Derfel

Gents, Thanks for the input, but this wasn't a case of creative placement of reinforcements because a/ no message and b/my tanks actually appeared in place of several of my opponents tanks and his A-T vehicle took the place of a Cromwell VII of mine... -Derfel

OK, I need some help here, if anybody can tell me why this happened (and how to prevent it happening again) I'll be eternally (well, kinda) grateful! SO; we're in the middle (turn 20) of a TCP/IP over LAN game, the scenario is Rune's "Caen Mutiny" (Good scenario btw) and we're happily blowing each others tanks and men to little burnt crunchy bits when suddenly the data transfer from my opponents computer to mine freezes... various expleteves later we've restarted from the auto save... but now four of my tanks have taken up position behind my opponens forces and one of his a-t vehicles have appeared among my units... of course havoc ensues where my tanks go at the opponents vehicles like a Cesspooler on a saturday night (unexpected and from behind) and my poor Bren carriers are dispatched like popcorn by the opponents a-t vehicle... and then the whole damn thing freezes again! What the [expletive deleted] is this? The scenario? (I know Rune has an evil reputation but really...), the connection? (used a 3Com hub and standard Cat5 cables which I've used in dozens of CM games before) Overload on the computers? (One Desktop 500 mhz /128 mb Matrox Millenium 450 GB videocard and one Dell Inspiron 8000 733mhz / 128 mb) Any hints or thoughts would be more than welcome! -Derfel

Gents, I did a quick check at Matrix games and found no trace of a Napoleonic game... are you lot having me on...? However perhaps you should check this out http://www.gamesdomain.co.uk/gdreview/zones/previews/feb01/waterloo.html -Derfel ------------------ The only problem for a cobra attacking small furry animals is that occasionally one of them will turn out to be a mongoose...

You know... this is not a bad idea... it could or should of course be a "unit" limited to engineer/sapper forces but it would add greatly to the suspense of certain scenarios. As for the reality... well, at least in the Swedish army we're taught to set up decoy positions even when preparing a defensive position for a unit as small as a platoon (or a half-battery of artillery). How about it BTS? Is this feasible? -Derfel

Well, gents and creatures that can be found lurking in the gents, I (a long-time-student of the Cesspool) have a question for the scenario-designer contingent among you: Is there any way to stop infantry (in this particular case British infantry but I think the problem is general) from behaving like Kamikaze Lemmings? Again and again I have tried to position infantry along an enemy's expected route of approach and then put them in hide mode so they won't reveal themselves too early. Well, not only do the little digital bleeders expose themselves like a Cesspooler a a third grade schoolyard but they also invariably leave their comfy foxholes and take off toward the enemy, usually getting themselves Killed-a-lot to no purpose. I have tried varios things, using elite forces, ambush markers, changing "exit" direction (which incidentally a lot of scenario designers seem to forget, leading to retreats and routs toward the enemy). Suggestions are welcome... er... let me rephrase that; suggestions on the above problem are welcome, other suggestions dealing with sheep, mormon wives or small furry rodents can be sent to my private adress: bend.over@once.mo -Derfel P.S Whatever happened with Pengs's Pnemonia? The suspense has been killing me. D.S ------------------ The only problem for a cobra attacking small furry animals is that occasionally one of them will turn out to be a mongoose...

Hmmmm... How about a CM cigarette case...? I'm thinking along the lines of Lord Wellington in "Blackadder 3" (brit comedy for those not in the know): "... My men had a whip round to give you this cigarette case... that is to say, I had them whipped until they bought the case. It's my personal coat of arms: Two crossed dead frenchmen on a background of dead frenchmen..." But here it might be two crossed hamsters on a background of Chinchilla pelts...? -Derfel ------------------ The only problem for a cobra attacking small furry animals is that occasionally one of them will turn out to be a mongoose...

Thanks for sharing guys, it doesn't seem there's much to do then except hope that a future patch or release will have some sort of "Stay!" command. kb9sog; I thought the experience level might have had something to do with it as well, but I switched from regulars to Veteran without improvement. Oh, and Ironcross: Nope, but I did spot General Melchett and Capt. Darling standing below the hill (on the british side) and looking pleased... -Derfel ------------------ The only problem for a cobra attacking small furry animals is that occasionally one of them will turn out to be a mongoose...

