HarryInk

It's a pathetic little question I have as to whether this is a bug... In a PBEM I tell my Brit 2" mortar crew to ping away at a target which they obligingly do till all their HE ammo is gone. But so enthused are they that they continue on to use the few smoke rounds they've got as well!! I never asked for smoke. Do such crews always use everything unless you tell them to stop?

That randomizer's a nifty tool. It looks like it's just for windows? Is there a MAC version?

Actually, having seen Marco rushing tanks around a battlefield, I do believe that he would rush even Nashorns. In fact, if he could mount rinocerouses from the Berlin Tiergarten on arty tractors and charge them at me I believe he'd try that too!

Yerrrrrggghhhh!! Get outta here BSD!! *LMAO* Thanks guys. The advice is ace...I had NO idea about the effect of TRPs on ATGs! Does that count even if SP AT has moved before firing (eg...say the darstardly BSD hits a flank I've TRP'd and I rush my nasty Nashorn over that way and target enemy units near the TRP. I'd expect that there's no bonus in that case...rather like the situation of losing TRP benefits for on board arty if you've moved it in-game). Gotta read manual one day.

At the risk of giving some hints about upcoming tactics in my battles....hehehe I've typed variations on "TRP" into the search engine and haven't found a satisfactory thread to answer my querie about them...which is: What is good practice with TRPs? One example I've come across: I've read a Fionn Kelly AAR (vs. The Capt) where he side-comments when considering attacking a village that his opponent would have probably TRPed the assembly areas for bounds into the village. So I take it the woods in front of the village from which Kelly might launch attacks would have been arty registered by his enemy. When Kelly sets up for the rush, suddenly he'll have 105s raining on his parade.... Sounds like a nifty idea. But I'm sure there's more can be done with these devices...or other 'doctrinal' practices. Anyone out there got any good advice, fav' tactics, or horror stories about TRPs they'd care to share?

Played a nifty 1000pt TH battle with Woodman. He kicked my A in a very workman like way such that after losing most of a village and seeing my flanking counterattack get punched out by a very tough little Greyhound (an AFV which is gaining my respect), I dropped smoke on no man's land and ran my troops for my edge of the board. About 15 poor buggers were suppressed and stuck on the map with the various carcasses. So...what's my question? Does withdrawing troops safely off the map affect victory points/outcome @ the end of the day, or am I just indulging a little conceit of mine about being able to run away to fight again another day?

Cheers from Australia. I'm wondering where else is good to find CM opponents for IP games, apart from Battlefront's opponent's forum. And if you know of any Australian or New Zealand CM gamer sites....I'd love to know about them, or I'd be obliged should you zip this mail on to them. Cheers harry

bloody bloody funny!

I know I've seen this question asked somewhere before, but I can't find the place. I'm running CM on an iMac and would really like to delete the big BANG that sounds when I close up. How do I do this? Cheers harry

*sob* oh well, thanks muchly for the sage-advice. I'll have to wait 'til I'm leasing a better 'puter in my next job next year. Then I can go mod crazy! *L* Thanks again. Cheers HH

Yep. Incisive, succint, and funny.

Okay. I looked @ this iMac's a$$. It has written there: Power PC G3 233MHz; 512k cache; 32MB; 4GB HD;24x CD ROM. Now I know that (i) this was an early iMac, (ii) my partner bought another 32MB RAM for graphics (expecting to play with DTP and Photoshop) when she bought the 'puter, and (iii) it's running on OS 8.5 We have the screen set @ 800x600 95Hz, but whenever I kick up CM it gets presented as 640x480 117Hz. So waddaya reckon. A hopeless case? I should just lease a half-way decent PC laptop for my CM addiction, or can it be redeemed here on this iMac? Please please help! *grin* Harry

And what do you do with this problem when you're running an iMac. Can you remove the same file? Is it in the same place? Cheers Harry

