Falli

Thx Mark for your offer, I really appreciate that.

But the date for the LNOT is quite historical and should embed the missions into an interesting environment/setting.

On the other hand... I´ll order a new broadband connection, but if it´s ready to work on the 3rd of October, or 1 week later... or 1 month later...?

My experience taught me: don´t really count on the punctuality of the German Telekom.

It´s just bad luck that I had to move short-term and that it´ll be exactly this weekend

Besides this fact... I should be happy to get a new, affordable home in Munich so quickly. The situation for renters in German main cities can only be described as "badass" actually.

Unfortunately I´m moving to Munich this weekend and most likely won´t have the possibility to even take part :heu: Sometimes months of preparation don´t have a happy ending, when real life decides to change.

I think, the staffing lists for the other missions are ready soon.

You can already play Sb under NBC conditions.

Just put on the Zodiac and Mask and sit in front of you PC :-D *

That´s old hat... I also followed the German SB manual and hid in a cupboard for 3 hours to get the typical "tank feeling" :cool3: *

*I was not put in a special clinic (yet)

The idea with nukes is not bad at all... perhaps extend it to generally NBC-components. Contaminated zones for the sce-editor with special penalties, NBC-troops/vehicles, flags, the NBC-equipement for the infantry and possibility for mounted troops/vehicles to act under NBC-conditions.

If you speak of this update, I haven´t installed it for good reasons

The point is, if this is MS's declared policy as an operating system vendor from now on you cannot trust that circumventions to suppress unwelcome data transmissions will remain working after each and any feature upgrade which they are pushing on your machine (unless you have the Enterprise version installed). While it may be possible to filter much or even all of it via virtualization and a custom made proxy/gateway PC in your LAN, the administrative effort to ensure after subsequent (pushed) upgrades that your line of defense still holds increases substantially.

The EULA/Terms of Use regulations are simply unacceptable (illegal even under the laws of Germany), to the point where I would have to say that as a corporation or anyone dealing with (business) secrets that are not to be disclosed to outsiders, Win 10 automatically disqualifies even without making use of the MS cloud and Cortana.

EVEN IF MS changes its policy, the fact that they tried to establish this scheme puts a fat question mark on their trustworthiness for the foreseeable future.

In practice, the ability for corporations to (seriously) consider alternatives may turn out to be extremely limited (as in, the exit strategy is going to be extremely costly and painful if your entire IT infrastructure is built around MS Windows concepts like domain servers, active directories, back office installations, ...

For private users, the question is if you are willing to break away from the Windows platform for, well, ... what, exactly?

Linux is possible (WHICH Linux however is very much open for debate), but from an IT security perspective worse than Windows, but for different reasons. In addition you would have to throw away much if not all of your computer know-how, which was a substantial investment for most. And you have to accept a serious reduction in computer games that you could play.

OpenBSD may be the most secure operating system there is (nothing protects you against stupid behavior of course), but it's even more obscure than Linux.

Android, iOS, MacOS - well, you could just as well stick with Windows. It's a mere question to which faceless IT corporation you cede all your privacy.

For years to come, Steel Beasts will remain a Windows application. We might invest some effort to make a future switch towards Linux easier, but it would be a major undertaking. Compartmentalization with the help of virtual machines may be the best practical advice at this point. Have a virtual machine for your online banking and email communication, one for your gaming, one for your browsing. Something like that. Transferring information from one VM into another will of course be painful.

Brave new world.

+1, Thanks.

I wouldn´t get it better straight to the point :luxhello:

The alternatives are rare, at first keep Win7/8. But it´s predictable, when MS will cancel their support for those OSs.

This is a partly free world, if you want to do... you can. But there´s no need for an automatism for every user in the world :clin:

Perhaps this article is just overdrawing...

I just wanted to reinstall/update my system this weekend and informed myself again about the newest OS facts regarding Win7 and 10.

But the fact, that you can´t disable all OS possibilities to call home in every version except in Enterprise Edition is just ridiculous. And those are volume licenses for companies etc. and a normal "private" user will not get it easily.

Also the fact, that voice/video/text material is collected in masses and automatically sent to clouds, Microsoft or even third party enterprises under the cloak of customer satisfaction, digital rights issues and product improvement makes me laugh out loud and welcomes us all in the world of Big Data.

From the point of IT security´s view this OS is (still) just a horror. I wonder, why there´s no individual NSA Edition on the market. I think the guys in Fort Meade shed one or two tears, when they think of having the possibility of millions of people installing their surveillance software voluntarily :biggrin:

I´ll wait until the OS security options are changed and can be disabled completely or there are fitting and good working tools to avoid this mass data extraction (regardless of which kind or volume this extraction takes place).

