BlackMoria

Special Forces have used pack animals and horses in Afghanistan, particularly in the mountainous regions. Probably not well known because it would give PETA fits...

Some constructive comments: For the size of the Blue forces, the map is too small. For the victory conditions defined, Blue can't lose, Red hasn't a chance - because: 1. Blue has nearly a 2-1 ratio over Red 2. Scenario is night where Blue's night vision capability gives them a quantitative edge over Red for spotting. 3. Blue has both a over generous amount of Fixed Wing and Attack Helicopters I just used a dismounted platoon and the three Bradleys and left the rest at the start position. Using the mortars and air assets, I was on the two hill objectives in under 10 minutes and took the village centre in under 30 minutes with minimal casualties for Blue. Suggestions for improvement: Enlarge the map or reduce the Blue Forces. As I stated, I won with just a dismounted platoon and the three Bradleys. If you want to keep dismounted company as the core concept of the scenario, you need a larger map. The map, while well designed, is just too small for a company+ force to maneuver on. Reduce or eliminate the air assets. Or change the victory conditions to have 'preserve' objectives so Blue has to be mindful of where he puts his airstrikes. In my playthrough, I very nearly leveled the village with my airpower and waltzed into the village center to claim the centre objective. Make it a day mission instead of night. That would change the scenario dynamic right there. As it was, after my vehicles encountered the right hand trench defenders and made short work of them, the vehicles followed by the dismounted platoon moved up the right side of the map to the right hand hill objective with very little resistance because the defenders couldn't see them. Not a single RPG was fired at the three vehicles in plain sight, not a single shot was fired from the village at the dismounted platoon advancing in open terrain up the right side of the map. The right hand hill objective was mine within 5 minutes of scenario start. Hopefully, I have not been over critical. It wasn't a terrible scenario by any means but I found it cake walk for blue and for me, it didn't present any challenge, even with leaving most of the blue force in the setup area.

As Hitler found out. Hitler came into power and was tremendously popular. But once the war dragged on that changed, so much so that there were over 10 assassination attempts on Hitler by German nationals or his own military. A lesson from history that seems lost on Putin but once the russian people really start to feel the pinch, Putin may find his position in territory very much not to his liking.

A few questions about artillery. Artillery can 'record' a target after firing it and then re-engage that target again with greatly reduced response time. Will this be reflected in the game? Artillery can fire 'fire plans', coordinating a series of targets over a short time frame, usually set to a particular times/timings. Will this be in the game? ICM and DPICM ammunition have been out for a while. I know precision strikes are in the game but these are advanced lethality artillery rounds capable of covering a larger area with submunitions and capable of affecting both soft and harden targets. Will there be ICM/DPICM in the game? Will the US forces get SADARM munitions (the M898 projectile) for the 155mm gun systems?

Counter Battery decisions are based at brigade level or higher. Shock Force puts you in the role principally of a company commander and for larger scenarios, a battlegroup /taskforce commander. Therefore, Counter Battery decisions are beyond the scope of the role the player is put in. It would be a nice feature to have but I am not bummed out about not having it. I will just assume that the artillery that red has in a scenario is the stuff not being subject to counter battery fire and count my blessings that that the amount of artillery raining down on me could have been far worse.

3 Terabyte drives average about a $100 US dollars now. It isn't hard to image your current drive to a new high capacity drive and then setup the new drive and retire the old drive or repurpose it.

QFT. The concept of democracy is totally lost on people and cultures that have operated with a tribal mentality ongoing for thousands of years. They simply don't get what it is, what it means, and the responsibilities as citizens under it. In short, it is a largely meaningless word. Most think incorrectly that it voting for your leader(s), which it is not. Saddam thought that Iraqis voting for him as the only person on the ticket would show the world that he was 'democratic' because people had a vote. To most people unfamiliar with democracy, having a vote = democracy, which is is not. Someday democracy may start to grow in places in the world like the middle east but it isn't going to happen in a few short years due the power of the status quo of centuries of tribal politics. Even democracies in the West took decades if not centuries to grow to what is today. But more importantly, it has no value. To the average Iraqi/Afghai, it is a word that they don't understand or totally misunderstand. As such, it has no value to the average person in such countries because the culture has never been one that encourages free thinkers. Self empowerment and other liberal values associated with democracy just don't flourish in a culture of tribalism where safety is toeing the status quo and ignorance is a virtue because it is safe. Until such time as democracy ideals are understood and more importantly, are consider to have 'value' over the current system, democracy isn't going to happen anytime soon.

