Machor

[Hopefully without going way off-topic...] Re: Antiquity Just wanted to illustrate how the Field of Glory system (which Richard co-authored) neatly handles the different fighting styles of the Romans and Gauls 'top-down.' Gaul warriors are classified as "impact foot," which means at the very beginning of melee - which is a separate combat round called "impact" - they are highly likely to cause disruption if they win. If they're attacking Roman legionaries and the legionaries hold together, however, they'll most likely waste the Gauls. Re: MegaMek Took a quick look at it and yes, it does look better than Titans of Steel; thank you for bringing it to attention. Alas, I probably won't go back to sci-fi until Children of a Dead Earth - about which I found out from this forum - grows up or at least gets multiplayer. I hope a serious publisher takes interest in that little gem [glances sideways at BFC].

Re: CM: Antiquity While I too would have loved this, the problem, as has been discussed at length in Slitherine's Pike&Shot forum by Richard Bodley Scott, is that we simply do not have the necessary micro data to make what he calls a 'bottom-up' wargame - as CM is - about pre-modern periods. It's easier to guesstimate top secret specs of a modern system than the performance of certain weapons in antiquity. There are folks arguing to death on forums about the merits of longbows vs. crossbows and whether chariots were junk or doom. Richard argues that the most 'realistic' take on antiquity is to make a 'top-down' wargame whose rules reflect the macro data that can be extracted from historic accounts of pre-modern battles. Re: CM: Battletech Just wanted to make sure that you guys are aware of "Titans of Steel." No CM, to be sure, but super-detailed nonetheless.

The title says it all. I wanted a thread to share bizarre news that might be of interest to forum members. And we kick off with... "Buk missile cot design raises eyebrows in Russia" http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37533473

In between virtual tankheads like myself, Fremen wannabes (I'm one), folks who want post-WW2 stuff (count me in), and the fact that BFC has the majority of 3D models done, may I second Arab-Israeli Wars? I have great gaming memories from Avalon Hill's IDF, and the setting would really bring out the wrath of ATGM. CMVT FTW!

Sorry - I thought those following this thread might find the report amusing. The account of daily life with BMP-2s rolling around read like something out of Kharms or Monty Python.

"Belarus villagers complain of army tanks on lawn" http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-37508677

Since Russia's cyberwarfare capabilities have come up several times, the BBC has published a new, if rather superficial article on the subject: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37409456

Turkey joined NATO in 1952 along with Greece, only three years after NATO was founded. How is that "ignored for the longest time?"

@John Kettler Thank you for informing me about the inaccuracies of MBT. That the Abrams was so all conquering in game was not really an issue for me as I never brought them to the fight (and still don't in CMBS ), but you have robbed my 16-17 year old self of bragging rights for having come up with the tactic of spamming the map with smoke and partying in it with LEO1s or M60s with their thermals - evidently irl, the party would've gotten real ugly real fast as the smoke cleared. Given the Ukrainians' shortage of thermals in CMBS, I'm obviously concerned about getting served my own medicine when playing them. You've inspired me to try a QB playing Stryker MGS vs. T-64BV. @kinophile Thank you for reminding me of the Oplot bug. My understanding from reading the thread that danzig5 linked to above was that the bug may kick in only after the Oplot commences firing, so my plan was to order it to hold fire and act as a sensor platform. Alas, I think Oleg's advice makes more sense. Moreover, in my last QB I had an entire Oplot platoon all with crack crews obliterated in less than two minutes while ambushing T-90AMs with regular crews in heavy fog and daylight; the Oplots didn't even get a single suspected contact and their commanders weren't rotating. @Oleg Many thanks for your advice and I will heed it. I normally shun the elite rating for AFV crews in CMBS, saving it for storied tank crews in WW2 titles. In the case of the BRM and PRP, however, the importance of operator proficiency for realizing the potential of their GSR systems, and the lack of intensive training in regular units, imo justifies elite crews to represent highly trained operators (please see Haiduk's reply to me above and my reply to him below). @Haiduk Fascinating stuff on the BRM and PRP radars. While I know nothing about the subject professionally, what you're describing with the competent operation of these radars sounds a lot like "Non-Cooperative Target Recognition" (NCTR), which is modeled in CMANO for much larger systems. Quoting directly from the CMANO manual addendum: "Interestingly enough, even some quite old radar systems (like Square Pair on SA-5 batteries) have an NCTR ability. However, because of its manual/semi-automated nature (the operator literally looks on raw radar return modulation data on an oscilloscope) the classification time varies highly with operator proficiency. In modern systems the highly automated nature of the process (point the radar at the target and wait) means that crew skill is irrelevant." I highly appreciate you taking the time to differentiate the roles of the BRM-1K, 1V14, and PRP-4, but I'm still not quite clear on the tactical employment of the PRP-4. Would it be calling in fire missions independently and not in subordination to a battalion tactical group? If so, what would be a realistic scenario featuring the vehicle in CMBS? If you could provide the Russian term for "side spotting post," I might be able to do some research on my own.

Oleg, Vladimir, John, and Haiduk, Many thanks for your help, and I appreciate the extra info on the PRP-4M thermals. That vehicle wasn't in Avalon Hill's MBT (a boardgame from 1989 that was the CMBS of its time) and I never knew the Soviet Union had fielded an AFV with thermals. Now, if I can ever understand where the PRP-4M fit in conceptually in Soviet thinking between the BRM-1K and the MT-LBu 1V14 (both of which were in MBT), I'll consider myself a wiser man. If my research is correct, BRM-1K has only a GSR whereas PRP-4M has both GSR and thermals, so the latter should in theory spot better. All this means, though, is that the Ukrainian side is massively disadvantaged when it comes to thermals. I assume, then, that playing as the Ukrainians offensively in QB requires truly 'out of the box' thinking using Oplots as recon vehicles and whatever thermals are available to infantry (Do they have any other than Skifs?). I'm all ears if you have any advice.

According to the Russian Wikipedia article on the Bulat (https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Т-64БМ ), the Buran-Catherine thermal sight has not been installed in service vehicles due to financial reasons: "Предусмотрена возможность установки вместо него тепловизора «Буран-Катрин»[33], однако по финансовым причинам он не является стандартным оснащением." Based on my (disastrous) attempts to take on T-90AMs with Bulats in reduced visibility, I can definitely confirm the in-game vehicle lacks thermals. While I'm at it, I'd greatly appreciate if anyone could help me with the thermals (or lack thereof) on the following Ukrainian vehicles in game, as I could not find information on the forum: - Does the Ukrainian Tunguska have thermals? - Does the BTR-4E have thermals? - The PRP-4M should have a Soviet thermal sight. Any experience using it? (Can it, for example, match Russian thermals?)

Breaking News: "US says Russian jet flew 10ft from plane over Black Sea" http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37303247

New BBC article on Russia's military capabilities: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37045730 Interesting to see discussion of tactics in mainstream news: "The Russians have also shown a sophisticated ability to use drones, often in pairs; one to draw fire and the other to provide the targeting data for artillery or rocket forces who can instantly respond."

Longtime lurker here I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Trumpeter have relatively recently released a 1/35 T-90MS, considering the fact that it isn't in service anywhere AFAIK: https://twitter.com/objec1/status/716271077651951616/photo/1 I was hoping this could be easily built as a T-90AM, or am I missing something here? Oh, and it also comes with a 1/35 Putin... apparently inspired by the following 'photo shoot' : http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2011/09/21/confucius-prize-will-russias-man-of-action-to-be-named-chinas-man-of-peace/