Monty's Mighty Moustache

Of course they are, and it is the official residence, but looks more like a symbolic demonstration to me. I doubt Putin sleeps right under the flag in the dome. Also, a highly demonstrative attack that seems to maximize visibility and minimize damage also raises the possibility of a false flag op.

Russia already did this from 2014-2022 and the sky did not fall.  They are very likely to be complete a@@holes no matter how this thing goes.  What I disagree with is the idea that Russia is somehow going to be willing to sustain complete Western isolation and grinding losses for the next century.  There is a lot of "Forever Russian Bear" myths floating around and this just feeds into them and gives Russia far too much credit and stamina.  It also runs paradoxical to other narratives of "backward Russians who wont do anything so long as they are fed vodka and propaganda", because decades of a slow burning war is a lot of "something".
"It's up to the loser to decide when a war ends"...nonsense.  Gulf War One, Korea, WW1, all of these were ended when both sides decided to quit, not the "loser".  Gulf War, US coalition decided to stop at Iraqi border.  Korea, both sides decided to sign the cease-fire.  WWI, Allies did not invade into Germany for a full occupation driven victory.  The loser decides when to stop resisting and the winner has to decide when to stop winning.   The history of warfare is full of examples where the winner went "good enough" and tied the thing off.  And plenty where the loser refused to quit and slowly petered out until they wasted away and were unable to continue - like the entirety of indigenous resistance in NA.
What Russia doesn't have to do is normalize with the West, this is not the same as negotiation.  We will very likely arm the ever living daylights out of Ukraine after this war and invest very heavily in its reconstruction.  One thing that has stuck in my throat since this whole thing began is a myth that the West is somehow weak and barely holding on against the might of an unassailable Russia.  "Russia will win this in a matter of weeks" (they did not), "Russian mass will eventually wear Ukraine out" (it did not), "Russia has escalation dominance" (they did not, we did), "Russia will decide when this war is over." no they won't all sides will have to decide that.  We could be fighting a containment and compression war against Russia for years and based on how the last one of those went I would be very concerned to be Russian right now. 

some comedians become politicians and then have to lead their nation in a fight for survival, wait what?  😎

I am looking forward to the photos and videos of a Ukrainian farmer pulling a T-14 with his tractor!

The One Hundred and Seventeenth Minute
KG Leino -  Die Mitte
The infantry are FINALLY getting mounted up. Only 4 minutes to go though so unless there is extra time I highly doubt they will be able to do much of anything.

T2 continues to pull back...

..and my hopes of re-crewing THQ are dashed when the T-34 puts another round into her and brews her up.

My first full armour loss of the battle. Not gonna lie, it stings.
KG Perala - das Rechts
Go-time. T1 and the StuG are in position.

T1 lets fly at the T-34's last known position...

...and quickly gets some return fire that kills the driver and destroys the engine. She's immobilised.

The T-34 is spotted...

...by the StuG! He takes carfeul aim...

...let's an AP shell fly at a range of about 350m...

...and destroys it with the first shot.

The infantry are bussed forward.

They dismount just out of range of prying eyes (and guns). 

SITMAP

THQ is now dead and T1 is immobilized. RIP. Blood board updated along with the loss of his 4th T-34.

The plan worked but I did get T1 immobilised. The good news is that it is within range of the buildings on the objective so I'll be saturating the area with fire to cover the advancing infantry. The StuG is going to move up to support the assault slightly now that tank is dead, but I am wary of there being more. He has 6 remaining by my count and I know where 4 of them are, here's hoping there aren't another 2 sitting on the objective.
In the centre if all I can do is keep his T-34 there then I'll be happy as I don't want him to turn that thing around and then attack my assaulting force in the flank so I'll be pressing T2 ahead to see if they can get a spot on that T-34.
Nothing happened on the left.
MMM

The One Hundred and Seventeenth Minute
KG Leino -  Die Mitte
The infantry are FINALLY getting mounted up. Only 4 minutes to go though so unless there is extra time I highly doubt they will be able to do much of anything.

T2 continues to pull back...

..and my hopes of re-crewing THQ are dashed when the T-34 puts another round into her and brews her up.

