cns180784

Just finished it and got a major victory. Cleared the first two suspect compounds but ran out of time for the third. Have to say getting back into this game, the AI isnt the best. A group of technicals arrived near the end of the scenario with time running out, and they arrived quite close to Alma with SPG-9's, PK and HMG's. Looking at my defences i thought this wasnt looking good, but my forces at FOB Alma managed to suppress them, with pretty much just two or three sections with mostly just small arms with a few rifle grenades, and i used my ANA FO at Jundi to call in mortars and 105's...they never fired a single shot back, whats that about? find it hard to believe they were all suppressed by mainly small arms fire and not a great deal of it. My troops were firing at them from over 300m away. Great scenario though i enjoyed it. Casualties were 8, think i previously said 10 but got that wrong, finished with 8 and 2 of those killed. Succeeded in ammo conservation and collateral damage, though overall i failed for parameters but for targets and ground i got acceptable. Not bad for my first proper scenario on such a big map commanding a company plus sized force after so long of not playing the game. Didnt even use all of my mortar or 105 ammo, and only called in one air strike dropping a single bomb which was very precise- must have been a LGB- i see in the previous page Combatintman you show a pic of a GBU-12 explosion, that must have been what the Harrier dropped for me too.

I see what you're saying. That said i'm at a point now in this scenario where all movement orders for the AI seem to have been executed as i'm no longer spotting any enemy on the move but even then...as the enemy are on the defensive (defending the compounds) i wouldnt expect them to be moving, i would expect them to just be laying ambushes in defensive positions (lot of irrigation ditches in this scen and the compounds themselves for good defensive terrain, providing cover) so it would be ok for there to be no time limit in this scenario imo. There was a load of Taliban spotted to the south heading towards my FOB to attack it but were easily cut down in the open desert terrain. The way i see it the enemy dont need to react to my moves if they're defending something, they just need to be ready for my troops in good defensive positions. If you're talking about a meeting engagement battle then yes i'd agree for a time limit with those against the AI. That said i havent played with the scenario editor so i dont know the exact mechanics of how the AI works or for giving them movement plans, i've only just got back into playing CM as i've said.

After so long i have got back into playing Combat Mission again and its a great sim of ground based warfare with fire support elements, all well modeled. At the moment i've been engrossed in the scenario "Into the Green" based on the recent real life conflict in Afghanistan carried out by ISAF against the Taliban to rid the country of these extremists and to install a democratic government. Its a great scenario, realistically made which depicts a typical operation carried out by British forces alongside ANA to clear compounds in Helmand province, shout out to Combatintman its been fun and had to stop and think a lot about what to do (playing in real time with a lot of pauses!). What bothers me though about Combat Mission as a whole and not just this scenario is time limits. In this scenario i have 30 mins left and progress has been slow to minimize casualties. I have another two compounds to clear after clearing the first and both assault and support groups are on there way to get into position to assault compound two. I will have enough time to clear compound two but not three. I find this unrealistic as in real life they're not gona just stop as they're out of time they'll carry on till the objectives have been met as long as casualties, fatigue or ammo/supplies isnt an issue and even then fatigue wouldnt be an issue as the troops could lie up in a compound for a while or overnight to rest if needed. Like you see in the documentary Ross Kemp Return to Afghanistan when 5 Scots go out on patrol to clear an area of Taliban and they stop overnight in a compound they cleared to then carry on the next day. I think CM should be changed in this respect- remove time limits and instead just allow the commander to decide if the mission is still achievable up to a point, for example if his forces are running out of ammo and theres' no more resupply available. Or if casualties are too high and any remaining objective(s) would be too much for a force that is now lacking firepower. If none of those such conditions are an issue for either side then ending a mission can just come down to the force morale for each side, when it drops to a certain level they automatically withdraw, or if surrounded they surrender. This would make missions more interesting as there could be the odd occasion where the objectives could be met such as all compounds cleared but the enemies' morale could still be decent enough to carry on, so you'd carry on trying to find them and make contact. Failing that or if you dont want to hunt down the remains of the enemy in the AO you can just press a button to withdraw, ending the mission and you'll have been successful still with securing the objectives providing casualties arent too high, ammo isnt too drained and your forces' condition is in decent enough shape. What does everyone think? and what are your thoughts on why time limits should carry on being used in missions? how can it be deemed to be realistic?

