Silver Stars

a virile 23.....making me a veritable GOD of womanizing, I might add......if you count the kind of women you download, that is...<grin>...the fleshy ones are tricky...... ------------------ "Life is pain. Anyone saying otherwise is selling something."

I don't want to knock Talonsoft. I really don't. It was a beautiful independant Wargaming Company that produced Tiller's Battleground series, The West/East Front/Rising Sun Games, and TOAW. When they were involved with the good ole Avalon Hill ASL People, they were a Damn good Company. But from what I have seen after they finished up those series, I have only seen slipshod project after project. Games like Hidden and Dangerous or Age of Sail That had great Premise and Promise, but where cut down by Bad UI, a plethora of Bugs, and so on. Believe me, this makes me more sad to me then anything else. I would LOVE lots of good competitive Wargaming companies creating new and innovative products. But with Avalon Hill and Microprose buried by the malignant Hasbro, and SSI and Talonsoft rehashing old games or creating half-baked ones, the hobby is looking dim. And frankly, from the description of GI Combat alone, I am not inclined to change my mind. Highly complex tactical Wargames cannot be played in any realistic fashion when in real time. You just aren't given the Time for nuance, only rush units at your opponent. And one of the whole joys of playing a Wargame is to think, plan, stratigize; use your head, not your mouse hand. I hate to announce games DOA when only the concept has been formed, really i do. But as much as I would like to see Talonsoft give BTS a run for thier money, this is not it. P.S. I must admit that Age of Sail looks pretty good, hopefully that will dash my cynicism..... ------------------ "Life is pain. Anyone saying otherwise is selling something."

Well, If they make CMII a WWII game(which I hope they do, modern stuff doesn't thrill me and would probably be more complex to pull off) I hope they just combine all theatres into one game ala SPWAW. And have it with ALL the hardware. even those cute little Polish Tankettes.....Then we could have all sorts of Hypothetical fun......Pershings versus IS-3s.....Vichy French Versus really lost Bulgarian Partisans..........OOOOHHHHH imagine the glory of it all........<drooling, slurping noises> excuse me, i must now wipe..... ------------------ "Life is pain. Anyone saying otherwise is selling something."

I am 23 and I know a little about good ole' Sgt. Rock and Easy Company.....hehe as for this GI thingy.....I'll Pass. As far as I have seen it looks like talonsoft is trying to bank off of BTS glory.....but I doubt it will succeed. The idea of playing Combat Mission Real Time sounds like too much mouse jockeying.....The best part about CM is letting me sit down and think about my moves, not feverishly hurling units about the map.....Leave it to the Dregs of the Twitch Crowd, I say......... The only thing from Talonsoft I have ever enjoyed were TOAW and East/West Front. Everything else has always come up short for me..... ------------------ "Life is pain. Anyone saying otherwise is selling something."

Ok.....nothing against tiger, but i have a problem with the previous statement made about German armor theory... quote: "the tank weapons with which Germany entered hostilities in 1939 were equal or superior to any which were then aligned against them. This superiority was maintained throughout the war by a judicious and far-sighted policy of development, whereby a new gun, or an improved version of an existing weapon, was always available when required. " ok, the statement that German AFVs(i assume that tank weapons means the same thing) where equal or superior to any AFV aligned against them is more then pushing it. In the beginning blitzkreig of 1939 most of the German panzer arm was either made up of Pz Is(machine guns on treads) , Pz IIs(really only a recon tank, only usead as MBT in Poland) and a smattering of Czech tanks. These tanks were not deadlier then thier Allied opposition, thier big advantage was they were quick and Blitzkrieg Doctrine had them massed together. While the french and english did have heavier tanks (Somua and Matilda), they were scattered here and there, and only saw mass groupings in a few battles like Arras. And by the time IIIs and IVs started to see larger numbers production wise in 41, these tanks were bieng outmatched by the russian T-34. This does not look like a careful plan of steadily upgunning and improving Germanys existing tanks to me. Germany only had superior tanks when the Tigers and Panthers appeared, and they were only Truly superior to most of the American and British designs; Russia could deal with these tanks more effectively, especially the KVs and ISs...... OK, I have ranted....again, nothing against tiger, I just have doubts concerning the resource material he is referring too...... nothing personal.....=D ------------------ "Life is pain. Anyone saying otherwise is selling something."

