gredeker

I'll take a stab at it (this is all western-front specific): 1. The Tiger was introduced in late '42 (I want to say November). At that point in the war, all American tanks were armed with 75mm guns, against which the Tiger is pretty much invulnerable (barring a hit on a vision port or somesuch). As the war drew on, it's dominance of the battlefield diminished, but until widespread use of 76mm and 17 pound guns it was fairly dominant on the battlefield. 2. CMBO usually has armored engagements at closer ranges than was historical. The closer the range, the less dominant the Tiger. This isn't helped by some proven problems with long-range accuracy. I seem to recall some folks running huge data tests on tanks at extreme range, and it was determined that German gun accuracy at long range wasn't accurately portrayed. This was mostly solved with the different optics in CMBB. 3. CMBO has no way to keep a vehicle's hull pointed a certain direction that's different from the turret. In real life, Tiger crews were taught to rotate their vehicle around 30 degrees "off" of the direction of enemy advance, thereby effectively giving the front hull armor a 30 degree slope (albeit a sideways slope) and the side armor (which is dang thick on a Tiger) a 60 degree slope. 4. CMBO doesn't model the psychological factor on enemy troops of Tigers carrying those "bloody 88's" which could kill nearly any American or British tank quite easily (except for say the Churchill and Sherman Jumbo, and later the Pershing). 5. Tigers carried a relatively large ammo load, increasing the amount of damage that each could deal out before having to withdraw and reload. That's all I can think of for now. I hope this helps.

Yep. I buy a good chunk of my games from the bargain bin at Costco. I've purchased X-Wing Alliance, Need For Speed: Porsche Unleashed, and most recently Freedom Force there, all for under $15.

I'd love to but can't - real life has reared its ugly head. Good luck finding replacements.

Some Sherms were diesel powered (I want to say Caterpillar and GM 6-71 diesels). However, in a flash of foresight, someone actually thought to send all (or at least nearly all) vehicles of a particular type to a single theater to simplify the supply chain. Thus, all the diesel Shermans were given to the Marines in the Pacific, where the supply chain was already in place for diesel due to all the landing craft. The Ford V-8s went to the Army in the NW ETO, the Chrysler multibank models went to Italy, other versions were earmarked for Brits or Soviets, etc. I seem to recall reading that the M1 Abrams has a multi-fuel turbine, but that it usually burns diesel to simplify the supply chain - can anyone confirm?

I know it isn't direct-fire HE, but I once took out three :eek: Hellcats with one 105 arty round. They were all next to a small stand of woods, the incoming shell just grazed the edge of the woods, got an airburst detonation, then {poof} three dead Hellcats. Luckiest arty shot I've ever had in a game. That FO definitely deserved a decoration.

Damn, it sounds like BFC actually implemented some of the suggestions made in this thread. Thanks guys!

Hey HD, I'm glad to know that my replacement was able to continue with the well-placed high-velocity insertion of vodka-soaked Georgians from the Ost penal battalion. Oy - this is the first time I've posted in weeks. I miss CM, but I'm glad that Big X was able to step up to the plate. Thanks, Big X! Greg Redeker

That could work! Just create a factory with a courtyard type area, put some reinforcement flags in the courtyard, and have green or conscript T-34s appear in ones and twos to trundle forth. I like it!

Sulla, Thanks for posting the AAR. Let me know if you need any of the others. Here's an endgame screenshot from Sounds in the Night that Wade was good enough to host. It gives you a good idea of the carnage.

Winecape, Now you know why I was trying so hard in the first ROW tourney. And thanks for the new .sig material.

Ah, Chateauneuf Du Pape. I have many good memories of "French picnics" on the living room floor with french bread, brie, roasted garlic, and a bottle of Chateauneuf Du Pape.

Don't feel obligated to open a bottle when it is brought over as a gift. As host, you're perfectly within bounds to thank your guest for the gift, then put it in the pantry. Practically speaking, have a dish already cooking when your friends arrive that requires wine in the sauce - that way you'll have a bottle open already, may already be enjoying a glass yourself, and can offer some to your guests. I fully believe in the adage of "Never cook with a wine you wouldn't drink". As such, my beef burgundy recipe uses a lower-end Mondavi, and the same wine is served with the dish. For more advice, I highly recommend the book "The Frugal Gourmet Cooks With Wine". It has good sections on wine etiquette, matching wine with food, establishing your own cellar, etc.

