Head Mahone

I thought of this idea myself a while back. Not only would it be great FUN, but a learning experience as well. It was always fun to check out the movies on the Combat Mission HQ site, but this would be different. One or two files of PURE action! Not to mention that new players could watch how an "old hand" crosses a defended bridge, or takes out a tank with infantry squad. The thing that would make this much different from downloading an entire battle is just that one movie. In many (but not all PBEMs) there is just that one or two movie files that are incredible! Either it’s an accidental knee-slapper, turn of tactical genius, or terrible tearjerker. Here we would have it all, and it could be categorized. The only problem that I can think of is with passwords. I would have to wait until I finish all of my PBEM games, and change my password for all the new PBEMs. I’ve been using the same password for a while now. If I upload a movie, one of my opponents could do something really nasty with one of our existing games. Although I only see this as a minor problem, I just thought throw it in for the hell of it. -Head ------------------ "I don't need my junkie friends all knockin' at my door. I just wanna do an old time waltz with a buxom Irish whore!" -Shane MacGowan

I agree! It’s the first place I go before starting a new PBEM. -Head ------------------ "I don't need my junkie friends all knockin' at my door. I just wanna do an old time waltz with a buxom Irish whore!" -Shane MacGowan

Well Bruno, it reads that he was on open ground and that's about it. It sounds like it didn't take very long, but I could be wrong. As for the men in his company, he said they where always digging in. Of coarse this is nothing new, but the makeshift foxhole story was added for the sake of our discussion. Oh, and Bruno are you always like this? A prissy little prick that is.... -Head ------------------ "I don't need my junkie friends all knockin' at my door. I just wanna do an old time waltz with a buxom Irish whore!" -Shane MacGowan

Well thanks fellas and I appreciate the replies! Below is just one of the reasons why I started this topic. -------------------------------------------- Henry Williams, D-Day veteran An excerpt from his book "Combat Boots" © 2000, Henry C. Williams We were advancing slowly. The men had learned by now to take advantage of every ounce of protection. Mother Earth was the best protection we had, although camouflage was second best. If the enemy couldn’t see you, you were apt to get by without being shot. I was traveling across an open field when I heard bullets cracking around me. I fell to the ground but the bullets kept coming. The grass was falling over me as it was being mowed. I lay so flat on the ground that I must have made a dent in it. I reached for my shovel and began to dig. And dig I did. The dirt was flying like a gopher was in the area. I would slide backward and dig and then crawl forward and start over again until I was below ground level. Was I tired? Yes, and I lay there feeling good about myself; I was out of danger of the burp guns. After several minutes I took my steel helmet, put it on my shovel handle and pushed it up above the grass to see what would happen. Nothing happened so I ran with the ammo toward the area where the machine guns were supposed to be. I will always remember the 4th of July in 1944. -------------------------------------------- Take it easy guys! -Head ------------------ "I don't need my junkie friends all knockin' at my door. I just wanna do an old time waltz with a buxom Irish whore!" -Shane MacGowan

I have seen in other war games where infantry would begin digging in after being stationary for a period of time. This went for the attacker or the defender and during any point in the game. The reason I am bringing this up is do to some of the real life WWII accounts that I have read. I have read many stories where an infantryman would sometimes grab his shovel before his rifle when the bullets started flying! I am not asking to simulate this exactly, but an option would be nice. Say in a meeting engagement you get to an undefended VL. The fighting is already going on in other spots on the map and is sure to come you way. You then give your men the "Dig In" command to the lose of a "Sound Contact - Digging" to nearby enemy units. A few turns later and the artillery barrage that you begin receiving before your enemies attack doesn't do near as much damage. Well, what do you think boys yea or nay? -Head ------------------ "I don't need my junkie friends all knockin' at my door. I just wanna do an old time waltz with a buxom Irish whore!" -Shane MacGowan

