j0ker

So I've finally made it to Week 2 of Jan. '42 (hooray for me) and this continuous process of getting about half my troops on the field with only 10% ammo is beginning to not be so much fun anymore. I can understand that this was probably the way it was back then but - sheesh - having to crank out multiple games in one night because the AI calls ceasefire and hands me defeats because I don't have enough ammo & troops, I get the point already. Any suggestions on how to tweak the #s a bit to make it more interesting? I hate to just go with 100% ammo, or with 100% troops, i know that's not entirely fair either.... (neither is repeatedly facing Allies +100%, but at least it's realistic, or so i've been told) okay, can i whine any more. thank you. j0ker.

thanks Scarhead - never saw this happen before. I must be starting to do something right. which reminds me: I see a potential ad campaign for BCR which spins the concept of 'better tactical fitness', and having before (flabby old men) and after (some shot of the Rock or something) shots of satisfied clients who have used BCR and have improved their gameplay... just a thought

News from the front: after we moved out of Kiev, all of the troops seemed to relish being back in the country again. It seems to suit them: the 2 battles since leaving that hell-hole of a city have been against numerically superior numbers yet have been fortunate to be Total V's for das Reich. Now, Hitler's seen fit to outfit my command with almost half a BN of Veteran Romanians, and has also sent me back into the next large town - or what's left of it, after much damage... there's rubble everywhere, and it seems the Russians are content to defend the area directly BEHIND the city's remains instead... Too much open area to cover in 35 mins... I've just deployed my forces in what looks to be a 6-day affair.... damned towns... Onto my Question: on my last battle, I encountered an entirely unexpected event: I was defending very well vs. an Immediate Allied Assault, and my morale number actually started to RISE a point or 2... I haven't really looked over the whole Manual yet: is this possible, when there were no squads re-forming? anyone else seen their Morale rise inexplicably during a battle?

for some of us who have no time to keep up a PBEM, there's Biltong's Campaign Rules (BCR) ... good stuff. One gigantic Operation, starting in June 41. A bit of work involved to keep it coherent, but ultimately rewarding (IMO).

I totally enjoy this game and all the efforts required to put out a manual that covers such a large scope; that said, as a publication designer, if i were in charge of such a printed manual I would never let the thing go to press with as many spelling errors as this one has... as a matter of fact, i wouldn't let ANY spelling errors go to press. As a professional, I would make every effort to make the manual grammatically perfect. Failure to do so, in my industry, might cost me my job (depending on the type of piece being typeset). With all the game data involved, it might very well be impossible to achieve perfection on a contextual front; but when it comes to spelling, there should be no problems achieving this. It's kind of like bowling 11 straight strikes then intentionally throwing a gutterball... it just slightly smacks of unprofessionalism. Please don't misread my comments as being disparaging or ungrateful; i don't know what i'd do without this game. I just wish I knew Battlefront needed a spell-checker, i would have gladly offered my services. {btw, don't bother counting my own grammatical errors; i'm on my lunch break.}

hey, i can help w/ this one: DBaron asks: I'm a little shaky on math equations (dammit Jim, i'm a designer, not a math geek) but i think your 2nd guess is correct: do the math on the right-hand side then multiply that number by the force size. at least that's what I do... As far as special rules for the CO, i have no probs with how it already is: it forces me to place the CO where he can be most effective yet in a position of relative safety. In a previous battle (it seems forever since my troops entered Kiev...) i had my CO overwatching from rubble on a hill and conducting range exercises w/ 81mm mortars... every once in a while when Ivan got too close he'd pull out his silver-plated Luger and pop off a couple rounds. I believe he received a couple exp. points that day..... {Kiev Update} on the last battle, these damned bridges.... i'm still in the planning stages; my CO just keeps looking out the window of his HQ and cursing at the river... no troops deployed as of yet. I've heard there's an updated map for Bridges of Blood, nicht? and I'm almost certain there's a way to import all of my troops i took so long in purchasing, over to this new map... can anyone help here? {/Kiev} thanks, j0ker

I've another question, not covered by the rules (i think) ... Ceasefires: is this allowed? Should one even consider using this in BCR? Seeing as this is a mutual decision between you and the AI, if the AI accepts a ceasefire that you initiate, is this an acceptable way of ending a battle within the BCR parameters? Obviously if one prepares for a ceasefire early enough and is willing to accept a draw, one could conceivably get out of a drawn-out battle with most of his Battle Group untouched. Is this considered "gamey"? thanks for your opinions and/or "official" ruling.... j0ker out

... with so many good rules/Biltaid clarifications by the Commander, perhaps we should start a BCR FAQ thread.... j0ker

I didn't think that was possible anyways... is it? I have a laptop (Compaq Armada) and was told that upgrading the graphics card was impossible.

I think I remember reading a thread on this once before, would you mind going over the procedure again please? thanks, j0ker

...when the patch is officially released, can we expect to see directions in the next bersion of the BCR manual on how to load troops into the maps and adjust ammo loads, etc? Will this upgrade also mean we can specify unique names for the unit COs and keep them? THAT would be totally sweet. {news from kiev} onto Battle 3: sheesh, what a predicament. still in setup mode to figger this one out. Herr j0ker out.{/news}

from the good doctor: Remember to divide the incoming unit's experience by 1.25. Then add to the group and divide by its number (in this case: 10). thus you have: 22/1.25 = 17.6 21 * 9 = 189 + 17.6 = 206.6 206.6 / 10 troops = 20.66, round up to 21.

sorry to stick my head out of the shell again, but in the spirit of Biltong's 'Pain and Suffering' that is his Campaign, i quote below some operational rules devised by Franko (FTC) that might be interesting for all you newly-promoted Veteran COs out there. Personally, i might try it if i keep up my winning ways, but MAN, this looks tough... Once again, all credit goes to Franko, who posted this about 18 mos. ago:

Sure, like that's ever gonna happen again. I'll keep that in mind.... j0ker out

{DELURK}I had a thread going about this about 4-5 weeks ago; my issue came up as a result of the vague wording on the initial battle type parameter (2) , when i then discovered that the item of which you speak of is addressed at the end of the previous battle; when you roll for the next battle type (counter/immediate attacks/assaults), i believe there's an allowance of spending 40 Favor points to alter the number by 1, and that only applies for Axis immediate attack/assault; if you roll for allied counterattack, evidently you're SOL. hope this helps. j0ker. BTW: still intrenched in the middle of Kiev battle #2. the main highlight so far: a green squad threw an explosive packet from a 2nd story window to knock out a KV-1. I'm giddy with pride. {/DELURK}

Capn' Pies sez: Thanks Cap'n. if/when i ever try Biltaid I'll know what to do. the Commander sez: boy, don't it ever. there's the thing: i wasn't asking for your help. Just trying to add some interesting thoughts. it's all right, that won't happen again either. I'll just be over here quietly playing.... and happily filling out paperwork... sorry to bother

Quoted by the commander: gee, i wouldn't be boasting about that [ba-dum-bump] but seriously: please read my post again. I'm talking about the entire process between battles. I don't think an hour is so long of a time to get all of that work done, which I now am [mostly] convinced is correct and i can SEE it on paper. Actually, i'm not quite sure what your point is. I'm winning battles at my own pace under the same adverse conditions that i would have received had I started using Biltaid. Am i supposed to go faster? Should I be using the time-saving doohickies that others are producing for my benefit? Or are you just boasting that you're the 60-Second Man? tschuss j0ker

In the beginning of playing BCR I was very tempted to wait for Biltaid to come out but I couldn't wait and went with the paperwork of doing it all by hand. I'm glad I did; it lets you become familiar with all the parameters first. Truth be told, I never went over to Biltaid; I'm certain that it's a great timesaving device but there's something quaint about sitting at the desk going over paperwork after every battle... it's so... i dunno....so 20th century. Keeps you in the mood of being in a time where there were only carbon paper and mimeos (did they have mimeographs back then?) And Biltong is right; after a few times the whole process between battles -- AAR, computing Favor, reassigning squad personnel, rolling up the next battle, adding new task force and deploying troops -- takes less than an hour now. Never thought I'd get the hang of it... but there you go (from a Type . NEWS FROM THE FRONT: the CO replacement from Game 4 is now a regular, and all 3 tanks are now Vets as Battle 14 (ME) has resulted in a T.V. for der Kampfgruppe. Kiev is about a week away; we seem to be assaulting this afternoon in some sort of foggy foothills with a very small task force. We keep gaining momentum, however, and are looking forward to Kiev. tschuss - j0ker

quoted by Biltong: Haven't played anyone else (little time to; thus the attraction to BCR!) yet, but I can easily see an improvement playing vs. the AI... when I first got CMBB I was having no luck with winning any battles (the main reason I began at Green exp.); now that I'm looking after my Battle Group I find I'm much more careful and have a good record (so far, hah). I'm in the first week of Sept, so I'm primed for Kiev!

Seahawk sez: I got so bored with winning all the time (i think i may need my head examined) - i'm like 10-2 or something - that I upgraded my experience to Regular, which i hope is not ill-advised: the current Allied Assault I'm in is illustrating the concept of "human wave" brilliantly..... i'm still cowering in my trench waiting for it to recede, wondering what the winter will bring. Herr j0ker

IIRC they had more ammo than me...! at any rate they had more troops than i, they could have rotated out the ones with little ammo left... plus, with their armor outnumbering me it's still a mystery why they didn't push on... though the AI doesn't have an 'agenda' like we BCR players have... I'll have to check that ammo issue again, though... good point

Battle 12: Allied Attack - the same battle as mentioned back last week, ended rather surprisingly. I was ordering a general retreat from the VL as my Task Force was overrun with advancing Soviet Guards... when all of a sudden a cease-fire was called and I claimed a Major Victory, with about 10 SMG rounds left to share amongst my Battle Group. Has anyone else seen this happen to them? I had at LEAST 10 - 15 turns left... the AI could have easily taken the flag, I would have let it....

While we're sharing, I learned the hard way about CO replacement, as my entire CO staff was wiped out during an ill-advised Assault waaaaaaay back in Battle 4. My new CO has gained acceptance from the troops and will (hopefully) be achieving Regular status very soon. Currently i'm in a fog-covered frozen wasteland, defending my keister with only 10% ammo... :eek: which means the troops have MAYBE 5 rounds to use for the entire battle. blech. i think it's time to pull back and take a loss on this outing, as the human wave is cresting..... otherwise i'm afraid i'll be looking for another new CO soon...!

It would seem to me that logically there can't be a month-long rest period before a counterattack; thus, in "j0ker's lil' world" i'm going to employ Favor and beg off the counterattack for a month's furlough... the CO owes me that much. That makes sense to me; my troops are getting tired of all the Immediate At/As lately.

Well, it DOES say that... what do you know.... oh wait, you missed a part... right there in the middle, right between the words 'assault ' and 'then'... you see it? there's more letters: it says and no favor was employed. Do you not see that? I have version 2.1 of the BCR, the earlier versions seemed to have it in there too.... Do you not understand that i am (attempting to, at least ) employ Favor? Which would mean that the entire sentence's logic (if...and...then) is FALSE. Thus, I HAVE employed 30 pts. Favor to alter the die by one; ergo, my initial question. Which hasn't been answered yet, i see..... it's okay, i'll wait.