MOS:96B2P

Okay. Thank you.

Did Chris fight the Beyond Belice Scenario on Saturday? I had to leave during the quick battle and now don't find the scenario at the twitch sight.

I was not aware of the Vice News site. I followed the posted link intending to just check it out and before I realized it I had spent almost three hours watching various news reports. They have all kinds of topics in addition to the Ukrainian situation. I watch one report that covered fighting in the Sudan and included a Vice reporter who was travelling in a military convoy that was ambushed. The Vice reporters were often reporting from the center of demonstrations, riots and war zones. A big difference from what is on “normal” nightly news. Thanks for the link I bookmarked it on my browser.

Do the Ukraine troops, standing behind the gate, have magazines in their weapons? I think they look unloaded.

Venafro is a great map and Venafro back into hell is a great small urban battlefield scenario. The light fog, rain and knocked out vehicles made for great battlefield immersion. At one point in the battle I noticed a poster on the wall of a building. I took about 20 minutes out of the fight to scroll around the map and check out the posters and other flavor items and details that went into the map. I highly recommend this scenario to anybody who wants to try out some MOUT tactics. It is good training in preparation for Stalingrad and one of my favorite scenarios in CMFI GL. Someday down the road I hope sburke and RockinHarry are heavily involved in the Stalingrad scenarios. Non-working doors can be problematic on urban maps. However if an urban scenario provided a demo team I would make my own doorways where needed and solve that problem. Thanks for taking the time to make Venafro.

I agree. In my PBEM games and even scenarios I typically have one platoon leader KIA, or one with a negative leadership rating. It would make the XO teams much more valuable and I think realistic if they could take over command of a platoon. In past missions when I have lost a platoon leader I have sometimes moved the company XO over to the leaderless platoon's area of operation. However, other than making me think I accomplished something, I don't think the move had much noticeable effect in the game.

+1 I'll get the popcorn ready for this one.

Thanks John. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly you can compile so much information in such a short amount of time with references and analytical commentary included. I am still reading through the references. (This will take awhile.) It does seem Ukraine has a more robust military than I imagined. (At least on paper) Some of the references I have gone through indicate Ukraine has a military industrial complex that is independent of Russia. This would help give Ukraine some endurance in any conflict since they will obviously not be able to rely on Russia for spare parts and technical assistance. The morning news reported the Russians are attempting to take control of an air defense site in Crimea. This might go hot anytime now.

John, if the Russians send in heavy ground forces it will be interesting to see if they use the axes of advance you came up with from your analysis. I used Google earth to look at some of the terrain south of Belgorod / south of the border. A lot looked like farm land like we have in the Midwest. But there did seem to be some areas of restricted terrain. If they are seriously challenged by Ukraine and forced to deploy on their move south there could be heavy fighting around those areas. I don't know what Ukraine has or what condition their units are in. (I'm guessing old Warsaw Pact stuff) Do you have any idea what kind of fight they can put up if they so choose?

A target arc command toggle would greatly help setting up in the defense. It would allow you to see your interlocking zones of fire and make it easier to identify dead zones. In practice it would allow you to see the range cards of all your units at the same time and speed up the placement of crew served weapons and various battle positions.

And I had to laugh...I was also thinking Chris looks a little like Sheldon...Sheldon has a thinner face, though. I thought he reminded me of someone! Just couldn’t place it!

Wow, I had no idea the Soviet rucksack was more like a bag. A big difference to the US Army (circa 1980s) rucksacks with a metal frame and multiple pockets I was accustom to. I think the bedroll is kind of iconic for Soviet infantry and would look cool in the game. The CMRT is just in beta now. Maybe the final version will look more like your video. We can hope.

This is an interesting idea. I have had the same problem when plotting waypoints. I wonder if this is something that could be accomplished with a mod.

Very cool story. The American dream. They were able to start, successfully run and grow a small business. The talent, dedication and sacrifice that took says alot about their character and courage. (Not to mention they had to be a little crazy) If there is ever an IPO I will buy stock. Good job.

Good info John. Having some lower category units would help with game balance. The historical examples you provided would make their use realistic. Realism and balance are good foundations for scenarios.

From looking at the photo of your half-track I did not see anyone in the back of the track to operate the machine guns. Unless I missed them that may be the reason it did not fire. In my PBEM games MG gunners die pretty easily. When that happens I replace them with troops from under strength fire teams. (One or two men left) This gets the MG back into operation. I enjoyed your AAR. Good luck.

I forgot about this. It would be interesting to see in the next video.

The encyclopedia would be a nice addition and contribute to the fact that Combat Mission is a serious tactical simulation. People would have the choice of referring to the encyclopedia or not based on their preference. It would seem to be a question of when the encyclopedia can be added with all the other cool things that BFC has on their to-do list. Steve and his crew seem to be pretty good at keeping a balance on what can be added and when. I look forward to the addition of an encyclopedia whether it is in engine 4.0 or 7.0 and I will pre-order them all.

I am reading some books now on the eastern front, in preparation for the release of Red Thunder. Both sides used booby traps. Maybe booby traps could be modeled in the game by the use of anti-personnel mines inside buildings. But next I suppose the question would be if you had a multistory structure could the game engine handle placing AP mines (the booby traps) on different floors of buildings and could engineers clear them.

CM: Fulda Gap, now that I could really get into.

John, I sent you the PM.

John Kettler were you also a military intelligence analyst? I was an Intel analyst in the G2 section 82 Airborne back in the 1980s.

PvtW Very nice. Even the dirt on the tires looks good.

The Epic Mockumentary Video Series is open to the public for viewing. The links for the videos are in the Epic Mockumentary Video Series thread. (The second link in post #58 of that thread worked) This was the first time I saw these videos. A very professional well done job that is a must view for anybody interested in Combat Missions.