...uh... yessir, Lord General Sir... uh... I mean nosir... In fact the little bleeders are attacking AWAY from a VL flag, the flag being positioned just behind their position. (The idea being to encurage the AI when playing the jerries to try to take the hill). Thanks for yr input though, any other ideas are welcome, this thing has me stymied. -Derfel ------------------ The only problem for a cobra attacking small furry animals is that occasionally one of them will turn out to be a mongoose...

OK, this is the problem: I'm currently designing a sort of "pseudo" Sealion scenario in which German units (mainly Fallschirmjäger but a few armored units too) are attacking a british-held coastline. I've dug in a lot of Brit infantry in various positions, among others on a hill almost down by the waterfront. It's an excellent position if a little exposed. The units in this particular position are two veteran squads with a "Crack" leader. They also have a Vickers MG and an AT-gun. Now, during playtesting the infantry (and once even the MG) leave their foxholes had start charging down the hill towards the attacking germans, with predictable results... What is this? "Charge of the light Brigade Complex"? Any tip on how to keep those guys in their positions would be greatly appreciated. -Derfel ------------------ The only problem for a cobra attacking small furry animals is that occasjonally one of them will turn out to be a mongoose...

Oops, double post. -Derfel [This message has been edited by Derfel (edited 09-03-2000).]

Great thread, Whilst playing Kwazy's excellent "All or Nothing Scenario"... SPOLIER WARNING*********** * * * * * * * * * * * * ... which is a huge scenario involving a lot of micromanaged movement for Infantry and Armour alike... I had to sneak a FO over a hill to call down smoke between my advancing units and the german AT-units. Well, I selected a likely looking unit (155 mm I believe) and started sneaking up the hill, dodging enemy arty and mines with great skill (yeah, right...). Finally I get the unit in position, exactly the right LOS and so forth... so I try to order the fire mission only to discover the the "#¤%¤# unit is actually the last surving member of an infantry squad that had appearently retreated partway up the same hill my FO was climbing and somewhere I'd gotten the two mixed up... Before I could get the real FO into position the Computer had spotted my collection of mechanised troops and armor waiting for the smoke to charge...and called down the mother of all arty strikes on them... I didn't even wait for the end screen, I just turned off the damn thing and went to bed with a book on gardening... -Derfel ------------------ The only problem for a cobra attacking small furry animals is that occasionally one of them will turn out to be a mongoose... [This message has been edited by Derfel (edited 09-03-2000).]

Few things are as amusing as good old-fashioned go at the pig latin... or should that be hamster latin... Thank u gentlebeings, u have all made my day... or as Col. Klotz told me when I challenged him to a QB: FABRICATE DIEM, PVNK! - Derfel ------------------ The only problem for a cobra attacking small furry animals is that occasionally one of them will turn out to be a mongoose... [This message has been edited by Derfel (edited 08-22-2000).]

Lots of US types here... Just to balance the scales: '82 -10 months with the Swedish Artillery (we all served in those days.) '84 Swedish UN- force in Cyprus '86-'88 Swedish Engineer Coy Lebanon '90 Swedish Eng Coy again Miss the UN-service a lot, especially drinking with the Irish and Canadian troops and then fighting with the brits. If any 40 Commando types read this - I hope you still hurt! I do, especially in inclement weather.

Jeff, I haven't had time to dl your specs, but I have had considerable experience with Excel (and know people who are absolute MS Excel-bastards) so if you like I can have a look during the weekend and maybe give you a few pointers? -Derfel

Gothenburg, Sweden. Swedish WWII activities: -In addition to charging the germans outrageous trainfare we also sold them a lot of iron ore at twice the going rate... let the world remember that... or preferbly not... (Some misguided Swedish souls also went and actually fought in Finland... barbaric...) -Derfel ------------------ The only problem for a cobra attacking small furry animals is that occasionally one of them will turn out to be a mongoose... [This message has been edited by Derfel (edited 08-08-2000).] [This message has been edited by Derfel (edited 08-08-2000).]

