SelfLoadingRifle

Unfortunately, none of these snowy mods are downloadable. At about 54% I get a 'download interrupted' message. I then get a 'resume' option that doesn't seem to work at all as the download starts again... ONLY TO GET INTERRUPTED AGAIN AT 54% HELP!!!! SLR

Scenario 7: The Grey Line SPOILERS + + + + + + + + And so... Onwards to the last battle. This took place on ground that was very well known to me. The hotel I stayed in was about 300 yards northeast of the map edge with a wonderful view across the railway tracks to the Mamayev Kurgan, which has to be the most fought over piece of real-estate in the entire world. This particular battle took place at and around the Main Railway Station (instantly recognisable on Michael's map) which must qualify for the second most fought over slot. This was going to be a defensive battle The enemy was taking the fight to me, which meant that he had the initiative, at least in the earlier stages. I was going to be reacting to him. So, what to do? To the front the ground consisted of a series of city blocks with the South block to my centre. To the east and centre, the buildings were dense, but the terrain to the west, marked by the West Corner and Theatre, was considerably more open. To the rear, my positions comprised the Northeast Defensive Line which was on open ground, the Railway Station itself to the centre, and the Clinic to the west. The buildings to the rear were sparser and the ground more open. This battle was going to be decided in the positions to my front. Cross fires were going to be decisive. The scenario designer had actually done a very good job in his deployment of the infantry which had even included a reserve sheltered by some walls the opposite side of the tracks to the rear of the Railway Station. I moved a FOO to a less exposed location but that aside, I left the infantry set-up unaltered. It was much more difficult though, to decide what to do with the artillery as I didn't know where the main enemy assault was going to be concentrated. In the end, I guessed that it was going to be centred on the Railway Station and committed all of my 105mm artillery to a preliminary barrage in a line to the front of my positions, scheduled to commence after five minutes. I reserved my mortars for targets of opportunity. What to do with my armour was a huge, huge problem. I had only three tanks left and I had to treat them like gold dust. They were going to be outnumbered by enemy armour by a ratio of four or five to one, and to make matters worse, they were having to operate in an up-close and personal urban environment that favoured infantry. Their survival looked unlikely. In the end, I kept them well back, covering the open ground to the front of the Northeast Defensive Line and the Railway Station. So what happened? My artillery barrage was perfectly timed and sited to arrive at the onset of the enemy attack. I had guessed correctly. My mortars also did good work targeting enemy assaulting the West Block and the Theatre, causing delay and casualties. Most of my time was taken up in the deployment and use of my three remaining tanks. My approach to using armour has always been one of caution. I never take chances, I never go looking for the enemy, and I always try to get them to come to me, particularly in a defensive scenario such as this. Armour/infantry cooperation is vital. So it was on this occasion. My panzer covering the Northeast Defensive line did sterling work, knocking out three T34s in rapid succession. Unfortunately, a forth refused to succumb and was still alive after three direct hits. While my panzer's attention was still engaged, another T34 emerged and destroyed it with a single shot. I lost a second after cooperation with the infantry went wrong. An OT34 had broken through to the clinic where it started to engage the troops there with its flamethrower. Assistance was urgently required. As its turret was pointing away, I thought my panzer could approach it safely and take it out with a flanking shot. I issued my orders. Unfortunately, a section of infantry who were nearby decided to take it out with grenades. The turret swivelled around, just in time for the panzer to move into its sights. One shot was all it took! The loss of that panzer really hurt, but I had to acknowledge that it had been a highly realistic little battle. In the end, the platoon HQ in the Clinic took the OT34 out from the rear with grenades. (One young officer really earned his pay that day!) Against all the odds, my third panzer managed to survive. The infantry battle was a close range fight, the key weapons being the MG42 