TheDesertFox

Dunno, IIRC it was the cook of the famous Muppets show. LOL! Helge

Michael, Yep, seems to be the case here. Basically the question is: Is it a frequent occurence in the game that the AI leads with HQ units in front ? I have seen enough examples in the game both with the AI in defense or counterattack situation where HQ units were not the first in line [full FOW on]. So I don´t see this being a problem with the game. As for The Black Watch incidence and the numbers of 15 making it back to the start line...From what I´ve read about it, they were doomed this way or the other, irrespective where their CO has been it wouldn´t have changed their fate. They ran into a perfect trap comparable with the trap the North Novas ran into in Tilly la Campagne. If someone might be to blame for the problems of the incidents in particular and "SPRING" in general it definitively weren´t the battalion COs. In the case of the Black Watch canadian reconnaissance sucked bigtime not taking into account the all present mining tunnels in the area which were used by the defenders to hide and pop up in the back and flanks of the attacker. Helge

smörebröd, smörebröd, römpömpömpöm .... Helge ------------------ Sbelling chequed wyth MICROSOFT SPELLCHECKER - vorgs grate! - The DesertFox - Email: TheDesertFox@gmx.net WWW: http://www.geocities.com/desertfox1891

Michael I guess we have some kind of miscommunication here. Leading from the front does not mean being the first in line in an attack or to cross the field as the very first man. It´s silly to do this even if you are a squadleader. But you have to be as far in front as possible to both give your subordinates an example and still be aware what happens on your right and left wing to coordinate your forces. As for battalion and company commanders, go and look up some unit histories where and when most commanders fell and you know the answer. As I said above it´s a generalization and I´m not here on a crusade to change peoples minds. You are free to make your own conclusions of what you might have heard or read, but you can´t change what happened frequently. And this happened not only on the german side of the fence but on the allied side as well. Do you want to say that company and battalion commanders were usually leading their forces out of the secure distance of their rear command post ? That would be as problematic as saying german platoon/company/etc.. leaders lead their platoons/etc.. more efficiently than allied platoonleaders did. CM uses an abstraction here. In reality the company commander and his HQ men are not seperated from the platoons but are attached to exact THE platoon which is in the tactical situation to give the CO both the best possibility to lead to fulfill his mission, to get a good overview about the situation in his sector to coordiate his forces efficiently. The seperation of the HQ unit from the platoons does only happen in static situations, never when being mobile. I guess you have to understand that the seperation of HQ unit and platoons you see in CM is not a 1 to 1 representation of every situation which takes place during combat. This was taken from paper OOBs and KStNs. Things that happen during combat can´t be represented here without abstraction because most frequently the CO is e.g. near 1.Zug, 10minutes later near 3.Zug, half an hour later in his command post and after being alarmed by messages from 2.Zug he hurries to their position to see what happens. Helge

Actually it is german doctrine for all military leaders until today to lead by example and from the front. The place of the formation leader (may it be Platoon, Division or Army leader) is in the thick where the "Schwerpunkt" (center of gravity) of his sector is. A good historical example is General Eberbach (Army Commander) who coordinated his troops while defending against Operation Totalize from Bretteville sur Laize some 2 km away from the Canadians or the divisional commander of 89th Infantry Division (Generalleutnant Heinrichs) who went out on his right wing at 14.00 hours (start of Phase II) to give personal leadership. There are numerous examples of this form of leadership, not only in WW2 but also back in WW1. While the CO leads his troops from the front it is the job of the 2nd in command to stay back and organize the allocation of the reseve. That of course does not mean that all german commanders performed this way, there are enough examples of ...well "hesitant" commanders as well, but it, generally speaking, was usual and expected for german commanders to lead from the front and share the danger of their troops. The price you have to pay for this kind of leadership of course is high and it explains the constant lack of experienced COs and NCOs because their life expectance in combat can be measured in days, perhaps weeks. However, as far as I know it was the same for the canadians and the british. Look at The Black Watch, look what happened at May sur Orne, look what happened at Fontenay le Marmion. Helge ------------------ Sbelling chequed wyth MICROSOFT SPELLCHECKER - vorgs grate! - The DesertFox - Email: TheDesertFox@gmx.net WWW: http://www.geocities.com/desertfox1891

