The Commissar

To add on to ElGuapo's post, I would also have to say that the rules you choose to use, if any, make a big difference. Some players prefer to play without rules. Then they load up on units that are very good in theory (yet were lacking or under-modeled in real life) and wreck havoc with them. They are gamers, and they use the game's best assets. These are the sort of people who can spoil your best laid plans by a barrage of 200mm arty, relying on mostly luck to determine whether those shells had any sort of effect or hit your scouts. The good players of this category not only know how to use their gamey forces, they are almost always very lucky. This makes them very dangerous in their own territory. Other players prefer to have restrictions. I place myself in this category, usually. I don't like people having a KT, JagdT, and two Pumas as their armor, coupled with Fallschrimajager infantry and 155 VT artillerly. I prefer to have my games go in a controlled manner, and reduce the effects of luck as much as possible. So depending on how you choose to play the game, the factors contributing to victory are certaintly very different. It is a fact that luck plays a enormous role in all battles, even the "realistic" ones. Ive seen arty bombardments that completely and utterly missed their targets. Ive seen tanks foul up a crucial shot at a range when it would seem impossible to miss. Ive seen infantry who rush across an open clearing while being seemingly targeted by everything else on the map, and others who panick at a single shot. It's a lot of number crunching and statistics involved, but with a great deal of luck thrown in. Personally, from my experience, the "Luck Factor" goes to determine a game's results from as low as 25% of to more then 80% So there you go, some more wood for the fire.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Grisha: Well, to be honest, I have very little interest in the West Front, and though I've enjoyed playing CMBO, it just doesn't have the appeal that the Soviet-German War has for me.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I think I would second that, outside this game, I enjoy studying about the Eastern front of operations much more then the Western. However, this game really sparked an interest. I still know more about the Eastern as opposed to the Western front, but it hasn't been as disenchanting as I might have believed. Best thing is, I can feel morally free no matter which side Im playing on. Ive got no favorites based on history, in the Western front, so I play both sides equally. Even though I try to stay open minded, I don't think Ill be able to do the same for CMBB. Probably just play the Germans a few times to sample kool uber-weapons like the Sturmtiger.

WTF? Somehow posted to a different thread. Disregard. [ 09-25-2001: Message edited by: The Commissar ]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Scipio: We all remember the Y2K panic! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> AAAAAHHH! CMBB won't model blades of grass swaying in the wind!! Is this the end for BTS?!?!?!?!? <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Scipio: All powerplants will go down, <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Marge: "Homer, isn't it time for you to go to work?" Homer: "Mmmmmm...Barbarossa..." *drool* <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Scipio: food and gas is not longer available, <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Ladies and gentlemen, the scene here at a New York City Waldbaums is similar to the carnage at super markets and groceries world wide. Just minutes ago, a horde of what can only be described as "deranged middle aged lunatics" rampaged through the store, hurling themselves at items of food and consuming it without even taking off the wrappers first, all the while screaming barbaric cries. Most of the words seemed to be somehow in relation to something called Barba-tossa to Burlin... <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Scipio: the intercontinental rockets will start on their own, <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> "France was accidently wiped off the map today due to a nucelear launch resulting from a hethero unidentified individual falling asleep on the "Launch" button. Sources say that the individual in question attributed his fatigue to a 63 hour long, none stop wargaming session." <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Scipio: the deads will rise <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Earlier today, a man seemed to have sleep-walked into a 4 lane highway and got hit by a Honda, tossed under the wheels of an 18 wheeler, rammed by a Chevy pickup and tossed into the path of an ongoing circuis parade. Despite his grievious looking injuries, the man was heard saying "Must...play...CMBB" while clawing his way from under the massive feet of an African elephant. [ 09-25-2001: Message edited by: The Commissar ]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Mattias: Different tastes aside I never stop being just a little, well, surprised when reading these reoccurring "don't forget the west" posts. The reason for this, of course, being that there is no period or front in the history of human conflict that is as well represented in board and computer games as the western front 1944 to 1945. Personally I'm hard pressed to find one single theatre in WWII that I would not gladly pay up for, should BTS choose to go there. No matter if it was "limited" to, say, Dutch colonial forces fighting against the Japanese in the East Indies or the Norwegians facing the Germans in 1940. Coming to think of it, it wouldn't even have to be WWII.. Any conflict with organized opponents would do M.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Very true. Despite the rumor that the majority of wargamers and students of WW2 history prefer the Eastern Front of WW2 for its immense wealth of operations, the ferocity of the two oppponents, and the gigantic diversity of terrain, men, and vehicles, the Western Front seems to see a lot more games and "media coverage". I would attribute this to the way most of such games and movies are for the genral, happless public who barely even knows there was an Eastern Front.

