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Yvonmukluk posted:As tempting as it is to take the internet away from Redditors, I think hitting that bridge might get the DRC and potentially the UN mad at us, which we don't need at this stage in the game. The bridge, is, after all, in DRC territory. And there is a non-zero chance civilians will get killed - not a good look, consider we kind of need the international community to like us right now. While I do agree throwing cruise missiles on DRC land would normally not be a good idea, they're allowing foreign invaders to move military equipment through their territory to fight a war. The DRC is gonna have to suck it up. Oh and we're fighting a war here. Lets not chicken out of blowing up valid military targets just because some bystanders are gonna get harmed.
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May 9, 2017 08:57
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Whoah... It may be an act of war to allow military access into a warzone, but blowing up a bridge on sovereign soil is more so. No. This is a very bad idea.
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May 9, 2017 09:12
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Dance Officer posted:While I do agree throwing cruise missiles on DRC land would normally not be a good idea, they're allowing foreign invaders to move military equipment through their territory to fight a war. The DRC is gonna have to suck it up. Oh and we're fighting a war here. Lets not chicken out of blowing up valid military targets just because some bystanders are gonna get harmed. Do you really think the the DRC is just going to 'suck it up' if we fired a goddamn missile in their territory? That's an act of war. Do you want them to come in on the side of the Free State, or worse the Dictator? We have enough enemies as it stands, we don't need more. Also, you could give the Chinese the excuse to come in hard against us, and the UN to rule against Von Hoff when it comes to the settlement. Yeah, allowing the Free State to move supplies through their territory is kind of iffy when it comes to international law, but launching a military strike into a (nominally) neutral country is so much worse. We're a mercenary company working for an unrecognized state, not a superpower. We can't get away with that. I'd like to be able to knock the Free State out with one fell swoop, really, I would. But even if it worked (and that's assuming the missiles don't get shot down, which might be the best case scenario here), the consequences for us are going to outweigh the benefits. It's not just handwringing over innocent lives (although I'd be lying if it's not my personal primary opposition to the plan), it's the wider geopolitical implications.
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May 9, 2017 09:28
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Yvonmukluk posted:Do you really think the the DRC is just going to 'suck it up' if we fired a goddamn missile in their territory? That's an act of war. Do you want them to come in on the side of the Free State, or worse the Dictator? We have enough enemies as it stands, we don't need more. Also, you could give the Chinese the excuse to come in hard against us, and the UN to rule against Von Hoff when it comes to the settlement. Yeah, allowing the Free State to move supplies through their territory is kind of iffy when it comes to international law, but launching a military strike into a (nominally) neutral country is so much worse. We're a mercenary company working for an unrecognized state, not a superpower. We can't get away with that. But the bridge joins with an Angolan city on one end. Couldn't we just blow it up in Angola's sovereign territory? Or bomb the Angolan terminus of the bridge.
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May 9, 2017 10:11
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Z the IVth posted:But the bridge joins with an Angolan city on one end. Couldn't we just blow it up in Angola's sovereign territory? Or bomb the Angolan terminus of the bridge. I doubt we have that much precision. And even if we did, I really don't think anybody is going to accept 'well actually we only bombed the Angolan half, pay no mind it went through DRC airspace and the whole bridge collapsed as a result' as an excuse.
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May 9, 2017 10:33
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Yvonmukluk posted:I doubt we have that much precision. And even if we did, I really don't think anybody is going to accept 'well actually we only bombed the Angolan half, pay no mind it went through DRC airspace and the whole bridge collapsed as a result' as an excuse. Cruise missiles actually do have that sort of accuracy. And if we bomb the southern terminus of the bridge, it will not have crossed into DRC airspace either.
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May 9, 2017 11:16
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We can path the missile so it never enters Dr Congo territory. Would be a bit of a schlep and I think our launch platforms would have to go past Luanda though
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May 9, 2017 11:20
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Cruise missiles can totally hit just the Angolan bit of the bridge, and yeah it'll piss off the DRC but if they didn't want to get involved they shouldn't have let Reddit across.
