The_Red_Rage

JK, I was thinking "Wag the Dog" as well (truly a visionary film considering last 8 years). Steve, Usually most of the "angry" demonstrations are staged events usually organized by well-paid professionals (often working for rival country's itellegence agencies). It is especially bad in Islamic world, where it is standard practice to use mobs of civilians to create provocations and block even most modern armies whenever them want. Some even "work" as professional demonstration participants (a twisted version of a movie extra). On why Georgians needed to fake drama, I personally have only two theories: either 1) they lied about "hundreds of civilian casualties", or 2) They preferred to stage it for more dramatic effect (similar to the PzIII example that you gave - real life will never look as "good" as a dramatic representaion of it). Alexander Babkin's picture set ( http://www.navoine.ru/forum/viewtopic.php?p=551#551 ) , which IMHO is a solid example of amazing war photography, is alot dirtier and grittier than Georgian pictures from Gori and therefore is alot harder for Western audiences to digest. Another interesting article: http://discoursology.net/2008/09/16/did-saakashvili-lie/ And some serious accusations: http://greengorilla47.wordpress.com/ From personnal perspective, I can't say I 100% believe it, but my first reaction after seeing the picture of Saaskashvili few years back was to ask "what is this guy on" quetion. Back in my 48-hour-straight party days, I've had a few contacts with various illigal substances ( ) and their users to know the "sketchy" face very well - skin discoloration, sunken eyes, body language, way he talks all fit the profile...could be stress of course.

Closest i got to heat detection hardware in Canadian Forces was during Stalwart Guardian 2005 in Petawawa. Basically, they set up a demo with this $800,000 contraption that looked similar to those civilian magnification devices you throw a coin in to view the sights. It was way too big and way too expensive to be carried by anything lower than battalion level. Looking downrange we were supposed to spot a guy hiding in the bushes - with 20/20 vision I had a hard time seeing anything resembling a human. Americans might use them on wider scale, as I remember them having much cooler **** than us (pretty embarassing to drive an Iltass behing a Hummer).

I carried SAW (C9) for 3 years - nice little toy, and i don't get the hate. Yes it is abit of a bitch to maintain, but it is a SECTION weapon so everyone has to put out (but i admit to throwing boxes of blank rounds away to avoid extensive cleaning ) I've had 1 bad stoppage in 3 years, and that was due to the ****ty bolt. Weight was only and issue when entering windows during FIBUA, and it wasnt the so much of a weapon but rather all the ammo boxes that got caught up (i had up to 7 on me, looking like a christmas tree). Firepower seemed adequate enough... it's no C6 (m240) but I pity the guy who has to carry that thing (or guyS, if there is tripod involved). With regards to 30 rnd mag limitation - I still don't get why there are no 45 rounders for NATO standard weapons (similar to AK ones). Looks like the new concept is similar to the RPK series.

Found another interesting article on "propaganda" war: http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/09/fake-georgia-pi.html (follow the links, some interesting picture comparissons there) If it is true, wouldn't be the first time some shady photos were aired by a "respected" source (if anyone remembers the German journalist caught with fake photographs of "murdered civilians wrapped in barbed wire being thrown into pits", which turned out to be Chechen rebels flushed out of Komsomolskoye)... hey i think it was Reuters as well!

BlackSwan: http://www.cmmods.com/ I suggest El Terrifico's US RagTag mod and Syrian Euro ragtag package (play around with camo styles) - use search function on cmmods to find both. There are also numerous face texture mods...

I doubt Putin would give and interview to a representative of alternative media. My guess is that Roth is as mainstream as it gets. Full Der Spiegelfechter interview vid with subtitles: Putin full CNN interview: Mdevedev CNN interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nI5c0D-84w&feature=related

I think it's alcohol + boredom. My impressions from being to Finland - CLEAN (to all my fellow Canadians who think that our streets are clean, Finland makes us look like Beirut), everyone had a cellphone (and that was 1998) including bums on the street and 8 year old children, extremely polite population (90% spoke better English than i did at a time)....BUT entertaiment value is absolutely zero - there is simply nothing to do. While tourists can admire all the sights, i truly feel for the locals. Another interesting observation - while visiting a military cemetary near Helsinki, I noticed that Soviet soldier's graves had been taken care of with same level of care as those of Finnish soldiers - that made a very positive impression on me.

