Dook

There is no version of CMBB or CMAK that runs native on current Macs. There is (was?) a version that ran in OS 9. However, if you have a modern Mac and are willing to fork out the money for Windows, you can run the PC version of both games using Bootcamp.

"It is time for self-respecting men to take up the cudgels for the cow and defend her time-honored prerogatives." U.S. Senator Joseph Quarles (WI) defending butter and attacking margarine on the Senate floor, Mar. 27, 1902.

Thanks for the reply Steve. Your response is exactly the kind of discussion I was hoping to stimulate.

For discussion from the TRADOC Capabilities Manager for Gaming Blog What makes a game a good training tool? This was one of the questions we asked ourselves when we started developing the requirements documentation for gaming. After a few heated discussions, we determined what makes a simulation such as JCATS a good training tool applies to gaming as well. This is especially true considering the initial focus for gaming of small unit collective training and key leader development. It’s the tools such as terrain editors, scenario editors, after action review capability, interoperability, C2 stimulation, etc that make a good simulation. With this in mind we began to document the requirements in the form of a capability production document (CPD) for the first increment of gaming capability. There are three Key Performance Parameters, and nine Key System Attributes. - KPP 1 Semi-Immersive Training Capability - A semi-immersive training capability enables Soldiers and leaders to train on tasks in the COE when live training resources are not readily available or appropriate at home station and while deployed. - KPP 2 Leader-Centric Training Capability - Leader-centric training capability prepares the leader to make swift and intuitive decisions in uncertain situations in a training setting prior to deployment and when live training resources are not readily available or appropriate at home station. - KPP 3 Soldier Enabled Training Development Capability - The Soldier enabled training development capability provides Battalion (leaders & staff), company & below units the ability to quickly modify the gaming content/environment to meet their training objectives. - KSA 1 Environment - Environment provides the underpinnings upon which the complexity and multi-dimensional nature of real-world operations play out, regardless of the operational environment in which actions are to occur. Commanders, leaders, and Soldiers must understand and contend with the COE variables and their impacts in order to (IOT) prepare for both current and future operations. - KSA 2 Terrain and Atmospheric Effects - Complex and urban terrain, as well as man-made and natural features provide the basis for physical actions and reactions with other models in the simulation. Operational execution of geospatial information by using systems, units, or forces via collection, generation, storage, management, fusion and dissemination, vertically and horizontally, from peer to peer and National to Soldier level and back. - KSA 3 Audio and Visual Realities - Audio and visual realities create distracting stimulus that impede users’ ability to focus on the mission and key decision points and provide a more realistic training environment. - KSA 4 Behaviors - Autonomous and semi-automated forces reduce the resource requirements (cost, personnel and time). - KSA 5 Equipment - The simulation of actual equipment creates realistic training conditions. The equipment editor will greatly enhance the ability for soldiers to create a more realistic training environment in the simulation. Further, it gives the trainer the ability to adjust the level of difficulty of the training. - KSA 6 Personnel - Human elements (enemy, friendly, irregular, and neutral forces) create realistic training conditions during military operations. The personnel editor will greatly enhance the ability for soldiers to create a more realistic training environment in the simulation. This makes for a more realistic simulation and provides the trainer the ability to change the level of difficulty to enhance unit training. - KSA 7 Support - This will support Sustainment in the Warfighting Functions that are required for realistic training conditions to track and ensure units have the correct Unit Basic Load (UBL), classes of supplies, maintenance and medical support to conduct military operations. - KSA 8 Interoperability - Interoperability is required to produce the necessary stimulus to support the KPPs. The unit uses Battle Command Systems to view and gather information necessary to craft their staff plans and unit orders. Populating a unit’s Battle Command System is required to allow a unit to train as they fight. - KSA 9 Performance Collection and After Action Review - Commanders are required to assess performance and the after action review process facilitates performance evaluation and corrective action. The gaming CPD has been staffed through CAC, TRADOC, DA and is currently being staffed with the Army Requirements Oversight Council (AROC). Once the CPD passes the AROC, it is the gaming requirements document for the Army.

JasonC, I would be interested in your opinion on Citino's book, The German Way of War. You mention the title at one point in your initial post, but it wasn't clear whether your comments were intended as direct refutation of the book. Although the general thesis of the book is pretty close to the viewpoint against which you are arguing, it is not (at least in my opinion) as cartoonish as other versions of the same basic view. Dook

IIRC, range for demo charges is 29 m. Within that range, engineers will throw them, provided they're not pinned; outside of that range, they won't. If you are using the demo charges to blow up a building or want to use them against a specific location, you can use area fire. Within the DC range, a "use explosives" command should be available. Against tanks, you are better off letting the AI do the targeting. The engineers will typically use the demos if they are within range and not pinned. Sometimes it takes a while. If the tank is not mobile, you can use the "use explosives" command to target the ground underneath the tank. Note that you have no control over how many DCs the engineers will use.

Celeron M 1.7Ghz WinXP SP2 512 mb RAM ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 (64 MB) I have only played one small scenario thus far but had no problems with all the settings at default (i.e. I didn't change anything).

Not that I am aware of. IIRC, they pulled all the 105mm-armed M1s off the line before Desert Storm and fitted them with the 120 mm gun. Perhaps some Guard units still have the older versions.

From Global Security

Thanks for the advance notice and for all the scenario work, both in the past and in the future. Much ebst to you too.

