Biltong

The rules are relatively stable, but the ideal would be if I could update them myself without bugging you. I suspect that most sites won't have this feature... so let me know if you could host them in any case. I'll keep the updates to once a week and they should dry up quite soon. So far it consist of 1 Excel file (119kb) and 1 Word doc (44kb). I'm planning to add the option of importing specific maps in certain situations. So these will add to the space needed. Let me know if you can help Thanx Biltong Guys who want to get the rules in the meanwhile – go here: Biltongs Campaign Rules for CMBB - 41 South and post your e-mail address.

Ok Guys – mailed them off. Sorry about the delay – I’ve been sleeping… I’m on the other side of the world to most of you BENPARK …..and I may have a map for you coming down the pike in a few days. Make my day AQUA ….if you are not going to send them out just as a matter of course as an update to the people who requested the campaign rules previously. I thought about that, but I don’t want to spam guys who might not want updates… I’m looking for a suitable site to host the rules and this problem should be solved quite soon Colonel_Deadmarsh I would like to partake in this. Please send me da rules. Colonel, I think you might think that this is a human vs human campaign… not so: it’s you against the mighty AI – but with a bit of a difference Cpl Steiner “Bitlong,” Yes – one girl told me that.. Ughumm: Biltong - Afrikaans for piece of salted raw meat hung from the rafters for a couple of weeks. If you hang it too long it becomes dry and tough to chew... ”I too have been thinking about campaign rules and would love to see what you've come up with. I may also try my hand at a map soon. Good – the more I get the more I can incorporate into the rules… the more variation for everyone… One suggestion - why not have the end of the campaign be some time after D-Day, when your company is transferred to France. This would have been seen as a kind of victory to most Germans on the eastern front. You could even run another campaign immediately after using CMBO starting in Normandy for the same unit! Not too sure how many guys would want to go back to CMBO…? However, it will be quite easy for anyone to do it themselves using Wreck’s original rules. GJK …You might consider zipping and uploading to the CM Mod database as well. Thanx for the suggestion, GJK. Went and had a look, but I’m not sure if this is the right place…. Want to start looking for a host today/night. Preferably a site where I can update it myself without bugging a webmaster. Any suggestions anyone? Will let you know where it goes. Scooby2003 Thanks Biltong for an exceptional document! Thanx man – made my day… Quite easy though when you copy a great work (Wrecks rules) in the first place Satyr, couldn't find your e-mail address in your profile - pls post here and I'll sent it off [ November 16, 2002, 05:22 AM: Message edited by: Biltong ]

The QB generator's city maps suck and I’ve been thinking of importing these using the new import feature of CMBB. I did some tests and it looks good. For that matter also a river crossing map. Both city battles and river crossings were important features of Barbarossa (South). So, I'm looking for volunteers with time on their hands and a creative bent. What I need is a single map of the following: 1) City map with some large buildings depicting the center of a large city. This is not Stalingrad so you don’t have to go overboard with the large buildings. A couple of factories will do. (Sewer movement will be enabled for these battles). No river. 2) City map with some large buildings depicting the center of a large city with a river dividing the city. Two or more bridges of various sizes. These maps will be used to depict the battles that took place in Kiev, Khar’kov and Rostov as well as on the outskirts of Sevastopol. If you can get material to make them historically correct – great… if not, no matter, any map is better than no map. 3) A small town map with a large river. A road and railway bridge – a fjord or 2? This one will be used for a river crossing battle. Not too small – otherwise feel free to do what you want – surprise me and the players If you want to contribute – contact me here.

Where to from here? The present rules should keep most of you occupied for a couple of months at least. I've already started reading about 42 South and will get to that in due course. However: I've been doing some tests with importing maps into the QB and it looks good I want to use premade maps for city battles and river crossings - both which feature a number of times in 41 South. I'm writing the requirements at the moment and will post in due course... I'm going to be needing help with creating these maps... Tom Reiter just sent me an example of how the parameters can be semi-automated with VBA... That would simplify things enormously.... Any volunteers out there... I don't know VBA... Biltong [ November 15, 2002, 05:19 PM: Message edited by: Biltong ]

Pleasure Rob/Zukkov Allthough I've found that my own rules are giving me a hard time.. TG - I put in modifiers for Conscript, Green ( < 6 months) and regular players... looks like I'll be using them myself :mad: [ November 15, 2002, 02:18 PM: Message edited by: Biltong ]

