Rinaldi
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Posts posted by Rinaldi
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4 hours ago, Battlefront.com said:
I've spent probably 8-10 hours a day studying this war as it happens and so far the major problems. What I see is crap planning, crap training, crap leadership, and crap battlefield conditions (of all people, Russians should know NOT to attack at the start of mud season! Sheesh) with a ridiculously divorced from reality belief that the enemy could be brushed aside is what I've been seeing. None of which are relevant to CM or can be easily adjusted for by changing some settings already available to players.
Besides the possible example that some tanks are being issued crappier ammo, what else you got? Because you seem to think we should be running around with our hair on fire and I just don't see a reason why.
I'm hand waving away irrelevant points, you're waiving around hyperbole. So far I've seen one very minor issue that might be a battlefield fluke for all you know.
Mind you, I've seen a lot of "your game totally sucks because the Panther's chin armor is over modeled" arguments before. Is any one of our games absolutely perfect? Nope. No game is. But there's a difference between something being imperfect and the sky falling down around our heads.
Steve
Relax. The words "I disagree" aren't vitriol, and saying you've been looking at 8-10 hours of OSINT and think tank feedback is impressive, but pretty much what everyone else on these forums is doing (or attempting to) - not to disparage. Nothing I have said is hyperbolic, like you, it's based precisely on what I've been seeing, beamed directly into my skull 8-10 hours a day like everyone else. Perhaps I've reached a less cautious conclusion, but what I'm saying isn't without historical precedent.
I will cede that separating poor logistical planning from endemic, open corruption is going to need a post-mortem, likely more than a decade from now. However, given the very real historic precedents for shameless supply corruption and the active black market the Russian forces (and late-Soviet) partake in, is it really hyperbolic to ask if these issues we see are more reflective of the Russian forces as a whole than some wing-dinged plan?
So, yeah, an example of "it's going to require a post mortem on whether this is a result of poor planning or something far more endemic" - the ammo we've already discussed, how about active countermeasures for the RuAF? Chaff/Flares appear to be extremely limited - operational or systemic? If we could have a 200 page thread based on fever-dreams about how Russia is under-represented in BS, I think its fair game to have a 4-5 page thread on how the Russians may, in fact, be a paper tiger and not just having a bad war.
I'm not demanding you ask how high when I say jump, just being tongue-in-cheek
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1 minute ago, burning_phoneix said:
Well in CM, Panthers come with functioning final drives
But they also have poor quality armour and manufacturing failures modelled. Much more in the vein of "provide the Russians with poor/previous gen sabots" than your example, I would think.
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12 minutes ago, Battlefront.com said:
I've seen no evidence that anything in CMBS is wrong.
I disagree. Evidence is beginning to emerge that these systemic issues are creating real issues in the minutiae; T72B3s and T90s entering battles with six or seven ammo types, many of them wildly outdated, etc. In CMBS, if modelled, that would translate into a real degradation of Russia's ability to kill hard threats. This is just one example, they're coming so hard and fast that it's dizzying.
Ultimately, to declare all these issues as "operational" is hand-waving away real criticism. Having a ****ty plan conducted hastily doesn't ultimately speak to things like "do Russians have peer equipment" or "can a Russian motor rifleman actually conduct a reaction to fire and have faith in his NCO." These are systemic issues, as I said, and that does ultimately have visible knock-on effects in the tactical plane.
12 minutes ago, Battlefront.com said:Look, we can't help it that CM2's AI is actually superior to Russia's real world capabilities!
At this rate, the SF2s Syrian OPFOR is better - and again, you can indeed help it. Crank those numbers down in future battlepacks - still time to change the incoming campaigns and standalones ;).
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Has their been any confirmation that the Bosporus has been closed to Russian military traffic yet? I've seen a post above but that contradicts earlier info, right?
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Been binging the news nonstop - have barely got any work done. Stay safe, Haiduk - and others who are less visible but in the conflict zone. All right minded people are with you.
Speaking of right minded people, how telling it is that so many of the usual suspects have fallen silent on these forums. I hope you stay silent, you silly little men :).
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Good update. Rooting for that left-hand thrust, what a windfall that would be if you can get all the way to Schwarz in force.
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On 2/16/2022 at 3:24 PM, Aragorn2002 said:
Just discovered this AAR. Very enjoyable!