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May 9, 2017 11:23
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Yvonmukluk posted:I decided to Neat! Re: Stormban: Elegant, but a bad idea. Especially if it involves hitting the microwave towers in the DRC. Besides, I doubt that it will make that much of a difference this late in the campaign and cut off one of our more entertaining sources of intelligence. Not worth it IMO. Bacarruda posted:I've been trying to figure out how to hit Free State troops on the highway and hit the Dictator's troops on the coastal highways. That's three separate CAS operations, one of them pretty far in the East. Probaby SDB Gripens. Gripens have a short range but they have a quick turnaround, especially if they start off based in Menongue. Never mind, I misread and thought that we had four AMXs,not two. PenguinSalsa fucked around with this message at 12:29 on May 9, 2017 |
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May 9, 2017 11:40
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Dance Officer posted:Cruise missiles actually do have that sort of accuracy. And if we bomb the southern terminus of the bridge, it will not have crossed into DRC airspace either. Crazycryodude posted:Cruise missiles can totally hit just the Angolan bit of the bridge, and yeah it'll piss off the DRC but if they didn't want to get involved they shouldn't have let Reddit across. I feel like it's a waste of effort that is going to hurt us more than it helps.
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May 9, 2017 11:45
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Let's not get overambitious at this stage, folks. Sure, we've managed to pull off some frankly ridiculous stunts, but there's only so many times we can drop our pants and moon our enemies before we get shot in the rear end. It's worth remembering that it's been a close run thing a few times as well. With that in mind, we should not let ourselves get distracted by the Free State or get our teeth broken because we got cocky: coastal CAS all the way. C'mon, let's do it for Benjamin and his family. Speaking of which... Yvonmukluk posted:human-interest stories I quite enjoyed this. You nailed the style quite well in my opinion.
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May 9, 2017 13:08
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Davin Valkri posted:I don't have a stake in this, since I can't submit plans for the next op. However, I have to admit that this is an appealing opportunity. A brace of eight cruise missiles and C&C is completely severed--remarkably elegant. Op will run for a full set of Gripen quick turnarounds. Which will probably be 5 hours or so.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlZa5ET4V_0 Thanks to one of our own for doing the voice work on this one! I'll leave it up to him if he'd like to divulge the fact he's actually a professional mercenary
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May 9, 2017 13:15
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hire the australian, he sounds legit. also are the kafirs getting goon pilots?
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May 9, 2017 13:19
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thatbastardken posted:hire the australian, he sounds legit. Absolutely. Goon pilots are the only pilots. We can't let any pubbies be flying our poo poo.
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May 9, 2017 13:20
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I mean, the Colombians who were flying those things got 5 million each to retire and deliver us their planes, I'm sure they're sitting pretty as far as mercenaries go.
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May 9, 2017 13:23
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 For those of you with a special request I will attempt to put you into the airframe of your choice. So a few folks have been skipped while we await that airframe. For example Yvonmukluk is down for a multiengine support plane and will be the first person to go into that should we get one. On the flip side Saros wanted a gripen, but is instead in a Kfir as the airframes are fairly close in functionality. Greyhunter is awaiting his bote. This man knows his botes.
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May 9, 2017 13:45
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Yooper posted:Op will run for a full set of Gripen quick turnarounds. Which will probably be 5 hours or so. Keeping it in mind, we could pass along as a professional courtesy that we're looking to secure the highway for a push, and as such if they would be willing to pull back to positions that allow our forces to advance to do so with the minimum of fuss, it will be best for everyone involved. No need to drop bombs on potential future co-workers if it can be helped. Just pass it off as 'establishing a more defensible position' or whatever. We're not really looking to punch the Free State in the face that much, after all (no matter how we want to). We've not really fought the Free State directly, so there's always the option of them crossing the lines and taking contracts to help train the new Angolan army with minimal fuss. The largest issue with the count's ground troops (after the lack of heavy equipment, of course) is training, and this might be a viable solution. I wonder if SMARSH are looking to get out as well? I imagine they're even less expressed with the payment issues, considering how much higher their costs are. Of course, they're probably not looking to defect. Or we could attempt some kind of Operation Bizarro Entebbe, where Crobie and his pals hand in their notice by taking over a Free State airfield (including SAMs et al to keep other Free State forces from interefering, we fly in a Herc with surplus pilots to fly off anything that they capture intact (unless that's not possible, in which team Little Bird just trash everything on their way out the door) and they all climb on board and fly back to our lines. Hell, if nothing else happens, we could pay them for a lot of in depth intel of Free State operations.
