Webwing

I'll try this one as well JohnO. Thanks One thing I found interesting about the BWOTM book is that the maps are approximations of the places. Most of the action/missions they still don't really know where exactly they took place. The maps where made based mostly on soldiers reports. So they say in the introduction of the book. I was worried about making them accurate in CM:SF but I guess is just a matter of transposing the situation itself. --

It will probably be an interesting scenario! Now in this mission it doesn't make sense to just throw yourself in the middle of an unknown area and get more men killed than the ones you are trying to save. Besides this is not really the main objective. Since you can still win even if they do get all trapped soldiers killed. --

I have to test it again in WEGO. Most of the time I test it RT. Well, it is a problem conserving ammo. But it is manageable. If you know that you could have help from an extra company, you wouldn't need to hurry so much. A few tips that might help: You can take 2 squads, cross the road to the left and up behind the hill without firing a single shot. Take your troops through the gap on the wall that is close to the border of the map before crossing the highway. Take the house halfway from you and the crossroads, going through the wheat field and little road. Carefully! Else you will just be firing for too long from the roofs of your starting position. I'd like to here what others have to say before watering down this one too much... You didn't read the briefing. That is mentioned there. You also didn't read my post here. I mentioned it as well. It seems you have the same philosophy as me "If everything else fails, read the manual." Now, seriously. They are set to 60min with an arrival span of 30 min. Meaning it could be anytime between 30 to 90 min. Do you think having an extra company that may not arrive is an interesting prospect or it actually detracts from the fun? Should the Co have a fixed time of arrival? Anyway, thats for all the feedback. -- [ December 07, 2007, 10:45 AM: Message edited by: Webwing ]

They now start inside the buildings. It really makes no difference except that we avoid cases like this one you mentioned. It makes more sense anyway. I repositioned some of the reinforcements.

I finally did it successfully. Twice!!! I feel like I'm getting a lot better at this game. The most enjoyable thing is that using sound real world tactics pay (apart from the bugs of course). I don't agree with the arty support. Didn't have the buildings issue either. But never got to rescue the guys alive. Although the mission starts on a frenetic rhythm I decided not to hurry things. Got my strykers only with their noses showing from the corners of buildings and walls, sometimes venturing a bit further to give support to the troops. --

Bertram, Thanks for the feedback! The infamous tall wall bug can give you a bit of a headache but I didin't experience what you describe. DaveDash mentioned it was too quiet in the beginning so I don't think he had that problem. Enemy troops aren't supposed to start firing at you right away. You are not in range of their ambush orders. Only when some of your troops start advancing or shooting. I'll try to replicate what happened to you. But either way it won't hurt to have Blue starting positions inside the houses. I might change that. I'm not giving up on this one, so do come back in the future to give it another go. Or maybe after 1.05! By the way, the whole mission is 1hr30min. -- [ December 07, 2007, 05:59 AM: Message edited by: Webwing ]

Good point. In the parameters for the mission you can get points for conserving ammo for both sides. So there can be a situation where you get points for conserving your ammo plus the enemy losing points for spending too much. --

This is really a bit strange. I guess they just didn’t have time to implement it. It sure doesn’t make much sense to me the way it is. If you have extra ammo inside the strikers why not on the humvees of the Supply Platoon? This has been the source of most of the trouble I’m having with my mission Crossroads. Infantry only, fighting for over an hour. Ammo won’t last. Ammo is spent like hell in suppressive fire that is usually the role of the strikers. Some may argue that the game was not designed with infantry only in mind. That might be the case but still be really cool to have the supply platoon vehicles drive to the front line with more ammo for the troops. --

First thanks a lot for the feedback. Designing the mission you lose perspective completely sometimes and its not possible to have an interesting mission without the help of this kind of feedback. All my missions end up having this feel. I wonder why! I'll look into the poor shooting issue. Winning or Losing My idea was: To win you MUST take few losses. Not sure if this is clear on the briefing but your main objective is to probe the enemy strength. IF possible, specially if the second company arrives on time, then you try and take the crossroads. If you take few losses a draw is already assured. If you also kill a good number of Reds or take the crossroads then you win. I'm not sure still how to solve the ammo issue. I assume you used the ammo in the immoblilized Striker. It is there exactly so that you can get 3 Javelins and more ammo. The Javelins help you clear two houses full of enemies in front of you and the guys on the tree lines. This way you can take control of the high ground a lot easier. I wanted to use some randomness and see if this added a sense of realism to the mission. The second company can arrive any time from 30 minutes to 90 minutes. Depending on that your mission can change dramatically. Leaving this to chance seems realistic to me, but is it fun? I assume you never got them.

