The start of actual news

[Michael Emrys]

Will the cows be having bells?

And will the bulls have balls?

Michael

[Sergei]

Forget that, what will the dairymaids have?

[jakla1027]

Forget that, what will the dairymaids have?

BIG milk jugs I Hope!!! we'll see how good BF art department really is:D

[Lt Belenko]

BIG milk jugs I Hope!!! we'll see how good BF art department really is:D

Go play Laura Croft Tomb Raider.

[jakla1027]

Go play Laura Croft Tomb Raider.

lol nice one:p

[Battlefront.com]

Back when I worked at Impressions I had our QA department play lots of different games. One was the original Tomb Raider, which our gruffest tester promptly renamed "Womb Raider". He had a point

Steve

[Michael Emrys]

I'll bet he did. I look at Laura Croft and I get a point too.

BTW, after that game had been out for a year or two, some computer gaming mag that I was getting at the time ran a picture of a young lady on their staff who was all decked out in a Laura Croft costume, and damned if she wasn't the spitting image. I kind of wish now I had cut it out and saved it.

Michael

[Sakai007]

Computer Gaming World was the mag, I had a sub at the time, and she was a dead ringer.

[Duckman]

I really like including the exotic German Alarmeinheiten. As to the argument that they're only flavour, well for me flavour is a large part of the game. If urban combat is included (as it should be given the terrain at Arnhem bridge) I'd say that's a significant novelty for the series as well.

Oddities like the US 90 mm gun are best left out, in my opinion. Most countries (including Italy and Japan) had AA weapons comparable to the German 88. It was doctrine, training and support equipment (the Brits had an unsuitable tractor, for example) that kept them from using it in the same way and the game should reflect this even if there was the odd exception.

[patboy]

Now that Gustav Line is out it's time to start the process of informing you about Combat Mission: Market Garden. But it will take a little while before we start putting out screenshots and other bits.

6. Fallschirmjäger are now present, all the way from June through September.

9. Bridges. Lots of 'em We are including 5 custom made historically accurate bridges, a canal bridge, and 3 new generic long bridges. Some, like the Arnhem road bridge, are massive. For the larger ones we include "stubs" which map makers can use to simulate fights around the entrance to a bridge without having the other 500+ meters stuck in there.

Steve

6. Much needed thanks for that! Many scenarios as "Carentan" could be redesigned!

9. Just a request? in your five custom historically accurate bridges, a canal bridge couldn't be "Pegasus bridge"? I say that because you did with "Gustav line" "Primosole bridge" in Sicily and I think is a very very very good idea!

Here a link : http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=52dc9b7bdcc1db92895eb4a4c185d9dd

By advance thanks for your reply Steve!

[lordhedgwich]

Correct, there are more new units in Gustav Line than Market Garden. And Commonwealth Module has more units than Gustav Line. But of course you look at things the wrong way. We should be charging $45 for Gustav Line and $50 for Commonwealth Module, not less for Market Garden. Of course I don't expect you to agree

Probably at least 1 or 2 this year, maybe more. And the list of items for those will be significantly less than Market Garden.

It is impossible to say that a Module or a Pack will only have x stuff and never more or less. Some Modules will have more than others. Some Packs will have more than others. But a Module will always have more than a Pack.

Steve

Will some packs come with 1 or 2 new scenarios? I really dont like quick battles they never play out good for me.

[Fizou]

Wonder if we will see the Tiger II with henschel turret in MG?

[Ts4EVER]

If you are worrying about the alarmeinheite being to generic, how about including some second line German weapons, like for instance the lMG26(t) or MP18 derivatives?

[iMolestCats]

Will some packs come with 1 or 2 new scenarios? I really dont like quick battles they never play out good for me.

All thanks to me .

[Sergei]

Will some packs come with 1 or 2 new scenarios? I really dont like quick battles they never play out good for me.

Yeah they have been described as "battle packs" in the past. I figure there will be battles showcasing the new stuff.

[BLSTK]

Most countries (including Italy and Japan) had AA weapons comparable to the German 88.

For the record, NO country had any AA weapon comparable to the German 88.

