Louie the Toad

Congratulations Wild Bill. You are a "Great Grand" ahead of me. As I read your post I wondered if you were going to tell us the Mad Matt was your grandson ??!!! Grandpa Toad.

Nice outcome BUT Where is the infantry? Tanks in Towns -- Not Good Open Topped AFVs in Towns -- Really not good. One of my first battles vs the AI involved an enemy Panther that had pulled between two buildings of this village. My bazooka team engaged but missed. Then I demonstrated in front of the Panther with infantry. As that was going on I moved a Stuart, my largest AFV, at fast move, preceded by a halftrack in case there was hidden infantry plus my infantry on the ground all at fast move to an intersection. The HT and infantry took up positions. The Stuart turned the corner and raced up to about 30m from the rear of the Panther which was without infantry support. Honestly the Panther seemed to be squeezed between the two buildings and wouldn't or couldn't turn its turret or turn around. The Stuart kayoed the Panther with one or two rear shots. This reminded me so much of the movie Kelly's Heros that I recall posting that fact. Seems like ages ago. This game just gets better and better. Toad

While I cannot claim to have any special knowledge of proper use, a quite fine result just occured in my current pbem game. My Sharpshooter is on a small hill in a foxhole in scattered trees. Remnants of an enemy force coming forward. Infantry riding on buttoned tanks. No other forces of mine can see this force. My sharpshooter is aimed at the enemy tank carrying a mortar team (2 men) and a surviving HQ (1 man). Still hidden and at less than 400m the sharpshooter takes ONE shot and kills the mortar team and the HQ. The tanks don't see him. They move steadily forward. At about 200m he fires again at a different tank and kills another HQ (1 man) remnant. Wait til my opponent sees that ! At the Gates Toad

Dear CombatGeneral Give Franko's True Combat Rules a try. If you win with those rules (no fudging) then you can call youself sexy. Level 1 Toad

I know how you feel. In a pbem game I am currently playing I have been trying to get this infantry gun to fire smoke and plug a gap where I can see that enemy tanks are massing. I know they are coming and will overwhelm my defenses in that area. If I can put some smoke in front of them I will have a chance to defeat the enemy advance in detail. The gun however cannot see the tanks. So try as I might to order the gun to shoot smoke in the area, the gun fires at other non consequential targets. Smokeless Toad

Olle, I have always maintained that the maps were too small for effective tank maneuvers.Essentially one must be able to move out of sight or out of range. And, if you play on a large CM map there are problems at long ranges with the LOS and the actual physical viewing of the map from the computer screen. But there may still be a modified CM version of the Pak Front tactic. It will be interesting to hear about it if someone invents one. There must be a more aggressive offensive roll for AT and field guns. Toad Gun

Are we always fighting on the front lines? What about penetrations and flanking movements. And as the dates of QB choices for instance get futher into the war, ie. mid to late 44 and early 45, chances are that the allies are running into more and more AAA units as the perimeter shrinks for the Germans. Besides if the allies have air superiority then wouldnt the Germans move AAA units further forward to offer some protection from air attacks? surface to air Toad

Dear Icm1947. Hey, that is my year too ! A few days ago on 11/25 I bought a Logitech Marble Mouse USB. Prior to that I had a Logitech Trackman Vista (has a marble too). I switched because the Trackman was beginning to wear out, becoming less responsive, required cleaning more and more often AND I felt was causing stiffness in my hand. Well the Marble Mouse USB has NOT lived up to my expectations. Unless it is a question of getting used to it, I think it is causing increased stiffness in my hand. My wife has complained about her hand as well. What I did was to put a "pad" just behind the mouse which gives my wrist more support and raises it to a more comfortable position with relation to the mouse. The "pad" is one of those zippered cases that often contain personal items like nail clippers, small scissors, etc. About 4"x6"x1" . So far this has helped some. Another Idea is one of those voice operated command systems. I have Game Commander 2 but have used it mostly for Panzer Commander. (which of course I haven't played in almost a year due to CM ) I tried it for only a bit for CM so I cant give a fair recommendation. Others on the forum do use this I believe. Maybe they will respond. You still have to use the mouse, but not for every order. The drawback is that you are talking to your computer. Of course we already do that. ("shoot, damn it shoot!") (from the other room: "Are you yelling at that game again?") good old Toad

