RescueToaster

That's not that strange. I spent 2012-2015 and all of 2019 with USFK in the Republic of Korea. The average resident of Seoul doesn't think about the thousands of heavy artillery pieces aimed at the city and the million man army less than 40 miles to the north. After my first couple months I didn't really think about it either unless I was at work. 

Wow, that picture looks exactly like the landscape where I grew up; east of Brunswick, north Germany. Rolling hills, much agriculture, very small woods between fields and larger forests on hilltops. Villages typically two kilometers apart. North of the Autobahn A2, the Lüneburg Heath starts with less hills, larger distance between villages, and more forest, because the soil is not that good. To the south, the Mittelgebirge starts at the Harz mountains and the Weserbergland with steeper and higher hills and more forest.
So, long lines of sight here, this is the perfect ATGM country.
Cocerning the compensations farmers received for damages. My father was not really pleased when three or four Chieftains rolled over one of our fields. The destroyed crop was compensated, but MBT's compressed the soil so much, that far less grows in these lanes for some years.

I've been noticing how off some of the 1980's color reproduction is in some of these old photographs.
Kodak Gold, lab printed is a true look of the 1980's, but it isn't how people's eyes interpreted it. Something to bear in mind when modding this later- a lot of these colors are shifted from what they looked like in person.
I've taken a sample of the purple tank (shadows are often purple in 80's lab prints) and quickly color corrected it to illustrate some of how off these older images can be-

I grew up just 8 km from the inner-german border and never felt any fear or such - today I think that is strange.
Just the opposite, there are many nice memories concerning the military of that time. We often had the 16/5th Queens Royal Lancers on exercise at the farm of my father. They were stationed at the town of Wolfenbüttel nearby and everybody loved to see them, my mother because we talked english all day, the soldiers because they had warm places to sleep and a shower, and my father because he had an agreement to get a bottle of Famous Grouse for each day of their stay. We did things you never get elswhere, driving a Ferret Mk1 (I called it armored Dune Buggy), a Scorpion tank and even firing a Sten SMG on the meadow behind the barn. Once my father and me visited their barracks for some claybird shooting and the officers invited us to the officers mess. Wow, never saw so many silver cups and a living tradition like that.
When I served at PzAufklBtl 1 (Armored Recon) from '79 to '83 (just the proper time for this game) we were not even allowed to keep our battalion coat of arms, it was from the Black Hussars from Brunswick who fought with the British against Napoleon, but was too similar to the SS sign. That happens to military traditions when you loose your wars.
At that time I met kind guys from the 2nd Armored Division on Reforger exercise near Brunswick and found some nice friends there (Cpt. Hutto somewhere around here?).
And I served as contactperson for the team of 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards during the Boeselager Cup, an international competition among reconaissance forces. Still remember the 'Biwak' on the last evening.
One day I heard the sound of a Huey helicopter nearby and it did not disappear. So I looked for the source and found some thee or four Huey Cobra hovering directly at the outskirts of the village. I immediatly fetched my brothers and we tried to follow them with my Renault R4. Tough job, soon they were gone. But suddenly they reappeared one after the other over a ridgeline and took my car as a training target. Oh, man, that was exciting. I tried to make their job as difficult as I could but these helis were really fast and agile. I would love to ride one of those, must be like a flying Kawasaki.
I think Germany really lost something important with all these kind soldiers who are gone now and with them the BFBS radio and the British Wargamers Association with which I had so nice times at Rheindahlen and elsewhere.
And, by the way, a german Recon Btl was a complete all arms force in '79, ideal for a Bundeswehr expansion one day. There was a ground surveillance radar plt, two companies with Luchs and Leopard1, and a heavy company with grenadier plt (on Schützenpanzer kurz, later Fuchs), engineer plt, and 120 mm mortar plt.
And now I am here, working as an engineer on military simulation and looking forward to my retirement next year being excited to have all the time necessary to play my favorite game then, CM:CW.
 
 

Everyone who has mentioned corn is now subscribed to my monthly email #CornFacts as part of my role as EIC of Corn Digest: "Separating the Wheat from the Chaff".
Please note, Chaff Gazette is a sister paper of ours (as part of the UniLever publishing family) available at all good newsagents.  As they say, "there are enough grain derivatives for everyone".