I think it's Zeno's paradox. Of course, since each remaining half-way point to the finish line is reached in half the time of the previous half-way point, you'll still reach your destination...even if you pass an infinite number of halfway points. Translation - September 20th will arrive, even if time seems to "draw out like a blade". (The preceeding is a shameless quote from one of my favorite movies, The Shawshank Redemption. If you haven't seen it and need something to pass the time before the 20th, rent this movie.)

No idea. Maybe Soviet Marines or naval infantry?

... against medium tanks in 1943. I suspect that Mr. ATR will be much more valuable in 1941-42, especially against halftracks, ACs, and other light armor.

Modeste Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain". Some translations call it "Night on Bare Mountain". Memorialized in the last sequence of Disney's original Fantasia.

Reload and impact sounds. In the tutorial, you can hear the breech being cycled on the 37mm Pak, and rounds dropping down into the 50mm mortar. You can also hear bullets impacting the ground and trees and/or bouncing off vehicles and guns. Way to go Madmatt!

I believe the etymology has to do with the fact that the master CD has a gold tint to it. Therefore, "gone gold" means that the master CD has been created, and that no more code changes can be made before the product ships. Of course, patches can still be released via Internet to alter the program after the fact.

This may have been additional hits on the tank due to the so-called "death clock", where it isn't immediately obvious when a tank or gun is knocked out. I've had it work both for and against me at this point - my troops have hammered away at an AT gun that I realize in hindsight I probably killed a minute earlier, and had one of my dead tanks absorb another half-dozen hits from enemy AT guns while the crew took its time bailing out.

About 30m or less; huge (114mm shaped charge warhead); think of it as a handheld panzerfaust round. Before capturing examples of American bazookas in N. Africa, the Panzerwurfmine was one of the best infantry AT weapons the Germans had. It had folding vanes to keep it stable in flight and ensure that it hit the enemy tank correctly (sort of like a giant lawn dart). The shaped charge warhead was very similar to the later panzerfaust, the main difference being the shorter range due to the hand-thrown nature of the weapon. The charge was a fairly large shaped charge (my source says 1.126 pounds of TNT and RDX) and could thus take out nearly any tank. I can't wait to use these things in an urban setting - no backblast to give away the firer or light of the firer's building. Edit: Dang, others got there first. [ September 02, 2002, 02:36 PM: Message edited by: redeker ]

Infantry auxiliary weapon use is much improved (grenades, molotovs, grenade bundles).

To add some more fuel to the fire... SPOILERS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Having played each of the scenarios a few times, it seems that the effectiveness of the 37mm Pak is dependent on two things - range, and enemy tank morale. I have yet to see the Pak actually knock out a T-34, but thanks to the new penetration models I'm seeing all sort of neat messages regarding non-damaging penetrations, partial penetrations, etc. Also, when a T-34 M40 buttons up, it is instantly out of C&C with its platoon leader (no radios). When the crew is green, they seem to act correctly for a green unit out of C&C under fire - that is, they panic, abandon their tank, and run for the rear. Contrast this with the Citadel scenario, where my German tanks were being hit many times by ATRs and 45mm AT guns, but all at long range and all in C&C (thanks to radios). I only had one tank crew abandon a still-functioning tank, but only after the TC was killed, the tank was immobilized, and the KV-IS was still shooting at it.

Just one more thing about the SU-76: It had the colorful nickname "Suka" (Russian for b*tch). This was due to the thin armor, lack of overhead protection (rain, snow and arty fragments all came in), and (get this) the absence of a firewall or any other barrier between the driver and the engine. :eek:

First impression - love the sound and the tracers! I'd swear that some of those sounds are straight out of SPR, but it was way cool to hear both the 37mm Pak reloading and the Maxim bullets bouncing off the gun shield. Lots of bullet hits as well. Great vocals with the human wave! Won the tutorial as the Russians, 76-24. I lost my HQ tank, and got to see tank morale in action - the other tank took several non-penetrating hits, panicked, then reversed out of LOS. After he had calmed down and the mortar had taken care of the Pak, I ordered him back forward for fire support - which he did with a 90 second delay! Tres cool! I think I've exceeded my allotment of exclamation points...