Bimmer

Hitting a man-sized target at 200m with iron sights from prone supported is not difficult, let alone a truck-sized vehicle. In fact, with quality ammunition a good marksman should be able to place his shots into the vitals of a vehicle and knock it out quickly. Even without specific targetting, if you put enough high velocity rounds through it eventually you'll hit something important. If the back is packed full of troops, chances are they're going to be hit in the process. ATRs seem about right to me - I think the problem is that tactics to counter them haven't yet been developed by many players, as ATRs were not used in CMBO.

I, for one, would love to see a Cold War game that allows simulation of the Western Europe conflict that never came as well as the various Middle East wars and others. The former has been overlooked until very recently, with the release of Tiller's Fulda Gap. The whole range of spillover wars that never came would be fantastic - Berlin Blockade, Korea, Cuban Missile Crisis, 1973 Arab-Israeli, War Scare of 1983, etc. I would be more than willing to kill off anyone BTS doesn't like in order to get this game into the production schedule.

I noticed this very same issue, right down to the setup zone color, in an operation I'm testing right now. Further testing may be in order, but on the face of it it seems like a bit of a bug.

I think the RoW I Wreck's Bitches Reunion Tour is a fine idea. Like any reunion of a classic, however, there are of course bound to be a few changes. It seems that the lead singer (Wreck) is off pursuing a solo project or something, as his agent has not returned repeated phone calls. Maybe he wants more money. And Tony, our drummer, hasn't been heard from since our North American debut tour. But the rest of us, it seems, have forgotten our little tour bus spats over the last bottle of Jack Daniels or the blonde groupie in the second row, and are looking forward to starting the next chapter of the long, strange trip. Tell the new guys that we get first choice of the groupies. ROCK ON!!!

Yeah, a rematch of our little group from ROW I would be quite amusing. However, if Wreck shows up, I will disavow all knowledge of this statement, claim it was made fraudulently by someone else, and will be signing up under another user name in the hopes of being placed in a nice, quiet group of newbies...

Thanks for the review, and I'm glad you enjoyed it. It is a tough one from the German side, to be sure.

...on any or all of the four scenarios I recently posted to the Scenario Depot: Austrian Sideshow, Dawn Patrol, The Bear Trap, and The Center Collapses. Comments - good, bad, or indifferent - here or in a review at the Depot would be just fine. Thanks.

Someone had posted a link in this forum to a site with a ton of color photos of the Russian Front, most taken I believe from the German Signal magazine, that would likely be quite helpful to you. I cannot find the link right now, but I'm sure someone has their bookmarks more organized than mine and will post it before I can locate it. Have you considered do a low-res version of your grass mod for those of us who are not within spitting distance of the cutting edge of computer technology right now? Looking forward to it.

I've posted four scenarios to the Scenario Depot. These are the first I've released publicly. All have been playtested and are designed for two-player games. Just search under my forum user name and you'll find them. I would appreciate any feedback, good or bad, on them. Thanks. P.S. - I will also be posting a pack of QB maps, most likely in a single zip file at the Mod Database in a day or two. Same deal applies - any feedback is appreciated.

I just emailed you a zip file of several QB maps I made up a while back. Hope they serve your needs.

I'm having choppiness issues in CMBB as well. P933 o/c to 1.1G, 384mb RAM, Voodoo5 5500 (64mb). The funny thing is, the choppiness occurs (or more specifically, becomes intolerable) in certain circumstances - scenarios with a lot of buildings seem to be particularly bad (map size notwithstanding) - but does not improve AT ALL if I reduce the resolution and/or turn off trees, doodads, smoke, weather, etc. That is to say, the choppiness is just as bad at 800x600 as it is a 1280x964. I'd love to hear if anyone has managed to get this running well on a V5-equipped system, and exactly how you managed it. Its beginning to make me a bit nutty. Thanks.

Geez, you guys are into the heavy (read: expensive) ordnance; my collection is far more modest. I've got a half-dozen or so WWII-era bolt guns, which I shoot regularly. Living in NY, Class III is not an option, but I couldn't afford those beasties anyway.

