Teo

Enough about communism and capitalism. Looks like the Russians, as I predicted, are keeping a buffer zone outside the two provinces South Ossetia an Abkhazia. My opinion on this is I believe the Russians should pull out of both regions. Abkhazia should be allowed to vote as to whether it wishes to be an independent State (historically it was). South Ossetia should not be allowed to vote as it has always been part of Georgia and the Russian descendants in this region moved there as part of colonisation/plantation. The region belongs to Georgia. Finally if Abkhazia is given it's right to independence so should Chechnya. Oh and if I was Georgian and the Russians do not move out after talks with NATO, I would be very tempted to take up arms against them (Guerialla warfare). But violence is never the best solution so let's hope it gets sorted in a diplomatic fashion.

Haha. The Brits in this forum are going to love you. Who would they arrest? Will there be executions, concentration camps maybe a guillotine for the sake of it? Spokesperson you are an extremist. It's a real pity if you believe what you write, what do your parents do for a living?

Spokesperson would I be right in saying that you wanted Guba to win in Operation Flashpoint?

Ukraine is prepared to open its missile defence network to cooperation with European and other foreign powers. The Ukrainian foreign ministry said that the demise of a bilateral Russian-Ukrainian defence agreement earlier this year 'allows Ukraine to establish active cooperation with European countries'. Muhahahahaha! Anyway Russia shouldn't worry about the West, the EU and Russia should be making efforts to get along better. Russia should be a little more wary about the 'Yellow Peril' (no racial offence intended). What's the population of Russia, is it growing? More importantly what's the Russian population in Siberia, how many Chinese (with Chinese passports ) are living in East Russia and how many are living along the Russian/Chinese border?

Spokesperson you have your opinion and that is fair enough, but I'm guessing you haven't a clue about the effort it takes for a person to take on the financial risk and sacrifice of one's own time in setting up a business. I applaud anyone who has the guts to go out an set up on their own. If you're prepared to work you will do well, if you're not well don't expect a hand out. I'm an accountant by profession (and people pay me for my knowledge), so don't even try to persuade me that you know better. You should move to an EU country and work for a small private owned company and take a look at the employers obligations to the employee, trade unions, labour courts etc. Sorry I won't talk about this again as it is off topic.

Russia has declared a temporary ceasefire and both Georgian and Russian troops have to move back to their original positions before the conflict. I would like to make the point that Russia stating that a large group of Ossetians hold Russian passports was always irrelevant. That's what happens when a country is effectively colonised by another. Anyway sounds like the Germans in 1938 when they moved into the Sudetanland. If the Russians are serious about peacekeeping in South Ossetia they won't mind a UN/EU peacekeeping force being put in place. At least that way we won't have a re-occurence of this violence. I'm Irish and neutral, I believe in democracy (which does exist) and the right to speak one's mind and in business terms I am a capitalist with morals.

Yeah I read that bit about the Georgian air attack in South Ossetia, find it odd though that the Russians haven't taken out the Georgian air bases or have they? Any news on where the 2,000 Gerogian troops from Iraq have been based? We all know that after this it's going to be a guerilla war.

In relation to the ongoing conflict in Georgia I personally believe Russia has overstepped the mark by moving south beyond the South Ossetian and Abkhazia borders. If Russia had stopped at the borders of each province Georgia would have lost the international public relations war, but they did not. If Russia does not agree to a ceasefire after negotiations with the French foreign minister and after the NATO Russian talks they will be deemed to the 'uncompromising aggressor'. I do believe the Russian mobilisation of their 58th Army had been planned and was executed as such and it is a bit suspicious considering both the US and EU presidents were both in Beijing at the time. However I do believe that the Georgian forces started this conflict (source: http://www.janes.com/news/security/iwr/iwr080808_1_n.shtml) It reminds me of Israel's invasion of Lebanon in July 2006. I'm guessing Russia will keep a short term buffer of 30 or 50 miles south of each border until an agreement can be reached. Get out your old copies of Ghost Recon and see what the terrain is like in Georgia. Oh and if the Russians (God forbid) push for Tbilisi or the oil pipeline well I can imagine the Iraqis might get their American troop pull out as they wished.

Lads easy there. I agree that the SP campaign was too short and the story line was very thin. There wasn't even a threat of a nuclear stand-off (joke!. I get the impression that the game has been solely made for the Modder. That's fair enough as there is a strong community out there who do put time and effort into creating new campains, missions and add-ons. However personally I found the story-lines one of the strong points in the original series and I think BI could have expanded a little bit more on the campaign. On the flip-side, I'm glad there is a mission editor. It's great that you can re-invent the game. Its best that you play games created by others other than your own because there will always be an element of surprise. If you were to play your own games you'll always know where the enemy is, their strength and their orders (which is %^&ing boring). BI I love the game but next time ye create a campaign could you make it more personal like the original series. PS: Has anyone created a campaign that follows Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising?

I've read the following thread 'Terrain editing' (apologies I tried to copy a link to it but failed) and the lads have a photo of a field in the 5th reply. You'll see hedgerows defining the boundaries of each field...everbody knows that there is normally a dike running along with the hedgreow for draining purposes and this is the cover that soldiers tend to use in combat. Nobody and I mean nobody ever goes out into the middle of fields anymore when on patrol...its suicide. And that's why I dislike the lack of cover in OPF.

That's a fair enough comment; that the more detail used in the terrain the less processing power for gameplay. However most countries train their soldiers to fight in section attack using cover. These attacks tend to be fought over short distances and this is down to the cover provided in the terrain. The (only) problem I have with OFP is that you can take out the enemy from extreme distances whereas in a real situation you would not know the enemy was there due to the cover and concealment. I that in the future these military sims can merge the positice aspects of OFP and the likes of Brothers in Arms

In OPF there was pretty much no cover unless your were in a town. I want to know that if you are in a field does the land provide cover or are there just bushes for concealment (Cover includes earth banks, dykes, etc, to protect you from enemy fire...Concealment, ie bushes do not protect you from enemy fire)?

Is this date correct for Ireland and UK 16/2/2007?

Hedgerows, ditches and more hedgerows...this is what it's all about. I've got both copies of Brothers in Arms and those guys nailed the concept of fire and maneuver. I'd like this to be introduced. I know I'm probably a bit late as the game will be released soon. So for the next gen game if BI can use the concepts introduced in Brothers in Arms using cover (not concealment) it would be great. Cheers Teo

I was playing OPF on my Xbox and my Latvian house mate saw me playing and asked me what the game was about. I told her about the different games and I tell ya she wasn't impressed. She gave out saying that the Russians were always made out to be the 'bad guys'. Now she is 45 years old and me thinks she still wants to be part of the old USSR and I'm not gonna criticise her for that 'caus she was brought up in that era. Just want to know does anyone else have an opinion on this?