Erwin

Yeah I was thinking that pushing forward immediately to ambush the attacker was the only tactic I hadn't tried. What was frustrating was that the 60mm mortar never seems to live long enuff to fire direct, and are too slow to respond for indirect - at least at the start when the enemy is moving quickly. Towards the middle, the enemy arty doesn't leave places to set up outside the buildings. Also, the 50 cal in the foxhole seems to be suppressed and slowly killed. Have never figured out a good use for it. (Nor for the jeep 50 cal either.) Not sure why one would send tanks over the bridge. Seems like making them an easy target for the Panthers. I always send em over the embankment to the right.

Yeah, that's the problem with mines, IED's and immediate "no warning" HE bombardments. May be realistic, but so, so frustrating for the player esp if you are in WEGO as the units can't react, and the player can't do anything to make em do what is obviously immediately necessary. Perhaps the best solution is to warn the player either in the briefing so they know what is coming, and/or clearly mark locations or areas where mines/IED's are suspected or known.

Sorry for the post on wrong scenario thread due to brain problems. So, for Mullah Fayyad: Was doing great with only 3 casualties and elected to get the convoy on the map safely bg4 assaulting the "village" objective. Didn't seem to be enuff smoke to shield the assault troops from both flanks. I thought I had done a lot of damage to the buildings and occupants with arty, Javelins and STGM's, but defenders were in fine shape and knocked out almost 20 guys. Have a foothold now, and hopefully can assault the rest of the buildings with far less casualties if any. Otherwise a great scenario... Enjoying it. Hope I can still pull off a TV. So... What is the best way to assault across the road and into the village without taking (more than minimal) casualties?

Aw man... I set up Into The Green, and then noticed I hadn't completed Mullah Fayyad, so started on that while still thinking "Into The Green". Brain clearly suffering from desert rot. So, so sad... Into The Green is next, then Heart of Darkness, and then UK Helluva Takeover... all superb I know... And BTW: Any answers to my questions above re Assault vs Support groups?

Oh, thanks. I honestly thought that the GPS icon was a cell phone since CMSF came out(!).

I find that unless you have long range >500m, all on map guns/mortars easily get spooked by enemy fire and can die very quickly.

Man, I have all the IL2 games and modules etc. Never got to even load em!! CM2 is a "vampire" game that sucked all the precious life force gaming time out of me. Panzer Elite was so buggy that it would crash most games I played. Then there were some great mods. But, it started to feel like you needed to be a programmer to get everything working. Re Graviteam check out their Steel Armor series ("Basra 86" and "Blaze of War") for what looks like a Panzer Elite-like game.

Was doing great with only 3 casualties and elected to get the convoy on the map safely bg4 assaulting the "village" objective. Didn't seem to be enuff smoke to shield the assault troops from both flanks. I thought I had done a lot of damage to the buildings and occupants with arty, Javelins and STGM's, but defenders were in fine shape and knocked out almost 20 guys. Have a foothold now, and hopefully can assault the rest of the buildings with far less casualties if any. Otherwise a great scenario... Enjoying it. Hope I can still pull off a TV.

I think it takes time for the communication to work its way through (it's not instantaneous) - see what happens in a couple of turns. Symbols refer to what the XO Exec Officer unit has: Binoculars for birdwatching; Safety Pin if pants fall down, or perhaps it's a cell phone; and Camera for selfies or maybe its night vision... Who can know these things?

I see from their site that Graviteam also produce some good-looking first person sim type games where you can crew a tank etc. Like a much better version of the xnt but very buggy Panzer Elite. That type of game may be much more fun. Anyone played those?

Thanks. I notice there is a part one in my folder. What is your concept?

Can you stop and replay Graviteam Tactics games, or is it like RT play of CM2 - where you miss 90% of the action?

That would be wonderful! Am enjoying playing CMSF (and even CMA) these days as got burned on by the sameness of the WW2 titles. Love the desert vistas and sun!

I still recommend that you state: "Enemy artillery bombardment is underway! Get all inf and civilians off rooftops, balconies and also disembarked from soft vehicles and have them HIDE in buildings - preferably upper floors as ground floors tend to suffer more damage from HE." Would also appreciate if you define terms like KHAD, DRA and Sarandoy etc etc. The above are important for less experienced players like me.

