Monty's Double

Standard gives the historical rarity, variable takes that as a base and adds in a smallish random factor, to provide a bit of variation - "ooh, those Sturmtigers are only +400% this game, think I'll buy a dozen" etc. And as far as I can remember there isn't any rarity in the scenario editor, the points values are "straight". As they said in American Werewolf in London; "stick to the QB's lad!". It could have been roads, now I think about it.

Dear God, a Peng spillage. Vroop! Vroop! Stand back people, that stuff's corrosive; it could eat through your moral fibre in seconds. Specially trained teams of asbestos-clad lawyers are being parachuted in to clear it up.

Playing TCP/IP you can set a timer for the orders phase, and to me it makes it a different game. Playing email against another human, I usually take up to 10 minutes (for a 1500-2000 point game), though some turns are much quicker.

There's a great story about Vickers K armed jeeps (4 each I think) in France chopping a locomotive in half! I belive they were part of Popski's private army. Disappointed to hear they aren't in CMAK, though I can kind of see how they might be difficult to balance in terms of points. They would be awesome at suppressing gun crews, which would be pretty gamey, as they almost always engaged rear echelon stuff. PS. LRDG ruled. They also had some fairly choice words about the SAS.

Saddam's weapons of mass destruction?

Rommal, pah? Now O'Connor, there was a real expert in surrounding the enemy while being outnumbered ten to one. Boy, this Hobby Horse sure is fun to ride....

You can use them in QBs, but most people would tell you they are a waste of points. Simply buy a big calibre arty module (above regimental level) and plot a fire mission in the first turn. You can add delays in 1 minute increments, but you can't move or cancel the fireplan. Most people would probably tell you light stuff (81mm mortars and 76mm) is good for defenders to break up attacking formations and cover "jumping-off" areas, whereas attackers should go for 105mm-170mm stuff, since it's big enough to winkle out dug-in troops. The realy big stuff is really only for scenarios. On board mortars firing indirectly through an HQ are far more accurate. That said, I often find an 81mm spotter is good on attack for laying smoke screens and suppressing enemy guns.

Ah, gaffertape, the universal panacea for all ills. We once hung a 4K PA from the ceiling of a club with the stuff. We told the safety officer we'd used chains and wrapped them in tape to stop them scratching the bins. Ever do the gaffertape lightning trick?

keep them close to mgs/infantry, otherwise the likelihood is they'll never get a shot off. Pin enemy with mgs and then go boom I say.

If he keeps his infantry close, strip it away with arty spotters, then use pioneers or tank hunters to take on the kitties (do you have access to Valentines with the 57mm gun? If so shoot and scoot them from the flanks). Or send him an email telling him how dull his tactics are and challenging him to try a different force. There are plenty of limiting rules sets out there. The "germans are better than russians" arguement just doesn't stand up to scrutiny. Rather, at any given period, it's quite possible one side has access to kit that is hard to match. The rarity system helps balance this a little, but there are the odd times when the uber-kit really was common.

Why not treat the cancel target order like a movement one - you would always have delays, but could extend at your choice. That would be more self-balancing as it would mean you could do what was mentioned above, but the flipside would be that you couldn't always cancel fire as fast as you would like (so that mortar crew might expend an extra round or two after you had told them to stop).

von Nev, as a civilian I've obviously failed to grasp some of the more subtle points of your arguement. Please could you explain how the fact that you have served in the military (I assume during the last couple of decades) makes you better able to make judgements about casualty rates during the second world war? And while I wouldn't want to have any casualty rates at all on my CV (I think they send you to prison unless you are in the army), if that 17% was attached to a note that said "oh yeah, but he did win the battle that ended the most terrible conflict in human history", I might be able to sleep a little easier.

bully

All our base are what did you say?

And cheese, don't forget the cheese.

60th anniversary of D-Day next year. No chance of some affinity marketing?

2 Jagdpanthers to my own Henschel (the one with the blooter-cannon). Still, his third and final pass took out a T34, so that's OK. Or it would have been if it hadn't already been a goner.

But the point is that an average 40 turn game represents the white heat of combat, and resupply (from central depots, as opposed to sharing between men in a platoon, which is abstracted)was very rarely done at that time. Trucks are in the game mainly because they are an easy add in code terms. In QB's you can use them as transport at a push, but they are usually a handicap. In scenarios they are very useful to add as resources to guard, as they give away lots of points when destroyed, especially if the crew are killed. There's a cool scenario with a German column that has to get across the board against Russian Partisans (who have light mortars and AT rifles). Very tough to get through without exposing the vulnerable trucks, especially if you don't clear out a route properly - close range small arms fire can be devastating.

Can someone please explain what the operational objectives of a putative war with the Soviet Union would have been? And how that war would have been preferable to the sixty years of relative peace that Europe has had since the Iron Curtain went down (then fell apart due to moth damage)?

Snowbart, if you are replying to nonsense posted by others, please include the post as a quote, otherwise it looks like you're guilty of promulgating the very same twaddle, which I'm sure wasn't your intention. Andreas, cut the man some slack, he has obviously just unearthed some pretty spectacular primary sources, because I'm not aware of any previously published work that supports his claim.

V, I believe that's known in the trade as a single "ping", lucky those IFF bugs have been ironed out or we could have had a nasty accident there. Still, pays to be vigilant (is that what "V" stands for? PS maybe that should be a single "Peng".

Dead right Titan, nothing in the game will remove roadblocks. There have been plenty of threads about what is and is not gamey in CMBB, and myself I tend to the "if it's in the game it's allowed" camp. However, if I opened up a PBEM and saw that an opponent had effectively sealed off the board to AFV's using roadblocks I'd simply say "thanks mate, but I don't think I'll be playing you".

I think it's fairly telling that all the posters with direct or anecdotal combat experience tend to the view that changing a single piece of equipment would have had sod all effect on the war's length or outcome. Haven't we had this same debate with tanks? "If only the Germans had built Panthers and nothing else from 194x....". All the evidence of WWII is that the decicive factors tactically aren't equipment but training and combined arms doctrine, and that as you move further from the tactical, quality of equipment becomes even less relevant, so long as it is basically fit for purpose. The only conceivable positive effect of adopting the MP44 early would have been freeing up valuable machine tools, as it used more stamped parts. The increased drain on ammo would almost certainly have wiped out that advantage though. Now if only they'd put the Me262 into full...er, sorry.

Congratulations. Luckily the sleep deprivation sort of numbs your brain so after a couple of months you find yourself thinking; "hey, it wasn't so bad, two hours sleep a night is all I really need". Learn to play CM one-handed is all I can say.

The best situation to withdraw from is where your troops are on the edge of a wood or building, so they'll be out of LOS after a few metres. I sometimes use a few split squads to recce jumping off points (usually wooded) on the attack. If they draw off table arty or lots of direct fire HE it's worth withdrawing, as otherwise they'll almost certainly be routed or destroyed. Since these squads are usually out of command, the alternative would give a big delay. I don't usually use it with forward elements on defence, as the delay value of hanging in there usually outweighs the value of recovering the squad.