Firefly

A couple of things I noticed that I'd have done differently, with the caveat that I'm no tactical genius. The Cromwell 95 is an HE chucker, I'd have gone with the Cromwell IV and tried to use their speed to go for side/rear shots. Consider getting a Firefly or Challenger to keep them company for kitty killing, as the British did in real life. 25pdr ROF is not modelled well in CMBO, try a 4.2in/3in mortar spotter or even better on board 3in mortars with a company commander spotting for them. They have loads of ammo fro the price, but if you intend moving them very much get them carriers as they move really slowly. You probably overdid the PIATs, the standard one per platoon is normally enough. The advantage of the PIATs is that they are harder to spot than bazookas or 'shrecks, because they are quieter and you may get off a couple of free shots before being spotted, they can also be used from inside buildings without causing the crew to become 'pinned' or setting the building alight. British MGs are good, as much as that can be said for any MG in CMBO, MG Carriers are even better. British infantry is mainly rifle armed so try and use them to engage the enemy at longish range, i.e. over 100 metres.

Well as the pre-publications publicity says the game is set in North Africa, Italy and Crete you'll probably get your wish .

How many units do you control in Half-Life?

Just double checked my facts (yeah, I know I should do it before posting ), and found that the official German surrender in Italy was 29th April 1945.

The final battles were in the Po Valley, Bologna, Vicenza and Imola were captured in April 1945. Many Germans surrendered, some fled into the Alps. [ September 02, 2003, 06:07 AM: Message edited by: Firefly ]

Another dead giveaway is when the size of movie files suddenly increases from 60k to 900k.

Looks like Canary Wharf GAME screwed up and are charging the CMBO price for CMBB, they often do this as their staff are doofuses (doofi?). I managed to get Fallout 2 from them for £4.99 when they stuck their Fallout 1 special offer stickers on the wrong boxes. [ September 01, 2003, 07:42 AM: Message edited by: Firefly ]

The manual is the same in both versions, it's just partly in .pdf in the CDV version. I don't know who did the German translation though, I only have the English version

I agree 'kewl' graphics are nice for about 15 minutes, after that you get used to them and if there's no game play there, the game gets binned. It's not really fair to compare CM's graphics to the latest FPS blockbuster which only uses one POV, when you can view the action in CM from any point of the battlefield you choose. [ August 31, 2003, 01:15 PM: Message edited by: Firefly ]

Why not just set the number of turns to 120 in the QB generator, everyone will probably be out of ammo by then anyway so it's not likely that the game will actually run that long. In scenarios obviously it's up to the the scenario designer to set the number of turns and I assume they have a reason for the number they choose like the attacker needing to finish the job by a certain time for operational reasons.

Besides, Emrys is entitled to be rude, he's always been here, they just built the board around him.

A few websites that may interest you for specs and such Achtung Panzer has details of German kit. The Russian Battlefield has details of Soviet stuff The 7th Armoured Website concentrates on the 7th Armoured Divison (obviously) but has details of weapons and tanks common to a lot of Commonwealth units. As for books the Osprey series seems to be popular with modders and model makers. Their website is: http://www.ospreypublishing.com [ August 30, 2003, 11:04 AM: Message edited by: Firefly ]

I know, I can spell, I just can't typ .

Not really, the rate at which the shelf price of GI:C is dropping, they'll be giving it away free with Christmas cards by late October .

Not really, the rate at which the shelf price of GI:C is dropping, they'll be giving it away free with Christmas cards by late October .

Basically it covers the Egyptian/Lybian border, so yes it was 'western' if you were in Egypt. The Sahara was to the south and pretty much considered an impassable flank, apart from small groups such as the LRDG in light trucks and the French Saharan troops, who used camels as well as light trucks. The Sahara, with its loose sand was definitely a no-go area for armour and often a death trap for light vehicles. Also remember that the Sahara has expanded since WW2.

As I understand it SP:MBT is based on Steel Panthers 2 not Steel Panthers 3, which was at platoon level rather than individual vehicle level. I have installed and run SP3 on Win XP, but the main problem is that modern PCs are too fast for it. Everything, particularly scrolling the map, is so quick that it becomes an exercise in frustration.

I'd suggest Ken Tout's Tank, for a look at how British armour operated in Normandy at the lowest level. Tout was a loader and later tank commander in a Sherman of the County of Northamptonshire Yeomanry (the unit that finally got Wittmann). For a slightly higher level (i.e junior officer level) Keith Jones' 65 Days of a Normandy Summer is pretty good, Jones served in the Cromwell equiped recon regiment of the 11th Armoured Brigade. For the whole Normandy campaign John Keegan's 6 Armies in Normandy is one of the best bets. For a look at Normandy from a strategic level Carlo D'Este's Decision in Normandy can be hard work, but is a good look at what the likes of Churchill, Eisenhower, Monty, Dempsey and Bradley were up to.

You just want to make people wade through seven pages of the MBT to find out that the solution suggested by your 'friend' was to try the card from your old machine, don't you? Is that any way to treat people who were prepared to stand behind you, dagger in hand, in your hour of need?

That's probably why they fought the war in the Western Desert instead, apart from a few mad Frenchmen of course.

The Grant/Lee was considered by both the British and Germans to be an improvement over the Crusader, I'd expect this to be reflected in CMAK and players would no doubt choose it over the Crusader once it becomes available. From El Alamein onwards I'd expect allied players to prefer the Sherman I, as did the original participants. Personally I looking forward to the Honeys, the story of my life . [ August 27, 2003, 08:30 AM: Message edited by: Firefly ]

To put it in wargames terms a game which covered one engagement, such as CM, is tactical, a game in which you command al the troops is a single operation auch as Stalingrad or Operation Bagatrion would be operational (games such as The Operational Art of War or the recent Korsun Pocket). A game where you replay the entire war in Russia or Europe would be strategic, games like Strategic Command or Hearts of Iron would fit in here. No doubt some grog will turn up shortly and start quoting David Glantz and Soviet Operational Theory and you'll get a much more detailed definition .

There's quite a good bibliography on a little known site called battlefront.com, perhaps you've heard of it? Here's the link in case you haven't . [ August 25, 2003, 05:37 PM: Message edited by: Firefly ]