My first full armour loss of the battle. Not gonna lie, it stings.
KG Perala - das Rechts
Go-time. T1 and the StuG are in position.

T1 lets fly at the T-34's last known position...

...and quickly gets some return fire that kills the driver and destroys the engine. She's immobilised.

The T-34 is spotted...

...by the StuG! He takes carfeul aim...

...let's an AP shell fly at a range of about 350m...

...and destroys it with the first shot.

The infantry are bussed forward.

They dismount just out of range of prying eyes (and guns). 

SITMAP

THQ is now dead and T1 is immobilized. RIP. Blood board updated along with the loss of his 4th T-34.

The plan worked but I did get T1 immobilised. The good news is that it is within range of the buildings on the objective so I'll be saturating the area with fire to cover the advancing infantry. The StuG is going to move up to support the assault slightly now that tank is dead, but I am wary of there being more. He has 6 remaining by my count and I know where 4 of them are, here's hoping there aren't another 2 sitting on the objective.
In the centre if all I can do is keep his T-34 there then I'll be happy as I don't want him to turn that thing around and then attack my assaulting force in the flank so I'll be pressing T2 ahead to see if they can get a spot on that T-34.
Nothing happened on the left.
MMM

Also, of course there's an RNG aspect to spotting - that's how spotting has been modelled since there have been models for spotting.

As the basic example, Koopman in Search and Screening (1946), who theorised that the detection rate is proportional to the solid angle subtended at the point of observation of the target.
Since your chances of finding something is going to be harder the larger an area you're looking at, that's a base-e relationship of some kind. The Koopman probability of a detection in time t is P(t) = 1 - e^(-yt), with your y in Koopman theory being y=kh/r^3, h and r describing the height and distance to the target, and k being a value for how complex the search operation is.

Call that a "dice roll" if you like, but that's how modelling this kind of thing usually goes.

 

Now the problem with people constantly bringing writings of folks like Jefferson, Adams, Paine etc. is that they are only valid within American context. As much as I am fascinated by your Founding Fathers and their debates, please understand that around the globe they are not considered particulary relevant or inspiring political thinkers, nor is Declaration of Independence; at least not to the extent they are for Americans. Simply as that- American model of democracy, citizenship and political well-being is limited to US. Don't get me wrong, it's cool its there, USA is land of liberty, shield of freedom etc, but very few political entities (even most democratic ones) outside States were ever directly modelled by this system. Comparing it to political mentallity in Russia is material for a dark comedy in itself.
If you really need to support your claims, at least quote Monteskieu, Locke, Rousseau or Hegel- they did impacted political framework around the world in much more profound way. But of course none of them have anything to do with situation in Crimea either; it was simple, plain thugish land-grab by former imperial power modo mongolico.
Now extending your point, why not even Confederate States of America are  a thing anymore? They seem to enjoy rather popular acceptance. Except for slaves, of course.

LOL a fake plebiscite would be most galling. Many in the west are pretty upset about the 2014 invasion of Crimea and the following faked plebiscite results. So, it is pretty rich listening to you imply the results of that faked plebiscite mean that Ukraine taking Crimea back would via a "war to compel" the inhabitants under the Ukrainian government. If there wasn't so many people dying I would find it funny.
 
Again seriously. I am fully aware there have been issues of governance in parts of Ukraine but come on you cannot seriously think that people following this thread believe that the plebiscite you refer to is legitimate.
We don't know how the people living in Crimea would like to be governed. I would be fine with them getting to decide but before a fair plebiscite can be conducted you have to get the occupiers out of there and then you have to decide if the imported people should really get a say or sent home - tricky question. Not to mention the people displaced by the occupying Russians need to have the choice to return. Only then could you have a free vote. Honestly I'm not sure how that should look and I would leave that up to the Ukrainians and the citizens living in Crimea to decide. None of that can happen while its under Russian occupation.

The One Hundred and Fifteenth and One Hundred and Sixteenth Minutes
KG Leino -  Die Mitte
The 251/17 continues to provide covering fire as the infantry disengage. It's taking far too long but they do have quite a bit of forest to work through.

They eventually get out into open ground.

Just as their ride arrives.

