John Kettler Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 I absolutely did not see this one coming. Saudi Arabia, faced with the near collapse of neighbor Yemen, with whom it shares a long border, has today, March 25, 2015, gone to war, as part of a 10-nation coalition, to throw out the Shiite Houthi insurgents. Who also have aircraft and are using them. Seems to me this multinational campaign, in which the US has no forces, offers amazing opportunities to take CMSF scenario design into a brand new direction. The Saudi's armor, part of the Saudi Royal Army, is mainly an Abrams version built specially for them and Bradleys, but uses a diverse range of weaponry after that. SA also has Apaches. SA rundown here. Yemen has a rather shopworn ex-Russian T-54/T-55 force and some T-62s, BMPs 1 and 2, plus BTR-60s and M113s. Did I mention the Yemeni Army is fighting on both sides?! As for the Houthis, they're doubtless mostly UNCON armed with low end weapons, plus whatever they've seized since. Also AQAP is opposed to the Houthis. Regards, John Kettler 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agusto Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 (edited) That is interesting and i think, with some modding of the US Armys uniforms and faces, probably even feasible. According to Wikipedia the Saudi Army uses mostly US gear, inculding M1 MBTs, Bradley IFVs, M4 Assault Rifles, Javelins, HMMVVs etc. Can you get us a saudi TO&E, John? I dont know if it would be reaslitic to have saudi squads eqipped with M4s, but maybe we could swap the models for some of CMSFs AK-74 models. Saudi equipment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Arabian_Army#Small_Weapon Edited March 26, 2015 by agusto 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted March 27, 2015 Author Share Posted March 27, 2015 agusto, Am not sure what level of TO & E you mean, so let's start at the top. The Global Security link has a wealth of material, but I think I've hit my viewing quota there. This doesn't have the equipment breakdowns but does show the force structure for the RSA. Since the Saudis have been under our tutelage and are largely equipped by the US, I'd expect US style unit orgs in the heavy formations at least. I'm glad I don't have to do logistics for the RSA, what with US, French, Chinese, Canadian and Swiss and Brazilian weapons on the AFV, SPA and artillery front alone. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Saudi_Army.png ARs M16A2, M4A1, AUG A1, AKM (M63), AKMS (M65), G3A3 Excerpted from this 2005 Saudi small arms list. RSLF vid. Should help the war effort considerably 2014 Saudi military parade, including air component overhead. Much to be learned here. Remember the SANG (Saudi Arabian National Guard) which, though primarily for internal defense, has operated outside of it, as was done during ODS. No tanks, but scads (1000+) of Cadillac Commando ACs (in the process of being replaced with LAV III). Regards, John Kettler 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted March 28, 2015 Author Share Posted March 28, 2015 agusto, This thing is a very big deal indeed, and now we know the players, too. Who's contributing what to the campaign, included as part of a broader analysis. But here's today's very nasty wild card. Seems the Pentagon has lost track of $500 million worth of weapons, body armor, NVGs, even UAVs supplied to Yemen! This creates all manner of interesting possibilities. Anyone for UNCONs with body armor and NVGs, for instance? So far, I don't have anything directly stating Saudi and/or aliied forces have begun to invade Yemen. Absolutely no ground force descriptions, never mind unit IDs or force sizes, outside of the 150,000 troops named on the SA side. Can you do mountains in CMSF? It would appear that's exactly what a ground invasion will be facing. The author here thinks a long campaign, even with western logistics support, is unsustainable. The roots of the conflict have a lot to do with a Yemeni government favoring one part of the country over another. A part which got entirely sick of that and has now taken over much of the country. The Saudi Arabia (Sunni) vs Iran (Shiite) aspect is secondary, though it most definitely is now in play. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kieme(ITA) Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 (edited) So, you guys think that the Saudi army could be the candidate for CMBS "back to desert" mod? Edited March 28, 2015 by Kieme(ITA) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Combatintman Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 The Aden Emergency would be the one to do: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205189876 http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205189872 http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205214756 http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205189877 A great mix of kit - some hangovers from WW2 and some kit that is in CMSF already ... GPMG, Landrover (albeit a newer version), FV-432. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LUCASWILLEN05 Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 This would be a great background for CMSF II. As matters stand with the ongoing civil war in Syria, ISIS and now Yemen the Middle East may very well be heading for a full scale conflagration involving most, if not all the magor regional players. Outside actors including the great powers might well be dragged ito this conflict, and to some extent this hs already happened 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 Kieme(ITA), If you wish to go back to the desert, how do you feel about Italy vs ISIS in Libya? Includes Italian Predators. I leave it to you to figure out how to depict all this. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kieme(ITA) Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 (edited) I would be up for a back to desert mod for CMBS, but we are stuck with what we have right now. Ukrainians could be modded to resemble a US ally, possibly local. Russians have quite some modern equipment in CMBS, even the low tiers are T-72BM3, BMP-2, BTR-80a, MTLB. I don't know which setting could be represented using the avilable assets. Edited April 1, 2015 by Kieme(ITA) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted April 8, 2015 Author Share Posted April 8, 2015 The war against the Houthis appears to be expanding. The Saudis are now asking their longtime ally Pakistan to supply troops, aircraft and warships. Meanwhile, Tehran Times is characterizing Saudi actions in Yemen, which may have a ground component in-country, as becoming Saudi Arabia's Vietnam if the Saudi invasion continues, a notion powerfully supported by an extensive history of Yemeni guerrilla resistance, to include recent combat experience covering the period 2004 through 2010. Pakistan MPs are hostile to becoming involved, despite Pakistan's being dated by the Saudis! Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted July 10, 2015 Author Share Posted July 10, 2015 I came across this in the sidebar for the recent successful RAF Reaper strike on some sort of ISIS tracked AFV. The Houthi have now killed what appear to be 2 x Saudi tanks, evidently M60s. Image positioning suggests in at least one engagement the victim was attacked from the rear quarter. Action is a bit confused because of the way things are presented, something else is shown, then the original matter is revisited, but from a different angle. Things to see include the ends of the tanks, apparently intact survivors fleeing, Houthi infantry advancing and firing. Anyone who wonders why the AI manages to zero in on shoulder fired AT weapons needs to see this, for while the men in the robes are rather like blobs in the rough terrain, the linear nature of the launch tube makes it really stand out in a world with very few things which are straight. In this case, the problem is worse, since they tubes are those of RPG-29s, I believe. Regards, John Kettler 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agusto Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 Oh yes, i saw that video on liveleak recently, it' s some interesting footage. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Choggram Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 is there any chance to see CMSF II or QB patch for current CMSF game? i like it more than CMBS and still playing it from time to time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 BF has said they are considering a CMSFII, but nothing more for the current CMSF version. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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