Sgt Fred

"It's not loaded" ------------------ Later, Dave

I don't believe they've been that specific. As I understand it, "Fall 2001" is what BTS has said. ------------------ Later, Dave

I use IE v5.5 on a PC to view FO and it works fine. Sorry if I'm confusing the issue here if you were suggesting that this is a Mac/IE specific problem. It works fine on a PC. At least on my PC. ------------------ Later, Dave

Thanks Scipio. I just installed and tested your new mortar sound mod and it's a huge improvement. Now I don't have to cringe when I hear the pop-gun sissy mortar sound anymore. Thanks. It looks like you site has lots of new .wav files that I'll have to check out. Keep up the good work. ------------------ Later, Dave

Tiger's tan (dark yellow) hires Stug. I spent some time applying a three-color (dark yellow, red brown, dark green) camo pattern which looks nice. As for PzIV mods, I haven't really found one that does it for me yet, so I switch 'em around a lot. Actually I kinda like the original CM one. I don't think I've noticed Fernando's remod of KwazyDog's MDMP2 mod. Is that at CM Outpost? Man, there's getting to be so many mods and mod options and modified mods. It's kinda hard to keep track of it all sometimes. ------------------ Later, Dave

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You IMO BTS should slip you some cash because your site significantly enhances the whole CM experience. I suppose they can't really do that because then everyone would expect similar treatment. At any rate, thanks for providing such a nice site and keep up the good work. ------------------ Later, Dave

I'd like to see the mortar firing .wav changed. The mortar shell detonation sounds are fine, but the firing sound is way off base. I don't know where people got the impression that mortars make this metallic farting noise when they're fired. Most of my time in the Army was spent in 4.2" (107mm) mortar platoons. The four-duce is really loud. BOOM!!! If you're not wearing plugs when it's fired, your hearing is not long for this world. It will break your ear drums. It will make your ears bleed. Even an 81mm is pretty loud. I don't have any personal experiance with the smaller tubes (i.e. 2" and 60mm), but I'll bet those are significantly louder than a rifle. I'll have to take a look, er... listen to the .wav files and see if I can't find something more realistic. I also enjoy the exploding building and it would probably really do that if you hit it with a Sturmtiger round or a 2000 LB laser guided bomb, but maybe that should be toned down a bit in the interest of realism. I would also agree that the HE arty explosion could be different. Kind of a grey-brown-black ball of soot. I've played around a bit with AFV modding with some nice results, but modding these explosions is clearly outta my graphics league. This game is really good as is, but tweaking a few of these things would make it even better. ------------------ Later, Dave

PC 19 Mac 17 ------------------ Later, Dave

Age 40 Total 214 Posts 7 Mean 30.57 ------------------ Later, Dave

I'm sure lots of folks will slam me for such an egregious and heinous use of the forum, but it's not half as inane as some of the posts I've seen (ie Peng), and it's kinda funny. Photo hosted by www.PhotoPoint.com ------------------ Later, Dave

What's a "blood hamster"? ------------------ Later, Dave

Calm down russellmz The upper marking is the divisional sign for the 116th Panzer Division (a greyhound leaping through the air). The lower marking is the tactical symbol for a JgPz IV tank destroyer company. There is a picture of this vehicle in Squadron/Signal Panzer Colors II on page 78. Hitler and dead bodies,... whatever. ------------------ Later, Dave

Man, does this guy sleep? As someone else stated, I'm wondering if he's, in fact, only one person. Manx your site is great. I know it takes a lot of work to keep it up, especially at such a high standard, so Thanks!, and keep up the excellent work. ------------------ Later, Dave

I've never used any Mod manager. I don't use batch files. I just select the mod I like best and use that one. Because of the posts in this thread, however, I think I'll try one and check it out. I think there's a new mod coming out shortly that will have the German ACs with multiple color schemes. I've created a directory structure for CM mods where I can keep the .zip and .bmp files. That way I can preview the .bmp files, and it makes it easy to copy and paste stuff into the CMBO\BMP directory. I do not and will not directly unzip stuff into the BMP directory. The DFDR mod is rather large I assume? I'll have to think about that. Can you guys make a batch file that will swap all the .bmp files for DFDR play and then return it to its original condition after? Like lots of folks, I've got terrain sets with trees from this mod and grass from that mod, this building, but not that one, etc. I might just have two whole BMP directories, one for DFDR and one for CMBO, so I can copy and paste the whole BMP directory.

