istari Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 OK - one last question and I'll stop spamming the boards. It's really fun to be "getting back into the Combat Mission groove" and asking questions about the underlying warfare concepts rather than discussing game bugs. I was an avid player of Steel Panthers II and became quite familiar with the range of modern land weaponry circa 1999-2000. However, I've been off playing Combat Mission in World War II for the past seven years and there haven't been any other modern wargames of note. Yes there were games like Full Spectrum Warrior, but none I can think of that required an intimate knowledge of the modern US armed forces post 9/11. Now I'm discovering that a lot has changed in the US armed forces since Steel Panthers II! What is this M32 AGL thingie? How does FBCB2 work? What's the real difference between the M1A1SA, M1A1 FEP, M1A2SA and the M1A2SEP??? Can anyone recommend good resources for bringing myself up to speed with the latest gear & tactical organizations of the US Army and USMC circa 2008? Many thanks!! Chris 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Field Marshal Blücher Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 At a really basic level, the game manual goes into at least a little detail about the differences between the tanks. I don't know that many other resources, but I'm sure there are others who do. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SgtMuhammed Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Global Security This is a pretty good site. Lots of stuff. Look in the Military section and then the Systems subsection for specific weapons. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
istari Posted October 14, 2008 Author Share Posted October 14, 2008 Hi guys - Thanks for the tips. I did check out the Global Security site, and it's a good start. I recognize this as the old FAS.org site, and a lot of the information is getting pretty dated. Many entries describe "planned for introduction in 2003..." etc, so I wonder if there are other resources that are even more up-to-date. I imagine alot has changed in response to lessons learned since 2003 in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Chris 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luderbamsen Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 Hi guys - Thanks for the tips. I did check out the Global Security site, and it's a good start. I recognize this as the old FAS.org site, and a lot of the information is getting pretty dated. Many entries describe "planned for introduction in 2003..." etc, so I wonder if there are other resources that are even more up-to-date. I imagine alot has changed in response to lessons learned since 2003 in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Chris One of the problems is that these things change extremely rapidly. Since 2003 (the beginning of the Iraq war), new equipment has been aquired and delivered at an extreme place. A good example is the MRAP's; the mine-protected armoured trucks much used in Iraq. Some have been in use for quite some time (notably by EOD units and such), but the bulk of MRAP vehicles (and there are lots of them now, so many that front line commanders actually asked for delivery to be slowed down) have been delivered to a wide range of units within a very short period of time. And just to make sure it's as confusing as possible. There isn't just one MRAP but a whole range of vehicles in different models and sizes, from different manufacturers. Unless you sift through a host of defense news websites, newsletters and press releases on a more or less daily basis, it's almost impossible to keep up with the changes. There are some people who keep track of these things for a living, but they don't come cheap. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwolf Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 The Army has all the field manuals online. This is very useful and usable information for the wargamer, in fact it is about the top of the crop when it comes to "how do I...": Popular: http://www.army.mil/USAPA/doctrine/index.html More: http://www.army.mil/USAPA/doctrine/Active_FM.html Yours truly publisher BFC also sell's MajorH's (of TacOps fame) of manuals that has been preselected for interesting stuff, some hard to get items and put on a CD at a low price. %% The one and only publication to get a real grip on what's going on on the ground in Iraq, Afghanistan and at home is the Marine Corps Gazette. A monthly magazine full of valuable info. And you get all the self-bashing you might want to read, too. The Army has "Armor" (I think it's called "Armor and Cavalry" now), a bi-monthly magazine. But it's much less boots-on-ground and contains less info that seems valuable for outsiders compared to the Marines' Gazette. Get the Gazette and work through some field manuals. It's not the same as regular books that don't really teach (Isby, Zaloga etc. excepted). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnO Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 The Army has all the field manuals online. This is very useful and usable information for the wargamer, in fact it is about the top of the crop when it comes to "how do I...": Popular: http://www.army.mil/USAPA/doctrine/index.html More: http://www.army.mil/USAPA/doctrine/Active_FM.html To access those FMs you need an AKO account. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwolf Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 Oh. Is that new? I don't remember ever having to go by a password. Anyway, good reason to buy MajorH's CD. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnO Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 Yep, been like that for about three years however I do have allot of those FMs on my private site SBCT, HBCT and Marine documents. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apocal Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Yep, been like that for about three years however I do have allot of those FMs on my private site SBCT, HBCT and Marine documents. Is FM 3-90.5 for public release? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grunt_GI Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 If you want to read operational histories...this is the best site out there. http://usacac.army.mil/CAC2/CSI/SpecialStudies.asp#B2B 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Jack Ripper Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 http://www.fas.org/programs/ssp/man/index.html FAS.org - Military Analysis Network. It's like GlobalSecurity but without the ads on every page. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnO Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 Is FM 3-90.5 for public release? No, it's still not releasable to the public. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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