patboivin

When CM was first released, there were dozens of threads thanking BTS for a job well done. Now that people have had time to play, there are fewer threads telling BTS to keep up the good work. BTS you are doing us all a favour by being a REAL software company, not like the bigger firms who seem only interested in catchy titles and brand names to grab people's money and run to please investors' short term requirements. Good software first, the money will follow. What a concept! They don't teach that at MBA schools, obviously. I want to thank BTS once again for the great product they introduced on the market, since I bought this game months ago I haven't spent more than a couple of hours playing other games (Star Fleet Command, which I finally deleted last week). There just isn't anything out there that compares. I imagine you are all working like lemmings trying to get CM2 out the door, ironing all the kinks out and trying to please all the grognards out there. I don't think you'll be able to please everybody, but I think you are doing a much better job than anyone else out there on the market. No comparison, you are way out of their league. Sincere thanks.

A crack company HQ that insists on charging a Panzer IV tank and gets slaughtered.

Thanks. I modified the scenario, British rifle battalion vs. Heer units huddled on top of the hill. I played as the Germans, Major Axis Victory. I played as the British, Total Allied Victory. Am playing as the Axis again, to test it, also because I am having way too much fun. I find we have to be careful with ammo when playing the Germans, otherwise the MGs and mortars run out of ammo by the end of the game... and by then it's very sad. Insted of those Su150s I used Churchill tanks, and I replaced the T-34s with Sherman Vs.

bump

In ASL there were horses. Heck, there were motorcycles, bicycles and sidecars as well. Not to mention almost every variant out there for the vehicles, including Panzer IIIs. (Where did the Panzer IIIs go?! There is a PzKpfw IIL, but no PzKpfw IIIs.) There were multiple types of boats; landing vehicles; rocket launchers; different types of planes; trenches; partisans; etc. etc. Why were all these units included in ASL? Because they were part of the scope of the game. It is also why so many grognards out there played the game. It had a lot of flexibility, it was open-ended, it was fun. It also became the standard, unlike all those SPI games. Somehow a lot of things are not part of the scope of CM. If it's because it's too much work to code, OK. But I find it annoying when people come up with false excuses to explain why certain things are not in the game. Granted, it's a lot harder to code a new type of unit than it was for the ASL people to add new units to their game: Take a pair of scissors, cut up a new set of counters, and play-test; make up rules as you go along. So no, CM won't include everything that was in ASL; there is much more work that has to be done in the background to produce new units. To be historically accurate, horses have to be included, there's no way around it. We aren't used to seeing horses now, because there are cars everywhere. But in the 1940s in Europe most people used horses and bicycles, not cars. Maybe the local physician owned a car, and the maire. Not too many others. Perhaps the upper class. Remember there really was no middle-class back then. Do you think many european farmers in the 40's had tractors? Let's get real. It was a major innovation on the part of the Germans in the late 30s to put so much emphasis on armour and vehicles. It gave them a definite advantage at the beginning of the war. But the other countries caught up, and by the mid 40s they were ready to produce trucks and other vehicles by the thousands. That was one of the effects of world war II: It accelerated the shift toward gasoline-powered transportation. I realize ASL was a massive undertaking, and was in development for a decade or more. BTS has done an excellent job for CM1, but in my estimation it's not finished by any means, it's more like a work in progress. Gradually I expect they will "fill out" all the corners they left empty, because they were working on producing something that would satisfy most people. Why do I think they will "fill out" the missing bits? Because grognards are a tough audience. Also because BTS will be able to produce expansion packs, which could very well pay for themselves. My $0.02 on this never-ending topic.

Someone sent me this: Here's a little thing to amuse you: THERMODYNAMICS OF HELL The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid term. The answer by one student was so profound" that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well. Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic(absorbs heat)? Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law, (gas cools off when it expands and heats up when it is compressed) or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following: First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate that souls are moving into Hell and the rate they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, lets look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Some of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there are more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added. This gives two possibilities: 1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose. 2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over. So which is it? If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year, "...that it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you.", and take into account the fact that I still have not succeeded in having sexual relations with her, then, #2 cannot be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and will not freeze. The student received the only "A" given.

