c3k

LOL...yeah, "this morning" was 0300 for me. True glory never rests. Okay, I'm back at my prime gaming rig. Power? Roger, Power is up, flow is steady, all voltages within tolerance. Power is on. Data? Data is good to go. Handshake established, switch on-line, ISP throughput check good. Green light from Data. OS? Windows reports the kernel is good. All processes running, resources are free. You're good to go with OS. Visuals? All visuals are looking A-Okay. Dropbox? ... Dropbox? ... All sub-systems, stand by! We have a dropbox issue. Calling dropbox on secondary frequency, come in. Ahhh...Dropbox here. Our status is on-line, but non-refreshed. We have had no new game files posted since your last (glorious) file. All units, stand down. Intern, take a memo: Baneman, I await your surrender. Carry on. Soooo, Baneman and are re-establishing comms to find out where the incoming turn went. (He probably sent it to his boss by accident. ) We'll get this back on the rails shortly. Ken

...and better. Ken "chairman of the lastword department"

Debacle??? Having fought off mp44s, half the total wehrmacht achtrad production, TANKS, and 20mm armed everything...I still have one foot firmly in the graveyard! I have hopes of seeing some flamethrower action... (Met an Okinawa vet Marine who used a flamethrower for three weeks there. Macabre. The game version is plenty for me.) Where was I? Ah, yes, standing with a foot in a grave. Any debacle I blame on Baneman.

Real life has kept me away from the battlefield longer than I anticipated. My men cheer. I know it is for my return. Later tonight there will be an update. It will be gloooooooriiiiiiooooooouuuuuusssssssss.

Is that all? Pics are needed?

What is the pole next to the firing tank, with the skull and danger note?

i feel your pain. Okay, I don't feel my pixeltruppen's pain, but I feel yours. Or, I may just have a bit of wind. Is that the same as empathy? ;)

well, everytime I put out a call for more troops, new pixelmen always fill the ranks. They adore me. They seek glory on the big screen. I give them that opportunity. In fact, I've noticed more and more pixeltroops appearing from OTHER player's computers. They flock to me...

I simply withold comments until I see men exhibiting bravery under fire. Charge that hill! That would get some commentary flowing. but, yes, it can be a lonely vigil...

I'm glad that m8 got destroyed. I need more men to man halftrack machineguns. a silver lining in every wreck.

Edited: Long post deleted. I shall await...again...another turn! My men are grateful for the pause.

Turn 36:00 to 35:00 Not too many more like this...please. Action in the middle, on the right, and over on the left. Let's watch! The good news is, I can't have too many more like that. The bad new is, it'd only be because I'd run out of men and vehicles. I've got to whittle down his vehicles. My M8 on my left was stationary, but buttoned. Even after getting spranged with 20mm last turn, they died. (I did not give a cover armor arc because they'd started reversing last turn and had a continuation of that order this turn. The crest line would've protected them in just a few more seconds. Oy.) The Dell is falling. Has fallen? I hope my uphill sniper and bazooka can get some kills. My M8 is working Lori's Mound. I'm sending more halftracks over there, filled with odd scraps of men and whatnot, to man the machineguns. In the Village, my flamer has orders to hose down the building from which the bullets came which killed my squaddies. A bit of fire would cheer up the lads. I'm also remanning that .50 halftrack. Let's see if they can find the keys.

Oh yes. That bazooka-man was inconsiderate enough to die right at the intersection of 4 actions spots. I've had his buddy enter each spot and face towards him. He still can't find it. I suspect a flagging morale...

That which I thought safe, was endangered. That which I thought endangered, was safe. Pix for the prurient interests of the viewers will be posted forthwith and posthaste.

Baneman has sent me a St. Valentine's Day gift...a turn. I shall unwrap the present.

