db_zero

I just placed my preorder... After my recent experience with a big name development house that recently release a over-hyped piece of junk I'm more and more appreciative of a small independent developer like this. I won't name the piece of junk I recently paid too much for. Unlike BF who gives you a $10 discount for pre-ordering, I had the privilege of paying full price, after all it was so well hyped as the greatest thing since sliced white bread it would be a privilege to pay a bloated price to have the game when released. This "shall not be named" game was designed to be accessible to a larger audience. Combat Mission games is targeted to a more specialized audience. The "shall not be named" game has angered its core fans who through the years supported the franchise, The changes to appeal to the masses have watered down the game and reduced it to an arcade game. Many think it was designed with the intention of being ported to consoles. This "shall not be named" game has more bugs than a roach motel. In all fairness the Combat Mission games has it share of idiosyncrasies that frustrates players, but I'm confident I won't see hordes of pixel troops just run in front of a town and then just stand there doing nothing while I mow them down. I have confidence BF cares enough and doesn't have the same pressures as the shall not be named company" to release something in a Beta state. I hope Battlefront is taking note and remains a craftsman like company who makes products out of passion and dedication to quality, not just money.

Appreciate you and Bill's work. I enjoy reading these.

Very nice. Was this made with the Mg module?

For some reason the link doesn't work for me, but I did a search on youtube and saw a clip of a M-7 getting hit and going boom. The M-7 got hit then exploded after a 5-10 seconds. In my case it was instantaneous after the shell hit. It was the clank of the shell and not more than a second later-probably less the massive KABOOM and FLASH. It was like the Sherman was hit by a 16 inch HE round fired by a battleship.

Just replayed it for the 10th time...it was a Sherman 105 that still had 50 rounds of 105HE and 5 rounds of HEAT rounds. That probably explains the fireworks. A nearly by infantry section stress level went from green to red in a flash. Their eardrums are probably bleeding.

I just replayed a H2H turn and in all my games I have never seen a tank explode like my Sherman did when hit my a 75mm fired from a Mark 4. The explosion lit up the entire screen. The shell penetrated the frontal armor and must have set off the stored ammo. Needless to say no survivors. Just 5 red crosses.

Statistical and computer modeling are very useful tools, but like any other tool can be misused and provide a false sense of knowledge and security. The recession we are but slowly emerging out of was caused by a massive housing/credit bubble that was engineered by the widespread use and belief in esoteric statistical anaylsis and computer modeling there was an unshakable belief that we could eliminate risk. That turned out to be terribly flawed. Don't get me wrong I think statistical and computer modeling is a fascinating and useful tool, but I I personally believe it has limitations. I also have an opinion of the people who do that for a living, but that's about all I have to say on that matter. As someone mentioned if your young and in school learning statistics is quite useful. Actuaries are quite employable and can make some pretty decent money, but you really have to love the work. It woukd be a miserable life doing that line of work if you hated it.

Been following this thread and tempted to throw in my .02 cents as I may have a few ounces of relevant insights as well as some experience and knowledge of some of the areas touched on. but for now I'll just lurk and be entertained.

Its not just pep pills. What about anti-depressants? Maybe someone who's in the know can explain the suicide risk from taking them. Is it true that of you read the fine print, its a scientific fact that a certain percentage who take them will become suicidal or do irrational things?

I've played Italy, but not extensively. From what I've seen so far the Sherman is more than a match for the Mark IV. I had a game going where it faced Brumbars and no turns have been exchanged for a while so I can't say. I suspect the Brumbars sloped frontal armor will be a tough nut to crack so side and rear shots will be preferred. I agree that the stories about the Shermans inferiority came out of Normandy. If and when BF makes a North Africa module the Sherman will be the uber tank-until the Tiger rears its ugly head. With all that said and done to date my h2h experiences fighting Panthers with Shermans in Normandy hasn't been very pleasant.

Maybe look at it this way. If things were switched around would the Americans/British been better off if they had Panthers and Tigers in 44 when Normandy was invaded and the Germans had the Shermans, M-10's, M-18s and M-36s. I've read that the Panthers and Tigers while superior on the battlefield, were very complex, difficult to maintain, prone to breakdowns and costly and time consuming to produce. Marching from Normandy to Berlin is appx 1270km. They said Shermans could drive 100 miles a day, day in day out while the complex German Panthers and Tigers were prone to breakdown. The allieds as it was with the Sherman had huge supply issues. One could imagine how much worse it would have been if they had Panthers and Tigers breaking down during the rapid advances after Operation Cobra and they needed spare parts in addition to fuel to maintain a rapid advance.

