Nidan1

Nukes are so 21st Century....photon torpedos would be my choice, lets see an APS counter one of those babys.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/scientific-experiments/occams-razor.htm Read this, it explains.

I hope you meant 2017! There could be cloaking devices available by 2107.

All unit markings and serial numbers either removed or painted over?

I received an email today from Twitch indicationg that some unauthorized access may have happened on my account. The email recommended that I change passwords on other accounts linked to my email address as a safeguard. I know a lot of members here visit Twitch TV to watch ChrisND's weekly stream. This is just a heads up.

"It amuses me that despite being effectively just as "good" as the Sherman that it gets remembered as some sort of wondertank while the Sherman is panned as a rolling deathtrap. Losses of both vehicles in Soviet use are entirely comparable, and the T-34/85 vs M4A3E8 fights in Korea all indicate the advantage is with the better crew rather than one of those tank being better." I think in a nutshell, your last sentence probably says it all about which tank of all the ones discussed here would do the best in combat. Of course any crew would need a decent machine to work with, but if you look at what the Israelis did to the Syrians on the Golan Heights with Super Shermans and Centurians in 1973, and what the US did to the Iraqi Republican Guard in Gulf War 1 with early M1 tanks, the tanks with better crews and in most cases better tactics and training inflicted heavy losses even when outnumbered.

http://www.stripes.com/news/army-looking-to-store-tanks-equipment-in-eastern-europe-1.325693# I'm sure this isnt an exact number, but considering the amount of armor the Russians could deploy on short notice it doesnt seem like a lot.

Precisely why climate change is real.

One can never tell what might happen to a thread started by John Kettler (Sorry John, I know you hate emoticons)

Maybe a coup is not so farfetched?

Unfortunately we have a form of governing in place that today is inherently corrupt. Our representatives do not put their full energy into serving all of their constituents, but rather seek to please wealthy donors, lobbyists and special interest groups which can afford to put big bucks into the politicians coffers. There is no rush to reform any of these situations because the pols do not want to cut off the major sources of their funding. Therefore our so-called Lawmakers spend their energy and influence to please small sections of the population, while the issues raised by the majority of Americans are ignored, or worse pay lip service. The framers recognized how this situation could lead to a paralyzed government and they chose to compromise on the seperation of powers. Madison was concerned with how legislators would be seduced by the power and influence of small groups with big purses. He called it "the violence of Factions" Could this kind of governing lead to a situation where the populace is so fed up with the way things are done or not done, that they would turn their backs while a military takeover took place. You would want to think that it is unlikely.

Contrary to the general understanding, a very small percentage of men who served in Vietnam were draftees. In fact a draftee was more likely not to be sent to Vietnam because 2 years did not allow enough time for training and then the one year or 13 month tour in Vietnam. Also I would not be too quick to dismiss the younger generation because they are the ones volunteering for the military and fighting our wars. The make up of the US military today also ensures that older, more settled men and women can serve on a combat deployment. Most large formations are filled out by reserve and National Guard components, made up mostly of older (not 18 and 19 year olds) people who have a standing in civilian life as well as a career in the military. There is no doubt however that serving in the military provides a person with skills and experience that are invaluable in the civilian workforce. I dont think there are enough Gurkhas to go around

Staying O/T...this is an interesting observation and may require its own thread. Does a professional miltary lead to the danger of it becoming a dangerous entity involved in the politics of its parent nation? I remember growing up in the 50's& 60s, all young men had the spectre of the draft hanging over them, either serve your two years, go to college and avoid it for awhile, or get married right away and have kids. We all went through it so it was a shared male experience that tied society together in a way, no matter what part of the country you lived in. Also from the end of WW2 and the Korean War to Vietnam, most families in America had someone in the military, whether drafted or not, and could relate to the "Service" as something that was part of the American experience, for males anyway. Today the all volunteer force in America has proven itself to be competent and professional through many years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and other smaller conflicts like the Balkans and Somalia. What is lost IMO is the connection between the society at large and those we send into harms way to fight threats and project our view of how the world should be. (which can be debated as good or bad). Our system of government makes it a lot harder for military coups to happen as did in Roman times or in many other countries in the world. But as Americans continue to see our military as the only entity that functions with any competent consistency, would the people support a "Seven Days in May" type scenario in the future?

