Mammou

Not a screenshot, but a short video. Nothing special about this, it was just a test to see if fraps worked but I thought I would share it anyway. From the scenario Huzzar, a minute or so of action. The first bit was after I was ambushed, then the next bits are me ambushing the ambusher. Two versions of the same movie, only difference it in one I hit the Black & White filter. http://grognard.designamatic.com/Movies/CM1%20-HD.wmv http://grognard.designamatic.com/Movies/CM1-HD-BW.wmv You should be able to right click and save as. Likely faster than streaming.

I have never seen this mentioned before. What is your source for that information? That is quite stunning. Cheers, Mammou

Gamey jeep recon... :-D

Looking at that picture I note the symbols for the Army Groups. I didn't know that there were patches for the Allied Army Groups. Cheers,

I stand corrected. Was Grenade the crossing? I suppose I could google but I am lazy...

Veritable was a Canadian / Brit operation in Feb 45 to cross the Rhine around the Holland / German border. Siegfried Line busting.

Thanks for the work around. I should have come here first instead of fooling around with the darned thing for 3 hours.... I will be sending a note to get a replacement CD

My pre-ordered Strategic Command took 4 business days to Ottawa - hoping for a similar timeframe with CMBB. <fingers crossed> Cheers,

1st - Send a leader into the desert with your armies and the Italians will fall very quickly. 2nd - If the panzers have a leader and are experienced and you are raw and have no leader you can expect to get your planes shot out of the sky quite often. 3rd - MPP have been discussed a lot re: US numbers. Some of the Soviet MPP are from the US and if you build and research US troops (and wait) you end up in the latter years with about the same size of army as they had. 4th - If you want the Italians to go back home when Italy is invaded, just send them...as to Romanians getting as far as Leningrad, well the Italians got as far as Stalingrad historically - a much farther distance. 5th - Yes. Expert +1 vs AI I can be a bit ahead of the curve by mid 41. 42 is back and forth but by mid 43 I am almost always better. Things get bad for the Allies after that. Cheers, Mammou

Nope. Any of those sorts of mods (graphics, sound) are only on your computer. As long as you both have the same version of the actual game you will have no problem. Cheers, Mammou

The US is set that low in order to balance the game. BTW...the Americans DID play a minor (combat) role until 43. Cheers, Mammou

Indeed, Titan. I really only play the AI while waiting for the next PBEM turn. I have found that many of the strategies I can successfully use against the AI are of no use vs a human opponent. Much more challenging and fun vs people - not to mention the taunting! I have not tried Expert +2 yet. Expert +1 (both sides) had a few moments but were not that hard too beat. Cheers, Mammou

I don't have my source here at work, but I remember that the Germans gave a higher priority to establishing/maintaining communication with their artillery than to higher command. I don't have any knowledge if that was SOP in allied armies though. Cheers, Mammou

I am playing my second Allied game and France has fallen again. In the first game (Normal +0) I saved up a bought a tank, thinking that at least one heavy unit would make a difference - it didn't. In my second (Intermediate +1) I tried getting a leader. They may be terrible leaders, but they are better than none. Although the troops I did have lasted longer and did more damage to the Germans, I was severly outnumbered and lost at aboout the same point as in the first game. Should I try the Russian Defense (corps and lots of them), scarifice the Canadian Army, and/or the RAF? In the demo I was able to hold France until very close to the end - in this full version I find that I cannot hold very long at all. Cheers, Mammou

Its here! w00t

If it doesn't come in today, I may cry....

A really good book to read on the structure of squads, platoons etc is "On Infantry" by John English (a Canuck BTW). On a tactical level you can say that the German's were superior for two reasons. First and foremost is the auftragstaktik that permeated almost all levels of the CoC. That sort of flexibility was unheard of in any other army of the time. It allowed the Germans to get and keep the initiative in situations that would paralyze anyone else. The second reason was the realization that they had a superior piece of kit in the MG-34 and were smart enough to base their lowest level tactics around using it to its fullest ability. Every other army used their squad mg (Bren, BAR, DP/DT) as the suppression weapon and their rifle as the killer. The Germans did the opposite and it was much more effective. Cheers, Mammou

The German Army was ripe for failure in '41. Although highly skilled and experienced at many levels, the General Staff was ill-prepared for a large war. Consider their experience to date; campaigns in Poland, Norway and France were all short, "come-as-you-are" actions. They had every reason to expect that a war in Russia would be the same - after all, they beat France, a much more formidable enemy, in 6 weeks. Things like a war economy and any sort of self-examination to correct failures in the system were totally irrelevant. They never really understood this "blitzkrieg" beast they had created, or how easy it would be to stop once its opponents studied it. IMO it is much too easy to blame Hitler for these failings (there is enough other crap to blame him for, we don't need extra). While in Poland and France there were some generals who cautioned a more conservative approach to war, they were quickly silenced by the success of the campaigns. By Barbarossa, the only real disagreement among the General Staff was in the targets of the campaign, not in how it was conducted or whether more preparation should be taken. This sort failure was endemic among the General Staff. Cheers, Mammou

No. :mad: I should just drive to Toronto and pick it up from Hubert....

After reading some of that site, I have come to realize that I have been grossly misinformed about WW2, and indeed all of European history. We must all thank him. I have also come to realize that authors such as Glantz, Erikson and D'Este are really quite poor in their writing. In order to truely capture WW2 history, you need much more melodrama and the odd bit of histrionics to keep ones interest up.

