Artemis258

atmospheric as always John, any chance of some screenies?

Just lost a Stug 3 to offboard artillery myself. It's a real pain to see it take and shrug off close hits, then lose a track before it can retreat before taking one to the top hull. Bah!

Might have to check those out... Cheers Shorker!

I'm a newb to PBEM and have only had 1 real opponent in multiplayer (driinking buddy of mine) - I'd love a chance to give the PBEM thing a go! I've lots of time at the moment to manage daily turns or even multi turns/day depending on you, very happy to play a soviet defense! PM sent

I don't think the number of AT assets is really an issue Fiskerby, I think you've got that one nailed down! They'll punish an unwary or careless player but you can suppress, isolate and destroy them if you do your recon properly and don't over expose yourself...

SnakeEye, I play hotseat frequently with a friend of mine (long evenings of beer, ww2 films and Combat Mission!) and I was wondering if you could, here or via pm, let me know what adjustments are needed to make this H2H friendly, or if there's already a H2H configured version that you could link me to? Much appreciated!

Just finished my second runthrough with this - wreslting a tactical victory after proposing a ceasefire. At the point of ceasefire there were 17 turns left on the clock, however all that remained were some enemy squads + command holed up in the village, which 2 platoons of my panthers were now rolling through (with the rest of the company on it's way). ALL the enemy AT elements were destroyed or abandoned. I took heavy infantry casualties - some 40 dead and the same again wounded! A lot of these were incured in the last stages of the battle, where I tried to utilise 'sturmrushes' in hannos towards enemy positions. Turns out the only thing a PTRD is good for is punching holes in hannos and setting them on fire, but it does that job exceedingly well. Also well played with the farmhouse defenses... I didn't expect THAT much dakka for a minor objective The up side is my armour casualties were very light - I'm down two or three tank commanders who lost their heads (hehe) however only one tank was actually destoryed- though one took a penetrating hit to the turret and the crew bailed, on their return they found the tank undamaged. Except for the new vision slit of course. This mission really taught me the survivability of panthers against light AT assets... frontally they are VERY tough - one stopp toe-to-toe with 2 guns at 300 meters and by the end I counted 7 non-penetrating gouges in the armour, while both guns were, predictably, quite dead. The enemy planes proved... useless. They did strafe one (half full) hanno and took out 2 or 3 of my ptruppen. They also strafed the enemy positions in the village twice. Remind me never to rely on CAS in this game! Thoughts and feedback: A little extra time might be useful, but it isn't necessary. I would consider making the village a touch objective as once you've fought through the enemy lines and are clearly in an overwhelming advantage, you are none the less still going to have to go house-to-house, and by the time I got there most of my tanks were out of HE, and my artillery had been totally expended neutralising gun positions. I feel at this point the soviets would probably start to pull back, having seen a full company of tanks approaching a village after their AT assets had been totally neutralised. IF there is to be a forest ambush then something else needs to shift though. Perhaps that fun little group in the 'forrest peninsular' could be moved to watch the roads? I found them difficult to dislodge, and I expended way too many troops trying to do so, but looking back at the battle I realise that position is very easily bypassed. Finally: what is the purpose of the lone T-70 chilling on the edge of the marsh, aside from target practice in the first 15 minutes of the game? Overall: A really challenging and varied mission, I enjoyed it a hell of a lot! It's nice to actually see flak firing at enemy planes, and I have to admit the first time I saw it going off I thought I was doomed. The plethora of assault guns are both trick and hilarious at the same time - I'm yet to see one do anything to a panther, even when presented wwith a good shot, but they'll murder hannos and exposed troops. They turn up in some surprising locations, others more predictably but overall it feels like, for this part, that good german armour is rolling into the flanks of an ill-equip holding force. I like it alot! Well, time to move further into the campaign I guess.

Hey Lille Fiskerby, Unfortunately I had my a BSOD in he middle of the next set of turns that seemed to have corrupted my save No clue what happened there but once I got through the (surprisingly uneventful) forest the surprises the other side... did some nasty damage! Before the BSOD I had lost half my tank force and a platoon of infantry had been more or less destroyed. Given my pc problems I won't continue this DAR but I will upload some commentary and screens I got before it crashed on me. A fantastic first mission though! I'm replaying it now and although I now know a bit to speed up the first half, I'm only about 14 minutes ahead of my previous timescale. Looking forward to mission 2!

