Holien

Hi, Can anyone confirm that HQ's with command bonus do not speed up the delivery or accuracy of the spotters? I was always under the belief that they did. If I have time this weekend I will run some tests. H [ 08-03-2001: Message edited by: Holien ]

Hi, I would be interested in the resolution of this as I have had it happen in the Tourney finale with Nawait. It happened just after I took one of his guys prisoner. I run Win 98 2nd Ed. This is the first time I have had the problem and we had to continue the game via PBEM. This did not help my game play and was further helped (NOT) by the game crashing and it remembering my opponents move and not mine. He had hit go and I had not so when it was loaded from his autosave it would not allow me to continue issuing orders. I presume if I had loaded it from my autosave it would have been ok? (Except that it would have forgot all my opponents moves?) If anyone can answer either of these problems it would be great. H

Hi, Subvet has hit the nail on the head with the security concerns. I had not seen these holes and until that post thought it would be a great idea. I am a vouyeur and want to see how other people play so I can learn and improve my game. The problem with people passing information on is a serious one and I guess stops this idea dead. Anyone got any ideas how the security can be resolved? The only idea I have is if you can bundle the whole game and view it after the fact. I know the files are big at the moment and storing all of them is a pain. Is there a way to reduce the file size by just extracting the results and showing those in a continuos stream? Maybe people can publish a single video file rather than all the seperate game files? That would be neat as it would be only one download and give you the ability to play the whole game. H

Hi Viceroy, it has been said multiple times and all I say here is why deprive yourself of the sweet terror of the unknown. :eek: If you are man enough to deal with the cold sweat during the game then you will be getting the absolute best the game has to offer. I am playing an operation blind against a chap at the moment (my first double blind Op.) It is absolute hell but god does it make it fun opening that file and watching the events unfold. If my opponent knew what I had it would be an unfair advantage and if he is only interested in winning then sure he could play the op before playing me. But life is not just about winning it is about the journey and how you get there. I am playing less and less QB's as the pleasure of playing a human in a game that someone else has designed outweighs a QB for pleasure by a factor of 10. IMO. So do as you wish but if you want to feel fear play blind. H

Hi, Just to add weight to the discussion I have just had my 1st Infantry massed rush used against me. It was not pleasant and I have learnt a lot, while losing the final of Group B T house tourney. The chap I was up against took 3 companies plus 1 platoon of Brits (Reg / Vet Inf) and 5 4.2'' mortar OPS. He used the approach of some long range Arty spotters with poor LOS and some up close with the Inf rushing. He would pound with the arty suspect woods, then rush a platoon quickly followed up with the rest of the company and the close support arty OP's. I had wire and mines but used them piecemeal and created firebases with my 7 platoons. I tried to set up with reverse slopes and using the trees to maximum effect. This had limited effect against the above approach. I was basically swamped and the 4 x 75mm arty spotters I had bought failed to blunt the attack. (I was not allowed 120mm Mort's but could have taken 81mm Mort's and 105's.) Well there were a couple of points during the game I could have swung it in my favour and I relate these to explain how I think the above can be best used. The first wave hit a 2 squad platoon and HQ outpost, which was designed to inflict some casualties and then bug out. This they did but were overwhelmed by a company plus hitting them in a smallish area of woods. I had TRP's but had placed them in advance of this outpost. I should have placed the TRP on top of the outpost and then used 81mm to pin and 105 to destroy, using the TRP to allow quick call in of firepower. This I could have repeated at a later stage against another concentration of Inf and this time I had the TRP ready. However just previous to this the game had crashed (ISP cut out) and it had saved my opponents turn (he had hit go) and not mine. Because he had hit go it would not let me issue the orders I had planned and I was going to retarget a salvo. Instead my rounds landed in open space and I wasted a full salvo for no effect. :mad: A rather unfortunate round, which helped destroy what little chance, I had. To summarise what has been said previously you need arty and you need TRP's and you need a degree of luck in getting the placement of both right so that you can break the rush. I think my decision to buy 4 x 75mm Aty was a poor choice as the delay is quite steep on the call down and even with plus 2 command HQ's it did not speed up the delivery to an acceptable standard. I would have been better off with an 81mm Spotter and a couple of 105's. The 81 has enough rounds to pin and comes in quick. The 105 kills big time and with TRP's and a decent HQ should get there in time to find a target. I have found MMG's to not work and have stopped using them. I will in CM2 as they have been reworked in conjunction with the move commands, which should give MMG's a better effect. IRL MMG's would stop such a charge. Until that time on defense the only effective way to stop the inf rush is pin and then destroy with heavy arty. H

