Freyberg

That article on T34s was interesting. Tanks ought to be very vulnerable to infantry close assault.

I used to love the scenario editor in CMBO/CMBB, and knocked up about a dozen scenarios; but the editor works very very slowly on the Mac platform, so though I've tried, I haven't done much with it in CMx2.

Just yesterday I got a partial frontal penetration from a sniping shot on a Panther, and was amazed to see the crew bail out. Having been caught out by tanks re-crewing before (and since he was unsupported), I thought I'd better quickly close in and finish off the dismounted tank, but the crew (crafty b#stards!) immediately remounted (within seconds) and destroyed two of my Shermans in quick succession. Won't make that mistake again... I love this amazing, unpredictable game.

Nice one

I've been reading it. Thanks It's an excellent thread

I think you've done quite well. The bunkers etc were an honest mistake, and defending is tough in a QB at the best of times. You've punched back pretty well in the last few moves.

Yeah, it was my own mines I was talking about...

That's cool if it's intentional. Having them all mixed up is probably a good idea Thanks

That was interesting. It deserves its own thread...

Sorry to spam the forum with dumb questions, but... All the minefields look the same to me. Is there a way to recognise the difference between anti-personel, anti-tank and mixed minefields? Or is there a mod that helps to distinguish? (I searched the repository, but couldn't find one). This is in a QB on Elite level, nothing shows up in the unit info panel when the item is selected.

perfect ! thanks

How do I rotate them in QB setup?

Actually one or two of the super-light SPG / mobile AT gun kind of things would probably be a good addition, if they were considered infantry support and maybe included in the infantry ToE. Just one or two could kind of stand in for various kinds of that class of weapon and add an interesting new dimension to mainly infantry combat.

World War II in 3D, fantastic - I don't care how unrealistic it looks !

Some scenarios score based on taking low casualties. It would be good if QBs could be set up the same way. As for historical casualties, I wonder if the figures truly represent the kind of thing CM models. CM models only the troops in the heat of battle. I've read that casualty rates for these guys have remained quite consistent through modern history for a long time, but what has progressively changed is the decreasing number of men through history who participate in the intense firefight phase of battle. In modern war, this number is now very low relative to all troops in combat in some capacity, but for those men casualty rates are quite similar to other eras, and quite high. I'm not sure the casualty rates in CM are unhistorical for the kind of intense engagement players like to play, simply that those very intense engagements were unusual.

Thanks for this - I love your AARs. If you have any where you teach the secrets of defence, I would very much like to read them...

These games are amazing. I thought CMBB etc were super cool, but the realism, detail (I *love* the organisational detail) and sheer excitement of the CMx2 games makes me giddy with delight! (and thank ever so much for developing for the Mac). They're expensive, but only marginally. For a boutique game that answers a history geek's prayers, they're extremely good value.

I don't see a QB setting for variable or not, so I assume (from this one experience) all QBs have variable endings. I just wonder, 30min seems a tad short for an assault, but if there were the likelihood of 5-10 min of variable time, that would probably make it just challenging enough. 45min just seems too easy for the attacker.

Planning a H2H assault, and to make it challenging I don't want to give the attacker too much time. How variable is the variable ending? I just had one game (PBEM) that we gave up after the game went to +17 minutes overtime and still going (ended by CF). Is this about normal?

I'm interested in how Bill moves his infantry. I remember early in the game, he said was using quite complicated movement orders, with a lot of staggered pauses, and he does seem to pay very careful attention to details of the terrain - folds etc - which I think gives a real edge to the careful player.

I've had two PBEM games where we both hit ceasefire, but the game didn't end. In one of them, we waited a long time (each unaware the other had hit ceasefire). This has happened in CMFI and CMBN-CW. Is this a bug? Anyone else noticed it...?

There's no way that any but the greenest German crew would panic after receiving one casualty and not even penetrated. That's a historical fact. I think the way CMx2 AFV crews behave is brilliant. I've had crews bail, back off, panic, freeze or do weird things; I've had them execute complex defensive manoeuvres all on their own, or keep their cool and return fire despite casualties and penetration. The AI is so varied and realistic, and psychologically plausible. You absolutely can't predict what a crew will do in combat - first class game development.

I've found M10 hull down a pretty tough tank against a PzIV. And it can often survive a first hit.

http://www.veoh.com/watch/v6255435qMH9GNC9 Around minute 35 it shows Americans testing a captured Panther. There's a shot where they run it over log rollers at fairly high speed - the smoothness of the suspension is visibly impressive - though you guys have probably all seen stuff like that 100 times...

Funny. That happened to me one time - I thought I just forgot to hit Deploy, though I could've sworn I had. It must be a bug.