Koen

Yep, must be German tankunit. :-) A first one, but not really useful for you: http://www.mil.be/cav/subject/index.asp?LAN=nl&ID=443&page=1 I will look for something better. That will take some time I'm afraid, as I didn't find too much yet on internet about them. Rgds, K

No clue, but I've sent a mail now to the Cav-component of the BEL army to ask for more info. Will let you know something. Any idea what timeperiod this photo is from ? Or where it was taken ? Can you upload the complete photo ? Rgds, K

Looks good => looking forward to see the rest of the story Rgds, K

Well Congo, that must have been quite an experience - I heard many times that Kongo (Africa) can be overwhelmingly impressive and beautiful ! Ha, I remember an old Mobutu-King Boudewijn-joke; it goes like this: As you may know, Mobutu and Boudewijn were good friends. One evening, they were sitting together, watching TV. It is the day of the Innovation-disaster (a large shoppingmall in Brussels caught fire, resulting in 323 ppl dead & 150 wounded, 1967, a disaster yes) and the late-evening news at 10.00 PM evidently shows what happened there. On the TV-screen, M & B see a man standing in window on the 5th floor, with large flames behind him and coming towards him !!! Says M: "So B, what do you think, will he jump this guy, or not ? let's make a bet". B takes of his crown, scratches his head and answers: "Well okayyy, I think that he jumps" - M says half-grinning: "Well I think he doesn't". They keep watching, and what happens: the poor guy jumps to his death ... "Congratulations", says M, "you won" ! But Boudewijn, who as we all know was a very catholic and honest person, answers guiltily: "Thx, thx, ... but I have to admit something ... In fact I had seen already the 8-o'clock news, with the same images ... so that's how I know that the man jumped". Says Mobutu: "Well I also have to admit something - I also watched the 8-o'clock news, but I didn't think he would jump a second time ..." (NB This is not to be taken as some racist view of mine of Africans, which I don't have - 't is meant as a joke of course.) Aha, thx for clarifying ! Too bad, with the reflected light is looks so much more beautiful. But you're probably right: The tankmuseum is 5 min. away from my workplace (hmm, why don't I spend every lunchbreak there ..., do it Koen !), so I went there to look at the real thing, and as I remember the colour is indeed more as you made it. (which is an ugly grey for colourblinds such as I :-( - so I wouldn't mind if eventually you could tinker a bit more with it) NB A bit strange why in those years the Belgian, Canadian, Dutch armies (and maybe others as well) opted for this mono-colour camo. Why would that be ? From past WWII experience, multi-colour camo's should have proven their value, no ? A colleague of mine is an ex Leo 1A-tanker, and he thought it had something to do with reducing thermal-signatures or rather decreasing reflection of lasers - well we couldn't really talk about it & he wasn't sure. Rgds & thx again, Koen

Many thx, Congo ! Would there be any possibility to get the colour a bit more in the direction of the picture below, which is I believe, more greenish ? I have to admit that I'm a bit colourblind, and the colour that you used in the skin is more grey than green for me ... If not possible - then so be it, I'll be fine, thx again. NB I'm Flemish, but prefer to be seen as Belgian. NB2 Cfr. your callname: is there a link between you, our former colony, and thus Belgium ?? Rgds, Koen

Snif, snif, this request does not draw too much reaction ... - except for the kind soul who PM'ed me that he might create a Belgian decal for Leo 2A4 - THX to you ! But what about e.g. the YPR: Is the honor not tempting to be the very first to make a skin for this vehicle ? Sure it's an ugly duck - that's why someone should freshen up its feathers :-) Rgds, K

