Matrix Games Forums

Greets All

Just started playing steel panthers again after long long layoff (when game first came out) and was wondering if you guys could help me with these questions.

If I want to play by email but only have email at work and not home comp with game on it can I copy the files to disk then tranfer them by my work comp????

What are some of the useual email games like? Points and dont take this or you can have that type rules??? I know all are subject to change but what is common??

I love the big games (of course) but dont see to many post for huge games and was wondering why this is?

Is email play any differant than reg hotseat play??

Whats a big mistake you see rookies doing when they enter email play?

Well guess that should be all for now.

Thanx in advance to all that respond..

RI Gunz

Big games are fun but take longer thats most likely why you don't see as many

Rookies sometime rush in to fast.

Yes you can download the turn to a file and then take it to your computer ( I do it all the time when i am deployed )

Here is a general setup but all these can change

10% arty
no air
1-2 platoons of infiltrators ( many time players will go with no infiltrators )
I normally turn rarity off, its a little strange in what it determins rare IMO
no mines unless your engineers put them down.

Hope this helps

Hello and welcome back.

Yes, you can copy and play, then copy back your files. I often played my turns at work over lunch. You also may want to zip your game turns as soon as you get them. That way, if you have games in the same slot, you don't get them mixed up.

Usually you agree on points, place and map. Most people seem to like meeting engagements. Number of points vary, but I think 4-6000 make a good battle, fewer for earlier years.

Big games take too long to get not much done. They make online games take forever. They also turn into big frontal attacks and attrition matches.

Hotseat play is like online play vs. the computer. You have a time limit on your turn.

Biggest mistakes? Too many tanks, and armor way out in front of the infantry.

Hi and welcome abroad!

Regarding PBEM:
The files (for example email3.dat, email3.cmt, email3.rec, email3.cmt for slot3) should be well under 1.44 MB if you zip them, so that should work.

Regarding PBEM rules (Just my opinion):
- Limitation for artillery (10, 15 or 20 % of the purchase points) is very usefull
- limitations on the number of infiltrators (nice to have)
- limitations on the number of airstrikes (nice to have)


Regarding Rookie errors (since I'm NOT an expert, you should regard this with a grain of salt):
- Don't purchase too much armor (In my first PBEM, my opponent was purchasing lots of german tanks, while I had a lot of russian infantry. In the center of the map, there was a huge forrest. The rest is history....[:D])
- Don't use expensive tanks at close rtange - one time, on e of my opponents was happy to trade his T-34s for my Tigers at a 1:1 exchange rate at close range
- Don't ignore combined arms - use your artillery in close connection with your mobile units

Regarding big games:
Just post under 'SP:WaW Opponents Wanted' that you want to play a big game (with tens of K purchase points), and I'm sure that you will find an opponent sooner or later.

Kind regards,
Roland

A new newbie here: I am making my own maps in editor and then using them with the battle button to make games for PBEM. My problem is that the computer keeps putting the reinforcement and retreat hexes on the opposite (wrong) side of the map. I can set the right hexes in editor, per the the manual, and save these to the map file but they don't carry through to games set up with the battle button though the victory objectives do. What am I missing?

That is an old problem and no one seems to have a real answer. I have found that the computer will usually put the lowest ordered nation, according to the flags, on the left. This does not seem to be entirely true, but is a major component. Keep in mine that the computer will always reset the reinforcement and retreat flags when ever you start a battle. The work around for this is, assuming you trust your opponent, is to build the scenario in the editor, then play it as a user designd scenario.

Two answers:

1. Set up a computer generated battle. If the computer sets up a Free French v Germany battle with Germany on the right, don't attempt to make your map with Germany on the left. Similarly for other nations.

2. Set up your battle with your designed map in pbem mode with password such as 1 or a then play the first few turns against yourself. If your map appears correct with the reinforcement flags and retreat flags on the correct side, it should work against a pbem opponent. If not, redesign your map for play from opposite sides.