The Download Munkey : A Link A Day ;)

A tactical turn-based Flash game featuring soldiers armed with modern day infantry weapons such as assault rifles, light machineguns, sniper rifles, combat shotguns and a selection of frag, stun and flash grenades in an small, isometric arena. Think of it as a more lethal form of virtual paintball. Or a turnbased and less reflex-oriented Counterstrike. Picked up this addictive game at Kongregate fan blog COCAK.

You take turns against the computer to outwit, outflank and outfight your opponents in the campaign consisting of 23 missions. As the team leader, you gain experience for killing enemies with the soldiers under your command with this experience translating to rank promotions which in turn unlocks more weapons in the armory and extra stats and abilities for your troopers.

To organize your squad for maximum lethality, it’s essential to set up classes with different loadouts and abilties e.g rifleman, snipers, assault classes and assign the different loadouts to your individual squad members. A cool feature is that different uniforms and helmets can be used to customize and differentiate the various specialists in your squad.

If you find that your squad continually fails to complete a mission in the campaign, try exiting the mission, tweak and re-assign loadouts and retry the mission. I remember getting stuck at Mission 2 for more than five tries before I realized that classes were available at the start of the campaign

There’s several types of missions that I have encountered in the campaign. (currently I just completed mission 5)

Destination : Move your soldiers to the designated destination (marked by a blue star). Soldiers will respawn 1 turn after they die.

Search and Destroy : Eliminate all enemy units. Soldiers do not respawn.

Stealth : 2 units vs all enemies in the map. No respawning.

There’s a comprehensive interactive tutorial which takes you through the basics of controlling your soldiers and their weapons.

Some important keys to remember:
0-9 : Select soldier of that number
Cursor keys - Scroll the map
Z - Move
C - Shoot
R - Reload
G - Throw grenade / Use Aid Item
B - Wait (passes control to the next soldier)

Do note that once you select a soldier, you have to issue all the orders before clicking Wait or pressing B since he will not be selectable once control is passed to the next soldier.

Play Modern Tactics 3 on Kongregate or visit the official page at Throw the Project.

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A gallery showcasing a selection of downloadable wallpaper-sized prints and accompanying accounts of battles fought by the US Army since the American Civil War to Operation Desert Storm a decade ago, as presented by the US Army Center of Military History.

Battle of Bud Bagsak (Moro Rebellion, 11 - 15 June 1913)

© US Army Center of Military History

One of the conflicts in the Philippines where fiercely independent Moros revolted against the introduction of American rule in the early 1900s. The Moro Rebellion (otherwise known as the the Philippines-American War) also heralded the introduction of the Colt M1911 .45 pistol as the service pistol of the US armed forces which served until the introduction of the Beretta 92F as the M9 in 1985.

Some additional information on the Battle of Bud Bagsak from www.bakbakan.org.

Siege of Vicksburg (American Civil War, 19 May 1863)

© US Army Center of Military History

The 13th Infantry Regiment led by General William Sherman was the only Union unit to raise its colours over the Confederate lines during the siege at Stockade Redan on 19 May 1863, earning its motto “First at Vicksburg”.

The American M4 medium tank of WWII was named after him as with all other American tanks and major armoured fighting vehicles which came from the British tradition of naming American tanks after famous American generals during WWII starting with M3 medium tank “Lee” (after American General Robert E. Lee).

More information on the Vicksburg campaign on Wikipedia.

Battle of Chipyong-ni (Korean War, February 1951)

© US Army Center of Military History

A breakout by the 23rd Regimental Combat Team (2nd Infantry Division) together with armour reinforcements from the 5th Cavalry Regiment after three days of defense at Chipyong-ni against massive human wave attacks attempted by overwhelming numbers of Chinese communist troops during the Korean War. A first hand recollection of the battle by then Captain Ansil L. Walker of the 23rd Regimental Combat Team can be read at historynet.com.

Battle of San Juan Hill (Spanish-American War, 1 July 1898)

© US Army Center of Military History

Gatling machineguns of Lieutenant John H. Parker’s Gatling Gun Detachment being used on the offensive to support the frontal assault on entrenched Spanish troops on heavily defended San Juan Hill, Cuba during the Spanish-American War.

Lieutenant John H. Parker was in command of the Gatling Gun Detachment composed of men from four different infantry regiments. Parker believed that his guns, which normally played only a defensive role in battle, could be of decisive importance in the attack by giving fire superiority to the infantry just when most needed. Receiving permission to advance the guns, Parker brought his detachment abreast of the Infantry, in fact ahead of some elements of it, and opened fire. This, the United States Army’s first use of close support machine guns in the attack, was decisive in the capture of San Juan Hill. Lieutenant Parker’s initiative developed an important principle of fire and maneuver — the use of close support machine guns in the attack.

Capture of Ludendorff Bridge (World War II, 7 March 1945)

© US Army Center of Military History

The capture of the Ludendorff bridge during Operation Lumberjack by the Combat Command B, 9th Armored Division and 27th Infantry Regiment which paved the way for the Allies to establish a bridgehead at Remagen as a base for attacks into Germany itself, leading to the eventual defeat of Germany and ending the war in Europe.

Battle of Resaca de la Palma (Mexican-American War, 9 May 1846)

© US Army Center of Military History

An account of the battle can be found at Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic site.

Some of the Desert Storm prints.

