gunnergoz

When it comes to war gaming and historical simulation, there is a fertile ground for inner conflict for us hobbyists whom fate brings a tad too close to the intersection between entertainment and reality. I just wish you BFC guys were a little less...prescient.

As a lifelong student of military history and avid wargamer since the 1960's, I have to say that the announcement months ago of BFC's upcoming wargame based on a hypothetical ground conflict in Ukraine left me feeling...strange. On the one hand, I'd love to play it. On the other hand...there is reality. As many of you know, I have for the past 14 years been married to a wonderful Ukrainian lady and have family and friends who live there today. I've been there several times, including Crimea. For the first time, my game mindset had to encounter my real-life mindset, and it ain't pretty folks. For people like me and my family, the stakes involved in the real Ukraine/Russia crisis are very high indeed. And today I have seen four videos of Ukrainian army troops leaving their barracks in their obsolescent vehicles & AFV's or loading their tanks on trains...and on the other side, videos of massive Russian army convoys backing up on roads outside of Krasnodar, waiting to cross the Strait of Kerch into Crimea...convoys which include numerous "Grad" unguided rocket launchers which are only useful if you plan to turn, say, a city into a parking lot. So all games and kidding aside, folks, here's my heart-felt hope that BFC's war on the Steppes war game remains just that, a fantasy that never comes to pass.

CM: (deleted) What I deleted was what I thought was the Russian equivalent of "S.o.B" but it turns out worse than that. I hear it all the time on Russian dash cam videos and when I finally asked my Ukrainian wife about it, she refused to tell me what it means. I ended up googling it and...nevermind.

Still kicking around, but busy. Mostly with following events in Ukraine, where my wife's family still lives. Looking forward to the new East Front game of course.

Given the size of many modern Americans, if one of our re-enactors tries tried sitting down on the drum magazine of his 1928 Thompson, he might well have to have the weapon surgically removed afterwards...

I drove through this area when traveling to Sevastopol once. It is well worth visiting.

Great! I'm jealous! And I hope you post some links here when you get back. Bon voyage!

The quirky but interesting site English Russia often runs photo collections of a military or historical nature. This is a nice recent collection of photos from the Russian tank museum at Kubinka. Definitely on my bucket list. http://englishrussia.com/2013/10/08/in-the-biggest-museum-of-tanks/ NOTE: Some people have complained about suspicious links on this site. FWIW I never click any such sucker links, only go to this site for the photos. I don't see any such links on this set of pages, however.

I noticed this site and it's wonderful original color photos of US & Allied forces in Italy in WW2. I realize such a link might otherwise be grist for the General Forum but I posted here, figuring some modder might use them for reference. I find it amazing how much the CM:FI at times reminds me of some of these photographed scenes. http://www.vintag.es/2013/07/color-photos-of-italian-campaign-of.html

Mmmm, Aachen...bring your M-12's.

Well, I like it. I'm going to find a way to play it when I take a shower. All that foot stomping is bound to dry me off faster.

Here's some really neat video of the Lanc doing simulated dam busting runs...

Nice find, John, thanks for sharing it.

Huh. A special day for what Congress is doing all the time.

Oh Great, John, now we have to shoot you...