PiggDogg

Foamy, Sometimes, a spotting unit might be in good covering terrain (buildings, woods, tall pines, even scattered woods) and sitting still. Meanwhile, the spotted unit might be in terrain providing less cover (duh, you know what those are). Also, that unit might be moving. It is pretty simple. If one sits still, lays low, & doesn't shoot while in covering terrain, odds are he will see enemy units & not be seen. Cheers, Richard :cool:

Arty at night - not gamey. Cheers, Richard

Linda Warchest, Don't buy CM2, CM1, CM99, etc. Down load the right video drivers & chill out. It is your fault for using a late beta OS (Windows XP), not BTS's. If you were prudent, you would have purchased XP after the initial bugs were worked out. But guess what, you are 'now' a Microsoft beta tester. You should be pleased. BTS & CM existed long before XP was released. You should have checked to make sure that your OS was compatible with your programs. Don't blame BTS & CM for your lack of prudence. Richard

Commander, I too like King Tiger platoons as recon vehicles: They are able to instill fear in the allies. They flush out & discover enemy troops like no others. They supress enemy troops once discovered. They smash all under their treads. They eviscerate enemy defenses. They can hold ground until the 'invisible' Luftwaffe airplanes arrives (gee, that may be a long time). KTs are pretty darn good as recon vehicles. :eek: Cheers, Richard :cool:

Maybe there was a silencer on the sharpshooter's rifle? Maybe there was a silencer on the mines that your men stepped on? :eek: :eek: :eek: Maybe we are all taking leave of our senses? Maybe we need some levity? Yeah. Cheers, Richard

I have had some luck with inf and rifle gernades. However, I certainly do not expect to have any luck with them. If I get lucky with a rifle gernade, I just figure that it was just some good fortune. Cheers, Richard

Pz4's - ouch. I have had no success with them. I have seldomly seen any opponent of mine having any success with them. Everything kills them. However, they do have a good gun. Treat Pz4s just like you would a short barrelled Sherman. In fact, I would choose a short barrelled Sherman before I would choose a Pz4. Cheers, Richard :cool: :cool:

Carrot, Rifle gernades cannot be aimed and you cannot order rifle gernades to be fired. The US GIs 'may' use them when they deem it appropriate. In fact, in a pbem game that I am presently playing, one of my US infantry squads on the ground floor of a heavy building shot a rifle gernade and killed a close and fast approaching German armored car. The close up viewing of the action was pretty cool. :cool: :cool: Cheers, Richard

Everyone, Is anyone interested in coming up with 1/2 of $89,000 to purchase a Bulldog?? :eek: :eek: :eek: (I am kidding. ) Bulldog for Sale Cheers, Richard

Kestrl, That was me. It was a good battle that was well fought by both of us. It was fun & that is what it is all about. (but damn, I wish that I had won a total victory. Lol.) I'll be around late afternoon Sunday for tcp/ip CM. Hope to see ya. Cheers, Richard :cool:

I have played CM for about 8 months. I played the AI for the first month & after that I have only played real people via pbem or tcp/ip. Playing real people is the only way to go. Put down the AI & play some real people. Cheers, Richard

One brief comment on snowball battles. Do not run you infantry except in the most dire circumstances or for exceedingly short distances. Infantry units that run almost any distance fatigue in what seems almost instanteous time. Cheers, Richard

Hey, I've been playing wargames since 1958-60 with Avalon Hill's Tactics II & their original first retangular playing pieces Gettysburg. Yep, I am that old. During late 2000, I had seen glowing CGW, CGM, & PCGamer reviews of CM. However, these reviews set forth that CM was turn based. I was turned off to CM because I had played turn based wargames for some 40 years. I wanted simultaneous tactical combat like in Close Combat. A good friend (with whom I have played wargames for nearly 30 years) told me that I 'had' to get CM. I somewhat reluctantly acceeded to his reccommendation. I got CM and was hooked. CM is not perfect, but it is, by a substantial margin, the best thing on the computer. I really love CM. Cheers, Richard

Tree, Thanks a lot for the tests. Gee, you really got to get a life. :eek: :eek: :eek: You do know that I am kidding Lol. Also, since you are at it. How about a test of a stgIII vs a sherman 300 meters or so (common range for such battles). You are kind and a bit crazy. But we love you & we await with bated breath. Thanks & Cheers, Richard

