Killing Team Mates with the Bullets You Don't Fire - Micro AAR - ArmA 2

There are places in the mechanized warfare battlefield where the IFVs don't go and where the infantry is asked to dismount and do their thing. A situation like this came up during a counter insurgency presence patrol against Taliban forces.

This US infantry squad has just dismounted from their Bradley IFVs and is preparing to move to a group of walled houses where insurgents have been observed. Due to the risk of RPGs, the Bradley IFVs are to remain behind providing support by fire. The whole operation is to be executed by a US platoon (-) sized force. 

This is from a custom-made, single player mission played with ArmA 2. I am commanding a US infantry squad. The events affecting the other squads are not included in this AAR.

Desert Warfare: Securing a Bridge Near an Iraqi Town - Part 2 of 2 - Steel Beasts ProPE 3.011

Continued from a previous entry.

An odd enemy artillery barrage caught the first part of our retreat. Two of my tanks suffered damages in communications and targeting equipment.  

Desert Warfare: Securing a Bridge Near an Iraqi Town - Part 1 of 2 - Steel Beasts ProPE 3.011

In this blog entry, a US Cavalry troop (-) falls slightly short of securing OBJ Rockville, a tiny bridge near an Iraqi town.

This is game play from a custom-made single player fictional scenario.

Desert Warfare: a US Cavalry Troop Gets It in the Flank - Steel Beasts ProPE 3.011

I was supposed to pull back my platoon of M3A2 scouts and let the tanks lead the attack against the hastily prepared Iraqi defenses. Ghost troop pushed forward, unaware that the sister formation at his right didn't keep up. The flank of Ghost troop was about to come undone.

This is game play from a custom-made single player scenario inspired in real events during the Gulf War. 

Sergeant Nels A. Moller, your sacrifice will never be forgotten.

All Is Tactics Until Bullets (or BBs) Start Flying - ArmA 3 - And Fake Guns

I've been reading a lot of translated WWII-era Soviet translations of field manuals. Among many other things, there is the recurring theme of mass and momentum (keep moving forward). Very interesting stuff that maybe I can write something about in the future. Although I've grown past the common (and wrong) perception that all Soviet infantry were just mobs moved in human waves by ruthless commissars, I found myself wondering why a formation here and there was not better laid out.

Nicknamed after the Argentine 1880s warlord "Chacho" Penaloza, my son has taught me the value of keeping things simple. Here pictured during a break at an airsoft match.

Friday of Helicopters

Flying helicopters is fun as Fridays. In this short entry, what's going on in the rotary wing of my computer.

Tanks vs Guns - A Short Combat Mission Red Thunder Narrative

Dirt.

You dig it for protection. It gets over you and invades every crevice of your body. It spoils the lubrication of every round of ammo you previously cleaned.

If you are lucky enough, you will see it as a telltale of a tank round falling short and lifting in front of you in prodigious quantities. It will stay put as if defying gravity. One wishes that defiance would last long enough, like ours against the enemy.

There is a macabre calculus that applies to the combat between tanks and guns. If one gun takes two to three tanks, they say, its job is done. We rarely keep tabs of our battle deeds. We are just too busy shoveling in rounds, looking through the sights and staying alive.

Somewhere in the Eastern Front - A Combat Mission Red Thunder Quick Battle AAR

Battlefront has made a significant investment in the quick battles department. The quality and variety of the quick battle maps are great and the ebb and flow of battle is much better than before. In this blog entry, a quick battle AAR. The map is 005 (open, farmland, medium size) and the battle is a meeting engagement with both German and Soviet forces chosen by the computer.

Is that Bil Hardenberger, from Battle Drill? A Pz IVJ (background) and a Mobelwagen (front) getting ready for the battle.

ArmA 3 - Those Support Guys

I am prepping a new ArmA 3 scenario showcasing an attack on an enemy strong point. I ended up needing a lot of fire support for this mission and I thought that it would be a great idea to have the player lead a HMG team.

A HMG team in ArmA 3. 

ArmA has always been and likely will continue to be clunky. But one can't complain about its versatility. In this blog entry, a brief showcase on how to deploy the HMG.

Eastern Front, Riga 1944 - Command Ops Scenarios by The Sharp End Gaming's Chris M

Chris M. continues to trail blaze with his content for the Command Ops game. I am currently playing his two "Riga 1944" scenarios and enjoying an overdose of Eastern Front with this fantastic game engine.

Look at the size of this map! Each square is 1 km wide.

With this two scenarios Chris delivers a trifecta of quality, scope and gameplay at the grand/tactical level.