Big Boss

Pretty good interview with Vice Admiral Oleksii Neizhpapa, Commander of the Ukrainian Navy about the different aspect of the war in the Black Sea. Navy Commander Neizhpapa on Neptunes' successes, two Russian flagships sunk and the drone war | Ukrainska Pravda

Here's a reportage from Swedish state television dealing with a Russian POW camp in Ukr. Also interviewed is a Ukr serviceman after 7 months in a Russian Pow camp. The text is only in Swedish but there may be some tools for translating subs for those interested. Korrespondenterna: De ryska krigsfångarna https://www.svtplay.se/video/KMyvm56/de-ryska-krigsfangarna?position=197&id=KMyvm56

Regarding the female sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko. I always keep myself a little reserved for the high claims that these sniper claimed. This applies to all sides of the war. Lyudmila has been given credit for 309 kills including 36 sniper in less than six months. I ask myself how to confirm that these claims are actually correct. These figures were published during the war, long before the possibility of comparison with German / Romanian data was available. Theoretically there is a chance that after an attack you can took in the terrain where the shootings took place and match the damage with the bullet type, etc. But in defense, like Odessa and Sevastopol, these chances are non-existent. Has a witness been required for each killing shot? How do you know that the 36 were "sniper"? But using these numbers is not strange in itself, its propaganda value must have meant a lot. After the huge defeat in 1941 and 1942, the Soviet Union was in great need of heroines whose accomplishments could inspire other Soviet citizen to volunteer to attend the army. High claims apply not only to snipers. These are found in several other branches of the armed forces, of which shot down airplanes and destroyed tanks are perhaps the most discussed. Michael Wittmann, Erich Hartmann, Ivan Kozhedub and others have over the past decades all been under review and cross-referenced with the opposition side's data, where it is sometimes seen that there is a rather strong difference between claims and confirmed numbers.

How many M1A2S have the Saudis lost in Yemen?. 30-40? That doesn't mean the Abrams is a bad MBT compared to say Challenger 2, T-90, Leopard 2, Type 10 etc. It all boils down to crew training, tactics, supplies.

In Ockert & Urbanks book they write that the attack on 28. Jan was a disaster for the battalion. "A newly-arrived panzer battalion was practically run into the ground within a few days by a blindly authoritarian and wrongly-acting unit commander." They then quote an 8.Armee report from 30.Jan. "Panther Battalion I./26 has very little combat experience... Operational leadership still inexpert... Standstill after loss of battalion commander, sharp intervention was necessary. Things will get better after arrival of the new battalion commander (Hpt. Wallroth) from GD."

It was several years since I read that book so I don´t recall the details. I have Zetterlings Comments by Niklas Zetterling on the Soviet General Staff study on the Korsun-Shevchenkovskii operation in 1944 . Here I see some differences on I./26:s firsts action at Tishkova on 28. Jan. Ockert & Urbanke: 61 panthers attacked, 12 total losses in the fighting 28-29 Jan. Seven Panthers were knocked out, while five were blown up or abandoned by their crew. Zetterling: "...additional Panther battalion, I./26 committed. This unit had 64 Panthers operational on 26 January, when it was still subordinated to the Grossdeutschland division.29 It moved to XXXXVII Panzer Corps on 27 January and most likely some Panthers suffered mechanical breakdowns during the march. Furthermore, 20 were rendered inoperable on 28 January."

The Panzer-Battalion "Brandenburg" 1945 and its Prehistory as I./Pz.Rgt. 26 by Wolfgang Ockert & Axel Urbanke (Luftfahrtverlag START) This is a well written and very well researched book that covers a small sized german panzer unit. You follow the Panther battalion from its beginning as I. Abt. Pz. Rgt. 26 to its end as Panther-Abteilung "Brandenburg". Battles that are covered are Korsun, Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, Oder and at last the Halbe pocket. Most of the book deals with the Oder and Halbe sections as these were the main areas that the Brandenburg Battalion was deployed to. An excellent read. Full of inspirations for battles on the Seelöwe and Halbe in a RT module covering the later stages on the eastern front. Bilingual in English and German, many nice photos and color maps.

Here is s a Swedish study in English titled "Russian Military Capability in a Ten-Year Perspective 2016" from the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI, Totalförsvarets forskningsinstitut). From the summary; "This report analyses Russian military capability in a ten-year perspective. It is the eighth edition. A change in this report compared with the previous edition is that a basic assumption has been altered. In 2013, we assessed fighting power under the assumption that Russia was responding to an emerging threat with little or no time to prepare operations. In view of recent events, we now estimate available assets for military operations in situations when Russia initiates the use of armed force." https://www.foi.se/rapportsammanfattning?reportNo=FOI-R--4326--SE

FORWARD OBSERVER KILL CREDITS Wow! COMBINE SQUAD COMMAND Wow! IMPROVED INFANTRY SPACING Wow! Thank you very much Battlefront for this new upgrade

Playing that right now H2H and enjoining it very much. Good map with interesting forces.

This would be a dream game for me as well.

In this you are 100% correct:)!