MeatGrinder, What a lucky coincidence for me! I was looking for exactly something like that to help me with my missions. I'm almost finished with reading the book. I can't seem to able to put it down!!! I'll have to come back many times. This first read is just to get a general idea and select the most suitable missions for CM:SF. I'm not sure if Red on Red would be ideal for the units. Russians (Syria) X Muhajdeen (Unconventional)?? I'll sure let you know when I have something. --

I did not have a problem with virus. Thanks MeatGrinder and also SlapHappy for the PDF. This book is fantastic. Just printed the whole 248 pages! I don't like to read long texts online. Most maps would be too big in size for the game, 4km upwards. But there are some maps that would fit perfectly in CM:SF. I selected 2 to study and will do at least one as a scenario for the game. ---

Ok, I count on you! Thanks. --

JohnO, you've got mail! --

JohnO, Undelivered Mail Returned to Sender???? -- [ December 05, 2007, 03:11 PM: Message edited by: Webwing ]

- Pete, I wish someone would put a campaign together using those maps!!! --

Egon, You will love the Builder!!!! Get your maps ready! From now on a good way to do scenarios would be to join forces with others. One would do the map and the other would do the mission design for instance. That way each one can concentrate on what he does best. --

I see no problem with the HQ. Specially IF it's proven that they do influence the performance of the troops. It seems very realistic. You can have green troops but if the HQ is veteran with +2 leadership they will coordinate the troops really well when close by. You would need to be careful not to let those high ranking officers get killed. Besides the only mandatory HQ is at Squad level. Great news! Specially the coordination options. It's tricky to predict how long one unit will take to get from A to B specially if they have to engage the enemy on the way. It will make AI attacks a lot more 'intelligent'. -- [ December 05, 2007, 01:15 PM: Message edited by: Webwing ]

MeatGrinder, Welcome! Wow, two long posts with loads of interesting stuff in them. Taking note.... --

JohnO, Looking forward to your feedback. Thanks! I have at least 8 maps close to finished and several missions to go with them. Thing is I'm always experimenting and never finish anything! This one is the closest to finished that I have. I wanted a field with just a few houses but loads of small elevations for the troops to get behind and shoot! I tried to add some randomness to see how it would go. For both sides. Even with only one plan for RED for now. The biggest unbalancing factor is the second inf company that might not get there on time to help you!! If they get there soon enough the mission is too easy. If the don't it is a good fight, I feel. But I really don't know at this point. Testing you know where everything is so it's very hard to balance the mission without help from others. I like infantry only. Too many Strykers, Bradleys and Abrams in most missions for my taste. Its a personal thing of course. A few problems with this though. 1 - The problem with troops getting too tired when crawling might make your life a little bit difficult. 2 - Ammo. No Strikers means no extra ammo supply. 3 - It takes time to get from A to B on foot. --

JohnO, I have!!! Have I been into this game or what! Now, the thing is, to do one scenario takes a lot of time. Making 6... I have this campaign for RED. It's called Painted in RED. You follow a company of Syrian Spacial Forces through a series of missions from a big ciy, suburbs, highway and mountains. I have the maps, missions setup, most of the briefings, the whole campaign already linked and working, going from one mission to the other and carrying the troops statistics.... pretty cool. The missons and maps need tweaking of forces and bits and pieces here and there. But I have the felling I will never finish it! Too ambitous a project for my short attention span! How would you like to help me finish it. Would be nice to do some real team work. I was thinking of inviting MarkEzra too. You can feel free to add, delete, change maps... a real team work. What do you say? MarkEzra? What about you? -- --

Thanks Hoolaman, I guess most every topic has already been discussed in one way or another! I've got to start using the search more often. --

This missions is no longer available as standalone. It's now part of the Crossroads Campaign. Please download the campaign from CMMODS to play this mission. Current Version: v1.3 Duration: 90 min. Infantry Only. Playable only from the Blue side. You have to control the crossroads with minimum casualties. If you play it please leave some feedback so that I can improve it. Two plans for Red so far. *EDIT* MOST OF THE POSTS BELLOW ARE FULL OF SPOILERS. MIGHT BE A GOOD IDEA TO PLAY THE MISSION FIRST BEFORE READING ON. Thanks [ December 09, 2007, 02:23 AM: Message edited by: Webwing ]

-- I didn't see this before! Brillant! Thanks aka_tom_w for bumping it. --

Pete, I don't know if you have TOW, or if you like it. But for what I've seen in your maps I was wondering what you would be able to do with the new map editor soon to be release. With your talent and attention to detail you would be able to do wonders. Even if you don't like TOW it would be worth just for the map editor. Hours of joy, I guarantee. Cheers

Use the time for some research. Make a sketch of what you like to build, etc. Based on the maps in TOW you can have a good idea of the elements you can use. But now you can have steeper hills! Patience! Easy for me to say, I know! --