I've never fired a M-14, just a Springfield Armory M1A1. I've heard the M-14 on full auto is a real beast and very few can really master it in full auto. IMO of 90% of the population you're better off just firing an M-14 in semi auto-even if full auto is an option. Most of the M-14 I've seen carried today have variable high magnification scopes mounted on them so they look to be used in a DMR/sniper role and with the type of scope mounted I doubt you could use it and be effective in full auto fire-if that hasn't been disabled. I would also have to wonder if used in full auto mode that wouldn't eventually cause havoc with the zeroing on the scopes mounted on the rifle. The BAR fired a 30-06, while the M-14 is 7.62 NATO. The M1 Grand also fired a 30-06. Two really different rounds. The 30-06 fired from the BAR has far more penetrating power than the 5.56. It also weighs more and kicks more than the 5.56. As some lawmen facing Bonnie and Clyde found out the hard way hiding behind cover was not much good when facing a BAR. I don't think you can really compare today's assault weapons with the BAR. One of the biggest difference is optics. The type of CQB/reflex sights and other optics mounted on weapons really changes the game and the smaller calibers which don't kick as much are quite effective. There are other training advantages to the smaller caliber rounds used today. Give someone who's never fired a gun a rifle a 30-06 and you will likely have to spend a lot of time and rounds before that person stops flinching, slapping the trigger, anticipating the shot and other things that really affect accuracy. Some of the newer designs that fire caseless ammo should be interesting. The HK416 is also interesting. I wouldn't mind owning one.

I think there is a pinball museum somewhere in California. I'll have to get some quarters and check it out. I also still love the 80's arcade games. A while back I saw a device you could hook up to your TV and play Galaxian. Came with a little joystick and fire button device. I really wished I got it then and there, because I haven't seen it since. I remember Victory at Sea. What a real dog. I think by the time it came out I moved to the PC platform-mainly for the games-Wing Commander, M1 Tank Platoon, Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe, Task Force 1942, Falcon 3-list goes on and on and on.... Mark my words, just like old school stuff like original hot wheels are worth some cash, these old games and a system that can run them will someday be nostalgic and worth some money to some collector-when that will be is anyone's guess. A while back I started buying up the Mechwarrior playing cards for next to nothing. Now they are worth more than what I paid for them. The Age of King Playing cards I bought when they first came out are nowhere to be seen. I have no idea what they are worth, but I would sure like to get more if I could find them. Some of those old SPI games go for quite bit on EBAY. Same with Strategy and Tactics magazines. Someone burned them all onto a DVD. I don't know if that's still available.

Another little sidenote the BAR was the favorite of many gangsters back in the day. Many think of the Tommy gun, but the BAR was often used to great effect. You could order a Tommy Gun iirc from the Sears catalog. Don't know if they also offered BAR!

Going to be 51 soon. First wargame I played was chess against my dad. Took me years before I could beat him. Stratego, Risk followed then on to AH and SPI wargames. Played SPIs War in the Pacific the entire summer-took up the entire garage floor. First SPI wargame was Dreadnaught and Fast Carriers. Bought Foxbat and Phantom and took me weeks to read through the complicated rules. Got into computer wargames in the 80s when I got a Mac. Not many games for Macs so I ended up playing Falcon and North Atlantic 86 to death. I still play computer games and have a decent collection and liquid cooled system to play them on. Ill probably still be playing when I'm 100. I'm going to buy a few spare systems so if the day PCs go to the wayside like pinball machines Ill still be able to play. About the only thing I like as much as computer games is guns, although booze and women come close. In all honesty I'm still a kid at heart. I play darts at home, shoot airguns in my place-don't think the neighbors would appreciate me shooting Glocks or AKs and play probably too much computer games. I've been know to spend years playing games like GG War in the Pacific.

