sburke

Then change it - make a scenario. That isn't meant to be snarky, seriously make a scenario and let's see how this works. If it gets the reaction you hope and expect then maybe folks will consider it as an option in others they create.

Excellent read. Also enjoyed First Clash http://www.amazon.com/First-Clash-Combat-Close-Up-World/dp/0425107566/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331983257&sr=1-1 "Originally written as an official manual in 1985. This book details the efforts of a Canadian mechanized brigade to hold up the Soviet advance for 48 hours during the early stages of WWIII in Central Europe. The text is focused at the Battle Group/Combat Team level, following the activity from the assembly area to performing a withdrawal under pressure."

I think he gets that, the problem is we have a bunch of players all with varying opinions of what that limit should be. What is PT supposed to do with that? We are either asking him to double or triple his workload designing a Campaign to suit varying players preferences or even worse asking him to do multiple versions for varying skill levels. So we all have to ask ourselves - what would you prefer - 9 campaigns from PT or one campaign with 9 variations? I personally figure if they are hard they will challenge me to improve my skills. If they are too easy I will be bored of them. If I find I just don't enjoy them at that difficulty level then download that program that breaks up a campaign into individual scenarios and then adjust the time for each of them....and if I want then rebuild them back into a campaign that now has 4 hour time limits. Basically it comes down to this, we can keep crying at PT to make what he enjoys doing 3x as hard or we can take a little time of our own and learn how to change what he made into what we prefer. So let's get off our lazy couch potato a**es and put a little effort in of our own. Seriously I don't think it is all that hard and it might be worth the time of one of the guys who does create these to put a little how to guide on what it takes to do this. I'd consider trying to do it myself, but I am a few thousand miles from my CM PC and will be for a few more weeks.

Do you often have these random conversations aloud? It started with a question and yet you seemed to have the answer already however flawed your reasoning. The stand alone patch will be free. You could also buy the MAC version..... but no you are right there probably are better companies out there..I hear Kiva is really nice. Have a nice day. Let me know if any of those better companies actually have a decent game.

CM FG I'll kick in for that!!!

Boy are you ever gonna eat crow if in fact he isn't paid and is doing this for the love of the game. If he is paid it certainly isn't a lot. I didn't see any emphasis in the quoted line so I doubt he did either. All I saw was a pretty snide put down of someone's hard work. C'mon man there is no need to go that far to make suggestions. The number of people cranking out campaigns I can probably count on one hand and yet the number of people telling them how they should do it I can't count even if I used all fingers, toes and freckles. Wouldn't it be nice if the reverse were true.

As a PC user I am dancing for joy Sorry guys.

Oh damn, then Steve was wrong. I could care less about Apple products. Sorry if that offends anyone, but I was hoping for something more like MG module, Bulge Game, CMSF Europe.... But hell if it makes a good part of our community happy I guess it is a good thing.

I am strictly a WeGo player. I spend probably a ridiculous amount of time examining a turn to see just what each of my dang pixeltruppen is up to - they're usually slacking off. RT looks interesting at times, but w/o the replay capability it just won't do for me. For all of the complaints about the AI I find it pretty amazing how often the AI works really really well. I am not sure I would consider WeGo harder so much as requiring a bit more patience. Because you have a full 60 seconds where you are unable to intervene I think you have to learn to pace yourself much slower. I suspect because in RT you do have the capability to react and intervene, maybe players are tending to play faster.

While I generally agree with you here I have to admit, the grogs are a large part of what keeps pushing this game to higher standards that make it so unique. So while I may not know that on June 15th the II Battalion of 916th IR had sent all their clothing to the French laundry (no not the restaurant) and fought in towels all day, I do really appreciate that there is a whole group of folks here who do. So now I have GIs with 1st ID badges on them stalking German troops with equally detailed uniforms and I have to say - thanks guys for all your grogginess. You'd likely bore me witless in a bar, but I love the end result.

I believe you are referring to The Gamers GD '41 from the TCS series. Loved that concept. One of their other releases was the source I was working from to create a map for Schmidt that I did end up tossing onto the repository. They did a pretty good job of showing how much work it would take to shift plans in the midst of battle and what the likelihood was of complete failure. Still think their games are some of the best to work an op layer from both for scale and making the player create a battle plan. For those interested they do have a game for MG - Screaming Eagles that is available on Vassal. From the game description The system’s emphasis is on command and combined arms effects, with a relatively simple set of combat and movement systems. Designed to simulate the experience of combat command without burdening a player with cumbersome detail. The command rules impose realistic limits on the player’s ability to rapidly change missions.[/I] On a side note, when did board games start getting so darned expensive? If you combine MMPs 2 Grand tactical games to cover all of MG - it runs around $350. CMBN and all it's modules is going to run me maybe $160 and it covers Normandy and all NW Europe up to the fall of 1944. Man this is a better deal than I thought. I think your question about whether it is okay to lose is kind of pointed. I think I have lost far more than I have won in HTH and yet I keep playing the same opponents. Hopefully sooner or later I will learn enough to start turning the tables and yet honestly I don't really care. The battles have been a lot of fun and very interesting. I suspect most of us can handle that against a human opponent, but not the AI. If as has been noted in BFC's statements most players only play against the AI, doesn't it reduce the interest and challenge in the game to never lose?

