MPK

That's a really useful post, JasonC... Saved me a lot of testing Those exposure figs will be useful written on an index card propped on top of the comp. As both yourself and BannonDC have pointed out, it is area fire that enables one to continue to target and pin units that have taken cover. I would add the small observation that because the Targeting line is sticky for enemy units, it can be tricky to target a foxhole (as opposed to the unit in it)...but experiment with camera angles, and you will get the knack.

"I've often wanted to simulate the motorcycle troops both sides (in Russia especially) used for recon, especially earlier in the war. I've come up with my own system for it and here I offer it to anyone interested, for campaigns with motorcycle troops present and for designed scenarios." Some really nice ideas there, JasonC; I myself have been trying a similar thing in regard to better simulating horsed cavalry... particularly as raiders on a big map... jeeps can be used to represent horses... subject of course to special rules. The various support weapons of say, a Soviet 1943 cavalry rgt (ATR's, 45mm ATG's, 76mm inf gun, 82mm mortar, Maxims, 37mm AA) etc etc) can mostly be towed or carried by jeeps, thus simulating horse teams or wagons... Trucks can represent bigger horse teams, like those needed to tow the 76mm USV gun. Like Dragoons, WW2 cavalry generally dis- mounted to fight, and the vulnerability of jeeps makes it fairly imperative to do so... Special rules include the herding together of your jeeps in small groups (say, hidden in a balka)during the battle under the watchful eye of a cav half-squad (the horse-holder)... jeeps may not move unless they have a passenger...

Santosdiablo, I can highly recommend the Op "Ghosts Of Napoleon"...10 battles, each 20+, July '41, the 18th Panzer Div tries to cross the Berezina... As the defending Soviets, you get the full range of tin cans - BT-2's, T-38 tankettes etc - plus a few surprises... Best as PBEM... If you want it sent, drop me an email [address in profile]

"You'd be much better off with a flexible map size, from 600x800, through roughly 1 km and 1.5 km sizes, with 2x2 maps the largest rather than automatic." --This is a really good idea... If the map size doesn't relate to the forces deployed on it, how can one avoid problems like countless skulking matches between rival recon patrols? Not saying there isn't a fix, just that flexible map size makes sense.

Head start if you're the son of an ex-president... If you play as the Germans, there is a long, boring bit of the game where you try and sell crap postcards to tourists in Vienna...

Yeah that's what the AI Sims would do, isn't it...get a good job, work like a slave, get a lousy T-26 when the next guy is in Sales and has a new KV1s...

Is there any truth to the rumor that Battlefront is about to release a TRIPLE bundle pack, consisting of "Strategic Command","CM:Campaigns" and "CM:Barbarossa To Berlin" that allows players to game at any level from platoon to Nation-State? I've heard that an elite Albanian team of gamers & coders has managed to merge these 3 titles, creating a monster of a game in which you can direct your tractor factories to produce more T-34's then plunge dir- ectly into the action as the commander of the first tank off the production line...

I actually think this Map Library concept has some merit... I would think that a lot of the 2x2 maps needed will be fairly mundane... areas of steppe, forest or bog... it makes sense to start making and collecting these now, as we will have better things to do when CM:C is released....

I'd really like to see some SCW, Winter War, Annexation of Bessarabia, etc etc campaigns... Did anyone ever explore Nomonhan as an Op? great chance to use the BT's and Vickers tanks...

I think that you have got to get some sort of intelligence benefit from capturing enemy soldiers... Seems to me that this could work in CMC...

"Try this site: "http://rkkaww2.armchairgeneral.com/" ----Thanks Renaud, but as Jason says, the info ain't there... "I've already checked 'Russian Battlefield' and 'RKKA in WW2' websites...didn't find what I need..." ----Sometimes you've just gotta buy a book

Thanks, John... By 'formation' I do indeed mean division and regiment... I was kind of hoping for some net links... My university library is a little ahem, underfunded...and I'm broke this month otherwise I'd be Zaloga-Shopping... cheers, Matt

"We" are already in Syria: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/pp/05292/590727.stm BTW, do you think the Germans might invade Russia? It would make a damn good game...

