Chupacabra

IMO, asking a question like "how many Americans are you willing to see die" is like asking someone if they've stopped beating their wife. No answer is going to be satisfactory. Keep in mind that I'm a big soft leftie, but I think that if the US wants to lay claim to the term "superpower," we absolutely do have to be active in maintaining peace in other parts of the world. America's domestic problems are going to remain whether or not we're interventionist or isolationist. Strict isolationism - tend to your own farm, ignore everything else - simply wouldn't work now. Even the US cannot afford to shut itself off economically from the rest of the world. Since politics affect economics, the US will need to remain involved in world politics if for no other reason than pure self-interest. Now, seeing as I agree with Croda's first post (the one before he backtracked ), I sincerely hope that the US will act, not out of pure self-interest, but also in an altruistic manner. Toldja I was a lefty. ------------------ Soy super bien, soy super super bien, soy bien bien super bien bien bien super super.

It's a bad idea to get HTs too close to infantry in any case. Whether they small arms penetrate or not will be the least of your worries when grenades are flying around and blowing everything up. I've never seen an HT get taken out by small arms fire alone, but I suppose it could happen. ------------------ Soy super bien, soy super super bien, soy bien bien super bien bien bien super super.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by CavScout: Oil is key, it is the key to those nations who sell it. What happens to those nations who depend on oil revenue to keep their country going?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> What will happen is what happens whenever a countries' "cash crop" is rendered less valuable - there'll be a recession, and then the economy will shift to either promote a different good, or sell to a different market. My guess is that if the US stopped importing oil and oil-based fuels, oil prices would drop dramatically, which would then allow smaller nations to buy more oil than they had been previously. Eventually the market would reach a new equilibrium. But none of this matters because the US is not going to stop importing oil anytime soon. With the European fuel protests so recent and with the prospect of a fuel shortage in America, no American politician is going to suggest switching to the more expensive alternatives to petrol. It would be political suicide, IMO. I do believe that in the next 10-20 years alternative fuels are going to become much cheaper and much more viable alternatives to petrol, but unfortunately, for the time being, we've got to stick with the nasty smelly polluting stuff. ------------------ Soy super bien, soy super super bien, soy bien bien super bien bien bien super super.

GrapeSoda - remember when I told you how you were going to have to spot my infantry to shoot them with your (Ha ha, now immobilized) Sherman? Dontcha think running them around a bit would have something to do with the "not spotting them" part? Dontcha think maybe, just maybe, it would be a bad idea for me to leave infantry in buildings to which a tank has LOS for more than a few seconds? Dontcha realize that I control the town, that you don't, that your men are running away like sissies, your tank can't move, and your flank attack is too late? Dr. Ahhhfughedabouddit Despite the amazing inability of my infantry to A) shoot, throw grenades, or C) follow orders, this is still too close to call. We're killing a lot of each other's guys. ------------------ Soy super bien, soy super super bien, soy bien bien super bien bien bien super super.

I actually think that's completely in character for Churchill ------------------ Soy super bien, soy super super bien, soy bien bien super bien bien bien super super.

It's funny. My reading has consistently been that the sort of chivalry generally attributed to the air war (pilots rocking their wings at people they just shot down, and so forth) didn't apply to the ground war. I'll see if I can dig up some proof. ------------------ Soy super bien, soy super super bien, soy bien bien super bien bien bien super super.

You're absolutely right. No one should ever be allowed to see Barb Wire. What a freaking horrible movie that was. ------------------ Soy super bien, soy super super bien, soy bien bien super bien bien bien super super.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by wwb_99: One other interesting point, best illustrated by John Keegan, is that tanks did not, in general, fire on dismounted crews. There seemed to be a tacit agreement between both sides, or the tankers recognized that their roles could just as easily have been reversed. WWB<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Hrm, are you sure about that? It's my understanding that tankers would often fire on their opposite numbers. Could you quote the Keegan, please? ------------------ Soy super bien, soy super super bien, soy bien bien super bien bien bien super super.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Croda: Hey Chupa, don't know if you noticed this on our game. When you wasted my M20 scout car, the crew abandoned and ran into the house in which you had the SS inf team that bagged the car. Well, I expected a slaughtered crew, but instead, they put up a fight and took down your inf. Now, I'm not sure what the disposition was of that squad, but I'd like to appologize for using such a gamey tactic as that to kill your men. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Uh, their disposition was lousy. Not in command, half squad, had taken losses, etc... ------------------ Soy super bien, soy super super bien, soy bien bien super bien bien bien super super.

