CMSF Mojo Returned - Op TELIC Campaign/Missions

[Combatintman]

Next map is up – ahead of schedule!

This map is 1500m by 2000m and is what I think are the PPLK and PPLM facilities that were B Company, 40 Commando Royal Marines’ objective on the opening day.

This facility is 5km SE of the Al FAW MMS facility that I showed you previously. For those that want to find it on Google Earth the coords are:

29 55 59 80N 48 30 42 58E

As with other maps I’ve had to rotate Google Earth to make the mapmaking easier and as you can guess it took me much less than 2 weeks to complete!!

Google Earth screenshot:

CMSF overhead screenshot (couldn’t fit all of it in I’m afraid so just the bottom part of the map):

CMSF oblique screenshot (this is of the small building complex on the small peninsula bottom left of the map):

Again unfortunately the oblique isn’t particularly awe-inspiring but again it comes back to the real thing being pretty dull. Some of my later maps will be a lot more interesting and will at least look better on oblique screen grabs.

[Combatintman]

Ok guys I now have a much better idea of how this campaign is going to pan out now. I realise I should have been cleverer to start with and nailed all of the research first because it has led to some wasted effort.

First thing you need to know is that I’m working on a pretty tight deadline and need to have this pretty much in the can by 01 May. Clearly with the deadline set I have had to reign in my ambition and discard some earlier ideas.

The other constraint is that this is my first stab at a campaign so I have a lot to learn and probably a steep learning curve although I’m not totally new to the game of putting missions together.

What is going:

USMC participation (less air/helos)

The Umm Qasr mission – pity that was the first map I did!!

My aspiration to include the As Zubayr oil facility as part of the campaign

What stays:

My intent to recreate the flavour of 3 Commando Brigade’s operations to clear the Al Faw Peninsula during Operation TELIC (or Operation Iraqi Freedom to non-British readers) between 20 – 29 Mar 2003.

Blue units will be (CMSF unit types in brackets):

40 Commando Royal Marines in its entirety (British Module Light Infantry Bn)

3 Commando Brigade Reconnaissance Force (BRF) (British Module Reconnaissance Platoon, Light Infantry Bn)

C Squadron the Queen’s Dragoon Guards (Sabre Squadron of a British Module RAC Reconnaissance Regiment)

Troop of C Squadron Scots Dragoon Guards (Sabre Troop of a British Module RAC Type 58 Armoured Regiment)

29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery (British Module Light Gun Regiment)

Air and aviation as required and possibly a light role engineer troop

Although not finalised – I reckon that there will be no requirement for the NATO module but you will need the British (fairly obviously) and the USMC modules. I have no mods installed so while it may not look pretty or absolutely realistic in terms of uniforms, it does mean that you will be able to play it without having to download a bucketload of mods.

Anybody who wants to playtest missions and the campaigns is welcome to PM me – I have a mission that just needs the briefings and opening graphics added to make it complete so that should be up for testing pretty soon. I can’t promise to make huge changes because of the time constraints I’m under but I’m hoping that a fresh eye will pick out any glaring howlers.

Questions on all of the above are welcome and more to follow as they say!

[Erwin]

Looking forward to another Brit Campaign. They are the most fun imo.

[Combatintman]

Next map is up.

Real world location is:

29 56 54 68N 48 27 39 48E

This is a defensive position about a kilometre south of the Al Faw MMS complex:

Here's the Google Earth shot:

Here is the CMSF screenshot:

Total map size is 1000m x 1500m

Yet again I couldn't get the whole screenshot in - just missing a bit of the top

Enjoy

[Boche]

Interesting. Looking forward to it.

[LongLeftFlank]

Re empty pads: when tanks are taken out of service, usually due to a combination of age and declining or shifting oilfield production (as happens even in Iraq), they are usually torn down for scrap, but the empty pad and containment berm remains. "Brownfield" in the developing world tends to be "blackfield"

[Combatintman]

LLF,

Thanks for the confirmation of my interpretation of the Google Earth image - just glad I didn't have to try and model too many tanks with the building set in the editor. The containment berms remain and I'm sure will make fighting over the MMS quite interesting.

