Combatintman

Ok - here's the mission brief as a taster ... Situation: Enemy Forces During the PVCP build operation (Op SLATE) around Gereshk in Nov 06, the Taliban frequently contacted friendly forces in the area of the sluice gates close to Habibollah Kalay. Intelligence received to date continues to identify a strong presence in the area supported by a C2 node located in Habibollah Kalay itself. Yesterday (09 Jan 07), a local civilian contractor working for ISAF was reported to have been brutally murdered by the Taliban and his body dumped in the area. The enemy in the area is assessed at approximately company strength and equipped with small arms, RPGs, indirect fire weapons and a limited IED capability. The Taliban in this area are also assessed as determined and will likely offer determined resistance to any friendly force incursions.. Situation: Friendly Forces Helmand Task Force (HTF) remains stretched by its commitments Province-wide and in order to retain some freedom of action, the enemy must be disrupted at every possible opportunity. It is assessed that a successful attack on this identified C2 node will disrupt Taliban operations in the Gereshk area for a number of weeks thus allowing stabilisation operations in Gereshk to gain further traction. Accordingly, Juliet Company Group 42 Commando RM comprising 1 and 2 Troops mounted in Armoured Support Company RM AFVs, with a platoon of 1 Tolay, 3 Kandak, 205 (Hero) Corps Afghan National Army (ANA), supported by Operational Mentoring and Liaison Teams (OMLTs) will conduct a cordon and clear operation. J Coy Group (named Manoeuvre Operations Group (North) (MOG(N)) has a JTAC and Tac Party from J Bty, 29 (Commando) Regiment RA grouped with it to call in offensive support. Offensive support assets comprise a mortar section from 42 Cdo RM, 105mm Light Guns from J Bty 29 Cdo Regt RA, US F15s (C/S Bone) and one Apache pair (C/S Ugly 50) in support. A second Apache pair (C/S Ugly 52) will conduct a RIP with C/S Ugly 50 during the mission. Situation: Terrain and Weather The principal terrain features affecting this operation are the Helmand River (Rud) and the numerous associated canals which run E-W. These features canalise Blue forces due to the limited number of available crossing points. The main crossing points are the sluice gates located to the E in the vicinity of Habibollah Kalay and these are key terrain. Also of note is the dominating high ground to the E which provides excellent observation over the sluice gates and surrounding terrain. There are a number of small villages comprising single storey buildings with 2m high compound walls. These offer excellent cover and concealment and good observation and fields of fire from their roofs. The remaining terrain is generally flat, comprising cultivated fields bounded by irrigation ditches and foliage. Manoeuvre is possible over all of this terrain, although irrigation ditches will need to be traversed with care by vehicles. The irrigation ditches and associated foliage offer excellent cover and concealment and are likely to be used extensively by the enemy. It is 0630 on 10 Jan 07 with the weather forecast as being largely overcast with cool temperatures. Weather effects are therefore assessed as neutral to both enemy and friendly forces. Mission: Overall Description Mission: ATTACK: J Coy Gp is to establish a cordon in the area of the sluice gates and clear the Habibollah Kalay area in order to disrupt TB C2. Tasks: 1. Advance to contact, clearing any enemy encountered en route to the sluice gates. 2. Recover the body of the murdered contractor 3. Secure the sluice gate area and establish a cordon. 4. Clear TB elements from the area of the sluice gate. Execution: Commander’s Intent My intent is to conduct a deliberate approach to the sluice gate area using ground elements to identify enemy elements. Once identified I will employ a combination of direct and indirect fires to neutralise them whilst minimising friendly force casualties. Having reached the sluice gate area, I will take advantage of the opportunity to concentrate my forces to initially defeat any TB elements in the vicinity of the sluice gates prior to establishing a cordon. With the cordon secure, dismounted elements will conduct a clearance of the area in order to locate and destroy the TB C2 node. Execution: Basic Plan Your choice OC Juliet Company but you will note that you are constrained by the terrain features. 2 Troop and the ANA are to the N, Coy HQ, your JTAC, FOO and FSG are in the centre with 1 Troop to the south. You will therefore be forced to advance along separate axis for much of the way. Key to maximising your firepower will therefore be a balanced movement to contact so do not let any elements get too far ahead of the others. The attached ANA, while brave, will need close mentoring so ensure that they do not become separated and ensure that they have the best support available when going into contact. Designer’s notes This mission was the largest operation conducted by MOG(N) (J Coy) to date during Operation HERRICK 5. It subsequently became known as ‘the battle of the sluice gates’ or ‘the day of days’. The original intent was for MOG(N) to push on further from Habibollah Kalay to disrupt the TB further up the Gereshk valley but in the event so much ammunition was consumed on this day that J Coy had to return to FOB Price after the action. As you can guess from this description, J Coy stirred up a hornet’s nest in the area and one of the Armoured Support Company Vikings survived 14 RPG hits, such was the intensity. CMSF unit constraints mean that Bulldogs are used in place of Vikings and the B1 bomber (C/S Bone) that was available has been replaced by a pair of F15s. The OMLTs are depicted by the various command elements generated in the unit picking process, these have been identified as such where possible but not all OMLTs are so named. All of the named Blue terrain objectives are ‘Touch’ objectives despite statements in the Mission Brief narrative which suggest they should be ‘Occupy’ objectives (Secure). Also, while the mission brief mentions establishing a cordon, this is not necessary in the scenario as the cordon to be formed would encompass Habibollah Kalay itself which is not on the scenario map. In essence therefore, all you have to do is advance to contact by ticking off all of the terrain objectives while minimising your own casualties to secure a victory. As such therefore, once an objective is touched, you can move on if you desire. This action is described in the book 3 Commando Brigade by Ewen Southby-Tailyour from which this mission was researched.

