What ever happened to 'Fionn'?

[Ales Dvorak]

*snip*.... I mean to say if you are going to play it loud, put something decent on like Sabbath, Zep or Free

Or classical music. Imagine group of skinheads play it loud G. Holst's Mars....

[John Kettler]

Vanir Ausf B,

I had no idea AFVs automatically switched projectiles in CMx1. All I remember presently was that I used to simply select Target, or select Smoke if I wanted that. I guess my unspoken presumption was that the firing AFV would choose the round appropriate and load it before engaging the target. I never thought of it as any kind of odd game behavior. How odd I never noticed!

Regards,

John Kettler

[Kuderian]

Taking the 'Schroedinger round' analogy to it's logical conclusion means there are many parallel universes where this 'problem' is not present eg. BFC selling their souls to the military for wads of cash or Steve and Charles both having Siamese twins hence 100% increase in output.

p.s. the place for knocking addicts and the 'feckless unemployed' is the good old tabloid press ,not here imho.

[Michael Emrys]

I don't know, you lot winging on about the younger generation and how the worlds going to hell in a handcart - you do realise that you are morphing into your parents don't you?

I knew I had hit middle age (about 20 years ago) when riding in a car with the radio tuned to a Top 40 station, I thought to myself: That's not music, that's noise!

Yes, the world is going to hell in a handbasket, but it isn't particularly the fault of the younger generation. The human race has been running it into the ground for millennia. It's what we do. It's just that since there are vastly more of us around now than there ever were before, and we have the help of all these neat energy-and-resource-consuming gadgets, it's all been hugely accelerated. It is entirely conceivable that by the end of this century we will have made the planet totally uninhabitable. But probably it won't go quite that far; more likely we will just make it bad enough that no one in their right minds would want to live here. But since no one will be in their right minds any more, no one will even notice.

Hell, we're over half way there already.

Cheers,

Michael

[Nemo121]

I apologise for the necro-thread re-animation but after someone mentioned this thread in passing recently I decided to look it up and comment albeit with the caveat that I'm sure I'm still perma-banned and am thus, technically, doing a rather naughty thing ;-). With that said, I'm not here to cause any hassle so that context should provide some amelioration.

So, to the "where is he now" question: Happily working away as a psychiatrist. Trying to help my patients as much as possible make their way in a frequently rather difficult real world. According to US university lecturer scales I'm technically a Professor teaching psychiatry and related fields to undergraduates and postgraduates - It's all rather grown up and weird to look back on this forum's familiar greenness and think how much things have changed in my life since I was last here. Nowadays if I google myself I find a few articles etc from my research and then start running into old wargaming threads ... it is an interesting reflection of how life changes.

As to others' reflections on me here... What I'll say is this:

Whenever you become identified with something ( a game, for example ) lots of people come at you with lots of agendas and if you're young, as I was, sometimes you can't see which of them are trolls, which of them are jerks and which of them are decent people disagreeing with you but with good intentions.

When I was here I was a lot younger - 20 to 24 or so - and I sometimes:

a) got far too caught up in the importance of a minute point which, really, in the greater scheme of things didn't matter much.

lost perspective on the utter unimportance of a game compared to the real world that's out there and completely trumps anything on the computer in terms of importance and reward

c) let myself get drawn into discussions by trolls who would never quite break the rules but do everything they could to anger me so I'd explode at them and then they could go running to BF to get me banned

d) exploded at the wrong person after being aggravated by a troll elsewhere

e) made plain old fashioned mistakes with none of the above reasons as justification.

I find it amusing that people are referring to me in the present tense when they talk of how I was when I was in my early 20s instead of how I am now in my mid-30s. I'm not the person I was in my mid-20s and I like to think that I'd recognise trolls more quickly, not get drawn in by trolls as quickly and wouldn't explode at them as often --- often creating rather a lot of collateral damage. After all I've matured a lot from 20-something to my mid-30s and amn't the same person as I was then. I'm sure anyone here can understand that they made similar journeys along similar timeframes.

With all of that said I haven't changed my viewpoint regarding forum owners censoring posts in a biased fashion but my idealism that you have to fight every injustice you see has been tempered by the recognition of the sheer impossibility and personal unsurvivability of such a stance.

As to what I do now. I play Rising Storm for relaxation and Admiral's Edition of War in the Pacific ( where I still write AARs although they're on the grand strategic level ) for a bit of cerebral stimulation and spend the rest of my time doing research for articles I'm writing or just out and about with friends and family.

Bottom line: There was a lot going on back then and I was young and certainly didn't handle it as well as it could and should have been handled. I think that's a story most people who are in their 30s or older can identify with. I definitely have a much greater sense of the unimportance of things said on the internet and other people's perspectives etc and I think I also have better radar for the trolls and jerks and a policy of trying to avoid them as opposed to racing to confront them (as I did when younger ). Life's a lot more stable, settled and peaceful and I like it like that.

