Steam and Iron: Russo Japanese War - Funneling the Russians Back Into Chemulpo

Chemulpo Port (present day South Korea), 09Feb1904. The D-day of the Russo Japanese War has just happened, with an impressive landing of one Japanese infantry regiment near a filthy, cold port forgotten by all but the naval powers who could afford meddling in the newest focus of conflict around the Yellow Sea. Refusing to surrender his two ships (the protected cruiser Varyag and the Koryets gunboat) to the Japanese, Captain Rudnev made a brave but futile attempt to escape the port.

New toy of the week is the recently released Steam and Iron: Russo Japanese War, which I got on Christmas Day as a digital download for $34.99. Is a stand alone game (no previous version of the Steam and Iron line of products is required) with solid gameplay and a good interface. This short blog entry is about the Chemulpo scenario and contains some spoilers.

Command Modern Air and Naval Operations - The Battle for Poti: Fighting the Russian Beachhead, The Seaborne Invasion Comes to a Halt (1 of 2)

Poti, day one of the Second Russia-Georgia War. The events in the morning and early afternoon were key to slow down the Russian effort at the port city of Poti. The decisive blow against the Russians can't be delivered. The Georgians are weak, and so is the US contingent. The strategic surprise of the Russian attack has been of epic proportions and the US can only muster some of their assets available in Turkey. 

For a better view, right click and open in a different window/tab. The tactical air situation during the mid afternoon, as presented to the US airmen operating from facilities in Pazar airbase (Turkey) and Batumi airport (Georgia). Two Patriot SAM batteries have been deployed, one at the Senaki airbase and the other at the Batumi airport (note their radar arcs in red). Airbases and airports in red are in Abkhazia and Russia (Sochi international airport) are considered hostile.

Yes folks, the fake war continues. This time I chose Command over DCS World because the latter has many gaps in the simulation of SAMs, radars and naval weapons and sensors. No pretense of tactical or doctrinal fidelity in this custom/made solo player scenario.

Small Unit Tactics - Delaying Detection and Hastening Contact

In his magnus opus Fighting by Minutes, Robert Leonhard dissects tactical/operational/strategic surprise. In chapter eight, he argues that delaying detection is the first step to achieve surprise, which is a very intuitive concept to grasp. In chapter nine Leonhard explains why once your forces have been detected it is very important to hasten contact in order to deprive the enemy of the time he needs to prepare his defense and/or counter attack.

Although the weather was awful in Altis, ArmA 3 continues to look great. In the image above my 3-men US infantry team is trying to exfiltrate from a town patrolled by six CSAT reconnaissance troops. One of my men just detected one enemy patrol but is holding fire because my machine gunner is a few meters behind.

Last night I payed dearly in virtual blood to my misuse of the concept of hastening contact. 

DCS World, A-10C - The Battle for Poti: Fighting the Russian Beachhead, The Bridges Over the Rioni

Poti, day one of the Second Russia-Georgia War. Earlier this morning, heliborne Russian forces have landed near Poti and secured the bridges over the Rioni River. Their intention is isolate Poti while they fight for the control of the port city of Poti. The Russian blocking position has moved east by now and it is imperative to recover the bridges in order to fight for the port.

For the first time in this region the US has put its money where its mouth is and although the number of US personnel within Georgian borders is modest, nobody can argue that the logistical juggernaut will shift the balance of forces within a few days.

Unity of Command: Black Turn DLC

If it didn't hit the stores by the time this post goes live, it will within hours. The latest DLC for Unity of Command will take the player to Operation Barbarossa, with Germany in a full strategic offensive posture and the Soviets scrambling to stop them.

HistWar Napoleon - Losing the Reins of my Cavalry

The new toy this week is HistWar Napoleon, a 3D tactical Napoleonic war game.

Yes, I know this is not cavalry. But is a cool picture nonetheless. That's the 3rd Line Infantry Regiment marching through a town.

I hit the field today and it was obvious I have lost quite a bit from my command mojo. I want to share some mishaps of mine with the heavy cavalry.

SA-11 Evasion with the A-10C

I recall a Flanker 2.5 scenario that I could never finish with a one-piece aircraft. It was the deadliest, tiniest and most devilish creation. I would take off from an airbase near Sevastopol and the enemy SAMs were right there waiting for me. Gosh, I wish I could fly that mission again! Many years later, I can't say that I am in complete command of the art of defeating the SAM, but my survival rates have increased.

These a few quick notes from a custom-made single player scenario of DCS A-10C. The scenario is simple: I am flying a fully loaded A-10C in hostile territory, against a two launcher battery of SA-11s. No pretense of realism or verisimilitude, just a good ole practice mission about SAM evasion.

HistWar Napoleon - Released Today

Apologies for the short and clumsy entry (have to go to work right away). But I wanted to give you a heads up on the release of HistWar Napoleon. And a couple of screenshots, too.

I didn't follow the development of HistWar as I should, but it was my understanding that the first release of the new version was just a graphics engine upgrade. A few minutes into playing, I have to say that I like it and there is a bit more than upgraded graphics.

Steel Beasts ProPE 3.0 - Light Armored Vehicles Woes

This weekend I've been messing around a bit with the ASLAV-25 and no matter what I do, I end up outgunned by the enemy.

In this custom-made scenario, a troop of ASLAVs (a mix of 25s and PC types) has gained early control to a crucial cross-roads and a Co (-) of M1A1 AHs moves up to avoid a massacre. The whole thing is totally hypothetical, featuring Australian troops against Cold War era Soviet equipment (!).

Falcon 4 BMS - Debrief: Sortie 2904

As day one of the war comes to an end, fatigue creeps upon crews and pilots. I hated being the one making the first mistake.

Last mission of the day for me was an interdiction on enemy forces near P'anmum.