Ryan Crierie

Will we be able to have unit marking decals to allow our units to be displayed with correct markings as being from a certain division, or halftracks having two decal sheets, one for Heer, and the other for SS? [ June 12, 2002, 11:36 PM: Message edited by: Ryan Crierie ]

ENJOY THIS SLIGHTLY GNAWED BONE!!!

"Whenever in future wars the battle is fought, panzer troops will play the decisive role..." Heinz Guderian "Wir werden Sieger - durch unsren Tiger" "We will be victorious - thanks to our Tigers" "The South didn't lose the war, they're merely awaiting reinforcements." Various "MARINES BEAT OFF NVA BATTALLION" Stars & Stripes Newspaper, Vietnam "Our 37mm antitanks guns opened fire at point blank range. But what was going on?! The tanks weren't bothered in the least! They continued their advance into the Kradshutzen. Shells ricocheted all over the place. We all could have done well without that bull****!!!" Kurt "Panzer Meyer" Meyer "So they've got us surrounded, good! Now we can fire in any direction, those bastards won't get away this time!" Chesty Puller, USMC "Only he is lost, who gives himself up for lost." Hans Ulrich Rudel, Stuka Pilot "Most Russians don't care whether they are ruled by fascists or communists or even Martians as long as they can buy six kinds of sausage in the store and lots of cheap vodka." Former Russian General Aleksander Lebed, RIP 2002 Ban the bomb! Save the world for conventional warfare! Unknown "He flies on a wing and a prayer, the other wing I took off." Starshy Leytenant Molotov "MIT GOTT FUR KOENIG UND VATERLAND" Prussian Imperial Motto "In war, the only time the Italians have ended up on the same side as they started is when they have switched sides twice." Napoleon Bonaparte

We have proof here that the German Hampsters of 44/45 are better than todays' British man! http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_medical/story.jsp?story=275396 British men are less fertile than hamsters Pollution may be to blame for collapse in sperm counts in industrialised world. By Geoffrey Lean and Richard Sadler 17 March 2002 Internal links Male fertility fears over pollution in water supply Sperm counts are falling dramatically across Britain and the rest of industrialised world, and scientists are increasingly convinced that pollution is to blame. Studies around the world have shown that average sperm counts in men have dropped by more than half over the past 50 years – from about 160 million per millilitre of semen to 66 million. The Medical Research Council reports that the fertility of Scottish men born since 1970 was 25 per cent less than those born in the 1950s, with sperm counts continuing to drop by two per cent a year. Other research by the US Government's Environmental Protection Agency shows that, proportionately, a man now produce only about a third as much sperm as a hamster. Scientists increasingly blame a whole class of hormone-disrupting chemicals. Evidence suggests that they cause cancer and damage the immune system, as well as impairing fertility. And they are ever more ubiquitous. DDT and other pesticides disrupt hormones, as do PCBs, used in countless products worldwide, from plastics and paint to electrical equipment. Other components of plastics have been found to leach hormone-disrupters including phthalates, which have been found in a wide range of foods including baby milk. Furthermore, an investigation by the BBC's Countryfile and The Independent on Sunday has revealed research, to be published this month, that shows that artificial oestrogens, used in contraceptive pills and emitted through sewage works, appear to be changing the sex of half the fish in Britain's lowland rivers. Scientists and environmentalists fear that the powerful chemicals are getting into drinking water and affecting human fertility. One third of Britain's drinking water comes from rivers; most of it is taken from below sewage works. The Environment Agency denies that there is any danger. Water UK, which represents the water companies, says that no hormone-disrupting chemical has ever been detected in British drinking water, and that fish placed in the water to test it did not become feminised. But some scientists say that the chemicals may not have been detected, because there is no routine testing for them in drinking water, and because the equipment used in Britain is not sensitive enough. Research at the University of Ulm, in West Germany, using more sophisticated techniques, found small amounts in four out of every 10 samples tested. And environmentalists fear that effects in people may occur over much longer periods than those used to test the fish. Dr Susan Jobling of Brunel University, who led the research, says: "Unlike in fish, it is going to take 20 years to see if my children have been affected by developmental exposure to this same cocktail of chemicals."

A brave Panzerhamstertruppen takes aim at the dirty RED T-34 with his 'zook

I have an ATI Radeon card in my computer, and in CM:BO, along with a lot of other games, I can't get fog effects, because of ATI's stupid decision... But I've heard that this was an "old" fog effect, and that the card supports newer ones... Will CM:BB have fog effects for ATI cards?

