db_zero
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Posts posted by db_zero
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I'm no expert on armor. What i would like to know is how advanced is the sighting and targeting system on the T90 as compared to current western tanks like the M1/Challenger or Leopard. Is it up to par with whats used in the West?
The only thing I have to even begin to remotely understand it all is putzing around in Steel Beasts and if that is even remotely accurate then the T90 has a long ways to go to catch up to current western tanks.
The T-62 is just outright strange. You fire a round and the gun and sight elevate-I assume to accomodate loading.
The T-72 is somewhat better. At least the gun doesn't evelvate when you fire a round, but I find the laser and sighting system is far behind Western tanks. I'm sure plenty of good training and lots of practice with live ammo can turn out skilled ginners, but the impression I get is you don't get that in the Russian army and anything on par with the NTC is non-existant. Also the autoloading system the requires the ammo to be stored a certain way makes it a deathtrap if it gets hit.
Perhaps the T80 and T-90 makes up for all the deficiencies of past designs. IDK, but I'm really interested if the protection features and other things like gun computing systems and ammo storage is improved. Is it still using an autoloader?
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If you can afford it I would just go and and buy it. I bought it years ago and really didn't get into it, but now that Black Sea and interested me and I've played and started learning Steel Beasts more I've really grown to appreciate it. Easy to see why its considered the best tank sim out there. Lots of missions you can download.
Only thing missing is campaigns. I would love to see WW2 tanks made. That would be the ultimate. The last WW2 tank sime I played alot what the old Panzer Elite. I got T-34 vs Tiger, but never played it as well as Steel Fury which I played a little, but not sure eiter will run under Windows 7 without a lot of tweaking.
Steel Beasts has multiplayer games on Friday night, but I'm not good enought to get into that at this point. I still don't really don't know all the things I need to know well enough yet.
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I think that Abrams spotting and in general US spotting could use some fixing (also Russian spotting), but appart from that I don't think the game needs much balancing, the US player will always have it easier so the less experienced player sould use it. The balance has to come from bigger numbers on the Russian side, Russian units have to be cheaper in a QB, if even with this your game isn't balanced just ask whoever is playing with you ti give you a 10%, 20% advantage.
Abrams and Javelins are fine as they are, they just spot too well on occasion (trought dense forest with no LOS for ex).
I'm not sure if I would consider that broken. The M1 has very sophisticated thermal imaging that allows it to see objects through foilage and the LOS tool to my understanding is not entirely accurate as shown. There is something of a built in fudge factor.
The Javeling I don't know if it has thermal imaging, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did.
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Ahh ok I understand now. I thought that this could have been some kind of lead-in to a "oMg pLz nerf ABRams its tOO OP" thread.
By the way I've been looking into getting Steel Beasts for a while now. I've seen some really good youtube videos of gameplay, some made by Krause who is semi-active on these forums, and I've really liked what I've seen.
I always thought all the gunner in a M1 had to do was put the reticule on the target, push a button and the wiz bang computers and gadgetry would do the rest, but there seems to be more to it and I think the US military is so well trained and skilled, they've been making it look easier than it really is-although if we ever did get into a shooting match with the Russian it would not be pleasant and I don't see it being a turket shoot like it been in the desert.
Stell Beasts is a good complimentary sim for Black Sea. Definately a different perspective. I find myself dying and getting shot up alot even in the uber tanks like the M1A2-so I pretty much suck at it so far, but it is entertaining.
I'm still learning it and unlike Black Sea where you're commanying platoons/companies/BN's you're command smaller sections. It is pricey $125 and you'll probably want a joystick and decent system to run it.
I"ve started trying out the T-72, but for some reason in the tutorials the gun won't fire so i don't know if thats a bug or WAD.
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The Pacific Pivot ran straight into the Ukrainian crisis. It's better to say we're seeing a Middle East divestment. The Army, and the ABCTs especially remain in a posture that doesn't preclude deployment to Europe on short notice (as 1st CAV has done on a few occasions).
