Big X

Thanks for all the comments. Perhaps I have been misusing the "Move to Contact" command. I thought this meant "move unless fired upon or you acquire a target." If units will stop at hearing sounds or seeing ANY enemy unit, regardless of distance, that might explain it. I will try to run some tests and see if I can come up with quantifiable data. As to what I meant by a "delay." I mean what the pause timer shows. One example: I give a movement order to a "pinned" unit and the pause is, say, 90 seconds. In those 90 seconds the unit takes no incoming fire (the enemy unit has moved or been eliminated.) However, after 90 seconds, the unit remains pinned and the movement order has disappeared. I have had units remain stationary for minutes beyond their initial "pause" in this manner. That is, no new incoming fire or anything I can see that would cause them to remain pinned (not panicked, broken, or routed.)

Hi all. Long time CMBO player, but somewhat new to CMBB. Don't worry, this is not a whine about why my conscripts won't assault a MG nest under fire! On many occasions I have given movement orders to units (armor and infantry) where they are completely ignored. These units are not under fire at all. Often, from their POV they can't even spot an enemy unit! By the next orders phase, the movement order has disappeared; there's not even a "delay" attached to it. Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated. I have searched with no success. Frankly, this issue comes up in almost every game I play and is really starting to hamper my enjoyment of CMBB. I'm all for realism and panicked units hitting the dirt, etc. However, this is more like units that can't be bothered to hurry up and finish their lunch.

Thank you both. I have System 9.1 in my hand. Haven't had time to install it (real life issues) but after installing that I'll give CMBB another shot with your suggestions.

First, I know Battlefront.com's system requirements support 8.6 and above, but the CMBB demo runs perfectly as does CMBO. I will be updating my OS soon, but suspect that it may not be the problem, based on troubles that others are experiencing. After install, CMBB won't execute, stating that it is lacking "OpenPlay." I brought those files over from CMBO. Now it recognizes OpenPlay but still won't start. Also, my install files seem very unorthodox. The CMBB Installer doesn't in fact install everything, and there are no "readme" files about any potential problems or procedures. Thus, I executed the 4 data installers as follows- DATA 2H - apparently fine: bitmaps, etc. DATA 2C - identical to 2H, but in German (?) DATA 3 - installs nothing DATA 4 - installs .WAV files. I also dragged all files to my desktop and tried to install again, but that changed nothing. Thanks very much!

I definitely like the unbalanced scenarios combined with the NABLA system. I much prefer that to trying to come up with some "perfect" 50-50 situation. As long as Another Day is being chatted about...I learned a good lesson about tournament play vs. a regular PBEM game. I'd never played in a tourney before, and as the Allies I took to heart the objective of making as much ground as possible (i.e. the 2nd flag.). I made the decision to go for it, even though I expected to take losses. If I'd really been thinking about the points I would have stayed put and got a better score. As such, my worthy opponent pounded me, even though I got 2 of his 4 Tigers. The units I lost in the assault were nowhere near worth the second flag (which I didn't get, either!) Oh well, live and learn.

I happen to know Lopaka. He plays better drunk!

.[/qb]

Hey Jeb, we even impressed the scenario designer with our casualties! "Man, that final body count was spectacular. 600+ casualties between the two of you." I knew we had something special.

Hi again. Scott B and Jeb, I've sent you both final turn files for your perusal. To clarify some more.... Both of our ending morales were 22% so it appears the computer enacted a ceasefire. (Don't get me wrong; Jeb was CLEARLY kicking my ass in other parts of the map! I never was expecting a surrender.) However, to directly quote from the CM manual, page 107: "If BOTH sides' Global Morale is lower than 15% the game will also automatically end." When I saw that mine was 22% I assumed that his must have dropped below 15% Part of my confusion was also that in the last movie, one of the flags in the town is American , the other a "?" Then the final map gives both flags to the Germans. I know that you can't trust what is apparent from the movie. Based on that snapshot, I'm not claiming the flags should be mine at that moment, but I thought my forces were close enough to at least force "?"s.

