AttorneyAtWar

Youtube says the videos are private Bil, just a heads up!

We all know the textures aren't the best in the world, but remember BFC makes sure that everyone is able to play, especially those with low grade computers. I look forward to the uniform mods of course, but to call the textures "awful" is very rude, they are fine.

How else will I be able to keep up with the Kardashians :eek:!

Now I know 99% of U.S. forces will have night vision but what about Russian and Ukrainian forces?

I think its great, adds some flavor to the AAR and you may care just a bit more about those pixel troops in it!

Agreed I would like to see this battle/campaign.

Wow you have quite a bit of air support Bill, that will be great to use when things get a bit too heavy. I wonder if the US has any air assets (Aside from UAV's as I am positive they will be there), and of his air defense capabilities. I say (From no position of authority ) that you use it as early as possible against the US force, reason being is that once he gets the bulk of it on the field chances are he will have some good air defense up. You might as well crush as much of it as possible without direct risk to your units.

Yeah considering all the ammunition that thing has in it with the 105, ATGM, Machinegun ETC, it probably can get sent to the moon when it blows.

Same, when its done its done.

I agree wholeheartedly with that quote Mark, like I said before this "thought" (I really should have called it, I was a bit dramatic in my OP wasn't I heh) was just something I was pondering. I will continue to play and enjoy war-games, I learn things about war and the history and I enjoy the challenge of playing them out in a virtual space. I think at one point we all think about it at least once, especially those who haven't served in the military, and at least for some on here that is true. I won't let it consume me because at the end of the day it is a game first and I look forward to all of the future CM titles and other Wargames! :cool:

"Red Storm Rising" by Tom Clancy is an entertaining read on a cold war gone hot, it jumps around a lot though so it isn't all about the ground war in Europe.

This is going to be awesome, two titans of CM and strategy in real life going at it!! :cool: Ill probably pick up a thing or two following this one as I did with the others. Good luck to both of you!

I believe that was Steve and the statement is absolutely right.

I am pretty sure I saw Chris state that the Ukrainians will have two uniform options, the uniform they use now a days, and the Ukrainian camouflage they are developing, which is a take on digital I believe.

I agree with pretty much everything there Mord, like I said I don't let it consume me, and I won't stop wargaming for a lot of the reasons you stated as well. Ill be grabbing CM: Black Sea and I will most certainly enjoy myself, its just an interesting thought I have had and many others have as well.

Great narration and a great battle Rinaldi, I really enjoy your videos!

Well said Tackled, I should probably edit the OP to say that this hasn't consumed me or anything, rather its something that I have been thinking about. They will always be games to me first (Or in Combat Missions case a simulation), emotionally it doesn't wreck me, and I understand war is part of the human condition, one at its very core. This feeling I have isn't on any extreme end of the spectrum, I will continue to play tactical and strategy games like CM, if anything it continues to broaden my thoughts on war as a whole and understanding it. The posts so far in this thread certainly enhance this point as well!

Yes that is a great way to put it in CM terms at least, I really should look at that way. I wish I knew what brought it on so suddenly, but I know its a game and it hasn't consumed me or anything, I just found it rather interesting that I began to feel it in even a small way.

