dieseltaylor

Not a new question then : Die Rote Teufeln- 11-30-2008 Normandy railway lines Random question I know :roll: Does anyone have any pics or info on the railway lines through the Normandy Bocage country. More specifically would these be sunk down below the level of the fields like the roads, or raised on embankments? Got some Peco track and was hoping to get some useful info before embarking on a bit of scenery building, all help appreciated, cheers :wink: Mark at Great Escape- 11-30-2008 I would imagine that the level of the track would depend on the ground around, the train lines in Normandy will be the same as those here in the UK, the majority of train lines in Britain were laid before the war. Thus the level will change to ensure that the track stays as even as possible. I like the raised track idea, it create a barrier on your gaming table plus it can be a deadly obstacle for people to try to cross!!!! goose- 11-30-2008 Holidays I can tell you that some of the railine in use today in normandy area are sunken and some are raised as Mark eludes too. They are similar. I am looking at getting some rail lines made up. Company B are doing some moulded track sections, and I am looking to having mine raised, to make a ridge on the gaming table. I don't plan to glue my track down, so i can swap it onto flat sections for use in rail yards type games etc.. (make the most out of the limited costly track).. hofer- 12-01-2008 http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x30c8i_en-cabine-diepperouen-ter_events http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2d8gk_ter-x73645-bassenormandie_travel http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x130ua_diaporaman1-du-270107_shortfilms Edit - and from Wikipedia there is this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Railway_stations_in_Lower_Normandy However I suspect the maps - is it Michelin 1947 - will provide loads of detail and may even be fine enought to see bridges and crossings. @ )

I am not a modder but I see that designers have a very limited palette to design realistic curves. So beautiful looking maps become offensive when you see curves that you know do not exist in real life. So join me lets get some realistic track curves!

Which raises the interesting point of how common were bridges over road/over rail as road traffic apart from towns might be not frequent or important enough to justify the expense. Where it would be logical is where a raileay is following a contour line and incidentally bridges a lower level where a road is climbing up. Main lines might justify bridges and therefore you would expect a minimum of two tracks : )

Kind of depressing really - but not totally surprising either. Is their a case for restricting advertising as it drills down to our primal levels? http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2011/08/01/ad_for_monkeys_seeks_to_plumb_roots_of_human_behavior/?page=1

I think some seriously overdid their make-up. : ) And a non-conscript http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8350847.stm

I am Jentz light and my books are fairly bereft of [reverse] gearing details so if anyone can help .... If I have to make assumptions where there is a single gear then I imagine it would be similar or slightly speedier than first. I think it is quite important that reverse is correct in a realistic simulation - and compared to all the other parts of the game one of the simplest I would think to code. I think we have all been horribly spoilt by reverses speeds that are way out of whack and this is misleading in how one utilised armour.

and a very quick one from the Simpsons

Oh gosh JonS that is so helpful. I must remember that not everyone here has necessarily read the manual. However there is very little in Busting the Bocage on the upsides and downsides of the plow but perhaps you have forgotten that.

http://www.oldhickory30th.com/Interview%20of%20Lt.%20Ray%20Holmquist%20Hedgerow.htm

Given a Sherman is approx 3 metres wide, and assuming other units and farm carts are narrower it does seem that would be a reasonable size to aim towards. : )

There is no doubt that SHermans and Stuarts could shift earth with a Rhino attachment - the question really is how effective was it tactically. We have to make the distinction between what is shown in the US propaganda films and how it was actually used. As someone pointed out CHurchills could bull their way cross-country and in a recorded incident did - though tank men were knocked senseless - and no doubt some tanks broke down. However this seems to be the exception that proves the rule. I have read an account of a US Rhino SHerman crew who said RHinos were ineffective and actually injured the crew and the tank. It may be they were particularly bad at choosing the pieces of hedge however logically anything hitting a mound of earth repeatedly to break its structure is going to be painful to someone. Stuarts racing at speed through small hedges is simply a travesty of the real bocage terrain. However if you are not aware of the real terrain ...it looks great.

I understand what you are saying Affy. There are many people who have suffered very badly but not all end up the same way. SO whilst I am happy to believe there are chemical and other reasons why people react differently I do wonder what makes the difference. My first wife I think regarded being cheerful as an affront to nature so rationed it very carefully. I did wonder if a drinking regime based solely on Coca-Cola had something to do with it. ... And does "depression" as an illness actually compound the problem? I am off to bed now so cannot answer fully however I have been reading some WW2 memoirs which made me wonder about depresssion at the time - or was that all suffering together depression does not seem so bad as some things:

With v1.01 I thought I would look at reverse again. A Sherman 75 seems to cover 100 metres from a standing start in about 30 seconds so roughly 12000 metres an hour or 7.5 mph. This seems to be significantly in excess of the 3mph I have seen in a photo of a Sherman engine plate for reverse speed. The Tiger I with 4 reverse gears is I think 5.6mph, and I have been told a Churchill is 2.5 mph max in reverse. Whilst it is great fun to dart in and reverse out of positions I do wonder if the games is reflectingly accurately how easy it was to dance a tank around. Certainly in CMAK I was very gutted to find a Grant reversing in woods seemed to be able to beat a MkIII going fast forwards in the same wood. This did make me keen to see how this matched up in a more realistic game.