Thanks for the clarification.

John, my bad, Luhansk is obviously in Ukraine, so those soldiers, equipment and emplacements must belong to Ukrainian National Forces. I mistakenly said Russia. Still the camo is outrageously out of place.

It shows the indiscriminate and brutal nature of the fighting in Ukraine. The Grad system is inherently inaccurate, and shows that it is fired into towns to terrorize people, not for any tactical military purpose. I didnt see any military targets around in the video, did I miss one?

What I find interesting is the bright green camouflage netting covering the CP trenches. There does not seem to be anything green around the rest of the landscape, that CP area must stick out like a sore thumb. Obviously a training area deep within Russia, although you would think they would use appropriate camouflage.

I would wager that most of those comments professing "worship" for a tank of all things are posted by 12 year olds.

If this game highlights anything, it is the ability of man portable weapons like the Javelin and others to turn these bad ass tanks into so much burning junk. Only countries with deep pockets and high industrial output would be able to sustain the high materiel losses that would occur in a showdown between two or more modern land armies. Look at the 1973 battles beteween Israel, Egypt and Syria, or Gulf War 1 and 2. The destruction of armor and aircraft happened at high rates and very quickly. Hopefully we will never see large scale armored conflicts ever again.

You are probably correct about that ID. B2s and B3s would have the Sosna-U gun sight mounted on the left top of the turret. The way that one tanker is lounging in that area of the turret would seem to indicate that there is no sight mounted there. There is a great deal of talk that the Russians have supplied the rebel forces with T-72B3s, but I dont think there is concrete evidence of that yet.

OK, I ended up with a minor defeat. Did not encounter any large AT weapons other than an AT-14 located in the far east corner of the map. The RPG team in the town where the Stryker force started out was a surprise. I was kinda expecting something along those lines and I had the lead Stryker stop and send out some infantry to snoop around a bit. Just has the last grunt disgorged from the vehicle a rocket went right into the open rear door and took out the Stryker. The infantry squad took one casualty and then managed to take out the AT team. The New Checkpoint was overrun really early. An infantry team managed to slip away from there and hide near the river embankment, he was valuable later on in giving me some eyes on the units around the New Checkpoint when the Stryker group assaulted it. The main checkpoint was also attacked from the open ground and from Kharayk W, but the enemy never advanced, but seemed content to stay away and take pot shots. I used the mortar wagon to drop some rounds into the town as well as the surrounding flat area. I managed to get one BMP with infantry into the Main Checkpoint to reinforce it. I assaulted the New Checkpoint with infantry and managed to retake most of it, but I was not given credit for it because there were straggling enemy units in the vicinity. This was a fast paced, fun to play scenario. The units on the map and later on seem adequate for a decent battle. I will have to try it again to see what AI plan I get the next time.

As far as I know arriving emails, updates, malware attack notifications, etc. do not cause CM to drop back to the desktop. Anyway it has never happened to me running Windows with a PC connected to the internet via a cable modem. Turning off the internet while playing CM is not something I ever do, especially when I am waiting for PBEM turns via my email or dropbox. Disconnecting and reconnecting to the net seems like a waste of time.

I notice the conspicuous absence of any update reflecting the spanking your tank heavy American force took from my hardy panzergrenadiers. Outnumbered three to one they prevented you from taking your objectives, while inflicting heavy casualties. A lesson you wont soon forget I'm sure.

You're obviously not a dog lover . You miss read my intentions, I was highlighting the desperation of the Soviets using dogs against tanks in WW2. I was not praising, nor favoring animals over humans. Maybe if they had spent their time and effort developing a weapon like the Panzerfaust or the Bazooka.....hmmmmm we will never know.

Excellent job!!! "The Twilight of the Gods" as background in the beginning was a nice touch.