This year seems to be marching along almost as fast as the Russian invasion of Ukraine...well maybe a little faster !!!! Already it is March although judging from the endless rain and dull skies you would not think Spring is around the corner.
Over the past few weeks I have made steady progress with building my fourth army. So far I have painted up the soldiers for two infantry battalions and one field artillery battalion. I also have almost completed the soldiers of a quartermaster battalion. On the equipment side I have built and painted 30 ammunition caissons, 30 light signals trailers and 36 GS wagons. Another batch of 30 GS wagons are in the final stage of construction.
The above shows the light signals trailers built and primed. These equipments are issued to all combat battalions.
Seen here are the same trailers all finished and awaiting issue.
This photo shows the ammunition caissons built and awaiting priming of the wheels and towing hooks. I am sorry I forgot to take a photo of the completed units before issue to battalions.
I expect many wargamers of the modern period are watching the TV news of Ukraine with great interest. Apart from the unpleasant possibility of nuclear war and the dreadful suffering of the Ukrainian people, the TV films of Russian military vehicles are fascinating. That the Russians are having serious difficulties in supplying their forces is beyond doubt. Given they had plenty of time to prepare, clearly logistics was badly overlooked. I have also seen a number of images of broken down Russian vehicles too. Although Russian equipment and weapons are formidable, all those issues together with the apparently poor quality of their conscript troops makes me wonder if the Russian "steamroller" may not be as powerful as we had assumed. Certainly the film of 30 plus miles of vehicles stationary on a road must seem a "dream" target to NATO airmen.
Remaining positive and assuming we have not become radioactive dust by then, I will provide another update in a few weeks time.
Enjoying seeing all that vast array of equipment for your army, Tony.
ReplyDeleteOn the Ukraine thing, I don't think this is really about Russia versus Ukraine; much less about Ukraine versus Donbass separatists. This is Russia versus NATO. Now, without going into the rights and wrongs of Russia's invasion (which I admit I thought was a long way further down the agenda in Putin's programme), I reckon it's not a bad idea to suppose Putin knows exactly what he's doing - his reasons and purposes. After all, NATO's military expenditure is close to fifteen times Russia's.
Although I could see Putin's reasons and excuses for the invasion, for days I simply could not see his purpose. But, supposing he had thought through the thing, with his advisers (bearing in mind Moscow has its share of hawks as Washington DC has), led me to a conjecture that makes his decision rational and purposeful - it even makes a kind of sense, in the circumstances that have developed. This is a VERY high stakes contest, and sitting opposite Russia and Vladimir Putin is NOT Ukraine and Volodymyr Zelenski (whatever they think), but the United States/NATO and Joe Biden - and the US military-industrial complex.
For pretty much precisely the same stakes, Putin is playing a hand a whole deal weaker than JFK had - and Nikita Khrushchev had - 60 years ago, when the world was last within seconds of a nuclear holocaust. I wonder how strong NATO's hand really is, this time...?
Cheers - and fingers firmly crossed -
Ion
Hi Ion....I saw your comments on Bob's blog. Have to admit I did not agree but like Bob, sometimes it's best to just accept that we sometimes have different points of view and all are equally valid whether we like them or not. That said I do agree this is very much Russia versus NATO rather than Ukraine, they are indeed just the catalyst. I think Putin is trying to put NATO in its place but this is a very high risk strategy. Irrational actions can come from anyone and NATO has the ability to act irrationally just as much as Russia. I have little doubt that NATO would wipe out Russia in a conventional war, the US is really that strong alone apart from the forces available to European nations. Putin clearly wants to rearrange the world order to secure Russia a place at the table but I am concerned he may overplay his hand. If he pushes too hard in Ukraine I can see NATO reacting and if that happens god help us all. I also think Putin may not have as good a grip on power as we suppose. If Russia looks like losing in any way, I can see the power players in Russia replacing him. After all, a dictator needs something to dictate to and a country in ruins does not meet that need !!!! Regards Tony
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