panzermartin

Lobsters have strategy?

LOL...and I was wondering why it is so hard to find opponents online.

I think we have to get back to WW2 to make a direct comparison between CMx1 and CMx2. I try to imagine CMAK with CMSF units and I'm not sure I would enjoy it. At least with a PZIV against you, you have a sporting chance to go hunting on the hill crest and survive after a minute of exchaning fire. In CMSF even a T-55 gets a first hit 95% of the time. No need to mention the death of wargaming, the gamey javelin I also think rifle infantry battles in CM Normandy will be a tactical chess and we will see the return of improved cover/concealment- or maybe decreased weapons lethality? Also, isnt a fact that today's soldiers shoot more to kill compared to WW2 where most infantrymen only wanted to scare or wound the enemy? I think book "on killing" has some insight about that, on how drills and even FPS games are used to literally turn a soldier into a hitman.

Why not. Shouldnt infantry be able to shoot and scoot? Take a look over the hill crest and then put their heads down, without showing their behinds to the enemy? It can be done as easy as letting your body slip, if the hill is steep enough.

Yep, CMBO had simple, bordeline crude, yet perfectly working solutions. You dont want to go through the protected front door? Go through the transparent back wall CMSF can't do that because coding and animations will require quite a few extra weeks to add.

Thats true MikeyD. The problem is, CMSF is 1:1 now but it still cant compete with our imagination. When you have animations for reloading a rifle and shells ricocheting of the turrets and then landing on the ground, you ask for this detail in every corner of the battlefield. You want infantry formations, hit marks on tanks, tracks blown off, soldiers being thrown by blast waves, bullet holes on buildings, variety in environments, dead holstein cows and the list is endless. BFC has picked the what you see is what you get but it is entering a world very demanding in visual representation, in which our imagination cannot help. It's like a photorealistic painting with exhausting level of detail that its very demanding to finish and you cant cheat with abstractions here and there because they will look out of place. So, in a way the game is always in WIP mode. It feels very different compared to 1.00 release and I bet in 2 years time it will feel quite different from 1.11. I have started to think that the flexibility and the easy way to add new things with the new engine is both good and bad. On the other hand, I do like seeing our favourite game shaping and improving with our input here.

Heh and I was questioning your idea due to the horrible lag in pre 1.10 online. Multi is mostly smooth now, even in large armor clashes and I'm getting optimistic that at least 4 players are possible to handle. HistWar system sounds brilliant, I would love to see something like that. My ideal CMx2 multi would have a pausable RT, a dedicated lobby/server with a sort of ranked system, and a possibility to link the results with a sort of meta-campaign ala Il-2. Maybe just like CMC, BFC could let a 3d party make an "online module" that will have these goodies. I would gladly pay for that, even more than a NATO or British forces add on. I just hope the game will grow big enough that BFC will be able to implement some of the above someday.

Game is shaping really nicely patch after patch and I have started to wonder if there is a ceiling really, apart that defined from the limited resources. I know that statistically those who play on the internet are no more than a small % of the customer base but it would be nice to see the multiplayer aspect of the game taking a step forward beyond the basic H2H IP hook up function that it was introduced ten years ago with CMBO. Some new multiplayer modes might attract more players and create more buzz on the net. CMSF has already attracted some players from the COD4/Arma FPS genre, games that their popularity is largely based on the net interaction. I'm thinking that a 2v2 mode for a start will skyrocket the interest in online games and make them more manageable as well. CMSF cries for injection of a teamwork aspect that is now possible with the realtime engine. How cool would it be with the new QB system that team mates who communicate will pick their own forces and coordinate them in battle, using a team chat or a voice software or basic teamcomms signaling provided by the UI? Like signaling attack/defend or passing intel about enemy units? A dedicated lobby would probably be necessary for that kind of thing but I'm hoping the community with the quite possibly more popular and critical acclaimed WW2 release would be able to make a "Hyberlobby" equivalent for CM.

