DMS

Why Khrizantema's visibility in game is much worse than BMP-3 if Khrizantema is literally built on BMP-3 chassis and has improved vision equipment, including radar?

Testing C2 with a BMP formation and I found that dismounted infantry very quickly lost contact with their platoon leader and with their personal BMPs (Iron difficulty). I felt that this was odd and was doing some searching and found that (apparently) each squad leader would be equipped with a personal radio (R-126, R-352) for dismounted use. This handheld radio acted as a link between the dismounted squad leader and his personal BMP. The BMPs internal radio then connected with the rest of the formation.

So in this instance Coy Commander at top, PL at bottom right:




The entire platoon and Coy Commander should be connected. But in-game a large portion of the formation is shown as out of C2. They would be in communication via a long game of telephone but they would be in connection regardless and the individual squads would seem to be decently connected to their individual vehicle.  For instance, if the Plt. Leader wished to communicate to his personal BMP he would be able to while dismounted. Further if he wanted to communicate to Squad 2 he could.

Plt. Leader -> PL BMP -> Squad 2 BMP -> Squad 2 and then back Squad 2 -> Squad 2 BMP -> PL BMP -> PL

----

Is there any reason that this is not being modeled or am I missing something?






 
 

And still "Bloodlands" is not a scientific work, it is popular work. Book for a mass reader. Without new facts, but with "interesting narative". 
Author is very loose to definitions. He calls Soviet peasants slaves. Writes that "kulaks" had to be "annihilated" like they had to be killed, not like they had to become ordinary farmers. He doesn't explain who was kulaks. Reader has an impression that kulak is just a peasant, not a local capitalist with opressed hired workers and a gang of thugs, who beat out debts. He says nothing about confrontation between poor peasants and kulaks. There was a long history of violence since 1920s, kulaks and poor farmers assaulted, killed each other. He tells that kulaks had to be destroyed as a class, then tells about famine. Like famine was planned by authorities to destroy kulaks. Is it academical work? It is not even a good textbook for students. If he is competent, why does he write this? To tell simple emotional story for mass reader? 
But okay. If this work correctly describes reality, why Ukrainians, cossacks didn't start a rebellion after German invasion? Why did they fight for Red army in mass? They were genocided, but heroically fought for those who killed them few years before, it is illogical. I can post a list of cossack cavalry divisions, formed in southern regions, if you want.

To give you the real reason why Barbarossa failed - and to end this nonsense about potential uprising of Soviet people - I will give you some quotes from German sources from the first weeks of war:
 
Yet, in spite of its success, the panzer group’s war diary includes the observation:
Where the enemy appears he f i ghts tenaciously and courageously to the death.
Defectors and those seeking to surrender were not reported from any positions.
The struggle, as a result, will be harder than those in Poland and the Western campaign.
In similar fashion the commander of the XXXXIII Army Corps in Kluge’s 4th Army, General of Infantry Gotthard Heinrici, wrote home to his family on 24 June that the Soviet solder fought ‘very hard’. Heinrici then concluded: ‘He is a much better soldier than the Frenchman.
Extremely tough, devious and deceitful.’
As Bock noted for 24 June:
The Russians are defending themselves desperately; heavy counterattacks near Grodno against the VIII and XX Army Corps; Panzer Group Guderian is also being held up near Slonim by enemy counterattacks.
ne regiment of the division was assigned to assault the Soviet defences which resulted in a tenacious three-day battle. The company commander’s battalion alone suffered 150 casualties. In another infantry division from 4th Army, Lieutenant Georg Kreuter noted on 25 June: ‘We cannot move forward, everywhere there are small battles. Above all at night. .. Very close to me four off i cers have fallen. They will soon be buried together with other comrades in the town [Ozgmowicz]. Under no circumstances can this continue!!’
The following account comes from Colonel Erhard Raus of the neigh-bouring battle group:
It was not so much the numerical superiority of the enemy which made the situation precarious for our command and troops, but the totally unexpected appearance of colossal tanks for which German tanks and anti-tank weapons appeared to be no match. ..Even the concentrated fire of the artillery and all other heavy weapons of the Kampfgruppe [Battle Group] was not able to keep off the steel pachyderms. Though enveloped in fire and smoke, they immediately started attacking and crushed every thing in their paths. Untroubled by the shower of heavy howitzer shells and earth falling down upon them, they attacked road block 121 in spite of the f l anking firee of the anti-tank guns from the wooded areas, rolled over the anti-tank guns dug in there and broke into the artillery area.
About one hundred friendly tanks, one-third of them were Panzer IVs, now assembled for a counterattack. Some of them faced the enemy in front, but the bulk made an assault from the f l anks. From three sides, their shells hammered against the steel giants, but the effort to destroy them was in vain. On the other hand, very soon we had casualties ourselves.
. On 26 June Halder stated in his diary ‘Army Group South is advancing slowly, unfortunately with considerable losses.’
The Operations Off i cer at OKH responsible for Army Group South further noted: ‘Russians are standing their ground excellently;
down here there is exceptionally systematic command.’
Following the war from his off i ce in Berlin, Goebbels noted in his diary:
‘The f i rst big pocket is beginning to close...But they are f i ghting well and have learned a great deal even since Sunday.’76At the front, a liaison off i cer from Panzer Group 3 visiting the 20th Panzer Division reported:
‘Of the enemy there exists the impression that his infantry is many times numerically superior and very good to the bitter end. Colonel von Bis-mark used the expression “fantastic”.’
Already on 26 June Ernst-G¨ unter Merten, a soldier in 4th Army, noted the diff i culty of f i ghting in the densely wooded terrain.
These bloody Russian forests! One loses the overview of who is a friend and who isanenemy.Soweareshootingatourselves. ..TheIIcompanywasencircledand came back with 55 men. ‘Worse than at Verdun!’ said Lieutenant-Colonel von L¨ ohneysen.
h). Yet Hoth’s commentary on the motivation of enemy soldiers was equally enlightening and, if accu-rate, constituted a decidedly adverse development for the Germans. ‘The Russian soldier’, Hoth judged, ‘f i ghts not out of fear, rather idea. He does not want to return to the tsarist time.’ 

