybe I leave the rear flag open to set up an encirclement action. But basically, I like that each side is approximately equidistant from the middle flags. Adding just one more flag in your setup zone would add tremendously IMHO. ------------------ Jeff Abbott

I cannot offer authoritative evidence one way or the other as to the accuracy of the CM modeling. But I will say this. I share in your frustration. ------------------ Jeff Abbott

bttt Beautiful, simply beautiful. I especially like the bottom shot with the bullet holes in the side and the rain stains below the window sill. Brings a tear to my eye ------------------ Jeff Abbott

I like it. Do I think it will be done? No. Do I think it can be done? Yes, but not in the time frame given for CM2 or even CM3. But I still like it. ------------------ Jeff Abbott

John, did you enter the tournament (Rd. to St. Lo)? ------------------ Jeff Abbott

OK David Aitken, thanks for pointing out the fact that this has been covered before. But I was mainly venting my frustration. I did go read the post and was gratified to see that BTS will change this situation in the future (hopefully in CM2). But even besides the sidearm issue, I was interested in the best way to set an ambush with AT teams without compromising their positions or their health after the kill. Got some ideas on what's best from this thread. ------------------ Jeff Abbott

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Dienekes: BTW what is the farthest you have seen a sniper hit a target? I had one sniper take out a tank commander at 550 meters.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> To my knowledge, none of my sharpshooters have ever hit a target (NONE). But I buy them for their ability to button up tanks, not really to kill anything. That and for their stealth and spotting ability. ------------------ Jeff Abbott

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Kingfish: IMO, both. On the one hand you should have given him some kind of infantry support. Afterall, you have no way of knowing if the next unit to walk thru your ambush is a Stug or SMG squad. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I hear what you're saying, but here's the deal. Most people keep their tanks in a standoff position with their infantry well away from them. That is to prevent close assaults on your tank. Good strategy. So I try to overcome said good strategy by putting a zook (or shreck or piat) out by himself in an area I suspect a tank to take up a stand off position. I do not want infantry there possibly giving away my AT teams position. So I put them where I do not expect infantry to stumble upon them. Now, if I have 3 or 4 zooks scattered about the map, that's two squads to cover 4 AT teams (assuming I split the squads). That's 2/3 of a platoon right there and seems such a waste when I want my platoons to occupy the opfor infantry, not protect/possibly reveal by zooks. See what I mean? So maybe I'm using my zooks wrong? ------------------ Jeff Abbott

While I'm in a pissy mood (I lost some assets last night in a couple of QBs that should not have been lost), allow me to complain about zooks. I setup a beautiful ambush that took out a Stug IV. Now the crew of that same Stug is targetting my zook. My zook is defenseless. He will die shortly. The ironic thing is that, as far as self preservation goes, he'd have been better off not killing the Stug. Granted, he killed his target, but this is an armorclash battle and most of my tanks are dead (due to the previous thread about my elite tanks missing everything while his veteran tanks racked up 7 first shot kills). So I need my zook. And to have it taken out by a tank crew really ticks me off. Is it my fault for not providing an infantry covering force for him? Or do I have a valid complaint? ------------------ Jeff Abbott

That's what I find myself yelling at my sharpshooter as he hides from a tank crew I just knocked out. 20m away, he won't shoot. Yet the tank crew has pistols and they're shooting at my sharp. In another case, my half squad snuck within 2m of my opponents sharpshooter. He said my half squad was targeted, but they were never fired upon. My half squad didn't fire either. If sneak is supposed to be advance to contact, then it's broken. Is there a minimum range below which sharpshooters will not engage? ------------------ Jeff Abbott

Yeah, and he smells older too Happy happy joy joy

the tournamenthouse.com is good and so is http://www.theblitz.org. I'm in both, don't have a preference yet although I do have positive points at theblitz (and that for losing a game) ------------------ Jeff Abbott

It doesn't have 3d positional sound now? On my SB Live! I can locate a unit based on the sound cues (left, right, behind, in front). I only have 2 speakers though, so maybe it's just in stereo and not true 3d sound? ------------------ Jeff Abbott

Another glowing article in the latest CGW (Dec 2000). Basically, it said once you play CM, you can't go back to any other hex based games. AMEN Brother. But it also had this juicy tidbit straight from Sir Charles mouth (or keyboard). CM2 will include the Russkies, Germans and Finns (no other nationalities listed ). "We've received a huge list of suggestions for new features and improvements (presumably from this forum) of which a lot will be incorporated. New weps (tanks and arty pieces), new units (like ski troops - YESSSSS), new terrain types, diff combat organizations, expanded treatment of long-range tank duels and gunnery optics - YESSS#2, and probably a new way to simulate the limited C&C abilities of early war russkies. Some graphics improvements as well (didn't sound like a lot in that dept)." Very good read. Also in this issue was an article about WWII Online and Steal Beasts. If you buy the issue with the CD, you get SPWAW on it. Well worth the dough boys and girls. If I weren't addicted to CM, I'd seriously consider WWII online. It sounds like a workable scheme. ------------------ Jeff Abbott

congrats on your new medal. a couple of new ladders have popped up. theblitz.org and the tournamenthouse.com are two that I'm aware of. plenty of mods have popped up (building, tanks, sound), which you can find at MadMatt's site. Speaking of which, Madmatt and Kwazydog are now full fledged employees of BTS. the long awaited TCP/IP patch is anticipated within the month (my guesstimate, not the official guesstimate). Fionn's been banned for not playing nicely. Hamsters and gerbils, while once major topics of discussion, are now relegated to cameo discussions. welcome home solider. ------------------ Jeff Abbott

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Pillar: What is the best way to handle an elite unit? What about a Green? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Well, I'm probably not the best person to answer this given my experiences above, but... I tend to use Elite forces in an overwatch mode thinking that they shoot faster and hit more often (they should anyway). I don't play with Green troops but if I did, I'd be more likely to use terrain masking to get myself into a position to get off a few quick shots in the location of my choosing (i.e., in a gulley, between a break in the woods, or reverse slope places). The thinking there is that they minimize their exposure to the enemy while maximizing their attempts to kill a target. I'm beginning to change my thinking with Elites to maybe move more towards using terrain masking whenever possible, but I'm still up in the air about that. Overwatch is very powerful when moving to contact. Anybody else wish to enlighten us? ------------------ Jeff Abbott

Not, definitely not the JT or Stug, maybe a Wespe though. It had the distinguished "El Camino" (U.S. made automobile) look with the Big freakin gun coming out of the cab. If all surviving Ferdinands were sent to Italy, then it's most likely I mis-identified or the History channel put the wrong footage in. Thanks. I can't wait to play with them. For some reason, the Ferdinand is one of my favorites (maybe it's that big freakin' gun ). ------------------ Jeff Abbott