markwalker

Has anyone written any scenarios on the current war with Iraq? Best, Mark

Hi Guys, Let's see... 10 years of writing strategy guides and user manuals, 45 some books, and I still hear the same stuff. Why detailed strategy tips were not included in the user manual is the same reason that your new Town & Country's owner manual doesn't teach high-speed driving. The user manual teaches the mechanic of operating the game, the strategy guide teaches you how to play it well. They aren't the same thing. Let's dispell two myths: Suits and coniving publishers. As far as I know, no one in Battlefront wears a suit. I work in cut-off shorts and a tank top. The whole "suits" rap is so lame. These guys truly bust tail to keep their customers happy. Yeah, they don't mind making a buck, but in all my interaction with them, I've felt they thought quality and customer satisfaction was the most imporatnt thing. Coniving publishers... in 40 books I have NEVER been told. "Here put this in the strategy guide. It's really stuff on how to operate the game, but we want to suck the extra bucks out of potential customers, piss them off, and keep them from buying any more of our product." Please, be reasonable. There is a limit to what can be stuffed in a user manual. Martin did a great job on this one. Give him credit. Best, Mark

Hi All, I'm writing after I read the first page. Thanks to all for your gracious comments. Sorry for any typos, we really did try to catch them all, but obviuosly failed. We'll make sure the second print run is letter perfect. I played CMBO from the beginning, yet was surprised at the stuff I learned played CMBB, browsing the forums, and asking questions. I do hope that there is something for everyone in the book. We thought you all would like the data tables. It took A LOT of time. There aren't "Excel" files within the game that include the information, so my wife and I had to go through every year, every nationality, squad-by-squad. Anyway, thanks. I hope that you all enjoy it. Best, Mark [ December 14, 2002, 05:16 AM: Message edited by: markwalker ]

Hi All, Sorry about any typos. I went throught it, my wife went through it, Martin went through it, and the layout guy went through it. We tried to catch them, all, but we didn't. I'm sorry. My apologies to all our British friends for leaving the "u" out of armor. Best, Mark

Spook, You are welcome. Thanks for the considerate way you posted your questions. I hope that you enjoy the book. Best, NMark

Hi Again, My tactical boardgame system is titled Lock 'n Load. The first module is about Vietnam. The product homepage is http://www.locknloadgame.com . There is a Lock 'n Load forum at Consimworld (www.consimworld.com) under Boardgaming>Individual Game or Series Discussions>Era: Contemporary>Lock 'n LOad. I appreciate the interest, but I'd prefer talking about LnL at Consimworld. After all, this is Battlefront's forum. Fair enough? Best, Mark

Hi Everyone, I'm not the greatest at pasting quotes, so I'll just type and I'm hope you all can sort it out. I may have created the wrong impression. The Navy just HAS to be different. They call their EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) folks SpecOps. That doesn't mean they are throat slitters. That is left up to the SEALs, who are called SpecWar. When I retired, EOD was integrating with SpecWar. The idea was simple, SpecWar gets EOD to the bomb, EOD difusses it. On the book. Yes, it was hard to write 300+ pages on a game, but CMBB deserves it. And to top it off, I didn't "do" it all. Martin provided great suggestions, Charles explained exactly what happens when that 20mm shell pierces the T-26 turret (it's in the book), Matt provided stuff from his site, Andreas, Dan Brown, Tim Orosz, and several others provided insight and words. I don't have "hard copy" of the book in hand, so I can't give the page breakdown. Suffice to say the charts are significant. About 15-20% of the book, if I remember correctly. No, there are no To&E's. Sorry, that would have been fun, but we were running out of room. Yes, I'm put a small table in the book that delineates the relative speed of the new movement orders, and how much they tire the infantry carrying them out. I also discuss it a bit in the tactics. In addition to weapons type, ground pressure, etc., the armor charts give armor thickness of hull and turret, F/S/R. Penetration for each gun is given for 100, 500, 1000, 2000 meters. So yeah, I think that it will help in developing tactics. No problems with the queries. As the drunk fighter jock in Independence Day said, "Keep it coming." Best, Mark

Hi Guys, Thanks for all the discussion of my book. I must admit some of it makes me grin... especially the comments debating whether I actually played the game. A bit of background... *Served 17 years in Navy SpecOps (EOD) *Started gaming in mid-sixties with Tactics II and the original Gettysburg. *Began writing about and designing games/scenarios in 1990. * Authored published scenarios on ASL, MBT, IDF, Sands of War, Tanks!, Steel Panthers (including scenarios released with both SP1 and SP2), etc. *Played and reviewed over one-hundred and fifty games in the last ten years, including just about every turn-based tactical game made. *Started playing CMBO with the beta release. Subsequently reviewed the game for GameCenter. *Started playing CMBB when the tanks were pink and the menus looked like CMBO, and continued playing till it was coming out my ears. This isn’t a brag sheet, I just get tired of dealing with the “he’s a writer, not a gamer" syndrome. In short I have the experience and chops to put together a sound strategy guide. I hope that you all like it. Now, on to the guide... if your name is Mad Matt you won't find a thing in the guide that you didn't already know. On the other hand if you are Cindy Lou Who, straight from a challenging game of Tomb Raider, you'll think this is the greatest tome of technique ever posted. If you fall between Mad Matt and Cindy Lou, then so will the amount of new information that you glean from the guide. I think I've covered everything that you need to know to play CMBB well. The effects of leadership, reverse slope defense, forward defense, armor tactics, recon, infantry tactics, tips from the playtesters and designers, thousands of words on scenario design, etc, etc. Is everything in this book on the boards? I don't know, perhaps. But everything on the boards is not as well orgaized as this book. Will some of the tactics seem basic to veterans? Perhaps. But those same tactics will be new information to many players. As we used to say in the Navy, "There's always 10%." For example, ten percent of the people who don't know a tactic or ten percent that will 'dis this book no matter what. And the volumes of data will interest most anyone. I thought I detailed EVERY unit in the game, but BF says "majority" in their press release, so I may have missed some. To paraphrase Matt, It wasn't like I was sitting on my deck, sucking beer, and randomly deleting units from the table. It was an immense task, done "by hand" through the scenario editor. I apologize if I missed any. So, that's the word on the strategy guide. Please feel free to ask questions. I'll answer what I can. Best, Mark [ December 11, 2002, 08:48 AM: Message edited by: markwalker ]

That did it. Thanks.

Hi Folks, Is there anyway to replace your troop's losses? I see the computer doing it, but can't figure out how to do it myself. Thanks, Mark

I'm aware of firepower tables prepared by Chris Hare, and they are a labor of love, but they do not reflect the effect of HQ's. I tried some rough tests with concealment in various terrains Hi Folks, I'm new to these boards, but a long-time player. Can anyone give me a link to the tables that Chris put together? Thanks, Mark