Yes, definitely problems laying the smoke. Maybe that is where those nearly worthless mortars mounted on APCs would have a niche. But they probably dont carry enough. If the germans were so good at this and used it a lot, there must be a detailed explanation somewhere. Smoky Toad

Dear Sergei, I tend to agree with you that at first glance using a Pak Front tactic in CM could be very difficult to carry out. But this just hopped out of my head. A judicious use of smoke may be a key element: Race up with armor, have towed AT guns following. Lay smoke in between. Unlimber the AT guns under smoke concealment. Move the armor back thru the smoke or off to the flank. When the smoke clears, you have a Pak Front with an armor strike force. Some complications of course, like what happens when the smoke dissipates unevenly and lets the enemy gang up on each gun individually as it appears. But on the other hand if the armor strike force was on the flank I think you would get a lot of flank shots targets. I think torpedo bombers in the pacific called this the "hammer and anvil" approach. Probably much better deployed in the desert or on the steppes. Daydreaming Toad

I like CM Player's thinking. With regard to CM and in actual fighting as the article describes. There is unit esprit de corps and cohesion. There is even a national esprit de corps. If someone is unhorsed, degunned or otherwise inactive he doesnt leave his buddies and take off for the rear. He carries ammo, becomes a runner, a lookout, a picket, helps the medics. At least he does... in this Toad's Army.

Dear CM Player, After reading some and skimming some of the article, which I plan to go back and enjoy more fully later, I occured to me that this is a perfect argument for using all kinds of remnant troops for all kinds of duties in CM. Use 'em all Toad

Are there scenarios with Aircraft FOs ? Just as one can buy Arty FOs. It seems to me I have played one. Maybe in my dreams!!?? When I buy the Fighter Bomber I just get an uncontrollable shadow. Daydreaming Toad

Scout cars can't go thru it either and infantry takes extra time to get thru. Horned Toad

Me and some other guy, former vice president I think, invented the internet. you can call me Mr. Toad.

Did you make any more changes? I finished playing it as the Germans vs the AI with the changes you made. you can call me Mr. Toad

Am I a CM addict if, on the way home from Thanksgiving Dinner I automatically scan the treeline and imagine where I would put my MGs for a good crossfire? Looking for the "good ground" Toad

Michael, Check the Tips and Tricks board. Right near the top or even the top post. Tip Top Toad

Does "exposure" mean the degree of cover or the degree of concealment? camoflaged Toad

Please explain in terms of reality how a unit would know it has been sighted, unless of course it is fired upon? And maybe not even then. I agree, it would be nice to know the "concealment factor" of different terrain. But that is something quite different. Peek a Boo Toad

Just to add to what Moriarty said. If the HQ is in command of the Mortars then run a Target line from a Mortar to the target seen by the HQ. Don't worry that the target line won't be blue. As he said, if it sticks, even if it is red and black, it means the target is acquired. Sticky Toad

Too bad there isnt a way to eliminate cheating in Iron Man. Who can you trust? "No body loves me but my momma, and I think she might be jivin' too." Trustworthy Toad

My two thoughts worth: Thought One: I have read that Rommel and most likely other German commanders used anti tank guns on the attack along with tanks. I have never been able to replicate this to my own satisfaction (success) in any game, miniatures, board game etc. Has anyone had any good reference as to how exactly it was done. Maybe in CM I need to try more guns and more tanks mixed together so the AT guns don't get singled out I am also guessing that this kind of attack where units are leap frogging is best done against a pure tank force. Otherwise small arms will tear up the AT guns and any tows they use. Thought Two: Can a jeep really tow a 6 pdr or is that a quirk in the game? Leap frogging Toad

I often wondered... But I only just made the connection after reading these posts. I can remember a german actor in a movie saying: "oh, my little puppchen, how I love you", or words to that effect. Now I know he wasn't really talking about his cute little girl friend. He was referring to the fact that his carriage mounted AT rocket launcher had just knocked out a Pershing. Cute little Toad

Thanks for the update and the info. Do you guys get to sleep at all? We all know you do consider suggestions from those of us on the Forum. My suggestion is: Scrap the Demo and go for the GAME. Even if it saves only a week, it would be worth it. We all have CMBO to amuse us until then. Anticipating Toad