StieliAlpha

I’ll certainly get 1917 on BD and wonder already, how it compares to “Im Westen nichts neues”, still my favourite WW1 movie. Even though it is almost 100 years old....

Over this period of time, water supply should be an issue (at least in FI), too. But I was told a loooong time ago, this somehow included. Yep, there are limitations to the scope of CM.

Who knows, what world or time continuum he is talking about?

I remember the discussion differently: Fox holes and craters have a certain capacity and pixelguys exceeding the capacity have bad luck. Meaning: They receive no protection benefit.

Depends on the steel selected. As a very general answer: „Ordinary“ construction steel is normally good up to -20degC. Below, one would have to go with special low temp steel.

There are a few French early war tanks in the Vehicle Pack. In an earlier thread, it has been discussed, if it would be possible to construct some early war scenarios with those, but I do not quite remember what the conclusion was.

I agree, the guys on the wrong side of the wall should not happen. Same as many other graphic glitches. Like tanks driving miraculously through trees. Or showing the tank interior, when the tank is in the sectional plane of the view.

Nope, meanwhile back in cold Germany. I‘ll come back to CM next Tuesday. But we should start a new one, unless you enjoy slaughtering my hapless infantry.

Hm, I referred to Gettysburg only. But coming back to the OP, I tend to say, what we see in CM is an approximation only anyway and not intended to reflect „reality“ in all aspects. I.e., the guys on the wrong side of the wall, are an illustration for whatever could go wrong in the situation. E.g., somebody sticking his head out too long, or a part of the wall crumbling, etc. It certainly looks awkward, but wtf?

A little off topic, but I strongly doubt THIS effect of the fence was significant in the scale of the battle. The key issue of the failed charge was probably, that it was not a very good idea to advance a for a mile, while crossing open terrain and being under fire. However, the fence was certainly detrimental for the cohesion of the crossing units.

A long time ago, Kohlenklau ran umpired multiplayer operations of CMPzC. He used Panzer Command as an operational level overlay and CM to fight the battles on a tactical level. Search the forum for CMPzC, that should give you at least some inspiration.

Just finished „Third Reich“. A good read, indeed. Not great, but worthwhile. One of the few books about playing wargames... No crime story as I thought. More about somebody playing „Third Reich“ and crumbling away. Anyway, I don‘t want to spoil it. A bit like „Player of Games“, with the opposite attitude. Next is a diary of a monk from the Andechs convent in Bavaria. Covering the 1630‘sh years of the 30 Years War. Pretty heavy stuff. Written totally cool and distanced, but brings the horrible point across. Hm, looks like I have to play GMT‘s „Won by the Sword“ finally.

Ok, just bought the BD. Supposed to come out these days. With almost 5h movie time for 14 Euro, there’s not much of a risk. But if it turns out to be not THAT good, I’ll tel my wife that it’s all your fault.

Seems it‘s about time to recommend this excellent, “must read” again: Svetlana Alexievich „THE UNWOMANLY FACE OF WAR"“

I finally finished „Use of Weapons“. It took my quite a long time. Probably three „Culture Wars“ in a row are enough for the time being. I liked it least of the three. Whenever I got into it, it was good reading, but in general I found it too confusing. One thing I wondered about: Though Banks describes long space journeys here, he is not losing a single word about time dilation. Anyway, next it „Third Reich“ by Romero Bolano. Starts strange. It seems to describe I German wargamer scene, set in the nineties. But as described, it has very little resemblance to the wargaming scene as I experienced it back then.

Difficult question. As always, when it comes to the roots of names or even words. There is certainly no “one size fits all” answer to your question. This link gives some additional info: http://www.babynamewizard.com/baby-name/boy/strauss In respect to the name, the reference to a coat of arms as origin of the name is interesting. Also note the reference to the old Dutch name “Strüsso“ as origin for „Strauss“. Which could mean a family name originating from „Strüsso“ has no explicit meaning (unless „Strüsso“ had a meaning in Dutch. ) Further this one: https://de.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Strauß Acc to this explanation, one meaning of “Strauss” comes from an old German word for bushes, which again would fit nicely to the coat of arms explanation. Or just a description of a location as origin of the name. Later the “Strauss” developed into bundles of upright standing twigs, branches, feathers, etc. From this use, it obviously later developed into the word for bouquets.

I remember a PBS America documentary covering Monte Cassino, which detailed a disastrous uphill charge of an Italian regular company (or Battalion? Can’t remember.) It failed badly, but what stuck to me was a veteran, saying „We knew what we were up against, but we wanted to show, that we are there and ready to fight for our liberty.“

Sounds like you did not meet too many in your 400 years. Late 19th, early 20th Century would have been a good time to go and have a look. Later, you might even have been starring in a highly recommendable classic movie.

It sounds like Markus Pöhlmann, a German historian, did a serious research on the topic quite recently. Unfortunately, I could not find his paper in the Internet, only some references to his works and the corresponding case study in his book about the developement of mechanized warfare in Germany.

And then? Many Afrikaans speaking people I met, did not speak English very well. And the other way round, it‘s even worse. But it would be nice, if the South African‘s would have their lovely English accent.

Well, sometimes it helps to read first. The bottom line of the article is, that those charges did not exist, resp cavalry-armor clashes happened only by chance, when cavalry bumped into armor by accident. Like in the Battle of Krojtani, based on which German propaganda shaped the legend.

Here‘s an interesting piece about the famous Polish cavalry charge in WW2: https://sz.de/1.2124860 Big surprise: It sounds history was quite different from what we remember from the movies. The article is in German, though.

Hm, „sounds“ maybe. But I had my first encounter with them a few days ago and can assure you, it‘s more like a splatter movie. The first cut is the deepest, you know?

Ah, very good. I was wondering what to grab as free audio book. Since you “strongly recommend”, it will be Excession, of course.

Never underestimate the power of an umbrella! The clip is in German, but you’ll get the message.