As Combatintman indicated above and in the scenario brief, the ANA platoon with their mentor forces are meant to go out. I took the ANA forces out and actually used them to engage enemy forces on route and they actually seized one of the objective compounds. I would estimate the ANA/Mentor platoon accounted for between a quarter and a third of the enemy force losses in my game, so go ahead and use them to do yeoman duty for the operation.

Here is my impressions of Into The Green. This isn't an AAR per se, as I don't want to spoiler it for those considering on playing it. The map is a large area, relatively flat, with intermittent vegetation and numerous compounds. Your task is to patrol out and check on three of those compounds where reported hostiles have been sighted. The map is large and generous, allowing numerous approaches to the three objectives and therefore, lots of options for fire and maneuver for your forces. This is an infantry action mainly though you have a few vehicles. It is a patrol scenario - basically go out, see if you can find the bad guys and eliminate them if possible. It is a very nice scenario. From the tactical map in the briefing, you know where some enemy positions may be but for the most part, the enemy locations, intentions and strength is largely unknown. Pay attention to the mission brief as it is important for giving you a picture of what to expect. An enjoyable scenario with periods of waiting anticipation as your forces carefully pick their away across the map, never knowing if your going to step on an IED or get hit in an ambush, punctuated by periods of short brutal close range engagements when the enemy does show himself. The scenario has two AI plans but I only experienced one. Personally, I found the scenario easy to accomplish in the time frame and with careful maneuver and units supporting each other with fire support. This is a scenario where 'breach entries' with engineer charges pays dividends. I went out with the two maneuver elements in the briefing ( you are told to leave the other two elements to secure the two friendly compounds) and examined the three suspect compounds and actually managed to get all my forces back into the friendly perimeters in the 2.5 hour time frame with no casualties. A very good scenario about conducting patrol operations against insurgent forces. I enjoyed it and I hope you do to. For Combatintman - I had to cease fire after the time ran out. I met all conditions and got a total victory but didn't force a surrender. Perhaps I didn't kill enough bad guys? I got full points for not causing any collateral damage, so I don't think that was an issue. Just letting you know.

I have seen walls crumbled by air burst artillery, if enough is fired at the area, but I don't recall if it is caliber dependent. General artillery works better, regardless of the caliber.

Well, if that isn't the pot calling the kettle black. He complains about Poland supplying weapons to Ukraine. Interesting to ignore the fact that the very equipment the separatists are armed with comes from Russia. Because all that high grade armor and air defence systems suddenly running around the Donetsk area was bought with Donetsk republic credit cards at the local Donetsk hardware store. Or so the separatists would have us believe. Riiiigghhtt.

I'll your huckleberry. I have all modules. Email to delshand at hotmail dot com

The video footage makes me cringe. Why? Because it is yahoos playing at war. Poor movement and halt discipline. Taking halts in the middle of streets or in plain sight. Poor situational awareness - with the exception of 1 or 2 soldiers, everyone else is not looking around - no heads on a swivel. The footage of the UA position being shelled - what they hell did they expect. That is the worst dug in position. They are on the edge of a treeline but put the trenches forward of the trees in open ground. Then they are dug like gopher holes with no attempt to hide the dug out earth, gear sitting outside the trench, not camoflaged. It looks like a defensive dug position as opposed to a hasty (the camera is in overhead cover but there is no sandbags, no revetment material, no proper staking and I suspect the overhead cover most likely is not sufficient for proper protection. There was a earlier video showing the aftermath of Ukrainian soldiers being ambushed when the tour bus they were riding in got lost and hit a pro russian checkpoint. Nothing is more disturbing than seeing bodies in seats and isles and the bodies just outside the bus when they tried to escape. Who made the command decision to send soldiers into a hot zone in a bus. A god-damn BUS! It was not clear if the pro-russian forces picked up the weapons off the dead already but it wouldn't surprise me if the gear and ammo was in the under the bus storage compartments. Video after video shows just how poorly trained the UA is and the most of the pro-russian forces seem to be civilians thrown in uniform with just enough training to make them dangerous. Which makes this conflict all the more tragic.

Cynic Bring it on, I'm game.