In order to educate those who have had to suffer through the American school system, here is the The Ultimate Guide to WW2. Introduction World War 2 began either in 1937 with the Japanese invasion of China or 1939 with the German invasion of Poland, or maybe even when Britain and France declared war on Germany. The nations most responsible for it for either Germany or Japan or the Soviet Union or Britain and France. Its cause was either World War 1 or National Socialism or maybe Communism. It was fought between the so-called Axis and the so-called Allies. Axis countries were either completely evil, or not completely evil, but Germany was the best because they had those snappy uniforms. The others were useless and incompetent, or maybe not incompetent, just didn't have enough tanks. Unlike the Axis, the Allies were all good, except the obviously evil Soviet Union (or maybe not evil (while the other Allies were more evil)), but then there is also the opinion they were just as evil (and the opinion the Axis was good and the Allies evil, but it has no place in this forum). In any case, it seems the Allies won, but they might've lost. The Axis sort of lost, but they won by points. Then again, they might've lost by points as well. The War Starts, Alternative #1 <insert Japan here> Or Maybe This Is When the War Starts The war started when Germany attacked Poland. Or maybe Poland attacked Germany. Or Germany attacked, but it was a pre-emptive attack. In any case, it started. Yet Another Possibility Then Britain and France declared war on Germany. In any case, Germany easily defeated the Poles who either quickly ran away and surrendered, or fought bravely and inflicted severe losses on the attacker. They also either did or did not charge panzers on horseback. And then USSR either conquered or liberated either Eastern Poland or Western Ukraine and Belorussia. In any case, the only thing left of Poland was either its government or a band of renegades. The War Heats Up Meanwhile, France was sitting behind the Maginot Line, which was either very good or a piece of crap. France had either more troops than Germany, or less, and either chose to let Poland be finished off, or was powerless. Then Britain joined the French forces on the continent, which gave some hope to those worthless Frenchies. Alternatively, the good for nothing Tommies only complicated the life of the French command. Meanwhile, Germany was sitting there making threatening noises until one day it attacked. The plan for German attack was brilliant because it was thought up by the genius Manstein. Or completely dumb because it was thought up by the idiot Manstein. In any case, the French ran away in panic, or fought bravely, but soon lost anyway (but in some places they won). But that is where Hitler lost the war because he didn't let his panzers to finish off Brits at Dunkirk. Or maybe they wouldn't have been able to do that anyway. Or if they did, nothing would've changed. The Eastern Front Germany attacked USSR on 22 June 1941. It was an unprovoked aggression, or possibly a pre-emptive attack. Then there were German allies who also attacked, but who cares about them. (And Finland, either an Axis ally or co-belligerent.) In any case, Axis forces vastly outnumbered Soviet forces, or Soviet forces vastly outnumbered Axis forces. Anyway, at that time Germany had such an awesome war machine, or junk on wheels that couldn't supply itself past 500 km. The Red Army was also awesome, or possibly a non-entity, either because of the purges, or its expansion, or its deployment, the fact that no one knew tactics, or just for the hell of it. So basically Germans quickly overran half of USSR, or maybe not so quickly, and not quite half, but they were pretty successful (or not so successful, capturing 1 objective out of 3, but still sort of successfull). On the other hand, it might've been the beginning of the end. But then the idiot Hitler (or a genius according to other sources) ordered the brilliant (or dumb) Guderian to turn south (or north). If that didn't happen, Germans would've captured Moscow and won the war. Or they might've captured Moscow but still lost the war. On the other hand, they probably wouldn't have captured Moscow anyway. But then they still might've won the war if they captured Caucasus instead of Moscow. Or might've still lost it. The Turning Point of the War At first Axis was sort of successful. But then the war turned, and the Allies became successful. That happened after the Battle of Moscow. Or when Germany declared war on the US. Or at Stalingrad. Or El Alamein. Or Midway. Anyway, it is clear that the war turned many times. From that point Allies kicked ass. Or blundered badly. Depends on whom you ask. In conclusion, we see that the good once again triumphed over evil. Or at least won by points!

Here is a bit of one - not even one of the best. .............. The Sturmgeschutz crew's fighting motto was: "Lost are only those who abandon themselves!" that only the unshakable faith in a high ideal could overcome the situation, the Sturmgeschutz crews had this ideal, and the high command used them at full capacity on all major fronts. The Sturmgeschutz volunteers joined with the full knowledge, that the Sturmgeschutz crews incurred the highest death tolls, for them; the Sturmgeschutz tank arm was, despite all the deaths, The birth of Europe. In the name of the people and the nation, they honored them with a small symbolic gift, it was to honor them with what was the most important aspect of their lives and their history, it created a new chivalry, those who earned the order of the Ritterkreuz, meaning the cross of the knights, were indeed the New Knights! ............. There are much more disturbing ones.

Hurrah!

When Titans Clashed is by Glantz. Very good book. Also good are; The Russo-German War, Seaton The Road to Stalingrad, Erikson The Road to Berlin, Erikson Operation Barbarossa, Fugate Hitler's Decision to Invade Russia, Cecil Decision in Normandy, d'Este Ostfront 1944, Buchner Barbarossa, Clark

Exasperated is a good word for it. Although the AI can be fooled for a win (esp after seeing the deployment, Brit complacency etc) a real opponent is another story. Those seemingly endless corps are a nightmare (or your only hope - depending on which side you play), anyone who expects to win in a single year vs a person is in for a surprise.