IntelWeenie

I've noticed dead bodies appearing in the middle of woods where I have arty impacting. Of course, none of my units can actually SEE them but I know they're there! Maybe it's the smell... ------------------ "Belly to belly and everything's better" - Russian proverb

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Frenchy: When the groundwork for CM 2 begins...the first item on the agenda will be what period to cover. Keeping it historical; probably 1941 - 1945. Based on that what forces...? 1) Germans 2) Soviets 3) Rumanians 4) Hungarians 5) Italians 6) Spanish 7) Partisans 8) Japan <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I vote for the Finns before 6) and especially 8). Maybe even before 3) and 4)? It should be fairly easy to include them , since much of their heavy equipment was of German/Russian origin. I actually would vote against including "what if" countries, since there's more than enough "it really happened" to go around, IMHO. ------------------ "Belly to belly and everything's better" - Russian proverb

Since CM started as "computerized Squad Leader", I feel safe saying this: If you can get a copy (I might be able to get this for you if I can find my ASL stuff), use the vehicle rarity charts from the Advanced Squad Leader manual. From what I can tell, they are pretty accurate (the values are tracked by year and month) and easy to read. The only bad part is they only cover vehicles and artillery, not troops.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Michael emrys: And besides, calling it a vision slit is misleading since it suggests an opening only large enough to peep through. Calling it a gun port would be closer to the mark. Remember, it has to be large enough to allow the gun to be aimed through its full field of fire. Since the trunnions would likely be some distance back from even the inside walls, the opening has to be large enough to permit considerable play. In the case of your 88, that means it might be well over a foot high and three or more feet wide easily. As paullus mentions, the immediately surrounding area, while solid, is of greatly reduced thickness.Michael<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> If you have a chance to rent it, watch the movie "The Longest Day". There are some scenes showing some of the Atlantic Wall fortifications that have HUGE gun ports, big enough to drive a truck into! Granted, they're a special case (coastal artillery), but scale the guns down to 88mm or 75mm and it should give you an idea of how big the openings really need to be for the guns to have an effective field of fire. ------------------ "Belly to belly and everything's better" - Russian proverb

I have had this same thing happen a lot (but not always) with spotters being targeted at long ranges. Since it doesn't ALWAYS happen, I can't attibute it to them being too easy to spot. I would think that a motionless 2-man FO team (or any other small unit) in woods or a building would be nearly impossible to spot at 300+ meters, though. Could this have something to do (in the game code) with the fact that they are "firing"? BTW, I always play full FOW when not testing something. ------------------ "Belly to belly and everything's better" - Russian proverb

I saw it on Battlefront's web site when I was downloading the demo for Tacops. ------------------ "Belly to belly and everything's better" - Russian proverb

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Scott Clinton: This is vague to say the least. The case has been made that using a 50cal. against a human would violate this rule, but I doubt it.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> The source of much of the confusion can be attributed to drill Sgts telling recruits the famous "Shoot their belt buckle" story. Recruits are, after all, told that the DI's word is LAW! The fact that there is incendiary ammunition AVAILABLE for .50 cals (used mainly in aircraft, IIRC) makes some people think that they fall in the prohibited category. I believe the intent was to not alloy hollow point (aka "dum-dum") bullets, saw-toothed knoves, etc. in armies' inventories. ------------------ "Belly to belly and everything's better" - Russian proverb

Will the taper bore guns be included in CM2, 3, 4? I know the ones that got the most use were the little 28mm jobbies, but there were also 50mm and 75mm versions. Very effective, but too rare for CM's scope? (Hopefully not; the Pupchen was included, after all... ) ------------------ "Belly to belly and everything's better" - Russian proverb

The Brit 25 pounder was 88mm (hmmm!). A longer barrel is a good rule of thumb to follow for AP effectiveness. One of the main reasons for having the longer barrel, though, is so that the powder charge used could be larger, increasing velocity. Otherwise, the extra powder would burn past the muzzle where it is not nearly as effective. (but cool looking) This could be taken to an extreme, especially with some AT guns that the Germans tried that used a tapered bore. The theory was that a large powder charge pushed a smaller than normal projectile (fitted with skirts to match bore size) at VERY high velocity. Problem they ran into was that steel shells tended to fragment rather than penetrate at these velocities, and they didn't have enough tungsten to make them wothwhile. ------------------ "Belly to belly and everything's better" - Russian proverb

Crocodiles ROCK! (Pun intended) As added bonuses, they have a nice long 100m range, plus 80 squirts! Add in real armor, a 75mm gun to keep StuGs away, etc. and they really start to grow on you. The only bad part is when they miss their intended target and instead flame a building housing YOUR troops! ------------------ "Belly to belly and everything's better" - Russian proverb

Tactic #2 VERY CHANCY if you're playing as the Germans and you know/suspect that the allies have air support. While playing *snip*, I had a Tiger and a HT knocked out plus a PzKfw IV immobilized from ONE Jabo attack (left a big hole in the road, too). ------------------ "Belly to belly and everything's better" - Russian proverb