I got to West Germany in May 83 so this game is slightly before that time frame however, my battalion was one of the last to get the M1s. When I left in 87 they still had the M60A3s and M113s (no units in our brigade had been upgraded). With what's available in this module, I can easily make 83-87 scenarios and a campaign. Time to dig out my old Steel Panthers stuff and get cracking on a conversion. 😁

People are the best judge for themselves. If you have access to a firing range, see how well you do over 300mtrs. Remember your targets don't shoot back. With a pistol with service match at the time only the elite at the time could consistently hit the '10' at the international rapid fire UIT target at 50mtrs. With a longarm I would say you push your limits at 300mtrs. I think in the game CM got it more or less spot on in probabilities. To achieve fire superiority longarms at best suppresses only you need ordnance which explode or with plunging fire by well positioned MG's.  

The Soviets also sent ISU-152s to Egypt in the 60s and 70s, which in turn were captured in their wars with the Israelis. One interesting conversion was where they removed the main gun and converted them into BTT-1 recovery vehicles:
(The tank museum in Latrun, Israel is one awesome place, that's for sure):

Glorious March to Victory, Final Post - "Like Tears in Rain"
Well big thank you to all who watched.  I figure I should stop leaving you all hanging, so we cease fired on the last turn (33 I believe).  Now take the end-screen with a grain of salt:

So first off there was a dumb double-accounting error for the Soviet side.  Basically the parameters were:
En Cas 50% = 50 VPs
En Condition 50% = 50 VPs
Dollbach Village = 100 VPs.
The error was the Soviets had another 100 VPs for having fewer than/better than 50% cas/cond, so I subtracted that because if we had paid attention Bil was above 50% too.  So the score was really 100 because I held the town.  (Note, also a small error in that his M150s were counted as tanks...a bug we noted for fixing)
The outstanding question is "could Bil have reduced me to 50% without going there himself"...that one is tougher.   So for Soviets:
215 men: lost 71 = 33%
17 Tanks: lost 10 = 58%
17 AFVs: lost 9 = 53%
For the US:
138 men: lost 56 = 40.5%
12 Tanks: lost 6 = 50%
17 AFVs (also counting his mortar carriers): Lost 6 = 35%
So this was by no stretch a "Total Victory", that was straight up on us for not checking the victory parameters.  I hold the village but given the drubbing I received in taking it, I am not sure I can put a statue up in Red Square for this either.  Add to this the fact I started with a lot more men and tanks, it starts to push the whole thing into Draw territory to my mind.  
Now Bil had much better arty, had air (I had none) and EW which made my arty next to useless without TRPs (which I did not have) so there is that.  And my starting position was not the best but it is a poor craftsman that blames the workbench.  
I will let you all judge for yourselves.  Regardless, was a helluva fight, the kind that comes around only every so often,  and we are all working to get you guys a chance at it yourselves soon enough.
 

I like the way you think.
There is another angle you may not have considered, which is strange because the rudiments of it were demonstrated in the opening part of this battle.
If the town is the objective, then you need to get your mass (I.E. your infantry) into the town. To do this you are confronted by one big problem, all that open space between you and it.
That being said, I have one question that might shed some light:
How many smoke rounds does a T-62 carry?
Once upon a time I was confronted by a similar but much smaller scale tactical problem, how to cross an open area that was covered by machine guns and cannon. I partially solved that problem with the creative use of smoke.
(Video time-stamped to relevant turns.)
While my idea is a mere embryo born from a single seed that began and ended it's brief lifetime before it could even learn to crawl, perhaps an entire tank Company on some rolling green hills of Germany can develop this embryo into a fully-fledged creature?
TL;DR - Blind him with smoke, then CHARGE!

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmW_vcwM_qxukdDjpfUEerpICUzTrTKek
The full playlist for the Combat Mission: Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures project is linked above, including:
Combat Mission Normandy Tactics - by Jeffrey Paulding Combat Mission Tips - by his1ojd Combat Stress, Combat Shock & Morale - by Josey Wales Combat Mission: Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures - by Chris Maillet (Me) New, completed videos will be posted into this thread. Feel free to ask questions, make observations, or criticize anything you see.
This project would be worth nothing without your feedback.
 