Biltong’s Campaign Rules 41 South – June to December Latest update 23 Nov here: Scooby's Site Including Max BrauHaus' Auto Parameters or here SuperSulo's Site or here Snarker's Site Frustrated with the long delays between PBEM files? Bored with playing against the AI? Biltong’s Campaign Rules will introduce you to a totally different CMBB world: Unique Realism & High Tension. 1. What is Biltong’s Campaign Rules? Summary: You play the AI (as the Axis) in a series of QB generated battles. These battles are generated using a set of easy Rules. The Rules ensure that all historical factors are accurate as you and your troops battle through the months and years. Although you play separate battles, they are linked because you have a Core Force of German troops and armor that move with you from the first battle to the last. 41 South is the set of Rules covering the months June to December in the Army Group “South” Theatre of Operations. Operation Barbarossa erupts on 22 June 1941 and you and your men storm through the Soviet ranks through the long months of summer in the steppe and the mud and rain of October. You take your men all the way to Rostov, Khar’kov and the Crimea before the incredible cold of November halt you in your tracks. Then the Soviet counter attacks start. Background: In the old CMBO days a man called Wreck introduced the first set of rules. Unfortunately he got waylaid by a woman and had to hand them over. I took up the cudgel and because of the wide variety of parameters offered by CMBB the rules underwent a radical change. But Wreck’s introduction to the first set still holds true: “Anyone who remembers Panzer General, Steel Panthers, or Close Combat knows the fun of a campaign game. Carefully nursing along your force, slowly building it up to be something special. The horror of losing a valued unit. The glee when you increase in quality.... “ Overview: You are the commanding officer of a company of German troops and some armor that you take through the whole CMBB time frame from the opening salvo on 22 June 41 till the last shells fall in Berlin four years later. As you lead your company and armor into Russia all the parameters of the battles are dictated by historically accurate data, e.g. on the 4th week of October 41 it suddenly turns bitterly cold and the German advance freezes to a halt. However, there is also a random factor provided by a “Random Number”, to provide a degree of unpredictability, but historical accuracy dominates. Your individual men and armor gain or loose experience throughout the Campaign. They slowly advance through the ranks from Green to, hopefully, Crack. It all depends on how they fare in each battle… how many men did they kill; how many men did they lose; did they break; did they take out a MG pillbox or maybe even a tank? You yourself, as the CO, learn and slowly gain or loose Experience and also Favor with your own commanding officer, depending on battle outcomes and a host of other factors, e.g.: don't lose battles or even armor and especially don't let them burn! Your CO gets highly p'd off and you lose his Favor, which you can use to influence some of his decisions. E.g.: whether you can avoid launching an Immediate Assault straight after your last battle without even getting reinforcements. For most battles you will also get Auxiliary Forces: Infantry, Support, Vehicles, Armor, Arty or Air, depending on factors such as weather, who assaults or attack who and what the date is. Every CMBB parameter possible is used to provide an enormous variety of battles within a strictly historical framework. 2. What makes it different Immediate satisfaction and action versus the long delays between PBEM games combined with immersion and suspense from really getting involved with your men and armor over a long period of time. I used to play 6 or 7 PBEM files every night for many years, but once I started playing the Campaign Rules these faded to zero in a short time. And that is the very real danger of these rules – they can be quite detrimental to your net-social life. Be warned. The other factor is a degree of realism that no other CMBB play technique offers. In QB's, PBEM's and all designer scenarios you always have a “balanced” opponent, but that is near idiotic – on the East Front this hardly ever happened. With the Campaign Rules you have the real thing: Sometimes you know who your opponent is; sometimes you are facing unknown odds. Sometimes you have an easy go of it - hammering low on ammo and decimated green Partisans, but later that night you might face a counter-attack from 3 companies of Guards Mech, before you had chance to get reinforcements... Or Division might promise you a lot of supporting arty, but a fog sets in just before your assault, making them useless. You have to think on your feet and learn to retreat when necessary... no more heroic defenses or assaults till the last man!! Your men's survival becomes of the utmost importance... even to the extent that you'll rather loose a battle than loose too many men! The flags still matter – you still want to win, but not at the cost and risk of decimating your men. Realism rules for the first time. As a learning tool this is unsurpassed.... You learn to think and act like a real commander... If you think you’ve got your tactics down pat, – Think again… You will get into situations that you’ve never encountered before… and never will with normal scenarios and QB’s. That you are playing the AI becomes completely unimportant... all that matters are winning and surviving… for your men and yourself. If you would like a set... (or an update) Post your e-mail address here and I'll send it along. All feed back/errors/ideas/gray or unclear areas very welcome... help to make the Rules better for everyone. Biltong [ November 23, 2002, 02:15 PM: Message edited by: Biltong ]