Hi if I may add my insight... I have used Daisy Chains given to me by the game and they have worked, but only as described above if you can place in a dip or behind a crest and hope something comes barrelling along. (Also the opponent skill or lack of it helped). If they (DC) were modified I don't think I would buy them, as the QB battles do not simulate those sort of encounters where you would deploy in the game. I agree certain scenarios they would be great as the designer can build a use into the game. I would not think it worth the coding effort to allow deployment "in game". I do think they should be made less visible but I have not done any tests to see how visible they are at he moment. Is this an issue? Has anyone got any idea of when they become spotted? And does this differ from terrain type to terrain type? I do make use of AT mines and AP mines but they have not yet proved to me their value in a consistent fashion. Mind you in a recent game where I was defending I took out a Churchill and Kangaroo with mines and they certainly helped defeat my opponent. Don't you just hate it when you know your opponent has mines sown, but where might they be? That psychological effect can be well worth it, but pretty un measurable. H

I have just posted my 1st review. I strongly suggest you do the same as it is a great site and gives you the information to select a good game if you trust other peoples opinions. And if you don't, play it anyway and then give yours... Great Site and nice crisp and clean layout!! Thanks to the designer. H

Good site and an interesting debate about what the role should have been for these tanks. I think the description of loading the round gives a good idea that this was not to be done under fire. We often forget when playing these games the reality of what we are simulating and what we are asking or pixels to do, would not be done in real life. H

I think that caps this one as if that had been a zooka and missed it would not have got off too many more shots. Also there is no clear difference in hit percentage chance and for this reason the Piat wins hands down. Sure you can be unlucky to miss all shots with either weapon, but with the Piat you get the chance to miss all shots!! H P.s. I have just looked at the link on a previous message and read about the PIAT and on that basis I would have run a mile if an NCO presented me one to use. The men that used them were made of stern stuff or seriously disliked by the unit NCO. :eek: [ 07-11-2001: Message edited by: Holien ]

Aaronb has had a bad experience which in the telling gives the edge to Piats. The amount of shots they fired shows they remained effective and undetected. (Unless you tell me otherwise?) Would so many shots have been fired by Zookas? I vote Piat because I have just had a 1st shot hit on a Puma in an Urban combat situation and my building is not on fire!!! Sure Piats miss, but if they do, you ae more likely to get another shot, than if you had used a Zooka. As for using them over 100 meters would not even attempt it unless it was really desperate and if it is that bad you are hoping for a miracle!!! H

This is a very valid thing to do if you are thinking carefully about what you want to achieve. I often reassign squads to a Company Commander to give me more flexibility in what I am trying to achieve. For example I have had a Company Commander with a good stealth bonus but the Platoon Commander has none. I needed troops that could close with the enemy or skulk in the woods without being seen. I have placed the whole platoon in command of the Company Commander and made sure I sent the Platoon Commander off on a seperate task out of command range from the troops. This is one of many strong features in the game that make this game very special. H

Hi, This will need a test rig set up to prove it for sure and people prepared to run the tests long enough to statistically prove there is an issue. If there is, and if BTS do a future fix then it might be resolved. Until that time I am happy to live with the explanation's put forward by Moon. The game is not perfect and the fixes for CM2 and HMG's etc... will move it closer to perfection! But in the meantime I will explain away, things like this with "S*** Happens" and in future I should be more skillful at engaging my enemies with what little I have. Moon's explanations are ways for you to deal with the sad fact that not everything in life is controllable. While I am not prepared to run such tests I would hope some others with more time on their hands would do so, that way BTS can benefit and improve the code for CM2 if it truely requires changing. H

I have not yet played the previous suggestions but one I would play again and again and is really good 1st time blind is "Move it Or Lose it" by Moon or should that be Rune It has a really great balance with lots of tactics you can try. The first time blind with a mate or some one you can trust is awesome and it beats QB's any time. The map is well thought out and you can win with either side. I would be interested in your views on the stuff above as I am always on the look out for great scenarios for playing blind. Cheers H [ 07-06-2001: Message edited by: Holien ]

You have to always remember that once you see those "hidden markers" it means that was where the enemy was last seen. Now if you have them penned into a wood with good LOS all round the wood then open up with the Arty as you know they are truely in there and have not escaped. But if it is a rather large wood and plenty of ways to move out of the kill zone without you seeing then don't waste your ammo. The only way to see what if anything you killed is to send someone into the woods and have a look around or wait until the end when all will be revealed. But as for damage as has been previously mentioned yes it hurts the same. As long as there is someone there to hurt. H

Thanks Steve, As a lurker on this thread your response has answered all. Bits were boring yet many other posts taught me more intersting facts than I can remember. This one post from you has swung me from not buying the next release (I am not a real fan of the Russian front) to buying it because I want you guys to have my money. And I want to see these changes made for the WTO in a later release, or an update to CM. Cheers chaps H

Lee. H. 2 Pints of Abbot Ale and a Friday afternoon at a work place with internet access = Bad combination for work.

