Sniper One: ‘The Best I’ve Ever Read’ – Andy McNab

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A truly stunning story. I have read this 4 times and it's still as captivating now as the first time' 5***** Reader rReview Read more Details

Put it this way, Danny, threatening the Imam Ali Mosque is like waving a giant blood-red flag with bells on it in front of a seriously histrionic bull with a persecution complex. This awe-inspiring account tells of total war in throat-burning winds and fifty-degree heat, blasted by mortars and surrounded by heavily armed militias. For six months, they fought alone: isolated, besieged and under constant enemy fire. Their heroic stand a modern-day Rorke's Drift.

CS GO – Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Squad is an extremely realistic simulator of a modern soldier (or a rebel standing on the other side). It puts emphasis on cooperation in the team, so it's multiplayer-only, pitting up to a hundred players against each other on very large maps. The key to victory is communicating, helping each other, working together, and a band that knows what to do – both at the team level and the army level.

A tale of courage, brutal combat, and a soldier's celebration of his comrades' outstanding performance under impossible conditions, Sniper One is reminiscent of the famous Battle of Rorke's Drift during the 19th Century Zulu War (filmed in Hollywood style as Zulu). This is a solid book, fully equipped with diagrams and photographs to guide the reader through the action. An interpreter might have been handy to get me through some of the Brit terms, but you should have little trouble with most of them. You know: rummaging through the boot and walking about with a head torch and all that. Then you get gems like this from P.240: The developers have even released an official DLC – Marksmen – which adds several sniper weapons and gadgets, missions, and options focused on long-range shooting. What does a typical sniper mission look like? Realistic infantry action, and slightly less realistic tanks, helicopters, and planes have been enhanced with a choice of almost every faction, unit, or equipment used in battle. Arma 3 today is about war in Vietnam and the Middle East, clashes between NATO and the Warsaw Pact, or Navy Seals against ISIS fighters. The list is endless and Arma 3 is in fact similar to GTA 5 – immortal and still great, but in serious, a military setting. It's a game where you can choose your own soldier, role, and conflict, it just takes a bit of effort to sort out and upload the appropriate add-ons. This was one of the refreshing parts of the book; there was little "I" in it. Where other writers boast of their accomplishments, Mills is more of a "we" type of fellow. If he is lavish in his praise, he is also brutally honest in his criticism. If an officer or subordinate has messed up, Mills names them and lists their offending behavior for all readers to see.I bought this book when I was going through a period of reading lots of the genre. Sniper One: The Blistering True Story of a British Battle Group Under Siege has to be one of the most honest stories I've ever read. Sergeant Dan Mills doesn't hide anything. Let's be honest – being a hated camper. The sniper in Escape from Tarkov consciously chooses a rifle with a scope, goes to a point that provides a convenient view of the high traffic areas – and waiting! And the wait can be really long, because it's not at all certain that someone will show up in a particular location in this raid, even if it's at the starting point of the map. The shot itself usually has to be fired at a moving target that's able and likely to return fire if missed. So it's a good idea to have a predetermined escape route. The series moves in accordance to the chronology of the events of World War II, so after a campaign in Italy in the fourth part, this time, OSS agent Karl Fairburne visits Normandy and other regions of northern France, most notably the impressive Mont-Saint-Michel monastery. However, nothing changes in terms of the story. For the third time in a row, high-ranking Nazi officers are plotting a sinister plan to create and use the powerful "wunderwaffe," and again, our hero will have to thwart these plans. The game brings some impressive locations that were rendered using photogrammetry to provide high image fidelity, and players can benefit from the great freedom of action during missions. Of course, there's also the slow-mo X-ray camera that reveals the damage dealt by our bullets. What does a typical sniper mission look like? Another example of a good sniper game. Although the reboot of the Hitman series was released as three separate games over the course of a decade, it's hard not to treat this production as a single entity. After all, the games share the same menus, continue story threads, and the maps from subsequent sequels only increase in size. The series' protagonist, the iconic contract killer Agent 47, is not strictly a sniper, but he certainly is no stranger to the sniper rifle. Each contract is set on a sizable map full of buildings, nooks and crannies, and can be executed in almost any way you please, and firing a stealthy shot from a distance is among them. What does a typical sniper mission look like? What makes up for these flaws is the immense freedom, as the sniper missions here look just the way we want them to. You can start by traveling to the designated area by helicopter, ATV or boat, and then continue on foot in search of a convenient observation point. The game world is teeming with civilians – so be sure to accurately identify your victim before pulling the trigger. When playing solo, we are always accompanied by three teammates, so you can take advantage of synchronized shooting. For dessert, there are also very large customization options of your commando to resemble the snipers of real units or movie characters, although a larger selection of rifles would not go amiss.

