Toad

Mine is hopefully one of the orders that will begin shipping this week ... In the mean time, while I'm waiting for the full game and manual, could some one please describe how to use the "ambush" command? I have managed to stick multiple bull's eyes all over a map in my experimenting, but I don't know how to remove them, or how my forces will act if I tell them to target them. Thanks! ------------------ -- Toad Ontario, Canada

I'm in the midst of a game as I write this. Something just happened which I'm curious about. One of my Panzerschreck teams was able to score a front turret penetration against a Sherman at about 130 meters. But the Sherman did not die, and appears to be fine in every way. (It keeps shooting at me!) I'm just curious about what I just witnessed. How did the 'schreck shell penetrate the turret, but not damage the tank? Thanks! ------------------ -- Toad Ontario, Canada

For those who are interested, here are the orders my German units had in the final movie. The 'schrek team was told to crawl away from the window. Both infantry squads were told to target the Sherman. The HMG on the corner of the church was told to step back a few paces, behind the cover of the church, out of site from the Shermans on the hill. STuG 1 had already selected the Sherman as a target, and I left that alone. STuG 2 was told to reverse - but only a few meters, to get it's nose hidden behind the church from the Shermans on the hill. I wanted it to stay pointed at the American infantry that looked to be advancing from out of the woods. I didn't think my chances of spinning around in time to face the Sherman were good, so I chose to face the American infantry, and hope the Sherman was killed. STuG 3 was actually told to simply rotate and face the Shermans on the hill. I figured trying to rotate to fire on the reckless-driving Sherman would only leave the STuG with it's side armour to the two Shermans on the hill, once the smoke cleared. So, I opted to hope my infantry 'fausts could do their thing, and face the STuG to duel with the Shermans on the hill. ThomasZ asked about a strange, leftover smoke order. I thought I had cleared this order, but I may have missed it. Very sloppy of me! Canadian Weasel is a little premature in his statement that I have surrendered! I have certainly written to him to say I think he's won, but the game remains open. Both of us are new to the game, and are both eager to start again with a clean map. But perhaps he'd be open to some "what if" experimenting. With some encouragement, Canadian Weasel may even volunteer his Allied-side password. Then anyone reading this could pick up both sides where we left off. ------------------ -- Toad Ontario, Canada

For the record, yes - Canadian Weasel was my opponent. And, no - his bloating isn't out of the ordinary ... ------------------ -- Toad Ontario, Canada

I'm only 30. The closest I've ever come to war is watching it on television. I find it very hard to imagine that men younger than myself once carried rifles and rode tanks in a global, life-or-death struggle that lasted five years. I look at the memorial Sherman in my nearby park and can barely believe that people like me and my friends were once called to ride hundreds of them into battle. The strategic and tactical challenge of war has always facinated me. It is the ultimate test of strategy, intuition, courage, and luck. War also kills people. And, unlike table-top board games with their cardboard markers and plastic dice, Combat Mission doesn't let you forget that "people" are dying. Combat Mission is fun. I love trying to out-move and out-shoot my make-believe enemy. But at the end of it all, after my hours of plotting and clicking, after replaying the exciting explosions and tank kills over and over, the game reminds me that I have just witnessed war, in which dozens of people have died in less than 30 minutes. "Lest we Forget." What better way than to enjoy the challenges of war strategy and tactics in an environment that won't let you forget a time when others did it for real? ------------------ -- Toad Ontario, Canada

Here it is - the results! Thank you to all who have given so much interest to this movie. My appologies to those who are about to lose money on their bets ... I remain in disbelief over what I have just witnessed. I won't give away too much of the events in the movie, but I will say that I'm considering saying "Good Game!" to my opponent, and asking for a re-match. I think this is the decisive moment in my opponent's favour. Can any one answer the questions below? Did the infantry ever get their 'faust shot? I can't tell. Why oh why or why didn't the last STuG to die pull his trigger? Would a shot that close have damged the gun that fired it? I'm surprised that all that bumping and grinding didn't damage one of the tanks. Surely being slid sideways like that would damage the tracks or suspension. Any comments? A plea to the free countries of the globe. Train Your Troops! The green infantry in the church show a sorry example of why good men with average guns are worth more than newbies with million-dollar bullets. http://homepage.mac.com/tdailey/885720_part2.zip (232 K) ------------------ -- Toad Ontario, Canada

I am in disbelief over what I have just seen, and I must share it. I am playing the Axis side in a PBEM game. My opponent laid some smoke last turn, so I deduced that he was going to try something. I tried to take advantage of his smoke by commanding one of my STuG's to add to the smoke my opponent had laid, and then set itself up to greet whatever tried to come through the smoke. I told a second, nearby STuG to team up with the first one and move into a position beside it. I almost can't believe what *actually* happened. Next turn, I'm certainly going to lose one of my STuG's, which is currently presenting a disgusting side-armour shot to a Sherman just 15 meters away. I will probably also lose another STuG to the same Sherman from a rear-armour shot during the same turn. I am baffled at the behaviour of my smoke-laying STuG through this whole episode. If I didn't witness the Sherman ramming into it, and pushing it aside - while it continued it's smoke orders - I wouldn't have believed it. Please download the following PBEM file, which contains the movie of this madness. The password is 885720. (No, I'm not worried about my opponent using it to cheat ...) The activities take place around the church. http://homepage.mac.com/tdailey/885720.zip ------------------ -- Toad Mac user Ontario, Canada [This message has been edited by Toad (edited 06-07-2000).]

Thanks to all who responded. I will ask my opponent to skip giving his tanks orders for a turn, so we're even. aka_tom_w ========= I am also a Mac user, with both a B&W G3 and G3 Powerbook. I am running OS 9.04 on each, and both play C.Mission great. If I may, I have two suggestions for your troubles with your Mac mis-recognizing "txt" files as something else. I'm sure you know of the File Exchange control panel, which helps the Mac figure out ".xyz" extensions from the DOS world. Check that "txt" is being interpreted properly. You mentioned icons not appearing correctly. The routine maintenance for that is to re-build the Desktop at startup. Thanks for your answers to my disobedient tank question! ------------------ -- Toad Mac user Ontario, Canada

I am playing the Axis side in an e-mail match with a friend. During one turn, I could not give any orders to my tanks. I could select them, but was not allowed to tell them to do anything. I was able to give orders to all of my other units without trouble. Does anyone know what happened to cause this? Thanks!