And dishonoring a bet is the kind of lowdown filthy sonabitch thing to do that I just absolutely revel in! ------------------ Soy super bien, soy super super bien, soy bien bien super bien bien bien super super.

FURTHER UPDATE! Dr Achybreakyheart My Daimler has put a few shots right through his Psw, knocking the bugger out! A panel of military historians has declared this action the single most important event of the war! Said Anthony Beevor: "Yeah, I thought that Stalingrad **** was a big deal, but hey, mea culpa, that Psw getting KOd beats that hands down." John Keegan added: "Word, you know, you study this **** all your life, and then you hear about a Daimler scout car blowing the hell out of a Psw armored car, and it's like, dude, I'm freaking out! That is some heavy, heavy stuff there, man." John Erickson: "Yeah, it's just a shame the Krauts didn't surrender when they had the chance." JK: "I know, right? It's like, god only knows where the hell those man-eating tigers came from, or how they got the taste for sweet, sweet German flesh, but man, they sure messed that place up." AB: "Seriously, if I saw a man-eating tiger running around eating my freaking Hauptsturmfuehrer, I'd be like, yo, seeya, wouldn't want to be ya." JK: "Proper." ------------------ Soy super bien, soy super super bien, soy bien bien super bien bien bien super super.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by mfred: Excuse me, I'm looking for "The Book of Rules for Warfare " Oh, there isn't any! That explains war I guess.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Yeah, and guess how often that rationalization gets trotted out whenever someone wants to do something unrealistic. ------------------ Soy super bien, soy super super bien, soy bien bien super bien bien bien super super.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Big Time Software: I can assure you that CM2 will be VERY different. In fact, some of the changes we are proposing take CM in a totally different direction (all positive, I assure you ). Steve<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Argh! Spill it, or MadMatt's gonna wake up with a decapitated Sherman turret in his bed ------------------ Soy super bien, soy super super bien, soy bien bien super bien bien bien super super.

DITDITDIT DITDITDITDITDIT DITDITDIT Updates from the front! Dr Ableeblahblahblo - This would be what the Germans call Ein Schluggenfest. It's dark, it's snowing, lots of things are on fire. We've lost most of our vehicles, so it's mostly down to the groundpounders now. I've got a Daimler trying to track down one of his Psw thingies, but that's sort of a sideshow at this point. This one's touch and go, I think. AbeBegoda - Burn, my pretties, BURN THE HOUSE DOWN!!! He's kinda sorta trying to flank me, and I kinda sorta don't care, 'cuz I don't think it matters at this point. His tanks will die soon, and his infantry is screaming and running a lot. Snoriarty - Er, what can I say. Sometimes you just get lucky and pound the other guy's infantry with rockets, take out all of his tanks with side shots, and nail his recoilless rifles with the first shell. ------------------ Soy super bien, soy super super bien, soy bien bien super bien bien bien super super.

Grinnell - crews which have been forced to abandon their weapon or vehicle are brittle (the "!" symbol denotes this), and have horrible sight ranges. Therefore, they're next to worthless as scouts because A) enemies will see them before the crew sees the enemies and once the enemy starts shooting, often from out of the crew's LOS, the crew's generally going to book out of there because of the brittle state. I find that this generally removes the gameyness in using crews as scouts, as they're dead or broken before they know what hit them. With the new patch to wheeled vehicle sighting while moving fast, I'll have to reassess how well the jeep rush works, but I suspect that with the absolute spotting model, it's always going to be slightly gamey. Just IMO. ------------------ Soy super bien, soy super super bien, soy bien bien super bien bien bien super super.

Just read the Peng thread instead. Face it, all the nominees would just come from there anyway ------------------ Soy super bien, soy super super bien, soy bien bien super bien bien bien super super.

Let's see... 14 issues of Swank, three of Club Confidential, 1240 ounces of malt liquor, one pair of fuzzy dice, 10 cans of spray deodorant, and 2 jars of Prego Chunky Style. ------------------ Soy super bien, soy super super bien, soy bien bien super bien bien bien super super.

