Goofy

Didn't Canadian have unit specific patches like the Brits? And now that I think about it the US patches ARE available at Tom's Combat Mission Page at http://home.germany.net/101-77027/CM/International.html I don't recall at the moment who's mod it is but I've stopped using them for now as the texture of the sleeve doesn't match DD's nice US uniform mod texture. ------------------ No one EXPECTS the Spanish inquisition!!

Great idea! I assume you will be filling out the rest of the insignia? This would be good for US, Canadian and German also! Some times you actually know who's in the scenario. ------------------ No one EXPECTS the Spanish inquisition!!

Can't see that as a result! I've seen one drop into a group of tanks and halftracks and the ones it didn't kill outright were immobilized and shocked (nearly as much as I was when I saw it!) and soon abandoned. Real biblical stuff! Finger of God and all that. A direct hit should just add some extra shrapnel to the mix! I watched it used to raze a town and I immediately thought about the Marines on Guadalcanal who had to absorb that kind of shelling every night for so long! This game has given me a whole new respect for those men!!! ------------------ Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries!

The way I see it we are getting down to fewer companies but better product! As a consumer I speak with my wallet. I'm finding that the companies I support are tending to be small and run by an odd breed called gamers! I truly believe they PLAY their own product! So the shelves won't be filled with crap that I won't buy anyway. No loss there. So I'm in a niche market, been playing wargames since the mid 60's so I'm used to that too. BTS is a good example of a company that knows it's forte and sticks to it. When I looked at that Press Release from FASA I also looked around their page. Got an iron in every fire! Catalog page hadn't been updated since 1998! Action figures! Crap! Another company is just waiting to fill that crap niche. What I saw was a company that lost site of who they were, happens EVERY day! I see that the GAMES are going back to Weisman and I hope he still retains that vision. Aim small, miss small! ------------------ Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries!

Keeps me grounded Michael and reminds me not to take myself too seriously! ------------------ Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries!

Do you mean you're not sure if it's a graphics problem or a target selection problem? Were the targets it "strobed" between equal priority targets? I've seen cases where I was targeting a moving tank and it evidently became hidden because I saw my unit shift to a lower priority target (infantry) and then retarget the tank as I assume it came back into view. Of course this seemed fairly obvious and there was no "strobe" between the two. Seemed a solid lock but went out of site (?) before a shot was taken (turret speed?). Locked on to the infantry and began to rotate turret when the tank reemerged and became the target once more. ------------------ Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries!

I had that problem in large battles until I increased my RAM from 128 to 256. No problem now. How much are you running? You can try turning down some of your graphics such as tree coverage. ------------------ Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries!

My experience is that in the game I try to avoid Stuarts with the Mk IV! I don't know if it's the weak armor of the Mk IV or all the lucky hits by the Stuarts but I seem to always get the bloody end of the stick in a clash between the two types. I'd actually prefer to take on the Shermies! I seem to be able to score hits on both but oddly I get more kills against the Sherman. Perhaps the Stuart is a bit overmodeled? I like using the Stuart when I have the chance, for myself I prefer them over the Walker. Is it just me? ------------------ Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries!

Take a look at "Fighting Steel".

Michael Dorsh asked....Here's a serious question - how many hi-res bitmaps can you put into play in Combat Mission before performance becomes an issue? I have a P500 so I'm guessing I could pretty much replace everything I want with hi-res, but I'm wondering if there are any horror stories. I don't think I have a single original texture left in the game as I see it now and I use hi-res where ever it's available. I'm running a P3 450 with a 16 meg graphics card (Voodoo Banshee). 128 megs of RAM. Recently I had begun to run into problems with choppiness in the films and lines that would jump while drawing in movement or fire. I really didn't want to cut down on tree coverage etc. Why tone down the graphics that I do so love? I figured that I would begin to upgrade but I really believe in the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" theory so before I upgrade my graphics card (which seems to work well with everything I play) I decided on more RAM. I've added another 128 megs and the graphics all flow smoothly, even in large battles. For now, my problem seems to be solved. I also see many improvements in other areas (computer functions) that I wasn't expecting. I play Fighter Ace online also and it seems to have helped there too. ------------------ Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries!

Gee, I have that already but maybe I misunderstand also. When I click on a unit (enemy or friendly) I see yellow lines from any unit that can see them and red from units that are firing. Is this what you are refering to? ------------------ Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries!

