Collingwood

I stand corrected, and the discussion that ensued was very interesting!

If a tank were to kill its engine, the turret can no longer rotate...

"New CMx2 business model" ?? I'm doubt that BFC need all the business advice they receive on the internet. The truth is they already run a business model which has kept them in business for over a decade. Since they have inside knowledge on sales, development costs, day to day expenses and wages etc, they are doing business in an informed manner. We, and you, have no knowlege of any of those business factors. We're ignorant. How could we ever suggest a better business model? It might appear legitimate to ask for everything to be cheaper, or all included in one package for less or whatever by calling that a "business model", but it's not - it's just a customer wanting lower prices.

Absolutely Potsdam was a failure from a Western point of view, and - Agreed. To be clear, I'm saying this is the conclusion drawn by Stalin and Molotov (Molotov on hearing of the A-Bombs said "They're raising the price" in respect to the states they annexed). But I don't think the US was aware of just how totally paranoid things were in the USSR. Stalin and the politburo were constantly jumping at their own shadows, let alone foreign ones. I too doubt that it would have been a case of "lets nuke two japanese cities to send a message to Stalin".

Stalin and Molotov both knew Japan was practically defeated already and drew the conclusion that the two A-Bombs were a direct message to the USSR.

Ah of course. Quite right, bummer. Back to sleep for me.

I had no idea that happens, because it's never occurred to me to click on enemy floating icons. Perhaps that's the solution - maintain fog of war by only clicking on our own icons?

I did nearly put an asterisk and footnote to 'de-nazification' saying "to what extent...." etc. There no doubt remained unapologetic and committed Nazis (maybe not so many alive still now). My comparison is that there was a reckoning for post WW2 Germany, with very public scrutiny of what was done in the name of the regime. The nation went through much painful self examination. Not just for what they did to other nations, but to their own people. A few years ago I read of a study that claimed over 50% of Russians (not other states) thought Stalin was a great leader. I found that startling, although I know studies can be taken with the proverbial grain of salt.

It was events before the war I was thinking of, the Ukraine in particular stands out. Was the brutality toward millions necessary during peace time - was that the only way forward ? I think the problem facing anyone like myself (from 'the west') who grew up during the cold war is that much of what we were told about the USSR was heavily contaminated with political hyperbole. It was good to see Grossman's 'A Writer at War' recommended. I've read 'Everything Flows' and was going to ask about it here.

The 20th century was brutal to soviet citizens, no doubt about it. Hopefully our OP doesn't now mind this wandering off on a different tangent. I'm very interested in 20th century Soviet history, not just ww2 and my reading of the collective lot of the average soviet citizen - no pun intended - is that it is possibly one of the hardest places to be born in Europe - not just for what happened during WW2, but before and after at the hands of their own government. And the shame is that while Germany post WW2 was de-nazified the USSR was never de-bolshevized (if that's a word). Apparently there is still a great deal of denial going on about what happened under Stalin.

I was going to say - "but he does", but I'm not so sure now, it's been a while since I read it. I've enjoyed most of Beevor's output. We shouldn't rely on any single author for an education as each writer has strengths, weaknesses and blind spots. If you enjoy reading history Beevor is worthwhile - if you keep in mind some of BD6's points.

Not even Kylie the Absinthe Fairy?

Yes, thanks akd that makes a lot of sense. What puzzles me is the OP saying the mortar fired for an entire minute. I wonder if they obeyed the 'target briefly' and then decided the target was enough of a threat to take matters into their own hands. I have experienced that regularly - mortar crews are quite liberal with ammo, raining down death on even the most innocuous truck in the distance.

Last night I used target briefly with a 60mm mortar, direct fire, twice. Each time only 1 round was fired - with decidedly unimpressive accuracy. Three minutes later the same crew fired directly on their own initiative, one round perfectly on target.

Yet with your 5 employees you've produced two games now for both OSX and Win, with 3 more incoming... "Wargame" is PC only as far as I can tell. You have the entire OSX wargamer market just about tied up I reckon.

I'm with you. It's a dream come true! Although I have to say, CMFI is a very pleasant diversion until we get to the real action. Regarding the current discussion about improvement - I am very happy with the improvements and tweaks so far. One that hasn't been mentioned much but which has been a huge step toward making battlefield navigation easier is assigning short-cut numbers to units. That along with moveable waypoints, target armor arc and customizable hotkeys made me very happy. A few times I thought "what a pity, I really won't want to go back to CMBN now" - and then I remembered we have an update coming. Which made me even happier! Each game on its own provides excellent value for money, to the point that I think it costs me literally only a few cents per hour of playing, yet the quality of the entertainment is worth so much more.

The camera controls are very similar to movement controls in many other previous games I've played. What annoys me is when after a long CM session I find my browser and other programs don't respond to w and s to scroll up and down the page.

Wow. Scientists, engineers, designers, visionaries - all worked for decades to bring us computers and the internet, so that we can have a whine about a few bucks for added features to a game. Which reminds me, this broadband internet is a ripoff. I paid good money for my 14.4K baud compuserve connection in 1994, I should have life-long internet upgrades for now on. This is now how to build a community! Good luck, internet.

I realize it could have seemed like nit picking but I don't actually have any issue with those neck lumps - I don't think I've ever zoomed that close in anyway. For all I know every soldier has had his hair stapled on. Or has had hair plugs to deal with baldness.

Don't know if this has come up yet, but in the shot above - what is up with the strange skin condition on his hair-line at the back? Looks like lumps large enough to be casting considerable shadows.

When people say in a discussion "you're insane" it is generally meant in a rhetorical fashion, and is not intended to be a statement of diagnosis of mental insanity. I only explain this because "you're insane" could translate to people of different cultures in ways that seem to intend offense. But reading the posts across this forum I think there's a fair chance that quite a few of us are nutters. Obsessing over a few dollars for something as non-essential to survival as an upgrade to a piece of entertainment software - oh, sorry, military simulation - will only lead to misery. There are more meaningful things to worry about in life.

I second that recommendation, and you might like to follow that up with Fatal Decision: Anzio and the Battle for Rome by the same author.

Goodness! I hope noone will spin out of control with angst over "fragmentation" or upgrade agony. Looking at this from the "glass half full" angle, at the moment we have a glass (or two) mostly full. Now, BF have offered to pour us another three drinks during the next year. You don't have to drink the extra ones! You can just nurse the drink you have and enjoy it. Or take one of the following drinks and pass on the others. I think a lot of us though will be over there in the rowdy corner drinking as much as can be served up. Cheers (hic) !

Fair enough, thanks Steve. You'll still be getting my money one way or another.

I can't add anything that hasn't already been said, although this is one time when a "me too!" post is warranted. I'm thrilled to hear I won't have to wait too much longer for EF. But I can have my cake and eat it too, looks like there will be a Mac version of CMSF sooner or later, whether it is the v1 (announced some time ago) or the new upcoming v2. Thanks for the heads-up on "the road ahead", all I can say is if you can crank these out at the anticipated rate you will have guaranteed revenue flow. I will buy all of it. Have you considered some kind of subscription model? e.g. X dollars buys everything released in the next 12 months, perhaps with early access (beta) to upcoming projects. Like a loyalty club... cheers