Yeah, I've heard that one before, LOL, but I think it would add to the realism by adding little details to the standard animations, such as: Tank Commanders holding their hands to their headsets when they recieve orders, and perhaps gesturing if infantry is near them. MG-42 crews frantically trying to unjam their MG... you get the idea...It doesn't have to go all the way of a Quake powered shooter, but a few different "death" animations would be a bit more immersive than seeing the enemy (or your guys) instantly teleport from a standing position to dead on the ground. I don't really know if it's in CMBO (haven't used air support much), but it would also be a nice touch if a line of tracers and fountains of dirt suddenly appeared in the ground and headed towards a unit when a ground attack aircraft attacks... [ March 12, 2002, 01:13 PM: Message edited by: Ryan Crierie ]

Mine already duck prone when suppressed. You mean yours don't? Michael</font>

oooo......that was a nitpick with CMBO, how the squads always walked in that...exact...same...formation... and...fired...the...same...exact...way... Whether they were fighting in cornfields or in bitter hand-to-hand combat in buildings. Betcha they have little animations of grenadiers ducking prone and basically acting like real people now...

Has anyone here ever played X-COM? It was a great turn-based strategy game that used random maps created by mixing randomly pre-determined elements such as houses, stores, into a single map. Perhaps in CM3, BTS can create a prebuilt "area" and assign it the tag of "Train Station", or "Factory", and issue you randomly generated orders utilizing "fill-in-the-blank" stuff. Sort of like Close Combat 3's system but with a random map.

Every reference to the M-4 Sherman series ALWAYS seems to include a quip about it burning. Guess what? The Mark III and Mk IV Panzers had this engine in various forms: Maybach HL 120 TRM / 12-cylinder / 265hp Looking it up on the net.....it was.... GASOLINE POWERED! Even those indomitable monsters of germanic engineering, the Panther and Tiger, were also GASOLINE POWERED! Why then, did the sherman gain such a horrible reputation, while the Panzer IV (of which it was nearly identical to in many respects) didn't? Simple. For the same reason the Queen Mary, Indefatigable, and Invincible blew up at Jutland: Improper ammunition stowage. Most US Sherman crews crammed ammo into every nook and cranny they could find, ignoring their purpose-made glycol-surrounded ammo racks. The Germans, being punctual to the letter, didn't suffer from a need to cram ammo everywhere, and their tanks didn't spontaneously combust.

I've read up on the current über-Finn thread on Winter warfare, and I have to say this: CLOTHING IS THE KEY! THE KEY! Try fighting in the snow in a pair of Hawaiian shorts! I've thought on and expanded my idea. There should be a new variable available at the quick battle/scenario edit screen in CM3, "TEMPERATURE" (Drop down menu) -40 C to -20 C -20 C to 0 C 0 C to 20 C 20 C to 40 C 40 C to 60 C Basically, extreme cold and extreme temperatures act as a modifier to EVERY unit's health and fatigue rate, PERIOD. Even bundled up tightly, -30 Celsius isn't like walking around at 40 Celsius. To counter these modifiers, units can be equipped with clothes, from another drop down menu: CLOTHING: Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 1 clothing is basically the typical summer uniform for the Wehrmacht and Russians, and allows you to represent a newly-arrived Wehrmacht formation on the Ostfront during the 41/42 winter, or a Red Army formation that was hastily formed and doesn't have adequate clothing, or guns, or ammo, or whatever. Level 2 is typical of a Wehrmacht formation that has been around long enough in the cold to have learned how to handle the cold, and has stolen clothing from the civilian population. Level 3 is the typical Russian Winter Uniform, along with a few Luftwaffe units who were equipped with PROPER winter clothing at the start of Barbarossa, and for the Wehrmacht after 1942, when they had begun shipping purpose made winter uniforms to the front. Each level of clothing decreases temperature modifiers, with the Level 1 equipped units getting screwed during the winter, while Level 3 people are hampered somewhat by the weather, but not as bad as Lvl. 1 or 2. Whaddya think?

Why not do it sort of like Close Combat 3? Have it so that there's an option that you can apply to ALL units in the scenario editor...much like fatigue, e.t.c. WINTER EQUIPMENT 1. "Average Winter Clothing" - Represents the Russians at the beginning of the war and the Germans after 1942. 2. "Poor Winter Clothing" - Represents the Germans in 41/42. ?????? Hmmmmmmm? This way, you can easily and accurately show the effects of the brutal winter of 41/42 on the Germans, because there were a FEW units with proper clothing in 41/42, such as the Luftwaffe ground trooops... [ February 12, 2002, 04:21 PM: Message edited by: Ryan Crierie ]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Von Viniga: The Soviet Flag, due to them being the victors I suppose, has not become a potent symbol of evil and oppression worldwide in the way the Swastika has and so is treated differently politically, right or wrong.<hr></blockquote> Tell that to the 50 million people killed by COMMUNISM since 1918......