I'm not sure we're going to get a Middle East divestment. Our negoiations with Iran only deals with the nuclear issue. Correct me if I'm wrong but nothing is said about the Irans use of proxies in the region. I'm sure if we also pushed for Iran to agree to halt that activity there will be no deal and I don't see our leadership willing to make that sort of commitment. Our allies in the region are rightfully very wary of being thrown under the bus.
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Whats your point? If you are trying to claim that Abrams should not be as good at gunnery based on your own experience in Steel Beasts, then that is pretty weak. As has already been mentioned, tankers train a lot, in real tanks, with other real humans, and constantly strive to better their gunnery. We have historical examples of green crews (crews with no combat experience but trained on their tanks) engaging the enemy and destroying them utterly. The First Gulf War, battle of 73 Eastings and other engagements. Yes the Iraqi penetrator was inferior blah blah blah. That isn't the point. American crews did not treat the Iraqi's as pushovers. In fact quite the opposite. The US was very worried about the Iraqi army, and feared taking over 30,000 casualties.
So despite lack of combat experience, it has been proven that well trained crews can not only perform (like they are supposed to) but excel (which we have seen them do) I again have to ask what is your point?
You're correct...there really is no point in what I posted. I was just rambling on. I was in no way implying the M1 should not be as good at gunnery as it is. I was just trying to say that it takes alot of skill to be that good even with the latest wiz bang gadgetry.
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The Pacific Pivot ran straight into the Ukrainian crisis. It's better to say we're seeing a Middle East divestment. The Army, and the ABCTs especially remain in a posture that doesn't preclude deployment to Europe on short notice (as 1st CAV has done on a few occasions).
Speaking of the Pacific Pivot it is aimed at China-the new boogey man. While its wise to remain weary of China, there is ample evidence that China may be the paper tiger they once accused America to be. The vaunted China economic miracle is showing signs of great weakness and there is a good argument that it may be headed for a greater disaster than that which befell Japan. In the 80's Japan was the great economic powerhouse and like the Chinese are doing today gobbling up American real estate and other assets. In fact there was a lot of controversy back in the day about the Japanese buying Rockafeller Center.
Then the great Japanese real estate bubble burst and Japan was never the same. In the end the Japanese ended up liquadating their American real estate assets at a huge loss.If you look deeply into China they are potentially Japan times 2. If the real estate bubble bursts in China watch out. They are trying to pivot to a more consumer based economy and in the process the steel and other construction based industries are in a state of near depression. The implications are wide and far reaching.
Meanwile back in Russia....
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Is it an M1A2 Sep V2?
Also the US Army and military in general does more or less constantly train it's combat troops, and constantly strives to improve training and have large unit excercises at 29 Palms. Add to that a significant portion of the current US military today has combat experience. Of course BS is in 2017, but that'd still equate to large numbers of officers and senior NCOs with combat experience, and improved lessons learned and training from it. Even if it is a different type of combat than fighting Russia..
No looks like just a M1A2. No question the Army trains hard. The point of my post was its still takes skill and a level of intelligence to master the systems. Doing it under the threat of death when the fear factor is present isn't easy. I guess if you practice enough muscle memory takes over and it becomes natural like riding a bike.
I assume the Australian Leopard I is the same as the Leopard I in SB.
As for the BRDM-2...I hope it doesn't have the Sagger ATGMs like the original version. Even if it has newer ATGM's it strikes me as a coffin on wheels.
The Bradley seems like a fun vechicle. The 25mm Bushmaster is a joy to shoot. I still have to learn how to use the TOW.
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I still think that universal application of APS on US tanks by 2017 is a little bit of a pipe dream. The DoD procurement process doesn't work like that. This isn't like cutting armor off of a wreck and welding it on to a Humvee. I think APS should be a lot less frequent in scenarios.
Last I heard the US Military was downsizing, they didn't want any more tanks and the overall defense posture was pivoting to the Pacific, so that combined with the Byzantine DoD and congressional budgeting process I too would agree that not only would universal application of APS on US tanks by 2017 be true, but the next war, wherever and whenever it will be fought will be with the wrong force structure at the wrong time.