Using excerpts from: FM 3-21.8 The Infantry Rifle Platoon and Squad this video gives a brief explanation of how to utilize an infantry rifle squad in Combat Mission.
 
Using excerpts from: FM 3-21.8 The Infantry Rifle Platoon and Squad and Bil Hardenberger's Blog: Battle Drill this video gives a brief explanation of how to utilize an infantry platoon in Combat Mission.
 
Using excerpts from: FM 3-21.10 The Infantry Rifle Company and Bil Hardenberger's Blog: Battle Drill this video gives a brief explanation of how to utilize an infantry company in Combat Mission.
The old thread in the CMBN forum is deprecated, and I will no longer be following it.

Some great shots taken by @George MC featuring the T-80:




And a bonus shot of an M577 in the Fall:

This seems to be the go to for screenshot teasers. Here are a few more:
Soviet infantry conducting a dismounted attack:

GP-25 in action:

For many reasons, I think CM:CW is going to be a huge hit. Very, very cool stuff! 😎
To help celebrate, I thought I'd post a pic of something the forum might get a kick out of:


 
I bought this at the army surplus store at the dawn of the 80s when I was a kid. It's the last remnant of what was once a full, if rather eclectic uniform. Even had WWII-style leggings. All lost to the sands of time, except for this baby.  Spent many wonderful hours playing army with friends (who also had uniforms from the surplus store) out in the country wearing it.

I remember they had a box of rank patches and camo fabric scraps at the register when I paid. So, I bought one of the patches and sewed it on (looks like a little kid did it, doesn't it!). I always wore the fabric scraps as sun protectors for my neck ala Japanese soldiers of WWII. Never got around to sewing the edges to keep them from fraying.
I'm not sure of the production dates, but I'd guess they fall right within CM: CW. 🙂

Been lurking for a while and decided to sign up for the forums and hopefully add to the discussion since I'm all hyped up for CM:CW!
I was browsing the Googles and found this bibliography file of 10 Cold War related books and figured I should share. I believe almost all of these have already been mentioned, but I like the brief description for each book. 
I'd like to make it clear that I did not make this list - I'm just sharing (and formatted and edited it a tiny bit to make it easier to read!).
https://img.lib.msu.edu/general/events/contest/2006/2006GrevstadBib.pdf  written by Ted Grevstad-Nordbrock
For those who don't want to click away: copy/paste below the break - book names are in bold, author names in italics.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Ten Literary Accounts of a War that Was Never Fought”
Ted Grevstad-Nordbrock
Bibliography List:
- World War 3. Bidwell, Sheldon, ed. (1978).
Though non-fictional, Sheldon's work takes on an air of fiction when it hypothesizes about how a third world war in Europe might realistically start, and how it would play out. Like other books in this collection, slogging but indecisive conventional warfare inevitably leads to the use of nuclear weapons.
- Red Storm Rising. Clancy, Tom. (1986).
Clancy is, of course, the best-known author of the group included here. This work, one of his earliest, describes a NATO-Warsaw Pact conflict on land and on the seas.
- Armor at Fulda Gap: A Visual Novel of the War of Tomorrow. Cook, J. L. (1990).
Cook's illustrated work is an unusual mix of fact and fiction-of real-world armaments that would have been used to fight a third world war as well as fantastic imaginings of what the near future might hold. The title of the book makes reference to two common themes in the theory and literature describing a NATO-Warsaw Pact confrontation in Europe: the Fulda Gap, a historical passage-a "gap" in the otherwise rough terrain-from eastern Europe to the west, named after the German city; and armor, the tanks and mechanized vehicles that would contend for this strategic region.
- Team Yankee. Coyle, Harold. (1987).
This best-selling work intimately chronicles the efforts of an American tank platoon in defending a small swath of West Germany during a Warsaw Pact invasion. The story is based on the Hackett's The Third World War: August 1985, which Coyle acknowledges in his introduction.
- The Third World War: August 1985. Hackett, John, General Sir. (1978). 
This influential account of World War III is told by a British general. The illustrated edition features images of the battles, including the two terminal moments of the short war: nuclear strikes on Birmingham, England and Minsk.
- The Third World War: The Untold Story. Hackett, John, General Sir. (1982).
 Hackett's follow-up fleshes out and expands the narrative begun in "August 1985."
- First Clash: Combat Close-Up in World War Three. Macksey, Kenneth (1984)
First Clash offers a Canadian take on NATO's efforts to repulse the Red Army during its invasion of West Germany. That this fiction is based in fact is emphasized through the use of annotated maps, images, and text boxes that contain discursive notes on tactics, armament, military organization, etc.
- The War That Never Was. Palmer, Michael A. (1994).
Written after the Cold War ended, this book describes World War III on a global scale (a war that "never was"), as told by a fictional Russian character to his old enemy and new ally: an American.
- Red Army. Peters, Ralph. (1989).
Peters's book is unique in that it tells the story of a conflict in Europe from the perspective of soldiers in the Red Army. This is perhaps one of the best written of the books of this genre.
- Red Thrust. Zaloga, S. J. (1989). 
Though no less fictional than any of the other works included here, Zaloga's text reads almost like a casebook. He offers a series of hypothetical NATO-Warsaw Pact battle scenarios in Western Europe, each with an accompanying postmortem: tactical strengths, weaknesses, and what might have been done by military leaders to affect a different outcome.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hope this helps some, and also thanks for all of the recommendations so far. I currently have a few of these on the way!
-RT