Nuff Said. BTS has said that the final patch for CM:BO delayed CM:BB by a couple of months, but that's OK, because unlike Valve, BTS knows when to stop flogging a dead horse, and also unlike Valve, BTS doesnt make the legion of CM:BO players unwilling beta testers for CM:BB....

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by von Murrin: Chad was referring to the fact that textures don't affect the mechanics of the game. IOW, they could be neon pink and the game won't play differently. Nathanael<hr></blockquote> Hmm Idea for Combat Mission: The Desert Fox maybe have a spotting subroutine that takes the average color hue of the texture and applies it to the surrounding area....E.G. neon pink would be more easily spotted than a tan paint job...

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Chad Harrison: you could also bring up winter camo. dont think this will be a factor in gameplay<hr></blockquote> :eek: :eek: Chad, whenever someone reads or even THINKS about the OSTFRONT.......they think..... snow.....more snow.......and MORE snow...... for BTS not to include snowy textures in a EAST FRONT game would be......

Unlike CM:BO, which dealt with a small section of the war in which camouflage changed very little over the time period, CM:BB will be simulating over four years of combat from June 1941 to May 1945. In the early years, Hitler's Panzers charged into the Soviet Union in the same slug grey colors they had tore through Poland, the Low Countries, and France in. Later, they got camouflage patterns.... East Front II simulated this by having all the German equipment in the early years in grey, and then had another pair of german icons in camouflage..... Will this be in CM:BB? Also, will there be individual helmet textures for each branch of the Wehrmacht? And would it be possible to make a small transparent decal system that would allow you to designate all the equipment as belonging to a particular Panzer division / Guards division? I can imagine a little decal being only 50x50 in resolution being applied over the vehicle textures in particular areas to allow easy unit badges, and allow us to have Heer and SS units' halftracks properly badged if they're playing next to each other...... Whaddya think?

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Michael Dorosh: And definitely not without a hat on! Don't know when that custom crept into the US military - I don't think the Marines salute without a cover though - which would bring us back to....Gyrene???<hr></blockquote> I think it was Baron von Steuben who did that when he trained Washington's troops at Valley Forge.

We've all heard about those "horror" stories (or "miracles" - depending on yer PoV) about 37mm gun armed Stuarts K.O.ing Tigers at 300m. Perhaps in CM2:BB, BTS could implement a more detailed detailed shot display, rather than saying "turret penetration", say: "gunsight penetration", "vison slot penetration", "struck round in barrel", etc to dull the pain

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by xerxes: Infantry FTs on the attack have value but you need to use smoke to protect them and be very careful of letting them get exposed to enemy fire. -marc<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> One: They're too slow to be of use. Only of use in ambush situations, where you can use their cheapness and hide ability to lay down a devastating wall of flame from all sides and annihilate anyone caught in the ambush zone

I have some rather nice saved games and screenshots of the havoc a pair of flame half-tracks can wreak. The key is NOT to consider them invunerable to all and rush blindly in for the thrill of torching someone. The key is to use them carefully, in mass attacks, as a supporting weapon to flush enemy units out of forests and into the open, and break their morale, making them easy pickings for your infantry. They are a mid-game weapon, to be used when you have achieved a modicum of vehicular superiority in the area, either by destroying your enemy's tanks, or due to terrain/buildings that will block your opponent's tanks from firing on them. [ 10-14-2001: Message edited by: Ryan Crierie ]

Actually, a pair of SdkFz 251/16 Halftracks with flamethrowers is absolutely devastating. They can wipe out an infantry unit quickly, if employed properly. You can even torch armored cars with the flame projectors. Urban combat seems to be their forte, but they can also be used efficiently in rural settings. Try it one day...it's FUN! 50 blasts from the flamethrower on a SdKfz 251/16 is fun!

After some playing around, I have found a formula that works for the German player. Flamethrower infantry is useless, except in pre-positioned defensive zones. Flammpanzers (Hetzers with flame) are near worthless except in nasty near-zero visibility situations where their heavy armor compared to the other german flame units offsets their virtually zero viz buttoned up. First, DO NOT COMMIT your flame units, even Hetzers until you are 100% sure that enemy armor has been mostly destroyed or you are out of LOS with them. Second, operate them in pairs, so that maximum flameage can be brought to bear. Third, learn to love the SdkFz 250/16 Flamethrower half-track. It is the finest flame unit available for the Germans, with speed, manuverability, and excellent visibilty. Fourth, your preferred usage of flame units should be in town/villages, to root out enemy strongholds, such as heavily fortified buildings, not to hunt down every single man on the field. [ 10-14-2001: Message edited by: Ryan Crierie ]

Hmm, interesting. I will have to try this in my next game. Perhaps a elite MG-42/Shreck/FJ team transported in Kubelwagens the long way? You CAN recreate GT in CM...some of Skorzeny's missions and exploits come to mind....