Several of the vehicles in SB were/are used by the Belgian army, especially during the Cold War, when several Belgian units were still garrisoned in then West Germany. But we do not have any Belgian skins (based on 80's camo) yet, which might be interesting in scenario's: the vehicles used by the Belgian army are not too often seen in scenario's, e.g. LEO AS1 with SABCA FCS, or AIFV (= YPR). With Belgian skins, scenariobuilders (such as myself :-) ...) might use these distinct vehicles more, e.g. as neighbouring units. This would add some colour to the scenario's. I'm afraid I'm not really able to produce skins though ... => Any kind souls who would be willing to take on this task ? This would concern e.g. the following vehicles (in descending order of importance): 1. Leo AS1 2. YPR 765 – YPR 765 PRAT - YPR 765 CO (Ouch, a really ugly AFV at first sight, but the more you look at them, the more you start to appreciate them) 3. M-113G3 4. A Scimitar stand-in: BMD-2 is probably the best choice, but it's not crewable, so slight preference for ASLAV-25. I added some pictures of this 80's camo (BTW really hard to find): it consists of 1 colour, something olive-like ? Later camo's were more along NATO-patterns, so too similar with German camo's, so not really interesting to make IMO. If anyone would volunteer for this: many thx in advance, Koen Belgian camo - 80's.rar

Everything much clearer now - thx all. I will do some tests myself - especially curious about how WP looks in the game - might be interesting to do something in a scenario with this ?!

* So 105mm is not equal to 120mm, aha !!! :-) * HEAT - HESH - WP: Gibsonm, you didn't by chance test out the differences in SB ? => Would HEAT & HESH have a comparable impact in the game ? => Does WP have no impact on tanks, but only/mainly creates smoke in the game ? THX, K

Is this fantastic skin already uploaded somewhere ? (don't think it's in the Spaniac pack) thx - K

Thx for the feedback. * Any chance that Leo AS1 & Leo 1A5 DK also get the older ammotypes of Leo 2A4 in the upcoming hotfix ? Just for the sake of historical scenario's ... Is maybe not too overly time-consuming to add ? * About HEAT vs HESH and : Looks like that they are more or less comparable, so that - in SB - they can be used vs the same targets ? So, both HEAT & HESH being present is more a reflection of historical choices made by armies for either round, than 2 rounds with strongly different uses ? "Parallel developments brought rounds based on chemical energy; High explosive squash head (HESH), and shaped-charge High explosive anti-tank (HEAT)." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank_gun http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_explosive_squash_head http://www.steelbeasts.com/sbforums/showthread.php?t=13146 * About WP: I guess this stands for "White phosphorus" ? => Would there be - in SB - a specific use for this round ? (for example: would it more easily set fire to a building than HEAT/HESH ? guess not)

Maybe it's a good idea to create a separate category for ADA (Tunguska) in the mission editor ? So next to "forces", "AFV", "Tanks", "Helo", etc ...

I'd like to better understand the ammo loadout of Leo AS1 & Leo 1A5 DK. The following rounds are available for them: * Main gun ammo 1) 105mm L7: PPTFS M/85 LS - or: 105mm L7: PPTFS DM 63C LS * Main gun ammo 2) 105mm L7: 105mm HEAT * Main gun ammo 3) 105mm L7: M 156 LS HESH - or: 105mm HESH * Main gun ammo 4) 105mm L7: RGRPT M/87LS WP 1) There is no date mentioned for these ammotypes in the Wiki, nor in the mission editor. => Which types should I use in a mid/beginning-80's scenario ? 2) Tankers use which types of ammo versus which type of targets ? * PPTFS = Sabot ??=> vs tks ? * HEAT: OK, more effective vs softer targets. * HESH: ? * WP: ? 3) Why does Leo 1A5 DK have no HEAT, but lots of HESH as standard loadout, while for AS1 it is the opposite ? THx for clarifying - Koen

THX again for all your input, gentlemen, and especially you Congo, for all your work on the Pizarro and many, many others skins ! Question: would a mid/beginning-80's Scimitar have Thermal view (as they seem to have now) ? I guess, not, as e.g. the Belgian Leo 1A's only by 1988 were equipped with TIS. Rgds - Koen

Would be really cool, yes !

