German Squad Tactics in WWII: Live and Die by the Light Machine Gun (Iron Front Liberation D-Day)

I've got flanked pretty bad today, and I shouldn't have ...

Insurgency in the North Caucasian Federal District - War Stories From the Front Lines: # 9 To Miss a Drone

This entry is the first of two debriefs from two Russian officers involved in the same action at the Kodori Gorge, Abkhazia.

From a custom-made mission edited in DCS World. 

Close Combat: Panthers in the Fog - Review

Close Combat: Panthers in the Fog
Developed by Black Hand Studios
Published by Matrix/Slitherine Games
39.99 US Dollars (Download)
49.99 US Dollars (Download and CD)

07AUG1944. The German XLVII Corps launches a counter-offensive east of Mortain with the objective of cutting-off the US 3rd Army. Operation Lüttich is one of the best known German counterattacks during the Battle of Normandy and one of the most poorly executed German attacks in record. Plagued by lack of coordination, poor logistics and in some cases just the lack of will by some commanders, the Germans lost the initiative to the Americans in just one day. The close terrain was ill-suited for the German tanks and the Americans, although outgunned on paper, were ready to bring up a significant amount of reserves to the fight. This was a fluid battle of punches and counter-punches. Men, tanks and fire support weapons skating on the unforgiving thin tactical ice of the bocage. It doesn't get any better for tactical war gaming.

Insurgency in the North Caucasian Federal District - War Stories From the Front Lines: #8 Brief Firefight After a Crash Landing in Ingushetia

Mládshiy Serzhánt Yuri Bubunenko's squad (18th Independent Motor Rifle Brigade) narrowly escaped death after a crash landing of their helicopter transport.

Played as a custom-made single player scenario in ArmA 2. The map is Chernarus (is there a good Georgia map for ArmA 2?) The mod for the Russian forces has been kindly recommended by a reader of the blog. It's the "Armed Forces of the Russian Federation" mod. Thanks, NW! The strength of the enemy is known to me (16 insurgents, including an AA team, moving in two trucks, one of them with a mounted ZsU gun ), but their initial position and way points not (random placement radius from 0 to 2 km). 

Comms Restored

The blog has been the target of a massive spam attack around new year's eve. What gives?
So I disabled comments as a preventive measure.
I think it's sorted out now. I wish I could have switched to other comment/discussion platform, but alas Google is not very third-party friendly ...

Keep your comments coming!

Cheers,

JC

Scourge of War Chancellorsville - Review

Scourge of War Chancellorsville
Developed by NorbSoftDev
Published by Matrix/Slitherine Games
29.99 US Dollars (Download)
39.99 US Dollars (Download and CD)

Introduction

The Battle of Chancellorsville (May 1–5, 1863) was a Union's Army of the Potomac attack on the Confederate's Army of Northern Virginia. Unusual for an Army commanded by the offensive-driven character of Confederate General Lee, the opening moves of the battle find the rebels in the defensive along the Rappahannock River. The supply situation was not good for either side. The Union Army of the Potomac was now under the orders of the no less aggressive General Hooker, who devised a plan for a single envelopment aimed at cutting off the supply and retreat routes of the Confederates. General Hooker's relative success during the opening moves was wasted when he retreated towards the village of Chancellorsville and assumed a defensive posture. It was all for grabs from there for the Confederates. Not unlike a mini/tactical version of the operations of Frederick the Great or Napoleon during his last campaign, General Lee managed to split his army and fight simultaneously the Union fixing forces at the Rappahannock and the Union main maneuver force on his left flank. Furthermore, if one looks closely the march of Confederate General Jackson's Corps against the Union flank has nothing to envy at Frederick's march at Leuthen. A battle of maneuvers and counter-maneuvers is always a great war gaming topic.

Insurgency in the North Caucasian Federal District - War Stories From the Front Lines: #7 Use of Cluster Munitions at an Insurgent-Held Pigging Facility

Captain Vasily Kashlev, 118th Independent Helicopter Squadron (Russian Air Force) flew this mission a few days after evading capture near Piatygorsk. This mission was worryingly near the Mineralnye Vody base of operations. In a stormy morning, some 20 Km north of the airbase, a pipeline inspection gauge launch/recovery (pigging) facility was seized by a team of insurgents.

This was played as a custom-made single player mission in Black Shark 2 (DCS World).

Iron Front Liberation 1944 D Day DLC - The Killzone

The D Day DLC for Iron Front Liberation 1944 has been out since a week or so. Very nimble in content, toys, factions and real estate, at least is a taste of the WWII Western Front. Today, I took a squad of US Army grunts into the Normandy countryside.

We can still smell the sea and our trip south into Normandy is cumbersome. Every turn in the road has to be checked and re-checked before moving onto them. 

Unit of Command: Red Turn DLC Now Available

It is here! Unity of Command, one of the best designed and produced war games aimed at both the new and not-so-new generations has now an expansion.

The strategic tide has turned (no pun intended) and the Soviets are pushing west.

Falcon 4 BMS - Package 6828: Escort - Debrief

This entry is the debrief of the mission I briefed about a few hours ago. Again pardon the mess of jagged lines in the screenshots ... I had some issues with my graphics card.