gunnergoz

More whining, pleading, pulling hair and palming of foreheads...reminds me of a public radio fundraising session.

One thing to consider: as the war grinds on past 1943, many of the Red Army's surviving small units did build up enough experience (and confidence) to be able to fight autonomously a bit better than earlier in the war. Perhaps not with a lot of initiative and flair, but enough to know how to go about completing most assigned missions.

What a fun thread! Panzerfausts, screaming font fests, credit cards, debt, rifle grenades, what's not to like?

Yes, thanks for dragging this sucker back on track. I got carried away myself there for a bit too. I also hope that the East Front module is not too far off. I'm curious to play this new iteration and to see how well it will adapt itself to that front. So far it looks very promising.

Sheesh, and I thought US politics were Byzantine. So Europe should what? Overthrow the EU and go back to separate states? Just asking...

BD6- Check your PM. Yes, you may well be right about the traitor in their midst...wouldn't be the first time. Interestingly enough, check this link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/03/christiane-amanpour-osama-bin-laden-bill-maher_n_857026.html indicating that at least one journalist worth their salt was on the right trail almost three years ago. I know that the intel community can be pretty dense about such things at times, but eventually even they may have figured this out for themselves. Given the collateral evidence (no phones, garbage burning, etc) and add a "reliable source" in the mix, that might confirm OBL's actual presence (most of the time at least) in the compound, taken together you have the right ingredients to justify a raid.

I'm sure that they said some things they intended for everyone to know, and some things that were probably best left unsaid. One thing I've learned is that no administration in the US is really very air-tight when it comes to leaks. In the end, someone want's to get some word out, for whatever reason, and it may not always be the whole truth and may in fact have an agenda behind it. BD6, you have some cred in this area so I'll grant your comments the weight they deserve. For my part, I'm thinking that this search took on a life of its own after a while, even in the Obama administration. Once bureaucracies pick up such missions, all sorts of weird stuff can happen as various subordinate entities go off on their own, supposedly towards the same common goal. The fact that much of this is compartmentalized worsens the "Fresnel effect" and makes it harder for outside observers to pinpoint what is going on and from what quarters. My two bits are that things went down pretty much as stated but, given the "fog of war" and the fact that we are also dealing with "foggy bottom" (i.e. the federal government apparatus, not just Dept. of State), we may be years waiting to hear the whole story, or as much of it as we will ever get. As for your comments about wrapping up the War on Terror (at least I think that's what you're getting at) I would hope we'd start re-evaluating the need for all this paranoia and retrograde action on our civil liberties. I see that the TSA in Texas recently failed some tests where a planted agent passed through airport security wearing a gun in her undies, apparently several times. If things have become such a sham, maybe its time to re-evaluate and press the "re-set" button.

Great idea Elmar! X-Com and BFC - now there's a match made in heaven. Assuming they have the passion for the former game that I have, of course, which I have no way of knowing if they do or not. It is a fascinating "what-if" now that you mention it, and one that would really get my juices flowing. Hell, I'd pay a hundred bucks for a copy, easy, if they ever made something like that.

So European crypto socialists are the result of Soviet infiltration? Meaning what - that the EU is really the Soviet Union in drag? Why do I feel that I'm going to need to don my tinfoil hat to follow the rest of this line of thinking?

Yes, if possible get a laptop with a dedicated graphics chip and memory. I have a two year old HP 9494NR with 20" screen, 512 MB Nvidia 8800M graphics, and a dual core processor. It's handling just about everything I can throw at it. Just be sure your laptop stays cool. Mine's so damn big I can't lug it around much but it is big enough to cool itself very well. HP's got some new laptops just announced that include Sandy Bridge chips and I saw a 17" mentioned for about $800 or so, or almost half of what I paid for mine. They just get better, cheaper and faster.

Nature has ways of dealing with overpopulation. I think someone named Malthus had something to say about it once.

Well, Peter, whatever other sins you may commit, don't let the cat near the keyboard.