Black Scorpion missions 1 & 2 by Gladiator can be found here: http://www.steelbeasts.org/downloads.php?do=file&id=1250

For the other scenario file, send me your mail address by PN please. I´ll just fill in the wall and all border installations in this area and send the SCE via mail

At least I can offer to hand out the scenario-file, which was used for the illustration. Everything else is then depending on the golden hands of someone :cool3:

so when are you making the sce?:bigsmile:

I´m good in map making or texturing, so I´d like to hand those tasks to more qualified people :bigsmile:

I remembered one special article in the book "Schlachtfeld Fulda Gap", where a former company commander (Roger Cirillo) of the 11ACR explains a lot of details about the defense plan of his company along the border in 1980.

The article is only in German, so I unfortunately have to quote and translate some general details analogously. :heu:

According to the General Defense Plan (GDP) for the 1/11ACR there were 4 phases in case of a WP engagement. It was assumed to face out min. one reinforced Mech. Rifle Regiment of the first echelon.

Soviet calculations spoke of a "typical" penetration of 1500m/h for a MRR.

The 11ACR was equipped with M551, M114, M113 and M60A1 at that time.

- Alarm phase:

load necessary ammunition, take combat positions, engineer/special units on alert, evacuation of civilians

- Recon/Covering of OP area:

reconnaissance of OP area, tank coy in reserve & prepares counterattacks, howitzers secure the deployment, hold positions until reinforcements/replacements arrive (8ID/3AD), blasts according to tactical situation, support by AirCav

See graphic 2

- Defense of Bundesstrasse B84 GEISA-RASDORF-HUENFELD-ALSFELD

Reinforcement by covering forces, delay action along B84, defeat of 1st echelon, counterattacks on 2nd echelon, withdraw to SCHLITZ (3rd Brig/3AD)

See detailed positions in graphic 3

- Reforming:

Regrouping/reforming of 1/11ACR and defense west of highway A7 & east of FULDA, counterattacks

Taken from: Cirillo, R.; Die Verteidigung der Bundesstrasse 84 in: Krueger, D.(Ed.); Schlachtfeld Fulda Gap; Fulda 2014; p.142-146

Threat level of the B Coy according to the General Defence Plan of 1/11ACR in Phase 3 (1980)

Recon mission for B Coy in Phase 2 (1980)

Possible defense of 1/11ACR in Phase 3 (1980)

There are much, much, much more details in this article regarding positions, engineer plans, blasts, obstacles, possible/presumed enemy behaviour & attack axes.

Perhaps I can contact the author for those details in English.

If anyone has more/other informations, please let me know

Fantastic map Falli.

Now, a question - in a BG-ANZAC discussion on the Demolition Guard training film we talked about how during the Cold War, troops posted in Germany would prepare and regularly recce defensive positions in case of a Red attack. I'm interested in learning more about this - are there any books/resources anyone can recommend please?

Unfortunately it´s hard to find operational informations and I´m not into english books so far.

I only can recommend the following books/magazines which I personally own:

- Schlachtfeld Deutschland: Die Kriegseinsatzplanung der sowjetischen Streitkräfte in der DDR

(Battlefield Germany: Operational War Planning of the Sovjet Forces in the GDR / only German)

- Kriegsschauplatz Deutschland: Erfahrungen und Erkenntnisse eines NVA-Offiziers

(War Theater Germany: Experiences and Perceptions of a NVA Officer / only German)

- Schlachtfeld Fulda Gap

Battlefield Fulda Gap - Alliances´ Strategies and Operational Planning in Cold War / only German)

- Die Verteidigung Westeuropas: Doktrin, Kraftestand, Einsatzplanung : eine Bestandsaufnahme aus Sicht der NATO

The Defense of Western Europe: Doctrin, Forces and Operational Planning - a Survey from NATO´s Perspective (only in German)

- The Third World War

(a novel, but quite realistic for that time / in English)

- Constant Enforcer 79 - US Army and NATO-Allies fight for the Fulda Gap

(in German/English)

The term "defense" is perhaps misleading. There was a concept for "forward defense", but it was more like a massive delay operation (from the late 70´s to 1990). It also mainly depends on the terrain, you can´t fight the same way in the Northern German Plains, the Fulda Gap or the Bavarian Forrest

More keywords or interesting concepts would be "sponge tactic", "flexible response" or "Jagdkampf" etc.

Aloha ohe! More of them, I love this kind of stories :cool3:

I presume that this hill was around the "Wasserkuppe" here: https://www.google.de/maps/@50.5010846,9.943034,14z/data=!3m1!1e3

T(h)anks, T(h)anks.

I again hope to release the new version of the map around turn of the year 2015/16. There´s still a lot of work to do, not with the grade of details as on FRG side... but you should also see some things on the GDR side (villages, main roads etc.).

There should be a modern variant of the map and additionally - as last year - a 1989 version with complete und typical border installations.

