Combatintman

Reference the licence thing ... yes you can run on two computers - the patches I can't help you with but there is info out there. Hope your son doesn't end up owning you on the battlefield once you solve the install issues!!! Regards Combatintman.

It is easy mate - you can either grab something from the internet or Google Earth (for maps) and crop it to the required size or take screenshots from the game using a program like Fraps and again crop them. I am no wizard at this and don't have Gucci programs like Photoshop - a lot of my early stuff was done in Paint - now all I do is crop to the required size in Powerpoint, export to Paint and save as a bmp.

I have had another bash at Mission 2 today. Core units have been swapped in and some tweaks to the enemy made. Played it through and got a minor defeat suffering only 2 KIA and 4 WIA so more work required for this one. One of my tweaks with the enemy didn't perform as I expected so I need to tweak this too. Next test will likely take place tomorrow and hopefully will be good to go.

Pretty good piece of Mission Analysis by BlackMoria above - it is possible to win this without slogging your way all the way up the map eliminating anything with a pulse on the way up.

Just to reassure those of you who have noticed that I have picked up my TELIC Campaign again, I am working on both projects concurrently. Basically the division of work is when I get fed up of map making on this one, I switch to the TELIC Campaign.

In my experience this happens sometimes - I think it took about 4 or 5 resubmits before one of my missions got loaded which was irritating but not the end of the World. I'd give it a day and if nothing has happened fire it in again.

While I won't post all of the mission briefings because that will spoil part of the fun of the campaign, I will post the first mission briefs of the core units. So here is the first draft mission brief for the Al Faw MMS as a taster: Situation: Enemy Forces SEAL Team 3 elements have been on the objective for a number of hours now and have reported that the enemy is between battalion minus to company plus strength. The enemy appears to be hunkered down in the various building complexes in the objective area. Higher reporting has not identified which formation is located in this area but it is assessed to comprise elements of a low-grade infantry division. It is assessed that the enemy will probably conduct a passive defence from identified fixed positions and once put under pressure will withdraw to the North or East. Situation: Friendly Forces D-Day for Operation TELIC is finally here and Coalition air has already struck regime and C2 targets across Iraq. SEAL Team 3 has been on target for a number of hours with 3 Commando Brigade elements linking up with them to start the assault proper. On the ground at present are elements of SEAL Team 3, 3 Commando Brigade’s Brigade Reconnaissance Force (BRF) and C Company, 40 Commando Royal Marines (RM) minus 8 Troop and Fire Support elements which are due to arrive in a subsequent helo lift in approximately 10 minutes. 3 Troop, 59 Independent Commando Squadron Royal Engineers (RE) have just landed at their LZ and will join up with C Company Group in approximately 5 minutes. C Company has organic mortars and 105mm Light Guns from 29 (Kirkee) Battery, 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery (RA) on call and a pair of Harriers (C/S STONE 10) from Marine Attack Squadron (VMA) 223 overhead. A second pair of Harriers from VMA 223 (C/S STONE 12) will be available in approximately 1 hour. Situation: Terrain and Weather The objective itself is the Al Faw Monitoring and Metering Station (MMS) which is a vital component of the Iraqi oil infrastructure. The terrain is generally flat and open with the most distinctive feature of the ground being a series of bunded rectangular berms. These provide cover and concealment and the tops of the berms provide good overwatch and fields of fire over the whole objective. Overall the going is good with the exception of a large marsh area to the NE of the objective which is impassable to both mounted and dismounted elements. There are a number of small building complexes throughout the objective area. These provide cover and concealment to elements occupying them. It is 0300 on 21 March 2003 and it is therefore dark which will limit visibility to all elements but, given the enemy’s assessed night fighting capability, this will favour friendly forces. The prevailing weather is overcast but this will not affect visibility or air operations. Ground conditions are damp and therefore vehicles should avoid difficult ground where possible. The air is cool and therefore temperatures are extremely suitable for all types of operation. Mission: Overall Description Mission: ATTACK: C Company Group is to secure the Al Faw Monitoring and Metering Station (MMS) in order to prevent the regime from destroying vital oil infrastructure necessary for post-war reconstruction. Tasks: 1. Secure the North Control Complex (Occupy 20 Victory Points). 2. Secure the Central Control Complex (Occupy 20 Victory Points). 3. Secure the Southern Control Complex (Occupy 20 Victory Points). 4. Secure the Administrative Complex (Occupy 20 Victory Points). Execution: Commander’s Intent My intent is to use identify enemy positions with ISTAR assets and once identified to employ standoff weapon systems to attrit and suppress these groupings prior to launching close dismounted assaults to clear remnants from all named objectives. Throughout the operation, preservation of the oil infrastructure (Preserve 50 Victory Points) is key to long-term reconstruction and the consequences of any environmental damage resulting from its destruction will jeopardise the whole Coalition cause. Endstate is the Al Faw MMS secure with C Company Group balanced for subsequent operations. Execution: Basic Plan Your choice OC C Coy but, while the enemy should not be underestimated, you have sufficient combat power and advantages in direct and indirect fire to overcome the defences. Given that this is the first mission in this campaign, ensure that you minimise friendly force casualties by making deliberate approaches to your objectives. Designer’s notes This mission is a close approximation of the attack by 40 Commando on the Al Faw MMS which opened Operation TELIC for the British. The ground is real, subject to the constraints of the CMSF terrain editor, however the enemy is considerably enhanced from that encountered on the day in the interests of presenting a challenge to the player.