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May 9, 2017 13:49
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Yooper posted:Op will run for a full set of Gripen quick turnarounds. Which will probably be 5 hours or so. We'd need to know a little more before we can submit an offer. How many mercs does he have? What kind of kit? Experience, background, and training level? Are we talking a bunch of nails ex-SASR guys? Or a bunch of wannabe Army Reservists? I'd say we ballpark a $70,000 initial retainer for each man. $15,000 a month base rate, plus expenses and a bonus based on rank, specialized skills, etc. $10,000 bonus after the first month of service. Make them sign a non-compete agreement valid for six months (or until we release them from it). Yeah, the numbers are a little high -- but we're going up against the cash-rich dictator (and possibly the Chinese) and we need to have a competitive offer. It'd also be worth pointing out to them that Von Hoff is the only one with any real airpower at this point...and they don't want to join the wrong side and end up getting greased by a Paveway. Once we ink the contract, we publicize the poo poo out of the deal -- that way if they renege on it, they're going to damage their reputation pretty badly and no one's gonna hire them again. Yooper, when is the planning phase of this operation supposed to start? When do you want plans in by? Yvonmukluk posted:I wonder if SMARF are looking to get out as well? I imagine they're even less expressed with the payment issues, considering how much higher their costs are. Of course, they're probably not looking to defect. I'd just as soon buy the KF-16s and F-2s. Think we could swing it? Yvonmukluk posted:Or we could attempt some kind of Operation Bizarro Entebbe, where Crobie and his pals hand in their notice by taking over a Free State airfield (including SAMs et al to keep other Free State forces from interefering, we fly in a Herc with surplus pilots to fly off anything that they capture intact (unless that's not possible, in which team Little Bird just trash everything on their way out the door) and they all climb on board and fly back to our lines. Even if this isn't viable, I think it'd be nice if Crobie and his mates could defect with as many SAMs, AA guns, radars, tanks, APCs, and any other kit they can grab/
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May 9, 2017 14:33
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Yooper posted:
I still say someone should be assigned to the Sperwer. I mean, the cargo planes get named pilots and they usually don't even get deployed.
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May 9, 2017 14:40
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I would be willing to drop ~$10m out of our own pocket to get the Reddit army to switch allegiances. They'll have to make themselves useful and ground any reddit/SMARF planes in Angola though.
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May 9, 2017 14:42
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power crystals posted:I still say someone should be assigned to the Sperwer. I mean, the cargo planes get named pilots and they usually don't even get deployed. I'm assigned to the C-130. I kinda want to move up to a plane that actually gets deployed though.
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May 9, 2017 14:51
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Noted on the Sperwer! I'll tally up the votes for which strike type then we'll go into mission phase. As far as the mercs go they won't do anything until we squeeze the Free State more. IF all our poo poo dies in a fire and they get paid, they won't do anything at all. We're talking a couple hundred guys that are the brains and trainers of the Free State military organization.
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May 9, 2017 14:55
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Ok then. Putting my vote in for Coastal CAS with a side of hitting the Free State. I figure if we move our mechanised forces east as planned, if we were just to make a major breaktrough there they could capitalise it. Unless we've missed something the ground mercs for the Free State are still primarily infantry. We just need to pummel them, and they can just roll right over them in the West, which should trigger the collapse that might get Littlebird willing to do some business with us, as well as securing the highway for the big push.
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May 9, 2017 15:07
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Coastal CAS, the Free State will take care of it self the way things are looking.
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May 9, 2017 15:17
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Yooper posted:Op will run for a full set of Gripen quick turnarounds. Which will probably be 5 hours or so. All mission planners, keep this restriction in mind. We're only going to get one sortie from most of our aircraft--maybe two on our quick-turnaround units.
