Sgt.Squarehead

I'd noticed that vehicles seem to use a specific square, but hadn't realised it was one square per unit across the board. Presumably if there are more squares in a painted zone than units it will randomise the units between them and if there are fewer squares than units, they will double up in some squares? If so this presents opportunities that I hadn't previously considered (might also make me want to re-write everything I've done to date though). Looking forward to your scenario, both to play it and then to look at how you achieved it in the editor.

Not sure I'd agree, the Acquire process is instantaneous, so the re-merging of the squads etc. serves well to model the time it would actually take to pass ammo around IMHO.....There are other things that might improve the games more IMHO, like AI 'Don't Go Here (While Moving In This Order) Markers' as suggested by LLF in the Ramadi thread.

Does the map orientation of a given building (ie: the facing in the editor) affect the AI's decision making process when deciding how to enter I wonder.....If there is more than one door will it go for the 'front' by default (they always seem to want to, don't they)?

I'm guessing you posted that in the wrong thread.....I don't really do mods TBH. I've restored the Sarandoy's high morale, enjoyed that video too much to wreck it as a future option and the Sarandoy will probably bear the brunt of the Mujahiden attacks in all three AI plans, so fair's fair as they say.

Likewise.

Rather than have any more discussions of the on-going fighting in Mosul disrupt other threads here, I figured it might be worth giving that particular section of the conflict a thread, a map and perhaps a few scenarios all of its own.....To which end I've been messing around with a small (688x320) section of LLF's epic Ramadi map in an attempt to model one of the more urban sections of East Mosul: Welcome to Hayy Al Karamah (view from the north-east, the player's initial starting point).....I actually only chose this area of East Mosul as it looked like it would be the easiest to model using a section of LLF's map, but as it turns out that was quite a fortuitous choice; This district lies directly between two of the major axes of advance towards the River Tigris and West Mosul and it was the scene of some of the heaviest urban fighting in East Mosul. You can view the area in Google Maps, here: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@36.3433451,43.2196935,589m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en As you will see the map is not strictly accurate, the layout of the blocks and main roads in the north-western portion in particular is quite wrong, however the density of construction and general layout is, I hope, close enough to represent the area adequately for a few small, representative, scenarios. Just for fun, at LLF's suggestion, I've included a couple of typical buildings which provide particular tactical challenges that are clearly not present on the satellite map, live with it, or don't! It seems that Iraqi security forces first re-entered the area on or around 2nd November 2016, exactly which forces these were is slightly unclear, but prominent amongst them were the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service (CTS), possibly supported by elements of the Iraqi 9th Armoured Division & 1st Infantry Division (3 Motorised Brigade): http://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/campaign-mosul-november-1-3-2016 With much assistance from Combatintman, I've modelled a CTS Core Force (& a supporting US Navy SEAL 'Trident Team') using a combination of Syrian & NATO units as seen here: The CTS themselves are represented by Veteran Syrian Special Forces and they are mounted in US Humvees or Canadian Nyalas (representing MRAPs). A trio of Abrams tanks (presumably from 9th Armoured) are attached to the Core Force to give it some extra muscle, coalition air and artillery assets will be plentifully available throughout the campaign. Despite continual harassment by ISIS snipers and multiple attacks by VBIEDs the CTS managed to largely take control of the eastern portion of the district by November 4th, at which point ISIS counter-attacked, in force.....Suffice it to say that the entire Hayy Al Karamah district was not completely under Iraqi Government control until 3rd January 2017! Huge thanks to both Combatintman & LLF for their continued help & support.....I feel like I'm standing on the shoulders of giants here!

The ability to utilise a neutral 'GREY Force' would be an awesome tool for asymmetrical warfare scenarios.....I've been looking at methods of modelling suicide bombers, it can just about be done at present (should be quite easy with triggers), but with a neutral force wandering around it could be done so much better.

I guess we all have different styles of play, if the scenario caters to several, all the better! I have to say I'm really impressed with Ivan's gutsy move, that Sarandoy platoon usually winds up serving as little more than a speed-bump in my hands, sacrificing themselves to save Ali & Co. from the oncoming hordes.....But Ivan's saved the bulk of his platoon and must be pretty close to breaking through. I'm seriously considering turning the Sarandoy morale back up to high to ensure this option will be available in future (with this AI plan at least).....Opinions on that issue would be welcome.