Oh my bad - reference the surgical area - pretty sure it is a 'preserve' objective.

Don't know how you do it - I have never played this scenario and lost so few of my own and of course I know where the opposition is!!!! Glad the surprise was something that needed thinking about - it was a late addition in terms of the scenario design but ... if you forgive the pun ... an easy win.

The tweaks worked for Mission 1 as a standalone mission - played again this morning and got a minor victory with 3 KIA and 15 WIA. Next step is to put the briefing together before pushing on to Mission 2.

BlackMoria, has your experience and luck bagged you the hospital objectives yet?

Mission 1 has been tested three times now ... still haven't got it right!!! Hopefully the changes I've made following the last test will solve it.

I'm about a third of the way through the map on this one - it is a real slog but I think it will be worth it - the terrain has lots of little nuances in it. Luckily I have more time to devote to CMSF now so I'll keep plugging away.

Wholeheartedly agree with Umlaut and Paper Tiger about user made scenarios. I haven't leapt to CMBN yet because I still enjoy CMSF but I have put together some scenarios and released them to the Repository. The amount of work involved is huge and, while I have had some great feedback, it is nevertheless disappointing when you get a 2-star rating with no comment as happened on one of my scenarios. Nevertheless I will continue to plug away with scenario and campaign design because I enjoy it. I rarely go into CMSF now and do anything other than scenario and campaign design or testing them which I hope is good news for the CMSF players out there.

The problem that I hit was that I didn't create a core units file to start with which was a huge mistake because when I built the various scenarios I used different elements of the British Light Infantry Battalion to create the BRF. When I realised this I had a real sinking feeling and I just struggled to motivate myself to unpick it all. However I was determined to finish it given the amount of work I'd put in on the research and the maps. I picked this back up a couple of days ago and first off created a Core Units File. Battle one has now had the units swapped out from the originals to those in the Core Units File. The other advantage of my schoolboy error is that I am effectively looking at this with new eyes and with more scenarios under my belt and better understanding of balancing VPs means that this will be a lot better than it would have been had I rushed it out which I was seriously considering at one point. It will be a while still before this hits the repository but I am hoping to put this to bed in the next couple of months. Thanks for keeping the faith!!!

Doing better than me then and I know where the enemy is!!! I don't think I got to the hospital without losing about 8 or 9 guys before. The hospital will be tough if for no other reason than you'll lose VPs if you use heavy firepower against some of the buildings and cause damage. The bonus is that you shouldn't be short of small arms ammunition so you can suppress with those as you clear the complex.

I've recommenced work on this which I hope is good news.

Snakeye, Thanks for the comments. Regarding the modelling of the southern road - if there is a way to do it within the parameters of the scenario editor please let me know. The reason it is 'wobbly' is because I am prepared to accept compromises in the look of the ground but am not keen to change the map scale. This was the only way I could get the road to fit the actual ground distances. Regarding the AI - I admit I have much to learn here but I struggle (and I'll be honest) I don't have the patience to test really nuanced AI plans. For this scenario I saw little value in doing much on the right flank with the AI because once the Blue player crests the southern highway, anything moving will be seen. Admittedly there is slightly more scope for that on the left flank. Regards

I hope it will be interesting - since reading 'Dusty Warriors' by Richard Holmes, I have always wanted to see what could be done with it in CMSF - I started a complete Al Amarah map years ago but lost the will to live with it. This time I have a plan...

Glad you're enjoying it - the hospital is tricky but doable.

Blimey - funny old thing, I was looking at Panama not that long ago as something different - in the end I put it in the 'too difficult' basket - I'll be interested to see how your project pans out - particularly if there is a campaign or some scenarios. Thanks for the feedback on the scenarios - I'm finally getting the hang of the nuances of scenario design.

Cheers for the link - sounds interesting.

Any chance of a link for that mate - I would love an update to CMSF so am interested in what Steve's view on that is. Not only do I love playing the game but I have a whole bunch of mission projects based on both Iraq and Afghanistan that I would like to put together and release through the repository. There's life in this game yet!!!!

A bit more info ... The map will be 1888 x 1456m and it is a really interesting bit of ground to fight over because you have a mix of really close urban terrain and some large open areas. The mission construct will involve running a resupply convoy into a besieged CIMIC House - I'm hoping to recreate the first action which formed part of the citation for Johnson Beharry's Victoria Cross on 01 May 04. Forces employed will be a mix of dismounts, mounted armoured infantry supported by Challenger 2, offensive support is likely to be limited to 81mm mortar only. All up force size will be between 2-3 company equivalents. The map is about a third done but unfortunately I won't have internet access for another couple of weeks so I won't be able to progress on the map front during that time. That said, I will be able to finalise the research and draft the orders and AI plans. Johnson Beharry linky: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson_Beharry

Footage of CIMIC House from the period: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lyir0X2zY8M