dieseltaylor

David I "Yes the German Army was very motivated! In NW Europe alone, between June 6, 1944 and December 31, 1944 the Germans executed (hung or shot) FIVE THOUSAND men for desertion! That'll keep you in your foxhole! " I agree it is a form of encouragement. I was thinking over the war as a whole - things obviosly changed when your were dredging the manpower barrel. Also at that stage the final outcome of the war was never really in doubt and the material discrepancy so great that it was a different scenario from the rest of the war. What I find so surprising is that more German units did not surrender [ on the Western Front ] as it would have got the Allies to Berlin faster than the USSR ..... go figure ..... ah yes executions. A very sad sad thing. Shot for being having a strategic foresight let alone cowardice, battle fatigue, mental breakdowns .... makes me depressed.

Snarker "I tried the bookie thing. Every time I bet a race for a killing, the fix was changed. Next day so had the newspaper report." Guess who changed it : ) I must admit that Oren thing I mistook as a impressionable junior member - I think Ant has it right.

sergei "How many files need to be sent back and forth to complete a single turn is what matters. In the current CM way it is three files. PBEM Helper allows this to be squeezed into two files. The mechanism I mentioned would also do it with two files (you can't get below that!), but with security." I agree with what you say - but you are ignoring trusted mode in PBEMHelper - that way you get two move turns and two movies every e-mail ----- TWICE as fast as your secure system. I was astounded to find that people playing at the Proving Grounds were not automatically using it ---- testing scenarios surely is a trustworthy occupation and time testing should be precious. Also the ability to follow the thread of the battle without reloading previous files should not be underestimated!!

Seems to be that defining map size seperately from the CM size description would be very helpful to those browsing foe scenarios to play. I like playing on large and huge maps with relatively low density so that flank actions are important - now you have explained it is on unit count I am in some sort of limbo as to what a scenario description really relates to!!!

Nice. ..... will give them a try.

Sergei More secure system but you only get one film and plot per e-mail : ) STill a major improvement though. : ) Having both would be ideal - one for trusted - and one for tounies etc. Fire for Effect -- I think, probably wrongly - that you tell your battery to fire say 6 rounds and ceasefire. Particularly useful I would think with on-board aswell where small mortars can get through most of their ammo in two turns ...

You have to bear in mind that the savvy time traveller keeps quiet whilst living very nicely off the bookies : ) and the stockmarket. BTW I am dumping MS : )

I am surprised at the lead comment - as I understand it the German soldiers were very disciplined and motivated. The NCO's were first rate and this was a strong area in which even small groups , sans officers, were tough nuts. The German MG's were first rate , but I believe the grenades were not as good as the Allied. The squad AT weapons were very good late war --- but then they needed to be : ) What sources were saying that the German infantry was not generally good?

Iron MAn rules as an option. Fire for Efeect with Artillery. PbemHelper to be integrated , as as option , into the game. Scenarios are not secure anyway so if you are trusting your opponent that much you may aswell benefit from PBEMHelpers trusted mode to get the most enjoymant[2 movies 2 moves per sent email] Lastly - it seems very few people play CMAK at a minute a turn which is the real life speed. It does mean in the AI you trust giving long term orders to most of your force, really quite entertaining Cp?IP or better still LAN

Great idea - the Iron MAn rules incorporated within the game!! Tall buildings and high ground are then worth fighting for!

I have had a quick look at the link and posted there but I am surprised that in a testing phase that PBEMHelper is not used in trusted mode as a matter of course. Not only do you have all the benefits listed by GJK about record keeping but each e-mail after turn 3 or 5 will give you two moves and two movies. Playtesting would gallop along and the difficulty of keeping your battle plan in your head is more easily managed with these chunky turns. The map looks lovely from the overhead posted. BTW the battlefield looks like a very much larger version of a field I fought over and remember well as my Flammpanzer took out a T34/85!!.

Two threads starting now please!

I had not realised we were comparing photo opportunities! It is one thing to pose for photos for fun and propaganda and entirely another to be fighting a battle. In my particular case in a thousand point battle we apparently have a sole Firefly, two Shermans US and American infantry , - there may yet be British mortars. I do not care particularly if I win or lose and I am not a deep history grog but the mixing is a little bit off. I also suspect that I may be out on a limb regarding having transports for my artillery in meeting engagements. These things we do as they appear to be the correct thing ........ mumble mumble In a desperate defence may be a 1% chance it happened for all manner of forces to be mixed. But as deliberate Allied policy complete fantasy as the radios presumably are different, different ammo, different rations - and as for command structure - complete cobblers.

I have own up that I had forgotten Irfanview the greatest freeware ever which does screen capture, and a whole whole lot more. The highest downloaded programme ever from Tucows.com. Ousu seems to have the edge on simplicity but only marginally.

Thanks GJK. That programme is brilliant. Much better than anything else I have tried.

I think on reflection the onus must be on the player who wishes to be ahistorical to mention it before the game. I do not wish to have to write a list of possible gamey things to be answered before I play someone simply to accomodate 1 out of the 30 or so people I have played. Edit. P.S. Actually I do not consider much to be gamey at all. The mixing of Commonwealth troops etc is common knowledge, and certainly there were times when Germans and their Allies were in action together. However in general it would be helpful , if only out of politeness, that you say you may or may not do it, of course if you only wish to play someone once this must be a highly effective way of dissing opponents. [ September 03, 2004, 10:29 AM: Message edited by: dieseltaylor ]

I have just got a QB where it is a meeting engagement and the Americans have a Firefly. I must admit I had never considered it as it seems fairly ahistorical. In an attck etc I am aware that the US borrowed Crocodiles to overawe the defenders in Cherbourg. And very effective they were! Obviously there is a considerable advantage in being ahistorical as the UK ATG's , Fireflies and Crocdiles were worth having. American artillery and squads are also very effective. I am surprised though that so many people have leapt up to say it is OK - without any provisos. I suppose they are the people who bought lots of flakwagons in CMBO : )

If you go to the MZO site a chap called POS did a fine series of jpgs. showing spotting ranges etc. A fine site - there is a link on the top of the CMBB forum messages

The PIAT was not all bad. The Companion book I think has a nice example of it in action. Remember its biggest virtue was no blast when fired so you could probably take a few shots without being spotted. This meant you could fire from a house without necessarily doing yourself a mischief. Also a fairly destructive warhead.

" One of the best things about CM is playing solo." Oh heresy Weasleboy AI is for wimps!!! but I suppose because I lose to the AI thats why I beat humans [ on average , on a good day, with fortune on my side]

Having a gridded terrain mod is almost a necessity if you are playing TCP/IP to a tme limit. And it really does help even in other games as it means you can do your moves quivker and therefore have more games : )

You could of course play on larger maps to allow speed and maneouvre to occur : ) I find huge and large maps give me plenty of terrain to work with. Halftracks become viable units as is scouting light armour. Have you been playing the right kind of idiot? : )

"The use of the flex .50cal use against aircraft is of questionable value since it only fires at enemy airplanes." I think that saves spending money on a dedicated AA asset. I always consider that when Commonwealth or Russians who are light on intrinsic AA.

As a happy medium , and particularly if you want to play 3000 points plus consider PBEMHelper in trusted mode. This will give you two movies and two movement phases per e-mail sent. Downside for really large battles is your e-mail may a megabyte -- but that is if everything is moving!

Kai-Lae There are quite a few threads already on the forums about CAS with many lists of historical FF incidents, and many examples of useful air attacks within the game......... I like it, I use it and have very very rarely suffered from FF.