Monty's Mighty Moustache

2500m? That is optimistic! MMM

I have been getting this with RT on PC since Fire and Rubble came out. It also happens for me with Cold War, all other games are not affected. Non Steam versions. MMM

I meant the territory and world status, not the ideology. MMM

Demonstrations in 40 cities and 735 arrests according to BBC. MMM

Rebuilding the Soviet Union would be my guess. It will be interesting to see if he tries it on with any of the former Soviet states who are now members of NATO. He has quite wisely targeted a country that is not a NATO member so now if NATO gets involved he can say “see, told you they were a threat”. MMM

Quite right. I don’t know why anyone is reporting what Putin says anymore, the man never utters a word of truth (although his comments about denazification did raise a wry smile given he is the one who’s acting like a 1939 German dictator). He’s been ignoring international law for years, poisoning people in broad daylight in western countries, and I am not surprised in the slightest that he has done this as it was on the cards in 2014 when they took Crimea. I’m only surprised it took this long for him to make his move. The man lives in the past. MMM

The Eighty-Seventh Minute KG Leino - Die Mitte Jean lets rip. A casualty is observed. The man has ice in his veins. The last man standing turns tail and heads back into the relative safety of the woods chased by MG fire as he is spotted by the overwatching 4 Zug in the buildings and they try their luck too. He gets away clean. KG Koskela - die Links Everyone gets mounted into the spare spots on 1 Zug's vehicles. They soon set off towards SCHWARZ, unharrassed and unharried by any form of opposition. I wonder where they are? KG Perala - das Rechts The scouts have reached the end of the scrub, kein Kontact! They start to probe out into the open. The rest of the KG are moving through, oh so slowly. S2 is pulling flank protection. T1 is almost on station and will provide additional flank security. SITMAP All in all a quiet turn and a non-even on the left. It seems I have got away with it. In the middle 1 Ko will start to probe the treeline and see what shakes out. KG Perala on the right will continue to work their way through. I'm starting to get a bit worried about the time, there's not an awful lot left and there's a lot of map to cover. Here's hoping my forces don't have any more bad luck. MMM

Watched it last night while trying to get my boy to sleep, very well done. As for what you could have done different I think you did the right thing by going right into the open ground where you could mass your firepower but with only one company of T62s you were always going to be at a disadvantage. I would have brought more tanks and cut down on the infantry and kept what infantry I had mounted and moving to overwhelm his positions. More arty and some TRPs would help deny him overwatch positions too, but I realise points are limited (I assume it was a QB?). Looking forward to more. MMM

Rollbahn D is a campaign, which is only playable against the AI. As to why the battles aren’t available for H2H play I guess that is one for the campaign author to answer. I know in Cold War they made the US campaign battles available as scenarios so they could be played H2H. MMM

He does, General Jack Ripper has been through the campaign too and I am sure there are others. I am currently playing through To Berlin in the Fire and Rubble module for Red Thunder and it’s not too difficult. I am having success using Soviet doctrine too, just take the lumps and keep on pushing through. It’s worth a go, the first couple of battles are easy going and you get some night fighting early on too MMM

CMBN The Road to Montebourg is a classic. It’s long but it has a bit of everything and there are plenty of playthrough videos on YouTube if you want some tips

When I played this the Abrams were parked on the berm and didn't move (hull-down of course) and provided supporting fires on identified targets. I took one platoon DISMOUNTED with their Strykers and moved them through the mines once the engineers had marked them. There is still a risk that the mines could go off and IIRC I did lose a Stryker driving through the marked minefield so best to get your guys out. With that platoon I inched SLOWLY towards the compound and if they were engaged then use the supporting assets to blast the snot out of them. All the while the FO was up on the berm calling in indirect on the building at the front at first and once they were demolished/cleared then roll the barrage on through the compound. The other two platoons: I had one dismount and run over the berm (yes they can make it over) and set up a base of fire and the other was held in reserve. I didn't need them in the end as the AI surrendered. I can't remember how may casualties I had but it was single figures, and two of them were taken out by mortars. Always best to grab Javelins if they are available. MMM

Apologies for the delay, it's been a busy few weeks what with Christmas and both my sons having illnesses and their birthdays in January and February. I should have an update up in the next few days and hopefully now things have calmed down I can get back to a more regular cadence. MMM