Actually you are supposed to have forewarning about the mortaring, I've done my best to emphasize it in the briefing and I've also messed around with it so that it's not quite so predictable or quite so focussed. The Mujahideen were actually pretty good with mortars, but the four heavily laden fighter-bombers screaming down the valley toward them is probably affecting their aim a bit! I've stuck with 1980, it's mentioned in the description in v.1-3 (and I've just added it to the briefing for 1.4+).....The Soviets also had their first (of many) cracks at the Panjshir that year, so it's all good. I'm going for fictional, occasionally manic, but fun as my design philosophy. But I will be trying to maintain an Afghan War feel, so I will be obliged to try to kill you in devious ways on occasion, sometimes without obvious warning.....However the player won't be penalized for what they can't prevent and there will always be a purpose to such events. To give you an idea of how I work this sort of thing, there are hidden 'Preserve' objectives on the map, buildings the populace would rather you didn't trash, Mosques & stuff like that.....But you are the Red Army and frankly, you don't give a ****! If you level every single religious building on the map (which you may have to do) it will still cost you significantly less than getting a senior Soviet official clipped. It might just take the edge off a glorious victory, but it won't cost you the win.

I'll tell you now, you've already done better work with this platoon than I ever have!

I believe the same .30Cal mount was also often used on British & Commonwealth Shermans.....I've even seen it on Fireflies!

This is the CM:BS scenario I'm most looking forward to seeing/playing.....This AAR has got me hooked.

The ability to capture stuff in the broader sense would be excellent for asymmetric uncon scenarios in a future CM:BS or CM:SF update.....Would be great for WWII Partisans too, if we had 'em.

You might find it really addictive, I did.....I spend ten times longer in the editor than I do playing these days.

I'd recommend opening your favourite smallish full scenario in the editor (save a backup copy) and having a poke around inside to see how the author has done things.....In conjunction with the information in the manuals you should get the basics sussed out pretty quickly and be able to write plans for your new maps in no time.

Balancing campaign scripts will be a whole new level of learning for me.....I know how they work, but structuring them to get a satisfactory and winnable campaign is going to take some practice I suspect.

Me too! With regard to the barrage, that's part of the commander's dilemma.....You know the barrage is probably attempting to pin you in place ready for direct assault (you can see the assault force coming), should you risk losing men to the barrage in order to improve your position or escape the trap? What Ivan Zaitzev has done is very interesting, I don't want to say too much at the moment, but I really am looking forward to seeing what happens next (It kinda feels like the first time I loaded up the UAZ, aimed it at that exit zone and crossed my fingers! ). PS - It's Ali Jazeera and the Gulf TV News Crew (with Fat Omar the cameraman and Malik el Soni the sound man).....The TV Channel Al Jazeera (named in his honour, obviously) only started up in 1996.

If you want to try out some stuff on my Mosul variant of LLF's Ramadi map, I should have some bits coming together before too long. I will be opening a thread for Mosul very soon.....I'm currently still picking over the map trying to make sure everything's sorted before I start, as I said I've used a small chunk of Ramadi to represent the Al Karamah district of Mosul, but I needed to replace the buildings in several sections of map to better match the reality. Building residential blocks to the same high standard set by LLF in the rest of the map has been a real challenge, nothing on his map (or mine) is random, it's all been worked out with great care.

Check page 111 of the Combat Missions v.3.01 Manual (.pdf comes with game).....Campaign scripts are explained in detail there.

Don't forget LLF.....He's hard at work too!

So you're another one who misses CMx1 static campaigns then! I just tried a little experiment using a massive CM:SF map (LJF Huge Rural) to see whether you could create a Core file on the playing map, such that the Core units would automatically be placed at a pre-set default location in each scenario. Basically in each village or hamlet on the map I added a 'Local Militia'. The idea behind this was to create a largely random campaign, in each battle the Red Force would attack differing locales according to the AI Plan it selected and some of the defenders might well be wiped out, leading to deserted villages & hamlets in future games. The presence or absence of surviving defenders at a location would act as its own set-up zone for future battles. The Red Force (Al Shebab was my concept here) wouldn't attempt occupy terrain per-se, but rather in each battle they would come storming out of the desert to randomly assault settlements one or two at a time, at least until overpowered by a collective of militias, plus extras from the wider Core. Sadly it doesn't work, they all arrive in a blob in one corner. But I kind of like the idea (and I love the map) so I might still play around with it. PS - I think I've figured a way to do this.....So long as I have a 'Master Scenario' with all the Core forces deployed (and recognised as Core forces), I'm sorted.

Wow.....Edge of the seat stuff (and I know what's going on)! Great video, I really enjoyed watching it, found myself shouting "Nooooo!" when fat Omar (the cameraman) went down! Very cool approach and very well played (& filmed, Omar would have been proud), you've showed me a whole new aspect to my battle that I did not even know was there.....Many thanks! PS - Hope you are enjoying it! PPS - The grenade-fight in the alleyway is my favourite bit so far!

Very well thought out post, makes a lot of sense to me.

Looks like MikeyD's covered it.....Makes pretty good sense really.

I'm guessing it may mean that once contact is made the support element is likely to remain 'at hand', perhaps not directly in the front line, but close enough to intervene with minimal delay.....I could well be 100% wrong though.