This fell off rather quick. BUMP!

OK, I don't think Ive seen this mentioned before, although it might have been in one of those monstrous CM2 suggestion threads. Here goes: This isn't a crucial part of the game, but it adds much to the enjoyability of TCP/IP matches. The current ability to chat is pathetic, to say the least. The ammount of words you can type is small, the messeges dissapear fairly quickly, when a conversation is going on it clutters the screen, and worst of all, you can't view past conversations in the same game. Once again, this isn't crucial, but it kind of makes the TCP/IP function, which is working wonderfully BTW (besides the god awful captured crew bug), look cheap and un-proffesional. If you (BTS) has the time, I would like to suggest something like a window you can open and close where all your messeges in game are stored. That way, you can minimize and maximize it at will, look back on previous conversation (no more "I had to go to the John, what did you say?"), and generally make chatting much easier and more enjoyable. [ 09-24-2001: Message edited by: The Commissar ]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Fenno: The question was about masses concentrated in a small area, not about superiority. The nest iteresting quudstion in suchc coditons is the role of artillery, This might beoyond the scope of thiis game. Not just finns but also pacific front. Very hard to modell.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Arty hard to model? Hmm, not from what Ive seen. Arty is the biggest danger to me when I play QB against talented opponents. If you mass your men up, and your foe sees this, you can bet your money that a hulluva lot of arty will reduce what might have been a company to whimpering sissies covered in the guts of what was once their comrades in arms. Try it. Put a battalion on a small map, then take a few salvos of heavy arty to them. Works just like in real life I would imagine.

Hmm, I didn't mean to ask about relative spotting because I remember BTS saying they would not include it, but it turns out that that's really what it sounds like. What I meant to talk about was the higher level of FOW that BTS mentioned in their previews of CMBB. I wasn't sure what it would feature, and sort of hoped that units could be lost from visual contact if they venture away from the main body or bodies of friendly troops. So as to stop gamey scouting tactics. Does this qualify as relative spotting?

Good points, Scipio. I agree with you. Some of your ideas are also pretty good. I'd like to see this implemented in a future CM, or perhaps even CM:BtB if it isn't too late to make major changes to that game. Since I don't have anything more to say, Ill just wait until the nay sayers come along.

I just want to make sure about something, and ask BTS if this will be adressed: I think anyone here who hasn't seen a suicidal jeep scout has either had the game for less then a month or is playing very realism oriented opponents. You all know how it goes: send super fast, light jeep to scout out all questionable positions knowing fully well that it will not survive the experience. I had this happen a few times, and I must comment. One game, I killed the jeep scout after it rolled over a hill I was hiding my armor behind. I killed it within 4 seconds. Now, my opponent of course knew fully well what killed it and where I was because the jeep must of had a telepathical link to Battalion HQ. Surely no one could possibly spot something, turn the radio, tune the frewquency, and report what they saw in detail in under 4 seconds. Same for hidden AT guns. I just love the opponents who send quick AFV's to trigger off my AT guns. Some scout car or the like speeds by the edge of a forest. The AT gun firs, usually misses, and starts turning while the car speeds off and the gun's position is known. I say that if the AFV was killed by a hidden gun on the first shot, and was not seen by friendly forces, the position of the gun should not even be known. Not even if it is a gun at all! Hell, I'll argue that the position of the scout should not even be known if it not seen! The guy isn't sitting on the radio, blabbing coordinates away every second. Sure, you would have a rough idea (represented by a generic marker perhaps), but not anything exact. The only time you will see the scout again is when you see the burning wreckage and guess at what might happen. Like in real life. This way, a player cannot say that "OK, I lost my Scout car after I went past the treeline over there. Thus, there's a good chance I should stay the hell away from it or even bombard any suspicious looking spots." OK, so is this anything like what we will see? Appreciate any responces you guys choose to make despite your super busy schedule. Cheers! EDIT: Just added some stuff I left out before. [ 09-22-2001: Message edited by: The Commissar ]

Ditto to everything everyone else said. Not only is the game great, but you get the game shipped to you nice and quick (for most people in the US this is the case), filled up to bursting with wargaming goodness. Best damn game I've ever played. Unlimited replayability thanks to level editor and many multiplayer options. Don't worry, I used a credit card and BTS didn't steal my money to buy themselves monkey butlers and quality cuban cigars.

Yeah, Im pretty curious myself!

Looks great! All the textures are a beauty, skies and trees especially. Those T-34/85's looked like BT's to me. I've never seen a T-34 with such a huga gap between the turret and hull! Also, I hope for our next picture set, BTS can show us some of the new building models. Maybe some city fighting - if they are up to that part yet. ParaBellum, Strange, the pic works fine for me. Die, evil fascists, die!

