danfrodo

If Belarus gets even mildly rebellious the Russians around Kiev would just be DONE. This needs to be encouraged in every possible way. Could the EU do something to help the exiled Belorussian opposition leader look more significant? Some sort of guarantee of support if Lukashenko got the boot and she was installed in the government? To reiterate this is THE fastest way to end the war with a total defeat for Putin, and should be pursued in every possible way.

I hope the confidence many of us feel vs Belarus army is not hubris -- the gods punish hubris.  So If they are staging at Gomel that is a long way from being able to cut supply lines.  They have to move a long way west and will be spotted.  Once they turn south UKR will know where they will cross the border. 
So what are they up to?  Maybe cut supply lines by attacking south to the west of Kyiv.  Maybe protect left flank of the RU western Kyiv forces.  Maybe go east of the Dnieper to try to solidify the contested areas b/w chernihiv to bovary. 
I think this could be trouble just due to shear volume of forces if they move south to the east of the Dnieper. 
If they go west and then south (to cut Polish supply chain) they'll probably get ambushed every 5 km once they cross the border -- so I am hoping they do this.  Nice long columns that need to make big advances.

I hope the confidence many of us feel vs Belarus army is not hubris -- the gods punish hubris.  So If they are staging at Gomel that is a long way from being able to cut supply lines.  They have to move a long way west and will be spotted.  Once they turn south UKR will know where they will cross the border. 
So what are they up to?  Maybe cut supply lines by attacking south to the west of Kyiv.  Maybe protect left flank of the RU western Kyiv forces.  Maybe go east of the Dnieper to try to solidify the contested areas b/w chernihiv to bovary. 
I think this could be trouble just due to shear volume of forces if they move south to the east of the Dnieper. 
If they go west and then south (to cut Polish supply chain) they'll probably get ambushed every 5 km once they cross the border -- so I am hoping they do this.  Nice long columns that need to make big advances.

well said, Kinophile.  The only thing I'd add is that some actually smart person would've focused on ending corruption and making Russia's economy, education, and infrastructure work, while being a reliable business partner.  Anyone Russian thinking that territorial conquest is the path to .... anything??-- is not smart in the first place; it's just ego, distorted nationalism and emotion doing the thinking. 

I think it is because Putin its assuming that everyone is operating in the same world view that he has. Countries "applied to join" the Warsaw Pact because Russia had a strategic military use for them, combined with an ability to force them. I suspect he genuinely believes that e.g. the baltic states had pro-western governments put in and then instructed to ask to join NATO so that NATO could expand. In this world view the governments of 'minor'  countries are chosen by the covert decisions of the 'major' ones, and the idea of being responsive to the wants and needs of the population doesn't come up. 
In this world view, since the givens government of Ukraine wasn't chosen by Russia, then of course it was imposed and forcefully maintained by the west.  And the west have no legitimate military strategic interests in Ukraine unless their goal is to be able to threaten Russia.
The Western view of course is that countries get to choose their own governments,  and that countries can freely decide to join a security alliance (if they meet the entry conditions), and that this is a good thing because ultimately mutual defence reduces the chance of wars and leads to rising prosperity for all. 
As an aside,  Putin also has the "American disease" of assuming everything is about Russia, in the same way that Americans think that everything is about America ("why did Russia invade now? Let's look at what has changed in the USA recently to see what has caused this..." Ukraine might will view NATO membership as directly related to Russia, for obvious and entirely valid reasons,  but for the west,  Ukraine joining NATO isn't really about Russia. I'ts about extending the "peace bubble" to protect the lives and enhance the wellbeing of everyone inside it. 
But that's not something Putin would do,  so it's not something that he believes anyone else does either. 

Except that if Baltic states weren't in NATO he'd probably be picking them off one at a time right now and tackling Ukraine later.  The reality is that Putin is a threat to the freedom and sovereignity of former USSR nations (and others) and the only thing keeping him on any kind of leash was fear of NATO article 5.  Like w Hitler, he pushed and got away with it, did it again, and again, and so decided he was a genius and west was weak.  Ooopsy.

Welcome back, Dan. Yeah, it's good to take some distance now and then. At the moment it seems like a long, bloody and destructive slog ahead indeed. But history has it's own way of doing things, so we should prepare ourselves for everything. Personally I hope the optimistic posters on this forum are right and Putin is running out of steam. But even then this will only be the beginning of something far bigger. Troubled times ahead, me thinks.

