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John Kettler's Omnibus Post


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11 hours ago, John Kettler said:

 Ex-Tiger ace and pharmacist when pic was taken Otto Carius holds the Tamiya 1/35 scale model of his tank. If you haven't read his excellent Tigers in the Mud yet, you owe it to yourself to do so, presuming you're a treadhead.

tumblr_ozt3tsc0uh1tcucayo1_500.jpg

+1.  Cool.  Also agree, Tigers in the Mud is a good book.   

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Despite some truly bizarre photo choices in places, this is a very good piece on a previously unsolved US Navy ship loss, the only such during World War I. The case wasn't solved until December 2018. Also, this particular piece doesn't require the endless iterations of the Next button in order to read it. Simply scroll down.

Here is a long interview with an ordinary Panzer man (loader, gunner and then TC), Wolfgang Kloth,  who fought at Kursk and Courland. He was in Panzer IIIs, Panzer IVs and StuGs. This is a much more extensive and wide ranging interview.


Regards,

John Kettler

Edited by John Kettler
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Some of my CoC colleagues are getting into playing CoC, but slightly modified for the Korean War. In answer to the request for book suggestions, I posted S.L.A. Marshall's The River and the Gauntlet, which I thought was a great book when I read it. Since then, I've seen considerable discussion here on the Forums about various problems (some major) with his methodology and conclusions. My CoC post resulted in a reply including this excellent HistoryNet article ("The Long-Dead Hand of Marshall Misleads Historians" by Bateman) which left me wondering how much to believe in the book and why. The astronomic number of WW II company interviews he claimed to have done were shocking, considering how short the time span was in which to do them, and his papers don't support those claims, either.  Worse, his wonderful monograph The Soldier's Load and the Mobility of a Nation also came under fire. Happily, I have since read one of the books not tainted by him: The Deadly Brotherhood by McManus.That was quite the education into the realities of the sharp end, in a way no one book I'd read before could adequately convey. An absolute must read!

Regards,

John Kettler

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I suppose this belongs here:

Quote

The Pentagon says it has tested a U.S. missile that exceeds limits set down by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, a Cold War agreement between Washington and Moscow that was officially scrapped less than three weeks ago.

https://www.npr.org/2019/08/20/752657167/u-s-tests-missile-with-a-range-prohibited-by-now-abandoned-treaty

Michael

Edited by Michael Emrys
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Michael Emrys,

Thanks, as didn't know of this! ER Tomahawk would certainly be a quick fix, since before SALT II (?), it was a strategic weapon already and an absolute nightmare for the then Russian air defense network.

Sgt. Squarehead,

Iskander is nasty. Wonder what capabilities are of monkey model vs home version? Can't imagine Putin would sell NK the all-up version!

Regards,

John Kettler

 

 

 

 

 















 

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On ‎8‎/‎21‎/‎2019 at 8:03 PM, John Kettler said:

Iskander is nasty. Wonder what capabilities are of monkey model vs home version? Can't imagine Putin would sell NK the all-up version!

No, indeed not.  However he can easily test a bigger fuel tank for them in anticipation, of the US abrogation of the INF treaty. 

North Korean:

PYH2019073101020032000_P4.jpg

Russian:

731207e532d11ef72e58938152e8f588.jpg

You decide.  ;)

PS - Looking at that launch image, its amazing to me that the tyres survive the experience!  :o

Edited by Sgt.Squarehead
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The Great Wargaming Survey of 2019 runs through August 31, and, stocks permitting, every one who takes it will receive a special sprue of 28 mm WW II TC upper bodies. The pics of them at the link are most impressive. That link is linked to the survey.

https://www.karwansaraypublishers.com/wssnews/rubicon-tank-commanders-for-great-wargaming-survey/?fbclid=IwAR3vudu_ydFtsTNFYmg_TitMoQQQv3gcZEN8Aw5Agnr4bsMmWhYBbWByiwM

Regards,

John Kettler

P.S.

Just completed survey, which is all about wargaming in miniature and all that's related. Have already received make the code to pick up the TC sprue or one of several other items, to a value of 6.5 pounds.

Edited by John Kettler
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Wanted to pass the word UK firm ITV is airing a superb three-part mini series called "Fighter Pilot: The Real Top Gun. The doc follows a clutch of pilots transitioning to fast jets (Hawk 2) from propeller driven trainers, in an effort to achieve UK fighter nirvana, a slot in the famed 617 Squadron flying the super advanced F-35B, the VTOL version of the F-35 which replaces the Harrier. The other track follows the. more advanced part of the unit already in the F-35 and learning to use this super sophisticated plane and employ it effectively in combat. There are only months to stand up the unit to meet IOC and deploy aboard the Royal Navy's newest carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth. Two of the three episodes have aired already and can be seen for free on ITV's site. 

