Ricochet Alley

[Wolfe]

Have been playing a Quick Battle against the AI. I chose Canadian Combination forces, and let the AI choose it's forces from German Infantry. I figured the AI would choose a pillbox or two and other AT guns. Nope. Instead, it chose a *whole* lot of Flak guns.

It was certainly enjoyable to watch all those 20mm shells bounce off the armor of my Churchill VIII tanks. The first turn the Flak opened up, one Churchill was hit ~52 times by Flak shells. All in one 60 second turn! This tank was eventually immobilized, but many shells had hit the tracks, but did no damage. One finally got it. But I also had a decent number of gun hits, none of which did any damage to the Churchill's gun.

While it was great fun to watch, I was a bit disappointed that the AI chose a force that was completely incapable of dealing with any heavy armor I might choose. Now if I had chosen to use Mechanized forces instead, I can see why the AI might choose all that Flak; my light armor would have been shredded by it! As it was, my armor was invincible.

If you'd like to try the scenario, it's at:

http://users.erols.com/chare/cm/Ricochet_Alley.zip

Good luck. Don't worry, you won't need it.

- Chris

[This message has been edited by Wolfe (edited 07-17-2000).]

[Guest ACTOR]

I am going to give it a try...sounds like fun!

[hnh3_cm]

Hehe. The AI does seem awfully fond of 20mm Flak.

[Guest ACTOR]

Wolfe...I just finished playing (Score 78) and you weren't kidding. Ricochet after ricochet and then boom! faust took out my tank.

Actually this was a fun little battle.

Thanks

[19 Echo]

I find it fun in QB's to try to come up with a reason for the makeup of my forces. I had one, set in Jan '45, with 4 Jdgpz IV's , a Lynx, a Puma, and a couple of SPW 250's, plus some Panzergrenadiers. I figured this was the remnants of a Panzer division in the Ardennes, its Aufklaerung Abteilung and a Panzerjaeger outfit (this was the battle in which I learned the Churchhill is pretty much proof against the L48 75mm gun from the front, to my horror).

In the above example, obviously your Canadians overran a FLAK unit in the rear areas. That would actually be a fun DYO scenario, if you want to watch your tanks drive around and shoot a bunch of stuff. Some artillery, FLAK, and a bunch of trucks and jeeps/K-wagens. Have a tank section show up as reinforcements (the HQ tanks coming to the rescue). Padlock some of the infantry in a straight line -- they're lined up for chow!

What would be really cool, and which can't be done in CM at this time, if ever, is to have tanks with dismounted crews. It's a maintenance area, or refueling, or something. This would only work if the crews could then mount the empty tanks.

-- 19 Echo

[Stuka]

OK, I've downloaded the richochet alley scenario and i've got it in the scenarios folder but i can't seem to access it from the game itself. No doubt a simple answer but a search didn't help me on the process to play a downloaded scenario. Any help guys?

[Joe Shaw]

Stuka, a couple of thoughts. The first is where you placed the file. Be sure to DL it to the Scenarios folder. If you did that and it still doesn't show in the game it MIGHT be a problem similar to one I had when I tried to install a scenario Germanboy sent me. Turns out he uses a Mac and I use a PC and for some reason the .cmb extension didn't "translate" well. Try saving the file as a .txt file, then rename it as a .cmb file. That worked for me.

Joe

[Marnix]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Stuka:

OK, I've downloaded the richochet alley scenario and i've got it in the scenarios folder but i can't seem to access it from the game itself.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ahem, you did unzip it, didn't you?

Marnix.

[Wolfe]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>What would be really cool, and which can't be done in CM at this time, if ever, is to have tanks with dismounted crews. It's a maintenance area, or refueling, or something.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes, having unmanned vehicles would make Villers-Bocage a much more realistic scenario.

And it would be nice if CM were more flexible in the setup of Operations. Such as allowing text between battles in an Operation to explain different parts of the Op. Also allowing scenarios within an Op to be different lengths. I was hoping to create a 3 or 4 part Op with the first being a ~10 min job where US forces had to screen German bunkers with smoke while Polish Paras dropped in a nearby field in full view of the German MGs protecting the complex. The next battle would be a 30~40 min assault on the bunker complex. The next would be US tanks that show up having to cross the bridge (or road or whatever) the complex was overlooking without getting shredded by any remaining AT bunkers.

Also, having complete control over some units such as a command car that has a Colonel who drives up (ostensibly to give you your scenario instructions) and then drives off the map with no control allowed to the player. Or allowing reinforcements to be oriented in a certain direction when they arrive. I wanted to have a Panther reversing down a road as if he were firing on unseen US tanks pursuing him. Unfortunately, you can't control the orientation of arriving reinforcements (they always point to the middle of the map). These kinds of small touches would allow you to create a bit more ambience in scenarios. Oh well, maybe CM2.

BTW, BTS has said they hope to update older games with the newer engines as they're released. Hopefully, they'll be able to update CM1 with new features from the CM2 engine.

- Chris