BigDork
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Posts posted by BigDork
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Will it be going up on YouTube anytime soon?
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Next week. Next Friday is still end of January !
This weekend is open and I have almost nothing going on and next weekend is packed so I guarantee we won't see the game this weekend.
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I have a question for US soldiers, Did you guys get beat up during your army service? And would you guys mind telling me what was the hardest part of your service for you personally? I always wondered what the US soldier would go through.
I can't talk for the Soldiers here but the hardest thing about basic training for the USAF in my opinion was folding my clothes properly. No matter how hard I tried I just couldn't get all the seams of my underwear to line up right. And no, I'm not kidding. That was probably the hardest thing I endured in basic.
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...Russia would go up against, at a minimum:
US, UK, Poland, Baltics, Romania, and probably Germany (I would not have said that in 2014) as well as Italy. I think Netherlands, the Nordic countries, and even France would likely participate. That is the bulk of NATO's air capability and it also is all of NATO's eastern most opportunities for air bases...
Finally I can contribute to this if only slightly.
The Baltics don't have an air capability. The other major NATO nations take turns policing their airspace much like what happens with Albania. ( Wiki source ). The Baltic NATO nations can contribute through the use of facilities and in some minor ways but when it comes to an air war in Ukraine I would basically consider them useless.
It's basically the same thing for the Romanian AF. They can offer up facilities and while their Air Force is far ahead of the Baltic nations, they are flying older, falling apart Soviet jets. In an attempt to somewhat modernize they reached out to Portugal a couple years ago to purchase some second and third-hand F-16s ( source ).
You neglected to mention Bulgaria, another NATO nation on the Black Sea but there's really no loss there since they are in a similar to worse position that the Romanians are aircraft and material wise. They can offer up facilities to host fighters if the poop hits the fan but they aren't going to be effective and launching sorties.
I served at a NATO air operation center for 15 months so I have some anecdotal insight. It's all my opinion though. I'm a computer guy, not a warfighter. I fixed the computers of the guys tasked to protect Bulgarian, Romanian, Turkish, Greek, and Albanian air space. But my assessment should be taken with a grain of sand because while I can tell you how to build a network, I cannot actually tell you how to fight an air war.
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I was talking with a couple people about Korea earlier today. I'm due to PCS in November and if I can't stay in the DC area I'm trying to get over to Osan for a year and hopefully then come back. I don't know if I've met anyone who completely hated their time over there. It seems like one of the few assignments most people enjoy.
I never joined the military to do the whole shoot guns, blow stuff up thing. That being said... driving around for a day or two in tank doing all sorts of fun stuff sounds like a great experience.
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I think I'm okay with finishing out my career without having a story like that.
I actually wouldn't mind deploying again. At the end of the day, when you're in the AOR the work just feels like it matters more. You're efforts contribute far more directly to the mission. Deploying sucks but it's also the most rewarding time I've had.
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I went to Liberty every now and then but mostly stuck to Sather. I hated the hassle of getting my rifle from the armory. I made it a point of carrying that thing as little as possible.
Every now and then I'd have to go to the ATC tower to fix some computers up there. Since that was technically controlled by the Iraqis I was forced to take a "full load" with me. After the first couple times of having to climb the stairs with my M-16, 4 magazines, and whatever comm equipment I needed I just started borrowing my E-8s M9. Never mind I had never fired one before.
I'm a network administrator in the Air Force. In my career I had shot at paper targets that didn't move about 6 or 7 times. If things ever went bad I was pretty screwed either way. I just hoped that the thousands of soldiers a few minutes away would get to me in time.
I have a similar thought about having to qualify with the M-16 while wearing a gas mask. If I ever, ever, ever am in a real life situation where I am shooting at someone while wearing a gas mask it's all over anyway.
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I'm about to hit my 14th year of active duty in the US Air Force. Currently I'm assigned to USCYBERCOM.
I deployed to Sather AB, Baghdad back in 2008. I never left the Victory Base Complex so I was pretty safe. We'd get rocket/mortar attacks sometimes but they mostly fell on the Army side of things when they did hit.
The first attack came about a week or so after I got there. I was sleeping in my trailer when the sirens started going off. I rolled out of bed and got underneath it. Then I realized how dang cold it was in my room. I quickly gave it some thought and figured that all the big cement slabs around my trailer would keep me protected from a anything short of a direct hit and my bed wasn't gonna save me if a rocket came through my ceiling so I quickly got back under the covers.
My biggest "OH CRAP!" moment came near the end of my deployment. I was sleeping out in a friend's trailer near the end of the runway (He was an Airfield Systems guy) and suddenly there was this huge BOOM! that sounded real close. Then there was another BOOM! followed momentarily by a few more. I had missed the message that they were doing some controlled detonations nearby. After about three evenly timed explosions I figured out it wasn't anything to worry about but I tell you, that's a crappy way to wake up.
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That's it, tell my kids Christmas is cancelled.
150115 at 0600
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So I tried firing it up at lunch. It's been a while since I've tried to download a battle so maybe I'm doing something wrong.
I extracted it to my Scenarios folder but it is not showing up in my Battle list when I fire up the game. I tried bringing it up in the Scenario Editor without much luck as well. Did I miss a step here?
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I downloaded it and will give it some time this weekend. I'll let you know what I think.
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I am not on the beta.
However the the last stuff shown still has textures missing here and there, the rest of it is just math and common sense. I would love to be wrong!
To try and spin it positively... textures aren't functional game code, it's more just art. And considering how most CM fans are, I think we could deal with some janky textures if the game runs mostly well on release. So hopefully they've finalized the code for the most part and are fixing a few last minute bugs, stability, and mostly art and we rabid fans will see the game very soon.
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Seeing on how many of the CM games were released on Thursdays or Fridays I'm going to go with a Christmas present to us all under our wargaming trees... 25122014 at 0600 because the kids always wake up early to open their presents.
I deserve it more than the submission above me because as an active duty service member I need CMBS as a training simulator for when the Air Force pimps me out to the Army when WWIII occurs. I haven't fired an M-16 since 2008. I've never even thrown a hand grenade or seen a Jav. For the sake of the US it's imperitive I play CMBS in order to persever and keep the World but mostly Ukraine free from the scourge of Russian invasion.
Also I've made an AAR or three in my day and have no problem getting my rear end handed to me in public.
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If you followed my AAR thread, you would know the rig I just built. This descrip is ~ page 13 I think.
- Intel i5-4690K 'Devils Canyon' 3.6ghz - 3.9ghz boost CPU
- 16gb DDR3 2133 Gskills Ripjaw RAM
- Asrock Z97 Fatal1ty Killer motherboard
- Nvidia GTX-970 4gb GPU from Gigabyte
- 256gb Corsair SSD
- H75 Corsair liquid CPU cooler
- 1TB WD Black data HD
- Raidmax CobraZ case
- Seasonic 620w Power supply
- Old model LG Blueray R/W
- Win 8.1
Seems to run CMBS beta just fine. ;-) Parts bought from Newegg and Amazon, using this tool.
"Go to hardforum.com . They have a utility called “hoverhound”. It is a basic price finder and trender. (It works with Chrome, maybe firefox, but not IE.) Find a part at newegg, and it’ll add a button on the newegg price. Hover over the button and you get price history and comparison. It’s cool. Your woman will think you’re more manly if you use it. Really." C3K
Price came in under $1200, assuming I collect all the mail-in rebates. Gotta love Black Friday deals!
I just got almost the exact same specs in my brand new PC. CMBS was one of the driving factors in me finally upgrading from my 4 1/2 year old laptop and I'm so glad I did. Man does that 970 make a world of difference in games from my 260.
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I got my new PC delivered yesterday. Black Sea was the real push to spend the money after 4 1/2 years on my laptop where each game ran a little worse. So now that my PC is here... bring on CMBS!
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Russia is never as weak or as strong as it seems. Hopefully improved since Georgia though.
Being a member of the US military I'm gonna disagree and say I really, really hope they haven't improved at all.
