It's the little touches that hook me.

[Jagged]

==Some minor spoilers for Valley of Trouble below==

I just finished a game of VoT as the Axis which ended in a draw (55-45 Allies). My big pillbox took out the two Sherman 105s with a shot each, but was then taken out by the second shot from the 76 when it showed up. All the rest of the bunkers quickly fell.

The only thing that saved me was some courageous crews and teams that were able to hold the north and east victory hills. And of course the Panther did its part with a final tally of 4 Shermans, 21 infantry, and 1 capture on its record. Most of those infantry kills and the capture were after losing the TC to some stray fire.

In turn 33 came something that shows how nicely the TacAI works. I had lost just about every squad and was having the Panther play tag with an Allied Platoon HQ. Apparently the HQ didn't want to play along and called for some support in the form of a grenade toting rifle squad.

As soon as I saw the hit, I backed up the replay and watched it from the squad's perspective. I see the tank roll to a halt and hear the hatch open. I get a red targeting line from the squad to the crew, then the crew and the line disappears from view. Of course I surrendered at the end of the turn and checked the AAR map. I still had two crewmembers active.

I can just picture the crew feeling nice and safe inside their killing machine, then getting jolted by an explosion in the rear compartment. The two survivors then scramble for the hatch to escape, but come out staring down some Allied rifle barrels. They then duck back in and pray that there won't be any more grenades flying at them.

Will the TacAI cancel the abandonment of a vehicle if the outside threat is too high? Or did the crew just hide very well under the tank? I didn't think of using Shift-V till after I ended the game.

I already was planning to purchase a copy of CM, but now I'm hooked and need to order it NOW.

--- Jagged

[Guest Ol' Blood & Guts]

To me it's the increased usage of grenades from the Beta Demo. Especially the German "potato masher" grenades.

[Bullethead]

My favorite thing is the Shermans soiling their skivvies on sighting the Panther bows-on at ranges greater than about 250m. The usual situation is as follows:

1. Panther and Sherman spot each other simultaneously.

2. Panther starts to traverse turret, Sherman slams it into reverse.

3. Panther fires main gun, Sherman fires smoke discharger.

4. Panther shell knocks out Sherman.

5. 1 or 2 seconds later, a cloud of smoke billows up in front of the dead Sherman. Oh well, at least it covers the surviving crew members beating feet for the nearest cover.

Poor Shermans, they can't even wuss out successfully

------------------

-Bullethead

jtweller@delphi.com

WW2 AFV Photos: people.delphi.com/jtweller/tanks/tanks.htm

[Guest Scott Clinton]

Man, my luck with the Panther must suck.

I have only played as the Germans once in VOT and in 8 shots against Shermans I got ONE hit, and one kill. And this was on turn 33, TWO turns before the damn game ended!

Hell, in that same game the 75mm pillbox got only one hit and one kill on a Sherman...and my panzerscrek crews were 0-3 missing every shot...and the damn 150mm arty never got a shot off (direct hit from indirect fire)

...but I still was able to squeak out a Marginal Victory for the Germans.

------------------

Please note: The above is solely the opinion of 'The Grumbling Grognard' and reflects no one else's views but his own.