Vanir Ausf B

If you play at high resolution (I'm at 1280x960) Deanco's Gunmetal mod is difficult to read because words are quite small and there is less contrast between the lettering and the background than with the stock. And my eyesight is crap to begin with. Also, at that resolution the "!" symbol for broken units is half cut off (at least it was a few months ago. Maybe he fixed it). The Grog interface doesn't show "Alerted" status for units which bothers me. Which is all a shame because they look very nice. BTW Heinz, is that 2x or 4x AA? I ask because there are still some jaggies on the roof of that house in the second pic. ------------------ What a bunch of horsecrap. -Steve [This message has been edited by Vanir Ausf B (edited 04-01-2001).]

Ah, ok. Thanks for the pointer Ben. Ground conditions independant of weather in QBs is on my personal wishlist for CM2 as well. ------------------ What a bunch of horsecrap. -Steve

Yeah, that's the beauty of CM. The whole thing can hinge on one event. Like at First Bull Run when the tide turned when a single Union unit mistook an advancing Confederate unit for one of it's own and held fire. If the Reb unit had been wearing grey instead of blue the Union likely would have won. Of course this is little solace to the unlucky general. Suicide is the only answer ------------------ What a bunch of horsecrap. -Steve

First of all Ben, let me say that these mods are amazing. Just incredible. However, for some reason the "Reddawn" sky never shows up. "Falldawn" shows up for Sept-Nov, but "Summerdawn" shows up for all the other months including winter months. What setting do you need to get the Reddawn? I actually had the same problem with Tiger's recent sky mod. The summer skys show up in winter. It seems to ignore bmps # 1410, 1412 and 1442. I'm on a PC. ------------------ What a bunch of horsecrap. -Steve [This message has been edited by Vanir Ausf B (edited 04-01-2001).]

Actually, analysis of statistical probability has conclusively shown that (contrary to what it says in the manual) the speed of the vehicle has no effect on the chance of bogging at all and you are actually more likely to be bogged moving over open grass than in scattered trees/brush/wheat. We never did get a response from BTS if this was a bug or not. ------------------ What a bunch of horsecrap. -Steve

Final word is that there is nothing you can do to make them more likely to unbog. Some people will tell you that putting them in reverse will help, but it's all superstition. The chance is the same regardless of the unit's orders. ------------------ What a bunch of horsecrap. -Steve

Here was Claymore's last update posted here on 3/1. Anyway...I know that the AAR is lagging but Fionn and I have had our turn rate slow to a dribble. ISP problems and work getting in the way of fun mostly, but we are trying to speed it up. I posted to Fionn two days ago that if he had time stream posts to Yahoogroups he had time to post to me. [right Fionn? waiting.... ] Long and short of it...we are at turn 26. I voluntarily withdrew my two 155VT spotters in round 10 after expending 6 rounds total. They were just too devastating to make this or mostly any game interesting. Fionn then promptly put a mortar shell on top of a 105 spotter, leaving me just a single spotter for any arty support OUCH! Fionn also put the touch on a M4(105)which is smoking nicely THANK YOU VERY MUCH! I of course could not let the Beast better me so I retaliated by immobilizing his PzIV(70) with a 60mm mortar shell...and yes, I did go out and buy a lottery ticket after that little piece of luck. We both have had our moments but he is going down in a big way. He seems thin in most places and his center and right flanks are collapsing fast. Cheers Murray ------------------ What a bunch of horsecrap. -Steve

I'm with MrSpkr; Pz III J for Germans and T-35 for Soviets (although I'm not holding my breath for the T-35 making it in). And just how many chicks have you asked about this ------------------ What a bunch of horsecrap. -Steve

What Bruno and Stellar said. Ladder play is what you make it. If I can't select it as random in the setup I'll roll dice for it. I even choose which side I play randomly. ------------------ What a bunch of horsecrap. -Steve

Hmm... Well, I play mostly ladder, only QBs and never computer pick. Yet... I hate cherry picking, and am annoyed by players who will only play with certain units/certain setting/one side only. I like playing with random weather, time of day and terrain. I'll play any side and prefer attack/defence to MEs. ------------------ What a bunch of horsecrap. -Steve

