herr_oberst

What some call devilish, others would call genius... as much anger and angst as those scenarios have caused (is inflicted a better word?), I still love those battles. At one point, I finally got back to those trenches in #3 and took them with a full platoon, only to be plastered by arty the next turn. As I cursed the designer for his smarts, and myself for such a stupid move (it WAS standard German doctrine to register their own positions just in case they were lost and I know that), still my regard for the scenario designer just keeps going up. [i assume he had an FO hiding at the back of the map with a CA and maybe a TRP covering the trenches]. Perhaps evil genius is a better term... still, if I ever meet him, I owe him at beer at the very least.

Accchhhhmed deserves far better than the Cesspool... "3... 2... boom" Ach, new guy.

If this is the same Patch of the days of yore, I'm wounded... wounded I tell you.

Page two! In Rune v Xia I'm working on scouting out Buzzbombs's positions, and he doesn't seem to have any. Clearly, I'll have to be a little more obnoxious with my scouts... perhaps I'll throw a few Tenderfoots and a Second Class his way to see what they can see.

BFC!!! Patch is borked... I patched CMBN, but Stuka's posts still appear!! Please fix of do sumfink!

The "alive, crewed, unbogged, non-immobilized" ones are best I think.

To say nothing about the fact that it ISNT 'hey mine do this while yours do that". If everyone is playing with the same software abilities or liabilities, then deal with it, adapt your tactics, use your grey matter.

A challenge for Mudpie_Oz? How's about. "Tie your shoelaces you insufferable git!" That should keep his mosquito-sized brain occupied for, oh the rest of the afternoon at least.

Now if we could just squash that enormous ego-sigline, it wouldn't take half a page to get past that short answer...

Bah!!! Mamby-pambies... Courage and Fortitude, Courage and Fortitude. Prepare to lose (and learn), and lose some more... Still great fun.

We honor each according to his merit... for that 101st vet, my hat is off with deep respect. For you, well, I'll just move to the sidewalk on the other side of the street and avoid making eye contact.

Agreed. I plot a waypoint on the road right before the bridge, then one on the opposite side past the bridge. Column formation with a good four 'tank lengths' between units so they dont all start/stop, and I've moved all four across in a single turn (WeGo player here). The squishies I route to the right of the bridge right down at the waterline around to the right. Break the squads into teams and space them a bit so they don't bunch too tightly and smoke 'em if you got 'em to provide some cover from directed fire (and possibly save yourself from a TRP surprise). I like this battle because it is such a challenge. Attacking it again tonight - yes I have lost almost two whole platoons to my bad timing on one go, and I have lost 3 of my 4 tanks when I advanced too quickly in the open on another go. But live and learn, and improve. PaperTiger makes some incredibly good maps and battles. Over Hill, Down Dale was a piece of cake compared to this (replayed that one last night to see if I've learned anything, and pulled a 1000 to 10 Total Victory w/8 killed, 7 wounded, no armor/vehicle losses). I still suck at getting my MGs into good positions, but have learned to slow down a bit and be more careful about positioning and, shocker, combined arms, 'cause he positions the OpFor exceedingly well.

If the tiny stuff is too hard to handle, perhaps you need to think bigger... How's about a 1/16th Scale Tiger? Although if I remember correctly, you have to build the tracks from links... maybe a neighborhood kid would do it. http://www.tamiya.com/english/products/56010tiger/tiger.htm Tamiya has put incredible power and versatility of the German Tiger I in your fingertips with this 1/16 scale, fully functional R/C tank. Just some of the many functions this tank is capable of have been recorded in the video clips below. First check out the firing of the main cannon, complete with true to life flash and cannon recoil. The shot is so powerful that it actually causes the tank itself to recoil, just like the full size Tiger I. Then, click on the next image to see the cannon rotate, tracking down the enemy and preparing to fire. Next is the firing of the authentically recreated 7.92mm MG34 machine gun! Finally, take a gander at how the Tiger I moves on its durable resin and metal tracks. (Please understand that downloading images may take some time.) *1/16 scale Radio Controlled Assembly Model Kit (overall length: 530mm, overall width: 232mm) *A four-channel RC unit is necessary to operate this kit. Two 7.2V Tamiya Racing Packs (or equivalent) and charger are also required.

