In this ATL Shaposhnikov is Chief of Staff. But interestingly, ATL Zhukov is Armaments Minister and General in charge of 2ya Tankovaya Armiya... there will be a reshuffle when war breaks out though as we can't have commanders in the field who also hold cabinet positions (the chief of the Army can be an active Field Marshall though...), maybe in peacetime, but not in wartime, and anyway we might need other bonuses when at war...
Yugoslavia isn't long for this world. I still believe the Germans don't have any transports left to ship troops to Norway... not so sure about the Italians, they lost a few, but they might have more... I think Crete might be an indicator of Italian capabilities, as a naval invasion of the island to finish of Greece would prove that the Italians still have, at least, some amphibious capabilities. I do think you are correct in the assumption that the vast majority of German troops, if not the vast majority of Axis troops, currently in the Balkans will find their way to the Soviet Border... The British just need to get it together, their navy is mostly intact, and Egypt is the only active front of any significance they have. They could easily ship in reinforcements from anywhere in their empire and put together a real offensive driving the Italians back into Libya. My guess is that they'll ship in units, and especially bombers, once El Iskandarîya is under threat again, and as soon as the front stabilises they'll lose interest...
. Nice historical nod, as others have mentioned. The forces of evil gather their might.
The entire story you created in explanation was very good Comrade. Again, well done. One comment, I had a little difficulty in reading that well-crafted OOB-screen; I suggest a stronger contrast between the two hues.
Ethiopia is only the start of their problems...Good tech advances and the Axis ascendant everywhere except in crucial Ethiopia
I assume you're talking about the red lettering on the Yellow rectangles... Yes... it looked readable while I was working on it, zoomed in, but once I exported it and looked at it again I noticed that the contrast was somewhat underwhelming... It would, however, be a lot of work to fix (to easily move the rectangles around I didn't keep the text in a separate layer... so I'd have to re-write all the text, line it all up, and repaint all of the rectangles yellow...), so I'll use a better hue of red next time... and maybe I'll replace this one then...
So they do...So we are (we'd like to think so anyway...)
To be clear...no not either color but the combination of the two. I've done the very same and honestly I did think it could be my aged-eyes but since they are the best survivor of my lengthy-decades<LOL> I thought I should say something to assist your excellent effort comrade.
I'll change the colour of the text, as the colour of the rectangles was deliberately chosen to be somewhat complementary to the standard forum background and, IMO it works in that respect... (yellow for the Soviet flag, but close to orange, as it should be orange following the colour wheel, yes I know the colour wheel, but I don't always follow it...) I picked bright red for the text to remain within the Soviet Yellow and Red theme... but it should have been closer to purple, as purple is highlighted by yellow... Orangeish yellow and bright red are just too close for comfort... I just didn't think that one through now, did I. It was I who wasn't clear enough...Thanks for sharing the knowledge, and for your assistance, now I will have your 'voice' in my head whenever I select colours, and I won't make this kind of bad jugement again, fingers crossed...
And I haven't even started working full time yet... Go figure...
Heh - am on the bus home after my last day at work... Maybe when I retire...
All right, that's it. I'm planning my retirement.
. And I have no plans, just broad objectives Not needing a plan is the beauty of it
Just make sure if you do hear a whisper it is a kind Gandalf.<L> And I do hope it is words casting the spell...trial and error is the path for us all.I just didn't think that one through now, did I. It was I who wasn't clear enough...Thanks for sharing the knowledge, and for your assistance, now I will have your 'voice' in my head whenever I select colours, and I won't make this kind of bad jugement again, fingers crossed...
Great to know you do oil painting... I've dabbled a bit in watercolours... but somehow, I always have something else to do, and water colours need time, and expensive paint... It was so relaxing to have a university course where we could choose to learn to do watercolours for 4 straight hours every week for a semester, not feeling guilty about not working for other courses etc... Maybe when I retire...
All right, that's it. I'm planning my retirement.
I wish I was next-door I give you that clock where all the hours were sitting at the bottom of the face.Heh - am on the bus home after my last day at work
But I’m glad you did!
I look at that and rhetorically wonder either how you did it or how long it took you to do it
(it’s ok you don’t need to answer - the artist should retain his mystery ). I’ll bet it wasn’t easy.lovely mate - the work and effort transmits that love very authentically. I’ll bet too when you look at it, it also evokes those smells, sounds and feelings that you can only get from being out in what we would call ‘the bush’.
Heh! After 40+ years working in a place that prizes and demands planning so comprehensively, there is a delicious indolence in not being compelled to do it. I certainly won’t escape it and it is imbued in me, but for now I’m luxuriating in not having to concern myself with it. Honestly, I think it will take some months before it truly sinks in.I wish I was next-door I give you that clock where all the hours were sitting at the bottom of the face.
Congratulations on your retirement... now you'll be posting even more updates to three AARs? Or will you be starting another one to fill the time?Heh - am on the bus home after my last day at work
Thank you for sharing them here.