WW2 - Soviet style, the first wave goes in MMM

You are the one making sweeping statements that Russian doctrine doesn't work in CMCW, I was merely providing a viewpoint that shows that at the very least we don't know that for certain (based on this series of videos) and unless you have tried it and tested it extensively then that is the only fact that is relevant. Even Hapless said so himself, he didn't use Russian doctrine so he doesn't know if it would work. But we can agree that Russian T-62s are not the best at spotting and have a distinct disadvantage. MMM

But if Hapless had indeed sent 3 companies of tanks down the left side then he would have lost a few (perhaps even quite a few) sure, due to the spotting limitations, but all those muzzle flashes would have given the M60s' positions away. At least a few of the other 30 tanks are bound to notice and get the spot and then the M60s are in trouble. As far as I can tell Soviet/Russian doctrine is about concentration, mass of firepower and closing distances quickly and accepting the losses because they will always have more guns than the enemy. Like Hapless and Rice both said on the video it's a different way of thinking and takes some getting used to, they mentioned John Curry a few times so I looked up some of his articles, I liked this one and it's certainly something I will be considering when playing CMCW as the Russians: https://20thcenturywargaming.wordpress.com/2013/06/16/why-cold-war-warsaw-pact-tactics-work-in-wargaming/ MMM

I see some are already dubbing them "The Commies". I doubt that is the look they are going for, especially with what's happening on the borders of Ukraine. I do wonder sometimes if the people who choose such things have any imagination at all as surely someone could have foreseen that this is what people would call them? Madness! MMM

The Eighty-Sixth Minute KG Leino - Die Mitte 2 Zug's HQ Trupp cross over to Jean's position to offer encouragement and perhaps temper his murderous intent some. They draw fire from the trees. Jean was not going to miss hearing those shots. His pulse quickens slightly, then his training kicks in and he becomes as cold as the frozen tundra around him, waiting. Then he spies his prey, the HQ team that were seen moving into position a short while ago. He steadies his breath, takes dead aim, squeezes the trigger...and the turn ends. Meanwhile on the right 1 Zug are starting to probe forward and THQ has arrived on station to assist. KG Koskela - die Links The StuG moves over onto the paved highway. A risk, but a calculated one as I've only seen infantry in the woods and they are some way behind the lead elements and this will allow him to move more quickly and reduce the risk of immobilisation. Speaking of which, back at the immobilised SPW it's quiet. Too quiet. The Landsers pile out of their now useless vehicle and start moving towards 1 Zug's vehicles. P2 is reversing to come give some fire support. The woods are still quiet. The SPW crew grab some ammo and a faust and hop out too and await their ride (the reversing 251/17). They watch the treeline with anticipation, or is it fear? Their ride is almost here. Still they watch the trees for any signs of movement that could spell instant death. But none comes. 2 Zug link up with the remainder of their Kompanie but they aren't out of harm's way yet! KG Perala - das Rechts 2/1 continue to push through the scrub, nothing to report and no reaction that I can see. T1 is on the way to join them. SITMAP On the left I may have got away with it, but we'll not know until next turn. In the middle Jean is about to open up on that HQ team and 1 Zug are probing towards the trees from KT1. I'm thinking of putting the HQ Tiger to good use and area firing his T34s' positions to see if I can drive him out. We'll see what the infantry uncover first. On the right the way does indeed appear to be clear. The forces are gathering to start moving up to join the scouts. MMM

The Blitz have the scenarios listed and scored for playability by the members, useful resource. I tend to go there first and pick one based on the reviews. These are the CMRT ones: https://www.theblitz.club/scenarios/combat-mission-red-thunder/b-15.htm?action=scenarios&game=176 MMM

I haven’t played it but they should be able to knock out any armour the Germans have. Soviet aircraft can’t be controlled however, they turn up when the scenario designer designates it and are under control of the AI, you can’t designate targets because of this. MMM