Thanx a lot guys - I'll take you up on it Like to have a reasonably finished product before I do that though... Hope to have the intro doc complete by this week-end sometime, then I'll send it along. BTW Vils - tried to have a look at your site, but couldn't get in... Also tried to have a look at your directory via Leechftp - same result - server down?

bloody spam :mad: hate the stuff. I see our (South African) gov is bringing out a law against it. Great! on it's way

Mark - on it's way... Another comment/question: Q. One thing, when doing the "Auto QB", shouldn't the Force Size be "Purchase Point Total" - "Core Force Total" (rounded up)? Otherwise the AI buys aux units with my core points too, so to speak. A. Nope - The QB normally buys a company of troops in any case, which equals out against your Core Force. And at most you'll have just enough Inf/Support points to buy one platoon. There's hardly any risk that you'll buy the whole generated company. I want to have enough points out there for the QB to buy arty and support weapons as well - to force you to select them. I could just have allowed you to buy what you want, but then you'll end up buying only what you know and never experience the rest. This is one of the benefits between normal QB play and playing with the rules... it forces you to get to know the whole massive range of units out there. And believe me... some of those crappy little vehicles/units, which you never would have dreamt of buying, can be very handy in the right situation - esp for their price... Biltong

Right you are Rob - I will drive a webmaster crazy with an update every second day. I've still got some work to do, before it's ready for publishing - learning from the guys above 1) An intro: selling the concept and explaining how it all hangs together (started on that already) 2) An example battle generation The logical structure; modifiers and 99% of the rules seem to be fine... the few questions that I still get, has all to do with rule clarification here and there and the Intro Doc should sort that out... Hopefully by the end of the week-end... 3) Then I'll need it checked for spelling & grammer (this funny illogical language is my second language - I'm Afrikaans) 4) Then only - look for a friendly webmaster... So if you want to give it a go... e-mail me, I'll send it along Biltong

Beware! - beware! It's addictive.... Your normal net social life goes to hell. I used to play 6 to 7 PBEM's every night for many years, but since I discovered the original Wreck's Rules 5? months ago, they dwindled to nothing

Two guys just asked the same question: "First off, I never saw wrecks rules, so I might miss some important information on how to use these rules... ...I don't understand how it's supposed to work. I got up to "47 Generate Aux Forces using Auto QB". I had rolled up these aux forces: Core Force Total: 569 Infantry/Support: 225 Vehicle: 140 Armor: 250 Arty/Air: 1000 (!) Yes, I was very lucky with the rolls This makes for a Force Size of 3000, right? Yes - Right So I did the "47 Generate Aux Forces using Auto QB" with all the settings I rolled up, with Force Size 3000, but that only gave me ALOT of inf (pioneers...) and armored cars, no armor and certainly not 1000 pts Arty/air. No problem guys, I'm still expanding on the explanations for guys who didn't play the old rules. If you went one point further to Generate the Real Battle it would've become clear - See Note 7: "If you have points left in an Auxiliary Category after buying all the units generated by the Auto QB (47) you can choose what you want to buy from the normal QB unit list until you have used up the Purchase Points for that Category." So - if no armor was generated you are actually lucky, because you get to choose Same with Air allthough I just expanded 34 Air adding to the bottom: "You won't be able to select an aircraft during 47 Generate Aux Forces using Auto QB. Don't worry..… In Generate Real Battle 48 you will buy the most expensive aircraft you can with the points you received from the roll. " Hope this makes it more clear. I'm currently working on a document for guys new to the rules, explaining how the whole thing hangs together and eventually I want to include an example generated battle. You are not the only one who has aked these questions... Go well Biltong PS Just modified th erules to make this clearer,,, keep the questions coming [ November 12, 2002, 03:58 PM: Message edited by: Biltong ]

