kevsharr

scrool button...what a concept!

From the photo's I have in my reference book's Battlefront is correct,the IS-2 does not have a hull mg,the driver is centered in the hull.

He was also good in 'Hell is for Heroes".My favorite line of his from Magnificent 7 was "Nobody throws me my gun's and say's run,nobody'

The Hummel and wespe had two piece ammunition because they were howitzer's that used variable charge rates to change the distance the projectile could travel.All howitzer's be the self-propelled or towed had separate propellant cases.

QUOTE[sorry if I jumped the gun on you...I just have a pet peeve about users complaining to developers that they aren't producing fast enough. Sounds like you have a thourough knowledge of project management in the IT world. I apologize for for being rude about this...] That is one of my pet peeves...developers putting out product's that are acknowledged to need a patch.I am not singling out BFS in saying this I intend to wait until the patch is out to purchase cmbb.But there are developer's that sell program's that they KNEW were not ready,take Silent Hunter II I eagerly awaited it's debut for two year's and when it was seleased it was so dissapointing as to be rediculas,the first mission in the campaign was IMPOSSIBLE to complete but you had to to advance to the next mission.It was patched but not by the developers but by the people at Naval warfare simulation's.When Destroyer Command came out it was supposed to have a multi-player function that enabled you to play against SH II players.An intriging concept indeed and it said on the box that this was the main function but alas when released this was not part of the package it needed a patch for this function and the developer's took there sweet time issueing it.If you E-mailed them you would get no responce and post's on sim-HQ about it were ignored.SH II is no longer on my harddrive because of weird stuff like super destroyer's that were immpossible to escape,ship's that would beach themselves but could continue to be attacked with torpedoes.Why release a un-finished product that will just alienate your customer's I would rather wait and purchase a complete product than pay full price for an unfinished product that reqiueres multiple patches.There recently was a flight simulator distributed by Wal-Mart that was actually a alpha version!They had to recall all the copies and refund their money..stupid.There are many examples of this practise.Like I say I'm not singling out BFS the fault lies eqaully with the impatient consumer.I guess this is the age of instant gratification after all P.S for the people who don't like stupid post's my mouse has a scrool button that work's so I can avoid them [ November 18, 2002, 05:22 PM: Message edited by: kevsharr ]

I was'nt going to post any more replies to this subject because evidently I'm not informed enough but does anybody really believe that communism and national socialism could have really co-existed?As allies?Hitler stated in Mein Kampf what his intention's were,the only hope for Germanic survival was eastern expansion,Leibenstraum,living space.Stalin was no fool he realised[excuse the vernacular]that europe was'nt big enough for the two of them.He had already demonstrated his desire for communist expansion with his aggression against Finland.And with the signing of the non-aggresion pact he saw a chance to take advantage of nazi aggresion,witness his subjegation of half of Poland and the occupation of Lithuania,Latvia and Estonia.How can one think that he sat there and watched as the german army conquered most of europe and considered himself immune to the same thing.Any student of history{and I've read more than one book on the subject of WW II]MUST see that there was going to be a clash between the two.They were ideologicaly opposed,there's no doubt about this,they could not co-exist.With 24.000 tank's and million's of men mobilised do you really think that Stalin was going to be satisfied with the status quo?Communism's goal was world domination not necessaraly by military mean's but by a gradual takeover,but the survival of the Soviet state was neccesary for it's reallisation.How does one explain the fact that massive troop formation were gathered along the frontier,the first real defensive position that the german's encountered was the Stalin line and it was nowhere near the frontier.The large formation's that Runstedt's army group encountered in the Ukraine suggest's a build up for a thrust at the oil field's of Rumania and Hungary,the soviet's had to be aware of the limited amount of domestic oil that germany possessed.I cannot believe that Stalin was going to sit back and let Hitler dictate to the world,the man just does'nt strike me as that kind.I can't believe that the thought of a communist Europe occured to him after the german defeat,after all he was a deciple of Lenin not Jefferson.24.000 tank's,what were they for?tank's are inherently an OFFENSIVE weapon especially when massed in large formation's like they were near the frontier does anyone really think this massive army that he possessed was a defensive tool?...Reality what a concept

In reading some of the earlier posts I came across something about the fact that Stalin was considering an attack on the german's before he was attacked might this not explain the fact that Runstedt's army group south faced the majority of the russian tank force's?Granted he was assigned only one panzergruppe but his army group was the slowest advancing of the three.He also faced the bulk of the T-34 and KV-1s.In book's I have a large part of the photo's of knocked out russian tank's were taken in the southern sector

Has anyone here played War in Russia the matrix addition?I like starting in summer '42 but instead of case Blue I withdraw my panzer div. and attack Moscow really messes up the AI

In Joechim Jung's book "History of the Panzerregiment GrossDeutchland"he mention's an order that they were to shoot at immobilized or seemingly dead tank's until they burned to prevent being fired at by a "dead" tank once they past.

