Jump to content

flyingcursor

Members
  • Posts

    54
  • Joined

  • Last visited

    Never

Everything posted by flyingcursor

  1. Last night I mentioned to my wife that I was getting online to order CMBB. She told me not to as she had ordered it for me for Christmas but I have to wait until then to get it. Can you believe the audacity? The gall? In an effort to whet my appetite I picked up two more books on the East Front and will reread the three I have already. BTW, though it's probably here somewhere (No I didn't search), where will we be able to upload our scenarios? I haven't written any new ones in a long time. The last ones I wrote a few months ago for CMBO were trashed when my hard drive died. No backups.
  2. I just finished re-reading 'Enemy at the Gates'. I got it at a thrift shop last week for 25 cents. While that book does mention the sniper duel it's main scope is the entire Stalingrad campaign. It is an excellent book. The movie of the same name does appear to focus on the famous snipers Zietsev (spelling?) and Throvald, which would be much more like the recent "War of the Rats." as Yarb indicated. Also a very good book.
  3. It's nice to hear from others what they do for these things. Like Disaster@work I like to manufacture scenario ideas based on the game itself many times since is is far more creative and less tedious. However I find a certain sense of satisfaction if a historical scenario as well. I am especially glad to hear that people like Aacooper has designed good historical scenarios with no more info then I have usually possessed in the attempt. BTW I have three new scenarios on TGN. Look for the ones by Rick Slater. My favorite is roadblock followed by Down the Draw.
  4. Thin Red Line (the last one) The first one was corny too but better. Battle of the Bulge. Deer Hunter. Not even a war movie. Richthofen and Brown. A really bad film from the '70's. Shudder. I've learned to accept the flaws in SPR. I liked it. Has anyone here ever seen a movie called "When Trumpets Fade"? It came out in Dec of '98. It's about some people from the 28th div in the Huertgen. I liked that very well. The only thing that bothered me was everyone was wearing their helmet liners backwards. I've never seen a photograph with them on backwards. Was this a pathetic attempt to make the soldiers look "cool" in a '90's kind of way?
  5. Thanks again Wild Bill. Just a joke about the flyingcursor thing. Anyway, I have 4 to tidy up then I'll get them out. fc
  6. I've seen that happen on other scenarios too. I noticed 80% + victory for the attacker. Then when they make contact and/or the flag ownership is revealed the victory drops to a more realistic level. I wonder if turning FOW off would show the actual value. Maybe it's because the victory flags still show a "?". ?
  7. I mentions the "letters from home" as a central theme. Hmmm. Watson you attack on the left with your letter from your brother. Slim is moody today because his cow won't milk so he's going to lie down in the woods. I'll drop letters down the chimney. I liked SAW too. Too bad I can't find my copy.
  8. wow. What a timely topic. I did that just last night. In this case it was to draw the tank fire from my tank. I had a single MkIV on a hill behind a wall and there were two shermans down below next to some tall pines. I sent two squads next to the tanks. They got chewed up pretty bad but the MkIV took out both Shermans without them knowing he was there. I have to agree. If I had lost my tanks I would have forfeited or tried close assaulting his until I was wiped out.
  9. Since this is waay off topic I will post the same on the BTS general discussion board and anyone interested can take it up there. The one thing that bothers me about forums is most of the people don't know each other. I would be nice to learn a little bit about the people behind the typing. My bit will be on the BTS general discussion board so we don't get locked for OT.
  10. Yes Company Commander is pretty good. I'm trying to find MacDonald's book on the Huertgen forest. Actually any book on that battle would be nice. Time for Trumpets was also good. I just picked up a paperback copy of Enemy at the Gates last Saturday from a local used bookstore. I too have been looking for that for a long time. I read it many moons ago.
  11. Most books have a slant of some type. No matter how objective the author, the sum of their own experience and culture will always filter into the writing in some way. However, "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" is chock full of political intrigue. B.H. Liddle Hart's "History of WWII" covers the whole war. It's a bit dry but very informative. I haven't read Keegan's book but he is usually a very good writer.
  12. Thought of some others. "In War's Dark Shadows". About pre-wwI Russia with a great description of the Sino-Soviet war of 1905. "War in the Shadows". A two volumn set on the history of guerrila and fifth-column warfare. That too was lost in the fire. "Men In Arms" An interesting look at the history of warfare from the viewpoint of how society effected the conduct of war vs the more traditional view of how war effected society. anything by Liddel Hart of course. Giap's book is of course essential to any understanding of Vietnam as well as other small conflicts. Keegan's History of war I agree. A very interesting viewpoint. Quentin Reynolds "They Fought for the Skys" More novels "The Blue Max" "The Goshawk Squadron." For the Trash heap: "The Canvas Falcons" too many inaccuracies. "Richtofen and Brown" Thumbs down. Some book I got at a garage sale "With Patton's Third Army" or something. Written by one of his higher officers. Way too much pontificating about how Patton could have won the war single handed and nobody else could do anything yeah yeah.
