BlackMoria

Wow. I guess I have to re-assessment my no casualty victory for this scenario for an earlier thread in which people were posting their best game. Looks like pulling off a victory for this scenario warrants bragging rights and to do it with no casualties is nothing short of downright amazing. At the time I played it, I didn't think it was markedly hard to win. Sure, it was a very challenging tactical puzzle but it didn't stand out in my mind as 'the scenario to beat' and I found other scenarios equally challenging. All the factors must of played in my favor. Now I feel like the guy not realizing he was in the crosshairs of a sniper and moves unknownly out of sight, never realizing how close he came to the fatal shot. Just like I wasn't aware there was a second Frogfoot. After my forces shot down the first one, I had the objectives and was moving for the exit point so I must of exited the map before the second one showed up. I need to replay this one and see what happens in a second playthrough.

Luck! My stinger team lucked in and downed the fast air on the first pass before it dropped munitions.

Bridgehead at Kharalyk, eh? Gotta fire that one up this weekend. I will let you know how it turns out.

Yeah, Imperial Grunt is the villain to send the bill and hate mail to.

Can I assume, Pete, that the observer needs to observe something to trigger the AI behavior to call in an airstrike? As in, if you are not seen by the observer/HQ, there will be no AI action to initiate the air support call? Or can the AI 'go fishing' and put down an area target and hope something stumbles into the net?

Well, I suppose it could have played more like what was expected if Blue forces stepped off right away and turned it into a quasi -meeting engagement type battle. Problem is, the air assets given allowed for a 'hold in place and find out what we are going up against' approach. Plus, I am not the 'push into the unknown' type of commander. I always try to define and fix the enemy and try to know what I am getting myself into. Which meant I was quite content to allow the Russians to stumble into my kill zones.

As I understand it from the revamp of of the activation system - no, it will NOT affect your activations.

Woods will give cover from observation for vehicle from the air but it isn't a sure thing. I have hid from air attack in trees in CMSF with success for the most part but I can't say for sure that the spotting routines haven't changed for CMBS. Llikewise, I have not done any scenario building so I don't know if airstrikes for the AI are event driven or if they are called by observers conditionally based on triggers. Therefore, I can't say what the impact on the airstrike will be if all the observers capable of calling an airstrike are out of the picture. Good questions but I don't have ready answers for you. Perhaps one of the scenario builders members with knowledge of that could weigh in.

Ouch! It appears you have the ground battle in hand, it is just the air war part. And with just a single Stinger squad, winning that is literally hit or miss on the fortunes of war. You could revert back to an earlier game save prior to the fast air coming in and see what fortune pitches you for the Stinger team results. Or try again with a new game and assess if it is worth going for every objective or take the minimum objectives for a win and clear off the map before the fast air comes on or gamble on a better outcome with the Stinger team.

That reflects my experience with the scenario. Started with defining the battlefield and fixing the enemy. Worked what contacts I had over with precision rounds and Apaches. Defeated several minor armor thrusts. Noted more armor building up further back in the map. Snaked my forces into positions to observe. Apaches worked over area where possible tank contacts were noted. Engaged in long range battle (2000 to 3000 metres) with Russian armor. Blunted attack. My reinforcements came in. Slowly moved forward and engaged enemy as they appeared, taking the major middle objective. Game ends with Total Victory for me. Map at ends showed 90% of Russian armored vehicles were destroyed. Okay, it wasn't the Battle of Kursk with both sides madly rushing at each other but the battle unfolded as I wanted it to. At no time did I feel that I didn't have a grip on the situation and I controlled the tempo of the battle the entire game. Yeah, it was slow unfolding battle but I have seen longer ones watching US forces in Iraq in real life (like the one in which an US mech infantry company took 3 hours to move and secure three buildings that were 1200 metres distance. Most of that time was waiting for air support and artillery to be allocated and work the area over.

I will admit that no small degree of luck allowed me to come through with no casualties. The air attack could have been as bad for me as it was for you but my Stinger team lucked in with a first pass kill. I don't know if the scenario has more than one AI plan but the route along the river was the path of least resistance for my game. My artillery scouring the tree lines may have had something to do with that being a relatively 'safe' route for me.

I voted for an up to date setting but truth be told, I am fine with the original setting as long as current equipment is added. A sort of "the 2008 invasion went well but the aftermath (long term insurgency) is still being dealt with". Still, a 'War Against ISIS' would be a cool, currently relevant backstory for a re-imagined CMSF.

In a CMSF scenario, I witnessed one of my snipers fire a single shot at an enemy 2 man RPG team moving towards by my forces at between 400 and 500 metres. One was right behind the other when the fateful shot was fired and both went down as casualties immediately on the one shot. So 'punch through' on soldiers does appear to be simulated in the game.

Sometimes, you have to wait for the assets to come on-line to get the job done and done without getting shot up in the process. That is a lesson some players learn the hard way. I think in many cases, players are too hasty and feel the pressure of the clock and end up 'rushing to disaster'. This scenario is one in which haste will result in dead soldiers.

