Bulletpoint
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Posts
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Posts posted by Bulletpoint
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8 hours ago, wyskass said:
Are we to expect casualties as normal?
Yes.
8 hours ago, wyskass said:Also for enemy mortar fire, not willing to accept if it's supposed to be random deaths on my side. Are random deaths also supposed to be normal?
Yes. In war, there will be casualties, even with the best planning.
8 hours ago, wyskass said:Should I not be angrily replaying minutes multiple times whenever I get hit and killed with mortars on way to objective?
No.
But I understand it can be really frustrating. In the beginning, I also reloaded every time something bad happened, like an unexpected barrage, or friendly fire. But then I realised that it's much more enjoyable to take these things in my stride and try my best to continue with what I have left, trying not to lose my cool.
So I began only reloading when something bad happened that wasn't due to my own decisions. For example, a tank refusing to go straight from A to B through good terrain but making some long weird detour for no reason and getting destroyed. Or troops refusing to enter a house through the back door, instead running all the way through streets and getting cut down.
I also found this way of playing made me better at the game. Which is an advantage against a human player where you can't just reload. I played several PBEM games where my opponent started out very sensible, but then there would be some mass casualty event on his side, and all of a sudden, it was clear that he got frustrated and started giving all kinds of risky orders that just made things worse. It's easy to fall into the trap of "oh man, I just lost a half platoon to that barrage, so the game is over.. I better gamble now".
But what he doesn't know is that I also took lots of losses. So we're actually still equally matched, but it's his rash decisions that end up costing him the game.
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15 hours ago, Zeleban said:
Actually, the “reluctance” you described above is a consequence of fear. Exactly the same reluctance may arise after Russia attacks other countries. This is why more and more countries are no longer believing in the United States. It is precisely because of this “reluctance”
I think the reason is more that the US political system and leadership seems more and more dysfunctional and unpredictable, and that their economy is unsustainable because it is based on an ever increasing mountain of debt.
As seen from the EU, that is way more worrying than whether Russia takes over eastern Ukraine. This is also why the level of support has dwindled after it became clear that Putin couldn't take Kyiv. The people in power are probably quite ok about where the front line goes at the moment.
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1 hour ago, Zeleban said:
How long will it take Russian mechanized columns to cross the territory of Estonia?
A very long time, based on their performance in Ukraine.
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13 hours ago, dan/california said:
At what point does Putin run into this problem in a major way?
Looking back at history, I don't think he really has to worry much about that. Stalin killed untold millions without anyone able to stand up to him, Hitler kept feeding Germans into the grinder until the enemy was knocking on the door of his bunker, and then there was also WW1 where there was a bit of a protest brewing in the trenches at one point, but then that was cracked down on and the war continued.
When it comes to Putin's war, I think many of the guys in the meat waves don't even realise just how suicidal it is until it is too late. They probably know it's going to be dangerous, but they still have some kind of idea that they are regular soldiers fighting in a regular war, where you go to attack positions and have at least some chance of surviving. But when they see what it's really like, it's too late - they don't get back to tell the tale, and then the next wave is formed up behind them using fresh meat. So morale is kept going and there's never any substantial buildup of disgruntled troops in Russian lines.
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1 hour ago, dan/california said:
Israeli public opinion is in a BAD PLACE.
Quotehttps://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/19/world/middleeast/israel-oct-7-left-wing-peace.html
If the left has lost mainstream support, Israel’s peace camp has been driven virtually underground. Activist groups say many members have abandoned the cause, and those who remain committed have struggled to find public places willing to accommodate antiwar protests.
It's really tragic. Several of the victims of Oct. 7 were peace activists and various volunteers. Some of them continue that work, even though they are struggling. I thought this story was worth reading:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-67592468
Yael heads a charity called Road to Recovery, a group of Israeli volunteers who drive sick Palestinians - mostly children - from checkpoints in the occupied West Bank and Gaza to hospital appointments in Israel.
Or did.
The 1,000 or so volunteers can no longer take patients from Gaza, which is governed by Hamas. And four of them are dead - murdered as Palestinian gunmen stormed through their kibbutzim in southern Israel.
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1 hour ago, Anthony P. said:
Genocide Olympics. Is the same standard to be applied to Palestinian deaths, i.e. that the IDF should not be held responsible for any death which isn't clearly filmed and posted publicly online?
