IntelWeenie

I wasn't Infantry, I was in Intelligence (thus my forum name). Anyway, while in Op. Desert Storm, we had the usual 7 30-rd mags for our M-16s on us and a can of 7.62mm for our M-60 handy at all times. I was on a 6-man Radio DF team, by the way, and we normally deployed out all ALOOONE. :eek: and :cool: However, when on guard duty, we would each also carry a full bandoleer of ammo (already in mags). I personally also kept a couple extra mags plus about 100 rds in stripper clips in my rucksack. We were well set for '60 ammo, too. We had 3 cases of 4 250-rd cans each. That was carried in a truck, of course! This was all for people that were only supposed to fight to defend ourselves long enough for help to arrive or to run away. Most infantrymen I've talked to, including my dad (Vietnam-era Marine) and grandfather (327th Glider Inf in N. Afrika and Italy) both said they kept as much ammo on them as they could possibly carry because you never knew when you'd need it.

Intriguing idea. You could get really detailed and model the amount of pentration by range as well. This could get really CPU-intensive one you start factoring different values for the "hardness" of the cover being fired into or through.

Depending on how your laptop's configured (I'm not that familiar with Dells), this sounds like it may may be b/c of Intel's "speed step" that they use on laptop processors. It detects when it's using a battery and actually slows down the processor (making a 850MHz CPU run at, say, about 500MHz) to conserve power. This is fine for stuff like word processing and email, but anything CPU-intensive chokes because of it. Processing the turns is very CPU-intensive, obviously. There's a free program out there (don't have a link for it at the moment, sorry) called "CPUSpeed" that will give you a real-time view of what speed your processor is running at. I've tried running CMBB and CMBO on a brand new IBM laptop just for kicks. It has a 2 GHz Mobile Pentium 4 (Centrino), 256MB RAM and a 16MB ATI Mobility video card. CMBO works OK, but CMBB is noticeably slow on it, whether plugged in or not. I haven't tried any big battles on it, though.

I don't see redraw times being that big of a deal in the orders phase. Ditto using the LOS tool to show spotting info. I like this idea the best so far: The big problem with all of these? They only address targeting/shooting. Sure, you can force area fire where you know an enemy is at, but that's small potatoes. The biggest problem caused by Borg spotting lies with tactics (IMHO). Example: Unit A on one side of the map see enemies advancing in area not viewable by unit B on the other side of the map. The next orders phase, you can immediately give new orders to unit B reacting to a threat it would not realistically be aware of. This includes shooting and movement orders. Sure, you could argue about radio or field phones make sharing info between units possible, but that means the game would need to know who has commo devices and who doesn't (much like vehicles with and without radios are now tracked). Not having comms could introduce a command delay, but that in itself may not be entirely realistic since it would not allow units to react properly to threats they can see. As a lot of ex-military types will tell you, information is half the battle. Everyone instantly knowing where the enemy is and what he's doing can be a huge advantage. Borg spotting is what the US Army is trying to accomplish with the IVIS system and various "infantryman of tomorrow" suits, by the way. These systems can typically share displays between everyone in a unit showing friendly and known enemy locations. Frankly, I don't know if there's any easy solution to Borg spotting. At least when playing against other humans, the advantage tends to even itself out.

Hmm. Sounds like he wants a return of the Ambush marker from CMBO. That's OK, I miss it sometimes, too. Actually, it's not all that far-fetched of an idea. In a proper ambush, you let your kill zone fill up with enemy before firing, not just open up when the first guy pokes his head out (or into your covered arc). In CMBO, you could have a bunch of units keying off of the same Ambush marker. When it's tripped, they open up on the highest priority target in their LOS. This could mean some AT team might be closest to you, but you're going to try and take out the MG 50m behind them first. Of course, in CMBO the most annoying part of this was the tendency of the TacAI to fire at guys you didn't want them to fire at! The cover arc works OK in CMBB once you get used to it. Not being able to target units outside the CA only affects you for less than 60 seconds, which (while still not ideal) is not too bitter a pill to swallow.

This works better in CMBO than in CMBB. I've seen that it's pretty easy for a MG to clean off the back of a tank since the pax can be targeted. If you're willing to put up with that risk, it's better than nothing, though, especially since the Reds don't get halftracks all that often.

A lot of this has to do with the proprietary nature of the 3D engine BFC developed for the CM series. They have said in the (distant) past that they were reluctant to give widespread access to the source code and I don't blame them one bit. Yes, it's a something of a shame since I'm sure there would be lots of excellent mods made (just look what has been done just modding the skins), but the current situation is much better for PBEM/TCPIP compatability. It also means we don't have to put up with 20 different mods for a Maus...

ACtually, it's possible (but very unlikely) to get LOS through the middle of a building. This usually only happens if the shooter and/or target are fairly close to it, though. This is to abstract things like windows, shellholes in walls, etc.

Not exactly the same thing you're thinking of, but how useful would a map preview be in the briefing? It could be either a preview of the map without units like you see in the editor or a simple .jpg (perhaps marked up with the default/historic battle plan for your forces)? I like the map printout idea, too.

