Sgt Steiner

Hi all Those telegraph poles in PzElite are a nice touch which 'busy-up' the field of view I was considering getting the re-released PzElite (whilst awaiting CMBB) but the info on the penetration model is tad off-putting Cheers

Hi Pascal et al <blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Pascal DI FOLCO: IIIINCOMIIING !! HOSTED ! Get your kittys here : <hr></blockquote> For some reason I cant get either of these to download as they get to 99% then 'stick' and wont complete, I have tried 'Save Target As' as well as direct click on link but no joy, any suggestions as to possible problem or even better a solution Cheers [ 11-18-2001: Message edited by: Sgt Steiner ]</p>

Hi Agua <blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Agua Perdido: Anyone around here ever play "Patton's Best," a solitaire tank-fighting boardgame? <hr></blockquote> Pattons Best is an excellent game, I had several great campaign runs (some short -very !- others long) with crew all named as Hollywood Film Stars. Good roleplaying elements to this title. Also liked the similar system B17 game. If I recall correctly there was a Tank 'roleplay' game (basically a PBest clone) produced by makers of Ambush (had a pic of a Sherman bursting through a hedge on front I think) anyone remember what it was called ? Later Gary

Hi Michael et al Great source of info chaps Later

Hi Feldgrau et al I am most keen to obtain these excellent Mods my good man any word on which site you have/are sending them too and when ? Great work

Hi Michael et al <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Michael Dorosh: Good food for thought, Sgt Steiner, I thought it deserved to be reposted.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Yes I thought so too especially the 'spotting' issues raised. As a footnote S.Jary is still alive and kicking he was in fact on TV here in UK in a programme about Arnhem on BBC (part of Battlefields series with Dr Richard Holmes) I believe he still attends Normandy battlefield tours with Sandhurst cadets etc. Just no keeping a good man down Cheers

Hi Michael et al <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Michael Dorosh: You're referring at self-propelled Anti-Tank regiments I presume? Doesn't every British regiment consider themselves the best? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Yes SPAT Regts, which as far as I know were all Royal Artillery Regts (at least in NW Europe as were the AA Units) note they are organized in Batteries not Squadrons. Royal Artillery do consider themselves the best gunners bar none (I serve with a few ex-RA types) and nothing wrong with that I supposse (unless you have to listen to the claims firsthand !) Here is little ditty ref 62nd AT Regt RA during fighting around Buron on 8th July 1944 quote is from their War Diary ( excerpt found in Osprey Vanguard 10 by Bryan Perrett) "At about 0900 the Infantry (the Highland Light Inf Of Canada) had taken Buron though there were several Germans still holding out at the far end of the village. The Battery moved moved up and 'B' Troop were deployed on the SE side of the village and 'A' Troop at the S and W of the village. Shortly afterwards the Germans put down a very heavy shelling and mortar barrage and quickly followed this up by a counter-attack of some 20-30 Tanks. Two guns of 'B' Troop were able to engage and between them accounted for some 12-13 Panthers and Panzer IVs. The remaining tanks withdrew to the SE. The guns which accounted for the tanks were commanded by Sgt HW Bowden & Sgt GPJ Donovan' A further note by Perrett states 'the Battery had not got off lightly and after the action only three of its Achilles were in a fit state to continue' Also : 'During subsequent operations in Belgium, Holland and Germany the British TDs in addition to other duties often acted as heavy-weight snipers moving into posistion before the start of an attack to take out potential enemy observation posts in the church steeples and windmills that dominated the flat landscape' Does anyone know if US Tank Destroyer units were allocated the cream of the crop as crewmen in their units ? Cheers

