Roborat

I was out wandering the wilderness and heard a voice telling me it was time to return. I was completed floored to discover that this thread was still running. Then I discovered why I was called back, one of the Originals had made the transition to live with the gods. So long Berli, I know I didn't know you well, however I do remember drawing your ire for something, I no longer remember what, doesn't matter. Holy crap, just looked in my profile, and discovered it has been 13 years since I posted last. I have no idea what happened, life I guess. I know most of you won't remember me, and I don't really care. Hopefully it won't be 13 years until I post again. My gaming interests are changing, and I think I will be getting back into one of the versions of this game, I own Normandy, but some of the new ones look interesting.

1979 joined Canadain Military as Officer Cadet, destined to join the Navy, soon came to my senses and quit after finishing basic officer training and get a degree in Civil Engineering. 1997 Other people having their mid life crisis buy a sports car or have an affair, I, however, Join the Army Reserve. More specifically, the Artillery, 20 Fld in Edmonton, Alberta as a Private. I discover that for some reason they won't accept my basic training from 18 years ago as valid, and I have to go through it all again. Now currently a Bombadier (Corporal), qualified as 2IC on a gun, and Recce and Command Post technician. And am probably the only person in the army only qualified to drive an Iltis, and nothing else; which is really useful when our main vehicle is a gun tractor.

Hello all, just a note from the original ronin squire, and long errant knnnniiiggggitt. I just thought you might be wondering where I have gotten too... . . . . .... what, you haven't been wondering? well too bad, I'm going to tell you anyway. I have been busy flying the Cesspool "flag", or whatever that thing is, in the not so friendly skies of IL-2 as a founding member of the Cess Patrol. I have recently picked up CMAK and am removing the rust from my CM skills, mainly as I can play some of the Canadian battles, so I may be inspired to spend more time out of the cockpit, but my main interest is still IL-2. The aerial branch of the pool is still upholding the anti-grog tradition, and annoying everyone else in the forums, although I must regretfully say that some of them actually manage to get their plane off the ground on occasion, I guess after two years of practice something has to stick. Not many of the original bunch left, mostly me and Lorak, although Rune and Harv show up on occasion, and I think I saw Mace a while back. I'm sure there are a few others, but I can't be bothered to remember who. The newer Cess patrol members do understand the cesspool creed, and even if they haven't played CM, they manage to live up to the proud tradition and spirit of the 'Pool. Now, I see Dorosh is still his annoying, prolific self (amazing post total, by the way, is anyone else higher?). And as I am the one person in the pool who has a somewhat reasonable chance of seeing him in person, if we both happen to be out playing army in Wainwright at the same time, I was wondering what it would be worth to certain idividuals if I was to arrange perhaps a little "accident" to happen when he is driving his Iltis, or whatever the army is letting him drive these days. Make it worth my while and I will see what I can do . (obligatory smilie to piss of the almightly Peng). And I must say it is good to see the Lady Kitty has returned, she was a leading light in the original pool, and I did miss her so, good to see her back. Well, I am off, I will leave you newcomers to wondering who the heck that was, and leave it to the oldtimers to explain it to them (hah, like they will care, or even remember). Yours, Sir Roborat, the first Canadian into the Pool. Hopefully it won't be another year before I post again. Oh, almost forgot, sod off to you all.

Nah, they are just happy to see you

I was surprised to see a copy of Combat Mission II in the local Compu-Smart store in Edmonton, Alberta today. It appeared to be the same version as is sold retail in Europe, complete with a German (I think) website reference. I though it was sold by mail order only in North America. (Not that it made any difference to me, it may have been $10 Canadian cheaper, but it doesn't have the printed manual. Is the store allowed to do this, or are they sneaking in the European release version? I have noticed that they do occasionally get in Europoean games, and European versions of games.

Well, finally the forum is back up. Yes, Mace I know you are way higher in the CMBB bragging ladder than I am, but if you are too dim to take advantage of that fact, that's your fault. I however, plan to milk it for all it's worth. To Panzer Slayer , yes I noticed the missing spare, it was on the model, I don't know why they left it off. And for whoever was complaining about there 222 blowing up on them, that was the secret "feature" I incorporated into the paint, invisible to the eye, but the scanner would interpret as code and become incorporated into the 3D model. Then, when it detected a useless pillock type attempting to use the model, would spontaneously explode. I am glad to see it working so well. Be warned however, that it is programmed to spread to other armoured units, so you will soon be unable to so much as touch anything with wheels.

