Treeburst155

MarkIV, That was a mutha-beautiful piece you wrote and precisely the reason why I shall never leave you alone. I invest thirty seconds of my valuable time in you and in return I get the thrill of knowing you wasted at least several minutes of your life in reply. The fact that my juvenile taunting and insults even draws a response from you shows all that I can pull you out of my hat anytime I want. Do you not realize that you exist for the sole purpose of entertaining me? You are a mere plaything of mine. Considering my lowly status on The Thread, where does that put you? Don't ever assume that I wish to play you. When I want to play you I will taunt you properly. For now I choose only to take you out of your box now and then. Right now I feel the urge to stuff you back where you belong until I get bored with the crap others post here. In you go until I crank the handle again. Treeburst155

I see Squire StinkytheRunt has emerged from his hovel to do the bidding of his kinigit! This is a fine day indeed. He, like the rest of you, writes pure burble in his attempt to rouse me to action. He smacks of yet another over-educated worthless egghead. The fact that he writes from work (like the rest of you) proves his worthlessness to society. I, on the other hand, labored hard for the good of my neighbors while the rest of you slept by personally disposing of over 6 tons of household garbage. This makes me fully capable of disposing of the 127 lb. of garbage known as StinkytheRunt. Send me the file, you squirt of that cretin PeckerVD; and be quick about it. I haven't much time to waste dispatching an ingenue such as yourself. MuckIV, I have not forgotten you so don't try to hide. How could I ever forget my first encounter with the epitome of mediocrity. I shall smash your skull in due time as I can't allow my children to grow up in a world that contains you. Verminboy has yet to send me a file because his dance card is full. Or could it be that his pants are full. Ah well, I shall wait patiently while others expose his gamey nature he so fervently denies. Arsenut, I have taken note of your sins against me. I have a long memory. Now saw it off you buggers!

Mike, My new cable modem email is down. Check your email for backup address. Treeburst155

Germanboy, Gamey crap?! Me? I don't need 6 Pershings to crush you. A few squads and 27 jeeps for recon will suffice. You have nothing to worry about. I wouldn't waste my time or yours with gamey crap even though your whole life is probably a waste. MarkIV, Are you as mediocre as your handle implies? Once I tar and feather Spermygirl I'm coming after you. I find you especially loathsome. At least Germanboy has the guts to take on the unknown. Treeburst155

Germanboy, I actually insulted you? That's marvelous! Have it your way. Send me the file. It will be interesting to see what you come up with. I suspect civility is frowned upon here but I'll take a chance and thank you for the game anyway. Thanks! Treeburst155

OK you pompous Penguinian parolees, you've gone and run off Aragorn. I shall not give you that pleasure. I will inundate you with my witless tautology (thanks Germanboy) henceforth and forever unless I am granted a chance to do battle with a squire of the mire. If thread etiquette requires specific challenges then I challenge Germanboy. Should he choose to offer me a squire instead, due to his cowardly nature, I shall accept the offer as penance for his sins against me. I envision Germygirl's castration in the context of a 1,500 pt. Combined Arms QB. The battle should probably take place during the day under dry conditions so as not to overwhelm Spermygirl's atrophied grey matter. There should be moderate trees and modest hills so he has numerous places to cower in fear out of my sight. I also think a town would be necessary in case his girlies need to pee. I know it's hard to squat in the woods, especially when being hammered by real fighting men. I will play either side as Squirmyboy is most certainly inept at both. I would prefer to use regulars and veterans. This is to insure that there IS a fight of some sort. Green troops under command of the Germy One will not fight, I'm sure. Use of more than two sharpshooters should be avoided as we might as well play with FOW off in that case. Finally, in order to prevent the inevitable Jagdtiger/Jumbo fight preferred by the ignorant (that means you, Germanboy) I would like to use the Rule of 76's. Name your poison, Squirmygerm; tautology or tactical tutelage. Treeburst155

I never said I was a Fionn. I just stated the reason why he hasn't lost in over 130 games with you guys. I can also say that he has never beaten me nor have you for that matter. Care to try to change that fact? Treeburst155

