Zitadelle

Thanks for the reply Admiral Keth, and I will be looking forward to the enhancement. Hope I'm not being too much of a pain in the ass for the suggestion- "mutter, mutter.... Great now someone I don't even know is making suggestions about my website. Thanks to him, I am looking at 20+ hours of work in the middle of the nights...." Great work by you, BigDog, and all the contributors to the Scenario Depot. Everyone has done a great job offering their work. Now, I need to get in there and review some CMBO/CMBB scenarios. And, according to your profile, you brew your own beer? Being a beer snob (or is that grog?), I am interested in knowing what are your specialities.\ [ October 29, 2002, 07:57 PM: Message edited by: Zitadelle ]

You don't even have to check out CMBO for the view of the StuG IV with the correct suspension. Simply take a look at the mod section at Combat Mission HQ: Combat Mission- Mods (German Tanks) On that page is a view of Fernando Julio Carrera Buil's Stug series. I am fairly sure that Kump's page for the CMBO vehicle mods also shows the correct view of the StuG IV. Alright, this has been bumped to the top, any comment yet from the guys....

First, the latest enhancements to the Scenario Depot work really well and I commend the owners of the site. However, I have an idea for improving the front-end interface for scenarios and battles. In the scenario listings are both scenarios found on the CMBB disk and custom scenarios. However, through the list it is nearly impossible to tell the difference. I find a scenario that I would be interested in downloading and only after I open the selection do I find that it is already on the disk. Really I only want to visit the site for custom scenarios and then review the hard work of others- I already have the scenarios on the disk.... How about adding an additional column to the scenario/operation table for either 'custom' or 'on disk' scenarios? Or, a simple icon (such as a disk) added in either the 'Scenario Name' or 'Type' for scenarios that are enclosed in the baseline version of CMBB. Just my thoughts- thanks.

Quick question, is it absolutely necessary to destroy the beast? Is it possible to achieve your objectives without having to confront the beast and just let it be? Much like in real combat conditions, if you find yourself facing a foe that you cannot overcome without excessive loses, try to avoid the foe (seriously paraphrasing Sun Tzu). Now that you know where it is, outflank the beast- avoid it entirely. At worst, he will come after you- but he might expose a weakness that you can overcome. On the other hand, he will be embarrassed by his expensive purchase that you simply avoided. Not always, do you have to destroy everything on the map to win.

While most of the textures are shared between the StuG III and the StuG IV in CMBO, the side view with the suspension definitely is not. In CMBO, the view is correctly modelled- based upon the PzKW IV chassis. However, I have to agree with the original poster that this is not the case in CMBB. I have been wondering if this is going to be fixed in a later build of CMBB. Or, if the texture models will at least be separated (according to the CMBB bitmap list they are currently shared), so that a modder can revise the CMBO side texture for CMBB. Any word from the BFC guys?

I have been successfully running CMBB and the demo on a PII 350MX with 128Mb RAM and a GeForce 4 Ti4200 64Mb DDR RAM card. I did de-frag prior to install which may help with the large directory size. I have also successfully run CMBB on a 600Mhz laptop with a lousy video card (typical business install...). With both, there is a bit of a delay loading the graphics when it launches and for turn calculation, but it isn't anything significant. Of course, I have not attempted the Volga operation- but then again, I don't think there is a current PC on the market that can handle the beast (how was it system tested??).

Yes, downloaded it successfully and modded the side already (removed the star). Excellent work- keep up the modding! With the arrival of CMBB, I see that there are new mod-sensai's working hard to change our view of the battlefield. Time that I get to work and contribute.... [ October 23, 2002, 06:21 PM: Message edited by: Zitadelle ]

Excellent Crowley!!!!! About freaking time that the US postal service and UK customs stopped oppressing your copy of CMBB and deliver the damn thing to your door. And to think that it only took 22 days- so much for living in the 21st century. Did the package arrive in one piece? Of course, it will take another two weeks before I receive confirmation through the trace that the package arrived (so, we can start another timer and laugh at the results... ). Of course, now open up the manual and look at the credits section- I think you will see two names that are familiar (I think adjacent to each other...). Once, you have done that, install the bloody thing and order pizza or good Indian food, because you will be locked in your office for the next couple days while you experiment with your new addiction. Then, once you get a sufficient understanding of the game, send me a PBEM file. By the way, I did receive payment for shipping on Monday. My wife thought it was a letter bomb or anthrax- since it came in an unmarked envelope from Orlando. But, I was able to save the cash before she burned it. Thank you friends for me (and I hope they had a good vacation). Now, stop reading the damn forum!! It really doesn't change that much (and least with any worthwhile reading), and get on to CMBB.

