TacKLed
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Posts posted by TacKLed
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MREs are awesome the first time you get them. Then its all downhill from there. I was at the LRC when I had the first one..... they made all of us give up all our candy....
I wonder if the Russian rations make them **** brick sized chunks as well.
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latest Ukrainian APC 'modding'
...in convoy seen near city of Artemiwsk
Foto: Reuters (reported by German tabloid Bild this morn)
"****, Yuri! First Sarn't isn't going to be happy when he sees this!"
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I thought I would necro this post a little bit to talk about the POW thing a little bit.
I am reading Company Commander right now, and the author (Rifle Company CO) said how they captured an injured German soldier one time. This was in the middle of the night after they had lost a lot of men during the Battle of the Bulge. They were confused, running into German patrols, friendly fire, etc. etc. They held onto him for a little while until he told two joes to take the POW back in the lines to a rear company and report back. After sometime the two joes come back and they are caught off guard when he asks if they linked up with the company. They just said that (paraphrasing here) "the sonofabitch tried running, you know Cap'n". He just nodded to the men and went on with his day.He knew they were frustrated and just shot the POW, but he just let it slide.
I think in long potracted wars and battles with high casualty rates stuff like this happened and it was just accepted. And no one really brings it up as "bad" because of one reason or the other and the fact that it is usually first hand accounts of "someone else" that did the shooting and not the author because the everyone knows the author is the protagonist and would never kill someone who surrenders. And it is often years after the fact (Company Commander was published in 1949 I believe. Highly recommended especially if you were in the military).
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Honestly, look at ArmA and OFP for inspiration. I love making scenarios, and there are so many scenarios for the ArmA and OFP series. Even campaigns that are branching, longer, and better than what BIS have made. Even "dynamic" campaigns have been made. The reason because the Editor in those games are easy to use for entry level people but hard to master. It needs to be appealing to the entry level customer, but have enough depth that the veteran make something truly wonderful.
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I have been following the news and watching the events there unfold too.
The fighting seems to take place in both Vuhlehirs'k and Debal'tseve. As far as I understand the situation, Debalt'seve is a road/rail hub linking the two separatists strongholds of Luhansk and Donestk. It is halfway between these two points and also alongside a NW-SE highway originating at Artemiv'k that the Ukrainians use for supply and reinforcements.
So it sounds like it could make for some interesting scenarios. But how do you portray the fairly low intensity fighting taking place there compared to the full blown war depicted in CMBS? And how do you represent the separatists? Until we get militias/irregulars in a possible future module, do we simply use lowish quality/equipement Russian units?
What the community could do is split the work between several mappers as you suggested. Maybe one could select an area of interest and then highlight it on a reference map here so we don't have two people working on the same sector.
For instance I have been working on a small map covering the area inside the red rectangle in the image below. I have no idea if any fighting occured there, but it looked like it could be suitable for a small fictional ME and the terrain looked interesting.
Honestly mate, you portray it by making smaller scaled maps.
I think people need to stop thinking the "Battalion vs Battalion" mindset that is prevalent because of the WWII scenarios. Make it much smaller as a PLT vs PLT affair or if you want something more realistic, PLT vs Squad affair (which isn't really fun if you are playing a video game). So just make something that is smaller. The days of large scale of high intensity warfare are far from happening if you want to portray something realistic and relevant to the war.
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Putin didn't 'capture' anything. Two or more days ago Ukraine had told the press they were going to withdraw from the airport. Putin 'occupied' abandoned ground, not 'captured'.
Nope. That is not what happened at Donetsk Airport. The Ukrainian Army had rotated soldiers there when the fighting flared back up again. Separatists bombarded the airport for like a day before assualting. They finally cornered the UA and killed around a plataoon (Ukrainian estimates is like 34 I believe) and captured some more. (These are the ones you see paraded around on Separatists videos). The UA was trapped on the 2nd and 3rd floor of the new terminal I believe with the Separatists on the 1st and 4th. They just wore them down until the actual terminal collapsed in on itself and killed a handful of soldiers. There was nothing left to defend and the Separatists took some prisoners.
