Philippe

Some of the most interesting passages in Foucault's Pendulum involve the defacto civil war in Northern Italy during the last days of the war. It would be nice to have this included. One of the obstacles to Italian vs. Italian (and Vichy vs. Free French) is the problem of the language files. Something would have to be done to the programming to tell the game to use the same set of speech files for both sides in a civil war scenario. I looked at doing a speech mod for this in CMBO once (battle of Glieres -- Vichy Milice vs. French Resistance), but soon found that you couldn't simply switch the language files because there wasn't a one for one correspondance. Or at least there didn't seem to be at the time. So what is needed is a slight adjustment to tell the program how to find its language files when both sides are speaking the same language. Then someone could put together a series of scenarios about the invasion of Syria, complete with Moshe Dayan and French on both sides (can CMAK handle modern Hebrew?).

Crumpets? Odd...I thought most hobgoblins were carnivores.

Unlike some I have no illusions about my limitations. I can't spell in six languages and have forgotten how to remember in five. Besides, wouldn't it be fair to say that orthography is akin to Wilde's concept of consistancy?

I gave up reading poetry several years ago when I left school, so I'm no longer competant to comment on the literary qualities of the preceding. However, it does remind me a bit of something that might be found here: http://www.mcgonagall-online.org.uk/

Took me a while to find it, but this link has some interesting photographs of fine young fascists. The photo that had originally caught my eye was the one that included Wilhelm Mohnke, third picture from the bottom on a particularly slow-loading page. http://home.att.net/~SSPzHJ/Photos.html Now that I look at this page again with a different agenda I notice a photograph of three officers from three different units in the same division, each wearing different camo (one of which appears to be italian). There's even a photo of a soldier from a recon unit who is in shadow, so that you can't tell if he's wearing italian camo trousers or has merely been rolling around in the mud (or perhaps a bit of both). On an unrelated note I particularly like the image of the german officers striking unposed poses for the photographers, and the palpable social discomfort in the receiving line at the begining of the page.

And a third candidate can be found in the cmbo cmmos section of the old cmhq site. I never liked the north marker, so I made an invisible compass rose. The north marker probably doesn't add much; I've just played a scenario where I am sure that the marker was really pointing south...

I never meant to suggest that you were the source of the mixing of camo pants and plain tunics, and if it seemed that way, please accept my humblest apologies. Somewhere in my very fuzzy memory I seem to recall someone having found action figures with this uniform arrangement. The link to one of the figures was posted on the board (this was about three years ago) and received the expected chorus of ooh's and ah's. One modder who shall remain nameless opined privately that no such combination ever existed. I have no opinion since WWII is not my period. However, I do actually see things like this walking around in the New York subways once a week when I'm in town to visit my girlfriend (modern camo, of course). I suspect the mix has infiltrated our subconscious subliminally; it probably would have seemed odd to our parents and grandparents, who had a different (and more classical) sense of aesthetics altogether. On the other hand, if you've actually seen a period photograph of some poor German unfortunate enough not to have been outfitted in a proper uniform, then I'm delighted that my post-facto cultural interpretation of what is going on around the fringes of our minds will meet the fate that it deserves. Unfortunately I'm so low tech I can't remember how to go about posting an image link. (I was actually going to send you j-pegs but I can't remember your address either...must be the water up here). I've seen two examples in the Waffen SS uniform section of the Third Reich factbook. I just checked them and, not surprisingly, my memory is a bit faulty: one seems to be a panzer commander's wrap (that's probably what the officer in the staff meeting was wearing, though the quality of that particular photo makes it hard at first to realize what he is or isn't wearing), and the other is some kind of a (very ugly) winter smock. Unlike most of the uniform pictures posted on the web these things don't seem to be for sale, and given the source they're probably authentic. I guess I was hoping that you might have something on this in you uniform reference library, but since I don't collect books on this subject I have no idea what's available. I would have thought that the uniform would have looked like all the other camo uniforms, just with Italianate fabric. But one of the few things that I have learned about this kind of thing is that one shouldn't assume anything.