I thought the Bradley was a god of war for IFVs, until I used the CV90s in the NATO module (Dutch forces). Man, that thing is a beast against other IFVs.

You may be moving or left your mouse pointer near the opposite edge of the screen from the direction you are using your keys to move the screen. You can see what I mean. Move one direction with the keys and while doing so, move your mouse pointer to the opposite edge of the screen from the direction of movement. You will notice that the screen movement will get choppy and start to stutter and then outright stall when the mouse pointer reaches the screen edge. It may be that moving the mouse pointer while scrolling the screen may be the problem you are having.

I would not recommend that tactic for this game. Even the lowly RPG can wreck your day unless you behind ERA armor and even at that, RPG hits will degrade systems on your vehicle. This 'era of technology' will quickly teach you to respect and avoid ATGMs, particularly later generation ATGMs. Being 'one shotted' by a ATGM is common in this game. Welcome to the community and enjoy this great game. You can add me to the list of people if you want a PBEM game.

Been out of town for the last several weeks but finally, back to the Twilight 2000 campaign. I will try to minimize spoilers. Controlled Burn - Very fun scenario. Riff raff militia defenders with very limited anti armor capability. You got a tank. As in one but it is all you need. Basically, hit 'em hard in coordination with the tank and any other surviving vehicles you have and watch 'em fold like a poker player with a Oklahoma straight. No Place Like Home - the capstone mission of the campaign. Hitting the heart of the 4th ID warlord's defence. Very nice, large map with plenty of choices of approach into the defended locality. Defenders are renegade elements of the 4th ID so they are competent and well armed so watch your approaches and ensure you use coordination with fire and maneuver. Note your mission objectives and stay focused on those and you should prevail. A very enjoyable campaign that stays true to the grim and gritty legacy of Twilight 2000. Very different fare from most campaigns due to limited ammo resupply and no casualty replacements and limited reinforcements. Fighting your small unit through 10 scenarios to victory is an achievement given the limitations of ammo and no casualty replacements. You will get attached to the dogged but spirited men of B Troop and will feel every loss. Fortunately for me, I managed to fight to Total Victory without taking one casualty though nearly 80% of B Troop was walking wounded by campaign end. But victory is victory and sweet. One despot tyrant with delusions of being the sole power in the area put down, as well as his cronies. Hooah!

Continuing on. Again, I will try to minimize spoilers. Scenario 4 - Stuckey's Massacre Nice balance scenario with a variety of terrain to make interesting options for approaches. As before, your troop quality against the mobs will stand you in good stead but don't get too cocky and beware the enemy snipers. This scenario changed my outlook about snipers. Most of the time play CMSF, when I got sniper teams, I tended to overlook their talents because, well - they were a little underwhelming. The sniper reinforcements you get during this scenario gave me a new appreciation of the talents of snipers. During the battle, they were making some long range shots that I had to do a double take. All I can say is these boys can kick ass, making some impressive shots nearly the full length of the map (it is not large map but neither is it a postage stamp). At the scenario end, I found a number of emplacements that I did not engage with my primary troops to have anywhere from 50% to 90% casualties due to the sniper teams. All I can say is I got to get me some more of that mojo. Scenario 5 - Pox on Paxico The title of this scenario sums up my feelings. Uggh. Damn urban sprawl and you got to fight through it to get to the primary objective. And a short time limit. @#$%! I was delighted that the sniper teams stayed on and I gotta say, I appreciated their company on this one. In many cases, the sniper teams was probably the only way I was able to force myself down one flank and into the rear objective in the time I did. You will have to keep moving on this one as the clock will put pressure on you. Don't give it to the temptation to rush though - the enemy may not be as good in quality as your forces but stumbling into a kill zone will result in casualties you can ill afford. Despite my worries about the time, I prevailed within the time allotted. MOUT combat is like getting root canal work done but that is just a personal opinion but I will say that this scenario is well done despite my opinion about the subject matter. A well done and well balanced scenario. Most people like myself would probably like to have more time but I got the job done with between 5 to 10 minutes left on the clock, so I don't think the time is a big issue. That said, you have no time to methodically grind the defenders to dust (my preferred way to fight MOUT battles) and you will have to chance some street crossing and hope your pixeltruppen make it across in one piece. Fortune favors the bold, as the say goes. Scenario 6 - My Land, Your Land Having taken Paxico, you now have to defend it. This is a straight up defensive action. Good positioning and interlocking fields of fire will stand you in good stead. This is the first appearance of more competent troops than the militia rabble you have shooting up till now, making them more dangerous. I didn't take any casualties during this one but between 60-65% of my troops had the yellow cross on them at scenario end, attesting to the bloodiness of the firefight. All and all, a good fast paced battle that will have you wondering if you can hold out. Scenario 7 - Prairie Rattlesnakes The enemy in this one will quickly learn that old adage - Payback is a Bitch. The enemy is withdrawing and trying to escape the area, meaning that they are vulnerable while crossing open ground. Better troop quality but unless they stand and fight, it doesn't mean much in the long run. Your vehicle weapons on your few vehicles and the beloved sniper teams will make short work of the enemy as they try to run the width of the map. Keep your ground troops in contact but not too close (remember, the enemy is more competent than the militia rabble that the earlier scenarios pitted you against) and shoot 'em in the back when they bolt for it. I found the scenario relatively easy but it could be the AI plan I got. Great fun for the payback for the misery the enemy put you through in Paxico. Bastards. Let the crows have 'em. So far, I am really enjoying and digging the campaign, despite me getting a bad AI plan in scenario 3 in which the enemy decided to sleep through their attack (this is now fixed, according to Clubfoot). The scenarios really do capture the flavor of Twilight 2000 and I thank Clubfoot for the effort and time he took to construct this campaign. Now, off to kick the renegade elements of the 4th ID in the junk!

