WWB

The hard drive way is the quickest way, if there is alot of data involved (more than 2 GB). If you are going to keep both computers and want to share the internet conneciton, getting one of those LinkSys DSL Router/Firewalls is a great idea and you can transfer the stuff over a LAN. Failing either of those methods, you can buy what is known as a crossover cable, which will allow you to directly connect 2 computers without use of a hub. WWB

One thing to keep in mind WRT russian night attacks (really infiltrations) is that the German front line was far from solid. It was closer to a string of strongpoints, with some zones in between covered by firepower (ie mortars, MGs). Meaning that, in daylight, the Russians would probably pay dearly for trying to slice through the line, but at night, they might well be able to get through under the proverbial radar. Which makes night attacks alot more useful than they would have been on the more compressed western front. WWB

Also, it needs to be in the lowest-lettered CD-Rom drive, should you have multiple optical storage solutions. WWB

Charlie: This is taken into account. The SMG squads take a firepower hit at close range, when it is assumed that the MG's assistants, with the SMGs, are shooting rather than feeding. WWB

1) Motorized Panzergrenadiers (10 man squads) were theoretically mounted in trucks, for strategic & operational transport. In reality, most units were at least significantly short, if not entirely lacking, motorized transport. And even if they did have motorized transport, you had better believe that the Grenadiers walked, rather than rode, into battle. Risking assets as precious as trucks was cause for being shot in some armies. They might well be a waste in CM, but when one have to move hundreds of tons of supplies every just to keep your men fed, one understand just how valuable they are. 2) Armored Pz Grenadiers (8 man squads, come with 250/1 HTs in CM) did ride their transport much closer to battle. But the doctorine still prescribed that the HTs were there to allow semi-protected infantry to move with the tanks operationally, and it still was expected for them to fight mainly on foot, while the transport hid or at best provided long-range fire support. Losing the halftracks meant losing operational mobility. And the loss of that ability made Panzergrenadiers little more than regular infantry with a higher proportion of automatic weapons. WWB

Yeah, CMBO has definitely spoiled me. One thing you rarely see on this tech forum: complaints that the game locks up randomly. Other tech boards seem to have that complaint as the main emphasis. Keep up the great work Charles. WWB

Go for a 32mb TNT2 PCI. Still faster than the CPU, and much cheaper. WWB

It would be very realistic to stack AP and AT mines. Aside from daisy chain AT mines, it was very rare to see one without the other. The AP mines hinder the removal of the AT mines, which is relatively easy. WWB

More than 2 players is not possible with the current engine, under any circumstances. WWB

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Rex_Bellator: Can anyone advise if there is a hassle free firewall available which doesn't interfere with online gaming?<hr></blockquote> Security and hassle-free are mutually exclusive. In fact, the biggest enemy of security is outright laziness (shared, guessable passwords, failing to turn off services, permenantly patching holes thru firewalls, etc.) Decent security means one has to jump thru some hoops to do things they like to do, like internet gaming. That said, ZoneAlarm would be a good fit for you. It will not lock your computer down like Fort Knox but it will provide passable protection, and at least keep the script kiddies out. Anyone running 2000 or XP who do not need to use file sharing should disable the 'Server' service as well. As far as HW firewall/routers go, go for the Linksys line. They are very, very well done devices and relatively easy to use. WWB

I just realized the tax nightmare BTS must have. 5 employees in 3 countries. Some accounting firm must be making a mint. WWB

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by manchildstein II: first of all, even in small battles, it appears to me that the ai on the attack always leads with tanks. this would be fine if they were portraying an armored breakthough and tried to move fast through the enemy, but the ai's tanks generally move normally or hunt, with the infantry _behind_ them. this tends to lead to the tanks getting chewed and the infantry then attempting to finish the attack without tank support. [snip] the victory flags need to be generic, and the scenario designer able to set their point value. if the coding were done so the ai took its cues from 'scenario designer input' then this game would really rock! <hr></blockquote> It appears the AI leads with tanks, but it is really the AI leads with the fastest unit avaliable. Actually, it is more like the AI moves forward like a horde lemmings and tanks happen to be faster than infantry. Damn good point on the flags. That might well do wonders to get the AI following the proverbial 'trail of breadcrumbs.' WWB

Congradulations Moon, it could not have happened to a better guy. Ave Caesar! WWB

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Sgt_Kelly: . . . 2. The possibility of reinforcements. Zero in QB's, bugged in TCP/IP (the AFV cloning phenomenon) <hr></blockquote> What bug? I have done alot of TCP with lots of AFV reinforcements and never seen them cloned. WWB

