mccooper

Been playing for a few years and I prefer it to paintball. Great fun with the proper people due to the honour system. I have far too much money sunk into it including a complete WWII 101st airborne, Cdn infantry uniform and most of a modern German kit, half a dozen guns and bunch of other accessories. I just wish the price of guns in Canada wasn't double the US price tag.

I was hooked on CMBO before its release but even though I'm a huge fan its been a few years since I've played. I'm really looking forward to this latest WWII installment.

Hello While the answer has already been taken care of there are some excellent discussions on the topic of Wittmann's demise on Missing Lynx for anyone who is interested. Here are just 2 examples http://www.network54.com/Hide/Forum/thread?forumid=47207&messageid=961111650 http://www.network54.com/Hide/Forum/thread?forumid=47207&messageid=1004973972

Hello I thought I would share this http://www.minicombat.com/ Mini Combat is a flash based game set up to promote re-release of CMBO with the extras CD. Its a simple little game with only infantry, armoured cars and tanks. Just a little quick fun. Later

Hello CMBB features available for the western front ... there are so many maps I would love to make using the new features! Doo Dads alone would make a great addition.... and then there are the trenchs. I could even re-create Ortona. Great! Now you've go me dreaming about CMBB and an upgraded CMBO.

Hello "I'll try and dig it out and scan the pictures from it, if you like." Brain if you have any additional RM photos I would love to see them and I'm sure a number of other member of DG would as well. Originally posted by Michael Dorosh: Nice info on the tank paint colour - however, the uniforms are the wrong colour in the first pic, - or were Centaurs crewed by Royal Marines? Tank crews wore black berets, while marines and commandos wore green... I have yet to come across any rock solid refs on this issue. I don't agree with the colors that the modeler of the first Centaur used but in general its hard to say what is correct for RM soldiers. CS being sort of an ad-hoc unit of sorts (put together for the landings then disbanded) chances are they would not have a standardized uniform. Instead a mixture of RM and tanker gear. To make matters worse the RMs played so many roles during the war that I'm not even certain if there was an overall uniform for the force. On the topic of RMs wearing green berets while that is true today it was only introduced late in WWII. At that time many RMs didn't care for the color as it was considered sissy (green being associated with women) and many wore other items including the RM Blue berets. Later

Hello Well most of the RMCS information has already been taken care of but there are a couple of more points - there were 3 squadrons that went shore on D-day supporting on Gold, Juno and Sword - the "oddball brown paintjob" is actually Khaki Drab which was the official british color for armour until 42-43 when they switched over to Olive Drab. The Centaur being an older tank used for training was never repainted although there one pic of a tank that looks to be OD. - they were crewed by RM except for the driver who was on loan from the RTR - although there is no solid evidence the Centaur are reported to have been handed over to the Cdns as support arty - one final thing .... I wish there were lots of pics of these vehicles! Unfortunately only a handful have ever been published. Later

Hello The best place on the web for the information your looking for is David Byrden's Tiger I page at http://tiger1e.com/ Between this site and the various scale drawings available on the market you should find the info you need. As for large scale models there have been a number of modelers who have done the same thing. There is one guy who built a Stug III in the same scale your thinking of. If I remember correctly the model was so big that the guy had to build a garage. I have forgotten where I've seen the pic but if you post on Missing Links (http://www.missing-lynx.com/) or Track Links (www.track-link.net - this one is down until the end of sept) I'm sure some one will have the link. Later

Hello The references quoted for Firefly types are old and full of errors. There were only 3 types of firefly in service - IC based on the M4, IC Hybrid on the M4A1/M4 hull (this is commonly mis-identified as a IIC due to the A1 front hull) and the VC based on the M4A4 hull. When someone comes up with photographic proof I will believe otherwise but so far all of the supposed IIC photos have been debunked. Now if you come up with some new photos I'd love to see them as debating photos is great fun. Oh the Cdn army also produced a prototype Firefly based on the Cdn grizzly hull. This is closest thing in existence to a IIC. Later