Hi all Ref the Tigers one factor that numerous accounts etc mention is that (at least initially) the Tiger units were given the cream of Panzer personnel and one would therefore expect (if such was indeed true) that their 'accuracy' would be better than average. Bobby Woll appears to have been an exceptional gunner by all accounts (and big part of Wittmans fame) some note he had good ability to shoot on the move (something not practiced by most WWII crew). In period of CMBO (ie 1944-45) this 'Elite' crew status may have been a lot harder to acheive due to losses ? I believe similar 'Elite' crew status was claimed by the Stug units and indeed by British Tank Destroyer Regts as they had Royal Artillery crew who were rated above average (at least by themselves). Cheers

Hi Jason et al <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by JasonC: They probably tried to assign Challengers (which were quite rare) or Fireflies to all the subunits of a given formation. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Wandering a little off-topic but does anyone have any info on just which units used the Challenger ? I have a notion (no idea from where though) that they were used along with Cromwells in the Armoured Recon Regts. Interesting debate Cheers Gary

Hi Spook et al <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Spook: Consider further that the relative "quality" of German divisions in Normandy & afterwards was highly variable. {SNIP} It was very unit-dependent & situation-dependent. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Yes indeed I agree with this fully, I can think of several instances when German units most certainly did 'stand' with or without MGs or in Close Combat situations those that spring readily to mind are 'remanants of HJ at Falaise (last 50 fought to death as I recall) and the various FJ units oppossing 21st Army during Rhine crossings in 1945 again many noted as fighting to very last. There are numerous others. And we can quote similar instances for all armies in WWII. I agree with Spook that Jarys thoughts are exactly that - his - but still an important a source of info. Jarys point that if MG 'nests' became too hard to deal with he 'resorted' to bringing up HE support direct or indirect is very interesting and I would suspect was standard operating procedure for both British and US forces in NW Europe ? Cheers

Hi Rexford <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by rexford: We noticed that German gunners seem to automatically "see and find" the Firefly the moment it comes into view. Would ALL of the Germans be on alert to spot that tank and announce it to the world? It is not obvious that a Firefly and several 75mm Shermans facing a PzKpfw IVH group head-on, at 500m, would have the Firefly stand out to am obvious degree. [ 10-16-2001: Message edited by: rexford ]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Bit confused by your post which seems to ask the question and answer it too Several accounts etc make mention of fact that the Germans did target the Fireflies as they realised their potentcy but just how easy that was in battlefield conditions is questionable. Ken Touts excellent series of accounts includes several references to Fireflies being used 'in the background' ie in hidden/covered/ambush posistions partly due to their being targetted. In fact he credits the Fireflies of a British unit (Name escapes me at present)with destroying Wittman and accompanying Tigers on 8th August from just such ambush posistions. To be honest I cant say I have noted the CM AI targetting Fireflies as priority over and above other Allied Tanks ? Cheers

Hi Simon et al <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Simon Fox: Not sure how BTS model German fear of the bayonet, please fix or do somefink! His comments on the difficulty of locating MGs in country with good cover confirm my own impression that it is a little too easy to spot what is firing at you in CM. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Well they "dont like it up 'em" according to Pvt Jones so who am I to argue I to noted the 'spotting' issue Jary mentions which is something several battle accounts make mention of. Maybe a tad hard to quanitify for purposes of CMBO ? Cheers