Strange that I haven't even heard of this one. I have seen almost all the Russian movies in existence! I'd be quite interested for this one, yes, thanks for bringing it to light.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by KwazyDog: Hehe, nooooooo... Guys, Matt could have very well hit the sack for the night, just so you know. We will get them up ASAP, but that might not be until the morning Dan<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Commissar's Tommorow Morning To do List: 1) Brush teeth. 2) Drink coffee. 3) Terrify neighbourhood while dancing naked in the street yelling "NEW CM2 SCREENSHOTS ARE HERE!! WOOOT WOOOT!!!" 4) Waking up to the realization that KwazyDawg was joking. 5) Desperately searching for the handgun ammunition.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Germanboy: I can not comment on the Soviet-Union and Australia.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I don't know about the Aussies, but the Soviets sure did try out some weird-ass crap. Anyone remember the name of that thing which was based on a KV design, and was like 60 feet long? It combined a Katyusha and 3 Gun turrets of various calibres (I think). I believe 3 or 4 were made, all of them being destroyed in horrific accidents. There's a pic of it somewhere on the forum.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by ciks: I imagine coming to the Forum the day after release of CMBB and first page is full of "There is something wrong with this thingy" or "Why my uber-sloped-T34 just blowed up?" or "Where is the Ambush command?" or "My SS Plumber squad never came out of the sewers" I think at that time i'll take some days off work, just not to miss anything. [ 09-18-2001: Message edited by: ciks ]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Actually, I think the only people who will be doing that are the newbies and the uninformed, who are used to games without the element of chance involved. In most RTS game, for example, a certain unit will ALWAYS kill a certain other unit in equal conditions. In CM (and CMBB) lady luck often throws a monkey wrench into your perfectly running mechanism and screws up your plans really, really bad. Us grognards (ok, Im kidding myself on that one) are used to this sort of occurance. Most of us here know what to expect and will only be all the more delighted at an unexpected twist of events.

Just looked in the amazon.com archives and the only "The Bunker" movie I can find is the one about Hitler's final days. Where is the movie you mentioned available? Video stores like Blockbuster perhaps? It sound rather interesting. EDIT: Cheap wine + Boredom = Bad spelling [ 09-17-2001: Message edited by: The Commissar ]

I'll have to agree with those calling for more knowledge of the defender's positions in an attack game. I was trying to think of some reason this was not done, but can't think of any. Maybe it was purely game balance, or BTS simply didn't think it could be made to work well? At the moment, many people say it is too hard to defend. This is mostly because the game does not model such things as ambushes and proper MG grazing fire. In CMBB, this will all be fixed, so defending will be more realistic and easier to accomplish. Thus, attacking should be more realistic as well. Hey, maybe someone should start a new thread exclusively to discuss this topic? It might not get noticed under the current title. [ 09-17-2001: Message edited by: The Commissar ]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Joe Shaw: Hmmm, yes, this should do nicely, let's set up the chairs here. Got the beer, good. No, shouldn't need the fieldglasses I don't imagine, this should provide a lovely view. What's that? No, no comment here, just waiting for the flamethrowers to show up. You DID bring the marshmallows this time didn't you? And the sticks? Good on you. Joe<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Eh. *dons goggles*

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Michael emrys: Aren't the Finns settling in for their winter-long hibernation just about now? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Come on Michael, you of all people should know the Finns hibernate during the summer! They spend all winter skiing around and hunting down happless Russian hordes.

Sounds cool! Must admit I thought about similar stuff myself, with the only limitation being my total lack of knowledge on the subject of construction of anything more comples then a spice rack! I always dreamed of building and flying a to-scale WW1 fighter. Something about these things seems awfully romantic to me.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by lucero1148: If I remember correctly the average Russian is quite ignorant about the Allied contribution to winning the Great Patriotic War. All best Patrick<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I tried to keep put of this, but I have to respond that this is not so. I have had the benefit of seeing school textbooks from both Russia and the USA. While Russian textbooks do give credit to the US where it is due, including the lend lease, D-Day, and the pre D-Day campaigns. US textbooks devote about a page and a half talking about Russia, and mainly how Hitler invaded it, not the Soviet retaliation in the later years. Of course, Soviet education was always superior to the majority of the Western standards at the public school level, so this was not surprising to me.

If you're looking for more personal accounts, and ones from the Soviet perspective, give serious consideration to the book "Russia's Heroes, 1941-45: An Epic Account of Struggle and Survival on the Eastern Front" I found it pretty original, since for once, you had some Russian oriented battle accounts. Explores many little-known forces, people, etc. Like Cossacks in battle for example.