Up ahead the Tigers are bounding ahead, THQ on the left, T2 on the right.

THQ pulls up as he spots some infantry heading this way, so my oppo clearly knows I'm coming,

THQ lets the infantry know he's spotted them.

Some casualties are inflicted.

He gets an armour contact...

...just before a shell slams into the weapon mount knocking out the MG and causing some subsystem damage.

Followed quickly by another that partially penetrates the front hull and incapacitates the driver.

The tank is still operational but the crew are panicked and bail out. Firing on those infantry seems to have allowed his T-34 to get the spot, they never did spot their assailant.

T2 is also spotted it seems as it also loses it's driver, this time the crew are OK and pop smoke and reverse.

The dismounted THQ crew finally spot the T-34 up ahead.

KG Koskela - die Links
Nothing happens on the left, I can't see him pushing from the strong position he has in the woods and I don't have enough combat power to make him abandon that position. I also don't think he'll try advancing on SCHWARZ again, but he may. Until something happens though I'm going to stop reporting on this KG.
KG Perala - das Rechts
Everyone is moving into position to start the assault on GRAU.


The plan for the T-34 is to area fire its last known location with the Tiger to try and draw its fire...

...hopefully allowing the StuG to get the spot and knock it out. Risky but the Tiger has more chance of surviving a hit than the StuG does.

SITMAP

THQ is not dead so I just hope I can remount the crew once they have regathered themselves. Next turn we'll start poking the T-34 at GRAU and see what happens while the infantry continue to probe the right flank. I do fear I've left this all a bit too late.
I think I'm done on the left, I have possession of SCHWARZ and don't think I can get to BLAU but I will keep probing with the infantry to see what shakes out.
MMM

The One Hundred and Thirteenth and One Hundred and Fourteenth Minutes
KG Leino -  Die Mitte
I'm gathering the infantry that were hunting the Reds in the woods near the objective and will load them up to support the Tigers. I fear I may have left it too late but hoping for extra time! A 251/17 moves up to provide covering fire.

The Tigers press on over the bridge.

The 251/17 is on station and starts putting fire into the woods. The infantry are moving down to join Jean.

The troops on the objective spot a Red in the woods.

They join in providing suppressive fire.

KG Koskela - die Links
My MG team arrive at the edge of the woodline near SCHWARZ to cover the open ground. The SPWs provide overwatch too in case he tries that AoA again (I don't think he will).

I've bussed some more infantry into the woods near the Panther to try and get a spot on his T-34s. It will be a miracle if they spot anything let alone get a shot off.

KG Perala - das Rechts
His remaining T-34 pulls back even further, into the path of the Tigers advancing up the middle.

The AT team are almost back to safety.

Once they are back then the plan is to MOVE. I have been static for far too long, the plan is to advance the Tiger and StuG to a SBF position and try and engage the T-34 at the crossroads while the infantry load up on their SPWs and hook around to the right so we pop up at a different position.

Scouts lead the way to make sure there are no nasty surprises along the chosen AoA.

The infantry, what's left of them, mount up.

The StuG moves into position covered by the Tiger.

The scouts have a good view.

SITMAP

I need to move. Not a lot of time left and a lot to do. Hopefully in the middle he keeps backing that T-34 up and my Tigers get the drop on it. I'm really surprised his remaining T-34s haven't fallen on KG Perala and wiped them out, he may have lost a few but I don't have much to defend myself really.
MMM

The One Hundred and Twelfth Minute
KG Leino -  Die Mitte
The panzers are rolling the trailing Tiger keeping an eye on the right flank. They are meeting no resistance so far.

Back in the woods (above the Tiger in the screenshot above) I pushed some infantry in there as they had a tentative contact. A burst of SMG fire takes out a man.

The culprit is spotted by the Tigers, strangely, but they get no shots off.

KG Koskela - die Links
Only one man remains of what I am now sure was a platoon (-) sized force trying to take SCHWARZ. He is trying to get back to the woods from whence they came, Heinz has a bead on him but curses as his shots hit everything but the man.

Heinz runs dry and while he's reloading the Ivan manages to escape to the safety of the trees. Everyone relaxes and breaks out the smokes, all returns to quiet. For now.