Also a player of WS&IM but in the same genre the game I keep looking for a computer version of in Yaquinto's Ironclads! Now that was a fun game. Still have it and the expansion. I hear rumors of someone doing it from time to time but I've no knowledge of even a bad version seeing the light of day. Iron Ships and Iron Men? ------------------ Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries!

It was my participation in another forum (the now defunct Steel Panthers forum at TGN) that lead me to CM. Like Bruno said, look at all the expense that these big game companies put into some of the very organizations that are giving these awards and it's no wonder who gets mentioned (and who doesn't)! I look at these Awards who ignore a new concept in gaming design and wonder about the integrity of such folk. Maybe the new concept in marketing a game has something to do with it. Even if CM falls in to a niche market category it is a revolutionary step. Maybe being ignored by these Awards is in itself a kind of Award! As Groucho Marx said "I wouldn't want to be a member of any country club who would accept ME as a member!" Sometimes exclusion comes off as a form of flattery when you look at why and who WAS included. ------------------ Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries!

Show me the money! I've seen nothing concrete from this game and this is after more than a year of saying they're the next big thing for wargaming. Lot's of promise but no product. For my money I'm playing the game I WANT to be playing...CM! And CM doesn't ask me for $29.95 each month!

Gustav, I have my uncle's Issue Bible. Has a little statement on the opening page from the C-I-C commending the reading of it. At the bottom of the statement it's signed (a copy of course) FDR. The interesting part is the cover, it's made of metal. Guess you keep it over you heart?

Dumbo/2 said: They maybe wrong and they may take thing too seriously in your view but surely you can understand the sentiment? Dumbo, I recognize the sentiment and in a different context I could understand it but when I logged in I was told this forum was to discuss the GAME of CM. That's the context this forum operates in. When people discuss the technical aspects of a certain vehicle or weapons load out of a specific type squad at a certain date I feel like that falls within the context of this forum. What I see is the discussion of game mechanics shifting to a question of philosophy. I don't think Steve and Charles intended to make a philosophical statement on WWII by producing this game (other than See how well this CAN be done!). I most certainly could be wrong. I also don't think they did it to get rich, I could be wrong here too! LOL!!! They seem WAY to interested in their customers to be in it just for the money! I read some of these posts and want to say "You do know it a game, right? Right? Right?" PS. Just saw BTS reply to the thread. Hooray!! It's a GAME!!!! ------------------ Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries! [This message has been edited by Goofy (edited 01-25-2001).]

Somehow this post went from a discussion of game options to a discussion of history and morality. I went and read the other thread (US vs USSR) mentioned in an earlier post in this thread. As I read it I realized that there are people who view this GAME as something other than a GAME. It's up to each individual to decide if this applies to you or not, I'm NOT talking TO anyone, just speaking in general. What I didn't see in that post or this one was one from BTS saying YES or NO, only quotes from Steve about the subject strictly in GAME terms. I understand there ARE people who do actually think if I play the German side in a scenario that this somehow makes me one of "them"! I had someone send me an e-mail on just exactly that idea, that if he didn't wipe me out I'd be burning his home and killing his mother and raping his sister. At first I thought it was a joke but I found that this guy was quite serious. I've never played another game with or sent mail to this person. I hope he isn't stalking me at this moment to "save his mom"! I believe there are people who see the line between a game and "historical simulation" a little bit more fuzzy than I do. I PLAY THIS AS A GAME! When I ask about another "toggle switch" for the options that's really all I'm asking for. I have no political or moral motives, my motive is to make a great game even more fun! I am a gamer. I never thought I'd have to defend that position. I understand that this ISN'T reality. I get to play again even if I loose every game I play. I change sides according to how I feel that day. Sometimes I want a new challenge, that's my only motive here. Again, I'm only a gamer, I enjoy the game and don't think freeing Europe from the Nazi regime depends on whether or not I win a scenario. I've had my chill pill today. I don't need to be brow beaten by any moral philosophers out there. I believe they have a forum elsewhere. This one is to discuss a GAME! Says so in the Statement when I log into this forum. I'll try and keep it there. [This message has been edited by Goofy (edited 01-25-2001).]

