Von Fauster

Good beer (being an Oregonian, I prefer the microbrewed stuff myself) and CM compliment each other very well. But you know it's time to stop when you try to right-click your beer and order it to move to your mouth.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Teamski: But again, who will never forget the part that armored played in the relief of Bastogne........... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> That's a good example I'd forgotten to take into account- and also raises the issue of air superiority. It's possible to argue that the massed tank battles of the Eastern front simply could not be allowed to happen (by the Germans anyway) on the Western front because of the marked late-war air superiority of the Allies. That much armor, out in the open, in daylight, on a clear day would be inviting disaster.

Couple of things all sort of related (and I'll tie it into CM at the end). I'm pretty familiar with WWII, but got to thinking about this and realized I maybe don't know as much as I thought: When one thinks of the Blitzkrieg of '39 and the fall of France, one usually thinks of quick armored thrusts and massed tanks (vs the French, for example, who spread their armor out piecemeal). Likewise, with Barbarossa, one naturally thinks of rolling hordes of T-34's and the massive battle at Kursk. Even in Africa, it was the armor at battles such as Tobruk, Kasserine, and El Alamein which one tends to remember. Yet (and here's the question) when I think of the Allied breakout and push into Germany (that is to say, Beyond Overlord)I tend to think in terms of Infantry- not armor. Why is that? Did armor play a smaller role later in the war? Was it a function of Allied tactical doctrine or a consequence of the physical structure of the battlefield? Were there no great armored battles on the Western Front in 1944-45? Or am I, in a word, wrong? The reason I ask is that even when doing a Quick Battle, I like to make the set-up at least reasonably accurate and find myself going with about 80% Infantry and approx 5% general support and 5% armor. Yet I've often heard that while the Germans had a measure of qualitative superiority, the Allies had a large quantitative advantage. When? Where? And how do you folks model that? Your insights and opinions would be appreciated. Good Hunting!

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Formerly Babra: The M113 (and presumably the Bradley) used aluminium to make them airmobile. Hate the damn things. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Although I respect your opinion, as a former infantryman (11 Bulletstopper)and track driver (M113s), I must disagree. Riding into battle is much more pleasant than marching there: It's easier on the feet. That's what IFVs are for: to help the infantry keep up with the armor, they are not- in and of themselves- armor. Unfortunately, a lot of commanders forget this and invent classic "Movement to Contact" missions wherein the "Contact" may consist of heavy enemy armor. Dismount fast! Admittidly, I am suffering from a bit of nostalgia- but I miss my track. It was named "Prudence". My only complaint was how slow the bugger was. Downhill with a tailwind I almost hit 30mph, but quickly pulled back on the lats for fear of tossing a track. Good Hunting!

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Madmatt: Well, I guess I better get off my duff and release MDMP-2 then!!! Madmatt <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> PleasePleasePlease! ___ Hey, out of curiosity (and a little vanity), when does one get promoted from "Junior Member" to "Member"? Do I have to buy a hamster first?

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Los: I can only say that this has happened plenty of times in real life. A few examples of night driving confusion... ...At NTC we've extracted mounted teams by driving 40-50km along OPFOR roads even mixing in with OPFOR vehicles but at night even with NODs it's hard to make out who's who. Los<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I'll vouch for that. I was mech infantry and we did a stint at NTC. I remember one night I was serving essentially as a listening post (or cannon foder- can't remember the actual tactics my CO was trying to employ) and had my M113 tucked nice and tight down in a wadi. Around 2 in the morning a platoon of OPFOR walked darn near RIGHT OVER my track. We're talking no more than 20 -30 yards away- and they never saw me. Couldn't believe it. In hindsight, I should have opened up on them with the .50 (there would have been lots of people changing their shorts. The flame barking out of a .50 at night is something to see) but frankly, I was just too weirded out to fire! Strange things happen. That's a fact.

Scenario's mostly for now. Just working my way around those, and mostly those designed by Wild Bill. Elsdorf was a blast. Gotta love all the options this game offers.

Konigstiger! (Tiger II). I haven't actually played with one yet, only against. It earned my respect REAL fast. Great way to practise flanking moves, cuz you ain't gonna kill it from the front. From a more rounded point of view: the Panther. Mobility plus firepower is a good combination.

Gotta toss my hat in on this one. Way to go guys! I really appreciate the level of support you are showing your customers. And what goes around, comes around: when you release your next product, I for one am going to buy it straight-away. No questions asked. Heck, I'll reserve a copy now. It's been a long time since I've felt that comfortable with a software company. Thanks again.

Along the same lines, but in a different direction: I'm wondering what happens when you wax an AI arty spotter. Say he has already called-in his fire mission: does it continue without him? Does it stop cold? If it continues, is accuracy reduced? And along the same lines: Say I'm doing an Area Fire (Indirect fire) with my mortar crew, who can't actually see the target, but is in communication with his HQ who can see. Then the HQ is KO'd. Will this effect my mortar fire? Thanks all. Love the board. Love the game.

Portland, Oregon, USA

Okay, a little odd, but I figured if anyone could answer this, the group on this board could: I recently purchased a model by Revell Germany of a Tiger I H. I also could have purchased an E, but I figured I'd do something a little different. But when I got home, I realized I had little information on the subject. I know the H actually preceeded the E, and had those big airfilters on the back. But other than that, I'm not sure what the difference is, or where they saw service. Anybody?