Hehe, nope but that´s where most of them end to be the perfect "Suppenhuhn". cheers Helge ------------------ Sbelling chequed wyth MICROSOFT SPELLCHECKER - vorgs grate! - The DesertFox - Email: TheDesertFox@gmx.net WWW: http://www.geocities.com/desertfox1891

Garry, Nice to see your site continued. All the best. Helge ------------------ Sbelling chequed wyth MICROSOFT SPELLCHECKER - vorgs grate! - The DesertFox - Email: TheDesertFox@gmx.net WWW: http://www.geocities.com/desertfox1891

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>If you look closely enough, the Firefly is a British medium tank and not a US tank.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> ROFL, who are you telling this ? anyways might be wise to re-check your sources on APDS availability cheers Helge ------------------ Sbelling chequed wyth MICROSOFT SPELLCHECKER - vorgs grate! - The DesertFox - Email: TheDesertFox@gmx.net WWW: http://www.geocities.com/desertfox1891

TTT Time Traveling Tungsten Are you sure with June ? According to what I remember ( Gudgin, Peter: Armoured Firepower; Hogg, Ian V.: British and American Artillery of World War Two and Hunnicutt, R. P.: Sherman: A History of the American Medium Tank. ) APDS projectiles were supplied to the troops from August 1944 on. cheers Helge ------------------ Sbelling chequed wyth MICROSOFT SPELLCHECKER - vorgs grate! - The DesertFox - Email: TheDesertFox@gmx.net WWW: http://www.geocities.com/desertfox1891

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>I'm wayyyyyy ahead of you. I talked to Marco too<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Excellent ! I´m looking forward to your Sexton. Then we only gonna have to MOD the Archer and finally the british/canadian/polish stuff is done. Marco is AFAIK focussing on the M10/Achilles next. cheers Helge

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>I have info on Canadian infantry unit markings at if you ever want a reference for those. Michael, Excellent site you have, I bookmarked it right away. I thought of doing a universal carrier MOD in the style of my Ram Kangaroo MOD as well because I felt that especially the support vehicles in CM need a little more attention. I´m no specialist on canadian armor and everything you have on markings of both 22 Armored Regiment (Canadian Grenadier guards) and Lake Superiour Battalion or 28th Armored Regiment (British Columbia) and/or Alonquin Infantry Battalion is highly appreciated. Drop me a line. cheers Helge ------------------ Sbelling chequed wyth MICROSOFT SPELLCHECKER - vorgs grate! - The DesertFox - Email: TheDesertFox@gmx.net WWW: http://www.geocities.com/desertfox1891 [This message has been edited by TheDesertFox (edited 01-20-2001).]

Shadow 1st Hussars, Looks great, Perhaps you would love to check the following pages for canadian markings: http://www.mapleleafup.org and : http://web.inter.nl.net/users/spoelstra/g104/links2.htm and especially Cris Johnsons excellent site: http://www3.sympatico.ca/chrjohnson/index.htm cheers Helge P.S.: Don´t forget to contact Gordon Molek ------------------ Sbelling chequed wyth MICROSOFT SPELLCHECKER - vorgs grate! - The DesertFox - Email: TheDesertFox@gmx.net WWW: http://www.geocities.com/desertfox1891

Phil, I only can second what Old Dog already stated in detail. Go to MadMatts CMHQ, download the whole bunch of Marco´s excellent Mods, but don´t forget my Kangaroo MOD [ http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Capsule/2930/CombatMission/Combatmission.htm ] Install all MODS, and copy as the latest step this [ http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Capsule/2930/CombatMission/commonwealth_textures.zip ] commonwealth_textures.bat into your /CMBO folder. Then run british or canadian or whatever.bat and you are done. cheers Helge This BBS software lies, I never ever edit my posts ------------------ Sbelling chequed wyth MICROSOFT SPELLCHECKER - vorgs grate! - The DesertFox - Email: TheDesertFox@gmx.net WWW: http://www.geocities.com/desertfox1891 [This message has been edited by TheDesertFox (edited 01-20-2001).]