Besides, noone classifies stuff anymore. Nowdays, you want to advertise your weapon system before it even hits the drawing board - weapons manufacturers like pre-orders as much as BFC does

Mikko, Religion fanatics still don't stop hordes of regular Finns from coming to St.Petersburg to get wasted. Gotta love the Finnish "dry" laws

Steve, You should also be very happy about the fact that as a result of the campaign Medvedev "saw a need for vast modernization and re-armament of armed forces". Very good news indeed as far as CMSF2 is concerned! Apparently over 200 battalion level units are to be completely rearmed by 2011 with bulk of orders already in place. This means BMP-T, T-90, BMP-4, BTR-90 should all be very viable now. Air Force is to recieve 2000 new/upgraded units by 2015 as well. With the current amount of orders, Russia should take a solid #2 spot after US with regards to military spendings. Balanced forces for CMSF2 ftw!

Looking very good!

I think you also underestimate Russian national pride. Georgia might have been there longer as a "nation", but its impact on history can be equaled to that of Zimbabwe - so not much to be proud about. I didn't read about any Georgian soldiers blowing themselves up with grenades to avoid capture or calling fire missions on their own positions when overrun. You also overestimate Georgian's knowledge of their own history. A nation with such a rich sense of history and tradition "eating" Saaskashvili's speeches in ENGLISH! So much for being grateful...

Lavrov is a badass! Talk about "keepin' it real"! http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/2667840/David-Miliband-subjected-to-F-word-tirade-from-Russian-foreign-minister.html With Miliband can't blame him though - wtf were the Brits [known for their careful approach to foreign policy] thinking when they put an arrogant boy as a Foreign Minister...

Not just flavor objects - AFVs plowing through large fences/small fences/building walls will be a most welcome feature.

I'm fairly sure there are extensive education/pension/and industry reform programs atm. Aveation industry for example was completely resurrected with large government orders in place. Defense sector, which employs huge amount of people in Russia, seems to be in revival stage as well. On a personal experience, going back to St.Petersburg in 2007, I barely recognized the place - decent roads (and St. Petersburg was notorious for its roads), restored building, not Vienna-clean but can't compare to what it was in 2002, smiling faces and generally a shocking contrast to end of '90s. By "good" i meant that he is primarily is an economist, and an economist is always open to a dialogue. Looking at his background, reading some of his work and following his speeches, I came to the conclusion that he is the best thing that happened to the West since the fall of the Soviet Union.

Gazprom is a Russian version of Halliburton, so no surprise in it being used for political purposes. Medvedev is Gazprom through and through (and it is a GOOD thing), so political connection is strong.

Using US for Georgian spec forces could work for several reasons: 1) Small arms used by Georgian special forces were of American, German and Israeli origin (predominantly M4s and m240 machine guns from what it looks like) 2) We can combine them with hummers 3) don't even have to reskin them since they used marpad (although marpad woodland would still be nice). I really wish they added BTR-80, and I must admit it is mostly for aesthetic reasons. I just cannot muster enough imagination to pretend that the super crappy BTR-60 is BTR-80 (even though in gameplay terms we won't notice much difference since game engine doesn't simulate things like engine and tranny breakdowns on BTR-60 and with respect to combat characteristics the two are similar). Plus BTR-60 is just so repulsive to look at compared to the 80 version (just my personal opinion).

Scenario, or better a campaign, does sound better than arguing here:) While Russian forces can be simulated well (expecially with T-90 and BMP-3 coming up) - what about Georgians? Or rather how to combine Red and Blue on one side to make believable Georgian army? For special foces US infantry of Green/Regular quality will do, however for regulars Red side units have to come in. Equipment wise, T-72 TURMS can act as T-72 SIM, BMP 1/2 are both viable, Hummers are a must, and i'm fairly sure Georgians used T-55s as well.