I believe so but I still believe that the capture of Moscow would have resulted in the collapse of the communist regime.I realise that it's only one city but it was the economic and political centre of the Soviet Union.Capitol's have there importance like France capitulating right after the fall of Paris,Hitler's own stubborness in realizing that the Soviet's goal was to capture the lair of the facist beast-Berlin.The bombing of Rotterdam led to the surrender of the low countries,Warsaw was the focus of the attack on Poland.The capture of Belgrade by the 2nd SS led to Yugoslavia's demise so one must be carefull to underestimate the importance of these politicaly important target's. As to the question of the japanese I believe that the army was a bit more farsighted in it's strategy regarding the Soviet Union.With it's collapse the balance of power in the world would have experianced a major shift toward's the axis.China,Japan's Vietnam,would have been outflanked and with the concentration of germany's attention on Britain our ability to enforce the embargo that led to the adoption of the navyies southern solution would have been severly effected [interesting note-The part of the tripartite pact that germany signed with Japan that they agreed to declare war on countries that the other signer's engaged in was the only treaty that Hitler ever stood by which eventually led to his downfall.

Michael I apologise if I sounded offencive the intent was'nt there and I don't mean to sound argumentative but a discussion require's two sides or tour just preaching to the already converted sort of speak.Again I appologise

And while were speculating what would the outcome have been if the Japanese had adopted the Army's Northern Option and attacked the Soviet Union in Dec,'41 instead of The U.S?

Just so you guy's know I find discussion's like this enjoyable and informative and if everyone agreed about everything would'nt this be a boring world? [how does one get those smiley faces in a post?] [ November 17, 2002, 11:53 AM: Message edited by: kevsharr ]

[i don't know what maps you have been looking at, but there was already a rail line running, albeit somewhat indirectly, from Archangel to Rostov and points south that ran about 300km east of Moscow. More to the point, once you get south of Moscow, there were several lines running east-west and a few more that ran north-south.] To what militarly important industrial area's were these lines running to? [Don't forget that the Soviets were also perfectly capable of laying track wherever they felt they really needed it. While not exactly a speedy process, it could be done to close the occasional gap.] All this while Moscow was occupied and Leningrad besieged?THE most important rail line was the one running from the Ural's to moscow.The russians were supposed to build a rail line from it to Stalingrad and to the Leningrad area during the worst winter in russian history?I'm not sure what map you're looking at but you're talking a tremendous distance with an outlay of hundred's of thoasand's of ton's of steel not counting the workforce that would have to be supplied even with lend-lease[which by the way was just barely starting].Speaking of lend-lease where did the line from Murmansk run?Vladavostok?I think it went to Moscow

[by keke And what are those historical documents?] How obout the chief of the general staff Halder's diary written during the war "The proposal's of the army for the continuation of the operation's in the east do not accord with my intention's. The most important objective to attain before the onset of winter is not the capture of Moscow but the taking of the Crimea,the industrial and coal-mining area's of the Donets basin and the cutting off of the russian oil supplies from the Caucasus.In the north it is the locking up of Leningrad and the union with the Finn's" Hitler's statement made on August 21st.

{This is one more area where really solid evidence is lacking. But as long as we are speculating, I would say that had the Germans captured Moscow in the winter of '41, the war would have continued, but at a lower intensity over that part of the front. Heavy fighting might have picked up in the South in '42 as the Germans make a bid to capture the oilfields. Maybe this time they might have won, but that's by no means a sure thing.} How would this have been possible? As I said earlier one look at the show's that all road's led to Moscow.Beyond the Volga there was no rail or road net only wilderness.Even the german's envisioned a stop at the line Archangel-Astrakhan for that reason.The area's beyond this line were so desolate and remote that there were villages that did'nt even know there was a war going on.ALL reinforcment's and replacement's went thru Moscow.What were the russian's going to do build another Moscow a couple of hundred miles farther east on the trans-siberian railroad and then build track's to stalingrad and the northern front's?

I have to disagre about the statement that the taking of Moscow would not have changed anything.A look at a map of the soviet union at the time show's that Moscow was the very heart of the soviet rail system.The trans-siberian rail line had moscow as it's terminus and all the lines north,west and south spider web from it.Also if the german's had attacked five or six week's earlier Zhukov and his siberian's who were the decisive factor in the "miracle at Moscow"would not have been available.Hitler's indecision as to the shwerpunkt of Barbarrossa is also a causative factor in the failure of Barb.The field commander's were of the opinion that Moscow was indeed the main objective but Hitler changed his mind in august and decided that Leningrad and the Caucasus were more important.After the defeat of the russian forces aroun Kiev he had another change of heart and ordered Oper.Taifun but by then it was to late,the weather and the condition of his Panzer unit's and the present's of the siberian forces doomed it.

