DaddyO

Great work SLIM. This second one looks like something I need to understand much better.

Sorry to read about your heart attack, Kohlenklau. Boy do I know what that is like. Thirteen years ago at age 47 I was hit with a big one that knocked out 1/3 of my heart for good. Hope you avoided that kind of blow. Take it steady, take it easy, and God be with you.

Kudos to JoMc67 for taking the initiative and going above and beyond to help you. Kudos to you for recognizing him publicly.

I found where TwtichTV lets me watch a replay of the stream, so no worries.

Chris, is there going to be a YouTube upload of last Sunday's stream? I so enjoy watching them and it's usually not possible on Sunday.

I assume he wants to get through the current campaign before doing anything else.

As are the YouTube videos of a certain Aussie. The two of you have provided a lot of enjoyment. Tip o' the hat to you two! If SLIM can get his audio going that will add another one.

It USED to be Saturdays. He changed to Sundays early this year, IIRC. Edited to add: And his recent streams have involved a CM Black Sea campaign. He did have a brief preview of Bulge a couple of weeks ago, but so far as I remember he implied it's release was coming but not imminent.

Hasn't he lately been doing his streams on Sunday?

If you watch Ithikial's YouTube AAR's he uses the "blow the house down" tactic often. It would be interesting to see if his instincts in this matter extend to anticipating his opponent will use the gambit.

Great question. I played a scenario some months ago in which I decided, based on the game situation as it had played out so far, to break up two platoons into squads and advance through a long, long stretch of open wheat fields and tall grass fields, this in the face of a German heavy machine gun safely perched in the third story of a hard building with broad, dominating line of sight across the whole area. I had no other option. So I scattered the squads across a broad front and used "bound and hide" techniques while having some light machine guns husband their ammunition to occasionally harass the third floor of the building. I took a some casualties, but by and large it worked better than I expected. The bulk of the platoons made it across. Still, I wouldn't have attempted it unless it seemed the only option. And I wouldn't have attempted it without the occasional harassing fire.

All the explanations of the inaccuracy of indirect artillery are, of course, correct. Still, isn't it the case that the version 3 engine introduced a noticeable reduction in accuracy from previous versions? To me it was immediately noticeable, and I think I remember (at my age who remembers anything for sure?) others commenting that they noticed the same thing.

John. Hang in there. Some won't understand at all, some will mock, some will be given to a sort of general forbearance, most will scratch their heads and move on, and a few who have had to deal with similar obstacles in their life will recognize what you are going through and truly understand.

+1. I understand, or at least I think I do, that Battlefront is greatly constrained in the programming tasks it takes on, and that a rather tight prioritization must be maintained. I would argue, and others may disagree, that some form of terrain grid should be built into the stock game, with the ability to toggle it on and off as you suggest. The very nature of CM games and the environment in which players operate is a rather compelling argument (to me) for this. Terrain contours are a key element of gameplay. Since I'm sure there are those who just won't want it, make the default "off," with a toggle to turn it "on." (This may be a historic first. I am contributing to my own thread being hijacked!)

Got a kick out of your avatar, mjkerner.

As I peruse terrain in order to make battle plans, I always wish I had the ability to tag map locations and buildings with my own custom tags, that is in addition to the ones provided by scenario designers. This is especially needed on large or complex maps. If I check sight lines and so on, I need notes to help me remember what I've learned before moving on to something else. I know many use map screen prints and then overlay them using graphics programs, but I would prefer tags made by me appearing on the map as I play, either as a mouse-over popup or as something that can be toggled on/off. Am I the only one who would like to see this?

I'll let other people be the judge about "old man wisdom." You've offered your opinion, just like I have. For what it's worth I had a debilitating heart attack in 2002 result in chronic heart failure that has left me disabled. I'm an example of what John Kettler mentioned, someone who during the week is primarily involved with others through internet communities like this one. With my limited energies it takes me one to two weeks just to play out a single player scenario depending on how long I'm able to keep going on my sessions of play. I'm really sorry that at your young age that you have to deal with MS. I'll offer you some free "old man" advice. Life is too short to take out your frustrations on other people. Life is too short to carry a chip on your shoulder. Be a community friend, and you will have community friends. I have to agree with those who say if you re-read this thread as objectively as you can you will see that it is you that escalated your response when people didn't share your thinking on the subject or shared the community's prior experience. It is you who played the "old man" card, not the old men. I for one am happy to have you express your opinion not matter what so long as you are civil when others express theirs.

There is a place, indeed, a necessity for younger men to seek to break out from the mould of inherited custom and wisdom, to dream and discover that which their parents could not. But it's helpful to recognize that any generation that does this in wholesale fashion without any concern that they might at the same time be throwing out gold along with dross, is doomed to have to painfully relearn many things they once thought foolish. This idea that there are no nations and races, only holistic systems, though there is a large element of truth in it, is in the whole a bunch of baloney. If anything since the end of the Cold War there has been a resurgence of suppressed empire-building, nationalism and tribalism, a Balkanization that threatens the very foundations of any so-called global system or community. Humpty Dumpty may not yet have fallen, but one would be hard pressed to convince people these days that he is not in significant danger of doing so. And his shattering would (will?) be catastrophic, and a VERY hard lesson for those who thought that World Wars 1 and 2 were an aberration. The aphorism, "We get too soon old and too late smart!" may seem self-serving to the old, but it's amazing how young people, once they get older, look back on their youthful exhuberance (arrogance?) with both nostalgia, amusement, and sometimes even deep regret. This has been a public service announcement on behalf of "old men."

Interesting, didn't know this. There's always something to learn about this game. My problem is if some new fact comes into the front end of my brain, it seems like it pushes some old fact out the back end!

Wait a minute. You're telling me that during deployment GAME real time (as opposed to game clock time remaining) runs along with the game player's REAL-LIFE real time while giving orders??? Am I understanding you correctly? Can others confirm this? It never occurred to me that it might, and I've never had anything transpire that might even hint at this.

An instant classic!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJiLlH-0psU (heh heh! couldn't resist)

Well done. I think you succeeded wildly in grabbing peoples' attention.

Ah, thanks Luke.

Ah, forgive me if I misunderstand the breach kits as compared to satchel charges. Re: the Bradley crew, yeah, the behavior was absurd. I wasn't defending the behavior as logical, neither was I attempting to explain or defend any scenario design choices. I was only trying to offer a suggestion as to a possible contributing factor to the admittedly illogical behavior. Again, thanks for your efforts with the videos.