A most hearty "Aye!" 'twould please me greatly to see a OOB-function (aka a roster) in CM. -Derfel

"There is something wrong: when I try to start up those scenarios, my computer locks up and I have to kill the program with ctl-alt-delete." That's weird, Henri. I just did a quick check, downloaded and ran the scenarios for a bit (not in 1280 x 1024 though) and they ran just fine. Of course the Col didn't construct those scenarios so he'll have to refer back to the designer. I'm meeting him (the Col) in a few hours and we'll check it all out a bit more. -Derfel ------------------ The only problem for a cobra attacking small furry animals is that occasionally one of them will turn out to be a mongoose... [This message has been edited by Derfel (edited 07-22-2000).]

Couldn't resist putting my oar in... Kwaz, "All..." is IMHO a frigging great scenario, I sweated, swore and wrestled the damn thing over a period of ten days (not continously Everytime I thought I had a grip on the krauts some new horror showed up and turned that part of the field into a sort of miniature Jonestown (total death and destruction)... I have rarely felt greater satisfaction in any wargame than when I finally led my battered survivors into the town and railway station... (on turn 68...) I'm not dissing those who found it too much to handle or too frustrating, tastes do differ and mine happened to coincide with your scenario. One thing only really annoyed me; tanks that bogged down on the railway bank! Now, really... (not your doing of course, but a minor correction might be needed in a future patch.) Anyway, I'd just thought I'd balance the scale a little. -Derfel ------------------ The only problem for a cobra attacking small furry animals is that occasionally one of them will turn out to be a mongoose... [This message has been edited by Derfel (edited 07-20-2000).]

Couldn't resist putting in my oar in... A lot of solutions to this particular problems have been suggested here and I'm not the man to say which are practicable, instead I'd like to add the following to ANY of the above mentioned solutions: Wouldn't it be neat if the "Threat Assement Solution" (my generic name for the solution to the problem, TAS for short) could be linked to the tank crew's experience. i.e The better quality crew the more precise the threat assesment would be. This would mean that an expert crew would rarely (if ever) waste time and ammo on escaping enemy crews whereas a green crew would be likely to fire at anything that moved. I don't know much about tankers, but this sort of behaviour is certainly common among ground-pounders. Comments, anyone? -Derfel

Sniper; As acting ADC to the Col (or possibly "the Klotz") I can tell you that the scenario is being playtested by the severest and most meticulous of testers... i.e me. If the Col doesn't get one of his "It's all crap I'll start over" attacks the scenario should be on the site tomorrow (july 20) or thereabouts. -Derfel

Hiya, Clotz! Just checked out the additions to your CM site. Great stuff, the new maps looks even more interesting than the previous ones. The "Design Notes" section will be very helpful to all former SL and ASL aficionados out there when trying to convert their favorite scenarios. As for the "scenery" section of the site... you really shouldn't be smoking that when you're at the computer... Stay with it, -Derfel ------------------ The only problem for a cobra attacking small furry animals is that occasjonally one of them will turn out to be a mongoose...

I got a bit inspired by Bullethead and have decided to do a mythical scenario... it's inspired by an episode of "Xena -The warrior princess" and it's called "Battle of of the bulges"... (Lame, I know...) No, really I have been drinking long and deep...er... THINKING long and deep about a Opertation Seelöwe (Sealion) scenario and are researching the original op plans for that bit of german fantasy... the only problem is that you're more likely to find more serious analysis in "Xena" then in those plans.. They all assume that the British fleet and most of the RAF are elsewere occupied... OTOH if the germans actually had gotten ashore... I'll post a note when the scenarios are done. -Derfel

Nice work,Klotz! It looks good... but I cant get the %&¤# download to work! From one of the other posts I gather this might be a general trouble (well, we all have trouble with generals...). Maybe you should think about changing your webhotel? As for the legal issues I very much wonder if this really is an infringement of copyrights. The maps are not exact copies nor are they distributed as an SL or ASL product... in any case I can't see Avalon Hill (or whoever owns the copyrights) getting their underwear in a knot over this. Keep up the good work! -Derfel ------------------ The only problem for a cobra attacking small furry animals is that occasjonally one of them will turn out to be a mongoose... [This message has been edited by Derfel (edited 07-08-2000).]