Louie the Toad

Don't give away what you are going to do. Be deceptive and sneaky. Use split squads to recon. Make a feint attack to draw out the enemy. Read about Stonewall Jackson. Platitudinal Toad.

Have you tried the Wiltz scenario by Wild Bill. I think it is on the disc. Tried and True Toad

Tiger, What I was trying to explain was that if I am firing at you and I see you have stopped shooting or appeared to have buttoned up and stopped, I am going to keep shooting at you until I see a kill. Furthermore the AI should not tell me if you become immobilized or have gun damage. I should have to figure that out by your tank's 'body language'. I like the idea of having some control regarding bailing out but it should not be full control, just as we don't have full control of any unit now. bail bail bail stroke stroke stroke Toad

My visualization of CMBB tank battles is that you will want to be sure of a KILL against every enemy tank. My assumption comes from reading about the ploy of 'playing possum' among knocked out tanks, also that immobilization like gun damage may be a bit too much information to convey to the enemy. I thought I had read that BTS would be increasing the FOW in this regard. Hit 'em again, Hit 'em again Harder, Harder ... Toad

The Printer Friendly thingy could be very useful especially when someone posts valuable unit or tactical information. Toad

Hammer, DL and the mod not showing up in CMMOS window -- Same with me. Gordon said he will help me though. I will be emailing him this week end with the details of my plight. CMMOS - less Toad

For an extremely challenging QB where you play the AI without your inherent advantage, try playing at Level 1 (except for set up) and Level 2 only when you earn it by placing a unit in a second story. Use Level 5 but only for precise movement in houses for instance or at the edge of woods. And never scroll with 5. Try a platoon vs platoon battle first. Maybe 300 pts which will give you some support weapons. Use Infantry. Large or medium map. Village or Rural. Small hills. Medium woods. Good weather. Realistic setting. A meeting engagement. Do not let yourself scroll all over the map. Sight only from where your guys are. Tab, 1, then use the arrow keys or mouse to inch ahead until the pixel of your unit disappears. View only from that level. Never zoom unless you have binoculars: HQs. Never click on an enemy unit. Instead use the LOS tool to scan it. If it doesnt tell you much, so be it. This is the real fog of war. Most of all use common sense. Simply ask yourself, "could I do this or know about this in real life"? If the answer is no. Then don't do it. At level 1 every terrain nuance in the game becomes important. Getting to a second story building becomes important. Taking even a small hill gives you advantages. HQs are more important because you can see further with them. Don't scroll around to scout out terrain. Could you do that in real life? Of course not. So you want a map view. Ok use 7 or 8 but only to look. Never to plot or click on enemy units. Don't use 3 or 4 because you don't have a scout plane. Good luck. The AI can beat you up and often win at level 1 play. It is best to start small because it is easy to lose control of your forces when you can't scroll around at level 3 or 4. Only select your own guys by using the + and - keys or point and click if you can see them from where you currently are. I know, I know. I have described the infantry version of Franko's True Combat Rules. But try it.... you may find yourself surprisingly defeated ... by the AI. Ground Level Toad

What would be different or better than what we have and do now on the Forum? Cold Toad

Tried installing it twice. Am 0 for 2. Third party Mods, although downloaded do not appear in the selection window. !??! Toad

Thank you.

For the past couple of days I have tried to download 49 Recce from Der Kessel. Always getting a temporary error message. Any thoughts? Unsuccessful Toad

Gnome, I meant to spell Gnome. Rats! Silent G Toad

I am of the opinion that the occasional well placed garden Nome is widely appreciated. It would behoove one to have it added to the list of "doodads". Garden Variety Toad

Dear Kanonier, I know the game allows for it by a toggle swithch. But realistically how would you know, as the shooter, what happens to a target tank's gun? Ok, if it didn't fire for several turns you might conclude there was damage, but you really would seldom if ever know. Fog of War .... Toad

Silvio, Doesn't it seem odd that an anti aircraft gun (20 mm) has trouble hitting moving ground targets? Do you think it is modeled correctly. I have little experience with it. Wondering Toad

Addicts. Looking for our next CM fix. "The needle, Watson, the needle" Toad

As long as we are speculating, maybe in a few years we will all be playing within a virtual surround video and audio experience. There we can select view levels that would include a tank commander or squad. So projected around us would be the battle as it is occuring . Experiential Toad

It depends on the scenario. If your troops are attacking an enemy airfield expect a lot of AAA to be aimed at you. OTOH on a meeting engagement you should not expect to face any. Situational Toad

Apache, When you use the term mod manager are you really meaning the cmmos folder? ?? Toad

Does moving a commander into effective radius make a difference? And if so, does a commander with a particular attribute (lightning bolt for example) make a faster difference? Got the Mojo workin' Toad

Dear Jeff, This is great information. Thank you. In your research did you come across the use of recon by armored units? As you probably know there have been numerous debates on the Forum about using everything from Tigers to tank crew remnants to scout for armored units. As it is now, one has to make do and attach other units to recon for tanks. This is especially true in QBs. One reads about a Recon Battalion, but Recon at that level is almost beyond the scope of the game. What I am talking about here is, who and or what in CM should move to the top of the next rise and see what is beyond, before the lead tank is committed? "Stanley! Go see what that is." -- Oliver Hardy Wondering Toad

Dear RMC, Regarding a sound countact in the forest: Frankly, the ghost marker could show up anywhere and still be modeled correctly. A case in point. I was playing as the British in an Arnhem Bridge Operation game. We had been fighting the Germans for the bridge both day and night. Now it was a night turn. Suddenly the sound and the ghost marker of an enemy tank appears across the river about 70 meters down from the bridge. The sound marker begins crossing the water ! Being somewhat familiar with the history of the battle I could not recall any amphibious action taking place. Just before the marker reaches the British side it disappears and a halftrack appears over on the bridge. Think of the situation. Night, a large bridge with arches, buildings near the river --- all of that would cause echos and false identification of sounds. It was well done. "It must have been the wind" ... Toad

Got a daisy chain and a regular mine field. This is an infantry defense as well. The stationary 88 a few mg halftracks and possibly 2 companies of infantry with a little arty support. Unfortunately I am going to have to save this one for awhile since my pbem opponent and I are starting up Wild Bill's The Wrong Hill. patient Toad

I just set up a QB Probe with auto pick units. Computer gave me (german defender) an 88 AT gun. Ha haaa! I wish the ground was a bit more level though. Lucky Toad

Two headed German's. What's the problem with that? Three legged Toad