[Am I missing something? Spotting in the TF Raff Crossroads Battle]

You beat me to it, Thomas. My guess is that something changed post the manual going to press. Sure makes it tough on the Yanks.

Let's see what the pros say.

[Thank You tyrspawn!]

Muchas gracia from the American Southwest.

[Round stone buildings in the game?]

Aren't late medieval two-storey dovecotes also round? Smaller scale than an actual building, I know, but as flavour objects. Or are these only found in the UK?

I've seen them in Normandy.

[Rather sterile graphics....]

Panzer Command: Ostfront I think. It's the 'competition'. Sort of.

Thank you. It's not competition if you're a Mac gamer!

[Rather sterile graphics....]

What's PCO? Google was no help.

[Fuel Drum Attack]

I guess I should have used Sgt. Steiner as my handle when I registered. That PCScipio thing is out of place, but when your name is Skip....

So does Cross of Iron meet the specs as a classic war movie?

[Is this the game for seniors?]

Indeed, life is short, you could die of old age any minute!

Thanks, LemoN. As my favorite pol says, "you bet'cha." Really. It's important to take/make the time to smell the flowers, even if they have to be mod'ed in.

I'm glad I've returned after all the years; still appears to be a great bunch of guys here.

cheers

skip

[A lot of old timers coming back]

Ah yes, I believe I remember that one. It was set in France during the 1940 campaign wasn't it? Was an S&T game that came out early in 1974. It was one of those I admired but never played because of the bookkeeping. It was about that time that I began thinking how nice it would be to put all that on a computer.

Michael

I believe it was generic WWII because I seem to remember playing a "jungle" scenario where the tanks were confined to a single road, but it was a long time and many games ago.

I'm really looking forward to CM:BN. How well my iMac's 256MB Radeon HD2600 handles the demo will be key. I realize scenario size will likely make a big difference in this regard, but at least I can get going with small stuff. Then, who knows, the iMac may accidently fall on the floor.

[Should I buy Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy?]

From what I can glean without any actual hands-on, it looks like a winner. And I'm a very jaded grognard.

[Is this the game for seniors?]

If the game is for seniors, then EVERYONE over the age of 65 should get a seniors discount.

I'm not waiting 8 months to play this!

[A lot of old timers coming back]

BTW, BB, I like retired Msgt's, self-righteous or not. My uncle was one; landed at Utah and missed Malmedy by the skin of his teeth, many of which he lost to a German riflebutt.

[A lot of old timers coming back]

The synapses just fired: Kampfpanzer

[A lot of old timers coming back]

Impressive that you actually got her into it! Wargaming is one of those few remaining areas where women dare not tread! Growing up in a rural area with no nearby friends, I desperately wished my sister's being something of a Tomboy had translated to being willing to play my AH games, but she had no interest so I mostly played them solitaire.

Well, she did breakup with me, so I'm certain she must have been at least a little gay.

[A lot of old timers coming back]

No, BB, that's not it. Does Tank ring a bell? Not sure, though. You had to plot the moves beforehand and execute in baby steps. It was a bookkeeping nightmare.

[A lot of old timers coming back]

In an effort to set the bar high: In 1975 I got my then girlfriend hooked on France 1940 and that first tactical si-move game SPI produced, the name of which escapes me at the moment. Her long suffering did not pay off.

[Is this the game for seniors?]

I can recall replaying moves in CMBO over and over and over again to view the action from different POV and loving every second of it.

Yes, Michael, I also always found this to be one of the most compelling characteristics of CM. A CM game is meant to be savored.

[CMBN Manual is up]

Ah, ha. Well, I remember the mod that added swastikas to the German vehicles didn't actually prevent them from suffering CAS fratricide. So no problem.

cheers

[CMBN Manual is up]

Thank you, Erik and ND. Don't mind a little more work to install a mod. My concern was that an individual mod would not run on both platforms, that the Mac version would be a separate effort and thus result in far fewer mods for the Mac. Enthusiasm regained.

[Quick update on release status]

P.S. Bone -> there are three scenarios for the Demo. One attack as Germans, one attack as Americans, one Tutorial as Americans. The latter is designed to give newbies a "cake walk" scenario to learn how to play the game before diving into the other two battles. It's an adaptation from the longer Tutorial included in the game itself.

I remember the tutorial for CMBO. Trying to properly position that Hetzer (IIRC) in the one useful hull down position was a real challenge.

[CMBN Manual is up]

What I found interesting as a MAC user (p. 150): "Mod tools are only available for the PC version at this time."

Hate to swim against the tide here, but this is not good for all of us who regained interest because of Mac compatibility. Two sets of tools very likely mean far fewer mods for the Mac.

Oh, well. Think I'll be waiting awhile before purchase.

[Combat Mission 2000-2011]

Thanks much, Sergei. Stirred good memories and whetted the appetite.

[Is this the game for seniors?]

I cut my wargaming teeth back in the fifties with a ruler, dice, and lead Napoleonic miniatures from FAO Schwarz, then moved on to AH's Tactics II and Gettysburg. Played lots of CMBO and CMBB years ago, but went Mac in more recent times and had to leave CM behind.

My little brother, Gregg, used to play test for SPI in the 1970-72 timeframe. Maybe some of you guys knew him? He's recently gone, but not before he told me about the upcoming release of CMBN for the Mac. I'll be ordering as soon as I'm comfortable it'll run reasonably well with a 256MB Radeon HD2600. I know that meets min spec, but....

cheers

skip