John Kettler

Am familiar with concrete bomb and SDB (Small Diameter Bomb), but this R9X was news to me. This may be of use in some future CM development, say, something like time now CMSF. https://www.analyzingamerica.org/breaking-secret-u-s-missile-kills-top-al-qaeda-terrorist-report-claims-it-uses-knives-to-shred-target/?utm_source=myc Regards, John Kettler

Bulletpoint, Call protection versus shaped charge attacks an unexpected but delightful bonus from fitting protection against ATR fire. Interestingly, I believe the first spaced armor on German AFVs was the standoff second bow plate used on ACs such as the 231 series 8-rad, which originally only had integral armor. Regards, John Kettler

Came across an ad for an Avalanche Press Fulda Gap game, which triggered a recollection of seeing an article in Armed Forces Journal after the Berlin Wall came down which said that when we got bots on the ground on the East German side our people were shocked to discover that it was physically impossible to funnel all those dreaded Tank and Combined Arms Armies through the area, for want of enough usable space. Don't understand how something like that wasn't known long ago via multiple surveillance means (satellites, slant imaging from FRG side of border, etc.), but the article was unambiguous as to the impact of ground truth on what the war planners were expecting. In an effort to find something describing that, I found this 2017 thread on, of all things, a War Thunder Historical Discussion board. This is most interesting, since it involves a number of vets who served there. It has considerable material on how we planned to fight, how much better the forest roads were than what the maps showed, the vast number of river crossing sites in a 30 km sector, typical LOS ranges far higher than what we see where CM games are fought in Europe, a Fulda region map, even, so help me, an equivalent map of Finland showing how horrible it was for mechanized warfare generally. This thread would be even juicier if most of the missing graphics were restored. https://forum.warthunder.com/index.php?/topic/377112-the-fulda-gap-real-world-observations/ Regards, John Kettler

Have seen tons of restraints on Tumblr and elsewhere, but these are the heaviest duty ever, even if the rings are made of aircraft grade aluminum. Good thing for her that those shackles (?) are fitted over the boots, else, her skin would be rubbed raw. Regards, John Kettler

Creepy. Regards, John Kettler

Note well the last sentence, referring to a particularly gross contamination matter and the fundamental irrelevance of the store manager's reply. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/6978858/mcdonalds-teeth-in-mcmuffin/?utm_source=facebook Regards, John Kettler

Erwin, Or, he might've picked the puddle as a launch site deliberately to limit the pain and potential damage in the event of failure. This is impressive, starting with the core strength simply to get to the starting position. REgards, Regards, John Kettler

Here we have a textbook case of what happens with inadequate initial propulsive impulse. Regards, John Kettler

Am not going to bother looking for anything else tonight to top this. https://worldnewsdailyreport.com/tornado-carries-mobile-home-130-miles-family-inside-unharmed/?fbclid=IwAR0NaWRTdyD2HVTy0ouRuzMGwP-u6IM04GewG7nNfUqA6QXBKEFh8hyFCRs Regards, John Kettler

SimpleSimon, You're in luck, for YT has it, too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay-vJ4OUDjM&feature=emb_err_woyt Regards, John Kettler

Though we frequently pay lip service to the reality, the truth is most of the German and Soviet troops relied on horse, rather than motor, transport. This movie shows the exciting realities of dealing with horse drawn artillery amid real weather (not sound stage stuff) that's horrible even to watch, much less experience. Though the movie is about fighting to the limit to stop Von Manstein's breakthrough attempt to reach Stalingrad and free the encircled Sixth Army, it's really the story of horse drawn artillery at war against the Panzers, so spans a far greater time period. There is a wealth of weaponry and kit on display, not all time appropriate (T-34/85s), but even so, impressive, especially since the long march columns are all physical vehicles and men, nothing digital. There are some really good VISMOD German tanks, but also some crummy ones. Either way, there are lots of Panzers. Towed Russian ATGs have been called "Farewell the Motherland!", and you'll understand why when you see how things play out. Would note that at Kursk, some units emerged from battle with neither guns nor horses! Of particular interest is that you can see something that I've talked about a number of times: the ability of one man to operate these ATGs, because T&E wheels are both on the same side of the gun, as is the firing lever. Action is intense, and you get to watch the burden of higher command, too. Pretty harrowing. Regards, John Kettler

This should be of keen interest, since it is a set of highly detailed Front-level orders on use of SU-76 in battle, both offensively and defensively. Two key points from a CM perspective are: 1) Scale of issue is one 4-gun Battery supports an Infantry Battalion, and 2) "the Battery is indivisible". A third item is that the Battery is either in or 100 meters behind the infantry. https://www.tankarchives.ca/2015/07/su-76-manual.html Regards, John Kettler