One of the best action writers I've had the pleasure of reading in a long while, Mills holds your interest not only during the firefights but also when telling you about camp routine or describing military equipment. He spares you much of the history of his regiment and his own life story, telling you just enough to acquaint you with both but not so much that your mind wanders off. He relates all manner of detail about the platoon: the rivalries, the practical jokes, even the sexual deviancy where applicable. Some passages of this book will probably have you laughing out loud. Some parts will make you glad you're not a sniper, like the time Mills' number two had to catch his steaming number two in plastic film while Mills shat and shot at the same time. Within hours of their arrival in Iraq, a grenade bounced off one of the battalion's Land Rovers, rolled underneath and detonated. The ambush marked the beginning of a full-scale firefight during which Mills killed a man with a round that removed his assailant's head. It was going to be a long tour. I'm sure by now you've figured out that I'm in one of my "military book" phases. It'll pass, don't worry, but for now this is kind of my reading focus.Not only are these games that reward patience, timing, and stealth, but the mission design can often provide gamers with more varied experiences. Taking out opponents from an unseen location and slipping away unnoticed is an empowering experience for those who love the genre. We all saw it at once. Half a dozen voices screamed 'Grenade!' simultaneously. Then everything went into slow motion . . .'

April 2004: Dan Mills and his platoon of snipers fly into southern Iraq, part of an infantry battalion sent to win hearts and minds. They were soon fighting for their lives. This awe-inspiring account tells of total war in throat-burning winds and fifty-degree heat, blasted by mortars and surrounded by heavily armed militias - you won't be able to put this down. I found the book to be an excellent read, that was honest and with no filtering. When your job after years and years of training, is to really in the end to kill people, I do begin to understand how important the training and discipline to reach that goal is, and I suspect it is what keeps them sane. You do get a glimpse in the end how the soldiers returning from conflicts such as this survive by turning it off afterward. Knowing UK though, I am surprised how they could return to such a controlling country without loosing it. They're quite different from popular action games. In this game, the number of accessories and weapons to choose from doesn't matter – each army has only one type of weapon. In Squad, we are not a sniper, but a marksman – a team member, but with a scope on the rifle (so called DMR, Designated Marksman Rifle). Provided we can reserve such a role in time, as there's limited number of marksmen slots. And even if we do – there's a good chance that the commander will immediately remove such a delinquent from the squad! You can, of course, try to form your own team and operate on your own terms, but that's not what this game is about. No, I don't object to the idea that one could enjoy being a soldier. I'm neither stupid nor naive. But they way Mills' writes it?Well, it could be. I wouldn't know. I gave up fairly soon, because I just couldn't, COULD NOT stand the stupidity. Sorry, Sgt. Mills, but you are obviously a blood-thirsty idiot and embodiment of all the bad clichés the average civilian has about soldiers - that they are in it for the killing, for the blood, because they think that war is fun. Games heavily oversimplify many factors, while greatly exaggerating others. One reason is the limitations of game engines in the range of terrain drawing, so that scopes often zoom in more than they should. Likewise, it unnaturally increases bullet drop at distances where it is usually negligible and brightens the enemy sniper's optics reflexes a lot to make them easier to locate. In the second installment of Contracts, we have to deal with two types of locations. Smaller enemy camps and buildings can be cleared from a distance of a few hundred meters or so, or infiltrated by stealth, since you usually have to pass through them anyway. You can also combine both of these approaches. Some locations, however, allow for record-breaking shots at a distance of over a kilometer and there, we act like a typical sniper – we take down targets and withdraw to safety, without having to visit the areas from which we wanted to keep away. But maybe this is what it is really like out there. Maybe this is what goes on in the brains of the people fighting these wars. Maybe this level of stupidity is what it takes to be able to do this job.