polterklotz

To be somewhat fair to Obama, from a US strategic perspective, the main concern is China.  China has the financial resources, a  strategic imperative that is pushing it into conflict with most of it's neighbors that from a geo political perspective has much more importance to the US. 
 
Let's face it.  Despite Putin's chest pounding and statements of being an awesome military power, in the end he is much more akin to Taqiq Aziz.  Lots of bluster, lots of BS, but in the end Russia is heading towards third rate power status simply because despite the bluster, it just doesn't have the resources to be in the first rate power game.  The MOD can make all their claims it wants about it's new uber tank, a new cosmodrome, a resurgent Navy, air force and strategic nuclear force, but as the bottom falls out financially the house of cards is gonna collapse.
 
Can you imagine Germany trying to do and say all that.  We'd all chuckle and move onto another thread (with maybe a twinge of nervousness if it included all the other nonsense Russia is doing with hyper nationalism, suppression of a free press, targeting of "undesirable social elements etc) about the penetration characteristics of weapon x versus modular buildings for the simple reason everyone knows it is beyond their reach.  How we can even remotely entertain that somehow Russia should be taken seriously with similar financial resources, but a far more corrupt regime is just silly.
 
As to Syria, there is no appetite in the US for another mideast intervention.  Obama is constrained by the fiasco of Bush foreign policy that got us suckered into the longest war in US history.  That he is still struggling to deal with this mess isn't really that surprising.  That he isn't doing a good job of dealing with it , well that he owns, but the foreign policy shift required to effectively deal with the mid east has eluded the US for a century (assuming it is even possible).
 
Time is on the West and Ukraine's side.  We have the resources to respond to any level threat if needed and Russia's ability to sustain this conflict is not limitless.  Yes it sucks that in the meantime Ukraine suffers at the depredations of a despotic, corrupt neighbor.  Eventually though it will end, Ukraine will have control of their future and Russia will have to face the consequences internally of their shortsighted view.  And then they will come crying to the west for resources to shore up their crumbling economy and odds are we will probably get involved to simply try to avoid the humanitarian/environmental crisis that will unfold - repeat of the 1990s.  Except odds are by then China will be owning a significant portion of Siberia.
 
So back to the OP -
 
According to Poroschenko, the Ukr is mopping up after repelling the separatist offensive (even the OSCE agrees it was a separatist offensive.)
 
Meanhwile this is the DPR statement
The Donetsk rebel leader spoke of huge losses in the Ukrainian army.
Alexander Zakharchenko, leader of the self-styled "Donetsk People's Republic", said the Maryinka fighting had left about 400 Ukrainian troops dead and up to 1,000 wounded.
"This was a counter-attack. If we had attacked, we would have captured Maryinka," he said on Friday.
Quoted by Russia's RIA Novosti news agency, he said 15 rebel fighters had been killed and 30 wounded.
 
I'd like to place my vote that Zakharchenko be awarded the first of the new annual Tariq Aziz awards for amazing public statements.
 
edit- My apologies to Tariq- that would be the Muhhammad Saeed All Sahhaf award.

I have a slightly different approach I wrote about a little here: http://community.battlefront.com/topic/115644-combat-mission-commander-campaign-tool/#entry1573691
If there's anything interest in it for you I can try to give more details...

Hello,
 
Not an expert with setting up Quick Battles so not sure if I am doing something wrong.  I set the unit purchases for the human player to automatic versus me selecting them and when the battle starts, there are no units in the battle for me to control.  The map is empty with no units for me.  If I set unit purchases to human, then I can correctly choose units and they show up fine in the map.
 
Am I doing something wrong in not getting the computer to automatically pick my units or is this possibly an issue?

Hello, my name is Matt and I have a concept designed for an operational level WWII war game that can use tactical games (like CM) to resolve tactical battles that develop in my game called Combat Operations: Overlord (COO). I have been in contact with BFC for several months and they know I am “pimping” my project on their forum. Hopefully that gives you a certain level of confidence in what I am about to propose. BFC has no current designs on developing an operational level game, and they tell me they are not interested in taking a risk in COO till it is further developed. BFC also wants some indication that it will be a somewhat profitable venture. So if the CM community (and hopefully a greater market) desires an operational level game that can be used with tactical games, this has got to be a grass roots movement. I have a game design, but I am not a computer programmer/mobile developer. Nor do I have large amounts of personal wealth that can be spent to fund a project. That is where we all as a community will have to band together in order to make it happen.

Here is what I am proposing:
I am being “guided” towards developing COO as a mobile app. As the game name would imply, I will start off with June-August in Normandy ’44. If you are a computer programmer or mobile app developer and you are interested in participating in this project, please send me a list of verifiable qualifications to cmbnrocks@gmail.com. For the rest of you, we will need financial backing. At some point I will notify you all that I am going to post a project on Kickstarter to solicit funding for this project. For those of you unfamiliar I would invite you to check out more on kickstarter.com. Once the game gets developed (and if it appears to gain solid support) BFC tells me that they will strongly consider pursuing versions of the game that will be more integrated in to CM. If you are interested in seeing this project succeed, please join the forum I have set up to further discuss my project: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/combat-operations-overlord-game-group

Key Game Points and Features
Initially this game will be strictly independent of CM. The game will ALWAYS be a standalone game, but my eventual goal is to allow it to interface with CMBN (similar to what CMC attempted in 2005)
COO players will receive data from my game that can be used to manually set up a CM battle they wish to fight out. Otherwise battles can be fought quickly using an in-game battle resolution system
If battles are fought using CM, results will be entered manually back in to my game, and play will continue
Players would command anywhere from Regimental size to multiple Corps or troops
Unit size is primarily Battalion, with some Company sized units.
Players would issue orders to their forces during a game pause using a “wego” style of play
Multiplayer
A fully functional Scenario Editor would be included


In conclusion, please help get the word out regarding this project so we can generate enough excitement to make this project a reality. The support from the CM community will make or break this project, so I hope you will consider supporting this effort. And finally, please join my forum listed above for further discussion.

Thanks,
Matt

again that is why these debates always go nowhere, Russians say there is no proof that Russians are in Ukraine. You post a video of a Russian troop convoy in Ukraine with Russian soldiers wearing Russian military uniforms in Russian vehicles with Russian marking and you guys say you have no proof that they are not "separatists" who just happen to act exactly like a Russian regular Army unit.