danbob

Playing Tobruk, Easter 1941 as the Brits right now, against a skilled opponent, and frantically reading your book (and some others) about how they went about really killing panzers with Boys ATRs. About to stain my knickers. Thanks for the book! DANBOB

Cool, I'm really talking to the author? It's one of my favorite WW2 books....proven by the fact that it sits on the bookshelf in my bathroom next to the commode. Not many books get that honor, and they usually have to have short chapters in them ;~) So, my honest opinion -- I like the short story/after action report format. I like your sources...some are my alltime favorites (Brazen Chariots, etc), and others were brand new to me....more new books to pick up! The courier font bugged me at first, until I got into it and caught the battlefield typewriter idea...it's not HARD to read, it's just different....took me back to my elementary school days before personal computers---now everyone has proportional instead of monospaced fonts and we are all used to them. They didn't have proportional spaced fonts during WW2, except on the linotype machine for Stars and Stripes! Blurry maps, but you already knew that. Personally I'd like about 10 times more maps -- one for each major battle report....which wouldv;e been impossible I'm sure. Damn fine job on your book! I just re-read another story today while on the can, since I'm preparing for a brutal Thanksgiving day TCP/IP game tomorrow that was covered in one of your stories. I wish I had the time to spend on researching musty WW2 archives like you did -- it would be a labor of love. DANBOB

Red Barricades Campaign, Game 3. 2 teams of 2 players. Ward (ger) trying to reduce a building full of Red Guards with StuGs. He rolls 5 11s in a row to hit, over the course of 2 turns. Actual quote : "If I roll another *^$#@&^@#B!eleven I will personally give EACH of you $20!" Guess what he rolled? He was very quick with his wallet though. He just hadn't learned psychic dice control for ASL yet. I'm still trying to learn psychic random number generator seed control for CMBO though. No luck yet. Danbob [ 01-23-2002: Message edited by: danbob ]</p>

My humble opinion? If I can't get the information I need from a site using Lynx, then somebody is spending too much time on frilly BS and not enough time on content. Danbob

I'm glad ASL is alive and well...we still enjoy it, and will probably buy the new modules. There are many, many details and theatres in ASL that CMBO doesn't cover... Cheers Danbob

Whoops....yes, there's some stuff missing from my pile there. We do have Code of Bushido, Gung Ho, and Red Barricades....wonder where they went to??? Still in the closet I bet. I better go look! I would like to see a Pacific Theatre CM game, but the Eastern Front should keep me occupied for at least a year or two....and agree witht he previous comment regarding Pegasus Bridge...ASL has rules for EVERYTHING, and I do miss gliders, starshells and such in CMBO. Oh yes, and gunflashes! Danbob

Our ASL pile (that's Advanced Squad Leader for you youngsters)...weight 80 lbs, cost about US$1,000 if you count the lead miniatures and painting supplies (not shown) for Deluxe ASL. Large table and cat-proof room required to save games. Uses mechanically-agitated 6-sided cubes for randomization. Sound effects depend on mental state of players. Features the odd and time-consuming phenomenon of "rules checks," in which players compete to quickly look up arcane phrases within hundreds of pages of rules written in legalese, with the most convincing and/or pushy player winning in the interpretation. Compared to that small disc in the foreground...see it? It looks kind of like a small, shiny vinyl LP (youngsters...look up "vinyl," "LP," and "album" in the dictionary.)Cost, $45 + S/H. Weight 1/2 ounce. 3D graphics included. Rules checks not needed. Saving games requires only disk space and a few seconds. Sound effects included, but are not as good as Jake the Yak's during game 6 of the 29-game Red Barricades campaign and after drinking much Stoli (he WAS playing the Russians after all...) BUT SERIOUSLY...we do still get together and push the cardboard counters and lead miniatures now and then--but only with small scenarios. The convenience and speed of play in CMBO is outstanding. I doubt we'll ever attempt Reb Barricades again, it's a year-long propostition to play the whole campaign, and dedicates an entire room of the house to its completion. Cheers to all.... Danbob age=34 SL/ASL player since age 14, converted to CMBO one year ago today!

Looks just like what I see out my window right now.....'cept here it's more brown than green. But the spotty snow cover looks pretty darn good from here.

34 Started playing Squad Leader at age 14.