The Commissar

Nice overall look, gunnergoz! Am I the ONLY one who doesn't like Magua's buildings? They look way too shiny, and real sloppy from a distance. Personally prefer those hi-res ones done by...uhhh...panzer-somthing his name was. Anyway, good job gunnergoz!

Mattias, Very strange. I recieved e-mail from other people yesterday... OK, just to make sure, this is the e-mail, correct? commissar84128@icqmail.com Secondly, why don't we meet up in the Chat at the T-house. Im there right now. In fact, Ill be there most of this evening. I choose the Germans, originally. Now you have to bid I believe. We really must discuss this in private though, so by Eastern time zone standards (I live in New York City), I'll be in the forums till 1am, at least. Yah, yah, I know, I ought to get a life

Oberst, The bit about the cavalry was a joke. Notice the smiley. Yes, that little round thing which helps indicate humour in what a person is writing. Steve has told me and a few other people in a seperate thread on the subject the very thing you kindly provided here, about 5 months back. Johnson, Look, the way I see it, BTS has a major say in things as well. Maybe Steve is a freak for loud bangs. Maybe Charles wets himself in glee when he thiks of the sweet sweet destruction resulting from an explosion of a 380mm rocket. Sure, a couple of guys here would rather see 29 different T-34 variants, each costing a point more or less here and there, with an extra widget or piece of crap glued on to the side. Most people take the good number of versions that will already be provided and not worry about the minute differences that did not make any difference what so ever. You might say that the ST was in itself such a minute difference when we look at its effect on the war. However, when compared to a widget or an extra backpack to carry cheap vodka on the side of T-34, the ST is cool. Don't like it, don't use it. It probably doesnt even take up much time, what with it being based on a Tiger(?) hull with a customized turret and a large gun. Besides, by the time it took us to reach this point in the thread, KwazyDawg has already finished coding the beast, probably Mattias, This is off topic, but when are you going to reply to my e-mail? The Tourney stars tommorow and if you want to start early, I'm free most of today into the wee hours of the morning. Mail me.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Vanir Ausf B: Something even worse: we've all seen the threads where some guy is steamed because his Priest knocked itself out shooting the corner of the house it was next to when firing... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> LOL, in the case of the ST, it will be the corner of a city block! Oh, and Jeff has a good point. Personally, I'd rather see mounted cossack cavalry...but that's just me

Ive seen a movie somewhere on the net where the ST fired at a large multistoried appartment building or a very large factory of some sort. The whole f#ing thing went down. I mean, the whole goddamn building. The bomb that scumbag McVey set off didn't do half that damage. I don't know about you guys, but Im trying this thing out at least once in city fights. Point it at a city block, let loose, and the whole area goes splat. As someone mentioned, what doesn't get utterly demolished by the massive blast itself, will get shocked, routed, panicked, and broken mighty fast. Then retreat, wait some 8-10 turns, repeat all over again. I think the major trick with using the ST (besides keeping the damn thing alive) will be finding a worthwhile target. The last thing you want to do is to waste a shot that takes 10 minutes ro reload on some depleted conscript platoon. Hey, can you guys imagine what will happen if BTS doesn't fix the self-targeting for vehicles? I can see threads with people screaming bloody murder because their ST decided a panicked crew 600 metres away was a better target then an entrenched company you've been waiting to destroy! :eek:

Stalin's Organ summed it up before I could. "Berserkers" are the ones who go mad with battle rage and attack the enemy without any thoughts of their own safety. Think of it as the exact opposite of a rout, where a man thinks of nothing but his own safety and getting as far away from the enemy as possible. Fanatacism (or the way I understand it) is pure stubborness instead of a berserker like state. I think the fanatic units are the ones who refuse to break and run despite sustaining heavy casualties. While this is indeed a brave, honorable, and insanely dangerous act, it is not going berserk. A "berserker" would, in theory, scream like a maniac, froth at the mouth, and charge through a field of gunfire only to throw himself at the nearest enemy squad with arms flailing. Whether he would live through the charge itself is a whole different matter entirely. The thing is, such an attack is bound to demoralize the enemy greatly (watching an adrenaline-pumped, armed maniac attack your platoon mates like a frenzied animal is bound to unnerve most people) and in generally distract the enemy enough for the other troops to get away or even counterattack. Of course, the limitation Pvt Ryan sited is very true. An entire squad is very unlikely to go berserk. So I think this sort of morale state could ONLY happen when there is two people maximum in a depleted squad. This also serves a useful purpose for limiting berserk troops. Most squads will rout before being depleted to one or two men. I think this could work, if a few details were etched out a bit. BTS? Maybe for the re-write?