Regards,

John Kettler

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Been watching this.  It's been amusing to see sometimes, the F35 is so advanced that its computer locks out the pilot and it takes an hour for the techies to figure out how to start it.  I suppose one has to send a message to the oppos - "Please wait before attacking, we can't start our aircraft."   

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Erwin,

Those incidents scared me, but imagine the havoc one agent in the right place could cause.

Here is a wonderful piece of military nautical archaeology. Had long known about the ill-fated SOL Vasa, but had no idea Sweden had lost a second such vessel, the Kronan, which not only made it out of the harbor but into battle. The finds are incredible, and I hope. the Swedes can eventually raise her. Love the story, but hate that Next nonsense!

https://tettybetty.com/post-7743005478129/?dai=50PKwZA1cleauLf88lc3Zr&fbclid=IwAR3IPI1NaPcp0n_XDjRO-XzPKEGY-o8QBUxy_mmqjnM1qSO78NyrVGim2mc

Regards,

John Kettler

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You could well be right. If they're worried about someone stealing it as you described, and since the system is already looking at the pilol's eyes, why not have a built-in retinal scanner, too? The book was much better than the movie.

When wearing a gas mask (during WW II) , you could still look chic in this B.F. Goodrich number.



tumblr_pda8hiuquQ1tcqhjho1_1280.pngErwin,

Regards,

John. Kettler

Edited by John Kettler
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During the GPW had and used mine dogs, a practice likely continued to this day by Russia's SO units. This certainly was the case during the Cold War, as attested by then GRU officer Suvorov/Rezun, who was a Spetsnaz training officer for a time. He said their dogs were used to protect the Spetsnaz teams but were also trained to wear a mine pack under their backs and run under missile transporters. But ISIS is using something larger and wearing suicide vests--cows!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7430463/ISIS-strap-suicide-vests-COWS-blow-animals-attack.html

Regards,

John Kettler

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  • 2 weeks later...

Brother George conducts miniature warfare in a range of scales, including 6 mm/1/285-1-300 scale. By sheer fluke while on CoC's FB page I noticed a 6 mm group page in the sidebar and on that I found this eye-popper. To commemorate the 75th Anniversary of Arnhem attack he built a huge chunk of Arnhem in 6 mm scale. Don't want to think about how much work that took. Will make you MG types glad it's all done in the computer. CMBB fans may be interested in the BoB game table being put together too. Page link is to a blog, not a retail site for selling, cough, other wargames.

https://www.allhellletloose.co.uk/?fbclid=IwAR2B39AOhnxpTcSVsarDyDtmBIZ0mYhOtPeUyYFmoWIeqXpaOuetOIHq7zw


Regards,

John Kettler

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Back in my Soviet Threat Analyst days, I read a DIA pub on the T-64, a tank of which we knew very little even in the early 1980s because it was never paraded and was held inside the Soviet Union, rather than deployed in East Germany with the GFSG (Group of Soviet Forces Germany). Distinctly recall reading about the "V" shaped piece on the glacis armor, concerning which the received wisdom of the time was that it was there primarily to deflect water during fording, but by a strange set of circumstances, I would up watching a video in which there was a forensic reconstruction using a 160 pound draw replica English longbow, firing case hardened and plain wrought iron tipped bodkin point arrows, against an exact replica of a French knight's breastplate and area immediately below it. There's more to say, but the part that's directly relevant to the tank side of things is that the breastplate had a "V" too. Live fire found that mid chest shots which didn't hit square on would deflect upwards, but were deflected away from the throat by that self same "V". As a result of this, am now of the opinion that the main purpose of the "V" on the T-64 and other tanks may really have been to divert projectiles which would otherwise be guided to the turret ring, driver's vision blocks or gun barrel if instead of biting on impact, skidded up the armor plate, just like the arrows did. Additionally, there are horizontal bars on the glacis plate right in front of  and a bit downslope of his vision blocks. The function of those bars is to put differential stress on an projectile hitting it in order to cause it to break up. The BMP-2 has a similar arrangement on the entire glacis, specifically to defeat otherwise lethal smaller HMG and cannon projectiles. At least before DU and SLAP!

Here's the video.
 

T-64B showing that "V" on the glacis.
http://www.military-today.com/tanks/t64_images.htm

Regards,

John Kettler
 

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Shot deflectors—as they were called—were not a completely uncommon feature on some WW II tanks as can be seen on the pictures of Valentines on this page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine_tank. As they were used all through the war and later, they must have been thought to be of some value.

Michael

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