and the PPSH41 or 'Papashah.' Once again, I was receiving a very hard lesson in what papashah could do because the amount of incoming fire that those things were producing was eye-watering and on the right flank, I had lost the Theatre and the West Block. What retrieved the situation was the arrival of the remaining panzer. By that point, all the enemy tanks had been destroyed. My panzer was able to station itself on the right flank and the combination of HE shell and MG fire it produced was enough to stop the enemy advance in its tracks. The reserve, plus additional reinforcements that arrived were used to counter-attack. All the lost ground was retaken and the results screen for the battle appeared after only an hour's fighting had taken place. The result was a total victory. My losses were 114 KIA and 83 WIA vs 327 and 236 for the Russians. The Campaign totals were 332 KIA vs 1090. WIA were 319 vs 651. Tank losses were 3 vs 34 and each side lost 3 other vehicles. What I had never really appreciated until I had played the Rattenkrieg campaign was the truly immersive quality that graphics could give. A large number of photographs of Stalingrad have survived, and the Stalingrad museum in Volgograd features an impressive diorama which accurately depicts the wrecked city. I am able to confirm that the graphics in the Stalingrad mod give an extremely good impression of what it was like. My only quibble - and it is a trivial one - is that the bullet and shell riddled red brick mill that was preserved as a monument has not been accurately depicted and is shown as just another large and solid building. I don't know if it would be practical to make any changes but it would be wonderful if a modder managed to take the matter in hand and produce a recognisable mill. Now, looking forward, I think that the Battlefront team should consider picking up the Stalingrad ball and running with it. Similar graphics, particularly in depictions of totally shattered places such as Cassino and Caen, would be desirable. The Rattenkrieg/Stalingrad project worked well in depicting the strengths and weaknesses of the equipment available and I was even reminded of lessons learned in my own FIBUA training many years ago; for example that demo charges were particularly useful when used to blow holes through internal partitions as they enabled troops to stay inside buildings - infinitely less hazardous than stepping outside. Also that close air support under such conditions proved to be almost as dangerous to your own side as it was to the enemy! Above all it showed that in urban warfare, the hand grenade and the SMG ruled supreme. While it would have been nice to have had kit such as Panzer IIIs available, it should be remembered that CMRT (from which Rattenkrieg was adapted) was from a later period in the Great Patriotic War. However, if truth be told, I honestly don't think that it would have made much difference! The only real failure of the Rattenkrieg/Stalingrad project was that it utterly failed to show what conditions were like and what actually happened. To be fair though, no computer simulation ever could. In this case, the scale of the battle was too vast, the time period too long and the safe cosy bedrooms and living rooms in which these simulations are always run bear no comparison at all with the appalling sub-zero conditions and relentless peril that prevailed on the real battlefield. In this context a CM campaign such as Rattenkrieg is never going to be more than a many stages removed from reality vignette. Like Homer's Iliad, it will begin after the beginning and it will (almost always) end before the end. It will represent a brief episode only. Having said all that, I would like to point out to Michael that there is still one glaring omission that remains, and that this project will never be complete until it is rectified. THERE IS NO RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN. I am sure that he would agree with me that plenty of scope for one exists. My own preferences would be for something centred around Rodimtsevs 13th Guards Division, maybe Colonel Ivan Lyudnikov and the 138th Division, or perhaps even the struggle for the house famously held by Sergeant Jacob Pavlov. I will leave that up to you Michael, but I am sure that you will agree with me that your marvellous work really needs to be completed. As I sit in my warm living room, tea and biscuits by my side, I ponder on the fact that if something goes wrong I can always re-boil the kettle reboot the scenario and try again, options that were of course utterly denied to the soldiers who fought the battles for real. SLR.

