Just to report that after looking into it Greg Wilcox of Matrix found something and fixed it, and it now seems to work.

(Don't ask me what he fixed, I just care that it works)

Thanks![:)]

<t> OK, I tried installing on an old laptop (which didn't meet the 512MB minima). The game installed OK, and even ran. Any patch I tried to install got the same "Invalid Serial Number" message, whether I tried to type it or cut-and-pasted it.<br/>
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Looks like I have a serial number that the ...

<t> Yes, I did send him the info. If I'm a one-off, I may try to install the game on a different PC and see if the same problem occurs. (When it was installed on my old, XP, machine, I never had this issue. It's now occcurring on a Vista machine. I'm sure it isn't Vista as such, since no-one else ...

For what it's worth, the new patch does exactly the same, too. A bit frustrating.

I'll retry, but it was the same clipboard text as before.

Yep, actually typed it this time, no trailing space for sure, same message.

<t> Yes, serial number exactly as per the xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx format - it was the same format as the main installation<br/>
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(I actually ctrl-C'ed it from the email and ctrl-V'ed it for the main installation and then the patch. I'd not done anything else with the PC during the time, so it was ...

<t> In the process of reinstalling COTA on a new PC (the old one having died) and the basic installation went ok.<br/>
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I then tried to install the 2008 FEB 29 - COTA Patch v3.3.147E patch (which seemed to Dl ok) and although it started fine it then asked for a serial number, and when I used ...

<t> I'd much rather have a game that comes with a pdf that gives me the option to print it in a large legible type face or read on-screen versus some companies that produce unreadable manuals (grey on grey typeface - brilliant - with a grayscale image superimposed) AND refuse to provide pdf versions ...

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd

Ouch. $49.99!

Oh well...where's my credit card?

Isn't that a price reduction from the original information - I have a vague recollection of being told it would be $60 or so at one point.

<r> <QUOTE><s>[quote]</s>ORIGINAL: Neilster<br/>
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It causes great confusion for tourists though. Outside pubs, in an effort to insist on decent footwear, there is often a sign saying "No thongs" which can cause consternation among young, female patrons from overseas.
<e>[/quote]</e></QUOTE ...

ORIGINAL: Feralkoala

Maybe The Pity of War by Niall Ferguson. One of his contentions is that Great Britain unnecessarily entered WW I.

No alternate reality scenario in it, though, IIRC.

<r> <QUOTE><s>[quote]</s>ORIGINAL: sterckxe<br/>
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Ok - the virgin goat gets slaughtered tonight [;)]<br/>

<e>[/quote]</e></QUOTE>
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Its always a mistake to keep live farm animals near antipodeans if you want any work done, about time you slaughtered it.<br/>
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Though you might ...

That looks stunning; great find.

<r> <QUOTE><s>[quote]</s>It IS a true CIV. <e>[/quote]</e></QUOTE>
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What's even funnier is all the hero-worship feeding Sid Meier's ego about how he's the "inventor" of Civilization's concepts .... if anyone deserves credit as "father of the concept" it's the original inventor, not some knock ...

Isn't North Korea still using some An-2s for special forces low alt insertion ops.

In all likelihood, they are actual WW2 era airframes, rather than a (heavily modified) WW2-era design like the Canberra....

<r> The Blackburn Beverley is pretty ugly too.... the undercarraige is fixed, by the way. Just, well, because.<br/>
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<IMG src="https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/upfiles/11817/04C440D6922D4A0381B88E1543FA00A6.jpg"><s>[img]</s><URL url="https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/upfiles/11817 ...

<r> Almost anything from Blackburn and General Aircraft, or their predecessors, stands a decent shot at the title.<br/>
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The Skua/Roc is actually pretty good by Blackburn standards; some of the inter-war stuff was diabolical. They must have shot the entire design office after the war, because ...

<t> No, the best you can do re the campaign is to play the various scenarios "from bottom to top" but they aren't linked (so you'll always get XXX Corps entering in a historical fashion for the Arnhem scenario, whatever you do in the 101st and 82nd areas). The best you could do is bias the ...

I have no advice to offer, but have found the same inability to form up in situ for an attack.

It's even worse with paras - they take so long to walk back then forwards they end up fatigued too....

<r> <QUOTE><s>[quote]</s>ORIGINAL: Beery<br/>
Maybe this is a silly question, but would it not be possible to create a full Market Garden campaign by having the player play the full Neerpelt scenario, then having the game system automatically transfer the remaining units after the conclusion of the ...