WWB

Nothing to do with map size or points. It is all about unit counts, including possible reinforcements (eg low percentage or conditional in operations) and fortifications. In case of operation it counts all troops over the course of the fighting, so they all end up being huge given enough battles. Examples: 1) 5000 point battle featuring 8 panthers vs 8 T34s: Tiny, only 16 units. 2) 3000 point battle featuring 2 conscript battalions per side: large, many units. 3) Defensive scenario with 130 trench tiles, 50 barbed wire tiles, and 1 company holding it all: large, many units. Etc, etc. WWB

Look at the casualty setting, it sounds like you have it set to random. WWB

IIRC it was rainy or snowy and muddy. You might want to check out Carrell's Scortched Earth. While he was a nazi, and should not be entirely relied upon, he does have a fairly detailed account of the battle. WWB

I would say the operation front line determining code is vastly improved from CMBO, especially for assault and static operations. You can now get isolated strongpoints cut off in a relatively realistic manner. The defender is not invariably pushed back. If you can write code that will reliably determine front lines from all angles in all cases then do it and send it to BFC. In addition, I think your understanding of the nature of tactical vs operational combat is flawed. Many of the operations were encirclement battles. Of course, said operations involved entire corps or armies and are far beyond the scale of CM. Given that you cant really do a map much wider than 3.5 km with enough depth to work, I cannot think of any battle of encirclement that took place on that small a front. I can think of alot of breakthrough operations in order to create pockets which did occour on that scale. These operations would be linear, much like your normal CM operation. If you want to do encirclement operations, you really need to look at a different scale of wargame. WWB

Sounds like you need to upgrade DirectX. Unfortunately, the current versions of DirectX (9.0) do not work with Windows95. The last one which would work was DirectX 8.0a, which can be downloaded from Microsoft. Downloading and installing directX should address the issue. WWB

In ops it is tough to keep the numbers of troops down due to the number of permutations and the inability of the designer to force withdrawls. Anyhow, I did the small op on the cd--Dergratschi Roadblock, which is about as manageable as one can get in that medium. Andreas did a number of excellent small scenarios for the CD-Cemetery Hill comes to mind, and there are several others. Hill 312 is also entertaining. For a combined arms assault, check out A Morning at the Zoo. I also reccomend visiting the scenario depot (see first link in the sig). There are a number of well regarded smaller battles there. WWB

1) 50% IIRC. 2) Good question. WWB

Nice battle . . . WWB

You can run ZA and keep CM going. You need to give it access and server rights. To host a game, you need to put your opponent's IP into the trusted zone. To join a game, all that is required is giving the program permissions. ZA is a very nice program, I use it myself when necessary. WWB

Radeons are fine all around cards by now. They do not show fog in CM due to the method charles used to make it. GeForce4s can handle photoshop very well too. At least they do for me. If you must get fog in CM, nVidia is the way to go. WWB

Ok, I suspect your problem has to do with the SiS integrated graphics. Which chipset is it exactly--530, 630 etc. Some can do CM, others really have issues. You might want to consider an aftermarket video card. If you do, the big question becomes if your motherboard has an AGP slot. WWB

1) The only space issue I care about is what yahoo counts against my limit, which is the actual size of the zip file--NOT the inflated SMTP converted number. 2) When uploading, at least for the web-based, you are just uploading the straight text or binary. Zip files are smaller (at least for turns over a few hundred kb). 3) If I have broadband, why do I care about a 10% shift in file size? Especially given most connections are still unmetered. And I really have no reason to care about disk space on my ISP's servers. As for local storage it is pretty immaterial. With the smallest currently avaliable drives weighing in at 40gb or so you can afford alot of data file infation before it actually effects anything. 4) Note that some ISPs actually block sending through off-network mail servers. I know earthlink did this as of 2 months ago, and I have heard of others doing this. So, while you are technically correct, it is pretty immaterial. Zip em if you have to folks. As for Zip in CM, I would not mind seeing it so long as it could be done for free. I dont want to pay $5 more to save 2 clicks. Nor do I want to lose a few features to help the lazy. WWB

Redwolf, Do you understand what a PITA changing mail and/or ISP is. I am suffering through a forced ISP switch (thank DirecTV). I have been offline for 3 weeks now. Changing email address is more of a nightmare. How many people do you need to contact. How many will fail to update thier address book and will lose contact? What about everything tied to my trusty old email account? Other thing is, depending on provider, the zip is not charged at the increased capacity. This is definitely true with Yahoo Mail. Files are counted according to thier on-disk size, not after SMTP encoding. WWB

As I understand things, part of the reason such tools were left out was a design consideration. The player already has too much information avaliable given the god-like view and adjustable camera. Giving LOS circles and such out would just multiply this unnatural advantage. WWB

What graphics card? What drivers? What version of DirectX? WWB

I have been running win2000 and CMxx on several boxes with no similar issues. Is this an upgraded NT4 install? Then you are probably running NTFS4 which might be the issue. Do you have a different physical disk drive? If so, try copying CMBB to that drive and playing it off there. Also, try saving the game manually--rather than relying on the autosave. It would be interesting to know if it can save successfully. WWB

But does the avaliable zip-writing code allow you to redistribute it as part of a commercial application for profit? Not that making zip files is all that difficult anymore--right click and you are done with it. Right click again to send. WWB

I would have loved to see more control over the weather to do historical. As for airpower showing at night due to reinforcement type, simple answer is always lock it in. The way airpower is handled in CMBB it really should not be that cruical to a given battle anyhow. It can be devastating. It can be nearly non-existant. Or it can drop a 1000kg bomb on your own tank platoon. In any case, it is too much of an X factor at times. WWB

Just to reiterate--If you need a mroe reliable email account, drop me an email. It will probably be monday or so before I can get it setup, but who would not want to have a 3dwargamer.net email addy? WWB

CMBB will not connect thru the XP firewall. It does work through Zone Alarm. Joining is easy--just let the program pass thru and act as server. Hosting is a bit more involved--you need the other guy's IP and to add them to the "trusted zone" to get a connection. All this will go on the 3dWargamer's CM tech section as soon as I get my new DSL up and running. WWB

Retrograde Movement and Raging Bulls have just been posted to the depot. I also posted my operations from the CD in the process. Go forth and review my scenario-junkie minions. WWB

You need to have the first turn or so handy to do a switch. Then just start a QB, set it to 100 points or so and buy one sniper each. Start the game and you can play the same thing on different sides. WWB

Decent assumption, but in CM main armament damage also takes out the coaxial MG, which happens to be the only other option in the 222. WWB

Hehe redwolf, still remember that game eh. One big thing has been missed in this discussion. Trenches are great at holding out against Arty. They are not nearly as much protection against direct fire HE. Start tossing 75mm or better shells at a unit in one and it will break. WWB

Or maybe people should learn how to use it effectively. There is one generally faulty calculation floating about this thread--worthwhileness of arty is just measured in point value of units destroyed. Arty can do alot more than destroy units. It can provide key smoke screens, destroying nothing but LOS. A few well placed shells can destroy the key ATG that is delaying your advance. Or it can inflict a few casualties and shatter the morale of an advancing company. And those are but a few examples. There is alot more to the usefulness of arty than simple destruction-per-shell calculations. WWB