Mr. Hankey

I had a fanatic PSW crew once in CMBO. Damnedest thing too.. The PSW had been ambushed by an Ami .50 cal MG from about 50 m away. PSW was immobilized then finally knocked out. The crew then crawled on their bellies for about 30 m toward the MG nest, then sat up and shot the poop out of the MG'ers with a pistol. This was the Tac AI in charge of this mission. Anyway, they were eventually killed, but not before immobilizing the MG by taking the MG crew down to 1 man. AHHHH the heady days of CMBO and charging MG nests without a care...

I haven't posted or even visited this board in a seriously long time. Good to see things haven't changed a bit. Nice to see entire flamewars started over the idle blather of a couple of idiots who probably had a 2000 series programming course at some community college (if that much) and can now reprogram the entire CMBB engine in a couple of weeks. Or at least a module of it. Oh. That's right. CMBB isn't properly modularized. That was the word, correct? Truly, truly pathethic people. The behavior I see displayed here is the same type of behavior that made your mother send you to your room: Not listening, whining, just being a general pain in the ass. Sad thing about people who are a pain in the ass. Even when people TELL them they are a pain in the ass, they STILL never shutup. Guess that's what makes them a pain in the ass..Hmmm.... Annnyyyway... To the people who know who you are: Engage your genius and write us a game worthy of your phenominal programming ability, and then we'll talk. Think of it... Can't you just see the bowing? Hear the scraping as the lesser mortals chant - "We're not worthy, we're not worthy..."? Kinda gives you a woody don't it?

Now, that's a challenging tactic. Just yankin' yer chain [ 08-29-2001: Message edited by: Mr. Hankey ]

What are the initial conditions for this test? Terrain, time of day, etc. I'm assuming it is a test. What are you trying to find out? And what the heck is a "pb"?

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by MikeyD: And they're really no more sucidal to use than a Sherman if a Tiger's got them in their sights.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Well, this rather illustrates the point of my post. If you have Shermans/Priests and a Tiger has you in his sights, it really doesn't matter if you have 30mm of armor or 130mm. Close the curtain on that tragic little scene... While you sometimes have to take your chances to kill German armor, if a Priest spots a Tiger, 90% of the time the Tac AI wil reverse you outta there so fast, it'll make your head spin. Even if he has a shaped charge, more than likely, he won't take the shot. All I'm saying is it's better to use Priests from a spot where he's not as likely to get ambushed by armor.

Well, Panzerwerfer beat me to it, but yeah, what he/we said . I may be wrong, but I (currently) think the blast rating for a Priest is 77, but the blast rating for a 105 is about 34, or something (somefink?) Plus the He load for a Priest is about 80 - 90 rounds. So for assault, I feel the Priest is better all around. [ 07-16-2001: Message edited by: Mr. Hankey ]

Priest's are very useful for infantry support and will run like frightened school girls at the sight of anything vagely resembling a tank. Don't use a Priest to go hunting tanks. Leave them back till you have a located some entrenched infantry guys, move into position and then let have it. Watch them fly! Make that high HE load and blast rating work for you. As far as tanks go, there are a few simple rules: 1) Never move your tanks out too soon 2) If you think it's time to move your tanks out, it's too soon. 3) When in doubt, refer to rule one.

Jeeze, these are awesome! This thing just gets better and better!

I got it, thanks mate!

Anyone know where I can get the victory flag mod of the flags with the red 'v' on them? I tried doing a search, but it doesn't work today. Thanks in advance.

When moving across open ground from cover to cover, don't walk, don't crawl, run! Crawling in the open leaves guys exposed much longer than they care to be so, they tend panic. Crawling tends to work pretty well in woods or in a building to get out of the line of fire. IMO, the error was in Deadmarsh's tactic's not the game code. As if BTS is likely to change their code to accomodate this ramdom occurance. I say it's random, because I had a regular bazooka team in the open taking MG fire from a panther G at 80m out and still have the nads to take a couple of shots before realizing I was trying to get them killed and headed for a nearby house. Next turn, they got it together and nailed the Panther in the side turret while it was distracted by a rifle squad. No offense to Deadmarsh on the above statement as I'm sure he's a good player, but you know as well as I that BTS isn't going to change this, especially since they are waist deep in CM2, so why even bother?