Have fun with the various BF games. I have CM: Afghanistan which I liked, Shock Force ( bleurgh!! even with the patches ) and the latest Normandy game ( which I love and play ) and will be getting the Italian Front when I have time for it.

BF - I would hope you'd accept this in the spirit of posting in a reflective manner and not creating hassle. With that said if you want to ban me again so be it. Best of luck with your future projects, I think we all need to support all quality wargame developers.

[Davek555]

Wow, a blast from the past. I never posted much back in those days, but I do remember reading many of your posts when I joined the forum shortly after CMBO was released. Your AAR's and strategy guides helped me enjoy the games much more. Always wondered what happened to you.

Good to hear you are doing well and still enjoying wargaming and the CMx2 games. I hope BFC will give you another chance and you will find time to post some more on the forums.

[Myles Keogh]

Fionn,

I rarely post, but your AAR showing you slaughtering Bil Hardenberger in "The Sunken Road," which was posted on MadMatt's old CMBO site, is what sold me on purchasing CMBO. That very well-written and illustrated AAR really demonstrated the game's depth and strengths and had me very excited in getting the game.

(As an aside, I lived in Manhattan and ordered my copy either late on 09/10/01 or early on 09/11/01. I played my first CMBO scenarios with the smell of smoke still heavily in the air.)

Anyway, a well-done AAR can do wonders in selling a game, and that "The Sunken Road" AAR was a terrific one.

[c3k]

I apologise for the necro-thread re-animation but after someone mentioned this thread in passing recently I decided to look it up and comment albeit with the caveat that I'm sure I'm still perma-banned and am thus, technically, doing a rather naughty thing ;-). With that said, I'm not here to cause any hassle so that context should provide some amelioration.

So, to the "where is he now" question: Happily working away as a psychiatrist. Trying to help my patients as much as possible make their way in a frequently rather difficult real world. According to US university lecturer scales I'm technically a Professor teaching psychiatry and related fields to undergraduates and postgraduates - It's all rather grown up and weird to look back on this forum's familiar greenness and think how much things have changed in my life since I was last here. Nowadays if I google myself I find a few articles etc from my research and then start running into old wargaming threads ... it is an interesting reflection of how life changes.

As to others' reflections on me here... What I'll say is this:

Whenever you become identified with something ( a game, for example ) lots of people come at you with lots of agendas and if you're young, as I was, sometimes you can't see which of them are trolls, which of them are jerks and which of them are decent people disagreeing with you but with good intentions.

When I was here I was a lot younger - 20 to 24 or so - and I sometimes:

a) got far too caught up in the importance of a minute point which, really, in the greater scheme of things didn't matter much.

lost perspective on the utter unimportance of a game compared to the real world that's out there and completely trumps anything on the computer in terms of importance and reward

c) let myself get drawn into discussions by trolls who would never quite break the rules but do everything they could to anger me so I'd explode at them and then they could go running to BF to get me banned

d) exploded at the wrong person after being aggravated by a troll elsewhere

e) made plain old fashioned mistakes with none of the above reasons as justification.

I find it amusing that people are referring to me in the present tense when they talk of how I was when I was in my early 20s instead of how I am now in my mid-30s. I'm not the person I was in my mid-20s and I like to think that I'd recognise trolls more quickly, not get drawn in by trolls as quickly and wouldn't explode at them as often --- often creating rather a lot of collateral damage. After all I've matured a lot from 20-something to my mid-30s and amn't the same person as I was then. I'm sure anyone here can understand that they made similar journeys along similar timeframes.

With all of that said I haven't changed my viewpoint regarding forum owners censoring posts in a biased fashion but my idealism that you have to fight every injustice you see has been tempered by the recognition of the sheer impossibility and personal unsurvivability of such a stance.

As to what I do now. I play Rising Storm for relaxation and Admiral's Edition of War in the Pacific ( where I still write AARs although they're on the grand strategic level ) for a bit of cerebral stimulation and spend the rest of my time doing research for articles I'm writing or just out and about with friends and family.

Bottom line: There was a lot going on back then and I was young and certainly didn't handle it as well as it could and should have been handled. I think that's a story most people who are in their 30s or older can identify with. I definitely have a much greater sense of the unimportance of things said on the internet and other people's perspectives etc and I think I also have better radar for the trolls and jerks and a policy of trying to avoid them as opposed to racing to confront them (as I did when younger ). Life's a lot more stable, settled and peaceful and I like it like that.

Have fun with the various BF games. I have CM: Afghanistan which I liked, Shock Force ( bleurgh!! even with the patches ) and the latest Normandy game ( which I love and play ) and will be getting the Italian Front when I have time for it.