Yes, ran the test as well. Both wood and stone bridges can be brought down having pioneer units use area fire ("use explosive") where they employ demolition charges. A break in a wooden bridge will occur with 1-2 demo charges, and a break in a stone bridge will occur with 2-3 demo charges.

A naval version of the 88mm was mounted on ships for AA duty and on U-boats for anti-ship duty. Same caliber, but slightly different gun with differing mounts and designation- I believe the latest Osprey book on the 88mm has a section on the naval usage of the gun. And, at least by World War II, there was not a German artillery piece in the calibre of 88mm (of course, I won't begin discussion of the British 88mm aka 25pdr... ). [ October 22, 2002, 06:00 PM: Message edited by: Zitadelle ]

Excellent work on the patch BFC gentlemen!! Considering development and testing times, the number of features that are being added in this release are incredible. I know I would impress my clients if I issued release notes for a patch that was that deep (hmmm, I need to talk with the developers...). Anyway, I have a couple questions regarding the patch. Will the Quick Battle editor be modified in this patch to allow for the setting of ground conditions to be different from weather conditions? That is snowy ground without having to set the weather to snow? Thanks for the hard work and the answer! And, how long before you guys finally get a vacation? May I recommend a winter BFC retreat to St. John USVI.

Good looking mod. I am not sure if it is the posted image or not, but the rust does look a little pinkish. Perhaps a darker tone and a deeper mud coat. I would recommend, however, that you removestar from the side of the T-34 mod. It was extremely rare that the Red Army had a national insignia on the sides of their tanks.

A bit like the black and white stripes on many allied tactical aircraft for D-Day. There for recognition purposes to avoid friendly fire.</font>

You don't even have to worry about that. Most decent artistic programs (and even word processors) have available Cyrillic fonts- for free. I have already loaded the font to Corel PhotoPaint (it even came on the standard install disks).

Michael- Thanks for the website (now I have a list of the other bitmaps too...) and pointing me in the right direction! With the large number of *.bmp files, I have not had the time to hunt down the images. But with your direction, I will start modding the un petito T-60.

Yes, I agree with Panzer Leader- thanks to the BFC guys for the print. Knowing that I helped, and seeing my name in the manual was more than enough, but the poster is just an additional bonus. So, my question is- how do I get it autographed from the guys? Imagine the print with a diplomatic signature by Moon, a monkish scrawl by Steve, an artistic brush stroke by KwazyDog, and a blunt something that resembles a stamp of approval by MadMatt. As for the rest of the CM masses, as your T-60s and T-70s succumb to AT fire or the 2-man crews become shocked and useless, you can fondly think of Zitadelle. And, finally, has anyone determined what are the *.bmp files for the T-60 and T-70? I would like to mod the vehicles- improving the detail of the T-60 turret (back to the original model) and adding the older suspension onto the T-60. Thanks to all!

Yo, Scipio- Check out the link on WarfareHQ for the winterized KV. It doesn't point to the KV, but rather the IS. I think your administrator has a little work to do. Not to hijack a thread, but I posted a couple days ago and there still have not been any changes.

To resurrect an old thread.... Hey Scipio- Your link to the KV winter mods is broken! The link connects a user to the winterized IS-2 chassis- not the KV series.

Herr Oberst wrote: I see that the Peng has been re-deployed to the East. Pity.... Thanks for the Douglas Adams reference Oberst; only you forgot that we knew what the question already was. James Crowley wrote: Thanks for the statistics. Your US copy of CMBB was placed in the mail today. According to the post office you should receive it in 5-10 days- about the same time that it will be released in the UK or a little earlier. I think it might be on the earlier side since I'm not far from Dulles International Airport with plenty of daily flights to the UK. I'll send you an e-mail with the mailing costs. Frontovik wrote: Thanks for the Red Army statistics as well. I knew that this would be the place to ask such a question and receive a quick and accurate answer. Interesting debate item. I know that the Germans lost about 200,000 in both the Tunisia campaign and from the encircled forces between the Don and Volga. I would argue (and freely admit my Ostfront biases) that the losses in the Eastern front had a greater impact than the losses in North Africa. First, the fighting in Southern Russia was for strategic resources- the grain fields of the steppe and the minerals and oil of the Caucasus. Losing access to those resources gravely impacted the Reich's ability to carry on a long-term conflict. Meanwhile the battles in Tunisia were holding measures. Second, the losses in Southern Russia included Axis allied troops (the Italians and Romanians). I would argue that this severely weakened the Axis allies will to fight, and in the long term they would abandon Germany. Third, in preparation for Blue, the Reich has employed the majority of its production to equipping the involved troops. Additionally, other units on the Eastern Front were stripped of their equipment and the equipment provided to the Southern units. A large share of this equipment was lost in the fighting for Stalingrad and left within the kessel. Admittedly, the allies did manage to sink quite a few Axis supply vessels between Italy and North Africa; and equipment was left behind as well. Comparatively, however, I believe the losses were greater in the East. Anyone else like to contribute to either the debate of German losses in late-1942 to early-1943. Or, any other statistics anyone would like to add? (Still have not heard from the ubiquitous JasonC. Where has he been hiding lately?)

