Gamer58

Got it. Re the S Mine disharger: Understood, although are any other anti infantry grenades modeled in tanks in CM X2? Did they exist? I recall they did on some tanks. Did they? Re the Panthers/other tanks without smoke: That would really really suck being in a tank without smoke capabilities.

Oh I'm sorry. But I cannot see your highly detailed reasoning there. So you must be right. Oh, and I forgot, since you are obviously into pithy throwaway lines without any further obvious substance to them: England's friend Stalin Good. Hitler Bad! Happy now?

All correct, there are a few remotely located hills north of the lake (really not on the road from Budapest to Bratislava/Vienna) and there is also, more importantly because it is on the Danube, a hill in Bratislava... But Fortress Budapest was all about Hitler defending his self-professed "most beautiful city in Europe" and keeping the "Greater Germanosphere" as far east as possible.

CMFI is unique because of the simulation of Luft Infantry units and the Pz Kpfw IIIM, my favorite weapon in the game. (Big Cat battles are for Sissies - too easy!) 1. How to you defeat Shermans with the IIIM? 2. Is the Pz IV modeled in the game even weaker? (armor, not gun). It seems so. How to defeat Shermans? 3. How did they employ these weapons IRL? 4. How did LI/Heer infantry defeat enemy armor when not supported with TDs or armor? No shrecks or fausts = a very hard undertaking indeed.

Turnbased is the only WEy to GO LOL.

Agree. Game needs thrown mines, tellers, nade bundles, magnetic mine etc. Only real AT weapons are the pioneer satchels and normal nades, which is disappointing.

Wait a minute BF. Nothing for Mac? When will it be released?

That also. But you gotta agree that Buda is the last hill before you get to Vienna.

Thanks 4 the replies. Also, Tiger turret S Mine discharter/anti infantry grenades - modeled in game? Also, how to they jack a 60 ton tank? With 4 jacks from the platoon?

It's true that the Russian optics were better than their welding, and were in fact highly regarded by the West. But compared to the German optics they weren't a match. When I say "better optics", I really mean "better glass + better mag factor + wider FOV (except unlike other tanks, note that in the case of the StuG, the Germans had no better FOV than other nations) + MAGIC TRIANGLE MARKINGS". So I really mean better optics and markings on the sight. This is a Soviet tank sight. http://gfx.esl-europe.net/media/de/news/2006/ro/t34gunsights2.jpg No magic triangles. No first shot hit. Must range it in and guestimate. Low literacy rate in Soviet states mean manuals hard to read also. German sights had magic triangles (as well as being clear and good light gatherers, even better than the Soviet ones). Magic triangles + precision milling of gun barrel + good quality ammo + superior crew training and discipline (+ ability to read) means big boom boom first time almost every time.

More about just one aspect of it all. Stug optics were 5x magnification. As stated, you could hit the enemy miles away in the ****s, at will. Schneider no, but Bender and Zeiss - who make optics today for the M1A1. Superior light gathering, clarity, and rangefinding down to the triangles to determine the range of enemy vehicles means a much easier and more accurate aim. The little triangles mean you can hit first time every time without even firing a ranging shot. Most important of all however were the two decades of tank building experience, superior crew training and discipline and... crew training and discipline - it beats equipment every time.

IS-2 Noisy as hell Clunky 2 piece ammo - bag of powder and shell Poor optics Unprofessionals ill fed crews Made by people forced into making them at Tank Factory #25 in the middle of the Urals and by other people forced into making them at Tank Factory #57 in the middle of Siberia - with no communication between the two except copies of the same blueprints Welding joints like an apprentice on his worst day Stug (2/3 battalion you say? hmm, pretty darn big force there) Quiet Low profile Culmination of development of 1-2 decades of tank development Crews trained by crews with tank hunter experience in North Africa, Italy etc Schneider optics that can reach out miles and hit you in the ****s at will Rheinmetal precision milled 48 caliber 75mm gun One piece ammo with high quality components No contest. Also: Russian crews lulled into sense of well being and safety in the presence of/within the IS-2 because it bears the "magic" of having IS's name on it - so it must be invincible. Cycle of unprofessionalism that began with their "training", and "everything will be OK" attitude "We're the Red Army of the Great Russia! How could we lose?" continues etc etc.

Think of it also this way: Order of the Dragon, created by HR Emporer Sigismund - buried in important Hungarian town in Transylvania - awarded to those who fought Turkic hordes including Vlad Draculs father and Henry V. Matyas Corvinus, - born in important Hungarian town in Transylvania - important Austrian/Hungarian general/king who fought Turkics when/as he could. So many more important historical Germanic/Austrian kings/emperors were born or lived in Transylvania, which was really one of the most important areas of Hungary after the capital Budapest. Hitler was in tune with all of this.

Also... Why Budapest? Because its the last hill before Vienna. I'm not joking. Buda is the last hill worthy of defense before you get your tanks all the way across flat flat flat! ground all the way to Vienna. You don't see hills again until you hit Upper Austria/Bohemia. Vienna must be defended - so you do this at Buda if you can't stop them at the Carpathians.

