Leopard_2

Erm... if you don't play games in th HL category, why such a "big" graphics card? If you aren't that much into high-end 3D, I would start looking for a graphics card that's passively cooled (one fan less)... Then again, we have vastly differing ideas of system priorities anyway - I am quite happy with my 1,2 GHz Athlon but have two SCSI adapters in my system... :-D

You payed $50? I bought Combat Mission 2 in a stock sale for EUR 9,50 a month ago (and still am amazed how that game could have escaped my attention)... (tease, tease... )

@ SeaMonkey: As at that point Germany was nowhere near ready to wage war with France (or anyone else at that matter), it would have been a short "war" indeed...

I don't pray, but I wish him the best.

@ throwdjohn, Falcon: May I ask how young you are? Me, I'm 32...

Oh, did I mention that she's quite interested in military tactics, too? Between her, my 4 month old daughter and my computer, I'm a happy camper indeed.

Actually, my wife loves watching when I play CM, because of it being turn-based so she can actually follow what's happening. Then again, my wife took my example, took an IT retraining and is now a Sun Certified Java Programmer, so she isn't your average girlfriend mold probably. As for the thread's question, I re-discovered the joys of Close Combat (5) after I finally found someone to play against (the AI sucks after a while, and I prefer to play against people I know). I couldn't fully enjoy "Panzer General" because of a strange bug that made Stukas worthless and no-one could reproduce. I have Talonsoft's West Front / Eastern Front II, and the airwar games "12 o'clock high" and "Battle of Britain" here from a budget purchase which I didn't have time yet to play. As you might realize, CloseCombat 5 was so far my only concession to real-time, which is on purpose - I find most real-time games to put too much of a time pressure on what should be recreational activity. (Same for CM online with turn time limits.)

Back to the topic. The greatest caveat I would have with too-recent conflicts is that they carry too much emotional baggage. All of us can stand the idea of driving German panzers across Russia's plains, because it's a thing of the past, and the repercussions of what happened back then have long since faded into the background noise. You could make a point on Vietnam, but there are many Vietnam vets still around who'd probably disagree. And I won't even get into the Israel / Arab wars. They are at the root of a good number of today's conflicts, with men, women and children dying because of the consequences of what we'd be replaying on our screens. Not even beginning to speak of the Gulf wars, Balcan etc. The more recent the conflicts, the more emotional baggage. It would be quite OK if there were "expansion mods" available for the game engine, but I strongly believe the game itself should still be focussed on WWII (all theaters in one package, hey we have DVD's and gigs to blow today!). It's a "safe playground" only very few people take exception at. MHO.

Which brings up an interesting historic question... would swastikas actually be the correct iconography to represent troop positions? Or would the Balkenkreuz been used? After all, it was the national identification sign, both before, during, and after WWII (and to this day). I don't really know. Anyone?

This is rifles, not guns, but I quite vividly remember my army times, where I was drilled to understand that the "calibre" of my G3 battle rifle is not 7.62, but 7.62x51mm (as opposed to, for example, the 7.62x39mm of the AK-47), and the pistol / MP calibre is not 9mm, but 9x19mm.

As for the graphics, you'll have to look for mods to replace the off-CD game graphics. As for changing the name in-game, I don't know.

Looks like Axis is wiping the floor with the Allies... then again, "the real thing" looked like that in 1941, too.

Thanks for pointing that out. Knowing about nooks and crannies like these helps to avoid nasty surprises when you are just playing a game "realistically".

As I said - if the game engine isn't broken, the chance of a turret hit should be the same in either case. Hull-down should actually have a bit of a smaller chance yet (turret-only is harder to spot / aim / reaquire when moving etc.).

...and lost my first three encounters with a human opponent who had no experience with strategy games but looked at the terrain at level 1-2 always - seeing the terrain possibilities much better than I did. :eek:

Erm... if hull up / hull down would make any difference in the probability of a turret hit, I would say the game engine were broken. Having the hull in sight shouldn't do zilch to the probability of having the turret hit. And since the manual goes rambling about the highly physical game engine, I'd hull down.

I am by no means a "vet" to CM, so what follows is more along the lines of "am I doing something terribly stupid". My infantery usually has short (40-100m) 45 degree arcs, with the groups spread out so arcs are overlapping. The MG's are a bit behind getting 100-200m arcs (so that the infantery gets fired upon first, with the MG being "free" to provide counter-suppressive fire). I try to keep the half-tracks out of it until fronts and forces are clear (they croak too fast, learned that in Close Combat already ). PSW's are somewhere ahead of the infantry, heavier tanks a bit behind, and I usually allow them both to fire at whatever they see. (Kill or be killed, little stealth in 20+ tons of steel.) Sometimes I use a wide (180 degree, several hundred meters) arc to get the turret into a given direction if I suspect enemy AT there - with the slow turrets of the German "cats" that gives you a couple extra seconds. Or I use a similarily wide vehicle arc to avoid having my Tiger swiveling from infantry group to infantry group instead of killing those pesky armoured cars etc. Haven't played much with artillery or grenade throwers, yet. And, is there much sense in distinguishing between a Pz IV / Panther / Tiger based on the gun? In terms of armor thickness, I'd agree, but are the guns so different game-wise as to requiring different arc tactics?

Sich totsiegen - to win yourself to death. Look up "Pyrrhus".

Nope. It's one Soldatenschlachter, multiple Soldatenschlachter. One of the many cozy exceptions in German grammar. (Trust me, I'm a native German speaker. )

Erm... at least CM:BB has seperate tiles for burning buildings / landscape...

Well, sausage isn't a bad idea really (if I may say so as a German): if the quality of the "input" is low to begin with, you can't really tell from looks. Bad taste can be somewhat covered with spices. A sausage that has been lying in the dirt can be cleaned. Roasting is easily done. And it would be "Soldatenschlachter" (no trailing "n").

Thanks. AFAIK, pitchblende was mined in the Wismut area, i.e. German mainland. The other good European source for Uranium was in Czechia, so I'm not sure if it has to be a "conquered Europe".

Ahem... well, if the day is overcast and I were pilot of a recon aircraft, I'd probably stay below cloud cover... just like Priller and his wingman have done for the only strafe flown on D-day... Aside from the shelling: What do you suppose should be burning there? No shrubs left in the shelled area to burn. Grenades and shells don't leave burning stuff behind, neither does small arms fire. No tanks to burn, either. I'd give it "in dubio pro reo" and consider it period. If you buy the poster you'll probably be able to make out more details.

Sorry for barging in, since I know nothing about SC, but I think I can add some historic information detail I haven't seen in this thread yet. You might want to look into the history of German U-234 (the submarine, not the Uranium isotope), and the source for the Uranium used in the US A-bombs. I won't say any more here, nor will I post links, since I'd prefer you come to your own conclusions given the sources you find. Google will help you there.

Re: Numbers. Quoting Panzer-Archiv.de: Panzer IV / Sdkfz 161 A - 35 B1 - 45 C - 140 D - 202 E - 223 F1 - 462 F2 - 190 G - 1687 H - 2322 J - 2392 Total: 7698 Panzer V "Panther" / Sdkfz 171 D - 600 A - 1768 G - 3126 Total: 5494 Panzer VI "Tiger" / Sdkfz 181 E - 1354 Panzer VII "Königstiger" / Sdkfz 182 Total: 489 So the numbers of the "zoo" are about equal to the Pz IV.