pintere

Ohhh boy I was actually gonna contact you regarding ideas anyways, but since the thread‘s here for all to see might as well do it here. Eastern front is where it’s at IMO, so another 3-5 campaigns from there would be really cool. Here’s some of my top suggestions: 1. East Prussia 1944 - Recapture of Gumbinnen & Goldap One of a handful of instances where the Germans went on the attack in the late war period and won. I can envisage a campaign focused around the 5. Panzer-Division and how it aided in the recapture of Gumbinnen and Goldap respectively in the fall of 1944. You could also cover the same Division in East Prussia in early 1945, as it fought impressively in that time too! 2. Retreat to Silesia 1945 - Nehring and von Saucken Floating Pockets This one would be very similar to the Five Bridges campaign from your current battle pack. Essentially, you could follow the retreat of an assemblage of German units in their desperate withdrawal from the Vistula to the Oder River. Which they did in fact succeed in doing, though at great cost. You could focus on either the 16. or 19. Panzer-Divisionen, as these both played a key role in spearheading the retreat. 3. Operation Gemse 1945 - Recapture of Lauban This could make for a short but intense campaign that saw the Germans retake Lauban in March 1945. More research would need to be done to find the best storyline to follow, but the Führer-Grenadier Division as well as the 8. and 17. Panzer-Divisionen would be good candidates to focus on. 4. Operation Südwind 1945 - Destroying the Gran Bridgehead Another short and sweet campaign where either the 1. or 12. SS Panzer-Divisionen could be commanded in the fight to destroy the Gran bridgehead. 5. Budapest 1945 - The Battle for the Hungarian Capital You could make an awesome campaign here similar to the Our Father campaign from your battle pack. As with that campaign, the focus would be on the desperate defense of the city followed by a near hopeless breakout mission. The good news is that I have a good deal of documentation regarding individuals who fought inside, and then successfully broke out from, Budapest. There are thus plenty of candidates that could take on the same role as Major Schmidt for this campaign. 6. Warsaw 1944 - The Defensive Battles of IV. SS-Panzer-Korps Red Thunder (and history in general) has already given plenty of attention to the fighting around Warsaw in early August 1944. However, far less has been written about the subsequent 3 defensive battles of Warsaw in August-October 1944. This is a shame, because in many ways these battles represented some of the finest hours for both the 5. and 3. SS Panzer-Divisionen. A campaign about these battles would help to fill this gap (and let’s face it, you couldn‘t resist doing another campaign about Totenkopf anyways ). 7. Courland 1944/45 - Last Stand of Army Group North This one would have to be a campaign with a greater focus on defense, however there is fortunately a lot of source material available for this time. You could make an entire campaign pack out of the six battles fought here, there’s that much to unpack. If this gets your attention then let me know and I’ll try to find some more specific battles to design a campaign around. One about either the 12. or 14. Panzer-Divisionen could be especially promising. Now, bear in mind that if you’re prepared to cover purely defensive campaigns then the possibilities really are endless. Lmk if you’d be receptive to that and I could probably come up with more suggestions. Or, if you’d rather release another themed campaign battlepack (focusing on a certain theatre/timeframe) I could help flesh that out too. If you want to go down that route then I’d recommend a battlepack focused on either: a) Courland b) East Prussia c) Hungary Your skills as a campaign designer are impressive in any case, so I look forward to seeing whatever does end up shaping up!

A totally valid decision, if a little disappointing. It would’ve been VERY satisfying to pit Leo 2s and Puma IFVs against the Russians in a rematch of the Eastern Front where the Germans are the good guys. Ah well, I’m sure there’ll be a CW expansion that’ll satisfy that itch

There may’ve already been a discussion on this that I missed, but one thing I’ve been wondering for a while is why did things end up going nowhere on the Velyka Novosilka axis during the Ukraine summer counteroffensive? From day one it seemed like this was the most promising of Ukraine’s 3 axes of advance. Ukraine needed months to capture a single solitary village on the Tokmak axis, while further east they were liberating the first villages on the Velyka Novosilka axis within days. My impression the whole time was that the defences in this area weren’t as extensive as around Tokmak. Unlike at Tokmak, Ukraine just needed to break through one fortified line rather than 2-3. And yes, it is farther to get to Berdyansk than Melitopol, but the whole idea behind this offensive was that the key was to get past the great minefields. From how things have played out I’d reckon it’s easier to deal with 10 km of minefield followed by 100 km to the coast rather than 30 km of minefield and then 40 km of clear to Melitopol. So why did Ukraine seemingly break a key principle of war by reinforcing failure (the Tokmak axis) rather than the one line of advance where real progress was being made?

SOOO CLOSE! Best of luck dealing with real world stuff for the next little bit.