I'm still wondering how the Arena system works on T-90 in gameplay terms - does the tank shoot out explosive charges similar to current smoke canisters? How often does it actually work and how many ATGMs can a tank defeat?

"And please don't insult our readers intelligence by comparing Napoleon to Putin, a guy who was an integral part of the greatest criminal enterprise in history, one of Stalin's heirs." ....Comparing Putin to a guy who was directly responsible for deaths of millions in not-as-densely-populated 19th century Europe? "One of Stalin's heirs" LOL. Simple-minded statements like yours insult my intellegence.

Apparently Chavez is taking one TU-160 for a test-drive himself. He claimed he has enough hours in the simulator. Venezuela is becoming quite a powerhouse, with probably most modern air force in South America.

Europe was torn apart when Kosovo was taken from Serbs... S.Ossetia and Abkhazia have a land claim many times more valid than Albanians ever had. More correctly to say that Albanians have no valid land claim in Kosovo at all - they were muslim immigrants who managed to reproduce alot faster than the Serb population (by the same logic, Mexicans in California have every right to rebel). Invade Blatic states.... lol. The only thing that is going to get invaded in the Baltics, is their overactive imagination.

Not really... http://www.vectorsite.net/avredvt.html

1st battle - 10 dead 23 wounded, enemy surrender on Elite. Suggestions: - ATGM teams did nothing. My infantry cleared them without them firing a single shot (armor was very close to them so why they didn't fire is puzzling) - All enemy teams were on hide, making battles very anticlimatic - recce bumps an uncon team, uncon team gets instantly annihilated by 4 BTRs and 2 tanks. - Need ALOT more enemy rpg teams + mg teams with crossing fields of fire at chokepoints. Giving enemy toned down RPG ammo would also be a good idea to simulate multiple RPG hits (tanks recieved 15-18 hits on average in Grozny). - a counterattack with infantry and few BMPs would be interesting - Airstrikes instead of helicopters - Street names + on map objective markers - include those in the briefing as well - Increase time limit to 2 hours and add more enemies...map is very good, it just feels abit dead at the moment. Add IED team or two to spice things abit abit as well. - add mines - bump troop quality to at least Regular, better Vet -Ashphalt roads (Grozny was a very industrialized city of 600,000) Mission 2: - Enemy seems to be placed very randomly with isolated firefights ending very quickly for uncons - Briefing, briefing , briefing.... - Street names... particular houses of interest market on the map (would be nice is houses were marked with say "Russian Sympathiser", "Chechen Sympathiser", "Mullah's house", "3 males in the house able to carry weapons" and etc., with house names correspoding to what *might* wait for your troops inside) - this will make it feel more like "zachistka" operation rather than random house clearing -Tone down on the building damage - leave houses on the outskirts damaged/ruined -Main roads in ashpalt - Interlocking side roads between 3 main ones - VIEDs and IEDs with high population desnity are a must - RPG-29 teams for Spetsnaz to simulate RPO "Shmel" - Increase time limit to at least 1 hr 30 mins

Looks like Saaskashvili is in hot water with every opposition party in Georgia, who are publicly calling for an early election with words like "traitor" floating around. Spark was countinued blockage of .ru Internet sites in Georgia. Opposition leaders are calling for new direction for Georgia with its own national identity, free from Russian and American influences. They seem to aim at balanced and friendly relations with both, U.S. and Russia. NATO membership is being considered only in political cooperation format, but with absolutely no possibility of full membership. Just the viewpoint needed to stabilize the region... On a personnal note: One would think that it is in order of things for a president to resign after a monumental fook up like that (for a military man who planned it, it would be a good idea to shoot himself), but not for Mad Mike...he's a weasel of a rarest kind who'll do anything to stay in the spotlight, including total destruction of his own people. But hey, at least he's safe - Dutch wife with money, US citizenship, perfect English...