Without seeing the terrain and doing a proper analysis I would say option 2 too simply because the distance to cover to get across the rivers and swamps appears to be the shortest on your left flank. Attack in echelons and overrun the enemy’s right flank and hook round and roll up his left rather than spreading your forces. You also don’t have to necessarily use smoke if you’re worried about it not lasting long, you could use HE if the ground is dry enough as it will kick up some dust. Or both, HE to keep him buttoned and smoke to obscure your push. Again this assumes a lot, is the ground even passable to tanks between the water obstacles? It looks quite brown and therefore boggy? MMM

it will be because they auto-deploy and you can't order them to deploy the weapon so the engine probably puts the text in there because the default action for those units is to deploy the weapon when they stop, and a waypoint is a stop. In this case they won't actually deploy but will move onto the next waypoint and no they won't deploy when embarked. if your final waypoint was not in a vehicle then they would indeed deploy once they get to the end of their path. MMM

The Eighty-Third to Eighty-Fifth Minutes KG Leino - Die Mitte No action on the objective. The SPWs have pulled back in case of an incoming barrage but it never materialises. Jean is watching the treeline for any signs of a counter-attack. He's getting impatient. No attack comes so 1 Zug redeploy onto the hill that was KT1 and will probe forward to get eyes on the trees. Hans regrets dropping that cigarette now, his gentleman's region is freezing! They should be safe from the location of his tank(s) from this angle. T1 was kept back in case of a counter-attack but as it looks like there's not going to be one he sets off to join KG Perala on the right. The HQ Tiger is backing up to join 1 Zug on the hill. Jean has had enough, he wants to spill some red blood so he starts inching forward to get a better view of something to shoot. Anything to shoot. KG Koskela - die Linke The advance continues unopposed. 2 Ko. in their SPWs draw level with the trees without incident. Then they start spotting infantry moving around in there. First a fireteam running toward the road. Then another fireteam lying at the side of the road facing in the other direction (we'll come back to these guys further down). Then an HQ unit lying not far from the burning T34. Finally we spot another fireteam heading toward the road. Good job I kept the vehicles buttoned. A DP gunner lets a couple of bursts loose but his shots fly high. These are the only shots that they take at my forces. Before we know it the SPWs are past the danger zone. P2 halted and rotated his turret to the rear to cover their advance. He spots the team lying facing the wrong way and decides to inflict some pain, 75mm style. I also ordered the 251/17 from 1 Zug to area fire the trees, forgetting that that isn't actually a turret on that thing he starts to rotate...ever....so....slowly. I hold my breath. But he makes it and lets loose some shells. Then he spots another fireteam hunting through the woods. It's time to get out of here, as he's facing the other way I reverse him (as I can't go through the pain of watching him rotate again) as the T34 cooks off, spraying hot lead into the trees. As he's backing away yet more contacts are seen heading East, up the treeline and not towards the road. I wonder where he's sending them? Then, one of the things I was fearful of happens. 2 Zug's last remaining SPW bogs and then immobilises with a full passenger compartment as the rest of the Kompanie go on their merry way. Damn. I'm going to have to get these out of their vehicle and into 1 Zug's and the Kompanie HQ vehicles. P2 will have to come back to provide covering fire. Not ideal. What will happen? Will they survive? Will a red tide be unleashed from the trees and mow them down or will the sight of the big cat scare them off? (cue dramatic music) KG Perala - das Recht 2/1 continue to push up through the scrub, scouting the way ahead. Still no reaction. The StuG repositions over to the right to cover the advance of the rest of 3 Kompanie. The scouts are almost at the end of the scrub and into open country. SITMAP That went about as well as I could hope for on the left, no armour ambush (as yet) and no heavy AT weapons either. 2 Zug now have no vehicles left with that immobilisation but I plan to offload 1 Zug at SCHWARZ and continue the attack with 2 Zug so they can use their vehicles. I'll give it a couple more minutes before I commence the attack on the forces in the middle to give the forces on the right time to advance a bit further. It's very slow going for the SPWs through the scrub so it's going to take a while to get them through. Hopefully whatever I do in the middle will convince him to commit the forces at the farm on the right to help out. We'll see. MMM

And holding down the right mouse button and scrolling will pan the camera around and up and down relative to the speed you move the mouse too. It takes some practice but you can achieve nice smooth cinematic shots. MMM

Thanks both, apologies for the delay I just couldn't seem to find time to do the write ups but we've still been playing. We're about 10 minutes ahead of this update so lots to get caught up on and I am resolved to get them done on a more regular basis. Serves me right for having so many games on the go. A happy new year to all! MMM