while i am enjoying the discussion and the presentation of info on women in the soviet army, as to the discussion as to whether women should be modelled in the game: If there are no African-Americans in Combat Mission 1, then why should there be women in combat mission 2? 'nuff said. p.s. dont throw in that "men's capabilities vs. women's capabilities" arguement.showing them unequal would make BTS look sexist. ------------------ "Life is pain. Anyone saying otherwise is selling something."

thank you Jeff Heideman.....my thoughts exactly..... come on people, us posting this stuff is mostly "wish list" anyway, so what is the harm in discussing it? I know a lot of grogs are only turned on by statistics and dead on representation of the ongoing events but lighten up......the last syllable in "WarGame" is still "Game." as much as the calculations involved with CM impress me, I don't think I would be all that interested in the game if it didn't have nifty graphics of big tanks blowing stuff up. I am not saying that i want the game to be reduced to brainless explosions with vehicles and men that behave in a uttlerly unrealistic fashion. I am just saying that eye candy is not as pointless as some people make it out to be. I like the idea of Damaged/Knocked out BMPs. I think it might be too much to ask for individual hull and turret sides to show damage,since that sounds like a programming headache for what you are getting. But the knocked out BMP is a good idea since when your view is zoomed out, unless you have your Bases turned on it can be hard to seperate healthy tanks from wiped out ones. A nice blackend hull to go with your tank brew up would be mighty fine. I also threw in an idea before of mud covered tanks on damp conditions, like winter camoed tanks in winter scenarios......I am not asking Kwazydog to paint all these damaged/mud covered panels......just give the option and the MODers will soon comply....... ------------------ "Life is pain. Anyone saying otherwise is selling something."

I was wondering if churches are any different from 2 story buildings in anything other then looks? i mean, are you allowed a higher spotting range because of the steeple, or are squads in less cover against enemy squads also inside the church since churches are mostly just one big room, or what? as for the steeple thing, i say it should be included. it may have been a stupid tactic to put men in the most obvious position, but part of the fun of playing a wargame is trying different tactics. Players should be allowed to try them all, including the stupid ones...... ------------------ "Life is pain. Anyone saying otherwise is selling something."

Personally I think that Tactic is genuine. I remember(although I can't source) seeing that tactic emulated in some other film. Most of the pictures i remember of city combat had men either walking along side a building on the far sides of a road, or behind a vehicle, moving or otherwise. Besides, exactly where else are the infantry going to go? the damn street was so narrow most of the platoon would be either walking in front or behind the tank. The guys in single file on the sides are looking around up front well enough, so stick most of the platoon behind the tank for cover. They could have possibly moved from building to building clearing it out, but if you are moving tanks in, you were in a hurry anyway and building to building would take forever.Besides the reason you want infantry with your tank is watching the areas the tank can't see when buttoned up, i.e. mostly the sides and rear. I agree there were some things I would have done differently if I were the germans. The number one thing was wax that damn church tower before i set foot one in that little burg. Anybody who read "Currahee" could have told you that one. that and if i heard a deafening explosion behind my tank where my infantry support was, I would have told the driver to stop and not drive forward blind as a bat. but that's just me.... So yes, the Germans where quick to fall for any trick(Ami firing a BAR at an armored column and running down a dark narrow road?hey let's follow him...), i don't think there assault tactics were TOO far off.... ------------------ "Life is pain. Anyone saying otherwise is selling something."