Mark Pilgrim just pointed something out: You won't be able to select air from the Auto QB. Sollution: When you buy your final forces (Generate Real Battle 47) you will buy the most expensive one you can with the points you received from the roll. Thanx Mark - keep up with the feedback guys Biltong

Here you go…. Main changes: 1. Catered for all the Division Types that appear and disappear throughout the months. 2. Made the rules (more) accessible for newbies. You should be able to play it without reference to the old rules. 3. Fixed various errors – esp. Overall Experience Gain 4. Split Experience for Armor and Non-Armor 5. Detailed Notes on: a. Emergency Reorganization b. Core Force c. Overall Experience Gain d. Scrounged Units e. Generating the Real Battle f. Counter/Immediate Attack Thanx for all the feedback guys - helped a lot. Nearly there – needs a bit of an intro and some play testing…. I e-mailed an update to every-one (I think) If I missed you out or if you want one - let me know. Biltong [ November 10, 2002, 04:56 PM: Message edited by: Biltong ]

Let me quote Wreck: "I have not been playing CMBB of recent. Instead I got addicted to Tropico, and I got a girlfriend (Tropico was her fault),..." There you have it.... what one won't do for ...love? Modified the rules to cater for all the Division types that change throuhout the months. First change comes up in August. If you suspect that your next battle might take place in Aug., let me know and I'll send you the latest update. Otherwise, planning to send everyone an update on Sunday night

Good idea Rob - Once I finished this week-end I'll send an update to all the guys in my wreck directory

Rob Q: “When starting the campaign the division type came up german-mountain. When you select this in the battle generator you are not able to get the core Mot Inf Co.” A. Ahhh… good I just made it a bit easier and clearer: 48 GENERATE REAL BATTLE now reads: “You now generate a QB battle using all the parameters above. This time you select ALLOW HUMAN for Purchase Units. Change Axis Force Mix, Nationality and Quality to Unrestricted. Remember to choose the right Quality for your Core Company and each of the other units. Buy your Core Force and the Auxilary Forces generated above.” There are a number of things like this that need to be clarified for people who haven’t played the old rules. I hope to get to the most serious ones by this weekend. Q. “Also how do you suggest rounding the force size for Aux and total force sizes? Example: Aux is 350 pts do you select 400 in the battle generator or do you round down to 300. Total force is 919 do you select 1000 or 900, or is it whatever you happen to feel like at the time?” A. You add up all the Purchase Points that you rolled for your Auxiliaries + your Core Force points and if the total is, say 1025 you choose the next higher Force Size, i.e.: 1250. I’ve made it a lot clearer in the latest draft… If it needs more work, let me know. For the Newbies I’ll give more detailed notes. My first draft was meant to get previous players going to test the structure and modifiers etc., but hopefully even green players should be able to roll up a battle after all the latest additions Q. “Also a little more explanation may be needed for for force purchases when points are left over, for newbies to the system like me.” A. See 48 Generate Real Battle (updated lately) “If you have points left in an Auxiliary Category after buying all the units generated by the Auto QB you can choose what you want to buy from the normal unit list until you have used up the points for the Category.” E.g – you rolled up 100 Purchase Points for Vehicles. When you do: “47 - Generate Aux Forces using Auto QB” The QB generator placed only one vehicle on the map: a PSW 231 Rad. You note this down. Later when you Generate the Real Battle you find that a PSW 231 only cost 61 Purchase Points. You now have 39 points to buy anything with (in the Vehicle Category only) You look around and find a PSW 222 for 37 points… You have 2 points left… but there is nothing that cheap - tough – you lose them Thanx for the questions Rob – It points out areas that need clarification. Keep ‘em coming. Mark Q. It looks as though you can only play this as the Germans right now. Is this correct? There is a mechanism for generating an opposing force of Axis troops, but nothing for creating a core force of Russians.. I'd like to see the ability to play as the Russians. A Mark... I've got 5 years x 3 fronts on my hands... i.e. 15 sets of modifiers. It's going to be a long time (if at all) before I get to the Soviet side. The basic structure seems to be fine though and should cater for it quite easily. Someone should just sit down and do some reading and modify the modifiers... How about it? Wow Guys - the e-mails have been pouring in and there is a ton of suggestions/questions/errors/unexplained bits etc etc... It looks like I might have to organise and prioritise all of the above and post some sort of breakdown as to what I'll be doing in what sequence... at the moment I'm just sending off rules and answering questions/fixing rules where it will hold up a player or lead him down the wrong way... Hopefully I'll catch up with most this week-end - wife is out of towm I haven't deleted your mails!! Some of you guys have done a ton of work - Much appreciated!! - keep 'em coming... I'll get to them. [ November 07, 2002, 05:08 PM: Message edited by: Biltong ]

