Mikael

Isn't 1.82 meters much closer to 6' than 5'11''. Yes I am bored. Another rainy day here.

You're right Rollstoy, I misread your post... I thought you were talking about detail in general.

Representing every man in a squad: that's a example of much more detail... and if it's done well, then many people will welcome the change.

Reinald, I can see where you are coming from, however I have no idea where you are going to... You have the correct intention of denouncing neo-nazism and 3rd Reich worship, but you use the wrong means: personal attacks without really knowing the person at first... Now everybody's out there with a gun hunting for you (I don't think it's the correct attitude either, BTW). But to re-state the point that's already been made countless times, Wehrmacht admiration and neo-nazism do not equate... I am a case in point myself. I often play the Germans in CM, I think the German tanks are "cooler" and have an extra-intimidation factor, I admire the German Army for its accomplishments in WW2... yet I am no neo-nazi, and find Adolf Hitler's ramblings to be laughable at best. It is a fine line, I agree, yet you must accept that many people know where it is and do not cross it. PS:I do agree with you on 1 point, and that is about MadMatt's lack of diplomatic skills... deplorable for a moderator.

Well, Battlefront have always stated that realism was their ultimate goal and until now they've followed that logic... Wouldn't be surprised to see something like that modelled to an extent in CMII. Personally I'm all for it anyway!

IMHO Japan would've carried out its invasion of SE Asia as it did historically... It never cared much for what was happening in Europe. Had an Axis-Great Britain-France coalition severely weakened the Soviet Union, Japan may have seized parts of Siberia as it did in 1918-1921.

I'm 18.

factories, factories, factories, factories...

YEAH!!!

Re: the situation in August 41. I dug out Alan Clark's "Barbarossa", and here are some enlightening excerpts: "Now followed an agonising period, two and a half weeks long, of interegnum. AGC, its leadership hamstrung, floundered on the brink of a tremendous opportunity, while opposite them, for nineteen perfect campaigning days, the Russians worked unmolested to rebuild their shattered front". and later: "For almost seventy miles along the Desna, (...) Timoshenko's defence can hardly be said to have existed at all." "There was practically no artillery, and not a single tank in working order between Spas-Demiansk and Bryansk. The whole region was in anarchy." Seventy miles arguably is a little narrow for a strategic offensive directed at Moscow but had the entire Army Group, after resting, worked at unhinging the Russian defenses along the Sozh or at Yelnia, it would have been easy to clear the way for a fullscale attack through the Roslavl gap. This would at least have been well within 2.PzGruppe's capabilities, had it not been diverted South. Besides, a large part of 3.PzGruppe's tank assets had been sent North to assist Leeb in assaulting Leningrad. Or maybe is Clark's book a little outdated?

You seem to be confusing the Zitadelle Operation and the Prokharovka battle. While the Operation was most certainly a German defeat, what the author argues is that the battle for Prokharovka ended as a draw/minor victory for the Germans and not as a total Soviet victory.

Did I miss out something? After reading Guderian's Panzer Leader and several other accounts of Barbarossa it is my understanding that in August there was no real resistance in front of Army Group Centre. After the taking of Smolensk the Army Group had to rest and regroup and its 2.PzGroup was then sent South to assist Kleist in encircling Kiev. Much to Guderian and several other commanders' anger, who thought Moscow was well within Army Group Centre's reach in the late summer. So I don't see what was so unexpected about regrouping at Smolensk and waiting for Guderian to complete his task in the Ukraine?

It seems that the SS PzKorps under Hausser's command didn't have a number attached to it until Operation Zitadelle, when it became 2SS Pz Korps and separated itself from the Leibstandarte, which went on to form the 1SS PzKorps on its own. It does seem kind of strange to make a Korps out of an existing division, although 12SS was to join the Leibstandarte in 44. I took the info from http://www.wssob.com/001kpspzr.html Edit: Patgod, thanks for the link even though I had already found the one above! [ May 04, 2002, 08:23 PM: Message edited by: Mikael ]

You are very right, and I was very wrong. If Leibstandarte, das Reich, and Totenkopf formed the 2.SS PzKorps, what units were included in 1.SS Pz Korps? I did a google search but nothing turned up. Can anyone fill me in?

Cauldron, the German units involved were the 1.SS "LAH", 2.SS "das Reich" and 3.SS "Totenkopf" Panzerdivisions, all part of Hausser's 1.SS PzKorps.

Besides, Kharkov was the fourth largest city in the URSS and I believe it was an important rail and communications centre. Having already been fought over and recaptured during the preceding years, its symbolic value was also enhanced.

The Germans counted 23,000 Russian dead on the battlefield and captured 615 tanks and 354 guns, plus 9000 prisoners. Manstein had effectively shattered the Soviet winter offensive, which was already at high tide and threatening the lower Dniepr crossings. More importantly, the Germans, thanks to this battle, reasserted their superiority at the tactical and operational levels. From an operational point of view, Manstein had also dramatically straightened the front line, freeing up valuable German troops and restoring, as you said, morale amongst the troops and the high command. Manstein even thought about following up this success with a strike at the Kursk salient but was halted by the thaw. This tells a lot about how the third battle for Kharkov gave the Germans the operational intiative. On the other side, Stavka was so shocked by the German counterstrike that they dramatically overestimated its success and scope and immediately evacuated Belgorod and withdrew behind the Donets. But as you said, the German propaganda machine obviously made the most out of the battle which only came in one month after the surrender of Fortress Stalingard.

Does this have any direct effect in the game or was it just written for fun? Cool bone by the way, thanks!! :cool:

My first language would be infantry, I can manage with tanks OK, but only have some notions of artillery...

I'm the youngest yet! I was expelled from my mother's womb 17 years and 4 months ago!

CM3 is the Mediterranean Theater. CM4 is the Early War (what you seem to be looking for).

I love the lined up trees on the side of the street... No way you can do that in CMBO.

Yes! Please!! Infinitely better than 100 screenies, and probably easier (and more fun!) to make, huh?

We have a family friend in Finland who served as officer (probably the SS equivalent of Leutnant) in 5. SS PzDiv "Wiking" from 1941 to 1945 IIRC. Unfortunately the guy's had some type of Alzheimer disease for a while now, and he doesn't remember anything, not even his own wife. His uniform is cool though, and they say he wrote a diary while he was at war, and that the diary is somewhere in the house. I'll try to find it next time I go there. Imagine what kind of stuff he must have lived through! His story is quite amazing too: he was 16 years old in 1941 and wanted to enroll in the Finnish Army to defend his country, but they refused him, because he was only 16. So he fled from his home, to Germany, and joined the Waffen SS there. :eek: [ 12-13-2001: Message edited by: Mikael ]</p>

BTS apparently stated that for this sequel they don't really need any feedback for feature implementation, because it's only a sequel.