Holdit

Mmmmm count me in. In the meantime, Breakaway Games Waterloo looks promising. I can help you with a 3D view of the Grand Redoubt at Borodino, because I've started a CM operation map based on that battle, which I'll be posting on my site (coming soon!). I can't help with the French soldiers though, sorry. Waterloo is done and is available somewhere, but I'll put that up on my site too, when it's ready. I'm satisfying my Napoleonic obsession at he moment by adapting a set of tabletop rules to use with the Battleground series in editor mode. Yes, I am quite mad...

You experience with scenario design seems to match mine exactly. Yes, I'd be pleased to host any maps you care to send on - thanks. GonzoAttacker: I'll also be taking 'requests' from anyone who wants a map tailor-made, so if anyone has a pet battle they want covered, I'll give it a go provided I can find/be provided with enough raw material to work with. My next map is to be Ligny/Quatre Bras (I might be able to scale it down a bit to get them both on the one map) followed by Borodino and maybe Austerlitz. I've also been thinking about a miniature Stalingrad, or perhaps MonteCassino. I'm thinking of these maps not merely as bases for scenarios but also as a possible visual aid for anyone reading an account of a particular battle, so even if a map wouldn't be all that playable for CM, I would still give it a shot, if that makes sense. I think that the CM map engine is too powerful a tool to use for CM alone. Regards, [This message has been edited by Holdit (edited 02-16-2001).]

It'll all be worth it in the end. Just think how you'll feel when you've trimmed the last bit of hedge into position and you can drool over your handiwork (been there). In the meantime, enjoy the view. I for one will be looking out for your announcement of the project's completion.

I'm working on a site that will host some of my home-made maps for download and I'd like to check: 1. Do many scenario designers actually use pre-made maps? 2. If so, what kind of terrain/feature/sizes would people most like to see? 3. I had great fun doing the Waterloo map, so I'll probably be having a go at some other famous battlefields too. Are there any that people would like to see? Any feedback gratefully appreciated.

I forgot to ask; does anyone ever use 'off-the-shelf' maps when designing scenarios or playing? I've done a few nice ones.

I'm in the middle of creating a site to host my own maps and screenshots, but I'd be glad to host scenarios if anyone wants to send them. While on the subject, what do you look for in a good CM-related site? What do you now want to see?

Sorry if someone has asked this already, but couldn't someone host the site outside of the US?

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by MantaRay: But the ultimate wargame in history is Chess. I have been playing that as long as I can remember. Still the only game that I will play till i die. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I'll go along with that.

Board: Russian Front Computer: NATO Commander(C64) PC: Steel Panthers

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Maximus: Actually the war movies and documentaries that I actually shake my head about in disgust are ones prior to the Spanish American War, ie, American Civil War, America's Revolutionary War, Napoleonic Era, where men would line up across from one another and fire volleys of musket fire at one another. I ask myself, "Why don't they just duck as the enemy line starts to take aim?" I know I just wouldn't stand there. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> The reason they just lined up in the Napoleonic Wars was that muskets were so inaccurate that using them en masse gave the best results. Standing up meant the process of loading was much faster. If you'd ducked you probably would have been bayonetted on the spot by your NCO. I think it was Frederick the Great who said that a soldier must fear his own officers more than he feared the enemy. Of course you might have been a skirmisher in a light infantry unit, where men were more spread out and good use of cover was encouraged.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by CavScout: Besides, the Allies were superior in something as they won the war.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Numbers.

"All Quiet on the Western Front" - Erich Maria Remarque "Catch-22" - Joseph Heller "Piece of Cake" - Derek Robinson "Battle Cry" - Leon Uris "The Willing Flesh" (aka "Cross of Iron") - Willi Heinrich* (Read this to appreciate what an arse Sam Peckinpah made of the movie) "The Savage Mountain" (aka "Crack of Doom") - Willi Heinrich In the non-land warfare category... "Holocaust" - Gerald Green "The Boat" - Lothar Gunther Buchheim "The Cruel Sea" - Nicholas Monserrat "HMS Ulysses" - Alistair MacLean (A bit far-fetched in places but a real page-turner).

