Bud Backer

Fantastic imagery and writing, Heinrich! I really liked it. The moment described really reminded me of a passage from William Craig's Enemy at the Gates (the book, not the mediocre film). Pfluger waited patiently to spring a trap. He has stationed a 75mm antitank gun to his right, out in no-man's-land. When the very first tank crawled up from the gully, the sergeant fired a purple Very light into the sky and the 75 roared. The shell cut through the tank turret and passed on into the open air before it exploded. Two Russian soldiers tumbled out off the T-34 and raced madly up the hill. Pfluger was tracking one through his sights when he suddenly thought, "My God, if you've been that lucky, who am I to shoot you now." He lowered his rifle and let the man go. -Craig, p.224

It's pretty horrific. And unfortunately there are now fatalities as well. The office is holding a pool to gather money to send to the Red Cross. What is encouraging is the many many instances of basic human compassion to those in need: The folks who bought tons of clothes at Costco because people lost everything they had. The people who bought water and gas and drove hundreds of KM to be able to help people who were stranded without gas on the evac route. The recent Syrian refugees who went and bought basics like food and diapers to help strangers to them when they have so little themselves. The people who just opened their homes to strangers to offer them a place to stay. It gives one hope.

I liked CC2 a lot. CC3 less so, and beyond that I didn't venture because it was less and less what I found enchanting in CC2. But the two-player campaigns, the small-scale but gripping battles, the skirmish editor, were all great. Wonderful stuff. Vehicle bathing was a nightmare in all the games but carefully managed could be overcome. I'd gladly buy it again just to be able to play it on my Mac. Yes. CM is better in so many ways, but as a RTS game it was a lot of fun.

Thanks, M.J.H. regarding my images. PanzerMike made an amazing scenario - it was fun to play, yes, but also visually I like the map, it was a showcase of the autumn colours the game offers, and a very believable terrain and town.

Thanks, MOS! The lighting effect in a night battle blew me away!

Great autumn feel to that shot.

While play-testing this scenario I had a fun time capturing some moments and scenes. This is something I shared internally, but no reason I can't post that here now:

Burn Them Out As the rest of the squad waited, Johannes muttered to himself. "I can't see where the wound is in this damned darkness! What I wouldn't give for some light..." And as if overheard by someone, the cold dark snowy Ardennes flashed almost as if searchlit. "Ah, there!" he said, ignoring the shrieks of terror from the houses and applied the compress.

Thanks, Heinrich! I tried it without blur too but I think this worked much better. Very glad you like it! In retrospect I wish I had caught more of the church steeple.

Lt. Lawrence Sees Liefrange for the First Time - Another promo shot from the Rundstedt CAAR battle but not appearing in the comic.

Yeah, but I knew you were there, so this was more of a trap for you than the other way around.

Well, yes! Hopefully more to come, in different styles and formats.

The Wrong Road - from the same map and QB as the previous screenshot; that's the same church-tower from a different angle.

Reckless - from a battle with @IanL on a map I made.

Thank you, Sir! I had a blast making it!

What Heinrich said...

The Spirit of Optimism - from promotional material made for BFC. Some of you may recognize the vehicles in this scene...

Thanks! There were so many compositions of that scene I struggled to pick one!

Final Push

Speaking from experience, it's quite hard at times to come up with a full tale from any given battle. Your vignettes idea is brilliant because you tell a story, just a short one that lets you pick what inspires you most. Great idea! I'm quite eager for this, Bil!

Battle Academy (west front) and Battle Academy 2 (east front) are good turn based tactical games. Easy to learn yet with sufficient depth that it's going to require thought about your tactics. Also supports PBEM.

Bil, of course! And an outstanding job he did, as always. Superb graphics, Bil, I'm delighted to see this!

You might find this post by Baneman helpful to differentiate between High Bocage, Low Bocage and Hedges: As for tank path finding - my recommendation is unless you want them moving in a straight line over clear terrain, you need to use more waypoints to guide them. It's incredibly rare that I am unhappy with vehicle pathing, and the usual reason I am is because I didn't break down the movement orders sufficiently. It takes some experience but I'm sure you will get the hang of it.

There is nothing wrong with being a fan. You made it clear at the beginning. The review is useful to other fans, because see what someone like them thinks, and you've covered the game in sufficient detail that newcomers get an idea what it's like and some of the expectations they may have to adjust. Well done.

Nice review, an enjoyable read; your passion for the game shows.