Sgt.Squarehead Posted May 18, 2019 Share Posted May 18, 2019 (edited) 4 hours ago, Michael Emrys said: Do my eyes deceive me or do you have multiple copies of some kits? Almost all of them. There are two kits in a lot of those boxes.....I generally buy a platoons worth of each type for WWII stuff, but just a single example of each type for modern stuff (those are stored elsewhere). I can't actually do any modelling right now, so I'm mostly gathering materiels (kits, aftermarket parts, paints, decals etc.) & researching subjects for when I have a bit more space (three workstations rather than just one) and much, much better lighting! Edited May 18, 2019 by Sgt.Squarehead 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted May 24, 2019 Author Share Posted May 24, 2019 Thanks to brother George, who clued me in about a YT channel called Battlefield Explorer, I have this treasure trove of a video to share with you. It's a tour of the fabulous Overloon Museum in The Netherlands. One of the remarkable things about it is it houses AFVs and other weapons destroyed there in that two week-long battle during WW II. But this museum goes way beyond the usual, because it has a huge collection of WW II US soft-skins, plus lots of Allied artillery, some German artillery and both the armored and the unarmored Dragon Wagon tank retriever. My family has a direct connection with the armored version, which was used to transport "Patton's navy" AKA the USN's Boat Two, which used LCMs to rock soup Patton's Third Army across river after river. Uncle George was a Motorman Machinist's Mate 3rd Class on an "M" boat. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted June 3, 2019 Author Share Posted June 3, 2019 (edited) One of the guys over on the CoC FB group just built a 40 mm Bofors and crew. This tripped a synapse to my RoW fight "Tiger Valley" in which I M-Killed a Tiger 1 from the flank, unfortunately stranding it on the somewhat elevated railway, thus giving it excellent fields of fire for the duration of the scenario, since the crew didn't bail out but stayed and fought. That led me to this great Axis Forum thread where I was fascinated to learn the Germans classified it as DP (flak & ATG) and that the CW trained to use the Bofors against armor. Not only is there great info here on the Bofors vs armor but also new to me info on the 3.7-Inch vs armor.https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=194230&fbclid=IwAR3F41uFV9_6jy_va8AzPBMzBuiAVMjZb7aRGW5YmVA-Qku5nepW92E8W-E Regards, John Kettler Edited June 3, 2019 by John Kettler 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 I recall the old AH game Tobruk certainly did nothing to discourage its use against armor. Individual shells might not penetrate, but the rate of fire was so high that you could pound the bastard to scrap! Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted June 7, 2019 Author Share Posted June 7, 2019 MIchael Emrys, Used to have the game, but never got that far. My friends rejected the game because the vital infantry side of things was viewed as an afterthought and the hit probabilities were low because there was no guidance on what effective range was. Fans of the Finns and/or FA will love this! Has a couple of spectacular videos. https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a27663007/rocket-artillery-drone/ From the same magazine comes this brand new piece of Army next-gen rifles and squad weapons. Big changes ahead, both in electronics and the firearms proper. We're leaving 5.56 and going to 6.8 to defeat body armor at long range. Essential reading. https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a27702571/next-generation-squad-weapon/ Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted June 7, 2019 Author Share Posted June 7, 2019 (edited) Here's a fabulous infographic showing how truly massive the Normandy invasion really was.https://military.id.me/firepower/lets-never-forget-just-how-enormous-d-day-really-was/?utm_source=SOV&utm_medium=post&utm_content=kevin&utm_campaign=052516&fbclid=IwAR0OL5tvtAfIZn5XZSnlvy-bUKXZis7DEHNGav-xp-8_4jvtTyjySsao2Bo Regards, John Kettler Edited June 7, 2019 by John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 Note that folks regards casualties as "very high", but at about 14,000 out of about 130,000 that's about 11% - and they would be nearly all combat troops as doubt there would be many rear echelon troops on the beach the first day. So, 10%+ casualties in a CM game is high. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted June 7, 2019 Author Share Posted June 7, 2019 (edited) Dream job for someone with the right credentials--while the rest of us drool. Lecturer in War Studies (Wargaming) at KIng's College London!https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BST558/lecturer-in-war-studies-wargaming?fbclid=IwAR02hvcS_fPmjc4HbA_H9TghbiVcc5iEGy6siCx7A7h8_HFLUcedFCGeRg0 Regards, John Kettler Edited June 7, 2019 by John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 (edited) With the prices sm seeing in London (esp accommodation) you'd have to also have a 2nd job as a pizza delivery boy (or similar) to be able to afford to live here and teach at King's College lol. Can't see how anyone can live in London with a decent standard of living with much under 75K. Edited June 7, 2019 by Erwin 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 17 hours ago, John Kettler said: My friends rejected the game because the vital infantry side of things was viewed as an afterthought... At the time the game was produced (some 43 years ago if memory serves), fighting in NA was seen as mainly a tank vs. tank affair with infantry and artillery dismissed as merely spear carriers. I expect that may have colored your friends' perceptions somewhat. For my part, I saw the mechanics of infantry combat as very well thought out, much better than in its contemporary game Squad Leader, for instance. For instance in the way that casualties led to a gradual and measured degradation of combat power. It was just that this part of the war was not a theater where all this could shine. The great pity is that the game system for infantry was never applied in a game where it could be properly appreciated. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 1 hour ago, Erwin said: Can't see how anyone can live in London with a decent standard of living with much under 75K. Pounds or dollars? Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted June 8, 2019 Share Posted June 8, 2019 GBP... To be comfortable or to buy a house I reckon you'd need (well) over 100K GBP income. Hard to find anything much under 500K to buy. An ok house in a mediocre area may be in the 750K-1.5 million quid range. Nice houses in a good area are easily 2-4 million quid. Rents are equally high. Many lovely single family houses are being ripped apart into multiple apartments - maybe in the 300-500K range in a mediocre area. Also, very little offstreet parking in London means that areas where houses have been turned into multiple apartments are very frustrating to find a parking spot. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted June 9, 2019 Author Share Posted June 9, 2019 Here's an important book on a topic of which I know but bits and pieces. Winning Latin America over was essential to Allied victory for a stack of reasons. Of particular interest to the CM players is that it goes into the Brazilian Army's fight against Hitler.https://www.wlrn.org/post/tango-war-why-america-had-win-latin-america-win-world-war-ii Regards, John Kettler 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted June 9, 2019 Share Posted June 9, 2019 Every now and again JK, you do find some cool stuff. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted June 11, 2019 Author Share Posted June 11, 2019 This is from a dead Tumblr, but the caption read "anticlinal, sinclinal." Vague memory says it has to do with rock formations and their orientation. Regardless, I found the image arresting. Regards, John Kettler 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted June 11, 2019 Share Posted June 11, 2019 (edited) Never realised a fold in the earth's crust could be so literal. PS - It also shows that those 'Ditch Locking Fails' that we sometimes have in the editor, when making hills, don't always need to be corrected. Edited June 11, 2019 by Sgt.Squarehead 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted June 12, 2019 Share Posted June 12, 2019 15 hours ago, John Kettler said: ...the caption read "anticlinal, sinclinal." Vague memory says it has to do with rock formations and their orientation. There is even an illustration accompanying the definition in the Merriam Webster New American Collegiate Dictionary, 11th. Edition. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted June 12, 2019 Author Share Posted June 12, 2019 Andy, The place once might have made a great secret lair, but now a zillion people have seen it. Will take your word on the Ditch Locking. Michael Emrys, You're starting to worry me, and I used to read the Funk & Wagnall's Dictionary (had a cool photo section with US WW II armor and aircraft) and Encyclopedia Americana when in the 4th Grade! Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted June 19, 2019 Author Share Posted June 19, 2019 One of the CoC guys was trying to help someone modeling the French Army in Italy in 1944 and mentioned there was an article on it in LIFE magazine. Here is that article. Some of the pics are a bit gory, but the color photo series is of great value on a number of fronts. Also, this article has that pic we discussed quite some time ago of a Semovente da 75 mm outside an aid post with a bunch of Allied armor behind it.https://books.google.com/books?id=9VAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA55&dq=esperia&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj25uO7oPTiAhVJgK0KHX5uA5IQuwUINDAC#v=onepage&q=esperia&f=false Got it by way of a Google online full collection of LIFE magazine. https://books.google.com/books?id=N0EEAAAAMBAJ#all_issues_anchor Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted June 19, 2019 Author Share Posted June 19, 2019 (edited) In response to a CoC player wishing to depict the SPR US Airborne troops, one of hi fellow CoCers provided this link to a Leavenworth paper on selected Ranger combat ops. Regards, John Kettler Edited June 19, 2019 by John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted June 21, 2019 Author Share Posted June 21, 2019 (edited) Here is August 7, 1944 LIFE magazine. Normandy hedgerow fighting is in an article on page 18. There's a pic of a GI in a heavily protected ex-German dugout. He's wearing cammies! https://books.google.com/books?id=-04EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA17&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=2#v=onepage&q&f=false The August 14, 1944 edition covers the Normandy breakout and has some marvelous pictures. Recommend zooming out so you can see the pics at original size.https://books.google.com/books?id=9VAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA19&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=2#v=onepage&q&f=false The August 21, 1944 edition has a bunch of stuff on Normandy fighting, but the real gem is the story of the Navy Radioman 1C who refused to surrender when Guam fell to the Japanese and hid out for 2 years, setting the tone for the Japanese soldier who did the same for 40 years when the island was recaptured.https://books.google.com/books?id=9lAEAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false Regards, John Kettler Edited June 21, 2019 by John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted June 22, 2019 Author Share Posted June 22, 2019 (edited) Found this juicy GPW site (Russian Federation MoD sponsored). Unfortunately, the English translation function doesn't work! Even so, it's awash with photos, maps, docs, etc.https://pamyat-naroda.ru/ This also juicy one is mostly Russian. Why mostly? The translate button covers home page and the instructions for the search functions, but not one of the documents is translated. Also, to name search, as best I call tell, you'll need to make your entry in Russian.http://podvignaroda.ru/?#tab=navHome Here's but one thing I found by simply following links from the first page. It alone has 515 digital photos of GPW original typed, carbon copy and mimeoed Red Army documents from 1941.http://podvignaroda.ru/?#id=2000743&tab=navDetailDocument Regards, John Kettler Edited June 22, 2019 by John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted June 23, 2019 Author Share Posted June 23, 2019 After discovering Engines of the Red Army had a blog, I learned it has a sister site, too. Engines of the Wehrmacht. It's way behind the former as far as being well fleshed, but the site owner has taken some steps to begin to change that. The first has a new button (Campaigns) added, and it's full of good stuff, such as this helpful set of charts from multiple sources on LL shipments of AFVs and softskins to the SU. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted June 25, 2019 Author Share Posted June 25, 2019 Here's a bit of a shocker, but a reminder of how dangerous old UXO can be. Apparently, it doesn't need provoking in order to lash out. This will probably be beneficial to a number of firms which specialize in determining where UXB fell, based on gaps in the BDA pattern. Sobering. Had this occurred in any number of places, there could've been a disaster. Back in California over a decade ago a 2000 pound WW II bomb was found when making a road cut near Mount Saint Mary College, forcing the temporary evacuation of everyone there. Memory's hazy, so I don't recall whether the area used to be a bombing range or what.https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/crater-in-german-field-apparently-caused-by-wwii-bomb/ar-AADlxsf?ocid=sf Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted June 25, 2019 Author Share Posted June 25, 2019 If you'd like to see a real pirate era naval gun, here's a superb example. Unfortunately, the museum failed to list the weight of the shot in its detailed description--along with the country! Note the metal wheels of the period. Later designs in the 18th and early 19th Centuriy used wooden wheels.https://www.artic.edu/artworks/116158/naval-gun-with-carriage Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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