Col Deadmarsh

I haven't the time to do a bunch of testing but I often wonder whether or not tank-to-tank fighting is modeled correctly. Too many times I've seen tanks with regular crews, hidden behind some woods, buttoned up, get off a first shot that kills a moving tank from over 400m away. It just seems to me that tanks in this game die too quickly. If CM is going to error on one side or the other, I'd rather have them make tanks a little less vulnerable to first shot knockouts.

How many ambush markers can one lay down? It seems like you can do an endless amount and yet only the last one seems to be targeted with the red line. Is the last one you put down the only effective one or will your HQ and infantry in command respond to all of them?

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Gen-x87H: I dont understand the SMG problem. But of course I usually play the Germans. But never use SMG platoons. I always use SS rifle platoons. Anywho I dont understand why people dont use the Allied tanks like they are supposed to. Kill those advancing SMG platoons. I mean a 75mm gun with a couple of 50 cal guns + inf support vs a few volksgren SMG squads. I would take the Tank. Use AT guns to kill the german armor. One other thing to do is just find where the SMG squads are and just use guns and arty to pummel them. The only way SMG squads are deadly is in close fighting. At 150ms they are worthless. Gen<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Well, I thought we were just comparing Allied infantry to German infantry, but since you wanna get into strategies... As the Allies, I think you have to take arty. If you don't, you need a crapload of onboard mortar teams, preferebly the 81mm variety. Since the rule change in which the Germans were raped of their ability to field the same number of tanks as the Allies, those points go into more infantry and more AC tank killers to make up for it. So, all that arty you buy can effectively deal with the extra infantry you go up against as the Allies and in addition, the 81 onboards will take out the halftracks and AC's you'll also probably see. I still think though that the Germans have the edge. Look at it this way, if you have a map with few trees, the Germans can use heavy tanks against the Allies. If you have heavy foilage, their SMG squads will be able to fight the Allies in close ranges where they are the most deadly. I wish I could change the title of this thread...

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by KiwiJoe: Your fault, its written VERY clearly... 3 PLATOONS That page is gold,follow it and any complaints your enemy has can simply be directly straight to the rules page.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Yeah, it just seems that if you're playing a game that has average points, let's say 1250, than you're only gonna have 12 or 15 infantry squads, 9 of those being SMG squads. That's over half and still makes the Germs very deadly. My question is, are the Allies strengths: arty, turret speed, and recon vehicles enough to level the playing field even with this ceiling on SMG units? I'm not so sure they are unless you play Recon Rules or Short-75. But then, what person who's interested in winning ladder games would want to take command of the Germans without use of heavy armor? Then the Allies seem to be the ones with all the advantages...

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by KiwiJoe: not a mistake, 3 full platoons... 1 company.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Crap! I was waiting all night for a reply before I chose my units for my game with Yobobo. Nobody in the chat room seemed to know the rules...including Yobobo! Anyway not getting any answer, I only took 3 SMG squads just to be sure I was complying with the CAL rules. Sneaky bastard! Now you'll pay! Okay, to make this even Yobobo, all your tanks will stay buttoned for the entire battle. Sounds fair to me!

It says in the rules and regulations that the German commander gets up to 3 platoons of SMG or Volksgrenadier troops. Is this a mistake? Shouldn't it be 3 squads (1 platoon) or are we really allowed 3 platoons (1 company)?

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by olandt: I was curious to know how much AP and AT minefields and barbed wires people use when defending in QBs. Do you buy just a few, or do you buy a lot? Are 10 minefields worth the price of a squad on a 2000pt defence? They are supposed to be "force multipliers" but in a game where buying them means a smaller force, are they worth the cost? And when was the last time someone actually bought a roadblock in a QB?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Yeah, I've been wondering this myself. Even thought I've only played a couple of attack/defense scenarios, I've come to beleive that most of that stuff is overpriced. What makes it worse is that you can't see the map beforehand. Therefore, taking anything in that category is considered a risk. If I do take fortifications, I usually take each unit in numbers of 5 or more--especially barbed wire which is only useful if you have at least 3-4 of them strung together, if not more. Roadblocks? Yeah, right. What a waste of money.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by kmead: Would it be possible to incorporate a larger explosion when a vehicle or a man enconters a mine? Currently it is unclear when a unit has enjoyed an untimely encounter with one. Possibly use the muzzle flash animation or other existing explosions in the game. I suggested the muzzle blast as it is fairly small but would be a nice indication of dust and other stuff flying. I know a bit late but it would be nice to see. Especially as I recall alot of mines being used on the eastern front. Many thanks;<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I'd like to see this too. Something cool like a soldier's arms and legs flying off in different directions. No? Okay, I'll settle for something a little less gruesome.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by panzerwerfer42: It's not the blast that immobilizes vehicles usually. It's a larger size fragment hitting the track and snapping it off. Or else it hits the drive wheel and jams it.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> That makes sense. I guess those tracks and drive wheels are pretty much unprotected.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by CMplayer: Don't underestimate the lowly 60mm morter. Put two or three of them together into a battery and give them area fire orders and they can do an excellent job of: Blunting leading attack elements preparing to jump off from woods. Interdicting reinforcements moving through woods. Taking out guns. Harrassing and occasionally killing open topped vehicles. More? Just remember that _timing_ is very important in getting the most out of these weapons. They need to work together with the rest of your plan, and cause some confusion or reduced enemy effectiveness at just the right moment. regards, --Rett [ 07-20-2001: Message edited by: CMplayer ]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Funny you should mention this... After posting the first time, another 60mm team of mine was ordered by myself to fire at a 20mm halftrack engaging my infantry on the other side of the map. I'd say the halftrack was about 400m away. After about 10 rounds, one of them landed a shot 5m or so in back of the vehicle and immobolized it. Didn't think that an area blast from one of those things could go through 8mm of armor. Good to see that they can do more damage than just put up smoke screens and suppress infantry.