The Israeli government has publicly stated that the October 7th screenings only include selected footage, excluding especially shocking footage, footage showing children, sexual assault, etc. It's meant as a testimony, not an Internet snuff marathon.
Images and videos of dead Palestinian children are unfortunately plentiful, so I think there would be no reason for Israel to hold anything back that could help the world to see their side of the story.
Especially not when it comes to a reserved screening only for journalists, and not releasing the horrible evidence to the public.
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2 minutes ago, kohlenklau said:
The future stories better talk of how happy they were at how many baby occupiers were beheaded on 10/7.
Even in the movie Israel showed to journalists, where they combined all the worst footage from Oct. 7, there is not a single child killed, and none by beheading.
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At first, we were surprised that Putin would actually go ahead and invade.
Then we were surprised that Ukraine didn't simply collapse.
Then we were surprised that the Russian Army was beaten badly and had to let go of huge areas.
Then we were surprised that the Ukrainian summer offensive completely failed, despite all the Western weapons.
An then now we are very surprised that the Russians are able to not just prevent collapse, but even mount a winter offensive and are taking ground.
I would be surprised if this is the last surprise of this war.
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7 hours ago, kohlenklau said:
One other thought I had is that maybe the 1973 Yom Kippur IDF soldiers are the grandfathers or grandmothers of these current younger age IDF soldiers. The lesson of Yom Kippur is the surprise assault against Israel. Imagine your Grandpa went through that and what he might pass on the feeling of that time, as a warning. A defining moment for that older generation.
Yes, just like the Palestinians have grandparents who tell them what happened back in 1948.
And now the next generation will have grandparents that tell them what happened in 2023.
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2 hours ago, LongLeftFlank said:
Interestingly, I think I posted some footage a week or so ago of UA sappers busily (cover your ears, @The_Capt) mining the gaps in this very fence. Looks like it paid off.
I've been trying to find this post by searching back a week ago, but didn't manage to find it.. would be interested if you could post it again please?
Or just throw it in my mailbox not to repeat stuff on this thread. Thanks
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2 hours ago, slysniper said:
He is correct, if its a unit in the proper chain of command. Its times are faster.
I do not believe this is the case.
What matters is the experience level of the spotter and of the asset. And then dedicated FOs get a discount on call times (25% if I remember correctly).
At least I'm pretty sure this is how it works in the WW2 games. Can't comment on the modern titles.
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If the last couple of years are anything to go by, the bones for 2024 will be very similar to the ones for 2023, which themselves were basically the ones for 2022.
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2 minutes ago, liamb said:
That is what the symbology of green circle, orange triangle in the arty unit square is telling you - how close the unit is to the spotter formation wise.
As far as I remember, this little symbol will be the same no matter which spotting unit you have selected before going to the artillery selection.
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4 hours ago, dkchapuis said:
And if the artillery piece is inside the formation
I don't think this has any impact...
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4 minutes ago, Erwin said:
But it's confusing as the call times of FIST's and FO's can be different for each artillery piece. I don't recall anything in the manual that helps explain why some can call certain arty pieces a minute or two faster than another. Any explanation for why this is?
It depends on the experience level of the spotter, and also of the artillery unit.
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9 minutes ago, Battlefront.com said:
I was only referring to your comments that commitments have been "dialed back" because the West is satisfied with the status quo. The facts indicate that the West is *not* satisfied with the status quo as policy, but internal pressures that have little to do with geopolitical concerns are definitely pushing us in that direction.
Steve
You're right, I was going into the realm of speculation there, and I should have made that more clear. I don't have access to what's being said behind closed doors at high level meetings in Nato/EU/US.
But I think there's much more being said in those meetings than publicly. And I think it would go a long way to explain the slow drip of weapons to Ukraine - the aim would be to prevent Ukraine from being overrun, but at the same time prevent a total Russian defeat.
Now that Russia has been pushed back into territories they consider their own, the western appetite for more aid to Ukraine is not what it used to be. But if Russians manage to start making meaningful progress towards Kyiv, I think we will suddenly see a substantial increase in the supply situation.
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1 minute ago, The_Capt said:
That would be a Russian-sort of corrosive warfare. It will only work if the RA can 1) project ISR in depth, and 2) have strike follow it effectively. Then these little waves would expose the UA operational system to corrosion over time.
I suspect the RA has improved both ISR and strike in depth but we would need to see evidence it is working. I mean why would it work for the RA but has not worked for the UA? The UA has all the ISR and a lot of deep strike capability, it kept them in the game.