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The Pacific was an especially brutal war. Some of the people I grew up knowing fought in it. In fact I still have the WW2 Campaign medals given to me as a kid by a Marine who fought at Pelieu. My mom was of Japanese decent who grew up in Hawaii and was there when Pearl Harbor was bombed. Went to her grave as a loyal American and would disown me if I ever said anything bad about America.
The Japanese soldier in WW2 was indoctrinated with a medieval belief ideology that was difficult for westerners to comprehend. I think the same is true today for the threat western societies face from radical islam. Unfortunately the politically correct ideology that has taken hold in western societies makes it difficult to have a frank and honest discussion about this.
Since the oil boom that took place in the 70's when OPEC wielded its monopoly power and saw a huge increase in oil revenues there was a huge rush to modernize what was up to then medieval societies that had changed little since the medieval period. With modernization came western know how, technology and what the ruling monarchies desperately wanted to contol and keep from its people-western ideals and culture which was viewed as decadent. Our enemy now is one driven by very medieval beliefs that reject western culture and ideals, yet embrace western technology, much like Japan in WW2 was-although you can't draw too many parallellels
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So easy even a caveman can do it...or so it seems.
M1 tank on the prowl. Enemy vehicle appears, Abhrams shoots vehicle blows up.
While it looks so easy in CM, it seems like there is a lot more to it. I just updated Steel Beasts PE to the latest version and started playing around with the M1A2 and there is quite a bit to getting good at hitting your target.I didn't think it would be so easy to burn out the laser and resorting to the manual back up is a huge challange.
Ill have to try the Russian stuff out later.
I kinda like the sight reticule on the Challanger a little more.
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One last item about Command Naval Air Operations. It does not neglect Asia. No dig at Battlefront
Asia is basically a naval and air theater. Land forces are peripheral, but vital for capturing and holding keyareas such as ports, airfields and other ikey nstallaions.
An Asia based Combat Mission game would be a nice compliment to CMANO just like the CMPz one is to CMBN . Imagine a nice Combat Mission Black Sea like battle to capture and hold a key installation like a port linked to and based on your CMANO battle in progress.
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Harpoon stated out as a board game with a huge rule and data annex printed on paper. You used to keep track of things on paper and used a pencil and rolled dice to resolve combat. I think the military-techno thriller writer Tom Clancy used it to help write his books. These were the days when wargaming was boardgaming and companies like SPI, AH, GDW and others were actually viable companies, much like Matrix and Battlefront are today.
In the 80’s it was ported to the PC and then the Mac. Back then I had a Mac so I had to wait and wait and wait until it was finally ported to the Mac to play. When I finally made the jump to a 386sx PC I was finally able to play Harpoon in all its glory, as well as Falcon 3.0! I also spend hours killing furry kitty cats in Wing Commander! I’m sure if Wing Commander was released today PETA and other PC bleeding heart l******s would find something to whine about
.BTW I love cats.
Matrix has a number of Harpoon variants. Harpoon Classic, Harpoon Ultimate Additional and Harpoon Admirals Edition. I may have some of this wrong so if so please feel free to correct me.
Harpoon Classic and I think Ultimate Additional (never purchased) have the look and feel of the later Harpoon original and the numerous add-ons from the PC version released in the late 80’s and 90’s that you actually had to go to a store like Egghead and buy. If you were devious you would buy the game, copy it to a 5.25 inch or 3.5 disks and then return the game for a full refund. I liked the series and wanted to support it so I refrained from doing that.
Harpoon Admirals Addition is a later variant of Harpoon 2 released in the 90’s. Man what a beast Harpoon 2 was when it was first released. Unless you had the latest and greatest Pentium CPU and a decent amount of RAM it could be a computer killer. Unlike today where the microprocessor, video cards, RAM and hard disks are commodity items, back then it was an expensive proposition to upgrade or stay in front of the curve. There were other issues with Harpoon 2 and you either loved it or hated it. Back then you also went to a traditional brick and mortar store and plopped down $39 or so dollars and got 3.5 inch disks in a cardboard box and a printed manual.