Let's not even look at "historical hypothetical" and consider that this is a game, not a historical document. I have played against opponents who in no way had historical unit mix in their TO&E. I would like to be able to play any nation vs any nation (including itself) also. How many times has the argument come up among gaming circles that "If we had really equal forces I'd have mopped the map up with you!" I've seen many threads on this forum concerning Allied and Axis unit point costs and how it puts one side or the other at a disadvantage. As Jeff Heidman brought up on the idea of hard coding the sides, it may be just an impossibility but IS there any way of moving unit data to create a "blue team" and a "red team" setup? This seems to be just another way of increasing the fun in the game. ------------------ Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries!

Will the unique qualities of the Russian command system for tanks be modeled into CM2. From my reading and discussions my impression is that the "typical" Russian tanker didn't act as independently as his German opponent. A lot of what I've read implied that the lack of radios on most Russian tanks created the "Follow me comrades!" method of tank operations. I know that in CMBO the focus seems to be intended to channel the game toward combined arms fights but when we get to the Russian plains I can see much more appeal to have "Kursk" flavored tank fights. Since as it stands now all tanks operate independently (with that damn 13 second delay!) the playing ground is pretty much level but all I read says that on a small unit level (platoon, company) the Germans had better radios which enabled better management of their units. As CMBO works now that's basically the effect. Will there be any detriment to Soviet tanks without radios (say in the form of longer delays)? Will we ever see command tanks where an officer will actually have bonuses he can use to influence his troops with? My next question concerns the Soviet desant troops, were they special trained for operations with the tanks or was the tank merely their taxi to the battle? I've heard both but the latter seems more likely. ------------------ Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries!

Team Sound seems to have about a 2 to 3 second lag in the speach. Roger Wilco at www.rogerwilco.com seems to have only a 1 to 2 second lag. That and Battle Com at www.battlecom.com are my 2 favorites and both work well. The main thing is you evidently need to be running DirectX 8.0 for any of them to work IN the game. ------------------ Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries!

"Personally I think that Tactic is genuine. I remember(although I can't source) seeing that tactic emulated in some other film. Most of the pictures i remember of city combat had men either walking along side a building on the far sides of a road, or behind a vehicle, moving or otherwise." Sure, remember the battle in Hue in "Full Metal Jacket"? I know Kubrick was mentioned earlier in this thread. He seemed to have a knack for that (or the presence of mind to hire someone to do the homework!), remember the infantry fights, hose everything in sight! And dropping back even further (historically speaking) how about the portrayals of the battles in "Barry Lyndon"? ------------------ Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries! [This message has been edited by Goofy (edited 01-23-2001).]

The logic of the command (Assault!) makes sense in lot's of situations, not being privy to the programing codes (and not being able to understand them if I was!) means that this is the best way to bring it to the attention of BTS. They might be able to explain why it's a possibility/ impossibility. The Follow order would be handy but it really seems unnecessary in that if you give a column the same movement order they essentially do that. Sure there's a lot of stop and go and shuffling around but a Follow order would do the same thing. That's why commanders are constantly yelling to "Keep your intervals!" The nightmare would be to give a vehicle column a Follow order and then see the "lead" vehicle knocked out and everyone sit and wait for a turn taking fire while waiting for the orders to Follow someone new. My pet wish is for Command Tanks!!! They issue orders without the standard 13 sec delay! Give them some sort of designator that they are Cmd. tanks (ahh to be able to add aerials to .bmp files!) so they can draw that "special attention" just like all the other officers! Don't think this will happen but hey, just thought I'd add it to my wishes. ------------------ Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries! [This message has been edited by Goofy (edited 01-23-2001).]

"Mattel Electronics presents Bee Seventeen Bomber...." I would swear that the electronic voice had a southern "twang" to it. I had the voice add on thingee and being born in Georgia, it sounded perfectly normal to me!

I remember getting two at once for Christmas of 64 or 65, Hit The Beach and Red Baron. (I think that was the name, had little Spads and Fokker D7's with stands and maneuver and ammo cards you could draw, each victory got you an extra card the next time you took off!) Both were by Milton Bradley and from the Sears Mail Order Catalog! Seems like there was a third one but my misspent youth was between then and now! For PC (if you can call it that) B-17 on the Intellivision. Then I remember Mech Brigade for the AppleII. ------------------ Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries! [This message has been edited by Goofy (edited 01-21-2001).]

No problem mate! I hope the word get's out to more players. Surprised the guys over at the Cesspool aren't making sure everyone knows so they can verbally batter their opponent as they play! Maybe not as public as running them up the flag pole but satisfying none the less! ------------------ Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries!