vincere

Molasses tomorrow will bring forth cognac

I don't know why but I had a mental image of Steve being a bit outdoorsy, at home in the woods type. But yeah, good luck with the storm !

That is very worrying. As a westerner I do not want to see any dictatorship, or authoritarian Oligarchy militarily strong and dominant. But equally, we do not want where that could go.

What, so successful it has sucked them all in like Tron-Inception style?

Hmmm... define "mad man".........hmmmmm.....

Been a while since updates posted, is this Op layer tool dead?

I don't doubt it. I found FT com quoting anonymous sources in October. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/930a1496-5aa9-11e4-8625-00144feab7de.html#axzz3PUlAMfye Can you quote/ link any others. Very interested in this.

Oh good grief. Well go look at a map of Russia in 1725, or 1513 for that matter.

Not a uniform grog so my interest is purely functional and immersion through diversity. You know I was thinking and realised that a significant slice of what I'm saying is based on British battles in Afghanistan having SAS in support during major pr-planned battle ops. The I joined up the dots and note that the British experiences have lead to them forming the Special Forces Support Group, which in essence is similar to 75th Rangers. The SFSG roles include: " Acting as a quick reaction force for SAS/SBS operations Sealing off and guarding an area of operation Taking part in large scale offensive operations alongside SAS/SBS forces Carrying out secondary assaults and diversionary raids Acting as a 'blocking force' against counter attacks." So... I am adjusting my position with this new info, and thinking Ranger type units aught to cover it. I maintain thought that in the unit selection, a wide range of squad, platoon sizes and ToE would be best to reflect their flexibility.

I will play devils advocate and be the lone dissenting voice. Let me first be clear: One of the reasons I like CM is because it is standard infantry and combat. Not wanting as Special Forces game. I think there's a place for SOF beyond Ranger Regiment and Spetsnaz. Two reasons. First is the way US and British SOF have been used in many major battles in Afghanistan and Iraq. They get used as shock troops, recon and Fire/Air controllers troops for crucial geographical points or phases of the battle. As you say, when employed like this they loose a lot of their edge and fight much like other mortals. So no need for extra breach and repelling animations etc etc. However, they are MUCH more flexible in their ToE/ORBAT. So a range of squad and platoon choices would add flavour and something to the game as they do in RL. For example, a 16 man fighting patrol to add oomph to an attack on a hard point. Which brings us to 2: they would add flavour to the game. Additional: Huge rarity should balance QBs.

That last Vid was awesome. ` And I must say, if there was an award fro AARs then you pair would be competing for Gold.

There's a whole spectrum of Urban dilemmas. Small to mid-sized towns too. Bypass for operational speed and economy of effort. But leave something in their rear that could hurt them . That's one of the reasons why a true dynamic campaign/ operation would be so sweet.

Exactly; but still possible depending on Operational/Strategic context. But they'd definitely flatten hard-points within the city.

This is an interesting question and dilemma. Back in the Cold War days Soviet doctrine was to bypass major cities where they can. I think whether to bypass/ surround and bypass or tackle the tough nut straight away would be context specific. The decision would be case by case based on their strategic and operational objectives; force disposition of both sides; timing; press war and diplomacy; etc etc etc. Things have changed over the years, MOUT has become part of the terrain and militaries need to deal with it. That said, and hard point could be bypassed as per standard strategy. However, even with Russian bypassing of a city I would still anticipate action. Their new doctrine (well actually not that different to elements of the old Soviet 5 Column Strategy) would still employ locals, Special Forces, and regular to probe and disrupt enemy forces within.

The Russian do and would use Thermobaric weapons; which are far more napalm than napalm. Last time I checked it's one of the areas where they lead, or have an edge. Deployed for arty, air and miniaturised for squad use too. USMC have some in their inventory. Not really up to date on the rest of the West.

Awesome comparison. Heard all the cynicsom about F35 but none of if compared the costs. Looks like Typhoon cost more "This means that we UK taxpayers will have shelled out no less than £215m for each of our 107 jets – that's $350m at today's rates," http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03/03/eurofighter_nao_analysis/

Drones controlled and semi-autonomous will largely (not fully) replace them and air superiority very soon. No risk to pilots being a major factor. Less weight, longer endurance, and soon better performance.

obviously it's going to be 22rd December or the 19th... or...

JK- Just tried it again, Bitdefender is saying unsafe due to Malware. Agreed, would be very interested to hear Chechen experiences.

A rare thing happened with that page. My security software blocked the site opening.

Anxiety is for most people an autonomous and natural response to stress. Training can help hugely but is rarely done enough and with enough realism and focus on this to mitigate it at first. A little stress and adrenaline pump is good, it focuses and motivates to action. But anything over the sweet spot and it inhibits thinking, creativity, action, and even motor skills and visual field. This is why 90% of black belts would get there ass kicked in a street fight. Agreed, the team is crucial too, 2 or more warrior personality types or vets calm and lead the rest.

Adrenaline and fear impact cannot be overstated. Simple things like remembering to up the range on sights, and watch for the dust fall of rounds while pumped is what marks the transition from 'green' to experienced, even for highly trained soldiers. Definitely different tools of different jobs is the right approach across a squad and platoon. Which is why the Brits added 7.62 L129A1 Sharpshooter rifle to the mix with the longer range fire fights in Afghan. http://www.army.mod.uk/equipment/23221.aspx db_zero: The SA80 had some teething problems. They fell apart easily at first, and had a couple of ergonomic issues. They were pushed through HK who improved it. My own opinion is that it's now a good and very ergonomic weapon, but like above at longer ranges 7.62 is the way to go.

Well there could be a many reasons. Off the top of my head, some of us are busy and want to pay to play not make and administer the games. Another is that there are some significant hurdles. Decent sized operations need a decent amount of maps. Casualty tracking back an forth from tactical to operational level. AI. I know that CM has a strong multiplayer community, but across the board most people play against AI, and it's weak in the quick battle area that dumping forces on a map would be.

After what I've read and followed on Vice news, and Motoral type videos and considering how skilled, entrenched and motivated the Ukranians are (I they are rather than may be motivated by fact of how long they've defended).... then those figures sound very plausible and credible.