Been lurking for a while and decided to sign up for the forums and hopefully add to the discussion since I'm all hyped up for CM:CW!
I was browsing the Googles and found this bibliography file of 10 Cold War related books and figured I should share. I believe almost all of these have already been mentioned, but I like the brief description for each book. 
I'd like to make it clear that I did not make this list - I'm just sharing (and formatted and edited it a tiny bit to make it easier to read!).
https://img.lib.msu.edu/general/events/contest/2006/2006GrevstadBib.pdf  written by Ted Grevstad-Nordbrock
For those who don't want to click away: copy/paste below the break - book names are in bold, author names in italics.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Ten Literary Accounts of a War that Was Never Fought”
Ted Grevstad-Nordbrock
Bibliography List:
- World War 3. Bidwell, Sheldon, ed. (1978).
Though non-fictional, Sheldon's work takes on an air of fiction when it hypothesizes about how a third world war in Europe might realistically start, and how it would play out. Like other books in this collection, slogging but indecisive conventional warfare inevitably leads to the use of nuclear weapons.
- Red Storm Rising. Clancy, Tom. (1986).
Clancy is, of course, the best-known author of the group included here. This work, one of his earliest, describes a NATO-Warsaw Pact conflict on land and on the seas.
- Armor at Fulda Gap: A Visual Novel of the War of Tomorrow. Cook, J. L. (1990).
Cook's illustrated work is an unusual mix of fact and fiction-of real-world armaments that would have been used to fight a third world war as well as fantastic imaginings of what the near future might hold. The title of the book makes reference to two common themes in the theory and literature describing a NATO-Warsaw Pact confrontation in Europe: the Fulda Gap, a historical passage-a "gap" in the otherwise rough terrain-from eastern Europe to the west, named after the German city; and armor, the tanks and mechanized vehicles that would contend for this strategic region.
- Team Yankee. Coyle, Harold. (1987).
This best-selling work intimately chronicles the efforts of an American tank platoon in defending a small swath of West Germany during a Warsaw Pact invasion. The story is based on the Hackett's The Third World War: August 1985, which Coyle acknowledges in his introduction.
- The Third World War: August 1985. Hackett, John, General Sir. (1978). 
This influential account of World War III is told by a British general. The illustrated edition features images of the battles, including the two terminal moments of the short war: nuclear strikes on Birmingham, England and Minsk.
- The Third World War: The Untold Story. Hackett, John, General Sir. (1982).
 Hackett's follow-up fleshes out and expands the narrative begun in "August 1985."
- First Clash: Combat Close-Up in World War Three. Macksey, Kenneth (1984)
First Clash offers a Canadian take on NATO's efforts to repulse the Red Army during its invasion of West Germany. That this fiction is based in fact is emphasized through the use of annotated maps, images, and text boxes that contain discursive notes on tactics, armament, military organization, etc.
- The War That Never Was. Palmer, Michael A. (1994).
Written after the Cold War ended, this book describes World War III on a global scale (a war that "never was"), as told by a fictional Russian character to his old enemy and new ally: an American.
- Red Army. Peters, Ralph. (1989).
Peters's book is unique in that it tells the story of a conflict in Europe from the perspective of soldiers in the Red Army. This is perhaps one of the best written of the books of this genre.
- Red Thrust. Zaloga, S. J. (1989). 
Though no less fictional than any of the other works included here, Zaloga's text reads almost like a casebook. He offers a series of hypothetical NATO-Warsaw Pact battle scenarios in Western Europe, each with an accompanying postmortem: tactical strengths, weaknesses, and what might have been done by military leaders to affect a different outcome.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hope this helps some, and also thanks for all of the recommendations so far. I currently have a few of these on the way!
-RT

