Bearstronaut

As much as it pains me to give my HUMINT brethren any credit it’s also pretty likely that there are more than a few residents of Sevastopol that know/hear things and hate the Russian occupier.

The threatened government shutdown is a hostage situation where the hostage takers don't have a clue what their backmail demands actually are. Its a performative farce. If the House is going to put on an annual pantomime they should be obliged to dress up as Punch.

Aww man, I go away to drill for the weekend and I missed the BattleTech discursion? Steve, when can we get Combat Mission: BattleTech?
 
Back to the main topic, yet another ChrisO thread on how crappy life is in the Russian Armed Forces. I honestly don't know how they keep fighting. 
 

I'm sure Kortenhaus offers some valuable first hand memories and a German perspective on these events (I should probably get this book).  It might be useful to consider how he came across all the information he used to write two entire volumes on the 21st Panzer Division.  He probably could not have personally experienced all two volumes worth of information. As an 18 year old in a combat zone I would suspect his personal experience was confined to a small sliver of the big picture.  Probably he was mostly consumed and focused on surviving the combat his platoon was involved in. So, unless he was an 18 year old that worked in the Tactical Operations Center (TOC) of the 21st Panzer and was privy to the conversations and decisions of the senior command staff I wouldn't think he would have much personal knowledge on the events outside his platoon/company.
Then later (probably about 10 years later) after the war he wrote the books. He must have relied on other sources to fill in all the information outside his platoon and company experience. It would be useful to know the reliability of the sources he used that contradicts multiple other sources. Maybe the other sources he used are right or partially right but I would not automatically assume they are.
There are several other forum members that know about German units.  Off the top of my head @George MC and @RockinHarry come to mind. They might have some insight into your dilemma. 
You do good work. Your final product will be a great contribution to the CM community.       

I've been wondering this myself for a long time, but for me personally this seems to be the most likely explanation:
These cases of extreme disfunctionality within certain Russian units seem to be confined to a sizable, but ultimately not overwhelming, minority of the Russian forces in the field. They are apparently especially prevalent among Storm-Z (literal cannon fodder) units as well as those run by the L/DNR (de-facto cannon fodder), whose units are by all accounts more run like criminal gangs than military outfits. As of late, the latter also affect mobiks from Russia proper sent to L/DNR units as reparations for killing off most of the male Donbas population.
So let's say there are 10-15% of all Russian forces that are in a truly abysmal state like the one in the cited example. This number appears to be relatively stable though, or it does not grow quickly enough. The other issue seems to be the "silent majority" of all other Russian forces, who don't produce these goofy appeal videos and whose relatives do not complain online that their husbands and sons are left to rot in Ukrainian fields. This "other" Russian army seems to be moderately competent (at least on the defense) motivated and able to coordinate with supporting arms, we just don't really hear from them and this warps our perception of the actual state of the Russian army.
I don't really see how the "achievements" of the Russians could be otherwise explained, as underwhelming as they are. But if these incidents were affecting the majority of Russian forces, I can not see how they could still be holding on. I still remember being confused by this already in the Spring of 2022, when they were still advancing! Anybody else remember the reports by that RU volunteer who fought around Popasna for a couple of months, Viktor Shaiga or something? I distinctly remember having trouble to match his reports with the fact that the Russians were making any progress at all, even then.

There is always room for giant robots, no matter how absurd they would be as a warfighting platform.
 

Well.
Part of the MechWarrior/BattleTech universe history is that people can't actually make new stuff - the mechs, the spaceships, the domed cities on hostile planets, all the infrastructure are inherited from previous generations and patched hundred times over, because the technology was lost and it is impossible to make new stuff. Some small items can be built, but if you lose a big fancy spaceship, that is it, you will never make new one.
So you could claim that Russia is somewhat living in that glorious MechWarrior future is what I'm saying.

So, back @home and returning with CM-Work 😎
Sometimes, a little break from creating/testing AI-plans is very helpful to get new motivation and to avoid the „Combat-Mission Designer‘s Burnout“ - a serious mental disease, well known to everyone who ever has created a Campaign 😉
Regards 
Mr.X
 

I always look forward to reading a post by The_Capt. If you ever decided to write a book I would buy it in an instant. In regards to the whole "warrior" discussion, despite nearly a decade of service on active duty in the US Army I was never comfortable calling myself a warrior. I was an intel nerd and despite my knowing full well that my job was to facilitate the death of other people and that tactical SIGINT is quite dangerous to me warriors were the maneuver guys going around kicking in doors and shooting people in the face or blowing stuff up with tanks. I think this stems from my formative experience as a soldier in basic training. I went through POG basic at Fort Jackson, SC with a company full of intel, logistics, and maintenance trainees. My three platoon drill sergeants were all infantry NCOs with combat tours in Iraq or Afghanistan and they derisively referred to us as "warrior" throughout my three months in basic. That stuck with me and anytime someone since then has called me "warrior" I've kind of snickered in my head. Perhaps that would be different if I had ever seen combat but the closest I got to any real danger was two tours holding the line in South Korea.