Flame infantry is only good for killing units that are about to die anyway. Otherwise, the flame infantry dies. :cool: Flame vehicles are a different matter. I have never purchased any and, in computer choose unit games, I have never be given any. Thus, I won't comment much about flame vehicles. Indeed, from Ryan's comments, it seems that most flame vehicles (except maybe a flame crocidile) should follow the flame infantry rule: Flame enemy units that are about to die anyway. Cheers, Richard :cool:

I (a USA, New Orleans American) have not followed the Bren gun tripod thread. However, I will make a few comments about the UK/Commonwealth (U/C),World War II, and the free world. [i will keep this brief otherwise I would end up with an incredibly long essay.] The present day, free world is only here as a free, civilized world (ignore the present 9/11/01 disaster) because of U/C standing alone against Hitler from May 1940 to December 1941. If U/C had come to terms with/surrendered to Hitler in 1940-41, most surely Germany & the USSR would have come to some terms after Barbarossa. One could hardly imagine the USA and U/C in exile (in Canada) fighting a two front war (Atlantic/Germans and Pacific/Japanese) and having to cross 3000 miles to get back to Europe & 5000 miles to get to Japan. Without the USSR to pay the butcher bill to grind Germany's armies (by far the best in WW2) to a manageable level, I doubt the free world could have defeated Germany, much less the Axis of Germany & Japan. Maybe, USA A-bombs coming before the German A-bomb may have shifted the balance. However, the U/C may not have had the best soldiers and military leadership (excluding Churchill who "is" the most important person of the 20th century because without him the U/C would probably have come to terms with Hitler) in WW2, but they stood alone against the greatest threat to civilzation (Germany) since Ghenghis Kahn. If it were not for the U/C in WW2, we in the civilized world would be goose stepping and saluting the swastika & the rising sun. What a horrible & dismal thought. I salute the U/C. WW2 was certainly 'Their Finest Hour'. Cheers, Richard

One of your teams entered the 5th dimension was was beamed up by Mr. Scotty to the other side of the enemy mg. :eek: :eek: Beam me up, Snotty. Ooops, I mean, Scotty. Cheers, Richard

Don't know. Maybe in front of the computer??? :confused: :confused: :confused: Cheers, Richard

One thing that may keep BTS around for many years (as opposed to so many design groups being fired, dismissed, or disbanded), is their low financial overhead. Over the years, big payrolls, big rents, big operating costs, etc. have sunk almost all design groups of almost every game (i.e. Dynamix, G.O.D., Avalon Hill etc. Others know their names better than I.) I can wait for BTS to work out of their basement (if that is where their office is). Eventually, CM2, CM3, CM73, etc. will come out. I like BTS existing for years & producing new CMs. Personally, if BTS were my business, I would keep it small with low overhead. In my opinion, remaining in business for the long haul (multiple 10s of years) by servicing one's customers well is best and most important. Making the big splash and making quick big hit most frequently ends in financial disaster. I'll wait for future CMs when BTS has them ready. Cheers, Richard

I will comment on the morale bonus - the heart. My experience is that a platoon in command control range of a double heart leader will take almost annihilating casualties from enemy infantry fire. They usually will hold their ground until almost to the last man. :eek: They are great for holding VLs until help arrives. Cheers, Richard

81 mm spotters are not nearly as effective as 105 mm or larger spotters. 81s sort of pin pricks the enemy infantry to disruption, but they really don't destroy enemy infantry. 105s & larger really rips the heart out of infantry. Every time that I get an 81 spotter in a computer troop pick QB, I just figure that I am going to severely tickle the enemy's infantry. When I get a 105 or larger spotter, I figure that I can destroy a sizeable portion of the enemy infantry. Cheers, Richard

Markshot & Russellmz, Thanks to both of you for the good info. Cheers, Richard

russelmz, Thanks a bunch for the compilation of so much info. :eek: Cheers, Richard

Earlier today, the best description of flamethrower teams & their use was given to me by a friend (Big Dog, Doug Kewley). He quite correctly stated that "flamethrower teams are only useful against enemies that are about ready to die anyway." You know what, he is absolutely correct. However, he did not add the following to make it more fully correct: "all the other nearby enemies must also be ready to die, otherwise they will wack the flamethrower team." So, ... the general usefulness of FT teams is slight. Cheers, Richard

Dschugaschwili, Oops, sorry I forgot this. You must have done quite a bit right also. Congratulations. Cheers, Richard