Duck said: "Does this amount to consumer fraud when a major portion of the game is not included or shipped with the product? Is this grounds for a class action lawsuit?" No. Not to put too fine a point on an obvious answer, but BTS said internet play would be included in a patch, not shipped with the game. It didn't say when that patch would be released, therefore there is no fraud. If you didn't read what you were buying before you bought it, that's your fault, not theirs. But frankly, that's really not the point. If you've played the game, you know an extraordinary amount of time, energy, and care has been put into its creation. There can be no doubt that this game will continue to receive that same degree of devotion. The patch will come. Until then, I'm using the time to practise my tactics. My only complaint so far with BTS is that they did not have a FedEx option to ship thier product! Hopefully this will be fixed before CM2 comes out. This wasn't meant to be a flame, and if it sounded that way I apologize. I guess I'm just saying you should really look at the whole picture. This is a great product, created and supported by people who care. Rest easy.

"Let's hope this has a happy ending. There are too many submarines from all nations on "Eternal Patrol". Zamo" Amen. I'll keep a candle in my heart lit until this is resolved, one way or the other. If kind, sincere wishes could raise men from the deep, those boys would be home now. Hold on fellas.

Holy Smokes! Great database! All the more impressive, because the time spent making that could have been time spent playing CM. Now that's a sacrifice! Now, let's see if I can print this at work: "Well, you see boss. I'm testing the capabilities of our printer in terms of handling the ability to accurately print complex spreadsheets. You want complex spreadsheets-- right?"

My wife says I confuse my "wants" with my "needs". Hogwash: It's about WWII; It's about Combat Mission- therefore, it's a NEED: I'm looking for a website or something that has period maps or diagrams of WWII battlefields, to help in the creation of accurate scenarios for CM. Specifically, I want to design a campaign based on the battle in the Hurtgen Forest (September 1944 - February 1945), but although I've found text descriptions of the battlefield, I've never actually seen a map of the thing, which makes accurate placement of roads and rivers difficult. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks all.

Joe, Good post. I can relate. Last night I was finishing up a scenario (I won't name it, but possible ******SPOILER***** below, so go easy if you haven't played some of the smaller scenarios included with the game)wherein I had a Pershing tank I was very fond of. It had held the line against no less than three Tigers. Towards the end I had captured all the victory locations and figured I was really just mopping up, when a new German tank was spotted. Forgetting that troops can misidentify the enemy, and feeling a little cocky anyway, I threw my brave tanker up and figured he'd carry the day again. Turned out the kraut was a Tiger II in hull-down. I got my clock CLEANED. When my heroic Pershing went zippo, I hesitated. I always save before pressing "GO" (an old habit from games that didn't work... haven't had a problem with CM), and immediately thought "Screw it. I'll just cheat on this one." But, alas, I didn't. A commander has to accept responsibility for his actions, and those of his men under him. I lost my tank. It was my fault. And I actually felt bummed. It's just a game, but damn, I liked that crew. Good Hunting!

Interesting question. When I describe the game to friends, I simply tell them that if they like strategy games, or wargames, or spending lots of time getting sucked into a game they can't put down ("Okay, just one more turn. Well, alright, just one more"), then Combat Mission is for them. Another way is what I did on Friday: I took the demo to a party where I knew atleast 3 or 4 people would be really interested and just showed them the game on my buddies computer. They were hooked after the first 2 turns. Like the man said, Quality sells itself.

"I always wondered is how many of this CM fraternity dabble with military modelling?" Member of IPMS. My only real hobby next to beer drinking (and now playing CM). Focus on 1/48 and 1/72 WWII aircraft, and 1/72 WWII armor.

Good job L4Pilot. I think that's a great idea. For myself, I'm still bewildered by the fact that I haven't seen any billboards for CM on my rides to and from work. I sit on the bus, listening to other people's inane conversations, and wonder why they aren't talking about Combat Mission. What they heck else IS there to talk about? Say, what's with the monicker. Really flew L4's? Cool! I just finished a model of one. Check out http://www.hevanet.com/efost/pictures.htm Salute!

Welcome Tobe, You wrote"...is there a quick way to find certain units? I always seem to have a hard time finding like say my spotter amongst all the other infantry." One thing I like to do sometimes is to remove all the trees and increase the unit size. This helps me to see everyone and make sure I haven't missed anybody eagerly awaiting my orders (although, to BTS' credit, they are right: you don't have to micromanage your men- which is a nice change of pace!). Then, before pressing "GO", I set everything back to normal to watch the battle.

Fionn, Thank-you for the insightful history of the Minefield family. Now, if I meet one, I won't go to pieces wondering how to properly address them.

Having done both, I personally would rather change a wheel or tire than a track in the field any day of the week. Additionally, I remember seeing HummV's go places I NEVER would have taken my M113 (steep, rocky slopes always made me nervous. Toss a track on one of those and you're in for a real bad day and probably a late night too). Just my 2 cents. Back in the day: 4th Infantry Division (Mech)

Thanks Kingfish. That helps a little I think. As it relates to my question, does that mean that CM differentiates between "crews" and "troops"? Moon says "All crews are eligible for "re-entry" as long as they are not killed before the battle ends." So as I understand it, crews can re-enter, but troops which say turn tail and run off the map, or are ordered off the map, may not re-enter. Yes?

S! I may be missing something here, but on page 94 of our bible...er...game manual, it says "Be aware that a vehicle can only be repaired if its crew escapes from the battle map...so don't keep tank crews around to fight like infantry". But on page 102 it says "Use discretion when moving troops off the map during an operation, as they will not be available to you for future battles." Isn't this contradictory? Thanks in advance for the answer to this question. Good Hunting!