Game Vs Book II - The Polish-Soviet War 1919-1920 - Part Three

The virtual war was marred by bad leadership, awful logistics and other assorted operational diseases that almost killed many of the real life armies.

In this entry, my hard won victory against the Polish Army.

Landing the C-130: Almost Decent Now - Video Included!

I've mentioned before that I want to perform a tactical landing in the C-130 in the civilian flight simulator X-Plane 10. A quick reality check took me back into the drawing board: how to avoid the huge tendency of the C-130 to yaw during my flights.

Flying over Lake Ontario. In my flight from Andrews AFB (MD)  to Niagara Falls International Airport (NY), I strayed a bit too far north, almost reaching Canada.

Iron Front Liberation 44 - AAR - A Pak 40 Platoon (-) Protects the Flank of an Armored Counterattack - Mission Briefing

A custom made scenario to try out the pros and cons of the use of AT guns in support of offensive tactical missions. I am in command of an AT gun platoon (-), at the minimal strength allowed by German WWII doctrine (2 guns).

Combat Mission Fortress Italy - Map Making with Google Maps

The pillbox array shown below was hard to resist and I immersed myself into map making in Combat Mission Fortress Italy.

Pillbox defenses east of Licata. Way east, I must add. Pardon the black bar in the bottom, it's my tablet's.

Tactical Leader's Trait 1: Vision (Part 2 of 2)

I've just eliminated a serious threat to my Marine's advance, and I just understood my role as a fire team leader a bit more.

Tactical Leader's Trait 1: Vision (Part 1 of 2)

Phaeden sent me a new beta version of his Twentynine Palms ArmA 2 map (thanks Phaeden!) a while ago and I got the privilege to play a bit more on it. Today I played in a location named "Camp Phaeden", which looks like a MOUT training area.

The training mission I created was simple. What I got out of it, not so.

Combat Mission Fortress Italy - Scenario Design at the Postgraduate Level

This is the type of scenario quality that I hope everybody can appreciate as much as I do. "Biazzo Ridge", by Jon Martina, is a great scenario included in Fortress Italy with added value in the form of a history lesson and  scenario-design know how. Not that other scenarios in the Fortress Italy game don't deserve praise. I just chose and played this one today and I thought of writing a bit about it before calling it a day.

Yes fellows, that guy with the binoculars is the legendary partrooper Colonel Gavin (see the unit info at the bottom left, user interface menu). He is close to the Acate Rail Station looking towards the Biazzo Ridge.  Many of the other subordinate leaders  in the scenario have their correct names too.

On My Way to Tactical Landing Practice

I know that blog entries about flying are not that popular, more so the ones revolving about a civilian (non-combat) flight simulator. But the man needs to fly. One of the thrills I want to experience in the virtual world is a tactical landing with a big bird.

Game Vs Book II - The Polish-Soviet War 1919-1920 - Part Two

The game's first hit is that neither side is able to mount a full blown military operation at the beginning of the hostilities. There is some movement on the Polish side around the Ukraine, but it looks like a timid reconnaissance in force. I've ordered my Ukraine front to fall back to the Dnieper River for a complete reorganization. My initial hopes for an offensive in the Ukraine after such reorganization are quickly smashed by the apparent size of the Polish forces (a full blown army of at least two corps). I have been promised reinforcements for my Ukraine Front (Budyonny's Konarmia, also known as the 1st Cavalry Army), but their arrival time to the front is still unknown (I'm having issues with my military rail capacity). So the Ukraine Front is set for a defensive line at the Dnieper River, with the main effort in the strategic city of Kiev and secondary efforts at Cherkasy and Ekaterinoslav (the three main river crossings). The time for an offensive in the Ukraine will be tied to the events north of the Prypiat marshes (the SouthWestern Front) and to what the Polish forces are able to pull out. I'm secretly hoping that they falter and get diluted in the plains down there.

Operations plan for the first phase of the hostilities. Click the image for a better view.

Combat Mission Fortress Italy - Sottotenente Cirillo "Bambino" Guerrini Repels a US Army Attack

It was a rare moment of luck for me. I found my Italian troops in possession of key terrain that turned out be the quintessential defile.

Combat Mission Fortress Italy has been out since two weeks already. It was about time for me to try it out so I basically suspended my life yesterday and played it like there was no tomorrow. This is a microscopic story of one of the scenarios that I played. I will limit this entry to what you will read below because I don't want to spoil the whole scenario for you.