Having playtested several missions I can say that the work done by Frank on these campaigns is top notch, and on par with the quality of officially released battle packs. The completed product will surely be lots of fun!

From the Deep State Telegram Channel: https://t.me/DeepStateEN/2646 🗡 The enemy lost at least 63 armored vehicles on the northern front of the Avdiivka direction 🛰 After analyzing the changes on satellite images, the loss of more than six dozen pieces of equipment was recorded. Almost all of the equipment was destroyed in the area of Krasnohorivka (A) and at the entrance to the settlement. As the classics would say - an illustration to the General Staff's reports. These images show the entire "success" of the enemy's actions, which was mainly present in their information space. On the battlefield, despite their superiority on all counts, the katsaps lost the battle. Of course, it is difficult to estimate the enemy's losses in manpower. In this area alone, the number of dead ruzzians is measured in hundreds. But there is also unpleasant news. This attack is yet another proof of the ineffectiveness of the armored fist tactic, when one side concentrates its equipment and tries to achieve success on the battlefield by using its superiority. Our destroyed columns near Mala Tokmachka, Verbove, Robotyne, Staromaiorske, Novodonetske and Rivne, as well as the enemy's destroyed columns near Vuhledar, Novoiehorivka, Makiivka, Andriivka, Marinka, and now Krasnohorivka (A) and Vodiane-Pervomaiske, are further proof of this thesis. This is all a consequence of the growing effectiveness of aerial reconnaissance and artillery. The same cheap quadcopters equalize the capabilities of both sides. And so far, there is no technology that can provide an advantage. The goal of our military-industrial complex is to find the key to victory, otherwise history will simply repeat itself. 🖼 Full-resolution image. Location of the village - deepstatemap.live/en#13/48.2069/37.7256

Never thought I’d live to see the day when a Waffen SS veteran would receive a standing ovation in the parliament of a western country! For context, the man is 98 yr old Yaroslav Hunk, a former member of the 14. Waffen-Grenadier-Division of the SS "Galicia".

️️Evgeny Prigozhin was among the passengers on the plane that crashed in the Tver region, - Russian Aviation Authorities https://t.me/pilotblog/6206

That looks scary af. What about anti-personnel mines that have a larger explosive charge? Also, wouldn’t stepping on a mine with that thing potentially startle someone, causing them to lose their balance and fall *** first into the minefield? These are at least the things I think about after seeing that.

From telegram https://t.me/pilotblog/6054 A drone captures the moment a Russian soldier pulls the pin on his own grenade in order to avoid capture by the Ukrainians (video is blurred out). It‘s interesting how (compared to the Ukrainians) Russians are simultaneously more likely to desert and also more likely to commit suicide when all seems lost. This isn’t the first video I’ve seen of a Russian soldier self-deleting, but I haven’t heard of any Ukrainians doing this.

This screams just as much a "smoke and mirrors" campaign as the alleged buildup for a Russian attack on Kyiv earlier this year. What can a handful of Wagner mercenaries possibly hope to achieve even if they do cross the border? Even if they do avoid being caught for any length of time, there’s not much they can do that could undermine the Ukrainian war effort that wouldn’t also trigger Article 5. Russia may have been able to employ them with the plausible deniability excuse in the Donbas and Africa, but I’m pretty sure such excuses wouldn’t work on the likes of Polish or Lithuanian soil.

From telegram: https://t.me/pilotblog/5624 German Interior Ministry for the first time reported how many Germans are fighting in Ukraine - Welt According to them, 39 people left Germany with the intention of participating in hostilities. It is noteworthy that 27 of them are on the side of Russia and 12 are in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. There are both right-wing and left-wing extremists among them. If this is accurate then… it’s rather disappointing. Though these numbers are hard to verify, they seem plausible enough as up until now I’ve never actually heard of any Germans in the ranks of the international legion. I’ve seen videos/reports of volunteers from the US, Canada, the Baltics, the UK, Taiwan, Japan, Poland, Georgia and even Colombia, but not a single German. And considering how many Germans fought bravely and determinedly against the Russians in the last two world wars, it’s also a bit surprising.

