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Turn 6 25:00 to 24:00 Lasing and blazing As we left it...my biggest concern is White 2 and its load of infantry. More lasings, a bad location, and orders unchanged. Could I have NOT sent the turn after hitting "go"? Sure. And some players could live with themselves. But I am not some player! I am hardly ANY player, at all!!! Seriously, that lack of "Laser Warning" had a big impact on my orders. Let's see what kind of impact it had on White 2... Then, I'm stunned it made it THIS far! What's next??? This was a big deal for me. These men are critical to prying DMS out of his bridgehead. Yes, I'm in the unenviable position of having to dig Russians out of a bridgehead. I'm not sure it's possible or if it has ever even been done. Rest assured...my men will die trying. More...

Next orders... White 2 seems to've broken lock. Good I'll order it to continue into town... Yeah, possible bug. I'll show more in a few more pix. Others orders: Above: the green marks the location/field of view, of my two teams. They are to keep DMS sealed in. As does the Brad, which covers the orange zone. The other brad, if it survives the lase, will cover the red x, as will my one remaining Mk19 Humvee. I've got an Abrams ordered to crash through the orchard on the left side. It may not make it for another turn or two. Close range is not Abrams forte, but the LOS is too limited down here. That'll be the angel of death to any move DMS makes out of this zone. The above looks to be a mistake. I left the trees off. The trunks in the foreground will, no doubt, make this a horrible location. Grrr. The above shows how the missing Lase is now in sight again. Not good. If I'd known it was still being lased, I'd reverse, pop smoke, unload, and try a different route. We'll see what happens! Ken out.

Turn 5 cont... (26:00 to 25:00) My loaded Brad, White 2, is in trouble... It ignored the (bad) path I'd ordered. Blocked by bocage, so it zooms around a bit more than I wanted. Grrr. It was supposed to be on the left, coming to the right. A waypoint was behind that barn. Instead, it pathed to the right and is working back to the barn waypoint. I'd rather it just went down the road where trees and buildings will cover/conceal it. Ach... Meanwhile, I hear jet engines. This hits the already knocked out Humvee. Shrug. More...

Turn 5 26:00 to 25:00 Last turn, we left a shell in mid-flight. The map looked like this: And from the enemy perspective... Where did the arrow fly? Right where it was aimed. I am SO hoping that he every seat filled in these BTR's. With lap passengers, too. I've got to gain what I can, where I can. The smoke is really well done. His vehicle (BMP? BTR?) which got across the bridge has also popped smoke. I don't know if something spooked it, or if DMS ordered it. Either way, well done. I've got to stalk this thing and whatever passengers it had... More...

No. Whether you live or die, my plans will advance.

Biggest developments so far: 1. I hear jets. DMS has air support, since I don't. That means I need to stay under trees or tight against buildings. Or, just accept losses. Hmmm.... 2. DMS has crossed the bridge. Totally unexpected, and very rapidly. Really a nice move. I'm reacting to that by pushing into the orange circle I put in my last pix. 3. Losses. Err, a bit more than I anticipated at this point. Sorry, men. I'll do better with the next batch. I still have enough. I think. The bridge battle will eat up bodies. I've got two squads left. So far. 4. My advantage: I have 3 Abrams. 5. His advantage: He has a lot more tracks left. I count about 5. If each one has a squad, then I'll be working hard to hose them down. I still have not seen his Humvee. (He may have a Tigr. I left that loose and between IanL and DMS. None of us really had a hard opinion one way or another on that.) I see this coming down to a bit of a struggle in town. His guys that got on my side of the bridge are going to be a big problem. I'll approach the solution by using a lot of direct firepower on all the buildings. Ken out.