I know that somewhere in my vast library I have the figures for total Axis and Russian casualities from Operation Blue and Uranus, but right now most my books are still packed after moving and I am too busy these days to begin the full search. So, I am coming to my honored grogs with the question. What were the total Axis and Russian casualties from Operation Blue (Axis)- the drive to Stalingrad including the city fighting- through Operation Uranus (Russian)- the encirclement of the 6th Army, parts of the 4th Panzer, and the involved Axis armies. Quickly, I know that approximately 100,000 were captured in the kessel. However, I cannot quickly total the casualties from the drive through the Don toward Stalingrad and Rostow, the fighting for the city, the and the ones caused by Operation Uranus. I am trying to derive the Axis casualties for the southern operations from the date range of June, 1942 through February, 1943, for a rebuttal to a book review in the _Washington Post_ where the author compared the Tunisian campaigns to the battles for Stalingrad. Broad estimates (rounded in the 10,000s) are acceptable. Thanks.

Only 36 hours until I finally have my hands on my copy of CMBB. Yes, BFC announces that the Weasel has "flown" on Friday, September 20th. On Sunday, I board a flight for business travel, and I have spent the last week at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) working long hours and wondering what the CM HE Blast rating would be for some other things. Unfortunately, on Monday my project assistant leaves me a v-mail that a package has arrived at my office and wants instructions what she should do with the thing. I debated for an afternoon whether I could figure out something that she needed to Fed Ex (and charge to the project) to me- and of course include another package. Alas, I couldn't make it work. So, my copy of CMBB has been sitting totally unopened and unused in my office since Monday. While, out here I have been working 14-16 hour days. Tomorrow afternoon my flight leaves for the Washington, DC area. It lands at 12:00am and I figure it will take another hour to get my luggage, get my car out of the parking garage, and rush over to my office. Therefore, I should finally be able to stop visiting this site looking at screenshots and all the news and have my copy of CMBB- at 1am. Now, if I can only figure out how to stay up the remainder of the night and perform the install rather than sleeping with the wife who has not seen me in nearly a week. I think I will probably take the bed- there is always Sunday afternoon and night....

CrapGame- Then I will also add you to my toast list! Unfortunately, I will be on client travel (to Los Alamos) the day that CMBB is delivered to my office. Alas, one day I will be working hard and checking voice-mail where I will have a message that a package has been delivered to my office. And I will be 2000+ miles, two time zones, and several days from my first install of CMBB. The Horror....

Makjager- I am a big fan of the Springender Tueffel ("Dancing Gnome") that was the famous symbol on the side of 2nd SS Panzer Division "Das Reich" Tigers during Summer, 1943- Winter, 1944. I saw that you had an version that you were working upon, and I want to congratulate you on that work. By the way, you beat me to starting on the project.... I believe you have the correct size and shape. For the CMBB version, I would probably move it a little down and forward- closer to the gun's trunnion. Also, when you do release it, make sure that it is for the early version of the PzKW VIE only. It was not used on the mid and late versions of the big cat by "Das Reich." (I image that you are probably experimenting and using the CMBO available Tiger for your model). Great work!

First, a toast of Oban Scotch to the BFC guys and the army of beta testers. Beyond that, since I am a micro-brew fan, it will have to be: Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout

A green crew is still a green crew- correct. And, from Summer 1944 (Bagration) through the end of the war (Berlin), the Germans definitely had quite a few panzer units manned by green crews. Gone were the veteran units that had charged across the steppes in 1941-42 and tried to hold the line in 1943-1944. Or, the units were so understrength and ill-equipped they would translate into green crews in the CM methodology.