I'm in agreement with the majority here. Not gamey. The setup in a defend fight is the most critical of any CM battle type. The trick is to build a fluid defense. Fluidity is the only other option as a defense in depth is nearly impossble with the "probe" setup box. In attacks and assualts against a competent opponent, the most you can hope for is to win on time by holding him up as much as possible, as eventually you WILL be crushed. As was stated before, if you don't have a "swing" platoon to move into position as required to bolster weak positions, then basically you're just screwed. End of story. He came up the side. So what? How else was he gonna get at your flank on a tiny map? Personally, I hate small maps for that very reason - lack of tactical flexability- but what can you do? I always expect my flank to be hit when I'm defending, so I try to give a bit of extra strength toward either or both sides, depending on terrain and the men I have to work with. Hopefully, I can set it up so that I have some mobility in case of a frontal assault. I'm defending in a similar game right now. My opponent decided that he wanted to come at my right flank, where a rather large opjective flag lay. I got a visual on at least 4 platoons in some scattered trees coming at that area right on the map edge. I rather expected this, so I had a 120mm spotter with LOS on a rather large open area that he had to cross in the snow. Acutally I'd hoped for it as it might prove a chance to run some of his guys off the map. He started coming but the timing was a little off and a spotting round tipped him off just as the turn ended. I decided to just leave the arty running, because at that point, my opponent could have just pulled all his forces back and I would have wasted my precious cargo. As it happened, he did pull back half of the force, but the other half went on to the objective on the flank and received a warm 120mm welcome on open ground. I also threw in some 81mm for seasoning. God, it was beautiful . So far, I haven't heard a peep out of that flank in 10 turns. [ 06-26-2001: Message edited by: Mr. Hankey ]

Thanks for the replys, guys. I guess I need more practice .

I'm definitely not a tank driver . In my last two games, I've had Shermans popping off like popcorn. I hunt 'em around, they get blowed up. I fast move 'em, they get blowed up. I sit and wait, they get blowed up. On a small map, with no room to manuver, getting a flanking shot is pretty close to impossible. Of course, in my case, the map could be as big as Texas and I'd still get hagged. Anyone got any good links for me to check out or just plain good advice?

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by BilgeRat: Spoken like a true Frenchman.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Talk about the slings and arrows of war... [ 06-18-2001: Message edited by: Mr. Hankey ]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Andrew Hedges: I'm surprised that the defender was able to get a draw here, too. I think that the defense was basically sound, but I'd have made a couple of changes. --Defense-- (Snip Opinions) --Attacker-- I think that that attacker made a worse unit selection than the defender. (1) Tanks. I think the attacker chose too many. I probably would have given up one, or maybe two platoons of tanks in exchange for one or two additional infantry companies. (2) Arty. 81 + 105 is not a bad choice, for artillery; I think that the biggest problem you had was not using smoke; in a battle like this I think it should be used from turn 1. With that in mind, 81 + 81 isn't a bad choice because of the extra smoke; I might have gone for that; it would also give you the flexibility to smoke two areas at once.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Well, the object was ONLY for Jarmo to Defend with MG's and Flamers against a 3:1 mix of conventional army units. That's all. No extra this or that. Finito. The End. As far a smoke goes, I don't and didn't see any point in blowing smoke when I had to travel about 800 meters on foot. I knew he wasn't going to be moving from his entrenched areas. The tree cover was adequate and he already knew what I had. Flamers can only engage from short distance and I didn't worry much about the MG's until I apprached the town, which is where I expected the heavy fighting to take place. And that is as it happened. I only needed the smoke to get into the town and as I said, I pooched that critical step. It was kinda funny actually. Basically, I lost on time. Just like few chess matches I've played in the past. The tank fight, while ugly for me, was a battle separate from the main objective. I could have lost all my tanks (actually, I pretty much did ) but it would not have kept me from winning had I had time to consolidate and mop up his remaining forces. I don't get to play many attack games, but my basic strategy is to get a foothold on a flank and roll across the battle field with the infantry. The attackers numbers usually will allow this to happen. Jarmo played a great game. A formidable foe. I salute you. [ 06-14-2001: Message edited by: Mr. Hankey ]

I guess since you're semi-new at this you've probably gotten the point from this discussion not to run your guys to exaustion. It's not worth the hassle. I will run my guys hard, if I have to, but generally that's only to gain a foothold in a meeting engagment and only (generally) if it's in a town. Otherwise, you'll generally have time to move or even sneak your guys around, especially through woods and such. I try not to let them get past "tired". However, if you only move or sneak, your guys will stay fresh and clean smelling .

