PiggDogg

Denwad, You presently possess the absolute best wargame to have ever graced a computer or a paper map. Study hard, learn from your opponents, and ask questions. Also, quite importantly, utilize the CMBO/BB Anthology of Useful Posts at the top of the Tips & Tricks board. If you do the above, if you apply your lessons learned, and if the game agrees with you, you will have a most enjoyable time playing this game. Cheers, Richard

Sergei & Michael, Oh so exemplary with Sergei's experience. However, I'll take Catherine Zeta Jones or Salma Hayek. Now "that" is a wonderful choice. Can't go wrong there. Cheers, Richard

Guys, AA guns do not have to kill enemy airplanes to be effective. If one has even one AA, they have a tendency to cause the planes to be more inaccurate than without the AA guns. Generally, place one's AA guns in scattered woods, on hills, with a fair to good LOS up & about, and, if necessary, on the reverse slopes away from enemy obervation. If the enemy has air, any AAs are a true benefit. Cheers, Richard

'nzn, The Tiger's and PzIVs silouhettes were not unusual. The silouhettes of both long barreled PIVs (of which there were many &, if I am not mistaken, the single most produced type of German tank in WWII) and the PzVIs/TigerIs (of which there were not many) were quite similar at most any distance in the heat of battle. Most front line soldiers possessed the understandable propensity to report every enemy encountered as the most potent enemy available. Note the well known stories and reports of many line grunts' (at least Western Allied) reporting of what seemed to be nearly every (but not all) enemy gun encountered, AT or arty, as being an 88. Similarly, they reported what seemed to be nearly every (but not all) enemy tank encountered as being a Tiger. Hey, if I were some grunt slogging in the muck, being pummeled by enemy mg & mortar fire with a bit of divisional arty thrown in for good measure, I would report every enemy tank that I would ever see as a Tiger. No matter where that tank was going, it was coming at me. I only have a rifle & some grenades, and that tank is some big & nasty & could kill me. I am crapping in my pants. :eek: Because of this understandable infantryman propensity, one must suspect that most Allied soldiers' reporting of encountering Tigers were inaccurate. Maybe, I am wrong. But I am probably not. Cheers, Richard

'nzn, These are the mysterious ghost tanks of the Eastern Front. They are quite effective during snowy weather. I'm no techie, but you might try rebooting your computer, restarting CM, and/or reloading the bmps. Also, check your video card settings and check you DirectX version and reload/load the latest DirectX version. Cheers, Richard

Hi Mom. Bimp, bump, blimp, dimp, limp. Cheers, Richard

Butcher, Hi, Mom. PoorOldSpike & I have played a number of BB games. Indeed, we are playing a BB game presently. Yes, he is "that" good and deserves his most high rating a Rugged Defense. Personnaly, I think that he should go back to RD & beat some butts. However, that is up to him & RD. I play CM pretty darn well, and I have learned a number of refinements to my tactics. He and I are well matched opponents. Yes, we have both beaten each other. He has won more than I have. Indeed, since I have learned (and he was most generous to share) some of his refinements to my tactics, our future games should be even closer. As far as POS's presonality. He is strident, very strident. He is a good guy if somewhat eclectic. However, everyone (certainly, me included) is somewhat weird. Thus, POS is like the rest of us, just more so. I like the guy. As far as POS's problems with BFC, that is up to the powers that be. I shall leave those issues to the parties concerned. Those issues are not my business. Personally, I do not rock the boat, but I am quite able to get my points across. Others don't necessarily follow or mimick my way of doing things. To each his own. :cool: Cheers, Richard [ July 31, 2003, 11:40 AM: Message edited by: PiggDogg ]

Manchild, You are quite correct with your joy with manuvering, using, and especially succeeding with "eggshells with hammers". :eek: This highlights the tremendous benefits of near invulnerable frontal armor (NIFA). One needs to be careful with NIFA, but not nearly as careful as with eggshells. Also, even more enjoyable is using and succeeding with "eggshells with eggshells" (EWE). An EWE is an AFV that the enemy can easily kill from any aspect and that has a weapon that can only kill the enemy from a non frontal aspect. An example of an EWE would be a short barreled Sherman versus a Panther. If that puny Ronson can take out the Panther, the Ronson commander should be given a nice medal or two. Cheers, Richard [ July 29, 2003, 11:01 PM: Message edited by: PiggDogg ]

Galley, Target on Turn 1. Those are some sweet if they are available. Buy them if you can. Usually, you can't. Yep. Yep. Use clairvoyance or guess real well. Yep. Target far from your guys, or have your guys take their chances. Cheers, Richard [ July 26, 2003, 01:33 AM: Message edited by: PiggDogg ]

Eddie & Guys, You all have made many quite cogent points about mortars. Eddie, if you follow these guys' recommendations you will get much benefit from mortars. Indeed, I will emphasize one point in mortar use that I have seen many people not utilize: "Use mortars in large batteries." :eek: This means use 3 inch, 81s, & 82s in batteries of at least 4 and possibly 6 tube batteries. Also, use 1/2 inch & 50s in batteries of at least 6 and up to 8 tubes. Many think that 1/2s and 50s are near worthless. They are right if one penny packets 1/2 or 50 mortars with one per platoon. However, if one uses 1/2s or 50s in batteries of 6 to 8, they will supress and disrupt any enemy infantry and probably destroy any gun. Try the advise in this thread & your mortar use will improve greatly. Cheers, Richard

Kris, 400 tank duels ????? :eek: :eek: :eek: You need a bunch of biers, or you need to get a life. Cheers, Richard