PeterK 1.Consider bumping up the turn lmit (if you haven't already) to 35. Attacks are slower to develop in CMBB. You’re right. Found the same thing... allthough mine is dieroll based from 27 through to 36 with modifiers on map size, weather and type of Axis Attack 2. The medium sized map for an attack on a large town looks really, really bad (basically a few hundred small houses tossed together haphazardly really close to one another). Really boring to play on and...doesn't really look much like a large town. I was considering taking that map-type out of the mix entirely. You’ve just given me an idea – I've been thinking about importing a river crossing map and maybe I should ask for a volunteer to do a large city map as well where 4 or more battles can take place on the same map. Still have to test it though. Any volunteers out there for the map and/or test? 3. Why not start the Germans as Regular? They should get an advantage against raw Russians at least in the very first few months. This remedies the most frustrating part of the CMBO campaign. I’ve been wondering about that. I think historically speaking you’re more than likely right…. (Grog’s: Were most of the Germans Regular in the South?) but I decided against that since I learned a hell of a lot during my painful green days in CMBO… mostly how to run LOL…. I think what I’ll do is put a warning in for the Newbies about the trials and tribulations of starting Green. Glad you scrapped the aux system. I did the same as well, allowing the player to purchase his mix, but basically knocked anything off the list that had lower than -20% rarity. Consider this rule for purchasing armor - keeps things interesting especially when a cool upgrade to a weak AFV comes along: Tried to please the Grogs and put the following in: (note the escape clause “You might want to stick to units that are < 40% rare or roll a die and 8 > gives you free reign to buy those rare beauties ” heh heh Thanx for the ideas Peter…. Keep em coming… Would you like a set? I would love to hear what you think. You been there/done that.. you’ll pick up the mistakes/variations/ideas faster. Stryker/Warlord – it’s there Matt Haven’t approached anyone to host it yet.. too many changes – will drive a webmaster nuts. Once it’s settled down I’ll beg around. If you want a set let me know… It’s basically ready for Reg (even green) or better… most of the outstanding work is to do with spelling things out for newbies Gpig – Yep – should keep me/us busy for the next 3 years or until CM3 comes out – whichever comes first [ November 06, 2002, 05:08 PM: Message edited by: Biltong ]

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It's a pleasure guys.. Juju/Supersulo... It's called "Tropico" never seen it.. sounds like something I would like to drink though. Hornet.. With CMBB you can set the Quality as you wish in the QB generator Just select "Unrestricted" for Axis Quality. (explained in the New Rules) Great for the campaign game... hated it when my crack Sherman had to skulk around as a vet in CMBO GJK I used http://www.irony.com/igroll.html to create the sheet. I included it to save the guys the hassel and save me the hassel to explain to new guys where to get it/generate the numbers/copy/paste/export to excel/clean it up etc etc... you got da drift It's easier once you have it printed and a single sheet should be enough... You can use it over and over... once you've reached the bottom start somewhere random or go backwards or sideways or.. uhm this is starting to sound kinky... anyway - you should be able to play a couple of campaigns with the one sheet: it's got 1600 numbers. BTW - rules now at a stage where a newbie should be able to pick it up and figure it out... want to spell things out a bit clearer this week-end

Added modifiers to cater for Conscript (newbie); Green (6 months of CMBO/BB experience); Vet and Crack players.... Even a Newbie should be able to figure out how to use them now... my 9 year old son has just rolled up his first battle and is hooked solid [ November 04, 2002, 05:19 PM: Message edited by: Biltong ]