Sid Meier's Gettysburg solved this situation by giving a 10-minuet bonus. If an attacker overcame the defender of a victory location at the closing of a battle, he had 10 extra minuets to truly POSSES it. The defender had this time to mount a counter attack and if successful, the clock was then reset to a new 10-minuet bonus. Don't worry, this never went round and round. Like Combat Mission, a Gettysburg battle is brutal. In such an attack, there are bayonet charges and all. If you didn't posses reserves, it was unlikely that you could mount a successful counter. To get back on the subject of C.M.. I have only experienced this problem in a PBEM game once. I still won, but it didn't matter because it made for a terribly boring game. That person was scratched off my PBEM list long before we ever finished the game. I think this situation is more of a problem with your opponents than it is with C.M. Email me a setup, and I'll show you what I mean. It'll be a completive, nonstop fight to the end, that I can assure you. -Head ------------------ "I don't need my junkie friends all knockin' at my door. I just wanna do an old time waltz with a buxom Irish whore!" -Shane MacGowan

This reminds me of Sid Meier's Gettysburg TCP/IP play. During which more than one person could control a brigade and some artillery. His buddy could do the same with maybe 2 brigades. The end result would be 2 people working as a team to crush the 2 or 3 people playing the other side. This could grow to 4 against 4 I believe. It was a lot of fun and I’m sure you guys will have the same! Cheers, -Head ------------------ "I don't need my junkie friends all knockin' at my door. I just wanna do an old time waltz with a buxom Irish whore!" -Shane MacGowan

I agree, we need an infantry HUNT command.... -Head ------------------ "I don't need my junkie friends all knockin' at my door. I just wanna do an old time waltz with a buxom Irish whore!" -Shane MacGowan

+3 experience always, and 25% handicap usually. Only on a really well made scenario, where the AI has a great defense is the handicap not necessary. When the AI attacks he's GOT to have the boost. Nothing quite like facing the hordes of platoon HQs charging over open fields Gettysburg style! -Oh where would we be without PBEM/TCP/IP!?! -Head ------------------ "I don't need my junkie friends all knockin' at my door. I just wanna do an old time waltz with a buxom Irish whore!" -Shane MacGowan [This message has been edited by Head Mahone (edited 03-13-2001).]

Yeah, I wish my Grandfather was still around. He was a sharpshooter in the army. He did a few beach landings in the Philippians and saw extensive action. He told one story about getting on the wrong landing craft. While ridding in behind the craft he was supposed to be on, he watch it suffer a direct hit from artillery! It’s a shame that before long everyone from that great generation will be gone. We should never forget what great sacrifices they gave so we could enjoy the life we have today. -Head

Well, I've noticed these things and have gotten aggravated as well. On the other hand, with a game as versatile as Combat Mission this could really portray reality. Here is a real life account from the gunner of a Sherman tank when facing almost the same situation as above. -------------------------------------------- This account is excerpted from "They were all young kids," by Aaron Elson. The late Corporal Jim Rothschadl of Waubun, Minn., was the gunner in Lieutenant and Tank Commander Jim Flowers' tank in the battle for Hill 122. Rothschadl and Flowers were both badly wounded and burned, and spent two days in no man's land waiting to be rescued. ©2000, Aaron Elson And then when that first big shell hit the tank, it hit the right front, I think it hit the sprocket, and we stopped. When it hit, the tank went up. It lifted the front end way up, and it came on down. The motor was still running. It was an 88. I’m sure it was an 88. It was a big shell; the 88 has a high velocity. Flowers was looking for it, that 88. And he was telling me to move from the middle to the right. And I was trying to. I quit firing the .30 then, we had already been hit. And I remember Gary, Horace Gary, he was the driver, he started swearing down there, "Godammit, let’s get out of this sonofabitch! We’re sitting ducks! Let’s get the hell out of here!" And Flowers told me to traverse to the right a little bit. He was poking me in the back. He was standing right behind me – I was sitting in the gunner’s seat – and he was saying something about over to the right, and I was trying to pick out something but I couldn’t, through the periscope. I did see a heat wave, where the blast was from. And I fired one round in there. All of this took place in a matter of seconds from the time the first one hit. I think Gary was pretty angry that we didn’t get out earlier. The tank wasn’t on fire yet, and Gary and Kiballa were making all this noise, they were arguing. Then the second shell hit. And that came through the turret; that’s what knocked Jim’s foot off. I didn’t know it at the time. There was this goddamn humongous explosion, and racket, and heat. The turret was open. It immediately caught fire. And the shell went right on through. It had to have been an armor-piercing shell. If it had been high-explosive, I wouldn’t be sitting here. It had to be an armor-piercing, and it went right on through. Those German 88s could hit the front of a tank and that shell would come right out the back end. They had double the velocity of our 75s. Double. ------------------------------------------- Well there we have it. A real life situation that would look like the "trance" Mannheim Tanker spoke about if it where to happen in the game. I will agree that a Puma standing up to such a threat like Leonidas spoke about is a bit different. Maybe lighter AFV should be tweaked to back down more often. On the darker side, AI tweaking could get so picky it could have a negative affect...... Oh well, take it easy fellas, and sorry about the length! -Head ------------------ "I don't need my junkie friends all knockin' at my door. I just wanna do an old time waltz with a buxom Irish whore!" -Shane MacGowan

