CMANO, Black Gold Blitz DLC - Air Superiority is Expensive

You could look miles away for a safe spot to cross the labyrinth of taxiways of the King Fahd airbase and you wouldn't find one. The massive collective roar of the fighter's engines -some taking off, others taxiing, many waiting to taxi- could be heard as far as at a gas station 12 miles northeast of the airbase. In the nearby town of Al Taif, a minor-league soccer game had to be interrupted because it was impossible to hear the referee's whistle.

Air superiority is an ungodly monster that devours resources, flight time and available wings. King Fahd is where I started paying the price.

Starved for realistic air operations in the Persian Gulf, I opened up my copy of Command Modern Air and Naval Operations (CMANO) and let loose the Black Gold Blitz DLC.

After a few tries with this scenario, and an equal number of cases of bloody nose. I realized that I was not playing the air superiority game correctly. In particular, the amount of fighter aircraft in the AO was sorely insufficient.

Arma 3 - Recon Like a Russian

In the latest Armor Magazine issue there is an article by Lester Grau about reconnaissance in force. This article caught my interest because reconnaissance in force appears to mix combat and information-gathering just in the right proportion. Which is rich material for wargaming/simming.

DCS World - Eagle Dynamics Continues to Be Great at Small Things but Small at Great Things

With the release of a new DLC map (Strait of Hormuz) and a new DLC aircraft (F/A-18C Lot 20), Eagle Dynamics has secured a firm hold to the crown of modern air combat simulation.

However, I can't avoid the impression that every single DLC release (internal or third party) leaves Eagle Dynamics in a deeper hole of debt for updates and for missing battlefield assets.

Scourge of War Waterloo/Wavre - The Wrong Side of the Dyle

As with all things NorbsoftDev, the tactical challenges of even the smallest scenarios are not scripted but rather self-inflicted by the decisions you make.

DCS World - Taking the J-11A for a Spin

A couple of weeks back, along with the release of an update for DCS World, there was a free flyable aircraft for the owners of the Flaming Cliffs module.

"Sorry I Played Your Game Without Paying Attention" - Armored Task Force - Post 1

I bought Armored Task Force back in the day. Played it, but didn't actually "get it". The whole concept looked so detached from the other war games I was playing. Then time passes, you spend some time on virtual tracks and command posts and all of the sudden you remember "that" game. And you realize that it was actually great. So you go and dust-off that ages old CD, play it again and realize that you have neglected a lot of quality war gaming. Does it happen to you too?

Armored Task Force, from the now defunct ProSim Games (founder Pat Proctor has moved onto other things military), now looks to me like "Armor" magazine comes alive." 

Graviteam Tactics: Black Snow

In case you didn't know, Graviteam Tactics Mius Front got a new DLC.

Black Snow is the new Eastern Front addition to the successful series of wargames from Graviteam. Now near Leningrad, more precisely in a sector of the Soviet 8th Army, the Red's offensive over this particularly restrictive terrain is depicted with a huge map and more divisions that you can shake a stick at.

Military Operations - An Early Peek at a Unique Portrayal of Warfare

All screenshots shown in this blog are from a beta version of Military Operations and as such, may not reflect the final released product.

If you are reading this blog, you are likely familiar to the immense scope of WWII. The massive Armies, the hundreds of kilometers separating them from victory, the gigantic amount of resources needed to keep them in the fight, plus the astonishing skill set required to be in command and make sense of all the chaos of war.

Command Live - EPISODE 8: COMMONWEALTH COLLISION - New Release

And yup, these Live episodes keep coming better and better every time.

The video above is the showcase that the guys at WarfareSims/Matrix/Slitherine have masterfully put together. The edition of that video is just awesome. Please see below some screenshots and commentary about this DLC.

Walk and Shoot - Combat Mission Battle for Normandy

Some twenty one years ago, then Colonel David Petraeus co-authored an article entitled "Walk and Shoot Training" (Infantry Magazine, Jan-Feb 1997, page 36). In this article, an emphasis was made in the recklessness of the "headlong rush to close with and destroy the enemy" without a plan for indirect fires to support movement and developing the situation.