The Troubled Shores of a Soviet "Island of Resistance" - Part 1 - Iron Front Liberation 44

Soviet anti-tank defenses in World War II were always in depth, organized in so-called "islands of resistance". These islands were interconnected, mutually supported strong points organized around fortified villages or natural accidents of terrain that were favorable to the defender.

This custom, single player scenario features of such islands and the command post that coordinates the defense from it. The other topic of this scenario is the Soviet use of combat engineers in anti-tank warfare. Upon the identification of the enemy's axis of attack, each combat engineer would carry 5 anti-tank mines onto the enemy's path and deploy them to slow the armored advance. In this scenario I'm playing as the commander of a group of 3 combat engineers assigned to an anti-tank strong point. The readers are urged to take the outcome of this scenario with a big grain of salt, as the outcome of the anti-tank gun vs. tank duel turned out to be questionable.

War Maps, Documents and Other Resources - #1 WWII Aerial Photos and Maps

Let's share some websites containing maps, documents, photos and other useful information. In this first entry, a website listed in a book I am reading.

The battle of Kharkov as viewed by German Army staff. Posted here as an example, without permission. Just contact me if this image here is an issue ...

ArmA 3 Beta: Now Featuring the Giganormous Island of Altis

If you have the beta and are subscribed to the development branch, you should have gotten a new island to play. Altis, the biggest official map/island of the series ...

Packing a lot of real estate to fight over, Altis is as beautiful as big. I booted my computer a few minutes ago with the firm intention of ignoring it but it was just too hard to resist. Please come in and see some screenshots ...

Maneuvering Towards St. James Chruch - Scourge of War Brandy Station

We are Cavalry. We live and breathe dashing and bold maneuvers ...

I suppose that is how it works for real troopers. In this Scourge of War scenario, I am in command again of the 1st US Cavalry Division and my mission is to clear the Confederate cavalry from their defensive position at St. James Church. I played this mission at "grognard" difficulty, which forces the player's view to the commander's one (no panoramic, birds eye view or free camera view). At this difficulty level, the orders are distributed by couriers.

How Panzer Group 3 Got Its Ugly Left Flank - Moscow '41

Most of the times I load a medium-sized Panzer Campaign's scenario, I get into it without much thought about the big picture or the things that historically were happening around the piece of the battle at hand. This scenario (Kalinin), was an exception.

This is the north flank of Panzer Group 3, 13Oct1941. The push for Moscow has already started and here I am in command of part of XXXXI Panzer Corps (1st Pz.Div., 900th Motorized Brigade and the 36th Motorized Division) and even less of the LVI Panzer Corps (6th Pz. Div.). What caught my interest is that we are pushing north east towards Kalinin, not Moscow (not shown here but located east). Also, what's up with such extended flanks? Our forces are spread on a 70+ Km stretch from Staritsa to Kalinin. We have the Volga shielding us from the Russians west of the river ... But a single Pz. Div. covering our east flank?

The New and Revamped Armor Magazine's Web Home is Great

    

The Armor Journal is a great companion for your forays into Steel Beasts ProPE and Combat Mission Shock Force.

This may not be exactly news for many of you out there ... But here it is nonetheless, from eArmor:

ARMOR magazine is the Armor Branch’s professional-development bulletin, printed quarterly and found on-line athttp://www.benning.army.mil/armor/eARMOR/.

ARMOR:

• Provides a forum to assist the Chief of Armor in explaining Army doctrine, policy or other definitive information;
• Enables the exchange of information and ideas, thereby enhancing mission-related professional dialogue between the Armor School and Armor Branch soldiers;
• Provides professional development to leaders and Soldiers;
• Encourages esprit de corps through our Distinctive Unit Insignia series.

eARMOR is ARMOR’s Web-based operation, of course, but more, eARMOR as a portal:

• Provides enhanced research capability through linkage with Donovan Research Library’s digital collections (coming soon; eARMOR is in its infancy at initial operating capability (IOC) now);
• Posts articles not published in ARMOR (available on the Web only) biweekly to make information available in a more timely manner and locate Armor-related news in a centrally accessible place;
• Reinforces branch esprit de corps by offering a heritage section with an historical article series not found in ARMOR as well as ARMOR’s popular “Featured Unit”;
• Exploits the wealth of historical knowledge ARMOR readers have with the “historical series” (featuring notable Armor leaders as well as Armor-related battles, battlefields and equipment, for instance);
• Provides a central location for links to Armor School social-media presences that will enable the Armor community to better navigate the Internet for Armor-specific information;
• Provides (in the future) Armor-centric multimedia products such as videos and slide presentations to give visually oriented people information in the format they prefer.

A Successful Far Ambush Has a Lot to Do with Good Gunnery and Timely Withdrawal - ArmA 3

A month or so ago, I had a chance to play some coop ArmA 3 and the team I was part of barely got out. I wished for a nice after action review conversation about the perils of the far ambush, but all of us have lives and other obligations.

So here is what I have to say, in the form of an AAR from a single player custom-made mission in ArmA 3. A tad belated ...

Great Book and Maps About the Battle of Antietam

A couple of weeks ago I visited the Antietam National Battlefield, some 40 miles from where I live. It is a less busy place than Gettysburg (which I visit every other month), which is very nice because it allows you some time for reflection and thought.

Calm Before the Storm at Zugdidi - DCS UH-1H Huey

After the Abkhazians' incursion at the Inguri dam, the Georgian president promised to "flood the Inguri valley with Georgian forces". So far, the region has seen an anemic increase in Georgian units. Near the key crossing over the Inguri river at Zugdidi, the ramp up of Georgian military presence is in progress. A tactical command post for a combined arms battalion has just been built some 15 miles from Zugdidi, and equipment and personnel are slowly pouring in.

I am a pilot of a utility helicopter and I have been originally assigned to haul materiel into the battalion's command post. Just a day into the job I find myself with the almost certain prospect of flying combat support missions.

Rise of Prussia - Pimp my Operation, Your Excellency! (Imaginary Conversations with Frederick the Great, #2)

I'm done! I have managed to reduce the in-game movement and combat penalties (black arrow in the two screenshots below) by re-organizing each Corps and Army in the Prussian order of battle.

If you want to read the fine print, please right click the image and open it in a new tab or window.

The hardwood floors creak at the rhythm of a man on a mission. It's King Frederick II and even the most trivial chores transform him into a crank. I'm sitting in my studio and the door opens, un-knocked, to this conversation.