Combatintman

I can imagine the Google Image searches going on now ... 'Dragon's Teeth Normandy' 'Anti-Tank Defences Normandy' 'Atlantic Wall Normandy' 'D Day Beach Defences' Followed by the inevitable picture posted on here.

If the designer has held on to the individual maps/scenarios as separate saves and is willing to post them as individual files it shouldn't be too much work but my guess is that you would have to PM them and ask.

I'm guessing but it could be 'Rotation'. Bloody good article to boot - very interesting to see how the Canadians employ their armour in Afghan - the tanks turned up just as I was leaving and were part of our reserve in Helmand during Op SILVER in Apr 07.

Well in real life the Atk Pl HQ (and similar elements) commands the platoon in peacetime which covers a whole range of activities outside of the scope of the game - welfare, pay, promotions, courses, discipline etc. During planning (again outside the scope of the game) the OC of the Atk Pl will provide specialist advice to the BG Commander and the BG HQ as to how best to employ the BG assets. The 'anomaly' you mention about the HQ commanding only a few blokes is down to how the task-organisation is handled. In reality the atk (and others) platoon is task-organised across the BG and this is how it has been implemented in CMSF in that each coy has a Javelin section. The sum of the parts (namely all of the sections in the rifle coy pick) equate to the atk pl in peacetime.

As above - smoke is your friend here.

lomir - it should be mechanised in English but where I work is right opposite 4 Mech Bde and we had two of their units in last week. The sign outside their HQ reads 'Headquarters 4 Mechanized Brigade' and all of their websites use the 'z' spelling rather than the correct 's' spelling.

lomir - no sweat - I didn't change that much, it was just the final narrative that I thought I could tighten up without changing the sense of what you were trying to get across. Anyway - I win too because it means you can spend more time on those superb maps of yours and the Campaign gets released earlier. One thing you might change in your briefing is to give the motorway/highway junctions that you mention names. This would tighten it up a lot and also means you can add them as landmarks in the mission editor. So for instance the bit where we say: 'Secondary objectives are to secure the M4 motorway (Route ACHERON) ring road approach and the Highway 6 (Route TARTARUS) access next to the Tall Kushik railway station'. If we call the ring road Obj OVAL for instance and the access Obj TRAFFORD it makes the whole thing a lot more concise as it would then read: 'Secondary objectives are to secure Obj OVAL and Obj TRAFFORD'. Similarly in the final paragraph we currently have: 'H-Hour for C Sqn RDG is 0615, their main task is to eliminate remaining dug-in armour and areas of heavy resistance. Anzio and Burma Coys, 1 LANCS will launch at 0630hrs and they are to secure the M4 and Highway 6 objectives respectively as well as deal with the insurgents centred on the Tall Kushik mosque'. Which would now read: 'H-Hour for C Sqn RDG is 0615, their main task is to eliminate remaining dug-in armour and areas of heavy resistance. Anzio and Burma Coys, 1 LANCS will launch at 0630hrs and they are to secure Objs OVAL and TRAFFORD respectively as well as deal with the insurgents centred on the Tall Kushik mosque'. It also has the benefit of being more realistic as reference is usually made to named objectives in real orders paperwork rather than trying to describe them.

