sburke

The point BFC has always tried to stress is Cmx2 isn't just an upgrade, it's a new game so we are really asking why folks like one game over another of two similar types. Might as well ask why someone likes PC over CMBN or vice versa. Different game, different features etc. It's all subjective. Personally I like CMBN as it "appears" more realistic. I won't argue whether it is or isn't. That I can't control what every individual in a squad is doing doesn't bother me. I give an order and hope they accomplish it, I don't want it to delve into being an FPS with me managing every soldier. I like the fact that my plans can go completely sideways at times. Tactically I would rate myself as mediocre at best and am probably giving myself too much credit at that, but I like the learning process.

ROBIN: Ah. W-- well, actually I-- I am a Knight of the Round Table. ALL HEADS: You're a Knight of the Round Table? ROBIN: I am. LEFT HEAD: In that case, I shall have to kill you. MIDDLE HEAD: Shall I? RIGHT HEAD: Oh, I don't think so. MIDDLE HEAD: Well, what do I think? LEFT HEAD: I think kill him. RIGHT HEAD: Oh, let's be nice to him. LEFT HEAD: Oh, shut up. ROBIN: Perhaps I could-- LEFT HEAD: And you. Oh, quick! Get the sword out. I want to cut his head off! RIGHT HEAD: Oh, cut your own head off! MIDDLE HEAD: Yes, do us all a favour! LEFT HEAD: What? RIGHT HEAD: Yapping on all the time. MIDDLE HEAD: You're lucky. You're not next to him. LEFT HEAD: What do you mean? MIDDLE HEAD: You snore! LEFT HEAD: Oh, I don't. Anyway, you've got bad breath. MIDDLE HEAD: Well, it's only because you don't brush my teeth. RIGHT HEAD: Oh, stop bi**hing and let's go have tea. LEFT HEAD: Oh, all right. All right. All right. We'll kill him first and then have tea and biscuits. MIDDLE HEAD: Yes. RIGHT HEAD: Oh, not biscuits. LEFT HEAD: All right. All right, not biscuits, but let's kill him anyway. ALL HEADS: Right! MIDDLE HEAD: He buggered off. RIGHT HEAD: So he has. He's scarpered.

Yes, but are you one of Smiley's people? Outstanding book

Two recent reads that were good. Destination Normandy: Three American Regiments on D-Day - G. H. Bennett After D-Day: Operation Cobra and the Normandy Breakout - James Jay Carafano

Neither. My friend's English is good, but not so much for reading. A lot of things can just get lost so she tends to stick with Murakami and B Yoshimoto. I'll read those but this recommendation looks interesting.

Slightly, okay more than slightly, off topic from current discussion- I have friend that runs a Japanese antique business in SF. Was visiting last night and snagged a 1939 photo album from the Japan Tourist bureau. As it is for tourism, it is in English. One of the mainy freaky pictures is a Stadium event on Nov 25th at Korakuyen Stadium in Tokyo on the occasion of Italy joining the Comintern pact. The big headline of the two page spread is "Grand March Toward World Peace". Below that the backdrop of the Stadium is the Nazi flag along with Japan's and Italy's. Interesting thing about the album is how much of it is devoted to the War in China and the Army, but almost nothing on the Navy. Few pictures of biplanes representing Navy training etc. No Carriers, no Battlefleet. Lots of pics from the front and loads of training stuff in Japan of the Army along with military leaders etc.

Many people say a lot of things, but we all know WeGo is best. War is hell and a lot of nailbiting.

Either that or it initiates a call to LifeCall . I've fallen and I can't reach my mouse. After all we know we are all becoming senile old fools doddering around in our Depends . The game needs features to cater to us.

or somebody tells Harpo to move away from that wall he's been holding up - A Night in Casablanca anyone?

I think this is probably a good example of why not many women are going to admit to being wargamers online. My wife has no interest in the game, but she did laugh a lot at the synchronized stooges in CMx1. She is more than willing to mess with photoshop if I wanted to try my hand at modding and is darn good at that.

and here I thought by Ponies they meant those little 7oz bottles of beer.

no.. um wait yes....I mean no, yes, NO! heck I don't know. There all my personalities have voted. That's 3 no, 2 yes, 1 maybe and the psychopath was out looking for a new victim and couldn't be bothered to vote. Then again the psychopath doesn't play...no you don't. However all voted yes for 30 second Wego including the psychopath who doesn't play...no you don't.

Interesting how appropriate the thread title is to the subject it ended up on.

Wow we have Ents in CM, what's next Balrogs? Do we get that when we have flamethrowers and AA at that point?

What a round about way of saying you guys are getting old.

Yeah I know, probably really bad move, but what I was trying to get to and likely did a poor job of was going back to the position of the German population of the 1930's (and of a lot of other countries as well). The economic/social/political situation was extremely complex and dire. People like to find a simple solution that seems to answer all their problems and their ability to ignore that there is absolutely not one iota of truth or practicality to the position becomes irrelevant. Trying to face that the answer is probably really complex and there are no quick easy solutions is just not acceptable. Hmm that almost sounds like a discussion of some of the desired features for CMBN..... okay now I am in Great White waters...

Your description is perfect. I just tried it myself. If I call in artillery from a spotter, the unit I have selected shows no indication that turn that it is involved in an artillery request. What you can do is select any spotter and initiate an artillery request, then click on any artillery units with a request and see if the one you want highlights. It isn't much better, but you don't have to find the specific spotter for that arty unit.