I think some people forget just how crude and simple these hand heald AT weapons were. We aren't talking about something modern, which is lazer sighted, has a guided missile, and a very good lenses and aiming recticle to boot. This was basically a tube with maybe a crosshair welded on, if that. Then you have to fire at the tank. Now, in CM, we know if our guys spot the AT team or not. In real life, when youre an AT team, you have NO IDEA if the tank has spotted you, until the turret or MG turns your way and starts blasting you to pieces. So the nervousness is always there. You never know if that first shot will be your last one, ever. I think the current odds are reasonable, if albeit often times annoying.

vonkluge, on the subject of flak towers: Not too long ago a conversation on this very topic was brought up. Although I, personally, have no real knowledge of this topic, the general opinion was something like "there were too few of them", "they were used mostly for anti-aircraft fire", and "the guns in the flak towers (something like 128mm flak I believe) couldn't depress to fire at infantry anyway". Hope this helps. Now, as for my OWN QUESTION (highlighted to catch Steve's attention ) As I asked before, are there any plans for a "Berserker" morale state? In the heat of combat, you dont know what one man might do when compared to the next. We've all probably heard stories/myths/accounts of a soldier or two turning the scales of battle by an act of sacrificial heroism. Basically, this'll serve to randomize things a bit. Throw an edge into action. Make your troops seem more life like instead of just sprites with only one reaction to intense fire. If it is deemed too unbalancing, berserk mode should be somewhat rarer when compared to the other morale modes like rout and panick. So, BTS, any word on this?

Im sorry Bertram, but since I have lived both in the former SU and the USA, I could make my statements about them. I haven't had the pleasure of living in Europe as of yet, so I can only make assumptions. Of course, assumptions are rarely correct, so if I was blatantly wrong here, thx for the correction.

Pretty cool stuff, man Have to say though, honestly, I liked the last one better. Xcept the part with the sh*t chuckers and the frontal nudity! Braw, dat was ill!

UniversalWolf, Certaintly not as much as they do here. Everything there is severely downgraded, money wise, so even people who are extremely bright get only a fraction of what they should be. One must also note that the whole dependance on lawyers seen in the USA for example is not mimicked in the former SU and Russia. People there just don't sue each other quite as much as they do in Western countries. So lawyers arent exactly in the highest of demand there, although it is of course a recognized proffesion.

I vote for Duke Picks! Couldn't win with my own selection, so maybe the Dukester can cook up something destructive as opposed to destructible. Oh, and BTW, I wanna hear from Mlapanzer and Sock Monkey! How's the fur flying over there, boys?

Maximus, Id appreciate if you send a copy over this way. commissar84128@icqmail.com Thanks! Comm

Answer: You dont. I had that happen once, my own Air support turned on me. I was defending against a large Armored advance, with my opponent's AFV's right in the open, while my own men were hidden. The enemy had flak trucks though, so I guess the Fighter Bombers decided it was much safer to simply bombard my own positions then risk getting shot down by those flaks.

Maximus, Yes, the rubel is worth very little. That is why it is almost unused in Russia. If you go into a store, chances are good that you will be able to buy things with dollars. When I was a kid, this used to be the case only for special foreign stores. I dunno what the prime minister makes, but the majority of the money (and there is a lot, actually) is made my various crooked politicians, mafias, smugglers, and lots of other no good bastards who have yet to be rooted out despite the new president's promises. Oh, and I saw the Star Trek episode where they unforze some people from the 20th century and explained to them how society worked in the future. Wouldn't it be wonderful if people could just suddenly become perfect and make a society like that work?