Command Modern Air Naval Operations is the latest in the series. Graphically its not ARMA or Combat Mission 2. Think of it as being in the Combat Information Center (CIC) of an Aegis Class Destroyer or some command bunker and you get the idea of what it’s all about. It does use Google Earth and some enterprising individuals have created overlays.You will pay alot more than $39 dollars for it and if you want a printed manual expect to pay a lot more. These days with the rapidly changing nature and updates to games the printed manual is probably not necessary, but in cases like War in the West I like having a printed manual. I would pay for a nice Janes like reference manual for Command.
Like many other games, going onto youtube and watiching the nice user created tutorials and AARs is a great way to learn Command. Buy a nice tablet with wireless and you'll be set.
I am by no means A CNMO expert, so please correct me or add any additional information as you see fit.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Command is used by military academies and navies around the world as a training tool.
Unlike the earlier variants of Harpoon, Command is quite extensive. You can actually simulate a global nuclear war or regional one. Some enterprising individuals using available information created overlays that simulated the current air defense network of China and Europe. I’m sure Russia is out there too. Very little is out of bounds. I could go on and on. There is even ground combat, but that is still in its infancy and don’t expect too much. Someday it may be up to POA (Point of Attack) standards.
I have argued for some modern graphics that would entice a generation raised on sexy graphics to be implemented. Not only in games like Command, but other classics like War in the West/East, but that is going nowhere and I can to a degree understand. It costs money and really the target audience may not justify it.
An old gronard like me can still appreciate the old works of art, but some of my younger friends born 10 or more years later take a look at War in the West or Command, scratch they head in confusion and say uggg…
Perhaps Matrix and Battlefront can someday do a cooperative effort or merge and each can bring something to the table and we can have both a deep simulation with nice graphics.
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I don´t know how this thread came to be what it is, but it is your fault I now want to get back to CMANO after kicking the habit of watching my ships sunk and my planes fall from the skies
There goes my weekend...
I hear you. I had 15 Combat Mission h2h games going on at one time, but as I finish a game I'm not starting a new one. I'll probably just stick to 2 or 3 WW2 CM games and perhaps 1 or 2 Black Sea games so I can focus in more on CMNO and start a War in The West PBEM game.
Balogan has created somethng called Multiplayer Joint Command for CMNO. I just started reading about it and it sounds like a WEGO like system for CMNO. I'm going to download and try this weekend. You may want to take a look into it.
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Keep your misinformed and bigoted political opinions to yourself, they have nothing to do with the topic.
Yeah I should have known better, me and some other people were having a spirited debate on the subject and I got carried away. Seems to be a hot topic everywhere.
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You're right I got off the beaten path.
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Now back to our regular programming. Seems like some strong negative opinions on the LCS. I see from some web searching that there are some requests for proposals for a replacement for the LCS.
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I'd like to see that amphibious invasion.
These days no need to launch an amphibious invasion. Just move to a place with an open border policy, have lots of kids and start demanding rights and assistance from a party that will exchange that for votes.
Then you'll ask 12,24,36 years later "who would have guessed that?"
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Haven't dug that far yet, but the MLRS if available and still used would appear to be capable if laying down a pretty large pattern of fire on a Black Sea map.
In another thread it was mentioned that Tomahawks were outside the scope of the game, but recently it was mentioned that it has been tested by JTACs as a precision fire weapon that could be called in and reprogrammed while in flight.
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Thanks for info. I was playing a scenario where air and other assets were not available. Odd to see a multi billion DD vs a rinky dink Patrol Craft that had SSMs and a decent enough SAMs to pose a threat to the Seahawks being able to fight with near parity against the Burke class DD.Burkes should still have Tomahawks, just not the anti-ship version of Tomahawk. The late-model ones don't have Harpoons, but that's because the surface navy didn't want to shell out bucks for keeping Harpoons relevant during the nineties budget crunch. The air navy did, which is why they had (have) the SLAM-ER on their birds and that's where most of our anti-ship capability currently resides. Submarines are cool and work in some circumstances and we do have a lot of them, but based on what I saw during the last decade, if any serious war pops off, they're going to have better things to do than dedicated themselves to popping surface ships... unless those surface ships are trying to sortie from a monitored port.