Thank you. We've been slowly but surely playing, there's been a few real life bottlenecks (as always), and of course current events have been, distracting, to say the least.
On 2/16/2022 at 5:33 PM, Vacillator said:Okay, well the very best of luck to you my friend.
And thanks for the update to the AAR, great work again.
Thank you, again.
Before I begin with the update I'm going to plug my latest blog post, which covers the Op Encore campaign that came with Rome 2 Victory. It'll also explain why I've slowed down on the DAR front, I've been binging the singleplayer experience when I could have been doing more turns with James. Naughty, I know. Read it here. I also want to thank El Presidente Putin, who I believe is also on these forums, for constantly sending suggestions for edit that hide my embarrassing lack of command on the written word.
1816-1817
On the right
The troop leader of the recce begins to ford the river to join the Dingos, who are busily engaging, with effect, some HMGs in the orchard that is contiguous with the West Village.
Suddenly, he spots a Panther edging forward into a shooting position. He would have been away and clear long before this Panther becomes an actual threat to him, except, his vehicle also bogs. He essentially bids the radio net farewell before being killed along with the entirety of his crew.
The 11th Hussar's troop is now bereft of both its leaders.
As some minor consolation, the "fire for effect" is finally called on the Pak43's position. Rounds do appear on target, but are straddling the trench. No direct hits.
Its starting to look like the efforts of the recce are culminating on both flanks. Asides from their casualties sharply increasing, they are starting to brush up against real resistance; entrenched anti-tank defences and main-line enemy armour. So, callous as it is, they're accomplishing quite a bit. I'm just not protecting them as well as I can or should be. I'm really upset at their losses, I hate appearing reckless with my recce. The cost is relative, however, and I need to remind myself that ultimately, we've unmasked a lot of key positions.
With the Pak43 being hit, I am going to try and dash No 6 Platoon of B/1st Rifles forward under the cover of the Firefly. If I take any heavy fire or losses whilst doing this I am officially ruling out COA2 as the main effort. Fingers crossed I don't take fire from a new and unexpected direction. Speaking of that, I noticed Hill 204.1 has line of sight on the forward pair of Cromwells and the remnants of the armoured car section just as 1817 ends. The Cromwell troop leader, nervous about this threat zone, will be ordering a volley of HE fire from his forward section to address this threat. Here's a look at the planned movement:
1817-1818
A busy turn.
On the right
It appears James and myself had the same realization about Hill 204.1's line of sight. Just as the Cromwells are slewing their turrets and adjusting to fire on the Hill, a round clangs off the left turret of one of them. A second round passes high and the Cromwells return fire, with equal lack of effect.
At any rate, my FOO's fire mission is ranging in on Hill 204.1 at the same time as this brief exchange, and no further rounds come the Cromwell's way. I love little anecdotes like this - it shows you just how extreme the fidelity of the armour simulation can be, at least in the historical titles.
Behind these Cromwells, near Hill 207.8, the Halftracks of No. 6 platoon make their dash through the open without drawing any evil attention. The Firefly rumbles forward to cover this movement and immediately engages a Panther at the rather optimistic range of 2500m. The round misses, but it will give Draper pause for thought. I will pull the Firefly back at end of the turn. This same Firefly also briefly identifies a second Panther moving in west village, though is never able to draw a bead on it.
On the left
Despite the survivability move, a mortar round catches one of the recce carriers, knocking it out. This enemy mortar barrage finally fires the full effect, thankfully off target and without any further carnage. We always joke, James and I, that his incredible luck is only matched by my exceedingly poor luck. I wonder if he realised how much effect his random spotting rounds had versus his actual fire mission.
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Recently completed the "Operation Encore" campaign. Loved it. Here's some choice shots:
I compiled all my experiences into a very brief, very general overview for my blog. You can read about it here: https://rinaldiaars.blogspot.com/2022/02/combat-mission-fortress-italys.html. I've also included a link to the full gallery of all the screens. It should go without saying but, obviously, spoilers!
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Still watching with interest, and patience!
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On 2/10/2022 at 7:32 PM, Vacillator said:
I take it you're on the receiving end?
No God no, I am very much in the shark tank. I've applied all over England and Wales and now am waiting to hear back. As always, bitter disappointment anticipated
- but lets distract ourselves with an update, as its a slow work day.
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1813-1814
On the left
A bad turn.
