costard

I was wondering if there might not be a financial edge to PaulAU's argument - include a toggle for bogging / other aspects of realism, and thereby increase your potential market. In other words, if you're going to prostitute your talents, give the customer more of what he wants (instant gratification, less of a need for intellectual work) and rake in more money thereby: sell out your principles and include a mechanism for dumbing down the product. Crikey, everyone else does it...

Nice one DT. Interesting to think that this could be an area for BF to look at for the upcoming CM2 WWII title. Roadblocks can be breached... that alone would advance the tactical challenge of an attack on a town. As for getting through bocage - these are fields, with boundaries designated to a great extent by growths of large hedges, yes? But, being a field, it would not be unreasonable to expect a number of avenues of approach - else how does the farmer move his stock or produce to market? So gates and paths ought perhaps be represented more - and the need for the "hedge removing device" less.

BF's helpdesk is an oddity: it actually is quite helpful. Without doubt, they will energetically and rapidly endeavour to solve your problem, should you but ask nicely.

Many thanks for setting this up GaJ. Surely not? What a life you must lead...

Thanks for the link gunnergoz - fascinating stuff. Cheers.

"Freakanomics" by Stephen Levitt and Stephen Dubner makes a compelling, statistical argument for the availability of abortion being the single most important contributing factor in the reduction of crime rates in the US. Unfortunately, this argument runs counter to the "Religious Nutcase" political groups' way of thinking and will therefore likely not be heeded or credited.

Every time I see this topic come up I'm reminded of a Calvin and Hobbes strip: "Graphic violence in the media. Does it glamorize violence? Sure. Does it desensitize us to violence? Of course. Does it help us tolerate violence? You bet. Does it stunt our empathy for our fellow human beings? Heck yes. Does it cause violence? Well, that's hard to prove. The trick is to ask the right question" Bill Watterson, "There's Treasure Everywhere"

Precisely none in the last fifty years. Hundred years - well I've heard the Poles had cavalry against the Germans in the early days of WW2 and indulged in some sad heroics. The idea for those with hand weapons is to make the objective and there deal out short range death - they can do no other. But they have to get there, and the idea of being cavalry is that you can cover large distances in a short time, compared with infantry. Sure, it might be that the proper gathered formation speed might be a fast canter or a hand gallop, but being fired upon by rockets and artillery over open sites would no doubt lend an urgency to the need to close the range. In the case of the "Charge of The Light Brigade", the Lights were led to the wrong set of guns. They made it to the central Russian battery and the Russians lost command of those guns for a while. The British cavalry had no means to hold the guns against the Russian infantry, or to carry them off. So, they retired. Back through the same firesack. FMB - it turns out that I have exaggerated by a factor of two for the distance - the cavalry charge was about one mile. Not many made it out: two thirds of a total of three regiments of cavalry didn't. That's the whole point of British heroism, it is the romanticism of wanton sacrifice for a lost cause: now try to understand your enemy.

Good news is so rare these days.

I pity your gall, but it is worth remembering that there are very few cavalry brigades left operational in the world, and it is these that are trained to charge, at the gallop and in a formation. The battle before the charge of the Light Brigade was a charge by the Heavy Brigade against Russian cavalry - uphill. The famous charge itself was a group of five hundred horsemen, armed with sabres and lances, traversing some two miles of valley floor, between two lines of artillery and attacking a third directly in front. I'm betting they galloped as hard as they possibly could the whole way.

You are, of course, correct. I claim brain fart due to an elegant sufficiency of pinot noir.

I'd give my left nut to be a Kiwi. Stalking woolies in those misty glens... and you can eat them, too.

We're going to see a rise in antibiotic-resistant pathogens in any case as a natural adaptation / survival of the fittest process - it is the scale of the rate of emergence of those pathogens that is accelerated through this prophylactic use of ABs (and it is hardly even prophylactic - the driver is simple economics). I suspect that you've already seen a couple of worrying superbugs over the last few years - the kidney destroying bacterium from the petting zoo in Florida (I think it was Florida) and the avian influenzas are likely candidates. When the outbreaks occur in wealthy nations and are classified as emergencies you'll undoubtedly see a lot of resources poured into finding the mode of action that counters the threat: the humanitarian disaster occurs when the affected populace has limited access to the funds or expertise to counter the threat and a pandemic results. Think sub-Shaharan Africa in particular. After all, that's where AIDS and ebola come from...

For some of us, too many sheep are barely enough.

I'd like to see wind affected arty - gusts and lulls spreading the dispersion a little more and along the axis of the wind direction. Particularly for the WW2 title - modern US arty seems to be a "aim and forget" situation.

This thread should be stickied so we have an idea where the mods are ending up.

A crocodile dung pessary, soaked in olive oil. Worked for the ancient Egyptians. Could be right up your alley.

What a coincidence. I arrive at work to find that my citrix agent has forgotten me and deleted all my preferences. OK, so I lose some time reinstalling shortcuts and setting up Outlook. Not so bad. Then I find that some of my mapping work is gone for ever (saved as a link and not backed up, mea culpa) and all of a sudden I'm really not a fan at all. meh, time to go out bush and forget about work for a bit. See if I can rustle up a gold-bearing creek.

If your printers are wired to a server a couple hundred km away, it's faster to print inside citrix instead of waiting for the data on your machine to make the journey to the server and back. Particularly useful if you live in a country with stupid slow broadband and need to do large file printing - like photos. I don't know what other benefits it brings, if any. Cheers.

How're you going with the wait for "Spacelobsters of Doom", then. Can't see that happening any time soon and there are people who've already been waiting for ten years. I know Steve and Charles have identified patience as the defining characteristic of their target demographic, but really...

You're welcome. I'm sure BFC would appreciate some feedback on the clunkiness of their design. On the other hand, CMBO is an old, old game now, a true classic.

Hi robc04, welcome aboard. If I remember correctly, in both cases there is a button on screen to click with the mouse to get you to the next page. Top right for the scenarios, "next" or "continue" or sumfink for the briefings. I hope this helps.

A-lame-a-lame-o a-lame-a-lame-o singing cockles and muscles a-lame-a-lame-o Still, who has the time to miss a pensive these days, particularly when it comes to the art of the graceful insult? You're all excused - and there's no need to thank me. Senachai, oh mighty master of the ramble to nowhere, sing for us that we might avoid the decrepitude of the crapulous, instead enjoying that sensation only to be matched by having bamboo skewers shoved under our toenails, that of attempting the comprehemsion of your prose.

Righto Lars, I've had enough of this. This low-watt bulb challenges you to a contest of skills - name your theatre. The other prunes, confident of their laxative effect and barely coherent in their ramblings, can sit and mumble in their gruel, indulge in the witless shaping of words they call communication. They'll keep.

It's a compulsion, not a considered action. Think stimulus/response, or bassett hound.