Philippe

Go to cmmods.com and look for something called Scenario Depot Salvage under designer name padivine. There are about 7 or 8 zip files there that contain the contents of the Scenario Depot site. There are quite a few ASL and Panzerblitz conversions in that collection.

L something (going on 28).

The best place for CMBO mods is still Madmatt's semi-unofficial site at combatmission.com (aka CMHQ). Ninety percent of the CMBO mods are there, and eighty percent of them have been converted to CMMOS format so that they can be easily switched. The best place for scenarios used to be the Scenario Depot, but it no longer exists. There were several thousand scenarios for the three CM games there. The CMBO section has been posted in a series of zip files by Birdgunner at cmmods.com. CMMODS is currently the largest overall collection of mods for the three CM games. Many of the CMMOS mods at CMHQ have been converted to non-cmmos format at CMMODS (a few mods were originally done with CMMOS in mind). There is also a later version of CMMOS at CMMODS that was put together after the group that worked on it was disbanded. [Note on mod managers: You probably want to use one. There are two choices -- CMMOS and McMMM. CMMOS is more or less complete for CMBO and handles options better than McMMM. CMMOS is not complete for CMBB and barely in existance for CMAK. You should probably use CMMOS for CMBO, CMMOS and McMMM for CMBB, and McMMM for CMAK. The alternative is that you make a back-up copy of the game's bmp and wav folders (not a bad idea, in any case) and an elaborate set of holding folders for each of the mods (something you'll need to do if you intend to make any of your own as opposed to using other people's).] For scenarios you should also visit The Proving Grounds, Boots and Tracks, and A Band of Brothers.

The sign in the foreground and the sign in the background are sort of legible. The sign in the middle distance isn't. Because the last word is so long I can't make the letters on the sign any larger and still have it fit in the writing space. So it looks like we'll be staying with the posted version ("Miny!") of the anti-tank sign. Sigh.

I'm testing the alternate text for the anti-tank mine. I like the fact that the sign is gloriously Polish. What I don't like is how small the letters have to get to fit onto the writing surface. The problem is that not all of the surface of the sign is usable, because anything that appears on the outer right or left sections of the sign will also appear on the vertical stake (the bitmap is a rectangle, the sign is cross-shaped, and the program does this strange mirror-thing to make you see a sign). And to my astonishment Paint (as opposed to Word) refused to read that polish letter so I had to draw it by hand. If I decide that I like the overall effect I'll post it. By the way, what exactly does "przeciwczołgowe" mean, and is it something that would have appeared on a sign in the 1940's ? A lot of anti-tank language may be either a modern anachronism (probably relating to the need to distinguish between what can be banned and what can't) or a game convention.

I've updated the Polish Minefield Markers to version 1.1 and posted it to CMMODS. Here's what the new version looks like: I'm using Danger! Mines! as the anti-personnel marker, and Mines ! as the anti-tank. The problem with Field Mined is that the sign tends to show up in things that are not fields (like that inviting clump of trees the attacker will try to hide in so that his approach will go unnoticed). As soon as I get some more commentary on my Hungarian Minefield Markers I'll declare this stage of the project done.

I've heard of the CMBB Road to Moscow in several other threads, all universally acclaimed. Where can I get it? I don't see HarryInk's email. </font>

Carthage? Sparta?

I'm sure this has been commented on before, but I'm curious about how much force is needed in a larger four square section to prevent unopposed movement. Suppose I have a battalion trying to move from west to east, and it is concentrated in the southeast section of a four section square. If the only force in the four section square immediately to the east is a reinforced platoon in the sector's northeast square, would that be enough to prevent the battalion from passing through the empty southwest and southeast sections of the lightly defended square, and into the southwest section of the next sector beyond it? In other words, can you bypass light pockets of enemy resistance that aren't in your immediate path, or do you have to stop, find them, and wipe them out? I realize that you wouldn't be able to send any supply trucks through a sector that you by-passed, but doesn't this cut to the heart of sending your armored spear-heads forward and leaving minor pockets of resistance to be cleaned up by secondary follow-up forces? And if there's a thread about this elsewhere in here I'll just go back to modding...