The carrier section's dismounts are just starting to dust themselves off from the previous ambush and skip around the known enemy positions when they attract particularly savage attention from the high ground. First, the section leader's Bren-man is killed instantly by rifle fire. Less-than-accurate MG fire adds to the misery and, I suspect, rather creates the feeling that the men are quite near an incredibly peeved wasps' nest. The section's 2 inch mortar is busy engaging targets around Farm 001, in an attempt to cover the Troop's 2IC. The 2IC for his part is beginning to creep forward in the low ground when mortar rounds begin to splash all around them. I suspected at the time, and still do, that these were just accurate spotting rounds and not a TRP. Whatever the case, one bomb explodes right amidst the 2IC and his team, just as they reach good cover from small arms fire.
The 2IC is killed instantly, while two of the ORs with him are incapacitated. Two men still capable of fighting raise their heads out of the mud, no doubt wondering what just happened.
C Coy's rifle platoons have begun to generate a smoke screen with their 2inchers and smoke pot/grenades in anticipation of going up and over the raised causeway. This pause also allows them to regain some stamina after dashing across under some MG fire.
On the right
Despite the rifle grenade incident, the Dingo successfully fords the water obstacle, and immediately draws fire from enemy infantry in a foxhole to its right. However, by this point the supporting Daimler II has moved into position and promptly engages this position. The Dingo quickly identifies its assailants and adds to Jerry's misery. This little action has allowed for a third dingo to begin crossing unmolested. This is all very bread and butter recce stuff, "poking the enemy's eyes out" but I love it. It goes well, and by the end of the turn most of the enemies are made casualties or choosing discretion over valour.
The Troop leader, in his own Daimler has orders to put some fire down on the Barn where the rifle grenade originated from. He is still hauling himself up to a position as the turn ends.
So, we have a ford, now what? Well I intend to deal with the likely enemy outpost positions and push all four remaining Dingos and Daimlers up. After that, the trailing Cromwells can move forward into overwatch positions and I can get some infantry into the west village. That's the plan, anyways.
Speaking of the Cromwells the trailing cruiser (No. 1 tank) has taken over from a Dingo in an overwatch position, covering the last known position of that pesky Puma. Sure enough, he spots the damned thing, buttoned up and moving further into west village.
The gunner spots it as well, no doubt laid on by the commander's vane sight, or his rudimentary manual traverse mechanism (I know the middle and later Shermans had this, as did Comets - fairly sure Cromwells had it too). They fire a round.
The Puma merrily trots on, continuing its charmed existence. Target picture is lost shortly after. No doubt this Puma is moving to parry any further thrust by the armoured cars.
1814-1815
On the right
Lets carry on with the action on the right.
All my clever little plans for the armoured cars goes right to hell immediately. The trailing Dingo bogs in the ford. Uh oh.
One is a rather lonely number, however, so one of the Cromwells working its way forward to a supporting fire position also decides to bog in solidarity.
Why am I being persecuted? For the record, this is the first time I've had a Crommy bog in a long time, they are relatively light, by a narrow margin, to Shermans and I believe they have just better ground pressure (part of the reason why I love them).
On the bright side, a rather bold pair of German pops up from the foxholes and make a run for it. They are promptly cut down by Bren fire from a Dingo. The Armoured cars begin working over the Barn and some other suspect buildings.
On the left
C Coy gets moving again, making use of the obscuration they developed last turn. We're well beyond the realm of an administrative move and are now moving under fire, so the sections move by groups. The rifle groups move first, the gun groups trail thirty seconds behind. Brief halts are made to preserve stamina in good cover (which means, if they take fire that pins them, they're in excellent cover as well).
The entire company crosses the second tributary without incident. We're now in a position to move them up the flank of Farm 001. Hopefully, under a minimum of fire from the high ground overlooking the Farm.
The mortar fire that took the recce's 2IC from us has now begun to fall uncomfortably close to where the carriers are laagered. They spread out a bit to reduce the chance of any damage, but I am mindful of the Pak gun potentially looking them over so not much more can be done than this small adjustment.
1815-1816
On the right
The vehicles all regain traction and unbog. Thank goodness.
On the left
No. 9 Troop of C Squadron / 5 RIDG have finished shifting to the left and are now in a position to better support by fire, at extended range, the efforts of C Coy / 1st Rifles and the carrier section.