Er... um... (very tentatively) I have just finished reading Matthew Parker's book on Monte Cassino. I have got the CMFI Cassino campaign all lined up and ready to play, but dare not begin it for fear that the new engine will arrive when I am half way through it. Oh, golly gosh, um... what I'm trying to say to you awfully nice and absolutely terrific Battlefront chappies is that it will be really incredibly super-duper once you have released the new engine because I am longing to give CMFI, that underplayed diamond in the rough of a game, a really good testing. Tootle pip! SLR

Scenario 6: The Air Drop SPOILER ALERT + + + + + + + + And now, the Germans are cut off. The situation is getting desperate. For a number of reasons the Luftwaffe have been unable to supply even a fraction of the promised supplies by air and have taken severe losses in the attempt. And to make matters even worse, the bitter Russian winter is setting in... This scenario simulates an attempt to recover some supplies that had been dropped by air and fallen in no man's land. What I liked about it was the ad-hoc quality of the forces that were at my disposal. I had two platoons, each of which turned out to be heavily depleted by the previous actions. To make matters even more interesting, the computer had made some rather eccentric choices in the selection of my forces. One of my LMGs turned out to be a single rifleman armed with a K98 and carrying no less than 565 rounds of ammo. Does the computer know how much that amount of ammunition weighs? Apparently not! Also, although the K98 was a very fine rifle for its day, volume of fire was surely never its strong point! Firing that lot off in a hurry would a) be physically impossible and b) any attempt to do so would rapidly result in a red hot rifle! To make matters worse, one of my infantry sections consisted of a single MG42 gunner with - wait for it - 44 rounds, one of my sections had two MG42s and three riflemen whilst another consisted of four riflemen only. Ah well... when you take part in a battle you only have the forces that turn up on the day, and so it was on this occasion. The DZ which contained the supplies was in an open area near the Volga which was off map to the south. Directly overlooking it were a number of buildings The key position was a four storey building to the east. Other important positions were two single storey buildings to the north and one to the south. The start line for my two platoons was about 300 yards to the east. According to the briefing, the enemy - which consisted of a guards regiment recce company - would be approaching the DZ from the north. Speed was of the essence. This battle was going to hinge on the possession of that four storey building. I decided to take a gamble. SOPs were binned and my forces ran almost all the way to the DZ. I only started doing stuff like moving tactically and keeping one foot on the ground when I got near the key buildings. The gamble paid off. I occupied the four storey building in force plus all of the other buildings I had marked out. Then the enemy turned up. He never had a chance. That four storey building proved to be an excellent choice of position. Only one solitary Russian HQ unit made it onto the DZ and it didn't last long. All other forces got chopped to pieces in the attempt. Before the battle ended, my MG42 gunner who had started with only 44 rounds managed to acquire a respectable amount of ammo and the rifleman who had been lugging around 565 rounds managed to get his hands on an MG42 (via buddy aid) to fire them with. The Germans took possession of the DZ, all firing finished and after only 35 minutes, I hit the cease-fire button. The result was a major victory. The Germans lost 6 KIA and 2 WIA vs 18 KIA and 18 WIA for the Russians. As a footnote, I couldn't help but notice that the airdropped supplies also included quantities of 7.92K ammo. As the MP44 hadn't yet entered service, I assume that this represents some of the more useless stuff such as spare Iron Cross medals, pickled gherkins and black pepper that were included in the miniscule quantity of supplies that got through. Onwards to the next battle. SLR