Some truths about Pengers: A Penger is someone who can't beat Fionn Kelly in CM because they let him boondoggle them into an unfair game. They allow this because they don't understand the game. A Penger will only play CM with fellow Pengers because they don't want to instantly hit alt-u which would be unavoidable when playing the general CM public. A Penger spends more time posting than playing because he can write much better than he can play. A Penger tends to suffer from excess intelligence, over-education, and complete frustration because these things are not enough to enable him to beat the rest of us in CM. A Penger's greatest fear is that a bargain beer drinkin', high school dropout, blue collar, red neck, good ole boy like me might beat him if given the chance. I offer as proof of the above the fact that no Penger will email me to initiate negotiation of terms for a CM battle. They will flame, make fun, or ignore this post; but they will not play. Considering the Pengers' lack of success against Fionn Kelly and the reason for it I could probably beat them before the first file is sent. Unfortunately I will never know for sure. Treeburst155 PS To those Pengers who are capable of honest appraisal of their tactical ineptitude I would like to offer my services as tactics tutor. I can help you. You need not hide from the CM community any longer. You need not lose EVERY time to Fionn Kelly. I will teach you his secrets to success and much more. My fees are low and your tactical deficiencies will be held in the strictest confidence. I will waive the fee if you would like to meet me in battle. Be brave, hold your head high and take that first step. One little email is all it takes to put you on the road to tactical prowess. In one week you will be able to beat your pre-teen son. In three months you will be able to at least negotiate a fair game with Fionn Kelly. Email me now!

In the interest of playing realistically I always move damaged and otherwise ineffective units to the edge of the board if I can do so safely. I do not exit them because of the global morale hit unless I feel they are in danger of being spotted and attacked. Treeburst155

I still think a last minute rush that would be suicidal were the game to go on another minute or two is gamey. I just can't get past the fact that the rush would not happen if the attacker didn't know the the game was over in 60 seconds. I agree there are problems with the "firepower tally" solution. That's why I described it as not being an "elegant" solution. I still like it though. As far as the flag sitter being able to take advantage of the last turn situation by defending in a suicidal manner as described above you have to realize that this is nowhere near as gamey as the attacker waiting deliberately for the last turn to do something. The defender is only reacting to a gamey move by the attacker. In fact, the defender will be controlled by the AI if the attack truly occurs during the last turn. I like the suggestion that the flag not be changeable to a "?" in the last sixty seconds now that I think about it. If you've got the strength to take it outright then it is yours and you deserve it. If you don't then your gamey last second rush will not be rewarded. Let's talk about defensive perimeters. How big would this have to be? The gamey attacker could have ammoless troops in a treeline 125+ meters away and still run up to the VL on the last turn. The only legitimate last turn attack is a powerful one that can take the VL during the last 60 seconds. Anything else will be viewed with a suspicious eye, and rightly so in most cases IMO. The benefit of doubt should go to the flag defender since he does not have the opportunity for gamey play like the attacker by waiting until the last second to initiate action. The defender can only react, and any reaction will be handled by the AI anyway. Treeburst155

The thing is, Jeff, the zombies would have never been ordered to approach the VL if their commander didn't know it was the last turn. Treeburst155

How wonderfully convenient that will be!! Thanks Marco Treeburst155

I have to agree with Seahawk. I may not have good enough control of the VL to keep you from charging it with shot up squads low on ammo, but to say control is contested just because I need one more minute to finish off your fanatical fools just doesn't sit right with me. Here's a suggestion. The 50 meter firepower ratings of all units involved with the contested VL should be compared at the end. If either side has say a 2:1 or better FP ratio compared to the other then that side wins the VL. This is not an elegant way to handle the situation but it addresses mine and Seahawk's problem while at the same time supporting Lt. Bull's way of looking at the issue. Just a thought inspired by Seahawk's post. Treeburst155

This is the same test with one change. The opposing lines were moved to 295 meters apart. This makes the longest shot possible 400 meters (30 meters spacing between tanks). Now the Shermans start to even things up with their faster turrets I assume. German Victories 27 (54%) British Victories 23 (46%) Total survivors in all victories: Germans 108 British 90 Average survivor count per victory: Germans 4.00 British 3.91 Immobilized survivors: Germans 12 (11.1%) British 4 (4.4%) Gun Damaged survivors: Germans 7 (6.5%) British 3 (3.3%) Conclusion: Get as close as possible with Shermans. Avoid engagements over 400 meters with enemy armor like you would the plague. 300 meters would even be better. I knew to avoid long range fights with my Shermans but it appears you need to avoid even medium range engagements also, even against the PzIVH. Comments on posts above: Fast moving is often not an option for many possible reasons. Fast turrets are almost worthless at greater than 400 meters if the Sherman's not moving and is engaging enemies generally to his front within a fairly narrow arc. Get close or die with Shermans unless you have room to roam freely at "fast" speed. Still you will need to be fairly close. Treeburst155