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Scott Clinton: A "FOLLOW" command IS on 'The List'. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> That would be an excellent (and elegant) solution to this issue! It would also take less time to plot out movement for multiple units. ------------------ "Belly to belly and everything's better" - Russian proverb

Situation: Moving several vehicles down a road (esp. in bocage or tree-lined). Different vehicle types, different experience ratings. Problem: How the *@&& do you keep the ones in back from STOPPING when they catch up to the vehicle in front? Don't read this wrong, I don't have a problem with vehicles keeping others from passing, but why must the ones in the rear stop? Having the rear vehicle slow to the speed of the one ahead of it would be much more realistic and cause fewer problems for traffic control (don't know how hard this would be to code, though). Beyond a recoding, does anyone have ways of dealing with this other than widely separating their vehicles? It's not a show stopper for me, I just like tidy convoys... ------------------ "Belly to belly and everything's better" - Russian proverb

I've only played it once, but you basically have two options: 1) Charge! 2) Back up, take the side roads and flank them. (this is what I did and it worked pretty good.) ------------------ "Belly to belly and everything's better" - Russian proverb

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by coe: The bocage lanes were pretty narrow, effectively you couldn't even swing your turret sometimes and a single tank that dies in front of you can block everything A.) how do you push wrecks? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Just plot movement past the wreck. Your tanks will shove it out of the way. I think a light vehicle (halftrack, etc.) will have a really difficult time moving a heavy one (Tiger, etc.) ------------------ "Belly to belly and everything's better" - Russian proverb

I remember reading about a bazooka being standard equipment in these buggers. Any chance of having a bailed crew armed with it? JUST KIDDING! (about the second part). ------------------ "Belly to belly and everything's better" - Russian proverb

Hey, when do we get to see some US/Brit winter textures? Also, has anyone thought of winter camo for the infantry? BTW, love the ones you have so far; they really add to the winter scenarios! ------------------ "Belly to belly and everything's better" - Russian proverb

Get it from the horse's mouth! Go to www.army.mil and do a search for doctrine, operations, FM, infantry, etc. A lot of the Army's field manuals (FMs) are on the web. Admittedly, they're pretty dry reading, but it's definitely an official source on everything from platoon to Corps operations. If you want the book to hold, I think you can get them under the Freedom of Information Act. (or just go to a local surplus store) ------------------ "Belly to belly and everything's better" - Russian proverb

**Possible spoiler info** <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Doug Beman: If I knew how to make scenarios I'd make a recon scenario with armored cars etc on each side. Then we could use them the way they were meant to be. DjB<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> There's an operation in the full game called "A Day in the Cavalry". It's intended to illustrate a typical day in the life of US armored cav in late WWII. I've only started to play it (on the second battle as the US), but I will say it's a whole different ball game when you only have light forces to work with! So far, I'm enjoying it.

I would like to see this, too. Not only would it make bragging neater , but it could be useful to illustrate tactics and such. (also for illustrating a problem or point of view in this forum!)

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Scott Clinton: But, a "Crack Sharpshooter" should have more ammo. I used up all of my mans ammo (well he was down to "LOW") in 7 minutes of battle. I just expect any "Sharpshooter" to have more longevity in battle than that, especially a "Crack" one.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Maybe this seeming lack of adequate ammo has more to do with the way sharpshooters are used in CM than the way "ammo" is tabulated? Most people (including myself) seem like they are having them stand up and blast away until out of ammo. Would a better (realistic? ) tactic be to fire a couple of shots, sneak to a secondary position, fire a bit, sneak off.... Then again, are the sharpshooters meant to represent picked riflemen or fully trained snipers? Tactics (and mission) would differ a bit between the two. Any former snipers out there to lend their two bits?

I don't have it with me right now, but the 1.01 patch (for the full game; 1.02 of the demo has the same stuff but you need to re-download it.) has some improvements/fixes to the AI and gemeplay, plus the enhanced explosions. There should be a readme in the .zip file. I just unzipped it into a temp directory and copied the files to the proper places. I believe there's a 1.03 patch due out soon, too.

Collapsing houses can make a BIG mess! (watch "The Bridge at Remagen". It has a couple of good scenes where this happens) On the subject of collapsing houses: does this (or could it in the future) create a hinderance to LOS from all the dust/debris? Same thing for arty fire in general?

Regarding all this testing: has anyone tried using the MGs with an area fire command? Part of the seeming lack of sustained fire may be due to the MGs tracking then firing, tracking, firing, etc. An area fire command should make them settle into more of a sustained rate of fire. Set the firing point on the far side of the area the infantry is crossing and Viola! A fire lane for all to enjoy (I'd try it now, but I'm "at work")

*Gamey Solution* Charge past one squad, do a 180, and thus you now face both! Seriousy, I would leave the squad intact, backing them away as much as possible to try and get out of the envelopment. If backing out is not possible, closing in tight with one of the enemy squads might work with the idea of eliminating them as quickly as possible while masking the other squad's fire (?). (hopefully, they have no SMGs!)