Daveman

I agree it's a good review, but comparing PBEM to watching paint dry is a bit much. I mean, it's a turn-based game... having a "live" opponent isn't that more exciting than playing PBEM. Granted, the we-go system is perfect for TCP/IP, but imagine playing someone who's very methodical, or has more to do on their turn than yours (a big issue on attack/defend games). You'll be sitting there, presumably looking at some "Waiting for other player" screen after hitting the Go button... beyond the convenience of not sending emails back and forth I don't think the excitement factor is going to be all that much better. ------------------ “Thus, the M4A3E8(76)W designation meant a tank with an official Mortality of 4 minutes, Actually 3 minutes, cost Extra, and had a 76% chance of going WHOOSH." - Bullethead [This message has been edited by Daveman (edited 10-13-2000).]

Well, The Onion isn't for everyone. Especially in these politically correct times, their brand of satire rubs a lot of people the wrong way. 90% of what they put out has me on the floor, including this one. Thanks for the link, I'd read this article awhile back but had forgotten about it! ------------------ “Thus, the M4A3E8(76)W designation meant a tank with an official Mortality of 4 minutes, Actually 3 minutes, cost Extra, and had a 76% chance of going WHOOSH." - Bullethead

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by busboy: Thanx for the replies all. Thanx for the mortar news. How do I tell the command squad to spot? Is there a "target wide" order for them perhaps? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> You don't have to do anything with the CO. Just have the mortar fire on an area that the CO can see. Since the CO must be close enough to be "in command" it's assumed he's passing along spotting info. As I noted above, the targeting line will still appear as if the mortar can't see the target area, but will display "Area Fire" instead of "Sight Blocked". Just try it out... if you have the mortar fire somewhere it or the CO can't see the target order will cancel out. ------------------ “Thus, the M4A3E8(76)W designation meant a tank with an official Mortality of 4 minutes, Actually 3 minutes, cost Extra, and had a 76% chance of going WHOOSH." - Bullethead

Rumbling sound from ridge Enemy Tiger in sight! Use Tungsten? NEVER! ------------------ “Thus, the M4A3E8(76)W designation meant a tank with an official Mortality of 4 minutes, Actually 3 minutes, cost Extra, and had a 76% chance of going WHOOSH." - Bullethead

In Citizen Soldiers there's an account of a battle for a hill (Hurtgen forest somewhere I believe) that was fought to a standstill until a Ranger unit was called in. As Steve noted above it wasn't their cup of tea, so to speak, but they were used. Perhaps Elite Airborne units could be used to model Rangers? ------------------ “Thus, the M4A3E8(76)W designation meant a tank with an official Mortality of 4 minutes, Actually 3 minutes, cost Extra, and had a 76% chance of going WHOOSH." - Bullethead

Can't help you on the mods... the few I've downloaded run OK, but I've got a PC, not a Mac. Yes, any CO (platoon, company, battalion) can serve as a spotter for an on-board mortar team. Note that this doesn't include vehicles with mortars. The mortar must be close enough to the CO to be "in command". You can then fire the mortar at anything the CO can see. The targeting line will still show red, but will remain if the CO has LOS. For planes, the shadow is all you'll ever see... ooh, that sounds spooky ------------------ “Thus, the M4A3E8(76)W designation meant a tank with an official Mortality of 4 minutes, Actually 3 minutes, cost Extra, and had a 76% chance of going WHOOSH." - Bullethead

The "myname-yourname XX" convention was pushed upon me by my first few opponents, and I've since carried on the tradition and forced anyone I play to use the same. Isn't that how we all do it? ------------------ “Thus, the M4A3E8(76)W designation meant a tank with an official Mortality of 4 minutes, Actually 3 minutes, cost Extra, and had a 76% chance of going WHOOSH." - Bullethead

OK, I admit it... the only time I've moved prisoners around is when I first played with a flamethrower. I hadn't seen one in action you see, and well... um... never mind. ------------------ “Fortune favors the brave" - Terence

I bought my Voodoo3 3000 AGP soon after it was released (replaced my Voodoo Graphics card) and have had no problems with it. It's not the latest and greatest, but for <$100 bucks gives you a lot of bang for your buck. CM plays great at 1024x768 on my P2-300 w/ 64mb RAM. Most other games play great at that resolution too, but I usually drop down to 800x600 and eliminate any choppiness. Just a small point, but you can get decent 17" monitors for <$200 these days... 19" for a little more. Considering you look at the monitor most, if not all the time you're at your computer, I'd consider upgrading there first... if you've got the money. ------------------ “Fortune favors the brave" - Terence

Four important points I've picked up on: 1. Concentrate artillery fire! A single battery of off-board artillery or mortars can do a good job of suppressing an area, and inflicting some casualties... but throw in some on-board mortar fire, HE from tanks, etc. at the same time and you'll get much better results. 2. Sort of tied to #1... don't count on artillery inflicting casualties on its own. It does a much better job of suppressing or softening up the enemy than actually killing them. 3. Make sure you have a way to get out of any position you plan on taking... no matter how good a position it is you've got to consider possibly having to retreat. 4. Buildings (especially heavy ones) provide excellent cover from small-arms fire, but if there's any direct-fire HE in the game, you're not safe in any building! ------------------ “Fortune favors the brave" - Terence