Of course there was a wider battle going on around Pivsky and the other suburbs around Donetsk. The UA trusted to take back the airport and they made gains at first, but they were pushed back into the airport was cut off and the defenders were defeated.
And this happened like a week to 10 days ago I believe. There is a lot of videos out there of the fightiing and the aftermath. Along with Ukrainian sources stating that they were "decisively defeated". There was no withdrawal.
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I want to believe this, and I partly do, but the truth lies somewhere in the middle I believe.
Here is a 50 minute long video from the offensive (pretty great cinematography, editing, and covers the soldier's experience in the battle for the New Terminal) just last week (translated into English):
Most of these guys seem like ripe old separatists to me, and I have seen them in multiple videos since the escalation in August. Granted that theiy equipment is OBVIOUSLY supplied by the Russians. There is no doubt about it. It's kind of fishy to see that "Green Man" camo mixed in with them. Maybe it's just the fact that this was a small contigent of "Motorola's" men. I just haven't seen much proof besides the concrete proof back in August from NATO satellites. Again I do believe Russian troops are in Ukraine, but we just need more concrete evidence then Poroshenko saying "See! There they are!" or a former diplomat.
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Had some pretty close calls in Bosnia but someone was actually trying to kill me in those cases, but such is the case in a war zone. My wife says I got more lives than a cat.
This is actually pretty interesting to me. A lot of my instructors here at the academy were in the Balkans in the late 90s and early 2000s, and I have never really heard about a lot of combat between US forces and forces in the "peacekeeping" missions. One of my former instructors, a LTC (engineer), had to clear minefields in Kosovo in the late 90s, but that is the extent of anything I've heard in regards to any activity. And I knew one MAJ that was an armor officer in Bosnia, but I'm not sure what operations were going on between the NATO(?) forces.
I'm very ignorant about this haha
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I have not seen any reference to this feature. Can't be sure, but from what I understood nobody would sacrifice mobility over a hull down position, the modern battlefield does not approve the use of this method, which, if it ever had a sense, it was 70 years ago.
I don't know where you got this idea from. Defense, hull down, fighting holes, etc. etc. are definitely not a thing of the past. The modern battlefield actually necessitates this need for fighting positions for soft bodied infantry. Just because we have been slomping around the mountains of Afghanistan and sands of Iraq establsihing FOBs, COPs, and large camps doesn't mean converntional means of defense are thing of WWII. Hell, just look at the fighting positions the current situation in Ukraine necessitates for both sides.
In fact, the Army right now is making a big push to the old down and dirty method of fighting that is conventional warfare. Gone is the emphasis on technological means for keeping track of the battlefield like the systems allow for in the Middle East with each NATO unit displayed nicely on a computer screen. Now its back to digging fighting positions, taking and holding positions to use in case of a counter attack, and keeping track of your limits and friendly units. I'm not saying we won't use technology nor that the battlefield will be slow. In fact, it will be faster than usual but it will be a battlefield that still harkons back to what made infantry on infantry combat what it is.
Also, just look at any field manual (most importantly the The Infantry Rifle Platoon and Squad (FM 3-21.8) ) and you will see how important it is to modern operations.
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Once they actually play the game they'll learn not to waste ATGMs and SPG rounds using them as harassing artillery.
Shhhhhh... everyone knows ATGMs and SPGs make for good TV footage for RT and Rossiya 1. Everyone loooooves watching combat footage especially if its a cool weapon being fired lol.
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While I know it will most likely modded, do Ukrainian soldiers and marines really have a uniform camo? I know they did before hostilities, but now from what I've seen on the front the VDV units and whatnot all have a conglomeration of different camo styles like Flecktarn, ACU, Multi-Cam, DCU, CADPAT, etc. The only time I've seen them with a uniform camo style is when they have photo ops like when President Poroshenko is around. That is also the only time I see them with any sort of new gear. Not at the front....
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Anyone else notice the subtle change the infantry animations. They look much better.
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I feel like I'm in Military Science class now lol
And on the story, I think it's an interesting way to do an AAR. I don't think I've read an AAR like this one yet.