Perhaps he was rude to a garage mechanic.

NKVD were atheists.

Don't mix politics with history. You don't like Stalin, it is understandable, but if he was a bad person - it doesn't mean that all his decisions were stupid, he was hated by everyone e.t.c. 
"He had no plan for how to handle a German mobile offensive."
It was no good plan while Germans had huge mechanised forces, 4 tank groups. (France was conquered by 1) Rifle units on foot would be outmaneuvered anyway. Defense in depth? They would be beaten by parts. And Soviet tank units had organisational problems, not enough trucks, artillery tractors. Industry couldn't produce enough of them. That's why Soviet tank counter attacks often lacked artillery and infantry support. Not because "oh, they didn't know that combined arms attack is more effective", but because of industry limitations. That's why German 88s could destroy KVs, T-34s and infantry easily throw charges on them. Everything has rational explanations, without this "ideology".

Maybe they were happy that Russia was no longer a feudal society in which peasants were considered private property of the local lord.

I'm not sure are your sincerely mistaken or trolling. Really? Is that video with song "Дядя Вова мы с тобой" (boy sings "Vladimir Putin is a good guy") considered seriously in Russian internet? Cool song, nice boy, so touching words, like that? Isn't "lifting from knees" 2000-s era propaganda slogan (when relations with West were good, by the way) repeated with sarcasm nowdays? So you really think that people say or think that "Putin lifted Russian from the knees"? You must be well speaking Russian and should understand the sense. You must be intentionally "misunderstanding".

I see there evolution of Bandera-like 1930-s ideologemes about spoiled moscovites with ugly culture. Sad that western powers pursue far-right ideologies in their own countries but don't demand from Ukraine to stop encouraging local rightists... Though, I should mention that Russia does the same, helping to right parties in Europe. Sorry for politics, but really, I can't just skip that nonsense about naturally autocratic, violence loving Russians.

3-rd platoon became SMG platoon (but with MGs and snipers), 1-2 were rifle platoons. In rifle company were 3 platoons.
I doubt that "heavy squads" with 2 MGs were really widely used. With exception to summer 43 near Kursk, where Guard armies were well prepared to defence and really had many MGs (>400 for division).

In the end of war platoons could have only 2-3 MGs. (With few magazines, by the way. With 1-2 47 round magazines for each DP in some "tired" divisions) So "heavy" squad was squad with 1 MG, not with 2 MGs.  
And few messengers, unlike German Company CO. So company usually acted as 1 unit, having all 3 platoons in 1 formation. And platoons didn't have their own transport, unlike German platoons. 
Soviet doctrine gave more focus to maneuver than to fire. Fire elements were MG and mortar companies at battalion level, HMG at company level. (50mm mortars were mainly dropped by 44-45) MGs usually had few mags and were not expected to perform long firefight. Company had to get as close as possible after hits of own artillery, in formation with other companies.
Urban warfare doctrine was different, based around company level assault groups.