Just done another play test and found that things are achievable although I need to do something about the surrender threshold. This is will be a pretty tough one to win I think but it is acheivable and I think you'll enjoy it as it has a nice balance of mounted and dismounted action. You will also need to invest about 4 hours of your time (which you will need) to work through it ...

ETA ... not sure yet. The map is done and the Blue and Red unit picks and deployments are all done. I have play tested this about ten times so far just to see whether things are achievable in the time frames allowed and this is where I'm struggling a bit right now. If I can make this work in its current form, it should be ready within the week.

Failed again!! Resubmitted today ... 3rd time lucky hopefully ...

snake eye - the assets available I had to tone down to make it slightly challenging. While I was out there I saw the whole thing through the video downlink and you would not believe the pounding that place took. With operations of this type at that particular point in time, having the assets piled up was one of the many criteria required for the operation to be approved. As for releasing Operation Glacier 1 as a mission - I have now tried uploading twice to the repository and for whatever reason it is not working - will try again today.

Collingwood - glad you enjoyed and one of the reasons you lost out would have been for smashing the HQ complex. The defensive positions and sangars are fair game but not the HQ.

Ok - did'nt seem to upload yesterday - so I've resubmitted this today.

My computer is 3 years old now and it is running it without too many dramas - I've got a 2 Ghz processor with 3 GB RAM.

Ok this is going to be the next mission and it will be an epic .... the map is 2762m by 768m. More details to follow.

Ok if I've got this right it should appear in the repository fairly soon ... with some added shrubbery.

Wouldn't I just - mapmakiing is something I find really satisfying but it is absolutely painful flicking from screen to screen.

Stagler - point taken but with only two shades of green grass in the map editor it is a struggle to replicate the textures exactly. There is a lot of grass on there but I had to map colours as best I could across the Google Earth image to reflect difference using the four available grass types available. In this instance I could not use the grain texture either because with it being January the crops would not be at this height and therefore would create terrain effects that were not present at the time. The map therefore will stay as it is.

Ok, here's a slice of the draft mission brief as a further taster: Situation: Enemy Forces 3 Commando Brigade’s Brigade Reconnaissance Force (BRF) has been operating in the area for a number of weeks collecting intelligence on what is assessed to be a Taliban (TB) HQ node at Koshtay. Reporting indicates that this location is a key staging point for foreign fighters making the journey from Pakistan and provides C2 support to the fighters that are attacking Garmsir District Centre (GMR DC) on a daily basis. Multi-source intelligence collection has identified a Taliban presence in the compounds and buildings immediately to the East of the irrigation canal. All suspect positions are clearly marked on imagery and the tactical briefing graphic. The enemy is assessed to be equipped with small arms only. As the TB currently feel safe in this area, the IED threat is assessed as LOW. Situation: Friendly Forces Helmand Task Force (HTF) remains stretched by its commitments Province-wide and in order to retain some freedom of action, the enemy must be disrupted at every possible opportunity. It is assessed that a successful attack on this identified C2 node will give HTF elements deployed in GMR DC some relief from the current tempo of attacks and the inflow of foreign fighters will be significantly reduced prior to the onset of fighting season. Accordingly, the Brigade Patrols Troop is to conduct a raid on Koshtay. The main assault force is comprised of 3 Commando Brigade’s Patrols Troop complete. The ISTAR group, comprises two sniper pairs, a JTAC (C/S KNIGHT RIDER 56) and an MFC. Due to range and other commitments, your offensive support will be provided entirely by on-call air and aviation assets only. Assets available for the duration of the operation are a pair of Apaches (C/S UGLY) operating out of Bastion and a pair of US F15s (C/S BONE) on station. Situation: Terrain and Weather Key terrain is the sluice gate crossing which is your only means of crossing the irrigation canal. Other terrain of note is the Mosque building to the North of the main objective. The Mosque building is a no-strike target. Otherwise terrain is generally flat and open offering excellent manoeuvre, observation and fields of fire. The North-South running irrigation ditch which is impassable other than via the sluice gate crossing is bordered on its East bank by a number of buildings and compound complexes bounded by 2m high walls. Walled compound roofs offer excellent observation, cover and fields of fire and are suitable for overwatch positions. The main objective has been identified as a TB HQ and is a small walled compound with two single-storey buildings and lies approximately 150m East of the irrigation canal. The two buildings comprising the HQ should not be destroyed as this will likely destroy items of intelligence value. Your Line of Departure (LD) lies approximately 300m to the West of the irrigation canal. It is 0300 in the morning of 11 Jan 07 and therefore temperatures are cold and you are operating under low light conditions which will favour your target acquisition systems while degrading those of the enemy. Mission: Overall Description Mission: ATTACK: Brigade Patrols Troop is to attack the Koshtay C2 node in order to disrupt TB C2. Tasks: 1. Neutralise the enemy occupied compounds on the East bank of the irrigation canal. 2. Conduct a breach of the enemy defences in the vicinity of the sluice gate crossing. 3. Clear the TB HQ compound of insurgents and secure items of intelligence value. 4. Extract from the area and return to the desert leaguer (notional – surrender will be triggered before this happens). Execution: Commander’s Intent My intent is to use my ISTAR group to cue air and aviation strikes on the Koshtay defences prior to conducting a breach of the irrigation canal with my main assault force. With the defences eliminated and the sluice gate crossing secured, I will conduct a rapid dismounted ground assault of the TB HQ complex. With the complex cleared, I will secure any items of intelligence interest and extract rapidly to the desert leaguer. Endstate is the Taliban defeated in the vicinity of Koshtay and the Brigade Patrols Troop secure in the desert leaguer balanced for subsequent operations.

Ok here's a taster ... CMSF map size is 1008m x 1056m The location on Google Earth is: 30 57 05 07N 69 09 14 02E This is what it looks like on Google Earth: This is the same area in CMSF: This is an oblique view in CMSF taken from the south end of the map looking north: Enjoy

Ok folks, the next Afghan mission will be Operation GLACIER 1 which took place in the early hours of 11 Jan 07. This one is a 3 Commando Brigade Brigade Reconnaissance Force (BRF) mission which was a raid on Koshtay in Garmsir District, Helmand Province. I know I probably should have done this one before I did the Operation GLACIER 2 mission but unfortunately that one was a lot further advanced than this one in terms of development. More to follow over the next few days.

LLF - thanks for the explanation I can see why it isn't working now as all of the red units I'm looking to identify are lurking in buildings. I'll have to take the second route to achieve the effect I need in the mission brief.

Does this actually do anything? Reason I ask is that I'm knocking a mission together in which red resolutely refuses to reveal itself through blue moves so I thought that I would be able to give some indication of red positions at startup by adjusting these settings. So far I have had no luck. If anybody could show some light on how this works I would be grateful. Basically I'm after giving the blue player 50% visibility of red positions at mission start so if someone has made this work if you could tell me what to punch in for these two fields to get it to behave like this then I would be grateful. Needless to say uninformed smart Alec comments are not required here as I have tried '50%' and both 'blue' and 'red' as solutions to this problem. Thanks

FWIW I was with 3 Commando Brigade during this tour so I know a fair amount about what went on over this period. I have at least three more missions in the pipeline which attempt to depict events in Helmand at this time. Chances are that you will see these before the TELIC campaign hits the streets as the latter involves a hell of a lot more work than I bargained for although I am progressing steadily with it.

jspec, Glad you enjoyed it. The mission is deliberately loaded victory point wise to make it pretty hard to win. The design choice here was to reflect reality as much as possible given that the operation itself was what could be best described as 'a draw'. This mission is one that I actually put together about a year ago and I have tinkered and tinkered with it on and off since then. It is possible to win or draw but on my last two play tests I suffered minor defeats as you did. By the sounds of it you played it pretty much as I play it in that you smashed civilian buildings containing enemy forces once identified. It should be possible to win taking this approach and is in accordance with the ROE stated in the mission brief. SPOILER ALERT: The balance with this one is to keep your casualties right down while getting to the 'Taliban HQ' (a touch objective) and not destroying the buildings comprising that objective. The fact that you got hammered by RPGs is also deliberate as in reality that is exactly what happened to IX Group on the day, they pretty much assaulted into what was an extremely well set up killing zone and once they realised this decided that discretion was the better part of valour. The trick here is to remember that you have plenty of time (2 hours) and use your CVR(T)s to 'jockey' and draw RPG fire. Once drawn you will have identified the RPG firing points and can justifiably hammer them with your offensive support (indirect and air/aviation) or alternately pour fire on them using your CVR(T)s with 'Target Light' orders and your Bulldogs to reduce the points you lose for civilian infrastructure damage. Hopefully you can do this with losing any of them in the process (it is possible). If you can do all of this you should be able to reach a draw (historical result) or a minor British victory.

It seems I did get it vaguely right - the mission is up. Some things I forgot to mention when I uploaded to the repository - this mission is a Blue versus Red AI and requires CMSF plus the British Module and patched to version 1.32

Hope you enjoy it - I forgot to mention in the Repository that it requires CMSF patched to version 1.32 and the British Forces module. It is a Blue versus Red AI mission.

Ok - if I've done this right, the mission should be up in the repository fairly soon.

Ok folks - here's some pictures ... Google Earth Overhead: CMSF Overhead: CMSF Oblique taken from the southern end (blue setup) of the map: As the mission starts at 0345 your initial view will be a lot darker than this!! Enjoy.

For those that don't know too much about the actual events depicted in this mission check out these links: Not something I can replicate in the mission editor I hasten to add ...