A row of ten regular PzIVHs squares off against a row of ten regular Sherman Vs. The rows are 596 meters apart. Terrain is clear and flat with good visibility. No targetting orders were issued to either side. I ran the test FIFTY times. In all cases one side or the other was completely destroyed in less than a minute. For the stats below, "victory" is defined as having at least one surviving unit after the mad minute. German Victories 31 (62%) British Victories 19 (38%) Total survivors in all victories: Germans 136 British 65 Average survivor count per victory: Germans 4.39 British 3.42 Immobilized survivors: Germans 8 (5.9%) British 9 (13.8%) Gun Damaged survivors: Germans 5 (3.7%) British 0 (0.0%) Conclusion: Even at relatively short range (600-700) against average German armor the standard Sherman will usually lose. This may not be news to some, but it sure was to me. It will be interesting to see what happens at 300 meters between the lines. More testing to come. Treeburst155

A vehicle will tend to give itself movement orders when you push it right up against the bocage; however, I was fired at for 3 consecutive turns while 76 meters into the wheat. This was done at 3 separate targets. Any adjustment the vehicle makes does not cause it to lose LOS. EDIT: Are you sure that's summer wheat? Treeburst155 [This message has been edited by Treeburst155 (edited 02-15-2001).]

Dscugaswili, you need to read the original post more carefully. The fact is that MY armor, jammed right up against the bocage, could not see or fire more than 20 meters into the summer wheat (30 meters from bocage); while my opponents armor, jammed right up against the bocage was firing through 76 meters of wheat. Two identical situations, but he can fire 3 times further into the wheat. Normal visibility through summer wheat is 94 meters. Winter wheat is 232 meters. I have no idea how they arrived at these figures since I've never seen a wheatfield in person that I can remember. Treeburst155

I highly recommend this scenario. I tried it in a double-blind PBEM as the Americans. It is very important that you know the LOS characteristics of bocage and how it interacts with other terrain features. Very challenging as the Amis but it seems fairly balanced to me as long as you know your bocage LOS nuances. I learned them the hard way. I'd play this one again from either side. Take a break from the QBs and try it out. Treeburst155

This definitely makes bocage scenarios more difficult than they already are. I think this issue is more important than the hand grenade/halftrack bug that's attracting so much attention. If I could help it I wouldn't let the enemy get within hand grenade distance of one of my halftracks anyway. I wonder if it's just summer wheat or if other LOS inhibiting terrain has the same characteristic? Treeburst155

Hi Maximus! Still got that .50 cal ammo ready? The StuH 42 is on the same elevation as my squad. The map is very flat. I'm gonna get murdered in this game if his armor can fire through bocage at 3 times the distance mine can. I'm getting murdered without the bug actually. Treeburst 155

A quick experiment in the editor will reveal that visibility through bocage into summer wheat (June-August) only penetrates 20 meters into the wheat. This is if you are right up against the bocage. So how come my PBEM opponent is targetting a squad of mine through bocage and 76 meters of summer wheat with a StuH 42? If I could do this I could blow him right out of his foxholes without ever sending my people into the hail of lead that awaits them when they clear the bocage. Any comments? Treeburst155

Me Too!! I appreciate being able to upgrade the looks of the vehicles without using batch files too. I'm just too lazy for that. Treeburst155

I noticed this too. I had mortars fire on an unseen UNIT through the platoon leader's LOS but they did not fire. The target was VERY close to being in LOS of the mortars themselves. I suspect this was the reason. The next turn I area fired and no problem. Selecting the whole group and deselecting the HQ is a great idea. Treeburst155

Problem solved. Go to www.netsetter.com to really speed up your connection, be it 28.8 modem or broadband. Absolutely marvelous. You become part of an e-commerce marketing study similar to Nielsen ratings for TV. They route all your internet traffic through their super fast network. They say the slower your connection is now the more it will improve. It works and it works WELL !! You don't have to change ISPs either. They work their magic with your current provider. Check it out. Treeburst155

You're right about that Chris. Can you send me the fix please? Treeburst155