Scenario 5: Holding the line SPOILER ALERT + + + + + + + Apologies for my absence. This has been due to some all too real "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" involving doctors, a change of countries (this now comes from England) plus for good measure, a hard drive melt-down which resulted in the loss of all my CM saved files. While muttering the kind of language that would be unfit for forums such as these, I was forced to re-play all of the Rattenkrieg scenarios I had previously completed until I had reached the point were I was previously. Anyway... 'Holding the line' was fought over the same terrain as the previous scenario, so there was no need to do another lengthy appreciation of the ground. However, there was a centrally positioned four storey building with a walled off area to its front where an enemy AT gun had been sited. This had caused me a lot of problems (and casualties) in the previous scenario because of the excellent fields of fire it commanded. Although it was now slightly ahead of my main line of resistance, I marked it down as a key position. During the set up, I placed my two SF MG 34s next to it, plus two MG42 armed infantry sections, all with orders to set up on the 3rd and 4th stories. Situation enemy forces... There was a lot of armour coming my way, but how to deal with it? I opted for flanking positions. My two AT guns were sited with buildings (plus infantry) giving them protection from the front, but with good fields of fire over open ground which - hopefully - would offer good flanking shots. My armour was set up with two Pz IVs placed centrally. The intention was for them to be able to move rapidly to support any threatened sector. The remaining two were stationed on the flanks. The infantry were left more or less 'as is' as the cross-fires their positions offered looked very good indeed. The artillery gave me some problems as I couldn't really predict where the enemy was going to be and when. In the end, I decided to reserve it for the support of counter attacks. The final precaution I took was to remove the CO from his vulnerable kubelwagon and to place him in a suitable heavy building. So what happened? The battle commenced with a brief and ineffectual barrage on my positions, plus the main attack that followed almost immediately. It was a dark night, and the enemy was able to use the cover of darkness to close the range. I received a particularly harsh lesson on the effectiveness of the PPSH41 (Papashah) at close quarters. The centrally positioned four storey building was attacked before the SF MG34s had even finished setting up. The volume of incoming fire was incredible. The Russians won that particular fire-fight and my men were forced from their positions with heavy losses. My armour and AT guns were very successful. Having said that, the fighting took place at knife fighting ranges, with tanks sometimes failing to spot each other until they had literally collided. I lost one of my centrally positioned Pz IVs in this manner. The panzer stationed on my right flank was hit twice, losing half of its crew, but the survivors managed to knock out three T-34s in an action that would have surely resulted in medals being awarded had it taken place for real. Elsewhere, the infantry held. Their cross-fires were particularly effective. Some enemy armour managed to break through, but when reinforcements arrived, they were hunted down individually and destroyed. Enemy incursions were limited and all ground lost was re-taken in counter attacks. After 40 minutes all firing was over and the battle was terminated by pressing the cease-fire button. The result was a total victory. Having said that, it didn't feel like that at all. The Germans began the battle 673 strong and the 176 KIAs and WIAs they sustained added up to a total of 26% casualties. True the 370 sustained by the Russians (which included 15 tanks) seems much larger by comparison, but historically they could accept those kind of losses. The Germans couldn't. This was another of those battles where they were getting 'victoried' to death. At about this point in the campaign, operation Uranus takes place and the jaws of Zhukov's trap spring shut. The 6th Army is now surrounded and despite Goering's promises, supply has been almost cut off. From now on, the tactical situation can only deteriorate... SLR

Thanks for that Michael. However if you have evidence that that was how the Russians constructed those trenches, then I would advise leaving the map 'as is.' It does seem odd though, as the Russians had some very competent and experienced soldiers in Stalingrad! Ah well... SLR