Yeah, that was the problem. For some reason, that option got changed. Of course, I'm still left with the question as to why the 60mm was firing smoke at the Marder when I ordered it to fire HE, (hoping to get a shot inside the thing.) Is this a bug?

I'm playing a game right now where I'm using a 60mm to try to take out my opponent's Marder. I told him to fire directly at it but instead of using the HE rounds, he uses the smoke rounds instead--only when they hit, there's no smoke. This leads me to believe that the smoke rounds were never fired by him and yet all 4 are gone (unless they magically reappear in the next turn) Has anybody experienced this freak thing? Needless to say I'm not very happy at all since the best part of those cheap 60mm teams are their smoking capability.

Are there any meta campaigns getting ready to start that are in need of players? This is something I'd like to try.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by wwb_99: Uh, the attack-defend ratio is 1.5-1 last time I checked (i.e. 1500 pts for attacker vs. 1000 points for the defender). WWB<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Okay, I must've been on shrooms at the time I wrote that. Still, when playing, it seems a little high and I think that the 10% would even it out. If 10% seems too much to take away from the attacker, it could be stated that the defender has to use a certain amount of points for fortifications. Just a thought since it seems that everyone's always complaining that it's too hard to win on defense.

I think that since the CAL system tries to make it fair for both sides by limiting SMG squads and having rules which restrict sides from taking heavy tanks, there should also be a rule suggestion for attack/defend scenarios where the attacker is given the -10% handicap. This will even things out a little for the defender who always seems to be at a disadvantage, even when blessed with a good map. Using this rule would cut down the attack/defend rate to about 3 to 1 I would imagine (Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.) Whatever the adjusted ratio is, the end result is a fairer game for both sides. There could even be a rule or suggestion to say that 10% of those points being taken away from the attacker have to be used by the defense in fortifications. I think a lot of people on defense are scared to use their points on these because they can't see the map beforehand. It seems this would be a good solution to both problems. What do all you CAL players think?

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Louie the Toad: Dear Rocket, A number of players are using Franko's Iron Man Rules. They eliminate the eye of god feature for those who think that capability is cheating. It also enhances the Fog of War by allowing play only from ground levels 1 and 2 plus only allowing viewing from the position of your own forces. There are a number of other rules and exceptions. Honorable Toad<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> And how would you possibly enforce those kinds of rules? Lemme guess, you have to self-police yourself... [ 07-17-2001: Message edited by: Colonel_Deadmarsh ]

Manx, you have the best site out there. Don't let it go without at least giving it a home. As for historical accuracy, I'm assuming you're talking about the scenarios. Why not simply have 2 sections: one for historical and the other for non-historical.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Chris Jenkins: In the last few days I have gone from: 3D Prophet to 3D Prophet II MX 128MB RAM to 384MB RAM .28 DPI 15" monitor to .25DPI 17" monitor dying CPU fan to a brand new one and even got Rowan's Battle of Britain. Talk about improvement! CM is smoother, but I am sure that BOB would not look nearly as good.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> You know what...I had bought European Air War about 5 months ago and have yet to play it because this game keeps sucking up my time. I'll bet it cranks though on my new 1.33 gig system.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Maximus: Jesus Christ Rob, give the guy a break...he's a newbie. You sure to know how to subtly give people advice. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Did you two switch brains or somefink? I remember the olden days when Maximus was the sarcastic son of a bitch and Rob was the goodie two shoes. Now Rob has develped a 'tude and Maximus is suddenly acting like a character on 7th Heaven. What's up with that?

I'm surprised that something like that could take out a Stug. Obviously it had to go through the side or rear armor but that's still 30mm, isn't it?

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by lcm1947: Boy I really don't see that the American's had better tanks? But your call. Here try this out. Make a map and pick 10 German tanks and then 10 American tanks and let them go at it. I bet the German's come out on top. Now don't go and use the worst German ones against the jumbo's or something but go by price and see what happens. I did and the American's got knocked out everytime. Now if you are going to use jumbo's and Pershings everytime then it's a different story but look at the prices on them compared to the German's and then they can still come out good unless the American's get lucky. Anyway that's how I see it. I still play the American's myself every time but I am learning how to use the crap we called tanks - very carefully and close up only. Get any distance and the German's will eat your lunch. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I have yet to play with any of the Allied big tanks. Are they worth their price compared to German heavies of the same price?

That's it. Thanks.

Someone made a really cool looking truck mod that had wooden railings on it. Probably high res. I've looked around but can't find it. Anyone know where it is?

I agree. I think the Germs are better. It's more of a challenge to play with Allies and that's fine if you're not playing ladder games but if you are then I always seem to want Germans. With Allies, you almost have to rely on avoiding the big German tanks or purchase your units with a plan to flank your German opponent without even being able to see the map beforehand, praying to God that you'll have a safe route to the envelopment. And if the heavy armor doesn't scare you, the SMG squads will. The fact that they are so much more effective from inside 100 meters makes me increasingly more frustrated at the decision of Steve and the rest of BTS to model it this way. If the game is supposed to be more of a simulation than a game, then BTS should've let us choose our own points in QB's to even things out. As it is right now, we are given an option to use the "handicap" feature which gives a minimum 10% advantage to one side. It's unclear as to whether this affects the total score or not so I think people are hesistant to use this. We need to be able to add on points by 10's or something, not 10 percent. If you're gonna stick with percent, then make it incremental by 5. Do you hear me BTS? Smaller increments are needed for handicap option!

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Vanir Ausf B: Don't freak out when you open the shipping package and see no CD. Its tucked inside the manual. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Well that was dumb. Now you've gone and ruined the surprise.