Bud Backer Posted January 25, 2016 Author Share Posted January 25, 2016 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Jack Ripper Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 haha! Yeah, I hope @SLIM see it. He really needed some Brakka! I'm delighted you're enjoying the comic! My wife continues treatment and is doing well, thank you. YEAH!! GET SOME!! WOOHOO!! EAT LEAD YOU ****ING KRAUTS!!Quad .50's rock! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amidali Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 "We can beat them, just for one dayWe can be heroes, just for one day..."David Bowie - 19773rd Reserve Company, 1945 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geordietaf Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 geordietaf - is that Washington DC or CD?CD as was, until 1974, meaning County Durham England. Now part of Tyne & Wear. The ancestral home, as I'm sure you know, of a certain George Washington. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bud Backer Posted January 25, 2016 Author Share Posted January 25, 2016 YEAH!! GET SOME!! WOOHOO!! EAT LEAD YOU ****ING KRAUTS!!Quad .50's rock!haha! It is pretty neat, isn't it? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bud Backer Posted January 25, 2016 Author Share Posted January 25, 2016 "We can beat them, just for one dayWe can be heroes, just for one day..."David Bowie - 19773rd Reserve Company, 1945Heh. Perfect! Applies to this battle for sure! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bud Backer Posted January 25, 2016 Author Share Posted January 25, 2016 Ok, another question for you gents:Making those maps showing where everything is can be painstaking. I was wondering if you find them useful, meh, essential to follow the action? Some feedback on that would be helpful. I'm trying to post one every now and then, because I don't know how easily you can visualize where everything is taking place, but maybe the locations and action is very clear from the narrative and screenshots. I don't know if anyone is sitting wondering "what halftrack did he just shoot now?" Etc.. I really don't mind making the maps, but if they are not useful I won't bother. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baneman Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 They are good and useful.When the comic started, it was fairly clear that the SturmTiger was attacking the village frontally, but until you posted that map, I hadn't realised how far "to the side" the halftracks were.So, yes, they are helpful to place the action. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heinrich505 Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Bud, Just got back from working three 12s. No time in between to check your CAAR progress. The plus is that I've got all three days of your postings to read through and enjoy. Saw the slow-motion fall of the LT right away. Very nice and adds to the visual considerably. GIFs are fun but if they are too much work for this CAAR, then you can save them for your conventional AARs. I think your maps are just about the right frequency. We are drawn to the story for these, so it isn't all that critical that we know exactly where everything is on the battlefield. Half the time I didn't have, or need, the big picture when Sgt. Rock was dodging bullets to rescue a squad member. I think your choices of views in your panels, down on the ground with the soldiers, gives us a good enough picture of where the enemy is firing from and keeps us focused on the story line. My two cents. This is great action and as previously noted, a very nice showcase for CMFB. Your presentation shows this as more than just a game with a points score at the end and positions taken or lost. You've breathed life into the pixeltruppen, showing them as more than just pawns pushed around on a game board. They are angry or scared or in pain (Aiiieee!!!) and this adds to the many dimensions of the game. Your efforts and hard work are greatly appreciated.Heinrich505 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrailApe Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 CD as was, until 1974, meaning County Durham England. Now part of Tyne & Wear. The ancestral home, as I'm sure you know, of a certain George Washington. I'm just up the road in the Toon. Nice knowing there's a CM buff not too far away. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Jack Ripper Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 I do appreciate the maps, but I enjoy the comic without them as well. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketman Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Ok, another question for you gents:Making those maps showing where everything is can be painstaking. I was wondering if you find them useful, meh, essential to follow the action? Some feedback on that would be helpful. I'm trying to post one every now and then, because I don't know how easily you can visualize where everything is taking place, but maybe the locations and action is very clear from the narrative and screenshots. I don't know if anyone is sitting wondering "what halftrack did he just shoot now?" Etc.. I really don't mind making the maps, but if they are not useful I won't bother. Being someone who has pretty much no sense of direction and have a hard time piecing together "mental maps" of known locations - they are very helpful to follow the action. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knotso Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 I do appreciate the maps, but I enjoy the comic without them as well.+1Exactly this for me. The map at the beginning was important for context, but after that .. I found I could visualise enough for the story. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 (edited) Making those maps showing where everything is can be painstaking. I was wondering if you find them useful, meh, essential to follow the action?...I'm trying to post one every now and then, because I don't know how easily you can visualize where everything is taking place, but maybe the locations and action is very clear from the narrative and screenshots....I really don't mind making the maps, but if they are not useful I won't bother.Maybe it's just me, but I don't find them very useful. Some kind of visual representation of the "big picture" would be highly desirable, but so far the maps aren't doing it for me. I'm thinking that a high-angle oblique shot of the whole game map—or at least the parts of it that need to be illustrated, say from View 4 or 5—would work better and mean less work for you. It would require labeling of the units on the map and the right scale to be chosen for it to be clear what you mean to represent, so would take some time and effort to produce too. So it is up to you in the end which way you want to go. Just know that your efforts are appreciated.Michael Edited January 25, 2016 by Michael Emrys 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobo Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Ok, another question for you gents:Making those maps showing where everything is can be painstaking. I was wondering if you find them useful, meh, essential to follow the action? Some feedback on that would be helpful. I'm trying to post one every now and then, because I don't know how easily you can visualize where everything is taking place, but maybe the locations and action is very clear from the narrative and screenshots. I don't know if anyone is sitting wondering "what halftrack did he just shoot now?" Etc.. I really don't mind making the maps, but if they are not useful I won't bother. Sorry Bud, but I need it to get a tactical perspective of what is going on. While your work is beyond reproach, for me the CM world is just too complicated (and rich) to distill in a few hundred panels. Perhaps their is a simpler way to do it.... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bud Backer Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share Posted January 26, 2016 I do appreciate the maps, but I enjoy the comic without them as well.Being someone who has pretty much no sense of direction and have a hard time piecing together "mental maps" of known locations - they are very helpful to follow the action.+1Exactly this for me. The map at the beginning was important for context, but after that .. I found I could visualise enough for the story.They are good and useful.When the comic started, it was fairly clear that the SturmTiger was attacking the village frontally, but until you posted that map, I hadn't realised how far "to the side" the halftracks were.So, yes, they are helpful to place the action.I want to thank each of you for replying. I wasn't planning on cutting out the tactical map, but I did wonder if anyone used them for the purpose intended: orientation, and know I know they do! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bud Backer Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share Posted January 26, 2016 Bud, Just got back from working three 12s. No time in between to check your CAAR progress. The plus is that I've got all three days of your postings to read through and enjoy. Saw the slow-motion fall of the LT right away. Very nice and adds to the visual considerably.Wow, long shifts, man! I hope you've got a few days off to relax! I'm glad the to hear the slow-mo graphic worked for you. Might be best used sparingly, to emphasize something very dramatic. In this case, the utter destruction of the German PanzerGrenadier assault on the Farmstead. Reminds me a bit of Graebner's death in A Bridge too Far. GIFs are fun but if they are too much work for this CAAR, then you can save them for your conventional AARs.I don't mind doing the work, if it works and of people get excited to see it. Time permitting. But as @@sburke said earlier, it's a CAAR so it's not thematically as fitting here as in an AAR. I had to try. I think your maps are just about the right frequency. We are drawn to the story for these, so it isn't all that critical that we know exactly where everything is on the battlefield.Half the time I didn't have, or need, the big picture when Sgt. Rock was dodging bullets to rescue a squad member. I think your choices of views in your panels, down on the ground with the soldiers, gives us a good enough picture of where the enemy is firing from and keeps us focused on the story line. My two cents. My concern only was that readers are not disoriented and wondering what was going on. I think Apache is an exception, where I am showing less of the whole battle and more of what is happening to Apache and her crew. Maps there might be less crucial, as most things are from that one perspective. I have to refine all this. This is great action and as previously noted, a very nice showcase for CMFB. Your presentation shows this as more than just a game with a points score at the end and positions taken or lost. You've breathed life into the pixeltruppen, showing them as more than just pawns pushed around on a game board. They are angry or scared or in pain (Aiiieee!!!) and this adds to the many dimensions of the game. Your efforts and hard work are greatly appreciated.Heinrich505Thank you, I really appreciate your enthusiasm and comments. Yes, my guys are supposed to be more than pawns to be sent to their deaths - glorious though it might be! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bud Backer Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share Posted January 26, 2016 (edited) Maybe it's just me, but I don't find them very useful. Some kind of visual representation of the "big picture" would be highly desirable, but so far the maps aren't doing it for me. I'm thinking that a high-angle oblique shot of the whole game map—or at least the parts of it that need to be illustrated, say from View 4 or 5—would work better and mean less work for you. It would require labeling of the units on the map and the right scale to be chosen for it to be clear what you mean to represent, so would take some time and effort to produce too. So it is up to you in the end which way you want to go. Just know that your efforts are appreciated.MichaelMichael, thank you for your honesty, tactfully expressed. I initially experimented with an overhead view of the actual 3D battlefield, and ran into something I thought was a problem: the white snow made it almost completely impossible to see any relief to the terrain. For the reader, it would appear a flat plain. The maps I made and traced the contours onto were to give some conception of irregularity of the land, and how it would affect LOS. Having said that, showing a view of the map with labels and unit icons displayed might be something I should do. Your points are interesting to me, because they spark ideas. I'll have to percolate on that but I think I'll be able to put this to use in the future. Thank you again for writing. Edited January 26, 2016 by Bud_B 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bud Backer Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share Posted January 26, 2016 (edited) Sorry Bud, but I need it to get a tactical perspective of what is going on. While your work is beyond reproach, for me the CM world is just too complicated (and rich) to distill in a few hundred panels. Perhaps their is a simpler way to do it.... Good gracious, don't feel the need to apologize. I asked for feedback and I got it. It's all good, and if you find this handy to have, and like them in the comics, I'm delighted to make them because I know they are appreciate. No worries, no worries at all. Edited January 26, 2016 by Bud_B 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger73 Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 I do appreciate the maps, but I enjoy the comic without them as well.Me too. I find the maps useful but not essential. If they are a PITA to construct, consider a simpler "hand drawn" or more rudimentary field expedient commander's battle map kind of thing. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bud Backer Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share Posted January 26, 2016 Me too. I find the maps useful but not essential. If they are a PITA to construct, consider a simpler "hand drawn" or more rudimentary field expedient commander's battle map kind of thing.The big thing for me - and maybe in this I'm fooling myself with how important I think it is - was putting the whole battle in context, so that, for example, if you see the Chaffee, you know why it is important for it to remain on the west side of Liefrange. You'd see it and other units and the enemy and understand Blanchard's decision for its placement. Maybe that's not as important to readers as I thought? Or maybe the narrative itself answers those questions and make it somewhat superfluous. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Your points are interesting to me, because they spark ideas. I'll have to percolate on that but I think I'll be able to put this to use in the future. Thank you again for writing. You couldn't be more welcome. The whole point of my commenting is in the hope that I am making a contribution. I consider it small payback for the work you put out and the skill with which you are doing it. As someone said upstream, this is the best advertising that BFC could hope for.Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bud Backer Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share Posted January 26, 2016 You couldn't be more welcome. The whole point of my commenting is in the hope that I am making a contribution. I consider it small payback for the work you put out and the skill with which you are doing it. As someone said upstream, this is the best advertising that BFC could hope for.MichaelThat's very generous, thank you. And you're certainly making a contribution. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bud Backer Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share Posted January 26, 2016 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bud Backer Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share Posted January 26, 2016 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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