PLM2

One of them has what looks like a bren.

I played OPFOR at NTC, I dont think they go far enough. The best they can come up with is some small villages made out of conexes with plywood interiors? Knowing the Army, these probably cost millions of dollars a piece. MILES gear is completely worthless, they dont take the time to zero it and they also didnt give us (at least the OPFOR) additional batteries. So you're running off the same 9 volt battery for 3 weeks, the MILES gear people i talked to that came to repair things said they should be switched every 2-3 days. I cant stress how worthless MILES gear is. I would be surprised if a single MILES gear was set off by a laser the whole time, the only ones that went off were from observers setting them off with their observer laser guns We had roles and families we had t memorize while playing OPFOR but the whole time it never had any revelance. We definately weren't trained properly to play OPFOR. People stationed at Fort Irwin were either constantly in the mindset of causing trouble for OPFOR in any way possible at all times, or did it in stupid ways. They didnt seem proffessional at what they were doing at all. I remember one time I was detained in a FOB EPW area and it came under assault by less than 10 OPFOR. Despite everything getting thrown at them they somehow managed to penetrate to the EPW area which made almost no sense considering the volume of firing that was going on. I hear BLUFOR complain a lot that OPFOR is invincible. Considering the battery problem and heavily biased, inexperienced people observing and calling the shots, **** never wound up remotely realistic. Blanks are too quiet and sometimes someones MILES gear would go off randomly while patrolling a village and nobody would know if it was a sniper or another MILES gear mishap. We weren't briefed on a lot of things. You'd be playing a sniper and get shot at by an A-10 flying overhead and have no idea whats going on. Observers would show up only when something is going to happen and did not live in the villages, so everyone knew it. They had IED missions on the roads and such with civlian vehicles but they had absolutely no "valid" civilian traffic, so BLUFOR knew if you were on the road, you were on a mission. The only good that I can say is the fact that they brought in real Arab-speaking Iraqi-American contractors to live in the villages with us to add immersion [ June 20, 2007, 06:54 AM: Message edited by: PLM2 ]

All these trivial conflicts have too little a scale compared to a World War. Even modern conflicts, if done realistically the intensity is gonna be relatively low or its gonna be a one-sided slaughter. Where's the fun in that? I am still a consumer right? Someone cares what the consumer thinks right? Right now becoming a fan of this game is still very much in the air so maybe thats why many people are still looking beyond it. Modern warfare on a limited front just doesn't get me excited, bring me back to the days where each side stood a fair chance and the outcome actually matters. Because they're only games and thats whats fun. Dont particularly wanna play a game where some 3rd world country is fighting the greatest military power in the world, regardless of the motivation for making the game. Sorry, I havn't dedicated years of my life to making incredibly realistic WWII games. So its still very much the tactical playground for me. So if I can't hear American soldiers yelling "****" and "****" obsessively, and Islamic troops yelling "Allah Akbar" and whatnot in the demo, I think i'd prefer something else.

Was reading the Band of Brothers book (I was at a desk for about 24 hours and it was laying around) and in one part he mentioned how the paratroopers were taught how to fish using grenades.

2 Pounders and Tigers is fun playing as the Germans, get to anihilate a whole battalion of Brits if you're good enough.

I dont see much suspicious in the videos. The convoy isnt watching the attackers through the camera, contrary to what some people believe, you dont just shoot suspcious people. And the attackers went from nonhostile to tossing grenades at the last vehicle in a matter of less than 5 seconds. Not really enough to react speeding down a road like that. Eventually, these guys were probably rolled up. Seems like they were tryin their luck very obviously. Just because parts of the humvee go flying like the hood etc doesnt mean the vehicle was destroyed.