Ah, Mullethead. You saunter in here, offer up a sissy taunt that wouldn't even rile my dear, dead grandmaw, and your brilliant comeback amounts to little more that, "Oh yeah? Well...same to you, you....jerk!" Sound off like you got a pair, son. Or at least sound off like you've got one.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Lorak: What did I get?! A damn flock of seagulls! Lorak the loathed <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Boy, what barber do you go to? The Flock of Seagulls look has been out for 15 years... ------------------ Soy super bien, soy super super bien, soy bien bien super bien bien bien super super.

I'd suggest checking what video cards both you and your friend use. The difference between one video card and another will make a big difference in the way CM looks. There is a much greater choice of video cards for PCs than for Macs, currently, AFAIK. I believe Macs ship with ATI Rage Pro cards, which aren't exactly super. The Voodoo line of cards is available for the Mac, but the support is pretty laughable, the last time I heard. ------------------ Soy super bien, soy super super bien, soy bien bien super bien bien bien super super.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Bullethead: On the AAR front..... The spavined squirrel in the cage powering the decrepit Delphi STMP email server has apparently died of old age. Thus, I cannot send the odious Geier the latest movie of the flaying of his troops. The rest of you dingleberries can die of dropsey. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Bah, this was hardly a proper taunt at all! "Oh, wah wah wah, my poor email, and by the way, would you fine gentlemen line up so I can service you one at a time? Cheerio, then." And certainly not down to the low standards of the Cesspool. Grow a freaking spine, man! And while you're at it, rip your intestine out through your nostril, thread it back in through your poopchute, and repeat. No reason, it'd just be funny to look at. And an improvement on your current Mongoloid appearance to boot. ------------------ Soy super bien, soy super super bien, soy bien bien super bien bien bien super super.

To paraphrase someone posting in another "gameyness" thread (I forget who, and I forget which thread ), IMO "gamey" tactics aren't those which are unusual or hard to defend against, merely those which take advantage of the game engine to produce results which would have been impossible IRL. For example, I don't consider your example of moving trucks around to be gamey - the Russians called it maskirova, and so do I. Nor do I, in fact, consider things like usings AT teams as scouts or using crews in battle to be "gamey." In both cases, the results will be pretty much what I assume would happen IRL - unless you are the luckiest sumbitch going, both AT teams used as scouts and crews used in combat will die quick, inglorious deaths, and you will be out valuable assets. Something I do define as "gamey" would be the hackneyed gameyness bugaboo - suicide jeep rushes. If CM had a relative spotting model, I'd say, hell, go ahead, rush your jeep down every damn road in town, they'll die quickly, you won't gain any information, more points for me, less global morale for you. But right now, the SJR gives the player an unrealistic amount of information because of CM's absolute spotting model. IRL, those jeeps would barely have time to die before they were dead. In CM currently, they magically radio the exact position of whatever killed them to every friendly unit on the map. Using jeeps in this manner is, IMO, an abuse of the game engine to produce an unrealistic result. Hence, gamey. And one further note: I have no problems with players who do such things. Gameyness is not cheating. Every CM player forked out their $54 just like me, and everyone should play CM in whatever manner is most enjoyable for them. In my case, CM is most enjoyable for me when I use non-gamey tactics (again, this does not mean tactics which are unusual or innovative), and as such I ask that the people I PBEM against abstain from using gamey tactics themselves, as this lessens my enjoyment. But, again, to each his own ------------------ Soy super bien, soy super super bien, soy bien bien super bien bien bien super super.

Hrm, Battle of Britain does look pretty damn sweet. Thanks for mentioning it, I hadn't heard about it. It's heartening to see that it's by the same guys who did MiG Alley, as far as I'm concerned they're pretty spiffy themselves ------------------ Soy super bien, soy super super bien, soy bien bien super bien bien bien super super.

I was thinking of using Stonewall Jackson's last words as a sig, but I decided that other than sounding nifty and being Official Famous Last Words, they didn't really convey much of anything. Whereas my current sig is weird and baffling, which describes me pretty well. ------------------ Soy super bien, soy super super bien, soy bien bien super bien bien bien super super.

Soldaten - in general, the AI is better on the defense than on the attack, so you may want to try some ops where the Germans are attacking. IIRC the Team DeSobry op is the only op on the CD which features a German attacker, but as JeffRaider said, it's best first played as the Allies. Check the CMHQ and some of the other CM webring sites, there are bound to be some ops with the Germans attacking floating around. ------------------ Soy super bien, soy super super bien, soy bien bien super bien bien bien super super.