.Taffy

For those who are fans of the Sharpe series of books (and TV/Film adaptations with Sean Bean), the author Bernard Cornwell has released a non-fiction history book about the battle. Rather than a dry recounting of the battle it's told as more of a narrative switching to different individuals who made accounts of that day. I've not had the time to finish it yet but have found it very entertaining so far. http://www.bernardcornwell.net/waterloo-the-true-story-of-four-days-three-armies-and-three-battles/ (Was half price in WHSmiths when I got it)

Really nice models! Can they be towed?

Why have you left a 'Cold War Gone Hot' setting out of it, ala OFP? The tech in the 1980s for me strikes a perfect balance between modernity and a reliance on the abilities of personnel. It's also a setting that is nowhere near as saturated as WWII or modern day in games so still has the potential to be pushed far.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/nasa-approves-impossible-space-engine-design-that-apparently-violates-the-laws-of-physics-9646865.html Although The Independent is fairly prone to writing hyperbolic articles (the above headline being evidence of that) it is interesting that a mainstream British newspaper has decided to pick up this story on its front page.

I'm not saying some kind of brief flashpoint is impossible but as to a full 3rd World War, is there any reason that the principles of M.A.D don't still hold true? That would surely prevent such a thing.

Cameron has pretty much painted himself into a corner by criticising the French warship sale when it emerges that British defence contractors continue to sell equipment to Russia (including rifles, NVGs etc.) while Russian oligarchs are permitted to continue investing in London (particularly property) and the Tory party receives donations from one Russian (he had fled the country mind) amounting in excess of £250 million. I'm not surprised that the French are somewhat annoyed at his statements.

French defence contractors are currently building two new Helicopter Carriers for the Russian Navy, combined worth abut a billion euros. If the article you mention is true the training is probably in relation to that. Future sanctions may put a stop to the whole thing though.

I realise they only gained the capability to shoot down high level targets recently but I'm simply saying that in any conflict where AA assets are being put into use effectively against military aircraft, even if they only appear to be basic (ManPADs, AAA etc.) at that point it is not worth taking the risk with civilian air traffic.

Whilst it stands to reason that it is impractical to continually change flight corridors due to any and all conflicts in the world, in the case of Ukraine, where for the past 2 months or more the separatists have been actively targeting military aircraft, it would have been wise to make alterations and have civilian aircraft avoid the area, if not Ukraine altogether. Perhaps now, in light of this event, SOPs will change so that airlines will avoid areas where AA assets are actively operating.

I'm not suggesting that they would or should. I'm genuinely asking the question; is there a nation that both sides are likely to accept as mediator instead of Egypt? Otherwise it seems this crisis is doomed to escalate.

With Hamas unwilling to trust Egypt as a mediator any more is there any country in the region that could hope to realistically broker a ceasefire?

Oh right so even that 'stance' is roughly 4-5km/h? Also yeah, it really wouldn't suit in image of a wounded person.

Ah right I see. Though when Alex mentioned walking my mind jumped to the 'tactic-cool swagger walk' which considering your research must amount to about 2km/h? :p

Good points, though I think a forced walk for extreme fatigue would perhaps be a step to far, especially as some of the included mission include 2k cross country romps! Forced walk for leg injuries on the other hand (as opposed to the forced crawl of previous games) would be welcome. If the devs wanted to include a 'limp' animation all the better! :)

I don't know if the recent small update was a hot fix for 1.24 or not but the issue regarding targets refusing to fold when shot during the stamina demonstration persists for me. I reiterate, although this bug is small and does not affect everyone, it is very important that it is dealt with quickly so this introduction does not provide a tainted first impression for too many new/returning players.

Hmm, I seem to have the same problem some others are having with the targets refusing to topple when shot during the stamina demonstration which means the mini-campaign cannot progress. I know others don't have this issue so I wonder what the differing factor is. Could it be that those without the issue were previously on dev-branch or something? I don't know how widespread this problem is but it is worrying to think that people returning to the game for the Bootcamp, because they found the learning curve too frustrating, might encounter the progress halting issue.

A tough mission to be sure but I was coping! That is until I ran into the same issue as the OP. Damned APC totally damaged the CSAT fuel truck. Kerry jumped out and that instant the game autosaved and some new objective started coming in. In the following second the fuel truck exploded killing Kerry, any attempt to reload the game simply lasts for a second before Kerry is killed again, all that effort, wasted! So I either restart mission or skip it, which is a bitch because I'd managed to get my first set of NVs to make the bloody night missions bareable! If only Arma didn't overwrite the autosaves!

I agree that memorable characters are important, though I think it's best to have several playable characters than one do everything. In OFP there were several memorable characters in the early missions and if they were killed the game kind of glossed over it and continued to use them in subsequent missions (it was kind of difficult to tell who was who during missions anyway). As immersion breaking as that could be, I much prefer it to the frustration that sometimes occurred in the Harvest Red campaign.

Very interesting, i look forward to seeing where you go with it! Is there an AI element to this VASSAL programme you're using or is it just for online PvP use?

That video was brilliant, made me jump a little! If I may be so bold it just needed one little bit extra to make it perfect ;)

This got me giggling: ;)

At 13 years old it occurred to me that my ideal game was a fairly realistic, massive open world war game with drive-able and fly-able vehicles. No sooner had I thought of this, I saw a tiny little thumbnail article in PC Gamer magazine, describing that exact dream game which went by the name of 'Operation Flashpoint'. I got it, loved it and have absolutely adored the series ever since! I look forward to the day, another 15 years from now, when I'm 40ish and firing up 'Arma 8' for the first time! :D Happy Birthday and cheers for all the hard work Bohemia!

Sounds interesting, I look forward to finding out more! Nice teaser too.

That's not necessarily an issue. In Arma 2 Chernarus was much larger than the South Zagoria map that was actually modeled and the Takistan map released for OA only represented a portion of the intended scale of that country. A map representing the Philippines need only model a portion of it, perhaps where a key flashpoint or stalemate occurs in whatever campaign might be written.