Apparently a lot of the recent Dragon picts you find on the web these days aren't actually Dragon but the Iranian 'Saegheh'. Precisely reverse-engineered Dragons right down to the rivet detail. To my eyeballs the only difference I can spot is a slightly more rounded shape to the foam rubber padding at the front of the sight. Otherwise, its a Dragon.
 
 

Great list! Welcome aboard!

Welcome Mr. Toaster, and thanks for the listing!

Been lurking for a while and decided to sign up for the forums and hopefully add to the discussion since I'm all hyped up for CM:CW!
I was browsing the Googles and found this bibliography file of 10 Cold War related books and figured I should share. I believe almost all of these have already been mentioned, but I like the brief description for each book. 
I'd like to make it clear that I did not make this list - I'm just sharing (and formatted and edited it a tiny bit to make it easier to read!).
https://img.lib.msu.edu/general/events/contest/2006/2006GrevstadBib.pdf  written by Ted Grevstad-Nordbrock
For those who don't want to click away: copy/paste below the break - book names are in bold, author names in italics.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Ten Literary Accounts of a War that Was Never Fought”
Ted Grevstad-Nordbrock
Bibliography List:
- World War 3. Bidwell, Sheldon, ed. (1978).
Though non-fictional, Sheldon's work takes on an air of fiction when it hypothesizes about how a third world war in Europe might realistically start, and how it would play out. Like other books in this collection, slogging but indecisive conventional warfare inevitably leads to the use of nuclear weapons.
- Red Storm Rising. Clancy, Tom. (1986).
Clancy is, of course, the best-known author of the group included here. This work, one of his earliest, describes a NATO-Warsaw Pact conflict on land and on the seas.
- Armor at Fulda Gap: A Visual Novel of the War of Tomorrow. Cook, J. L. (1990).
Cook's illustrated work is an unusual mix of fact and fiction-of real-world armaments that would have been used to fight a third world war as well as fantastic imaginings of what the near future might hold. The title of the book makes reference to two common themes in the theory and literature describing a NATO-Warsaw Pact confrontation in Europe: the Fulda Gap, a historical passage-a "gap" in the otherwise rough terrain-from eastern Europe to the west, named after the German city; and armor, the tanks and mechanized vehicles that would contend for this strategic region.
- Team Yankee. Coyle, Harold. (1987).
This best-selling work intimately chronicles the efforts of an American tank platoon in defending a small swath of West Germany during a Warsaw Pact invasion. The story is based on the Hackett's The Third World War: August 1985, which Coyle acknowledges in his introduction.
- The Third World War: August 1985. Hackett, John, General Sir. (1978). 
This influential account of World War III is told by a British general. The illustrated edition features images of the battles, including the two terminal moments of the short war: nuclear strikes on Birmingham, England and Minsk.
- The Third World War: The Untold Story. Hackett, John, General Sir. (1982).
 Hackett's follow-up fleshes out and expands the narrative begun in "August 1985."
- First Clash: Combat Close-Up in World War Three. Macksey, Kenneth (1984)
First Clash offers a Canadian take on NATO's efforts to repulse the Red Army during its invasion of West Germany. That this fiction is based in fact is emphasized through the use of annotated maps, images, and text boxes that contain discursive notes on tactics, armament, military organization, etc.
- The War That Never Was. Palmer, Michael A. (1994).
Written after the Cold War ended, this book describes World War III on a global scale (a war that "never was"), as told by a fictional Russian character to his old enemy and new ally: an American.
- Red Army. Peters, Ralph. (1989).
Peters's book is unique in that it tells the story of a conflict in Europe from the perspective of soldiers in the Red Army. This is perhaps one of the best written of the books of this genre.
- Red Thrust. Zaloga, S. J. (1989). 
Though no less fictional than any of the other works included here, Zaloga's text reads almost like a casebook. He offers a series of hypothetical NATO-Warsaw Pact battle scenarios in Western Europe, each with an accompanying postmortem: tactical strengths, weaknesses, and what might have been done by military leaders to affect a different outcome.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hope this helps some, and also thanks for all of the recommendations so far. I currently have a few of these on the way!
-RT