I'm 23, and I'll take you DOWN OLD MAN! Go ahead and take you best shot. Send me a PBEM! I'll play blind folded to help make it fair! Aaahhh what's the matter, is your hand too old and stricken with arthritis to use the mouse anymore! You'll never beat a young punk like me HAAA HAAAAA HHHHAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! -Head (I'm getting the hell out of here) ------------------ "I don't need my junkie friends all knockin' at my door. I just wanna do an old time waltz with a buxom Irish whore!" -Shane MacGowan

Did you guys catch the History Channel’s Modern Marvels show on the Tank last night? The part that really caught my eye was that American armor was once again out-classed! They showed our tanks on ramps shooting in to the sky (nothing more than mobile artillery). Then when it was time to do some tank killin, they said we couldn't do it! The show said when the Koreans and Chinese rolled that T-34 in; we had nothing to knock it out with. It’s hard to believe that our military leaders continuously failed to get the point, time and time again! And it’s a shame the ones that knew better couldn't get the point across. Boy how things have changed though... -Head ------------------ "I don't need my junkie friends all knockin' at my door. I just wanna do an old time waltz with a buxom Irish whore!" -Shane MacGowan [This message has been edited by Head Mahone (edited 03-09-2001).]

I'm not so sure about that Jarmo. The bow gunner is stuck in the co-driver seat. Why would he stop firing that gun after the panic of losing the TC has settled? It shouldn't have anything to do with giving orders either. TCs don’t have a problem commanding and manning the MG before getting injured…… Just more thought to grow on boys, CHEERS! -Head ------------------ "I don't need my junkie friends all knockin' at my door. I just wanna do an old time waltz with a buxom Irish whore!" -Shane MacGowan

It hardly ever happens to me. Don't get me wrong I've seen it happen, but only once or twice. I've had the game for awhile too. -Head ------------------ "I don't need my junkie friends all knockin' at my door. I just wanna do an old time waltz with a buxom Irish whore!" -Shane MacGowan

Anytime I send mail to Europe from my home in the States it takes this long. I'm lucky if it gets there in 7 days. So stop your petty bitchin', I already have a Wife for that....... -Head ------------------ "I don't need my junkie friends all knockin' at my door. I just wanna do an old time waltz with a buxom Irish whore!" -Shane MacGowan

I agree to the fullest! It brings the game to an entirely new level. His other mod packs are impressive as well I might add....... -Head ------------------------- I don't need my junkie friends All knockin' at my door I just wanna do an old time waltz With a buxom Irish whore -Shane MacGowan

INCREDIBLE -Head

Don't forget the final and most dangerous stage. Soon you will start dressing in full camouflage with combat gear. You will issue yourself a BAR or M-1 rifle, live off of K-rations, and everyone around you will begin speaking in German! When THIS happens, you should start playing CM for 5 hours a day instead of 24 and seek medical help……... -Head ------------------ "No man ever won a war by dieing for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country." -General George S. Patton, Jr.

I enjoy everything I receive on the battlefield, and make good use of it. If I had to pick though, I guess it would be the jeep. Although every time I do get one I'm happy in the end. There’s nothing like getting an artillery spotter to the other side of the map in 10 seconds. Only to get an incredible view of where you didn't expect the enemy to be, and bring hell down on em. -Head ------------------ "No man ever won a war by dieing for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country." -General George S. Patton, Jr.

