Lawyer

First, US halftracks are GREAT in all CM versions because the .50 gun is a wonderful weapon. Sixth, I've got a book on US halftracks that says a big benefit in producing them quickly was the ability to use proven standard civilian truck parts. As the US started its war build-up late, that was a big factor in producing AFV's quickly. They stopped building them when full tracked AFV production picked up in 1943, I believe.

Good pictures, Steve. I wish I could have been there. Oh well, guess I'll have to settle for the real thing in France this summer. Buwhahahaha..... Yer Pal, Jake

Ummm... Is that "happy ending" a front end job or a rear end job? Does it require that the customer bend over or get down on his or her knees? Geez, what degradation will they think of next?

Due to your failure to properly attribute the source of this wonderful song, Ray Davies has hired me to sue you for all your worth. How much do ya have?

Dear Elvis, As you are employed in the car trade, I expect nothing less than outright thievery. Why not slip it in when nobody's looking as part of your special "Combat Mission Macho Man 2X88mm" upgrade package? How did people like you make a living before chrome and mag wheels were invented? And why aren't floor mats included in the price of a $30,000+ car anyway? Why do I need to learn Cambodian to talk to a car mechanic anymore? And why don't dealers have vending machines that have normal Cokes and Pepsi's instead of off-brand crap that spurts into a cheap paper cup? And why don't the machines ever work? And don't get me started on the putrid array of stale off-brand "snacks" in the other vending machine that doesn't work. Ya know, George Costanza was right about being cheated by the vending machine at the dealership. Oh yeah, and why do I have to pay an extra "environmental" fee to cover the dealer's trash bill? Isn't that a normal part of running a business? You shoulda been a lawyer. It's a higher class way to steal. Yer Pal, Jake

Rule 61 - dalem always makes the best Thread Titles. </font>

We would love to see them. I bought my airline ticket this weekend (now I'm a POOR lawyer), and I'm getting psyched to go. I'm busy reading the WWII guidebooks and unit histories.... Whenever the next generation CM comes out for the Western Front, I'll be ready. And yes, I enjoy the older history of Normandy too. Ya gotta love those monks who mixed God and good wine together in beautiful abbeys and cathedrals. Works for me. Jake

Excellent onsite report, R99. Yes, Bayeux seems the right kind of place for me. Do you have an opinion on whether Rouen is a useful place to spend a few days as a base? Otherwise, I think I might move inland to Domfront or Allencon. The guide books say that area is pretty and off the beaten track. Then I want to return to Paris via the Loire Valley. Anybody have opinions about Tours or Orleans? Any good smaller towns that have atmosphere around there? Also, is there a cool town near the CDG airport to stay for one night before I depart? I need a place that is close enough to drive to the airport in an hour or so, but I'd like to avoid spending my last night at an airport hotel. BTW, I'll be in the Normandy area from August 14 to 28, so let me know if anybody will be close enough to meet for a drink or some battlefield touring. Many thanks, Jake

No, wrong. You may perhaps not be aware of the existence of such flight simulators, but they have been around for a while longer than PCs. http://www.aeroflot.ru/eng/company.asp?ob_no=800&tr_no=2071 ...has a picture of one. Why do you think it's mounted the way it is? Right, to jiggle the flight deck crew about. All the best, John. </font>

...the above is not true.</font>

Grog Dorosh is correct, IMO. CM is a game. A very addictive game and the only one I've ever really enjoyed. But it's still a game with a lot of flexibility and realistic considerations for the players. BTS has always reminded people that it's a game whenever the Serous Grogs got too far into the "how many flakes fly around a turret when a shell doesn't penetrate" thing. Simulations are the really good flight sims like IL-2. They try to recreate the actual feel of flying the plane and fighting, even when it isn't fun. I tried them, but it all got too involved trying to manipulate a vast number of controls on a keyboard in real time. Learning to fly a real sim is like having another job. Some serious sim fanatics actually build cockpits in their basements to sit in while playing the game, just to feel more realistic. There was also a WWII German tank sim game (Panzer Commander??) a few years ago that never really caught on. Sims are greatly limited by the 2-D computer screen environment, whereas a game like CM is not. In real life, a pilot can twist his head, have peripheral vision, feel physical forces, and such to control his plane and weapons, but computer flight sims can't do that. So it never felt real to me and I gave up on them after trying several. Well, I also gave up mainly because I was no good at all. hehehe.... Also, I've saved a ton of money from not having to upgrade to the hottest graphics and computer power to play a complicated resource-hog flight sim once in a while. My ephiphany came when I realized that I was using my third $4,000 computer as a fancy Gameboy. So I bought an X-Box to handle that side of life. I know CM is a game because I can at least win about half the time, and I have plenty of time between moves to drink a beer. Hmmm... Is that a realistic simulation of war or just a game? Anyway, I agree with Dorosh on this one. I'll send him a bill later for my Excellent Legal Support.