Hi all Just came across this interesting article on one of my Miniatures Rules Yahoo Group. I quote it verbatim as some food for thought (maybe this should be in General Forum though ?):- "Subject: WW2 German infantry effectiveness Hi guys I recently came across the following article in a British Army house magazine and I thought it might be of interest to the members of this forum. I casts some interesting light on the performance (or lack thereof) of German infantry units during the later part of WW2. It should be noted however that the author, Sydney Jary, is writing from personal wartime experience, having fought against the Germans as an infantry officer. His book "18 Platoon" is an excellent account of life in a British infantry battalion in Normandy and the subsequent advance into Germany. I thought that his comments might add a bit to the recent debate on small arms effectiveness, covering as it does the contentious areas of WW2 German effectiveness and the effectiveness of modern small arms fire. A Matter of Vulnerabilities: German Infantry Weaknesses in WWII Sydney Jary MC In the course of working up material with Carbuncle for f 'The Wrap?' (p 30), we identified some matters which did not fit with the main thrust of that article but which we felt deserved an airing, as they have a relevance going beyond their immediate context. They represent realities from WWII experience which are very much in tune with the manoeuvrist approach. Key Dependencies Many years ago, when I was writing 18 Platoon, I said that: 'in many attacks the prisoners we took outnumbered our attacking force and German units who would continue to resist at close quarters were few indeed'. Stupidly I did not expand on this statement. Recently, while dozing after Sunday lunch, my mind wandered around the extraordinary change in the fighting performance of most of the German infantry that occurred during the closing stages of a battle. German platoons, companies and battalions which, early in the battle, had fought with heartless ferocity, would surrender in aimless droves. This phenomenon happened frequently. Why was this? After pondering on this matter a factor, common to my experience in many battles, emerged. The German infantry lost heart once we had knocked out their MG42 detachments. There was undoubtedly an over reliance on their MGs both in the attack and, more obviously, in defence. I suspect that this was the consequence of the training they received which certainly dated back to the Somme in 1916 and probably before - certainly it was noted on many occasions in the 1918 battles that ordinary German infantry did not seem to know how to use their rifles. In 1944-45 their riflemen, not including their snipers, were generally poor shots. They seemed to be primarily carriers of cases and more cases of linked ammunition for their MGs. Eliminating the MG42 was our first priority and, due to the gun's high rate of firepower - has it ever been exceeded? - and well sited mutually supporting positions, it could rarely be achieved by physical assault, even using fire and movement. To knock them out we required HE, fired directly by supporting armour or, indirectly by Dennis Clarke or Bramley Hancock, our beloved F00s. It took me until our assault on Mont Pincon on 6th August to realise what game the Germans were playing. Clearly they did not like close combat and chose to keep us at arm's length with a display of massive MG firepower. Without HE support it was almost always impossible to get close enough to assault with rifle and bayonet. Our infantry platoons could not match the firepower of the MG42. This was recognised to some extent in the training pamphlets of the time; The Infantry Company 1942 states that two British platoons were required to win a firefight against one German - and this was before the MG42 was on general issue. Of one thing I am certain, a platoon armed with SA8O and LSW would be stopped by MG42s well out of range of their own platoon weapons. But remember, there was always the perennial problem of locating well camouflaged MG's. The Germans were very good indeed at concealment and their tracer rounds, igniting two hundred yards from the muzzle of the gun, assisted this. For instance, during the early stages of our assault on Mont Pincon we were engaged by about a dozen MG 42s: to this day I have no idea of their position. German reliance on the MG was by no means restricted to defence. In the attack they rarely finished with an assault with rifle and bayonet preferring to deluge the opposition with a powerful display of MG firepower supplemented by machine pistols and stick grenades. A Matter of Balance I tend to view past battles fought by my platoon as an artist would judge his paintings or a composer his compositions. My favourites are, first, the infiltration through the back lanes of Vernonnet during Operation NEPTUNE, 43rd (Wessex) Division's assault crossing of the Seine at Vernon in late August 1944. The next is an advance to contact - and in contact too - from Cleve to Bedburg on 12 February 1945 in Operation VERITABLE. They had much in common: both were essentially light infantry fast infiltration operations. Both were unsupported by artillery or armour. And, both were highly successful. The third, Mont Pincon, was different in that we had effective artillery support and a spirited modicum of armour. All three had a very important tactic in common, which was infiltration leading to surprise, and catching the opposition off-balance. In my view, the Germans did not generally expect to be surprised by British tactics and as a result were that much more vulnerable when it did happen. 'If at first you don't succeed, try something sneaky' is a maxim that should appeal to a Light Infantry Platoon Commander. It always requires brains, more often than not considerable sweat, but it does save blood. In recent years I have had a great deal of experience with today's Army, particularly the Infantry and I find as little interest shown in infiltration as there was in my time. My 18 Platoon became masters of the tactic. In Vernonnet my Company penetrated to the escarpment behind the town, outflanked the opposition and took all the battalion's objectives. At Bedburg the platoon, as point platoon of 129 Brigade, advanced four miles, overran a company of Fallschirmjager, killing thirteen and taking fifty seven prisoners. We were twenty-two strong. This enabled the battalion to take ground which allowed 43rd (Wessex) Division to wheel behind the Reichswald Forest towards Goch. At Mont PinCon on 6th August 1944, having been brought to a grinding halt by overwhelming fire from MG42s, after dark the whole battalion infiltrated through the German positions, thus becoming king of the castle. Admittedly infiltration is not for beginners, but it sits comfortably within the concept of mission command - which itself is not for beginners. It does seem to this old soldier that skill at infiltration should be second nature to our light unarmoured infantry battalions. In the kind of peace support operations now so fashionable, it may well provide decisive results at low cost in numbers required and, so importantly, in casualties too." Cheers