Sometimes the Ai's bizarre targeting can be usefull spoiler * * * * * I was playing the first installement of Any Port in the Storm,I had cleared the ridge and was sweeping down toward's the crossroad's when to my suprise a Marder II appeared on the road at the map edge.My M-8 hmc was a sitting duck on top of the ridge not 60 metres away,fortunatly I had forgotten one of my bazooka men in the would's so I gave him a run order to the edge of the ridge,I also targeted it with the M-8 but stupidly forgot to cancel the movement order I had given it in the previous turn.So when I hit go the M-8 started rolling,dutifully carrying out the movement order I was annoyed at my forgetfullness but to my temporary relief the Marder started banging away at a 60 mm mortar that was about 30 metres away from it.My M-8 was perfectly silloheted[it's still early in the morning,bad spelling]on the ridge showing it's flank.After two shoot's at the poor mortar unit it finally shifted fire to my M-8 one round and it was toast,but here came my bazooka hero sprinting sprinting thru the tree's stopped and fired a round which found it's mark.So I guess the computer probably yell's at it's own unit's as much as we yell at our's for targeting a crew when there's a panther slowly turning it's L/70 toward's us,maybe it all even's out

One interesting aside is that the german's invaded russia with less tank's than they had to invade france and the low countries.Granted by the summer of '41 they had less pz-1's and II's and more III's and IV's but with ger. intelligence estimating 10.000 tank's in the russian inventory and given the land mass they intended to occupy...talk about audacious

I obtained a copy of this book a few year's ago from the military book club and it is very good.I also agree with his conclusion that this was a fatal decision on Hitler's part.At the time there was next to nothing in front of Guderian to stop a successfull advance on Moscow

I have read with interest the statement that the short-barreled 7.5cm gun mounted in the stug IIIB is useless against the T-34 and KV-1 in cmbb.So I decided to look in my library for a instance that I remember reading about,I found it in James Lucas's book"War on the Eastern Front"here is an excerpt. "A soviet T-34 made the first move.In an obvious attempt to test the alertness of the german gunner's it was driven down hill and disappeared into a balka.The intention was pehap's to attack from a flank and the crew's of the SP gun's could hear the roar of the T-34 engine as the vehicle traversed the group's front.The roar of russian tank engine echoed from the wall's of the shallow ravine and then increased to a deafening scream as the driver revved up.The T-34 shot out of the balka and the first shot from the 7.5 exploded behind him for the gunner had not allowed for such a rate of speed.The second shot was a direct hit and even though the russian tank maintained it's course for a few second's and even fired off a shot,there was a sudden burst of flame,an explosion and a cloud of thick and heavy black smoke. There was again a short period of silence as both sides waited and then a KV-1 charged down hill firing it's machine gun.The great tank then halted and opened fire with it's main armament,,halted then fired again.A third advance brought it to within 1.500 metres of the german group and then as it drew nearer but still remained on the upper ground an SP opened up.Simultaneously the KV fired and although the russian gun had the higher rate of fire the gun-laying was poor.The second shot from the 7.5 was a direct hit.Only two of the crew were seen to escape.A third soviet tank,another T-34,then made the downhill descent but instead of pressing home it's attack concentrated on trying to drag the KV back into the russian positions. The 7.5 gun opened up and it's fire was supplemented by the howitzer which bombarded the area around the two russian tank's with HE,driving into cover the crew's attempting to fasten the tow ropes.With both tank's immobile the SP had sitting target's and with one round the T-34's turret was blown off and the tank began to burn. Another long pause followed and then a T-34 came down to try a second rescue attempt.This machine to was shot to pieces and brewed up.A fourth T-34 made it's move to rescue the KV,and to cover the charge it made the remaining russian tank's open fire.Their shot's fell short but the 7.5 scored another hit.There was another hiatus in the fighting although the russian tank's milled about the area none of them dared to come down and engage the german who were still suprised that the russian's had not made a mass move or at least attempted to enfilade the german gun's" This was in the autumn of '41 and these were short-barreled stug's.This not only shows the effectivness of the L/24 7.5cm gun but also may illustrate the scarcity of the KV's if they were willing to sacrifice three T-34 to recover it.

Is it cmmos compatable?

Even though I'm an american I must admit that I consider that the war was won on the eastern front.If the german's had been able to defeat the russian's that would have freed up large forces and we had our hand's full with the sixty or so div. we allready were facing

I have been to Aberdeen twice,it is very remarkable both the indoor museum and outdoor display.One of the more interesting vehicle's is the Pz.IV with the hydro=static transmission.Only one was built and they've got it.In fact it is in pan.22 of the shot's taken in the previous post it is the one with the rear final drive sprocket's. [ November 07, 2002, 09:48 AM: Message edited by: kevsharr ]

The exception being the Grossdeuchland div. which had it's own integral tiger battalion the III/Panzerregiment Grossdeuchland.I believe also that the SS panzer division's had tiger companies added to their third battalion's