I have a comment for the designer.... I thought it was a great battle overall. I played the Americans. My opponent and I thought it was some of the bloodiest CM fighting we've seen. I took over this game in the middle for someone who had to drop out. As such, I don't know the setup zones, etc. My comment is this. My excellent opponent (Germans) neutralized an early attack on the town. That sector of the battle developed into a waiting game once I got the 155mm arty. That is, I pounded the town into dust turn after turn, intending to rush the two flags late in the game with my remaining troops, who were nestled safely in the nearby woods. After turn 29 (of 36) the computer ends the game due to my opponent's low morale. However, it gave him both flags in the town even though he had about 12 men there: 6 of whom were crew, and none of whom were near (within 80m or so) one flag! I had about 2 platoons worth of men (no crews) all lurking in the forest and ready to storm the town. None of this is to disparage my opponent, who knows he fought an excellent battle. Since this was a tournament situation, however, I was dismayed to have the computer end the game 7 turns early due to his low morale AND give him the two town flags when I think even he would agree that I could have otherwise taken the flags. I mean this to be constructive and not sour grapes. From a design standpoint, the scenario lends itself naturally to using the 155mm on the town if the Germans put up a good defense. But to have the computer end the game yet give the flags to him seems to punish the Americans for patiently dropping all their arty and killing as many troops as possible before moving in.

I really enjoyed this scenario. I was the French and fought my worthy opponent to a draw. I was strafed repeatedly by my own planes. These were units way in the backfield where no combat was raging. German rockets took their toll on me, but also on my opponent, and possibly blunted his attack on the center hill. I think we were both surprised at how wide the scatter pattern was. My only minor gripe was that the scenario doesn't tell the French from which direction the convoy is coming, although it's supposedly a regular event. This led to some hedging of bets on unit placement, as I assumed "something" was going to happen, but I didn't know if it would be from my left or right.

Hi. I'm Charles on the spreadsheet.... I played as the Germans and did well. I think this scenario highly favors the Germans, who get to play cat and mouse with loads of cover. I found that the key to success was to do as little as possible. That is, lie in ambush until the "kill" moment. I think proper setup was very important in this scenario. In general, I used a common German tactic of not lurking in the front row of buildings. Luckily, all my mines found targets (targets found the mines?) Also, success was very much a team effort. I got armor kills from Stugs, guns, shreks, and fausts. Once the road was denied to my opponent he had to move in through the buildings in the center, where I had units lurking in ambush. Luck certainly played a role, and some things certainly broke my way. Lastly, I found the Polish artillery to not be a factor, and was surprised that there were TRP's. This is not a comment on my opponent's ability. Rather, with all the cover, if you don't show yourself, a prep barrage is depending on pure luck to find a target. I was surprised to see such high scores for the Poles. I definitely felt that they had their work cut out for them on this one.

Whoo hoo! Finished with all my games and looking forward to seeing the results file. Good matches all. Lots of fun to play.

I'm definitely in for the finals.

I'll be getting CMBB for sure, and I enjoyed the demo. However, my interests lie more on the Western front. I'm an American who has traveled to Europe on many occasions, visiting Omaha Beach, Bastogne, and other places. I can fully appreciate the magnitude of the Eastern Front, but if I want to inject emotion into the game, I'll stick with the West.

I cast my vote for a Mod board. I loaded up on great mods early on, but I just don't have the time to really search these days. A centralized location would be great.

Actually, I may be okay. I use Netscape on a Mac. The emails I received didn't have an executable attachment, and I don't open those as a matter of policy. I also haven't received any for a few days. Now, has anyone else been plagued by this other virus? Somehow, when I open my CM turn files, it causes all my well-laid plans to go awry with unexpected casualties....

Well, I'm in the same boat as you all and have received some of these same emails. Unfortunately, I don't have any productive info. I use a Mac: anyone have any suggestions?

My request for a future CM version: Grenada:ATTACK!

Treeburst, Easy-V and I are back in action. He was on vacation and is no longer MIA.

ahh, was wondering exactly what this meant. At first, I thought the bars on the bottom were for belly armor too....

Thanks for the info. Good to see what a well-written AAR looks like, as I have to write several for the current ROW tourney.

One word- Moomintrolls

all together now- A Bar-Bar-Bar... Bar-Barbarossa -couldn't get the damn tune out of my head-figured I'd share the pain

Who remembers the scene in Cross of Iron guaranteed to make everyone shift in their chairs? It features a German soldier forcing a Russian woman soldier to do a certain act with it's um, aftermath....For those who haven't seen the movie, it plays like this. German: Russian: German: Russian: German: Russian: German: :eek: Russian: