The Adder

The holes should be for ventilation. I should mention that the pic is from Waffen-SS in Pictures. Nice to see you again sitz. I'll mail you later. Adder

While we are waiting .... Adder [ 10-16-2001: Message edited by: The Adder ]

Hi all, After a long time on leave, I'm back at the front looking forward to my transfer to the Eastern Front. BTW, here's a quick pole: When do you think CM2 actually will be ready: a) early December 2001 X-mas 2001 c) Jan-Feb 2002 d) later Best regards, The Adder [ 08-20-2001: Message edited by: The Adder ]

Hi Rommel, Try this http://www.onwar.com/maps/wwii/index.htm Best regards, The Adder CM-OKW ------------------ It is said, that civilised man seeks out good and intelligent company, so by learned discourse he may rise above the savage and closer to God. Personally, however, I like to start the day with a total dickhead, to remind me I'm best" - Edmund Blackadder

I agree with Griffin. Let's make Col. Klotz's work available on our sites. Then we can defeat "the Evil Company" and also make sure that all the great work is available for all true war-gamers. Col. Klotz - RIP The Adder CM-OKW ------------------ It is said, that civilised man seeks out good and intelligent company, so by learned discourse he may rise above the savage and closer to God. Personally, however, I like to start the day with a total dickhead, to remind me I'm best" - Edmund Blackadder

www.ASL2CM.com was only a alias for http://w1.312.telia.com/~u31213280/index.htm Unfortunately it seems that Col. Klotz has closed down for good! We will miss his great site!!! Regards, The Adder ------------------ It is said, that civilised man seeks out good and intelligent company, so by learned discourse he may rise above the savage and closer to God. Personally, however, I like to start the day with a total dickhead, to remind me I'm best" - Edmund Blackadder

Gentlemen, Feldgrau has a great forum, with many good postings. Recently there was a posting asking the above question. I bring you the excellent answer from "Vinnie" here: "Artillery shells fired at low angle (i.e., less than 1600 mils or 45 degrees) have a burst pattern where the side spray is greater than the depth, by perhaps 50%. The 105mm HE shell burst is about 30 meters across and perhaps 20 meters deep. In this zone 50% of the men standing upright when the shell detonates are expected to become casualties (perhaps 1/4 killed and 3/4 wounded). Individual fragments travel much farther than this, but the percentage of casualties falls off rapidly. The burst for 150mm HE shell is about 50 meters wide and 30 meters deep. The 4 guns of a 105 howitzer battery would then pretty well cover 120 meters of front, perhaps half the frontage of an infantry platoon. 6 pieces would cover about 180 meters. The bursts can be concentrated more or spread more openly if the fire direction center is willing to be fancy, but in general the shells will land in the same pattern as the guns are laid out at the battery. The 4 guns of a 150cm howitzer battery would cover about 200 meters of front, still less than a single infantry platoon. During WW2, the firing unit in the German Army was the battalion, not the battery. That is, the fire direction center was located at battalion headquarters and batteries were not capable of independent operation for indirect fire missions. This is not to say that batteries didn't occasionally compute and fire their own missions, just that they were neither equipped nor trained to do so. Battalion HQ would send firing information to each of its batteries, or mass the entire battalion on one target and then rapidly shift the entire battalion to a new target. Modern artillery (i.e., since 1900) is massed at the TARGET, not at the GUNS. "The German Infantry Handbook" by Alex Buchner says that a battery would take 45 minutes to occupy a position and lay the battery "after receiving instructions". This is an incredibly long time by post-war standards; an American battery in 1975 (when I was an artillery officer) had to occupy a position and have all 6 pieces laid in less than 5 minutes. I assume that the WW2 number includes perhaps 30 minutes to move to the new firing position. WW2 artillery adjustments were quite slow by modern standards. 1 or 2 howitzers would begin firing at the calculated location of the target while the observation party recorded the fall of each shot and made adjustments. The time to recalculate the firing data (elevation, deflection (or traverse), and time of flight for time fuzes) would be a few minutes, perhaps 2 or 3. The firing data then had to be called to the guns by field telephone, the fuzes set, the powder increments counted and checked, elevation and traverse set by the assistant gunners and check by the section chief, and the order to fire received and executed. The rounds would then take perhaps 30-45 seconds to fly to the target, and the observers would need perhaps 1 minute to sense the rounds and announce their observation. One could then easily spend 15 minutes on the adjustment alone, before what Americans call "fire for effect" was opened. This would be the same for either 105mm or 150mm firing batteries. Once a target had been centered in the bursts, the battery, or battalion or regiment, could fire quite rapidly at it. The 105mm could fire 6-8 rounds per minute; the 150mm 3-5 rounds per minute. This is actually limited only by the stamina of the crew; the guns can be fired as fast as shells can be loaded and the lanyard yanked. A more practical consideration, however, is the rate of ammunition resupply. This might be as few as 5 rounds per gun per day (sometimes even less than that), meaning that a battery could fire only 1 mission. Management of the reserve ammunition, which numbered in the hundreds of rounds, was a critical task for battalion and regimental officers. There is also the problem that fuzes are also rationed, and so the battery might only get 1 time fuze per gun per day (and 4 point detonating fuzes). And the battery might get only 1 illumination round per gun per day (which must use the time fuze), or perhaps zero. And perhaps only 1 smoke screen round, or zero. Building an effective smoke screen without dozens of rounds per gun is impossible. Clearly if the battery fired no shells at all on Tuesday, then they had 10 rounds per gun to fire on Wednesday, etc. I believe the Germans used the term "days of fire" (Munition fur einen Tag) to plan artillery consumption. For a major attack, batteries would be issued (or allowed to draw, since most artillery units had to use their own trucks and trailers to draw shells, powder, and fuzes) at least 5 days of fire. For the Ardennes attack in 1944 there was barely enough ammunition stockpiled to provide 3 days of fire to most battalions." Reference link: http://www.feldgrau.com/forum/messages2/11509.html Best regards, The Adder ------------------ It is said, that civilised man seeks out good and intelligent company, so by learned discourse he may rise above the savage and closer to God. Personally, however, I like to start the day with a total dickhead, to remind me I'm best" - Edmund Blackadder