Sounds like the Crimea bridge was hit again

According to Mashovets it seems like the Russians are assembling a force of considerable size in Luhansk. We’ve already seen them launch probing attacks with varying degrees of success, but it seems like quite a lot of combat power is unused. The last translated post is attached here. If his numbers are accurate, it means that the Russians certainly don’t seem to be short on combat potential and/or aren’t overly concerned about the situation getting out of hand in any of their defensive battles. While I have great faith in the courage of the AFU and the talent of their top commanders, I can only hope that they have (or are making) a plan to turn things round for their offensive in the south before the clock runs out this year. Let's Sum up... They are waiting for the right moment... and they really hope that their "colleagues" in the South will force Zaluzhny to "unpack" the bulk of his reserves... And when Ukrainian reserves begin to tear the "main line" in the South and get stuck there, they hope to hit... While they are "extiring out" where and how to "beat" ... improve their positions at the tactical level and complete the process of rapid deployment of their strike groups ... (including "prepared" reserves at Belarusian training grounds) ... create a dispersed and hidden logistics system (MTO) in future areas of strikes. In total, in the Kupyansky and Limansky directions (i.e. along the Seversky Donets River, in the northern part of the Luhansk region), the enemy concentrated under 830 tanks, more than 1.5 thousand armored vehicles, about 770 artillery systems and 300 units of MLRS... and the number of both groups together has already reached more than 100,000 "carcasses" … and all this is concentrated in a front line that’s 120 km in a straight line … So you can calculate the degree of concentration and operational density yourself... I think now, the Russian headquarters are solving one important issue - where it is better to concentrate the main efforts - closer to the border (Kupyansk direction), or it is still worth hitting Liman and Borovaya... and in the Kupyansky direction to organize "auxiliary actions"... All these intentions and hopes of the enemy for the summer campaign... in this part, the LBS can destroy one thing. Of course, we won't talk about it now... but for some reason I'm sure it will happen. The reason for this is the fact that the enemy command, preparing for this operation, in my opinion, made only one, but very important mistake... Although it did everything allegedly right - gradually, hidden and "pretended to be a rag..." The roots of this mistake are again in the usual trend for the Russian command - underestimation of its opponent (i.e. APU) in the operational planning of its actions. They again deny the Ukrainian military command the ability to think strategically and non-standardly... For which, most likely, they will pay, once again...

Seeing all those Russian vehicles grouped together like that… I have a feeling these kind of videos will be far more interesting to watch once the cluster munitions finally get to the frontline.

Or not. We need them for what again? Now that Denmark has shipped off all their Caesars to Ukraine I think we can assume that they’re pretty toothless in the event of any more arctic territorial disputes. And if the USA ever decides it wants to launch its own special military operation then our remaining ~80 Leopard 2s won’t save us.

Maybe they can propose a counteroffer that would involve turning over all their Leo tanks to Ukraine.

Seems like Erdogan‘s actions back up his most recent words as well. The commanders of the Azov Regiment that went into captivity at Mariupol last year have been allowed to return to Ukraine from their Turkish exile.

A clip has been making the rounds of a Russian being very visibly hurled into the air after his tank blew up. Based on the video it looks like he was riding on the tank just in front of the turret on the right hand side. Then, after the tank hit a mine (??) he was flung into the air before landing about 100 metres away.

For the Starstreak, I suspect it has to do with air being lighter at higher altitudes. Thus the total amount of resistance is less going straight up than parallel to the ground the whole way. The problem exists mostly because this problem was not one that had been anticipated by western armies. The idea was that, in a battlefield with air superiority (if not air parity) then MANPADS would only be a last resort weapon against close in attacks. As this war shows, there’s absolutely a need for a new MANPADS that can engage helicopters at low altitude and long ranges. I sure hope Western developers have recognized this and are at least in the early phases of a project like this by now.

We‘ll know the answer to that soon enough. But without them it’ll definitely be much riskier. Those Ka-52s need a tactical solution, and the most promising one seems to be F-16s coupled with western AA missiles.

Maybe Ukraine would be better off launching their summer offensive in Luhansk this year, with the aim of capturing Starobilsk. Though it wouldn’t be as decisive as reaching the Sea of Azov, they’d have far fewer minefields to contend with. If it really is the case that Ukraine is at a critical disadvantage without western jets, then it might be worth reconsidering their strategy so that they can still score a major victory with a lower likelihood of failure. This ought to keep the western supply of arms flowing too. Then, next summer, they can have another crack at the south with higher quality ground and air forces.

Reach the Sea of Azov. Simple as that. Alternatively, if they take Starobilsk I’d say that’d also count as a (admittedly less decisive) operational victory, as this city is a key railroad/logistics hub and its capture would mean the Russians could only route railway traffic through Rostov. Since Bakhmut was in Ukrainian hands last fall, I don’t think its recapture could be considered the success that Ukraine needs right now, as its value is limited and Ukraine presumably allowed it to fall in order to preserve forces for the summer.

I’d say that if the Ukrainians still haven’t achieved a breakthrough by September, then we can say the counteroffensive probably fell short of its main objective.

It would potentially be vulnerable to artillery, but if it was made out of the right material… The only issue I could see would be that this approach would be VERY slow and (more than clearing mines by hand for sure) would be really hard to hide from the enemy.