And also quality assurance has to do it´s homework :clin:

Nice idea, well done.

As Al Bundy would say: Big Uns magazine guide gives this "2 things up".

Nice photo! Different times... but always interesting.

Also my memories are nearly gone regarding this period. I was in our school´s last 7th grade which visited West Berlin and The Wall in March 1989.

Must be this bridge and church: https://www.google.de/maps/place/Vacha/@50.8293317,10.0229486,18z/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x47a35c22b082180d:0x7a1b2937b1973695

As you can see, the church was done and also there´s a new bridge across the Werra.

Interesting story again... the house directly north of the bridge was devided in two halfs by the iron curtain :clin:

A "small" update on the process...

Around 50km of the former inner German border are completed. I´ve decided to simulate also app. 4-8km depth of the Thuringian (Ex-GDR) territory. So areas which can be observed by the West German side.

And some details for the historians of you, some tales are hardly to believe nowadays :clin:

The former Observation Point ROMEO of the 11ACR north of BISSERODE

Former West/East German Control Point along the Autobahn 4 north of HERLESHAUSEN/WARTHA. It was the only transit point in Hessia.

"The Wall" between KLEINENSEE and GROSSENSEE. It was one of the few places of the inner German border, where the GDR built a real wall. Otherwise it were normally solid metal fences, obstacles etc.

They built this wall in order to avoid the people to see each other while living less than 500m away.

In the tiny village of GROSSENSEE a whole company of the GDR border troops was located.

This West German potash factory near HERINGEN had a special permission to drive their freight trains through GDR territory to the train transit point GERSTUNGEN, turn around and bring the goods to BEBRA, because there was no other railway track in the area.

The end of the Autobahn 4... Until the 90´s there was no direct and end-to-end connection between BAD HERSFELD and EISENACH. The highway ended at OBERSUHL, you had to drive a 30km northeastern bypass around GDR territory along the B400 in order to get on the Autobahn 4 at WOMMEN again.

The views inside the vehicles and out of the hatches with a nice little zoom when leaning forward/backwards would just fit for me personally :clin:

That would be outstanding, not to use a joystick or the mouse for that. Clicking on items and buttons... ok still a mouse needed, but nevertheless it´s worth it.

We're currently experimenting with it and may add it to the final (free) update for SB Pro PE 3.0, which is less than three months away.

The last info from last years end was, that the implementation of Track IR is unnecessary. To read that news is outstanding, I´ll be happy to try this new feature out :luxhello:

I try to imagine what it will be like to "take a look out of the TC´s hatch" :bigsmile:

Ehrm, just a few questions for clarification in order to not getting it wrong...

If a forum user is quoting anybody´s, politician´s/philosopher´s or one of your fellow worker´s statement in his/her signature, which is not in your way, you will probably get upset?

And when you name someone with a unique characteristic it´s ok. When this one quotes your fellow worker - who already posted the same opinion in the public and that fact was also ok - in his signature it is not ok and you feel offended? Obviously the quote is true then, only declares your general opinion about him. So why should it be offensive to use that statement if it´s apparently common sense?

Perhaps you heard of Norton´s social theory of a self-fulfilling prophecy and however wonder why a few people are suddenly not as handy as in the past.

Just come together and speak to each other personally on TS for example.

We all know, that Eisenschwein also can be a good one, has a lot of experience (also in map making) and supported this product over umpteen years. So, why shouldn´t we all use the benefits of high-potential workers and users?

With all the interior... wow. Just impressive :luxhello:

We already discussed that issue last year :clin:

http://www.steelbeasts.com/sbforums/showpost.php?p=265715&postcount=81

http://www.steelbeasts.com/sbforums/showpost.php?p=265850&postcount=82

And now some "normal" screens...

ROTENBURG a.d. Fulda, in front "Alheimer Kaserne" (home of the former PzGrenBtl52)

Landscape south of BAD HERSFELD

View along the Fulda valley over REILOS/MECKLAR

Landscape west of BAD HERSFELD

The village SCHNEIDEMÜHLE

WEITERRODE, east of BEBRA along the Ulfe valley

Ah, I see. Then I misunderstood you, thought that the Fulda Gap map was used.

But I can calm you, it´s not that hard on my map. I tried to avoid such problems but surely I also used such vector lines - just not in the shown extend.

I try to use some typical patterns, walk-arounds or utilities to simulate the terrain and its appearance.

For example there are only 3 real natural water obstacles in this area, 3 major rivers (Fulda, Haune, Werra). Everything else are only water-"road" lines, because those little brooks and creeks are only 0.5 to 3m wide.

Here are a few samples and also imaginations from the beautiful landscape :bigsmile:

Vector lines are mostly used in bigger urban areas, railway stations, graveyards or industrial complexes.

Highways don´t have much limitations (except guard railings or perhaps noise protection walls)