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May 9, 2017 15:18
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 Voting is Closed!  The focus of this mission is on COASTAL CAS however you can divert assets to other objectives as you see fit. But please focus on the Dictator's forces on the coast. I'll put up a CMANO planning scenario tonight-ish. Or feel free to use the Working Map. The working map will have all the open intel that the planning scenario would. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1WpTsgN4ZjD93Kh3EyjavoHjLJQA&usp=sharing Rohan will be returning as well. Long live Silent Bob. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o427I2-3ySk Thanks to our supergoon for putting this piece together on the cello.
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May 9, 2017 15:52
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Is their past hiring a matter of public record? That could give us a ballpark on how much they've been paid in the past. Looking up DOD costs, they say http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/28/one-soldier-one-year-850000-and-rising/ 800k per soldier per year. 300 soldiers for a month, thats around twenty million ... assuming the mercs are comparable to DOD troops. Call it the high end. Blackwater tends to charge 1k per person per day, so if we offer 20k per person, thats 6 million for a month. Call it mid range. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/30/AR2007093001352.html edit: Baccarruda is thinking 70k retainer per person, which is 21m. So, we're coming up with similar numbers. For dropping 20m, Id want them to secure their former employers and have them in a nice little bag for our boss' breakfast. Loel fucked around with this message at 16:20 on May 9, 2017 |
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May 9, 2017 16:15
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I can see the chaotic evil path to a point where we carpet bomb a bridge in foreign sovereign territory with a B-52 loaded with cluster bombs as the PLAN aircraft carriers close in on us. This LP is a gateway to the multiverse.
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May 9, 2017 16:32
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Can someone post that list of our available planes and their potential loadouts again?
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May 9, 2017 16:47
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Kitfox88 posted:Can someone post that list of our available planes and their potential loadouts again? Yooper posted:
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May 9, 2017 17:17
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Can you split fire missions with SDBS, or do all 8 on a plane have to hit one thing?
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May 9, 2017 17:41
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Added Space posted:Can you split fire missions with SDBS, or do all 8 on a plane have to hit one thing? You can allocate individual SDBs to individual targets. We're just talking about using them en masse because we're thinking of using them against the SA-11s, and as glide bombs, the SA-11s can bring them down before they hit if we don't fire enough.
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May 9, 2017 17:45
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Dreamsicle posted:I'm assigned to the C-130. I've said this before but guys flying the unarmed/ground-strike-only planes (the Sperwer, the cargo planes and tankers, the SK60s) should probably get first dibs on any new aircraft if they want to move up. For the record I am having a blast manning the Reaper so I'm not requesting this for myself. Kitfox88 posted:Can someone post that list of our available planes and their potential loadouts again? This? Just find one of my numerous posts and hit the ?, I edited my first post in this thread to link to the stuff I've posted of note. I should probably put quantity owned on there...
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May 9, 2017 17:52
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Whenever we get a bomber, I want dibs please.
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May 9, 2017 18:35
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Mycroft Holmes posted:Whenever we get a bomber, I want dibs please. Well that depends on what you define as a 'bomber'...
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May 9, 2017 18:50
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If you're holding out for a B-52 or equivalent the real problem with that sort of thing is it can't take off from a shambles of an airstrip thrown together in the middle of the desert like the rest of our planes
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May 9, 2017 19:03
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Solution - use the C-130 to drop a GBU-43/B MOAB. Everyone wins! Can we actually do that? e: Nope, they can only be loaded on specific variants of the C130. Added Space fucked around with this message at 19:25 on May 9, 2017 |
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May 9, 2017 19:08
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Added Space posted:Solution - use the C-130 to drop a GBU-43/B MOAB. Everyone wins! Just need to buy a bigger one! https://wiki.baloogancampaign.com/index.php/DataAircraft?ID=2280
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May 9, 2017 19:27
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I'm guessing there's already dibs on any A-10s, are there any dibs on the other A-classifications of US military aircraft? Say the A-1, A-2, A-4, A-6, A-29, or A-37?
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May 9, 2017 19:59
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RandomPauI posted:I'm guessing there's already dibs on any A-10s, are there any dibs on the other A-classifications of US military aircraft? Say the A-1, A-2, A-4, A-6, A-29, or A-37? Nope! Dibs away. Though you might have better/quicker luck requesting CAS, or Fighter, or Old Rickety Soviet Bomber.
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May 9, 2017 20:04
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