I know this has been mentioned before, but including the Sturmtiger seems to be a fairly low priority, particularly if its inclusion comes at the expense of not including other, more common and useful types (ie BT series, T28, SdKfz 221,222,232, etc.) I know everyone loves their Uber tanks, but the appeal of including an AFV that has a rate of fire of one round every 10 or 15 turns is lost on me. Maybe BTS has the time and resources to create everyone's favorite AFV for CM2, but if they don't, I hope they work on other stuff before the Sturmtiger. ------------------ Later, Dave

Can we get CM2 or CMII or whatever they're going to call these games to model plunging fire? That would be awesome. ------------------ Later, Dave

Excellent site! I'll be downloading a bunch of this stuff. Thanks. ------------------ Later, Dave

I should have made myself more clear. I have from time to time moved HMGs and mortars across open areas that I did not know were in an enemy field of fire until they were engaged. It is my experience that these units do not fare well. Unfortunately I do not know where all the enemy units are all the time. I generally try and scout potential support weapon positions with infantry squads, but for a verity of reasons that doesn't always work out. As for infantry squads that come under fire and then proceed to move toward the enemy position instead of running away to more suitable cover in the rear, I've stated that I think that's pretty realistic. ------------------ Later, Dave

This drives me crazy also, but it is my understanding that units will move to the nearest cover. If that cover happens to be where the fire is coming from, well, then that's where they go. This is really a problem for crew served weapon teams. I have never seen a HMG or a mortar crew survive in this situation. To be fair however, crew served weapons are not supposed to be put in situations where they are subjected to direct fire when the closest available cover is held by the enemy. As for infantry squads, I would suggest to you that moving from an exposed position to the enemy position is, in fact, realistic. While serving in the US Army infantry, we were instructed to "assault the ambush". This seems crazy to me, but according to our training doctrine, based on lots of combat experience, your chances of survival, and more importantly the chances of survival for your squad/platoon, are much higher if you move toward, and attack, the enemy position. If you run away from the position, it is almost impossible to attempt suppressive fires on the enemy position and you are handing the initiative to the enemy which has profound psychological and tactical impacts on both sides. If you go to ground with no cover, you provide the enemy with a stationary target in the open and you're pretty much done right there. If you assault the ambush, you may be able to suppress the enemy position and you retain some degree of initiative. Not much perhaps, but at least you're not being 100% reactive and you're giving the enemy something to think about. As for AI improvement, I'd rather see BTS work on CM2. If I'm stupid enough to get my HMG crew killed because I moved these 4 guys with 400 lbs of gear out in the middle of an open field under enemy fire, well, I'd get what I deserve generally. If my infantry units have to charge from an exposed position in the open at an enemy position, to get to cover, well it's my opinion and experience that's pretty realistic. [This message has been edited by Sgt Fred (edited 02-15-2001).]

LOL! Very refreshing in this way-to-serious post-modernism and PC meets CM discussion. ------------------ Later, Dave

I would like to see some method of assigning directional "fields of fire" or "overwatch zones", particularly for AFVs. Perhaps some system for this could adapted from the Ambush command in CM2. In real life the units of an infantry squad or a tank platoon are assigned sectors of responsibility so that threats from different directions can be protected against. In CM, it seems that when a threat appears from the right all the units orient to that direction making them vulnerable to attack from other directions. Here's an idea of what I'd like to see using a tank platoon on the move for example. Direction of travel ^ ....| ....0 ..\..../ ..0...0 -0.....0- Sorry about the lame graphic representation, but you get the idea. Some will say this is micro-management, and it is I suppose, but assigning fields of fire is a platoon or company level process, so it's not really individual unit micro-management. ------------------ Later, Dave [This message has been edited by Sgt Fred (edited 02-14-2001).]

My last name is Freed as in "the prisoner was freed" When I was in basic at Ft. Benning, I was selected to be a "Squad Leader" Wow. Our DI called me Squad Leader Fred. I made the mistake of correcting him once. "My name is Freed Drill Sergeant" He said something like "You sayin I'm wrong you motherfu*kin piece of sh*t" Er,...um,... no Drill Sergeant. Anyway, a couple of years later this same DI shows up to be the First Sergeant for my infantry company. By that time I was a Sergeant myself (E5) and on his first day he walked up to me and said, with a big grin on his face, "How's it going Sergeant Fred" From that day, everyone called me Sgt. Fred or just Fred. ------------------ Later, Dave

IMO, ultimately citizens are responsible for the actions of their governments. Those specific actions may not be directly their choice or their fault, but they must accept responsibility. Enough said. ------------------ Later, Dave

Dresden is an example of the unforeseen consequences suffered by those countries that choose to start world wars.

I emailed you the file. Kinda big(2.5MB) ------------------ Later, Dave