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Chek

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Posts posted by Chek

  1. Not quite sure what you're saying here Childress-surely you're not implying that due to the stress of combat tactics were ignored and it became an every man for himself affair, when the only way to survive on a battlefield is to work as a team and apply proven tactical doctrine.

  2. I'm a bit skeptical of the incidence of complex formations in WW2 given the character of the armies involved: hastily trained draftees. Perhaps some elite units.

    More common sense than complex me thinks.

    There will be somebody there shaking the noobs out into formation, usually the sergeants and corporals and once the formation takes shape and firepower superiority or a line of withdrawal is established, then the common sense becomes obvious. If not one way or another you don't come back.

  3. The Kiwis retook Castle Hill after the Nisei(those guys were just plain nuts) had originally outpaced the US advance and were forced to pull back.They snuck up at night, surprised the German sentries and overwhelmed the defenders. They then handed it over to the Indian Division who got the living hell kicked out of them but managed to hang on to it. Castle hill was crucial to launching an attack on Monte Cassino itsself.The NZers spent most of there time capturing and holding the township.

    Everybody had a crack at it starting with the Goums attempting out flank it and suffering a staggering 70% casualties and finishing with the Poles making a direct attack.The Germans had been outflanked at this point and were falling back but even so it was no mean feat getting up that hill and into the Cassino, the climb alone was impressive.

    There were numerous attacks and outflanking attempts across rivers,through mined marshlands,over steep narrow tracks with no cover, thru the township itself it was an epic Infantry battle with a lot of close quarters melee in abhorrent conditions.

    In my youth I worked with a vet who'd been there. I could usually coax an anecdote out here and there about his various experiences(did you know that the bodies in brewed up tanks smell like roast pork and an 88 shell can magically make a man disappear)but when it came to Cassino all he could muster was "not good", followed by a somewhat lengthy silence as I waited for him to elaborate.

  4. I'm in the CMFI camp but it's a close run thing.

    Don't rule out shock force either I'm hard core WW2, got CMBN within minutes of it's release was so impressed within a month I'd grabbed shock force with all the modules. It's REALLY good, it plays very nicely and the potential tactical combinations of all those units is nothing short of mind boggling.

    So much depth in these games, damn things are endless.

    That learning curve is steep tho and borders on disheartening at times, but when it all comes together it's a beautiful thing :)

  5. The reality is though that most of the time, they all benefited or suffered (as the case may be) from factors over which they had little or no control and their reputations as good or bad generals, more often than not, relates to those factors, rather than their actual ability to control the outcome of the battles they were engaged in.

    Wouldn't a great general utilise factors in such a way that when others would suffer they benefit,while a poor general would do just the opposite.

  6. I just checked my ancient falling apart von Senger und Etterlin encyclopedic reference from 1968 (the English translation) and they refer to the 'Brummbär' (Grizzly Bear). A lot of what we take for granted in naming conventions seems to come straight out of first-generation hobbyists in the 60s and early 70s. And early Tamiya kits. A Brit tanker might or might not know what an 'Achilles' was. He definitely wouldn't know what a 'Wolverine' was.

    That'd be true.I know the Kiwi's called the Firefly's "the 17pdr".

  7. Atkinson tells a ripping good yarn.I always feel like I'm reading a newspaper article for the folks back home though and yet strangely I still enjoy reading his stuff even though I know he's leaving a fair bit out.

    And as for Monty-vain,arrogant,obnoxious who wrankled his superiors and gained the undying support of his soldiers.

    A brief glance at his past speaks volumes of a man who new his business inside out and aside from Slim was probably the only British General who did.The average 8th Army soldier could've passed the Auk and not even known him but within a week of Monty's arrival he'd gone around every unit so that every grunt new who he was and what they were doing there,none of this drop back and fight dashing cavalry maneuvers,stand fast we stop the hun here.A simple,achievable plan enacted by a previously demoralised but now motivated army due solely to his efforts.

    Like has nothing to do with it,he knew his business.

  8. Ah the joys of dealing with the public,reminds me of my SHORT time spent working in a music store.

    A customer came in one day ranting about the latest version of Pro Tools(a multi track recording program)coming with a whole lot of extra plug ins and demanding that he be given those same plug ins for an earlier version that he owned.He refused to pay the fee for the upgrade and get an improved version of Pro Tools with the Plug Ins and it was a ****e load more than 10 bucks.

    Not a lot you can say to that(well actually there were some things I really really wanted to say,but would have unfortunately resulted in termination of my then position)

    I mean really... 10 bucks!!!

  9. I remember me Pops telling me when he was being trained to shoot the SMLE,that a corporal would wander up and down the firing line with a long hard thin stick and when you failed to use your thumb and forefinger to work the bolt,would give you an almighty smack across the back of your hand and bellow-DON'T PALM THE F----EN BOLT.

    Anyway after watching Mr Kettlers post of 10 rounds in 6.5 secs,I guess that was why.

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