Scenario 4: Push to theVolga SPOILER ALERT + + + + + + + + + This was the best scenario so far and it contains all sorts of pitfalls for the unwary to fall into. It was much more ambitious than anything previously attempted, consisting of a full-blown battalion assault, with added artillery, armour and air support. Again, I could see where I was, because of my previous visit to Volgograd, but this time, there was no need to work it out from the topography; I recognised it instantly. It was this very piece of ground that I was walking on when it struck me that there had actually been nowhere for the Russians to retreat to. The ‘Not one step back’ order that they had been given was just the simple reality that these very brave men had been faced with. I still had to come up with a workable plan. First, I did my appreciation of the ground. The fore and middle grounds consisted of densely packed and heavily damaged buildings of heavy concrete and steel construction. On the left, the terrain was noticeably more open because many of the buildings there had been flattened completely, leaving only rubble. At about 300 yards from the river, the ground became completely open. Half way across it there was a railway line on a raised embankment, running parallel to the Volga. Just before the railway lay three long narrow strips of land that I had been ordered to take – objectives 1, 2, and 3. Just after it were the landing stages and the Volga itself. However, before I got that far, there were some buildings that I also had to take. These were a large apartment block (Apartment Buildings) plus a much smaller cluster of storage buildings (Process Storage) on the left, and a complete block (South Block) plus a large warehouse building (Steel Warehouse) on the right. The buildings to the left did not worry me too much. The terrain was open and sight-lines to them were good, which would enable me to advance to contact and then use the heavy guns of my panzers to neutralise any enemy before sending infantry in to mop up. The South Block looked a much more formidable proposition though. There were no convenient vantage points from which a FOO could observe from a distance, and the whole position looked very defendable indeed. Resistance was likely to be strong and any Russian SMG units there looked certain to cause me all sorts of problems. This battle was always going to hinge on what happened on the right flank. This was were my primary effort had to be. I used my entire allocation of 105 mm artillery in the form of a pre-registered preliminary bombardment on the South Block, timed to commence 15 minutes into the scenario. My mortars would be reserved to take out enemy positions encountered as required. Armour would also be tasked to provide fire support as needed. A welcome inclusion in my order of battle was a pioneer platoon equipped with breech charges. These would enable me to advance down whole blocks of buildings by blowing ‘mouse-holes’ through internal partitions which would save my troops from needlessly exposing themselves in the open street. So what happened? This battle went more or less to plan. On the left, my infantry advanced to contact as ordered, the enemy was then located and then dealt with by the armour. On the right, my troops advanced to their allocated start-lines, then waited until the 105mm bombardment of South Block had been completed. The position was then taken with moderate to low casualties. My assessment of the threat posed by Russian SMG units proved entirely correct, for I encountered pockets of stiff resistance in Both South Block and Apartment Buildings. I even had to re-task a platoon on the right flank to move left to Apartment Buildings and clear the position, because an SMG unit had decimated the platoon that had been tasked originally. Once the buildings had been taken, the objective areas 1, 2, and 3 proved relatively straightforward. They consisted of trenches. Tanks were able to manoeuvre themselves to the flank or end of a trench and shoot down the whole length of it, killing the defenders in very short order. Perhaps Michael could look at this because weren’t trench lines supposed to be laid out in zig-zag form precisely to prevent that sort of thing from happening? I did lose a tank though, and it wasn’t my fault. The stupid thing succumbed to mad tank disease and did something completely outrageous, which I definitely hadn’t ordered it to do. It finally managed to get itself wedged into a manned enemy trench where it was grenaded into submission. I accepted the casualty as part of the friction of war! In the end, I won a total victory. The enemy surrendered before I reached the landing stages. The scores were as follows. Ground secured, targets secured, parameters acceptable. Points were 6900 for me vs 303 for the enemy. 552 of my men were OK at the end vs 94 of the enemy. Casualties were 104 KIA (me) vs 330. WIA were 109 vs 148. Tanks lost were one (lunatic) of mine vs four of theirs. At first glance, this would seem like a considerable victory. However, out of a total force of 765 men, I suffered 213 casualties, which works out at an overall casualty rate of 28%. Historically, the Germans simply couldn’t accept that level of attrition. The Russians, on the other hand could. This was a hard fight and if it was a victory, it was one that came at a very high price. Gazing into my crystal ball (not standard Wehrmacht issue) I can see that Operation Uranus is about to kick off. The tactical situation is going to deteriorate drastically. I fear that all too soon those men that I lost are going to prove irreplaceable. SLR

