Robeek

Okay, probably the last person you want to hear this from... being a lurker, and having only a VERY small understanding of how Campaign games work... But I DO have experience with GM'ing large scale campaigns of other games (and sorting out battles, news, random occurences, etc.), so I guess I'm entitled to say my little bit here. This sounds like an -excellent- idea. Streamlining in general is a good thing, but this seems to fit together beautifully. Less of a hassle for the GM, more compatible with the other players, and a format which everybody can understand with only a few minutes of reading. Take heed, I got a feeling that if campaign games are going to be the "next big thing" in the CM world (that is, before CM:BB or invincible super finns), this format will be the mainstream way of setting up campaign games. Yes, file this idea under "useful". Now's all you need to do is test it out for pitfalls and bugs.

Hmmm. As a lurker, I tend to think that I've gotten a lot from this community and this game for my measly 40-some bucks I paid for it (I can't remember the exact amount, it's been so many QB's and Operations too remember!). I've played a total of 1 PBEM game, which the other guy dropped from, and I've tried playing TCP/IP games with pals from work and school, but to no avail (damn their lack of interest). But despite my social ineptness, I can definately see this being a worthwhile cause. IF the following conditions are met: 1) How exactly our (er, at least my) money is spent, so that we know the gritty details of what our greenbacks did for this honorable service. (I.E., buy a server, pay off a host server, pay for a prostitute for Manx or something). That way we can know exactly how the process worked out. 2) We see some extra cool new features on the site . .... I'll pledge a $20 from this wallet here. Someone do the math please? It's early in the morning.

Hmmmm, snow battles. I'm just going to brainstorm some tips here, they may or may not be exceptionally effective, but a few I HAVE actually used to gain a little bit of an advantage during *AI* battles. (Don't know how some would fare with a human opponent). 0) First, download some winter mods. Your eyes are the gateway to your soul, so if you don't go easy on them by getting some of the beautiful snow mods out there, then... um... you'll end up in Hell? I don't know. 1) Okay, actual TIP tip #1. Dress heavy, ride light. Now obviously you can't really equip your infantry with better snow gear, but you CAN keep an eye out for what type of tanks you get. Stay away from the uber-heavy types unless you plan on sitting in one spot. (I.E. if you're on attack and pick up a bunch of Jumbo's or Tigers, you're asking for it). Your light tanks gain some value for flanking moves when your opponent's medium/heavy tanks have gotten bogged down. 2) Move as little as you can, while getting your opponent to move as much as you can get him. Between exhausted troops and bogged tanks, the more you move, the more your at risk for bad things to take effect. So, try to move as little as possible. When on offense, don't shuffle back and forth on the map; keep your objectives clear and SHORT. Realize that, you might have to forgo taking some casualties just to get to an objective at a key time; say right before an artillery barrage ends, or before the game is over. And for god's sake man, use recon units! Better to waste a half squad or a 20mm HT/Jeep and have it search an empty forest than to commit a platoon or company and realize that the action is half a mile away. 3) Motorize, and leave room for error. Since speed is essential, it might be wise to equip key elements with motorized transport. (Light and tracked is the best, I've noticed... trucks bog too quick and of course heavy tanks do the same). Still, BE PREPARED. It's not uncommon to have one or two squads fall way, WAY behind because their halftrack bogged right at the beginning of a long trek across the map. The clever way of making the best of this situation is to bring a company commander or spare platoon leader with, and having them disembark whatever they are riding and stick with the people who's ride got bogged. Have them continue to the objective point, and treat them as reserves. TIRED reserves, but reserves nonetheless. In the end, a lot of times your opponent will not expect such swift movement on your part, and will be caught off guard by your speed. This applies to all environments of combat, but more so in snow because it's expected for you to take a long time to move from point A to point B. 4) Feign more than usual. With reduced visibility and generally over-confident defenders, your opponent (assuming you're on offense here) will be more susceptible to feign movements, and will dedicate more of his resources to the extermination of whatever first pops out of the fog (er, snow). Half squads, recon vehichles, hell, even SMOKES can make a guy nervous enough to drop arty on a spot, or to send a tank over to investigate, or to move infantry around. And what does moving around mean? (Look above, you dolt!) In conclusion, There's a couple fine lines that divide most CM players when it comes to snow-combat abilities. There's the people who don't know anything about it, and will treat it like they treat fighting on a clear day in August. There's the people who know about winter fighting, and all of the disadvantages, and will play paranoid and be primarily concerned with not being screwed by all of the disadvantages of the environment, yet will expect you to suffer all the consequences of the environment. Finally, there's the people who are seasoned winter vets, and who know that they must approach the situation and be prepared to fight an opponent who could be any one of the three types of winter generals. Some types are more dangerous then others, but all personalities will have some distinct character traits which you can exploit or at least recognize to gain a little info on your opponent. That's that. Good luck, stay warm, and pray your KT doesn't bog down before it crests that first hill.