Also Hitler was Austrian. Austria important to Hitler. Hungary and Austria - for centuries one power, although Hungary more independently governed after 1848.

You can't be serious. I see now, you aint a history buff, I am. Hungary (as a coalition and with HRE/A-H etc) spent centuries fighting Mongolic hordes and then Turkic/Ottoman hordes. Hungarians lost half their country - Transylvania - that had been their territory since about 1000 AD - they lost it after WWI like Germany lost Prussia. Hitler promised it back. Transylvania is where Schwab and Saxon immigrants moved to and lived, and also fought the hordes. In fact they were invited there to do this. Hungary is where many more Schwab and Saxons were invited to move when the Ottoman hordes were defeated, having denuded the place of people. Vienna and Budapest are very much peas in the same pod despite the differences in 1848, compared to say Prague and Vienna, which would be equidistant, I imagine. Wildenbruch was given command of Budapest with Florian Grey, Maria Therese and his native Sicherung divisions (they were evaporated in the breakout from Buda), and Hitler said that it was his favorite city in Europe (refer to "Hitler's Table Talk".) Hungarians then and now preferred German influence to Russian/Soviet. Many Russians, then and now, prefer living in the former Holy Roman Empire/A-H countries and cities (Prague, Budapest, Vienna) for the lifestyle, not just because of Romanov to Hapsburg-Este connections) 3rd biggest/longest siege in Europe in WWII (after Leningrad, Stalingrad, in that order). The biggest factor? WWI. Hungary again was part of the Germanosphere/German/Austrian effort. Hungary had a lot in common with the Germans as it fought: Mongol Hordes - 12-13th C Ottoman Hordes 13-18th C Russian/Serb Hordes - WWI Three out of three - Hungary is on the preferred list. The other biggest factor? Post WWI injustice. Hitler was born at Versaille, not in Austria. Hungarians shared his pain. He shared theirs. And A-H/Hungarian borders to the east were the bulwark of "German civilization" against the "hordes". Also: Because? Because Prinz Eugen, thats why because ;P Look down Gellert Hill to the main courtyard of the Hapsburg Palace - see the mighty PE statue astride his horse. You will then understand why.

I noticed in Combat Mission 2.0 the Pz IVs (seen in CMFI) have a wooden box looking part of the front left upper hull near the side viewing port. It sure looks wooden to me. What is contained in that box and why? Also, did Pz IVs not have smoke launchers? What is with that?

But how? Playing as the Germans, not the side hired by the mass murders of kulaks (the Bolsheviks), because I prefer the Panther over slave labor made klunks known as IS-2s. How did you win this battle? Thanks.

Brooklyn hipsters drinking too much...falling onto tram tracks...resulting injuries? Look, I get it. Hitler Bad. Stalin Relatively Good. But seriously, you guys can't discuss history without getting your panties in a bunch? Even the NY Times can handle it http://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/04/world/major-soviet-paper-says-20-million-died-as-victims-of-stalin.html I get it - the Saxons were invited in over the course of centuries to live among the Eastern people when there were Mongol and Turkic threats. But come 1944 it was time to expel them and murder them. Suddenly they weren't good enough. Still, I find the game boring and can't play one side despite wanting to. Can't bring myself to do it.

How is it crazy to look at history and see a country that in its own mind - rightly or wrongly - wanted a strong SOI to protect it from a neighbor that seemed content to murder 20 million of its own people? Didnt Russians beg to live in Europe at the time? I can tell you now, many today would give their right arm to live in Germany. That I don't get. Start with this book http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2258833.Churchill_Hitler_and_The_Unnecessary_War_

PS My nephew who believes the Hollywood BS about how the Soviets were "good" gets my copy. Sorry everyone. He'll learn soon enough.

@ Medlinke The whole war. Soviets: BOOM BOOM BOOM Germans: Yeah, we get that. BRRRRR BRRRRR (MG42). Retreat. BRRRRR BRRRRR. OK So long! You wanted the Soviets over well made cars and planes that actually fly, you got it for the next 50 years! Enjoy that! @mpv7 I can't bring myself to play the Soviets after the fact they murdered 20 million people before the Nazis even really killed anyone (SA Purges/Kristalnacht excepted) and it seems that the Germans really only wanted a strong German SOI just to stop these guys. Doesn't seem right. PS The Germans won - Russians love living in German SOI cities in Germany, Cz and Hu etc. So does everyone else including Brooklyn hipsters.

Im bored with it. Russian Player: Hello there Mr German Player, See that Big A55 artillery? You're dead German Player: Yeah, pretty much. Bye. Frankly, I prefer the Italian Campaign over any of these games. Western Front is boring too. Sorry, but I'll be giving my RT copy away. Anyone who wants to play in Mid War Italy however - a real contest - be sure to hit me up for a game.

Sound mods! Yes! But the interface also seems very difference from CMFI.

Watching some game footage online of MG, it seems the rifle and MG reports and sounds have improved over the standard CMx2 FI. I don't yet own GL, and am not sure if GL has any sound improvements over FI 1.12, but are there differences between the new CM MG and FI/GL in terms of the 1. panel of soldiers/weapons and 2. sounds?