Been lurking for a while and decided to sign up for the forums and hopefully add to the discussion since I'm all hyped up for CM:CW!
I was browsing the Googles and found this bibliography file of 10 Cold War related books and figured I should share. I believe almost all of these have already been mentioned, but I like the brief description for each book. 
I'd like to make it clear that I did not make this list - I'm just sharing (and formatted and edited it a tiny bit to make it easier to read!).
https://img.lib.msu.edu/general/events/contest/2006/2006GrevstadBib.pdf  written by Ted Grevstad-Nordbrock
For those who don't want to click away: copy/paste below the break - book names are in bold, author names in italics.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Ten Literary Accounts of a War that Was Never Fought”
Ted Grevstad-Nordbrock
Bibliography List:
- World War 3. Bidwell, Sheldon, ed. (1978).
Though non-fictional, Sheldon's work takes on an air of fiction when it hypothesizes about how a third world war in Europe might realistically start, and how it would play out. Like other books in this collection, slogging but indecisive conventional warfare inevitably leads to the use of nuclear weapons.
- Red Storm Rising. Clancy, Tom. (1986).
Clancy is, of course, the best-known author of the group included here. This work, one of his earliest, describes a NATO-Warsaw Pact conflict on land and on the seas.
- Armor at Fulda Gap: A Visual Novel of the War of Tomorrow. Cook, J. L. (1990).
Cook's illustrated work is an unusual mix of fact and fiction-of real-world armaments that would have been used to fight a third world war as well as fantastic imaginings of what the near future might hold. The title of the book makes reference to two common themes in the theory and literature describing a NATO-Warsaw Pact confrontation in Europe: the Fulda Gap, a historical passage-a "gap" in the otherwise rough terrain-from eastern Europe to the west, named after the German city; and armor, the tanks and mechanized vehicles that would contend for this strategic region.
- Team Yankee. Coyle, Harold. (1987).
This best-selling work intimately chronicles the efforts of an American tank platoon in defending a small swath of West Germany during a Warsaw Pact invasion. The story is based on the Hackett's The Third World War: August 1985, which Coyle acknowledges in his introduction.
- The Third World War: August 1985. Hackett, John, General Sir. (1978). 
This influential account of World War III is told by a British general. The illustrated edition features images of the battles, including the two terminal moments of the short war: nuclear strikes on Birmingham, England and Minsk.
- The Third World War: The Untold Story. Hackett, John, General Sir. (1982).
 Hackett's follow-up fleshes out and expands the narrative begun in "August 1985."
- First Clash: Combat Close-Up in World War Three. Macksey, Kenneth (1984)
First Clash offers a Canadian take on NATO's efforts to repulse the Red Army during its invasion of West Germany. That this fiction is based in fact is emphasized through the use of annotated maps, images, and text boxes that contain discursive notes on tactics, armament, military organization, etc.
- The War That Never Was. Palmer, Michael A. (1994).
Written after the Cold War ended, this book describes World War III on a global scale (a war that "never was"), as told by a fictional Russian character to his old enemy and new ally: an American.
- Red Army. Peters, Ralph. (1989).
Peters's book is unique in that it tells the story of a conflict in Europe from the perspective of soldiers in the Red Army. This is perhaps one of the best written of the books of this genre.
- Red Thrust. Zaloga, S. J. (1989). 
Though no less fictional than any of the other works included here, Zaloga's text reads almost like a casebook. He offers a series of hypothetical NATO-Warsaw Pact battle scenarios in Western Europe, each with an accompanying postmortem: tactical strengths, weaknesses, and what might have been done by military leaders to affect a different outcome.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hope this helps some, and also thanks for all of the recommendations so far. I currently have a few of these on the way!
-RT