Overview: 2nd Platoon PnzGr move into the town in preparation for the crossing. Assault guns are discovered and the Support Hanos have a field day. Dust settles over the town - the first objective! Turns 31-35 Under the cover of the mortar fire still peppering the town I push the grenadiers up to their staging positions. At this point 2nd Platoon will bear the honour of taking the town itself proper - with support from the 2 75mm support Hanos and the scouts still in position there. 1st platoon will be tasked with clearing the treeline west of the orchard and getting observation/fire support on the west side of the town, while 3rd gets the dubious pleasure of clearing the orchard, though with some armoured support. At this point I honesty have no idea what to expect, but the early recon probe from the first 10 minutes of the game have me moving very cautiously- perhaps too cautiously. I'm now 25% of the way through the game and yet to take an objective, though the casualty ratio is exceptionally good so far. an MG team from 2nd Platoon fires on fleeing Communist swine as a Hano from the same unit delivers another squad to the town Turns 36-40 Unteroffizier Freobe, 3rd Platoon Panzer "There, to the right in the trees! Get the swine!" Freobe gleefully yelled as his tank rolled dangerously close to the pinned infantry, the bow and coax machineguns chattering away. Freobe grinned as they fell, ducking back into the tank only when a burst of fire sparked off the hull just centimeters from his fingers. Just as his arse hit the seat the hull shook and rang like a bell,nearly toppling the battle crazed tanker. "Commander, Assault gun through the Trees!" As soon as the words left Gunner Kohln's mouth a second shot slammed the hull "Mein gott there are two of them out there!" "SMOKE! Driver, Reverse! Kohlm why aren't you shooting back scheisskpf?" the tank lurched back just in time for two more deafening clangs. Foerber glanced down into the beast to see a section of the right side of the hull glowing a cherry red. "Much more of this and we'll be eating splinters! Get us Back you fool!" Foerber's tank pulling back just as a stray round nearly ruins his day Meanwhile to the East... Unteroffizier Beck, IV schwere platoon supporting 2nd's attack on the town "Full power Johan, over the bur!" Beck braced himself as the heavy halftrack roared up the slope and crashed down on some poor peasent's fence. But their enthusiasm had pushed them too far - the bobbing long barrel gave away a soviet vehicle mounting a similar ridge not 60 meters away. "Max! Blast him!" Beck screamed, slamming a HEAT shell into the stubby 75mil gun before the loader could even react. Firing almost on instinct the gunner sent the shell arcing ever so slightly over the ridge. Though designed for clearing buildings and fox holes the thin skin of the light assault gun and short range proved too much for the equally surprised Russians. With a deep crummp! the shell exploded against the green beast's hull and it's deadly gun stopped tracking towards the Hanno. "Good job lads! HE up, lets clear these buildings!" A lucky shot: Beck's Halftrack wins the first shot against another enemy assault gun I don't know about these panthers... that's twice they've encountered the SU's and more or less stood there getting shot at instead of returning fire! Meanwhile hose plucky little armed Hanomags keep getting the drop on them and blowing them away! However their honour was salvaged shortly before Beck's kill when another of Foerbe's platoon blew away another failed 'tank destroyer' after the first comme shell rebounded off it's mantlet (no pic sorry - but the distant smoke trail you see in Beck's pic is the burning wreck). It's not been a total cakewalk though- 3rd Platoon's support track ate a round from Beck's SU before he had a chance to get it - My first vehicle loss of the game. Meanwhile Beck's two Hanos blasted great holes in buildings while 2nd platoon went about it's Rattenkriege, clearing house to house before engaging an ambushing force of soviets guarding the secondary crossing. Rattenkriege! It was here that yet another Hanno proved it's worth, nailing the fourth SU-76 of the day. Beck's counterpart Hanno, flanking behind the village, would nail the fifth! By the end of the 46th turn 2nd platoon has secured the crossing village, elements of third have crossed the fields to it's west to support and both are driving off the last of the soviets on my side of the crossing. However the end of one problem creates another - not only do I have to cross the marsh without any intel on the remaining soviet force composition, I have a few hundred meters of dense forest to traverse immediately after that! Amazing kudos to Lille Fiskerby for this first mission, it's long but it presents itself as several successive tactical challenges in a single mission. Definitely keeping me on my toes! To deal with this issue I've been slowly advancing some of my scouts to infiltrate the forest and hopefully clear one side of it. The rest of the 'east platoon' of scouts will screen through the other side of the road- if any significant opposition is encountered I plan to lay a carpet of 120mm mortar fire right up that road before I roll 2st and 3rd platoon up either side of the main road. 1st will be tasked with crossing the secondary route of advance into the forest and pursuing any fleeing elements of the 'ambush' - with armoured support. The force will regroup on the opposite side of the forest and proceed to the next set of objectives from there. Meanwhile command elements and Flak are relocating from their initial positions to the now-secured town. The Plan as of Turn 46: Blues: Infantry (dark 1st, middle 3rd, light blue 2nd) and red Tanks (Dark 3rd, Light 1st, Orange 2nd) Black: Scouts. Sorry if this is starting to get a bit messy at this point :S