Looks like we got ourselves a realllll original John Wayne badass on our hands here........ -Head ------------------ "No man ever won a war by dieing for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country." -General George S. Patton, Jr.

All we can do is hope that other developers realize just how far behind they are. Maybe they'll try to counter act by plugging other theaters of war with the perfection of Combat Mission in mind. Or perhaps BTS will grow into a trillion dollar business like Microsoft, and crush all peon opposition! -HaaHAAAaaHAaaaaa For now try Sid Meier's "Gettysburg" and "Antietam" my friend. Gettysburg being the first of the two was ahead of its time, and made a new step in strategy war gaming. This was some time ago though, and they are now both a bit dated. http://www.firaxis.com/ -Head ------------------ "No man ever won a war by dieing for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country." -General George S. Patton, Jr.

To answer your question Juardis, your real life tactics were not real life WWII tactics. The infantry lead tanks into the "battlefield" 90% of the time. I have only read one account where this did not happen. Here it is from the mouth of TC Dale Albee during an interview. Aaron Elson: Now, what happened when you got into trouble with the second platoon? Dale Albee: Oh, that little ****. His favorite words, you see, I would be attached to the recon, so I had to take orders from them. This one town, that’s the time I got bounced up with a panzerfaust. The little guy says, "You have to lead." I said, "No. You guys always lead into town. "And he said, "No, you’ll have to go in." I said, "I don’t have any infantry support. We cant lead into a town." And he said, "Kelly said so." I said, "I’ve got to know that." He said, "Just a minute, I’ll go back and check." Like a damn fool I didn’t follow him, and he came back and said, "Kelly says that you’re supposed to lead in, and we’ll stand up here and guard, and then we’ll come on in." Well, fine. We headed off and went into the town, and as soon as we got in – I always carried a bunch of guns in the back of the tank; I had an M-1, a bazooka, and a B.A.R. So I jumped out and grabbed the M-1 and I started leading my tank through there." Aaron Elson: You were acting as infantry? Dale Albee: Yeah. That’s all we could do. I did that several times, dismount and lead your tank. Because that way you could spot mines, and at least you find out what in the hell is going ahead, sneak up to a corner and look around. But we came up, and its hard to explain, we came around this corner, and this is a corner of the house right here, and my tank came right up here like this. There was a railroad station here, and a big ditch that ran across right here. And why this German ever ran, but he came out the door and started running towards the ditch. I’m standing right here with the M-1. So I shot him. Just about the time I shot him and was starting to turn around and look, from somewhere over here they shot a panzerfaust, and it hit right in front of my light tank. It bounced me up against this brick building and put gravel – the panzerfaust, you know, those little pieces of tin – from my waist down it was just like I’d been a pin cushion. It just splattered me. And I couldn’t hear. They say that I just dropped my M-1 down and I turned around and I started walking back. I couldn’t hear. I didn’t know what was going on. --------------------------------------------- Later Dale found out that Kelly (his CO) did not really issue that order for his tanks to lead. Boy was Dale pissed! And that was not just for towns, but as a whole. This is just the only account I could find because infantry always lead in WWII. When they don’t on rare BS cases like this, the panzerfausts start flying much like on CM. -Head ------------------ "No man ever won a war by dieing for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country." -General George S. Patton, Jr.

The Brits were the first to put tanks on the battlefield. Hell, maybe its in their blood. -Head ------------------ "No man ever won a war by dieing for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country." -General George S. Patton, Jr.

Surprisingly I have only experienced friendly fire once (that I noticed). I don't mean that my squad was in a house with an enemy squad, and the friendlys from outside shot up the house including both squads. It was an obvious "who the hell is that" "I don't know, FIRE"! I had an GM42 HMG team moving into position. It was dark and the enemy was near. A friendly Panzergrenadier squad spotted the MG team and lit em up. One man was hit and the team went for cover. I did take note that there was two squads in LOS of the MG team. The one that opened fire was of "regular" status and the other was "veteran". I'm not sure if that made a difference or not, but with a game this GOOD I bet it did. -Head ------------------ "No man ever won a war by dieing for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country." -General George S. Patton, Jr.