Ok folks, I've been working on some other stuff. This work in progress is a standalone mission which took place at Jugroom Fort, Garmsir District, Helmand Province on 15 Jan 2007. For those that want to know where this is punch in the following geo coords into Google Earth: 31 04 02 11N 64 10 06 91E The following is the draft briefing for the mission: Situation: Enemy Forces 3 Commando Brigade’s Brigade Reconnaissance Force (BRF) has been operating in the area for a number of weeks collecting intelligence on what is assessed to be a Taliban (TB) HQ and Combat Service Support (CSS) node at Jugroom Fort. Reporting indicates that this location is a key staging point for foreign fighters making the journey from Pakistan and provides C2 and logistics support to the fighters that are attacking Garmsir District Centre (GMR DC) on a daily basis. BRF recces have been able to confirm the presence of at least a platoon’s worth of Taliban routinely occupying the fort. Sentry positions in the Fort’s sangars are manned on a 24 hour basis. The enemy is assessed to be equipped with weapons ranging from SPG-9 recoilless rifles and DShK HMG down to normal small arms and RPGs. Due to the assessed importance of this location to the TB, it is likely to be reinforced very quickly, probably from the North in at least platoon strength. As the TB currently feel safe in this area, the IED threat is assessed as LOW. Situation: Friendly Forces Helmand Task Force (HTF) remains stretched by its commitments Province-wide and in order to retain some freedom of action, the enemy must be disrupted at every possible opportunity. It is assessed that a successful attack on this identified C2 and logistics node will give HTF elements deployed in GMR DC some relief from the current tempo of attacks and the inflow of foreign fighters will be significantly reduced prior to the onset of fighting season. Accordingly, Information Exploitation (IX) Group is to conduct a raid on Jugroom Fort. The main assault force is comprised of Zulu Company, 45 Commando RM, with its 1 and 5 troops mounted in Armoured Support Troop AFVs which will arrive at the Line of Departure (LD) in 15 minutes (0400 hrs). 4 Troop is dismounted and will arrive in 30 minutes (0415 hrs) and is your designated reserve. A troop of Scimitars from C Squadron the Light Dragoons is also task-organised with the assault group. Your ISTAR group, comprising two sniper pairs, a JTAC (C/S WIDOW 71) and a FOO party from 29 (Commando) Regiment Royal Artillery are at the LD now. Offensive support comes in the form of a battery of 105mm Light Guns from 29 Cdo Regt RA, Z Coy’s grouped mortars and a pair of Harrier GR7’s from Kandahar (C/S RECOIL 45). Two Apache pairs will conduct reliefs in place with the Harriers (C/Ss UGLY 50 and UGLY 52) ensuring that you have on call air at all times. Situation: Terrain and Weather Key terrain is Fort Jugroom which is a complex of buildings surrounded by a 2m high perimeter wall with sangars. There is a number of compounds in the immediate vicinity of Fort Jugroom which are a mix of single and double-storey buildings bounded by a mix of 3m and 6m high walls. These are likely to be inhabited by civilians and therefore should be targeted only if you positively ID them as firing points. All buildings and compounds provide cover and concealment to both enemy and friendly forces. The remainder of the ground to the North and East is agricultural, interspersed with a number of small irrigation ditches and trees. The fort and compound complexes lie to the East of a North-South oriented irrigation canal which flows into the Helmand Rud (Helmand River). The canal is severely restricted for manoeuvre while the Helmand Rud is assessed as good for manoeuvre however it should be crossed at low speed by armoured vehicles to reduce the risk of bogging in. The irrigation ditch is traversable by dismounts and vehicles via a narrow East-West oriented bridge opposite the Fort. To the North of the Helmand Rud and West of the Irrigation Canal the ground is primarily open agricultural land with a small number of small irrigation ditches and buildings which offer cover and concealment to both enemy and friendly forces. The status of these buildings is unknown and therefore it must be assumed that they are civilian occupied. The LD is to the South of the Helmand Rud and provides good observation and fields of fire onto the objective and its surroundings as well as providing concealment for forces forming up for the attack. It is 0345 in the morning of 15 Jan 07 and therefore temperatures are cool and you are operating under low light conditions which will favour your target acquisition systems while degrading those of the enemy. Mission: Overall Description Mission: ATTACK: Z Company Group is to attack the Fort Jugroom complex in order to disrupt TB C2 and logistics throughout Helmand Province. Tasks: 1. Destroy the defences of Fort Jugroom (marked as objectives). 2. Clear Fort Jugroom complex of insurgents and secure items of intelligence value. 3. Extract from the area and return to the desert leaguer (notional – surrender will be triggered before this happens). Execution: Commander’s Intent My intent is to use my ISTAR group to cue air and artillery strikes on the Fort Jugroom defences prior to H-Hour (0400). With the defences eliminated, I will conduct a rapid ground assault using overwhelming firepower to clear the enemy from the complex. With the complex cleared, I will secure any items of intelligence interest and extract rapidly to the desert leaguer. Endstate is the Taliban defeated in the vicinity of Fort Jugroom and Z Coy group secure in the desert leaguer balanced for subsequent operations. Execution: Basic Plan Your choice OC Z Coy but I suggest that you make full use of your offensive support to strike your allocated targets and any positively identified firing positions. ROE preclude the use of indiscriminate strikes on civilian infrastructure so ensure that your use of firepower is targeted. You should conduct your main assault with 1 and 5 Troops soon after their arrival while retaining 4 Troop as your reserve and therefore I would wait to see how the situation develops before committing 4 Troop. Your ISTAR group is well positioned on the LD and I would suggest leaving it in place because it provides excellent overwatch across all arcs. Refer to the tactical map for a suggested scheme of manoeuvre.