Dandelion

Incoming Do you encounter many people on the internet who do not know where Lisbon is? Regards Dandelion

Thanks, They don't mention much though. I guess not much is known yet. Looking at the screenshots of CMAK it looks nothing like a rewrite tho. 3D models follows exactly the same patterns. "Italian city" is still a bunch of square boxes, no more possible to turn italian than they were to turn Normand. But then again, these screenshots may not be fair to end-result. As always, we'll have to wait and see I guess Regards Dandelion

They're not calling themselves that anymore I have been told. BTS I mean They're called something else now. Not sure what. I am also disappointed about there not coming any patch for CMBO. Very much so in fact, and I can't really understand why either. It's just a tweak for accuracy and machinegun effect that is needed. But anyway, CMBO is not just a game, but also a theatre of operation. Sadly, the one that I very much prefer to be in. There was talk for a long time about a CMII, a complete rewrite of the game to improve it in all sorts of ways. I remember the then BTS bragging quite a lot actually, about how nice it would look and work. It would outdo even the UBI rival based on the IL-2 engine, the pre-screenshots of which were quite stunning. Of course, haven't heard anything about CMII or the UBI rival for some time now. There was CM2, namely CMBB, as promised. But in my opinion this is an upgrade and expansion pack rather than a game. So I wasn't awaiting it holding my breath. CMAK I suspect will be more of the same. While I'll certainly buy CMAK, I am still rather waiting for CMII, hoping it will be a return to the NWE44-45 TO. Now that the problems with accuracy and machinegun fire has been corrected, the issue to deal with in my opinion is the 3D model. It is difficult to recreate a lifelike terrain. In fact with 20 meter minimum tiles, and houses constructed the way they are, you simply cant. Lifelike terrain is the key to infantry combat. So there's where I'd start. Regards Dandelion

LOL! Lovely round-up there John I must say. This is exactly the kind of posts one loves to read. And I now cannot but presume that the quoute in your signature is concerning an Englishman. Queens, is this a Liverpool Rgt? It says "The Queens Rgt (Liverpool)" in a sourcebook on WWI here. Which I naturally interpret as the regiment is consisting of men born in Liverpool. But of course, I now have a sinking feeling they were not from Liverpool at all, but probably Cornish, or miners from some faraway rainy place in Wales. While I have your attention, might I ask what "London Scottish" means? There are/were really so many Scotsmen in London that one can/could raise an entire regiment? Or is it an honour title of some sort? And why is only a single company of the Royal Artillery called honourable? And did catholic Irishmen serve in the Irish regiments during the war? And yes, now a question that has eluded me for ages spring to mind - the issue of the institution of...well, what the Germans call Jägers, in HM Armed Forces. As I understand it, there was (is?) something called "The Rifle Brigade", which I have understood as being equivalent to Jäger troops (Right?). However, another Regiment keeps popping up, namely the "Royal Greenjackets". Is this an official name? Anyway, were these also "Jäger" troops? And were/are there more of them? [Footnote that you will probably not need: Jäger troops, once recruited among foresters, game wardens, hunters and such, were troops trained and equipped for skirmish warfare. They remain a type of light infantry almost but not quite of commando capacity. Often transalted to Ranger or Sharpshooter in US literature. Compare French "Chasseur"] Regards Dandelion

Lee, I am personally wondering why there are so few scenarios depicting US battles between June 6th and August 15th, not involving 101st or 82nd Airborne. This includes the landings, the battle of the hedgerows and operation Cobra. The Americans lost in excess of 40 000 men in this period and in my opinion their survival as a coherent force and continued advance was the feat of US arms in WWII. These battles contain it all in a wargamer perspective. It even has it's own little Bastogne, when part of 29th is cut off and surrounded on July 15th. Especially considering the sheer number of Americans involved in CMBO, I find it mighty strange that practically all of these battles are absent (excepting those of the Airborne divisions). You have all the good source material on these battles over on your continent you know, so we're waiting... Wonder if there's any Normandy equivalent of the: "We're the Battling Bastards of Bataan, No mama, no papa, no Uncle Sam, No aunts, no uncles, no cousins, no nieces, No pills, no planes, no artillery pieces, And nobody gives a damn!" F Hewlett 1942 :poem. Probably. And Canada, where's a good campaign on the Norrey battles? That being the finest action of Canadian arms according to Mr Reynolds, I'd like to see if I can't do better than Max and Kurt did. Regards Dandelion