Superbe ! THx - K

Well Furia, in any case, regardless of what your "join date" might be, you are fully entitled to voice your opinion here - just like anyone else. I don't believe you broke any forumrules or at least, you did not intend to do so at all. In fact, a good debater with inventive arguments, like you seem to be one, is always welcome (to keep the forum alive) - whether one agrees with you, or not. Buenas tardes, Koen

THX for this great map ! Koen

Thx for your input, guys. BMD looks like a good candidate, but then again is not playable ... (and I should check how many men it is carrying) I will give it some more thought, rgds - K

Really ! One learns something new each day about this sim. THX - K

I'm slowly starting to build a Cold War era-scenario, starring the Belgian Brigade. The Belgian Army used Scimitars as light recce tanks. As the Scimitar is not present in SB, which vehicle would be the best stand-in ? http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Quarters/7413/fv107scimitar.html Thx for any feedback, Koen

All the best, ChanceBS ! (and pls do show SB on the Discovery-program !) Rgds, K

To be published in August, this year: Steven J Zaloga: M1 Abrams vs T-72 Ural. http://www.ospreypublishing.com/store/M1-Abrams-vs-T-72-Ural_9781846034077 This book belongs to the interesting "Duel" series, for which Zaloga already wrote Panther vs Sherman: Battle of the Bulge 1944, a book that got outstanding reviews: http://www.amazon.com/Panther-Sherman-Battle-Bulge-1944/dp/184603292X/ref=cm_cr-mr-title So even if his new book is about a subject all to familiar to us, namely Operation Desert Storm 1991, it may be interesting.

I gave it a first try: * Our units followed the gap between the two regiments, as indicated in the briefing. They advanced with scout-tactics thru the woods - avoided the roads: so very slowly. * Some infantry was met here & there, but I avoided a firefight to keep my troops for the large battle that I was expecting to come later. Still lost three soldiers in a sudden skirmish ! The enemy was well positioned on a reverse slope and could thus ambush us from a short distance - so I think it was impossible to avoid them, so ... I dealt with this and other Red infantry by arty & air-strikes (impressive !). Although we were detected, the Red outposts didn't seem to have called in help. -> QUESTION: Might be a bit of a flaw in the plan of the Red commander ? Or is just a case of randomness ? * Arriving at the outskirts of the forest, I kept all vehicles hidden and just sent out an infantrysquad to scout ahead in the plain. I artied in advance a large house which was on their path and might have contained some Red troops. And although our scouts were skilfully advancing through a riverbed, they stumbled upon a Tunguska and got into real trouble - more losses ! * I positioned a single Centauro at the outskirts of the forest to eliminate the Tunguska, in order to prepare the final assault. But, that Centauro also saw immediately the Red HQ, so I launched the necessary artystrikes and withdrew all units back to RP Zulu. -> QUESTION: was this visual contact (= red units showing up on the map) enough to allow the arty ? I'm a bit puzzled, because I received afterwards a msg from Blackjack, warning to not drop the arty without eyes on OBJ. * To withdraw I just followed the roads. Yes, we ran into Red infantry, and got shot at. But our high speed exit apparently avoided us taking casualties there ! Still, not enough of our units made it in time, before the end of the mission, which ended, alas, in defeat. * In the AAR I saw how the 2 Red MRB's were indeed present in the neighbourhood - this was created with much care, Hackworth. It will increase immersion for me, next time that I run this mission, knowing that the enemy is so near. THX for having made this mission, K

David Kings forum nickname = GH Lieste Koen: I'm not on the pictures, was only there for some 2 days, but had great fun with the handles (yes Kevin, with one of those I'd be more a gunner in SB), and I also got the white shirt with eSimlogo, that from now on I always wear when playing SB ! But most of all, it was a real pleasure to meet with all of you over there: real SBitizens (as Hackworth says) and fun to be around with. Rgds - K