no problem on giving the reference....i just thought i would throw it in since i remembered it. I just enjoyed the movie for what it was, although i must admit it since i watch at least once every month or so, it looks more and more like a movie and i can't help but notice these mistakes.... But ever since SPR seeing old films just tend to look even more hokey then before. I remember watching "The Big Red One" on cable a few years back. nothing awe inspiring but over all a pretty decent flick. but when i grabbed the DVD and watched it, i had to fight the urge to laugh. I mean, not only were the tanks used for the germans looked nowhere near anything used by the wehrmacht, the were SHERMANS. And to add complete irony, I think they were Super Shermans, which were(or are) used by the Isrealis.....somebody was having fun on that TO&E...... So overall, I look past SPR's gaffes. It still is one of the better WWII movies made, and has sparked a New interest in WWII which is giving us new and wonderful movies to gripe about.......Now to wait until march so I can nitpick "Enemy at the Gates"..... ------------------ "Life is pain. Anyone saying otherwise is selling something."

Actually as for the use of 60 MM shells bieng used without the Tube...... A book I own, "Heroes of WWII" describes a brief history of a few of the CMH winners of WWII. One was a Charles E. Kelly, of the 36th Infantry Division. While he and several other soldiers were surrounded by a counterattack, they ran out of grenades. So Kelly pulled the pin and the safety lock, tapped the shell on the window sill to remove the secondary pin, then lobbed it at the oncoming german positions. so while i doubt it was a common tactic, it has at least been documented as bieng done in real life.. ------------------ "Life is pain. Anyone saying otherwise is selling something."

all right, all right dammit, you win...... I retract my statement and have seen the error of my ways......hell, I admit i do the same damn thing and wax every building in LOS.....but i still like the idea of randomizing the building going whoosh so it doesn't seem like your just tagging down hit points. I guess i was thinking along the lines of an armored column just wants to move and doesn't spend too much time blowing building up. but then again, at this scale you pretty much know Guyos de Bados are ahead of you, so nuke La Rochelle, or Ste. Mere Le Kaboom, or whatever...... P.S. let it be known that Silver-Stars can eat crow with the best of 'em.... ------------------ "Life is pain. Anyone saying otherwise is selling something."

I went to go see SPR with my father, who while not a WWII vet, was a Vietnam Vet who had some experience with bieng shot at. He told that the movie was the closest to depicting combat he has seen, but it is still a movie.the parts that impressed him were the sound effects, especially the sounds of ricochets and of spent shells, and the scene of the Jewish Ranger(cant remember name) and the paratrooper setting up the .30 Cal, referring to setting the headspace and so forth(I know it doesn't sound like much, but dad mounted a .50 on a PBR, so anything with machine guns he is interested in). I personally thought the action was pretty graphic, or at least as graphic as a movie nowadays is allowed. my only problems with historical accuracy are the fact that Remelle was supposed to be on the Merderet River, which is more on the northern half of the contentin peninsula. This isn't that big a deal except for the fact the are bieng rescued by the 29th division, which was anywhere near the merderet. if anything they should have had the 4th or 90th Division come in at the last split second. also, the merderet was plastered with more 82nd sticks then 101st troopers, but that can be overlooked. And I also thought a saw a liebstandarte key on the Tiger, which i think is also a little off, but hey, nobody but a grog would care or notice..... still, a decent movie.but JUST a movie.... ------------------ "Life is pain. Anyone saying otherwise is selling something."

my big problem with collapsing buildings is the fact that it invariably leads to people shelling entire towns into rubble for no reason. I don't know how realistic this is, but i don't think a platoon of sherman 75s would expend a healthy chunk of thier HE ammo on merely reducing an entire town or village into rubble... Hell, Fionn admits that he HAS to obliterate EVERY house on the map....no reason,nobody has to be in the building, he just HAS to..... I wouldn't mind seeing this worked on for CM2....especially since everyone is looking forward to Stalingrad battles....maybe a higher required shell caliber, longer collapse times, partial collapse of multi-level buildings, so forth......... oh well.....I must admit though.....it sure does look cool to watch em go BOOM.....hehehehe ------------------ "Life is pain. Anyone saying otherwise is selling something."