No idea what that means, but for CMMOS to work both CMBO and GEM CMMOS have to get installed in the expected locations (if not they can't find each other). So the path for CMBO should be C:\programs\cmbo (or something like that), and the path for CMMOS should be C:\programs\GEM CMMOS Productions (more or less). Bill Gates has kindly provided you with a game folder, but it would be a mistake to use it.

I was getting ready to play a scenario that included the Hitlerjugend, when I suddenly discovered that I didn't know what uniforms to use. I had decided to use camo, and there my problems started... When they used camo, did the SS 1st and SS 12th use Italian camo exclusively by 1944, or were they using a mix? There are several sites on the web that describe the sequence of armor camo patterns, is there anything like that for uniforms? My next disconcerting discovery was that I don't seem to have anything in Italian camo by ATF other than trousers. Have I managed to overlook ATF's late-war Italian camo SS uniforms? How prevalent were they anyway (see above)? And finally, what, exactly, is Italian camo, anyway? I find that it looks a lot like splinter camo, and I'm not sure I know the difference. [For that matter, why is oak leaf called oak leaf -- it doesn't look like any oak leaf I've ever seen, unless its supposed to be light filtered through oak leaves]. I've managed to convince myself that it probably existed because I've seen a picture that is supposed to be a staff meeting in Normandy and at least one of the officers is wearing camo that is some kind of a splinter pattern, presumably Italian. And the former Third Reich Factbook website has a sample of Italian camo worn by the SS. Finally, is there any historical evidence that German soldiers in WWII ever wore camo pants but non-camo tunics? Is this an actual historical phenomenon, or an artefact of modern-day action figures? It suggests a late 20th century fashion statement, since I would think it would be more important to wear camo on the head and upper torso rather than the legs.

The version of CMMOS that you get on the disk is very similar to the one on the CMHQ site but is slightly different from the one on the CMMODS site. I only mention this to make sure we're on the same page. CMMOS is designed to run under the following conditions: 1) You have to be using a PC (we never managed to come up with a MAC version). 2) CMBO has to be installed in the expected place. A directory called games is not the expected place. The default path (which is what you need to use) is probably something like c/programs/CMBO. 3) GEM CMMOS also has to be installed in the expected place. Once again the default path there is something like C/programs/GEM CMMOS productions. [These aren't exactly the right names, but should be close enough to give you the general idea.] With CMBO and CMMOS in their expected places [yes, it's important, because if they aren't they won't be able to find each other], you then have to make sure that CMMOS is installed correctly. It helps if you know a little bit about how CMMOS works. The CMMOS program reads a rule from a ruleset, and then goes looking for a bmp file described in the rule in the CMBO bmp folder. If it can't find it, the icon for that mod on the control panel will be x'ed out. You also have to remember to hit the apply button at the bottom of the page to install a particular mod.[My personal favorite...I still make this mistake from time to time]. So the trick is to take the mods that you want CMMOS to use, UNZIP them to a holding folder, then copy and paste the bmp files to the CMBO bmp folder. For the mod to work you have to have a corresponding ruleset installed to the GEM CMMOS ruleset folder. In other words if you see a neat tank in the CMHQ CMMOS section, download and unzip it, you won't be able to use it if you didn't get the corresponding ruleset as well. These are quite small, and are listed separately from the bmp's (or were last time I looked). They tend to be listed in groups, so if you download and install rulesets for terrain, it should cover everything in the terrain section. I don't really know what is on the CD's, but the CMMOS version on CMHQ is the last version that everyone in the cmmos group worked on together. MikeT has updated the program and rewritten all the rulesets so that you can install the mods without unzipping them [a nifty space-saving feature the can be found on the CMMODS website], but the rulesets were not tested by the original group. I don't know why you are having problems downloading from CMHQ. I think your best bet would be to send Madmatt (who runs the site) an e-mail explaining your downloading problem. I've heard people mention this before, and tried downloading something a couple weeks ago to test it out, and had no problems (I don't have broadband and I don't have a fancy machine). Madmatt is extremely knowledgeable and should be able to steer you in the right direction if you're having a problem downloading something from his site.

