jbertles

Clarification #2 - It seems that it doesn't make much of a difference between "text-only" and "text-only with line breaks" - BUT - they both seem to work (I needed to do a little song-and-dance between getting out of the scenario editor and going back in before it would load), but now how do I get rid of those *%&*# line breaks!?. Even using 'text-only' (without line breaks) it inserts them. It's not that bad looking, but I had being untidy...

Ok, just to clarify: In my version of Word (98) you have to save the files as 'Text only with line breaks'. That works just fine. Thanks again Dook for putting me on the right track.

Thanks Dook, I'll give it a try.

Hey there, anyone have any advice for me about what Mac text editor to use to load briefings? I used Word first and it gave me gobbledy-gook. Then I tried 'text-only' format, 'rich-text format' and even Mac's Simple Text. But I can seem to replace the gobbledy-gook file with any other file. Gives me the error-sound and won't load. Any suggestions? I already ran a search and didn't find much help.

But it is an interesting 'what if' kind of scenario - M4 vs. T34. I once randomized myself into a battle with (if I remember right) Finnish captured T-34s vs. Soviet Shermans. Got my brain to whirring.

(note: this is a repeat of a post that I placed on the MOD FAQ and Etiquette thread) Having read though the recent threads on modding and etiquette, here is my two cents for what it's worth: [Note that I have never modded, though I often download and use them. But it's something that I look forward to doing in the future, as time presents. Also, note that I have played CMBO avidly nearly since it came out, and CMBB from the moment it shipped, so I don't consider myself a newbie, although I am a late-comer to the forum (just got broadband, hooray!).] But being a teaching artist (a profession that requires that you are both an artist of some kind as well as a teacher), I have a certain prospective on artistic criticism. For those of you who are modding - great; THANKS! and keep on going. Consider letting us know what your sources are - books, original photos (b&w? or color? Beware colorized b&w!), movies, whatever. Let us know also if you are striving for some kind of cool artistic interpretation or strict reality. But modders, also be aware that when you put your stuff out there it becomes public domain in the matter of criticism. Any artist (or game programmer, for that matter) who has gotten bad reviews in the press (and I count myself in that group) knows that all artists have to be somewhat thick-skinned AND ego-centric. It doesn't mean that you have to agree with the criticism in whatever way it comes, but you do have to put up with it. It very quickly becomes clear whose criticism is relevant/meaningful/informed and whose is not. For those who use the mods and have criticisms/comments to make - well, that is our right and duty! However, it might make things a little easier if we were all a bit more constructive in our criticisms/comments. Don't just mention the sources of your disagreements, document them, or mention the names of the books/movies/etcs that you base them on. The grogs that inhabit these caverns have very definite opinions on the validity of many of these sources. Listen to them, even if you don't agree. That is, after all, why this is called a forum... If you have scans to document your claims and don't have a website to upload them to, I'm sure some interested parties here will help you find ways to display these images in the name of increased reality in the game. It also behooves us to remember that we are talking about giant armies of millions of men with varying types of equipment. There is bound to be a certain deviation from front-to-front, outfit-to-outfit, supplier-to-supplier, etc. But most of all, try to contribute to the general drift of this game and forum. We are all striving to not only have fun with these games, but root them in the reality of what actually happened 60 +- years ago. Try to enter it with the spirit of a community of CMBO/BB gamers in mind, rather than issuing edicts and put-downs. Very few of us were actually alive and aware during that time, so we have to rely on second-hand sources - which may or may not be accurate! So be generous as well. Personally, I think the modding thing is fantastic, and am constantly amazed at the amount of time and work that the modders put in - as well as the appreciation with which they are generally received. It would be a shame to have that community-spirit kind of thing disappear from this forum. And that, ladies and gents, is my humble opinion. Thank you and good night.

