Imperial Grunt

Oh well, I already did! And Dell is late in delivering the damn thing!!!

I think guys carried more ammo on their gear for OIF1 than they did for OIF2. I know I did. One reason maybe because I knew I just did not need to carry 10 mags of 5.56 the second time, but also that the mission had changed. 90% of the firefights in a COIN environment are going to be real short as compared to offensive combat operations. Fallujah 2 and some of the other assaults are the exception and not the rule. But for this scenario, guys would be loaded out. Maybe not 13 mags like motivated Angryson, but they would carry a few more mags than the issued 7 as long as they could get them. Plus an extra bandolier. The MOLLE ammo bandolier was real popular since it could carry extra loaded mags and is much more durable than the canvas 5.56 bandolier out of the ammo can.

I want it all done right. I also hope the tracers are done realistically for all the different weapons systems. I also want to see the ricochets, the dust clouds from overpressure and impacts, and guys ducking. Not that we need to see alot of blood and guts, but I wonder if the casualites are all going to be "bloodless" as in CMx1. I also wondering about the debris of war: brass casings, ammo cans, expended fibers from missiles and mortar rounds, etc...

Usually an AAV will just have a squad (13 Marines if full T/O) and one or two crew served weapons teams such as a SMAW team and a machinegun team (6 more Marines). A corpsman might be in there as well. So the 20 or so combat loaded Marines usually in an AAV are less than doctrine. What doctrine does not take into account is the room taken up by extra cases of ammo, water cans, cases of MREs, expendables (such as batteries), etc...Plus the AAV itself has a crew of three Marines, and their gear and weapons are inside the vehicle as well. So that works okay until one track breaks down or gets taken out. Then you have to crossdeck the troops and then the "just one more" rule comes into full effect. The new EFV has a smaller troop compartment as compared to an AAV. So when that thing comes online, I think the Company Gunny's will invent the "just four more" rule.

Of course they are all houses...just like Iraq. CM:SF should portray the same thing.

Actually that is a pretty fancy set up for an Arab force and it looks like it was all functional, although completely unorganized in a Western mind.

No at all, that would only mean that in general a Israeli reserve forces reservist has looser uniform and grooming standards than his fellow conscript soldier of the same unit. I said "the more elite the unit is , the less "uniform snobs" the soldiers are" and not "the less uniform snob a soldier is , the more elite he is." Sure they can be, why not; I don't see how it contradicts what I said. Where did I say that you can't be an excellent elite unit soldier if you are uniform snob or that loose uniform and grooming standards are IDF prerequisites for being an elite combat unite soldier? Being a uniform snob or not being a uniform snob is one thing and being an excellent fighter is an other thing. Khane </font>

Most infantrymen will not have a pistol, unless they are a platoon sergeant or above, a crew served weapons team member, a driver, scout-sniper, radio operator, etc... My infantry company had extra pistols in its armory that we issued out for OIF 1. For OIF 2 every member of my CA team had a pistol and a rifle. We also had a SAW and an M-240G. Ummm, we practised armed civil affairs. But your average infantry rifle squad, Army and Marine, will not have anyone with a pistol. Just real weapons.

-I think the porn if folded up inside the same flak pouch that carries the SAPI plate...or it is back in the stryker. -He ran out of cigs, that is why he is mad and Syrian cigs taste like sh_t. -Tattoo is covered up for sure.

In general Israeli combat unit soldiers are not big "uniform snobs". The more elite the unit is , the less "uniform snobs" the soldiers are. Khane [/QB]

Gosh, okay to get on the critical bandwagon: -no 3-point sling on M-4 -no 40mm pouches on vest -no smoke grenade(s) on vest -no PAQ-4 or PEQ-2 on M-4 -no tactical light on M-4 -no NVG mount on helmet -no kneepad(s) -no pistol holster or thigh mag rig -no squad or individual radio -cant tell if there is a division patch -Army rank is place center mass on flak (or the IBA as they call it), cant tell if that is there And of course the soldier and the weapon are parade-ground clean. But that is way better computer work than I can ever do, so who am I to complain?