[iMolestCats]

For the record, NO country had any AA weapon comparable to the German 88.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannone_da_90/53

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_88_75_mm_AA_Gun

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/85-mm_air-defense_gun_M1939_(52-K)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_4_75_mm_AA_Gun

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/90_mm_gun

Almost count?

[BLSTK]

"Comparable" being the operative word. Wikipedia makes no claim that any of these AA weapons were anywhere close to the original 88.

Almost read?

[LukeFF]

Were there any Lee Enfield Jungle Carbines at Market Garden with British paratroopers? I thought I read something somewhere recently that there were, but I could be mistaken.

[JonS]

... and add the British 3.7-in HAA to iMolestCats' list.

"Comparable" being the operative word. Wikipedia makes no claim that any of these AA weapons were anywhere close to the original 88.

They were all AA weapons (and most of them were better at AA than the 88), in the 75-100mm calibre range, most/all were used as AT weapons at some point, and most/all were used for indirect ground support. In what very narrowly defined, no-true-scotsman, way are you attempting to claim that they all are not comparable :confused:

[JonS]

Were there any Lee Enfield Jungle Carbines at Market Garden with British paratroopers? I thought I read something somewhere recently that there were, but I could be mistaken.

According to Wikipedia:

The Rifle, No. 5 Mk I (the "Jungle Carbine") was first issued to the British 6th Airborne Division and in use during their occupation of Denmark in 1945.

[Michael Emrys]

According to Wikipedia:

The Rifle, No. 5 Mk I (the "Jungle Carbine") was first issued to the British 6th Airborne Division and in use during their occupation of Denmark in 1945.

And hopefully never fired there.

:eek:

Michael

[Battlefront.com]

Wonder if we will see the Tiger II with henschel turret in MG?

No need to wonder... the answer is yes

Yeah they have been described as "battle packs" in the past. I figure there will be battles showcasing the new stuff.

Quite correct. The difference is that the battles will be designed to showcase the new units/terrain, not to give the player a sense of a particular campaign or battle. One way to think of it is Modules focus on the battles, Packs focus on the stuff.

Steve

[LukeFF]

According to Wikipedia:

The Rifle, No. 5 Mk I (the "Jungle Carbine") was first issued to the British 6th Airborne Division and in use during their occupation of Denmark in 1945.

Thanks, that's what I recall reading now. Shame it wasn't around for M-G.

(Though, we would need some new voice acting files to go along with it, namely soldiers cursing about how much recoil it has ).

[JasonC]

JonS - on Hellcats in Italy, some but quite rare is my verdict.

The details -

Hellcats did serve in Italy, since the prototype - then called T70 - first saw action at Anzio. It hadn't even been designated the M18 yet, however, it was a field trial.

The 805 apparently did have M18s and served in Italy. Rich Anderson lists it as towed, but apparently as of an earlier date. Steve Zaloga in the Osprey book "M18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer 1943-1997" states that the 805th was the only M18 battalion in Italy.

His photos of them there with that unit designation are from April 1945, right at the end, so that battalion presumably changed to M18s early in 1945 (if both sources are right in their reports, that is - but that's likely).

But mostly they served in the ETO proper, and later on.

According to Rich Anderson, there were 10 US TD battalions that served in Italy.

He lists 2 towed (679 and 805), and 8 with M10, that served there before the start of 1945 -

(601, 636, 645, 776, 804, 813, 894, 899)

Most of the SP ones later transferred to the ETO, only 2 towed and 2 SP were left in theater January 1, 1945. One of those was the 805, which apparently switched to M18s soon after.

By Anderson, the following 10 battalions had M18s on January 1, 1945 -

(602, 603, 609, 612, 638, 643, 704, 705, 811, 827)

He gives the following 4 additional battalions switched over from towed to M18 -

(801, 817, 820, 824)

But he doesn't have the 805th in that category. That is likely his error, corrected by Zaloga.

So, a handful at Anzio, and one battalion in 1945 during the northern Italy campaign. None in the south for the Gustav line phase. As near as I can figure - I hope it helps.