Well BFC always has the Space Lobsters card standby in case something goes horribly wrong with the current realism direction

Well insurgent army types like Hamas cannot be literally beaten with military force. It's like Hydra's heads. You killed one and then ten others pop up to avenge and continue the fighting. Gaza has way too many young people and it must be rather easy to recruit some new blood after what happened. So, while Israelis think they have achieved victory and now can sleep better I suspect this victory will be short lived. It is the law of the universe, action brings action and violence brings violence. They just gave the palestinians more reasons to die for than to live. Israel showed its teeth to the enemy but what were their goals really? To cease the rockets? These are not scud missiles, these are even homemade rockets that can be easily launched anytime agaisnt Israel. Using your state of the art army against these threats is like trying to kill flies with an AK-47. And I wouldnt bet against numbers palestinians have reported about the relatively small number of dead Hamas fighters. Civilians are far more vulnerable than them. Or the warehouses hit? Literally every building in Gaza has a basement with a cache of weapons. Domestically it may seem like a victory but internationaly it just filled papers with cartoons of IDF soldiers with star armbands executing unarmed people. And UN and amnesty international are directly accusing Israel for crimes agaisnt humanity. So, what is left really? A good election result? At that price?

lol...love the mail pigeon

I was in search of inside info from the Gaza strip. Here is a blog I found : http://gazatoday.blogspot.com/ "Tens of drones hover over Gaza"..I would freak out if I was a palestinian and had these things watching me all the time. And they can perfectly kill too.

Of course I don't imply that IDF action is purely driven by revenge instincts. I said that partly the boldness of the attack is due to their desire to restore the image of the invicible army. Not the reason of the attack itself of course as I didn't say anything like that. About the difference with the West Bank, well one look at the map is enough to highlight the strategic and economic importance of the Gaza strip, the whole area being a big port, an important link with the meditarranean and the rest of the world. Israel never really allowed this link to the palestinians, controlling literally every drop of water entering or leaving the strip even after the 2005 pull out. So, it's not that simple as "taking a look at the West Bank". Why doesnt Israel take a look at the West Bank too?

Most of Israel's significant victories were achieved some decades ago when war was still largely conventional. Asymmetrical threats are much harder to deal now as the war in Lebanon showed. And despite the damage inflicted, still the outcome came as a shock to Israel. I believe the current aggression shown by IDF is partly due to their hurt ego from the clash with Hizbullah two years ago.

Yair, I do appreciate your sincerity and your effort to be objective depsite being on the one side of the fence and your people at war. I admit I've never been in your position and I dont know if I would be able to handle it like you. Last night I saw Ari Folman's "Waltz with Bashir", which is a fine piece of art btw, and I appreciated the tone of self criticism in the story. It also enlightened me about the confusion Israel faces and you talk about. Btw, Folman, a former IDF soldier who fought in the 82 Lebanon war, spoke against the current offensive if I'm not mistaken. About the article, you know, when I first wrote "facts" I thought of editing my post to "thoughts" but when rereading the article, I asked myself, which of these points about Gaza strip is not true? Most of the info in it appears accurate and valid to me. Maybe the last line about Yaloon's quote is more of an opinion but you have to understand that Israel to the rest of the world looks really like it has decided to finish off the palestinians for good with this fierce offensive. As to what I would suggest for an alternative action, I don't know really but I think the strict blockade was a wrong move to start with. As Steve said above, Israel is the more powerful state, has the upper hand in the situation and the flexibility to offer more than the "might is right" solution. It once again picked the military way that proved so effective in the past but now seems out of place in this asymmetrical era and makes Israel look as bad as ever. Palestinians have far fewer alternatives and are in a desperate situation. Those people need some breathing space. Being constantly with the back on the wall just leads to more desperate violence.

Some facts about the gaza conflict on New York Times: "This war on the people of Gaza isn’t really about rockets. Nor is it about “restoring Israel’s deterrence,” as the Israeli press might have you believe. Far more revealing are the words of Moshe Yaalon, then the Israeli Defense Forces chief of staff, in 2002: “The Palestinians must be made to understand in the deepest recesses of their consciousness that they are a defeated people.” http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/08/opinion/08khalidi.html?_r=2&em

I just saw this great docu-animation. I loved the artistic side of it with detailed and atmospheric visuals and the storytelling regarding the Lebanon war was brilliant. And it tries hard to be objective despite coming from the one side of the conflict. Highly recommended. Trailer:

Apologies accepted ;-) Well, you see sometimes we all do the same, I used the "n" word before thinking twice and I was automaticaly put in the same bag with the extremists when its more of an emotional reaction than an established political bias. I do admit it was a bit extreme but I got carried away responding to rather black and white comments here like "UN is a Hamas collaborator" for instance. My apologies too then.