I'm not sure I would want to try this, but one way would be to rename all the files so that the scenario name starts with an abbreviated date. You'd have to take liberties with the scenario titles, but they would appear in full in the briefing. There are several treatments of the same battle, and it is interesting to compare them to see who took the trouble to find and use an appropriate map. The comparison would be a lot easier if everything were grouped by date.

Many thanks, Michael. That not only has the information that I want, but is fun to read. The day I was interested in just happened to come right after a description of an unkempt and unshaven CO who was mistaken for a battle casualty by an ambulance crew while taking a nap.

At some point during the last two years I saw a list of the daily weather in the ETO. I would really like to know exactly what the weather was in Normandy during the first two weeks of August 1944. I seem to recall that this information is published on the web, but as I'm a bit undercaffeinated right now I don't seem to be searching for the right words. Any help would be appreciated. [And if what I'm looking for is in an appendix of Closing with the Enemy, I'll scream].

That, or Frontinus, who wrote a nifty little compendium of gamey tactics. Plutarch's Moralia has a lot of juicy bits. It's also the kind of thing you'd expect to find buried away in Lucian somewhere. And I wouldn't be surprised if it showed up in Polybius, in one of his rants about Tyche. The problem is, apart from the handbooks, that's a lot of material to dig through looking for a quote that may or may not exist. If I knew that this might be something associated with a particular general or speech, I'd happily start plowing through Cicero's speeches. There are lots of nice tropes about the uncertainty and mutability of war, but aphorisms on the futility of making plans don't ring a bell. Of course, I haven't lived there in a while.

My brain is mush right now so I'm drawing a blank. Any chance for a small hint as to what it was or what it was about? The tiniest thread would give me somewhere to look (though it's probably in one of those tactical handbooks that were so much in vogue in the late empire). On an unrelated but thematically connected note, there's a famous german military quote attributed to Frederick the Great that I've seen in German and English but that was probably composed in classical French ("Qui defend partout defend nulle part" -- sounds like something La Fontaine would say). Old Fritz allegedly only used German for speaking to his horses (there's probably a metaphor buried in there somewhere), but I would love to see the exact references for this one. [i went looking through Frederick's Instructions once, but was either daft or looking in the wrong one, or both]. Does anyone happen to know anything about the history of this quote? Did he really write/say/think it, and if so, where (and how often), and in what language? I hope this doesn't turn out to be an apocryphal dictum...

And some of us are still stuck in CMBO-land, and would really love to see that hotel updated, with or without the name (to avoid having three Hotel Constantines on the battlefield at once). On an unrelated note, I need to send you an e-mail about Normandy clear night skies. I seem to have made one that borrows part of your horizon (heavily darkened in Photoshop) and would like your opinion on whether or not to clean up the semi-accidental glow that occurs on around several of the hill tops (twenty odd pixels that I can leave in, take out or recolor slightly). Please drop me a line at padivine@aol.com.

Not quite sure what you are saying. I can answer questions about CMMOS 4.03 for CMBO. I also know a little bit about changing the introductory music. It would help if I knew which version you are using (CDV or BFC -- i.e. did you buy it direct or in a store)and whether you're using a Mac or a PC. I'm just guessing, but are you by any chance having problems getting the game to play different intro music? If so, it helps to toggle off the intro video. You also have to convert MP3 files into wav files with compatible characteristics. [in other words if you're trying to mod the intro music its not all that hard, but a bit more involved than just renaming files]. The music files on the CMHQ site (combatmission.com) are either wav files or are MP3 files that should convert correctly. [if it doesn't convert correctly, it either won't play, or will sound like ueber-hamsters singing in high, squeaky voices, and yes, I did seriously think about doing a total hamster mod for all of about five minutes]. And all bets are off if you're talking about CMBB, CMAK, or the demos.