Not sure if its possible to capture the sound correctly by audio recordings, the bang just isnt as powerful

Its always sorry to see people who dont understand that Armies dont fight wars, that nations fight wars. The military is holding up its committment, the nation as a whole is failing... I know plenty of people in garrison who wish they could be over there, some that don't but a majority of those serving right now have enlisted or reenlisted after the 2003 invasion. Because you lack the committment, or because you hate the commander-in-chief, dont assume you speak for anyone. Dont assume even a few soldiers speak for everyone. I know soldiers who believe 9/11 was a conspiracy but I know far more that joined for the sole purpose of fighting the war on terrorism. I know people who feel depressed because they havn't had the chance to deploy. You can call me an inexperienced "kid" as people here so often seem to resort to or whatever crap you want. Dont dick around claiming Iraq is not the war on terrorism. If it wasn't before, it sure as **** is now. I dont find it surprising that people don't want to cut their life short and mothers dont want to lose their kids in a war we're probably gonna lose (once again, thanks to a failing nation). I dunno how every single casualty felt, but I know my mother does not speak for me, let alone people who are obviously influenced by politics to say the least. Don't state your opinions as facts on the tombstones of people who can't talk back. There were people who felt like you in plenty of previous wars. There may be a lot who wish it could all just go away. But at the same time you can't bask in the glory of a majority which once stood even stronger for the complete opposite...going to war. [ May 28, 2007, 02:32 PM: Message edited by: PLM2 ]

I always recommend these games to anybody i know who could be even remotely interested, makes it much easier when you've got something brand new on the table.

Not every soldier is out sprinting across kill zones on a daily basis. Just like not every soldier is waiting on the other side of a wall listening for insurgents breathing, the earplug insanity. I suppose soldiers should stop communicating verbally too because in some situations the enemy might hear you. Not everybody enjoys sitting dressed in a pretty light infantryman's armor waiting to get picked off. Clearly I cant read RMC because I am still dissagreeing with your statement that better armor wouldnt improve protection against IEDs. I emphasized the importance of body armor to demonstrate how one bullet penetration can make the difference. If you think my reaction was too strong then you obviously don't realize how wrong you are. You might wish you had something stronger when you're lying on the floor with a sucking chest wound during your gaurd shift. Im done discussing this with both of you based on your hostile reactions. Hey, I'll play my kiddie part and block you if i can as well becauase I dont need more stress in my life listening to ignorance. [ May 23, 2007, 10:02 PM: Message edited by: PLM2 ]

I dissagree, I know people who ducktape SAPPI plates to their sides. It saves a LOT of lives, the arguement that its not worth it is insane. Soldiers wore armor in the olden days to stay alive. And here we are requiring less mobility, almost no hand to hand combat and of course we're gonna wear the **** when you can chill out and have someone try to kill you from hundreds of meters away. If you honestly wouldnt wear it, you're on teh same level with people who wont wear ear protection. Before I even joined I knew more than one person who lost hearing in the war and they were the only casualties I knew. ****, someone I know is getting medboarded for one incident of firing one shot without earplugs. I'm sure some of the people who have the same complacency with armor are in caskets right now. You're crazy if you dont think it makes a difference in IEDs. You definately wanna have something inbetween yourself and thousands of bits of gravel/shrapnel. And buddy, bullets arent killing soldiers a lot of the time because the armor is stopping them. I know people I see every day in rehab who are probably alive only because of the armor they wore. Know someone who his armor only stopped one round but guess what, that $400 SAPPI plate taking one round might be the difference between 50 more years of living and being dead and a memory at 20. Give me a break [ May 23, 2007, 07:31 PM: Message edited by: PLM2 ]

Army is ****ed up. I remember when I went to basic they brought in people to sell us crap like "class rings" or other dumb overpriced crap nobody normal would really want. But some people are desperate to spend money after 60+ days without. The whole SGLI life insurance is ****ed up. They seem to look for things to deny dead soldiers their SGLI. For instance you weren't wearing rediculous safety equipment (how many bikers wanna wear a vest off post?). They take complete control of your life and when soldiers kill themselves or do something dumb and get killed, they deny SGLI and have the ****in nerve to charge the survivors for the percentage of the enlistment bonus for the contract that wasn't served. This includes soldiers killed in action.... Wounded soldiers medically discharged also have to pay back the percentage they didnt serve. Its completely out of control, the whole insaness safety which really does nothing. All it is is the piss poor leadership passing on responsibility to their soldiers completely to follow moronic safety regulations. Didnt take the proper online safety class and you die? SGLI denied. Die mountain hiking without wearing hiking boots....denied. I have to do a risk assessment in how i'm going to get to the airport near post to go on leave in the United States..... FFS...i live here. I think I can handle getting to the airport. In a military vehicle I gotta stop at industrial railroad crossings on one lane highways in which civilian vehicles drive right through. Seems way more dangerous to stop on a ****in 70mph highway to me than risk getting hit by an imaginary train in flat open terrain in which the owners would be required to block the road in the rare circumstances a train comes through... Dont even get me started on SGLI. I'd like to find out where those guys operate and go beat the **** out of some executives with a bat.