As always the facts differs in the sources. Some American AAR states that the Germans lost over 100 panzers in the Twin villages (741st TB, 644th TDB, 801st TDB, 2nd ID). Samuel Mitcham says 67 lost Panzers, Steven Zaloga mentions 31 Panzer and Jagdpanzers. According to author Jeff Dugdale the 12-SS lost totally 18 Panthers, 8 Panzer IV, and 8 Jagdpanzers during the whole time period 16-31 December. Michael Reynolds claims that the 12-SS lost 15 Panthers, 1 Panzer IV and 2 Jagdpanzers in or around the Twin Villages. While 18 Panzers and Jagdpanzers doesn't sound that much we must add the considerable amount of damaged, but later salvageable vehicles. According to German official war dead register the amount of infantry losses in 12-SS for the time period 16-23 December was 568 dead and missing. This is also heavy but that of course includes the more deadly battle of Domäne Bütgenbach where 12-SS also lost 23 Panzers and Jagdpanzers as total losses. Maybe not a slaughter but still heavy casualties for ant units to take.

Yes I also think there is a big request for a new engine. It's been almost 10 years since CMSF released and its beginning to show. There have been some major and impressive improvements of CMX2 over the years but that doesn't take away the facts that it's just improvements on an old engine. When Battlefront went from CMX1 to 2 it was a leap forward. I would love to see that same leap soon again. I only hope that CMX2 haven't seen TOO much investments and job effort to let go, even after that long time. Of course a new engine will be a very tall investment but its a step I think must be taken in time to a hold on to the majority of players and also attract new ones. Or this might end up up in a Catch-22.

That's a lot of names . I've also seen a German name Jakobsdorf in some publications.

Great news!

That´s why I would like it to have a set up time just like for example mortars and HMGs. But when its deployed it would be far superior to standard binoculars during spotting for artillery missions.

I agree with you IanL and Michael Emrys, maybe to much work for little gain and also even more bird eye view LOS for you as the commander. But still you can point around on the map with the cursor and eventually find what you are looking for. What I wanted was just to be able to make that less of an technical inconvenience. I started using The grid effect mod awhile ago and that gives me some useful benefits when spotting so I will be content and wait for "BFC focus on giving us ways to more closely simulate giving lower level units more open ended orders and have the Tac AI do some of the low level work once they "get there".

Often when I see pictures from WW2 with German Forward Observers (Vorgeschobener Beobachter) I notice that they predominantly use the Scherenfernrohr or Scissor scope. This type of scope hade much higher magnification than the regular binoculars, had more binocular vision ,was more stable and pretty important, It could be used while in some cover. I suspect the FO:s in game are probably to some degree generally equipped. Is it the same binocular for all units or have the FO:s a "better" one? If not, a added Scissor scope would be a nice feature to add. It could have a set up time just like other heavier equipment like MGs and if it was destroyed the FO could still call in support with the regular binocular but with higher degree of uncertainty regarding range, position etc (i.e. higher marginal of error). For the regular small on-map mortar missions this feature would maybe be a little too much work for little gain but as the game supports really big maps and up to corps and army level artillery mission (thinking about battleships, airplanes 203mm etc..) I would still be happy to see the possibility of added FO abilities. .

I find it somewhat time consuming and frustrating to try and find LOS for my Forward Observer especially when trying to find a linear target. Often in three lines and in foliage's a valid LOS can flicker on and off trying to pinpoint exactly where to target. My suggestion is to have a ALT-X hotkey switch between where a particular unit has line of sight or not. I suspect this requires a lot more programming that for example switching on objectives or not as this new feature would be highly dynamic but still would make this game even better.

Thanks guys! I´ve always liked that photo AND I like the game so it was a easy deal. Did you notice I made a crude extra armour plate at the end with the balkenkreuz?

Waffen SS Jagdpanzer IV/70(V) seen during the battle of the Bulge. This footage/photo is seen in a Wochenschau newsreel that depicts the battle on the northern flank (6th SS) during the first few days. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2075565/Vivid-new-Battle-Bulge-photos-offer-seen-look-war-weary-soldiers-braving-frigid-weather-fight-Nazi-Germanys-major-offensive-World-War-II.html

Did a quick test with ammo bearers to see what effect weight have on movement speed. Setting Dry, Day, Clear German Heer units Experience regular Motivation normal Fitness fit Leadership 0 Rested (tested during setup) Restrictions in movement speed PAK 43 (abandoned, 5 men, 22 shells=4.4 shells per man) ATG ammo bearer (2 men, 8 shells=4 shells per man FAST FAST, QUICK PAK 75 (abandoned, 5 men, 31 shells=6.2 shells per man) ATG ammo bearer (2 men, 14 shells=7 shells per man) NONE FAST, QUICK Medium mortar (81mm,, 4 MEN, 18 shells plus the mortar= 4.5) Mortar ammo bearer (2 men, 20 shells total=10 shells per man) NONE FAST My question is why for example the ATG crew (PAK 40) can move at Fast but the ATG ammo bearers cannot even move at quick. Do anybody know how weight restricts movements possibilities? Is it per shell or rounds carried or is it calculated more abstractly? With the ATG the weight difference (6.2 shells vs 7) is not imo very much but maybe there is a threshold somewhere. With the mortar, the crew carries fewer shells (4.5 vs 10 per man) but the crew also have the mortar with them (about 60kg).

I totally agree. High quality and thoroughly researched books. I also recommend Marks Besieged: The Epic Battle For Cholm. Protracted, Low scale combat, day by day account from the German side.