Bud Backer

So rule 2 taking base platoons could mean that one or the other side could have very different force purchase costs?

Bil’s been an inspiration for myself as well. You’re doing a fine job of giving me more to chew on when presenting battles. Very nice work, I must say.

Haha yes you do rant at times...usually with me in agreement. And I don’t remember it ever being about house rules.

Now that you (both) explained some of those rules I can understand why they were implemented. What I like is that they don’t require the (in my view) onerous bookkeeping that the more complicated systems that have been described elsewhere on this forum entail. No tracking what you’ve ordered a unit to do several minutes ago and if you can change those orders or not, etc. This seems to be a balance of playability and some realism elements. I’m looking forward to more.

Another nice article, Bil!

Nice and to the point. I still don’t do this enough, though I am better than I was a few years ago.

Ah, Anthony Quayle. One of my favourites from that era.

As I understand it, Marching pace is not what is represented in the game, however. In game Normal movement is men who know they may be fired on at any time are walking somewhere. They are not intently peering for the enemy like Hunt and moving slowly, but they are also not merely moving at best speed to a destination while a hundred miles from the front.

Welcome back! I bought CMBN in 2012 when it was the only CM game using the new engine (CMBB is the old engine), never having played the old games. It was a harsh learning curve and I was a terrible opponent to any human player. When CMFI came out I vowed not to bother with it, it was just the same thing as what I already had with slightly different maps and Italian forces which didn’t interest me. Boy was I wrong... I’ve ended up buying every one of the games over the years and still am amazed at how good each one is, and now each one offers something unique from the others.

It makes it soooo much easier, I agree.

Well, his mother was. His father was German, and son of the first Kaiser. And ran very much against the archetype.

Yes, I found that interesting as well. In addition, how, for instance, Bismarck and others encouraged a separation from his parents, both emotionally and politically.

While that’s usually true, please bear in mind there is no certainty to that and upgrades have been known to make a hash of things when introduced mid-battle, or even simply make the saved game unloadable. If that happens one may need to revert back to the previous version to continue.

Likewise. The picture one forms of the Kaiser is much more complex than the stereotype, both positive and negative.

That might be because he was a war correspondent. But I do know what you mean, it’s one of the strong memories I have of the book.

I read Goldsworthy’s Caesar. That was very readable. I like all his non fiction, but particularly enjoyed his Punic Wars.

How are you liking Werth? I enjoyed reading that book. Definitely an easy read. I just finished Robert K Massie’s Dreadnoight and now I’m reading his follow up to that, Castles of Steel. Eye opening to German and British pre-WII politics.

Those of you who are naval history buffs will perhaps be excited to see Norman Freidman’s Fighting the Great War at Sea and The British Battleship 1906-1946 are available in Kindle electronic editions for less than a dollar right now. They usually go for $50-80+. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SGC4WYY/ref=oh_aui_d_asin_title_o01_?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019EJVJT8/ref=oh_aui_d_asin_title_o00_?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Regarding speed - it wasn't too terrible. It helps when the partners for each side are in approximately the same time zone (Ian and I live minutes away from one another, as it happens) so he could take his part of the turn, pop it back into dropbox, and that same evening I take my turn and send it off the opponents. In our case they were in the UK, so it was there waiting for them when they got up, did their thing and was waiting for us by evening. Now, when one or more people are delayed, yes, it will slow things down but I don't want anyone to get the idea that this can't work fairly briskly, as long as everyone takes their part in a timely fashion.

Ah, ok! I wondered if that was indeed what you meant. I’ve done it once, with @IanL as my teammate. It was a fun, despite him having to step in the shoes of another teammate who quit mid-battle due to a difficult personal situation. But I’d be terrible in CMBS. pity.

What is TvT?

You’ll have a blast with those two games. Very different experience between modern and WW2.

I love cooperative play in a lot of games. I’d love for a baked-in option for it but as a beta tester I also am all to well aware of the many demands that are already extant on the developer. I played a coop game with @IanL against two other players, and it was challenging and fun. I’m going to have a good look at your rules, as I am open to fresh ideas.

The debit cards that have VISA or MASTERCARD labels on them are essentially debit cards, NOT credit cards - at least the ones I've has experience with professionally. The point of them is for online transactions which require a CREDIT card, you can make purchases with them as the vendor will see them as a credit card, whereas they will not accept a debit card.

I've been playing CM since 2012 (or was it 2011?) and I still very rarely will go for a scenario or Quick Battle with hundreds of units. It really can be overwhelming, so I quite understand what you're talking about and can very much relate. If you go into the Battles menu you can sort by battle size. The ones that might come close to what you want are "Tiny". There aren't many, because most players do seem to prefer Medium to Large (in game terms) battles. An alternative is to use Quick Battles, and set both the Battle and map size to Small or Tiny. This will still give you enough points to have considerably more forces than you say you want. So here is the (slightly) tricky part: In the QB setup you can limit the forces for one side. You can lower the AI player's points up to 60%. And then rather than use ALL the points made available to you, use less. Use as much as you wish to control. Given the AI is not a perfect force picker, you can end up with some challenging but not impossible battles. There is some trial an error here. There is also going to be an occasion when the AI picks a force that is goofy or to big for you. It's something you have to live with, but you will learn to play the game more, and I think have a heck of a good time doing it. Finally, you can play against a human. Then, you can use the QB system but both parties agree ahead of time how much points they wish to spend. I do this myself with some opponents and it caters well to our desire to experiment with platoon-sized battles with a mere handful of units. I even have some custom maps I downloaded for this very purpose. Honestly, I think this last bit - playing against a human with agreed-upon points - is the best and most rewarding way to do what you want.