dieseltaylor

To increase your playing pleasure may I recommend to you PBEMHelper. Assuming you are not TCPing or LANing that is. Anyway Helper in trusted mode will allow you, once past the prelims, to get two movies and two order phases per sent e-mail. Makes an already great game even better : ) http://www.nic.fi/~fuerte/pbem.htm There are quite a few threads on it. Any queries ... : )

GSX "Yes it does, he is so negative in almost every post, i stopped reading his so called advice ages ago." Do you mean since December when you joined! : )

Michael, Yes. I think so. "http://www.i-see.org/eyecharts.html" and there is a link to the Bates Method of exercise

If you are posting Erik it helps if you give the time period you are playing in as some tactics will not be applicable. BTW generally speaking Russian tanks do not have smoke shells. But mortar spotters are cheap : ) Also the Valentine IX has the British 6lbr [57mm] which is a very good ATG compared to most Russian stuff. Oh and they are cheap to buy.

I am slightly bemused. In the game set-up screens if you use the drop down menus the game already provides a balancing factor. The defender will get the nominal points and depending whether you have chosen a probe, attack or assault the attacker will be given a corresponding increase in points to balance the game up. I hope I have answered the right question : 0

I have believed for sometime that sight has been deteriorating in a society that spends most of its time looking at objects in the 1-20ft range. Even driving most eye work is under 400 metres. Basically I am saying that in 1940- they probably had more people with better vision than us and our standards are low. An obscure point you may think .... "TV 'linked to short-sightedness' Watching too much television and spending too long in front of a computer is behind rising rates of short-sightedness, say scientists. Australian researchers examined rising rates of short-sightedness in Asia. Countries like Japan and Singapore have seen a sharp increase in cases in recent years. Some experts say genes are behind the rise. But the researchers found people's lifestyle was to blame, according to a report in New Scientist magazine.They said the findings may also explain rising rates of short-sightedness in other parts of the world. East Asia has much higher rates of short-sightedness or myopia than other parts of the world. In Singapore, 80% of 18-year-old men recruited to the army are short-sighted. This compares with 25% just 30 years ago. There has also been an increase in the number of people with extreme myopia, which can lead to blindness. As kids spend more time indoors, on computers or watching telly, we are going to become just as myopic Police and other employers are having problems finding people who meet their requirements for good sight. Ian Morgan and colleagues at the Australian National University in Canberra reviewed 40 studies. They found no evidence to support the theory that genes were behind the rising rates of myopia in East Asia. For instance, they found that while 70% of 18-year-old men of Indian origin living in Singapore have myopia, it only affects 10% of those living in India. Similarly, 80% of 14 to 18-year-old boys in religious schools in Israel, which have a strong emphasis on reading religious texts, have myopia. This compares to just 30% of those in state schools, where there is no such emphasis. The researchers said their findings, originally published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, point to lifestyle factors rather than genetics. They warned that western countries are also set to see rates of myopia rise in the years ahead. In Sweden, 50% of 12-year-old children are short-sighted. That is expected to be 70% by the time they are 18. "As kids spend more time indoors, on computers or watching telly, we are going to become just as myopic," said Ian Morgan. Professor Bernard Gilmartin, director of research at the Neurosciences Research Institute at Aston University in Birmingham, welcomed the study. "The findings relate to what we call school myopia which has a classic onset of nine or 10 years of age," he told BBC News Online. "He is saying that who ever you expose to urbanisation or the education background associated with modern life, the chances are they will become myopic." I cannot find anything currently regarding people with long sight but outdoorsmen - hunters etc may well be capable of shots we consider impossible without aids. Incidentally I did find a site based on the work of an American doctor from 1900 who argued the necessity of eye exercise - a prophet before his time. : )

I try to be careful not to mislead my opponent by banter. I make jokes about the situation - the battalion of King Tigers, the 14" naval guns only when it is obviously absurd. I think to mislead to unduly benefit yourself is a true gamesmanship. Of course if you do not mind people not playing yuo in the future and mentioning your name as a weasel fair dinkum.

Take care gautrek. Nice to have you back. : )

First search in the archives for all the recent discussions! Much as I would like to repeat previous posts it is perhaps easiest if you read the archives .Then you can ask specific questions. Possibly you might download the utility also and be specific about problems you come across. Opening on your computer does not effect any existing games you are playing : ) Always happy to spread the gospel of Helper : ) site http://www.nic.fi/~fuerte/pbem.htm

I feel slightly aggrieved that [Krautmann] you can be so categoric "The whole wbs-Sergei discussion looks like a clash between american pride/arrogance and european modesty/politeness/pc. " I am European and understand that people when typing frequently shorten text. I think Sergei was unduly aggressive in telling another forum member what language he should use. If we are talking politeness Sergei is entitled to think people who shorten words are insensitive racist b****ds - to put it into print is not very polite. I do not use most of the terms myself but that does not mean I take it as a racialist attack on someone if the term Jap is used. It is shorthand. [And incidentally a type of sweet small cake perhaps unknown to Yanks and Finns] I do object strongly to people who feel they are the only true judge of what English words are permissible in normal society. The spectre of all speech and written word becoming emasculated and meanings wrapped up in pc speak makes me cringe. Derogatory content will simply get transferred to whatever the new expression is. One thing is for sure, the expression will be longer than the original word : (