Sigh. Frequently, the Russian gun got off one shot before being destroyed. Regards, John Kettler

Over on CoC we have considerable numbers of Early War and Sea Lion types, which naturally led into "Dad's Army" (which I'm now hooked on), "Bed Knobs and Broomsticks" (the one with the brain virus Home Guard song), "Foyle's War" and more. All well and good, but one of the guys provided a link to a substantial body of Home Guard materials the IWM has. Well worth a look. I especially like the boat patrol and think a marvelous diorama could be made from it. https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-real-dads-army Regards, John Kettler

Feral pigs are a huge and dangerous problem, but imagine how much worse they become when high on coke! https://allthatsinteresting.com/feral-hogs-destroy-cocaine?fbclid=IwAR3vnrQZ6sOJmqtYmpPgeDYLVGpKCgC1DPKsbnOz6yLMHY_iXDPnciEPzDo Regards, John Kettler

Am posting this here because it's military, but mind, not quite in the usual way. https://www.facebook.com/BeyondtheBrickTV/videos/380171052925110/?t=127 Here are more. https://youtu.be/mK9SkVGpFnQ Regards, John Kettler

If you thought you were up to speed on every weird WW II story, this will convince you otherwise. There's some great imagery in here, though often not appropriate to the story. Recoomend you be sober when watching this, lest your brain melt in confusion and disbelief at what you're seeing! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRx7KkrT1QU Regards, John Kettler

Though this Sabaton song is ostensibly about Kursk, the footage covers from Barbarossa to late war and is full of good stuff. Rammstein has a bunch of videos full of German WW II war footage, and lots of it I'd not seen before. But I thought discretion was indicated given what I could deduce from bits of the lyrics, so am not posting here. Regards, John Kettler

This is the familiar anthemic song, but with lots of great street fighting footage, including 203 mm howitzers in a DF role, and Panzerfausts. Regards, John Kettler

Seems to me that if incursions occur in multiple locations simultaneously, the Chinese advance, then dig in, this is considerably different from the case where fist fights were as bad as it got. Regards, John Kettler

MikeyD, Don't recognize the reference to Fire & Rubble. Is that a CMRT module? If so, I don't own that game, hence, don't recognize it. Sgt.Squarehead, Info I have is that you are correct. Suspect the Navy had so many because it was much easier to arm the navy than it was to arm the main ground force. The original intent was to arm that horde with the SVT-40, but war came too soon, and wartime strategic priorities for hours to build, materials, manufacturing complexity, etc., sank the plan. Ts4EVER, Good stuff. Anyone interested in Spec Ops who hasn't read Leonov's Blood on the Shores urgently needs to do so. His unit and similar were the ancestors of naval Spetsnaz, now presumably part of SO. Extremely NSFW short course on Leonov, including some good artwork, illustrations and pics, is at link. Here is a re-enactor with his depiction of Soviet Naval Infantry. Regards, John Kettler .

Sgt.Squarehead, Here's a review of that book (or so I thought; it's a series)on Red Square parades. https://www.themodellingnews.com/2018/01/new-book-preview-red-army-on-parade.html Regards, John Kettler

Wasn't quite sure where to put this, but this seemed like the best place. There have been requests in the past to do China vs India in CMx2, and now, for the first time, I believe, since 1962, the Chinese have invaded India. https://legalinsurrection.com/2020/05/chinese-troops-cross-into-india-fortify-positions/?fbclid=IwAR1BNiKP44DSXSCqvcwZP52XGmjsC1wMZV7GprZbTz0LyWBbcJzKw22d8DE Speaking of the 1962 invasion, an Indian hero emerged from it, and there's a film about him. It's included with Amazon Prime. https://www.amazon.com/72-Hours-Martyr-Never-Died/dp/B07W9DZXQ3/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=prime+video+war+movies%2C+india&qid=1590502132&refinements=p_n_theme_browse-bin%3A2650381011&rnid=2650362011&s=instant-video&sr=1-2 Regards, John Kettler

When choosing pool floats, here's why you should never buy one depicting a Great White Shark! NOT PSed. Regards, John Kettler

The sprawling Soviet war film series Liberation:Film 2 ( of 5) has LL UCs in it at the roughly hour mark and 1:09 mark, too. This one is called Breakthrough and starts with the counteroffensive after Kursk. Regards, John Kettler