A new friend.... or a new enemy. Either one can be fun to play with, heh. Althought I like the AI... as bad as it is for your actual abilities against an intelligent opponent, playing the AI is just so much -easier-. I overanalyze PBEM games, and TCP/IP is a bit too.... personal... for me. So, yeah. Wait, I'm a lurker, I'm not supposed to speak. I have violated my code of solitude! Doh.

Hmm, can anyone direct me to some very strong Choir/Symphony music similar to the Red Army Choir's "Hunt for Red October"? I just listened to that yesterday and was greatly impressed, and I was wondering if there were any similar music/soundtracks that I could go purchase. Thanks!

Okay, I've searched the forum, I've searched the manual, and I'm pretty much giving up on searching, so I'll ask: In the Panther series of tanks, what does the little "c" represent after the Armor/Slope rating of the frontal turret armor? Does it stand for "chin"? If so, why do all the Panther series have them; if Only the late Panther G was the one with the chin?

Yes. Fionn Kelly created a series of home-rules that allow the players to agree on a maximum calibre of guns to be played in any given game. These are called the Short 75 rules, Panther 76 (I think it's Panther, not sure), and another one which escapes my mind entirely. If you look up "Short 75 Rules" in a search on the General CM forum, I'm sure you'll find a link to the entire list of rules. That should solve your problem.

One thing I constantly do to this day is accidently drop life artillery instead of smoke in a field, and since I tend to have my troops given orders before the smoke is created, it means there's no way I can keep them from running out into the open field with my own shells falling all around them, during the same turn Damnit.

One thing to add though: I agree; people completely relying on 81mm artillery simply because they feel like they're getting a good deal are definately missing out, and after a few PBEM's versus a more balanced artillery force, they'll see the light.

I wouldn't be so harsh on 81mm mortars, Kiwi... they do have their uses. First of all, I tend to use my 81's for suppression, when I need to put some heads into the dirt, without using up much more valuable artillery. At a low cost and a the staying power for a few turns, I'd definately put my money into at least one battery of 81mm's for this role. Secondly, smoke screens CAN be used effectively (Read: NOT the way the AI uses them). And the cheapest/most effecient way of laying smoke is through the 81... Finally, I tend to use my 81's as a sort of "probing artillery" to mix things up a bit. Get a few spotters up high early in the game, spot some potentially good hidings spots where the opponent would most likely place some of his troops, and drop a payload of 35-50 shells on that area (depending on which side I'm on, since Allies have more shells, and also depending on how obvious of a hiding position it is). This has the effect of 1) Giving your opponent the false illusion that you know his positions more than you really do and 2) Gives a false sense of direction; generally when you artillery strike a main line force sector, your opponent assumes it's a prepatory step toward an all-out attack, and so they will reinforce the area (and draw strength from somewhere else)... See? Everything has it's uses... it's all how you play your cards, really...

Well... I don't know about a hollywood-spawned TV show, but I do know that you can generally get a good fix for WWII battles/history by just watching the History Channel. Between the mafia and great disasters/inventions, that's about the only thing they talk about on there. (Sarcasm, they do have some other topics they get into)

Personally, I'd settle for some 2D representation of rubble spilled out in the streets... I have a feeling 3D rubble might be pushing the system specs a bit. A happy comprimise might be having minor 3D alterations around the buildings which represent rubble, similar to how craters are modeled in CM 1. Overall though; a good point. (And idea)

Place the PBEM file into the PBEM folder in your Combat Mission: Operation Overlord folder, then start up the game, click load, and select the PBEM file. Simple as that.

Hey folks, I did a search on this topic, and came up empty, so I'll present it here. Recently, I've adopted the tactic in my AI QB battles to have one platoon of recon for every company of main infantry force in Attack battles. This recon element is split up into half squads, and forced very far ahead of the main group to uncover traps and troop positions. Obviously, these guys see a lot of action. What happens with the computer a lot, is that a couple of my split squads will encounter a full strength defending squad, and they engage normally. Now it *SEEMS* (I.E. I have no official evidence to support this) that the opposing squad is suppressed much faster when both of my half squads are firing at it as opposed to a single full strength squad firing at it. Same amount of people, same amount of shots being fired, but when they are split up, they seem to cause more suppresion. Now I can see the logic behind this, somewhat. The split squads are generally spaced out adequately, so the fire on the enemy squad is coming from two different directions, which would cause more panic in that enemy group than fire coming from only one direction. However, I'm just curious if anyone else has had similar findings/observations, or complete knowledge that this is a good/bad assumption? Anyone?

Wow... Until Mikey pointed out the date, I, too, was sneering at such a disturbing lack of RAM presented by the original poster. Good bump, Check. It's quite interesting to look back on when 200Mhz was ample for mostly anything..