altipueri Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Q1. Who wrote this ? Q2. When ? "I've been wargaming since age twelve when I got Avalon Hill's Tactics II for Christmas. If it had hexes, squares or required a protractor and measuring tape I played it. Whether on a map on a table top, on a sand table or on the floor, I played it. I've pushed cardboard, lead and plastic for almost 34 years, in everything from man-to-man combat to grand strategy, and spent over eleven years as a professional military analyst for Hughes and Rockwell. In that time I became convinced that nothing could ever equal, successively, board wargaming, then wargaming with miniatures. I tried computer gaming (SSI's Red Lightning) and hated it. Things looked bleak, for wargaming period was in dire trouble, when out of the blue I learned about two new developments, Panzer Elite, a deeply immersive you-are-there individual and platoon level armor sim, and Combat Mission, which found me while reading a Panzer Elite review, via the now famous banner--"the battalion's ready!" Combat Mission is immersive, terrifyingly so, but it is the immersion that comes from bearing the crushing responsibilities of a battlefield commander (up to battalion level) dealing with men under fire, men who are far more fond of their hides than in seizing the objective one day, but who fight to the last man the next. It is an experience of carefully nursing green troops to the objective, taking casualties all the while, only to have the big attack collapse when all seems destined for success. It is screaming with frustration because fire support is late in coming; it is cringing as fighter bombers roll in on the target while you pray fervently they don't drop on your troops. Combat Mission is discovering too late that you forgot to shift fire, meaning you are now shelling your own troops. It is the triumph of a well-executed ambush, the sharpshooter's kill of a Tiger commander and the grenade dropped from the upper floor into a Hellcat driving past the window. It is the shattering blast of a K-killed tank, the whoosh of a flamethrower, the crack of high velocity guns, the roaring crump of artillery fire and the heaving of the earth that goes with it. It is the ripping sound of MG-42s firing, answered by the chugging bursts of the .50 cal MG. It is the sound of the sky ripping apart under Nebelwerfer and battleship fire. It is the sound of orders given in the language of the men fighting; their screams of pain when hit and dying. It is of vistas so beautiful they take your breath away, and scenes of devastation which practically make you gag." 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce90 Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Michael Emrys. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oddball_E8 Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Ulysses S Grant! (because i really have no clue so i might as well go way overboard) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seedorf81 Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 You did, just before posting it on the Forum. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juju Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Yeah, well, I cheated (sorry). The answer did surprise me, though. 2001 is as far as I'll go, having cheated and all. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noob Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 I know who it is, he hangs around with some people I know, Elizabeth Ard, Vivian Arium and Rhett Tile. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lt Belenko Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Dorosh before the banishment 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Parts of it sound like Kettler and I don't have a better guess so I will go with that. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Parts of it sound like Kettler and I don't have a better guess so I will go with that. Yup. Written in 2000. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c3k Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Kettler, based on how he thinks it's terrifying. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noob Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 You obviously could not decipher my clues. Elizabeth Ard - Liz Ard - Lizard Vivian Arium - Viv Arium - Vivarium Rhett Tile - Reptile 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted August 11, 2013 Share Posted August 11, 2013 c3k, If you think it isn't terrifying, then you haven't played "Sounds in the Night" or "Fire On The Mountain" without advance warning as to what you'd be facing. No prior wargaming experiences put the wind up me the way CM did, and that's the simple truth of the matter. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted August 11, 2013 Share Posted August 11, 2013 You obviously could not decipher my clues. Elizabeth Ard - Liz Ard - Lizard Vivian Arium - Viv Arium - Vivarium Rhett Tile - Reptile Well that clarified absolutely nothing for me. Clever though. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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