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Ooh man she is a spunky hot little devil! I christen her Roxanne.
Enjoyed the update, good to see first blood is spilled.
Shelia is a more appropriate name for a tank.
Bil, great stuff!
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23:00 - 22:00
One of my R35s fires its machine gun at the GMC but not the main gun. Bullets plink off the armor causing no damage, much to my chagrin. Before my tank can take a real shot the American half track drives out of LOS and my hopes of an easy kill are squashed.
I had forgotten that I had ordered one of my tanks to pull up alongside the, un-destroyed at the time, R35 down the road from BS. I don't regain LOS on the M3 but it gets some LOS on my R35. The end results are to be expected. I've now lost two tanks to this thing and I'm not very happy about it. (And yes, this is the hill where I lost 2 STuGs and a R35 last battle. I'm staying away from here from now on!)
I wouldn't call it revenge but it's something. And I sure need just about anything to go even slightly my way at this point. One of my infantry units in the woods near BN starts firing on a half track located at the Farm. A few bullets make it in the uncovered top but from what I can tell there are no casualties caused. The half track is forced to pull forward a bit though. Take that Americans! You waste that gas!
Planning
I'm almost done clearing out the woods near BN. From there I can begin moving them towards Bridge Z02. Hopefully by then I will have taken it. I have given orders for a few units to start opening up on the foxholes on the other side of the bridge from my men. 30 seconds into the next turn one of my units will begin assaulting across to seize the other side. Hopefully the defenders will have their heads down.
Knowing how this battle has been going for me, that's not gonna happen.
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24:00 - 23:00
Well I called it. I spot a M3 GMC hanging out near Bridge Z01. It's not a Sherman so thank God for that. I do have to be cautious and pay respect to the 75mm gun the thing has bolted to the top of it.
And moments later I'm reminded why I need to respect the gun, if not what's driving it around. A single shot is all it takes to remove one of my R35s from the battle. The crew survives which is great but the loss of this tank hurts and sets back my hopes of regaining momentum.
Planning
The plan is to destroy the GMC. Until I can, my tanks are in danger... my men are in danger... my hopes of winning this battle are in danger.
And here's an overhead look of things.
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25:00 - 24:00
I breathe a sigh of relief as the artillery starts to really rain down near Barn South. After the beating I took from an American barrage at BN, I took the spotting rounds seriously and pulled my men out of the danger area. I sit back and enjoy watching Penry's artillery be wasted on empty trees.
I also do my best to send a mortar barrage of my own his way. Unfortunately that barrage consists of a lone Brixia team. Needless to say I don't do a whole lot of damage. My men are aiming for one of Penry's half tracks but coming up short. If only they could get one of their rounds inside the thing.
Planning
The plan is to start using the armor to change the momentum of this battle and make it so I can move my men forward. One of my R35s is tasked with firing on the position of the American 60mm mortar team. With the threat of the .50 cal lessened for now, the mortar team is one of the bigger problems I face (that I know of). Getting rid of the m is my new priority.
Another R35 is ordered to open up with its MG on the American foxholes across Bridge Z02. I want to start suppressing the infantry there so I can rush over the bridge and seize the other side without taking too many casualties.
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27:00 - 25:00
My infantry's efforts to clear the woods around BN are hampered by sporadic gunfire from the .50 cal HMG down at the Farm. It's slightly annoying and slowing down progress but thankfully it has so far not resulted in any casualties.
The American HMG team soon realizes that their position has been compromised and starts to pack up. Penry has spotted my newly arrived armor and knows that the .50 cal is one of my primary targets to eradicate.
They are a bit slow though and the first 37mm HE round slams into the building they've taken up position in. Unfortunate for me, the 37mm shell doesn't pack much of a punch and the American's cover is more than stout enough to keep them safe. Causing some pain on the Americans would have been preferred but I'll settle for forcing the machine gun team to relocate into a less optimal position.
Speaking of less optimal positions... I spot a GI making his was down the road away from BN. Could it be that Penry has left the woods and is repositioning? I can only hope so but I'll still need to be careful and sweep the trees just in case. I'd hate to think it clear only to lose a tank to an unspotted American team.