lomir, Try this: Hell for Leather Enemy Forces In order to delay the incoming invasion, the Syrian Army has called up a Militia battalion to garrison the Tall Kushik Border Crossing. The Militia is mostly hidden in the urban area to avoid targeting by Coalition airpower flying from Incirlik and Diyarbakir in Turkey. These forces are expected to attrite our invading forces so that other Syrian forces may then counterattack to push us back into Iraq. Other Syrian forces in the area consist of static tank batteries and a battalion of decent quality Border Troops dug in along the berm in a wide defensive line, as well as at some posts defending the border crossing, the ring road approach to the Syrian M4 motorway (designated Route ACHERON) and the access to highway 6 (designated Route TARTARUS). We expect to find just a reinforced company of them with obsolete BTR-60 APCs in the Tall Kushik AO. The Militia have also recently been equipped with limited quantities of older-generation ATGMs, but it is unlikely that they will put up as strong a resistance as the better trained and equipped Border Guard elements. The Border Guard have some heavy mortars and artillery support (18 D-30 122mm towed howitzers and 6 Type 63 107mm multiple-launch rocket systems), but given the dispersed deployment of these units along the border they are likely to be of little more than nuisance value. These assets have been registered as counter-battery and air targets and should therefore be dealt with early on. IMINT has so far failed to identify T-62s assessed to be organic to the Border Guard elements and it is possible that they may be hidden somewhere. Minefields have shown up on imagery taken after recent rainfalls and these have been laid either side of berms to create tactical barriers in order to deter any direct attack and to act as area-denial weapons against our incoming invasion. Intelligence has identified a group of around 50 Kurdish Sunni Islamist mujahideen and other foreign Arab fighters assisting the Syrian militiamen and local insurgents of Tall Kushik. That group probably is the most dangerous enemy we'll have to face, since most of their members are hardened veterans from the Chechen, Iraqi or Afghan wars. The local insurgency in the Area of Operations comprises approximately 100-150 men, mainly poorly armed civilians. They all seem to be operating from the vicinity of the main mosque of Tall Kushik. Friendly Forces All along the Syrian-Iraqi border, recce and SF elements have been active beyond the FEBA identifying current enemy dispositions. Your invading force is based on 4 Mechanised Brigade (The Black Rats) with air and artillery support. 4 Mech Bde has been task-organised into the following battalion-sized Battlegroups: The 1 LANCS BG, based around the 1st Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border) (1 LANCS) including elements of the Royal Dragoon Guards (RDG) will lead the main attack on the Tall Kushik Border Crossing with their Challenger 2 MBTs and FV432 Bulldog APCs. Two companies of 1st Battalion the Scots Guards (1 SG) with elements of the Queen's Royal Lancers (QRL), with their Warrior IFVs and Scimitar Recce Vehicles, will act as a mobile force countering any enemy flanking attacks on 1 LANCS BG, while two squadrons of the RDG with their organic Recce elements will create diversionary attacks north and south of the main attack axis. 1 MERCIAN, with the remaining forces of 4 Mech Bde will form the Bde Reserve ready to exploit the gap created by 1 LANCS BG IVO Tall Kushik. You have priority for artillery support for the area from 3/29 (Corunna) Bty of 4 Regt RA once counter-battery tasks are complete. 1 LANCS BG in detail consists of: 1 LANCS Headquarters (2 x Bulldog APC; 1 x Sultan APC). Anzio Mech Rifle Coy, 1 LANCS (23 x Bulldog APC; 2 x Spartan APC). Burma Mech Rifle Coy, 1 LANCS (23 x Bulldog APC; 2 x Spartan APC). C Armd Sqn, RDG (14 x Challenger 2 MBT). Somme Manoeuvre Support Coy (-), 1 LANCS (12 x Bulldog APC; 1 x Spartan APC). 2 Fd/1 AES, 21 Engr Regt (4 x Bulldog APC; 2 x Spartan APC). 2 x Sabre Tp, A Lancer Squadron, QRL (8 x Scimitar Recce Veh). 3/29 (Corunna) Bty, 4 Regt RA (6 x AS90 155mm Howitzer). 1 x FOO Party, 3/29 Bty TAC Gp (1 x Warrior Artillery Observation Vehicle). 619 TACP (1 x Warrior OPV). Additional direct support will be provided by some elements from the Special Forces Support Group (SFSG) and 4 Apache AH Mk1s from the 656 Squadron AAC with Hellfire missiles and 2.75'' rockets. Terrain and Weather The terrain in the area of operations is relatively flat, with dry-farmed crop lands in the outskirts of Tall Kushik. The Iraqi side of Tall Kushik Border Crossing is mainly made of former Iraqi Army barracks and an Iraqi Department of Border Enforcement Station, both are currently controlled by the Kurdish Peshmerga forces of the Kurdistan Regional Government. Light winds out of the Northwest, with clear skies. There is an almost full moon tonight. It is now 0030hrs local time, 20 June. Recce teams will start moving in about two hours, and the main force attack is scheduled to begin at 0600hrs. Mission Your mission is to defeat enemy forces in the area. Secondary objectives are to secure the M4 motorway (Route ACHERON) ring road approach and the Highway 6 (Route TARTARUS) access next to the Tall Kushik railway station. Commander's Intent We will conduct an all-force assault at dawn in the area west of the border berm and wall, with the defeat of enemy units as the priority. 1 LANCS BG will attack on a narrow frontage across the Syrian border at Tall Kushik to achieve a breakthrough. We'll slice through the enemy defensive line and rapidly exploit the gap created. As the enemy units defending Tall Kushik break, the combination of this reverse and our attacks on the Border Guard units north and south are likely to cause a wholesale collapse of the enemy defence. As this occurs, I will launch the Bde Reserve to exploit the gap created both widening and deepening the breakthrough created by the initial attack. Key to this will be capturing Tall Kushik with minimal losses by the use of maximum firepower. Most of the civilians have fled the AO in anticipation of the Coalition invasion thus reducing potential ROE constraints. Basic Plan Special Forces Support Group (SFSG) elements are to stealthily infiltrate the border at 0500 to occupy an OP matrix to facilitate the coordination of air strikes. Targeting priorities are HQ elements, fixed positions and opportunity targets. At 0545hrs, the 4 Regt RA counter-battery fire plan will start with the initial crossing operation commencing at 0600hrs led by QRL acting as a screen for Somme Coy, 1 LANCS and 21 Engr Regt elements, their task will be to identify and clear lanes through enemy minefields at points where they are not covered by fire. Four Apache AH Mk1s from 656 Sqn AAC will be on call from 0600 with 3/29 (Corunna) Bty available shortly afterwards. H-Hour for C Sqn RDG is 0615, their main task is to eliminate remaining dug-in armour and areas of heavy resistance. Anzio and Burma Coys, 1 LANCS will launch at 0630hrs and they are to secure the M4 and Highway 6 objectives respectively as well as deal with the insurgents centred on the Tall Kushik mosque. Good luck. Military Terms Glossary AAC = Army Air Corps AES = Armoured Engineer Squadron AO = Area of Operation APC = Armoured Personnel Carrier Armd = Armoured ATGM = Anti-Tank Guided Missile Bde = Brigade BG = Battle Group Bty = Battery Coy = Company Engr = Engineer Fd = Field FEBA = Front Edge of Battlefield Area FOO = Forward Observation Officer Gp = Group HQ = Headquarters IFV = Infantry Fighting Vehicle Inf = Infantry IVO = In Vicinity Of Mech = Mechanised MBT = Main Battle Tank OP = Observation Post OPV = Observation Post Vehicle RA = Royal Artillery RAF = Royal Air Force Recce = Reconnaissance Regt = Regiment ROE = Rules Of Engagement Sqn = Squadron Tac = Tactical TACP = Tactical Air Control Party Tp = Troop

