karlis

This is most helpful. Thank you so much!

Koenig, please post more. Sorry for the delayed response. There's one angry-sounding phase I'd like translated. Sounds roughly like he's saying Angotsi ditty forti! (angry sounding) There's another saying I hear frequently at the beginning of a battle, before the shooting starts: Ragazzi something (sounds like "moritsi" or something like that). Probably a "let's go boys", or something along those lines, since Raggazi is boys.

I'm not sure it's any real advantage to know what the men are saying, b/c the general idea is usually clear from the context and the tone of voice. A message about ammo levels might be one of the few truly useful messages to hear the enemy troops say. I know when I'm playing against the Brits I love to hear "out of ammo!".

I lived in Siracusa (southeastern Sicily) for 3.5 months. Went for a visit, found a job as an Enlgish teacher and stuck around for a bit while my girlfriend (now wife) had an apartment there (she was doing research there). I did some hiking around the area, and there were little concrete bunkers everywhere (that's what they looked like anyway). They looked like domed-shaped concrete-fortified foxholes. I agree with a previous poster - wonderful place; I'd love to go back. Almost no tourist infrastrcuture, which is a little surprising given that there's so much to see. Siracusa, a town of over 100k, had less than half a dozen hotels, none of them large.

Has anyone translated the various phrases the Italian soliders say during the game? I play the Italian side with some regularity and would like to know. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks for the tip; I'll try that next time. that would have worked well this time. At the time it vainished, my T-34 was not in LOS of the Panther and PzIV it was trying to avoid. I should have been more careful. I was fast moving at that point only b/c I wanted to run amok in the enemy rear area as soon as possible. Careless.

I'm the one who had a similar post on the CMBB thread. My example of a disappearing tank involved a fast move toward the back, then a right turn. It was explained to me that the TC probably smoothed out the turn, and the replotted turn took him off the map. On second thought, that tank crew probably deserves some leave; that T-34 resulted in the destruction of a Panther (T-34 fast moving as bait, Panther turns turret to engage, 85mm flak hidden in some trees straightahead about 300-500m away has a fine side turret as a result - BLAMO!) That tank would have been useful for gunning down HMGs and mortar teams, but hopefully I can adapt to its loss.

I should add that the Latvian half is the good half.

I'm an American of Latvian descent, partially (50%). I'll respond more fully in private E-mail.

That explanation makes sense to me. A lesson learned the hard way.

Stationary units definitely give out sound contacts. In a CMAK PBEM quick battle, I got a "gun sounds?" contact on a 17lb gun that was hidden at the start of the battle and never moved. Of course, my infantry was about 10-20 meters away, so they probably heard one of the crew sneeze or something.

Situation - in a PBEM quick battle, I ordered a T-34 to fast move toward the enemy's back map edge, turn right (to get behind a patch of scatttered trees). I don't remember specificially, but I think there was at least 10-15 meters from my turn point and the map edge. Result - instead of turning right, the T-34 moved off the map!! The tank was not under fire or distressed in any way. Am I not supposed to order units near back map edges or did the tank simply on its own decide to leave the map? Any insight is appreciated.

I've played some PBEM Quick Battle probes where the defender is able to purchase wire, pillboxes, mines etc., but some where he isn't. Not sure why; maybe the terrain has something to do with it?

I stopped to fire. I have 3 of the 5 defending shooters pinned, the other two are firing from further away. The initial air strike missed the tank. I think I get only one bomb with the Folgalore (spelling?) fighter-bomber. Since his shooters pinned late in the movie, I figure I can advance a few of the troops; if I can get to the rough patch on the far left I can set up a nice fire base to cover the rest of the advance. I have a fire base on the right flank (MMG, LMG, 2 squads, sharpshooter, AT rifle) in some rough that can prevent the defender from re-positioning his troops from right to left (my main advance is on the far left side). I'm taking care that no one is tired, and morale is holding up well. A few "alerted" and "shaken", but that's it (those guys are stopping and firing for this next minute or two). This is my first PBEM game (and my opponent's) and we're both having an absolute blast. Obviously we've both made plenty of mistakes, but we're learning.

I have no cover available in the next minute; I'm in the last 150 meters of an infantry advance under fire across open desert; the only chance at cover is patch of rough about 100 meters away. Fortunately for me, the enemy tank has backed up and is in open desert in clear weather, at least 100 -200 meters away from anything else, so hopefully the air support will go for the tank. The enemy gun is in a small clearing among three buildings. The air support taking out the tank probably guarantees a major or total victory for me, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. What do you think, should I pause the advance in the open until at least after the air support drops its bombs, or should I push ahead (under fire) and hope to reach the rough (100m) or the buildings (150m) before the air support arrives? There are enemies in the buildings (1-2 rifle squads, maybe a light machine gun or two?), but my firepower advantage should be overwhelming (the tank doesn't have LOS on the advancing infantry, thankfully).

