DreDay

Perhaps they were trying to follow the footsteps of Russian Federation's first president, who had tried something similar (albeit with a much smaller charge) in his younger years?

That's real life though; I appreciate the CMBS team keeping things realistic like that. The word on this side of the pond is that such OOB has less to do with Syria and more with Crimea-type scenarios (I.e. soft occupation). It is thought that more mobility and less armor is preferred under such conditions.

No need to apologize, friend. Your input is always welcomed! Just FYI, here is one of the articles quoting Shoigu on this. He had actually said that the minimum was 120hr/yr; not 140. It still seems pretty high for a minimum, as in the Soviet VVS - that was pretty much the average annual flight time (during peace time of course). https://ria.ru/defense_safety/20161222/1484341140.html

Welcome back. I tend to agree; I did not see anything resembling a Pantsir there (although the resolution makes it difficult to say for sure. Based on what I've read - SAA Pnatsirs are positioned around Damascus to protect key installations and political leadership.

Good to know. I usually follow the same conventions, except that I tend to make recon/snipers elite in order to reflect their special skills and training. I am not sure how to feel about Russian NCOs. At this point IRL they are all professionals with appropriate training; as opposed to the old Soviet model. Perhaps our Ukrainian friends can enlighten us on the NCO selection process in ZSU?

Ok, so several people on this forum have complained that we barely ever talk about the game itself any more. It's a fair point; and as someone who has gone of on a tangent more than a few times, I feel my share of responsibility to get us back on track. So here is my question - it appears to me that both Russian and Ukrainian units in CMBS have same (very low) default training and morale; while Americans have much higher skills. Now I agre with Americans have top training. However it seems to me that Russians should be somewhere between Ukrainians and US. Generally speaking, Russians spend more time in training and maneuvers than their ZSU counterparts. They should also be represented only by professional soldiers (per Russian laws) and their officers and NCOs should have slightly higher ratings due to the more extensive training that they recieve. This is obviously only relevant for regular units - airborne, marines, SOF are a whole different story. This is not meant to insult our Ukrainian members for a second - your guys have proven that they fight hard and with valor; I just want to make the game a little more realistic and challenging. What do you guys think?

I believe that the latest report by Shoigu had mentioned that all Russian combat pilots flew a minimum of 140 hr/yr in order to qualify as "combat-ready". Are those the same figures that you are referring to; or do you have access to more confidential numbers?

Good points. All of it seems fair and probable.

1. I see South Korea and Japan as major financial loosers in such scenario; past droops in the GDP of these two countries have not correlated with similar effects in Russia, AFAIK... 2.1 You might want to double check your numbers. The salaries for Russian and Chinese middle class are roughly comparable; hover China has a huge agrarian underclass that lives in extreme poverty. I don't see how the Chines would want to artificially grow their population before such gap is resolved 2.2 I would say several hundred skill NK citizens would already make a dent. 3.2 I am picturing a scenario where entire families would move to peace and stability offer by Russia. The example of Central Asian migrant workers is not really applicable here. 5.2 Again, we are talking about educated middle class families; besides Russia already has Korean diasporas that have assimilated quite fine and live a productive and fruitful life 6.2 Given the return to Russian population decline that was brought on by the crisis in 1990s; Russians are in a desperate need of "quality" migrant inflow. I have to disagree with your comparison of Central Asian gastarbaiters to the Koreans. Those are totally different calttures and societies; both have a lot to offer; but while Cental Asian laborers are comoditized, middle class Koreans offer highly needed skills and capabilities.

I guess what we are saying (if I understand my fellow forum members correctly) is that they could be willing help in order to improve the relations with US and Japan (which we have not brought into this discussion yet). Unfortunately though, our current diplomatic shortsightedness; prevents them from taking such initiatives. Instead they are asking us to "Show them the money" before they move a finger.

Fair enough. I believe that Frunze was supposed to train its cadets to become regimental and brigade commanders; but I guess you are right - they could only be promoted to senior officer ranks upon graduation. I can't speak for SVR or GRU either, but it seems to me that PDRK counter-intel was a lot more concearned with the Southeners rather than their Northen comrades.

Mass migration of skilled and educated Koreans as a result of humanitarian crisis caused by war. Again - think of Armenians that fled to Russia to escape pogroms in late 80s; I hope you'll agree that they have proven their worth to the Russian society.

I admit that I am a little behind the curve on this, but back in the 90's there were dozens of DPRK senior officers in the Frunze military academy. Are you saying that they have all been purged now? Then who exactly has replaced them? I might be mistaken, but I have always imgained NK to be a paradise for SVR and GRU "illegals".

Please correct me if I am wrong, but the current generation of NK gastarbaiters are just low-skilled seasonal workers; aren't they? I am talking about a senerio where whole middle class families migrate there (sort of like many Armenians did in the late 80s). I think that you know as well as I do, how highly Russians value educated Koreans for their work-ethic, discipline, and accountability.

That is correct, however let's also not forget that Russia has huge influence over NK senior officer staff (most of whom are Russian-trained, and some might be Russian-financed). Those are not the type of cadre whose opinion Kim can afford to ignore.