Well, all you weasel excrement sniffers, I am back. And don't pretend that you noticed or cared that I was gone, 'cause I know better than that. And what is with all these SSNs, squires and knights running around that I have never heard of? What happened to the crowd control? I go off on a knightly crusade and when I return, it looks like a Twilight Zone episode of the Mickey Mouse club, unfortunately with Roseanne, not Annette, in the tight sweater. Too all those who I was playing back in April (May??, I can't remember), if you so desire, and still have the files, we can pick up where we left off (generally me getting spanked), or not, your choice. I remember I was playing speedy , but I cannot remember who else was on my dance card. Take this advice to heart. NEVER, and I mean NEVER, try to upgrade both computers at the same time. It took me four months to get everything sorted out and convince either machine to see the hard drive that held CM, and then much further work just to get the game to run without spontaneously crashing. My copy of CMBB finally arrived Oct. 3, and thanks to Battlefront's customs gift declaration and 5 dollar value, the Canadian government didn't take any more money from me, thanks guys. I haven't been able to play much yet, what with getting sent to Wainwright for the weekend to freeze most of my extremeties off. Saturday started with three inches of wet snow on the ground and it went downhill from there (Dorosh will get this, some others will too, ask around if you need some 'splaining). I have installed it to verify that I don't have the problems others are reporting, and I am starting to learn the ins and outs of the new game. I see that I am going to have to find new ways to get my men slaughtered, as the old ways just don't work as effectively anymore. And guess what??? my name is in the manual (superiority dance mode on). That's right, I have been immortalized as having done my small part to help with the bestest game ever . And I didn't send in one of those boring tank models either, everytime you use a 222 armoured car, you are using my model. So you may now bask in some small shadow of my reflected glory. Go on, go out and show your friends (all three of them, only two of which are imaginary) my name in the manual, and tell them that you actually know someone in the credits. Autographs are available in the lobby at modest cost, and if you ask nice, I might condescend to sign you copy of the manual (superiority dance mode off). Well, I'm off again to that other branch of the pool, just wanted to rub it in a little.

Well, all you fellow Canadian CM types, you can now kick my ass on both fronts now. My copy arrived on October 3, in Leduc, Alberta (look at a map). I particularly liked that $5 value and gift declaration, it got my copy through the customs gauntlet unscathed, Thanks Battlefront. I guess I should have ordered Tacops4 at the same time, but I am still hoping the Army buys copies so I can get it that way (I'm such a cheap b*****d sometimes). Unfortunately I had to go to Wainwright to freeze my ass off this weekend, and haven't had any time to play it, but I did install it with no problems, so I guess I avoided that potential headache. Hey Harv, send up setup, if you are so inclined.

What!! we don't get a free copy of the game?? (just kidding, ...sort of)

For Canadian shipments, the only charge should be the 7% GST on the stated value, after converting to Canadian funds, and a $5.00 handling fee, the way it was explained to me. There no longer is duty on computer software or hardware, one of the few good things that came of the free trade agreement. As I remember, Combat Mission slipped through with no charges at all. Although I have had the odd computer magazine with demo cd get flagged and charged extra, but a letter gets the money refunded.

To be or not to be, that is the question, whether 'till better to suffer the drivel and inanity of SSN posters, or to squash them like a bug, that is the question. Hey Speedy , I saw your post in the last thread, what were you doing to get the illegal message?, you have a current email from our game, don't you??. Or perhaps it was just your typical Down under ISP cockup, remember, you don't need to attached stamps to your screen to send an email. Just to stay current, I updated my email in the profile here, in case that triggered your problem. To stay in character, you all are potty heads, and your mother dresses you funny. And Llleeeooo ( I wasn't sure of the number of letters required, I trust this covers it). Where is our rematch? I promise I will buy some armour this time.

What is wrong with you idiots??? There is no such thing as good British science fiction, particularly that stupid Dr. Noclue series. Anytime I felt the urge to see poor acting and terrible special effects, I would watch an episode of Thunderbirds, or whatever that cheesy puppetmation space show was called, the name escapes me as my brain deliberately expelled that knowledge years ago. Besides, everybody knows that Red Dwarf was the only good british SciFi series. And as for Star Drek, you are all wrong! I have only one name for you: Captain Pike, the best captain, hands down, of any of the various series, including the cartoon, as he died almost immediately. The rest should have taken their cue from that.

Yeah, I've fired the C9 from the hip too, it's great fun, much more so than argueing about bren gun tripods . Unfortunately for some reason they wouldn't let me wear the Rambo bandana, I had to keep my helmet on, nattered something about safety....

Well, I work with concrete all the time, and there is no way that pillbox is concrete. Essentially, concrete is no good in tension, that is what the rebar is far. Shell impacts would not look like that, the concrete would have cracked and shattered into little pieces, not show the ductile failure in the photo. Steel possibly, concrete, no.