  13. I almost forgot 4 of the best; John Toland's "No Man's Land" about 1918, Tuchman "The Guns Of August", Toland "The Rising Sun" and Alexander Werth "Russia at War" And Donald Knox excellent 2 volumn oral history of the Korean war.
  14. "The Wars" was good. "Why the Allies Won." was pretty good. "Rumors of War" was one of the earliest books I read about Vietnam. I agree that Keegan's "Face of Battle" is a classic. Especially his Agincourt description. For the medieval times I thought "A Distant Mirror" by Tuchman was outstanding. For other era's I liked all of Shelby Foote for the American Civil War. "Too Far From God" is a good account of the US/Mexican war of 1846. There is also a great book called "The Boer War" (can't recall author) which I have read twice. Oh, and one of the best books ever about the Zulu war of 1876 is "The Washing of the Spears." "Napolean's Marshalls" would have been good but I never finished it since it was lost in a fire. Hopefully my wife will honor my xmas wish and get "The Campaigns of Napolean" for me. I like Michael Doubler's "Closing With the Enemy." Also on my list are: "Steel Inferno" about the 2nd Pz div in Normandy. Lots of scenario material. "Defeat Into Victory" Bill Slim. Good look at British ops in Burma. "Overlord" by Max Hastings. "Cross of Iron", "The Thin Red Line" and "The Naked and the Dead" are three of my favorite novels of WWII. My very favorite novel of WWII is "Sharks and Little Fish." I don't recall who wrote it and I don't have it any more. It is a tremendous tale of a German sailor on a minesweeper and later a U-boat. There's also "The Killer Angels" by Shaara and the one by his son which covers the final days of the American Civil war. I'd like to know if anyone has heard of a book I read some time ago. It was about the British retreat down the Malay penninsula. It was a novel and very excellent. Any ideas?
  15. Keith, I'll do that. Maybe I should upload mine there as well.
  16. Does anyone have any suggestions for material on British operations in Europe after Market Garden? I'm having a little trouble finding anything other then "Bounce The Rhine" which is pretty good. Also, I've found very little on southern France offensives.
  17. Cav, I didn't say I didn't care about the topic. It's an excellent topic. One I've given a lot of thought to. Unfortunatly on every forum I've been on these kinds of valid questions always degenerate when other people get angry. Anyway I would like to read this book. Does anyone know how it compares to Overy or "Closing With the Enemy?" As for the original topic. I never felt an inferiority complex toward the US. If I had believed everything I heard as a kid I would have thought the US single handedly won the war and Britian and USSR helped. Gladly I found out how false that was! ------------------ "Both sides agree not to bomb civilians" - Washington Post, Sept 3, 1939
  18. Currently my favorite is 'When Trumpet's Fade'. I had never heard of it until last weekend. Watched it 3 times. Others Cross of Iron, The Naked and the Dead. Didn't like Thin Red Line because it just doesn't do justice to the book.
  19. Wait a minute 82nd. Are you implying Hollywood lied? And yes, Lorak, since VH1 had nothing better to watch I decided to watch a bit more of the movie. You are right. No wonder the US fled in terror. How could you resist the might of a devestating Sherman/Tiger attack.
  20. Because of this infernal game I have been unable to satisfy my craving for other representations of WWII combat. Books, movies etc. Tonight I rented "Battle of the Bulge". I hadn't seen it since I was a kid so I figured it would be entertaining at the least. Well this movie has set me straight on a lot of facts we all have missed: 1) The Germans used nothing but Tiger tanks during the Ardennes offensive. 2) A tank with blown treads can still move, even in deep snow. 3) Tigers can knock over big trees. 4) Tigers can move through even the most dense forests. 5) The Germans never used infantry during the Ardennes offensive. 6) US Army Majors were platoon leaders. 7) A grenade thrown into a tank hatch will not cause blood loss, nor knock off a person's cap. 8) An 88mm shell will not tear clothing. Of course I was so overwhelmed by how false my previous beliefs had been I had to shut the movie off and let you all know how wrong we've been all this time. I hope I can still play a game that obviously goes against Hollywood.
  21. Thanks Wild Bill Having played many of your teams scenarios for various games I often wondered if maybe someone went back in time for the missing pieces. I never thought anyone would accept the "feel of the battle" concept. I'd hear roars of "Hey! Wittman's tank was 20 meters further south when that battle started!" I had once mentioned on the TOAW forum using a principle of "relative strength" vs "actual number of rifle squads and trucks" to achieve the effect and was chastised. That will teach me to listen to chastisement. BTW it's "flyingcursor" one word. My full name are "Cannot find email name someone else has not used so I use flyingcursor" ------------------ "Both sides agree not to bomb civilians" - Washington Post, Sept 3, 1939
  22. Another soon to be locked thread. Every nation suffered and gave so why sit and worry about who did more of what? ------------------ "Both sides agree not to bomb civilians" - Washington Post, Sept 3, 1939
  23. Steve P, Me too. sometimes it is just fun to set up a one sided slaughterfest to take the edge of a busy day. sigh.
×
×
  • Create New...