@The_Capt.. Warren, this has been a brilliantly written and presented AAR.  Bravo.  I actually laughed out loud a couple times.
Well played game as well... as always you have been a worthy opponent.  
Bil

I can't really comment definitively on price as I think they are still tweaking the QB but right now they are somewhere around 75% the cost of the T64.  Basically in a Large game you can get a LOT of them but you will need to watch the terrain.  The T62 is very effect at close range 1500 and below, which I think you can see in this game.  Its armor is ok but it is not going to stand up to concentrated fire.  It gun is excellent at shorter ranges, I have seen a T62 kill an M60A3 in the front at 1000m.
So I guess the short answer is that it is a fine tank if you know how to use it...en masse, closing distance quickly and knife fighting.
I personally prefer it over the T72, which really feels to me like the red-headed stepchild in this title.  This tank gets lot of press but it never was really taken seriously by the Soviets, a cheap export model.  Now the T64B and T80s are a different story, the T80 is rarer but begins to catch up on spotting/sniping and the T64B is the second only to the M1 (and much, much cheaper) for being an all around beast, its frontal armor is excellent and the gun is brutal.  The T64B is probably my favorite tank in the game. 

Glorious March to Victory Post #13 - "The Song of Small German Town 1980"
So on the very next turn Bil has offered ceasefire...we have playing together for a long time.  We have decided to do the final debrief at the same time, so I will wait for Bil to catch up a bit.
But I could not leave the second to last turn hanging because it represents this battle so well:
You remember the stand off on the Red Knoll at the end of turn 31...well here is how it played out:

My T62 got off the first shot and it was a killer (note the now-deaf-est Soviet Pl HQ in the ETO circled)
Then this happens:

Seriously, this is like the freakin ending of Reservoir Dogs at this point.  BTW I found out later, that M60 is immobilized by my heroic second squad.
So here we are at what is essentially End Game:

I will leave you to speculate as where things landed....
I can tell you that the fight over this non-descript little town in West Germany created so many pixel heroes in less than an hour.  I hope you have enjoyed it a fraction of as much as it was to play.
 

Glorious March to Victory Post #12 - "We Try Harder" (25-31)
So based on observation, I am seeing quite a few "likes" (thank you btw) but few comments, which tells me that I am probably telling you all something that Bil has already posted.  So for fear of getting left behind in the narrative I am just going to pull you all the way to where we are as of today.
I want to say up front that no matter how this ends, this is a really good game.  This is one for the books.  You can tell when everything feels so finely balanced and you and your opponent are fencing on a tightrope.  every PBEM turn gets the heartrate up!  
When I left you things were not looking so good for the brave soldiers of the Soviet Union.  But like the superior communist system, Soviets know how and when to pick themselves up and get back to it.

So not much but re-positioning in Turn 25 as I scramble to re-establish a parameter up on the ridge, Bil pulled back so that all proceeds.  The only interesting thing happens here near the end of the turn.  Looky here comrade the corrupt capitalist system thinks that they are so clever...looks like Bil is taking the deep left option after all.

The next turn I immediately start repositioning my remaining T64 on the left in order to form a blocking position on my left (that poor BMP got nailed by a second Cobra before I scared it off).  Bil could try and hide in the that wood line but we are past that now, he is going to try and roll me up (more on my logic later).  Meanwhile back on what is now called Red Knoll:

My intent here is to establish a hard point and pull Bils forces in, this time however, I am pushing infantry up front.  Note that an ATGM duel is forming up with that M150 and a BMP on the right here.

Which we win.  That should be about 4 out of 6 M150s killed.  Another sign of a really good game is the emergence of all the micro-dramas.  Here there are literally a hundred small stories all unfolding simultaneously, here is one:

So that brave little infantry squad breaks out of that tree line and sees a M60 monster...do they run and hide...nope they open up like it is the last thing they will ever do (and literally is).  Those are both the RPG 18 and RPG 7 firing simultaneously right at the turns end.  Finally on back on the Hwy:

So yep, pretty much as I expected this is an attempted roll up...oh Bil, you tired foolish old man, did you think I would leave the door open?  So here I am re-positioning another T64 and BMP to bottle up that Hwy ploy.  Onto Turn 28 and things start to turn:

My brave little squad misses, and then die in a hail of glory but they spook the crap out of those M60s, who promptly back off buying time for my T62s.  You can see here another T62 I snuck up from the village in the woods, so I have got a pretty good bead on this.