Right now both forces have about the same numbers of troops in the field, so it is not as though the RA outnumbers. So I think what you describe would basically be a more reckless version of what the UA tried over the summer. Could wind up being a quality vs quantity fight in the end. So far quality has won that exchange. But we will have to see.
I should have added that I don't think the Russian way of doing things is "clever" or that it solves the problem of not being able to concentrate mass. I think it's just the best they can come up with given the circumstances.
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6 minutes ago, Battlefront.com said:
Again, you made a statement that confuses outcome and causation.
It might be that I'm confusing outcome and causation in this case. But when you say "again", where else did I do that? Or did you confuse me with Khalerick/Flemfire?
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32 minutes ago, The_Capt said:
- Mass is not suddenly going to start working. I have seen far too many examples of force concentrations failing gloriously. I have no idea what a distributed offence looks like but I think it needs some thought.
I'm guessing the Russian answer is to spread out mass over time. So instead of attacking with 3 waves of 10,000 men, they attack with 300 waves of 100 men.
New waves are constantly being formed behind the lines and sent into the grinder, but never really amassing enough troops to make a really good target for artillery, but still keeping enemy artillery working overtime, wearing it out, spending munitions, and potentially getting spotted and engaged.
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30 minutes ago, Battlefront.com said:
This I don't agree with at all and the facts certainly do not support it.
The US executive leadership wants to secure another $61b for Ukraine, which is nearly as much as has already been provided to Ukraine since the war started. That isn't "dialled down" in any meaningful sense of the concept.
What is happening is rather mundane, predictable domestic political pressure about the prolonged expense and traditional isolationist populism. It has nothing to do with national policy and, in fact, is contrary to it.
My comment was based on a graph in this video from the official channel of the Austrian Army:
https://youtu.be/EWjMr3RZ8Ss?t=1549
It shows that since July, little aid has been pledged to Ukraine.
Of course, if the US manages to agree on sending 61 billion more, despite increasing political opposition, then that will make a big diference to that graph going forward.
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5 minutes ago, danfrodo said:
I'm interested to see how UKR uses those long range strike drones mentioned above. Logistics, obviously. But probably energy infrastructure. Once hundreds of thousands urban Russians have gotten a taste of winter without power for a few days, or a week at a time, where will there anger be directed? At UKR, of course. But maybe at Putin also?
I doubt it. The last winter showed how many missiles and drones it really takes in order to knock out a country's power supply faster than it can be repaired. And that was with Russian cruise missiles that despite not being perfect are probably still much more accurate than these Ukrainian drones.
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6 minutes ago, FlemFire said:
I don't know what part is confusing. My calculus is that Ukraine can never win militarily on its own. Therefore, the involvement of the West needs to be of substantial material or direct involvement. Neither of these things are happening.
I think most people here will agree on this part. At least I do.
7 minutes ago, FlemFire said:What is happening is something I judge as a half-measure that is only extending the length of war for no actual gain.
Here is where it gets a bit controversial. I think the USA (and therefore NATO) is pretty happy about where the current frontline goes.
Ukraine's independence has been saved, because there is no way Russia can take the rest of the 80 percent of the country.
But on the other hand, Russia won't lose the remaining 20 percent of Ukraine that they are most interested in - large amount of Russian speakers and a vital land bridge to Crimea.
This means Putin will be able to sell this war as a win, despite the cost. He feels secure he will stay in power, and no real escalation happens.
This is also why Western support for Ukraine is now being dialled down. We are in a process of Ukrainian leadership and public slowly getting more and more used to the idea of not being able to win a total victory.
(I should add that I would personally like Ukraine to regain everything, but I do not think this will happen).
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2 minutes ago, Battlefront.com said:
I fixed it for you.
When you paste a Reddit link if you wait a couple of seconds a message is displayed at the bottom with a blue background. Read that and click where it says to post as a link instead.
Steve
Got it, thanks.
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13 hours ago, The_Capt said:
Hell if I was Hamas I would be engineering a civilian massacre and putting the whole thing up on the internet.
Why would they fake a civilian massacre when Israel is happy doing it all by themselves?
How Hot is Israel Gonna Get?
in Combat Mission Shock Force 2
Posted
I would say it depends heavily on the news outlet. The internet has made it much easier for anybody to set up shop and pretend to be a journalist, but that's not the same as actually being a journalist. It's often near impossible for the average media user to tell the difference though.