I would disagree with your assessment Holien : ) A lot comes down to the hedge type and what you are equipped with. I have not actually done any hedge laying but I have cleared scrub of hazels/hawthorn etc using billhooks and hedge slashers and whilst standing up it is not a trivial task to consider trying to destroy it on your knes of belly - even with the right implements - fills me with doubt. Going back pre-war all hedges would be laid and interwoven to be stock proof so fairly thick if they included a ditch and bank layout. I am not saying on a thinner hedge you might not be able to worm your way through but you would be totally at the mercy of the enemy whilst in that position. I wonder when the first hedge trimmer attachment for tractors appeared - post war at a guess. : ) I have seen skinny headges on arable farms but then it is not 1944.

Article Affy Seems almost a non-sequitur. However I think there is a flipside to depression and the flipside is not laughing gas or anything else it is more to do with society and labelling. It is a curious fact, acknowledged that being a poor society does not make a misearable society, and that wealthy Western societies are not necessarily happier than poor societies. I work hard at being happy and actually consider whether things are good or bad for me. Looking at the Sunday papers with pictures of cruises and travel, lovely houses for sale etc are not good. Reading the stupid adulation of "celebrities" etc is not good. Reading escapist literature, happy films etc is good and been proved to release the feel good chemicals of the brain. I have a huge selection of joke books, I read P G Wodehouse etc.. I have male friends and we meet once a month to hurl insults at each other whilst playing board games. Not a huge thing you might think but relaxing and playing with abstract ideas is good for you. However to be depressed ! one only has to live and read the newspapers. So in our connected world we can be assailed by guilt and by desire non-stop. To be happy [ier] you need to think of the blessings we have. In some ways all of us here who contribute to the forum are benefitting because we can discuss things to a reasonable level with some intelligent minds. Not something one can do necessarily at work - or more particularly if you are retired/housebound. Being depressed is the nature surely of any intelligent man as he looks at the mess the world is in. Restricting your bad news inflow, and most particularly how it is presented to you can help. Anyway enough of my views how about some scientific research - I have not read it but glanced through - it makes sense to me : ) http://lifetwo.com/production/node/20070429-what-makes-people-happy

Just it is interesting to see how much Portugal was in/out of the war and get a glimpse of its politics. Just fun : )

Very good point Amizaur

I am at a loss here as I thought all named objects were called that by most people was a necessary convention. In a citizen army that commonly used Imperial measures getting metric would surely just be a confusion that was unnecessary. But useful for tankies when they had to start differentiating guns And lets face the UK was rather ahead of the world in naming things rather than numbering them. And if you think about it the naming works for the guns - consider "We are under fire from 88's." Is that short firing by 25pdrs or enemy guns? I always wonder if using measurements or numbers makes some types feel something is more correct/businesslike with little regard for use. As the Olympics approach I look forward to gold medals going to winners by thousandths of the second. Personally if the spirit of sportsmanship I think we perhaps out to be honest and say if they are with the functional limit of eyeballing - whatever that is 1 tenth of a second say then it is a dead heat. Measurement should be suitable for what is being done.

http://www.balagan.org.uk/war/ww1/index.htm I thought following so much interest I would find more. Highlight Zeppelins to supply East Africa!

I was surprised that research has proven commonsene remedies have a basis - and also shows how ineffective drugs really are: I also believe sweaty physical activity is very necessary though that is not mentioned. And this result does come from a fringe area .

And what range was this at?

Typo : ) : )

CORRECTION For Marshall read MacArthur.

Interesting read. Thanks for the link to Frank. I feel we are on first name terms already. Frank makes a good case. However there is an interesting point that relying on radio interrcepts provided plenty of information how the military felt about fighting on - which I think everyone would expect to be the military option. The lack of information on the civilian side - as in what was going on in Tokyo was therefore unrepresented. I am not saying it would have made much difference rather that the slant was ...slanted. It was also interesting as an indicator on Marshall who comes over as an even bigger prick than I thought. The article on Polk is also very interesting. Frank incidentally refers to the Manchester Guardian which given it does not exist under that name is hardly a ringing endorsement for accuracy : ). Seems a good guy though.