About using a camera... it's a great way to get started, but things become really interesting <imo> once you sit down and take 10 minutes to an hour to draw what you see before you, just pencil, paper, and the actual subject of your drawing... to make things more exciting, I usually use a pen or a marker, so I only have one shot... I actually draw better with a marker because a pencil lures me into a sense of "I can always rub that out if I mess up..."... That's something I really like about playing music as well, you play. When you make a mistake, you don't have time to correct it, to rub it out, once it's played it's played, and if you mess up during a performance, you need to move on, and immediately concentrate on what follows, or you'll just stop playing and that just ruins everything... Drawing with something you can't erase is the same, if (when, in my case) you mess up, you move on, integrate the mistake in the drawing, then, if you're not satisfied, you can always start over.
Well, you'd be surprised how quickly skilled artists (something I don't really consider myself to be when it comes to drawing) create a passable drawing... a good e one like the one above though... that can take a little longer...the artist should retain his mystery
Good luck improvising your retirement, I'm sure it'll be great... As planning in my university's architecture faculty is something of a disaster, and people seem to have no problems arriving 30 mins or more after any rendez-vous... I actually yearn for some quality planning, which may be part of why I play HOI3... It's not that I don't like improvising, or that I'm not good at it, it's just that I don't like being compelled to do it...Heh! After 40+ years working in a place that prizes and demands planning so comprehensively, there is a delicious indolence in not being compelled to do it. I certainly won’t escape it and it is imbued in me, but for now I’m luxuriating in not having to concern myself with it. Honestly, I think it will take some months before it truly sinks in.
updates, I could have ditched the worry of straying too far from the story-line. Yes, this Greybeard is fairly resistant to change; some might say stubborn. Brings to mind, our US vets commenting on D-day. "If we had known what we were wading-into, most of us would have stayed on the LCTs." Now that's an eye-opener.Thanks man...you can now better enjoy adventures. I know you'll make the most of this change o' pace.But I’m glad you did!
I agree completely...but only for other dabblers.I look at that and rhetorically wonder either how you did it or how long it took you to do it
Easy? You're correct, the word does not work; maybe Experience = faster-quick.<LOL> The color-drawing I did in a couple of hours tops...maybe an hour. That exercise was all about the "custom-colors slider". If I was a young-buck I would have spend the time to max-zoom and triple the graduation but the back says forget that jack...here too.Enjoyed that wisdom because it struck a chord with the old meaning behind "sister-art". i.e. Your comment is correct and it called to mind, the very same "fact" when I have read poems from long ago. Whatever, we invest our minds, we leave something of our spirits deep inside...eh?lovely mate - the work and effort transmits that love very authentically. I’ll bet too when you look at it, it also evokes those smells, sounds and feelings that you can only get from being out in what we would call ‘the bush’.
Btw, whenever I see Black-soil in-game...yeah...you know the smell of rich-loam. Pro-tip: Never break a bottle of Red-Fox cover-scent inside a store...without being able to film the faces that next walk into the area.So true but this time you'll not be relaxing just when the vacation comes to an end but you get to hang-out as long as you want.Heh! After 40+ years working in a place that prizes and demands planning so comprehensively, there is a delicious indolence in not being compelled to do it. I certainly won’t escape it and it is imbued in me, but for now I’m luxuriating in not having to concern myself with it. Honestly, I think it will take some months before it truly sinks in.
I like that idea. Always wanted to explore multi-mediums much more thoroughly.
You are a blessed young man Comrade. This not-so grandfather...hopes you will hang on to the old and new and tenaciously celebrate both.
Enjoyed that critique very much. If you like my trees, you should see my rocks.
Honestly, I have no idea why but rock-surface and textures have been the greatest challenge and satisfaction. Might be because I play Hard-rock.Dude...you are sage beyond your years. About the camera...you are spot-on. Honestly, I have to admit, it completely escaped my notice that I gave you the method a dragon-munched-artist can use.<L>About using a camera... it's a great way to get started, but things become really interesting <imo> once you sit down and take 10 minutes to an hour to draw what you see before you, just pencil, paper, and the actual subject of your drawing... to make things more exciting, I usually use a pen or a marker, so I only have one shot... I actually draw better with a marker because a pencil lures me into a sense of "I can always rub that out if I mess up..."... That's something I really like about playing music as well, you play. When you make a mistake, you don't have time to correct it, to rub it out, once it's played it's played, and if you mess up during a performance, you need to move on, and immediately concentrate on what follows, or you'll just stop playing and that just ruins everything... Drawing with something you can't erase is the same, if (when, in my case) you mess up, you move on, integrate the mistake in the drawing, then, if you're not satisfied, you can always start over.
Absolutely. I was blown away by the ability that pixels, zoom, etc affords deep-levels to an Artist. Many years later, I see just how early game graphic-artists used these abilities back-then. Of course...I did not nor will I ever catch-up.Well, you'd be surprised how quickly skilled artists (something I don't really consider myself to be when it comes to drawing) create a passable drawing... a good e one like the one above though... that can take a little longer...