Matt, <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>DOH! I know I know, I am way backlogged. Hopefully tomorrow (Sunday) I will clean out the Article, AAR and Mod coffers for everyone!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Highly appreciated, everything by Fernando is a must have IMHO. Keep up the good work ! cheers Helge ------------------ Sbelling chequed wyth MICROSOFT SPELLCHECKER - vorgs grate! - The DesertFox - Email: TheDesertFox@gmx.net WWW: http://www.geocities.com/desertfox1891 This message board lies, I never edited my post [This message has been edited by TheDesertFox (edited 01-20-2001).] [This message has been edited by TheDesertFox (edited 01-20-2001).]

Thanks a bunch for the comments guys, they are highly appreciated. I´ll pass them on to the author of the MOD. Andreas, Everything you can pass me on on the allied POV on Operation "Blockbuster" will be highly welcome since I´m currently working on a scenario basing on George G. Blackburns excellent book " The guns of victory". cheers Helge ------------------ Sbelling chequed wyth MICROSOFT SPELLCHECKER - vorgs grate! - The DesertFox - Email: TheDesertFox@gmx.net WWW: http://www.geocities.com/desertfox1891

Dead ? No no ... just occupied with real life stuff cheers Helge ------------------ Sbelling chequed wyth MICROSOFT SPELLCHECKER - vorgs grate! - The DesertFox - Email: TheDesertFox@gmx.net WWW: http://www.geocities.com/desertfox1891

Today I´m proud to present the first "Guest" MOD on my site. Pedro Pablo Soriano did an awesome job on the Jagdpanzer IV. Have a look at the weathering he did. Very nice. His MOD changes the Jagdpanzer IV L/48, L/48 w/skirt and the Jagdpanzer IV L/70. Furthermore the MOD is sporting unit markings for 1. Kompanie / Panzerjaegerabteilung 228 (116. Panzerdivision "Windhund") I am sure you will like this one. Oh and don´t miss the Preview section ! Enjoy Folks ! cheers Helge ------------------ Sbelling chequed wyth MICROSOFT SPELLCHECKER - vorgs grate! - The DesertFox - Email: TheDesertFox@gmx.net WWW: http://www.geocities.com/desertfox1891 [This message has been edited by TheDesertFox (edited 01-19-2001).] [This message has been edited by TheDesertFox (edited 01-19-2001).]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Correct, but they probably didn't fight well. To simulate this in CM, make them fanatics instead. That way they won't panic or run, but they will still act inexperienced, ie not take cover or shoot as well as elite units.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Huh ? You might want to ask the poles and canadians about how this division fought. They can tell you. Read "Tout" "Blackburn" "Stacey" etc. Helge ------------------ Sbelling chequed wyth MICROSOFT SPELLCHECKER - vorgs grate! - The DesertFox - Email: TheDesertFox@gmx.net WWW: http://www.geocities.com/desertfox1891

Deanco, Thanks for taking the time. I use your MODs since you came out with your Grog MOD but I like this one even better. Good job. Helge ------------------ Sbelling chequed wyth MICROSOFT SPELLCHECKER - vorgs grate! - The DesertFox - Email: TheDesertFox@gmx.net WWW: http://www.geocities.com/desertfox1891