One thing that bugs me about CMSF is not knowing the exact amount of ammo troops have. For example if you click on an infantry section there will be a graph representing how much ammo of each type the section has left (from left to right: small arms, MG, rifle grenades, hand grenades) it would be much better if it just displayed an exact figure for how much ammo they have left. Also what bugs me is the ammo icons for arty and air support. I've gathered from looking at my mortars and light guns that one ammo icon represents armour penetrating ammo used for destroying armour or buildings, and the other being for airburst anti-infantry. I've gathered which one is which by having only used airburst rounds from the mortars and seen its relevant graph now being very low, but it would be helpful if i knew exactly what each one is and better still knowing the exact amount of rounds each have left. What i actually find even more annoying though is for air support. The two Harriers i have, have two ammo columns (or graphs as i've been saying, though columns is probably a better description) and i have read in the manual that there are four types of munitions air assets can be loaded out with, but it doesnt state which type of munitions is in which column on the air asset support panel, same in the columns for arty. So for these Harriers, i have no idea what type of weapons they have. Its especially frustrating as i'm a player of Falcon BMS and CMANO with a keen interest in air warfare so i have good knowledge of A-G weapons so if i knew exactly what my air assets have, i would love the game even more. In this scenario dealing pretty much with just infantry it would be nice to know that the Harriers have something like CBU-52 or CBU-87 CEM or even better AGM-154A JSOW, though not sure if Harriers can be loaded with JSOW's but these would decimate the Taliban.

Look just the same as all the other compounds lol. Cant make out anything different... This was a reply to the images of the suspect compounds given by a UAV.

Thanks it is a really good mission, i like how the forces are setup and the detailed briefing and maps. I'll carry on with this and see how i go. The support group's advance has been the slowest, mainly due to a load of Taliban seen flanking, coming from the North West. Theres' actually a group of Taliban numbering up to about 20-25 spotted moving towards FOB Alma. They briefly got fired on by PKM's at Jundi but they carried on through it. I considered moving my OMLT to ambush them, but my forces at the FOB will be able to cut them down when they're exposed on the open desert surrounding the FOB.

I've had 10 now and i counted that i start with 250 men including those that stay at FOB Alma and CP Jundi. In the briefing it states to keep casualties at a minimum with (5%) so i'm guessing i have to keep casualties below that amount. 5% of 250 is 12.5, so i guess if i take another 2 casualties then its a failure- or i've failed at that objective at least. Its too hard i'm finding to keep casualties so low. The casualties have occurred when i thought an enemy fire point was sufficiently suppressed or neutralized then i move a section or squad (for ANA) and i get a guy whacked by an AK round. One particular occasion was i was moving my ANA Platoon through an irrigation ditch which was quite close to another ditch where Taliban firing points had been ID'd and i had mortars with linear fire airburst over them and thought that had to do it, and even though there was relative cover of the irrigation ditch, one Taliban that survived the mortar hammering opened up from his ditch and shot one soldier from one squad, and two from the other, killing one. Thought i'd point out too that only 1 of the 10 casualties have been from the assault group- the rest being the support group, mainly the ANA. If i was to replay this scenario i'd split the ATK section and have one detachment (one WMIK) with the support group to give them some proper fire support. They're a small group compared to the assault with a poorly trained ANA Platoon. Does it matter if only 1 of my 10 casualties have been actually killed? the other 9 were badly wounded but got buddy aid so were treated and (presumably, i guess abstractly) airlifted back to the hospital at Camp Bastion.

Hi Combatintman, so far in the mission "Into the Green" i have taken 5 casualties, havent yet reached the first target compound and have 2:01:50 left. Clearing out irrigation ditches where there are two NAI's with a number or Taliban firing points. How does that sound so far? i'd say i'm moving at a slow pace to try and keep casualties to a minimum. Advancing slowly to contact then using suppresive fire and mortar/105 fire missions to clear firing points.

Another good scenario you got in the making there, and i've watched that documentary and all the others over the two series of Our War. Seems they've been taken down from Youtube now though.

I was just looking up the differences between CWIED's and RCIED's...am i right in that they're both remotely detonated by an insurgent that has LOS to the IED, which triggers it once enemy troops are within its proximity? the only difference i can make out is that a CWIED will have a wire running from the IED to the insurgent, where a RCIED has no wire and is triggered by a mobile phone or similar remote device.

Thanks for explaining those and i'll have a read of that planning tutorial you posted. So on the map in the briefing where you have the TIC's- is this where we can most likely expect contact? like are these good ambush points that the Taliban will most likely use? I have added 2 Team- Troop Recce, part of 9 Fd Sqd RE to the assault group and i plan to have 9 Fd Sqn RE to lead the assault group. I thought this would be a good idea as they can mark mines, so can find the IED's but is this necessary? seeing as they're marked on the map and i can for example, clearly see the PPIED's located right at the start of the green zone at various points. Maybe i should have these to the rear of the group as they'll be needed to be brought up to blast through the target compounds. Decisions decisions.

That was painful to watch, even though these are the terrorists, the bad guys...they should have at least some form of basic training before going to war. Not that i want them to, but you'd think they would be better trained than that. Yea couldnt believe the one guy has an MG3.