Tracer, I do hope you're not implying in a public forum that you have manufactured functional Class III weapons from demilled parts kits. This is a very big Federal no-no, and will easily get you 10 years in the Big House per offence. Be careful out there. Andrej C&R FFL

My favorite scenarios in CMBO were the truly massive ones - August Bank Holiday, Charnwood, a few others. There is so much more to these, so much more tactical thought. I like having to consider whether or not my units will be able to mutually support each other, which objectives to go for, whether or not I can cover that 1km gap between objectives. I also like the fact that I can fail somewhere and still have enough force to regroup and fight on. Small scenarios are fine for a quick fix, but the big ones are, for me, a much richer experience.

FYI, I get the "anonymous login prohibited" problem using the Opera browser (with no d/l accelerator). Works fine with Netscape and IE, though.

I sent a bunch of QB maps to the Scenario Depot yesterday. It may be a little while before they are posted, however.

On headspace: MN bolt heads are interchangeable, so fixing headspace problems is easy and cheap. Just get a few and keep trying until you get one that gives you the right headspace. On ammo: Surplus ammo is cheap and available. I have a bunch of Yugoslav that cost me about 0.10-0.12 cents a round shipped, and there is Russian, Hungarian, and Czech stuff out there, as well as cheap Russian commercial ammo. It is all corrosive, but that's easy enough to deal with. The Yugo shot a 1.25 inch or so 5-shot group out of my B barrel M39 at 100 yards last weekend. Shoot away!

The variants of the Mosin-Nagant rifle that would fit into CMBB are the M91/30 rifle, the M38 carbine, and the M44 carbine. The carbines had 20 inch barrels, with the M44 having a permanently affixed folding bayonet. The 91/30 barrel is somewhere around 26-28 inches. Further, the Finns used captured Soviet MNs (rarely) and also built their own using captured Soviet receivers. Finnish variants include the M27, M28, M28-30, and the M39. Finnish rifles were frequently built to a higher standard than the Soviet models and can be quite accurate (I have a 1942 B barrel M39 that shoots quite well). All Mosin-Nagants use the same cartridge and the same bolt, action and magazine design. Compared to Mausers, they look crude and are frequently found with rough finishes and tool marks on the metal. These flaws do not detract from their generally good reliability, even under extreme conditions. Accuracy of the Soviet versions varies widely, however.

I did one today. Its not an exact copy of the map, there are no briefings yet, and the units are different (obviously), but it plays about the same as the original. If you want it drop me a line and I'll send it along.

Checked the PO Box and as of 1300 local, no joy in Westchester County, NY. I will check again before 1700 closing.

Checked the PO Box and as of 1300 local, no joy in Westchester County, NY. I will check again before 1700 closing.

Thanks, Steve. I'll keep an eye out for that email.

I mailed in my pre-order for CMBB with personal check payment on Monday. Will I receive any commmunication by email confiming either receipt of payment and/or shipment of the product? Thanks, guys - looking forward to the game.

FYI, the German PzB39 (7.92x95) fired a 224 grain AP bullet at a muzzle velocity of about 3800fps. The Soviet PTRS-41 (14.5x114) used a 994 grain API bullet that left the muzzle at 3200fps. I don't have the muzzle energy figures handy, nor the formula to calculate them, but the above numbers make it obvious that the Soviet round will have been quite a bit more effective, with the incendiary component aiding in destroying enemy armor. (Figures from The Armory, Volume 1, by Kevin Dockery)

A quick note to my opponents: A rather nasty thunderstorm passed through here this afternoon and decided to knock out both power and my phone line. Power is now back, but my phone remains dead. Therefore, I have no Internet access on my home computer until the fine folks at the phone company decide to get things back together. They tell me it will be back no later than tomorrow night, but in any case don't expect any turns for the next 24 hours at least. If the problem persists I will try to update here. Sorry for the delay.