DCS Black Shark 2 - Thunder Run, Russian Style - Briefing

When bullets start flying, there is nothing more precious to a Russian Army commander than key terrain.

It is not just real state, it's the early door opening that unhinges the enemy's resistance.

Combat Mission Battles for Normandy - Commonwealth Forces Module Released

Man, I know it was near release but I wasn't expecting it today.

This new Combat Mission module brings new formations and missions. UK, Canadian, Polish for the Allies and Waffen SS and Luftwaffe Field Divisions, all for some great 3D tactical war gaming.

ArmA 2 Operation Arrowhead - Named Area of Interest "Viking" - Fear in Shades of Green: Covert Attrition

Even for non-special forces, the acme of the infiltration-exfiltration combo is the enemy not knowing of your presence.

But in the context of our long term mission, that BMP wasn't going to make our lives easier when the day to attack the outpost comes.

Companion Website and Discussion Group

Hi,

The blog has grown a lot, real life is not getting any simpler and we have some collateral damage.

1. The change to a new Blogger template has rendered the blog's search function useless. As a result of that, older blogger entries are virtually inaccessible and unknown for readers who started reading the blog in the last year or so.
2. Due to the limited time that I have available for gaming and blogging, many entries have been divided in several parts. This results in a very uncomfortable reading experience for the followers of the blog.
3. Again, due to the limited time I have available, virtually all comments the readers post in the blog have gone unanswered for the last 4 months.

I thought about it and here are two things I came up with:

• I opened a companion website where I will post the most read entries of the blog. There are many blog entries I want to share with those of you who many not had a chance to read them. Entries that in the blog are divided in parts will be available in just one page of the companion website. I was thinking about offering a pdf version of some of those but I don't know if there is enough interest for that.
• I also opened a discussion group so you can comment and discuss without the constrains of the Blogger comment feature. I'm not so sure how seamless is this Google discussion groups thing, but at least is something. My free time is unlikely to get any bigger, but I'm hoping to read great discussions about these games and sims we love.

All of the above subject to a very good amount of future tweaking and modification.

Cheers,

ArmA 2 - Asymmetric Warfare Components

BO has been there and has seen these weapons. He has been working for some time into bringing them into ArmA 2. This is his latest video update. Enjoy.

Wanted to try to bring a little more realism to the game via the unknown. That unknown is of course IED's in all their dreadful forms. This is still a WIP. I understand the sensitive nature of this killer all too well. As a active duty member of the Armed Forces (Combat Engineer), I've deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq and have come face to face with them. So please, no hate mail.

Cheers,

Microsoft Flight - It's Free and it Will Cost You a Fortune

Microsoft Flight was released this week. I knew beforehand that I would not like it, so for me it was destined to be a big "meh!". Yeah, no complains, no rants, not even a comment of what Flight is or is not. Installed it, flew a bit, uninstalled and forgot about it within hours.

But I don't want to leave you with just my apathy for Microsoft Flight. As pathetic as it is, let's review the reviews. :p

There is a great commentary about it at SimHQ. Favorite quote on flight modelling "crashing actually takes some work".

Another review at the Flying magazine calls it a big disappointment. Favorite quote about the pricing model  "Microsoft expects users to pay for add-on content, and maybe some would. My guess is few pilots will." (bold is mine)

The guys at Rock Paper Shotgun have a great article on it too. With their usual awesome style they wrote a piece that is both gobs of fun and informative if you can read between the lines. When they post a picture of an Icon A5 landed in impossible places, you laugh ... And if you were expecting a flight simulator, then you cry a bit afterwards. 

AVSIM has its review too. Long. As an apology to an angry wife. AVSIM loves Flight with a passion and that's OK. But if you go through their forums, it feels like if AVSIM has adopted a sort of policy about Flight, and that is you like it or you are out. These guys have completely lost credibility with me. It is just plainly embarrassing to browse their Flight forums and see staff and other assorted honchos criticizing negative reviews of Flight like the two first above. It is not kosher to criticize other reviews on petty flaws. Sorry AVSIM guys but I will stay away from your webpage for a long while. But thank you anyway for the big advertisement banner that forwarded me to Flight's webpage ... 

Cheers, 

Steam and Iron: The Great War at Sea - Naval Exercise in the North Sea - Part Two

The game: Steam and Iron: The Great War at Sea
The purpose: Take some German dreadnoughts into a practice, randomly generated scenario

These is the British light cruiser division I couldn't pursue.

Today: quick entry, bean counting for my latest victory at sea.

Take On Helicopters Review at SimHQ

A good, balanced and thorough review at SimHQ.com:

http://www.simhq.com/_air14/air_514a.html

I was thinking of picking a copy Take On Helicopters (the helicopter
flight sim from the same guys who made ArmA 2) but I was a bit
reluctant after the extremely poor handling of vehicles in ArmA 2.
Both ArmA 2 and Take On share the same game engine, I heard.

The review at SimHQ points out that the handling of the helos in Take
On is not that good and that many physical effects of helicopter
flying are not modelled.

Thanks SimHQ for the review, you saved me money. :) I'm not surprised
that Take On feels a bit off in the physics department: you can get
stuck in a bush just walking around in ArmA 2. :)

Cheers,

(Posted from my tablet).

Crusader Kings II - Medieval Europe's Kings, Mayors, Dukes, Doges, Counts and Everybody in Between

They say all politics is local and boy in the latest grand-strategy Paradox's game Crusader Kings II politics is as local as across the hallway of your virtual palace.

The game spans from September 1066 to May 1453 and it is played over a map that covers all of Europe, the Middle East, northern Africa and what nowadays is European Russia.

A massive and highly detailed portrayal of the intricate political, religious and economical landscape of medieval Europe, Crusader Kings II follows in the steps of Sengoku with a gameplay where your character matters most. Yes, it is all about you and your dynasty now and you better watch out who you marry, who you ally with, who likes you or not, and who may be plotting to kill you.

I am still on the look for a strategy game that will not demand me to quit my day job, and the size and scope of Crusader Kings II has certainly caught my attention. Follow the link the below for some screenshots of an exploratory game session I enjoyed this weekend.

ArmA 2 Operation Arrowhead - Named Area of Interest "Viking" - Fear in Shades of Green: Up to the Wire

The decision to attack the combat outpost is a go. Much of what we can do with the Takistani rebels (assault or attack by fire) depends on that concertina wire that surrounds the outpost. Tonight, my best scout and me will infiltrate the combat outpost to determine if the wire is likely to be breached with an off-road vehicle.

Gamer's note: I'm using the Zeus Mod, which allegedly gives the AI a bit more wisdom. In this particular night mission, I hope the mod improves the AI's awareness to noise. This mission makes use of the plain vanilla "guard" waypoint, which will drive enemy AI units towards any detected infiltrators. So, our plan is to stay undetected.