MOS:96B2P

@Aquila-SmartWargames made a U-Tube video.  Very cool Battle Pack. 
 
 

Can't say I'm surprised that it is Bret Baier...In a good way. 🙂
When this craziness started in 2022 interestingly enough Fox News was my primary source for following this war, I thought they did a good job of covering it from the ground and I liked Bret Baier's presentations from the studio.
Can't say I felt the same way about what Tucker was saying later in the day, seeing good coverage earlier in the day and watching Tucker repeat his obviously pro-Russian talking points was like watching two different networks. It was just a bizarre feeling that I will never forget.
Good to see Bret is still trying to give President Zelenskyy the voice he deserves. If I'm not mistaken one of Zelenskyy's first interviews on American television when the war started was with Bret.
Edit: Maks 23 just posted a preview of the interview.
 

@Aquila-SmartWargames made a U-Tube video.  Very cool Battle Pack. 
 
 

Tissues are bourgeois inventions, comrade. Since the last 5-year plan all tissue and toilet paper factories have been retooled to make sandpaper. And better make a good stock of it while it lasts, comrade. Next year they are all switching to coarser grain.
PS. True story from actual experience of living under "real socialism". Two things they could never produce in sufficient numbers was toilet paper and rope for baling hay. 

Come on, he posted an interesting quote which happened to be said by George Patton and not celebration of George Patton. 
Is Patton now cancelled to the effect that all his quotes are thoughtcrime? I did not get the latest memo from the Ministry of Truth, apologies.

Guess who said this. World War 2 was just finished. "I have no particular desire to understand them except to ascertain how much lead or iron it takes to kill them... the Russian has no regard for human life and they are all out sons-of-bitches, barbarians, and chronic drunks."

Nope. You might be told at the start what your core units' are but within each mission likely not.
This might be intentional on the part of the designer to prevent players from misusing the non-core unit.

Old but Gold  Giving this scenario a spin in CMSF2 - it holds well right ? In the new build and engine.  Thanks all. @Combatintman @MOS:96B2P

And This why we can't have nice things. 

It has to be brought to a vote first though.   I think it is time for another "How does our gov't work" primer from @billbindc
 

He's frustrated, understandably.  No reason to accuse him of right-wing talking points as if he is spouting Tuckerisms. 
This thread tends to get way over dramatic too often.

I'm hopeful significant US aide will still be passed soon. Most of the US public still supports it, despite the bs campaign by the usual suspects, and IMHO many more Republicans actually want to support it, and will if they can find the "cover" to do so.
 

Hey Guys,
Took a few years, but I'm back to working on CM stuff. Have revamped my Combat Mission Website and over the last few months have populated it with some old (5 Campaigns). some reworked (5 Scenarios of which three are really new), and some new (6 new scenarios).  Also have other things in the works including a 9 scenario campaign for CMFB ' Task Force Baum'  and a 7 scenario campaign for CMCW 'Son of Major Nosov'. 
Think the new layout of the website makes it easy to not only get at the scenarios/campaigns but should provide enough description to see if your interested in downloading them or not. Would love to get feedback on any of them you attempt to play. Enjoy, and I am happy to be active again.

Don't judge the Western Navies based on Russian Navy incompetence.
Let's look at Russian ship Caesar Kunikov

What protection does it have against small boats? Two twin 57 mm (2.2 in) DP guns

It is old Soviet tech, and most likely it does not work properly. If it works at all.
What else does it have? Well, guys like this.

This is absurd. It's no surprise that his tin can is now submersible (or at least what remains of it).
Now, let's look at Type 45 Destroyer because it is the main escort of the White Elefants.

What does this fellow have?
Two DS30B rapid fire cannon

Two Phalanx CIWS

By the way, here Phalanx fires at surface target
Two .50 Cals

It is already impressive but here is more. 
T45 usually have at least one helicopter

The name of the helicopter is Wildcat, and it can carry up to 21 LMM missiles. 

When this boi gets into the air, the swarm attack stops.
Is that all? Nope - as soon as vodka hits the fan 30mm will get their own LMMs

This is how LMM works (different mount)
The swarm of small boats is not a new threat. Western Navies have been preparing to counter it for a long time. But RU Navy haven't since difficulties of dumb Western Navies do not apply to superior Russian Navy and do not impede my thieving activity. Now RU chickens come home to roost.
Do not be dumb and do not be corrupt is the main lesson we can get from RU Navy drone debacle. 

