polterklotz

From a scenario perspective you are of course correct. I was coming at this more from an angle that generally tries to integrate these rather typical engagements (unfair) into the game play. And to do this in a way that lets players have a feeling of accomplishment - even without knowing/having historical context. Sort of a mini-campaign consisting out of a series of QBs. Secondly I wanted an element of balance in there, so that games are not completely lost (even after a resounding loss in the first round), but if you wanted to mount e.g. a counter-attack you'll have some trouble with that (unless you had planned for the outcomes). @MikeyD If I remember right there was a random map generator in the CMX1 series. I know I made a lot more scenarios because I didn't do maps fully from scratch.

Plain movable markers Similar to target reference points but can be repositioned during combat. (Ideally with different designs, and perhaps growing in size as you zoom out). Where did I get that LOS again? Saves AAR dudes a lot of time Comes in handy for some cooperative style play modes Selection tools Add-select adjacent: Is basically an incremental way of shift-clicking or box dragging, it adds the next closest unit to the selection Mark (1,2,3): You can visually mark (and recall via a hotkey) a selection (individual or group). You have e.g. 3 of these "memory slots" that help you execute moderately complex maneuvers faster, particularly in real time engagements. Arcs Add an un-hide arc, use anti-armor, and regular arc cumulatively Movement Have a faster vs more careful button, (e.g. hitting "+" will make the movement order to the next waypoint go from "hunt" to "quick", shift-"+" does this for all waypoints. You can probably ignore "walk" speed in this context.) Of course it would also be cool if one could give transport vehicles a "park/pause long enough for people to hop off" pause - and the troops would actually do it. But I assume this is easier said than done from a game engine perspective...

All that is really needed for that is a tiny module that does "collision detection" on a shared image file (arbitrary map), and perhaps some excel-ish book keeping support for logistics, and remaining forces. I would not even use a specific rule set, but rely on honor system, or an digitally signed archive of the turns. To my mind this is the essence of CM Operations initiatives. If you thus give the community the incentive to create maps (where needed), you even have a return on investment. I don't think the operational layer is necessarily best done on a screen (particularly for the WW2 titles). If you can - leave the interface wide open to work with as many op-layer table-top games as possible (potential customers)... I can also imagine a stronger integration of unbalanced battles through a 1-2-3 series of battles, which may use the same map (perhaps partially so, like in the CMX1 title campaigns). You could just allot your force points differently (on map = full cost, reinforcement on call after X minutes = slightly reduced cost, reserves for deep defense/counter attack = significantly reduced cost).

Hmm... I only skimmed this so far. There is lots pretty cool stuff to see, but most of this looks like a lot of work! It sure would add lots of variety and meaning to the battles though. Let me throw in my 2c sideways if I can. @slippy perhaps some of this approach would work for you. I dabbled with making a very alpha concept based on spreadsheet and map (included as background image into the spreadsheet). A couple of reasons why I did that: Generic hexes don't cut it for me. I want to pour over the map with all its nitty gritty detail (if your side had that info). Terrain appreciation is a big part for me.You just exchange one file most people know, and it does unit tracking & orders, rule book, map, and collision detection (when units meet), only view your portion of course.When you start a battle you can design the CM map accordingly - you can even enlarge it as the battle escalates (e.g. you punch through defenses).Drawback: an AI would not be able to make sense of the map easily, so probably only multi-playerIdeally I'd want to move the map part to paper, pins and string in order to avoid screen time. But interfacing this would not work easily I'm afraid. Second best would be to move the operational layer onto phone or tablet. That way you could mull things over better, e.g. on public transport. @chopperinlt Good luck with your developments - sure looks promising so far!

I think that is not a bad assessment. However, broken clocks... If you research the rest of the bunch you'll probably find that he is also the most extreme of the "whack jobs" on the "Gesprächsrunde" (he said: it is NOT a talkshow). Each of them freely admits to being a "whack job". They pretty much all were demoted for "not following party line" - to paraphrase from their position a little. Wimmer was apparently an exception as he quit after having to (hypothetically!) bomb several German cities with nuclear warheads in a NATO exercise in 86. If you scroll down the video info you'll see the names and functions of the people in the last paragraph. You might want to take a look at Daniele as you're both historians, and thus share methods and vocabulary more than with the other "whack jobs". Oh, and the ETH is a bit of an address - he apparently was raking in 12 k$ monthly (before he kept asking the wrong questions, and perhaps before his 30-31B faux pas (dunno)).

