StieliAlpha

Interesting “shopping list”. Re P500: Be aware that the games still may be years away (like new BFC titles. Hehehe....) Re the GBoH-series: I first bought SPQR, waited a looong time for the release, and was not too impressed in the end. For me all battles turned out into a “push and shove” contest. Years later “Lion of the North” came out and that one was much better: Introducing muskets, guns, a variety of tactical formations. Resembling the beloved “La Battaile” series, but obviously in a 30 Years War-setting.

I understand, CMRT has not been updated yet. The patch will come with Fire and Rubble only.

Another game came to my mind, since you seem to prefer solitaire games and the Pacific Theater: Tokyo Express from Victory Games, about the Guadalcanal night (sea) battles. That one is excellent. I have rarely seen such a well working solitaire system.

„or humiliate myself with losing“ Hm, yes, that‘s the other side of the coin. That can happen, too. I believe, I experienced it once or twice.... Did I not mention the slim chance?

No, I would not say so. Tactical board games are somewhat difficult to find, but otherwise: Nothing better than seeing your opponent crumble at the table.... A joy you rarely find in computer gaming. I don‘t play board often nowadays, but still manage two or three weekends a year.

Yep, once I accepted that all of a sudden a trench could pop up in front of my troops, I started to love it. (One of the reasons, why I have no problems with abstractions and little understanding for certain „bug reports“.) The fast pace of a card game really pulled me in. And, after all, it is „realistic“ enough for what it is. Good game for quick, tense sessions.

I would recommend „Up Front“. No board game, more of a table top card game. Quite old and unfortunately never up dated, so the „visual appeal“ in almost not existing. It took me a while to accept the system, but then I found it extremely immersive. Clash of Arms „Hell of Stalingrad“ is pretty good. Card driven, but not ultra „tactical“. If you would consider WW1: Clash of Arms „Landships“ is quite recommendable. GMT‘s Combat Commander series (already mentioned above) is very worthwhile, indeed. I bought them all, except CC Pacific. Together with the scenario packages. you‘ll get a huge amount of content. Though you have to accept the system, e.g. that you need (to wait for) the right cards, before you can stage a more complicated action. While we are at GMT: Have a look at the „The last hundred yards“ series“ (which includes a Pacfic War module) and„Tank Duel“ series. I personally did not like it, but Avalon Hill‘s „Pattons Best“ was highly acclaimed. A tank simulator and only solitaire playable. Another solitaire recommendation would be „Raid on St. Nazaire“ from Avalon Hill. Unfortunately, I never played it, but that one received very good ratings.

You want to use a model of WW2 to build a model of ancient wars???? That’s like using a tank to build a horse cart. I mean, they both have wheels.... On the serious side: I am not quite sure, that a game of Roman warfare a la Simon Scarrow would be fun to play...

Hi John We had this conversation already a few years ago: Due to technical reasons almost anything goes, as far as colours are concerned. An example: In the „Saumur PzIV“ thread, Sgt Squarehead confirmed that German tanks were delivered with a few cans of paint, to be applied with site means. Needless to say, the colour comes out quite differently, if you dilute with clean water or dirty water or petroleum or something else. Or if you paint with a brush instead of spray. Or if the base metal is properly prepared or not... BTW, that is, why the Saumur Pz IV comes out so nice and bright.

That’s a joke. The ad is not for CM, as others stated. As a general „CM rule“: Nothing is released „soon“, but only “when it is ready”. Normally, it takes years from announcement to release of a new title. The upside is: CM teaches you to be really patient.

IIRC, the uniforms of the Sturmgeschütz-Abteilungen were field gray (green), as those units were considered artillery, not tank units.

Hi Falaise Can you send me the horizon, please? I don’t have CMA.

Thanks, @IanL. That’s just what I meant. There is much more to “seeing things” than optics. Perhaps, I should have mentioned as an example the number of traffic signs, which we do not see because we are busy racing down a high way. Or the number of times I am not seeing the car keys right there on the table, because my mind is already going through the shopping list. Or you name it.... CM is a very detailed simulation. But one can simulate only so much. Otherwise the simulation would be reality, which would create an interesting new problem. Especially the soft factors are difficult to simulate. How do you simulate that the gunner is distracted for a split second, because he “sh.ts his pants” in face of the Panthers’s 75mm? In less detailed (board) games this is handled as pure luck. One may have overwhelming odds and a perfect line of sight, but with a roll of 6 six on the Morale Effects table, the shot goes down the drain (or elsewhere).

Hi John I thought so, too, but was proven wrong by @mjkerner and others in the “Assault boat” thread: ”Pete's correct. They are model swaps. You rename the mdrs of the T34 to those of the PzIV and when the game looks for a PzIV, it grabs the mdrs labeled as PzIV, not knowing that it now looks like a T34. (You also need the proper texture added to the mod, of course.) I swapped some models for a Crete/hypothetical Malta mod Phil (Kohlenklau) and I (and I think one or two others) were putting together but never finished.”

v3.12 was pretty „solid“, though there was certainly room for improvement.The early v4 brought some improvements, but unfortunately, had some glitches, too. I remember, especially that Infantry under fire became very shaky and tended to run away quickly. That was pretty annoying in on-going games, of course. Plus, some infantry-heavy scenarios became almost unplayable. To a certain extend, this has been fixed in a later v4-Version. Honestly, could not tell the difference now. But it left a „bad taste“ for some people and I met some, who prefer to play v3.12.

Hm, the tables are cool, indeed. I had one fabricated to my design more than 20years ago. 120x220cm, large enough to accommodate the largest „La Bataille“ Maps, with ample space for counters and charts, etc.

Hi Gerad Welcome to the forum. It may help, if you ask Heinrich directly in a personal mail. You have the option to do so within this site. Not everybody reads everything in the forum, especially not the „General Discussion“. Good luck with your project!

Did you see the gorilla in your first try? I have seen this in a few live presentations now, and never did anybody (including me) not knowing the experiment note the gorillas.

Yeah...But waiting for them kept you focussed on the balls. In a classroom situation, one would offer a reward for the right count. But that seemed to obvious for our forum situation.

Smart reply. Watch this and keep your eye on the white ball:

I don’t see much of a problem here. Only recently, I killed a Sherman behind a hedgerow, which my guys could not spot. I only had an „assumed sighting“ and fired a few rounds at the place. Most of them for no effect, but one shot obviously went through the bushes at the right spot. I only noticed the kill, when the smoke plume rose. On the other hand, I lost many tanks to foes, which my guys never noticed until the shell impacted.

Yep, that‘s kind of shocking. Well, at least Germany is not alone with this issue.

Hope you kept a copy of V3.12. That one was „highly acclaimed“. Some people still play it.

@kohlenklau once created a T34/76 „Beutepanzer“ for his Malta-Mod, I believe it was for CMFI, to be used in his Malta Campaign.

Yes and no. I gave up on CMSF and got hooked only later, when CMBN came out. But I, indeed, have two friends, who did not manage the transition from CM1 to CMBN.