Regarding fires at RU fuel plants. Below is Milov explanation (from the interview)
The production of RU fuel began to drop. It has already fallen by 4%, with Lukoil production fallen by 8%. It is a significant drop because the RU fuel market is quite delicate. There are two factors here: UKR strikes and a rise in equipment failure due to unknown [to Milov] causes, but most likely due to poor maintenance and repair as a result of sanctions [sanctions work but more slowly than expected]. All of the equipment used to produce high-quality gasoline is Western. The RU has just about two dozen fuel plants. Thus, critical disruption of RU fuel production is possible. It is possible to achieve this by damaging or destroying two types of infrastructure. First, facilities for catalytic cracking which is essential for high-quality gasoline production (Kstovo plant strike). CC facility can be easily targeted, and RU has few of them (and they are all western, so there is no quick replacement or manufacturer assistance).  As result at the moment Lukoil is unable to repair the damaged CC facility in the Kstovo plant. The second type is the Primary Oil Refinery facility (Krasnodar plant strike). The damage to the POR facility interrupts the entire oil production process, but replacements are simpler to find. It's worth noting that only five main fuel plants supply the European part of RU. Other plants are either smaller, older (cannot produce high-quality fuel), or too far away. So, the present UKR campaign of oil plant strikes is smart and sensible. It is already causing problems for RU. The average price has already increased by 30-50 kopeeks [RU cents] per liter. 
 
The Russian government is going to apply significant pressure on oil companies to keep prices from increasing (which may succeed in the near run). However, the RU gasoline market is in a fragile state right now, and if the UKR campaign continues, it will cause major issues.
 

GUR unit "Group 13" has issued a video of attack on "Tsezar Kunnikov".
Budanov has good feel of humor - Soviet officer Tsezar Kunnikov, who led landing group on Gelendzhyk bridgehead was killed on 14th Feb 1943
 

Moscow in FLAMES as huge inferno burns through largest oil refinery in Russian capital (msn.com)
Russia’s largest oil refinery, which supplies half of Moscow’s fuel needs, has erupted in flames.
The fiery glow over Gazprom Neft was first reported at around 2.30am, by residents in the districts of Kapotnya, Maryino and Brateevo.
Footage of the blaze was posted by the pro-Kremlin news outlet Shot, before being taken down later.
The Ministry of Emergency Situations said: “There are no active fires in Moscow.”
It added: “An oil refinery torch frightened residents of south-east Moscow.
“The glow was visible at night in different areas of the southeast of the capital. A column of fire rose from the chimney of the Kapotnya refinery; residents mistook the outbreak for a fire.
“The flare was explained by planned work at the plant.”
 

Yes, there's a fundamental category error here in the utter failure to distinguish Ukrainians, who are overwhelmingly fighting for their nation and elected government, from Iraqis or Afghans who overwhelmingly defer to their local tribal or religious leaders, who in turn decide which flag to salute, or not.

Dude, ok it is getting weird now.  This is like being on a bus and the guy next to you asks “Do you know about Jesus?”  I am not asking what Trump says he will do?  I am not asking what he wants to do?  I am asking that all things being equal and he winds up in some sort of inverse version of where Biden is right now…what can Trump actually do?
Given his absurd declarations last time compared to what actually got done, we have precedent here.  I think I can safely say that your position is pretty clear and duly noted.  Now I am going to go find another place to sit - and maybe find someone a bit more pragmatic about the whole thing.

Sorry to interrupt the lively discussion about US politics, but I'd want to add my two cents regarding the Avdiivka situation.
Most likely, it will attempt to halt or slow down the current RU attack on the O0542 route. It is the most dangerous RU attack, with the potential to collapse the entire Avdiivka pocket rapidly. If 3rd manages to stop or slow this RU attack down, we could argue that 3rd indeed saved Avdiivka from quick collaps.
 
Most likely, Avdiivka is going to fall because the Russian gliding bombs (UMPK) have not been neutralized yet. Essentially, RU are simply leveling with UMPK UKR strong points that their meat groups encounter. The system works as follows: an RU meat group meets a UKR strong position, dies while the RU command watches it through drones and then RU command orders a bombing of the strong point into oblivion. A fresh RU meat group is then dispatched forward. So, given enough time and bodies, RU will capture the place that once was called Avdiivka. 
 
The situation is advantageous to UKR in Avdiivka. Avdiivka is the most fortified area in UKR. Even with UMPKs, the Koksohim plant and south urban areas are incredibly tough to breach, and RU losses are horrific.
The problem is there is a certain critical vulnerability that RU have found and are trying to exploit now. If they succeed, Avdiivka will fall swiftly. Much faster than it would be otherwise.
Let's discuss the overall situation and then look at my quick map.
RU failed to encircle Avdiivka via Stepove > Orlivka (north axis) and Vodyane > Tonenke (south axis). The assault via Tsarska Ohota (48.11372615890259, 37.77596770282691) toward the major urban area (that pipe infiltration) was originally successful but is now slow and painful. Finally, since the Azov Steel battle, RU want to avoid any major assaults on large plants such as Koksohim.
So, using their standard tactic of persistent pressure by meat groups along the front lines, they discovered the weak spot.