Scenarios, definately. And campaigns, although I've played very few of those, apart from the CPX/CMMC of course. A good scenario will bring the game to it's peak. Make it all it can be, so to speak. But I wouldn't ever play one against the designer. I'll play one that none of the opponents ever played before. There are bad scenario's. The CMBO gameplay equivalent of stepping on a mine. But not that many really. At least I haven't encountered that many. QBs, well, I never really got into them. I keep trying but it won't work for me. For some reason it (the randomness, the points and unit shopping) destroys the illusion for me, and makes it...well just a game, sort of. That makes no sense I guess, but that's the way I feel about it. It was the same with ASL for me really. Regards Dandelion

...and what puzzled me about the RN divisions... Yes, the Divisions did consists of people employed by the Navy and as such one could fairly call them Naval. But I was still puzzled. The definition of a marine used to be a soldier trained and equipped for land warfare - or land warfare-ish tasks aboard ship - in the service of a naval force otherwise consisting of sailors. The only thing that made him a marine was his employer and his lack of skills as a sailor, one might say. In my humble opinion. The troops of the Naval Divisions were as I understand it almost exclusively fresh recruits, all claiming some connection to the sea or other. As I understand it, this connection would rarely be stronger than that of being stewards on board a pleasure cruiser or a clerk at a shipping company or the like. Apart from that, these divisions seem also to have been irresistable to various poets and young upper class intellectuals with no connection to the sea but plenty connection at the Admiralty. Thus according to my source here, they were not actually sailors as such. They were recruited by the Admiralty - again, as I understand it - merely because this was the authority then available to Churchill in his many little escapades. In this situation, many nations would have called these men marines. They were not trained sailors and thus unable to do service as such. They were not trained for land warfare either, or for anything else for that matter, as it was, but quickly gained experience in this field at least. I compare to the list Lou showed me, where troops intended for "Public Service" (not sure what that means in this context) in London, and apparently also serving in this field, were considered marines rather than naval. So, I surmised that the men recruited exclusively for service as land combat troops, yet employed by the Navy, must naturally be marines. Of course, there is something I am missing, I realise this. Perhaps the RN and RM are so separate services that it is unthinkable to simply switch whole units between them (my image is that of the RM being a semi-autonomous but still subordinated part of the RN?). Or perhaps the RN has a long tradition of having land combat troops who were not marines. Or perhaps the Navy feared loss of manpower and were unwilling to release them to the RM. Or perhaps Churchill simply could not be bothered with admittedly irrelevant logics at the time. I am not saying it was wrong to call them Naval or anything I just tried to figure out the line of thinking behind it. Right. Now everyone knows what I am pondering late at night. I'll get a life any day now. Promise. [edit spelling error] Regards Dandelion [ April 13, 2003, 06:27 PM: Message edited by: Dandelion ]

Dear John and Lou, I did not misinterpret. Being ex-officer myself of another nations army, I fully realise that the odd comment from the fellow next door is in fact a subtle form of compliment, rather than insult. I also realise the likeness to commenting on ones own sister. If I picked up an RN officers comments on RM, it would not lure me into believing that it would be accepted that I as a non-RN officer was to use those same comments when encountering a RM. Some matters are strictly family affaires. I also realise the value in exploring this particular inter-service lingo, in getting to know and better understand a foreign armed force. I try to pick as much as possible up whenever I can, from any army who's representatives I encounter in fact. I met a RN officer in Vienna, he was drunk in a bar. Very charming fellow in fact. From our conversation, I was able to deduct that he did not really think much of the Army - refused to call it "Royal" in fact, calling it a fraud that it carries this title (I never got that joke) - but he had a peculiar kind of almost patronising affection for marines. So, I gathered, in the everyday life of his career he probably did not see much of the army, but probably pursued many tasks alongside marines, allowing time for a relation including both rivalry and admiration. I met a marine too, in Stockholm visiting his girlfriend. He was also drunk (no I do not spend all my time in bars, and nor are all Englishmen I encounter intoxicated and frequenting such establishments, but it's a good place to have a chat). Also a charming and extrovert fellow, a cockney (I think). Certainly not a brute. He was full of jokes about the army too, especially the cavalry for some reason (that I never got). But he did in fact display genuine hostility towards Paratroopers. This surprised me much, as I had got it in my mind they operated a lot together. So I had expected the normal nasty jokes. But he was not joking, he really did not appreciate them at all. I didn't dig deeper into it. All in all, these details tells a story of the intimate relations between various units of an armed force, and indeed of the morale and esprit of it. Far from disregarding them as mere jokes, I actually hunt for them. Regards Dandelion

