Ricochet

A long time ago I think it was Steve who said he was leaning towards using the CM engine in a modern war role. I don’t know how much fun it would be in a one shot one kill situation though.

You know the General was Carol O’Connor from All in the Family and the actor who played Mulligan is Telly Savalas’ brother in real life. Don't forget Crap Game (Don Rickels)

Stuka and I have just started the 1st game of the NSSBI final. A meeting engagement that had time and weather set as random and sure enough it’s at night and heavy fog. It has only a 27meter LOS! This will be a slugfest. So much for my mortars. And armor to armor will be barrel to barrel.

Great Post. This thread has perfect timing. I just started a meeting engagement that had time and weather set as random and sure enough it’s at night and heavy fog. It has only a 27meter LOS! So much for my mortars. And armor to armor will be barrel to barrel.

The Churchill AVRE (Armored Vehicle Royal Engineers) had a mortar that was external loading. The was a specially designed hatch for the loader, who sat next to the driver, to open, jump up and reload the mortar. That's why it has a slow rate of fire. You should do a search, there's a good thread on this somewhere.

Pike, Ha, what are the odds we'd be going toe to toe again and with the same sides to boot. Unfortunately I think there's a mistake. I thought some guy named Cubes is supposed to take my place. I'm waiting for Stuka to send me the setup of two 3000pt games to finish the first NSSB and so time is something I lack. As much as I would like to spend another 30 turn game and fighting you to a draw, I think it will have to wait until NSSBIII. Mensch, let me know if I'm back in. Ted [This message has been edited by Ricochet (edited 03-05-2001).] [This message has been edited by Ricochet (edited 03-05-2001).]

Remember when squads kept the same lock step walking motion even when they ran. It looked like synchronized ice skating

Or fifty minefields and a hundred sharpshooters. I see we sure know how to pick 'em. No wonder the other Not-So's didn't stand a chance Stuka, I'll start my setup tonight and should get it to you by tommorrow night. Ted [This message has been edited by Ricochet (edited 03-01-2001).]

Watch out for that Pvt Pike. He’s a killer in the snow. How’d the move go Ian. All settled in?

It sure did happen. In the 1st round, I think it started with 8 groups of 4 players each. Each player in each group playing one game against the other three. The second round was two groups of 4 players. The final round has yet to be played. Are you out there Stuka? I think I've pulled your number

I'd like to know what happened to the Not-So-Superbowl I.

109, I'd like to take you up on the river map. Right now I've just started a crossing with me on the defense but after this game I'll take the offense with a new map. Could you email it to me at tramos1@optonline.com Thanks in advance. You know, if you can trust your opponent not to peak you don't need a 3rd person, after you've saved your choice switch to choosing the other side, save the game and send it to your opponent to pick his troops. That's what I just did and it works fine.

Welcome aboard Aqua, 1-The graphics should not be Jerky at all. Everything should run smooth as silk. Your machine specifications is more than adequate to run the game. If your having a problem go over to the "Tech Support" forum and explain exactly what your seeing and what your settings are, I'm sure someone will be able to help you. 2- Hold you left mouse button down and draw a square over he units you want to give orders to or double click on a HQ and all the units under his command will become highlighted and ready for orders 3- CM2 will deal with the eastern Front in it's entirety. It will be enhanced version of CMBO. Search for CM2 and you'll get a ton of info. Also, there will be a CM3, Africa and the Mediterranean and a CM4, the early years, I believe France and Poland et al.

I believe they’re working on a way to move from row house to row house without having to go into the street.

I emailed a thank you to Mr. Gelmis and he returned in part: ".....The most important part of a critic's job is to recognize excellence and make the case for it. Personal considerations and inertia too often get in the way. PS: The column ran long and was -- without the editor informing me -- trimmed by at least 100 words, so it leaves out some key details and reads a bit jerkier than it was originally written."