BF - I would hope you'd accept this in the spirit of posting in a reflective manner and not creating hassle. With that said if you want to ban me again so be it. Best of luck with your future projects, I think we all need to support all quality wargame developers.

That was very well said.

+1.

[Bil Hardenberger]

I apologise for the necro-thread re-animation but after someone mentioned this thread in passing recently I decided to look it up and comment albeit with the caveat that I'm sure I'm still perma-banned and am thus, technically, doing a rather naughty thing ;-). With that said, I'm not here to cause any hassle so that context should provide some amelioration.

So, to the "where is he now" question: Happily working away as a psychiatrist. Trying to help my patients as much as possible make their way in a frequently rather difficult real world. According to US university lecturer scales I'm technically a Professor teaching psychiatry and related fields to undergraduates and postgraduates - It's all rather grown up and weird to look back on this forum's familiar greenness and think how much things have changed in my life since I was last here. Nowadays if I google myself I find a few articles etc from my research and then start running into old wargaming threads ... it is an interesting reflection of how life changes.

As to others' reflections on me here... What I'll say is this:

Whenever you become identified with something ( a game, for example ) lots of people come at you with lots of agendas and if you're young, as I was, sometimes you can't see which of them are trolls, which of them are jerks and which of them are decent people disagreeing with you but with good intentions.

When I was here I was a lot younger - 20 to 24 or so - and I sometimes:

a) got far too caught up in the importance of a minute point which, really, in the greater scheme of things didn't matter much.

lost perspective on the utter unimportance of a game compared to the real world that's out there and completely trumps anything on the computer in terms of importance and reward

c) let myself get drawn into discussions by trolls who would never quite break the rules but do everything they could to anger me so I'd explode at them and then they could go running to BF to get me banned

d) exploded at the wrong person after being aggravated by a troll elsewhere

e) made plain old fashioned mistakes with none of the above reasons as justification.

I find it amusing that people are referring to me in the present tense when they talk of how I was when I was in my early 20s instead of how I am now in my mid-30s. I'm not the person I was in my mid-20s and I like to think that I'd recognise trolls more quickly, not get drawn in by trolls as quickly and wouldn't explode at them as often --- often creating rather a lot of collateral damage. After all I've matured a lot from 20-something to my mid-30s and amn't the same person as I was then. I'm sure anyone here can understand that they made similar journeys along similar timeframes.

With all of that said I haven't changed my viewpoint regarding forum owners censoring posts in a biased fashion but my idealism that you have to fight every injustice you see has been tempered by the recognition of the sheer impossibility and personal unsurvivability of such a stance.

As to what I do now. I play Rising Storm for relaxation and Admiral's Edition of War in the Pacific ( where I still write AARs although they're on the grand strategic level ) for a bit of cerebral stimulation and spend the rest of my time doing research for articles I'm writing or just out and about with friends and family.

Bottom line: There was a lot going on back then and I was young and certainly didn't handle it as well as it could and should have been handled. I think that's a story most people who are in their 30s or older can identify with. I definitely have a much greater sense of the unimportance of things said on the internet and other people's perspectives etc and I think I also have better radar for the trolls and jerks and a policy of trying to avoid them as opposed to racing to confront them (as I did when younger ). Life's a lot more stable, settled and peaceful and I like it like that.

Have fun with the various BF games. I have CM: Afghanistan which I liked, Shock Force ( bleurgh!! even with the patches ) and the latest Normandy game ( which I love and play ) and will be getting the Italian Front when I have time for it.

BF - I would hope you'd accept this in the spirit of posting in a reflective manner and not creating hassle. With that said if you want to ban me again so be it. Best of luck with your future projects, I think we all need to support all quality wargame developers.

I miss you man! <sniff>

Seriously I'm very happy you have found yourself a good place Fionn. Hope you are allowed to stay around and contribute again.

Cheers, Bil

[iMolestCats]

As a teenager i automatically know EVERYTHING, i do not find the need to grow up at all. What is the point when you're on the top of the world!?

[Michael Emrys]

I'm not the person I was in my mid-20s...and amn't the same person as I was then.

But you are still the only person I know who writes 'amn't. Which is actually rather charming in a way.

...but my idealism that you have to fight every injustice you see has been tempered by the recognition of the sheer impossibility and personal unsurvivability of such a stance.

At about the age you are now, it finally began to sink in that it was not my job to straighten out every a--hole in the known universe. For one thing, most of them are unstraightenable, and since it against the law to shoot them, the only thing is to walk away and leave them to their own karma, however twisted and depressing that may be. The second thing is that I don't know quite everything and—god help us—that a--hole might just be right. This time. [much gnashing of teeth here]

In any event, I can't say how happy it makes me to hear from you again, Fionn, and that you sound like you are doing well. You mention family, might we hope that you managed to persuade some young lady to become your wife and begin a new dynasty?

