Player Recreated Russian Troops Deployment on Ukraine Border in Strategy Game
One avid gamer has recreated the positions of Russian forces on the border with Ukraine in the strategy game Command: Modern Operations. The project is awe-inspiring in its scope.
- User Prophetic Gentleman recreated the recent build-up and deployment of Russian forces at the eastern border of Ukraine in the strategy game Command: Modern Operations;
- His work does not fully reflect the military situation in the region, but it is relatively accurate;
- When creating the scenario, the player used publicly available sources.
Russia has been building up military potential, creating the prospects of an imminent invasion on Ukraine territory. A player Prophetic Gentleman decided to answer the apparent interest and recreated the deployment of the Russian army in Command: Modern Operations. He boasted his creation in Steam Workshop. The effects of his work are impressive, as the created map quite faithfully reproduces the military presence east of Ukraine.
The creator notes at the very beginning that the project is not playable, although with a bit of effort (including adding the opposing side and mission objectives) it could be done. The player's work renders the deployment of Russian forces at Ukraine borders completed at Christmas 2021, and includes quite detailed information on the types of troops stationed in various locations.
"This is a Non-Playable Scenario designed to map the relevant Russian forces around the Ukrainian Frontier in the midst of the Russian Force Buildup that began in late 2021. This Scenario shows forces as of Christmas, 2021. It maps the maximum force structure available to the Russian Military along the Ukrainian frontier, including Ground Forces, VDV, RNI, VKS, and VKS-PVO elements," Prophetic Gentleman wrote.
Command: Modern Operations is an expansive naval and air warfare strategy game with limited focus on land warfare. It is a sequel to the acclaimed Command: Air/Naval Operations from 2013. The game provides the opportunity to recreate military conflicts that took place after the end of World War II. There is also a professional version of the game called Command: Professional Edition, which is allegedly used by the United States Air Force, as one of their wargame apps.
However, we must remember this is not a fully accurate representation of the situation on the Ukrainian-Russian border as of December 2021. Prophetic Gentleman makes no secret of the fact that the map he created is somewhat conventional and was designed to be a bit more readable. To this end, he placed markers representing specific units at certain intervals and they do not fully reflect the actual location of Russian forces. The exception to this is the locations of military bases and naval vessels. The scenario also presents the upper limit of the Russian Federation's mobilization capabilities in the region.
"It should be noted that all of these forces may not be mobilized (such as elements assigned to Klintsy, (...). The equipment of some formations is notional where information on their specific composition was not forthcoming. Each unit marker on the map generally should be assumed to represent a Battalion or Battalion-Tactical-Group-(BTG)-strength element. (The exceptions are Airbases, Military Bases and Naval Vessels). The Unit Markers are spaced for visibility and not placed in their specific locations."
The Western Military District (WMD) of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation is an administrative-military unit of Russia that includes all military installations stationed in the western part of the country.
White intelligence or open-source reconnaissance (OSINT) is reconnaissance that involves gathering information that can be found in publicly available materials. The category of white sources may include, but is not limited to, the media, the Internet, government data, or academic publications.
This is not the first such work by Prophetic Gentleman. He has already posted two similar maps in the past that reflected the situation during earlier periods of mobilization.
The project was created using publicly available reports, publications and reports on the deployment of land forces of the Russian Federation and the Southern and Western Military Districts of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Prophetic Gentleman used materials created by the analytical company Rochan Consulting, in particular, reports by the Polish defense analyst Konrad Muzyka. The independent creator included in the scenario not only the units whose activity has been confirmed, but also all other formations from the western and southern districts located relatively close to Ukraine. For this reason, the player's project is much more extensive than the calculations based on OSINT.
"I created this map using a combination of OSINT reports on Russian ground troop activity and the Southern and Western Military Districts of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. (...) This list is much richer than the various analysts' calculations, especially the impressive works of Konrad Muzyka. Additionally, the Russian army is a very heterogeneous beast in terms of strength and formation structures. (...) I didn't have detailed data on specific Russian units, so I wouldn't be surprised if in reality we see more MT-LBs and BTRs. So this map should be considered the "upper limit" of Russian mobilization capabilities in this region."