© US Army Center of Military History

Download the prints or view the US Army in Action gallery or the Desert Storm gallery at US Army Center of Military History.

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After discovering unconventional military vehicles like the massive WWII 800mm “Dora” railway gun to more practical modifications of armoured vehicles by Israeli engineers as showcased at Israel’s Yad La’Shiryon Museum, I recently found this photo of of a modification kit produced by BAE Systems to convert a M113 APC for the OPFOR role. At least that’s what I think it is from its cryptic caption “Opp Forces Surr Training System”. (probably stands for Opposing Forces Surrogate Training System )

© BAE Systems

OPFOR (OPposing FORce) vehicles are essentially US Army vehicles dressed up to mimic the silhouette of their enemy counterparts (in this case, this M113 is intended to represent one of the Russian BMP family of APCs) While Russia is no longer perceived as the most dangerous threat to American interests nowadays, the ex-Soviet Union exported huge amounts of weapons and military doctrine across the globe decades ago and these weapons are still likely to be fielded by potential threats in future conflicts.

This M113 however, isn’t the most ingenious of modifications since you can’t really simulate a low profile BMP (2.45m in height, including turret) with a 2.5m tall M113 (excluding turret).

Below are two photos of more realistic (not to mention more imaginative) OPFOR vehicles as showcased at the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) site.

A Visually Modified (VISMOD) HMMWV aka Humvee transformed into the BRDM armoured vehicle.

A OSV-T - essentially a modified M113A3 with a M2 Bradley turret - being used to simulate a BMP. More info on the OSV-T can be found at Global Security.

The USAF had a similiar (now defunct) programme known as Aggressor - I have seen profile illustrations of Northrop F-5s being painted in Russian desert camouflage and Soviet style stencilled serial numbers in some old magazines - gotta see if I can find out more on the Net.

Check out the BAE Systems Multimedia Library (tons of next-gen armour prototypes) or the Joint Readiness Training Center’s OPFOR vehicles.

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OPFOR Worldwide Equipment Guide
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Japanese 3D military modeller Kyoshi Harada has updated his Polygon Model site recently with cutaway renders of arguably the most well-known German tank of WWII - the PzKpfw VI Tiger I in sand-brown colours. According to PanzerAce, This particular Tiger I is commanded by SS-Unterscharführer Willi Otterbein of the 1st Company of the 101st (Heavy) SS Panzer Battalion. The famous tank ace Michael Wittmann was the commander of the 2nd company of this same battalion.

© Kyoshi Harada

While I’ve seen event more detailed diagrams of the Tiger in books, these renders are probably some of the best that you’ll find online plus they’re rendered in sufficiently high detail (especially the turret) for identifying stuff like the armoured periscopes for the gunner and commander as well as appreciating the size of the Maybach HL230 engine and the massive breech of the 88mm KwK 36 L/56 cannon of the Tiger I. The stowage areas for the cannon rounds are also shown clearly in these renders.

© Kyoshi Harada

Download these wallpaper-sized renders at Polygon Model or read more about the Tiger I at The Armour Site.

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CG rendered game videos are getting more photorealistic by the day, and Codemasters’ Operation Flashpoint 2 : Dragon Rising is no exception. Besides, the fictional scenario presented in the trailer reminds me of Jeff Head’s freely downloadable novel Dragon’s Fury on a hypothetical World War III instigated by militaristic regimes in China and the Middle East.

This ‘Sheer Scale’ trailer for Codemasters’ sequel to 2001’s Operation Flashpoint : Cold War Crisis showcases significantly larger battles than the original game. Below is a sypnosis and analysis of the 2 min trailer.

© Codemasters

An American special forces team (identified by their helmet and the silenced MP5s) takes out an enemy outpost. The sentry seems like a PLA soldier since the carbine he’s holding looks like the current PLA service weapon, the QBZ-95.

© Codemasters

But I’m curious about the camouflage worn by the American soldiers, since it doesn’t look like the current US woodland pattern and is probably one of the new digital camouflage patterns like the Army Combat Uniform Pattern (ARPAT).

The identity of the outpost occupants are revealed when they exclaim in Chinese the moment the American troops burst it and secure the building.

© Codemasters

After completing their objective, the squad is surprised and taken out by enemy (artillery?) bombardment while exiting the building. The camera then cuts to show a group of Strykers rumbling into the area.

© Codemasters

Encountering enemy PLA Type 92 armoured personnel carriers and infantry ahead, the Strkyers engage the vehicles while soldiers quickly dismount from the back to provide additional firepower.

© Codemasters

Enemy reinforcements from the flank almost overwhelm the Americans until a flight of AH-64 Apaches arrives to save the day. Finally found the the enemy armour that took out the Stryker at 1:09 after replaying the video several times (see closeup in second pic below - top right corner).

© Codemasters

Later, a flight of UH-60s land troops into the fight with door-mounted chaingunners pouring suppressive fire into the town ruins.

© Codemasters

The camera then zooms out to show a couple of Nanchang Q-5 ‘Fantan’ flying past and finally the island where the skirmish has taken place.

© Codemasters

The Wikipedia article for Operation Flashpoint 2 : Dragon Rising states that the island in question might be Okinawa but I doubt that the architectural style of the buildings in the trailer look more European than Okinawan.

Download the ‘Sheer Scale’ trailer at Gametrailers or visit the official Operation Flashpoint 2 : Dragon Rising website.

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