Sunday, June 28, 2015

DCS Black Shark - Supporting a Raid at the Inguri Dam

In this single player scenario,  I am commanding a flight of two Russian Ka-50s. The storyline is simple: Russia is supporting Abkhazian irregulars in the frontier with Georgia. After a lackluster performance by the irregulars, Russia has launched a raid into the Inguri Dam. Surprisingly, during their exfiltration, the Russian raiders found themselves outgunned against the Georgians, who quietly have been building up an outpost near the dam. From the heights of the dam, the Russian raiders can see the Georgian forces, which include one tank, two BMPs and infantry. One hell of a Georgian reaction force is teaming up at the foothill of the dam ... A flight of Russian Su-25Ts and a flight of Ka-50s is called in support. The mission is to clear the exfiltration route of the raiders.

Takeoff from FARP Torba .

Saturday, June 27, 2015

Steel Beasts ProPE - Moving to a Subsequent Battle Position

After I could get a Kindle copy of it, I am re-reading Team Yankee. After all the years I honestly forgot how good it is.

Team Yankee's first battle and my previous Combat Mission blog post about vehicle emplacements made me realize how un-prepared I am for defensive engagements.
The thing I struggle the most is moving my platoon of tanks to a new battle position. When it hits the fan, it's very difficult to plan, transmit and execute orders.

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Falcon BMS - This War Never Ends

One of my favorite "fun facts" is that Falcon 4, in one way or another, has been always installed in my computers since 1998. That by itself is not remarkable. What is absolutely great is that I never lost interest in this flight simulator. I have ended campaigns more than I dare to count. But I immediately re-launch another one.

The airport facilities and the lighting looks like as in one of those early flights I have to take in my day job. If I could only fly a Viper to this business trips! :p

Monday, June 22, 2015

Combat Mission Black Sea - An Odd Vehicle Fighting Position

It was a bad place to fight against Russian tanks. Plenty of open fields and very little real cover. With just 4 BMP-2s against a platoon of Russian T-72s and two BMP-3s, this whole thing had retreat written all over it. This setup is from an scenario that I was editing a while back.

A panoramic view of the ongoing battle. The red icons are Russian, the blue ones my own Ukrainian Army troops and vehicles.

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Steel Beasts ProPE - Two Bridges Too Many - AAR

This is the AAR for the debrief I presented earlier this week.

Although it was a treat to shoot from above, the crew of this tank didn't appreciate the stress of being potentially targeted from seemingly everywhere. Let's see how they got there.

Sunday, June 14, 2015

Steel Beasts ProPE - Two Bridges Too Many - AAR: Briefing

A pretty intense Cold War scenario about a rear area/flank security operation.

Crossing a bridge in a tank, with the danger of being under enemy fire is a perilous proposition. It turns out that in some conditions, fighting from bridges can be quite effective. It's all about timing and maximizing the use of the tiny amounts of cover and concealment.

Friday, June 12, 2015

Scourge of War: Waterloo - Preview

I move my Army cautiously, with multiple Cavalry units on front and flanks of the main body. In good order, I enter my Army in Brussels a few hours into daylight. At midmorning, a Prussian infantry brigade has dared to push back one of my reconnaissance patrols near the town of Hal. At 13:20 I make the fateful decision to move out my Army from Brussels towards the latest contact. A full enemy Corps is moving our way, I heard. I am Napoleon, and I am about to claim the day.

Scenes of extreme carnage south of Brussels. Wherever you look at there is a regiment either engaged or about to be engaged in battle.

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Scourge of War Waterloo - Released

So much fun, quality, innovative features and eye candy that it will be really hard to pull myself out of just enjoying it.


More details tonight!

Monday, June 8, 2015

Command Modern Air and Naval Operations - Missile Chess

It is awesome when a combat simulation mirrors the shortcomings and challenges of real warfare. This blog is just about that, by the way. 

Anyway, this weekend I got some quality time with Command Modern Air and Naval Operations (CMANO) and played my first scenario involving a modern carrier battle group.

This Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier battle group is more than a sideline show for the Operation Brass Drum scenario.