I'm especially thankful and interested in your observations as I plan a 2-week vacation in the Normandy area during August. I'll rent a car and follow my various history and WWII guide books. My father and uncles were in the 29th, so I'm planning to use "Beyond the Beachead" as a guide like you did. First question is what three or four towns would be best to use as a base of operations for day trips. Several folks recommend Bayeux, so that's on my list. Have you spotted any other cool looking towns that are large enough to have restaurants and shops, but not big enough to feel like you're trapped in a city? I'd like to find one inland in Oure and one in Haute Normandie. I want to stay away from the beach resorts. You've given some great intel on the museums. Like you, I've read that Caen is good (although a peace-oriented war museum seems like a non-sequitur to me). Based on your report, I think I'll skip it. From touring the Battle of the Bulge area, I've found that local war museums can run from terrific to ho-hum. Seeing all of them takes too much time, so I like to know the best ones. I also enjoy your reports on visiting some of the battle sites we read about. Do you have a short list of the really interesting ones and the ones that can be missed? Anything to report on Mortain, St. Lo, and Falaise? I fear that these are all re-built modern cities with little "feel" for what happened. Finally, anything else special to see or do that you would recommend for somebody looking to blend war history with good eats and drinks and just hanging out? Please email me if you have useful info that doesn't fit here. Thanks for your helpful reports. Jake

I can't find "Into Russia We Go" at the Scenario Depot or in my scenario folder. Where is it? Thanks.

Hi, We are looking for a PBEM battle that uses early equipment for Poland and Germany. We like good maps and play balance. Have you got a recommendation? Thanks, Jake

I gotta agree with ya, McAuliffe. The Eastern Front just didn't get me going, and the desert doesn't either. But Italy has my Western Front juices running again. It's a great feeling. I'm even designing my second CM scenario in four years. hehe... I'll send it to you when it's done. I'm invading Normandy in August if you have time to meet up. Cheers, Jake

Well, I surely was hoping to play CM as Apu, but if you want me to play Habib, I'll get a new name put on my work shirt.

WWII had great and varied locations worldwide (that make excellent vacations today), balanced forces, technology that was still controlled by humans, good guys, bad guys, strategy, tactics, and WE WON! But the other side could have won, so the stakes were high. When have we seen that since then in military combat? Where is the motivation for tactical warfare victories where there is no final victory in the total war? Tom Clancy games try it with completing individual missions, and it comes up empty compared to CM immersion where you feel you are fighting for a side. We play a specific country in CM to WIN the battle because it could mean WINNING the war for our side. There hasn't even been an official "war" in the US since WWII, although we've spent thousands of lives and billions of $$$ fighting the forces of ill-defined evil. In WWII, everybody knew why they were fighting and pitched in, so it was total war where total victory was the goal. So let's stay with WWII, please. I even like Glenn Miller music. If I want to make war by computer chip, I'll try to program all the functions on a VCR... I'm looking forward to playing the whole Western Front in the next CM.

Hi Jake, good to see you around here again. I agree with you assessment regarding the value of ariel maps; however, I am curious as to how you are able to obtain contour and elevation information from such sources? Do you also refer to a contour map, or just guess? Steve </font>

I agree completely with Andreas. From my time spent scouting Battle of the Bulge sites and general travel in Europe, the European topography is definitely different. WWII aerial photo's are most definitely the BEST sources to make a great map. But good aerial photo's from WWII are hard to find. Does anybody have a good source? Despite searching, I haven't found a good book with aerial photo's of WWII battle areas. However, I've just ordered a new book of aerial photo's of Normandy from the History Channel that comes out in May. I'm hoping it will give me some good photo's for maps. Top down pictures from great heights (like the B-17 bombing pictures) are not enough. You need some low-level angle pictures to show elevations, buildings, farms, and trees. The shadows give a lot of nuance, and the little hedge and road details become clear. I'd love to have aerial photo's of other battle areas sites, and I'm sure the US reconaissance corps must have taken a boatload of them. Where can they be found? I was able to do a nice Baugnez map for a CMBO battle because the book "Battle of the Bulge, Then and Now" included a few photo's taken by the US right after the massacre there to document the scene. I used those pictures to add WWII period details to my basic geographic map that I knew was accurate (within CMBO map editor limits) from my visits to Baugnez. Using period air photo's was the only way to really get the correct layout of the buildings, roads, fences, and farms at that time because a LOT has changed there from WWII, and much of it just in the past few years. For example, you can no longer see the Baugnez Crossroads across the fields like the Germans did because new warehouse buildings and houses block the view. If you didn't know what the place looked like in 1944, you cannot understand or appreciate the events that happened. And I must agree with Andreas from experience that all the best individual game matches in the CM series start with a great map. So that's where my interest lies... It just kills me to see a phoney "made-up" map of a battle area that I've actually visited. They miss the whole point of recreating a historical battle situation. The land often defines the battle, and that's the challenge of playing CM with good tactics. Jake

I'm a lawyer, so I need to nail this point down because lawyers aren't all smart. The answer to my question is "yes", right? I must also add your re-numbered brush files to get the whole Juju mod experience and best graphics, correct? Thanks again, Jake [ April 01, 2004, 07:40 PM: Message edited by: Lawyer ]

Great work, Juju. But I don't understand what the fall brush correction files do. Do I need to add them also to get the fall brush correct? Thanks, Jake

Hey Mikey, Why the lo-res? The stock CMAK is higher. But I got 'em and several other of your mods. I've learned that it's always good to check out yours. Thanks, Jake

Nice maps, Pud. I got a few from your site. Thanks.

Please send to me too. Thank you.

My father and his brother were National Guard before the war with the 29th Division, and thus were called into active duty with the 29th. By luck of the draw, his company was not part of the disastrous D-Day experience of the 29th at Omaha Beach, but my my mother's uncle Maj. John Sauers (my father's good friend) was killed coming onto the beach. He is mentioned on p. 259 of Ambrose's D-Day book. (Ambrose says he was killed in the landing craft, but the official letter says he was killed crossing the beach.) My father arrived in the ETO after the combat. He stayed in the army and was killed in a military plane crash in Japan going to Korea from the Phillipines when that war broke out. I never knew him. But our family was honored when a National Guard post started by my father in Portsmouth, VA was named for him in 1959.