Thanks, that is helpful. Will read your planning thread for more info. My additional comment is that you'd think that the Javelin teams would be in Support as they have long range weapons. If you hadn't given such a detailed briefing re what units should do what, my proposed plan would be: 1) Leave two 2-man Javelin teams at the base for long range support. 2) The other two 2-man Jav teams would go with the assault force (hanging back a bit with the ANA Support group and CO's as bodyguards). 3) Use drivers from the unarmed jeeps to put 3 or 4 in each WMIK and move em out of the fort so the MG's can be used long range from (hopefully) safe positions around the fort, and still have seats available should one need the extra Javelins (or other teams) left at the fort to get quickly to the front lines. Not sure why CO's, FO's and snipers are distributed between both Assault and Support groups. One would think they would all go in Support - to be brought up and used when needed. There is only one recon team that is part of the Engineer element IIRC. If I am reading your instructions correctly, the recon team is supposed to go in Support. But, one would think it would be in front with Assault(?) I want to stick with your suggested set-up as you point out that will create max enjoyment. My goal here is to have a better understanding as to why you want the player to distribute the units in the way you lay out. I understand having the weak ANA in Support. Thanks to your comments above, I now understand why in RL one would leave the OMLT unit (and anything that is called "Mentor" I presume) with the ANA. But, the other choices are counter-intuitive (to me) in a RL situation. Am asking these questions to get a better understanding of the Brit logic that may help me in other missions using Brits. Am assuming that there are good reasons for having particular units in Assault and Support groups. I just don't understand is all.

SS: Re the briefing, suggest you emphasize: "Enemy artillery bombardment is underway! Get all inf and civilians off rooftops, balconies and also disembarked from soft vehicles and have them HIDE in buildings - preferably upper floors as ground floors tend to suffer more damage from HE." That should hopefully help the player save the elite drivers and give the VIP's the best chance of survival. If one was playing RT one could order the above as soon as first shells fall. But in WEGO it seems fatal that one has to wait for 60 seconds. Also, most players many not know that ground floors can be deadly in bombardments.

Yes, Mentor Team - I was wondering what that was about. What does "Mentor Team" or "OMLT" stand for? And yes, it's easier to set aside the units that will stay in the bases and then one can be confident that everyone else can go on the patrol. With the Brits, I have never understood why there are separate "Support Groups". Eg: Maybe I got this wrong but it seemed like the recon team is part of "Support". However, the Company CO is in Assault Group. The long range Javelin teams and vulnerable jeeps are in Assault when you would think they would be in the rear with Support. Both Assault and Support groups have CO's and FO's. The units currently in Support don't seem less capable than the ones in Assault. Been confused about this Brit SOP ever since the Brit module came out all those years ago! Would love to get a definitive description of what and why certain units are in Support or Assault. Also, in your scenario it's unclear why any Engineer units stay in the fort when they would seem to be much more useful in the Assault role. But, presumably that is what the Brits did historically? Do the engineers that stay in the fort function as a reserve? Or, should one permanently leave them in the base?

Am doing the set-up and am confused by which units go in which force per the briefing. Can't find any "JTAC" unit. There is an air controller that needs to go with the "Assault Group", but where is the JTAC that stays with the "Support Group"? There is a TAC that goes with the Assault Group but also a 2nd TAC supposed to go with the Support group, but I cannot find any 2nd TAC. Where is 1 Irish OMLT that goes in Support Group? BTW: Have never understood the purpose of a "Support Group" per Brit SOP? Why is this group separate from the "Assault Group"? Wasn't sure if they are supposed to stay in the base, or if accompanying the assault force, why aren't they simply part of the assault force? Thanks...

I also don't understand "evacuate". Evacuate to where?? I assumed you meant that we concentrate forces on the VL's. My intention was to do what Ivan did - (both for the TV guys and the police station guys). But, I have learned from other scenarios that one NEVER should just run out blindly on turn one as that can lead to very nasty ambushes. So, I spent the first couple of turns having a careful look around the locations to see if there were enemy units nearby. I thought that was eminently realistic and sensible. But, in your design that leads being trapped by arty and then nothing can move. I'll wait for your next version before trying it again. But, from past experience, after 3 tests, objectivity declines, and also it becomes a PITA to replay the scenario. Recommend that you try it out yourself b4 asking for volunteers. You would have discovered your arty error immediately. There are few enuff players playing any of these games let alone testing. You don't want to burn out testers as there may not be anyone else to actually play the completed scenario.

