Childress

Personally, I'd prefer Russia vs China. Or China vs India. Recognizing of course, that acquiring accurate data on Chinese forces could prove challenging. As the years pass it becomes more and more difficult to imagine NATO- with its multi-culti constituents- firing a shot in anger. At least without risible RoE restrictions.

The most useful application would be the ability to spread the burst over several action squares in a single turn. Like sweeping a suspected enemy line behind a hedgerow.

Yes, a third party mod seems most likely. Some random observations: 1- The marquee value of the Italian Theater for wargamers is debatable. For the most part a grind over rivers, defensive works and mountainous terrain. But there's Anzio. 2- The Battle for Sicily lasted, what, six weeks? July to August. 3- The Fascist government surrendered in Sept. 4- Italians were mentioned by the OP. Given the time frame, is the plan to create Italian formations/vehicles worth the effort? 5- Including N. Africa would entail A LOT more formations/vehicles. Although Tunisia could be doable- maybe. 6- Some of the icons in the screenie exhibit unusual symbols. 7- Quite a bit or work or modding remains to be done with the environmental graphics.

Stickied post..... Some help with the Italians? ....... Steve appears..... Are we looking at the Big Announcement?

I find that lightening the load of ammo bearers, or even heavily laden infantry squads, shows only a minimal gain in stamina. In fact, imo, the load/fatigue ratio could use some ramping up. And why is that tank crews never tire?

Haha. What were they thinking? Remember a lot of greenery is missing thanks to alt-t.

Screenshots: 1- Take a picture with the PrtSc key. Or use Fraps. 2- Open in Windows Paint or Photoshop. There are many options. 3- Save as a jpg. 4- Load the jpg into a program like ImageShack (free) which provides a 'Forum Code' link. 5- Choose your size. The attached pic is for a 17" monitor. 6- Paste the link into your post.

From Sextus Empericus via Longfellow: 'Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small; Though with patience he stands waiting, with exactness grinds he all.'

Why am i getting the impression that CMBN, or the Demo scenario, represents a vast and insidious conspiracy against John Kettler? It's personal! But entertaining. Keep it up, JK.

John, here's a movie recommendation just for you: Groundhog Day.

Anti-tank guns are considered to possess enhanced concealment if they haven't moved from the beginning of the battle. Aren't you getting sick of that Demo scenario yet?

They're no doubt busy building those massive bridges in Arnhem, Eindhoven and Nijmegen. Steve tends to show up when Battlefront issues a patch or releases a module. He'll post for a day or two before disappearing back into the ether.

It appears that Steve has executed a tactical withdrawal from the forum, maybe a wise decision. His presence here seemed to function as a lodestone for controversy. The Wargaming, or more precisely ,the Sim community is a tough audience to please; combative (duh), nitpicking and impatient. At least an important segment of it. Personally I miss his input. But in his absence other posters have taken up the slack as defenders of the CM approach. But where's that patch?

From Michael Doubler's 'Notes: Busting the Bocage, American Combined Arms Operations in France, 6 June – 31 July 1944': 29th ID SOP Battle Drill: one tank, one squad with MG, engineer team, and one 60mm mortar. (1) Tank noses through hedgerow, suppresses entire base of far hedgerow. Fires main gun WP into two corner MG positions. (2) 60mm lobs shells behind hedgerow. (3) Infantry moves through near hedgerow, fires and moves under tank suppression. Infantry avoids flank hedgerow and usual grazing fire. Infantry closes on far hedgerow throwing grenades. What I don't get, in CMBN, is the ability of MMG Jeeps with their recessed guns to fire through hedgerows. Shouldn't they have to BACK into the bocage?

Here's an O/T curiosity: Sajer published, in French, a comic based on the battle of Kursk in 2001.

