LukeFF

It's been in there since CMBN, as the manual notes that the G-model Panther suffers from occasional flaws in manufacturing.

And yes, it is really cool to see that.

Good point. I personally don't think there will be fundamental political change in Russia until the last crop of leadership that grew up and got their start during the Soviet era is done and gone. Even then, change is likely to be very slow or in the direction the West may not want it to go.

That's why I'm sometimes hesitant to post criticism about a scenario or the game in general, because there's a group of people here who are always ready to give a condescending reply. Yes, I was very frustrated with the scenario at the time I wrote my original message, but that doesn't mean I should be belittled with replies like "search Google if you wanna know more." I was quite aware of the magnitude of the Falaise Gap long before I started playing this campaign.

Thanks guys! It's a lot of fun doing this AAR. I have this itching feeling Rambler is about to unleash a whole lot of fury on me real soon. Whatever the case, it's nice to be able to play against a human opponent - it forces me to be more careful in my moves, since obviously I can't load a previous file when things go bad.

Bump. We're still slowly moving along with this one.

A shame, but I understand.

Lend-Lease stuff is coming later.

Yep, that's the one. Unfortunately I deleted my saved games created at the start of the mission, so I can't give it another try. If I did, my tactic likely would've been like yours (hugging the right-hand side of the map).

Yeah, looking back now, my route of advance was not the best. ***Spoilers*** I advanced up the left side of the map. My plan was to follow the left-hand edge as far as I could and then swing right towards the exit zone. That got tripped up when I ran into the barbed wire and mines, so I ended up getting bogged down in the main village area. That is the area I should've avoided, looking back. Ah well, live and learn.

If you're just going to hurl insults and sarcasm around, then don't bother replying.

Steve, how will it work if a pre-destroyed vehicle is placed on the map? Will it be rendered with random hit decals or will they look like they do right now, without any hit decals?

...and occasionally front-line troops:

I stand corrected, then. Thank you.

Yes, yes, I think I know how to use Google. My whole point is that the scenario is very vague and highly restrictive on what counts as success. I'd much rather try to complete the final scenario minus whatever forces I left on the map in The Last Kilometer than be told that I failed to infiltrate the enemy's lines and thus be subjected to a rain of artillery. Like I said, time and again I exited my infantry and tank forces intact, minus a handful of halftracks. Probably 80-90% of my force I've exited the map very time, yet every time I'm told that's not good enough. I get the sense the player is supposed to exit every single unit on the map (minus jeeps and trucks) in order to earn a success on this mission. So, what are other people's experiences with this mission, anyways?

Yes, I am.

It takes time to break open cases of ammo and divvy it up among the troops (hello, sealed cans of 7.62x54R...). It may seem like a PITA to those who've not been in the military, but to those who have, I don't think the current simulation in WEGO is that far off. Probably the best addition at this point would be to allow troops in an adjacent action spot to acquire ammo from a vehicle. This would eliminate the unnecessary burden of having to bail out jeep drivers to fit certain teams inside a vehicle.

Hehe, yeah, it's just that I was doing pretty well in the campaign up to this point, and then I was handed this reality-check of a mission. It's one of those missions where you absolutely cannot let yourself get bogged down - you have to keep moving no matter what. Perhaps if I had been a bit more urgent I could've passed this mission, but then I may have incurred unnecessary casualties. I just wish the victory parameters for this mission were a bit more clear. Other than being told in the mission briefing that Kubelwagens and Opels don't count for points, you aren't really told how much of your force must exit the map. Ah well, the Falaise Gap wasn't exactly a day at the park for the Germans, after all. It's gonna be interesting to see how this "last stand' mission plays out.

Printing a manual isn't definitive evidence that they were extensively used in combat.

*****SPOILERS***** So what exactly does it take to win this scenario? No matter how many of my units I exit off the map, I'm always told that the scenario was a minor defeat for me, and I'm taken to the "welcome to your end, Gott Mit Uns" mission. I've tried this mission multiple times, and nothing ever works. I've exited all of my infantry and all of my armor, but nope, I'm told I didn't infiltrate the Polish lines. Never mind that on the scenario debrief screen, I see that the Poles failed in their objective of preventing my exit, but they are always given more points than my forces (and my casualties have always been light in trying to pass this one). Not to mention, the amount of time given the player (45 minutes) is utterly ridiculous. I'm supposed to navigate multiple bocage fields, fight off enemy patrols, oh and exit all of my forces via a postage-stamp-sized exit zone in that time? (seriously, the exit zone is very small). This mission feels more like a puzzle to me, especially when the exit zone is in reach, and feels less like a mission that can be solved by sound tactics.

Not totally correct. The US Army Air Force had a rank called Flight Officer, which was a warrant officer position open to pilots, navigators, flight engineers, bombardiers and glider pilots. In addition, there certainly were enlisted pilots in the Marines and Navy, such as this chap: http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=28374

It was U.S. Navy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Reuben_James_(DD-245)

Umm...what scenario? That would certainly help.

My thoughts exactly. Oh, and on a related note, "The Ukraine" is bad English.

Would it kill you guys to save the off-topic banter for some other thread?