Problem solved. Play with 50% casualties. Dependnt on the original squad size a proportion of squads will be too small to split [about 20% for big squads and rising higher for smaller squads] Even squads big enough to split will generally be frailer with less fire power. You can console yourself that you are being realistic in that most of the time units were never at full strength, and split squads to your hearts content. It does have one huge advantage as, as we all know, if you play a 1500 point combined arms we know precisely how much armour etc. can be bought. It is human nature to say I have killed X armour therefore he has no more. In the fog of war that is unrealistic levels on information to add to your borg spotting. In an assault at 1500 points I can tell you the Germans get 217 armour points as the defender. No need to be a genius to see what tanks are affordable.

While mulling over the half squad dilemma it occurreed to me that to a degree if battles are fought with 50% casualties a proportion of squads will be unable to split at game start through existing losses. Furthermore the fragility of reduced half squads will be increased - in some cases substantially. It has further benefits. I am currently playing in a combined arms assault tourney where I can confidently predict to the point what armour my opponent can afford. 207 points does not buy an awful lot. With 50% casualties my opponent could buy a Tiger, or two decent tanks. I might face a three ATG's rather than 1. In essence much more realistic than the zero casualties scenario. The fog of war covers the choice parameters not just the physical battlefield.

Stikkypixie For the poll purposes is that a for or against Tigrii being able to use them when playing?

I understand that the TigerI was actually quite a manouvreable tank. Tending to the square shape 8:4.8 and with broad tracks. MkIV was 8:3.8

As I said - ASL the surest way to put somebody off tactical war gaming ever. Those rules were the most insane example of disappearing up your Khyber in the search for realism. Forget game playability at your peril.

I am very pleased that designers are looking at the terrain and vegetation for various areas. As a traveller and geography nut I think it adds a lot to the atmosphere if the terrain is not transplanted New England, or modern Europe slapped down and called authentic. As I rarely play scenarios I can only go back to the early days and it certainly looks as things have improved in design since CMBO- especially as the game seems not that flexible for designing. Keep up the good work lads: ) PS I was really impressed with Eichenbaums op. Lastly I was just thinking how adding a few photos of terrain to a briefing might add a large reality factor to the scenario. I suppose they would have to be by means of a link but still ............ regards diesel

"Pinus Mugo - the dwarf mountain pine from the mountains of central and southern Europe is a very variable species. This bushy pine rarely grows over 5 metres. Pinus Nigra - native to the mountain areas of SE Europe can grow to 40 metres but it often remain much lower as they are extremely variable" Take your choice Googling provides some pretty pictures. And I have learnt the mountains there rise to 1500 metres! photo albums here I have been to the south of Turkey and as you come of the coastal plain the countrside becomes almost Alpine till you hit the central plateau. I imagine in the Crimea that large trees would have been put to use in building etc. so any expectation of large forests of lofty trees would be unlikely even if you granted them adequate moisture and protection from strong winds . Whether the Soviets had planted plantations I know not but presumably they would have been quite young and on the flatter sandy plains. I do not suppose though that anyone who plays your scenario will pick up much on it anyway : ) Judging from the photos presented, mountain and Baklava I feel reasonbly happy that 5 metre trees predominate : ) . Funnily enough I spent a fortnight working as a gardener at a private pinetum in Valette du Var adjacent to Toulon - not that I know very much really.!!

No objection

I have been playing with British and American squads in three recent Allied assaults and believe me in these battles a US 12 man squad has much more recuperative powers than a Brit 8 man squad and even more so over a Brit half section. It has been an education watching the 12's recover even whilst out of command. Still I am playing on the Western Front but I imagine the game was a straightish port from CMBB apart from a few tweaks with dust and multi-turrets.

I think ASL was/is far superior to the CM series - if you wish to put people of playing WW2 tactical. A rule book jungle AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaRRRGH!

The Russains appreciated the 6pdr gun - the best tank AT gun for them until the T34/85mm.

So there we have it. Tanks are more effective if unbuttoned - something most of us probably knew. Killing tank commanders with snipers - yep we knew that was their primary mission. So automatic behaviour should be unbuttoned both in RL and the game. Tanks button under machine gun fire mortar fire etc but snipers could button a force for too long if left to a revamped AI. Borg spotting gives too many benefits as it is so this seems an elegant solution to gamey people who would drive around buttoned ahistorically. Throwing your toys out of the pram ........ "Playing against the AI as in the demo is really only an introduction. Playing against a real human being by PBEM takes the game to another level. I'm a fussy picky bastard but this game gets me going [smile]"

Nailed it in one Sanok : ) In the game I am currently playing CMAK my half squads are very fragile on defences compaed to my full squads.

22m .... does this signify that any group of men engaged in a fire fight get really scared if someone else joins in that close? How does it pan out at 50 metres , at 100 metres I cannot take it as case proved if you are only going to take it for close combat. Have you tested my example of a split squad breaking from a house with one 75mm shell hit?

I must admit to being slightly mystified that the 57mm could be rebored to a 75mm! The 6lber must have been massively over-engineered ...