oh, and another thing( haven't posted in a while so i have a lot to get off my chest ) Don't knock the love story part either. yes, I doubt a woman of such lovelyness would be mucking around the Barrikady. And yes, most sexual relations between women and men in battlefield situations are generally not of the romantic type, let alone mutually willing.let's face facts:love in war is probably at best a prostitute, at worst..rape or worse. But before you raise your fists in Grognard-induced Furor, let's think of the Positive: Good-looking woman + Good-Looking Guy from Gattaca = Love story. Love story = Average Female's favorite type of film. Average Female's favorite type of film = You actually might have a shot in hell of convincing your Girlfriend /Wife / Concubine /Mistress to actually see this movie with you. So don't get your Combat Webbing in a twist and surmise that you can probably stomach a half-hour/hour of Romance if you wedge 1 and a half hours of guns, explosions, entrails, mayhem and cool-looking uniforms around it. And remember,as a grognard, note that the problem of your significant other not enjoying your blood-thirsty hobby is a common malignancy for us all (except maybe Kitty, for which we all must hit our knees and pay homage and worship her).so take advantage... ------------------ "Life is pain. Anyone saying otherwise is selling something."

well, time to chuck in my two cents..... criticism of the trailer aside, let's face it:how many english-speaking eastern front war films have ever been made? the only one i can recall is the much lauded Cross of Iron directed by sam peckinpah in the late 70's(?).So even if it does keep the gimmicky things in the plot (wierd pause before death effect, babes of Stalingrad, etc.) be mindful that generally the public is not interested in Soviet versus Nazi conflict so the fact that it was made with anything close to a 100 mill budget is a miracle unto itself. I mean, the average american(non-grog) isn't generally thrilled of the concept of grueling eastern front warfare(evil nazis kill evil commies...wheres the harm?)... as for it more of a statement film instead of a war film, i doubt it. while the fact that war scenes in a film does not a war film make( legends of the fall, Dr. Strangelove, Slaughterhouse Five, etc.), Dive-bombing stukas and mass city bombings aren't staples of your average "talkie"-type movie. so my overall point is:if it's a WWII movie, see it(even Pearl Harbor:Ben Affleck finds love among strafing Vals). Because I sure don't want another WWII movie drought like the one through the 80's-mid 90's...... P.S. the "evil Nazis, evil Commies" is not an opinion of author, so save your Flamethrowers.....(although Nazi and Communist REGIMES in WWII definitly qualify for "Evil" in my book....) ------------------ "Life is pain. Anyone saying otherwise is selling something."

I guess I glanced too quickly at his comments and assumed that he meant that S & H degrade Patriotism with thier abundance of flag-waving. I honestly couldn't concieve of SPR as bieng LESS then patriotic, especially compared to war films of the past 30 years. Perhaps I am too cynical in my young age.... Hmmmm.....Now I would like to add my name to the list of people for an explanation from Flix. I personally can't see an entire Squad surrendering thier lives in a battle they didn't have to fight as "Degrading" to Patriotism. Hell, anything more then that is practically Fanaticism. Giving your life away for your country makes you a Patriot. Enjoying giving your life away is pretty damn close to crazy. ------------------ "Life is pain. Anyone saying otherwise is selling something."

