Sgt. Steiner

We determine "hits" by several methods. We use blanks instead of paintballs, so casualties are a little harder to determine. Our reenacting organization (the NMHA - National Military Historical Association), primarily uses the honor system. For example, if you are advancing through the woods, and suddenly hear a shot (or see a muzzle flash), and an enemy soldier can be seen aiming at you, then you take the "hit". The "dead" soldier then takes off his helmet (to signify being hit), and then goes back to a rear area. After waiting a specified amount of time (usually 10-15 minutes), the "dead" are allowed to return as reinforcements. This ensures everyone gets plenty of trigger time - if you only had one "life" and were killed in the first 5 minutes, then that 8 hour drive to the reenactment wouldn't be much fun. This method isn't always reliable though; sometimes you get the "got you! Did not!" from sore losers. So increasingly, umpires are being used. With them, there is no argument (just like in baseball). When they say you're dead, then that's it. Even so, it's a lot of fun. We use exactly the same uniforms and equipment. Only difference being our MP-40's, BAR's, grenades, etc aren't lethal. We also use the real vehicles. At one event I got to ride in a SDKFZ 251 halftrack all day, and that was more fun "than a body ought to be allowed to have"! One of the reenactment units even has a real StuG III, and a towed 88. Hope that answered some of your questions.. ------------------ "Natural body oils, combined with dirt, can keep you waterproof" -Krüger

Sigh.. no, bikes/cav/motorcycles don't NEED to be in the game, but I have found that on large maps, the infantry have to walk sometimes for quite a few turns before the enemy is spotted. And the afore-mentioned modes of transport could be used in those situations to speed things up. And in the case of motorcycles, the Germans used those extensively for recon purposes, so there is definitely room for those (and the cav) in CM2. And once again, the inclusion of these as OPTIONAL units to use (or not) would be a nice touch. Any thoughts on this BTS? ------------------ "Natural body oils, combined with dirt, can keep you waterproof" -Krüger

For MakJager: the field grey uniforms worn by assault gun and SP crews could be easily done. Someone would just have to do a mod changing the panzer crew uniform color from black to field grey. Of course, tank crews would then be in field grey, but only include StuGs and SPs in your scenario, and voila, instant authentic assault gun uniforms. Only a stop-gap measure to be sure, but if you really want them bad enough, then there's your solution.. ------------------ "Natural body oils, combined with dirt, can keep you waterproof" -Krüger

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Madmatt: But, as I have said, Targeting preferences and TacAi behavior are constantly under the microscope with the Beta Team and will continue to be so for the foreseeable and distant futures. We know it is not perfect and that situations like the above happen. What we are committed to doing is making sure that they still happen, just less frequently. This is a very hard issue to tweak just right, as soon as a change is made to account for one situation a gaping hole is exposed that allows for an even larger ahistorical situation. All I can say is that we continue to work on it. Madmatt<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Thanks Matt, we can't ask for much more than that.. ------------------ "Natural body oils, combined with dirt, can keep you waterproof" -Krüger

Chup, no one is suggesting they would ride them into battle. All the bikes were for was getting up to the front a little quicker than walking. Once there, the troops dismounted, and were the same as any other infantry. Similarly, WW2 cavalry were not really cavalry at all, just mounted infantrymen, who would dismount before going into combat (with the exception of early-war Polish cavalry and Cossacks, and if I'm leaving someone out, please don't flame me!). And having the Cav and motorcycle recon troops would be nice too. ------------------ "Natural body oils, combined with dirt, can keep you waterproof" -Krüger

Ok guys, I can see that most of you don't want bicycle troops in CM. And it's doubtful that BTS will ever include them. But I (and some others in this thread) would still like to see them. I mean, those of you who don't want them could just leave them out of your scenarios. And for those of us who do, it would really add to the authenticity. But again, they're not likely to show up, so it doesn't really matter.. ------------------ "Natural body oils, combined with dirt, can keep you waterproof" -Krüger