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by David Aitken: The unit bases spring to mind... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Tracers too, I think.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Big Time Software: We have said for a long time now that we will actively attempt to allow CM1's setting to take advantage of CM2's enhancements, but we will also not hobble CM2 for this to happen. The most important thing is to advance the game system, so nothing is going to stand in the way of that goal. Meaning that our good intentions of backwards compatibility might run into stiff opposition from reality Way too soon to say at this point. Steve <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I'm delighted to read this. Just one thought, instead of applying aspects of the CM2 engine/gameplay to CM1, how about providing the ability to import the CM1 OB into CM2?

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Jagdcarcajou: Hey, Just to throw in here, since no one else seems to be looking at this angle, I believe Germany was defeated by Adolf Hitler. Takes a German to beat a German! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I think that's a very serious point, and I've always been surprised that it isn't mentioned more often. Adolf did the Allies no end of favours.

i don't know about the technical stuff, but I've noticed that when you hear an incoming artillery shell, you can tell where it's going to land by rotating until the sound is equally loud from both speakers. I was really impressed when I noticed that.

The Operational Art of War - A Century of Warfare. When I can track it down; none of the shops has it in stock at the moment. And the Waterloo game, when it comes out.

A film failing to live up to the book only really matters if you've read the book. Then it really spoils it. It's only natural that if you've read the book, you expect the film to follow it more or less faithfully. Naive I know, but there you are. That's one reason why Cross of Iron wouldn't make my top five war movies, maybe not even the top ten. I think Peckinpah made a complete arse of it, to be honest, albeit a good-looking one . Catch-22 is another example. Off-topic, does anyone know why nobody ever made a film out of James Webb's Fields of Fire?

1. Full length movie (of course!) 2. New vehicle speed: faster than hunt but slower than fast. 3. Greater variety of building types. 4. Random reinforcement arrival points. 5. Trenches 6. 3D rubble 7. The ability to import CMBO units into CM2 so we can get all the new features on the Western Front.(I know, wishful thinking)

Well said.

Bumpity-bump! Anyone else? For the record, this is a suggestion for the sake of eliciting opinions, rather than immediate action (before anyone jumps down my throat ).

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Chupacabra: Mmm, okay, then answer me two questions - 1) Is this feature currently available in the scenario editor, yes or no? 2) Will this feature take longer to code than it would take someone to use the scenario editor, yes or no? If there's a bug up my ass, it's because there are a constant stream of "I WANT THIS NOW" posts on this board, and it's a bit ridiculous.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Only Steve and Charles can answer question 2 for sure, but having done some basic programming, I know that the difference between whether or not a certain option is greyed out at any point in time can be as little as one line of code. So it's possible that it might be a big job and not worth the effort, or it's possible that it might indeed take less time than it would to make a scenario. Why not get it from the horse's mouth before commencing jumping down throats? If you look at the first post in this thread, it begins with the words "I'd like...". There's a big difference between that and demanding immediate action, or is it frowned upon to even express a preference now? Maybe Henri wasn't so off the wall with his "inquisition".

I think there's a case to be made for an additional order for vehicles, and I'll make it as best I can. At present, we have Move, Hunt, and Fast, in ascending order. There is a big gap, however, between Hunt and Fast (I tested it by setting up three parallel roads and having three tanks race each other just to see how it looked), and it would be handy to be able to move a tank at a reasonable travelling speed yet retain some spotting ability. To be honest, though, the problem isn't so much with tanks, as with halftracks and other vehicles that don't have the Hunt option. For them it's either Dukes of Hazzard or Driving Miss Daisy, either full ahead and damn the torpedoes or nice view, shame about the progress. This is why I think a "Travel" order might come in handy, so a vehicle can actually get somewhere, but isn't totally blind to danger. Now if such a Travel command was also standardised by nationality (for example) it could make moving groups of vehicles (either in column or other formation) a much smoother process, especially when combined with a "Follow" command. It would also give recon vehicles another option; especially jeeps. It's not that surprising that people rush them around at top speed when the other option is walking pace. Is this something anyone else would like to see?

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by CavScout: What really is annoying is his running off to the newsgroup and saying anyone who didn't agree with his is part of some Combat Mission jihad.. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> It's an inquisition, apparently... Bloody spelling mistakes [This message has been edited by Holdit (edited 10-16-2000).]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Chupacabra: Oh, do the Iron Eagle movies count as war movies? Because those are right up there. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Is that the one where the F-16s are armed with a special version of air-ground rocket that by amazing coincidence doubles as an all-aspect heat seeking missile? Edited due to typing with thumbs only. [This message has been edited by Holdit (edited 10-16-2000).]