North Star

From my experience, I would not lump the Allies together. The Brits with the 17 lbr and the thickly armored Churchill seem to have a much easier time dealing with axis than do the Americans. In games I've played, axis vs. allied win-loss records are about equal. But, breaking it down, the Brits do much better than 50/50 and the Americans do a lot worse. Maybe the challenges of playing the US are too much for most players. Before the Pershing is available, of course nothing beats a King head on. You can beat a KT if playing someone who ignores keeping the rest of the force balanced or that has bad tactics. But against a good player who keeps the King back and gives it adequate protection, the allies almost have to play for a tie or employ some very risky strategies to overcome this handicap. I tend to agree with Bluemx's strategy. Against a good player, 3 Sherman 75's have very little chance of surviving, so why buy them? This is a "Rock, paper, scissors" game, and go opposite to your opponents strategy. Only downfall is that people usually do not declare their strategy before the game so the alternative allied force mix may be outmatched against better balanced axis selection. ------------------ "Act after having made assessments. The one who first knows the measures of far and near wins - this the rule of armed struggle." Sun Tzu - The Art of War

I've joined the Rugged Defense ladder with very good success finding quality opponents that give good advice with some enjoyable color commentary. By challenging some of the better players, I have had some great games (even if they did not go my way). As has been said earlier, the best way to avoid gamey players is to communicate ahead of time and agree on parameters for the match and to clarify what each other considers gamey. ------------------ "Act after having made assessments. The one who first knows the measures of far and near wins - this the rule of armed struggle." Sun Tzu - The Art of War

The cost per blast effectiveness of these two weapons is about the same, but the response time is much better on the 81 mm mortar. Because of that, I never take the 75 mm and love the flexibility and quick support allowed by the mortar. ------------------ "Act after having made assessments. The one who first knows the measures of far and near wins - this the rule of armed struggle." Sun Tzu - The Art of War

I see this happen fairly often. Probably unrealistic, but I still think it is cool. The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat at the same time! I suspect that the game model fires shots no more often than once per second, thus causing the shells being being fired and in the air at exactly the same time in many cases. Not a huge problem and no need for a fix IMHO. ------------------ "Act after having made assessments. The one who first knows the measures of far and near wins - this the rule of armed struggle." Sun Tzu - The Art of War

How many of the so-called men in this thread would be willing to show their responses to their wives? Maybe Cybeq would be OK, but I suspect that his wife was looking over his shoulder when he wrote his response. Or even she could have been holding the CB disk hostage until he wrote the ransom note. Everyone else would likely be denied the right to express their manhood for an indefinite (maybe permanent) period of time. Now of course that may be a small price to pay for a game of CM's caliber, considering that this may be just one more in a long line of excuses. Just be careful to not let your wife know your screen name if she happens to cruise the forum to monitor your behavior.

Also back on the original topic. If I had lots of points, I would get some of each tank, for the excellent reasons stated - Panther - better frontal protection, faster turret, more speed. Tiger - better side protection, better gun (especially against infantry). But we never have enough points. I usually take the Panther and try to be very careful about my flanks. If I on the Allied side, I am intimidated by both. The recent changes that allow Tigers to be included under the "Panther-76" guidelines should have us see some more use of this original German heavy tank. ------------------ "Act after having made assessments. The one who first knows the measures of far and near wins - this the rule of armed struggle." Sun Tzu - The Art of War

Many references have been made in this forum about the how hugging the map edge is "gamey" and unfair to the defender (or to the attacker). But you guys point out the real risk of losing otherwise healthy troops if they have a momentary panic attack. It seems the risk offsets the benefits of any potential map-edge hugging strategy. ------------------ "Act after having made assessments. The one who first knows the measures of far and near wins - this the rule of armed struggle." Sun Tzu - The Art of War

This one will be great - looking forward to loading it up. And even better, using it to root out the axis scourge!

It is great hearing about Axis players having trouble with an Allied tank. I can't tell you how many well aimed shots I have seen bounce off of Hetzers, Jagdpanzers, Panthers, etc. Payback time. The main options seem to be (a) buy a bigger gun, ( flank 'em, © ignore them, or (d) outlaw them. I played a double blind scenario as the American the other day and was given three Jumbos as part of the mix. I was shocked to see them shrug off frontal hits - too used to the "one shot, one dead" nature of American armor. They still seem too expensive for QB's but I may consider them now that they are now legal under the "Panther-76" guidelines. But I still think I would rather have a better gun than better armor. ------------------ "Act after having made assessments. The one who first knows the measures of far and near wins - this the rule of armed struggle." Sun Tzu - The Art of War

This is great news for all CM addicts out there. Manx, keep up the great work. Obviously, you have a lot of supporters out there.

There is really no comprehensive guide (although Gremlin's stuff is great and an excellent place to start). Part of the depth of this game is that there are many ways to approach it. There are some basic lessons like how to take advantage of headquarters units and how to move a tank to a hull down position. But the advanced lessons are vast and sometimes are a function of the player's own style. I think I have read everything regarding tactics on CM sites and it all builds together. After reading theory, read through the After Action reports on CMHQ. If I could just figure out how to implement it effectively against an unpredictable human opponent. Good luck! ------------------ "Act after having made assessments. The one who first knows the measures of far and near wins - this the rule of armed struggle." Sun Tzu - The Art of War

One approach is to start developing worse habits - boys nights outs, boys and some girls nights out, golf with the guys, golf with the gals, etc. Throw in some heavy drinking and hint at (but never do) drugs. Pretty soon she will understand the advantage of this harmless little habit vs. the alternatives. Or maybe purchase another disk and challenge her to a QB. The only problem is that if (and when) she wins, your fragile male ego may not be able to recover from it. Failing this, just put on your skirt, do the dishes and fold the laundry.

Looks like great work. Looking forward to more in the future.

Using the Piat against infantry or MG's has worked well for me - when they obey. It suppresses the target and can cause casualties. Sometimes as the Brits you have too many of these buggers so you have expend the ammo somehow. ------------------ "Act after having made assessments. The one who first knows the measures of far and near wins - this the rule of armed struggle." Sun Tzu - The Art of War