Just some things i'd like to bring to your attention regarding the snipers attached to 2 Para and the FOO/MFC and JTAC's; In the TASKORG it has one sniper team to be attached to the assault group with the other attached to the support group. Both are under B company HQ's command so i was wondering, as the sniper team assigned to the support group will have to communicate with B company HQ via radio- will this have an effect on their abilities even though they'll have 2 Para HQ with them in the support group? i thought with having 2 Para HQ attached to the support group that would automatically make them the direct superior to the sniper team but i guess not. Also for the TASKORG theres' no mention of the Troop HQ for 9 Fd Sqn RE, do these go out with 5 Section part of the assault group or stay with the other sections at FOB Alma? One other thing is the one MFC and JTAC have the same ability as the FOO to call in fire missions for the 105's, i would have thought the FOO would have a solid thick green cross for the 105's like the MFC's have for calling in the mortars but he doesnt. Not a major issue but thought i'd mention it.

From reading the briefing and studying the tactical map and battlefield, i had a feeling you were there, in the Army. Its' so well detailed including the troops, and what got me was that i just finished watching Ross Kemp Return to Afghanistan- the episode where he goes out on Patrol with the 1 Royal Irish OMLT and the ANA south of Musa Qaleh and those very same troops are in that scenario you made. So you served in the Royal Marines? Just a few questions regarding the Into the Green scenario. In the main briefing screen, the top right map where its got the key section, does TIC stand for Troops In Contact? if so, or not, what does it indicate? a potential ambush location set up by the Taliban? Also the others in the key section- i've gathered (i think) that PPIED stands for Pre Planned Improvised Explosive Device, telling me this is pretty much a certain spot for an IED, but what does CW and RC stand for? Another thing is the black boxes on the tactical map, in the briefing it says these are NAI's/TAI's...what are these? you obviously know a lot more than I on military terminology having yourself been on Op HERRICK 5 in RL, i'm a newbie when it comes to terminology. Thanks in advance.

Yea i went through them and found no campaigns but i have all the scenarios. Just looked at In the Green and it looks awesome. In depth and detailed briefing, great map with actual real life forces that were there in Sangin at the time. This will be fun.

After looking through the repository on the BFC site for CMSF British Forces i've just found one scenario called "Into the Green" but the only way i knew or at least suspected it was a scenario based on the recent ISAF conflict in Afghanistan was due to the title "Into the Green" referring to the green zone which in this scenario is in Sangin, Helmand Province. Exactly what i'm looking for, only i'd love for there to be a full campaign, do you know of any?

I have CMSF with all modules and CM: Afghanistan. I would recommend getting both and the fact that CM:A accurately depicts the Soviet-Afghan war in the 80's. I will at some point get Black Sea and probably the WW2 ones. Can someone tell me which scenarios and campaigns there are for CMSF that are based on the ISAF war in Afghanistan against the Taliban? thanks in advance.

I'll just mention here again, how awesome it would be if BFC made a CM:A based on the deployment of ISAF (mostly US and British troops) in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2014.

Me too i'd like to see a CMA :ISAF based on the ISAF in Afghan from 2001 to 2014. Watched so many vids of ISAF troops in Afghan mainly US and Brits, also Ross Kemps' documentaries. Eye opening stuff. Interestingly, i was just reading the CMA manual, where it tells of the aftermath of the soviet- afghan war on page 12 and at the end it tells of the rise of the Taliban and then goes on to 2001 with the NATO intervention and it finished with "but this is another story, for another time...". Maybe at some point BFC will come back to Afghanistan to create a new game based on the NATO/ISAF intervention after all. That last line seems to suggest so.

Its ok no worries, found out. The problem i had before was my original install of CMA was on my C drive and i installed the 1.02 update on my E drive. Just messed it all up but all sorted now. Have it patched to 1.03 Whats strange that i've just noticed though is that when i launch the game it has v1.03 at the bottom of the initial menu screen, but in the data folder on the HD its stored on, it only has version 101 and 102 there.

I actually know you from your great tutorials on Falcon BMS, you live in New York right? i believe from what you mentioned in a vid..i might be going there for holiday later this year or next. **** Mig 29 nails 12 o'clock...fox 3 medium notching left. 2 status?

Heavy shock infantry. Rapid deployable combat brigade battalion. #Armygateswing. When its my birthday i'll buy Black Sea and shall celebrate up the Big K with this tune: Sweet son.

Hi guys i just tried downloading patch v1.02 and after it downloaded and installed, when i tried to launch it, it came up with an error. In the end i had to completely uninstall and remove all files and re download and install the game. What did i do wrong? have i got to place the patch in a certain folder? thanks for any help.

Excellent, all sorted now guys, thanks very much for your help. I did what you said wombat of war..just double clicked the patch i downloaded and it opened up with a screen to install it. It included not just patch 1.10 but all of them previous between 1.01 to 1.09 and they automatically went straight into the data folder once installed. Top draw...lets shoot some syrians with our british boys lol

In my data folder for CMSF theres' version 100.brz, version 111.brz, version 120.brz, version 120 british.brz, and then the 110 patch i downloaded is showing as a compressed zipped folder...rather than as a brz file...so what exactly do i need to do with it?