Scenario 3: Hauptman Peiper's Tank SPOILER ALERT + + + + + + + + + + + + + + This was another of those small, manageable battles with the forces at the player's disposal totting up to about company strength, with a couple of Pz 4s tagged on. I suppose I really should say three Pz 4s, but the third, belonging to Hauptman Peiper, was disabled, stuck in the middle of Red Square, and tactically there was very little you could do with it. A forward observer team had been included in my ORBAT, but as no air or arty had been included it didn't have anything to do. I therefore kept it well out of harm's way. As commented on before, I felt that the briefing contained far too much information with regard to 'Situation Enemy Forces.' There is no way that a commander would have access to a complete and accurate breakdown of the forces he was up against. Exact knowledge of that nature can heavily influence the decision making process. For example, if you know you are up against precisely three T34s, then once you have taken them out you can take further decisions with complete confidence. If all you have been told is that enemy tank strength has been estimated at one or maybe two troops, then you will have to continue looking over your shoulder as an unexpected T34 turning up could wreck your entire day. One further detail: on the map, the names of important locations are clearly marked. Unfortunately though, the letters for 'Hauptman Pieper's Tank' and 'Secure Zone' (effectively the same area) have become jumbled together into a single undecipherable mass. It seemed obvious to me that I would be faced with SMG units and that these would be particularly lethal at room clearing range. (The 98K rifle does have its limitations under those circumstances.) I therefore decided to try to keep the battle at range, which would also enable me to use my MG42s (of which I had many) to maximum effect. It seemed probable to me that there would be a heavy attack from my side of the square on Northwest Corner and in the first turn I sent a platoon over to cover the likely enemy approaches. It seemed certain that there was going to be an attack in strength from the other side of Red Square, and that this would involve armour. I therefore decided to turn Red Square into a killing ground. I moved the units that had been held in reserve in the wooden buildings to the North Store Front and the blocks to the west of it so that they covered the square. In the very first turn I had my two panzers take up hull down positions behind the low walls in the southeast corner of the square. So what happened? All the infantry attacks were beaten off with ease. Peiper's tank went down fighting gallantly but that was more or less inevitable when the T34s turned up, stuck in an exposed position as it was. One of the enemy T34s got lucky, taking out one of my two remaining panzers while it was distracted by some infantry but it only survived a further ten seconds before the surviving panzer scored a direct hit. The battle was effectively over after only half an hour. The scores were 13 Germans KIA (and 8 of these were tank crew) vs 123 Russian. WIA 18 vs 73, 2 tanks lost vs 4, ground secured, targets acceptable, parameters failed and points 4902 vs 1109 for a total victory. I found this a very easy scenario soured only by the loss of the second Pz 4 tank. This was a rather spooky experience for me because I was actually in Volgograd in January and the depiction of Red Square is recognisable. SLR

Scenario 2: Counterattack SPOILER ALERT + + + + + + + + + + + + + + This was a classic FIBUA (fighting in built up areas) scenario. Size was small. Forces consisted of a couple of rifle platoons, a couple of SF MG34s, plus mortars, 75mm artillery and two Pz IIL Lynxes which were to prove invaluable. I am very happy with this scale of scenario, particularly as there is a tendency among some designers to go for battalion plus size engagements which can be unwieldy. Drawing up a workable plan was relatively straightforward. I used my 75mm arty as a preliminary barrage on the Storefront. I then took both the East Block and the centrally positioned building with the twin domes which I used as bases of fire and jumping off points for my main assault. Tactically I kept one foot on the ground at all times. Winning the firefight is very much the name of the game in this particular scenario. Enemy positions must be supressed or destroyed before the advance can continue. Recce by fire and suppressive fire into all likely positions is highly recommended. Once I had won the firefight with the units in the Storefront, I used smoke (via mortar) to blank off the line of sight from the Municipal Sector and as a result the assault went well with very few casualties being sustained. As per real life, it was the clearing of individual blocks that caused me time, trouble and blood. There is no short cut to this. Every room at every level has to be cleared. Units should be paired up. Working a buddy-buddy system using fire and manoeuvre, is the only way to crack this particular nut. Air and arty proved to be random and spectacular in effect with all sorts of scope for disaster. The two kubels (the same as in the previous scenario) didn't last long. Whatever you do, don't forget your poor CO Oberstleutenant Roth. He is very inconveniently sitting in one of the kubels and his life will be very short and exciting unless you move him into cover! Keep your forces well dispersed. That way, if there is a disaster it shouldn't be too cataclysmic. An air or arty strike on bunched units would be the stuff of nightmares and it could easily happen in this scenario if you take your eye off the ball. And finally... Two Stukas were included, but unfortunately the FAC was left out. (Perhaps Michael could look at this.) Actually, this did not prove to be much of an inconvenience. Historically, Chuikov kept his front line as close as possible to the Germans - 50 yds or so - which made using CAS very difficult and risky as you were just as likely to hit your own side as you were the enemy! The length of this scenario was about right. The final tally was 34 KIA vs 65 for the enemy. WIA was 25 vs 36. I took the ground but failed on targets and parameters. My score was a 3522 vs 1420 point tactical victory. SLR P.S. Note the spelling of the word 'municipal.'