Sajer, actually a cartoonist named Guy Mouminoux living in Paris, has defended his book in recent interviews. There is no more riveting read. Two of Cornelius Ryan's WW2 oeuvres were made into films; The Longest Day and A Bridge Too Far. This deserves to be next in the queue. Hollywood may shy away, however, because Sajer's account humanizes the Germans. From Wikipedia: However, some authors and other Großdeutschland veterans have testified to the book's historical plausibility, even if they cannot speak to the specific events in the book. Lieutenant Hans Joachim Schafmeister-Berckholtz, who served in the Grossdeutschland during the same period as Sajer, confirmed in a letter that he had read the book and considered it an accurate overall account of the Division's battles in the East, while also noting that he remembered a Landser named Sajer in his Panzergrenadier company (5th co), the same company number Sajer mentioned being assigned to (though there was more than one "5th Company" in the Division). Sajer himself struck back against implications of fraud or fiction by claiming that The Forgotten Soldier was intended as a personal narrative, based on his best personal recollections of an intensely chaotic period in German military history, not an attempt at a serious historical study of World War II: "You ask me questions of chronology situations dates and unimportant details. Historians and archivists have harassed me for a long time with their rude questions. All of this is unimportant. Other authors and high-ranking officers could respond to your questions better than I. I never had the intention to write a historical reference book; rather I wrote about my innermost emotional experiences as they relate to the events that happened to me in the context of the Second World War." Sajer further stressed the non-technical and anecdotal nature of his book in a 1997 letter to US Army historian Douglas Nash, stating "Apart from the emotions I brought out, I confess my numerous mistakes. That is why I would like that this book may not be used under [any] circumstances as a strategic or chronological reference." After reading Sajer's latest letter, one of his staunchest critics—Grossdeutschland Veteran's Association leader Helmuth Spaeter—recanted his original suspicions of Sajer, noting "I was deeply impressed by his statements in his letter... I have underestimated Herr Sajer and my respect for him has greatly increased. I am myself more of a writer who deals with facts and specifics—much less like one who writes in a literary way. For this reason, I was very skeptical towards the content of his book. I now have greater regard for Herr Sajer and I will read his book once again." Dutch film director Paul Verhoeven has discussed with Sajer the possibility of turning The Forgotten Soldier into a film.

Go no farther than Guy Sajer's The Forgotten Soldier: http://www.amazon.com/The-Forgotten-Soldier-Guy-Sajer/dp/1574882864/ref=pd_sim_b_3 A French speaking teenager from Alsace Lorraine joins the Wehrmacht eventually ending up in the Grossdeutschland division. Fascinating, up close combat vignettes from the Russian front and superb literature as well. Only political correctness has prevented the conversion of this book into a Hollywood film. A Kindle version is available.

The number of computer wargames that have featured an AI opponent that can develop an attack- without an artificial boost in numbers- can be counted on the fingers of one hand. You're better off lowering expectations and defaulting to the offensive role. One hears that the Command Ops series constitute an exception.

For God's sake, JK, buy the damn game. Support the hobby, you've posted enough. Need financing? Maybe Battlefront can configure some interesting buy-in options for you.

Mostly true. Much of the difficulty, or 'hardness' in Cmbn, comes, I find, from the finicky environment. My kampfgruppe arrives at episode 6(?) of Panzer Marsch. Loaded with HTs and a platoon of Panthers, our task is to assault Allied positions through an Alice in Wonderland maze of bocage- minus engineers to blow holes. Did engagements like these actually occur during the Normandy campaign? Sure. Am I having fun? Er.....

A propos of the upcoming MG module, is Battlefront still hewing to the four modules template? Apparently MG will be followed by a n 'Odds and Ends' edition. I'm a big fan but it's hard to envision spending 35US for module that offers a handful of new formations and vehicles, like requisitioned French tanks in Wehrmacht paint. Surely the two modules can be bundled into a single product.

BFC may have deliberately left the final tally opaque. What's the ratio, in terms of points, between wounded and killed? Who knows? Hard to figure. In CM1, in response to certain gamey tactics, they jacked up the cost for losing jeeps & trucks as well as nerfing their spotting abilities. Losing a tank crew was especially costly. Are these parameters still in force? Best to consider the score in CMBN an impenetrable mystery. Like a Jackson Pollock painting. Or the probability of intelligent life in other solar systems.

Dismount- or bail- then select a movement command, plop down a waypoint. Voila/ http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=100459&page=2

Yes it is, Gerry.

In that link shows Dorosh at his most reasonable, conducting a room temperature debate about the merits and demerits of CMSF the state of which, at this point in time (2007), could charitably be described as 'larval'.