Warts 'n' all

Yeah, just checked an old N.M.E.. They were bottom of the bill on The Clash's "Take the Fifth" tour

Sometimes I see people saying that BFC cater for a niche market. And talking of niche marketing I can't help but think that "Kevin and the Warts" would have made a great name for a punk band.

"the whole point of any entertainment product" is to appeal to the "average"? I have to disagree with that. The whole point is to appeal to it's own market. If you make "Art House" movies for example, you don't care if Mr and Mrs Average don't want to watch it. The idea that scenario designers should make them longer just so more of us can get victories is perplexing to say the least. I'd rather get beat playing a realistic scenario. Than win one that had been made easier for me.

I think that one of the beauties of this game is that it suits people with different tastes. Some are modaholics, some don't use any mods at all, and some of us fall somewhere in the middle.

@Buffpuff... And I thought my luck was bad. @George MC... I'm hoping to get stuck into this campaign pretty soon. In the meantime "splodey guns" is such a great phrase.

Given the way Jeremy rhyming slang treats the NHS no wonder all the staff smoke like chimneys. But that is going just a tad off topic.

Is Basidiomycota anywhere near Basildon?

Technically that is correct. Sadly one of the missions in The Road to Montebourg had a bit of a bug whereby more than one mine marker was placed in the same AS, much to the consternation of the maker of a youtube series of the campaign.

Thank you for your reply. The Axis surrendered before any of my forces reached the "Exit" line. Although a few of my tanks would have crossed it the following turn. All the German AFV's had been destroyed except one, but that had lost it's main gun. Also all of their AT guns had been knocked out. As much as I would have liked to have slaughtered their remaining infantry. I don't blame the AI for chucking the towel in when it did. Thanks again for creating a great looking, and fun to play campaign.

"The tactics in hedgerows were not discussed..." Are you sure about that? I thought that was the whole idea of having exercises down in Devon.

Do they put acid in the water around your way?

I think it is a case of swings and roundabouts. When I played the demo one of my Shermans disobeyed my orders and took out an ATgun before I'd even spotted a sound contact on screen. I think this kind of human behaviour has always happened in CMx2. We cheer when it goes in our favour, and rant and rave when it goes against us.

M.E. is spot on about the Belgian and Dutch contingents being equipped by us Limeys. I think that the only French regular troops equipped by, and serving alongside the British in Normandy, were the commandos who landed on Sword beach.

I finished this campaign over the weekend. Great maps, and very enjoyable battles. Just one thing puzzled me. In my final mission "Romistrov's Onslaught" the Axis surrendered with 22 minutes still on the clock. And the AAR gave the result as a Tactical Defeat, and I scored no points. Although I still won the campaign due to my previous results, I'm still curious as to how I lost this mission.

I have to agree that if people can't be bothered to read the briefings, then they deserve to get their arses kicked. Most scenario designers go to a lot of effort with their briefing notes, both in terms of historical background, and providing players with a decent idea of what we will be up against. With regards to "Hell in the Hedgerows", I certainly feel your pain. I've tried it twice and been beaten twice. I have to admire anyone who wins it. And, of course, admire the men who slugged their way from "Utah" to Montebourg, and then on to Cherbourg in 1944.

Yeah, spot on M.E. If you take terrain into account, and plan your moves, and your rests, accordingly, then you should be able to prevent your troops from getting knackered.

I thought that the first one might be of Ploesti given the burning oil tanks. The second one did have me foxed as to location. I'd still be curious as to who the artist was (if they are by the same person), and how these paintings were regarded in both wartime and cold war Russia

It has always struck me that the recovery rate seems to be spot on. I try and avoid letting my troops get "Tired" by limiting my use of "Slow" to just one or two AS maximum. The only troops I ever see "Fatigued" are routing AFV crews.

It might be a bit difficult keeping the captions apolitical given the content. Some of them are certainly beautiful despite the subject matter. I'd be curious to know the background to the two paintings that featured US aircraft.

Lurking in a cupboard I found my old (hand written) records from CMx1... It turns out that I played "Singling Shootout" five times at different levels against the AI.. Five Axis Total Victories resulted. The Allies Four defeats and just one Draw. I suspect that when I get around to "A Muddy Affair" things will be pretty similar.

I always thought that is was called "Singling Shootout" in CMx1 but I maybe wrong. Whatever the correct name it was a lot of fun to fight from either the Axis or Allied side.

And now over to John Motson at Naseby, where it's British Royal Army 0-1 New Model Army

If only General Airfix had been in command, we'd have been in Berlin by Crimble '39.

I suspect that being from across the other side of the Dogger Bank your attempt will be a hell of a lot better than Dick van Dyke's.

Every Army Barracks here in Limeyland had a large carrot patch.