I've decided 15 turn blocks will be a good report-size, at least until more exciting things happen. Overview: The forests are cleared and the grenadiers move up towards the village crossing. Sporadic contacts from the orchards, and preparatory fire begins to fall. Obergefreiter Beerbauer, 3rd squad 1st platoon, pzrgr. "Stupid Boy... I warned him not to be a hero" Beerbauer glared into the empty blue eyes of his former platoon commander as his squad administered the rest of the command section. At least those boys would be all right, thankfully the foolhardy charge had only claimed it's instigator. The crack-whizz! of incoming fire snapped Beerbauer back into reality. As he dived behind a nearby hanomag it's gunner ripped out a deadly reply peppering the forrest edge some 70 meters ahead. Picking himself up again he glared around the rest of the squad "Right jungs, get the wounded into the spare hano then back here into ours. We've got to catch the rest of the platoon up!" UnterOffizier Gelbrand, 1st platoon Panzer Company a few more seconds and I'd have won that beer... Geldbrand idly marked the edge of his cupola with a stick of chalk, a single strike for his first tank kill of the day. Knowing the soviets it wouldn't be the last. As his tank pulled into the copse that marked his firing position a metallic glint caught his eye. “ROTATE RIGHT, HE, Infantry 100!” as he dropped back into the tank his nose was once again assaulted by the acrid smoke left lingering by the day's shots. The double boom through the tank told him he wasn't the only one shooting – probably the Leutnant joining in. “Alles Klar Gelbrand? He didn't take your head off with that burst?” The officer cracked over the headset “Alles Klar herr Leutnant....” Having taken the first treelines and set up a base of fire to the orchard, I ordered the eastmost pzgr up to their own treeline just outside the town. An mg just inside the orchard provided a little bit of harassment but was pretty quickly supressed, and the 20mm support halftracks got to prove themselves again as 2nd platoon's lit up an armoured car! Beginning to enjoy those things... PowPowPowPowPow! The Plan Blues: Infantry (dark 1st, middle 3rd, light blue 2nd) and red Tanks (Dark 3rd, Light 1st, Orange 2nd) By the end of the time block – you can see the prep barrage of 80mm mortars my FO called in on the town – next report will be taking the crossing!