Having read though the recent threads on modding and etiquette, here is my two cents for what it's worth: [Note that I have never modded, though I often download and use them. But it's something that I look forward to doing in the future, as time presents. Also, note that I have played CMBO avidly nearly since it came out, and CMBB from the moment it shipped, so I don't consider myself a newbie, although I am a late-comer to the forum (just got broadband, hooray!).] But being a teaching artist (a profession that requires that you are both an artist of some kind as well as a teacher), I have a certain prospective on artistic criticism. For those of you who are modding - great; THANKS! and keep on going. Consider letting us know what your sources are - books, original photos (b&w? or color? Beware colorized b&w!), movies, whatever. Let us know also if you are striving for some kind of cool artistic interpretation or strict reality. But modders, also be aware that when you put your stuff out there it becomes public domain in the matter of criticism. Any artist (or game programmer, for that matter) who has gotten bad reviews in the press (and I count myself in that group) knows that all artists have to be somewhat thick-skinned AND ego-centric. It doesn't mean that you have to agree with the criticism in whatever way it comes, but you do have to put up with it. It very quickly becomes clear whose criticism is relevant/meaningful/informed and whose is not. For those who use the mods and have criticisms/comments to make - well, that is our right and duty! However, it might make things a little easier if we were all a bit more constructive in our criticisms/comments. Don't just mention the sources of your disagreements, document them, or mention the names of the books/movies/etcs that you base them on. The grogs that inhabit these caverns have very definite opinions on the validity of many of these sources. Listen to them, even if you don't agree. That is, after all, why this is called a forum... If you have scans to document your claims and don't have a website to upload them to, I'm sure some interested parties here will help you find ways to display these images in the name of increased reality in the game. It also behooves us to remember that we are talking about giant armies of millions of men with varying types of equipment. There is bound to be a certain deviation from front-to-front, outfit-to-outfit, supplier-to-supplier, etc. But most of all, try to contribute to the general drift of this game and forum. We are all striving to not only have fun with these games, but root them in the reality of what actually happened 60 +- years ago. Try to enter it with the spirit of a community of CMBO/BB gamers in mind, rather than issuing edicts and put-downs. Very few of us were actually alive and aware during that time, so we have to rely on second-hand sources - which may or may not be accurate! So be generous as well. Personally, I think the modding thing is fantastic, and am constantly amazed at the amount of time and work that the modders put in - as well as the appreciation with which they are generally received. It would be a shame to have that community-spirit kind of thing disappear from this forum. And that, ladies and gents, is my humble opinion. Thank you and good night.

Or River Monitors - liberally used by both sides in riverine warfare.

Agreed. Another thing that would make the tables way more useable would be the nationality on each page. So for example, each page of the Hungarian tables would say "Hungarian" at the top. Would save a lot of futile rooting around.

Which brings up music. I'm partial to "Jupiter" from Holst's "The Planets". Lots of repetitive snare drum...

Wow, I thought just having these games was great, and now great service too.... Kudos, BFC

How about Red Dawn for some rootin' teuton commie-shootin'

According to MY books, both vehicles were conducting trials at the Kummersdorf training area, but were destroyed by the Germans before the Sovs took the area. A few quick stats: Armament: 150cm KwK 44 L/38 w/ coax 7.5cm KwK L/36.5 (!!) Weight: 185 tons (that's 3 jagdtigers worth) Road speed: 12.5 mph Armor: 240mm front, 200mm side My feeling is that they didn't learn from their Elefants at Kursk.

Sorry to double-post, but here is some info on a prototype US heavy circa '42 - the M6 and derivatives: M6 Eventually the Army was not happy with the M6, which it considered "too heavy, under-gunned, poorly shaped, and requiring improvements to the transmission." There were bunches of other discontinued prototypes for US med and heavy tanks, most leading the way toward the M26 by doing away with HVSS suspension in favor of torsion bar (as in M26) and upgunning to 76, 90 or even 105mm guns.

Interestingly enough, it was probably Western heavies which first spurred on the development of the Tiger. German heavy tank development was very modest during 1937-38, and by the end of '38 there were two prototypes, the DW1 (Breakthrough Tank) and VK3001, neither of which was finally produced - the Army stayed with the PZIV. However, during the May '40 blitzkrieg the German Army was dismayed by the few Allied tanks that they encountered - Matildas and Char 1Bs - and they stepped up the heavy tank program by Spring '41. By Summer '41 the Wehrmacht subsequently encountered T34s and KV1s which outclassed the PzIV, and at that point development was revved up for what would become Panthers and Tigers. But these efforts were delayed by arguments over the armament. Hitler wanted a modifed 88, whereas the "Weapons Department" (?) wanted taper-bore 6cm or 7cm guns. That is why both Porsche and Henschel received orders for prototypes called VK4501 (P) and VK4501 (H). Eventually the (H) prototypes performed better than the Porsches, but not until after Porsche had partially completed 90 units. The Henschel version went into production as the Tiger, and the 90 Porsche chassis were modified to become the Elefant.

