New to this forum

[sturm_s]

First, it is difficulty to follow some of the threads because I don't read Russian. The translation from Russian to English using the Google Chrome browser does not seem to be the greatest. Is there a way I can make that better?

Hi and welcome to the forum, Rik! I'm afraid there's no no software-based solution available right now which would flawlessly translate the discussion which gets quite idiomatic sometimes or is filled with specific gaming terms, so your best bet would be to find a good old hardware-based one, namely, a Russian-speaking colleague or friend
Mainly, it's a discussion of various aspects of the game, suggestions from players, criticism and so on. By the way,it is amazing to see how open the developers are to implement changes to the project, but they definitely require rock-solid facts or proof of their necessity or historical accuracy, resources being available. And the've got an excellent sense of humor, too

Are there some good mods for this cool game? I have the main game and the two expansions, anything else you can recommend? I have installed version 580 and the May patch. I did play Kharkov 1943, it was fun.

You could try this http://www.sukhoi.ru/forum/showthread.php?t=66275, it deals with improving the visual quality of the uniforms and aims to provide the most historically correct ones to the game.
Other than that, there a few sound mods available. I'd also check the simhq Graviteam forum section.

Best of luck!