Chek

Personally I'm loving the Bocage. I've found I only need to micro manage vehicles if i'm moving them long distances,which of course in Bocage is never. The Rhino's are so much fun,a great bit of American ingenuity which must have giving the Germans quite a fright.You can't help but admire their effective simplicity.

I have noticed those Shermans come rushing over that hill,down a long forward slope,in the face of a very experienced Panther crew at 800 metres and closing... ...well i mean you know,it don't matter how many shots it takes those puppies are toast. I haven't played the US side yet but i sure as hell won't be doing that.

Yep very well done.The universe is once more in balance.

Love it very much in the spirit of the Panzer greats

Had no problems with mortars. I suspect though that if you have incoming in say 3 minutes and smoke/dust obscures the spotters view say 2 minutes out then obviously he would be unable to see the spotting rounds and consequently cannot make adjustments. I learnt this in CMBB and CMAK where this very thing would occur,in the desert with all that dust it could become quite tricky getting rounds on target.

Me Grand Pappy and his brothers all WW2 veterans said the worst thing were the little mortars.You know they are close enough to see you,are almost impossible to see,can be quickly moved somewhere else and"ya never hear the f****n little buggers falling".

Superb job very well done. Completely engaging. You can almost feel the troops hearts sinking as the first shots ring out.

2 hours into it with an hour to go untill i can admire the leafy normandy scenery

Damnit i gotta take my daughter to netball practice. But it should be waiting on my desktop when i get back

Downloaded the shock force demo,scrounged up a copy of XP and fired up boot camp to acquaint my self with the interface. Damnit I'm gonna have to buy shock force as well.

Just upgraded to snow leopard. Cleared space on my hard drive. Cancelling all appointments. I'm ready I'm ready I'm ready

A very immature 47

Nothing yet for this antipodean. I should add I work for NZ post and with the tripling of mail volumes around the festive season and tempers fraying due to having to extricate oneself from the daily mountain of mail,I am feeling decidely nervous. Still as we say in these here parts, She'll be right mate and it won't happen to me.

After viewing 8th Armies dispositions Montgomery took command prematurely,much to "The Auch's" chagrin. One of the first things he did was to reinforce the Alam Halfa position(then occupied by not much more than a company of Infantry)and sack a whole lot of "Auch's" chronies.The next thing he did was to abandon the Brigade boxes and Jock columns and concentrate into divisional formations,sticking one onto Alam Halfa(if memory serves it was the then newly arrived 50th),along with what little armour he had.He extended the minefields and shifted 8th army HQ to the coast,right next to the Desert Air Force HQ. When the inevitable attack came "The Auch's"(a WW1 General if ever there was one) plan was to fall back and break up into battle groups attempting to engage the enemy in a mobile cavalry like battle.Orders regarding what the various units were to do were vague to say the least.There were no definite objectives layed out and the impression is given of not really knowing what was to be done. In contrast Montgomery issued very definite orders as to what was required of those now under his command and that is they were to stand firm.No matter what the cost there would be no retreat.To emphasise this he had all transport removed far to the rear. Montgomery realised two very important points which had eluded "The Auk". 1)The British were crap at conducting mobile armoured warfare and to attempt to do so against probably the finest the world has ever seen was suicide. 2)The importance of Alam Halfa as it overlooked the only road in the desert. When the battle began Rommel dove into what he thought was empty desert only to find it thoroughly mined(a couple of weeks before it hadn't been,or not as thoroughly).Whilst struggling through the minefields the Desert Air force turned up and thoroughly pounded the Axis virtually without let up for the entirety of the battle. Finally Rommel's depleted forces made it through the mines.Realising he now lacked the strength to cut deep behind Allied lines he focused his attention on the perfectly prepared Alam Halfa.Naturally he expected the British armour to do what it had always done and come charging at them.However the British "cavalry" was under strict instructions to stay put and use there guns,the tanks of course being the remainder from the first batch of Grants.Staying put irked "the chaps" somewhat and at one point a group attempted to move off,only to come under fire from what were thought to be 88's. Rommel was unable to get onto the Alam Halfa position and constantly pounded by dug in armoured and AT guns,artillery and from the air and seeing his forces vanish before him he wisely decided to retreat. This to me is Montgomery's finest moment.A largely unknown General,takes a worn down demorilised force,realises it's few strengths and then sets about creating an enviroment where the enemy are put into a position that enables him to utilise those strengths.Its major strength not actually being the army itself but the Desert Air Force.He was a protaginist of air support,having seen it expertly utilised in France a few years earlier where he expertly handled the Iron Division,this running a very close second as his finest moment. It could be argued that defence was his forte,as this is basically how he attacked.

Just finished reading Kippenberger's Infantry Brigadier(a damn good read by the way) and according to him it was the NZ Corp who requested its bombing.They were convinced the germans were using it as an OP. Bloody Kiwi's eh

Anyone know where you can get a copy of Die Russischen Geheimnisseschwererpanzerkampfwagon, Walter J. Spielberger; Motobuch Verlag, 1996 ,I can't seem to find it on Amazon.

The different cost in tanks will probably have something to do with the rararity being set to standard in the QB generator. Not quite sure why the rifle companies are different though.

Getting to the lettor box first is the tricky part,especially when you leave checking the mail to your beloved.

I stand corrected,how else could they have stopped that great behemoth. I too am eagerly anticipating CMAK [ April 26, 2003, 05:46 PM: Message edited by: Chek ]

The battle around Maleme airfield culminating in a bayonet charge led by the 28th(Maori)Battalion. And the demise of 4th NZ Infantry Brigade on Ruweisat Ridge when the promised British armour was a no show. Ironically the remnants of the Brigade were formed into the 4th NZ Armoured Brigade at the Divisional Commanders(Tiny Freyberg) behest.Thus solving the problem of new Zealand soldiers having to rely on other peoples armour.

Wasn't it at the battle of Arras in France when the german AT weapons were incapable of penetrating the Matilda II's armour and a hurried defence was organised using Flak 88s.If memory serves me(which of course it may not)Rommel himself ordered them to be turned on the British tanks.Or maybe it was Guderian....

Wasn't it at the battle of Arras in France when the german AT weapons were incapable of penetrating the Matilda II's armour and a hurried defence was organised using Flak 88s.If memory serves me(which of course it may not)Rommel himself ordered them to be turned on the British tanks.Or maybe it was Guderian....

I too am about half way through and am thoroughly enjoying myself. A mere 13 eh! Well done excellent effort.

Auckland,New Zealand.

Maleme airfield,Ruweisat Ridge,Monte Casino. CMAK for me.I can hardly wait.