You can't hear a stryker coming like you can a bradley or an abrams

I wonder if they used the green tipped ammo with the steel penetrator for the penetration tests because thats all i've ever fired in training and it looks like it wasnt from him loading the magazine in the accuracy test. m855 i think

Get a silencer.

The earplug cases aren't that old at all. I was wearing it about a year ago today. They only started selling ACUs here about a year and a half ago. I usually keep earplugs in my uniform. I dunno about the rest of you but I prefer muffled sounds too intense distracting pain and ringing in my ears

I usually wear earplugs on training excersies. The issued ones I dislike but regular industrial foam ones are awesome and block out less noise and are more comfortable. Only problem is you can't really clean them. I dont have too much more problems hearing. Maybe its an aquired skill. Even if they aren't in all the way, just enough to not fall out, they seem to help quite a bit. If I ever got shot at, i probably would wear them. Maybe I'm not hardcore enough. Especially concerning roadside bombs I think you might lose your hearing really frickin fast without earplugs at least with my limited experience with explosives. And I know people that managed to work radios with earplugs in, and i've done it even in chaos. I think the disadvantage is mainly psychological unless maybe you're in the same building with the enemy where the stakes might be so thin its not worth taking hte chance. So maybe its something you aughta look into. Would be nice if they had earplugs that could be activated and deactivated. From what I unbderstand they already have some that block out minimal noise with protection from loud blasts. [ May 11, 2007, 03:16 PM: Message edited by: PLM2 ]

Or when drinking, i seem to do that a lot here. But i usually make sure to edit it 2 or 3 times. Back on topic, it would be nice to see Syrian aircraft in the future. I understand you guys are aiming for the basics at the moment, but things like no water and no red on red is kind of a bummer. As long as it comes along eventually, Id really appreciate it

I dont see how people are gonna say that the 5.56 m16/m4 isnt loud. Your ears are gonna instantly be ringing if you're not wearing earplugs. Watch your hearing test keeping getting worse and worse if you think it doesnt do anything, its happened to several people i know

Even if their airforce did make it through, i can testify that there still are air defenders with manportable stingers and avengers able to ID aircraft of many types. I wouldnt wanna have to deal with stingers. No radar jamming is gonna save the airforce from direct ground fire

I don't think its just a camera thing because you can hear it in videos from the US side when closing in on insurgents, one recent example would be the room clearing thread video where they withdraw from the house and blow it all up.

Yes, I would have to have say its pretty innacurate not to include it. Looks like they were shooting at some kind of compound based on the concrete barriers you can see in the footage

So the French could have just kicked the Germans out on their own? Willingness of the occupying country doesnt matter? We can sit in Iraq forever like this if American people don't care no matter how much the arab population tries to knock us out. But that isnt the case they seem to enjoy killing each other just as much. Letting the guy get away could cost more than getting him. Obviously they want to die, or at least they aren't very smart. They should be familiar with what will happen if they speed up to/past a checkpoint. The small arms I think would have gotten him eventually anyway however. Awesome firepower might serve as a detterrance in some way. Then there's also the experience gained by the Javelin team gaining confidence and experience in a weapon system. May as well shoot the ****. Not like you're gonna run into a T-80 any time soon. You guys are seriously overstressing this. In the same way you can analyze and dissect dozens of gun camera footages of excessive force being used on targets that didnt pose an immediate threat or some other crud. [ April 29, 2007, 06:06 PM: Message edited by: PLM2 ]

"Stop shooting at me you ****!"

Id really appreciate these sounds too. I think if you guys do it realistic, at least the American soldiers might sound like potty mouths. I honestly would say that is the case, I would imagine its the same in combat. Will CM2 feature the word "****"? I was surprised when I saw the translations for Russian chatter in the game. A lot of dirty words. I wouldnt mind if its in English at all but maybe some people would. Then again, maybe an option could be in for profanity being used or not