Hi <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Dogface21: Theres probably a CM Addicts Annonymous group somewhere already, they're just not in the yellow pages, Ive looked.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Thats because it is annonymous Cheers A fellow addict.........

Hi I can remember before this game arrived that I was able to paint up numerous Miniature Armies and play a game with them at least once a month, play various board Wargames and even play a considerable amount of Pbem Western/Eastern Front ! But now........if I am not playing a CM Pbem turn I am playing the AI, or dabbling with various mods, perusing various CM related web-sites and even doing the odd Mod/Scenario !!! I still manage the odd Miniatures game but have not painted anything in donkeys ages and cant even remember last time I played a Board game This game really gets its hooks in goodness knows what CMBB effect will be ! Truly a work of genius Cheers

Hi all It would be nice to know even a proposed/tentative release date as I need to tell Santa in good time This reminds me of the wait for AHs Cross Of Iron module for Squad Leader it was always being put back then suddenly it arrived Cheers

Hi Scipio Nice Mod, from whence will it be available (Warfare HQ ?) and when ? Cheers

Hi Feldgrau

Hi Franko et al I would love a copy of your scn involving 11th Armoured 'Black Bull' Division Keep up the good work Cheers

Hi <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Amidst_Void: Mmmmm... Newbiefest 2001.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Says member 6922 Over and out member 2536 Cheers 'the newbie'

Hi Von Lucke <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by von Lucke: Where'd you get the Nazi VL flag? I'm still using those made-up German "battle flag" things...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> These are by a bloke called Rick Klein & I think I got them from Toms Combat Mission HQ (he also does some flags with specific Pz Divn Insignia). If you cant find them let me know and I will send you the Zip file Cheers

Hi all Glad you enjoyed the pic but not as much as I did when the M10 went to Valhalla ! Ref the Mods etc I have so many now I lose track of whats what and which is whose if you know what I mean But I believe this shot shows : Maguas Bldgs from his excellent Normandy Mod (I use PzTruppens for Winter stuff) with one older Magua mod for 2 storey light bldg. Stug is indeed from Fernandos superb mod. Skies I use are mix of Maguas/Tigers/BBs and Tanks (just mixed and matched those I prefered) Grass I again use a mix of several (to give patchwork-quilt look) from Magua/GunnerGoz/DD BTW This shot was taken at Level 2 with a Zoom in not level 1. Later

Hi all Just had to post this pic of a StugIIIG in a current Pbem QB (opponnent the hounourable 'Von Niemack'). This AP round is outbound on its way to brew a flanking US M10 Wolverine. Boy I love this game Cheers

Hi 'Wild Bill' These both sound excellent looking forward to them as always Cheers

Hi Another source of info is George Fortys 'British Army Handbook 1939-45' which has a chapter on Tactics, Key phrases are 'Battle DRills' & 'Standard Operating Procedures' This chapter has a couple nice diagrams showing Secytion Attacks, PLatoon Advances & Street Fighting. Cheers