Formerly Babra
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Posts posted by Formerly Babra
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<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>The Black Day, Der Schwarze Tag, visited on the German Army on 8 August 1918 by the Canadian and Australian Corps was not repeated in the half-forgotten summer of 1944. In the final analysis Operation "Totalize" was a failure. Despite overwhelming air and artillery superiority, five divisions and two armoured brigades totalling upwards of 600 tanks could not handle two depleted German divisions, mustering no more than 60 panzers and tank destroyers. Contrary to popular belief, the bulk of roughly 80 88mm antitank guns, mostly belonging to the three Luftwaffe FlaK regiments, were deployed south of Potigny; only the divisional batteries were forward. It was thus mainly the 12th SS Division's resourceful handling of Tigers and Panthers that stemmed the Canadian attack. Yet, while these eastern front leviathans were more than a match for Shermans and Churchills, the Germans had nothing to compare with the Typhoon or "Jabo" as their troops fearfully labeled it. Then, too, the 17 Pounder in its Firefly, SP, and towed configurations possessed an ample margin of power over the Tiger as demonstrated in 1943.
To Simonds, the problem was not weapons or machines, but rather lack of proper handling of resources within armoured divisions. Troops also displayed a tendency, traceable back to training in Britain, to stick to roads and thereby inevitably encounter the antitank guns sited to cover them. Simonds had also expressly urged his armoured commanders not to wait for infantry divisions to take out final objectives or "get involved in probing...before they called down fire...or fighter-bombers." If he had given them narrow frontages, he had also allotted each division an AGRA of five medium regiments specifically to assist them in getting on quickly. Kitching's reaction, however, was to attack with two brigades up, instead of in depth as per Simonds's operational policy, leaving them pretty much to their own devices. Booth, in turn, delegated tactical responsibility down to battle groups with the result that artillery was never effectively brought to bear against pockets of resistance like that initially, and critically, encountered at Gaumesnil.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
From "Failure in High Command" by Lt. Col. John A. English, ISBN 0-919614-60-4
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Imagine being inside a closed space, barely enough room to move around, no air conditioning, poor visibility, air thick with powder smoke, no creature comforts, just guns and ammo and things of steel. Now imagine a deafening concussion and a spray of molten steel...
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Oh yeah. Like I could even afford a CD burner...
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A HQ unit with a valid command link can spot for them. Also, as long as they haven't moved, they can target the TRP.
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This thread raises the question for me: What sold you on CM? I have to admit that the tank rendering in CM was a big, big factor for me. Not the only factor, but if, say, the game was the same but the graphics were cheesy by comparison, I likely wouldn't have shelled out the dough.
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I can hear the blaster fire now...
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Fair enough. I haven't seen the Tommies yet, but if they're all buck toothed and goofy lookin', I guess I'd be annoyed too.
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I can think of a thousand ways to nit pick a game to justify not buying it, but that ain't one. The look of the GIs (all of what, 1% of screen area?) has no effect at all on how the game plays.
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I doubt any single event could be said to be the turning point, but the series of events from October December 1942 taken together I think proved insurmountable for the Axis. Defeat at Alamein, Torch landings, loss of Guadalcanal, Stalingrad...
I would say Autumn '42 was surely the turning point.
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Indirect fire with the Vickers was first tried at Vimy Ridge and it was amazingly successful. Thousands of rounds dropping like rain on the far side of the ridge were able to seriously interdict German reinforcement of the battle area.
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Pathfinder: You are correct, I've seen those pics too. Even saw one of an ACAV mounted on a truck bed for airfield defence!
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Armed lorries were used frequently in the desert as a recon element, but I haven't a clue if they were used in Western Europe in this way. My gut instinct says no, but ya never know.
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Gaming clubs are usually fun if you get a good group, but ladders in and of themselves are pretty stinky IMO. Who needs points?
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When I die I want to go peacefully, like my grandfather, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car
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Stepping in here with a reality break. Is the AI better than what we usually see in a wargame? Yes. Is it "fantastic"? No.
In a game against the A/I, the first A/I controlled Ami units to probe my defences were mortars, MGs and HQ units. I mean up close and personal, and they were gunned down to a man. The infantry squads were nowhere to be seen. Not exactly brilliant.
CM is a definite improvement on what has gone before (at least that I've seen), but it will be years before any A/I can match a human opponent.
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When I die I want to go peacefully, like my grandfather, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car
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Rob/1, Freyland is "dissing" you. It makes him feel important. Ignore it.
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<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR> Logical positivism looks to be an epistemology rather than a full-blown philosophy, but it certainly aligns well with objectivism, and beats the hell out of whatever Shirley MacLaine uses. And it's better than solipcism of the extreme moment.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Oh, my sweet f***ing God, this thread has gone so far over my head I think Gary Powers is at the controls. I'm just a lowly warehouse sweathog and I don't know anything and when someone pisses me off I just squish him, because it's a nice easy response.
I shall return to lurk status lest my ignorance shine forth as bright as I'm not.
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When I die I want to go peacefully, like my grandfather, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car
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I'd say it was strictly a judgment call. Welcome to the burdens of command club.
Smilies intended here fled at the sight of Peng scowling.
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When I die I want to go peacefully, like my grandfather, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car
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Got one!
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When I die I want to go peacefully, like my grandfather, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car
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I honestly didn't get the impression that "its Nazi villains are your standard eye-patched monsters." I honestly thought (with a few strained plot tricks excepted) that Spielberg was trying to show that everyone was much alike, despite it all.
I remember being appalled when the audience applauded at cowardly Upham shooting down Steamboat Willie, as if he deserved it or something, and as if it was somehow okay. Me, I'm left thinking, "You're still a coward, coward."
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When I die I want to go peacefully, like my grandfather, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car
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Ah, "The Beast". Now that was a fascinating foray into unfamiliar Hollywood territory. I enjoyed it immensely.
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When I die I want to go peacefully, like my grandfather, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car
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CoolColJ: Try this. Have your infantry on the second floor area target the direction you want to view. Hit the tab key. when you're done, retarget them normally.
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When I die I want to go peacefully, like my grandfather, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car
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That's a hell of a lot of kills, even if it's exaggerated (as wartime scores usually are). Pretty good showing for Shermans.
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When I die I want to go peacefully, like my grandfather, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car
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<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by argie:
The math is simple. Thr tank survived 4 hits, but not the fifth... Reread the Barbra post, the fifth shot was outside the scope of his first count...
Ariel
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Ah, right you are.
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When I die I want to go peacefully, like my grandfather, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car
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<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Hakko Ichiu:
I cannot sleep for
the constant din. In the next
tent: Monty and Ike.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
ROFLMAO...
The smilie which tried to insert itself here was pounced on by the cat.
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When I die I want to go peacefully, like my grandfather, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car
Commonwealth Tactics - Refugee post
in Combat Mission Archive #2 (2000)
Posted
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Simon Fox:
The point of your quote seems to be largely an operational one I would be interested in knowing your view of it's relevance.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
The relevance would be that in designing scenarios involving Canadians in Normandy, a "balanced" force should be avoided. They will either be tank heavy (rarely), infantry-heavy (much more common), and almost always have insufficient off-map artillery assets, despite adequate availability, due to poor operational usage.
As a Canadian, I'm a voice in the wilderness when I suggest that the Canadian Army in Europe was not the elite fighting force legend has built it up to be. There were hard fights to be sure, and some notable successes, but overall performance was certainly below that of their allies.