Allright!!! Just perusing the pool, and I noticed that poolers initiated the top three posts. Grog olympic honours to the pool (Mace) and Croda, with another old Croda squeaking in for the Bronze. [ February 28, 2002, 01:51 AM: Message edited by: Roborat ]

Wow, does that mean that the cesspool can finally stop moving every 300 posts, and go back to the good old days, when we could say around for a month or so??????????????????? (deep breath) ?????????

What was the relationship between William Alfred Bragg and William Lawrence Bragg and the Canadian Corps in WWI pray tell ? Edward</font>

Fascinating thread(s) all, lots of neat math stuff being thrown about, (starting to have flashbacks on my university math courses, not good). Just one question though, is anyone interested in how it is/was done in real life?? I am going from memory here, from some gunnery lectures, and I am not an arty officer, who are taught this stuff, but one of the officers in my unit has an interest in sound ranging tech and history, and I can check with him on particulars if desired. What I remember is that about 6 to 12 microphones are used, and I think I remember something about them being placed in an arc, rather than a straight line. This technology was developed by us (Canadians) in WWI, and by WWII, the technique was fine tuned and quite accurate. We were, and apparently still are, leaders in this field. Someone posted something about solutions being good to 25 metres, I'm not sure on this, but it sounds about right. I know that in modern conditions, by the third round fired, the other side has the firing location of a gun pinpointed, hence the modern shoot and scoot doctrine. I also remember something about the process used to do the calculations being classified, but again I am going from memory. One anecdotal story I got, modern times, (from the officer referenced above in his lecture) was him being out with a sound ranging unit on an arty range (in Gagetown,I think, may have been Wainwright). A US arty unit was up shooting and the ranging crew were practicing by tracking their shots. Anyway, they fired a winger, and the radiowaves were suddenly full of P.O.'ed officers yelling back and forth trying to determine who fired the errant round. The C.O. of the ranging unit came on, and informed them that it was the xth gun which had fired the bad round, and that it had fired yth in that barrage. (I can't remember the exact particulars, so I am not citing the exact sequence). Apparently they had this information almost simultaneously with the winger landing. So if there is any interest, I can try and dig up more info on this, but it may take a while. I am sure, however, that there are others here who already have that this info and might chime in (hint, hint).

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by panzerwerfer42: It'll probably be around until ammunition evolves into something other than conventional bullets.<hr></blockquote> Except in the Canadian Army, where the powers-that-be have decided that it is "inhumane"(?!?!) to shoot people with them, so they are being phased out. Got to be one of the dumbest things I have ever heard. Of course, these are that same people who retired the Chinook helicopter, but kept those geriatric Sea Kings around.

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Leeo: <big>Yappy Hew Near</big> to all, and to all a Good Night!<hr></blockquote> I second that sentiment (or is it Good knight... whatever turns your crank I guess) And leeo, your yankee bastagis have to run out of ammo eventually, or maybe fuel for those ronsons, then you are definitely in for it, just you wait.

I've always considered the Mosquito to be the best looking WWII aircraft.

Greetings and best wishes for the holiday season from the depths of northern Canada (redundant statement, I know) on the longest night of the year. Congrats MrSpkr, that has to be, without a doubt, the most inspired and artistic posting of the rules I have ever seen. It, alone, made wading through the last four incarnations of the mbt worthwhile. Kudos to you (looks in pocket) here's three, it's all I have. Hiram, it's good to have you back, and Croda, you (almost) replace the venom and vitriol of the awol Meeks, a quality sorely missing from the 'pool lately. For what it's worth, my inclination is to punt the rusty fryguy. I apparently have more tolerance than most, must come from being in nearly constant state of hypothermia, but even I cannot take it anymore, he takes annoying into heretofore uncharted and frightening dimensions. For game updates Lleeoo and I are still battling it out, my strategy is to keep giving him targets until his tanks run out of ammo, so far, so good. Also gave him a nasty surprise in the far right corner, where the edge hugging gamey bugger discovered what a simultanous armour ambush and artillery barrage can do to some unescorted armoured cars and tracks trapped in some woods.

Hey SHAW, you must be slipping, that one only caused minor damage to my monitor, and my protective shields were able to handle the visual onslaught, only being reduced to 30% of full capacity.

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by gaffertape: Hey, Roborat - I'll bite. Do the last four locations contain military bases? GAFF [ 11-28-2001: Message edited by: gaffertape ]<hr></blockquote> And the gaffer nails it first try. Yes, they are all airforce bases, my dad was a fighter jock, so needless to say we moved a lot, on average, about every two years, if I include internal moves, such as Ottawa, where we moved three times in three years.