Meanwhile back on the Hwy, Bil's M60 here get spooked by a lone Recon Pl HQ and I start hunting that T64 forward.  I am starting to feel a bit like we are getting back up and then this happens:

Back in the center, Bil still has some armor with eyes on the objective (note: he is still pounding that nearly-empty suburb like it slept with his wife).  My poor immobilized T64 nails this M60 in a single blistering 125mm of bad-love.
Onto Turn 29.

 So on this turn is a positioning turn on the Red Knoll and Hwy, Bill has brought up at least one M60 to reinforce up here, so a lot of micro-drama potential.  And on the other side:

The bottleneck force is shaping up nicely..so the stage is set for another showdown.  
Turn 30 and things start to click:

It starts with this showdown at near-point-blank range.  The M60 fires first but (I like to think my little infantry squad (now all heroes of the Soviet Union) killed the crew commander and rattled that tank so badly that..) it misses.  My T62 does not, because cold steel runs in Soviet veins

Ok, now this is a Balls Game!  Back in the center:
 
DPICM, the last refuge of the desperate (seriously I think we may have overloaded on arty, and of course EW makes most of mine near useless).  But again Bil doubles down on that lone squad and MG team (who have taken a single casualty after all this)  A hint for anyone who plays Bil...he has problems with artillery.
But all is not good news:

This one hurt but it is a straight up "war happens moment so deal with it".  I start to push that T64 up a bit to try and snipe that M60 and he gets killed...gotta admit that one hurt.
Turn 31 and we are nearly caught up.

So up on the Red Knoll, Bil is stubbornly pushing with his 3 M60s (counting the dead one, that is a full third of his armor)  A second squad wins the Hero of the Soviet Union here by fearlessly opening up on two M60s and here they get an RPG 7 off before also being chopped up.

Which hits but I have no sight on the tank so I can only hope it at least rattled them up a bit.  The back on the Hwy:

My other T64, cooly drops that M60 like first period French (swear to god if I had all T64s this game would be over by now).  Back on Red Knoll the turn ends with this: 
Both barrels are lined up and loaded.  This screenshot pretty much captures this entire freakin game!
Ok, my assessment with 9 mins left on the clock.  So, Bil is seriously considering ceasefire right now cause even int guys can do math.  My force on the objective is still very solid with the better part of an infantry Coy and 2 x T62s (I sent the other one back), so the odds of him taking it (which were never great given his force) are low.  He could try a gamey sneak in the last minute of the game but I doubt it.  
So his problem here is one of points.  The US get points for cutting me down past 50% but they need to keep their own force above 50% and based on losses so far he has to be concerned about that buffer.  I am definitely closer (I may be below 50% right now) but even-losses at this point would be fatal to the US side.  And in the last 4 minutes I have lost a single T64 and BMP to at least 3 x M60s and an M150.   By my math Bils armor is precariously down to 50% (and I suspect at least one tank is gun-killed)...and I still have a lot of those nasty BMPs on the board who can all kill Bil's...well, anything.  
Regardless, even if we ended it now, I think this game is a Draw (at least right now).  In reality both forces are at a standstill (even if the US side has not realized it yet) in what has been a see-saw battle that has left me with scars and some therapy requirements.  The Blood-Red Dice still will roll, so we will see.
Capt's AAR Battle Theme Song
 

Glorious March to Victory Post # 10 - "The Nadir" (21-24)
  So in every engagement it is normal to have a low-point and for my troops this was right here.  Everything that can go wrong, does, and nothing really goes right.  Worse, it is the point that you can clearly see your mistakes...after you have already made them.  I have found that in this position it is where the true mettle (and metal) is tested and one must 1) admit the errors and 2) come up with a way out, cause no one else is not going to do it for you.
   So the decent started pretty innocently enough in turn 21:

That brave little BMP that is responsible for probably half the damage I have done to Bil thus far did not make it out.  It was completely out of AT3s by this point but I wanted that little crew to make it...sadly...