[LongLeftFlank]

Hell of a bloody place to die, innit?

[Combatintman]

LLF - wasn't on my to do list when I was there!!!

[Cyrano]

Well bugger me...of course you're right.

Glad I could be of some use and I hope your ambitions, trimmed though they may be, bear good fruit.

Best,

Jim

"Cyrano"

:/7)

[Combatintman]

Cyrano - actually after posting last time around with the co-ords for what looked like a facility at Az Zubayr I found another one not far away from it. Both have got gas stacks so they ought to be oil/gas related.

[Combatintman]

Well I'm cracking through the maps it seems (and yes I do have a life!!!). This one is not quite finished yet as I have to add flavour objects to it but that won't take a huge amount of time.

Hopefully you'll like this one because this map actually has some interesting stuff in it for once. Hopefully it demonstrates that I can do stuff other than desert!!!

This is Al Faw Town Centre itself and can be found on Google Earth at the following co-ords:

29 58 31 26N 48 28 24 69E

The map is 960m x 496m - which is the smallest so far and probably explains why I finished it so quickly. Fairly predictably this has been rotated to make the map making job easier.

Actual location viewed in Google Earth here:

CMSF map overhead view here:

CMSF oblique screenshot here - taken from the left side of the map:

Hope you like it.

[Boche]

Again, very nice!

[Combatintman]

Boche, glad you like it.

So following on from my last narrative post I suppose it is only fair to give you more detail on what you will be getting. Obviously I don’t want to give too much detail as that would spoil if for many but I think I can get away with an outline.

As previously stated, the storyline for the Campaign is the early days of Op TELIC/OIF covering the period 20-29 Mar 03 and featuring 3 Commando Brigade’s clearance of the Al Faw Peninsula. Research for this project has been surprisingly difficult – I expected to find plenty of stuff on the internet but turned up very little of any use at all. Luckily I bought Mike Rossiter’s book Target Basra a few years back which covers these events in some (but not all) detail and so this has been my primary source.

Working with the constraints above, the campaign is a mix of actual missions and what I call representative missions. These representative missions take place in the right timeframe and use units that were in the areas mapped and on real terrain but for which no descriptions of actions fought exist. To give an example of this, the BRF and C Sqn QDG acted in a screen role forward of 40 Commando north of Al Faw from 22 – 27/28 Mar 03 but none of their actions are detailed in any detail in the book. Likewise D Company, 40 Commando conducted a clearance of the western bank of the Shatt al Arab Waterway on the eastern flank of the Al Faw Pensinsula during this same time period but there are no details of what happened.

So what you will get will be a total of 11 missions, 7 of the missions are real while 4 are representative. The campaign starts in Al Faw and culminates with Operation JAMES which was the capture of Abu Al Khasib a town on the outskirts of Basra.

More to follow in due course.

[Combatintman]

Next map is done.

This one I simply titled Al Faw North. It is approximately 3 km NW of the centre of Al Faw which was the last map I posted.

Geo co-ords for those interested are:

30 00 04 09N 48 26 21 54E

The map measures 1700m x 1100m

This is what it looks like in Google Earth:

This is the CMSF overhead screenshot:

This view is an oblique taken from the bottom left of the map:

I reckon this will be quite an interesting map to fight over.

Anyway - hope you like it.

[Boche]

Interesting indeed. good big mechanized campaign scenarios are always welcome

[Combatintman]

Boche - sorry to disappoint but this will be light role infantry heavy - yes there is armour but it is mostly light armour. I will endeavour to make it as interesting as possible though and hopefully you can see already that there are a number of very different maps and therefore terrain types to fight over.

[Boche]

Boche - sorry to disappoint but this will be light role infantry heavy - yes there is armour but it is mostly light armour. I will endeavour to make it as interesting as possible though and hopefully you can see already that there are a number of very different maps and therefore terrain types to fight over.

