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Jeff W is the one with the computer problems and Nils tends to take a while with returning files, I assume because of numbers of units etc. Regards Jim R. </font>

Say Jim, who is having the computer problems? I am having 2 slow ones myself in our group. I guess I need to shake the tree and see what falls out.

Nope. Nothing on file from him since the 13th. No notice of being absent was received. I know that Sandy had said that he was away until today, but nothing from Jon.

Been popping in and out of this thread, so I am not all the way up to date, but one different idea comes up about the edges (as one that has/will face this again and again). Rather than have some unknown units "firing" on a "hugger", how about assessing a "morale check" on them? Kind of like this - the further a unit is away from its baseline and in the "danger zone" on the edge, it takes a check against its experience level of increasing severity. Basically, the result would be that green/conscripts would rarely go far forward in that situation, while crack/elite would stand a far greater chance of proceeding. A failed check would cause the unit to "pin", as it tries to assess the situation. Later, if it passes, then it may continue plotted move. You could either use the current pin model for this, or have the failed unit add a 60 second delay to its current plot, causing it to stop advancing. Things that could counter this "edge effect" would be the presence/effect of leadership, the higher rank/ablility the better; the degree and size of the area of effect of the edge (the designer could designate a wide/narrow effect and/or a variable degree of difficulty). For the QB set, they could toggle it off, set it random, or be able to set it like other aspects. Same for the designers, but I would think that they would be the ones that would utilize it if it were available. Finally, you would have to have some sort of label that the player would see, so that he/she knew what was happening to their men/units. Don't want to hear all the wailing about "why won't my men advance down the edge!?" Flank sensitivity in gaming has always been a problem. Some situations avoid this problem by keeping the scale small. Such as "you have a company. Take this town. Start line is 200m away and you have 10 minutes to get to the objective". But, as things get bigger (and they always do), then you have a battalion attack on a town and 30 minutes to do it, but you are starting a klick away. In that situation, many people with take the "indirect route", as it is gamers nature to avoid the obvious in most circumstances. Well, I just thought that I would run this up the pole and see if anyone likes it or not. See you later.

ACK!! Good thing I log on once in a blue moon or so.....almost missed this one! Now that I am officially single, watch out world! <scurries off to drop an email and check to see if former opponents are aware of the upcoming event...>

Pentium 1.6 1 GB Ram 3:04 2:55 I got tired after that...bed time...

It can't end soon enough... </font>

Yes, I was at Historicon myself this last weekend..woof, what a bunch...if someone had set off a "nerdtron" bomb the devastation would have been immense. The place was packed and some of the dealers that I spoke to said that it was the best con for sales that they had seen in years; I guess that everyone was finally breaking out the wallets this year. Along the lines of some of the previous posters, I think that ASL knocked off SL for me; I was a devoted SL player in college 20 years ago and when they brought out ASL I just quit cold turkey. I never felt so taken before; but, they made their business decision and I made mine. I switched to playing miniatures. With the advent of computers (late 80's for me), I got back into the pseudo board game stuff (EMPIRE, etc.) Now, with CM, I can have my miniatures and boardgaming together! I still play both miniatures (bi weekly) and board (weekly, sometimes twice), but those are usually one shot deals and have the most value in the social nature of playing FTF vs. online. The best thing that the computer does for CM has been stated again and again; it eliminates all the arguing/rules lawyering that can just bog a board/mini game down to the point that you wanted to scream. I think that the best project that Battlefront could do would be to enable multiplayer network play. Just imagine a convention scenario with 4 players per side, only being able to order their own specific units and see what they can see and nothing else. Meanwhile, on the other side of the curtain, is the "big board" with all the units being upated by representational miniatures for the onlookers to watch....The judge would only be required to monitor communication between the teammates, either by notes or headsets....maybe before I die we can see something like this in action..

Do you cuddle with the Teddy when you are feeling sad?...or do you torture it to reveal the enemy OB?

"I know they said high humidity today, but this is FREAKIN' rediculous!"

Here's a different use for wire, especially in the desert where there is a lack of cover: Place the wire in areas of brush that are within view of your postitions. Don't use it to cover your lines, just the places that infantry will head to when taking fire. It will go something like this: 1)enemy infantry appears; 2) you open fire on them; 3)they start hightailing it for the nearest cover, which contains barbed wire; 4)as they thrash around on the wire like a bass in the bottom of the boat, you mg and mortar them, cackling evilly as the movie replay goes on. Actually, I was almost sick, watching this after about 3 minutes; I could almost hear wailing and crying in the background.

Sounds like it was almost the "Bedford Incident" there....

I like "Squeezing Bumping Melons in the Night"! Has that certain flair to it....

I stand corrected. I was tired and still hungover and forgot the pi. Mopighhlk! <sound of foot inserted into mouth> I have come to rely on computers too much and have lost touch with the operation of a basic calculator and equations. Back to the basic premise of the thread; no, I personally don't think that they are over effective, they "feel" about right.

Your example is a crater 15 feet in diameter by 5 feet deep. This results in an area of 281.25 cubic feet of dirt. This converts to 10.4 cubic yards. Now since a cubic yard is equivilent to 1.25 tons, the figure of 13 tons is correct. Now this would be for a hole that is straight down 5 feet in a diameter of 15 feet. As you did point out, craters are "cup shaped" and would be less than this amount. If anyone is interested, a sample site would be here http://www.rossjimson.com/information/ As they (and I) are in the business of moving stone and dirt, I would I have to disagree that the amount of 20 tons was a bit over the top. I don't have any idea what the water bit has to do with anything, as the weight of dirt is a known fact, and we don't have to extrapolate what it is. This is not a college experiment.