My air support was much delayed. I'm down to the last 10 turns and I just heard airplane sounds. I'm the attacker and I'm about 150 meters from the main defense line. The defender has a tank about 150 meters behind the main line, and the main line of defense consists of a string of buildings. And there's an enemy AT gun in there. My hope is that my air support will target the tank, the gun or the buildings. My fear is that it will target my advancing troops. The attack is going well and I'd just as soon do without the air support at this point (though taking out the tank would be helpful) b/c of the friendly fire risk. Oh, I don't have any vehicles whatsoever. Is friendly fire less likely b/c I don't have vehicles, or is there a random chance of friendly fire?

Oh, he might be moving or hiding. I'll check that.

OK, so I'll sit tight and keep my fingers crossed that it will arrive. Plane vs. plane is an interesting question. One thought I had was that the Hurricane fighter chased off my fighter-bomber. Whatever happens, I've learned a valuable lesson -don't make air support the cornerstone of your plan.

I purchased fighter-bomber air support as the Italians against the British in the desert in early war in CMAK. I'm on turn 6 in a 30-turn scenario and the air support hasn't shown up yet. Am I simply being impatient, or is there a chance it simply won't arrive. I'm almost positive the enemy does not have an AA gun, but he does have a strafing fighter. Is that a factor? Any help is appreciated. I'm completely addicted to this game!

...or perhaps I'm simply reading the manual wrong. Anyway, I know that arty FO's can plot an artillery barrage on turn one that will go through even if the FO is killed. On a PBEM game, I opted not to do the turn one plotting, and now, on turn 3, neither "target" nor "target wide" is an order option. I'm playing as the Germans in CMAK in a 30-turn QB on Crete. I think it's a 150mm FO, but I'm not positive. My question is, are there some FOs that can only call in a strike on turn one? If so, how do I know which ones? Or can I plot a mission in the game described above in some way? I'm not getting the answer by reading the manual, unfortunately. Any help is much appreciated.

Holy cow! Going only by what I remembered from history books I managed to make the right purchases playing as the Italians against attacking the British on a small map, flat terrain, desert. I opted not to use tanks and instead went w/ the 75mm gun, 81mm mortars and fighter-bomber air support, along w/ infantry and machine guns. Not a single vehicle. So far I'm making out very well. That 75mm arty gun seems to be a crackshot against early British armor. Too bad the 75mm AA is a fixed gun. If I'm reading the above posts correctly, it sounds like the Italian tanks and vehicles don't compare favorably, especially later in the war.

Great link; much appreciated!

Is that thread on the use of Italian equipment in CMAK from the CMAK forum? I'll have to search for it b/c the link brought me back to the battlefront main page. Unless all of the dozens of books I've read on WWII are British propaganda (though admittedly I've not read an exhaustive account of the North or East Africa campaigns), even if the exploits of the Italian military are unfairly viewed in a negative light (which I can imagine is probably true - on the opposite side it seems to me Rommel is unfairly lionized), there are quite a few significant defeats and very few victories to point to (even if the defeats are due to marco reasons such as leadership, supply, war preparation, etc.). That said, I'm looking forward to reading about the positive aspects. Gotta love those frogmen! I've been to Malta and have seen the gaping hole in a jetty (or whatever you call it) protecting the Valetta harbor. The handiwork of an Italian E-boat.

Thanks for the tips. I can see already that the tank busters are quite expensive. Air support generally seems pretty pricey, but the posters pointed out some scenarios where it's worth it and some where it isn't.

Thanks for the info; I'll take a look around. I had heard about Italian artillery successes, the midget sub attack (particularly at Alexandria) and read favorable reviews of Italian pilots over Malta, but they seemed to be exceptions. I did get the sense from the literature that the Italians suffered primarily under poor leadership. Italy clearly seems not to have been ready for war, with all the difficulties that entails. My Italian is at a *very* elementary level (lived in Sicily for a few months; left just as I was getting the hang of the language, have since lost most of it), so I'll have to hunt around for the English language sources. You'll be happy to know that my Italian probe against the British in a PBEM game is going very well. I have a 75?mm on-map gun that has killed two British light tanks (both in turn one), an AT gun (with help from on-map mortars), and has caused an enemy medium tank to go into hiding (with help from anti-tank rifles). Oh, and the gun was strafed by a Hurricane fighter and did not so much as go into "alterted" mode. And I'm only on turn 4. I'll look to try the other equipment you recommend.