Maybe, when I have time, I'll draw something for this AAR... who knows, the Kiyv-Class Carrier in action?... The mysterious compound of the Secret Committee? No demands but certainly a request.
As a ex-R&R DJ, requests are a very good thing.<L> When Gato & Fan came near those blowing-curtains, <imo> that quick far less than serious art...was quite fun (idea involving two mediums) and provided modest support for the scene.
Nice metaphor, but I assure you I'm by no means the equivalent of a D-Day beach when it comes to my drawing... Also, to stretch the metaphor beyond it's limit: If the US soldiers had stayed on their LCT's, they wouldn't have exchanged fire with the Germans...Btw, had I known your background I doubt I would have inflicted my solo-dart into Art.
You had me laughing, and I have no idea how Red-Fox cover scent even smells...Pro-tip: Never break a bottle of Red-Fox cover-scent inside a store...without being able to film the faces that next walk into the area.
Well, I try to strike a balance between old and new, both have good parts and bad parts, the hard part is keeping the good (and not the bad) from the old, and rejecting the bad (and not the good) from the new...and even that is a simplification... I do still spend some time in the University library, and when I was a curious little kid without a computer, I spent a lot of time in the local library. But nowadays, looking for books goes through the laptop and my University's special search engine, which includes the University library, online publications, libraries from other universities,... It has happened for me to find myself in the library, looking for information and reference, only to find it in a series of pdfs available online through the system, and not in one of the hundreds, if not thousands of books and magazines around me...I fear that one day minds will have no way to relate to the experience of walking into an old stone castle, (Public-library) and enjoy the musty aroma of shelves and shelves of Tomes & Scrolls that allow the explorer to utilize his or her browser and take hard-cover history in-hand.
Interesting, I have had to draw a couple of rocks for a course about 2 years ago, but I think I lost those drawings. I do remember it to be a lot trickier than expected... those surface textures...Enjoyed that critique very much. If you like my trees, you should see my rocks.
It is still a widely used and very useful technique (I use it too, from time to time, and for specific applications)... but, see above...
Well, I haven't seen that, I'll be sure to check it out
I don't believe I will ever catch up either, these things move so fast that, if you don't constantly follow new releases and developments, you're bound to lag behind. And then there is the problem of the cost of tools... I prefer to work with open source alternatives, and these already lag behind in functionality compared with full price software. For example, I might be the only student in my year who actively uses Draftsight instead of Autocad as my basic CAD software... Point being that I don't want to be dependent on very expensive subscription based software for anything.
You have already done some impressive image mashes in past episodes. I’d be very interested in seeing you turn an educated hand to some freehand drawing for the AAR: I’m sure it would enrich it and might be a good hobby-like side-Line to what is about to become an epic tale of struggle on the grand scale. Out of interest, has your drawing background (as I think you imply) also delved into drawing people? Could be interesting once the Great Patriotic War starts.
A Kiev in action could blend your technical line drawing with the more freehand drawing of action as well. And it (or aircraft carriers in general) has become emblematic of your Odin-driven SU. A Kiev-class AAR!
I sadly don't have the productive time right now to draw an elaborate drawing of the things I suggested above, but keep an eye out for drawings, they might just pop up, contingent upon productive time, whether I feel like it, and whether I think the story warrants them... I have more ideas for possible drawings, but I won't spoil the (possible) surprise.No demands but certainly a request.
That's not pressure, that's encouragement, a distinction many a University teacher could have a better grasp on, unless the whole point of University is to heap on pressure for the sake of it, then most seem to perfectly understand how that works...
I'm sure it's plenty...Retirement will give me time to finish off France, keep Turkey moving along and see how far the Rurikids can go! As for a new project, I have something in mind, but two big AARs is plenty to be going on with.
I particularly enjoy the earmarkkur pun, and feature... Well, you're not as resistant to change as you think... these last few comments are proof of that...Ftr, it dawned on me, that I have been in my self regulated habit of staying very narrow in sharing thoughts. However, with Paradox, adding the marvelous tool of chapters-breaks, <bravo!> which allowed authors to earmarkkur
Talking loudly, while carrying a big stick that is never actually used seems the most likely AI US course of all!
Tri makes some very good points indeed! But the Secret Committee may be in luck: if the best case is for the US to “bark loudly” but not do anything, then this is the game for you!
Let's hope things remain this way and the US keeps making threats but ultimately stays out of Europe. (Maybe this is the game for me...). We would welcome US Navy involvement in the Pacific though, many people from Leningrad to Vladivostok would sleep better if Japan reduced it's forces on our Far Eastern border.
Let's all hope it doesn't come to that...
What intel? The Kampetai dispatched with our short-lived Japan mission back in February 1939. All we know is that most of the IJA is sitting on our Far Eastern border
Keep calm, and hope Japan does something incredibly stupid...