That is changing in the very near-term, but for now, if you want to see how the USN would mallet a bunch of ships, use a carrier's airwing with P-3/P-8/MQ-4C support for surveillance and maybe the White Cloud constellation for additional ELINT capability.
Been a while since I've looked into naval combat or played something like CMNO or Harpoon. Seems like frigates in the US Navy are gone or morphed into something far different than the Perry class FFs.
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SM2s can target ships in Command. There is a switch you have to throw to make it happen by default. I believe Tomahawks were removed from Aegis and Burkes a while ago.
I thought only certain models of the SM2 have SSM capabilities while other flughts are not SSM capable.
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ASW has atrophied worldwide in all nations (except those that never had it, China being the big one). Fortunately for the US, our submarine fleet is huge, the best in the world, and never did stop practicing. Virginia Class Submarines would be the real heroes in any upcoming war. The real degradation has been in anti surface warfare capabilities in Western Navies, which is only recently being remedied. Lamentable but forgivable as until the recent rise of the PLAN there has been no need for ASUW or ASW. A lot of guys have to learn some long forgotten skills. Fortunately from my talks with bubbleheads and Maritime Patrol guys, non-Western ASW is laughably bad. That doesn't mean a lucky D-E boat can't cause a lot of problems though. Which is why we leased a Swedish one for a couple years to practice with.
I'm all for smaller Asian navies growing their sub forces. Its the best way to counter a certain rising Asian power. There was even some strong arguments made by naval analysts to lease out some LA class boats to Australia, which in my eyes would be a great choice.
I was toying around in CMNO a while back as was surprised when my Arleigh Burke had no Harpoons, Tomahawks and Sm2s couldn't target enemy surface units. Only had a Seahawk with Hellfires which was vulnerable to SAMs and losing it would have reduced my ASW capabilities considerably. So sounds like its true the surface warfare capabilty has been drastically reduced.
Many believe in an all out war the SSNs are the real capitial ships. The diesel/electric subs being purchased in Asia are supposedly very quiet and potentially very deadly. Don't know how competent and well trained the crews are, but one would think a well commanded diesel sub could really cause problems.
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Re: The French Navy
Distinctly possible, but unlikely. The thing is no one besides the US or France can sortie a fighting force capable of projecting real power over distance. The Russian Navy is in sorry shape (Kuznetsov task forces always sail with a tug because the carrier keeps breaking) and China can't project a meaningful fleet that far, yet. So the RN could handle pretty much anything that could conceivably come (thanks to some excellent submarine forces) until the US or France showed up. England doesn't have any Maritime Patrol aircraft anymore, so even land based support wouldn't help much.
Interesting you mentioned submarines. In Asia especially with smaller nations like Viet-Nam, Phillipines and other players there is a naval arms race taking place centered around submarines-and if I'm not mistaken many powerful Western naval forces have been emphasing projecting combat power onshore to land at the expense of ASW capability.
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That has actually been discussed. I'm all for it. Give me something different.
The jolly old UK has just been gutted too hard and too totally. The RN today should have Nelson rolling in his grave. The decision to not include a CATOBAR system on their new carriers (if the second one is even commissioned) when the F-35B goes tits up will bite them in the ass, and they can't afford to send any reasonable surface group out. Hell if memory serves, when the Kuznetsov group (itself a joke of a platform) dawdled off Scotland, the UK had all of one destroyer in home waters. That happened to be in the English channel, so talk about a serious shortage. It's sad really.
You make it sound like if push came to shove the French Navy might be put into a position of defending the British Isles. I do find it odd and disturbing that radical Islamic Imams are alowed to preach destruction of a host national that welcomed them and provide government assistance. Don't know if that's true in fact or just media sensationalism.
t90 vs Abrams(test1: open field,armour)
in Combat Mission Black Sea
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Are they better than what the US had in GW1? A couple of things stand out. The autoloader system. Instead of storing ammo securely behind a blast door in a compartment designed to vent any ammo cook off upwards and away from the crew, the T90 loading system stores ammo in a very dangerous way.
3 man crew. 1 less person to do routine maintenance, stand guard and 1 less set of eyes to observe.