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Captain Wacky: If I can live without a firewall, why can't they?<hr></blockquote> Hehe. Someone in russia probably read that on their SubSeven trojan logging your keystrokes and started laughing hysterically. As has been pointed out, ZoneAlarm is free and easy, and actually provides half-decent protection. As has also been pointed out, the best 'free' solution it to dredge up an old 486, install linux, and run that as a firewall. You can do amazing things, if you know what you are doing. Place no faith in the WindowsXP embedded firewall, that is just waiting to be broken and is badly designed to begin with. WWB

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Dirtweasle: I also have a private IP scheme (some combination of NAT and DHCP) with my DSL set-up from my ISP. I have heard there is a way to change the settings on my DSL router/modem, to let the public IP address be usable, for lack of a better word, but have not figured out how or if it is advisable. To date I have not had a problem joining TCP/IP games as you say, but am wondering too when I will play someoene that has the same issues, what to do. This might be a better topic on the "Tech Support" section, but if anyone has any ideas let me know please.<hr></blockquote> Uh, if you have a router/firewall running then you probably have a public IP, but your computers are on a private network (run by your router/firewall). Try www.whatismyip.com and see what it tells you. WWB

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Captain Wacky: Can't you just turn the firewall off?<hr></blockquote> Never, ever turn your firewall off. But if you have one, you should know how to configure it, because a default firewall is a bad firewall. If you can't figure out how to configure it enough to patch thru one port from one IP address, then you probably should not be on the internet in the first place. NetAdmin has spoken. WWB

Holdit, thanks for the review. Nice to know that someone actually looks at that darned thing. WWB

Begin Shameless Plug Check out Steckenroth Roadblock, avaliable at the depot. An operation I designed specifically for multiplayer, 3 battles x 15 turns. I might add that the reviews have been generally rave. End Shameless Plug WWB

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Runyan99: I read "In Deadly Combat" by Biedermann, who served on a PaK crew during Barbarossa. They not only had rifles and SMGs, they also had a light MG-34 in their Chenilette tractor, and when the PaK was set up, one guy was firing that machinegun also. So when the PaK was up and firing, they also had the support of 1 MG-34, a couple of rifles, and an SMG or two. I imagine this was pretty common practice. BTS knows that weapons crews had small arms. They have the TO&Es. I imagine that not including them is a limitation of the current CM engine. If not, I would like to see it included in CMBB, or at the very least with the rewrite at CMII. Consider this egregious example from my early days of playing CM PBEM: My bazooka team, carefully hidden, got a shot off at my opponent's Panther as it drove by their position, and knocked the Panther out. The crew then baled out of the Panther, and sought cover in the nearby house that my bazooka crew was in. My bazooka crew was unable to defend itself from the Panther crew (having no rifles or pistols) and were killed by the panzer crew!<hr></blockquote> If you notice in CMBO, the units that come with a PAK platoon, it includes in LMG42 for each ATG. I usually buy them one when I make scenarios as well. WWB

Not quite redwolf. What I mean is keep the current points counting in place, but make it completely invisible to the end user. You would get a "Minor Victory" but you would not worry about the difference between 57 and 59 points. WWB

Damn Skippy Berli. This whole debate makes me wonder if numerical scores are a good idea at all. The world could definitely get along on victory levels alone, and people would not bitch about getting 3 more VPs. WWB

Did you take a long vacation Treeburst. I have to force 2x FSAA using the 15.70 drivers to get CM to work without corruption. In fact, the curring Win2000/XP solution for getting CM to run depends on 2 or 4x FSAA under a variety of nVidia drivers. WWB [ 01-17-2002: Message edited by: wwb_99 ]</p>

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Big Time Software: P.S. FTs themselves will be quite rare in CMBB with Rarity on, so I suggest playing with such an option and you will likely not have to worry about quite a few of the units you have mentioned. <hr></blockquote> Steve, Are we going to get the option to purchase Engineer units without FT teams in CMBB? I suspect this would be more realistic than the current system, at least for the Germans. There is pretty clear evidence that they kept their FTs handy, but ony brought them out on special occasions. I am not nearly as familiar with the Soviet situation, first-hand accounts are rarer and Zaloga fails to mention flamethrowers in his otherwise detailed TO&Es. WWB

Well, I have the same card, and it is working perfectly in windows 2000 using the 15.70 WHQL drivers with 2x FSAA forced. Others find that the 23.10 or .11s work for them. Check out Guru3d for driver downloads. WWB