Yeah, bloody and fast. Any mistake equals death. This is, admittedly, a fast and loose battle. I certainly would not ordinarily rush Brads filled with men into exposed locations. I was hoping it was an ATGM weapon lasing them, not a tank. I gambled, they lost. The proper way would be to infiltrate some spotters into position, sit there for 5-10 minutes, gaining spots, then slow move via cover/concealed routes to get Javs/Brads/Abrams into sniping positions. Gain firepower dominance, then expand that dominance into other locations. Instead, I'm rushing. Yeah, a gamey bridge rush. But not as gamey as DMS'! Ken

I'm very skeptical of the these Armata claims: the Russian claims, not Panzersaurkrautwerfer's. Even if something on tracks rolls past the reviewing stands, it doesn't mean anything. Paper mache, fiberglass, sheet metal, soft steel, and long dangerous looking things do not a tank make. Still, it's interesting since it's the only new tank news out there. (Any word on a future Abrams? Or Leopard? Or Challie?)

Turn 4, which just keeps giving... A few seconds after that last hit (which whited out my screens), I got another spot. Right near the BTR I killed last turn (or two ago)... Yeah, no. Not a good idea. Never, never, never, always avoid previous kills. By definition, you're near a kill zone. I almost felt bad about this one. Bwa-ha-ha! 3 kills, all by Blue 3. Positioning is key. One unit (like DMS' tank), can kill a lot of enemy. So, a summary is in order: A hard spot? Yes, that's where he is: between a rock and a hard place. Hope it's a hit. My plans: The various desiderata near my HQ (blood circle) move towards the orange circle. I need to seal off that area. The Brad in the orange will move forward, slowly. He'll die, but may get some first. The yellow circle needs some firepower. I'm moving IanL in there, and circling Blue 2 nearby (blue arrow). The other 2 blues move clear of the smoke and gain good vantage points. I hope they can isolate the river valley. I need to keep DMS from getting anymore squirters through. My in-town squad has split. One team goes high and covers front, one team goes left and covers the road. I get out of the Humvee deathtrap and follow in trace of my one surviving sniper team. I'll be on the bottom edge of that orange circle, leading from the rear. Ken out.

Turn 4, continued... Well, sitting smug after that last one was nice. It was Blue 3, my Abrams, which did that. I may let them live... But then, the smooth water was broken by a fin! Or a Russian. It seems this my be the shark which has taken a few bites out of my hide. A gun draw! Mano a mano! But teams of men using machines, instead. Who's going to be quicker??? Arrggghh!!! His shark squirts out some ink! Or something. Popping smoke is a pretty good idea. That should increase his survival odds. NOT! Harpooned! Or something. Whatever. He blows up. A laugh. Blue 3 heaves a sigh of relief. Killing two antitank overwatch units really helps me out. The rest of the weapons that DMS has are still a threat. Oh, and I heard a jet last turn. Like a typical US commander, I have no antiair. I'll send a memo to the USAF later. That's how they prefer to engage in battles, via memo. More...

Turn 4 27:00 to 26:00 Let's start with a recap. A lot of my guys died. I got one of his BTR's and missed a shot at a Khryzantema. Here's the turn start... It went downhill from there. Bode Miller downhill, that is!! Fast, wild, unpredictable and possibly in contention for...something... I'd be lying if I didn't say that didn't give me some satisfaction. Ahh. But that was not what destroyed my Brads. Something else lurks out there, like a shark, biding its time and looking for prey... More...

I've been the holdup (traveling with an Atom powered laptop: not conducive to CMBS play). That holdup is over. I'll post an update this evening, sometime between dinner and Walking Dead. Of course, many of my men could be considered "walking dead". Ken

^^^ Expanding on the Bradley fudge: in a platoon, every man can be carried. So, the equipped vehicles can carry the assigned troops. In reality, as mentioned, the squads get broken up an pieces get put into odd places. That is easily done in real life. In-game, the only way to make it work was to add the extra space. The game still has the same number of vehicles and the same number of troops as they should have IRL.

No, not the mortar variant. The dirct fire 120mm type. Think stubby tank gun. Fires 120mmm mortar rounds. Thumb typing sucks.