I can't believe they made a command tank out of a tiger.

Could someone post or e-mail me the OOB for that scenario? I don't have the scenario sheets anymore. I want to make a reasonable facsimile of the scenario, using British and Heer instead of Russians... because I can't wait for CM2. TIA

I vaguely remember that the Germans at one point were producing vehicle fuel out of coal, and that this hasn't been reproduced since because the knowledge has been lost. Was there any truth to this, or is this just another rumour, like the water-based engine?

Michael, You produced the most comprehensive mod set I have seen to date. Thanks!

Your mods are starting to look like photographs, Tiger.

Thanks, Crank_GS. I needed clarification on that. I thought all the German armour had been left intact! Live and learn. Perhaps the post-war "American" tank designs were actually stolen from German designs? I can't believe there were no functional German armour left anywhere, with all the museums and collectors around. After WW-II there must have been a huge market for wartime leftovers. Must have been beyond their budget.

Maybe "we" stands for single people who, when they speak, cause multiple posts to appear...

All we need now are realistic building collapses.

All we need now are realistic building collapses.

If I select a squad, it tells me what firepower it has at different ranges. These are just points along a line, I imagine. The reason I ask is that I have an Axis Rifle 44 squad, 5 people left, shooting at a U.S. squad from nine (9) meters away only. At Range: 40m, my squad has a total firepower of 135. How much would that be at 9 meters I wonder? Strangely I didn't hear the SMG or LMG fire at all during the turn, but every time there was rifle fire the U.S. squad dropped by one person. I guess that at 9 meters it's kind of hard to miss. These squads are in the woods. Is it realistic for them to be shooting at each other like this from only 9 meters distance? Wouldn't one of them surrender or scamper off by that time? Just wondering.

I noticed that this movie is playing again here in Canada. Am I going mad, are all those "German" tanks in fact not American ones with German markings on them? I thought the Germans were using Tigers, JagdTigers, JagdPanthers, etc. but I didn't see any during the movie. I don't remember seeing Tigers or Panthers with turrets that rounded.

I have a question that I never could answer myself. If the Tigers bog so much, why did some of them come with snorkels?!

Mike, How were you able to add a new (Italian) tank into CM? I thought that could not be done, so far mods have concentrated on improving bitmaps but not changing the type of vehicle.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Shadow 1st Hussars: Na, that pic has colour. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> The Apple IIE had colour, our electronics teacher in high school had one. Tiny screen though.

I am going to play devil's advocate. So tungsten rounds are available at a given date. Does that mean every unit would have some?

Are mortars more effective when their targets are trying to hide in woods or tall pines?

Do units in CM "acquire" their targets, like it used to be the case in Squad Leader? e.g. first shot, -5% chance of hitting. After a turn, zero modifier. After three turns, +5% of hitting, after four, +8%. Reason being I am currently playing a battle against the AI, and a Stuart and a StuG are firing at each other from long distances. Is there any point in staying on target in this game?

Pierce, When playing that scenario against the AI, here's a tip: Tell your Shermans to rush down that road as fast as they can, and position them in a line between the Church and the hill, or just behind the crest of that hill. Then wait for the StuGs to come to you, don't rush and shoot at the same time. You can start with some infantry perched on the tanks, they can jump off and try to hold the Church before the Germans get to it. From the church you will have a better idea where the StuGs will be. The trick is -- multiple tanks firing at the same target is like having a higher rate of fire. Let him come to you, blast him in unison as he pops up one StuG at a time. (Ahem hopefully this will work...) There are also threads about that scenario, do a search in this forum, and in the scenario forum. [This message has been edited by patboivin (edited 01-19-2001).]

Especially when his name in French is... Papa Schtroumpf The red hat wouldn't be very useful for camouflage, either.