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Good to know about the .50 cal. I learned in my last battle to keep the commander safely wrapped in steel.
I'm gonna take myself a bit out of the battle for a moment and use some gamer logic. For this to be a balanced battle Penry either has another 57mm ATG hidden somewhere or else he'll be getting some sort of reinforcements that have a gun on it. R35 vs Sherman wouldn't be equal and I don't see it being Semovente vs Sherman either. Even the 75/18 would probably have issues. Maybe... if he only gets one Sherman. I'm expecting to either see Stuarts or else a bunch of M3 GMCs.
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31:00 - 27:00
While I managed to get rid of the ATG at the Farm, that damned mortar crew is still there. I should not have stopped focusing on their position. Now my Brixia crew is paying for my mistake. Hopefully I can return fire and knock them out.
Yeah right, like I'd get that lucky. A minute later and I'm down another Brixia. I'm now down to one operational Brixia. However, it is only manned by two crewmen. I cannot afford to lose that last mortar.
THANK THE LORD! It took them 15 long minutes but my R35s have arrived! If Perny was shocked when some infantry showed up at BN, he's going to be blown away by the arrival of my armor.
I waste little time. At 30:00, as soon as they arrive on the battlefield my R35s open up with their machine guns, targeting all around the barn. Their job is to suppress any Americans waiting for the assault. One of my infantry teams makes the charge into the building only to find it empty. Penry has apparently pulled back some from BN.
I spend the next couple minutes starting to fan out, hunting through the woods around BN trying to find the Americans. I cannot imagine Penry has gone too far. I also begin buddy care on the fallen. I hope to save as many as I can from that murderous artillery strike. For the most part though there is a lull in the fighting as I begin to move my armor into position.
BS is a disaster. The HMG at the Farm forced me to pull back the squad I had watching Bridge Z02. Penry also is pushing forward with infantry, causing several casualties along the way. My men are still shaken and depleted from the earlier half track attack and cannot put up much of a fight. But there's a small hope.
As I'm watching my armor start to move out from BN to a more central location I hear the scream of more artillery being called in. Dear Lord, the Americans have a ton of the stuff. Then I see the first impact from the spotting round. It's right in the area of Penry's men near BS (red circle). A second round (star) comes in near the end of 28:00 - 27:00. Maybe, just maybe his spotters mucked this one up and he's about to blast his own men. I can only pray at this point.
Planning
I'm moving two of my R35s down the road away from BN and towards Bridge Z02. I'm trying to be somewhat cautious because I don't know if he has another ATG or not. I'm really, really hoping it's not because with only the one Brixia, it could be difficult to counter. I'm also continuing to spread out and secure the woods around BN. If I can get a couple good positions on the hill to fire on the bridge and the Farm I should be in a much better position. Time's 1/3 gone but I'm starting to feel slightly better now that I've got some tanks to help out.
I know I owe an overhead shot. I'll put one up in the next update for sure.
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34:00 - 31:00
I'm not going to go into it too much. Penry called down some really accurate artillery near BN. My men didn't clear the area. It was bad.
To make matters worse, there's a .50 caliber HMG at the Farm. One more thing I'll have to deal with there before I can advance on the main objective. Also I need to be careful because I have a bad suspicion that the .50 cal bullets can turn my light tanks and my SPGs into Swiss cheese.
Thankfully at 31:10 the ATG was removed from the battle. This is by far the best moment of the battle up to this point. With that gun silenced I should be able to more freely move my armor around whenever they decide to show up. It doesn't make up for losing a whole platoon but it does help.
And boy was I surprised to see that at some point my men had eliminated the crew of the half track near Barn North. I didn't notice it at the time. It was only later on, when issuing orders that I saw the dead bodies on the ground. One less danger to my men near BN.
ChrisND Stream Footage
in Combat Mission Black Sea
Posted
Thanks Chris! I've loved all the videos you've done and it's only made my anticpation of the game grow. Watching on VOD on Twitch is far less convenient than YouTube so I'm happy to hear they'll be there soon.