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When I was in Basic one of the DSs was showing us some slides from his last tour. One ended up being a pic of a guy that had held a blasting cap in his mouth while he was fiddling with some C4 or something...
I've seen that pic, but from what I've heard it was the blasting cap for a Claymore.
And another thing is that I see wargames as some sort of authentic, playable movie. Especially Combat Mission. While in movies I always cringe at the tactics and whatnot being used for the sake of entertainment while here I can go at my pace and create an authentic experience. It's pretty fun when I look at it that way.
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Honestly, I don't have any guilt. A lot of us here are in the military with varying degrees of experience both in garrison and combat. A lot of my friends/classmates (look at my location) are veterans and combat veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. A dude in my math class was in the 75th Ranger Regiment with two deployments to Afghanistan before he became a cadet. Hell, I guess you can say that whatever happens in Eastern Europe affects a lot of us here on the forums based on the fact that we may be confronted with Russia or some sort of deployment that area of the world as a deterrent.
None of that affects my judgement or opinion on war games though. The military uses simulations and software like this for a reason. You can set up defensive positions, implement battle drills, practice core concepts, etc. all for the price of the game download code. It's amazing actually if you think about it.
OP, I'm a year older than you and I say just enjoy yourself on these games. It broadens your understanding of the military to a minimal extent, provides critical thinking, and it's fun. Yea, it's ****ty that there are people dying daily in Eastern Ukraine and we will be playing over the same terrain that the current combatants are fighting over, but that's life.
People love war. Really. People love the idea of war because it brings out so much. I'm sure we used to "play war" as children, fight with our toys in grim fight to the last man fantasies, etc. etc. This is just an adult continuation of that same principle.
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Soooo about this so called "Black Sea game" lol. Any chance of volunteer battalions being in? I know that this has its own alternate pseudo history, but volunteer battalions would be legit.
Also, I wonder if the infantry assets and textures will have a varying array of uniforms mixed in throughout. It would be kind of weird seeing all of the Ukrainian forces with one camo pattern, an ACH, and IOTV knock off.
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The conflict in Ukraine will only bolster the sales. It is naive to think otherwise (no offense). It may be a niche game, but people people will still buy it and get into once the PC gaming media gets on it. And believe me, this game is ripe for clickbait once its released.
PC Gamer, RockPaperShotgun, GameSpot, IGN, etc. will all clickbait headlines that say something like "Ever think the recent conflict in Ukraine would make a good game? Well, These devs did..."
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To piggyback off of what Steve said, I would contend that everyone (as in all the Reddit commentators with no military experience and people in general) are really writing off Ukraine as a fight force; unfairly if I say so myself. I don't know the force compostion of the Ukrainian military in their so-called "ATO", but from what I gather it is actually a very small fraction of their military as a whole. And I'm talking about before the ceasefire and not the Battle of Donetsk Airport going on right now.
It seemed like most of the fighting was done by volunteer battalions (Aidar, Azov, Svobdo, Dniepr-1, etc.) along with certain VDV battalions. It seemed like they didn't put in their infantry divisions proper. Of course, this is speculation from following the conflict from the Kiev protest days.
But anyway, now Ukraine has a couple thousand veterans from months of combat along with a restructuring and increased training of their military I think Ukraine would put up a hell of a defense against a Russian assault. In fact, I don't think Russia has really abandoned their strategy of Deep Battle nor revamped their FMs from Soviet-style regiment-battalion-company-platoon tactics which emphasizes MBT and IFV mutual support. If Ukraine get a comprehensive defense line around DPR and LPR than Russia would be really bogged down especially in urban combat because the approved method of sending in troops for urban combat is around 6 to 1. But I digress, I don't think Russia will really go that far. Just look at the casualty ratios in Russian troops from the Fall(?) offensive around Mauripol and Illovaisk. The information is very hard to come by obviously, but Russia suffered a couple hundred dead apparently along with whole units getting wiped out (I have add that this is probably Ukrainian propaganda since it was said that a grad attack wiped them out in one instance).