Sorry I was aware of that, I did not know why I put that actually. jaja probably thinking of the recon elements. Still expecting it with the same vigor.

Running on 2 days with some 4-6 hours intermitant sleep

[Combatintman]

So far everything that has been written has been from the Blue perspective so I guess its time to talk about the enemy.

Defence of the south was entrusted to Southern Area Command which was commanded by General Ali Hassan Al-Majid (Saddam’s Cousin aka ‘Chemical Ali who was the King of Spades in the famous US playing card set issued as combat operations ended).

Regular units forming Southern Area Command were:

III Corps

IV Corps (based outside the AO)

Iraqi Navy (2000-strong and split between Al Faw and Umm Qasr)

In addition to the above, elements of the Air Defence Command were concentrated in Basra, elements of the 9000-strong Border Guards were on the border and probably the Al Faw Peninsula.

Finally and most significantly, elements of the 18000-20000-strong Fedayeen Saddam were found throughout

III Corps comprised the following:

6 Armoured Division

11 Infantry Division

51 Mechanised Division

Of the three above, the only formation we are interested in is 51 Mechanised Division and this comprised:

31 Mechanised Brigade (Centred on Al Shaiba)

1 Mechanised Battalion (MTLB-equipped)

2 Mechanised Battalion (MTLB-equipped)

3 Mechanised Battalion (MTLB-equipped)

76 Tank Battalion/Regiment (T-55-equipped)

32 Mechanised Brigade (Centred on Az Zubayr)

1 Mechanised Battalion (MTLB-equipped)

2 Mechanised Battalion (MTLB-equipped)

3 Mechanised Battalion (MTLB-equipped)

77 Tank Battalion/Regiment (T-55-equipped)

41 Armoured Brigade (Centred on Ar Rumaylah)

78 Tank Battalion/Regiment (T-55-equipped)

79 Tank Battalion/Regiment (T-55-equipped)

80 Tank Battalion/Regiment (T-55-equipped)

30 Mechanised Battalion (MTLB-equipped)

From the above we are only interested in 32 Mechanised Brigade, because this was the closest unit to Al Faw. The unit’s mission was to block the route from the border to Basra and it was singularly unsuccessful in this role, being defeated by 1 MEF units, including the UK’s 1st Armoured Division within the first few days of the operation. The reason elements do come into play is because many of the remnants withdrew into Basra and its suburbs and its armour faced 3 Commando Brigade elements towards the end of the period modelled in the campaign.

The problem with the above is of course that there is no MTLB model in CMSF!! I plan to substitute MTLB with BMP-1 although it is a significant leap in capability.

Given all of the above then, enemy units will comprise a mix of the following vehicles/equipment:

T-55

BMP-1

BRDM-2 (recce and ATGM variants)

SPG-9

AT-3 SAGGER

RPG-7

82mm Mortar

120mm Mortar

Possibly some heavier artillery (122mm D-30 and 2S1) – this will be subject to play testing

Assorted technicals

Unit picks will fairly obviously be a mix of Regular Army, UNCON and Combatant.

[Ranger33]

This all sounds great, I look forward to taking the Brits into action once more!

[Boche]

This is probably why I like working on campaigns in CMSF or CMBN, the research on both friendly and enemy OOBs is so interesting!

[Chainsaw]

Sounds promising, looking forward to when its ready

[Combatintman]

This is probably why I like working on campaigns in CMSF or CMBN, the research on both friendly and enemy OOBs is so interesting!

Oh I enjoy it too but I could not believe how hard it was to find information for this one. On and off I probably spent about 4 days tracking all this down on the Iraqi OOB.

[Combatintman]

More eye candy - map of the next mission simply called Al Faw Berm.

Real World location is:

30 03 22 09N 48 10 25 67E

Map dimensions are 848 x 800m

This is the real location:

This is the CMSF overhead:

This is an oblique taken from the left side of the map:

Enjoy

[Boche]

Indeed the maps are looking fantastic. and youre chunring them out jaja good job