The dismounted riflemen, for their part, have completely finished moving across the second water obstacle. They will need another minute to catch their breath, but as I stated above they will be wheeling to the right, in bounding overwatch of platoons, towards Farm 001.
Further, and finally, the FOO has established an OP and is able to confirm that the anti-tank gun on Hill 204.1, is still indeed intact. Now I don't mean to beat a dead horse here, but I want to stress how survivable AT guns are in even a modicum of fortification and placed with even a modicum of thought. The FOO immediately calls for another mission on this pesky PAK.
The FOO and the advancing riflemen of C Co/1st RB are also able to do some BDA on the other Pak Gun, the one the now deceased recce 2IC called in a few minutes ago. They confirm that it has been knocked out, likely along with the entirety of the crew. Gratifying to know the 2IC took some jerry with him.
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51 minutes ago, Vergeltungswaffe said:
That is good news indeed.
Yes, we're in good hands
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Battle size: Tiny
Time limit: 30 minutes
Conditions: Allied Probe; best played Allied v AI; not tested for H2H.
Scenario file here: https://mega.nz/file/mlgSCIiQ#NApfMMl6q6rZvzfhk6_wnZXBBfG8pTdKpcvRi16Goiw
Optional mod-tagged brz here: https://mega.nz/file/a0gGHJwZ#eNCxKwAnHdivn8EqAEqMFEHlbtRu2UhPC1YOyheCWlQ
Requires MG, VP.
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Will be updating soon, pupillage application season is over so James and I will be resuming a much more robust rate of turns. I also have a massive prepared backlog to upload, so watch this space.
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12 hours ago, Bootie said:
Will get this uploaded tomorrow.
Much appreciated.
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1 hour ago, Simcoe said:
Is it possible to find out how actual NTC battles turned out? Like AAR’s? Seems like there would be a lot of lessons learned there as well.
In the 80s and early 90s a lot of people authored books, more or less depicting their rotation in NTC like a historical battle. Bolger's "Dragons in the Desert" might interest you - he provides accurate ADREPs at the start and conclusion of every mission. Losses could often be very heavy in his battalion, I'm talking stuff like "this company team went into action with 6 m60s and ended the battle with none" levels of attrition.
Edit: Sorry its called: "Dragons at War: Land Battle in the Desert" - its beginning to show its age, as it was published in 1986 and only slightly revised after Gulf 1. Some of its sources, especially on the Soviets, have not aged well. It is an excellent vertical slice, however, of how contemporary US officers thought, trained and fought (i.e: getting slaughtered repeatedly at Fort Irwin). -
Yes, I presumed the worst at one of your phrases - you will have to forgive me on that. There has been, in the past, some extremely wild conclusions based on the simple data. Very heartened to see you reached the natural, easiest conclusion. It's a breath of fresh air for this discussion.
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5 minutes ago, Pelican Pal said:
So if your tank has a weak chin then engaging in an honest to god shoot out (where the enemy has spotted you and is firing back) isn't going to be great for it. In fact your are much more likely to take damage. So you either want to avoid the shoot out (new battle position and so on before they spot you) or take the shoot out from a hull up position.Exactly.
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25 minutes ago, Pelican Pal said:
The hull down tank won 60% of the engagements.
- Being hull down represents a good chance to win a given engagement.I was going to warn you they're coming but I see @Bulletpoint has already arrived. I trust you found cover before this happened.
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It is now ready for release, thanks so much to both @AlexUK and @Vacilllator for their feedback, and to everyone else.
I have done the following changes:
- Changed the formation to a British one equipped with Cromwells, as I had some mod-tagged stuff laying about for them and wanted to create more scenarios that feature such vehicles.
- Edited the road near the Chateau to avoid the way pointing issues.
- Mild changes to the scoring to ensure you cannot win without forcing a surrender or exiting as intended.
- Mild changes to AI plans.
- Removed superfluous buildings in the main village to provide more field of fire to defenders.
I've contacted @Bootie on the Discord, and I am sure he will have this all uploaded ASAP.
The scenario: https://mega.nz/file/ywhQHBBT#5jWUnGtkzsPH_yKbLHr2VcltDsH3IlLvC6rorXpdV-E
The mod: https://mega.nz/file/WppGhKDR#weXrnvL-yC1FAwluAoq29Ow-hynUnlCBQwhNyFDkLaY - this .brz contains mod-tagged skins so there is nothing further you need to do with your mods.