I always look forward to reading a post by The_Capt. If you ever decided to write a book I would buy it in an instant. In regards to the whole "warrior" discussion, despite nearly a decade of service on active duty in the US Army I was never comfortable calling myself a warrior. I was an intel nerd and despite my knowing full well that my job was to facilitate the death of other people and that tactical SIGINT is quite dangerous to me warriors were the maneuver guys going around kicking in doors and shooting people in the face or blowing stuff up with tanks. I think this stems from my formative experience as a soldier in basic training. I went through POG basic at Fort Jackson, SC with a company full of intel, logistics, and maintenance trainees. My three platoon drill sergeants were all infantry NCOs with combat tours in Iraq or Afghanistan and they derisively referred to us as "warrior" throughout my three months in basic. That stuck with me and anytime someone since then has called me "warrior" I've kind of snickered in my head. Perhaps that would be different if I had ever seen combat but the closest I got to any real danger was two tours holding the line in South Korea.

I always look forward to reading a post by The_Capt. If you ever decided to write a book I would buy it in an instant. In regards to the whole "warrior" discussion, despite nearly a decade of service on active duty in the US Army I was never comfortable calling myself a warrior. I was an intel nerd and despite my knowing full well that my job was to facilitate the death of other people and that tactical SIGINT is quite dangerous to me warriors were the maneuver guys going around kicking in doors and shooting people in the face or blowing stuff up with tanks. I think this stems from my formative experience as a soldier in basic training. I went through POG basic at Fort Jackson, SC with a company full of intel, logistics, and maintenance trainees. My three platoon drill sergeants were all infantry NCOs with combat tours in Iraq or Afghanistan and they derisively referred to us as "warrior" throughout my three months in basic. That stuck with me and anytime someone since then has called me "warrior" I've kind of snickered in my head. Perhaps that would be different if I had ever seen combat but the closest I got to any real danger was two tours holding the line in South Korea.

First things first
The_Capt, you are simply an excellent writer, that is a completely separate thing from subject matter expertise. To be sure you have a vast quantity of that as well, but so do a lot of people who can't EXPLAIN any of it. Anyway, if you write a book on 18th century Chinese porcelain styles, I will buy it, simply because you can WRITE.

As a former infantryman, Military Policeman, Signal Soldier, and Air Defender in the US Army, I always preferred Soldier. Warrior, and Warfighter never sat well with me. 

Thanks, I am writing and will likely publish in the next 12-18 months but it will be the last thing people expect.  I will get back to warfare and theory but am going to take a break to do other things.
As to your experience.  Again, we have not defined the term.  It is not about combat or how close on gets to the bullets.  It is an idea, an identity.  A drone operator that is willing to sacrifice themselves in the service of a righteous cause is just as much a warrior in the modern sense as a door kicker.  We all want bragging rights but at the end of the day, I do not care if one sits in a cubicle back at HQ for the entire war, the ethos is universal.  Some organizations get it, the Marines are a good example.  Everyone is a Marine first.  Well I want everyone to be a Warrior first, but again we need to define a universal definition of what that really is.  

I always look forward to reading a post by The_Capt. If you ever decided to write a book I would buy it in an instant. In regards to the whole "warrior" discussion, despite nearly a decade of service on active duty in the US Army I was never comfortable calling myself a warrior. I was an intel nerd and despite my knowing full well that my job was to facilitate the death of other people and that tactical SIGINT is quite dangerous to me warriors were the maneuver guys going around kicking in doors and shooting people in the face or blowing stuff up with tanks. I think this stems from my formative experience as a soldier in basic training. I went through POG basic at Fort Jackson, SC with a company full of intel, logistics, and maintenance trainees. My three platoon drill sergeants were all infantry NCOs with combat tours in Iraq or Afghanistan and they derisively referred to us as "warrior" throughout my three months in basic. That stuck with me and anytime someone since then has called me "warrior" I've kind of snickered in my head. Perhaps that would be different if I had ever seen combat but the closest I got to any real danger was two tours holding the line in South Korea.

I always look forward to reading a post by The_Capt. If you ever decided to write a book I would buy it in an instant. In regards to the whole "warrior" discussion, despite nearly a decade of service on active duty in the US Army I was never comfortable calling myself a warrior. I was an intel nerd and despite my knowing full well that my job was to facilitate the death of other people and that tactical SIGINT is quite dangerous to me warriors were the maneuver guys going around kicking in doors and shooting people in the face or blowing stuff up with tanks. I think this stems from my formative experience as a soldier in basic training. I went through POG basic at Fort Jackson, SC with a company full of intel, logistics, and maintenance trainees. My three platoon drill sergeants were all infantry NCOs with combat tours in Iraq or Afghanistan and they derisively referred to us as "warrior" throughout my three months in basic. That stuck with me and anytime someone since then has called me "warrior" I've kind of snickered in my head. Perhaps that would be different if I had ever seen combat but the closest I got to any real danger was two tours holding the line in South Korea.