To me, there's two kinds of wire entanglements: 1) Permanent ones constructed (usually be engineers) as part of a fortification. 2) Field expedient wire which is laid by a unit for temporary local security. I've done the 2nd more times that I care to remember in terrain from desert (NTC) to dense forest (several army posts). Wire (I'm talking about triple-strand concertina) CAN be laid in forest without removing underbrush or trees. It's just really hard. Many times, that's the way it's usually done since removal of such growth can give away your position. Note that removal of undergrowth would not make it any easier for vehicles to get around trees, which is what's at issue here. Pictures I've seen of permanent wire entaglements usually were cleared. I think this is because it made it easier to observe the wire to detect infiltrators and it also makes fixing the wire easier when it breaks or something falls on it. I think this wire-clear-terrain thing should be considered a bug, albeit a minor one.

You usually get lots more of them than the Germans. Actually, from 41-42 the T-34 and KV tanks had a huge advantage in armor over the Germans, so it's easier to just bum rush them. Their 76mm gun may not be the most accurate, but it can take out anything it hits. Once Tigers and Panthers are available, you need to do more work in picking out covered approaches to get in close for flanking shots. Once IS-2s come into play, you're at a nearly even footing (except for lack of on-board ammo).

The most likely cause would be enemy fire of some sort. If it was caused by bogging (not likely on a dry road), it should have gone to "bogged" for at least a couple of seconds before becoming "immobilized". The only thing I'm aware of that causes instant immobilization is enemy fire from anything but small arms. Mechanical reliability is not modeled in the game. [ July 28, 2003, 12:30 AM: Message edited by: IntelWeenie ]

Just back, too, after lots of work and 2 kids. Just got CMBB in the mail yesterday and started lurking about to see what's up around here. I'd forgotten how long it had been since I last posted until I looked at my profile and saw it was an announcement for my (now 2 1/2-year-old) son! Off topic: What's up with militarygameronline? It seems half the CM fansites are hosted there, but the site's been down??

IIRC, someone tried making a program to combine turns into a "movie" way back when the game was first released, but I don't think it ever worked out. I tried searching the forums, but didn't find anything.

My advice: every turn or two, stop playing (the game will wait for you), go over to your wife/girlfriend/kids/etc. and give them a hello and a kiss. It lets them (especially the wives) know that even though you're totally absorbed in a game, you're still thinking of them! It's also good for your eyes, back and wrists to take little breaks, but she doesn't need to know that's another reason you take these little breaks...

I (and my 8-year-old stepson) play 7-800 pt QBs all the time. The settings I find most fun to play are Combined Arms with no restrictions on nationality and random everything with the computer buying units for both sides. Games like this usually only take 30 mins. or so to play and since everything's randomized, each one is different. Alternately, buy just your own units (the AI makes some odd choices sometimes) but leave the other side to purchase automatically so you won't know what you're up against. The map types that seem to be the most fun for this type of battle are village and farmland with light/moderate trees and small/medium hills.

Early war: Matilda Mk. II. Not the best gun in the world, but 37mm rounds would bounce off it like rubber balls. Late war: Sherman Easy 8. Excellent combination of firepower, maneuverability and reliability.

IIRC, the 122mm gun in the IS-2 had what's called a separate charge. First you loaded the projectile and then loaded the powder charge. This double-loading results in a pretty slow ROF, especially considering the VERY cramped conditions in the turret.

It is SOP for the US Army to use tank main gun fire against helicopters and slow-flying aircraft. Heck, the gunnery simulator/trainers are even set up to practice it. Back on-topic: While the German armored car 2cm gun mounts were designed to allow AA fire, remember they were designed at a time (1930's) when a/c were a lot slower and presumably easier to shoot at. Does anyone have any data on them being used this way in combat and their effectiveness?

BTS' post HAS to go into a FAQ somewhere!!

In fact, the FT was mounted in the same spot as the BMG. If the trailer was dropped, it became nearly impossible to tell it was a Crocodile (until it used the FT, naturally )

According to an old buddy of mine who was a smole generator operator in the Army, a properly smoked battlefield would look like the inside of a cloud. In CM or CM2, this could be simulated by setting the weather to fog. IIRC, there was not a lot of heavy smoke usage in WWII (at least in ground combat; the Germans routinely used smokescreens to disrupt US daylight bombing raids) with the exception of major "set-piece" operations like river crossings. Given the economics of the eastern front, I would think smoke generators would be even less common.

Since I'm would like more info on the unit purchase screen anyway, I think this is a most excellent idea. Since base cost is determined by the unit's capabilites, it's the easiest way (especially for non-grogs) to compare the combat value of units.

Considering there are already provisions for changing the 3D model of all units to reflect kills (don't bring up the dead bodies AGAIN, please), I would not mind seeing a little enhancement in that area. I think at this point, though, I have no overwhelming desire for seeing damage in the exact spot that it struck the tank. I do like the ideas about using damage "panels" depending on where the tank was hit and showing thrown tracks, open hatches, etc.

Unit quality may have something to do with it. The higher the quality, the better they do at targeting threats vs. poo. Have you tried area targeting to see if they will accept that and at least put some rounds near the enemy troops?