Mortars I have less trouble with... it's the remainder of the weapons company that gets unused. Seems like each time I get the MGs situated, the momentum of the battle now has them out of LOS of where I'd like them to be firing. So I try to leave them farther back for suppressive fire, and try to remember to watch each turn back at their position so I can get them to evade any incoming arty barrages.

That's just a feature... another of Hitler's Uber-weapons... the 88 with over-under 150's. Kill the armor and scrub the infantry in one shot.

That must be one BIG shed he corralled all you men into... vehicles too? Agreed... BFC, did you guys remember to model headlights on these AFVs? Even those little slit thingies? Cripes, I think some of my hamstertruppen went to the Hellen Keller Driving School...

Oh dear Stukies... surely you are missing the genius behind my plan... if I don't know exactly what I'm going to do, then neither does my enemy... brilliant!

Speaking of Blood Hamster matches... in House Rune vs The Shaved House our hamsters are unblooded... and still attempting to sniff each other out in the dark. This might just turn into an ugly armored knife-fight in the dark, which I'm sure will keep all of you quite entertained, much like peasant rabble populating the ancient Roman coliseum. The win is likely to go to he whose hamsters happen to have their main guns pointed in the right direction at the point where contact is made. In the finest of Shavian House traditions, I can feel my 'gamey' gene starting to kick in. To lie in wait? To stealthily advance? To dismount all my armor and be sneaksy with the crews, hugging the map edge as my hamsters infiltrate his position? Who knows?

The only time to NOT listen to the "Take your time" approach is when you see a spotting round land near your troops. Time to beat feet and get the heck out. When approaching obvious choke points, I try to split my squads and string them out (using pause commands) while issuing either fast or quick movement orders. The Courage and Fortitude campaign has a great "massacre you to make the point" instructional battle involving a certain beloved bridge... no shame in restarting that one several times. My own results from attempts at this battle vary from losing two full platoons in 30 seconds to a killer barrage to sneaking my first 70 or so troops past it pretty cleanly. I keep going back to that saved game just to practice and try to engineer an 'optimal' outcome. Tons of fun.

Oh cool... I always thought they could adopt this engine to a more ancient venue... but how could one Greek hero of the Trojan war wielding a sword do much to your troops. Oh that's right. You are commanding them... perhaps you should just mail it in and let the Tac AI do all your work for you.

I'd be a "Do-Do", although my play sometimes resembles doodoo...

Well, as the initiator of the PBEM, I have yet to see the outcome of the random settings... It was, quite literally, pick the year, month, set the random setting for everything else, choose a side, then "Send the file to your opponent". I suspect that workflow is to combat the very thing you mentioned about restarting... not very random if I were able to iterate the creation until the dice fell towards something I liked.

Yes, yes, very well... Game update on the Blood Hamster match between House Rune and Shavian House... Buzzsaw is currently squirming and writhing in the fierce grip of my wicked setup. I'd post more for your entertainment, but don't want to give away any tactics which might affect his gamey choice of units...

So my ultimate freedom from the Bard's curse comes at the cost of a single charge, bass-ackwards, by my armored force towards the VLs on the map??? Say it ain't so Joe! This will be far, far too easy. A mere weeks penance with some lame sig line created by Buzzsaw is a small price to pay for freedom from the House Shaved.

Cry havoc and let loose the dogs of war... or some such drivel. Setup is on the way: In the year of our lord 1944, in the Month of July, a (possibly) fierce battle occurred as the stalwart clankety things of House Shaw met those of House Rune in a meeting engagement on a chunk of French soil possibly containing the dreaded bocage, or maybe a cute little hamlet, perhaps a larger town or city, or heck, maybe even mountains, sometime between the hours of midnight and er... just before midnight. The weather was... um, I don't know, I haven't seen it yet. But it will be an epic battle... unless it is dreadfully wet... and dark... and rainy... and all our clankety things get bogged down in the mud out of sight of each other. Oh bother.