I like the Daimler too, but I wish it had HE for the main gun. ------------------ “Fortune favors the brave" - Terence

A topic only stays at the "top" or first page if it's been posted to recently. If there's a topic with useful information that shouldn't be "buried" at the bottom of a page, or several pages down, some might post a reply that simply "bumps" it to the top of the forum. Some forums get pretty testy about this practice, but I guess it's acceptable here. ------------------ “Fortune favors the brave" - Terence

Here's an interesting website on WWII AT weapons... it's title says Panzerfausts, but it covers just about everything. http://www.geocities.com/Augusta/8172/panzerfaust.htm ------------------ “Fortune favors the brave" - Terence

It's not quite as easy to use as what you're suggesting, but the LOS tool is very handy. At setup I always check where my units can see to make sure critical areas are covered, and to get an idea of where my opponent might be able to see. Beyond that, it sounds like you're talking about what's been refered to as "relative spotting". This has come up in a lot of threads... it won't be done for CM, but possibly later editions. ------------------ “Fortune favors the brave" - Terence

It's really slow but heavy weapons like MGs can crawl. ------------------ “Fortune favors the brave" - Terence

Welcome to the game! I received a confirmation email, but I paid online w/ a credit card. The next day I had what I thought was a problem with the credit card (not related to this order) and was concerned the credit card would be declined. I emailed them about it and got a response a few days later. Things were pretty busy for them at the time I think... their stock had recently ran out. It is a very small outfit, I'd give them a few days. ------------------ “Fortune favors the brave" - Terence

Snake Eyes - Bazooka/PIAT/Panzerschrek kills are relatively easy... I think we're talking more about infantry squads close-assaulting tanks with or without Panzerfausts/Rifle Grenades, etc. ------------------ “Fortune favors the brave" - Terence

I just had a very frustrating battle where I tried to take out a Tiger with veteran British Airborne troops. I had one platoon hidden (I believe my opponent didn't know about them) and about 80m from where a Tiger had found a good firing position. I put down smoke around the Tiger and had all 3 squads rush it under cover. As it happens, the Tiger backed up and actually drew closer to my men... I figured it'd be Gammon-bombed out of existence. The smoke obscured visibility a little, but at one point all 3 squads were from 6-25m away and "firing" at the tank, but never used their bombs. The tank kept moving, but wasn't moving too fast. It eventually moved away, but later in the game found itself in a similar position... surrounded by infantry. My Gammon bombs were all gone (from casualties) but I saw several close-assaults being made. None worked until the Tiger had stopped at one point, then it was knocked out. I almost missed it though, as there was no penetration report... just that familiar knock-out sound and I then noticed the barrel went down. Needless to say I was upset... for two turns my first platoon had several chances to take it out. There were no other targets visible to them, and all were in command (+2 combat too). ------------------ “Fortune favors the brave" - Terence

Well, I've lived in the DE/NJ/PA area all my life (currently living in southern NJ 30mins from Philly) and would love to blast some damn Pennsylvanians... um, I mean play in a friendly game. Count me in if it's an email tournament! ------------------ “Fortune favors the brave" - Terence

I don't want to hear about it!! In a PBEM game I had an entire platoon... 3 squads of veteran British Airborne sit around and do nothing to a nearby Tiger. How close is nearby you may ask? The furthest squad was 25m away, while the closest was, at one point 5m!!! The only target in sight was the Tiger, but did any of them use their Gammon bombs... nooooo!!! For 2 whole turns they had plenty of opportunities to pop that tank... I don't think I've ever been so pissed off at a bunch of virtual men before! ------------------ “Fortune favors the brave" - Terence

It's typical for a lot of forums to have "ranks" for forum participants. I think once you've submitted 30 or so times you're a "member" for whatever that means. ------------------ “Fortune favors the brave" - Terence

Oh dear... Jeff, read the top article on page 4. I think BTS answers your question pretty well ------------------ “Fortune favors the brave" - Terence

The mods are purely optional cosmetic changes to the game... making terrain, infantry, and vehicles appear different. You don't need any of them, but many are pretty cool. The hi-res terrain mods might cause some slow down if you've got an older system. Everything else should work fine. ------------------ “Fortune favors the brave" - Terence

1. 1024x768 2. Yes 3. No, 56k ------------------ “Fortune favors the brave" - Terence

Oooh... my 2 1/2 years of Russian in college is about to pay off As noted above, CCCP is simply USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) in Cyrillic. The "C" is the Cyrillic letter for the "S" sound, while "P" is Cyrillic for "R". The Russian word for Union starts with an "S", hence the triple "C"s. (Early on, I was so focused on learning the alphabet I got a little confused when switching back to english... I wrote a brief paper for another class and all my "R"s came out "P"s... my professor thought I had lost it) It's been awhile, but phonetically it goes something like: Sah-yuz Sah-vyet-ski Sohts-i-a-lits-i-ski Res-poob-lik. Hope this helps! ------------------ “Fortune favors the brave" - Terence [This message has been edited by Daveman (edited 10-02-2000).]