Infantry cant move trough small hedgerow ?

[Ranger33]

I seem to remember that in Donald Burgett's book Currahee!: A Screaming Eagle in Normandy he talks about climbing 10-12 ft hedgerows as a normal, albeit slow and unwieldy, occurrence. I will have to dig that up tonight and skim through it in preparation for the release of the game. It's been a couple years since I read it, but I know that he goes into extensive detail about the hedgerow fighting.

I vividly remember his description of his unit charging through an orchard at a group of 88s firing directly at them. It had to be one of the most terrifying things I've ever read about.

[JonS]

... talks about climbing 10-12 ft hedgerows as a normal, albeit slow and unwieldy, occurrence. ...

In combat?

[Michael Emrys]

Thats when "we" were farmers , mechanics , steel mill workers ... LABORERS !!

Very true. Also, those guys had grown up during the Depression when high calorie diets were not as commonplace as today.

Michael

[Ranger33]

In combat?

Okay I went and found it and got to that part. I take back that they did it regularly, but in this one case they did indeed start off an attack by climbing right over a full sized 8-12 ft hedgerow. In other places he talks about crawling through and hopping over the hedgerows, without indicating their size, as if they were fairly porous to infantry. Certainly the little gaps we see in CMBN are very realistic, and should be found in just about every line of hedgerows. If only to abstract thin spots if not actual gaps.

There is also a part where he talks about his unit briefly engaging a group of White Russian cavalry (yes, on horses), I dare ask, will this be modeled in CMBN? . He also claims to have run into a small number of Japanese troops in full Japanese uniform, surely for the sake of realism they will be in? (once again)

[Macisle]

Thats when "we" were farmers , mechanics , steel mill workers ... LABORERS !!

It's amazing how much things can change in only 30 years or so (people were still generally that thin back in the late 70' and early 80's). Human genetics don't change this fast. It's all lifestyle--which includes diet, exercise and all the frankenstein stuff making its way into food these days--noot to mention steroids/body supplements and the like.

I'm very glad that the body shapes in CM:BN are period. Those in CM:SF are also accurate for the time frame, but boy do I prefer the older, sleek look over the modern square-o hulk look.

For my part, I'm pushing 40 but still look like I could be one of the guys in the hedgerow shots (-wear 32 jeans with room to spare). I'm able to do it without dieting, because I live in Japan, love healthy Japanese food and mostly eat only that. Back when I lived in the States, I was exercising regularly, eating very healthy by current US standards (which are insane), and was still gradually getting middle-aged doughy (just comfortable in 34 jeans).

It's not uncommon at all to see men of any age here as thin as those in the pics. And, not uncommon at all so see women in their 50's and beyond with figures that US high school girls would envy.

It ain't genetics. It's the food, dude!

[Battlefront.com]

It's good to find people having difficulty with fighting through the hedgerows. That's the way it should be. Otherwise in WW2 they would have called them Hedgerow Heaven instead of Hedgerow Hell, because besides their deadly tactical implications they're rather pleasing to the eye

I do agree that map makers should make small breaks pretty much standard in most hedgerows most of the time. These should usually be located around logical footpaths, but a few randomly sprinkled here and there is a good idea to simulate the sort of thing MikeyD posted a picture of a few pages back.

Big breaks, such as what a tractor or horse draw wagon would pass through, should be fairly routine but more deliberately placed and interconnected with other map features.

And remember, these things are not "gamey". They existed in real life. But German MGs covering them from the safety of the other side of a hedgerow also existed in real life

Steve

[Battlefront.com]

It ain't genetics. It's the food, dude!

SO TRUE!! I collect post war uniforms from around the world. The Spanish uniforms I have from the late 1960s and early 1970s wouldn't fit most US kids (I'm talking the fit ones!) over the age of maybe 12. But the modern Spanish uniforms are on a par with any other modern nation. Did the genetic pool within Spain suddenly change in just one generation? No, of course not. What changed was Franco's inept policies were tossed out so the Spanish could actually get a decent meal on a regular basis.

Steve