I stick by my assertions that you were always a fine chap, albeit with a fuse too short to allow you to be a discrete distance from the blast. If you have, as you say, mellowed a bit, that can only be to the good.

Cheers and may good fortune find you at every turn.

Michael

[Michael Emrys]

As a teenager i automatically know EVERYTHING, i do not find the need to grow up at all. What is the point when you're on the top of the world!?

Er, like when the world turns upside down and the top becomes the bottom? It's always good to have a plan B. And C. And D. And...

Michael

[iMolestCats]

Er, like when the world turns upside down and the top becomes the bottom? It's always good to have a plan B. And C. And D. And...

Michael

You have a good point but that doesn't matter right now!

[A Canadian Cat]

...but my idealism that you have to fight every injustice you see has been tempered by the recognition of the sheer impossibility and personal unsurvivability of such a stance.

Reminds me of one of my favorite XKCD cartoons:

[jtsjc1]

Fionn good to see you here! I still have my CMBO cd and Panther poster. I enjoyed your tactics articles in the forum and it helped me learn to play CM. Thanks and glad to see your lifes going well.

[sfhand]

I apologise for the necro-thread re-animation but after someone mentioned this thread in passing recently I decided to look it up and comment albeit with the caveat that I'm sure I'm still perma-banned and am thus, technically, doing a rather naughty thing ;-). With that said, I'm not here to cause any hassle so that context should provide some amelioration.

...

BF - I would hope you'd accept this in the spirit of posting in a reflective manner and not creating hassle. With that said if you want to ban me again so be it. Best of luck with your future projects, I think we all need to support all quality wargame developers.

Fionn,

You don't know me but there was a time when I "studied" anything and everything I could find of your CMX1 writings. Not only did I get hours of enjoyment but I believe you made me a better player (not that I'm much good, but better is better). So, thanks for coming back and violating several forum rules in one great post... Hopefully you'll stick around.

[Franko]

For the record, some of us old-timers are still here.

[altipueri]

Well this thread reminded me I had a copy of Panzer Elite which I never really played. So I dug it out and installed it on a Windows8 laptop.

[Erwin]

Let us know how PE (Special Edition?) works these days. I still remember it as a great WW2 armor game. But, very buggy., Spent more time getting patches and mods and fixes to get it to run than in actual playing, and it would still crash regularly.

[para]

Reminds me of one of my favorite XKCD cartoons:

That was a coffee-keyboard-spitting moment..thanks

ps

good to hear from Fionn again.Has he gone again? btw anyone got links to some of his old stuff?

[PapaKhann]

Fionn,

I rarely post, but your AAR showing you slaughtering Bil Hardenberger in "The Sunken Road," which was posted on MadMatt's old CMBO site, is what sold me on purchasing CMBO. That very well-written and illustrated AAR really demonstrated the game's depth and strengths and had me very excited in getting the game.

(As an aside, I lived in Manhattan and ordered my copy either late on 09/10/01 or early on 09/11/01. I played my first CMBO scenarios with the smell of smoke still heavily in the air.)

Anyway, a well-done AAR can do wonders in selling a game, and that "The Sunken Road" AAR was a terrific one.

+1.

That writeup is really what sold me on trying out the game.

Papa

[altipueri]

They went with songs to the battle, they were young.

Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow.

They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,

They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

We will remember them.

[John Kettler]

Fionn,

When last seen, you were off to medical school. I'm delighted you not only got through all those rigors but have, as we say here in the States, hung out your shingle. Or in your case, couch!

I have to say that, were I in charge, I would unban you (BFC, please consider doing so) you after reading that profound and insightful recognition of where and who you were then, what caused you to act as you did, and who you are these days. Clearly, you've learned an awful lot about both yourself and the human condition. Well done, sir!

Oh, and full marks for the brilliant and disturbing neologism "necro-thread," an expression I really like!

Regards,

John Kettler

[Holien]

Good to read this thread, brings back memories of being young(er) and that time changes us all...

Good to see Fionn is enjoying life.

Nice post.

[GSX]

I remember being drawn against Fionn in a CM1 tournament a long time ago and thinking that given his awesome reputation for playing CM I was just going to get blown away.

It was a CMAK game and I was given a British force against his Africa Corps one. The game swayed from one side to the other but in the end I managed to get a solid win. At the time I was the Blitz ladder leader and should have been a lot more confident but I definitely wasn't as Fionn knew not only his forces and how to apply them but also knew the game mechanics inside out. I am truly honoured to have played one of the CM greats and I have to say that during our game, although he did a fair bit of moaning he was a gracious opponent.

I can also readily identify with someone who was banned from somewhere because they got to involved in something that at the time seemed more important than it was as I've been there too.

Everyone deserves a second chance to prove they have reformed their outlook on life and realised that a small thing like a game isn't really as significant as they once thought it was.