I always look forward to reading a post by The_Capt. If you ever decided to write a book I would buy it in an instant. In regards to the whole "warrior" discussion, despite nearly a decade of service on active duty in the US Army I was never comfortable calling myself a warrior. I was an intel nerd and despite my knowing full well that my job was to facilitate the death of other people and that tactical SIGINT is quite dangerous to me warriors were the maneuver guys going around kicking in doors and shooting people in the face or blowing stuff up with tanks. I think this stems from my formative experience as a soldier in basic training. I went through POG basic at Fort Jackson, SC with a company full of intel, logistics, and maintenance trainees. My three platoon drill sergeants were all infantry NCOs with combat tours in Iraq or Afghanistan and they derisively referred to us as "warrior" throughout my three months in basic. That stuck with me and anytime someone since then has called me "warrior" I've kind of snickered in my head. Perhaps that would be different if I had ever seen combat but the closest I got to any real danger was two tours holding the line in South Korea.

So this is what you got?  I teach “young warriors” and have led dozens in combat while you likely sat at home and yelled at the tv - you are no vet I can tell that from your first post.
Let’s stop the BS and call this what it really is - political platforming.  Your position is not all that difficult to read, pretty transparent.  Basically everything the current US presidential administration is doing is “wrong”.  “Right” is whatever “our guy would do as opposite”.  So President Biden is pursuing a deliberate incremental strategy to compress Russia, so your position is “more firepower” and “hard staring”.  Or you jump on the “this war is stupid, we must negotiate”.  Basically anything President Biden is doing is “wrong” and anything they are not doing is “right”.  That has been the sum total of your contributions to this entire discussing since you showed up (oh, and some bizarre social commentary on women and social justice for good measure).  That is it.  One long “very stable strategic genius” diatribe anchored on a single viewpoint.  If President Biden declared the US was going to “end this thing in 4 weeks” you would be here yelling that “this was the dumbest thing ever” and probably quote my points as why.
You know it is ok.  You are just another in a very long line of segments of the population that surrender their own agency in the face of uncertainty.  We invented the Church which has lasted over 2000 years on exactly that principle.  Agency and independent thought is to embrace uncertainty and most people really don’t want to do this, it is scary.
Problem is you wandered onto the wrong forum.  This place has been home to a lot of independent thought since before this war started. We have pursued the facts as we can find them and then conduct collective analysis and synthesis to try and establish a clear picture of what is happening.  No one here has surrendered independent thought to a political position.  We all have opinions, I for one think President Biden’s administration has done very well in managing this crisis.  Not perfect but considering we are well off the strategic map here, they have done as well as reasonably possible.  
I am not an American, I do not participate in your political process so I do not share your baggage.  I cannot fix you or even try to change your mind, you clearly have it all figured out.  But you are not going to find friends here. Your missionary work on this forum is a waste of time.  
But it is ok.  With this last, I promote you to Hot Thread “crazy guy”.  It is a honorary position that has been vacant since John Kettler left us (rest in peace John).  You can go on and on but we all know it is for entertainment purposes only.  I am even going to un-ignore you because I am going to be first to rub your unruly mop of hair and just smile at your incorrigible rapscallion ways.  Your are a stump thumping looney kevinkin, but you are our looney.  Try not to get banned because then we will have to find another.
 

yep, being aware of inequities in society is gonna make us go broke.  Much easier to teach that slavery wasn't so bad.  Trying to understand the real continuing impact of slavery on our society is too woke.  You go Florida!

This is just getting sad. 

When looking at U.S. (Western) implementation of lessons learned I feel that the real places to be watching are the Navy, Airforce, and maybe the Marines. The theoretical peer conflict would be against China and that fight would be heavily geared towards naval combat unless something happened vis-a-vis Vietnam or India. We've likely all seen the Marines attempting to shift away from small Army to something more geared towards modern warfare.

There really isn't a peer conflict that would lead with army forces that I can think of. If, for example, Russia suddenly had no nuclear weapons the war would be measured in months if not weeks and most of that time would be prepositoning forces.

Too much ketamine.

Too much ketamine.

I honestly think that air superiority/supremacy is the Achilles tendon of the entire western way of warfare.  You take it away at any altitude and our whole system become vulnerable.  We need to start thinking about fighting in mutually denied environments.  A big hint was when we lost air superiority to ISIL (freakin ISIL!) below 2000 feet in around 2016.  We kind of wrote it off as an anomaly and more of an annoyance as opposed to a signal of trends and that was a major mistake.  We know our opponents are already working on fully autonomous, which makes EW against them damn hard.  We have a lot of guns but these are small birds, everywhere.  We had better start thinking about denied and parity environments, which is something we have not thought of in over 30 years.
That and simple lethality of ground systems.  Air superiority will do deep battle on formations and units.  But 2 guys in a treeline with a system that can hit and kill at 4+ kms at 80-90 percent is just nuts.  At this point I am less worried about gaps and more worried about blind spots in western military thinking.  That post highlights some of them at a ground level.  

It's worse than that, he's basically treating the problem of displacement of entire populations of people as an inconvenience on the level of spaying and neutering an infestation of animals. No interest or acknowledgement of the root problems that would solve the issue, just resignation to it and irritation about all these 'dirty foreigners coming in and mucking up the place', is what I got from that comment. Disgusting.