Kanonier Reichmann

Lemme guess what the two indigenous ones are.... GOTT IN HIMMEL! & SHWEINHUNDT! If you're to believe the old war comics written in English, of course. Regards KR

I don't suppose Werner von Braun is still alive is he? Perhaps we could use some of his expertise in this exercise! Regards KR

Having little to no knowledge on the subject of the pro's & con's of fully automatic weapons, what are the alleged advantages of a bullpup style design compared with a more 'traditional' type design of a fully automatic weapon? One thing I noticed on that link to the Russian site was how advanced (for its day) the British EM-2 assault rifle was and clearly how much it influenced the Steyr design. Seemed like a great opportunity lost by the British army when they decided not to proceed with its acceptance as the standard weapon to arm their forces considering they ended up with the often derided SA80 design with all the problems associated with that weapon. Regards KR

Whatever floats ya boat! Regards KR

If the city in question was Fallujah then he/she may be entirely correct! Regards KR

I assume you meant aluminium and not that stuff the Yanks refer to! Regards KR

For some reason I'm reminded of the Robin Williams film- The World According to Garp. Regards Jim R.

Apparently MacArthur had a very low opinion of Australians as fighting troops. Based on what I have no idea. It appears the fact that the Aussies were the first to defeat the Japanese in a land battle (at Milne Bay) and were able to halt their advance along the Kokoda Track with 2nd rate conscripts who many assumed would melt under fire like chocolate in the sun (hence 'Chocko's'), counted for little in his eyes. Regards Jim R.

Yes, I see your point. I think the intent of the question is clear however. @BFC Thanks for getting involved in the discussion. I may not have expressed myself very clearly previously but what I was driving at is that I'm hoping the base engine will be sufficiently developed with at least the foundations of a good quickbattle system to allow later modules to expand upon it and make it very schmick in the end. BTW, I hope you're not including me in the category of intransigent naysayers who rail at BFC at every opportunity because I certainly do not do that. I have always understood the rationale behind the new module concept and have absolutely no problems with it ---provided--- the base game has the flexibility I outlined above. Now that WEGO is very much back in favour then I'm pretty much a happy camper, subject to my previous concern. Regards Jim R.

I previously wrote this in my second post: Is there any chance it could be confirmed that my fears are unfounded? Regards Jim R.

All good points certainly. I did acknowledge that the analogy is harsh and I'm fully in agreement why the future of the Combat Mission series has changed to a module basis to ensure BFC's survival from a cash flow perspective. I'm concerned however that there still needs to be sufficient depth within each module to keep ones interest in continuing to play the game although it is taken as a given that there won't be the breadth as existed with the CMx1 series. In my opinion this is crucial to the future success of CMx2 and if there is a significantly crippled ability to auto generate battles or select forces that make sense in a Quickbattle situation then this could be a serious problem for the longevity of the new generation of Combat Mission games. Fingers crossed that I'll be proven wrong about this! Regards Jim R.