I too admire the CM crew for the nice balancing act they have managed. I got into CM fairly late after its release, but was immediately captivated by the way it depicted WW2 combat. As a kid playing with toy soldiers, I could have never dreamed of such a capability within my own hands. It's only getting better with each iteration. But the most remarkable part is how this small development team have resisted being bought out and chopped up by the mass marketing machine that is the computer gaming industry. I hope they can hold out forever...well, as long as I'm around to enjoy their products anyway. Not the least of the things I enjoy about them is these forums, where I can whine, bitch, brag and snark away with similar minded WW2 buffs.

The difference is, you are speaking in abstractions while the real war was lived through by ordinary people who in many cases cared not a whit for the abstract. I for one don't forget their sacrifice and so don't lump 25 million Russian dead in the same trash bin of history that their leader deserves to be in. To me they are every bit as much the good guys as are GI's fighting the nazis from the other front. I think your argument fails to consider this possibility. Enjoy the game, either way.

My wife's Ukrainian family lost 5 of the 7 men it sent to fight for their homes and families in that war...your glibly lumping them and millions of their comrades in arms in the same category as the Nazis is unfair, hence the disagreeable tone. I was nettled.

Ah love the smell of napalm in the morning! Well stated, BD6. I'm very upset about the continuing maintenance of Guantanamo...it is part of the erosion of American civil rights that began with the 9/11 response. We really played into the enemy's hands with that, and subsequent moves like the "Patriot Act." Dumb, really, really, dumb. We could have taken care of our security needs with other means but the administration at the time opted for the "big brother" approach as opposed to a measured, logical and intelligent one that is in keeping with our constitutional traditions.

As far as I can tell from a bit of wiki'ing, the April 2000 V-22 crash was caused by vortex ring state, which is pretty much what it looks like happened here with this new bird. Other V-22 crashes were for other, usually mechanical problems. Interestingly, the V-22 is said to suffer less from vortex ring state than other rotary wing platforms. However, at the height and under the conditions this accident seems to have happened with in Pakistan, no rotary wing a/c could have readily avoided crashing once the right conditions appeared. What is really a testament to modern construction is the fact that it seems that no one was killed during this apparent very hard landing. I know that seats in particular are made to cushion hard landing impact forces. In this case, the design (and perhaps a bit of luck) also managed to keep the main rotors from hitting the ground and shredding everything and everyone in the compound. That makes me think that the fall was short - perhaps 2-3 meters at most, and was partly cushioned by the impact of the rear fuselage against the wall (thus cutting off the tail rotor section and horizontal stabilizers) and also by the landing gear. There is one recent satellite photo taken of the compound and it fairly clearly shows the 4-bladed main rotors were burned in a normal pattern, and not broken up all over the place as they would have been had they impacted the ground while still turning. An H-60 type has a very wide, flat belly and this would have tended to keep it from rolling over once it landed. Regardless, it must have been a very hairy moment for all involved and that they made it out and completed the mission is a real testament to the team's professionalism.

I think your take on the Eastern Front is pretty narrow, but if you only want to play "good guys vs bad guys" then I suppose a simple-minded approach is best.

I appreciate your CM evangelism. I hope that your friends who try it come to like it and learn some history in the process. Not everyone needs to be a WW2 buff or tank grog to enjoy these games...but it helps! If it gets people invested in learning something new and expanding their minds, it's fine by me.

"Geronimo" was the historical battle cry of US WW2 paratroopers, usually yelled out as they left their aircraft. I think there's reason other than "good injun is a dead injun" for using the phrase in a spec ops context. It's unique, an easy word to discern and not something the locals are likely to understand or come up with in advance. However, those who like to attach arcane meanings to everything the military does, will likely agree with you.

Nah, its still doing it. And "leftist?" I just think of it as being "normal."

I remember playing some fun PTO scenarios in Steel Panthers, so maybe there's something to be said for a PTO CM version. I guess someone will just have to mod one. But my priorities are for ETO/Med and East Front first, after which they can do as they please...Korean War, anyone?

Works for me.

Spoilsport! Better late than never.

Twice today the forum here has shown me as logged out, then when I enter my PW it rejects it, yet shows me as logged in when I click past the rejection notice. Wazzup with that?