No problem. I'll just chalk scenario 3 up to the bad guys checking us out and seeing how fierce looking we were, deciding that discretion was the better part of valor and deciding to leave well enough alone.

Clubfoot, there may be a problem with one of the AI plans for scenario 3 - Restless Natives. After scenario start, my forces spotted three vehicles and shot up the vehicles and their crews. Then I waited for an attack that never came. After scenario time ran out and nothing happened, I cease fired and saw the multitude of enemy forces near the map edge all around the map. Looks to me like they didn't move from their initial placement so I don't know if that plan had a fail on the movement plan or time triggers. Anyhow, still a victory and on to scenario 4. Damn, though. I would have liked to see how the attack on the farm would have played out.

I have played through the first two campaign missions. I will try to minimize spoilers. First off, the two scenarios so far do capture the grittiness that one would expect in playing a post nuclear survival game that was the focus of Twilight 2000. As expected for such a grim setting, personnel and equipment is in short demand. That means minimizing your casualties and watch your ammunition usage because replacements of both will be in short demand. Read your mission objectives because you will live or die by them. Unlike most missions, the name of the game is not to kill the enemy (that I noticed so far), so stay on mission and only engage those forces directly in the way or in the area of your objectives. Scenario 1 - Civil Unrest. Basically, it is get the hell out of Dodge. Move along covered approaches, support moving forces with fire and keep your engagements short and brutal. Watch your mission objectives and keep moving. The balance of forces is good. You are outnumbered by a large margin but your forces as very good and the enemy is mediocre, so you will dominate firefights as long as you concentrate your forces and brutally shoot up enemy forces in your way. I really enjoyed this one. Scenario 2 - Open Road. This is a really interesting scenario as it is along a stretch of highway with long fields of fire and you are the one that has to cross the map. Again, the quality of your troops will play well for you as the enemy is less capable but they are legion, so watch the fire rate of your forces as this scenario does have the real possibility of depleting your ammo reserves if you get caught up with long range plinking at the enemy. Again, I found this scenario enjoyable. So far, I have taken no losses but my main concern is ammo supply as I got carried away a bit in shooting up the bad guys in scenario 2 and so far at the start of scenario three, the ammo doesn't look good. This should make scenario three a nail biter. So far, I give the campaign two thumbs. It does capture beautifully the nature of a post nuclear war survival situation (as much as you can simulate such with CMSF). Kudos to Clubfoot and my sincere thanks for this wonderful campaign.

I was extremely lucky for this scenario. Only one vehicle was destroyed by the friendly fire air strikes and the other attacks were near misses, resulting in some immoblizations. Casualties at the end of this scenario was 3 KIA and 1 Vehicle (light armored recon vehicle) destroyed. I was very happy with the outcome given how badly it could have been.

Color me confused. Is the info about the Poles in the Ukraine fact or bs?

Wow. Were they invited or is this unilateral? Is any other European countries going on alert or starting mobilization?