For Disaster@Work: FYI, historical reenactors do indeed attempt to "change" the course of history. Civil War reenacting is just as you say, i.e. the battles always have a predetermined outcome. WW2 reenacting is very different, however. We occasionally have what are called "canned" events, but most of them are "whovever gets the upper hand wins" scenarios. For example, I am a member of a German infantry regiment, and we participated in a reenactment of the battle of Bastogne a couple of years ago. And in this one, the outcome was a German victory. Similarly, the Battle of the Bulge is reenacted every year, and the Allies do not always win. For me, reenacting EXACTLY what happened is boring (ala Civil War). Not knowing what the outcome will be (just like the real WW2 soldiers) is a lot more interesting. That is one of the reasons I like CM; you never know what's going to happen next. Unteroffizier "Josef Mohr" 44.Infanteriedivision 134.Infanterieregiment 2.Kompanie ------------------ "Natural body oils, combined with dirt, can keep you waterproof" -Krüger

Yes, camp followers would be just what's needed. Send all those broken/routed troops back to the MBU (mobile brothel unit) to instantly raise their "morale" ------------------ "Natural body oils, combined with dirt, can keep you waterproof" -Krüger

Okay Matt, I see what you mean about confusing what I can see with what the tank can see. It is still annoying though, that your tanks will continue to shoot at targets that cannot harm them (like vehicle crews), even though you've ordered them not to. I guess the moral of this story is that you have to wipe out even the insignificant targets as quickly as possible, in order to deal with real threats. It's still a great game though, and I look forward to the undoubtedly even better CM2, 3, etc. ------------------ "Follow me, and I'll show you where the iron crosses grow"

RMC is right. Who wants to play in 640x480 when you can have 1600x1200 on a PC? And the PS2, like all consoles, isn't upgradeable. Two years from now it will be exactly the same, and PC's will be up to what, probably Pentium V and 2GHZ? And you'll never see Combat Mission on a PS2, rest assured of that.. ------------------ "Follow me, and I'll show you where the iron crosses grow"

Thanks for the info Kwazydog and Madmatt. I understand that infantry are not to be underestimated, but in my particular example, I had a Tiger II in hunt mode heading towards a tank sound contact, but with its turret facing to the rear, shooting at a bailed-out vehicle crew, even after the sound contact turned into a tank destroyer. It just seems to me that a TD should be a higher priority target than a crew? ------------------ "Follow me, and I'll show you where the iron crosses grow"

I have noticed the same thing. In a recent game, I had ordered a KT to hunt towards a sound contact indicating an enemy tank. While moving towards the contact, my KT spotted a bailed enemy vehicle crew, and promptly rotated it's turret to fire at the crew. The "sound contact" of course then materialized into a TD which then proceeded to pump shells into the rear turret area of my KT as it rolled towards the TD, STILL firing at the cowering crew in the woods. Unbelievable! A patch should be released which allows tanks to ignore inf/crews, except at short ranges, or if specifically targeted. Anyone agree with me on this? ------------------ "Follow me, and I'll show you where the iron crosses grow"

OK all you grogs out there, how about enlightening us on the extent of bicycle use by the Germans (and others) during the war. I have seen numerous photos of them, and do know that some recon platoons used them, but what about regular infantry? If their use was fairly extensive, then it would be neat to see them in CM2 (and definitely when the 1939/40 game comes out). ------------------ "Follow me, and I'll show you where the iron crosses grow"

No, they didn't ride the bikes into battle, but they certainly did ride them right up to the battlefield, before dismounting. The bikes are just another means to transport troops, like trucks or anything else. I for one would like to see them, because they would speed up infantry movement tremendously, unless in wooded or rough terrain, of course.. ------------------ "Are you Sgt. Steiner? No, I'm Lili Marlene"