Shhhhhhh! Next he'll figure out it was my fault. I took a beautiful map, hacked it, and created a new battle. I spent, uh, 2 minutes adjusting for balance. Okay, that's a lie. All I did was hack it apart. The original is very good. Kharalyk.

Yes! I am going to have some harsh words for the guy that came up with this one!

The Army needs to put 120mm smoothbore direct-fire mortar Strykers in as support for each company. That's a lotta HE support. They won't get used as ersatz tanks. Pure bunker busters/HE tossers. That and mini-gun mounts.

Seeking solace... My Abrams get LOS/LOF to the top of the hill. This BTR goes boom. I want more!!! DMS has a Khryzantema in the treeline, left, which has an AMP round go high. (That seems to happen a LOT. I think it aims at the weapon, not the hull.) Regardless of my losses, I stick to my plan!!! I tossed a fast turn back to DMS. I may regret not taking a little more care. Or not. My surviving sniper team dismounts and hotfoots into town. My squad, in town, moves towards the bridge. Blue 1 moves to join Blue 3, away from the smoke. I continue to wonder about baccarat. Ken

Turn 3 28:00 to 27:00 A much better turn than last turn. For DMS. That's the at-start positioning... I ordered some fast movements, hoping to get inside his spotting/firing/hitting cycle. Err, not to be. Thank you, men. Your sacrifices were not in vain. Now I know not to do that again. Good job! Here's a few seconds in. Black 1 and 2 (my doom platoon snipers) are rushing down the road, bursting from the smoke of the burning Red 1. White 2 gets lased. How is he doing that??? Black 3 leads ahead of White 2. Blue 1 - 3 (Abrams platoon, moves forward. I follow behind White 2. Not great, since he's getting lased right there... and the result... Both Black Humvees on the road go boom. I hope DMS thinks he got me. We'll see. Psychological crushings are much more rewarding than physical! My Jav teams survive. My Abrams do well. White 2 survives being lased a second time... More...

The ONLY victory will belong to he that stands alone on the bridge at the end of the game! That changes my usual approach to battle.

Multicore games would be great. Multicore CM would be better. There was talk of AMD's Mantle being a big change. Apparently, it was used to influence the design of DX12. Cost of licensing for DX has been prohibitively high for BFC. Hopefully there will be improvements in both processing and graphics rendering with CM. Meantime, the gameplay is still phenomenal. FWIW, it seems like intel cpu's, at the same GHz, seem to run "faster" than AMD cpu's. Similarly, Nvidia cards seem to have fewer issues with CM than AMD gpu's. However, frequently AMD cpu's and gpu's cost significantly less than intel/nvidia. Competition is good. An article on DX12 gives a good intro and brief description of the various API's, here: http://www.anandtech.com/show/8962/the-directx-12-performance-preview-amd-nvidia-star-swarm

I may dismount IanL from that Brad and offer him a SPECIAL mission...yeeessssss, indeeeeed. I like how that idea looks... Wouldn't it be a...heartrending...display of loyalty if IanL were to charge across the bridge, as if he were me, in a bid to take the bullets DMS is saving for my august being? Oh, yes. That HQ flag may be his best asset. : )

^^^ I never knew tank riders could do that. Makes sense... Thanks, Ken

Very nicely done! Thanks.

I have plans. BIG plans. Okay, BIG BAD plans. The Javs may get something. Shrug. All my men are expendable. If not... The big picture. I still need to get some combat power onto the bridge. DMS looks to have a platoon of BMP's going to my left, the same to my right and tanks in the middle. I want to get ensconced in the town and start picking off some of his guys. My Abrams need to get into the fight to make that happen. So far, I've failed. But, on the bright side, I've forced DMS to use up 2 of his sabot rounds!! I tell my men they're doing well. It's important to them. I'd rather have the rough part of the game at first. I hope DMS gets the rough part in the last part. Sigh. Back to my scotch. The brunette? She left with that other guy. Apparently he knew how to play baccarat. Sigh.