Ahh Jarmo, my tank driving friend. I think I lost that fight (I did lose it despite what the AAR says) for two reasons. First, advancing too slowly with my infantry. I frankly had no idea what to expect from engaging hordes of Heavy MG's and Flamers. So I thought that a slow advance would give me time to react to something I didn't count on. Unfortunately, I think that in order for me to have decisively won that fight, (due to the fact that I had so many troops) I would have had to pretty much kill every one of your soldiers. I may have been able to do it, but not in the time I had left. Do you remember when I mentioned that I'd blundered badly? Well what happened was that I had just gotten through your main ambush point in the woods leading into town and was consolitdating my forces in those woods. At the same time, I had called in smoke to cover my advance into the town proper. The smoke was to be 81mm, with 105 mixed in for supression. Well, the arty started to fall, and I sat there for two turns waiting for the smoke to pop up, but it never did. Well duh, I had targeted the area with the 'T' key, not the 'K' key I didn't realize it until I'd spent all my 81mm ammo, and I'm saying. "Where the hell is that smoke?" I had some 105 left so I smoked with that, but I'd lost like 3 turns that I really couldn't afford to lose. The second reason I lost, is that I've realized that I've no idea how to properly engage German armor with a Sherman. . I mean you hagged me but good at every turn. I did get a couple of lucky hits, but I lost every tank but one. I was trying to standoff and engage, but I quickly found out that doesn't work with a Sherman. And when I tried a knife fight with you, Lady Bad Luck sat on my shoulder causing my last 76 to miss you twice from between 150 - 50 meters on a fast move, my TC takes some machine gun fire in the face and bites the big one, so now he's shocked, and then the turn ends with my ass pointed 21 meters from the end of an 88mm cannon! Needless to say, the next turn was not pretty... All in all, it was a fun, interesting fight. My shear numbers made it possible to cut through the defenses, but it was also my undoing as I think the game wanted me to kill everything in sight to win. Good game.

Now my friend, you need to feel the love of a nice juicy PBEM game. I'll be happy to oblige you in learning the fine art of dying on the battlefield. Just don't ask me about tanks. Jarmo's armor beat me like a redheaded stepchild in our current/last game. It was ugly... Anyways, if you want to give it a go, send me an e-mail. I can give you pointers as we play, if you have any questions at all. I'm no tactical genius, but usually I can hold my own pretty well. I don't care about winning or losing, but I do like to play when my schedule allows.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by M. Bates: That's quite a good one, although I must say that I place AT guns on hills rather than tanks waiting to strike. Would defintely have uses though.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Well, using a tank has the advantage of mobility. If you get spotted, the sniper can mount up and you can both get the hell outta there before the arty starts to fall. AT guns are typically dead after the first couple of volleys. I don't always sit and wait around with my tanks like a spider, but if I can, I sure will. I think it's better to have a tank left near the end of a fight for support, rather than "John Wayne" them all over the place and get them killed.

I generally use sharpshooters in my tank hunting. I place them on the military crest (forward slope) of a hill in the woods with good line of sight of the battle field. I'll have a tank/tank killer on the reverse slope. Say, he spied an AFV on the last turn and it's your turn to make a move. Have the sharpshooter target the AFV. At the same time, hunt your tank over the hill. Give the tank a pause of UP TO about 30 seconds, because it will take the sharpshooter awhile to sight the target and take the shot. By the time your tank gets over the hill, the enemy AFV should be buttoned up because of the 30.06 slug careening past the TC's ear and your tank should pop him, if he can get a target sighting. The guy will never know what hit him. Then reverse the tank out of sight. I'm currently playing a PBEM where I took out about 6 AFV's using this technique. My opponent has no idea what's killing him. I'm probably just lucky in this game as the terrain allows me good field of view of his likely areas of travel, and I have two excellent hills for hiding my tanks. I don't usually take my sharpshooters near the heavy fighting as it's just one guy and he's a high priority target. If he can get a shot on a squad from a distance, I let him, because he can make a squad go to ground with a single shot, but that's not my usual role for him. For tank hunting I use a motto I saw on someone's signature. "See, decide, attack, reverse". [ 05-03-2001: Message edited by: Mr. Hankey ]

After CM4, Steve and the boys retire to their newly purchaced mansions in the "Hills", while young, nubile nymphets cater to their every whim... At least, that's what I would do!

Quick and dirty answer. Panthers are Medium tanks. Tigers are heavy. So basically you have it backwards. Additionally, the armor is of varying thickness on the turret, upper and lower hulls, typically the upper is thickest. True, it's easier to get a kill on a German tank from a side shot, but it's not always necessary, especially on a Panther. I'm sure someone with the numbers will fill in these huge blanks in my answer. Bottom line. Don't get too hung up on the "German Ubertank" thing. It will just get you killed. [ 04-26-2001: Message edited by: Mr. Hankey ]

Not being much of a mod slut, I've been happy to use the original "velvet grass" mod since the beginning. But upon seeing all the nice screen shots, I want to upgrade. So, which grass set will give me the most realistic look and still keep the ability to judge elevation? Also which tree bases go with which grass set? DD's grass seems likely and also gunner goz's, but I'm a bit at a loss. Thanks for your time.

"Is that a big, long digit in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?" :eek: