Evzone

My understanding is that the crew takes cover or is pinned, not the gun itself. If you have unobstructed LOS you should be able to see the gun regardless of the crew's level of morale. You might want to watch the movie again with the enemy gun selected and by hitting Tab and zooming in on it. You will find yourself directly behind it, will see where your shots fall and might hear the crew's cries if on target. Evzone

-new bogging incident- I was boasting in a previous post that I've had vehicles get bogged down on only two occasions since I began playing CM a year ago. Well, third time today. I wouldn't be relating this banal incident if it weren't for something unusual happening. At least I have not heard about it occurring before. Crusader is in some brush, behind a hill, out of sight from the enemy, about 20m from the road. I give a Move order and just before it hits the road it gets bogged. Next turn I try to give a Reverse order back into the brush hoping that might free it but no luck. A turn later, I try giving a Rotate order but to no avail. Third turn, I give a Fast order and the tank from 'Bogged' becomes 'Immobilized'. It completely broke down on me. Has anyone had this happen to them before? Is giving a Fast order when bogged a proven no-no or was it a bit of a fluke? Thanks Evzone

I've had CMBB for two weeks now, there's so much to discover. I still go back to my first love CMAK but am putting in hours to familiarize myself with CMBB. I would appreciate some help with the various regions and dates, though. Would anyone like to recommend a region/date with interesting, out of the ordinary terrain? I thought I read somewhere that Iran was depicted. Thanks Evzone

Comrade Corvidae, I am sorry that I have dragged you to the deserts of Africa. I understand now, too too late, that you are a child of the North. Take then your brave and sunburnt men to colder climes, spare them these unforgiving sands so they might fight another day. Witdraw, let us have the palm trees. You know how much they mean to us, we've painted them on all the vehicles and everything. Go then, French heroes, take care, be nice, try to be polite if you can, and who knows, we might meet again in the steppes (only if I'm defending though). Respectfully, Evzone

If the parameters allow for air support I am on my toes for most of the battle, concealing my units from the air as best I can, keeping my vehicles in or nearby scattered trees, etc. Deploying a large number of AA weapons will keep them at bay, force them to prematurely break off their runs or keep them away altogether. As long as the AAs aren't engaging ground targets, that is. My two most memorable experiences: the first, when I arrived at the objective (a village) and the enemy (AI) was in tatters, many of them had routed off the map, guns and vehicles knocked out. My infantry hardly had to do any fighting. I had not realized the havoc the plane had created until I reached the village. It was a Spitfire if I recall correctly. The second, when I lost about 150pts. worth of heavy equipment to my own plane in one turn. They were in rough terrain, apparently not good concealment from air attack. Needless to say, I lost all desire to fight on... Evzone

JasonC, you're right about the company HQ not overriding squads within a platoon HQ's command. I had my doubts still, so I tested it. They go in company HQ command only when they are not in platoon HQ command. Why is it then, that I remember some company HQ bringing absolute chaos upon his platoons and their support weapons in some woods where I was gathering my infantry preparing to attack? Units often move around at their own accord when they are under fire. Can it happen that the presence of a lesser company HQ might detract from his inferiors in rank but better equpped in abilities, by 'stealing' the command? In a current PBEM that's nearing the end my company HQ stayed behind with 2 81mm until they expended most of their ammo, then practically took an ATRman by the hand to harass enemy armor and is now on his way to oversee the last push! Kind Regards Evzone

Sequoia, when you go to Greece, do go in the spring. I will be downloading the mod tomorrow, look forward to seeing the improvements. The time and effort you put into this mod is much appreciated. Expect an e-mail with my comments. Cheers Evzone

Thank you Emar, I've made a note of the scenario. There are some very, very good Greek portraits out there. I hope that they become widely available.

I like the chess analogies, Chess itself is a combat simulator so they work well. However, sacrificing pawns in chess has no reprecussions on morale. I would be a better Chess player if I sacrificed pawns. In CM though the ideal for me is 0 casualties and I believe it brings me favourable results. It can't really be achieved except if there is an imbalance or by a fluke but that's not the point. It's that I do not treat any unit as expendable. I'm not too sure how morale works in CM but I have found that when it hits the 80s my force is negatively affected, in its entirety, and fights far less effectively. As for the point made about the Company HQ, I'm not certain that it's always wise to have them around. They can influence a platoon that's already under the command of it's own HQ who might be more experienced and with better abilities, thus detracting from instead of benefitting that platoon's effectiveness. Now if the company HQ's exp. and abilities were added to those of the platoon HQ's (as I believe they should be) the former would be a most important element in the company. Instead, I consider the company HQ to be more useful directing artilly fire from the rear, or commanding any support weapons that are left behind when the platoons advance from their forward positions. Evzone

Kingfish, try the key words with your browser set to Images. Here's a link to a map, though a not very detailed one, bad image: Roupel fortress I hope that works. My apologies, that is not a link. Evzone

I've moved my platoon of IIFs a mere 100m forward, keeping out of range of Corvidae's ATRs but at a reasonable distance for the IIF's 20mm. I am prepared to withdraw if he gets too close. I've been bombarding the palm trees in proximity to the flags with an onboard 81mm, 50mm mortars, etc. where I could see Corvidae's forces were concentrating. Terrible loss of life for three palm trees in the middle of nowhere. Fortunately, my men are virtually unhurt and morale is high. My infantry prepare to advance.