The O0542 road is the primary communication route for the Avdiivka defense sector. Assaulting via Avtobaza and Brevno is the shortest way to reach it. There are not many urban-style buildings in this village-style area. As a result, it provides sufficient concealment for assaulting RU meat groups while providing substantially less cover for UKR defenders against UMPKs.
If UKR manage to neutralize this assault they could hold Avdiivka a lot longer. So, I believe this is the reason UKR commit 3rd assault "to save Avdiivka".

Well first off you may be surprised to learn that we hear all sorts of opinions on the trajectory of the Defender of the Free World - your personal spin is but one of them.  I am still not sure what has changed here.  We already had a Trump admin and what I saw was a lot of his worst impulses blocked, delayed and generally smothered by legal action and good old bureaucratic friction.  Trump still has to deal with the state level governments etc as well.  So in his first incredibly chaotic admin we saw a whole lot of noise and light but little actual substance - kind of the brand.  Jan 6th and COVID were about as close to the cliff face as we saw and then the machine defended itself.
So ok we got your spin on all this - Trump = bad idea.  But what has fundamentally changed in 4 short years that would give Trump supreme dictator powers that he lacked last time?  His own party is just as weak at holding him in check as last time.  Security and armed forces are not entirely onboard.  So what is the big shift that would allow these nightmare scenarios to unfold?
I mean as an outsider “hey look the sky is falling, again…”. I am still not seeing how Trumps political opponents could not conspire to check and pushback any less than his supporters have during the last few years.  We already lived through one Trump-pocolypse.  Finally despite a lot of predictions Ukrainian aid continued to flow - held up in the gears now but also looks like it might get through eventually.  NATO held together and the US appears to agree on China as the threat.  So now Trump gets in and all that goes away?
So it is not “listening to what I want to hear”. It is listening to a lot of voices saying something other than you.  You know, like good balanced critical thinking should be doing?  I do get that it could be bad, very bad.  But you are basically taking about an inevitable slide into another US Civil War and I have to believe that there are some off-ramps and relief valves here.

Increasingly more cities of RF hold actions demanding return of soldiers from war in Ukraine - ISW (msn.com)
In various cities of the Russian Federation, protests by relatives of mobilized Russian soldiers are gaining momentum, despite previous efforts and attempts by the Kremlin to suppress and block any potential development of a broader public movement across the country on the eve of the presidential elections in March, according to a report from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
On Saturday, February 10, Russian opposition publications SOTA and Mobilization News released footage showing members of the Russian public movement Way Home laying flowers and gathering near monuments in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Vladivostok, and Yekaterinburg. They call for the demobilization of their relatives.
Mobilization News reported that members of the movement also visited the campaign headquarters of the Russian presidential candidate Vladislav Davankov in Moscow and handed over letters to his team urging demobilization.
The Institute for the Study of War also reminded that last week the Russian authorities attempted to censor the protest by members of Way Home near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow and at the adjacent Manezhnaya Square.
"The extent and complexity of the Kremlin’s efforts to limit the rise of relatives’ movements in support of Russian soldiers underscores the Kremlin’s desperation to shut down these movements, particularly ahead of the March 2024 Russian presidential elections," the report said.
On February 3, a protest took place in Moscow organized by the wives of mobilized soldiers to mark 500 days since the start of the partial mobilization declared by Putin in September 2022. The Kremlin subjected the protest to harsh censorship, and some participants were detained by the police.
In mid-January, one of the largest protests in Russia since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine occurred in the Republic of Bashkortostan. Demonstrators rallied in support of a local activist accused of "fanning interethnic enmity."
The last significant protests in Russia were after Putin's announcement of the so-called "partial mobilization" in September 2022. At that time, protests occurred in various regions of the Russian Federation. In the capital of Dagestan, Makhachkala, people were mass-arrested during the rallies.

Sorry guys. I got over excited. ☹️

And the other deputy of Syrskyi became brigade general Mykhailo Drapatyi. He will be responsible for soldiers training.
Epsisode of 9th of May 2014, with his "flying BMP" breaking throw separatists barricades in Mariupol became a one of meme of this war. In that time Drapatyi was in a rank of major and was a commandr of mech.battalion of 72nd brigade. Since 2016 to 2019 he commamded 58th mot.inf. brigade.