Merry Christmas to all my fellow CM'ers from Norway as well. A special greeting goes out to Buzzer, Sitzkrieg, McAuliffe and Airborne. The Adder CM-OKW ------------------ There is no spoon ...

Hi Robert, Sustained! Especially when you use the new subdued mods without grid overlay it is hard to see elevations and terrain type. Hope BTS picks this up in CM2. Best regards, The Adder CM-OKW ------------------ There is no spoon ...

Hi sellsj, The Belgian Combat Mission Page is run by my good CM friend and opponent McAuliffe. He beat me for the first time yesterday in a modified "Move it or loose it" PBEM. Good job! (Thanks to Airborne for administering the initial set up). See some pics and aar's from previous games at my page. And his web site is great as well. Best regards, The Adder ------------------ "The Germans are such a cruel and inhuman race; they have no word for fluffy"

Nice to see that there are so many old-timers here who have played Elite I found Elite in a playable, java format on the net. So blow the dust of your space suit, buy that fuel scoop, and heat up the pulse lasers, Commander Jameson! Enjoy! The Adder ------------------ "The Germans are such a cruel and inhuman race; they have no word for fluffy"

ELITE must be the definite, all-time favorite game. Doesn't pictures like this take you right back? Those were the days! The Adder CM-OKW ------------------ "The Germans are such a cruel and inhuman race; they have no word for fluffy" [This message has been edited by The Adder (edited 12-02-2000).]

Hi JV, Glad you enjoyed it. Nice pics you have posted. I wasn't allowed to take any ... Those Hand Grenades are serious stuff! The Funky Pirate is a great place, and I guess you know this character btw: I am currently working on a few pages with pics from my trip to the Big Easy. Have a look here, more to come soon. Best regards, The Adder ------------------ "The Germans are such a cruel and inhuman race; they have no word for fluffy"

Buzzer, Post an OT thread and you will get lot's of good answers. Post a thread on an important topic that was discussed during the beta testing, and you get the wonderful "do-a-search" comment. Thank you for your willingness to bring up important subjects! Best regards, The Adder CM-OKW ------------------ "The Germans are such a cruel and inhuman race; they have no word for fluffy"

Buzzer, I agree with you on the matter of ignoring targets. One could imagine an automatic "ignore" if the tank commander knew that he wouldn't be able to knock the target out. However, that decision has to be made on the info he is currently possessing. As you have seen, enemy tanks may change designation several times before they are properly and correctly identified by your troops. Thus, an "ignore" command must then only be available/activated for correctly identified targets. On the other hand, and I guess this is your main concern, you should be able to ignore targets whether you know exactly what it is or not, and whether you are able to take them out or not. I can't understand why that should pose problems neither "technically" nor "historically". On the battle field, even in W.W.II and with "fog of war", there is a certain amount of communication between units; and especially between tanks (at least in CM, the Russians used a different system which we may see in CM2?). This is in fact the whole basis for CM, and explains why we as commanders can see all the enemy units spotted by our men. Finally, I think it is important to bring up such debates as this, even though it has been discussed before. If we don't discuss what we find important with regard to CM, we'll all end up in the Peng-thread. Best regards, The Adder ------------------ "The Germans are such a cruel and inhuman race; they have no word for fluffy"

