Merkin Muffley

Fun yet ultimately disappointing almost in equal measure.

I have replied by email regarding UK.

Although its not the main thrust of your lecture, I would be inclined to at least mention the larger scope of decisions that Churchill had to deal with - more numerous areas of operations (truly global), more allies to liaise with (and both as senior partner and junior partner), all armed forces involved in major operations, crucial economic decisions, etc. The other leaders shared some of these, but not all (FDR at least being able to rely on a robust economy).

rather than go into this http://www.youtube.com//watch?v=95tmYmeHf84

Seconded. I have lurked and read with interest and it has been a story well-told. A very enjoyable thread and many thanks for the extra effort in taking screen shots and writing up the action.

Well I hope they were subtle about it and didn't give it the hard sell.

I guess what Jason is trying to say is that his detailed explanation was correct in describing the result as long as you don't play with anything other than unrestricted. Or small battles.

I can't see any circumstances where European countries would be inclined to support Taiwan against China. The war would be seen as essentially a civil-war, they wouldn't be able to support credible operations at that distance, and China is both the sovereign entity they recognise and is a dominant and growing political, economic and military power. What on earth would be their interest in getting involved?

What is really interesting about this game - and these types of games - is the range of solutions. I had initially got stuck on the Mission to Mars one...but a solution came to me in light sleep that more or less was along the lines of the wheels rotating around the ball as seen in several examples here. And then along comes dieseltaylor's solution which is even simpler. I guess that I shouldn't be surprised that he had a simple solution...

Here http://fantasticcontraption.com/

That's going to hurt.

Ooh, I can keep it up, get it on, get it down and keep it. Hopefully in that order.

Fire away; email in profile - at least for a bit until I take it away.

I'm not sure there were Stryker-like vehicles in previous wars that weren't battle taxis or recon vehicles were there? The British used Saracen APC and Saladin armoured cars together with Ferret scout cars as a matter of course in all their low-level conflicts, with what seemed to be success albeit there weren't really alternatives at that time.

If you are a big fan of CMBO/CMBB/CMAK then you are almost certainly better off waiting for the WWII version. Firstly, the current version is still w.i.p. - so why bother anyway? Secondly, I am not convinced that the subject matter has that much mileage. If this had been recreated in a CMAK-type engine I'm sure it wouldn't have long-lasting playability, as most of the effort would be trying to determine how disproportionately huge the Syrian forces would have to be to put up a challenging fight against US forces. I can't remember for CMBO, but consider the periods covered by CMBB and CMAK and all the variations possible in the game. That just isn't available here.

Having caught up on other threads elsewhere after posting the above I see that Steve has said pathfinding and Tac AI are being addressed in the v1.03 patch for which I am truly thankful - and many thanks to them for busting various guts to try and improve the position as fast as is practical. I'll keep my gob shut pending v1.03 becoming available.

To be fair, there must be some Tac AI operating, otherwise wouldn't have happened. But its apparent absence will always be more noticeable than its functioning, especially when it seems so prevalent. I know this is not news, but it also seems to show itself when the individually-modelled, graphically impressive members of a squad stoically remain in positions where they are getting shot to pieces rather than just cracking, or making a controlled withdrawal. I am trusting that these sorts of issues - together with the more boggling aspects of the pathfinding - will be sorted in forthcoming patches. Then, at least, the game can be properly assessed. I am sure a lot of the criticism of CM:SF and comparisons to CM1 games are that it is still work in progress. But these comparisons, whilst invidious, are inevitable while the game seems so undercooked in some critical AI areas.

So, a Second Front eh? Not just CMSF but CMC too. Different strokes for different folks - I can't think that there can be anyone feeling left out. You are very kind to us earthlings.

Although, dare I say it, the thing with PIATs is that they will be cannon fodder when you see the little sods but quite often they manage to get a surprising number of shots off before being located.

I recommend only firing at big targets and when stationary. In a recent game I fired on the hoof at a MG nest on the edge of field #1. The round gracefully arced over their heads. And over adjacent field #2. Finally it landed in (non-adjacent) field #3, much to my surprise and my nearby forward squad who got a bit of a fright. I think it landed about 150m away...the original target being about 70m away - so accauracy is not a word I now associate with these things. Good for a laugh though - your very own slow motion playback, even at normal speed. Crocs are even more fun though, given a choice.

Arthur Marshall - for those unfamiliar with him think of the most caricatured mild-mannered and rather droll English gentleman - was near the frontline in his jeep in WWII. I think he was an Intelligence officer. When warned that there were "Jerries about" and that he ought to take care he prepared to drive on. "But what will you do if you run into some Jerries?" "My dear, I will just give them a very severe look". Probably more effective than a Sten, except at very short range.

I don't know what it is, but those craters remind me of my cat somehow.

Marvellous! That's great fun and thank you for your efforts (which I guess were considerable).

...and pull their wings off. Obviously best achieved with your monitor outside in sunshine and using a magnifying glass.

OK, so a dead tank, however it dies, is worth a specific amount. If crew escape, they can be killed for extra points: I'm guessing that these extra points are nice to have but not as much as the the typical 20% of tank worth gained for topping the commander when the tank is alive. So, to maximise points, kill the commander, blow up the tank and hunt down the crew?