Can anyone direct me to detailed TOE's for Soviet Cavalry formations? On the net, that is...I'm still saving for Piekalkiewicz's "Cavalry OF WW2" I've already checked 'Russian Battlefield' and 'RKKA in WW2' websites...didn't find what I need... Any help greatly appreciated... Thanks, Matt PS my Russian is pretty rudimentary (or just plain rude?) so info in English preferred...

"indentifying" whoops, a Bushism... I meant of course, Identifying... Hey, is this earpiece workin'?

"What I mean is the individual 120mm mortars and multiple rocket launchers wouldn't be able to use direct fire in most cases so their lack of representation in CMBB is not a biggie." Gotcha...meaning that we can concentrate, as you say, on indentifying the kind of ad- hoc forces that CAN be represented...like serivice troops...

Heya! Dunno if you're aware, but Thunderhawk is available in a PC conversion from: http://www.the-underdogs.org/ game.php?gameid=1877 As is North & South: http://www.the-underdogs.org/ game.php?id=2401 and Carrier Command, as well! site requires registration(free) well worth it...is treasure trove of abandonware...

Thanks for that link, Sergei... I missed that game back in the Amiga days...I'm gonna check it out via underdogs.com...some of those old amiga games have been released as PC shareware... Hey, remember "Thunderhawk"? now there was an Apache simulator... well ahead of it's time...best ranting from any C.O in any game ever...

I would love to see a cavalry campaign... Either winter of '41 in front of Moscow, or summer '43 in pursuit across the steppes... Although it's clear we'll never get to charge our cossacks mounted, with support from wagon-carried Maxims, at least CMC sounds like it will give Cavalry the Oper- ational mobility that makes it so useful... Some Soviet cavalry raids were massive in scale...main force units would open a hole in the Axis line, and a cav Division or sometimes Corps would pass through...to cause havoc behind the lines...they were equipped with lots of ATR's and some T-70 light tanks...as well as mortars, 45mm and 76mm guns...enough to deal with the reserve force that the axis commander would send after them... When the time came to escape, they would open a new hole in the Axis line and the cav would slip out again...some of these raids lasted over a 100 days...resupplied by air, living off the land and stealing Axis supplies... I think that could be fun to play... In fact I started designing it as an op But now....with CMC...hmmm... Maybe a campaign is the way to go...

"Rockets and 120mm mortars, that's tougher. Rockets couldn't defend themselves anyway..." Soviet Rocket Regts and Bns had AT guns (37mm?) and some light AA..(25mm?) IIRC. I really like the idea of being able to wreak havoc behind enemy lines... I mean that's what tanks and cavalry are all about, eh? But it's also true that rear areas have their own security troops as well as various specialists(e.g bakers)wandering about... I think you could have some challenging encounters behind the lines...and some turkey shoots. I have played a couple of CM scenarios devoted to this kind of action... including one classic where you get extra points for killing of capturing a surprised German staff officer (repr- esented by a Bn HQ)...

In Earth years, 40.

Thanks, Wisbech_lad...in a similar but antipodean vein, you might enjoy "Let's Stalk Strine" by Afferbeck Lauder, or it's sequel "Nose Tone Un- turned"... Now back to the war...

"but I do know why the large caliber artillery pieces aren't included. They weren't used for direct fire." They were at Ponyri, during Kursk... For just one example. "The Russian artillery park is thus underrepresented on the high end." True...and not only are the guns not in the game (the Germans can deploy the 150mm FH) but neither are the tractors; eg Stalinetz and Komsomolets, to move them around...and the 76mm & 85mm AA guns that are in the game are rendered less useful by being immobile...

"I've also got the "Upmanship" series and the "How to be an Alien" books." "Upmanship" as in "Lifemanship" ? as in Potter, Stephen? 'How to be an Alien' ?!? who wrote 'em?

Sorry; off-topic but intriguing... "As eny tru grog noe..." Wisbech_lad, is that the ghost of Ronald Searle speaking through? I didn't think people read books like that anymore...