Fixed that for ya and no I am not going searching for that video Mord despite being in Germany for the next few weeks.

That is such a tease. Not even a hint?

Good sarcasm is an art. Unfortunately most people deliver it in rants that lose the fine mix of truly wonderful verbal play for a really good smackdown. He should spend more time on the PENG thread. And then ending on a note like this makes it really go flat. WTF does that mean?

PT have you pulled all your hair out yet or just most of it? Have to say I loved the Mike Tyson analogy.. unfortunately I now have these visions of Tyson biting off my Grandma's ear...damn you.

There is a program in the repository that will break a campaign down into individual scenarios to play. You can then edit the scenario and give yourself all the time you want. Regarding time limits, I think PT has already responded about that. If this were hth human play that might make sense, but the AI can only be programmed so much. It for example can not react to a flank attack once it has started to succeed. If folks really do not like what someone is designing there is always an option to design your own. As to limits not being realistic, I would disagree. I don't think WW2 commanders were given however much time they thought they needed. The drive from higher command was usually the opposite. Take too much time and odds are somebody else would be taking over your command. As to who is right and who is wrong..that's pretty simple. I don't think PT got paid to do this so he's right. And if I want him to keep designing (which I very much do) I figure I ought to respect his approach. If I want something else then maybe I will sometime take a spin at the editor myself.

I gotta keep a personal link to that- profanity and all. Friggin hysterical.

We went back to Cmx1, hired Moe and have him yell "spread out!" to the squads.

Everyone is entitled to an opinion, take it in stride and keep working on it. We are wargamers, it's what we do. If anything it gets folks more aware of what is going on. Not doing it promotes ignorance and while ignorance may be bliss, those Syrian civilians will be no less dead.

Well away from the CM PC for the next 3 weeks, but the airline did have the new copy of Time. It features an article by the journalists who were in Bab Amr. Considering it is about the photographer William Daniels there are unfortunately few pictures, however they do give some detail on the horrendous conditions there.

Pull up a chair and I'll tell you about a landser named Probst who in a single turn took out several GIs with an SMG and threw several hand grenades as well. It is in the old screenshot thread for posterity.

Well I am going to assume nobody has this yet, kind of surprising, but what the heck. So here is what I can find of the author: On 6 June 1944, Werner Kortenhaus was a 19-year-old wireless operator for the German army. He knew something important was brewing in Normandy. It was to decide the course of the war and change his life. Werner's training didn't prepare him and his comrades for 'real war' I joined the 22nd tank regiment of the 21st armoured division of the German army in 1943, when I was 18. The regiment was divided into eight companies; each company had 17 tanks and in each tank sat five soldiers. As a wireless operator, I made sure communications worked inside our tank and that we could communicate with the other tanks. We were all young - we weren't generals or anything. When D-Day happened I had just turned 19. I am now 79 - it's that long ago now. The book covers the entire NW front history of the 21st Pz as well as it's service on the Eastern front. It is apparently considered a fairly authoritative record as noted in the following thread which includes some pretty well known authors. http://www.feldgrau.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=28612 He is also credited in The Forgotten battle of Herouville - An account of the participation of the 2nd battalion The Lincolnshire Regiment in Operation Charnwood, July 8-9th 1944 Normandy by Edward Dunstan Yeah I think this one is headed for the bookshelf. Good thing I got that Kindle to empty out some space a bit.

LOL kind of where I am at but I have to say I really do love that there are folks who do really care about this level of minutae. The fact that they can even be arguing about this says a lot for what we expect of the game and to a large degree what it delivers. I'd only ask guys to take a deep breath. You may not be getting the answer you necessarily want but I have to say I think Phil is actually doing a very good job of trying to give some guidance on what kind of testing BFC would want to see before they start seriously looking. Just look at some of the other "bugs" that have been posted about recently with little or no testing. Also keep in mind what many of us are hoping - they are hard at work trying to get going on the MG module and do not have spare resources at the moment. The thread is only 3 days old- far too early to get this worked up. Hell we kept them busy enough with a few dozen threads because we didn't read the recommendation to pull our mods before loading and not making sure our opponents in PBEM games have also upgraded. What did we have a dozen, two dozen threads about Vins mod cause we couldn't be bothered to read the forums or the install notes? Again though thanks for being this revved up about the details. Seriously. Without this kind of passion CMBN likely wouldn't exist and we'd have settled for something less. One question that comes to mind off hoolaman's musing, what kind of variance would you expect on these tests? What is the variation you are expecting and not seeing that is causing you to run these tests - just curious as I have absolutely no knowledge on the subject.

Not sure what that is supposed to mean. I suspect however you are under utilizing your TRPs.

They can play a dual role. As a TRP for artillery and as a bore sighted location for an AT gun.