Depending on taste, there are quite a few versions of Lili Marleen available. When I was working on my Sound of Music mod I had to choose between them, and finally narrowed it down to two or three (all of them period german language versions, as it turns out). The winner, of course, was Marlene Dietrich. The sound file doesn't have the gritty background static that the other versions have, but had a few annoying extra features (like audience applause interfering with the opening chords) that I was able to edit out. After a little delicate snipping at the front and the back of the file to make it work as a CMBO intro piece (and a little editing of sound quality done with a very light touch) the final result was a piece of high calibre authentic period music that even my girlfriend liked when I played it for her. So although you can find other versions of the Marlene Dietrich Lilli Marleen out there, they won't be as good a fit as this one. If you are interested, you should be able to find this (and other period music) in my Sound of Music mod which is listed on the CMHQ site in the CMBO CMMOS section. If you don't use CMMOS (or that version of CMMOS) what you should do is change the name of the file so that it doesn't have the weird CMMOS ending on it. You will have to convert the file from an MP3 to a WAV file, but because it was posted on a semi-official CMBO site it was rigorously tested to prevent the Alvin and the Chipmunks effect after conversion. There are also notes attached to the ruleset (which you don't really need to download) that explain how to go about this. These notes should be quite good since I wrote them when I was much younger and more intelligent than I am now...

Best place to ask this question is in the tech forum. There are several people there who will give you the answer in astonishing and lucid detail.

I just glanced at an on-line etymological dictionary. While I'm still not totally convinced, the party line seems to be that "cajun" is a corruption of "acadian". One source that I looked at went on to say that "Acadia" was itself a corruption of Verrazano's "Arcadia". I don't know if I believe that either, but I always wondered about it. I would be thrilled if someone could convince me that cajun doesn't come from acadian, and that Acadia isn't a corruption of Arcadia. Both those answers seem a little too easy.

Can't say that I know the etymology of the word with any certainty, either. I suspect it gets a little tricky because you have to take creole sounds into account. I had assumed it was a mispronunciation of "acadien", dropping the initial sound and slurring the rest. But I don't really know. Having said that, given the way some words in Haitian creole come out when they're spoken (often sounding a bit like West African French), nothing would surprise me. The linguistic gumbo in Louisiana is just as complicated (fossilized 18th century provincial French, French, Creole, Spanish, English). The one connection that I'm pretty sure is missing is Normandy.

I thought that the Cajuns included at least two different groups, one of which consisted of refugees from Acadia in Canada (pace Longfellow's Evangeline). The English do not bear the entire responsability for this ugly little bit of 18th century ethnic cleansing, in that they were apparently egged on by land-hungry colonists in New England (and New York ?).

1) You should really ask a question like this in the technical section. 2) As far as I know the game doesn't run without the original CD. 3) If you want to interest your friends in the game without running afoul of intellectual property laws, I believe that what you should do is to have them download the CMBO demo, and play that with them. (I don't know if it has a pbem option, but I would be surprised if it didn't.) 4) If the Great Bald One notices your post and decides to reply, remember to savor his answer for style while reaching for the aspirin (i.e. you're perilously -- albeit innocently -- close to dangerous territory).

There is a very helpful note at the bottom of page 7 of your manual that tells you how to toggle the intro movie on and off. I do not know if this works with the CDV version but its worth a try. If you poke around in the CMBO folder you should find a file for the movie. The intro movie is interesting if you have a fully modded version of CMBO and want to see what the original looked like. CMBO as playmobiles can be quite refreshing at times.

Oops. Not sure how that happened, but I seem to have posted to the wrong thread. Sorry. [ May 17, 2004, 12:47 AM: Message edited by: Philippe ]