Damn... And I thought my tactic of joining B to avoid playing, but yet appear to be supporting the tournament has failed. But then again I might still avoid the humiliation of losing, if you all ignore this thread... Hmmm now if I say something naughty I might get this thread locked up... Hmmm I have a cunning plan. H Damn that pesky Paco [ 06-22-2001: Message edited by: Holien ]

Check if the unit is within Minimum or Maximum range. Look at stats for unit and see what it says. This should really be apparent as when plotting file it says "Out Of Range". If they really have LOS (or Command Radius) and the above is OK then there should be no problem. I should not have to mention this but what is there ammo status / morale status? Either of these could mean they might not fire. The final thing I can think of is if you are targeting a unit that the crew don't think they can damage. If this is the case the crew will decide not to fire. (It will show as targetted and then drop the target as the turn starts.) If you really want to target that unit, then target ground near it. This might get you a hit but if your crew are telling you that they will not damage it then it is better to target something else. This of course could mean you waste a whole salvo at a spot of ground where the unit was 5 seconds ago but the moves well away and you waste a lot of ammo on an empty spot of real estate. (Possibly pissing off a few rabbits or badgers?) H

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by PDVincit: Re: Ned Lud's Post You have a computer???!!! Why, when I was a young gamer, we didn't even have a computer! We had some rubbish, an old extension cord, some plastic soldiers. True, it wasn't very satisfying. I forget my point. Thank you.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Consider yourself Lucky!!! You lucky lucky lucky lucky bstrd. You had plastic!! Plastic I ask you!! We were so poor that we lived in a cardboard box and played soldiers with matchsticks my father had hand carved from the twigs of the trees in the local park. You young ones today don't know you were born!!! H [ 06-21-2001: Message edited by: Holien ] [ 06-21-2001: Message edited by: Holien ]

I have spent some time on that beach and others around Normandy and you have caught the spirit of it well. I can almost feel the mist from the spray of the waves against my face. I just wished that BTS could do some more interesting fortifications. A trench system is essential for the defenders on a battle set like this as they need to be able to traverse the battle front under cover to make up for there weaker numbers. This is getting close to my childhood memories of storming the beach with airfix commandos against the german plastic fortification set. The one with a trench system connected to a single gun. Was it a radar station? Anyway another round of applause for a truly talented artist... [ 06-20-2001: Message edited by: Holien ] [ 06-20-2001: Message edited by: Holien ]

Ahhh I love the power of the net and when I see discussions like this it makes me warm all over. (sad but true). The ability to talk directly to the man at the top and see this from anywhere in the world. This forum never ceases to amaze me. The knowledge gained from just browsing is fantastic. As for the magazine I used to be able to get it in the UK but the coverage in stores is slim and I only want to buy issues when I know it contains material relevant to me. I guess I will have to wait until it appears on the web. The modelling of sewers intrigues me and I hope it can be done in a sensible way without detriment to the game. (On past performance I should have no doubts about BTS ability to deliver, but sometimes people can go off boil... ) Cheers everyone keep talking... H

Hi, After seeing the article posted by the Swedish crew about a Games day for CM it got me thinking the UK players could do something similar. 1st Are any UK players interested in a Weekend CM gaming session? 2nd If so does anyone have any contacts at a Uni for allowing us use of their PC's? I would presume that people would pay a small fee to cover any rental charge made by the Uni? 3rd What format would people like to play? My suggestion would be a fixed time game with the players playing a map not seen before with pre selected forces. But detail like this could be arranged depending on peoples interest? Any interest? Any contacts or know how on how I can get a room full of PC's for players? H

To add weight to this. I have seen this and continue to see (before smoke billows) this happen in games. The latest was a MKIV opening up on Yanks in Bushes some distance away 500+. Rather than wiping the squad it fired smoke. As for buildings and the future I am inclined to issue orders to fire HE at the building or ground near the troops. I think when you do this it does not use smoke. It does mean that you are no targeting the unit directly but might produce the same effect. So don't target troops, target ground near them. H P.s. It would be a nice to have a fix but does not make the game unplayable so I guess people should get used to it...

Fantastic resource. Many thanks for sharing this with everyone. Pity CM does not model many different types of bunkers or trenches. I have walked the beach and I wish I had this map when I had. I think I shall go back with this in hand. Cheers H

Excellent Idea. I noticed some time ago a post for games down London way. Is there anyone who has access to the computers prepared to do something similar? I would love to meet some of the guys playing this game and have a nice social weekend / competition. I would help organise it if there was enough interest in the UK. Just need to persuade a company with the network and PC's that it would be a good thing to do. Any other like minded people out there? Sorry to Hijack the thread but it is a fantastic idea and I wanted to see if anyone else is doing anything similar? H