Sorry, I never said things like wiping Israel out of the map, you are twisting my sayings here and it doesn't look good.

About the Sabra and Shatila. It is a widely known incident and we dont have to go in details. IDF is as guilty as the ones who pulled the trigger. And some suggest that part of IDF personnel was directly involved besides just watching the executions and firing flares in the night to "help". Of course, I'm not directly comparing 3rd Reich with today's Israel. "Nazis" has a more symbolic meaning, its not meant to be taken literaly and its not used to characterize the whole of the population. However these right wing nuts extremists you are talking about seem to have taken over, since the current campaign is nothing sort of fascist, with collective punishment and asymmetrical repisal tactics. And sometimes we get emotional with what is happening down there, since as FAI said, countries that have a historical memory of occupation and unjustice share a bond with the opressed.

The other night, I was watching on TV, Olympiakos, a greek team , playing Euroleague basketball with a multi million team like Maccabi Tel Aviv in a full and happy stadium while 70km away starving palestinians were being killed in their slum towns. The contrast is jarring and it is ridiculous to say that Israelis are the ones that are prevented to lead a normal life.

Man, your posts must the most biased and clueless I have read in long time on these boards. Palestinians for decades are being forced out of their homes with bulldozers and uzis and now are piled in a ghetto called gaza strip. Israel maybe was fighting for its survival in 1948 but the time has changed and they are now the aggressors. And "Nazis" suits them fine since they treat palestinians like inferior species and have a decent record of crimes against humanity. From the sabra and shatila massacres to the bombings of today Israel has shown that it has no interest in palestinians existance and is in the same league with common jihadist terrorists. It is encouraging that many Israelis dont have biased views like yours, condemn the violence of their own state and recognise the right of the palestinians to exist. People like them are the only hope for getting the region out of the mess.

Personally I only want a cap/helmet variation and extra uniform slots for the modders that will appear random within a squad just like the faces BMPs. So depending on the memory card you can have a lot different options for a late war german unit. That and multiple skins per vehicle should not be overlooked because WW2 is the pantheon of military modelling and many people will be interested in that way as with CMBO/AK/BB only this time models will look absolutely fantastic in high poly fashion and 3D lighting. Different pouches and other things like boots/trousers would be nice to have but I do understand that they might be not worth the time and effort.

But why? There is no reason to open a 3rd network as the 2nd isnt filled yet. I would suggest active people from the 1st one to start logging in the 2nd too, as some members have already done.

I keep reading this about Hamas trying to kill their own people to achieve "victory" and how Israel is ultimately the victim in the area and I keep scratching my head. It's a common tactic of guerilla armies to blend with the population, mostly in hope that they wont get fired upon. Hamas are democraticaly elected by the palestinians. Do you suggest that the local population of children and women have so far generously sacrificed their lives as Hamas shields with their own will? If not, did Hamas forced them to do so beyond their will and yet they have their full trust and support? Is the claim from the official and high ranked lips of UN "collaborators" , of Israel hitting a building after leading there 100 palestinians and then not letting the red cross help for days, a propaganda lie? Do you have something more to back up the claims that palestinians happily kill their own children except blurry IDF footage on official state channels? That UN are collaborators of Hamas is news to me btw and gave me a good laugh to be honest. Not a single Israeli has so far suggested this so unless you have some valid info I say that it is total bs. And Hamas internationaly is labeled as a terror group. Technically you cannot blame a terror group for war crimes as you say but you can perfectly blame an independent advanced and civilised state as Israel for targeting civilians with precision weapons. If the Israelis one day allow for a truly autonomous palestine and not a ghetto or a puppet state as they wish right now then maybe the region will see better days and extremists that want the extinction of Jews will step aside. Till then palestinians will live in misery and Israelis will be drinking their espresso next to sucide bombers.