Erwin

Yeah, SE UK weather has improved markedly since I were a kid. Three cheers for global warming! (Now where did I put all those aerosol cans?)

My point is that there is nothing to stop the purists from keeping to the designer's time limits. However, there are often situations that are very interesting and where an extra 10 or so turns would be fun and fascinating. This suggestion isn't forcing anyone to do anything they don't want to. It would simply give the option to those who would appreciate the option. As most play vs the AI, that's what am thinking of. H2H is a different issue.

I loved the SH series. A very relaxing game when one needed R&R from more brain intensive games like CM2 or any FPS. In Wolves of the Pacific (SH3 or 4?) , I used to just hang out on the surface watching the beautiful ocean waves, the sunshine. It was like a vacation to Tahiti. (And I have been to Bora Bora...) Note to self : Must reinstall SH on my new systems.

+1

As an entertainment product, the existing time-limits can often be real fun-killers. However, it seems to be a limitation of the system that the AI, since it has to be programmed by the designer, stops effective tactical actions at the time limit. At least that seems to be the designers' argument. An option to extend a time limit by maybe 10 minutes would be good. If one is hardcore one can still limit oneself to the designed time limit. But, sometimes it's very satisfying to have a few extra minutes to experience a complex attack work out to conclusion.

I have been surprised/dismayed how easily my drones, as well as Apaches AND even F15's seem to get shot down. If RL combat is like this, we'd lose our entire AF in a few days to G2A missiles.

Unless things have changed I well remember a discussion some years ago with BF that concluded that a covered arc gives very little spotting advantage - so for units that don't benefit from a facing (ie turreted AFV's) you only need a 360 arc to restrict firing range - there is little or no spotting penalty with a 360 degree arc.

Be interested in how you like it. I hope this RP concept has potential to revolutionize computer wargames that have a tendency to all look the same - esp. operational level. (Didn't BF once have a prohibition about discussing other company's products?? It's great if they have liberalized that policy.)

Maybe the Canuck's knives were not sharp enuff(?).

This is a great refresher even for us old-timers. One question regarding the part about moving an HMG in a building. I thought that in CM2 (thanks to a patch), when moving a support weapon a short distance, that the unit does NOT have to undeploy and then redeploy (taking many minutes). ie: it simulates picking up the entire deployed equipment and carrying it a dozen feet and plunking it down again for immediate use.

Didn't mean for you to copy something - only that the usability feature was good and intuitive. A lot of new sites seem overly complex and not particularly user-friendly - like designers get caught up in doing cute things on their site "cos they can" - but it's not intuitive for the user.

Covered arcs while moving are far more important for turreted armor - one wants the toughest front of the turret facing towards a possible enemy - it also speeds up shooting and makes for greater accuracy if the turret doesn't have to rotate b4 shooting. I think BF posted that a facing arc provides very little enhancement of spotting probability. So, a facing arc for inf is not that useful. An inf arc is primarily to restrict inf from firing.

I have to say I liked the way info was presented in the old Scenario Depot. I liked the ratings system for all the games, and it was easy to upload a review with rating. I can't recall how SD handled campaigns.

You must have a very large play area at this scale (1:32?). What do the inf and terrain look like? Any pics? (I can see the weathering on your tank is going to look terrific.)

I think the game itself is already very good. The main challenge now is streamlining the UI requirements to make it faster and easier to accomplish tasks - speeding up the actual play of the game so that larger scenarios are easier to play. eg: It's wonderful that there will be a "Follow" convoy system - that will definitely speed up play when one has many vehicles that have to get from A to B. Happy about that addition. Another major time-waster that needs to be addressed is the current ACQUIRE process for resupply from a vehicle. An ability to SHARE/ACQUIRE ammo from adjacent units would be a great time-saver. Currently the efficient method to resupply multiple units is very click intensive and unnecessarily play-time wasting: One has to split every unit into teams, then mount, then acquire and dismount, and finally recombine. (There should probably be a time penalty for SHARE/ACQUIRE while units do nothing else - similar to what happens when a unit mounts a vehicle, but longer). At the same time, the amount of small-arms ammo that a person can carry should also be examined. It doesn't seem right that a two man team can go QUICK or FAST while carrying thousands of rounds plus support weapons. Finally, a single key to get instant 180 degree arcs for armor (like we had in CM1). When one has a number of tanks moving in one direction, and they need to cover for danger from a flank, one wants to have the turrets face the threat direction. The current system of getting 180 degree arcs in a desired direction takes too many clicks and wastes time. Along with the FOLLOW command, the additional 2 features will greatly speed up the play of larger scenarios and make the game more playable.

Am familiar with microarmor for gaming (many years ago I bought an entire Brit '44 armored div at a convention - beautifully painted and mounted on magnetic plates still got it sitting around here someplace never used). However, your scale is HUGE. How do you wargame with such large models?

Looking forward to it.

It didn't sound like 4.0 was close to release. Could be months at least.

I really like WITPAE - but it takes a looong time to play since it features every ship that ever existed in the Pacific Theatre as well as every squadron and ground unit AND you can control each side's industry and production of every weapons system - vital if you play the Japs. The frustrating thing is that I also have all the good hardware controls from Thrustmaster, but since CM2, no time to get into all the great flight sims stacked up here.

"I'm a huge believer in know your enemy, even to the point where can empathize with them so you can figure out what they might do." That makes total sense, hattori. What is only just starting to be discussed are the implications of immigration by cultures that are antithetical to the "native" culture. As an immigrant and child of immigrants we tried very hard to assimilate. We would never have even thought about waving our old flag around, trying to change the existing system, or claiming some sort of special treatment. However, when I return to my childhood haunts they are now dominated by more recent waves of immigrants and there is very little if any evidence of attempts at assimilation - the opposite in fact. We have allowed in cultures which don't agree with "our way of life" and are trying to change our cultural and religious heritage as well as our laws.

Thanks. I have an original RO from years ago. But, since CM came out in 98/99 have bought hardly any other computer games other than GTA series, and a few from Matrix: Grigsby's games, and DC Barbarossa. I have a large box of the (unopened) best computer sims esp flight sims from pre-99 that I really need to check out.

Not sure why we haven't seen many T-70 heavy scenarios, but the problem with Hummels, Wespes, Nashorns and the like is that they would generally only be used at long range, and the vast majority of CM2 scenarios feature small maps, or short LOS opportunities. I reckon that one reason that CM1 is still widely played is that it's easy to have 8K x4K maps with long (2K+) ranges on which it is fun to operate long range systems like the above.

Am not trying to get into an argument, just confirming that so far we can only think of two(?) user-made scenarios/missions (available for d/l) that feature ammo dumps. Considering the hard choices that BF has to make re desired features, I hope that ammo dumps didn't take more than a few minutes to implement. Am still wishing that eventually BF can implement a new ACQUIRE routine. The CM2 game itself is extremely good at this point. IMO the focus now needs to be on streamlining the UI to make it easier and quicker to play the game (esp larger scenarios), so that one can focus on tactics and less on turn-consuming complex series of mouse clicks.

Hey, at least you weren't put in a basket of despicables lol.

Stunning. The dark doom-laden skies seem to make the graphics of the buildings and vehicles pop.