So at this point I am still pushing up that ridge in pursuit of Bil's forces.  My aim here is to keep the old man on his back feet in order to make sure he does not collect enough combat power to re-take the objective...and to kill as much as possible with a pretty potent force.  But then badness started to happen:

Ok, despite being on the wrong end of things, this shot is really cool.  That is a newly modeled Dragon missile about to take out a T62...oh, yes that's right, Bil has Dragons.

And they work.   Then down in the village:

Bil's creeping tank platoon sees one of my T62s first and well...ok, I can live with this.  Going to have to break a few tanks to make a tank omelet.   But as we move into Turn 22 it is time to admit that I have a long standing problem:

Yep, I am an over-extender always have been.  I do not know why the siren song of the offence always pull me in but it does.  And here it is in action.  My armor is taking off on my infantry in the best blitz tradition...and it is not a good thing.  But all is not bad news:

Down in the town, my second T62 takes out another M60.  So all in all, I tell myself, it is not that bad....oh foolish past The_Capt....so foolish.  Turn 23...sigh:

Right about here it dawns on me that maybe charging forward was a bad idea.  That is a second Dragon kill.  So I am thinking about holding up and letting my infantry catch up, right about here.  It is not all bad news though:

As the Soviet player, that is a very happy screen shot.  My MANPADs are doing their job.  But then I notice this:

Ya, so all those other icons up on the hill I have been tracking...but that is a new one and it is very bad news.  So I swing a couple T62s and a BMP over because maybe Bill is scratching around the backdoor.
Turn 24: as with most of these things...just a little too late.  An extra 30 seconds maybe but Bil's last tank platoon looks to have finally showed up.  Of course I suspected there was another one up here and of course it shows up in exactly the wrong place, at the wrong time.  And from here it just get uglier:

This is an interesting shot actually, first that is a second T62 (so 4 lost on that hill in about 3 mins) dying, but that is also a 73mm BMP 1 round actually hitting and penetrating an M60 (I think it was HEAT)...but not enough by a long shot:

So here the gods of war clearly are punishing me.  That BMP died for trying but those two explosions are AT3s that both miss (seriously?!)
Ok, so 'new plan' cause the old one clearly was not working.  I am going to have to swing what is left of my Teeth (now with quite a few knocked out....see that last BMP dying on the far right) and consolidate on the hilltop.  I will fend off this tank platoon, while at the same time really dig in on the objective.  The sad part is that right about here, I am out of offensive options.  I will need to play defense from here on out and am basically fighting to hold the objective.  
By this point I have a couple M60 kills, Bils M150s are pretty depleted, a couple M113s and a some scouts...oh and a Cobra.  That is not enough for 5 x T62s (half my force) and 2 x BMPs.  At least my screens and infantry are intact.  A side-note, Bil is really obsessed with the outskirts of the objective (that hashed blue line) and for the life of me I cannot figure out why.  Seriously, we are quite a few turns ahead as of writing this and he spends the next ten minute pounding the same  peice of real-estate, that basically has a single squad and MG team trapped in it.
Anyway, live, learn and love and all that.  I will post up the next series tomorrow...things do get better.
 

The Twenty-First & Twenty-Second Minutes – Beyond Here, There be Dragons
“Battles are won by slaughter and maneuver.  The greater the General, the more he contributes to maneuver, the less he demands in slaughter.”
Winston Churchill
 
There was a second T-62 in Dolbach, and this one caught one of 2nd Platoon's tanks.. after two penetrations...

On my far left with the delay force, Warren's T-64B across the map caught one of my M-113s trying to withdraw and took it out with one round.

It's obvious now that this Soviet force has taken the bait and is pushing into my Scout teams, obviously trying to go on an APC killing spree.  Note my Tank Section 1 (1st Platoon) is moving up carefully.. if they are spotted Warren hasn't shown any reaction. 

The Soviets are leading with their tanks... oh joy... well my lead 3rd platoon Dragon team takes a quick shot (note this took about 10 seconds from spot to launch).  

The result.. another burning T-62.

This team was heroic.. firing a LAW at a BMP, which alas went high (you can see the rocket just above the BMP)...

...but also a 40mm HEDP round which hits and penetrates!  The BMP was withdrawing as the turn ran down. 
This team has another T-62 in its sights for next turn... if that damned Dragon can finish reloading before they eat an HE round!

Tank Section 1 is closing in... note how I am staying close to the trees to remain out of the LOS of that damned T-64B across the valley.  I'm curious to see Warren's reaction when he notices these guys coming up his rear.  I really hope he didn't leave a couple dismounted teams in these trees...  ..but I think this is an armored attack.. I have seen no hint of any dismounts (other than the dismounted tank crew)... still.