Louie, You will be amused by my ignorance, but the location you state - is that USA or Canada? Regards Dandelion [ April 13, 2003, 05:36 AM: Message edited by: Dandelion ]

Thanks Lou, The relation between RN, RM and RM Cdo infantry units had always been misty to me before this list. I am still not sure why the WWI divisions of Chruchill fame were called RN rather than marine, but the keys to the mystery will be buried under a few centuries of tradition one suspects. About the hanging, do the marines have a reputation of being individually brutish? Or is it the sailors who have this? Just trying to get a grip on the basic inevitable inter-service slander within the British armed forces Regards Dandelion [ April 13, 2003, 05:24 AM: Message edited by: Dandelion ]

Klapton, My latest record in the mailbox is the 10b that I sent to you. Did you receive it? Should I send it again? About gun damage, thinking about it logically, there would be a lot of that. Gun and optics present comparatively soft and vulnerable targets, easily damaged even by shrapnel. My quest if for some source elucidating on the subject, describing frequencies, types of damage and replacement/repair systems. Yours truly Dandelion

Et Voila, le Commando Kieffer dans les rues de Cherbourg: The Monsieurs dashing a streetcorner here are displaying the latest fashion mods of the good Mr Darknight, in combination with the Dandelion commando beret Mod and the Mr Dorosh subdued style pants. It's what they're wearing in Paris you know. [Edit, I have been informed that Andrew Fox has made the British uniforms appearing in the screenshot, the unit insignia and periphernalia being the Darknight part] Of course, as they are running, they are cursing in cockney... [ April 11, 2003, 10:01 AM: Message edited by: Dandelion ]

Good point. But I wouldn't say "nobody" Regards D

What's this whisky-arthritis business? If booze is being handed out, I want in on it. Regards Dandelion

Thanx a million for the patches, It just struck me. What about just publishing the patches, armtitles and such sans arms? Wouldn't it become smaller? Regards Dandelion

Here's using the pics you guided me to First the initial pic, using modern French beret Marine-Green (which is identical to modern Royal Marine) Then the variant using the re-enactor Lovat green. As you can see it didn't turn out so good, in spite the excellence of the pictures. I might have a second go at it, but the nature of the cut of the 3D model makes it difficult to use the realistic textured surface without it looking strange. Lastly, using an illustration in the McGregor/Turner uniform book. This pic well displays the 3D model used as basis for the beret. Due to the cut-down helmet 3D of the beret, it is unfortunately impossible to use a badge or patch with unit insignia on it, as it reveals in a very oibvious way how the helmet has been cut. Regards Dandelion

Yes I live in Europe, but my copy was ordered from BTS in the US. I pride myself in having a CD from the very first (grossly undersized) batch they made. It looks real primitive too, almost like a pirate copy Censorship is strange. Swastikas are removed in my copy too, but SS is explicit, so it cannot be legally sold in Germany anyway. So why remove the swastikas? Regards Dandelion

Lee, In addition to this one might point out that individual hits are not traced in CMBO. Thus, the game engine has no idea of what exact spot you hit, and accordingly will not know if you hit the exact same spot again. Again hijacking your thread I am still curious about the rate of gun damage. I know this has been debated since the dawn of CMBO, but I still cannot say I have found reasonable answer personally. I seem unable to find contemporary accounts justifying the rate of destruction, even if the damage as such stands to reason on a purely logical basis. As we might still be having Mr Rexfords attention, I wanted to ask his opinion of this. Regards Dandelion