Hello I did a quick search but came up empty on the topic of OP tanks. So given that CM2 is going to place a greater emphasis on the chain of command for armour will OP tanks (main gun removed and extra radio gear) be available? Thanks

Hello Besides manning landing craft during D-Day the RMs also went ashore with 95mm Centaurs (and some command Shermans) to offer fire support. Originally they were only suppose to support the landings but they actually fought their way inland before being withdrawn and returned to England. RM tanks can easily IDed because they painted degree marking on their turrets. Later

Oh and I almost forgot being able to put KOed and abandoned vehicles on the map during the scenario creation would also add a little more flavour to the missions. Later

Hello Well most of my the requests for CM2 have already been asked and some even been answered (ie the replacement of the ambush command and tank platoons) but I don't think I've seen these requests. Although if they have already been requested forgive me as reading all the posts in a time consuming process and I may have missed them. Anyway New terrain tiles ->diagonal bridges - placing your roads just to work with the bridges is a time consuming and annoying process. Especially when trying to recreate a historic map (ie right now I'm working on St Lambert-sur-Dives where Currie won his VC.) ->suspension bridges - for a little extra flavour ->the ability to mess up a map little during the creation phase. Right now you can put rubble and burning trees/building but what about shell craters. It would open up a lot of new options. Very simple if you go with 5x5 tiles weather ->fog density based on percentage vs a couple of pre defined choices. equipment ->indirect fire for units on the map. Not necessarily tanks but for example when 25 pdrs are placed on the map they can only fire with LOS which greatly reduces their effectiveness. ->able to dig in tanks but you have the option of being able to back out. Sure tanks were turned into bunkers but troops would also create hull down positions and drive away once their position was known. scenario creation ->improved controls when configuring ammo load outs. Instead of just having intervals of 1 maybe you could include max and empty buttons. CM1 You've mentioned that it will be too much work to patch CM1 with the changes/improvements made for CM2 but what about importing the TO&E into CM2. I will buy and play CM2 but I prefer the Western front and I would really like to use some of the improvements being included in CM2 ... especially the new ambush command. Thanks

Hello M10 = Wolverine M18 = Hellcat M36 = Jackson These were the unofficial names attached to these tanks. The British in particular were very fond of naming US tanks especially with the names of US generals ie M4 Sherman and M3 Grant/Lee. Later

Hello The Javascript on the site is little more then an annoyance. Simply grab the links from the page source and disable Javascript. I find Netscape 4.7 (I haven't tried 6) works great for getting around sites coded like this. Here are the links http://home.t-online.de/home/Pz_Rgt_GD/munster.htm http://home.t-online.de/home/loewe66/munster2.htm Later [This message has been edited by mccooper (edited 03-22-2001).]

Hello I have a little info as well as some photos on my hard dirve at home that I can email you if you wish. As for the Neubaufahrzeug (new construction vehicle) it was an experimental tank thought up and produced during a time when tanks were still seen as infantry support weapons. Overall, it was part of the land battleship class of tanks along with the Russian T28 & T35, British Independent, etc. If I remember correctly 5 prototypes were built and IDed as Panzer V's (heavy tank) by the German propaganda machine - which gave the allies some concern. 3 vehicles were shipped to Norway in 1940 to take part in the invasion (i forget the unit but again the info is at home). One was disabled and eventually destroyed by German engineers. The overall fate of the remaining tanks is somewhat unclear but they were either destroyed or scrapped. Later