Looking at the briefing for Scenario 2, I think it contains an unrealistic amount of detail about the enemy forces. Surely something a bit more vague is called for here. Phrases such as "Intelligence indicates" "weakened/reduced company strength" "A recce patrol has reported" or even stuff like "Movement was observed" are what the commander on the ground would expect to hear. Please also take note that intelligence is seldom complete and often wrong which gives scope for including all sorts of nasty surprises. Jeez, why am I saying all this?!! SLR

SPOILER ALERT + + + + + + + + + + + + + + The first scenario was all over bar the shouting after about 26 minutes. I positioned my reinforcements in buildings (including the theatre) off to the flanks. When the attack came in, the MG34 on SF plus the MG 42s proved devastating - on their own through the smoke screen, and once that had gone, with the mortars firing direct. They even took out the armoured car without too much messing around. 3 of my MGs were knocked out but I got all of them back into action via buddy aid. The majority of my casualties were caused by enemy arty. I lost 27 men KIA vs 58 for the enemy. Wounded were 22 vs 51. I took out the armoured car but lost the 2 kubels to arty. According to the victory screen I held the ground but failed on targets and parameters but it was not made clear what these were! I scored a minor victory. I hope this helps. SLR

Both hands raised. I am currently off work until late September due to illness, so I will help anyway I can. SLR

Hopefully you will include scenarios that show the importance of Mamayev Kurgan... and it would be great to have the storming of the (preserved) Flour Mill by Rodimtsev's 39th Guards. I'm sure that you have all that in hand though! SLR

In January this year, I made my pilgrimage to Volgograd. I spent a long time walking the ground and also spent time in the Stalingrad museum. I would like to congratulate all concerned who worked (and are currently working) on this project. The Stalingrad landscape and buildings featured in the mods bear an uncanny resemblance to both the Great Patriotic War photos of Stalingrad and to the diorama in the museum. After installing the mods, I booted up the (Russian) railway station scenario. I "flew" to the Main Railway Station and recognised immediately where I was from my own memory of the place. Once again, congratulations all round. I will follow developments with extreme interest. SLR

Thanks gents. I now have the extra halftrack plus PIAT, plus ammo! SLR

Possibly... but I saw it submerge and then saw it surface again. Very surreal!

The second Mission Luca. The one where you have to evacuate the wounded across the river first and then hold off the Russian attack.

Recently, I was playing the second scenario in the Cross of Iron campaign when I noticed something odd. A T34/85 started to cross the river which was fordable in places. I was expecting it to plough through the water at about track height, but it submerged completely, leaving a patch of disturbed white water to mark its progress. When it reached the opposite bank, it resurfaced and completed its crossing. Were T34s capable of doing this? I thought that tanks required extensive preparation before attempting to cross water completely submerged and that only certain models were capable of it. I was unaware that the T34/85 was one of them. Would anyone like to comment? SLR

You sir, are an absolute star. Night fighting never felt right before. It does now! Many thanks, SLR

I played Ukrainian and also ran out of time. GREAT SCENARIO THOUGH! SLR P.S. Can we have more scenarios of this sort of size please?

