pilgrim

Woof! Bow-wow! Woof! (Translated: "Many thanks!")

Hi, all. I just finished a PBEM, and my opponent is now suggesting an "Armor Heavy" battle. We both can only handle "Medium" sized battles and lower. I browsed over at the Scenario Depot (3 Cheers for Admiral Keth!! What a site!) but couldn't find an easy way of determining whether a battle was predominantly infantry or armor. So, can any of you extremely helpful souls offer a few suggestions for me? Thanks much. pilgrim

Hmm, now I understand where you're coming from. I'm not sure I could ever get up the gumption to act like a grumpy old codger myself, but I *do* understand. Plus, a non-long-time-forum-junkie might think we're all a bunch of grumpy old codgers. And, my apologies for majorly sidetracking this thread... Edited to include my humblest apologies, and I forgot a comment. Edit #2 because I goofed the smiley....grumble, grumble. [ 11-08-2001: Message edited by: pilgrim ] [ 11-08-2001: Message edited by: pilgrim ]</p>

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by redwolf: As for the hangs, you didn't even post which OS or drivers version you use, how are we supposed to comment on it?<hr></blockquote> Whoa, there, redwolf. To be honest, I had that same thought cross my mind, but don't you think you could have been a little less harsh with your tone? "What OS and drivers are you using?" would have accomplished the same thing, and made you look like a much nicer guy. pilgrim -- self-appointed deputy of forum-etiquette (just so no-one else had to say it)

Ahh, now it's really getting nice. The improvements made it worth adding to my Combat Mission folder of Favorites. Thanks for implementing the suggestions that have been fired back at you.

...but other than that, it's a nifty little page. I like the ability to sort by the different columns and the shading for high point value items. My only gripe might be that the "Unrestricted" column might be a little redundant, since everything is obviously permissable in an unrestricted battle. And, one suggestion: it might be a good thing to include a filterable-"Type" Category (Armor/Vehicle/Infantry/Support), since right now sorting by cost jumbles everything together. But, (1) I have no idea how much work that is, (2) I have no idea how much work you want to put into it. Hopefully after you perfect your skills we can get you to do the same thing for CMBB.

I'd love to, with a couple of warnings... 1. I can only do PBEM, due to time constraints. 2. Due to those same time constraints of #1, (wife, 4 kids, old house ), while I used to be able to send out a turn or two a day, I'm now down to 2-3 turns per week, so my games are going quite slowly. If this kills your interest, that's fine...maybe we can plan something for later in the year (Holiday Season?) with CMBO, or even maybe using CMBB? I should have more time then. 3. You aren't going to see any CM Grand Master Guru defensive skill. I'm about 50-50, with roughly 35 PBEM games played. Furthermore, on the defense I can usually win the first one due to surprise. Playing against an opponent for the first time who is in your situation--never having seen this used before--it is easier to get the win. It usually takes them the first 5-7 turns to figure out what in the world I'm doing. However, having lost the element of surprise, I have to admit that I have less-than-average defensive skill. 4. I'm not a member of TH. I've enjoyed my PBEM opponents so much I've never wanted to join, just because the verbal thrashing we give each other for losing is enough motivation. I've always been a bit wary of what kind of play I'd be facing against someone who is desperate to keep a high ranking. I'm not at all bashing TH; I've just been extremely pleased with the quality of my opponents without it. So, give it a thought. You can either keep our personal thread going here or email me to let me know what you think. Either way is fine with me. pilgrim

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by xerxes: Germans: Infantry, low quality, must spend at least: * 250 pts on antipersonnel mines * 75 pts on antitank mines * 100 pts on wire * 100 pts on roadblocks. Arty limit of 150. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Erm, ahem -- *cough* *cough* -- That's about the amount I usually spend on fortifications in defending an attack/assault (except for the roadblocks). Needless to say, I've had some very shocked opponents the first time they attack me. And, in a nod to another thread...the map edges are extremely helpful for the defender if you take this type of approach. pilgrim

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by xerxes: You should post your market garden and Ardennes descriptions. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> ROFL. I think too many years of being an engineer has completely smothered what little talent I used to have in creative writing. You could probably find better quality if you perused bunch of book reports done by 5th graders. So, no thanks for the publishing offer, unless the royalties are going to be substantial--the backgrounds served their purpose and then gracefully made their way into the Trash Can. However, here's one of the ones that I enjoyed most, just because we played a couple variations of it: Mechanized meeting engagement in the evening rain (June/July '44). The premise was that a German Mechanized ~Battalion had been ordered to reach the town by evening in order to prepare for the expected US attack in the morning, while the US Battalion was under the impression (poor recon/scouting) that the town was still empty and were really humping it, trying to get somewhere dry for the night. It added credibility to the not-so-historically-accurate Meeting Engagement. Let me hear of some of your other creations when you get the chance... pilgrim

I used to use a system somewhat like that for my QB's with a couple of my opponents. Since the plain ol' QB (hmm, he's going to pick Vet SMG's, I better pick Vet paras--repeat ad nauseum) I would try to think up an appropriate almost-quasi-historical setting (Market-Garden, Ardennes), write a paragraph about the background of the battle, and then try to pick the forces based on the description (eg. May, '45, I would describe a little town being fanatically defended by Green SS, and hopefully the force mix would show it). However, (1) I wasn't motivated enough to actually look up a German town that had such a battle in it (my description would read "a quaint German town...") and (2) I wasn't bold enough to actually specify limits to the force mix, but looking back it might have been a good idea. -whew- Long answer, full of ramblings of an old man. What I should have said is just... Yep, I love your idea and we've used it before. It really helps spice up QB's. pilgrim Edited for foolish mistakes. Edit #2 to add this comment: ROFLOL at your response above, Marc. [ 10-10-2001: Message edited by: pilgrim ] [ 10-10-2001: Message edited by: pilgrim ]

