John Kettler

That's sure the sense I get from this pic. Look at how he's comforting the teary-eyed girl who's wrapped around him. Regards, John Kettler

Artkin, This is flatly untrue. HEAT is highly sensitive to angle of strike, for that determines a number of things, such as the effective thickness of armor needing to be penetrated. If. the angle of strike is low enough, the HEAT projectile may ricochet or not detonate at all. Evaluation of destroyed tanks in the 1967 War showed that HEAT projectiles could be rendered nonfunctional or deflagrated by such things as lifting eyes, headlight flanges and such. Sometimes toolboxes sufficed to defeat HEAT by acting as spaced armor. Most of the rear turret proper of a Tiger 1 is protected by that large stowage box, which would make superb spaced armor, given the massive air gap. HEAT is highly sensitive to strike angle but insensitive to. impact velocity in that period. Regards, John Kettler

Brother George, a retired Army Scout, found this and passed it to me. Looks like prime material for CM use. http://www.bayonetstrength.uk/USArmy/USArmdInfBn/Org of the US Armd Inf Bn 1942-45.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1qczOynlwbn9jSp6oHYZyKBhLV29fW756-mafJ38uKpiE2qIzbIbi3w6Q Regards, John Kettler

This is a long and penetrating piece not just about recent problems, but of how the SAS and commandos are used and super heavily at that. The article shows that current SAS purported war crimes don't exist in isolation, but in fact are but the latest in a long line of war crimes and claims of same going clear back to the Boer War. It lays the ducked responsibility for their continuation chiefly on Australian high command and the pols. The deployment stats are shocking. Some Australian SAS troopers have had eight (8) tours in the same province, and there is apparently intense competition between the SAS and Commandos to receive missions, and things seem to have gotten out of control. Things are so bad the Australian SAS may not survive at all. Got quite the education from the article, but what caught my eye to begin with was the spectacular picture of an SAS motorized patrol in the Afghan desert. Blink twice, and you'd swear it's WW II, but the vehicles aren't the same, and the armament is considerably nastier. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/aug/16/australias-special-forces-problem-why-the-sas-is-facing-a-crisis Regards, John Kettler

Alexey Tyuzhin posted this official Ukrainian MoD video on the OPLOT. Dated but juicy! Regards, John Kettler

After watching this, you'll learn something quite remarkable about the terminal ballistics of the first cartridge and will understand part of the reason it's a favorite of snipers. https://www.facebook.com/kentuckyballistics/videos/2493198490948835/ Regards, John Kettler

Gah! Better protected than the T-54. Regards, John Kettler

MikeyD, Did some digging, and NVA T-54s were destroyed by ARVN M41 Walker Bulldogs and M48A3 Pattons. In one battle I'm trying to recall, the ARVNs were killing T-54s from so far away (well outside of their own effective range) the T-54 crews thought they were in an antitank minefield. This juicy morsel was from intercepted radio traffic from panicked TCs. Offhand, I don't recall how much better protected the T-55 may've been than the T-55. Regards, John Kettler

Here's the one on artillery effects. Sobering! Also, this was done before US shoots done Soviet style shockingly revealed the Soviet norms for destroying AFVs, tiny as they were by US ammo expenditure figures, were in fact correct. FA of 150 mm and up is far more lethal than we imagined vs tanks. Regards, John Kettler

One of my CoC colleagues found and posted this British Army 1983 training film on fighting the Soviet Advanced Guard. In my 11+ years as a Soviet Threat Analyst, I never saw anything like this. It's fantastic, and that's an understatement. This sort of thing was my bread and butter at Hughes Aircraft Company Missile Systems Group, since we built both TOW and Maverick and were involved in work on what eventually was the Javelin, as well as deep strike systems, such as Assault Breaker and WASP. Regards, John Kettler

Here's a T-72B3 firing. This looks a lot more different than what you see when an Abrams fires, which is surprising to me, since they're both smoothbores. Strongly suspect at least part of the difference lies in the propellants used. Looks like something the modders might be able to use, too. Regards, John Kettler

StieliAlpha, Thanks. I defer to your language knowledge. I recognized APOTHEKE immediately as APOTHECARY but had no idea what the other word meant. Regards, John Kettler

Vacillator, Presuming the picture is legit, what I see is a Coelian, not a Kugelblitz. https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2-germany-leichte-flakpanzer-iv-3-cm-kugelblitz/ Ts4EVER, All true, and there's excellent coverage of these online, but I first saw the T-34 Flakpanzer in the Fedororowicz tome on that unit. Want to say that was the 653rd Schwere Panzerjaeger Abteilung. Regards, John Kettler

Captured or maybe defected?! Regards, John Kettler

In his phenomenal Four Stars of Valor, Thorndyke describes a terrifying encounter the 505th had near Groesbeek, Holland. It was described as a Mark IV with the turret removed and two cannon fitted that could rotate. Cannon size wasn't listed, but believe reasonable options would've been 37 or 40 mm. Firepower was devastating, and the AFV was found to be hard to kill because of the screens on its sides. A Moebelwagen can't possibly be what's described because a) neither had a twin mount of the sort of weapon described by the lucky to survive it paratroopers and b) have never seen a pic of one with screens of any sort fitted. The.closest thing I've ever seen to the possible FlakPanzer was this one off Panther FlakPanzer imaged in, I believe, Poland. Regards, John Kettler