AAVs can make you sick, especially when they splash off of the well deck and bob their way to shore. Puke buckets are a must have. And the doctrinal troop capacity is 25 combat loaded Marines plus one more. There is always room for one more Marine. Always.

Okay, after reading all the technobabble I have to post this recent test. SAPI Plate Test in Afghanistan

We used "hooah" for things that were really f_cked up. On another note, this is a funny video that some soldiers made in Ramadi. No Marines in it until the last picture with the IED in the ground and the Cobra gunship flying in the beginning. Hilarious video but they could have included a Marine yelling "ooh-rah" somewhere though. Lazy Ramadi

Sandblasters for crowd control...why did'nt I think of that?!

During my second tour in Iraq I was a civil affairs team leader and my team was attached to 1-32 Infantry, 10th Mountain Division for most of our tour. Everywhere we went the Iraqis made a big deal about the fact that my team and I were Marines, even in front of 1-32's BC. I guess they were confounded by the fact we could not get past two syllable words.

All the Army mech guys that I come across had the motto: "Death before dismount"!!!

This is a section from an article that illustrates what counter-insurgency is like for the most part. Pretty boring as a wargame. "Marines said independent tips led them to a cluster of houses near an abandoned train station outside the Taqqadum base, near Fallujah and about 50 miles west of Baghdad. A one-story home in the relatively peaceful neighborhood that Marines often drove by matched the tips. "Where it's at, there's a mosque, a school. It blends into the neighborhood. It's like any other house," said 1st. Sgt. Chris Reed, 32, of Kirkland, Wash., who helped arrest the first suspect. On the afternoon of the operation, 20 Marines from Company L, 3rd Battalion, 5th Regiment driving to the targeted home were struck by a roadside bomb, although none was injured. Shortly afterward a second nearby bomb exploded and insurgents fired from a car several hundred yards away. "We knew it was a limited time window. It was our best shot at it," said 1st Lt. Jake Cusack, 24, of Grand Rapids, Mich., who matched together the intelligence reports that led to the home. Marines who arrived at the suspect's house presented their stopover as a regular visit. While several spoke with the suspect in his living room, others quickly searched the rest of the home. Inside, Marines confirmed the house matched their intelligence reports. They said they also found a slip of paper with Carroll's name written on it, $3,600 in U.S. currency and an AK-47 assault rifle hidden in a car outside. They also discovered a false ceiling in the shower, which had been used to hide explosives in the past. "Hey, sir, don't react but this is it," Cusack recalled radioing to his commanding officer, who was still chatting with the suspect. Marines said the suspect calmly responded to their questions — until one Marine mentioned how a recent spate of kidnappings in the area had angered him. "He blanches, just for a second, then (a Marine) says, 'All right, you're coming up with us,'" recalled Cusack.

Here is a new rifle that the Marine Corps has just adopted as an additional sniper rifle. I believe it is the standard SEAL sniper rifle as well. Mk-11

I am still waiting for my phased plasma rifle in the 40 watt range...

I concur.

So what is the consensus of a Vietnam module? In my opinion, it would be a great tactical game, especially if it focused on the I Corps tactical zone and other select battle areas. Some good scenarios could be: - LZ X-Ray -Hue City -Operation Buffalo -A Shau Valley

OK, I see the validity in all of your points. Ions would eat em up good.

Is there any thought about introducing helicopters? Attack helos fly low and hug the terrain as much as possible to avoid anti-aircraft fire. Seems like they could be a viable assest in the DT world. Especially with future upgrades along the lines of the Commanche program. Commanche Apache

While not weather related, what about dense urban enviroments? I would imagine that alot of tech would be available in the cities devestated in the previous wars, making them prime battlefields. Some cities could even be completly blasted and covered in the after effects of a nuclear winter. While I do not see mech's as a viable weapons platform, here is a cool game video showing some great urban terrain. Chrome Hounds