The snowfield is littered with corpses.

The rest of the infantry are still scouting through the forest. No contact yet.
KG Perala - das Rechts
Now the armour threat has gone I can pull back my AT team who were very exposed.

The others finish repositioning. I will need to launch another attack very soon, I've been sat too long.

SITMAP

I'm shocked I haven't been counter-attacked on the right. By my reckoning he has two platoons worth of T-34s at least when you include company HQ and add-ons, but then the onus is on me as the attacker to take the objective from him so I get why he may just sit tight. I need to move, the clock is ticking, I just am not sure I have the firepower to take GRAU but I'll give it a try.
In the middle the small force is pushing up and over the bridge and the infantry in the woods are going to pull back. No point in getting into a senseless firefight when I don't need to. I'll put some area fire on it from ROT where I have deployed my MG42 teams.
On the left I think I am going to continue pushing through the woods but I'm not expecting to get any firm contacts so it will be time to hunker down and concentrate on defending SCHWARZ. I will keep area firing with the immobilised Panther and the StuG to try and keep his forces there pinned in place.
MMM

The One Hundred and Eleventh Minute
KG Leino -  Die Mitte
The SPW leads, the Tigers follow. It's go time!

KG Koskela - die Links
The Reds continue to have a bad bad day.

There are only a few survivors as time ticks down, one Ivan makes a break for the treeline as the 251/17 gunner is busy reloading.

Just as he's about to make it the cannon comes back to life.

It was a good effort, but he doesn't make it. One survivor is seen heading back from the way they came.

Over near the objective the limited infantry I have have dismounted and are scouting forward to see if they can get a spot on the T-34 or any infantry. Not hopeful but you never know.

KG Perala - das Rechts
Quite quiet, I'm re-positioning the infantry to get away from any indirect fire that may come down on where they just were. I'm awaiting an armoured counter-attack, will see if it comes.

SITMAP

Not much to say really, I don't think I can get to BLAU with infantry and armour guarding the approaches. That boggy stream limits movements significantly and I only have 1 mobile Panther and a StuG.
I need to move on the right, I'm a sitting duck at the moment. The forces pushing up the middle will hopefully force him to reposition.
MMM

oh great, we've all been wondering about an escalation with Russia and meanwhile Ukraine goes and starts a fight with our galactic overlords!  👽

Like in English - ork (sing.) / orky (plur.)
@masc
Among soldiers this name "orcs" is not popular, it's used mostly among civilians and bloggers. Soldiers really name them "pidory" (Russian also often name in this way UKR soldiers). In whole, translation of dialogues and commands during this fight is VERY approximate because of many obscent lexic and jargones.  

The One Hundred and Fifteenth and One Hundred and Sixteenth Minutes
KG Leino -  Die Mitte
The 251/17 continues to provide covering fire as the infantry disengage. It's taking far too long but they do have quite a bit of forest to work through.

They eventually get out into open ground.

Just as their ride arrives.

Up ahead the Tigers are bounding ahead, THQ on the left, T2 on the right.

THQ pulls up as he spots some infantry heading this way, so my oppo clearly knows I'm coming,

THQ lets the infantry know he's spotted them.

Some casualties are inflicted.

He gets an armour contact...

...just before a shell slams into the weapon mount knocking out the MG and causing some subsystem damage.

Followed quickly by another that partially penetrates the front hull and incapacitates the driver.

The tank is still operational but the crew are panicked and bail out. Firing on those infantry seems to have allowed his T-34 to get the spot, they never did spot their assailant.

T2 is also spotted it seems as it also loses it's driver, this time the crew are OK and pop smoke and reverse.

The dismounted THQ crew finally spot the T-34 up ahead.

KG Koskela - die Links
Nothing happens on the left, I can't see him pushing from the strong position he has in the woods and I don't have enough combat power to make him abandon that position. I also don't think he'll try advancing on SCHWARZ again, but he may. Until something happens though I'm going to stop reporting on this KG.
KG Perala - das Rechts
Everyone is moving into position to start the assault on GRAU.


The plan for the T-34 is to area fire its last known location with the Tiger to try and draw its fire...