Wow we are really heading into shark infested waters here. Regardless of name and sloganeering, the Nazis were allied with German big business. By default therefore I think you pretty much rule them out of the "leftist" sphere. That there is a lot of similarity between extremists of any political persuasion is I would think a given. Nice example is Robert Mugabe. ZANU was undoubtedly a leftist political organization in the fight against Apartheid. It's current political posture however has little to do with the slogans and posturing of it's past. Going back to Jambai's response. Anti semitism of the Nazis was not something most of the world objected to. We see it a lot differently post war, but the international response to Nazis anti semitism left a lot to be desired to put it lightly. As to the aggressive nationalism and fabricating claims, well I can't say the Nazis had a lock on that either. Do the words Manifest Destiny ring a bell? Just look at American politics now. All I can do is scratch my head and wonder how our population became so politically ignorant or is it simply people just prefer simple solutions. Persoanlly I believe that to be true and the more complicated the situation we face, the more folks tend to extreme simplistic solutions. Reality does not intrude.

Bocage, smocage, send back the turn! Sorry couldn't resist. I'd agree, the issue can be dealt with on a map making level to give much better info at all levels of observation if desired and from a realism standpoint you would think foot traffic would reveal where a hole is that folks have been using for egress. Just looking at how hard it is to keep traffic patterns from not showing in my dang lawn shows that well enough. The problem wouldn't have been finding the pathways, it would be worrying about the MG trained on that gap from the other side.

How does the saying go, nature abhors a vacumn? The last democratically elected government in Germany collapsed in 1930. Perhaps if there had been no great depression things might have gone differently, but a world economic crisis combined with a Communist state to provide support, logisitics and intelligence meant Europe was already a battleground in the 1930s. Hitler rose because the political situation had the industrial leaders looking for someone who could make sure they maintained a grip on power. They would have found another right wing extremist if Hitler hadn't been there. There just wasn't a moderate alternative that could deal with the crisis in society.

What rank does the hamster hold? Is the hamster fresh off the boat? If so let it dance in the open first and make sure it's rank is readily apparent so the sniper goes for it first. If it is a grunt hamster send it through the door first. Either way- the hamster should be used to flush out the enemy.

One of the things I enjoy about playing the scenarios vs quick battles is I get handed a force and a task and I then have to review my force to figure out relatives strength and weaknesses of the various leaders and teams to figure out who is suited best for what role. It feels more like a new command assignment where you don't really know your men and you have to guess at how well they will do. In the quick battles you get to tailor your force and it has a different feel. Playing PBEM Bois de Baugin as the Germans for me was very interesting as my leadership modifiers and general troop quality were not great reflecting a unit that was burning out from continuous combat. In trying to decide who would be my reserves who was going to be assigned critical defensive positions I spent a lot of time checking out individual leaders and squads. It made the whole battle a lot more personal and led to me writing up the AAR. Having better quality troops is definitely going to be better from a command perspective, however having variable troop quality can add a whole other dimension to making a battle interesting- even if you lose.

Years ago I can remember reading a NY Times book of headlines. One of the things that really amazed me was the civil war raging in Germany post WW I. History classes in the American public school system usually only got as far as WW 1 and then rushed through the 20th century to be able to finish up the school year. Before one can make any kind of predictions or theorize on what might have happened without Hitler one has to understand just how complicated things were after the First World War. The rise of Soviet Russia, political chaos in Germany, the emergence of Japan from hundreds of years of isolation shooting to the front of the world military scene. The world was a powder keg and there wasn't the same attitude about trying to avoid war or the international bodies present that we are used to seeing. Japan in particular had a very confused relationship to the international community. Japan narrowly avoided being treated like China by the West. In fact it was observing Western behavior in China that was the school of International diplomacy for Japan. One of the worst cases of greed in international behavior that one can imagine. All the western powers had their hands in it and Britain had basically become the worlds biggest drug dealer to finance it's global position. Imagine the Columbian drug cartels as the Worlds largest economic power and you get some idea of the scale of the opium trade. The White House actively encouraged Japan in the 1905 war with Russia and then undermined Japan's position in the treaty afterwards. The Japanese distrust of the US at that point was very high and it was at that moment that Japan realized who it's main competition was going to be for economic hegemony in Asia. Before one criticizes Japanese behavior in WW 2 one needs to look at who they learned from. The US occupation of the Phillipines was extremely brutal and a clear example if the Japanese needed one that occupation and brutal oppression was apparently acceptable to the West. This doesn't excuse Japanese behavior, but it does mean that the West in all honesty has to be a little less indignant if we don't want to come off as total hypocrites. The British, French, Dutch, Germans, Russians, Portugese, Spanish all had their hands in Asia and were not exactly friendly mentors. If not Hitler, I suspect there would have been some other leadership to beat the drums of war for Germany. Germany and France had been fighting wars for decades, Russia was fair game for anyone willing to take the shot and Japan and the US were bound to be heading for a showdown. Humanity has still not learned to peacefully resolve conflicts, there is no reason to think that 1940 would not have been a global conflict just because we were short one lunatic, there were plenty more to go around.

Actually the Emperor wasn't the stopping point of discussion. According to the information provided in the article cited earlier The US already had intelligence that the Japanese would still refuse an offer that the Emperor stay in power as part of the surrender. They simply did not want to surrender at all. The US would have had to settle for a negotiated ceasefire and then wrangle through negotiations after that - what was not acceptable to the Allies is that the people who had started the war would remain in authority.

In my case it's when I put the action spot I want to hunt to on the wrong side of the hedgerow. It really pays to spend a little more time checking move orders.