Hi Rob, When and where is your scenario set? Since it is called "Beyond Markit Garden", I assume that it is from September 1944 onwards, as Operation Market Garden commenced September 17, 1944. Also, which units of the German 15th army have you included. Best regards, The Adder ------------------ "The Germans are such a cruel and inhuman race; they have no word for fluffy"

To our American cousins; this just in from the Palace: "Buckingham Palace 14th November 2000 NOTICE OF REVOCATION OF INDEPENDENCE To the residents of the United States of America, In view of your abject failure to elect a President and thus to govern yourselves, We give hereby Notice of the Revocation of your Independence, effective today at Five O'Clock Greenwich Mean Time. Her Britannic Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume sovereign duties forthwith over all states, commonwealths and other territories. Except Florida, which shall be returned to His Illustrious Catholic Majesty, King Juan Carlos of Spain. Your new Prime Minister (The Rt Hon Tony Blair, for the 97.85% of you who have until now been unaware that there is a world outside your borders) will suggest to Her Majesty a Governor-General for America without the need for further elections. Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire will be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed. To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect: 1. You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary. Then look up "aluminium". Check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it. Generally, you should raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. Look up "vocabulary". Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as "like" and "you know" is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. Look up "interspersed". 2. There is no such thing as "US English". We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. 3. You should learn to distinguish the English and Australian accents. It really isn't that difficult. 4. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast British actors as the good guys. 5. You should relearn your original national anthem, "God Save The Queen", but only after fully carrying out task 1. We would not want you to get confused and give up half way through. 6. You should stop playing American "football". There is only one kind of football. What you refer to as American "football" is not a very good game. The 2.15% of you who are aware that there is a world outside your borders may have noticed that no one else plays "American" football. You will no longer be allowed to play it, and should instead play proper football. Initially, it would be best if you played with the girls. It is a difficult game. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which is similar to American "football", but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour). We are hoping to get together at least an American rugby sevens side by 2005. 7. You should declare war on Quebec and France, using nuclear weapons if they give you any merde. The 98.85% of you who were not aware that there is a world outside your borders should count yourselves lucky. The Russians have never been the bad guys. 8. July 4th is no longer a public holiday. November 8th will be a new national holiday, but only in the British Empire. It will be called "Indecisive Day". 9. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap and it is for your own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what we mean. 10. Please tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us crazy. Thank you for your cooperation. Welcome Back." The Adder ------------------ "The Germans are such a cruel and inhuman race; they have no word for fluffy"

Hi jpinard, Go to Geocities, and you can get your own, free site. You can upload your pictures via your browser. Best regards, The Adder ------------------ "The Germans are such a cruel and inhuman race; they have no word for fluffy"

Dr. Brian, I will assume that you did a search on "Friendly Fire" and scanned through some of the 99 hits. I have a slight off-topic comment regarding "friendly fire". The term was not used during WWII; it was invented during the Vietnam War. The term used in WWII was "amacide" (from Latin "friend" and "killing"). (Source: Christine Ammer, Fighting Words). However, the problem is equally serious whether you call it FF or amacide. Regards, The Adder http://www.geocities.com/adder1972/ ------------------ "The Germans are such a cruel and inhuman race; they have no word for fluffy"

Hi Mace, There are several good candidates. Some unattractive ones are the Vickers Mk VI light tank, the Matilda Mk I, the Renault R35 light tank, the Somua S35 (the best tank facing the Germans in '41), the Grant, the M3 medium tank and, the Russian T-26B. I think as the war progressed, the tanks got more "tank-like" with one gun, sloped armor etc., i.e the way we like to see them. However, the number-one, overall ugliest tank of WWII was the Sherman M4. The Adder ------------------ "The Germans are such a cruel and inhuman race; they have no word for fluffy"

Hi BK6583, This topic has been extensively discussed here at the forum before. The Hetzer had a few advantages, like low profile, sloped armour and a good (not excellent) gun. Penetration with the 75 mm Pak 39 L/48 (Hetzer gun): Thickness of armor penetrated (range meters): 100, 500, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500 PzGr 39 (ammo)106, 96, 85, 74, 64 (mm) PzGr 40 (ammo)143, 120, 97, 77 (mm) Thickness of the Sherman Tanks armor: 63mm * Sherman 75mmM3 gun: 100mm armor@500m range (APCBC M61 ammo). Hetzer armor 60mm@60° => 120mm penetration thickness! However, its side and rear armour was thin (Hull rear 8 mm). That's why a Hetzer can knock out a Sherman (data from http://www.shadowsfolly.com/WWII/) Achtung Panzer writes: "Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer was fast, low and hard hitting and is considered to be one of the most successful tank destroyers of World War II. It proved to be a dangerous opponent and is considered as one of the best German tank-hunters. Hetzer's design is still considered to be a base for many modern tank destroyers, the most notably including Swedish Stridsvagn 103 (S-Tank)" (http://www.achtungpanzer.com/pzcz.htm#hetzer) In March 1943, Colonel General Heinz Guderian, wanted a light tank destroyer. First prototype appeared in December 1943. Production started at BMM in April 1944 and by Skoda in September 1944. Produced in Prague, Pilsen, Königgrätz, Böhm, and Breslau. Consider the date the Hetzer was ordered and its specifications, and you see that it was mainly a defensive weapon. You point it in the direction where you suspect your enemy will show up, and then you will do pretty well. As with other tank destroyers, the gun had a limited traverse, about -11° right +5° left. The gun (75 mm Pak 39 L/48) was the same used in the PzKpfwIV, but with muzzle brake removed. Best regards, The Adder ------------------ "The Germans are such a cruel and inhuman race; they have no word for fluffy"