Another thing - I'm pretty sure QRL are the Formation Recce Regiment for 4 Mech Bde now so you can take out the reference to QRL being 'borrowed' from 19 Lt Bde.

I haven't really tinkered with this in the latest build but I remember a friendly fire incident when playing the 2nd (I think) mission in the TF Thunder campaign. I used AH-64 to whack an area target drawn around two buildings to provide cover for a Bradley Platoon to cover half of the open ground and then dismount their troops. There was a fair degree of separation between the targeted area and my plotted moves for the Bradleys. Inevitably one of the Bradleys got whacked by AH cannon fire. There have been a few threads about this and I do think it is something that needs more fine tuning. The more flippant point is that I am not surprised the RAF missed - a 3 PARA Officer on Op HERRICK 4 famously described the RAF in an e-mail as 'Utterly, utterly useless'.

lomir - with the artillery you would normally expect a BG to be supported (the correct term would be General Support Reinforcing) by a battery. So if you stick with 3/29 Bty as an example, the Tactical Group (TAC Gp) would come from 3/29 Bty. The spelling of Arrakan I'm guessing at - because it is an honorific title I would be surprised if the spelling had change to the new 'in vogue' spelling so my guess would be 'Arrakan'. As to the NSW embarked on HMS Ark Royal supporting the RM .... yeeesss it could happen but that isn't really the way that air power works these days. Most things that fly, regardless of which service or country for that matter owns them, will ultimately come under a JFACC (Joint Force Air Component Command). The JFACC then allocates the sorties. This is one of the reasons the US Marines got a bit irritated in Gulf War 1 I think because they wanted to hang on to all USMC aircraft and Shwarzkopf said 'Ain't going to happen - they come under the JFACC'. The other thing about the air piece is we have a whacking great air base on Cyprus called RAF Akrotiri so this would give you flexibility to use other aircraft operating out of there. They would take off - top up their tanks over the Mediterranean fly the mission and could return to Akrotiri (possibly requiring a top up to get them back). With regard to the QRL squadron names - according to the Catterick Garrison Army Telephone book they are named as I described. As to the structure you just need to stick with A, B and C Sqns with A and B being Sabre Sqns as per the CMSF TO&E.