I read this piece by a very talented poster at another site devoted to wargames and felt it was so clever that it needed to see the light of day at other sites. It is somewhat controversial but I personally feel there are some useful insights within it. One day, a small group of filmmakers sets off to make a movie. They have a small budget and are using relatively cheap equipment. Yet the filmmakers have a certain undeniable natural talent. The film they make (lets say it's a documentary about butterflies, just for the sake of argument), while clearly low-budget (think Blair Witch Project) is nevertheless a work of film making genius (stop thinking Blair Witch Project). The project is clearly a labor of love, and the filmmakers have painstaking captured the life-cycles of monarchs, yellow swallow-tails, green veined whites, and xerces blues in breath taking detail never before seen. It is a triumph of film making at levels the Lepidopteran world has never before dreamed of, much less seen. Butterfly fans the world over rejoice. Finally, someone has made a movie that captures their interests! The rush out and see it over and over, and gush wildly about it. Sure, the production values are a bit toward the bottom of the barrel, but they hardly notice, transfixed as they are by the never before seen close up images of butterflies in action. Finally, someone has done justice to their passion. The butterfly community (assuming there is one) the world over sings the praises of the film makers. "These guys are geniuses," they shout to anyone who will listen. The film creates such a stir among butterfly aficionados that other (normal) people start to take notice. The film is given several awards. Critics love the film and wonder aloud why more such quality films aren't being made. The film is hailed as a ground breaking example of what a movie should be. People are happy. Meanwhile, the film makers start talking amongst themselves. "Dang, we're geniuses. Isn't that what everyone is saying?" they think, managing to not entirely notice the fact that 90% of the people saying it are butterfly people. "Here we are, a few guys with not much of a budget and crude equipment, doing the final editing on our daughter's Speak 'n' Spell, and still we manage to make a film everyone says is one of the best in years. We rock. We're making better movies than these big studios with $100 million dollar budgets and such." Then they notice something - while their film was widely hailed as an amazing piece of film making, they didn't make a whole lot of money off it, being that most of the people who paid to see it were butterfly enthusiasts (which may not, technically, exist). "We make a great film, but don't make hardly a cent on it - that doesn't seem right," the film makers muse. "What we need to do is make a film that appeals to a broader market. But we need to stick to what we know. Let's make a mass-market butterfly film - then we can really cash in on our skillz. Think of how much we can make if a wider audience came to see our movie." There are high-fives all around. The butterfly community is excited - finally, their passion is getting the treatment it deserves. "I can't wait to see what these guys do next," they think. "The best butterfly movie makers ever are going to go for round 2. It'll be just like the first one, only better and cooler and super neato and I JUST CAN'T WAIT!!!" they say to each other while skipping around and clapping their hands and twirling their butterfly nets in such joy and anticipation that they almost hop right out of their plaid pants. Meanwhile, the rest of the world (the normal part) looks on with mild interest. "These guys made a good movie, even if it was about butterflies. Maybe their second one will be cool enough to go see, especially if they drop some of the geekier butterfly commentary and make it a little more accessible". After months of anticipation and wrangling with the Speak 'n' Spell, the film makers are finally ready to release their new movie. It is with pride and anticipation that they unveil their second masterpiece: Hairy Caterpillar and the Chrysalis of Fire. The initial reaction is a bit mixed. "That sounds...um...different," people say. "Trust us," the film makers respond. "It's a great movie - go see it". So people go see it. And are not happy. The butterfly people can't believe they wasted their money on it. "That was nothing like your first movie," they say. "Your first movie was a marvel of detailed film work, exposing the hidden world of the butterfly. This one was some strange fantasy/action movie that featured a magic spell slinging butterfly fighting some sort of other-worldly red syntax challenged beast and his pet bonobo. It was nothing like the first one at all, except for the incidental (and somewhat odd) inclusion of a butterfly as a main character." The film makers are incredulous. "Well," they say "clearly you butterfly wonks know nothing about the world of film making. To make big money you can't make documentaries, you have to make action flicks. But it's still a butterfly movie, which we know you like. So you must like this one. Anyway, we're not making any more butterfly documentaries, just butterfly action flicks. So start liking this one, or you won't get any sort of butterfly movies at all. Besides, we know films, and this is a good one. If you keep watching it, you'll eventually realize that this is the kind of movie you really like, and forget all about that documentary, which really wasn't that good anyway." "But this movie was stupid," the butterfly people respond. "Don't you remember how you said we were geniuses?" the film makers ask. "We know movies better than you. We're telling you this one is better. If you claim you like the first one better, you must be lying, because we, as the geniuses, say the second one is better. Who are you going to believe? A genius or a stupid butterfly collector?" Meanwhile, some normal (non-butterfly) people go see the movie. "That was pretty dumb," is the consensus. "It was basically a low-budget action movie. All the special effects were pretty lame. And it looks like they did the final editing on my sister's Speak 'n' Spell or something. If I want to see an action flick, I want it to look good - you just can't pull that off on the budget they're operating with. And what's with the butterfly as a main character? That was just weird." "You just don't get it," the film makers protest. "We are geniuses. You want to see realistic car crashes and explosions? It just can't be done. All this film making is hard stuff, what with all the cameras and wires and temperamental Speak 'n' Spells and such. Sure the end product might look a bit sloppier than you're used to, but you got to admit, we're genius film makers. And look, this movie has a butterfly in it." "We don't care if you're geniuses or not," the normal people reply. "We just like cool special effects in our action movies, and you don't have that. We don't really care about butterflies. And if we do want to see a butterfly movie, Dreamworks is coming out with a butterfly war movie (Full Metalmark Jacket) with a $200 million dollar budget that I'm sure will be a lot more to our tastes." And so both crowds walk away dissatisfied, the butterfly people longing for a return to serious butterfly movies, the normal people uninterested in low budget films when there are plenty of big-budget options around them. Meanwhile the film makers begin planning to shoot their next hit, Hairy Caterpillar and the Order of the Lepidoptera. "People are really going to go for this one," they think to themselves, "after all, we are geniuses". As I said, a wee bit controversial but I personally feel that no-one or no entity is above criticism and there is perhaps a grain of truth within it. Regards Jim R.