I'm with Hombra on this one. Shorter pauses and being able to put them between move orders would not introduce a level of micromanagement not already in the game. All it does is give you the same flexability that real world commanders would have. I really don't see why people think this game is supposed to put you in the position of a company or platoon leader and that's it. If that were the case you would just give general orders to your companies and platoons and let the TacAI figure out how to implement them. Yes, you are a company commander and and platoon leader, but you're also a squad leader and a tank commander. Having a tank pop up, take a shot or 2 then back down is a real world tactic. Having to wait until the end of your turn to have the tank move up is not realistic, it's just annoying. ------------------ What a bunch of horsecrap. -Steve

Soviets had 50mm mortars too? Damn. I thought maybe I'd finally be rid of those pieces of junk when CM2 came out. *Sigh* ------------------ What a bunch of horsecrap. -Steve

I see your point. It's not a bad idea at all. It's just that BTS has limited time and resources to implement this stuff and if it comes down to having spreading flames or the T-35 in CM2 I'll take the T-35. ------------------ What a bunch of horsecrap. -Steve

The problem I see with this is that it would really encourage cherry picking. Personally, it annoys me when I see more than one type of infantry in a game, or British tanks with American infantry. If you pick SMG units make them all SMG. Of course, this only applies if you want some historical accuracy in your game. Otherwise, why not. ------------------ What a bunch of horsecrap. -Steve

Slander!! I play Germans only a little less often than Allies. 60/40 maybe. Playing the same side all the time = YAWN. ------------------ What a bunch of horsecrap. -Steve

Probably because they didn't code it to spread. Going out on a limb here I know. I would guess they didn't think it was important enough to spend the time on it. I would tend to agree with them. CM is a wargame not a physics simulator. Some things are too trivial to worry about. Whether a paved road will burn for 40 minuets or 10 is in that category. Just my opinion. Some people are disappointed there are no dead cows. Go figure. ------------------ What a bunch of horsecrap. -Steve

This would be a very nice feature but AFAIK it would require the game engine to have a paritcle system which I doubt we will see until the engine rewrite. Same reasons as no dynamic lighting. ------------------ What a bunch of horsecrap. -Steve

Only problem is that this is not entirely true. The 105mm HEAT round can indeed penetrate the Panther frontally through either the turret or the lower hull, but not the upper hull. Martin, I don't believe I have ever seen the game ask whether to use main gun or not when targeting a vehicle. It only asks that if you target infantry or area target. I must say that this reinforced my notion that tank smoke rounds are worse than worthless. In my games I try to fire them off as soon as opportunity presents itself so the TacAI won't abuse them. ------------------ What a bunch of horsecrap. -Steve [This message has been edited by Vanir Ausf B (edited 03-26-2001).]

Nice presentation and well thought out, Scipio. Some people may not be aware that Fionn's "75", "76" and "Recon" rules all have optional limits on arty purchases as well, though most don't use them, it seems. Yeah, mea culpa too ------------------ What a bunch of horsecrap. -Steve

Add my name to the list of those who like Germanboy's opponent finder idea. ------------------ What a bunch of horsecrap. -Steve

I figured people would be all over this. Come on, it's an obvious problem. ------------------ What a bunch of horsecrap. -Steve

The way the AI decides to use tungsten is rather quirky. It works right most of the time, but sometimes it leaves you shaking your head. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. It does work much better than it used to, though that isn't saying a lot considering that it used to not work at all. And I wouldn't take too seriously the opinions of people who rarely play anything but Germans. That's like Michael Jordan talking about football. ------------------ What a bunch of horsecrap. -Steve

Perhaps you could persuade one of your colleagues to bring his computer over to your appartment and try logging on. That would help isolate the problem. I assume you know the correct settings for your modem and have checked them in Dial-Up Networking? ------------------ What a bunch of horsecrap. -Steve [This message has been edited by Vanir Ausf B (edited 03-25-2001).]

Are you sure some are not Panther G Late? It only says in the unit stats screen. ------------------ What a bunch of horsecrap. -Steve

Maybe they knew it would set the building on fire. ------------------ What a bunch of horsecrap. -Steve