Florian, What in particular is "unbelieveable"? Cheers, Richard

Jeff, You are a good man. Do you have a non-CM life? :eek: By the way, thanks for your efforts. Cheers, Richard

Schwager, Besides 88s and airplanes killing KVs, SP-Is with the 47 mm AT guns also kill KV monsters, T34 monsters (for 41, that is), and all other Ruskie tanks. :eek: :eek: However, be carefull with the SP-Is. Shoot, shoot, & scoot. SP-Is can be easily killed by Ruskie on-board mortars and FO arty (because of the SP-Is' open tops and open backs) and by any Ruskie AT gun tank (because of the SP-Is' thin armor). The SP-Is are cheap point-wise. Their 47 mm gun has a high rate of fire (much faster than the KV1's & especially faster than the KV2's ROF). The 47s will penetrate & penetrate the KVs' (& T34s') armors and eventually cause the Ruskie crews to bail out. Definitely employ the SP-Is in platoon and preferably multi platoon packs, hub-to-hub. Probably one should purchase SP-Is with veteran crews in order to get earlier and more frequent hits than regular crews. Remember: in the first minute, fast move and hunt to firing positions & shoot. Then in the second minute, shoot, shoot, and get many hits from the SP-I packs. Before the second minute is finished, with proper "pause" commands, scoot the SP-Is to full cover on a reverse slope or behind woods or buildings so that the remaining enemy's LOS will be broken. Also, get away from those covered position if you fear subsequent enemy FO arty or nearby targeting of on-board mortars. I know about SP-Is because they were used against me (however, I had enough on-board mortars and FO arty to beat the SP-Is), and I have used vet SP-Is against others with great success. I hope that this helps. Cheers, Richard

Cape, Wine, wine, wine; all of the time, time, time. :eek: :eek: Life is good. However, one might add a little bit of good homebrewed bier to the mix. Cheers, Richard

Redwolf, Your picture exemplified what I had stated in my somewhat long winded and somewhat confusing earlier post in this thread. :eek: Yes, the combat bonus benefits units under its influence. Thanks. Cheers, Richard

Guys, One will see the benefit of a combat bonus (lightning bolt) when a firing squad/team is selected, the "T" is selected, the resulting target line is stretched on top of the targeted 'infantry' unit, and the resulting firepower number is read. This is the target line firepower number. The unit menu firepower number is the unit's firepower at different deliniated distances, 40m, 100m, 250m, 500m. In order to see the combat bonus benefit, choose shooting distances near distance breaks on the the unit's firepower/composition menu (that is, 40m,100m, 250m). If the firing infantry squad/team has a combat bonus and one compares the target line firepower number to the menu firepower number, the target line firepower number will be slightly greater than the menu firepower number. In short, units with combat bonuses will have higher firepower than a similar unit without a combat bonus. However, one will only be able to easily see this if the shooting is taking place near to 40m, 100m, 250m, or 500m. I hope that this was not too confusing. Cheers, Richard

If there were a Napoleonic game based on the CM system, I would love to playtest it. I had played that tactical level Nappy games since the 70s. Cheers, Richard

Patty, The radio FOs carried a WWII era radio(transmitter & receiver) plus its battery and/or generator. These were pretty heavy (some grog please come to the rescue on this), probably over 30 or 40 pounds and not at all like today's transistor radios or MP3 players. The wire FOs have to carry a telephone & enough telephone wire to reach back to a connection somewhere probably at the friendly lines. I suspect that this weighed in the 30 to 50 pound range (grog help requested). Also, the telephone wire had to be unrolled somewhat carefully so as not to break it. If the wire breaks, then one of the guys will get to run to the rear with the targeting coordinates. Cheers, Richard

Michael, Might this day have something to do with a guy with a red beard? Also, might this day be the one year annivesary of the release of some game about that guy in the red beard? Cheers, Richard [ June 22, 2003, 02:24 AM: Message edited by: PiggDogg ]

Red, Very, very good work. Thanks. Looks useable and useful. Cheers, Richard

Dick, Got the files. Thanks. Do you have a file of the action during that mad, mad, mad world, ... er make that minute. Cheers, Richard [ June 16, 2003, 10:14 PM: Message edited by: PiggDogg ]

Best CMBO Allied combo. This may be gamey, but here it is. (1) The Mother of all weapons: Regular US 155 arty. Kills "all" German infantry, has a 2 minute on target time, kills German light & open top vehicles, sometimes gun damages or immobilized the Uber Cats. This is "THE BEST" weapon in CMBO. One can't ID the FO (if used corrrectly), and it devestates all German infantry. (2) Tank killers: Vet (sometimes crack) Brit 17 pounder tanks & TDs. They are eggshells with hammers and must be carfully used, but they can kill the Uber Cats with one shot. If Brit 17s AFVs are not available, US 76 mm tanks & TDs are a second choice. Tolerable because they can kill TigerIs & Panthers. However, they bounce against big sloped German TDs & KingTigers. (3) Reg US infantry (line infantry or paras). Not bad when compared to German infantry, but absolutely great when compared to Brit infantry which, to put it mildly, sucks. Try engaging the Germans from the 100 meter range. (4) Tactics: (a) seize the important covering terrain terrain and have the enemy attack you. ( If big arty (105 & larger) is going to fall on your guys, ruthlessly run (withdraw) like all get out. © If your guys are outgunned in a firefight, ruthlessly run (withdraw) like all get out. Hope that this helps Cheers, Richard

wbs, Please make that file and password available to us so that we might enjoy it in the first person. Cheers, Richard

Guys, I am no grog, and I have no historical or factual basis for my opinion. However, AFVs in BB seem to turn in place waaaaay too slowly. Cheers, Richard