Very true. The population is rapidly decreasing, and not because of fatalities.

Despite the disgusting state of the economy there, most of the Russians are know are whiz-kids with computers - especially hardware. A friend of my father's who was educated there recently moved to this country with his family. Now holds a job with IBM as a technician, making something like 90 grand a year. Amazing really. If all Russians knew that they could actually "make it" like this instead of starving with a job that would earn them hundreds of thousands in the states, the country would be empty by now. This is strange though - I know a bunch of people on this board can at least speak Russian or are well versed in the language/been to the country. How many of those have we got? Be heard!

Holy s@it! Maximus, where can we get this whole "complete" look that ypu have shown off in this pic? I dont mean the terrain, just the uniforms.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Bog: I'm gonna play devil's advocate here when I say that the Cover Arc feature is VERY reminiscent of a similar feature from CC3. That said, I think it'll be a great addition to the game.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Hey, if it's a good feature, no matter the game it originated from, I say use it. One of the most important aspects of CM, the wego system, was first implemented in another game. No harm in borrowing and imporving upon it though, right? Oh, and Maximus, PLEASE don't start this again. In truth, I agree with you, but this can really piss some people off and for the sake of this thread, I think you better keep it to yourself.

Duuh, I might be stupid, tovarish, but I will NOT be told what to do by Stalin's liver! Or is it spleen? Maybe the stomach then? If the anus was an organ, that's what you would be. Ever considere changing your name to "Stalin's Orafice"?

OK, let's have a poll of all users with former Soviet-Union heritage. IE: Not just Russians, which I am proudly a member of, but also Ukranians, Belorussians, Georgians, etc. So far, the current count is 1. Hooray for me!

Soviet vehicles did share the same official paint scheme, true. This didn't stop the tankers from personalizing the tank somewhat, by writing their names and various slogans on the tank. In some old Russian movie I saw about a tank crew in WW2, they had a dog with them (a dobermine, perhaps?). Anyway, they dipped their hands (and the dog's paw) in white paint and pressed it against the turret side, writing their names under it. The dog was named Laika, I believe, a popular Russian dog name. Anyway, just some ideas for modders here. It sucks the textures repeat themselves, of course. Still, those hand/paw prints I mentioned shouldn't look too messed up. Maybe I'll even give it a hand myself

Finally, a shot of a Soviet tank! *sniff* We've waited so long...

I think what many of us want and sight as mistakes in the current engine really cannot be implemented until the rewrite. For example: "My STUG's don't go hull down because the terrain tiles which determine elevation are 20m each and thus too big and so they favor vehicles with larger turrets" If this is indeed correct, BTS can't do much. They already told us they will not be able to change the size of tiles (too much coding). Ive gotten low vehicles like the Stug to hull down. Like once. Then again, to be fair, throughout my 2 years of playing CM, Ive only achieved Hull down in my games some 5 times at most, despite always trying to find that perfect hillock. "My Finn Stug's can't destroy six bazillion Soviet AFV's because CM doesnt model camoflauge properly" Nope, it doesnt. Once again, can't do much until the rewrite. If you ask Steve, $20 says he'll respond with "Sorry guys, too much code work. maybe in the rewrite. "My Finns can't disperse after a firefight with the current method of handling infantry in CM" The tactics you describe sound awful familiar. Hmm...what was the correct phrase? Oh yes, "Guerrilla Combat". No, CM is made to model conventional forces. Much of the tactics the Finns had to use emphasized individual action, dispersing after a quick fire fight and getting back together away from the fire zone. That's as close to guerrilla fighting as you are liable to get, so no, it can't be correctly represented in the CM engine.

Tiger made some a while ago. Check out Manx's Combat Missions site. www.combat-missions.net It's in there in the mod section. One with foliage and one that is cracked and beat up (I think, can't remember). Plus, since Im a mod slut, I'd advise you to look through the other cool stuff Manx has up on his site. Enjoy!