Fetchez la Vache

If it helps, my initial 20kb/s speed did not last and the final download was around 4hrs. I was too busy being nerf-gunned by a gang of sugar-fueled 9yo's to notice exactly what speeds I did get up to at the end... Managed to fit in "Brutal" before bed time. Loved it.

20kb/s. My son's birthday party this afternoon has been saved! :-) Still faster than mail!

Oh dear. My son will be disappointed. I just cancelled his birthday party this afternoon because I have something else to do now. He'll get over it eventually, I'm sure... :-) (Incidentally, the main BTC website portal seems to be blocked here in Malaysia now! Thank the Digital Lord for VPNs.)

Will AeroGavins be in the base game or will we have to wait for an expansion?

pnzrldr, thank you for a very interesting AAR! Modern-era war-games have never appealed much to me before probably because I thought it was a bit too 'clinical'. But I think this AAR (and your side of the story in particular) has kindled enough of an interest that, instead of giving it a miss, I will probably get CMBS. The little insights and details you are giving a modern-era 'n00b' like me are kicking off something. Many thanks. Now, some more explosions please... :-)

Ditto, for what it's worth. I like a nice argument... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnTmBjk-M0c (how does one embed youtube videos so you can view them in the reading pane? - got it!)

A camo scheme like that gives a modeller like me heart palpitations. :-o

@ Michael Emrys. LOL, so you do play some other WWII strategy games... j/k I gave up on Unity of Command, it made up for lack of AI with tricky time-targets in my mind. HoI3 still keeps me engaged though. I recommend Project Zomboid for a bit of mindless [pun intended] survival fun, heh heh. On reflection I think what concerns me overall is the possible 'elitism' (in it's 'hubristic' sense), which is possibly why I read your post as I did. The quality bar has been set very high (thankfully) by BFC but I don't think that comes without a price in terms of accessibility. Now if you add a layer of hubris on top of that then I see the potential for a stagnation in the fan-base. This isn't of course all because of the pricing but, personally speaking, I rarely myself noticing the price of a game and thinking "hmmm, I think that's steep" (but of course I bought it anyway) and then it makes me read threads such as this which I would normally not read. As so I am here. @ Sixxkiller I think CMx2 is more like buying a Morgan c.f Jaguar, with CM being the former. You can keep the alloy wheels and advertising thanks.

Oh, BTW. I recently dragged my 7 and 8yo sons around Bovington Tank Museum TWICE when on holiday. So I'm doing my bit to train up the next generation of CM players for BFC. (Now give me CMx1 for OS X for them to play!)

I want BFC to succeed and do well. I think they fully deserve to do so for what they have given in the form of the Combat Mission games. But I can't help but think that for long term success they should try to establish a wider demographic of players buying their products. I'm simply not sure that basing your business on a bunch of (older than average) people who's taste buds only extend to CM games is a good idea. There are quite a lot of Joe Blows out there in the world. I'm also sorry to say that your post left me feeling you are being slightly dismissive to those that may not play CM exclusively. I also personally thought Steve's reply contained some seeds of condescension by saying that "average" gamers can't cope with CMx2. CM may not be a FPS console game, but it's not that hard to pick up and many people do still possess attention spans of more than 5mins. Is there a faint whiff of elitism creeping in? I sometimes think so when reading posts in threads such as this. So I'll pull out another cliche: Pride comes before the Fall. Any how. As a relatively rich old 42yo codger (c.f. to when I was 28yo codger), who has bought every CM game and module since day 1, I will continue to keep buying - like yourself. But I still want CMx1 for OS X!

I must admit I am beginning to think twice at what I am spending on CM. Although I am sure that hard grogs are happy with the costs, I also think that the price may be off-putting to less dedicated (and younger) CM players who will juggle with other games at the same time. I do wonder if the player base growth is being somewhat stifled as a result. But as long as BFC stay solvent and keep churning these games out, then it's okay with me. Especially if they port the old CMx1 games to OS X so my 8yo can play them!

Ah. At least that explains the results. :-) Interesting, I never realised the starting button-up state was different for the AI and Player sides.

Of course, since you took time to set it up! :-) Played 10 times, 5 as German player and 5 as Russian player . 11 tanks on both sides. Completely 'hands off' - no orders given at all. All tanks buttoned up. No.____German Losses___Russian Losses___Played As__Winner 1__________11_____________1___________Ger_______Rus 2__________11_____________7___________Ger_______Rus 3__________11_____________1___________Ger_______Rus 4__________11_____________1___________Ger_______Rus 5__________11_____________4___________Ger_______Rus --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6__________11_____________8___________Rus_______Rus 7__________3_____________11___________Rus_______Ger 8__________11_____________6___________Rus_______Rus 9__________3_____________11___________Rus_______Ger 10_________6_____________11___________Rus_______Ger So, when playing from the German side, the PzIv's lost each time - normally badly. But the story was very different when played from the Russian side! Too small a population sample to be anything but 'interesting' though. On the other hand, you may have kicked off the inner statistics-nerd in me. :-) (Although next time a screenshot from Excel - took me longer to format that 'table' than run the tests!)

I personally find that PzIV vs. T34/85 at >1000m that: - PzIV hits faster and more accurately but needs multiple hits to knock out the target - T34/85 slower to acquire and less hits on target but their impacts are harder Overall I am finding that 1:1 the T34/85 often comes off worse since once the PzIV starts hitting the Russian crew are too shocked to retaliate. But the PzIV needs to land multiple 3-9 solid hits before the T34/85 is knocked out completely. This takes time and ammo. (Aside: just played the The Passage where I can count 17 penetration decals on a non-knocked out T34/85, albeit many partial-penetrations, dead main gun and 3 panicked crew left inside. However the TacAI was still happily throwing more AP...) However once you throw another T34/85 into the mix then the PzIV comes off worse. Mainly because the TacAI is too busy throwing AP shells into the first target and ignores the 2nd T34/85 calmly zeroing in and bagging a kill. Bottom line for me is don't let PzIV's compete with T34/85 at long range. Funnily enough I'm happier using PzIV at shorter ranges where their 75mm can penetrate the T34/85 armour more reliably. This is only in-game observations mind you and I'm not conducting a shooting range test. But it's enough for me to alter my pattern of duels between these two tanks...

Plenty of time left to develop that operational-level strategic overlay. ;-) And then the FPS co-op version...