I understand that Wreck has been hijacked by another game – great pity! So, I’ve jumped in and started to adapt his rules for CMBB. I’ve decided to break it up into the 3 main theatres: North, South and Center – and then again into the 5 years. So far I have June to Dec 41 – South as the Germans. It still needs some work, but you should be able to start playing with it…. I’m on July with the playtesting and so far it's going ok - fine tuning as I go along. Most of Wreck’s rules are intact, but I’ve changed the format to an Excel spreadsheet, the idea being that you generate each parameter, as you would enter it into the QB generator. It seems more logical and faster than the old text based rules. It caters for all possible combinations of parameters, e.g.: Nationalities; divisions, units; fitness; casualties etc that CMBB allows for in that sector at that time. Nearly all the different options in the QB generator (such as Game Length etc) are now utilized to provide variety… most of them in a (I hope) historically correct way, E.g.: Casualties are used to simulate the effects of freezing cold on the Germans from the 4th week of Oct etc. Basically it is a spreadsheet consisting of 4 sheets: 1) Rules for each parameter as well as the extra Auxiliary Force generation etc 2) A Parameter sheet that you use as is for the Aux. Force generation and Real Battle generation. 3) A new Favor sheet. 4) A sheet of random numbers between 1 and 10 since you now use a ten sided die to cater for all the different options. CHANGES: Catered for inclusion of any combination armor/vehicles – whatever, into your Core Force. Time measured in days as well as weeks and months. Replaced the rather complicated Auxiliary Force selection system with a die roll/modifier based system where you generate points for 1) Inf/Support 2) Vehicles 3) Armor 4 Arty/Air…. (Modifiers: E.g.: who attacks, assaults or probes; immediate attack or counter attack; Favor; Your quality etc) The AI’s force loading is now handled by the Handicap percentages. I’ve expanded the Core Force Experience calculations to differentiate between things such as MG bunkers and Mg pillbox and Gun pillbox etc. I’ve also differentiated slightly between how armor and infantry gain experience, e.g.: a soldier will get 2 points for each enemy soldier killed bur armor only 1 point, etc. Expanded Counter Attack to include an option of Counter Assault, and Immediate Attack to include Immediate Assault. Scrounging has been changes to a die roll/point system with various modifiers such as: “Not allowed if previous battle was lost” Favor has been expanded quite a bit. E.g.: if your foe abandons his tank and you win the battle you can use it, but if he wins the battle he can use it himself again, so who wins; abandon; KO; burn etc comes into play and Favor gets a spreadsheet of its own. KEPT As before you start off Green and earn experience and Favor. You still use the QB to generate random Auxiliary forces, but if you have points left in a category like vehicles, you can buy what you want (or below a rarity of your choice??)… You can also end up with another Axis nation’s units as your auxiliaries… This way you get to know most of the units in CMBB. Kept Wreck basic structure of generating parameters - Aux forces – battle - decide on Counter Attack/Assault – Immediate Attack/Assault - Scrounge etc. It works well. Hope this gives you an idea. I did not (yet) write up the finer points that were covered quite well in the original rules. If you played those you should understand these quite easily and hopefully find it faster and easier although there are a lot more modifiers and options. These rules will need to be clarified a bit for a new player. In time… E-mail me if you want to give it a go. [ November 06, 2002, 05:04 PM: Message edited by: Biltong ]

Any news on the CMBB version of the rules yet... Wreck? Just got the CD and can't wait.