The newer version of Fremdschämen is Kollateralschämen (= collateral shame, also pronounced nearly identically) I haven't watched that video. I can't stand to have to listen to him more than I have to - largely because of the zionist conspiracy bit. But also because of his unbalanced and blunt polemics, and his general demeanor. I really, really don't like the guy. There's a video where Serdar Somuncu (Mein Kampf - Satire) takes him apart on air. Unfortunately it is already over after 15 minutes - so it'll not quite make up for the Waldorfschule one I'm afraid. I referenced to the other video on purpose though. He speaks very little because he has a bunch of other guests (no one from the "other side"/troll though). That has a very interesting effect + it shuts him up (the guests themselves comment on that!). Now if you look at the approval rating and comments under that video, you'll see why this is somewhat important.

Yeah, that is the one. There's one where he is considerably worse. I'm afraid there's not much you can do at the moment. You could try to separate the audio track out and play it back more slowly using the VLC player for example. But I am pretty sure you'd better get some German speaker to do the English subs...

paraphrasing the German section above: He's crackpot #3 on a list of 100 from Berlin. Indeed, and I am far from being in general agreement with him. But this fact cuts both ways. (If you assume my evaluation of his position as correct) And this one guy on the show: Willy Wimmer is not exactly a nobody. You'll need gtranslate for the wiki-entry.

By the way Nidan1, the Goethe quote (2nd line) in your sig is apparently not from Goethe: http://german.about.com/library/blgermyth12.htm- and it misses a ". To be honest though, I had almost reconstructed the German version for you (apparently on basis of false memories). I am still not quite convinced it really does not exist. Something with "Würde" (grace) and "Tat" (the act) I would have assumed Wahlverwandschaften, something from a campaign as embedded journalist with the army in France, or perhaps his science stuff - but so far no luck. In any case it would not be used in the "writing classes" of today's Germany.

Lol - close but not quite runtime is 2:41:37 That could get a little tight for sburke if he doesn't get some rain soon...

Nope I did not. It is in the Russian text. You need to use the wet part of the brain though

[sburke] Lots of bluster, lots of BS, but in the end Russia is heading towards third rate power status simply because despite the bluster, it just doesn't have the resources to be in the first rate power game. The MOD can make all their claims it wants about it's new uber tank, a new cosmodrome, a resurgent Navy, air force and strategic nuclear force, but as the bottom falls out financially the house of cards is gonna collapse. Can you imagine Germany trying to do and say all that. [...] [/sburke] Russia is already 3rd rate at best. The second global superpower is the public opinion. I would say improbable - not implausible. History likes to have its way with things. It is still impressive though.

Did someone say Germany? Here's a source from one of the largest "submainstreams". I am a little afraid it may go against the feelings of some of my fellow American citizens, so I'll make no big effort to translate it here unless people want me to. If your German is good enough to sit through this, you also won't be offended by some passive aggressive whining. Like I explained in one of my previous posts - you'll already know it is central to German discussion culture. Это, главным образом, для "российского и украинской стороны": Вы должны пойти на канал wwwKenFMde, и поиск самого длинного видео. Это относительно новая. Это хорошо описывает вид большого и важного меньшинства в Германии. Я был бы рад, если вы посмотрите на видео с друзьями вместе. Лучший пишет кто-то субтитры.