My perspective of all this is that of an ex-pat Brit who is now living and working in Russia. As my Russian friends know, I am no fan of Joseph Stalin (to put it mildly) but with regard to the 2nd World/Great Patriotic War there is one thing he said that I agree with completely. "The Russians provided the men, the Americans provided the material and the British provided the time." Russian ignorance of the role of their allies in that war is still profound. One of my upper-intermediate students recently asked for an English language documentary to watch to improve his listening skills. I recommended Jeremy Isaacs' 1973 series 'The World At War' and sent him the link to download it. When I saw him next, he had watched several episodes. in shocked tones he said, "Richard, I had no idea that Britain was fighting the Nazis before we were and that London had been so heavily bombed." I have had similar results with Robin Cross's book 'Kursk' and Anthony Beevor's 'Stalingrad.' which I recommended to two military minded advanced students.

I was in the Ukraine and the Crimea two years ago. The graphic artists who are working on CMBS should take note that the roads in The Ukraine are NOT good and the textures should reflect this. For that authentic Ukrainian look, the main road textures should show crude looking but effective repairs where potholes caused by winter conditions have been fixed. Most minor road textures should be heavily potholed and should look as if they haven't been re-surfaced since about 1941. In certain cases that is probably not an exaggeration! I realise that this will not affect gameplay in the slightest. SLR

Dear Battlefront, I now possess two laptops. The reason for this is that I currently live and work in Russia, and I am totally dependent on having a functioning computer, both for my job and for keeping in touch with friends and relatives. If one goes wrong I have he other to fall back on. Needless to say, I have (or rather had) some CM games installed on each. My second laptop never worked properly until quite recently. To cut a long story short, the Russian 'Computer Master' tried everything to get it going. He thought the hard drive was faulty (it wasn't) took it out and tried it with a number of other laptops. Unfortunately I had installed CMA and CMN plus the Commonwealth module on it. What seems to have happened is that each time a laptop was fired up with my hard drive in it, CMA and CMN were registered as having been installed on another laptop, and to cut a long story short, my licence keys are now no longer valid. (For the record, the hard drive was ok, but the motherboard was faulty and it has now been replaced. I would like (if possible) to apply to Battlefront for licence keys for CMA and CMN plus Commonwealth module. If this is not possible, I would be grateful if a moderator could tell me. I will then buy these titles again. I hope this is not necessary as it will all become rather expensive! Apologies for bringing this up and I look forward to hearing from you. SLR

Pistols are a short barrelled weapon with no stock to steady the weapon. They are therefore very difficult to use and it takes A LOT of practice to reach a standard where they can be used with the accuracy displayed by the PPK user in Mr Kettler's movie shown at the start of this thread. The average grunt or squaddie probably gets to use a pistol only once or twice a year, hardly enough to develop the skill displayed here. In the 1940s many would never have shot one at all. We had a saying in the British Army, "If you have to shoot a pistol further than you can throw it, you are in big trouble." Under combat conditions, 25 yards would be extreme range with a pistol for the average soldier, with probably a 95% or higher chance of missing. 15 yards would be a practical maximum with probably a 70 - 80% chance of missing. He would have to get within 5 - 7 yards to have a reasonable chance of connecting and even then He would probably miss 50% of the time. It is very common for shooters under stress to miss at 3 yards... So PURLEEEZE don't think that you can use film footage of expert pistol shots performing on ranges under ideal conditions as an indication of the range at which soldiers can hit the target under combat conditions. I'm with Doug Williams on this. Please Battlefront, reduce all pistol ranges DRASTICALLY with the first patch. Absolute maximum pistol range should really be no more than 20 yards. SLR.