There’s an article in todays New York Newsday about Combat Mission. I hope this causes another press of CD’s @ PLAY Winning at War Is Now A More Complicated Game Joseph Gelmis UNLIKE watching a movie, playing a computer game requires more than keeping your eyes open. You're not just a spectator-you're a performer. Anyone can watch "Saving Private Ryan," for instance, and vicariously experience what it was like to invade the beaches of Normandy on D-Day in 1944. But to play a World War II simulation like "Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord," you've got to have some knowledge of military strategy and think out carefully how to deploy your troops and their weapons effectively to win a battle. As a result, fans of computer simulations are usually hardcore gamers rather than casual players. And simulations-except for racing and flying games-tend to appeal to niche markets. Though I spent four years studying military history and tactics in the ROTC and three years as an Air Force flier, I'm still daunted by the steep learning curve required to play authentic war simulations. At the urging of a reader, Ted Ramos, who raved about "Combat Mission," I eventually found time to try it. As I expected, it was overwhelmingly complicated for someone who's not a military history and strategy buff. But I was able to understand why Ramos was an evangelist for the game and its creators, Charles Moylan and Steve Grammont. "Combat Mission" is available only online, as a $45 hybrid Mac/Windows CD-ROM, at www.battlefront.com. Game makers, self-publishers and site operators Moylan and Grammont have become folk heroes to the war game community. These rugged nonconformists in Maine have accomplished with imagination, virtuosity and virtually no money what corporately funded development studios couldn't -a revolutionary breakthrough in turn- based computer war gaming that renders rivals quaintly passé and makes the genre more accessible to a wider audience. Set during World War II, from just after the Allied invasion of Normandy through the Nazi surrender in 1945, "Combat Mission" weds turn-based strategic gaming and real-time action tactical gaming. Turn-based war games have been around for decades and are essentially electronic versions of board games: I move my troops, then you move yours. Real-time war games debuted in the '90s, with the advent of CD-ROMs and more powerful computers. The moves in a pioneering real-time game such as "Command and Conquer" occurred simultaneously, whether your opponent was the game's artificial intelligence-operated enemy or a live player. Millions of mainstream players are attracted to real-time war games because of their realistic graphics - miniature tanks, artillery and soldiers follow players' orders - and the ability to wage war with players over the Internet. But turn-based games have become less popular with publishers, who feel less and less loyalty to niche audiences. Turn-based game graphics haven't evolved much since kids obsessively played their war games with toy soldiers and homemade props on tabletops. And most of the excitement is intellectual: There's no visible combat between virtual armies. "Combat Mission" ingeniously blends the old and new technologies. The most conspicuous upgrade is the graphics: The game is in three dimensions, and you can view it from above or at field level. There is also an action phase in which the result of the player's planning is executed as a mini-movie. On your turn, you have unlimited time to issue orders, positioning squads, teams and vehicles for battle. Each turn equals 60 seconds of combat. Hit "play," and the artificial intelligence issues orders to your enemy. What you can't do is change an order during the action sequence. However, you're able to learn from your mistakes afterward, using the "replay" function. "Combat Mission" is playable against another gamer via e-mail. A multi-player patch for Internet gaming was recently added. "Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord," $45, from Big Time Software, at www.battlefront.com; for Mac G3 and G4 and Pentium 166 PCs with 3-D card or P 200 PCs without 3-D card.

I’ve (Ted) finished my games with Peter and Ian (Pvt. Pike) but the two of them are still fighting it out. Stuka, do you have any idea what Von Shrad has in mind for the final game?

Great Mod’s and using batch files to switch between Nationalities is fantastic. A job well done for sure. Keep up the good work!

I listened to a book (it’s the 21st century after all) called War of the Rats by David L. Robbins that deals with the Zaitzev story and the Battle of Stalingrad. At the end of the book there’s an interview with the author who actually went to Russia and interviewed Zaitzev. There was a girl, a fellow sniper, I forget her name, in Stalingrad that Zaitzev had an affair with during the battle and was gravely wounded at the end.

Nope. It was felt that putting a pause command between way points would be to much of a micromanagement technique.

I didn't even think about that. I've edited it out. Of course seeing he's a mild mannered reporter for a large metropolitan newspaper it would be easy enough to find anyway.

We have a Newspaper here on Long Island in New York called Newsday. A reporter has contacted me about he game is there anything specific you would like me to point out to him or to say about the game? [This message has been edited by Ricochet (edited 01-12-2001).]

We discussed the AVRE in a thread a couple of weeks ago. I did some research and found out the AVRE does not have a gun but an externaly loaded mortar. I found a picture and the co-driver’s hatch slides open and he stands up and loads the mortar from the outside. I couldn’t find any information on the mortar itself. Although it was described as being able to collapse or take the face off of a building in one shot several players tried using one in the game and found that that was not the case and wouldn’t use one again.

Well I did some frick'n research and I've pasted some of the results here. I still have a question or two about the AVRE. I doubt this but I have to ask, since the Co-Driver has to pop out of a hatch to reload (not the best job to have), is it possible in CM to kill or wound him making it impossible for AVRE to reload? Should something like that be modeled in the game. How's that for an extreme detail. One of the main British tanks of the Second World War was the Churchill, named after Britain's wartime leader. The tank was developed as an 'Infantry' tank, in line with the then current British doctrine on armoured vehicles. The Churchill was used as the basis for a series of specialist assault vehicles, designed for the liberation of North West Europe. The main was the 'Churchill Assault Vehicle Royal Engineers', commonly known as the AVRE. These vehicles were used by the 79th Armoured Division. There were around 700 Churchill AVREs built, mainly by MG Cars Ltd. at Abingdon, converted from Churchill IIs and IVs, the first 108 were converted in the REME's (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) own workshops. (I prefered the MGB ) I found this site dedicated to weapons used during Market-Garden. Churchill AVRE After a disastrous debut during the British raid on Dieppe (August 1942), where the steep shingle beach imobilized them, the Churchill series of infantry tanks proved to be very successful. The six Mark IIIs that took part at El Alamein (October 1942) shrugged off German antitank fire and proved quite hardy under desert conditions. Eleven different Marks of the Churchill were produced. Within each Mark were any number of variants. Some were mounted with antiaircraft guns, others with howitzers, and still others with dozer blades. The Mark VII featured thicker armor, a heavier turret, and stronger suspension and used the latest 75-millimeter gun. The Building Buster variant was intended for close-quarters street fighting -one shot could remove the front of a multistory building or flatten a house. Churchill ARVE: Armored Vehicle Royal Engineers. A Petard 29cm caliber mortar was fitted to turret. Fired 40lb bomb 80 yards. 180 available by D-Day. 1st Assault Brigade of 79th Armored Division. 574 more were converted. Some were equipped to carry fascines and CIRD for mine-clearing. I couldn't find much about the mortar itself.

Sorry Peter I should have been more specific. All I loaded was one of every British vehicle to see what the specs were and what they looked like, not to play the game. Tonight I'll play a battle and see what's what. Thanks everybody for the input.