DOH!!!!!! Well I feel stupid....everything about that fansite said that things were halfway done, with only 5 out of the ten directors chosen so far. On looking back, I realized that the latest post was in June......So forgive my massive Brain Flatulence..... And I do agree to a certain point with Flix on how Speilberg and Hanks tend to go a little overboard on the "Greatest Generation" Theme. I very much enjoyed SPR for the no-glitz rendering of close combat and really putting you down in the mud with the grunts. But while part of me is refreshed that Hollywood is showing some appreciation for veterans and the horrors they had to deal with day to day, Speilburg and Hanks do spread the Uber-Patriotism and the "Citizen Soldier out to save the world" routine on a little thick. To be fair I have my own amount of hero worship for my Grandpa's exploits in WWII, but I also remember that he was still a man with no few flaws and more then one grudge. Also, I am equally proud of my father serving in Vietnam, but I seriously doubt you will see many films showing Nam vets as heroes fighting for freedom instead of victims(or worse, outright villians). Over all, I see all war as horrible no matter how convienient a bad guy the other guy is. Nazi Germany may have posed more of a threat to American and World interests then the Vietcong or the North Korean Army, But does that make a WWII vet more sacrificing or courageous then a Korean or Nam Vet? I see all vets as regular people who have to do things no one should ever have to do so that hopefully other people won't have to do the same,Irregardless on how "Good" a war may seem. nuff said. -------EMOTIONAL RANT MODE NOW OFFLINE------ .....ok, I feel better now..... Getting back to Band of Brothers, I am still looking forward to the series irregardless of who is making it. I am interested to see the mini-series format applied to a War setting, since it will allow you the amount of time to really get attached to all the characters, thus making the loss really hit home. And with production values on par with SPR, It should look wonderful. And I know with Dreamworks behind this we will definitely see a DVD Box set of this in the near future, If they dont try and put it on National Television(I think that is what they did with "From the Earth to The Moon", but I cant quite remember for sure) in between. ------------------ "Life is pain. Anyone saying otherwise is selling something."

Well, went hunting for more Info, and found this site: www.spielberg-dreamworks.com/bandofbrothers/ apparently they are filming it as we speak for a January 2001 release( ) with 10 episodes, probably at 1 hour a piece, although may be longer. The web site has pictures of two of the sets they are building, and WOW....just from scale I'd say they are close to SPR level of scale..... Looks to be a good one, too bad it will be later then sooner.... ------------------ "Life is pain. Anyone saying otherwise is selling something."

Don't know if you all heard about this previously, but I was channel surfing and ran across 60 minutes interviewing Tom Hanks. I figured he would probably bring up WWII Veterans at some point in the inteview, so I stayed on. And then they brought up the fact that he and Steven Speilburg are working(or possibly worked) on a new mini-series on HBO based on Ambrose's Band of Brothers book. I haven't read the book, but they did show a quick sequence of Soldats running pell-mell through a field with Troopers firing at them. From what I could tell, they look to be pretty good production values, hopefully on par with SPR. Anybody else out there heard anything about this? They never mentioned what time they were going to air it and I would love to hear more info on it... ------------------ "Life is pain. Anyone saying otherwise is selling something."

Oh Goody...... Thanks for the good work Tom...... And sweet looking site, too!! ------------------ "Life is pain. Anyone saying otherwise is selling something."

Self-Gratifying Bump ------------------ "Life is pain. Anyone saying otherwise is selling something."

Thanks DraGoon. I vaguely remember hitting the 1-8 Inf. Website before, but now I've got it. Thanks also for the motorbooks URL. Anybody else?I figure I can Bump this sucker daily until I get ALL the results I want, hehe ------------------ "Life is pain. Anyone saying otherwise is selling something."

The only book I have run across regarding the 4th Infantry is George Wilson's "If You Survive." I have been dying to find more info on the division but only seem to find occasional references to Utah Beach, the consolidation of the Contentin, and Hurtgen. My late Grandfather was in the 8th Infantry Reg. back in 41 and since he is no longer with us I try to find out as much about him and his unit as I can. So again, any unit histories or first Person accounts you grogs can find will be much appreciated. Thanks ------------------ "Life is pain. Anyone saying otherwise is selling something."

Well, I voted......but considuring that out of the crap they did have on display the leader so far is C & C:Red alert 2, I doubt this site is worth saving...... Jeez, Westwood re-hashes the same crap RTS game they have had since Dune 2 with some cheesy FMV thrown in for good measure, and THIS is supposed to be the pinnacle of Stratagy games this year? Excuse me as I hose the floor in vomit. ------------------ "Life is pain. Anyone saying otherwise is selling something."