The Crystal Ball

[Flanker35M]

S!

Well, patch is supposed to come some time not so far. Gives another chance to test and report bugs etc. in a constructive manner. Work on sequel is in full swing, so nothing to complain on that department.

Game's release was far from what expected, but nothing we can do about it. Could bring up a lot of stuff what niggles me but again why beating a long since dead horse

[Flanker35M]

S!

Amazing what you can find on Amazon Great posts, made me laugh!

[SG1_Lud]

lmao

got one he will enjoy

http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Tree-1ST...5945360&sr=1-7

[bongodriver]

Originally Posted by Ben Scammell

Oh lordy, more killing of messengers again...first message and I think I'm out, the usual suspects from elsewhere in pom-poms and cheer-leader outfits...mod, please delete my membership please. Thank you!

Ben/Falstaff

Aww....and well miss all of those 1 constructive posts you contributed to this community

[KG26_Alpha]

Originally Posted by Ben Scammell

Oh lordy, more killing of messengers again...first message and I think I'm out, the usual suspects from elsewhere in pom-poms and cheer-leader outfits...mod, please delete my membership please. Thank you!

Ben/Falstaff

Hang on he only thinks he's out .............. lets see if he gets to a post count of 2.







.

[Skoshi Tiger]

Originally Posted by Cpt_Farrel

Smitten by the generous spirit here I would like to give something back to the givers to make sure you don't go empty handed either.

www.amazon.com/How-Stop-Being-Asshole-Likeable/dp/1462846181

On the premise that "Nice guys finish last!" I might buy this book and find out what I've been doing wrong all these years! - Just read through the book and do the opposite!

[Ataros]

Originally Posted by cheesehawk

You have any good recommended reads? To date, I have only LW stuff, and stuff from the Pacific theatre, but the cursory investigations I've done on the Eastern front are eye-popping, even in just numbers and distances. I'm looking for a good read from the VVS point of view to give me some perspective.

I recommend watching this film

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ud0ofWIg_cs

It does not feature authentic aircraft but the war and people look authentic (a bit idealised of cause). If you like it I can find 1-2 more probably.

As a child I was reading memoirs of Pokryshkin, Kozhedub, Golubev (about Pokryshkin), Vorozheikin or about those who died too young to write memoirs like Lydia Litvyak, 21 or Yekaterina Budanova, 26.

Most of these memoirs are not translated into English yet. You can find a couple of memoir books on amason though. Also there is a series on soviet aces published. Try googling "soviet fighter memoirs" and\or "vvs aces memoirs". Most of these books were published during soviet times and you have to skip some propaganda pages when reading.

Originally Posted by ATAG_Dutch

Not really from a VVS perspective, other than a 'VVS Fighter Aces of WWII' type book, but a good read generally is 'A Writer at War' from actual notes made at the time by war correspondent for Krasnya Zvezda, Vasily Grossman.

Superb book. Most of my other research was online via links from good ole wiki.

Vasily Grossman's Life and Fate banned and confiscated by KGB it was secretly taken outside the USSR, published in the west, then dramatised on BBC radio and even made UK best-selling lists. It is about the most ruthless battle in the history of mankind - Stalingrad (Germany - total 841,000 casualties, USSR - total 1,129,619 casualties). If you want to read one book about the Eastern front (or about any war in general) I recommend this one. It is not the shortest but it is worth reading even in small portions. One of characters is a fighter pilot too.
Wiki article on Life and Fate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_and_Fate

Since La-5 was first introduced in Stalingrad I guess it can be the next theatre in the Il-2 series.

Regarding Eastern Front role in the war in general estimated Nazi losses on Eastern/Western front are 4,428,000 to 5,178,000+ for Eastern / 997,386 to 1,000,256 for Western according to English wiki (I know this is not 100% reliable). I think aircraft and armour losses are more or less proportional to some extent.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern...orld_War_II%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western...orld_War_II%29

[Flanker35M]

S!

If want to read about IL-2 Sturmovik piloting at the front I can recommend Vasili B. Emelianenko's book "Red Star against the Swastika - The story of a Soviet pilot over the Eastern Front". Greenhill Books published the english version of it 2005.

This book has less of this idealised stuff in it and quite nicely tells about the life of IL-2 pilots and the plane so was a nice read. The quote of another IL2 engagement vs 109 someone posted in one thread was just the poo-poo I stay clear from.

[TomcatViP]

Originally Posted by Ataros

I recommend watching this film

It does not feature authentic aircraft but the war and people look authentic (a bit idealised of cause). If you like it I can find 1-2 more probably.

As a child I was reading memoirs of Pokryshkin, Kozhedub, Golubev (about Pokryshkin),
Most of these memoirs are not translated into English yet. You can find a couple of memoir books on amason though. Also there is a series on soviet aces published. Try googling "soviet fighter memoirs" and\or "vvs aces memoirs". Most of these books were published during soviet times and you have to skip some propaganda pages when reading.



Vasily Grossman's Life and Fate banned and confiscated by KGB it was secretly taken outside the USSR, published in the west, then dramatised on BBC radio and even made UK best-selling lists. It is about the most ruthless battle in the history of mankind - Stalingrad (Germany - total 841,000 casualties, USSR - total 1,129,619 casualties). If you want to read one book about the Eastern front (or about any war in general) I recommend this one. It is not the shortest but it is worth reading even in small portions. One of characters is a fighter pilot too.
Wiki article on Life and Fate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_and_Fate

Since La-5 was first introduced in Stalingrad I guess it can be the next theatre in the Il-2 series.

Regarding Eastern Front role in the war in general estimated Nazi losses on Eastern/Western front are 4,428,000 to 5,178,000+ for Eastern / 997,386 to 1,000,256 for Western according to English wiki (I know this is not 100% reliable). I think aircraft and armour losses are more or less proportional to some extent.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern...orld_War_II%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western...orld_War_II%29

Hey and what abt Constantin Simonov ? One of the greatest book on soldier at war I ever read. Stylish as an Hemingway. I understand that his past is somewhat controversial but outside Russia this has no impact - he is largely unknown. His saga is more easy to read than Vasily G

Grossman does too much of an emphasis some time making the text hard and boring to read on some paragraph (might be something lost in the translation thus) without mentioning the thousands of different characters found in his saga very much à la TolstoÏ .

We shld hve a thread abt books etc...

[Ataros]

Originally Posted by TomcatViP

Hey and what abt Constantin Simonov ? One of the greatest book on soldier at war I ever read. Stylish as an Hemingway. I understand that his past is somewhat controversial but outside Russia this has no impact - he is largely unknown. His saga is more easy to read than Vasily G

Grossman does too much of an emphasis some time making the text hard and boring to read on some paragraph (might be something lost in the translation thus) without mentioning the thousands of different characters found in his saga very much à la TolstoÏ .

We shld hve a thread abt books etc...

I agree about Simonov. The only issue is that his books were published during Soviet times and were censored. I do not know if there are any more complete post-soviet editions available.

Anyway his military poetry is outstanding and films based on his novels are worth watching, e.g.:
The Normandy - Neman (1960), joint production by the USSR and France; together with Charles Spaak and Elsa Triolet) - about Soviet-French fighter squadron http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normandie-Niemen

The Alive and the Dead (1964), directed by Aleksandr Stolper, starring Kirill Lavrov, Anatoli Papanov, Oleg Yefremov - about tragic 1941 retreat of the Red Army.