Ugh. Well, I will be able to widen the spectrum juust a little then. Unfortunately my more diplomatically worded (longer, rambling really) post got eaten, so I'll do this with more German directness. You will probably mostly get in touch with some slightly pro-US "regular Joes", some "late 48ers" (with you running a small business), and quite a bunch of so called "transatlantikers". They are most pro-US government (think AIPAC for USA) and the opposite of the "Putinversteher" (eng: Putin understander/sympathizer"). The Camden Conference would tend to attract "transatlantikers." The name is in reference to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantik-Br%C3%BCcke whom the "Putinversteher" like to describe as unjust foreign intervention/occupation, and there are lots of stories that feature them or the Bilderberger on the interwebs. As for German humor - unfortunately most high profile political kabarettists (popular type of format) are rather critical of the US (and the German right wing), so you don't make a lot of new friends in the West translating this into English. Here is two examples that should illustrate this abundantly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUgyo6RRv_0 It is also an acquired taste in many cases. These shows are not fringe though, they are run in governmental channels and used to have some 13% market share, especially among young people. Someone in the comments labeled that group (West German) "Salonglinker" or "drawing room leftist". This is not the same as "Putinversteher", as Schröder, who is nominally from a center-left party is generally perceived as a amoral sellout among them. Leaving out the one relatively small group that already had its representative here, most cliches are accounted for. To give you some reference of (pre Snowdon) international influence approvals I could just dig up this: http://www.globescan.com/images/images/pressreleases/bbc2012_country_ratings/2012_bbc_country%20rating%20final%20080512.pdf Germany's perception of: Russia, yay: 18% nay: 54% Germany's perception of: USA, yay: 44% nay: 45% ( in 2011: 37% vs 44% - pretty jumpy) As comparison the USA viewed Russia as 34% vs 41% (which may be about the post-Snowdon perception of the USA in Germany) or China with 42% vs 46%. The UK viewed France with 47% vs 41%. Once more a disclaimer: In Europe people tend to differentiate between government and people (as long as they have some reasonably free press, and aren't looking over iron sights). You may already know this - Ukraine internal: http://www.public-consultation.org/studies/Ukraine_0315.pdf German influence: Yes. But it is easy to step on toes in Europe. The place is full of other people's toes. So move slowly or don't move if you don't have to. German power: Nooo... If you keep "almost winning" wars you are not in a position of military power, or you have a brain power deficit. "Tiny little German interventions" also have the unfortunate habit of escalating badly. Keeping it short: Bismarck or Wilhelm II + nukes. Long version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27ujkepqU0w I should sit my lazy ass down and do the captions for this thing. It is pretty darn good I think. Europe dysfunctional (for population): You bet! But it is too big to fail . No seriously, it is a real issue and I am not sure Germany's leadership is tackling this well in the longer term. Yup, there is something to that. "Don't just sit there, do something!" vs "Don't just do something, sit there!" I think each is adapted to its immediate environment where the respective risk/benefit ratios (used to) merit such behavior. I'd second your internal point as well, but with two caveats: 1. Reunification. This was extremely abnormal, bordering on crazy behavior, judging by German general opinion and what came before and after. I also think it is by far the most underrated event by the average (West) German on the street. 2. We could try changing chancellors a little more often than in recent history, but that is a quibble. Ah – this one is indeed a little tickly. Recent times don't factor all that much into these decisions I think. And with Poland the relation since the war has been very strained. I believe up to reunification East Germany kept a kind of national bully role towards Poland. The contacts between Germans and Poles were quite numerous, which also allowrd for screwing things up pretty bad on all levels. Especially if some people mentally equate East with "down hill." There's perhaps also a lack of closure to previous "rough treatments" on either side. I'm really not the expert (I should be) on this though. With Russia you can more easily "call it quits." It is a shared experience that neither side will forget and feels the remotest desire to repeat (except perhaps in reenactments, and CM). Also going back a little further Russia was a fine ally against some arch-enemy in one decade or another. "Pack schlägt sich, pack verträgt sich." (eng: Fighting, when ended, is soon mended). Hahaa – but is that power really disproportionate then (if that aspect is so important)? Perhaps with regard to the large fraction of people who (believe they) want to go all renewable tomorrow... Certainly not from an industry perspective though. Remember, I said seniority is important. The German large corporations taking flak for foul play generally go back some 150 years (current government not even half that). Quite a few companies have papers with Napoleon's signature on them. Krupp made guns for the Thirty Years' War in 1618. You don't get to hang around that long by playing fair and being nice. BMW, Daimler, etc. are upstarts equivalent of US IT. SAP is actually an involuntary IBM spin-off. This stuff is not supposed to happen in continental Europe, that is not always clear to Americans. Schröder sure was not picked by accident, I totally agree. But neither was Joschka Fischer (Nabucco West). Or these fellows: http://www.atlantik-bruecke.org/service/dokumente/a-message-from-germany.pdf. This list includes more than three dozen members of parliament, a handful of (ex-) Generals and Admirals, as well as other people in important functions (banks, mayors, media). As you can imagine it is big sport for the "Putinversteher" to try to imply a certain causality for this, a la this being the de facto SED of the West. The bottom line impact on trust in western media is somewhat significant. While Putin is known ironically as the "Lupenreiner Demokrat" (eng: impeccable democrat) from an immortal Schröder quote, Obama is equally known as the "Friedensnobelpreisträger" (eng: Nobel Peace Prize laureate). "Liar" is not a word that captures the sentiment of the average Joe sufficiently with regard to either of them. Amen to that!