A grenade grog! I'll take a (beta's perspective) stab at your question. Namely, can they (or should they) be fit into CM? In gameplay terms, what would be the difference? Was the TNT "balanced" such that the explosive effects were similar, or was the MkII HE a significantly more powerful hand grenade? If there was no significant performance difference, I'd contend it doesn't matter. This sounds like an "offensive" grenade. (Germans differentiated offensive and defensive grenades. The usual stick grenade had a lot of explosive in a thin sheetmetal case. The defensive grenade were "eggs". One assumed you had cover; the other that you wanted to subdue the enemy while you closed the distance.) How often were the MkIIIA1 used, and were they...in game terms...different than demo charges? Demo obviously has more explosive. Were the MkIIIA1's distributed to line squads, or reserved for specialist teams? Screening: sounds like smoke. We've got smoke grenades. Incendiary: sounds like WP/napalm. That may be nice to add. Casualty: that sounds like a contravention of some sort of Hague agreement on types of wounding armaments. Glass is vicious. X-rays can easily spot metal. Were there really glass filled grenades issued to cause casualties, or was that just a by-product of their use as chemical grenades? (Incendiary and/or smoke.) Thermite. Well, every time an enemy unit leaves a weapon, it is rendered inop. By the time a friendly unit, with a thermite grenade comes along, it is already destroyed. Similarly, friendly units destroy their weapons as they leave. Perhaps they do so with a thermite grenade in the chamber? However, the use of thermite grenades to start conflagrations would be nice. A little fire-starting help is a good thing. I'm not opposed to any of your suggestions, just poking at how widespread their distribution was and how they would make a difference in the game. Ken

It falls into the same category of "those are just spotting rounds: I can keep that platoon in the woods for one more turn". And then stonk to end all stonks lands amid them. Oops.

Indeed. I was tempted to have the M16 fire or delay for 15 seconds. However, that is the path to regrets. He has an immediate withdrawal order. I'd like to use the M16 later... Too many times I've been tempted by "just one more turn" or "just one more shot".

Beau Geste style, I've ordered my men to prop the dead up over the wall. That's yankee ingenuity at its best. Put a bit of iron in his spine, that.

Turn 37:00 to 36:00 Quadrophenia, in stereo. (With my apologies to the non-pederast members of The Who.) Without further ado, I shall post some pix. Some show my plans, some show results. Some even show how hard it is to give orders. Recalcitrant troopers are difficult to control. But waste no sympathy on me! No, it's alright. My intern understands. Here we go... (It's been like this for many turns. Sigh.) SEVENTEEN SCREENIES!!! I have not looked at Baneman's pathetic thread, but I am sure the paucity of pix would tilt the game to my favor. I MUST win!!! I am willing to have my men perform valorous feats which would make timorous men quake to behold them! The Dell is...problematic. My bazooka and remaining sniper team are moving to interdict. I'm pushing more halftracks up. There were some acts, not worthy of mention, which occurred this turn. Such as Germans dying trying to grab buildings. I expect such things, so will not report them. I sense a certain desperation in Baneman's actions. One remaining issue: Should I keep the M16 in position to duel with the latest 8-wheeler? What say you?

Yes, I am pushing pixels without explanation. Other betas have discussed the change in view introduced in the last few turns. Every build gets better and better.

SLIM understands the burden of command. Thank you for your empathy.

Funny how you mentioned tube guy. There's a bit of recalcitration occurring. Kind of like calcifying, but different. If the language wasn't flexible, I'd have to break it.

Points to you! Yes, these are the latest builds. Baneman and I are on the cutting edge. Okay, my men are on the cutting edge. My job is far harder: directing them towards victory!

Turn 38:00 to 37:00 The Walking Dead In an attempt to raise my men's morale, I explained the basis of existential angst, namely, that they're all going to die anyway. Why not avoid the suffering their pathetic lives will engender, and embrace how I may endanger them? This would allow them to avoid so much sorrow later. It didn't seem to help. Some pix... It appears as if my center is faltering, my right is collapsing, and my left is atrophied. All in all, an ugly picture. I thought my central M8 was safe behind the houses. Baneman continues to have better LOS (and tactics) than I. Of note, both The Dell and the cemetery have hedges. They don't stop bullets very well. Enough of the whinging, more pix are needed! My central push was an all-or-nothing gamble. It's looking more like "nothing". A basic rule is to ALWAYS have a way out. This proves it. Over on my right, I've taken advantage of my men's weakness. Since they're fleeing, I'm ordering a pullback. Not a retreat! A "pullback", or shortening of the lines, as it were. I hope Baneman pushes into the vacuum and finds it abhorrent after I spring an ambush. I hope. He's got armor there. I've got bazookas. Well, bazookas and dead men. On the left, my best hope is that the M16 can wreak a bit of wreckage upon his vehicles. It's nailing the achtrad...so I've ordered it to do more of that next turn. The ring of armor on the ridge is good for Banemen, bad for me. Ken