You've definitely got a point there. Bicycles were extensively used by the Germans throughout the war, and especially towards the end when fuel was scarce. As for why they were not included in CM, that is more than likely because there just wasn't enough time to include them. But hopefully we will see them in CM2, along with motorcycle and horse troops.. ------------------ "Are you Sgt. Steiner? No, I'm Lili Marlene"

Looks like you've either discovered a bug, or simply an area never addressed when the game was coded.. ------------------ "Are you Sgt. Steiner? No, I'm Lili Marlene"

The reason there are no steel bridges in CM is because they were not included (for whatever reason) when the hard coding for the game was done. In order to have them the hard coding would have to be changed, and BTS has stated this would be too much trouble for them to go back and re-code everything for steel bridges. They DID say that steel bridges will be included in CM2, however. Maybe at some point in the future they will have time to go back and add things to CM1. We can only hope! ------------------ "Are you Sgt. Steiner? No, I'm Lili Marlene"

The Panther, without a doubt. Even 10 years after the war's end, it was still rated the best medium tank in the world.. Although my personal favorite will always be the Tiger I ------------------ "Are you Sgt. Steiner? No, I'm Lili Marlene"

Having arty spotters in command definitely makes a difference. Putting an HQ unit with +1 or +2 leadership bonuses nearby will reduce the spotter's delay time, and increase (somewhat) the accuracy of their bombardment. Of course only do this if you have an HQ unit to spare, and all your infantry platoons are taken care of leadershipwise. ------------------ "Are you Sgt. Steiner? No, I'm Lili Marlene"

For von Lucke: Thanks for that info on halftracks versus Fireflies! Bug or not, and perhaps not an honest tactic, but I can't wait to try this out on some Fireflies.. ------------------ "Follow me, and I'll show you where the iron crosses grow"

You would probably see these on people at something like a Gencon, that is, if you would be caught dead at one of those However, as something to collect (and never wear), they are kind of neat.. ------------------ "Follow me, and I'll show you where the iron crosses grow"

Since CM1 only covers the Western Front from 1944-45, then I would expect that an "Early War" CM4 would cover the years 1939-43, and therefore the British coastal raids of '41 and '42? But then, BTS hasn't really said what they mean yet by "early war", so this is all just conjecture.. ------------------ "Follow me, and I'll show you where the iron crosses grow"

Hi all. I'm new to the forum (and CM),and enjoy all the different topics. So anyway, here's my two pfennigs on the subject. kking199 states that he believes the Russians would have won even without the participation of the western Allies. Had their been no strategic bombing campaign to cut the Wehrmacht's supplies off to a trickle, the German military-industrial complex, undisturbed, would have been free to churn out vast quantities of war materiel, ALL of it earmarked for the Ostfront. In addition, the Luftwaffe would have been able to devote 100% of it's attentions to the Russkis, instead of only 30% or so. Even with most of the Luftwaffe tied down in the West, the Germans were still able to achieve local air superiority in the East, right up to the end of the war. With the whole of the Luftwaffe available, they would have had dominance front wide. And let's not forget about the German atomic program and other advanced technologies. In my opinion, the war would have probably had a very different outcome. In any case, all of this is just theory and opinion, and interesting what if, and we'll never know for sure (fortunately!).. ------------------ "Follow me, and I'll show you where the iron crosses grow"

It seems to me that most of the nationalities that were involved on the Ostfront could be included. After all, CM1 has Americans/Brits/Poles/French/Canadians vs the Germans. So a Germans/Finns/Romanians/Hungarians/Italians vs the Russians could easily be done. Of course then you'd have to have "Ow, my leg!" done in six different languages.. ------------------ "Follow me, and I'll show you where the iron crosses grow"

It will be interesting if BTS also includes the Hungarians, Romanians, and yes, even the Italians I am especially looking forward to the long-range gunnery optics finally making it into the game (pity it's not in CM1). Then we'll get to see the true capabilities of the Tiger and Panther.. ------------------ "Follow me, and I'll show you where the iron crosses grow"