Casus_Belli

Not a bad idea, especially with my memory.

Thanks very much, all. I'll check out the instructions and see if I can do it.

Is there any way to increase the number of purchasing points allocated to each side for quick battles? It seems very restricted at the moment, meaning you can't have air support or much in the way of armour. Any help greatly appreciated.

Couldn't have said it better.

Now that makes sense. Thank you. I'd just like to add that I was never arguing that scenarios shouldn't have time limits, only that there should be an easy option for everyday players to override them. What you say is quite right, though. I'm perfectly willing to concede this point, as I have above, and if I could rewrite the original post, I would. Once again, it was meant in jocular fashion. The later ones, maybe not so much. Anyway, the fact is I'm really not like this most of the time. I loathe confrontation and snarkiness as a rule, and I unilaterally regret participating in it. I generally try to be as reasoned and friendly as possible. Regrettably, I don't always succeed.

Thank heavens for some support. To me it sounds like I've raised a heresy in the sect and must be persecuted, ostracized and damned for my sinful thoughts. That's how it comes across. There are no holes in my argument, because there is no logical argument, just a wish to have an extra option in the game that makes it less restrictive. There's no logic to the resistance either, just defence of cherished orthodoxy. Hence the tendentious creation of 'a community' from which one may be banished.

Actually, sorry, on re-reading womble's post, I have to say I don't accept a good deal of it, especially the supercilious and condescending parts. Just because you haven't "got the stamina for several battalions for 4 game hours" that doesn't mean that no-one has. Anyway, I can't be bothered arguing further with this oh-so-superior nonsense. These posts are absolutely amazing.

Apparently life is not too short for snooty schoolyard put-downs. 'The OP' has experienced reaching the time limits on a scenario while in the midst of intense and indecisive fighting many times, which was the cause of the problem in the first place. I accept almost everything womble says except that, to change the time limits on existing scenarios, you have to go into the editor, which is not too difficult as long as you know that (but you have to know it, and many people are not particularly interested in editing scenarios). But even then, a four hour limit might seem like a lot, but I could certainly imagine playing a game like that. I play EUIV and many other games that go on for weeks or even years at a time. Love 'em. If some people cannot imagine such a thing, perhaps it's the imagination that's deficient. In QBs the limit is only two hours (again, unless you know about the editor), and I would like to know how many engagements in Normandy in 1944 lasted for less than two hours. From my understanding, it was pretty much continuous fighting for months. There's no particular reason why the attackers have to be always overwhelmingly larger than the defenders, and many a force has been expended entirely attempting to break a defensive line. All I'm saying, once again, is that it should be easy to cancel or play through time limits if players choose to do so. Nobody is suggesting they should be banned for those who like them. More options, that's all that's being called for, by me at least. It is indeed a game, not a training or testing exercise for professionals. I'm not particularly interested in scores, or in passing tests, or in rankings. I'm interested in playing out scenarios to their conclusions. Having stated my case several times now. I will not expose myself further to pre-emptive ostracism from self-appointed representatives of 'the community'.

I didn't say it wasn't fair. My complaint is that it's unrealistic and irritating. Commanders might well give junior commanders timelines, but how often are they met? And if they aren't met, what happens? The battle doesn't just stop. It could be easily reflected in the scoring, as someone suggested. And for the 95th time, no-one I've seen is saying there shouldn't be a provision for scenarios to have time limits, only that players and designers should be able to not have them, or to continue playing after they've passed. I'm arguing for a choice, that's all, and I don't believe it's unrealistic, since many battles do not play out the way force commanders would like, and good commanders adapt and persist.

Just to leave it on a high note, I do find the game extremely enjoyable and a remarkable achievement by the developers. I've been playing them since the very first one and 'wasted' many a happy hour on them. If I didn't think the game was so great, I wouldn't bother complaining.

Dear John, Again, I beg pardon for the tone of my first post. It was meant to be more histrionic and amusing than really sarcastic or insulting, but I should know by now that tone is hard to convey in text. As I've said several times, I do see the point of time limits, I just find that it kills the enjoyment of the game for me. I could engage a number of the points you've made regarding both real war and the game, but that is not my purpose. You say "If you wish to wage CM war sans game clock, by all means..." but that's exactly my complaint: I can't. There's no option for me to do that. Yours in conciliatory tone.

Okay, time to back-pedal. Please, everyone, excuse my overblown and, yes, polemical first post. It was not intended as insulting, except in a kidding-around kind of way, so I hope no-one is too offended. I do get, as I said, why the time limits exist, and I appreciate that there are good arguments for keeping them, but there's no reason why people shouldn't keep them. Nobody is suggesting they should be disallowed, only that there should be an option to not have them, or to cancel them in scenarios. Also, they're very short. In quick battles, two hours is the limit. It took them at least four hours to get of the beach and up the cliffs at Omaha, for example, and many other battles lasted for days at a time. Perhaps you can get into the editor and change it, and thanks very much for the tip, but even then it's only up to four hours. You know whether you've won or lost when all your men are dead or have fled the field, or if you're in possession of the field. If you're defending, you know you're doing okay as long as your men are still in position. You don't need an egg-timer to tell you these things. Anyway, the point is there should be an option. Now don't get me started on the artillery system...

I know this issue has been discussed many times, but I want to see if I can do something to change the situation. The idea of there being a time limit to battles strikes me as completely nonsensical. Now, I know there's an argument to be made that RL missions will have NLT (no later than) parameters, in which junior commanders are given a certain amount of time to complete their missions, but this doesn't mean the battle simply stops when the time comes. The allies were supposed to take Caen with a few days of landing, but it actually took some weeks. Here, it's as if suddenly someone stood up at the end of the allocated time with a whistle and blew it and yelled "Okay, that's it!", and then everyone goes home for a cuppa tea. It's utterly ridiculous. OK, if you disagree, and you think it's realistic that everybody simply stops fighting at the appointed hour, hugs and goes home to their families, fair enough, have it your way, and I do see the point, kidding aside. But at least let there be an option for me to turn off the time limit if I want to. This was the reason I stopped playing this game some years ago. It's a fabulous game, but this aspect just completely kills it for me, and I know I'm not the only one. I'm just gaining the upper hand, having kept my casualties to a minimum and using artillery judiciously, and as I'm about to move in for the kill, someone abruptly tells me I've lost! Is there a mod or some change I can make that removes this ludicrous limit? Some help, please! And developers, surely it wouldn't be too hard to include an option to have unlimited time in QBs.