/Shameless plug mode on Reading the other post by Admiral Keth in this section prompted me to go take a look at what this "Scenario Depot" thing is. Wow!!! I'm impressed!!! Admiral Keth--you have an amazing piece of work there, and I'm glad to see your note on the front page that you don't plan to let the thing die. In case anyone else is as dense as I am and haven't taken a look around there yet, I urge you to head on over to the Scenario Depot right now. It's got all sorts of information on battles/operations, a rating system, and is quite quick to navigate. /Shameless plug mode off pilgrim

Lest we forget our manners, a big thanks to YankeeDog and Darwin for shedding some very helpful real-life-experience light on the subject. Pilgrim

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by dalem: See, Pilgrim - almost a guaranteed hit there. -dale<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Wow. Time to dig through mountains of dust in the basement to get to my ASL stuff. It sure never seemed like I got easy to-hit rolls like that. Ok, you guys win. I'll have to change my thinking. When I said "Tell me if I'm wrong" I didn't think you all would take it so literally. Seriously, thanks for all the responses. What a helpful group!!

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Herr Oberst: [QB] Just a quick question: As you drive down the road, ticking distances off with your odometer, do you look at the thingies down the road through a telescopic sight? Commander spots targets, gunner lays in with gun sights. [QB]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Hmm, that might be a bit difficult to explain before the judge.... "You see, your honor, I was looking at cars in parking lots through a telescopic sight, as suggested on the CM forum because I wasn't confident of their gunnery results. So in fact, no, I certainly didn't see the line of cars in front of me stopped at the red light...." Nope, no way I want that to happen. So, I guess I'll just keep playing Tank Commander. I *do* get the point though.

Snake Eyes, Stixx: Thanks for the quick responses and the polite way of slapping me and telling me to wake up. aka_tom_w: Wow, thanks for the links. That's *exactly* what I was looking for. Did you use the search? What search terms did you enter? tss: Thanks for the anecdotes, showing both long-range incredibly accuracy and short range misses. I was ROFLOL at some of those, but please, no more. It's a dead giveaway to my boss that I'm not doing engineering work if I'm laughing my head off as he walks by. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>while the commander of the clearly marked tank was shouting to the gun crew to stop firing <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> The mental picture of that entire scene is priceless... Thanks again, all.

Ok, folks, be prepared--newbie problems coming your way. Last night I started my 4th game against the AI. The first 3 were small infantry engagements to get the feel of things, and everything seemed wonderful (being a long time player of SL, ASL, etc. etc.). CM 'felt' perfect, and I was convinced I'd found the game I've been wanting for years. So last night I play a Combined Arms Quick Battle, AI gets Germans, I take US. I have a reinforced Rifle Company, 3 M4A1 Shermans, and a whole boatload of artillery. Turn 3: AI reveals his StuG to fire at my advancing infantry. Having waited for him to show armor, I plot 2 of my Shermans to Hunt out from behind the patch of woods that conceals them. Movie starts: 1st Sherman clears the treeline, spots the StuG, StuG spots my M4A1, range 545m. I'm ready to see the gun battle that I always had to imagine using little cardboard counters played out in front of me in glorious action and color (well, that's a bit over-dramatic, but you get the point). StuG fires first and sends my M4A1 into a ball of flame. "Wow!" thinks me, "Nice shot Fritz." ('Hmm, he must have rolled a 2 on that one...first shot hit from 545m!') So, I now wait for the gun battle of my dreams between my 2nd M4A1 and the StuG. My second M4A1 rounds the treeline, spots the StuG, and gets off the first shot. Crunch! 1 knocked out StuG. ------Screeeeeeech------ My rusty brakes bring my CM enjoyment to a screeching halt. 545m? 2 first shot hits? From Regular crews? (How I can tell that the StuG, 545m away, is 'Regular' is a topic for another discussion.) To me, this just doesn't 'feel' right. 545m = 1/3 mile, 6 football fields. Driving to work this morning (Yes, I'm obsessing about this!!) I'm clocking off objects 1/3 mile away using my odometer, and I still don't feel any better. So, I need some help... 1. Does anybody know what range/accuracy requirement was used to qualify WWII tank gunners? 2. Is my calibration out of whack? Do I need to read up on WWII armored engagements? Is 545m a short range gunfight, where first shot hits are to be expected this often? (I know, my statistical sample of 2 is pretty small. ) 3. Before I bought CM, I read in a review that of course I cannot find now, that the design team "Upped the to-hit percentage of tanks and AT guns in a patch (BTW, I'm at 1.12), even though the original percentages were based on tons of research", or something like that. Since the search function of this board seems to really hate me, was there a thread about this? Was it discussed? Did the design team give their reasons for changing their original numbers? 4. Or, is this just a case of extremely good dice-rolling, and things will straighten out the more I play, (In SL it was easy to see when your opponent got lucky, but here all the dice-rolling is hidden.) so I just need to calm down? 5. Should I just scrap the armor and play with only infantry? Somebody please help me. Tell me that everything is ok and I need to go soak my head in icewater. Tell me that I'm flat out wrong--I don't care. Just tell me something. Pilgrim