"Were they all on the rooftops?" Nope, all were HIDING in the start buildings. Turn 2, I did try to get them to QUICK move from an "exterior" building space (corner of building) into "interior" spaces (less chance of being seen by snipers I hoped). Re your pic, you'll notice there are no doors from the tall buildings exiting directly into the back yard. You are correct, the AI will NOT route units the safe route thru that one floor building into the back yard, but instead out the front to be killed in the street. An expensive lesson. But, I don't know why you didn't put more doors in the rear so it was easier for units to reach the relative safety of the rear yard before attempting to break out to friendly areas. (Seems odd to not have more doors to the rear yard.) The problem with having set-up zones is that a reasonable player assumes that there is a reason that the designer placed units where they are, when common sense would have the VIP's hidden away safely on the ground floor immediately. So, the set-up zone confused me. It made perfect sense to me that the TV people would be up top filming. None of us know there is a barrage coming immediately. So, I left em there. At least they spotted the Uncons coming down the street from the south. However, the TV VIP's were simply lucky that one mortar shell didn't kill em all. I recommend that you eliminate the set-up zone at the TV station, and/or place the VIP units where you think they should be. In any case, all three TV VIP's were fine after 5 minutes. It was the consular 3 VIP's that were all KIA. I suppose it also have been KGB KIA. Just bad luck for the consuls, or did Putin know something...? I bet he did! Was also bummed that I lost 3 Elite/Crack drivers and all 4 jeeps in the barrage. What was the point of them? Also, lost one man KIA (not sure if by a sniper or HE) out of the four 2 man crack/elite FO's. They were all HIDING as well. So, that 5 min barrage of (only) 60mm(!) that killed 21 guys and 4 jeeps and seemed pretty devastating to me. If that is your intention, ok. But otherwise, it could be a problem. More of an issue is that is REAL BORING not being able to move anything except the BTR's for 5 minutes while you helplessly watch your casualties mount up. This is the reason that most games don't feature long initial barrages. May be realistic, definitely not fun. Am now playing some CMSF games to get my confidence back...

Apologies, it was Green 9 that I finally completed. Cos it's called Green 9, the game calls it Green 10 when it saves, and as it was an old savegame file I thought I musta shortened it from "Into the Green", doh. Into the Green is next... Also, Heart of Darkness campaign.

" I often step away from the PC exhausted after hours and hours of intense concentration." I hear ya. It can be exhausting. Periodically I go back to CM1 or other games for R&R.

Finally completed this. Really liked the scenario. One has more than enuff time and assets to do the job with minimal, probably no casualties. I must have rushed too fast as one is told to CF after getting all objectives and I got a Total Victory with 45 mins(!) left on the clock. I never even got to use the two Apaches which only just now arrived!! But, 2 KIA and 2 WIA. So, the biggest challenge of this scenario is getting impatient and pushing on when one should wait for larger HE assets to smash the enemy and save the troops' lives. After CF, I found significant enemy still stuck around the map perimeter. Didn't pose much of a threat, but one would have to go hunting them down to kill em. And that didn't seem to be one's orders.

A terrific pic. The more you blow it up the better. It loses that sharp crispness that gives it away.

2nd try ******* SPOILERS ******** Played 5 turns. Artillery falls for almost full 5 minutes meaning inf units can't move or do anything for 5 turns except HIDE. VERY BORING. Lost all three consular officials plus 3 out of the 4 Elite/Crack drivers as well as all 4 jeeps. Also company CO and assnt, plus numerous other troops. Everyone else pinned down. CF'd to find I'd lost 21 casualties to Taliban's 3. (675 vs 275 points.) If this is to simulate the shock of a surprise attack where one loses important assets right at the start, that's fine. But, the briefing makes such a big deal about protecting the HVT's that one feel like one has already failed. I don't want to keep replaying this till am burned out. So, need your feedback re what your intentions are. You may want to warn in the briefing that a massive arty attack is imminent and everyone may as well HIDE and hunker down for 5 minutes and merely press the GO button 5 times. Or, tone down the arty attack.