On to the glossary: 'AB' for 'Air Base' is not really a term we would use and I'm not sure you need it for the purposes of the narrative. If we are referring to a place that the AAC is operating out of then 'FOB' would be more accurate (Forward Operating Base). 'BDE' would appear as 'Bde' 'ENGR' would appear as 'Engr' You have HMS in there for Her Majesty's Ship - I did the Brit TO&E for the module and I can assure you there are no ships in any of the builds! 'MR' for 'Main Route' - not used. It would be Route followed by a codename e.g., Route DIAMOND. The abbreviation would be 'Rte DIAMOND'. Another variant would be (if it is such) 'MSR' for 'Main Supply Route'. Similar conventions apply e.g., MSR DIAMOND. The British abbreviation for Regiment is 'Regt' and not 'RGT' 'RN' - see my comments about 'HMS' - do we really need it? The term 'RV' is used for Rendezvous and not Reconnaissance Vehicle - the correct term would be Recce Veh.

A couple of things about British units. 1 LANCS - Rifle Companies are called: Anzio Company Burma Company Corunna Company Manoeuvre Support Company for 1 LANCS is Somme Company 1 SG is a Warrior equipped Armoured Infantry Battalion and therefore it should have the Mech Inf APP-6A symbol with a 'W' in the bottom centre of the symbol on your image. Scots Guards companies are named: Right Flank Coy B (Support) Coy Left Flank Coy C Coy QRL Sqns are: A Sqn B Sqn C Sqn D Sqn 21 Engineer Regiment: The Field Troop in 1 Armoured Engineer Squadron is 2 (Fd) Tp. With the gunners (4 Regt RA) - the RHQ battery doesn't have guns so take them out and just stick with 3/29 (Corunna) Bty. If you decide you absolutely must have two gun btys then the other btys in 4 Regt are 88 (Arrakan) Bty and 97 Bty (Lawson's Company). Looking at the composition of the RDG BG, it is infantry-heavy and comprised mostly of 1 LANCS - the obvious question is 'why not call it '1 LANCS BG'?' As a general note you don't need to go into all of the honorific titles so we can just refer to: RDG BG 1 MERCIAN BG 4 Regt RA 3/29 Bty 2 Fd/1 AES Hope this is useful.

Procedure is the same for Brit aircraft and JTACs as well. Currently this is handled by the spoken dialogue which right now is generic. I wonder if it would be possible to create specific dialogue for each type of loadout and handle it that way.

I suspect this is a nugatory response but Zippoflames was looking for advice on how to stop the Syrians surrendering early. As many will testify it is difficult to work this out straight off - it requires a lot of testing to get things right. The only way that I know is what was posted by others - have a huge bank of reserves that never rock up. So I think we're squared away now ... thanks for asking though.

You've caught up in time to hone your skills prior to the arrival of the NATO Module which features the KNLA and I'm sure will be of great interest. As to the feature you mention - variations on this theme have done the rounds with the most common being to request a flashing text in a distinctive colour showing which units are in contact. Is it going to happen? I'm not sure.

The 'cornering' problem has been raised before - it currently isn't possible to do it due to the way that the action zones work as I understand it. In terms of will you be able to do it in the future as the result of the patch I think the answer will be 'probably not'. To achieve a similar effect and minimise casualties I think the likely solution is the 'Split Squad' command in the admin menu but I'm sure there'll be plenty of people who are urban combat ninjas (I'm definitely not one of those) who can offer better solutions.

Err ... and Vietnam wasn't assymetrical? B-52s vs AK-47 armed bloke in black pyjamas is about as assymetrical as it gets. The reasons for not doing Vietnam have pretty much been stated - the main one being BFC have said that they ain't going to do it. The other main one is that the game as it is has difficulty doing jungle and the inability to simulate a helo insert is a bit of a showstopper.

In reality all Bulldogs should have a 2-man crew - Commander and Driver.

Also have you unzipped the scenarios into the right place in your CMSF directory they need to go into your 'Game Files/Scenarios' directory.

See my post on the original thread - I reckon it is Qaldun. On the Russian military map it is labelled: кальдун I'm no Russian speaker but having hunted around a couple of Russian alphabet sites I reckon it comes out as Qaldun - I punched that into a gazeteer and the lat longs were close enough to those originally supplied.

I reckon its Qaldun - I got there by a convoluted route (Russian Topo Map overlay + translation site plus gazeteer) - I may be wrong but here's the linky: http://www.tageo.com/index-e-sy-v-08-d-m3503939.htm

Don't worry about it - it is an oft-used means of zipping files up and transferring them - the program is safe to use but if you are worried then just sweep the file. I've never had any problems with it.

Amen to that - apologies for any offence caused - it was not intentional.

There is of course cavalry panache - if someone can knock up a white tablecloth and mess silver mod it will improve performance beyond belief.