Steve, thanks for the reply, I think where I disagree, it is mostly in the interpretation or degree but the facts/issues/perceptions seem mostly valid. Here is Merkel in a nutshell: she was voted in by a very large portion of the population exactly for her absence of leadership and passion. Yet she is a pretty accomplished politician after having gutted her own party to the last brain, and then overtaking the competition on the left. In Germany we have various ways of arriving at decisions. Grand leaders are certainly in the mix, but haven't been terribly popular recently. Currently the default is what gets least serious (seniority is important) opposition. Depending on the issue you can have a couple of years to come up with critique. You can get through life perfectly well without taking a single risky action, as long as you are adept at torpedoing other people's proposals. That is why (within their culture) Germans like to be so negative. I'll give an example further down. Germany waffles all the time, see above. Coming out of an armed intervention with a net positive result is viewed as relatively unlikely, so unless "everybody else is doing it too", the place is far far away, or the situation is really dire - you try to sit it out or nudge things on as best you can. I would not call the relations with Poland particularly strong. In very recent history perhaps yes, but generally it is a lively up and down re the government, and a much slower lagging, generally improving relationship between the peoples. It is correct that the latter is at risk, and that is somewhat serious. Re goodwill Obama vs Merkel it depends a lot on whom you ask. Also (many) people differentiate between German (or US) corporations, government, and people. I do agree though that Schäuble does not score very high against Varoufakis. We do try though: I tried to convey that the export issue is pressing of course - thanks for the numbers. It is about what I had in mind except I hadn't assumed the Netherlands to be so high in import and export but that does not change much. I just had a look here: http://atlas.media.mit.edu/profile/country/deu/and there's two issues: 1. If Germany can't get the crucial imports (3/5 top imports are ffuel, others energy embedded in e.g. Al, and of course "consumer crap") it goes straight back to "flint tools and roving hoards" as main export (or perhaps CDSs, or something in between). As an aside, someone mentioned "one can't eat gas, but western Ukraine has very valuable agri potential". While the latter certainly is true, I'd love to open a rather deep rabbit hole for the former: sure you can eat gas (since 1913 at least). In fact probably way more than 2/3 of the people do exactly that (for now). If you're feeling lucky look up W R Catton. 2. The rates of import/export change (and reasonable potential) over the last couple of years is probably more important. I haven't looked myself but I see e.g. Poland developing into another Germany-like economy. Perhaps complementary, perhaps not. Russia is a little further away from that state. Sure it would not be a "happy ever after" match but it looks attractive for feeding industry through the next 10-20 years at the least. Better than competing for African resources with China. What keeps many SMEs from setting up (a second time) in Russia is the seemingly crazy lawlessness and obscurity of conducting business at certain levels. However many believe Putin has a small but positive influence on this. The second point is not so much my personal take as what I infer from hear-say. From my perspective this is not absolutely clear yet (see Dozza). However I would be very surprised if that would not become standard procedure in the decades ahead. One more reason to jump ship now and get on board with a tanker. Personally, I would regret to see a distancing from very many elements of (newish) anglo-saxon culture. Although there is a lot on the eastern side that I really appreciate I am afraid it'll be kept down and on the margins longer than I can expect to be waiting for it. @Steele 6: I like your approach, but I don't like my answers. E.g. will this create/cause another cold-war? or will it be short-lived due to Russi'a economic situation (sanctions civil pressure etc?) Probably No. And emphatically no. The cold war was happening in a strong growth situation, where there were relatively many resources per capita to smooth out wrinkles and allow for live and let live. The way it looks, that is probably over for good. If we're good we'll get through it with a limited nuclear exchange. If we're really, really good we'll just scale down and refrain from breaking stuff too much. If we go gorilla - our time is probably up. Of course this goes a little past Putin's 6 month plan.