kensal

is there any reason with this chap is a nasty piece of work? He's got an expression which looks like he's just been asked to say 'cheese'!

The view west through Mondrainville

The view west over Eglise Saint-Pierre de Grainville-sur-Odon

The view south over Chateau Belleval

The view southwest through le Haut Bosq

A master map for le Haut Bosq - Grainville - Mondrainville has been uploaded to Greenasjade's warehouse http://cmmods.greenasjade.net/mods/5500/details

You guys all owe me $55. I wasn't sure if I'd give Black Sea a spin because I know much more about WWII military than modern. Your comments however have won me over......

Not seen the film but clearly units swapped tanks very regularly. 7th armoured was completely re-equipped for Normandy - primarily with Cromwells. German units regularly left vehicles with other units when they were redeployed. Tanks had, apart from the chances of getting battle damaged, fairly limited shelf lives due to wear and tear. The Americans built 47,000 M4 Shermans, 20,000 M3 (Stuarts and Lees) and over 2,000 Pershings between 1942-45. Even deducting those supplied to Russia, UK and Cdn forces, that suggests a very regular replacement.

Hello all Can someone help with this query? I have found that German Kompanie designations carry on in order through a regiment, so that an three battalion SS regiment will proceed from 1 Kompanie to 12 Kompanie, plus engineer, Pak Kompanies, in the same way that UK platoons are numbered 1 to 16 in a four company battalion. What I have not been able to find out is how German platoons are designated, and also whether the term Zug is applicable to all German platoons or whether it is limited to SS units. Thanks to anyone who can help. Kensal

Although I think there is still a problem - is it not the case that truppen won't sit in a 2m deep ditch lock ditch (because they can't see out of it) and so cluster around the edge? You need to limit a ditch to 1m deep which doesn't give so much protection.

This is a relatively famous bit from All Quiet, which granted, is fiction, but the author spent some weeks at the front: "Haie and Kropp begin with the hand-grenades. They throw as fast as they can, others pass them, the handles with the strings already pulled. Haie throws seventy-five yards, Kropp sixty, it has been measured, the distance is important. The enemy as they run cannot do much before they are within forty yards." two points to note: hurling grenades as fast as possible and second the measured distances.

An account from General Mellenthin, emphasising the importance of fire discipline, holding fire until the greatest number of attacking forces were within the kill zone, ensuring that the attack suffered heavy casualties quickly: At 0630, on 16 October the Russians launched their attack against the positions of XLVIII Panzer Corps; I happened to be in one of the forward observation posts of 19 Panzer Division, and had to stay there for fully two hours. The artillery bombardment was really quite impressive. No movement was possible, for two hundred and ninety guns of all calibres were pounding a thousand yards of front, and during these two hours the Russians expended their normal ammunition allowance for one-and-a-half days. The bombardment reached as far back as divisional battle headquarters, and the two divisions holding the corps front were shelled with such intensity that it was impossible to gauge the Schwerpunkt. Some Russian guns fired over open sights from uncovered gun emplacements. After the two hours bombardment our trench system looked like a freshly ploughed field, and in spite of being carefully dug in, many of our heavy weapons and anti-tank guns had been knocked out. Suddenly Russian infantry in solid serried ranks attacked behind a barrage on a narrow front, with tanks in support, and one wave following the other. Numerous low-flying planes attacked those strong-points which were still firing. A Russian infantry attack is an awe-inspiring spectacle; the long grey waves come pounding on, uttering fierce cries, and the defending troops require nerves of steel. In dealing with such attacks fire-discipline is of vital importance. The Russian onslaught made some headway but during the afternoon the armoured assault troops, whom we were keeping in reserve, were able to wipe out those Russians who had penetrated the defence system. We only lost a mile or so of ground. On subsequent days the Russian break-through attempts were repeated in undiminished strength. Divisions decimated by our fire were withdrawn, and fresh formations were thrown into the battle. Again wave after wave attacked, and wave after wave was thrown back after suffering appalling losses. But the Russians did not desist from their inflexible and rigid methods of attack. On our side artillery and armour bore the main burden of the fighting. Our fire plans were flexible, allowing for concentrations where they were most needed, and designed to break up the Russian columns before they could advance to the attack. Wherever a deep penetration occurred it was quickly patched up, and a few hours later counter-attacks by our tanks were delivered against the flanks of the bulge. This battle continued for more than a week and the defensive strength of XLVIII Panzer Corps began to dwindle. 8 Army moved up its last reserve — 3 Panzer Division – to the danger point.

The hole created by a faust would be quite small I think

err also called wooden bunkers? (more or less...)

I've enjoyed HoI in the past but don't play it now. I could go back to it - Paper Tiger's idea of using the AI to control his armies is interesting. A huge flaw in the game is its lack of proper representation of supply. It is a strategic game so the supply modelling should be paramount, but it just isn't there - I've played games sending large German armies through Egypt, into Syria, Iran and to India and there seems to be no penalty for doing that. Historically the Germans could barely maintain two divisions in Libya.

I do not use tank crews as infantry but I do think it is acceptable to dismount hanomag drivers and gunners that form part of a PzGr platoon as infantry because although they (at least the driver) are specialists, they are part of an infantry unit, in the same way that bren carrier crews that are part of a carrier platoon are part of an infantry unit.

Kieme Thanks for all the work you have put into these mods. Much appreciated

I think Oddball's point is also that some of the briefing notes can be a bit misleading - I note that in the Scenario creation guide prepared by JonS he suggests avoiding doing this, but I have noted that some scenarios do give what is presumably intended to be a historical flavour, playing down the expected power of the other side, to give the player a surprise. Personally I think that's ok to an extent and not unhistorical. I think players need to be treat briefing notes with a degree of scepticism though

Zetterling wrote an interesting critique of theory of the AT role of the Flak 36 88mm gun in Normandy. He quotes source from the HQ of III Flak Korps in which the vulnerability of the weapon in an AT role and its limitations were noted: - the high silhouette made it difficult to dig in and therefore vulnerable to artillery fire. Proper AT guns were considered to be less vulnerable; - the high silhouette made it easier to spot the weapons; - its armour penetration capability was only 15% better than the PAK 40 - its accuracy over long ranges was limited, so its capacity to knock out tanks over long ranges was also limited, and once its position was revealed it was more vulnerable to being taken out by artillery or by the tanks. This may have been less of an issue in the western desert where it was used to knock out tanks at long ranges - and those tanks did not have adequate HE capability and were out of range of british artillery. As a result of these limitations III Flak Korps was primarily used in an air defence role in Normandy. It had 108 Flak 36 88mm guns (and numerous light AA). it claimed the destruction of 92 tanks during the Normandy campaign, of which 12 were said to have been destroyed by panzerfausts. The Korps claimed to have shot down 462 aircraft. As a comparison the Heer and SS claimed to have destroyed 3,663 tanks during Normandy, so the 80 tanks claimed by the 108 Flak 36 88mm guns of III Flak Korps form a tiny proportion of that total. They were clearly not considered to be nor used in an AT role in Normandy, except in limited situations (i.e. Operation Goodwood). They were not, at least in Normandy, the wonder AT weapon some people are describing

These are two very nice scenarios, very playable, good maps and they seem well balanced. Thanks to the developers.

Seconded ... this is a very nice mod (and ditto for the CMBN version too)

CMx2 is a completely different game to CMx1, so you can't use CMx1 scenarios in CMx2. I can't comment on the ToW game as I don't know it. CMx2 is a very satisfactory experience in my book

Buy them all and kiss the rest of your life goodbye.....

bah, I was the first fool taken in!

Many thanks for all your hard work guys