Oh.. and my support started to arrive.    Including my mortars and 155mm battery falling on Dolbach.. and my two AH-1s arrived in zone... though I do lose one to a MANPAD.
Oh!  And some great news!  My Cluster munitions Battery freed up and I was able to plot them this turn too.. it'll arrive in six minutes.  

After looking at my options with the Short route.. now that my tanks are here.. the less I am liking it. I wanted to drive up the flank of the enemy BMPs in the treeline overlooking my right.. but that looks hazardous.  
So.. remaining ever flexible, I have decided to pull all of the 3rd Platoon tanks out of the stream bed and push them around the right and deep onto the Soviet held road.  Note the smoke rounds used to block Warren's eyes on this movement.  Once they get on the road there will be very little left to stop them.  On my right (Warren's left) he has two damaged T-64As and some BMPs.  But this type of fight will not be to the BMP's advantage, it'll be fast and close.

The Nineteenth & Twentieth Minutes
“The important thing in strategy is to suppress the enemy's useful actions but allow his useless actions”
A Book of Five Rings - Miyomoto Musashi

Starting to get HOT... this is a long one.. so buckle up!!  
These two minutes of action unfold a lot of important developments for this battle.  On my right, 2nd Platoon/s tanks made it to the low ground that composes the Short Option...

...one of them gets a spot on Warren's star killer BMP-1P in the treeline across the map and after some back and forth missed shots it finally lands one... damn fine shooting for a vanilla M-60A1 on the move.

 
One of 3rd Platoon's M-150s spots and fires at the T-64A that was beaten up by 1st Platoon's Tank Section 2 last turn (and again in these turns) as it withdrew through the woods into the open ground... the M-150 does hit with its TOW.. but the T-64 shrugged off even that blow.  However.. I would be surprised if any of Warren'e two surviving T-64As have a working gun now.  


 
On my left Warren is indeed up to something, the action was preceded by an artillery strike on the the woods in this area.  Sadly the only casualty was the Scout team that was calling in my Cluster mission... isn't that the way it always works?

...initially three BMP-1s and two T-62s broke cover.

The 2nd Platoon leader team fired a Dragon at one of the BMPs.. which missed long.


The BMP then oriented on the 2nd platoon Leader's M113, which was caught too far forward and put one gun round through it's front armor... killing the vehicle and it's crew.


 
After reloading, 2nd PL's Dragon gunner took aim at the T-62 traveling with the BMP and succeeded in killing it.  FYI, the Dragon firing animation is still a work in progress, so I am keeping zoomed out from it.  Hopefully losing this tank will make Warren pause or change his tack towards my Scout teams.

Remember that my units on my far left were originally meant as a decoy.. and hopefully his attack will orient itself on them and away from my main combat power. 
 
By the end of the twentieth minute there were five T-62s (including the dead one) and five BMP-1s identified... so I think at least two Platoons of tanks and two platoons of BMPs.  I suspect these BMPs do not contain any infantry, so this is probably meant as an armored raid into my rear.  That's how I see it at this point in the game anyway.

I have started moving 1st Platoon's Tank Section 1 across the map to hopefully hit his attacking force in the flank, or better.. the rear.  It'll take a few minutes for them to get into a position where they can begin hunting.

 
Back on my right, Warren has pushed at least one T-62 forward to blunt my tanks coming up the stream route.  Spotted by the same M-60A1 that just took out the BMP, with this result:


So to recap... if Warren pushes towards my Scout teams on my far left.. then that suits me.  It's less fire power for him to devote to blunting my tank movement on my right. 

My scouts and M-150s (which are withdrawing as fast as they can) will transition into a Delay operation now.
 
Final bit of action... on my right, 1st Platoon's 2nd Tank Section (tank 1/7) took a penetrating hit from the T-64B across the valley (should be the final undamaged T-64 on the map).  The M-60 suffers one casualty and minor damage.  Damn... well hopefully I can pull it out of the line before it gets hit again.

Glorious March to Victory Post # 9 - "7th Outing Stretching" (19-20)
Ok, when I last left you, we had taken out one M60 and had a bead on the second...and of course it missed:

Well it wouldn't be a CM game if the gods of war were not against me.
Anyway  Not much really happens more this turn as we continue to position:

A shot on my left flank where I thought Bil was going to keep pushing (more on this later):

My heavy mortars are finally landing along that ridge, just as my teeth are starting push up the ridge, I hope they are causing someone pain.