Uploaded today at CMMODS: The sign on the left is the anti-personnel mine marker. The sign on the right is for anti-tank mines. These replace the standard minefield markers and should only be used when you are commanding Polish troops. Polish is a highly inflected language that I don't happen to read. By comparing parallel versions of the International Convention for Banning Landmines I was able to convince myself that "Miny" is probably the equivalent of a nominative plural (a pity, because the nominative singular has a really neat diacritical mark under one of the letters). I'm fairly certain that a "pole minowe" is a mined field, but a bit uneasy about the possible anachronism factor. So if anyone can suggest some better phrases, I'll happily make a second version. I'd be particularly interested in an idiomatic rendering of "Danger! Mines" as an alternative to "Field Mined". This completes my series of army-specific minefield markers. Russian, German, Finnish, Italian, Romanian, and Hungarian markers can be found at CMMODS under padivine/all/fortifications in the designer section.

Don't mean to be pushy, or anything, but what ever happened to this mod? And will it appear as a separate mod, as part of David's GD mod, or both ?

Sounds like you're mixing apples and oranges here, and that may be part of the problem. And I most certainly am having trouble following what you're doing. First and foremost, CMBO will never read CMBB files, and CMBB will never read CMBO files. Punto Final. Assuming that you aren't trying to put CMBB scenario files into CMBO, what exactly do you mean by "nothing transferred"? If you unzip a CMBO scenario into a holding folder (please mention the path), and then copy it, and then rename the copy to aaa, if you then copy the file newly named aaa, go into C:\Program Files\CMBO\Scenarios and paste it in, are you saying that when you close the scenario folder and then reopen it the file named aaa is not at the top of the list (assuming you aren't viewing it as a thumbnail)? Or are you saying that after you copied it into the proper scenario folder and fired up CMBO it didn't appear in the scenario menu? Note that mods and scenarios added to the bmp or scenario folder do not change what is going on in the CM program until after you shut the program down and fire it up again. [i'm only mentioning this to make sure you didn't have CMBO running while you tried the copy and paste routine]. Please describe in pornographic detail exactly what you are doing. And please, please, please be sure to list the path (C:\Program Files\Whatever). I'm not familiar with the anthology or how it installs things, but at the end of the day its still got to set the game up more or less the way the original program was set up. Are things that you're unzipping getting unzipped into folders? (And I really didn't understand what "un Zipped on Zip file" means). We are talking about something very basic here. You've got two folders. One of them has a file in it. You copy the file, and paste it into the other folder. Now both folders have the same file in it. If the file "didn't transfer" you have a problem. You aren't transferring the file. You're making a copy of the file and putting it directly into the other folder. Do this last step from inside the other folder by right clicking on a blank spot and then left-clicking on paste on the menu that will appear. If you're doing some kind of drag and drop thing your hand may be slipping. Go over every step very, very slowly. That computer in front of you is just a stupid piece of over-priced metal and plastic: do you control it, or does it control you? (Only Leni Riefenstahl knows the answer).

If you take a look under my name at CMMODS you'll see that I've already made Russian, German, Italian, Finnish, Romanian, and now Hungarian minefield markers. When I do the Polish markers the series will be finished.

Uploaded this morning to CMMODS: The signs in the top row are being used for anti-personnel, the signs on the bottom are for anti-tank and daisy chain. The wood is derived from Ed Kinney, the unweathered red and white sign base from Andrew T. Fox. Many thanks to Steve Banyai for correcting my non-idiomatic Magyar. This represents my best guess as to what a Hungarian minefield marker would have looked like. Anyone with better information is invited to get in touch with me (where is Bardosy when you need him?). The red and white markers are probably best used when the Hungarians are on the defense stationed near German units. The plain wooden markers can be used when they're attacking.

I mentioned them both in passing several pages back. What I find more surprising is that no one seems willing to discuss which ones you would want to have over for dinner, and why.

At CMMODS in the CMBB section. Pericolul Mina (Danger Mines) is the anti-personnel mine marker. The series continues, but Magyar and Polish are not going to be easy.

I think that polling has to be done off-site as a matter of policy. Up until now our hosts have been fairly calm about people putting images on their site. And I, for one, hate thumbnails (slow to load and visually disruptive) and never use them. I'm concerned, however, that if a hundred amateur image-makers start posting a glut of images on this site they may clamp down on all of us. Perhaps it might be a good idea to consult Madmatt before proceeding with this. They might have other uses for the bandwidth and prefer if this were done on another site. Or maybe not. It does, after all, raise enthusiasm for their upcoming product (CMC). I'm not sure that art should be competitive, except when a panel of professional art critics is involved. And even then I have my doubts (too much like work, and real critiques tend to produce bruised feelings). That being the case, I think it might be better to just have an exhibition of open submissions. Perhaps an upload-only thread -- if it is good enough you can petition for a sticky.