You know, by the time all the modules come out, you will be able to come pretty close to creating the much-requested and much-refused US-USSR Cold War game, albeit a few years later than some might like. Highly capable AFVs and air support for both sides and, if the accounts of a Ft. Lewis-like setting available for CMSF are true, terrain that might simulate central Europe. Plus, the ability to mix and match at will. Who said BFC would never do a hypothetical conflict?

The pre-order page says 200 pages for the manual.

The simplier, the betterer. (Sorry, I couldn't resist)

And keep the noise levels down for your downstairs neighbors...although they don't have much noise dampening effect on gunfire.

Allegedly is the right word for the "article" cited above. I searched for such an article in the Washington Post going back 5 years and found nothing. That doesn't mean the figures are wrong, but I don't know where they came from.

I realize an early Beta version was previewed, but I noticed several typos/errors in the briefing. I assume someone is going to proofread the text before it goes gold?

Michael, Here is the link, I think. For some reason, the dates are not showing up on my computer at the moment.

50-60 meters is too far for the assault command, at least in my experience. Save that for the last 20 meters. Use advance instead for the initial stretch.

It's like semi-pregnant.

Since this question has been up for two days with no response, I thought I'd provide at least one option. I'm not sure what your instructor meant by similar topics but books on WW II that would provide an interesting contrast are Dupuy's A Genius for War and either Doubler's Closing with the Enemy or Mansoor's The GI Offensive in Europe. This is not an endorsement of any of the books, but I think they would give you plenty to compare and talk about. Most of the better books on China tend to be edited collections, which are more difficult to review so I would steer clear of them.

The one I'm playing has a lot of BT-7s. It's Wittman's Iron Cross by Mark Gallear.

I would second the recommendation to take a look at Waltz's Man, the State, and War. Another excellent book on the topic is A Study of War by Quincy Wright. Both authors boil down the causes of war to a small number (3 for Waltz, 4 for Wright) factors. The first is man, or human nature. Underlying this argument are the notions that the natural condition of mankind is one of conflict and humans are innately aggressive. Supporters of this view point to evidence of prehistoric warfare to demonstrate that war has a long history. You could also classify poor leadership as a cause of war in this category. Note, however, that the statement that "poor" leadership causes war is a loaded one - some would argue that some wars are necessary and wise leaders are the ones who know which wars are necessary and which ones are not. Thus, when a leader decides to embark on a war, it may be wise leadership rather than poor leadership. The second is the state, or society. Here the argument is that it is the coming together of people into social groups that produces war. One way that this causes war is when some groups control more resources, others control less, and conflict results when the ones with less try to get more (economics at its most fundamental). Another way is when groups begin to develop collective identities that emphasize their superiority to other groups (nationalism at its most crude), resulting in tension and ultimately conflict. Others argue that the particular type of state is important. Communists (remember them?) used to argue that the capitalist order was the cause of war. More recently, political scientists have claimed that democratic states do not go to war with each other. Third is the international system. This line of reasoning takes the basic Hobbesian view of the state of nature and applies it to relations among states. It argues that because there is no overarching authority to enforce peace or order, states pursue what they perceive as their interests; conflict inevitably results. Fourth (only Wright argues this, not Waltz) is technology. The basic notion here is that deadlier technology and more of it makes conflict, whether its accidental or intentional, more likely and increases the consequences once it happens. Supporters of arms control often make this point, either implicitly or explicitly. Both Waltz and Wright argue that you have to consider all three or four factors when trying to explain the causes of war. However, Wright placed the development of the causes of war on a time line. He believed that human nature came first and was the cause of the earliest (prehistoric) wars. As societies developed, they also contributed to war. Next came the international system and finally technology. Sorry to post such a lengthy screed but I have taught courses on this topic and it interests me greatly.

Plan even further ahead than usual. Using the Soviets always requires more planning than the Germans, largely because of the limited availability of reactive artillery. The command delays for early-war Soviets and the additional delays imposed when a radio-less tank buttons up (as described by the Enigma above) require you to plan even farther ahead. Conscript troops may not start moving until 40-odd seconds into a turn, so you need to think about what you want them to do in the next turn as well. Two related tactical points: - Tanks that finish a turn buttoned up don't get the advantage of unbuttoned operation in the next turn even if you unbutton them during the orders phase. As a result, if you drive your tanks through rifle fire that is likely to cause the tank commanders to button up, be prepared for long order delays next turn. - To limit delays, you might want to cut down on the number of waypoints you designate. Use your numerical advantage. In most realistic pre-made scenarios, you are likely to be stuck with a lot of inexperienced troops. If the scenario is balanced, you should have a significant numerical advantage. Use it. Adjust your metrics. This suggestions follows from the two above. I've found that you have to think differently when using early-war Soviets because of the long delays and generally inexperienced troops. I tend to simply my overall plans, do less micromanagement, expand my time horizon, and accept heavier casualties. For example, I'm playing a scenario PBEM at the moment in which I have roughly 3 platoons of BT-7s against an unknown number (probably a platoon) of StuGs. I will likely try to kill the StuGs using hail-fire tactics. To do that most effectively, I probably will try to wait until all of my BT-7s arrive (2/3 are reinforcements) to give me more numbers. In the meantime, my infantry is likely to suffer. I also fully expect to lose nearly all of the BT-7s. Hope this helps.

Problem solved. Downloading the videos and then watching was all it took. I was very impressed with the M4 animations - particularly the articulation of each soldier's joints (knees, waist, shoulders, etc.). A huge improvement from CMx1 days.

Argh, frustration. I get the following message when I try to watch the videos: "Windows Media Player cannot play the file because the specified protocol is not supported." Anyone more familiar with Windows Media Player have any hints? Thanks in advance.