Perhaps he was deliberately trying to keep a low profile in case a 3rd one was dropped! Regards Jim R.

It's a classic case of someone thinking they're too important for the normal rules of law to apply to them. How wrong he was! Can't say I'm exactly heartbroken over the issue. Regards Jim R.

It appears the Piranha brothers couldn't have done it any better. Both fair men... cruel but fair! To sfhand: It appears you broke the unwritten law. Response: Yeah, I done that! To sfhand: What was it that you did? Response: I dunno! It's unwritten! Regards Jim R.

I can just see the Hollywood movie producers clamoring over this one. "SNAKES ON A PLANK!" Regards Jim R.

Madness! In this day and age where there are literally millions of people starving around the world we have governments subsidising farmers NOT to grow anything. It's your classic Catch 22 example. You have to love Joseph Heller's turn of phrase. "He advocated thrift and hard work and disapproved of loose women who turned him down." Superb! Regards Jim R.

I have been a member at the Band of Brothers website for at least the past 7 years. Although the community is shrinking that's not exactly unexpected when you consider the game system has been around for almost 10 years! Rest assured there are many tournaments underway there at the moment (at least 5 that I can think of off the top of my head) and when you say it's a closed community, it's really not that hard to become a member since all you have to do to qualify is complete a battle against an existing member and you're basically in! The only proviso on membership is that you show respect to your fellow BoB gamer and not SPAM up threads. It's a site totally dedicated to the Combat Mission series of games with discussions on all other games confined to one section of the bulletin board. If you're a Combat Mission afficianado then it's the place to be IMHO. Regards Jim R.

Was it a Bob Semple? Regards Jim R.

The Ukraine is STRONG! Slams fist into the Risk board. Regards Jim R.

Russian funded militants perhaps? Regards Jim R.

That's news to me. I've been involved in the finance industry for the past 20 years or so here in Oz and I don't believe that's the case. The mortgagee (the bank) could always recoup any shortfall from the mortgagor (the owner) should there be one when selling the property as mortagagee in possesion due to a loan default. That's the way it's been for yonks. From what I gather, the American home loan system reverses the situation (from our standpoint) with the bank being the actual legal owner of the property (mortgagor) and the loan recipients and occupiers, the mortgagees. I guess that's why it's easier for the borrowers and home occupiers to simply walk off the property and wash their hands of the matter. The reality here of course, is that banks only go down the mortgagee in possesion path as a last resort if literally every other possibility has first been exhausted as they generally try to avoid the bad press they inevitably receive for it and let's face it, their general standing in the community at the moment and the past few years has not been exactly stellar. Regards Jim R.

The quote from the article linked to by Silvio Manuel from the scientist who apparently inspired Al Gore should probably be expanded a tad to include a pretty important bit of additional information. The expanded quote reads thus: Doing the maths I make it that "10 or 20 years" from 1988 is about, ummm....now! So one would assume that there is far more evidence either for or against the theory over the period this guy suggested we wait for. Regards Jim R.

This is what Tanklord wrote approx. 3 months ago in a previous thread: This statement turned out to be quite prophetic don't you think? Regards Jim R.

Looks like an oversized Lada Niva. Gawd help us if it has the same engine and reliability history! Regards Jim R.