One of the things that leaped out at me was the similarity in civilian deaths between British Empire and Italy. The BE deaths must include the colonies as well, since the Battle of Britain couldn't have created that total alone. Italy, on the other hand, was well fought over.

Dear Santa: (No, I don't want to hear about game engines, or any other kind of reality.) All I want is: Armored Trains Horses to pull my bogged tanks out Somuas that look like Somuas IR equipped Panthers And J. Lo in a Pear Tree!

Ummmm, Freefrench2, you're way off base. The reason I posted this is precisely because the R-35 and S-35 look nothing like each other. One of the very first books on tanks that I bought ("Tanks and other AFVs of the Blitzkrieg Era" by B.T. White - which I must have gotten in maybe 1973 or so.....) has the somewhat silly looking R-35 - complete with snub barrel and rear sprocket dragging on the ground - the H-35/H-39 (somewhat more modern looking, but still with snub barrel) and the S-35 (much more modern and rakish looking, with forward mounted turrent and a real actual barrel!) on 3 consecutive pages, making it real easy to compare. I was just wondering whether there was any chance of making the two images different in either a mod or a future patch. Juju answered the first question (thx!), and it looks like others in this thread have also wanted to have image of the S-35 upgraded in the future. Now let's see, where did I put those rose-colored glasses....? BTW, the book I mentioned above has lots of color paintings of many early war tanks, including a very, very colorful CharB1 in typical french forest scheme - yellow w/green and brown splotches - and lots of German and British tanks in desert paint. All the russian tanks seem to be in a wierd lime green, including the mighty (but wimpy) T-35, which seems to painted from the perspective of a person in a trench - it looks more like a ship than a tank.

This quote from Charles B. MacDonald's "A Time for Trumpets": "He personally led a night attack on the village of Pekartschina with flamethrowers mounted on his halftracks and burned the village to the ground - other units of the division called Peiper's SS-Panzergrenadiers the "Blowtorch Battalion." In one drive, the panzer regiment claimed 2,500 Russians killed and only 3 captured..." BTW, this book is a fabulous resource for info on the Battle of the Bulge, full of small unit actions described in great detail.

Thanks Juju. Too bad. I always loved the way the Somua looked, with that way-forward turrent... Oh well.

I notice that the Somua S-35 looks exactly like the Renault R-35. Not knowing much about modding, is it possible to create a more accurate image of the Somua? Or can mods only change the color of the existing images?

"German Tanks of World War II" by Stephen Hart and Russell Hart has quite a bit of material on the Panther "Sparrowhawk" variant. Range was 600m, due to the small size of the IR searchlight the tank carried. In '44 they began mounting 23.6in IR searchlights on halftracks for increased detection range - up to 2500m (!!!). To go along with the Panthers and hts, there was a halftrack-mounted special pzgrendier squad - supposed to be armed with assault rifles with Vampir night-sights (although the sights were never fitted, the infantry teams did exist). These 3-vehicle teams were collectively called Sperber - sparrowhawk. Deployment was extremely rare, sometimes w/o the IR vision devices, and the only known actual combat took place in the West. BTW, there was an improved Panther sight called Solution-B, which also provided night vision to the driver. So, imagine this scene in an early sparrowhawk panther: Commander: "Drive forward 60 meters and turn around that building!" Driver: "Building? What building?" CRASH!!

How 'bout some Soviet dog mines as well...

I've played a lot of games with light trees and large hills, and it can be quite efficient to send a platoon of ht-mounted infantry and a platoon of fast tanks to out-flank the opponent by finding a route that is masked by hills and other terrain. The infantry plays havoc on the rear echelons (with ht mg support) and the fast tanks can get rear and side shots on the opponent's armor. Also, I like to use just a few hts per company to carry heavy weapons like mgs, flame-throwers, etc. This can keep a company moving faster and with more cohesion. Keep the hts somewhat back so that you can disembark before they come under fire.

Does anyone else remember the TV series "The Prisoner" ? "I am not a number! I am a free man!" (#6) Be seeing you....