Fighting the Desant - ArmA 2 Army of the Czech Republic - Briefing

This is a fictional custom-made scenario of ArmA 2 featuring a platoon-sized Russian heliborne assault across a river. The Czech Army squad under my command is outnumbered and outgunned.



A few hours before the fight. A rifleman from my scout squad along our Pandur II APC.

Migrating to a New Rig - Expect Some Delays

I'm migrating my games to a new computer and it is taking some time ... Posting has not been great during the last few weeks, I know. The migration will certainly add some insult to injury.

Cheers,

Levels of Tactical Proficiency: The Beginner Wargamer and Terrain, Part 2 - Combat Mission Battle for Normandy

Orders issued, men move ahead. The objective is the ford, two (squads) up, one back. That's pretty much it for our beginner wargamer.

With one single waypoint for each unit, the beginner wargamer leaves his men to figure out their paths. In the screenshot above, one squad has to negotiate the hedgerow to reach its destination. The result is not pretty as they become exposed to fields of fire across the river.

DCS UH-1H Huey Beta: Of All Things That Could be Off ...

... Why it had to be an over-reactive pitch angle?

Still a work in progress (it's a beta after all) but praised by enthusiasts and real life pilots all around discussion boards, this thing has all the signs of a big winner in the twitchy world of helicopter flight simulators. When real helicopter pilots say the DCS Huey flies very close to the real Huey, I listen.

According to the official discussion forums, one of the tweaks the flight model needs (besides a likely over-modelled vortex ring state) is the virtual Huey's over-sensitivity and over-response of the pitch angle.

Levels of Tactical Proficiency: The Beginner Wargamer and Terrain, Part 1 - Combat Mission Battle for Normandy

This is is going to be a series of three blog entries. The main idea is to make an educated guess of what the game play of three war gamers (one beginner, one intermediate and one expert) would look like for the same scenario. The focus will be the use of terrain and depending on the reception I can expand it to other aspects of tactical proficiency. I have chosen just three levels but I am sure there are more in between and that what I will show for both the low and high end of the scale may be the subject of debate.

The current modules of Combat Mission are the mecca of tactical war gaming.  Despite their limited capability in terms of forces and map sizes and some other minor peeves gamers may have out there, the series has become a genre in itself. Most importantly, the use of real life tactics is the bread and butter of gameplay.

I am going to use a very tiny stock scenario from the Combat Mission Battles for Normandy. This scenario features a platoon sized US infantry team supported by a mortar tube. Their mission is to secure a ford. Resistance is light and the terrain is close bocage countryside. Spoilers ahead!

DCS World Gets an Update and a New (Beta) Chopper

Both and update for DCS World and the DCS: UH-1H Huey have been released a few days ago.

In view of the usual servers' clogging immediately after release of anything, I procrastinated a couple of days until today and then treated myself to this fine update and new module.

Command and (Out of) Control: HPS Sims' Ancient Warfare Series

Something different today, folks. Not only hexes and turns, but also a period of warfare I haven't visited in years. 

I heard a lot about the Ancient Warfare series from HPS Simulations, but never actually had enough encouragement to try it. My friend Javier, who refuses to read my blog (will do when you post something about ancient or medieval warfare, he says), has always insisted that I should try it.

So here I am, liking this engine a lot, and disliking Javier's repeated "told you so!" grin.

Soviet Squad Tactics in WWII: Of Guides and Good Shots (Iron Front Liberation)

The basic squad tactics do not differ that much among the major powers that fought in WWII. Achieve fire superiority, fix/suppress and assault (preferably in the flanks of the enemy). However, training, weapons and just plain cultural differences sometimes are interesting details to explore.

DCS World, Combined Arms - (Almost) New Stuff I Really Like in the Editor

The wait for the new version V1.2.4 and the DCS UH-1H Huey is taking longer than most fans have thought. Oh, well. Nonetheless these are two things in the editor that were added more or less recently and that I love in the current version.

Number one: AI- controlled helicopters can now land in places other than airbases ramps and runways. This is great to simulate helo insertions.

Hasty Defense at the Fulda Gap- Steel Beasts ProPE AAR - Part 5 and Final: Barely Winning at Attrition, Badly Losing at Maneuver

This is the final part of the AAR I re-took on Saturday. In a textbook case of "overstaying at a battle position", the tank platoons are flanked by remnants of the Soviet armored thrust. Time to move out!

Tanks of the 2nd. Platoon (background) successfully engage some T-72s that made it through the central avenue of approach of our sector.