Sorry JV, No pics allowed (I tried). Enjoy you stay, Regards, The Adder ------------------ "The Germans are such a cruel and inhuman race; they have no word for fluffy"

Hi JV, First of all – enjoy New Orleans! It’s great. Be sure to visit the “Funky Pirate” at Bourbon Street, and hear and see the amazing Big Al. Great singer, great band, great place. I was in New Orleans last week and I did visit the National D-Day museum. Initially, I was very exited. The building is impressive and the ground floor has a collection of a landing craft, a halftrack, a motorbike, and some other stuff. The rest of the museum is filled with pictures, short movies, and lots of small artifacts. I enjoyed seeing their small-arms display with American and German weapons (it was fun to see the Mauser rifle in a museum; I’ve used it myself for Polar Bear protection in the Norwegian Arctic). They also have a bookstore, which isn’t good. They have made quite an effort in making this museum. However, I wasn’t all that pleased with it, unfortunately. Perhaps, I had expected something different. It is not like the Imperial War Museum in London (if you saw the pictures posted here earlier this Fall). But, now that you know how it is, I guess you will find it OK. It is worth the $7. Take care, The Adder ------------------ "The Germans are such a cruel and inhuman race; they have no word for fluffy" [This message has been edited by The Adder (edited 11-08-2000).]

The issue of the rarity of various German Panzers and armoured cars has been discussed in depth in the forum. I want to direct your attention to another aspect; namely, how much Panzer did a Division consist of? This is the official organisation of a Panzer Division in August 1944 (Type 44 Panzer Division): * Div.HQ (160 men), no tanks, but halftracks, flaks, and motorcycles. * Panzer Reg. (2006 men), consisting of a HQ and two battalions: - Reg.HQ (176 men), 5 PzKpfWIV and 3 PzBefWV, and one Flak Platoon - I/1 Battalion: HQ with 5 PzKpfWV, 3 PzBefWV and 5 SdKfz251, 4 armoured Comp. with 17 or 22 Panthers (PzKpfwV) each - I/2 Battalion: HQ with 5 PzKpfWIV, 3 PzBefWIV and 5 SdKfz251, 4 armoured Comp. with 17 or 22 PzKpfwIV each * 2 Panzergrenadier Regs. (appr. 2200 men each), consisting of a HQ, two battalions, a Self-propelled HWY Inf.Gun Comp. and a motorised Pioneer Comp. These regiments had no tanks, but several SdKfz251 * Panzer Artillery Regiment with one self-propelled (equipped with e.g. Wespe and Hummel) and two mot. battalions * Panzer Recon Battalion (with various SdKfz250 and SdKfz251) * Army Flak Artillery Battalion * Panzerjäger Battalion (475 men) equipped with 31 JagdpanzerIV and 12 75mmPAK40-guns * Panzer Pioneer Battalion * Feldersatz Battalion (an 800-men replacement unit) * Panzer Supply Troops (transport, maintenance, bakery, butcher, administration, medical, field post, military police, etc.) From this OoB it is quite clear that a Panzer division didn't really have that much Panzer. As the war progressed even further, the distinction between Panzer Divisionen and Panzergrenadier Divisionen vanishes. From November 1944 the armoured Companies were reduced to 14 tanks in size, and then to 10. As of 25 March 1945 there was no official difference between a PzDiv and a PzGrenDiv. Add to this that most divisions were under-strength and reduced from heavy fighting. Best regards, The Adder ------------------ "The Germans are such a cruel and inhuman race; they have no word for fluffy"

Hi all, I found some screenshots @ http://www.strategy-gaming.com/screen_shots/squad_leader/index.shtml. Here are a few if you don't bother to follow the link . "Army Men" meets "Warhammer"? Best regards, The Adder http://www.geocities.com/adder1972/ ------------------ "The Germans are such a cruel and inhuman race; they have no word for fluffy"