Been lurking for a while and decided to sign up for the forums and hopefully add to the discussion since I'm all hyped up for CM:CW!
I was browsing the Googles and found this bibliography file of 10 Cold War related books and figured I should share. I believe almost all of these have already been mentioned, but I like the brief description for each book. 
I'd like to make it clear that I did not make this list - I'm just sharing (and formatted and edited it a tiny bit to make it easier to read!).
https://img.lib.msu.edu/general/events/contest/2006/2006GrevstadBib.pdf  written by Ted Grevstad-Nordbrock
For those who don't want to click away: copy/paste below the break - book names are in bold, author names in italics.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Ten Literary Accounts of a War that Was Never Fought”
Ted Grevstad-Nordbrock
Bibliography List:
- World War 3. Bidwell, Sheldon, ed. (1978).
Though non-fictional, Sheldon's work takes on an air of fiction when it hypothesizes about how a third world war in Europe might realistically start, and how it would play out. Like other books in this collection, slogging but indecisive conventional warfare inevitably leads to the use of nuclear weapons.
- Red Storm Rising. Clancy, Tom. (1986).
Clancy is, of course, the best-known author of the group included here. This work, one of his earliest, describes a NATO-Warsaw Pact conflict on land and on the seas.
- Armor at Fulda Gap: A Visual Novel of the War of Tomorrow. Cook, J. L. (1990).
Cook's illustrated work is an unusual mix of fact and fiction-of real-world armaments that would have been used to fight a third world war as well as fantastic imaginings of what the near future might hold. The title of the book makes reference to two common themes in the theory and literature describing a NATO-Warsaw Pact confrontation in Europe: the Fulda Gap, a historical passage-a "gap" in the otherwise rough terrain-from eastern Europe to the west, named after the German city; and armor, the tanks and mechanized vehicles that would contend for this strategic region.
- Team Yankee. Coyle, Harold. (1987).
This best-selling work intimately chronicles the efforts of an American tank platoon in defending a small swath of West Germany during a Warsaw Pact invasion. The story is based on the Hackett's The Third World War: August 1985, which Coyle acknowledges in his introduction.
- The Third World War: August 1985. Hackett, John, General Sir. (1978). 
This influential account of World War III is told by a British general. The illustrated edition features images of the battles, including the two terminal moments of the short war: nuclear strikes on Birmingham, England and Minsk.
- The Third World War: The Untold Story. Hackett, John, General Sir. (1982).
 Hackett's follow-up fleshes out and expands the narrative begun in "August 1985."
- First Clash: Combat Close-Up in World War Three. Macksey, Kenneth (1984)
First Clash offers a Canadian take on NATO's efforts to repulse the Red Army during its invasion of West Germany. That this fiction is based in fact is emphasized through the use of annotated maps, images, and text boxes that contain discursive notes on tactics, armament, military organization, etc.
- The War That Never Was. Palmer, Michael A. (1994).
Written after the Cold War ended, this book describes World War III on a global scale (a war that "never was"), as told by a fictional Russian character to his old enemy and new ally: an American.
- Red Army. Peters, Ralph. (1989).
Peters's book is unique in that it tells the story of a conflict in Europe from the perspective of soldiers in the Red Army. This is perhaps one of the best written of the books of this genre.
- Red Thrust. Zaloga, S. J. (1989). 
Though no less fictional than any of the other works included here, Zaloga's text reads almost like a casebook. He offers a series of hypothetical NATO-Warsaw Pact battle scenarios in Western Europe, each with an accompanying postmortem: tactical strengths, weaknesses, and what might have been done by military leaders to affect a different outcome.
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Hope this helps some, and also thanks for all of the recommendations so far. I currently have a few of these on the way!
-RT