I've played some h2h and AI battles and it seems like the Panzer Mark 4 is very easily outclassed by Shermans. I've destroyed them easily with Shermans and lost them to Shermans without inflicting any kills. This has been in Italy and Normandy. I was always under the impression they were equal to the Sherman. I understand they are not in the class of the Panther or Tiger and were prewar tanks upgraded as the war progressed, but were they really badly outclassed by Shermans?

As someone who was once in your shoes I'm tempted to say quite a bit, but I'll keep it short. IMO a college degree in most cases is not worth much these days. I think people have been sold a bill of goods about the value of a piece of paper and taking on huge debt loads for something that in my opinion has lost much of its value is a losing proposition. In some cases it may still be a good investment, but its not the same world as it was when I got my degree. These days I think a college degree is about as valuable as a high school diploma was when I was in college the only difference being is it comes with a very high price tag. Contrary to the propaganda put out there many colleges are no longer a institution of higher learning for the general good, but big business, run like corporations where the objective is profit at all cost. They have also become corrupt and a revolving door for the well connected. Just look at the California where Janet Napolitano got a cushy massive paying position with the UC system in a secret process without any public hearing. You can bet dollars to donuts that Senator Feinsteins husband who is a UC regent had something with that scheme that is something you see in places like Pakistan and Egypt. You may be better off putting that money to other uses. When you see so many with degrees doing low wage jobs with the burden of student loan debt and little prospect for advancement you have to ask would they be better off if they when to trade school and learned something which could lead to a decent starting job that with a few years of sweat and hard work result in a pretty damm well paying position. It may not be glamorous, but as legions of people are now finding out paying exorbitant sums of money for a piece of paper that leads to nowhere and comes with the added burden of years/decades of loan payments isn't glamorous either. As a newly minted college grad you'll face competition from low wage nations and if the idea stealing billionaire Zuckerberg gets his way you'll have tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands H1bs who will gladly work long hours for slave wages to compete against. The only other advice I have is find something that can't be outsourced.

any quick way to tell? I haven't seen anything yet or is it something you discover by playing with the editor?

This has probably been asked...are different buildings with different material and construction techniques that provide different levels of protection and resistance to small arms, motrars, artillery and dheavy/medium/light direct fire weapons?

IIRC from my SPI Highway to the Reich days there were Fallschirmjaeger units present, but were not the same caliber of the earlier years. No jump training, not as selective or well trained as before. After the Italy campaign they formed more Fallschirmjager units and they may have looked like Fallschirmjagers and been equipped like Fallschirmjagers, but they didn't perform like the Fallschirmjagers of the past. IMO-this weekend would make a great release date!

I think BF should consider a module that focuses on urban combat. Its really a subject onto itself. I had a SPI game called Cityfight that focused on the subject in the modern context. Had a good manual and booklet that was packed with good info. I wish I still had it and the 1 copy I see on EBay is going for 50 bucks!

Yup. Lots of infantry in built up areas. Not only zooks, shreiks and PIATs, but I pretty sure there was plenty of AT grenades and other improvised devices around to make a threadheads life miserable. The rubble from buildings and wrecks added to the misery. I can't imagine navigating a 60 ton King Tiger through that sort of environment was easy. Gun elevation and being shot at with AT devices fired from higher elevations at the weaker armored spots gave infantry a good chance of knocking out any tank and exposed infantry and crews in APCs must have dreaded the urban jungle.

Looks good. The only question I have is urban combat and infantry. Since a good deal of the operation centers on infantry vs tanks and APCs in built up areas have any tweaks been made or was it decided that because its Brits armed with PIATs which can be used in buildings no tweaks required.

Great info in this thread. On the subject of radio intercepts I recall from one of the many war books I've read, Rommel was very distressed in the waning days of the African campaign by the loss of his highly experienced radio signal intelligence unit. If you haven't read Paul Carrells superb series of books -Foxes of the Desert, Hittler Moves East and Scorched Earth I would reccomend you take a look.

Another option or variant of that I'm sure has been suggested is once a percentage of buildings on a town/village what have you, been damage or destroyed any infantry taking cover in or near a damaged/destroyed building gets an addition defensive and concealment bonus. Any road becomes rough terrain and any tank traversing it has a chance of becoming disabled.-perhaps treat it like a wall or hedgerow terrain. As many I'm sure have already noted there really isn't any consequence from shelling a town heavily or just standing back with tanks blasting buildings and then rolling in, when in fact there was.