Something people can try if they are having difficulty. I only send one squad (I split them to two teams) down the left side to do the objectives and everything else stayed on the ridge line. Work the overwatching forces into places they can observe. Once you got 'lots of eyes' watching, when the enemy AGL and MG open up, you should spot them fairly quickly and destroy them with your mortars (note: precision rounds isn't just for vehicles). Watch the enemy artillery and move those forces that you think the enemy artillery is trying to adjust onto. Doing the above should allow you to win with minimal casualties.

I am working my way through the scenario 'Cry Havoc' and I can confirm that the Raven can be shot down by a Tunguska with super annoying regularity.

I completed Objective Delta with no casualties and a Total Victory as the US side. This is a scenario in which you can get much mileage out of the UAV and precision rounds. Send in the attack helos on spotted enemy armor as well. That leaves the infantry to contend with, with their hand held anti - armor weapons. Bahger has the gist of it - eliminate the enemy vehicles before pushing on the objectives. I don't recommend a left side or a down the middle approach because your forces will be shot at from three sides. I took the right side approach, hugging the river (an obstacle to you) and followed the river up to the right rear objectives and the police station. Then I cut in towards the left rear objectives. Caution and patience will get you through with minimal casualties.

It has been stated that a upgrade of the game engine for CMSF is being considered and most likely will happen but there is no time frame given. My guess is probably a full year to two years off as a few modules to support the CMBS game and the much awaited 'Bulge' game for the CMBN line of games would take priority.

Operation Delta was a challenge. In fact, all the scenarios that I managed no casualties in were a challenge, so I hope no one gets the impression that I found them easy. And the no casualties in Operation Delta came down to luck because near the end game, when the Russian fast air came in, all my vehicles were on the move in the open. Thankfully, the lone Stinger team pitched their best fast ball and downed the Frogfoot because otherwise, I would be short one vehicle as a minimum and probably most of the occupants.

Yes, I was a combat arms officer for 17 years, mainly in the artillery. Tactics, especially unconventional ones is my forte. I actually was dressed down by a brigadier general for screwing up his brigade exercise, because the OPFOR platoon I commanded as the enemy forces caused such confusion and mayhem that my 'mere' 'Motor Rifle' platoon imposed a three hour delay in the brigade attack and my platoon inflicted some 17 vehicle casualties and destroyed nearly two full companies of infantry during a 'refereed' brigade field exercise. A story for another time. I found in First Clash that proper use of the two UAVs and precision artillery is beastly, with me destroying about a third of the enemy force vehicle losses by using precision artillery rounds. The ability for the M1 tanks to reach out and touch someone at 3000+ metres was another factor to my success with this scenario. Thanks for the complement. I have always been challenged and and very much enjoyed your scenarios. I hoping for a Black Sea version of Forging Steel from you some day.

My tried and true method is having two or more squads working in together. Squad A area fires the building to be assaulted. Wait long enough (about 15 seconds) for the volume of fire to put some serious suppression on the enemy. Squad B quick moves to the building and into it. Just before they enter the building, Squad A stops firing or shift fire to another nearby building. If the street crossing is high risk, Squad B drops smoke into the street as Squad A starts their area fire. By the time Squad B starts their move across the street, they are covered in smoke for the move. Other squads and/or vehicles as required area fire into nearby buildings that may be a threat to Squad B moving into the building. Rinse and repeat as required until you own all the real estate you need to take. Using this technique, I have cleared multiple buildings without taking a single casualty. Do note - trying to exactly coordinate the timing of this in WEGO is problematic, because correct timing is required to ensure correct suppression of the enemy at the time of the movement of friendly forces. This technique is easy to do in real time using the pause feature.

I will see if I have a screen shot to put up but my personal best for Black Sea, so far, is the standalone scenario - First Clash. My losses - 2 WIA. Enemy Losses - 27 T-90s, 15 BTRs, 1 AA and 1 Other vehicle and just over 150 KIA / WIA / MIA I have done August Morning, Opportunity Knocks, Objective Delta and one other scenario I don't recall the name without taking any casualties but I don't count those as personal bests because they are small battles and anyone with caution and good tactics can come away with minimal casualties. I count First Clash due to the larger size of the enemy forces and the rather unforgiving openness of the map. One simply can't stealth their way to victory. And the tendency for the T-90s to see my M1s in the treelines first every damn time. Not that it mattered for the outcome. I play Elite RT mode.

I just finished playing Objective Delta and the sole Stinger unit took down the SU-25 Frogfoot on its first pass. Most likely a luck shot but it is the only scenario so far I have played in which the Russian air has actually come out to play. I played some other scenarios in which Russian air is warned of in the briefing and I got Stingers but the Russian air was a no show...

You also set the video to private so no one can view it.

I'm played a multilplayer game with someone in which the highest level HQ unit (the leader soldier in particular) represents you. If your pixeltruppen representing you become a casualty, you lose the scenario immediately. And there is no gamey hiding the HQ in the corner of the map stuff allowed. Adds a certain edge to the game. It gets no more 'iron' than that.