...hopefully allowing the StuG to get the spot and knock it out. Risky but the Tiger has more chance of surviving a hit than the StuG does.

SITMAP

THQ is not dead so I just hope I can remount the crew once they have regathered themselves. Next turn we'll start poking the T-34 at GRAU and see what happens while the infantry continue to probe the right flank. I do fear I've left this all a bit too late.
I think I'm done on the left, I have possession of SCHWARZ and don't think I can get to BLAU but I will keep probing with the infantry to see what shakes out.
MMM

I disagree, I played the Soviets and won but there are ways for the Germans to win. I'll say no more.
MMM

Best not, my opponent will not be pleased.  Can you PM me? 
I'm joking of course.

Well some of on the development team might take a throttling personally, we do have feelings.  So what is happening here is that the US Campaign has limited refit/resupply throughout because, WW3.  The 28th is under really heavy assault and having pristine vehicles lined up like horse guards for the next battle is not realistic.  So this is not a “glitch”, it is built in on purpose.
So damage and limited resupply is in effect.  Now as to cross loading ammo.  Simply not an in-game feature for major weapon systems.  It would be realistic to rebalance ammo but really it is a bit of a dice roll right now and you appear to have come up with a natural “1”.  This is an abstraction of all the messed up stuff that happens in warfare.  Clausewitz called it “friction” and wargamers are notoriously skittish on the idea. Considering a lot of wargames are being a god and micromanaging large forces like a chess game (and if that is something you like, hey go for it) a lot of chaotic friction can really drive them nuts.  But it is entirely realistic.  You would not believe the stupid human errors that happen in combat - human beings in that situation tend to go that way.
So good commanders basically “deal” and keep trying to make lemonade.  I get if this is not your personal thing and frankly Cold War is on the spicier end of difficulty - if the US Campaign is making you this angry, you may want to wait a bit before trying the Soviet one.
CM is not a nice hex turn based affair.  Nor is it a fast and loose shiny RTS.  It is likely one of the most realistic combat simulators for Company to Battalion operations.  It is so hardcore that at least one western military uses it for training.  But is it fun for everyone, not always.

Back when it still played music.  I swear reality tv and emoticons were the first two horsemen of the apocalypse.

I played that H2H when F&R first came out, good fun indeed.
MMM

Not sure what the age issue is, he can vote and kill people for his country, he can hold a clearance.  In fact on the surface he looks like a poster child for clearances.  Likely zero foreign contacts.  No wife, no kids, no bills or leverage.  Good Christian boy so likely no illicit or online sexual weirdness.  Likely no addictions record and probably had a spotless criminal record.  The kid was likely clean as a whistle.
Doing a low level job that required him to work on what looked like server maint for classified networks, hence access.  I mean what should the cut off age be?  Of course the military has young people doing this work…we recruit them for it.  I doubt anyone saw this one coming.  The kid was a sad lonely guy who was trying to show off to friends and did something incredibly dumb.  And now he is going to jail for probably about as long as he has been alive.  Now should the US military take a long look at how TS data is stored and maintained, yep.  Are we going to suddenly stop taking teenagers into cyber (there are likely operators with even higher clearances in that bunch)? Nope.

https://youtu.be/OnxHgyMMD90
 
A Combat Mission Fortress Italy story, using Bil Hardenberger's and A Canadian Cat's excellent C2 Hard Cat Rules v2I.
 
In this episode you will see the Hard Cat rules in operation, reflecting the lack of intel if C2 is lost, and the efforts required to gain fresh intel and the issuing of fresh orders.

https://youtu.be/Ai5bvbwqDU8
 
A Combat Mission Fortress Italy story, using Bil Hardenberger's excellent C2 Hard Cat Rules v2I.
 
For those of you who like to take game accuracy/authenticity to the next level, I highly recommend you give Bil's rules a run out. They make the game far more challenging by, amongst other things, removing the player's ability to react to situations that the troops on the ground would be unaware of.
 
I will be producing these DARs as I play the game, so I'm as unaware of the outcome as you will be!
 
Feedback appreciated, as always
 
Drew

Agreed. FFS. What have the Romans ever done for us?
I am sorry I just couldn't help myself.