So by end turn it all looks good, I am solidifying the position in the town.  Forces are advancing up the ridge unmolested  and I am pretty confident of my cover on Bil's axis of advance....and then I noticed this:

So that is a TOW missile streaking towards one of my few remaining T64s....
Turn 20.
  Well it would not be a CM game if the gods of war were not with me:

The basic TOW (the M901s are firing ITOW) did not penetrate my T64 but did immobilize it.  The good news is that in its current position it can still cover the ridgeline...so lemonade!  (Oh, check out the interface, it is really starting to shape up)
Ok, so turn 20 and mid-game...and Bil is getting weird:

It looks like he is hooking that tank platoon towards the town...which kinda left me scratching my head a bit.  For the rest of the turn we traded a lot of steel across the valley (you can see that little BMP-that-could's last AT 3 streaking at those M60s...and of course it missed).  Besides me bagging a hapless M113 on the ridge, most of the rest of the turn is positioning:

You can see here that my teeth are up out of that tree line and are ready to start fanning out, I am about as good a position as I can get in the town as that second dismounted infl platoon has managed to get into the objective zone pretty much unmolested.  So time for a mid-game assessment:

So basically, I was worried that Bil was going to push a tank platoon, or more into A0.  This would have been very bad for me, as from that position they can  1) pound the town unmolested and 2) make life for my Teeth miserable as I would have to watch their back and front.  Instead Bil looks like he is taking A1 route, which is really kind of strange but I am sure there is a clever ploy here somewhere.  A1 is semi-covered.  My screen S1 cannot see it until it is right in the town, but S2 will get some clean shots.  I also repositioned both infantry and 2 x T62s to cover this approach.  So basically, I am not sure what Bil is hoping to do with 3 x M60s in closing terrain here.  My next biggest concern is him making a hard push on A2 with that second tank platoon.  I also have infantry and a single T62 in the town on this route but S1 can cover it very well.  A2 has more cover if he uses the wood line but again we are talking almost entirely tanks trying to take a built up area.  
If you look on the bottom left there is that worried looking blue guy, that is scouts and APCs that appear to be lining up for some sort of woods push but between my Teeth and that little det of recon, I am pretty sure I can keep them busy.  Again keeping in mind there is probably another troop of armor up on that ridge somewhere. 
So here at mid-game, I expect Bil to use whatever is left of his arty (which still has DPICM) to pound the town in a hope all my infantry die so he can drive in with tanks and few scouts.  I have laid down two arty lines perpendicular to A2 approach but they are around 15mins out.  I have spread my infantry out on ground floors, mostly hiding to weather the arty and will keep my screens S1 and S2 up to make life difficult in the approach.  
My Teeth are going to push towards those scouts and APCs, but I always have the option to swing them towards A2 if Bil makes a push.  Bils dilemma right now is that he cannot seem to get enough combat power into the town and cover my Teeth at the same time...let's see how long we can keep it up.

March to Glorious Victory Post #8 - Riddles in the Dark (Turn 18)
Well only a single turn to report, again apologies but we are kinda busy.  I am new to the whole game development thing but I believe it is call "the crunch", so named I believe for the sound our bones make when Steve swings his bat if we fail to meet deadlines.  Regardless, the war continues:

So my push up the center continues, I am just getting my infantry forward to sweep those woods, particularly on the right because I am starting to see movement.  I  couple M113s and at least one M150 are shuffling around up there, I expect Bil has caught on to the fact that the bulk of my combat power is at his midriff.    I am also going to push those recon assets on my far right forward to start seeing if I can't bag a few of his scout teams.  I am worried about armor on that ridge, as I still see a couple ? icons but if I know Bil he will hold them back.  My bet is that Bil is going to try and bottle my forces up coming out of that treeline.  In other news, my fire mission is finally starting to fall on that treeline which may provide some cover.  I have to admit that I have not used arty well in this game.  Part of the problem is I agreed to EW for the Blue side...never do this, as it means really long spotter-wait times. 
On the upside I still have good Eyes, so I know Bil can't get too aggressive up there.  Things were moving apace when suddenly:

Well looky here!  That frisky old mule looks like he has decided to try to change the shape of the battle.  So that is the lead tank of an M60 platoon that Bil [aside:  I have known the guy for almost 20 years and I still have no idea why he uses only one "l" in his first name...the human heart is truly a mystery] is pushing on my far left.  Bold move.  If he can get armor up into that far treeline on my left he could theoretically make life difficult for the center push...but he has to get there first:

Here the Eyes on my right are kicking in.  Both T64s and that lone BMP (the one who has killed at least one M150) have got clear eyes on Bil's route:

Ouch, that was the BMP btw:

So here you can see the situation better.  At the end of the turn there is a 125mm sabot round coming at that second M60, the other T64 and BMP are reloading.  In the town I am moving 2 x T62s around the village to get them covering that approach, the third is covering the village on the other side.  I am going to keep pushing the center but now have a BMP and a T-62 taking positions to reinforce the cover on that far right flank.  I am also continuing to push dismounted infantry into the objective, going to spread them out and cover any approaches from the wood line.  Next 120 seconds are going to be very interesting, stay tuned.

The only reason is that ruling class war tired of being communist leaders and dreamed to become real bourgeoisie, without limitations of socialistic country. "People of my rank have millions on the West". So, real war was possible only accidentally, because of misidentified rocket launch or something like this. In this case Soviet army wouldn't be well prepared, attacking only with the best units, with the best equipment. 

I am surprised by the somewhat lackluster performance of the T-64s. Are they really that blind compared to the M-60?

Ok let's go with The Plan:
I am going to push some BMPs into a screen to try and take out those M60s on the left, also will re-push my T64s on the left.  Then I am going to 1) continue to push dismounted infantry forward and 2) push the Tank Coy and a mounted Inf Pl into a slot I call "Slot 2.5".  That is some dead ground (I hope) that is also covered by my Eyes on the right.  Once we make it to the dead ground in valley center we fan out and start pushing (I have an arty line up there too to screen).  So this turn I will position to the Slot and push out the screen, then next turn we go for it.  Wish me luck and see you on the other side.
 

March to Glorious Victory Post # 5 - The Bitter Tonic of Sacrifice (Turn 8 - 11)
  So the theme of todays post is to validate The_Capt's rule #5 - never play by their rules, play by your own.  So in this episode we are building to a decisive moment one way or the other.  I posted the kill shot on the M150 for turn 8 previously, beyond that not much to report as I continue to move into a broad tree line position of Eyes.
Turn 9 we score another M150 kill as my tanks pull onto the shoulders on either side.  That is an AT3 and sabot round...it was the AT 3 that does the job.
You can get a good sense of the setup laydown on this shot of the kill.   I have infantry in the center and the two T64 pls on either shoulder.  The setup here is for the impending arrival of The Boys

So the good news is that is a Tank Coy (10 tanks strong) but the not so good news is that they are T62s.  The T62 can still do the job and can kill an M60 from the front pretty well, problem is that they are a little blind.  So I am re-thinking my approach to Kill Bil and Teeth.
Turn 10 is when my original thinking is validate.  If I stay in this tree line and play Bils game he will pick me off from that ridge, mainly because the optics on the US tanks are simply better.
Ok, this first one actually hurt the worst.  There was a Coy HQ and a FO in that BMP.

And the T64s are tough but not invincible, this one on my right.

And on my left another T64 (this one of those frustrating TAC AI shenanigans) and another BMP.  So the tree line and play peekaboo is not going to work, particularly with T62s...we move or die. 
Turn 11 sees no further losses but those T64s do take some bounces as the M60s on the hill have them well dialed in but by the end of Turn 11 we are in position.

So, dear reader, here we are at the edge of eternity.  I have two infantry platoons dismounted because I really do not want them to die inside their vehicles.  They are pushing up a bit towards the town.  I have a tank coy in a good position to push out and I still have a pretty good force on the shoulders.  Hmm...so what should the plan be?  Seriously...discuss.  
Right now, I am thinking about not swinging to the left and up but going straight through the town and up.  The primary issue is that those T62s are deadly up close (1000m or less) but I have to get them there and all that open ground to my left is not looking good.  There is probably at least a US tank Pl on that ridge to the left and another covering from the right both sweeping that open field.  If I can get into those wood beyond the town, we will have the knife fight and I will be in a better position to overwhelm.  The other option is to go right, lotta dead ground there.
So here is a shot of the map from the (included) scenario editor:

Very interested to hear from the audience cause I really have not made my mind up on this one.

1-st of may, Labour day! 

1-st of may, Labour day!