Well, As the Brits put it: This gun was "Antiaircraft, antitank and antisocial" As for 88s firing "Airbursts" into enemy targets.... The german FLAK guys did it frequently. How do you think they were such an annoyance to the allied soldiers ? For the tech specs: They used either AZ 23/28 fuzes or the time fuzed Z S/30 rounds which easily could be adapted to the time necessary to explode above target. Tactically: All 88 Flak units were able to do both jobs, AT and AA, because they weren´t commited to be AT in the first line. 88s were "Luftwaffen guns" and not AT guns. Every 88 platoon (at least 4 88s) carried all tools necessary to switch between AA role and AT role. There is more than enough written in books about the problems between the commmanders of Flak Corps and the Infantry division commanders who more than often used the 88s as a last stop gap toys to delay the breakdown of the defense lines. I recommend to read "Janusz Piecalkiewicz - Die 8,8 Flak im Erdkampfeinsatz", this might be tranlated to english. Helge ------------------ Sbelling chequed wyth MICROSOFT SPELLCHECKER - vorgs grate! - The DesertFox - Email: TheDesertFox@gmx.net WWW: http://www.geocities.com/desertfox1891

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Fifty messages about how good the site is, and not a single one gives the url; have I been missing something?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Yep Henri, You missed one of the best CM sites ever. http://www.gkump.com/cm/ Check it out until it lasts. It will be a really miss to the CM-comunity. Perhaps we can convince Garry to move his excellent site to a server like NCBI or Geocities or another one that he hasn´t to pay ? Helge ------------------ Sbelling chequed wyth MICROSOFT SPELLCHECKER - vorgs grate! - The DesertFox - Email: TheDesertFox@gmx.net WWW: http://www.geocities.com/desertfox1891

Garry, Sorry to see you go. All the best for your future. Helge ------------------ Sbelling chequed wyth MICROSOFT SPELLCHECKER - vorgs grate! - The DesertFox - Email: TheDesertFox@gmx.net WWW: http://www.geocities.com/desertfox1891

Mike, Yes that´s what you have to do. Create a 100x100metres (or 20x20metres) grid for a 2,5x2km or 3x5km 1:25000 map section using CorelDraw!, print this grid on a transparancy using a 600dpi laserprinter... et voila you have the perfect overlay for every 1:25000 map you ever want to use for scenario or operation creation. You only have to scan your area of interest with the overlay laid on top. It´s worth the work. Check out my Cintheaux map, which was created this way. http://www.geocities.com/greg_mudry/battles_hist.html cheers Helge ------------------ Sbelling chequed wyth MICROSOFT SPELLCHECKER - vorgs grate! - The DesertFox - Email: TheDesertFox@gmx.net WWW: http://www.geocities.com/desertfox1891 [This message has been edited by TheDesertFox (edited 01-12-2001).]

Excellent idea. BTW, you can order 1:25000 topo maps of the Huertgenwald area direct from Landesvermessungsamt NRW. You ought to speak german though. http://www.lverma.nrw.de/produkte/topkart/hauptkartenwerke/1tk25.htm Or contact Moon and order from his website. http://www.gamesofwar.de/Battlemaps/Start.html cheers Helge ------------------ Sbelling chequed wyth MICROSOFT SPELLCHECKER - vorgs grate! - The DesertFox - Email: TheDesertFox@gmx.net WWW: http://www.geocities.com/desertfox1891

They certainly would have loved to use tungsten but they couldn´t. From 1941 the germans shifted more and more tungsten to the production of higher caliber ammo. At first to the production of 5cm PzGr40 and then to the 7,5cm PzGr40 and the 8,8cm. Until in 1943 nearly all production of tungsten cored ammo stopped due to the shortages. So you don´t see any german tanks using tungsten in CM because the german stocks were empty and the few rounds that were perhaps left were better used against IS-II, KV-I/II and friends on the Eastfront. Remember you don´t need Tungsten to brew up a Ronson lighter. Helge Oh, just in case, David Honner as some info on the issue [ http://www.wargamer.org/GvA/index.html ] More details can be found in Walter Hahn´s bible about german waepons including production stats etc... ------------------ Sbelling chequed wyth MICROSOFT SPELLCHECKER - vorgs grate! - The DesertFox - Email: TheDesertFox@gmx.net WWW: http://www.geocities.com/desertfox1891