I played a quick battle, with downpour and mud. at Huge rough-water-town map. I was the defender, with a reinforced Ukrainian company. The Russians attacked with a reinforced BTG. But it became too realistic, so it was not fun to play. 2/3 of the Russian vehicles got stuck in the mud.
 
I have a picture from the game, what it looked like.
This is ingame screenshot after 25 min of play

GODDAMMIT SBURKE STFU!  yes, Kettler double posts.  he is older and in ill health.  WTF is your excuse for posting about every double post he does?  Do you see how that immediately doubles the wasted space?  then kettler responds, tripling the pointlessness.   Do you not have a the ability to ignore or skim past something you've already see?  Jeebus, get a f-ing grip.  (And then I respond here, adding to the wasted space ) 
How about if someone double posts we all just ignore because we've already seen it?  Instead of adding more useless BS to what is otherwise the best source of UKR war info around.  And remember that folks are in different time zones and might have 5 pages to skim through from the night before.  So folks might miss stuff.

GODDAMMIT SBURKE STFU!  yes, Kettler double posts.  he is older and in ill health.  WTF is your excuse for posting about every double post he does?  Do you see how that immediately doubles the wasted space?  then kettler responds, tripling the pointlessness.   Do you not have a the ability to ignore or skim past something you've already see?  Jeebus, get a f-ing grip.  (And then I respond here, adding to the wasted space ) 
How about if someone double posts we all just ignore because we've already seen it?  Instead of adding more useless BS to what is otherwise the best source of UKR war info around.  And remember that folks are in different time zones and might have 5 pages to skim through from the night before.  So folks might miss stuff.

GODDAMMIT SBURKE STFU!  yes, Kettler double posts.  he is older and in ill health.  WTF is your excuse for posting about every double post he does?  Do you see how that immediately doubles the wasted space?  then kettler responds, tripling the pointlessness.   Do you not have a the ability to ignore or skim past something you've already see?  Jeebus, get a f-ing grip.  (And then I respond here, adding to the wasted space ) 
How about if someone double posts we all just ignore because we've already seen it?  Instead of adding more useless BS to what is otherwise the best source of UKR war info around.  And remember that folks are in different time zones and might have 5 pages to skim through from the night before.  So folks might miss stuff.

GODDAMMIT SBURKE STFU!  yes, Kettler double posts.  he is older and in ill health.  WTF is your excuse for posting about every double post he does?  Do you see how that immediately doubles the wasted space?  then kettler responds, tripling the pointlessness.   Do you not have a the ability to ignore or skim past something you've already see?  Jeebus, get a f-ing grip.  (And then I respond here, adding to the wasted space ) 
How about if someone double posts we all just ignore because we've already seen it?  Instead of adding more useless BS to what is otherwise the best source of UKR war info around.  And remember that folks are in different time zones and might have 5 pages to skim through from the night before.  So folks might miss stuff.

So conspiracy mongering folks, LOTS of places have bio labs that study deadly pathogens.  Where the F do you think vaccines come from?  Do you think all the world's disease fighters just sit around and wait to be attacked by the next mutation of something.  WTF does this have to do w anything?  Please just stop.  No one gives a F about this.  It's not any excuse for this invasion and you are just feeding propaganda. 
Did any of you see the post from a couple days ago about idiots chasing shiny objects?  Look in mirror.
I guess I have a vacation coming but someone has to say STFU.  GO SOMEWHERE ELSE W YOUR IRRELEVANT BS.

GODDAMMIT SBURKE STFU!  yes, Kettler double posts.  he is older and in ill health.  WTF is your excuse for posting about every double post he does?  Do you see how that immediately doubles the wasted space?  then kettler responds, tripling the pointlessness.   Do you not have a the ability to ignore or skim past something you've already see?  Jeebus, get a f-ing grip.  (And then I respond here, adding to the wasted space ) 
How about if someone double posts we all just ignore because we've already seen it?  Instead of adding more useless BS to what is otherwise the best source of UKR war info around.  And remember that folks are in different time zones and might have 5 pages to skim through from the night before.  So folks might miss stuff.