Hi all, Thanks for the great posts about Stuh42s and StugIIIs, especial Silvio's stats. And also a welcome! to newbies. I've found the CM crowd very virtually supporting Regarding the Assault Guns .. though I realise the discussion's strayed a little .. I flicked thru an Osprey book on them in a military bookshop in here Melbourne. The text quoted from the German A/G commander's handbook and noted two types of deployment for them. 1. They're used in the A/T role when situated en masse as a curtain behind which battle tanks retire, hoping to lure the enemy tanks to skewer themselves on the (presumedly well positioned, maybe even dug in Stu's. 2. They're deployed for to support infantry assault, en masse. I emphasise the first point [support] after losing a StugIII and a PIV in a TCP battle the other night cos I brought them unnecessarily within zook range. Moreover, earlier in that battle, I had nerves about a lone zook team that charged toward the tanks' position. I didn't have an infantry screen to protect the tanks and the terrain was going to make it an even contest. So I learnt that tanks kill tanks #1, but do so best when protected from the distraction of enemy inf AT by a friendly infanty screen; and that when they've neutralised the enemy armor, they do well to support the inf assault again. 2. It seems that the Germans virtually refused to deploy the Assault Guns in the numbers we'd usually use them for in CM. The Osprey text made it pretty clear that deploying lone troops of AGs was just not on. They are brigade or divisional level assets, to be used as big steroid injections to major assaults, and must have done their jobs in company+ size formations. In practical terms this would ameliorate the fretting about flanks and traverse. On your flank would have been another AG, and another on its flank, and there would have been a second line behind you to fill the gaps and take out enemy elements that were busily firing at you. Hmmmmmm

Well wow! Thanks everyone for the replies and advice...especially the stats, Silvio. Oh, and I join him in welcoming all and sundry to discussions regardless of experience. I was reading about German assault guns today in a military bookshop. The Osprey book on them stated they were meant to be used more or less as identified by players here (ie. supporting infantry...not from the front but as close support DF near the front...or they were an A/T curtain which battle tanks withdrew behind, hoping the enemy tanks would pursue and get skewered by hull downed A/Guns). The important difference that it informed me of...and its source was the German Assault Gun commander's handbook ... was that A/Gs were only to be used en masse. Single troops were not to be farmed out. Rather they were a higher level asset to be used by divisional commanders to really beef up their main attacks. We don't get to enjoy that side of them in CM when we're playing 1-2000 point games. Maybe the truly ambitious can get drawn into some enormous 4-5000 point game where you're pushing around regiments and drawing in brigade and division assets. Otherwise, they'll stay as stray 1s 2s or 3s in somewhat unhistorical but still fun combos

Ah, cheers for both the all the replies, particularly Silvio's ace stats. Yes the 'roar in' was a little figurative. Though, if one can afford to buy and jockey SMG PzGren's then closing to 250m would be reasonable (I'm still assuming that would keep the AG behind my infantry line). Other discussions have rejected the Stu/g as AT weapons in favour of the Hertzers, which seem sensible given the H's superior frontal armor.

This knowledge I have of assault guns in general, gained from a quick search of the Dbase here: Keep 'em well back and hidden until your infantry has (a) reconed the target and surroundings and ( come up against something it can't crack for itself. Then roar in with the assault gun (preferably 2 or 3 AGs) to overwhelm the target. Once committed, keep em in cover, well supported by inf, and on the move (ie. keep the initiative and don't let your enemy regain balance 'til you've got what you want and are ready for counterattacks). That much is theory. Anyone out there got practical CM advice about these bits of hardware that I've neglected until now?

1. Thanks for the reply. 2. It seems my hunch with them has been right. They've only worked for me when the enemy inf are pinned by HE or fire and/or wedded to their foxholes in woods. When the mortar h/tracks have been involved in trying to repluse attacked, they've just been punched out asap. 3. Top Hat?????

I've been auto assigned mortar carrying halftracks in the last couple of games I've played (both as Axis and American). I've found them frustrating, being relatively unwilling to expose the halftrack to too much return fire, and finding that they don't link up with command such that I could use COs as spotters. Anyone out there have experience with these delecate creatures, and have some suggestions about their use?