Camp : The Relief of Army Group North Mission 1: Clearing the Way WARNING: POTENTIAL SPOILERS! IMAGES! TEXT HEAVY! Objectives: Secure the marsh crossing and clear the forests and nearby villages of soviet forces so the panzerbrigade can pass unmolested. Forces: No 1 Panzerkompanie- PANTHERS! 11 of them! No. 2 Panzergrenadier kompanie – bait... I mean cannfo... I mean beer beer beer cried the privates merry men are we! There's none so fair as can compare to the fighting infantieeee! So this is my first DAR! Apologies for the early lack of screenshots- I'd only just got around to trying out some mods and wasn't prepared for how good the game would now look, nor how dramatic this battle's start would prove to be! I've tried to ompensate for this with some little soldier-stories around some of the more dramatic moments. Pics WILL follow shortly I promise! Leutnant Haubman, hrs -(?) +4 minutes “Herr leutnent, a seat!” Max had dragged a dusty old stool from the corner of the townhouse that would serve as their OP, and pulled it over to a nearby window. “Who Said war needed to be uncomfortable?” “Halt die Klappe! We have a job to do!” Heubman snapped at the kid. 19 and already seen too much of war. Some grew silent. Others took refuge in jokes. Getting to old for this Scheisse. None the less he took the seat, gazing out over the daisies outside. A glint of metal or a movement might betray a gun or tank in the distant treeline. Behind them there was a chocking grumble as Fuhrmann shut off the Hanomag a few houses back. But the sound of engines didn't fade completely... “You hear that? Tanks!”... Max perked up “Our panthers are here already?” The rapid putputput from their left dashed the boy's hopes. “...Or not. Sounds like Eymer's found some Russians...” PLAN AND FIRST 5 mins The pre-deployment basically split my recce platoon in half, one squad and the commander center and 2 squads on the right. This suits me just fine. The woods on both sides seem the obvious cover to move up and get observation. Meanwhile the northern most house in town will be my initial OP down to the treeline. While it's hard to have a definite plan without knowing the disposition of the soviet forces, I want to make the best of the range advantage my Panthers have. That and not exposing their buttery sides. So they'll take up supporting positions on the flanks as best they can. The West is much too open for my liking so I'm hoping the treeline cutting the center will screen my advance into the crossing. I figure the rest of my forces will follow the recce split so I'll move those down the eastern edge of the West woods then take up supporting positions in the middle for a base of fire. Third platoon of tanks should be on the board by then, so they can roll up to help out here. The eastern forces can then move in to the crossing village and then... I dunno. Forrest. I don't like forests. Hope I get lots of Arty here. 8 MINS IN: Contact! The western scouts can hear the sounds of heavy vehicles on the road ahead! The briefing didn't seem to indicate this was a meeting engagement (in fact I thought I was expecting those ruskies to be consolidating their position!) but that's what I get for starting a battle at 2 am. The only AT capability the squad has is a couple of panzerfausts in a 2-man section to the rear, so there's not much I can do except hold tight and hope they're armoured cars or Really stupid. On the flip side I'm expecting my first tanks and infantry in 2 mins.... I just hope they enter on this side of the map! 10 mins: “Marquardt, take the left! Set up in the trees, the scouts need our help!” Haubptmann Linder still had to yell to be heard, even with the mic to his mouth. Coughing, he tried to shield himself from the dust kicked up as the young officer's platoon surged off in front of him, barrelling down the road ahead. “Klaus, straight forward! We'll try to cut them off at the other side, through the village!” Behind him the Hannos full of panzergrenadiers pushed up, taking their own way between buildings as fast as the clattering halftracks would go. Better watch out boys, you'll rush too far ahead! Yes! I have the armour right where I want it! More than that, the flanking positions I wanted to use for my westmost panthers allow me to engage those sound contacts quite well! No such luck for my scouts though though as another couple of minutes reveal not just an armoured car but a T-70 and an SU-76 with riders. A proper armoured reconnaissance force coming right for my squad! Thankfully they seem to drive right past the main part of my disciplined men up ahead, however they make straight for the road which my faust section is setting up on! Bagging one tank might be possible, but three vehicles and a squad of smg-armed infantry in the woods is too much! Before I can pull them back however the predictable happens and they're spotted by the riders – cutting down one in a somewhat long ranged fire and driving the other to ground. Thankfully they lose interest pretty quickly and seem to continue down the road bisecting the woods. 12 mins, Leutnant Marquadt “Right boys just around this corner... Gelband push up! I'll swing out, Metzger, those woods look passable, see if you can get to the road!” He lurched as the Panzer swung wide, leaving the road for a patch of trees that might make good cover. “Gunner! Rotate right! We don't know where they might be!”Marquadt focused on the wooded corner as the road ahead revealed itself. There! A T-70 about to head into the woods! “AP! Tank, 300, FEURE!” The vehicle lurched to a stop before rocking back, the hollow boom of the gun replacing the grumble of the engine for a brief moment. Beside him a second shot rocked Marquadt sideways as Gelbrand's tank belched fire too. The Russian tank ahead burst into flame, scattering it's crew and their mounted troops back to the road. To the left, a distant explosion drew his attention to a second column of smoke rising across the marsh.