Yup, agree with this. Beans and franks, and spaghetti with meatballs were always a valuable trading commodities, especially if someone got stuck with Beef slices with potatoes (they weren’t bad if heated) and ham and Mo%=@f*&#rs (ham and Lima beans to those who don’t speak the dialect). Unfortunately, we rarely had heat tabs, and almost never ate stationary. Tabasco sauce was a must.
when we came in to base after a week in the field in NATO Operation Teamwork in Northern Norway in 1976, we ate in a field mess. We had Reindeer ribs. I remember asking an Air Winger if he was going to eat the meat scraps that were left on his bones. When he said no, I ate them.

So conspiracy mongering folks, LOTS of places have bio labs that study deadly pathogens.  Where the F do you think vaccines come from?  Do you think all the world's disease fighters just sit around and wait to be attacked by the next mutation of something.  WTF does this have to do w anything?  Please just stop.  No one gives a F about this.  It's not any excuse for this invasion and you are just feeding propaganda. 
Did any of you see the post from a couple days ago about idiots chasing shiny objects?  Look in mirror.
I guess I have a vacation coming but someone has to say STFU.  GO SOMEWHERE ELSE W YOUR IRRELEVANT BS.

So conspiracy mongering folks, LOTS of places have bio labs that study deadly pathogens.  Where the F do you think vaccines come from?  Do you think all the world's disease fighters just sit around and wait to be attacked by the next mutation of something.  WTF does this have to do w anything?  Please just stop.  No one gives a F about this.  It's not any excuse for this invasion and you are just feeding propaganda. 
Did any of you see the post from a couple days ago about idiots chasing shiny objects?  Look in mirror.
I guess I have a vacation coming but someone has to say STFU.  GO SOMEWHERE ELSE W YOUR IRRELEVANT BS.

So conspiracy mongering folks, LOTS of places have bio labs that study deadly pathogens.  Where the F do you think vaccines come from?  Do you think all the world's disease fighters just sit around and wait to be attacked by the next mutation of something.  WTF does this have to do w anything?  Please just stop.  No one gives a F about this.  It's not any excuse for this invasion and you are just feeding propaganda. 
Did any of you see the post from a couple days ago about idiots chasing shiny objects?  Look in mirror.
I guess I have a vacation coming but someone has to say STFU.  GO SOMEWHERE ELSE W YOUR IRRELEVANT BS.

So conspiracy mongering folks, LOTS of places have bio labs that study deadly pathogens.  Where the F do you think vaccines come from?  Do you think all the world's disease fighters just sit around and wait to be attacked by the next mutation of something.  WTF does this have to do w anything?  Please just stop.  No one gives a F about this.  It's not any excuse for this invasion and you are just feeding propaganda. 
Did any of you see the post from a couple days ago about idiots chasing shiny objects?  Look in mirror.
I guess I have a vacation coming but someone has to say STFU.  GO SOMEWHERE ELSE W YOUR IRRELEVANT BS.

Honestly, expiration dates that are five years ago, don’t mean much. When I was going through infantry training in 1969, were eating C-rations that were packaged in 1945. The cigarettes (four in every accessory package) were Marlboros that were so old they didn’t have filters and were so dry they flashed to ash as soon as you lit them. Those “rats” taught us to check every can to make sure they weren’t bulged. We ate the good ones with “gusto.” But then again most Marines and soldiers will eat anything that doesn’t move quickly enough to get away. Sometimes we even cook it.

I think it's safe to say there will be very few prisoners taken of these fellas.  Do they have any idea what they are walking into?  and I am guessing they were 'volunteered' by Assad in thanks for all the murder and mayhem provided by Putin in Syria.  I hope they all die, and soon, and badly.

I think it's safe to say there will be very few prisoners taken of these fellas.  Do they have any idea what they are walking into?  and I am guessing they were 'volunteered' by Assad in thanks for all the murder and mayhem provided by Putin in Syria.  I hope they all die, and soon, and badly.

That's a great campaign.  One thing I'd say is keep the T34-85s back and engage w the shermans.  Don't want to lose the bigger guns to AT guns and then run into a panther.  Also make sure to take good ground level view of the terrain.  Understanding the dead ground and fields of fire is critical.  There's some pretty fierce fights in that campaign.  Some battles start easy and them BAM you're in a serious fight w powerful german forces. 

Classic case of imperial overreach.  Potemkin economy, potemkin military.  The only thing real is the stranglehold this monster has over the state.