Notwithstanding, I'd very much want to download it if you still have it. Is that correct English btw? Or should one split the word and write "load it down"? Anyway, anywhere on the net where I might find it? Or could we transfer it in some other manner? I have broadband, so transfers are but a *slrp*, but my e-mail server has a size limit. Not sure what it is, but not overly generous. Regards Dandelion

I see, I use a version of this armpatch myself which is anything but good. Smears and stretches. Difficult to make a better one, my crappy image editor is too primitive. Tried to make a RM armtitle, but it only made me frustrated and furious. To think how complex it can be to produce such a silly little thing. And by the way - that was a very, very speedy establishing of a CM3 site Yours as always Dandelion

I use these berets for Commando scenarios. Actually a remnant from a Free French mod I did a few years ago, using a much modded British helmet as beret (10 Inter-Allied was the topic, thus used Brit uniforms, although not these Denisons shown here of course). Result isn't perfect, but looks nice from a distance, and the marines won't have to wear maroon. What you see here is British infantry, and some paras in the background for comparison. I guess one'd need a brighter green for Lovat green, but that's pretty easy to fix. Ineterested? Know of any good pic on the net displaying colours and shades of Lovat Green? Yours Truly Dandelion

Thank you for those kind words Lee, I know you know it's quite mutual. Tell you what though, your little poll here has made me all nostalgic and sad. Can't help noticing lots of folks are missing here. Where did that Kiwi living in London go? Always so full of energy. Wasn't it him that made he intro movie to CMBO? And that other Swede with the equivalent of Library of Congress on technical details in his home, gone too. And that Argentinian fellow, him with the temper. And the obnoxious fellow who got thrown out all the time, not a day that he didn't get into a fight here, the Irishman. Used to be that Belgian here too, him providing detail maps on the Ardennes. He must have really labored to scan those for us. Lived right near Bastogne did he not? Andreas hasn't reported in yet. Wonder if he ever brutally gunned down a general Krafft, or visited an armour show in England last year, or both. Where are all the Canadians? Used to be more than one could count in here. Nice folk. Well. The way it goes I guess. They might be back some day. Had a year off myself until recently. On the up side, I don't think we ever saw an Italian, a Spaniard or Korean here before, did we? If we didn't, these additions calls for some celebration I'd say. Here goes Your Dandelion

Try http://www.combatmission.com third party mods section. For flags. Several other sites with flags too. You can easily make one yourself if you want, it's an ordinary bmp file. Not sure what you mean by that other reference, as I don't own CMBB. The SS is the SS in CMBO. Regards Dandelion [ April 04, 2003, 07:44 PM: Message edited by: Dandelion ]

Oh don't say that. Makes me feel I ought to win by virtue of experience, and so I feel all the more sense of shortcoming and inadequacy when I don't I see you have your e-mail in the profile (personally I am too much a coward to have mine there, afraid of spam, virus and such). I collect it now and then I'll write you for a game in the agreed time. Yours Truly Dandelion

Aragorn, The Finns were always a warrior nation. It's all about attitude, and they still have a grim one. Swedes around here often say - if there is no Finn close enough to hear it - that they started to loose wars for real only after they lost Finland (which was a part of Sweden, thus providing troops for Sweden). I have heard Finns say that the Swedes always fought to the last Finn in these wars (Right, I'll get my head smashed in by some angry Swede now, or by Lee for messing up his thread... :eek: ). Strange part is, the Finns are mostly talked about for their...cavalry. Not exactly what I had imagined I must admit, seeing as that all I ever saw in Finland was pineforest. Lots of pineforest in Finland, yes Sir, no shortage of pine at all. Pines left, pines right and you're standing on fallen pines too. Pines all over. The occasional Finn among the pines but, mostly, just a whole lot of pines. Houses in pinetree, pine furniture. Pines. And Aragorn, don't expect a reply from a Finn on your compliment. Not that they don't like receiving such. On the contrary. Its just that "talkative like a Finn" is something Swedes say about rocks, furniture and other such chatterboxes. And the Swedes arent exactly chatterish types themselves if you catch my meaning. So it's hopeless. (Just ensuring a Finn will have a go at my head as well so it will even out...) That's why I talk so much on the forum, it is all silence where I live Hakkapällä! (Finnish warcry, say the Swedes when drunk (that's when they offload a few weeks of talk on you)) Regards Dandelion