“Too bad Gelbrand, mine went up first, your buying!” Haubtman Linder: “Driver! Edge forward! We'll poke our nose out!” Linder peered into the forrest ahead as his tank just cleared the house. Was that a... A bright flash lit up the morning mist somewhere in the forrest and before he could duck a deafening screeching crash shook the tank, cutting a glowing gouge out of the front glacis. “Scheisse! Gunner, you see him?” “Nein herr Haubtmann”.... the Flash again, and a second, then a third shell hit the tank doing more damage to the paintwork, though thankfully not much else! Behind him, heedless of the duel the armoured beast ahead was engaged in, the Hanos surged forward onto the road, kicking up more dust to confound Linder's desperate search for his aggressor... Leutnant Gruber, PzrGrn: “Forward, for the Fuhrer!” The halftracks stormed down the misty woods, two abreast, full speed. Gruber Wanted to be the first in his Kompanie to see action today. The first to destroy a soviet! To earn the respect and admiration of his men, his Vaterland, and his commander! The heavy crack of shells passing him by did nothing to slow his enthusiasm, and his troops fed off his mood. Suddenly the muzzle flashes gave way to clearer shapes – an Assault gun and an armoured car blocking their path! “OUT! To the cover and get them!” The hanno slid to a stop, it's gunnner pounding away with the 20mm gun as the soviet troops, caught by surprise, leapt off their tanks at the same time as the germans themselves dismounted. Caught unprepared, the Commie assault gun began to retreat into the trees, several glowing holes a testament to the coolness of the Hanno's gunner. Gruber however was not so lucky- the soviet infrantry had hit the dirt first, and cut him and his aides down as they made to the treeline. Almost as they did so the 2nd Squad's hanno pulled up and unleashed it's own mg fire, bringing swift vengeance. Wow. What a turn. I'd neglected to remember the time and weather, and couldn't understand why my fancy expensive well equipped command panther silhouetted on a rise in front of the sun couldn't spot the assault gun hidden off the side in the woods that was shooting at it. Thankfully it's armour held up and it 'tanked' it well enough! Meanwhile I got a bit of tunnel vision with my tanks and forgot the orders I'd given my infantry, so they barrelled straight into the soviet scouts! Though I've never seen such a mistake be rewarded so easily- sure, the platoon commander got cut down. But none of the halftracks got hit and that pepppy little 20mm scored 2 partials and a penetration on the Su, driving it off into the forest and I suspect (given it's fleeing the scene rather than blowing the thin skinned tracks to high hell) disabling it's gun. The halftracks did exactly what they should in this accident, suppressed the hell out of the enemy while the infantry bailed for cover. 3rd Squad got it's first kill on an armoured car, while 1st and 2nd chased the tank riders into the woods. Meanwhile the western panthers lived up to their reputation and scored two quick kills on the rest of the enemy's scouting armour. Turns 13-16: Hans, Soldat, 3rd squad Aufklarungs Zug, AT specialist: “Klaus! Where are you Klause?” Hans called out into the woods. He'd dived for cover at the first crack of a bullet passing by and slithered as deep into the woods as he could go. Since then he'd not seen his squadmate, and the sounds of close by engines and heavy gunfire had further dampened his spirits. “I'm a failure... a coward!” he angrily leapt to his feat, kicking aside the branch that had been jabbing into his leg. “what the... Mein gott!” Through the thicket of trees, not 50 meters away, Hans could make out the open rear of an assault gun, the crew distracted by something that had apparently malfunctioned. At first he thought it might be an element of the supporting panzers, but as he approached it's distinctive open back, the light brown uniforms of it's crew and the snatches of foreign curses gave it away. Soviets! Fumbling, he dropped his machine pistole and grabbed the 'faust from his back, trembling as he flipped the sights. Here was his chance to prove he wasn't a coward! He could go home proud! A dull roar and the heavy fist was lobbed into the flank of the gun, lighting the mist with a flash and an almighty bang. “I hit... I hit it!” Hans just stood there grinning as he saw the crew bail out the back of their ruined vehicle. He didn't notice when it's commander aimed his pistol, and he was still grinning as he dropped to his knees, a cold darkness spreading over his body and his vision “I did it....” The Panzers saw no more resistance this turn, however the drama continued to escalate as the surviving tank hunter from the scouts stumbled apon the SU that had been peppered by the halftracks just minutes earlier. Good old Hans got his shot off, and it was amazing to watch the crew bail and get their revenge with a single shot! This was the moment I decided the battle was becoming too exciting NOT to do a report for you guys, and I immediately downloaded fraps and started writing this up! I really wish I had a screenshot for you guys of that action, but rest assured everything is set up now! The east side ccontinued to be uneventful- my scouts have pushed up to furhter sparse cover to survey the village ahead of the crossing, finding another armoured car as-yet unaware of my presence. Meanwhile the second platoons of infantry and tanks arrived behind them and are moving to support and staging locations to attack the town, once I have more concrete intel on what awaits me. And maybe some artillery. I like artillery in towns. Here's a set of screenshots with the progress so far: Red Marks Marquadt's tanks as they move up through the forrest. Blue is Haubtman Linder's tank. The green circled units are the 1st platoon of myu grenadiers, and their planned line of advance to take positions in that treeline, and probably advance in through the orchards into the town. You can also see the 2nd platoons of panzers and grenadiers moving up on the eastern edge to hit the town from that flank. the view from Leutnant Marquadt's tank. Directly in front you can see the first burning T-70, and to the left the more distant one! Geldband's panzer is moving up to take it's firing position just ahead. The view of the forrest and road from Haubtman Linder's perspective. You can see the backs of the Hanomags from the panzergrenadiers here. Four tries and nothing penetrated! I think there's a lewd joke here somewhere... Losses so far: Scouts: 1 AT squad PzrGr: Command section, 1st platoon 2 members of 3rd squad, 1st platoon (shell fragments from a missed SU shot) Confirmed kills: 2 T-70 light tanks 1 Armoured Car 1 Su-76 assorted tank riders killed + surrendered