Russia's army isn't really all that. Yea, Putin and their defense minster has been revamping the Army's capabiliteis since 2008 (probably due to the Georgian-Russian War), but they don't have teh sustainability that it would take to expand the separatists locations into the rest of Novorossiya.
I'm getting off track now, but in conclucsion, Ukraine can hold it's own. Not without Western help, however, but long enough to send a couple thousand "Cargo 200s" back to Russia.
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Nope. Frienly fire at trucks with wounded.
Really? I read otherwise somewhere else. Source? I was on my iPad, so I couldn't extrapolate more. The story I heard was two trucks filled with wounded were driving down a street when an Ukrainian helicopter shot at them.
But then again I remember back in May they said like 400 separatists died in that battle. Soooo..... yeaaaaa lol.
anyone know where i can get a manual or something to help me learn modern tactics so i amnot behind when black sea comes outGoogle the Ranger Handbook. Literally your one stop shop for modern infantry tactics. It's pretty small compared to the actual Platoon level and Company level infantry tactic field manuals the Army issues out. It's all free online though if you want to venture into the world of US Army tactics.
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It's interesting to see that firefights are shorter and more deadly. I think in recent years we have become accustomed to fighting irregular forces where casualties are high on their part and low on ours. Now with equal playing field we see that every thing is more deadly.
If any of you have been keenly watching anything out of eastern Ukraine like I have you will see this deadly combat playing out now. Albeit on a much, much smaller scale now. Just look at Illovaisk in August (300-1000+ dead in one month) and the First Battle of Donetsk Airport (around 50 killed in one day [apparently most by being exposed in the open as a Ukrainian hind found them]). Deadly ****
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I've seen this movie. If I recall the only time the Soviets fought the Japanese was during the Battle of Khalkin Gol and then at the end of World War II when the Soviets wanted to land grab some territory before the armistice.
But you're probably talking about the realism. The movie isn't realistic. At all lol.
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Thanks dude. I'll just end up using google maps then. That's kind of a bummer about the ai though. I was hoping for a more reactive ai layer. Does the ai usually harm the replayability of scenarios since it's kind of always the same from what it seems? Idk. I'll just have to play it I suppose. I see videos of the series and the ai looks pretty competent.
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How awesome would it be if the AI actually used the battle drills?
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What I mean by the title is that I've been following this series for a couple years now, and I've always been on the fence for the most recent installments (Normandy and Red Thunder). With Black Sea, I am most definitely going to buy this game. What I am most excited about is the map making and scenario making. But I have a few questions regarding this:
1) I've been lurking for a couple years now, and it seems like the AI will only do what you told them to do in the scenario editing (IE. you "tell" an infantry squad to screen from a vantage point, and they never leave this position). Is there any validity to this? Or can I give the AI units their initial placements and they will adjust from there>
2)Is map making really simple or obfuscated? I'm kind of a nerd with this ****, so I want to use 1:25,000 or w/e topographic maps to model scenarios and I remember reading that they made map making very easy with one of the expanisons or Red Thunder(?).
3) How plausible is it to craft OPORDs around these scenarios and have the AI react intelligently? As in making up a scenario in my head and then putting it in the game. I kind of just want to practice making OPORDs and what better way than using a video game.
Lastly, is there a resource where I can get free military grade topographic maps? It doesn't matter the source (I'm a Russian major, so Russian sites are welcome). I would rather get convenient, free topographic maps online then bugging some Major in our library about topographic maps for a video game lol.
...in convoy seen near city of Artemiwsk
Debalstevo casualties report
in Combat Mission Black Sea
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On top of what Krasno already pointed out, are you going to have me believe that there were 3695 KIA and only 4262 WIA? That is some bull **** if I have seen it. These Pro-Russians must be scoring a hell of a lot of headshots and they must have some of the best artilleryman and mortarman in the world if they have almost as much KIA as WIA. I don't think I have ever seen a battle in world history where KIA was almost proportional to WIA. It is usually KIA is much lower than WIA because, well, humans are hard to ****ing kill sometimes.