My apologies, you might be able to find maps of the Roupel fortress if you search the Greek keywords. So in this case they would be frourio roupel. Cheers. Evzone

Kingfish, I'm looking out for one. To increase your searches you might want to try grammi metaxa (Metaxas Line in Greek). Evzone

With the help and support of CM friends -whom I will not attempt to mention individually lest I leave someone out- I have been able to field a force that are, mostly, Greek! I've asked around about creating wav.files for Greek voices, my understanding is that it's a difficult and extremely laborious venture, completed only once before (German to Spanish). Also that a Dutch chap was in the process of creating Dutch voices. Incidently, Civilization IV has some very good Greek speaking voices that wouldn't sound out of place in CM. I am clueless as to the technical aspects of modding, what can or can't be done, etc, so don't know if they might be of any use. Since receiving the Greek mod, I have been spending more time in the editor than on the battlefield. I have started a map project depicting a Greek fishing village that will be the objective a fictional amphibious assault. I'm not yet sure how playable it will be. If anyone has experiences of designing such scenarios (use of assault boats), I would appreciate your comments. I quickly put together a Greek scenario yesterday and went as far as to hellenize every unit's name. As there appear to be a few scenarios being currently designed with Gr forces, I thought I'd include a list here of surnames, representative of the various regions of the country for scenario use: Pappas Gikas Markopoulos Kitsos Georgiou Maniadakis Koronaios Samiotakis Flevaris Oikonomou Have a nice day, Evzone

Hi Sequoia, The only tanks serving in the Greek armed forces at the time of the German invasion were 30 L.3 CV.33 Carro Veloce (Fast Tank) captured on the Albanian front the previous winter. As for ACs, there were 100 Bren Carriers granted to Greece by G.Britain, and a small number of Otter MkI equipped with either a Bren or an ATR. A few Vickers 6t Mk.E Types A and B had been purchased pre-war and may have been used as well. Greek crews also manned Marmon-Herringtons but only during the North African campaign. Hope that's useful, Evzone

Corvidae, is the soldier to the left of the Marmon-Herrington carrying an umbrella? I thought we said no special weapons allowed. Evzone

Look up the battle of Grammos-Vitsi on Phantis Wiki. Sorry, I couldn't post the link Evzone [ August 23, 2006, 04:33 AM: Message edited by: Evzone ]

Hans, I will look around and get back to you. I'm interested in the subject too. Evzone

Mike, now that you mention it I think I used another more powerful unit to give my bogged unit a nudge, in conjuction with repeated R/M orders; completely escaped my memory. I think we can have faith in the simulator and respond to such problems in the same manner as we would in real life. And just as in real life, sometime's it'll work and sometimes it won't.

Hans, arguably the saddest chapter in modern Greek history, the civil war. There is still bad feeling and open wounds from back then. There has also been great frustration expressed about the fact that instead of whipping the Germans on their way out of Greece, repaying them the hardship they brought upon the country, we turned against ourselves. Mother Hellas eating her own children. Evzone

Mike, just had a look at your site and was completely blown away. Excellent stuff! As for bogging, it's happened to me only twice since I started playing CM. I am relatively new to CM, just under a year, but I play on average two QBs a day, and I virtually always use vehicles. The first time it happened was due to my ignorance; I think I tried to take cover in soft ground! Something silly like that. The second time was recently and I was able to get out by giving Reverse and Move orders. It took a couple of turns but it worked. It might be something that occurs more frequently in CMBB, which I only just purchased. Or maybe it's because I'm rather careful. I keep wheeled vehicles on roads or dry, flat ground and I very rarely order them to go fast, that's just asking for trouble. If I'm expecting rugged terrain, I avoid them altogether and use tracked vehicles instead. Evzone

Sequoia, I have been wanting to create a Greek scenario for a while now. I think it's time I gave it a try. I will keep you posted on developments. Kingfish, I am going to look for sources. As aforementioned, I am fluent in Greek, I might be able to find local archives, records. I will post my findings here. Evzone

Thank you John. Sequoia kindly sent me his Greek mods and they look great. As regards to sources, I wonder if I can be of any help. I am Greek, speak the language fluently and have translated in the past. I could locate more sources, perhaps original Greek ones, if there is interest or if they might be used. I also have accounts from my father who was 9 at the time the Italians attacked and was living just a few km from the Greco-Albanian border in the town of Ioannina. Thanks to all for your support and assistance. Evzone

Cheers Hans. I'm familiar with the scenarios you mention. I found them both very well made but I'm still without my Greek forces as it's still the French one deploys in the end. However, I don't think I fully considered the implications of transforming the French to Greeks. Flags can be changed with not too much difficulty I imagine, and the differences in weaponry can be overlooked. But you''ve still got french-speaking Greeks at the end of it all. So my question is, can voices be changed in CM? Many Thanks Evzone

Thank you so very much for the info, JasonC. Your post is getting printed out and will serve as an invaluable reference. Evzone