[A final plea before the game ships! Please read!]

Count me in. No illegal copies, period. BTS deserves the support (and the money!).

In addition, we should all do everything we can to spread the word about CM. I've already been working on three friends, none of whom would be likely to explore computer wargames if it weren't for my "CM evangelism." This is the best way to ensure that we'll all get to play CM2...

[Commonwealth Tactics - Refugee post]

Here's a Commonwealth tactics question:

I've heard that the small tracked troop carriers (I don't know the official name, but I've seen them referred to as Bren Carriers when they mounted a Bren) were relatively common in CW infantry organizations. Is this so? If true, how were they employed? Would they actually accompany the infantry in an advance on enemy positions, or did they (like halftracks, say) usually hang back?

Any information on these carriers is welcome.

[OT: How Hollywood is rewriting the role of the British and the USA in war (Big)]

Stoffel,

You're referring to (Orson) Welles' broadcast version of (H.G.) Wells' WAR OF THE WORLDS. In the interest of historical accuracy, you should remember that this broadcast occurred in (I may be off by several months) 1939, when Americans (and Europeans) were on the whole much less scientifically literate than they are today. The ominous tone of world events at the time might also have contributed to readiness to credit news of an "invasion," don't you think?

Anyway, though, trying to compare whole nations on the basis of a few examples is silly.

[Civillians?]

I can see hardware limitations as a good reason not to include civilians, and (personally) I think the opportunity to gun down refugees would be both "gamey" and morally vile.

But it would be interesting to see a simple statistic at the end of a battle that gave an estimate of civilian casualties caused by your side and the other. This could be based on buildings destroyed, use of artillery in built up areas, and perhaps a population density factor set by the scenario designer. It might be a sobering and realistic addition to the atmosphere of the game.

[Computer Squad Leader screenshots]

Seriously, the worst thing about this "Squad Leader" will be seeing the classic SL box art used for such a dumbed-down product. Hopefully, they'll use something flashier instead.

As for man-level turn-based WW2 combat, I'm waiting for ALL AMERICAN.