Hey Dragonwyn... Been playing this a few times over today, yet to make it past the first mission in any way I'm satisfied with (though I managed a tac victory)... Just to confirm- you've removed any redeployment options for the infantry in scenario 1?

Hi Marc, Like you I'm fairly new to the Combat Mission games, having just joined the franchise with Red Thunder and Black Sea! I found with what I've played of the BS games particularly, patience is the key. Most objectives can be taken fairly quickly... with sufficient intelligence on the defending assets. Thus most of my games are 20-30 min of recon and careful movement (in an average 1 hr game) followed by 15 minutes of brutal and targeted fighting (usually with key positions being swatted by off-board assets or armour) and then the last 15 mins being advance and mop up. On that first mission particularly off-map assets are a major boon. The attack choppers can fly around behind enemy lines engaging armour all day, while UAVs keep tabs on valleys and allow for precision artillery strikes. Infantry's there to find the enemy, direct other assets to neutralise, and then take the objectives. Rarely do my ptruppen engage by themselves (except javelin teams. They hold picnics on the high ground.)

Hey, increased sales means more cash flow to Devs we know are dedicated to hardcore operational/tactical milsims and not likely to be swayed by 'weekend warrior' simlite customers... so they get more muhlah to make the games WE love... I'm all for clickbait in this instance.

...or not see. Because it's dark and the c**a in supply sold our night optics on the black market.

not that my panzerfaust-toting ptruppen can aim

so... you use them for making holes in hedge rows or?

Figured as much. Oh well, maybe there'll be something for them to blow up. Can the 'blast' command clear anti-tank obstacles like dragons teeth and hedgehogs?

Hi guys, Just started playing the first mission of the 'blunting the spear' campaign. I was wondering (didn't see manual reference) if those little bridge units on the sides of their half tracks were deployable at all? Had the notion of doing a wide flank with them if they were. If not I'm getting the old 'ammo and health resupply? There must be a boss fight' vibe regarding mines... I hate mines

Micro and craft breweries are the only way to fly. Seem to remember a report which put them at about 20% of total beer production nation wide... which given the figures 20 years ago, is pretty huge. Our home brewing culture has expanded rapidly too... something I happily participate in

'technical' difficulties?

...always with the hate. I remember, an American member of the first fps clan I joined (they played Medal of Honour: Spearhead and had it modified to be a tactical fps... wow so long ago :S ) purchased (apparently 'in my name') a rifle target that was a koala bending over and... er... challenging the shooter to 'do their worst' would be the polite way of phrasing it... It must be because our beer is nicer

Map modifications are possible though...yes? Is it easy to build new maps? I might have a crack at it over the summer...

Hmm... On that note: Are there any good maps of Finland/Finnish unit camos? Specifically looking at the Tali-Ihantala line... it's captured in one of my fave. war films by the same name (so many good tank scenes!) and the arms and equipment, as well as time period, are already covered by the game... In fact the 'stragglers' defence mission in the demo could almost be a reproduction of one of the scenes from the film...

Now now Michael we know we don't talk about that incident... Thanks for all the responses guys... Glad to see an active community! Just got two papers to finish and then i can get really stuck into this beast.