Hello I think part of problem with the debate of the phantom IIC (aka up gunned M4A1) as promoted by web sites like "http://british-forces.com/fkac/vehicles/tanks/Firefly.html" is that there were two types of 76mm (approx size) guns in use. The US 76mm and the British 17 lber. The British and American armies did their best to up gun their tanks in order to cope with the heavier German armour appearing on the battle field. In British army this policy resulted in a number of new tanks/versions seeing service such as the Firefly (VC, IC, IC Hybrid), Archer, Challenger. Britain went with the 17 lber since the gun was already in service with British forces and available. It ensured that the already stressed supply system didn't get another complication and the gun also packed a little more punch then its US counter part. Shermans up gunned with a 17 lber were given the additional designation of "C". Thus the American M4A4 which was classified as a Sherman V by the British became the VC. So there were in 2 types of 76mm guns in service during the war. Now if you want to apply the British classification system to all Shermans - regardless of who made/operated the vehicles and the type of 76mm gun mounted then yes you can argue that there is a IC, IIC, IIIC .... etc. But if you follow the facts/rules there is no IIC or for that matter a IIIC. As for books/printed text - be careful what you read. I can not claim to be an expert on Shermans and I certainly don't have the honour to be recognized published author like George Forty. But Mr. Forty is only human and he has made mistakes. Overall, I would love to see someone produce solid evidence of a Firefly IIC (not counting the Canadian Grizzly in Borden). Besides leading to new reference material for my library it might even result in a new model kit .... you can never have too many Shermans . Until that time the Firefly IIC will remain a phantom of the imagination.

Hello I picked up Pz Cmder as soon as it became available and I thought it was a blast. I'd sit back and laugh as 75mm Sherman's bounced shells off of my Tiger I and I'd just about **** myself when I was commanding a Sherman and a Tiger came into play. Sure there are no infantry (not counting the various bunkers) and the game has a few problems but when it came out there weren't many choices unless you count iPanzer 44 and that the worst of this trio. The game also takes into account armour thickness, angles, gun etc etc. As for Pz Elite - sure it has better and more features such as infantry running around the place (lots of funs to chase em down and squish em but it was also released a yr after Pz Cmder and that makes a huge difference. The game also has its problems - my biggest gripe being that its sluggish on a PII 300 with double stats of the recommended system (a 266 with 64 MB). Like Pz Cmder I got the game when it came out but I shelved it after a couple of weeks and it will stay there until I upgrade my system in the new year. In the end both are just games and cannot be treated as accurate be-all-end-all sims. If you just want to tear around the battle field and vape enemy tanks Pz Cmder is a great buy - even more so now thats its discount title. Later PS as for sticking your head out the hatch if you not careful you'll lose it.

Hello A MG mounting was very common for Kubels on all fronts. However, it wasn't a standard mounting (hey the Jerries built 10s of thousands of these things) but if required easily added in the field. The German's even toyed with the idea of a lightly armoured version complete with turret. As for pics there are plenty available - the Schiffer series on the Kubel/Schwimwagen has a few. Later

Here is a link to a short video clip of Nebelwerfer (Moaning Minnies) being fired. http://normandy.eb.com/normandy/media/onormay517v1.html Later

It took awhile but here is a pic of a Ram Badger. This pic was taken from a Canadian War Museum Fact Sheet on the Ram. Later [This message has been edited by mccooper (edited 10-31-2000).]

What luck - being able to drop by the IWM and Bovington. One of these days I'll make the pilgrimage. If your looking for research material via Bovington check out their Plan Packs. These are little research packages that have been assembled and offered to the public for a variety of prices ranging from 50 pence to 6 pounds depending on the amount of material included. At the very least you'll get a brief history and some stowage diagrams. As for all of these photos you guys have been taking you should put together a image gallery for easy reference. Just a thought. Later

Here are a couple of more links with information on the Kangaroo The Sherman Register http://web.inter.NL.net/users/spoelstra/g104/apc.htm 1st Canadian Armoured Carrier Regiment http://www.1cacr.org/ Later

Montreal

Hello Try this web site on the 1st Cdn Armoured Carrier Reg - http://www.1cacr.org/ Its an excellent site devoted to the Kangaroo (currently the Ram version). As a side note where did you get that color plate PawBroon?