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On 1/26/2022 at 1:28 PM, landser said:
Superb AAR, enjoying it very much. Good hunting commander!
Much appreciated, thanks so much. Sadly I feel more like the hunted than hunter at present - as you'll see.
1809-1810
On the right flank
Spotting rounds from my mortars begin to range in on the Pak43, and though these spotting rounds land well behind target, given the accuracy of the barrage on the Pak40 a moment ago, I'm quite confident that this fire mission will ultimately be on target. Whether it has effect, is another matter. The Lieutenant calling in on the Pak43 also reports another notable contact, yet another Panther spotted all the way on the left. A Panther in hiding, among the Orchard on Farm 002's land.
On the left flank
C Coy of The Rifles advance through the copse of trees and prepares to advance to contact.
While the Battlegroup's assigned FOO hauls bottom to the OP I identified in my previous post:
I am anticipating a bit of an affray developing in the next 10 to 15 minutes for Farm 001 and, perhaps, even Objective TOM proper if Draper decides to push elements forward into the dead ground in support of Farm 001's garrison. In anticipation of escalation of violence, I am moving No. 9 Troop/C Sqn of the Dragoons, which is in a support by fire position on the right, to the left of the Squadron's positions. This will improve their field of fire in support of the dismounts.
This is pretty much a soft admission that I am committed to COA1 at this point, the terrain is really just too good here viz-a-viz the large forces I need to put through this area, in contrast to the much congested COA2. In any event, I can still shift a troop to the right with relative haste if I need to.
1810-1811
The lead section of C Coy cross the first part of the river without incident, with the dismounted scouts covering their right flank. These infantrymen draw fire, briefly, from an extremely optimistic Landser without incident.
The Cromwells and Firefly of No 9 Troop begin their move to their new position, bumping gently over the rougher ground as they move - as always - in masked terrain as much as possible.
1812-1813
On the left
The scout section begins to identify enemy fighting positions, likely the same that gave them that first bloody nose earlier. These positions are fairly spread out and appear to form a picquet line. Not too surprising. 2" HE, smoke and Bren-gun fire will be placed on them to conduct a recce by fire as soon as practicable.
No. 8 Platoon, part of C Coy, begins to take MG fire as they cross the first water obstacle. This platoon was the trail element of the company and now that James is likely alert to the movement of men, they are getting a naturally hotter reception. The fire is not on target and the platoon is in defilade before it can inflict any harm.
The real dilemma is how to get up and over the raised road, seen in the background above, that separates these two tributaries of the river. This pseudo-causeway presents a fairly small, but extremely exposed, bit of ground to cross. The MG fire is well beyond range that even an entire company of small arms can effectively suppress (in fact it would be about as effective as spitting straight up in the air), so I will put my hope in 2" smoke and section-level smoke grenades to obscure as much as possible.
On the right
A Dingo slips past the north village and begins to ford the water obstacle...no booms of cannons or the sharp crack of a high velocity gun. So far, so good, right?
Then suddenly there is a slight impact in a tree forward of the ford - a rifle grenade, most likely? The only nearby structure is a Barn, and the likely source of the rifle grenade. The overwatching Daimler II is ordered to spray it down briefly, whilst the Dingo carries on fording.
Further behind this lead pair of armoured cars is the Troop leader, motoring forward in his own Daimler II. As he moves, he spots - astonishingly - a Puma in west village (the same one, I suspect, that had a brush with death earlier). He takes a shot on the gallop, harming nothing save the big blue sky.
He takes no return fire and, in any event, carries on without further incident this turn. Two cruisers follow up behind him, with a trailing third remaining in overwatch in the hope that Puma makes a third appearance.
A slow burn on this one guys, I do apologise for that - but I also think you'll appreciate that much more than me dashing myself to pieces mindlessly. The heat does turn up, I assure you.
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Yeah its definitely lucky that you got a detonation like that, but the HEDP penetrating is perfectly understandable. Generally you got to pepper the damned BMPs - nevertheless great little video, thanks for sharing.
At this rate, the SF2s Syrian OPFOR is better - and again, you can indeed help it. Crank those numbers down in future battlepacks - still time to change the incoming campaigns and standalones ;).
Is Russia Overpowered In Black Sea?
in Combat Mission Black Sea
Posted
That's fine, thank you as always for weighing in. I'm hoping you're getting some approximation of sleep, by the way, during all this.