Been lurking for a while and decided to sign up for the forums and hopefully add to the discussion since I'm all hyped up for CM:CW!
I was browsing the Googles and found this bibliography file of 10 Cold War related books and figured I should share. I believe almost all of these have already been mentioned, but I like the brief description for each book. 
I'd like to make it clear that I did not make this list - I'm just sharing (and formatted and edited it a tiny bit to make it easier to read!).
https://img.lib.msu.edu/general/events/contest/2006/2006GrevstadBib.pdf  written by Ted Grevstad-Nordbrock
For those who don't want to click away: copy/paste below the break - book names are in bold, author names in italics.
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“Ten Literary Accounts of a War that Was Never Fought”
Ted Grevstad-Nordbrock
Bibliography List:
- World War 3. Bidwell, Sheldon, ed. (1978).
Though non-fictional, Sheldon's work takes on an air of fiction when it hypothesizes about how a third world war in Europe might realistically start, and how it would play out. Like other books in this collection, slogging but indecisive conventional warfare inevitably leads to the use of nuclear weapons.
- Red Storm Rising. Clancy, Tom. (1986).
Clancy is, of course, the best-known author of the group included here. This work, one of his earliest, describes a NATO-Warsaw Pact conflict on land and on the seas.
- Armor at Fulda Gap: A Visual Novel of the War of Tomorrow. Cook, J. L. (1990).
Cook's illustrated work is an unusual mix of fact and fiction-of real-world armaments that would have been used to fight a third world war as well as fantastic imaginings of what the near future might hold. The title of the book makes reference to two common themes in the theory and literature describing a NATO-Warsaw Pact confrontation in Europe: the Fulda Gap, a historical passage-a "gap" in the otherwise rough terrain-from eastern Europe to the west, named after the German city; and armor, the tanks and mechanized vehicles that would contend for this strategic region.
- Team Yankee. Coyle, Harold. (1987).
This best-selling work intimately chronicles the efforts of an American tank platoon in defending a small swath of West Germany during a Warsaw Pact invasion. The story is based on the Hackett's The Third World War: August 1985, which Coyle acknowledges in his introduction.
- The Third World War: August 1985. Hackett, John, General Sir. (1978). 
This influential account of World War III is told by a British general. The illustrated edition features images of the battles, including the two terminal moments of the short war: nuclear strikes on Birmingham, England and Minsk.
- The Third World War: The Untold Story. Hackett, John, General Sir. (1982).
 Hackett's follow-up fleshes out and expands the narrative begun in "August 1985."
- First Clash: Combat Close-Up in World War Three. Macksey, Kenneth (1984)
First Clash offers a Canadian take on NATO's efforts to repulse the Red Army during its invasion of West Germany. That this fiction is based in fact is emphasized through the use of annotated maps, images, and text boxes that contain discursive notes on tactics, armament, military organization, etc.
- The War That Never Was. Palmer, Michael A. (1994).
Written after the Cold War ended, this book describes World War III on a global scale (a war that "never was"), as told by a fictional Russian character to his old enemy and new ally: an American.
- Red Army. Peters, Ralph. (1989).
Peters's book is unique in that it tells the story of a conflict in Europe from the perspective of soldiers in the Red Army. This is perhaps one of the best written of the books of this genre.
- Red Thrust. Zaloga, S. J. (1989). 
Though no less fictional than any of the other works included here, Zaloga's text reads almost like a casebook. He offers a series of hypothetical NATO-Warsaw Pact battle scenarios in Western Europe, each with an accompanying postmortem: tactical strengths, weaknesses, and what might have been done by military leaders to affect a different outcome.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hope this helps some, and also thanks for all of the recommendations so far. I currently have a few of these on the way!
-RT