Here's what a tank that hasn't had proper maintenance for a long time looks like. Frankly, I find the shape the cannon's muzzle in to be shocking, but the overall appearance of the tank shows it's had a harsh life and lots of exposure to the weather, almost certainly amid a sea of other rusting Cold War relics. The crew has made an effort where possible, but it's easier to paint slogans than it is to deal with the results of prolonged exposed outdoor storage and being in the field. As a bonus, you get to see a defensive position for the tank and some crew related detritus, too. The kitten is apparently's the crew's pet, according to what turned up in image search, which says this is a Ukrainian tank. Shall leave the tank ID to others. Regards, John Kettler

Their teacher sent me these today of the kids in the strategy club hard at it--a sight to gladden a wargamer's heart! Regards, John Kettler

bardosy, Huge thanks for this information, which I almost certainly wouldn't have ever gotten otherwise. Regards, John Kettler

Bufo, Fair point. Shall watch your link to see what was actually presented. MOS:96B2P, Glad you found it so. fireship4, Appreciate the info! Regards, John Kettler

Obviously, this is well outside the timeframe of CMBS, but if BFC ever decides to do something beyond then, this might well come into play. In any event, believe this will be of real interest to many. Beware of a defect in digital VO which the AI wrongly translates the "L" of caliber lengths as liters. Someone in marketing at Rheinmetall deserves a hiding for not catching that one. Regards, John Kettler

Russian combat engineers training on mine clearance, building takedown and more. Some great AFV footage. Also, it looks like the combat engineers are now using a special shield fitted with stroobing high intensity lights. Regards, John Kettler

WW II historian Geoffrey Roberts talks about the contributions of Russia and Stalin to winning WW II. Interview was evidently made on the 65th anniversary of Victory Day. I don't necessarily agree with everything he says, but this interview is well worth watching. Regards, John Kettler

Bufo, Was laughing so hard I could barely type! Frankly, it never occurred to me to consider the possibility you raised. Was referring to Chain of Command, by Two Fat Lardies. It's a WW II skirmish game that's typically played with a reinforced platoon. Like CM, it rewards smart play and mercilessly punishes bad tactics, but there is considerable scope for bad runs of luck, good luck and unforeseen developments, for the game is not deterministic but probabilistic. It is emphatically a leader driven game, and it's leaders who make things happen. Game tracks Force Morale, Shock accumulation, exertion effects, effects of subunit and leader losses, support weapon losses and more. Leaders can accumulate points toward command options over and above their usual capabilities, too. But the fundamental reality of the game is you could be king of the world for several phases, only to have stagnation start to occur or, worse, the bottom fall out altogether. There is no set number of phases in a turn, and it's possible to lose the entire battle before the end of Turn 1. Many a player has practically sweated blood hoping the turn will end so there's at least some relief from the mauling, being able to get out of the confounded mortar barrage, finally bring in troops, etc. If you play, or wish to play WW II in miniature, I highly recommend it. It's won multiple awards, and justly so. Also, there is the game before the game, the Patrol Phase, which shows the effects patrols made earlier have on tactical options in setting up the game proper. Screw it up badly enough and you've practically assured your own defeat. Anyone who's only played CM but never with miniatures is in for a shock, for what CM does under the hood has to be explicitly calculated, resolved and marked. But relative to CM, CoC is a sophisticated version of a beer and pretzels game, so is much easier to learn, but knowing how to play is just the beginning. Returning briefly to the other CoC, I once played it on Halloween solely by the light of a kerosene lamp. Scary as all get out! Gaming under these conditions was utterly different than the usual well-lit room and dining room table setting. Nor were we nibbling on chips in a bowl and downing sodas. Our host was quite the cook and had made us an elaborate and lush dinner, complete with drinks and dessert. Maybe that dropped our guards some. Guarantee you I wasn't the only one there whose skin was crawling. Regards, John Kettler

This is how BFC gained a new customer (or will be gaining one soon). One of our CoC colleagues wanted a WW II computer game at CoC level, so a number of us (myself included) pointed him squarely at CM. We told him it was a military grade tactical sim that modeled a wealth of things CoC didn't. In no way did we blindside him. To assist him in figuring out where in WW II he wished to fight, we told him where the demos were for all the games and that there was lots of coverage on YT, too. Somewhat later, he told us that CMBN was what he wished to play, so we naturally pointed out the numerous advantages and gaming flexibility (not to mention huge savings) in buying the CMBN Ultimate Bundle. And as we all know, getting one CMBN game, even fully loaded, is like eating a Lay's potato chip! And since everything is in the game and only needs Activation Keys these days, he's not having to schlep a pile of CDs or DVDs in their brittle jewel cases, either. Shipping his minis would've cost a young fortune, and he'd still be having to figure out how he was going to do the layout and such. Instead, his battles are now portable, and even w/o WiFi, should that occur, he can still do lots of wargaming. Going the CMBN route will open up unimaginable gaming vistas to him, changing his notion of what wargaming is forever. CM seems to be fairly popular among those who fight using miniatures. For example, one of my CoC colleagues is straddles multiple CM periods, playing both CMFB and CMSF2 with gusto, issuing frequent reports and posting game play vids found on YT as well. When you think about it, CM is virtual wargaming with miniatures, though admittedly with far fewer force options and two theaters of war missing. Regards, John Kettler

This is part of an epic (War and Peace of WW II) film which is Included with Prime or available by 30-day Free Trial. Regards, John Kettler