New Upgrade Patch For WinSPWW2!

There's a new upgrade-patch out for Win SPWW2. Read the details in Shrapnel Games' newsrelease:

Woo hoo, a new upgrade patch for winSPWW2! Once again Camo Workshop has shown why they are masters at their craft. The version 4.0 upgrade patch not only provides the typical bug corrections found in patches, but it also provides plenty of awesome new content. When you consider the first mod work done to the Steel Panthers series by Camo Workshop was begun over a decade ago, it's pretty amazing that ten years later they can still find cool new features to add!

Overall, here's what you get with the 4.0 upgrade:
22 New scenarios
52 Revised scenarios
6 Revised campaigns including the ANZAC campaign
96 New or revised photos
29 New Icons
36 Updated OOB files
40 New or revised text files
4 Revised Sound files
17 Revised graphic files
Upgraded ScenHack, MOBHack, and Cost Calculator

Additionally, there are twenty changes/ additions/ corrections to the game, such as:

New explosive class added giving players booby traps, demo charges, and fougasse.

Buildings that are destroyed and collapse on units can cause casualties.

A tank turning its hull to face an enemy will no longer turn the hull directly 90 degrees.

Passengers dismounting from a vehicle in a minefield will be tested to check for mines being set off.

All OOBs have had every unit and formation trimmed back to 12/46 where the OOB still existed in 1946. All OOBs have been checked for units that started before 1930 and the few that were found have been corrected to 1930.

An extensive comb through of the weapon list was done to correct deviant and erroneous errors.

Two development programs are now available: ArmourCalc and APCalc_WW2. Useful tools for gamers really looking to get into the nuts and bolts of winSPWW2.

And of course, many other changes that are detailed in the updated documentation when the upgrade patch is applied.

The winSPWW2 OOBs as of version 4.0 now contain 12,143 units, 4,626 weapons, and 6,769 formations. This is truly a game that you can play for the rest of your life and not get bored with.

To download the 4.0 upgrade head over to the official winSPWW2 product page. If you missed out on previous upgrades make sure you apply the patches in order.

Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF YOU!

Here's a little poem to go with the festivities ;-)

Christmas

I've been getting ready for Christmas
I'm revving up for the great day
my credit card's cracked and my freezer is packed
'cause I started my shopping in May

The mistletoe's hanging in bunches
'cause the odd Christmas kiss isn't wrong
and the Vicar I've found - quite likes calling round
and exploring my crowns with his tongue

The bin men have gotten quite friendly
they're after a present I fear
they won't feel so chuffed when I tell them - get stuffed
'cause they don't speak the rest of the year

The family is coming for dinner
last year it was quite a good laugh
we ate fairly late - dished the veg on the plate
found the turkey was still in the bath

the Kids are all pink with excitement
'cause Santa will come so they say
their lists are extensive - extremely expensive
and they'll break it all by Boxing day

But it's worth all that fuss Christmas morning
when their little eyes are all aglow
when we're all feeling merry full of goodwill and sherry
and suffering from wind Ho Ho Ho

But please don't forget why we do it
why each year we must go to this fuss
for that guy up above who brought peace and brought love
and who probably owns Toys R Us..........

Liz Garrad

Interview with Jeff Shaara...

With a criminology degree and a thriving rare-coins business, Jeff Shaara didn’t plan to follow in his novelist father’s footsteps—even after Michael Shaara won a Pulitzer in 1975 for The Killer Angels. But when Michael died in 1988, Jeff decided to manage his dad’s estate.

One result: two movies (Gettysburg, For Love of the Game) from Michael’s books. Another: Jeff began to write a string of bestselling novels about American conflicts from the Revolution to World War I.

Still, he hesitated to tackle World War II: “What can I possibly tell people that they don’t already know?” He says his research persuaded him there was a lot beyond “Hollywood history, which is unfortunately how most people learn about it.” His first two World War II novels (The Rising Tide, The Steel Wave) deal with North Africa, Sicily, and Italy. No Less Than Victory, the European finale, appears in November.

I read the first two World War 2 novels by Jeff. They deliver historical facts coupled with immersing fiction. In short: GREAT reading!

Here's the link to an interview with Jeff Shaara on HistoryNet.

Escape From East Prussia

In the last few days I've been reading parts of "Flucht über die Ostsee 1944/45 im Bild" (Escape Over The Baltic Sea 1944/45 in Pictures) by Heinz Schön. I's published by Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart. ISBN 3-613-01061-5.



Thought I'd share some of the wealth of impressive pictures with you.

Königsberg after the British bombardments of august 1944.

Russian infantry 1944 in the Baltic

Pitiful rest of a treck on the Frisches Haff