Getting a bit bored with the demos? Want to take CMBO and CMBB to a new level of realism and unbelievable addiction? The launch of Wreck’s Rules disappeared in the fanfare of the demo release and I think they are of such importance as an enhancement to CMBO (and eventually CMBB) that they should be mentioned again… Wreck came up with these rules some weeks ago on the BO board. He went to great lengths in creating a very realistic set of rules, but did not spend much time in advertising it, which is a pity, since I think most players would love the tension, excitement and realism that they provide. Put it this way – the demo pales in comparison to what the Rules did for my gaming pleasure His intro goes: "Anyone who remembers Panzer General, Steel Panthers, or Close Combat knows the fun of a campaign game. Carefully nursing along your force, slowly building it up to be something special. The horror of losing a valued unit. The glee when you increase in quality...." Basically you have a company of men and variety of extra units (armor whatever) that you take through the whole CMBO time frame from June 44 till the end of the war. As you lead your company from D-day onward all the parameters of the battles are dictated firstly by historically accurate data, E.g. in June 44 you are more than likely to get flat terrain and in December more than likely snow etc and secondly by a random factor (the die roll), but this is still influenced by history: E.g. you are more likely to meet up with Volkssturm after Feb 45. Your individual men/units gain or loose experience during each battle... after 8 battles I'm still green - but then I'm only in the 1st week of July and I took a lot of hammering with my green troops in June. You also gain or lose favor with your CO depending on battle outcomes and other factors: e.g.: don't lose armor and especially don't let them burn!! The CO gets highly p'd off and you lose his favor, which you can use to influence some of his decisions. E.g.: whether you should attack straight after your last battle without even getting reinforcements For each battle you'll also get additional forces: armor; arty; AT; air support etc., depending whether you are defending, attacking or conducting a probe etc.... You might think that this is CMBO – old hat! But it is not - I've been a PBEM player for years, but this is the most excitement I've got from any war game to date... At nights I can't wait to finish my CMBB demo games to get back to my campaign. Wreck told me he'll bring out a version for CMBB, but it will take some time... He first wants to run the historical qualifiers past the grogs before releasing it, so it might be a couple of months after CMBB arrives before we see the new set... enough time to give it a try with CMBO. The volume of rules (+- 15 pages of - mostly quick scan tables)might put you off at first, but once you've gone through them before your first battle, they are very easy and quick the 2nd time around.... You only use them once between each battle: for setting the parameters and defining your units (and sometimes the enemy) – it takes me +- 10 minutes between battles, that is all. What I find so addictive is the tension of realism... Your men's survival becomes very important... even to the extend that you'll rather loose a battle than loose too many men!! Those mad flag rushes just don't exist anymore... Realism Rules like I've never seen before. I never thought I would ever say that playing against the AI is better than PBEM, but this is it.... In QB's, PBEM's and all designed scenarios you always have a (sort of) balanced foe, but that is stupid - in the real war this hardly ever happened... With Wreck's Rules you have the real thing: Sometimes you know who your opponent is, but sometimes you are facing unknown odds: Sometimes you have an easy go of it - hammering green Heer troops, but later that night you might face a counter-attack from SS Panthers, before you had chance to get reinforcements... and no armor to support you... :mad: or Division might promise you a lot of supporting arty, but a fog sets in just before your assault, making them useless You have to think on your feet and learn to retreat when necessary... no more heroic defenses or assaults till the last man!! As a learning tool this is unsurpassed.... You learn to think and act like a real soldier... If you think you’ve got your tactics down pat, LOL – Think again… You will get into situations that you’ve never encountered before… :eek: Wrecks rules has brought a dimension to CM that I never expected... the fact that you are playing the AI hardly matters... all that matters are the survival of your troops and once in a while you even try to capture the flags... If you decide to try it: Give yourself an extra 105mm FO and one or more tanks (depending on your experience) * The rules have been designed for Grogs... I consider myself a Vet, but I lost my 1st 4 battles until I assigned myself an extra 105mm FO and a Stuart, then I finally got going... I'm now on battle 8 and slowly starting to learn when to retreat; when not too fight or push for the flags (very important!) and how to be VERY careful! You learn with your troops and you learn the HARD way.... But I tell you - this is the first time ever that feel I'm simulating the real thing! Enjoy! Rules here: http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze2rb4w/qb-campaign.html Discussion on CMBO board here: http://www.battlefront.com/cgi-bin/bbs/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=025864 * Suggestions: Newbie: add platoon of Shermans (3 x M4) Green: 1 x 105 & 1 x M4 Sherman Regular: 1 x M4 Or choose any mix that you would like, but include the units in your core force that you take with you throughout the campaign.... i.e.: include the crews in your core force calculations. BTW - Those guys hosting CM sites should maybe have a look at these rules and consider hosting them.... I suspect there's going to be quite a demand for them.

How close to a tank does one have to get to use them; what are their penetration characteristics and WTH are they? Thanx guys - that was fast... Found this on the net: Panzerwurfmine H.C. (Munroe) 89 mm A shaped charge with 5.16 ounces of explosive, attached to a stick with spring-loaded fabric fins at the rear. When it was thrown, the fins unfolded and stabilized the warhead in flight. A pair of Swiss inventors were the first to think of using the well documented Munroe effect to penetrate armour plate. They tried to sell the design to foreign arms manufacturers, claiming that a new explosive had been discovered. Unfortunately for the inventors, explosives experts soon figured out that a shaped charge was responsible for the amazing penetration results, and they went ahead and copied it. German, British, and Soviet troops received H.C. anti-tank grenades as early as 1940. [ September 02, 2002, 02:35 PM: Message edited by: Biltong ]