When I was young (I am 20 now) playing the early Call of Duty's as an American/Russian ETC, soldier in World War 2 I had fun killing the Germans who would throw themselves at me. Now this wasn't a sadistic I love killing people fun, but rather it had good gun play and involved a subject I was rapidly finding myself fascinated with. Traveling across France and the USSR in a narrative spanning the greatest war in history began to fascinate me more than I could imagine at that time (Keep in mind I was about 12 or so when my interest really started). I played Arma 2 as well with a good group of friends I still talk with, the group was of a "mil sim" variety, where we called each other by ranks and obeyed commands of our superiors in games. I am for the most part a quiet kid, I guess socially awkward if I was to go that far, I am not in college and I only have a single group of friends who I see occasionally when they come back from it themselves. I do want to go, but financially that is difficult and as I will mention in the rest of the post I have tried to join the military and will probably try again. I have been playing Wargames for most of my life now and in that I am an unusual person in comparison to the people around me, I love setting up a desperate defense in Red Thunder or watching my GI's fight through the bocage. World War 2 history is probably one of my favorite things to learn and engage myself in. However, as I get older I begin to feel I guess what you would call "guilt", what makes me think I should enjoy playing something where millions died and enjoy it? I am not even a soldier, never lived the life although I have tried (And I probably will try again), I find myself justifying this with "Well I do respect those who fell on all sides, I recognize the brutality of war". If this is true should I really enjoy war-gaming as much as I do? Does anyone else ever feel this way, and before someone says it, yes of course it is a video game, but what it represents is something entirely different. Will I find myself not playing Combat Mission anymore?, no I won't, however it is a very interesting feeling to have now that I am older. I really just finding myself asking why I feel this way and if I really should, its fascinating to me. This is the Rock Paper Shotgun article that really made me think deeper about this guilt I have been feeling lately (He does mention BF as well). I would really like to hear what you all think about it. With Black Sea right around the corner I feel this is also an interesting topic to discuss further, since that unfortunately involves something going on right now. http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/11/16/wargaming-guilt/

While I may sound like a naive optimist here, I find it hard to believe Putin would use the nuclear option, rather he uses it as a veiled threat to keep everyone on there toes. If anyone here can give me a PLAUSIBLE scenario for a Russian nuclear strike over the Ukrainian situation it would be appreciated.

Fascinating stuff Steve, can you post what sources you read about Ukraine from so I (And I guess everyone else too ) can learn more as well?

I wasn't talking about their point specifically, more so the fact that complaints or suggestions are often met with calls of "whiner" instantly.

Yeah any criticism against BFC is whining, any kind of complaint or suggestion is bad and BFC can do no wrong! Seriously guys, you need to get over yourselves with the over the top "whining" call outs, you just come off as an jerk, DRM is annoying and more often hurts the company than helps it. HOWEVER in this case it is indeed silly to complain about said DRM in Battlefront titles, because the only time you NEED to be online is activating it, just be happy you don't have to be online to play it. That kind of DRM is no where near as bad as "always online DRM", this kind is perfectly acceptable for a company like BFC in my opinion.

Oh I definitely will be and I am looking forward to playing Ukraine, I just find the dynamic between Russia and the U.S. incredibly interesting as I am sure everyone else does! The dynamic of the battlefield from Red Thunder/Normandy even from Shock Force is incredibly fascinating, that's what I meant to focus on in the post. I wasn't necessarily alienating the Ukrainian faction, but having the "big" two going at it is interesting to talk about.

In recent Combat Mission settings the flow of battle (from the attackers POV) would go something like this. 1. Position units 2. Deploy scouts and reconaissance vehicles to find the enemy 3. Using the information from the scouts units would be deployed to engage them 4. If scout units have the capability for air and artillery strikes they would begin to soften up the enemy 5. Finally the assault would be carried out with what ever assets they have (Armor, infantry etc.) This is all nice and dandy, but the modern battlefield is hyper lethal and has many more toys at its disposal. I am going to lay out what I think will happen on the modern battlefield with two relatively equal modern opponents (Aka Russia and America obviously;)) 1. Deploy UAV's and a few forward air controllers/Artillery observers 2 UAV's attempt to find enemy but may be shot down, or in this case can actually fire immediately on spotted enemies. Artillery fire can also be coordinated tihs way, making it much easier than the before times 3. After all spotted enemy units have been neutralized armor and mechanized infantry (if available) maneuvers to destroy whats left. This is all nice and dandy too until you realize how many factors have now been added to it! Thermal sights make spotting scouts much easier so having eyes on will become increasingly difficult, AA units can destroy UAV's and deny air support. Without those two things devleoping the situation on the battlefield becomes increasingly difficult, making moving units in relatively large groups necessary to respond to even the smallest threat that can even though small wreak havoc on your forces, enemy artillery and air strikes are much faster to call in and much more devastating. That is just an idea I had of the developing battlefield in CMBS, how do you guys think this stuff factors in and changes everything? :eek:?