The contents of the now-defunct Scenario Depot can be found at CMMODS. The CMBB scenarios and operations are bundled together in zip files called Scenario Depot Salvage in the CMBB section. Quickest way to find them is to search under padivine: you'll see them all grouped together.

I've just posted a set of Italian minefield markers to the CMBB section of CMMODS. The announcement (and a screenshot) is over at the CMBB section of the boards. I don't have CMAK so I can't test it, but I'm pretty sure these markers will work there. If someone has seen a period image (or knows of a period image) that uses some kind of danger symbol, I can make a second version.

I've just posted the latest in my minefield marker series to the CMBB section of CMMODS. The anti-personnel sign reads "campo minato" (minefield), and the anti-tank and daisy chain marker reads "attenti alle mine" (beware of mines). If anyone can find evidence, photographic or otherwise, of any symbols the Italians used to mark minefields I would be delighted to make a second version. I keep expecting to stumble across a photograph of an Italian minefield in North Africa with a marker, but no such luck so far. The wooden sign is the same base that I used in my German, Russian, and Finnish minefield markers, and was derived from parts of one of Ed Kinney's textures.

"And if her nose had been a little shorter, it would have changed history..."

I probably need to take another look at that article again, but I just noticed that though my Jpeg's are now displayed as Thumbnails, when I go into Paint I can't seem to save a bitmap as a Jpeg. Not an insurmountable problem because I can do the conversion from Photoshop, but I'd like to be able to do it from Paint. Any idea why I lost that ability and what I need to do to get it back? I'm assuming I have to add something to one of my registry files -- but what, and to which one ?

And Liddell Hart was entirely sane ? I have a sneaking suspicion that if he hadn't been obsessed with over-simplifying history so he could find The Indirect Approach under every bed, you probably wouldn't be at war with maneuverist doctrine. Which raises an interesting question. I'm not sure that many generals in antiquity were maneuverists. Apart from Alexander and (occasionally) Hannibal, they usually just went at it head-to-head. When I was a naive classicist the biggest shock of my life came in a course on Thucydides when a Learned Ancient Historian commented that a Greek general's most important asset was a powerful set of lungs. [ December 03, 2005, 08:16 AM: Message edited by: Philippe ]

J.F.C. Fuller was an amateur classicist and amateur historian. Ancient historians tend to greet his work with a sneer of contempt, though I think that's a bit unfair. Unlike most modern classicists he's actually had some practical experience to back up what he's talking about, so he often can provide useful insight. I was always in the minority in that I rather liked what he wrote, but then again, I have no taste, got out of the business, and rather liked Delbruck too (who is also greeted with mild suspicion at best). Modern classicists aren't supposed to actually do things, just talk about them. And if they get their hands dirty and try to invoke practical experience, it's considered unprofessional. JasonC seems to have misunderstood my comment about Caesar hiding things. I'm talking about the text of the Gallic Wars, which we can make statements about through direct observation. I'm pointing out that Caesar makes pains not to describe background events in chronological order so that the reader accepts the premise of his story line more readily. I really don't think we want to get into a discussion of the publication date of Book I or the intended target audience -- they're not really relevant to my point. So let's all be good Chicago school critics and just stick to the text. Secondary interpretations are not really that important and change every thirty years anyway (blink of an eye when dealing with a 2000 year old text).

I've updated my Finnish Minefield Markers mod at CMMODS. The new version (version 1.1 as opposed to version 1.0) looks like this: The sign on the left is the anti-personnel mine marker and reads "Danger ! Mines". The one on the right simply says "Mines" and marks daisy chains and anti-tank mines. This mod should only be used in Finland, so be sure to back up your originals or you'll have these signs cropping up in the Ukraine. Thanks to Sergei for help with the idiomatic Finnish. And belated thanks to Eichenbaum for his wood samples -- I didn't use them because I was in a hurry and constructing the individual planks, building the sign, and then weathering it is a bit of a chore. Next year if I have time I'll try to do a second version out of birchwood. I doubt that I'll do much more modding this year. However, at some point next year I intend to continue the series. I have a prototype of the Italian mine marker sitting on my hard drive ("Attenti alle Mine !" and "Mine !"). But I'll need information, semiotic, and linguistic help for the Poles, Hungarians, and Romanians. [ December 03, 2005, 08:45 AM: Message edited by: Philippe ]