c3k

Ask yourself the question: If you were advancing towards unknown Germans, would it be best to stop in the middle of an open field, or would you wait behind a thick bocage mound?

The 50m is something I've never heard or seen. But then, there's an awful lot of which I'm unaware. If you look at the bottom of your unit's UI, under the suppression meter, that space is for its command links. The icons there show how they are in command. The manual has a section on this. That's the only way to tell how far they can "hear" the HQ. Ken

Hmmm, it was introduced with movable waypoints. Remember how much of a hassle un-movable waypoints were? I don't know why it was done that way. It may be "required" for the movable function. ...something to ask a brain.

Play a tiny battle. After you lose, play it again. And again, and again. After the first few times, try to do better. Increase the difficulty. If you're not playing "iron" you're just not tryin'. Don't "waste" all the battles to your learning curve. Practice the first few ones, repeatedly, before going on to bigger and better things. (Some of the tiny battles are still my favorites.) Enjoy! Ken

It's still in Beta Testing. It is stand alone. BFC has a reputation of releasing "when it's done". There was a thread with Steve of BFC stating an -estimated- release date. It is subject to revision based on testing. Ken

Personally, the only "gamey" act in my opinion is the 1st turn bombardment of the setup zone...unless the briefing specifies something that would have that make sense. (Not that I've ever seen that.) 1.) I would never play on a map while in the midst of a pbem. That's me. 2.) I always tell my oppo if I've played a battle or a map, and under what conditions, before we start. (If I remember.) Otherwise, if I recognize it once underway, I tell him then. 3.) I will do a high level scan of the map and objectives during setup. I will not spend any time with the camera down low looking for sweet spots. I try to never peek from the enemy's side. (In my AAR with Bil, when I lost 2 tanks (early) while hunting his wirblewind: I placed the camera at the endpoint of my move order and glanced around from that location. I did NOT place the camera over on "his" terrain and try to find where he could see my tanks. I lost them to a Panther and Jaggie IV with keyhole LOS. Shrug.) Having said that, I do move the camera all over (even on the enemy's side) during the replay. 4.) If I hear a mortar firing, I use that information. Any intel is actionable. 5.) My ego is not tied into any particular game result. That's my approach. If my oppo has a different approach (playing through the battle first, then again during our pbem) well, that's just more of a challenge for my skill set. If he's a rude boor, I will finish the game and then politely decline further matches. (Modified by age, language barriers, and skill level. A foreign newb who's young gets more leeway than an old-hand who should know better.) Ken

The learning curve is steep. Play the tutorial a bunch. Then play it some more. (It is one of the battles in the game.) You'll learn a lot. The curve softens after several battles. There is a free demo to download and try.

hmmm, didn't the Hague Conventions focus on weapons (banning hollow points, munitions meant to inflict pain, rather than pain being a byproduct of the incapacitation, etc.) whereas the Geneva agreements have always dealt more with behavior? E.g., wearing a uniform in conflict accords you rights and protections, treating surrendered soldiers in a certain manner, etc. I've always thought they were different agreements, not a codicil to an existing one. But I've been wrong before. Ken

Another item would be the ability to fine-lay the turret, hence the gun, in azimuth. (Elevation controls are also important.) The T34 had an electric motor and gear traverse. It was notorious for being imprecise and not holding the azimuth it stopped on. That's not a good gunnery trait. I -believe- it had two speeds. I may be wrong. (Compare that with a hydraulic traverse with an infinitely adjustable speed: that makes it much easier to fine-lay the traverse.) A lot of designs look fantastic on paper: the devil's in the details.

The editor, in all CM games, is much easier to use to create maps than other games. You can make your own Swiss Alps.

No one's mentioned the tracer round effect. Depending on how the belt was loaded, the 7.92 round that entered the T34 hatch might've been a tracer.

You only have to urinate uphill once while lying on your side to get a much better eye for subtle slopes. It, err, happened to a friend of mine. Yeah. A friend...

The learning curve is steep. That's to be expected in a powerful system like this. If you have any penchant for tactical wargaming, this should do it.

Thank you both! Elvis, good fight!

Thank you both! Congrats to Bil...again.

Tell you what, we'll modify the experiment. We'll put an angled piece of steel near by, and I'll ricochet the shot into the shell that you're holding. The brass is meant to be flexible in the chamber and gets "fire formed" by the pressure to create a tight seal. If you've got a mil surplus store nearby, they should have some old brass around. It doesn't take much to puncture. Hot bullets, or hot bullet fragments, or burning fluids, etc., will cook 'em off. The Sherman eventually got wet stowage to douse the first one and prevent the chain reaction which was so prevalent in earlier models. (The M1 Abrams is interesting in that it vents the cook off through blow off panels. It's not an explosion, it's more of a rocket exhaust type of reaction. Most unconstrained propellant works the same way: rocket plume.) Back to the T34: the ENTIRE floor was lined with shells. The guys WALKED on them. No turret basket. Just shells... A benefit was that they were down low. Sponson and turret stowage is frequently hit by penetrations. Not so much on the floor.

LOL... I visualize a mass of smg armed Soviet soldiers nervously looking over their shoulder to see who their next commander will be...and heaving a huge sigh of relief when Bil takes the reins.

^^^ Soviet WWII era tanks stowed their ammo...on the floor. Significantly, what ignites is not the "shell", it's the propellant (in most ammo fires). It only takes one, then the rest go. If you'd like, I'm a pretty good shot. You hold a WWII tank round, at arm's length. I'll go about 100 yards away and shoot the brass propellant case with my buddy's K98k. We'll film it and post the youtube link here. Safe ammo stowage is all about protecting the propellant. Ken

Damn. That scream mod is...nasty. Hate to say it, but I was bunching my primary group of Germans JUST like that in a pbem of "Tobacco Factory" (a -very- nice battle in CMFI/GL based on the US Army small unit actions handbook AAR), when my oppo dropped a 155 on 'em. My replay turned out worse for the Germans: no one ran away.

Now is the time to rally your troops! Think..."Braveheart". Then, after daubing yourselves in blue (blau?) paint, charge the tanks! It will be glorious. Am I helping?

"Eyes on..." is the critical part. Elvis' infantry is weak and not in position. His tanks are it: buttoned up doesn't help. Missing that Hetzer TC hurts. Sitting in a flat field and waiting for Bil would just lead to Elvis losing the tanks for no return. At least moving forward he may get some hits in. Having played with T34/85's, I think they outfight Panthers at 500m or less. Probably about equal out to ~800m. Afterwards, the Panther has an advantage. (Frontal aspect engagements.) <--- All this just my opinion, based on rough, gut, feel from playing around a bit. The T34/85 gun is similar to a Tiger I's with a lower velocity. That's a lot of oomph. Past several hundred meters, crew experience is CRITICAL. My .02. Ken

Multiple Hetzer exit holes...not good for the Hetzer crew.

That screenshot with the Panther and Hetzer silhouetted against the horizon is...intriguing. Hmmm, what will happen next?

Falaise Pocket was a cauldron, which the Germans were racing to get out of before the neck got closed. Rearguards held the walls and shoulders while other units raced, pell-mell, to get out. There were only a few roads available, and later, just the one, at night, which was under fire. The very few German accounts of surviving it tell a very harrowing account. It was running a gauntlet. Think Gniloi Tkich but worse.

Slicing attacks! Thin armor on their flank... This could be an interesting turn. Again.