BlackMoria

Sorry, I miscalculated my time. I was going off memory and I thought the scenario was a 1.5 hours when it was 2.5 hours for run time. That makes it 4 to 5 hours instead of the 3 hours I initially said for the time investment. As I said, I don't really keep track of my time but it usually double the scenario run time but I felt the run up to the hospital actually went pretty swiftly as I focused on the objectives. Given the night conditions about a hour into the game, the enemy really doesn't have any long range visual capability and one can actually get squads fairly close without being engaged. I actually was surprised at the end of the game of how much of the enemy I had by-passed near the factory complex and the highway junction.

Waiting eagerly. :cool:

I wasn't really taking stock of the real world time but I would say around 3 hours to complete. I did say I was obsessive about micromanaging my forces and I came at the hospital with around 25 squads and that is a lot of forces to coordinate in the method that I mastered to minimize casualties while assaulting buildings. The Iraqi commandos that represent the majority of the infantry forces you have sure love to use the RPGs they have within the squad and that is a problem in the Hospital complex where you lose Victory points for damaging the buildings. I haven't played much Red force so it took me a while to get accustomed to the 'tempo' of using them because of the embedded RPGs in the squads. Trying to take the hospital complex with kid gloves on is a REAL challenge. After I finished the scenario, I reverted to a previous save just before the assault on the complex and I indulged the Iraqi Commando tendency for swift violence and they love of the RPG and bought the full weight of my indirect fire resources to bear. I took NO casualties that time but the victory was considerably downgraded due to preserve conditions and once I was done, the entire complex would only be fit for bulldozing, so much damage was done to all the buildings. You have the fire power available to literally level the entire hospital complex to the ground. But you can't.... and that is the challenge here.

A meeting got cancelled so I had time to finish this bad boy. My results were a Tactical Victory, playing on Elite Real Time. I don't know why I didn't get any points for the Surgical area as it was fully occupied by my forces, cleared of enemy and none of the building were visibly damaged. My Losses: 1 KIA, 3 WIA Enemy Losses: 216 KIA, 69 WIA, 1 MIA, 16 Vehicles. Screen shots available if I can figure out how to take them, as I have a game save just before game end. A very fun scenario, Combatintman. I will not spoil it but the 'surprise' that happens at 10-15 minutes left on the clock took me off guard but fortunately, my forces were ideally situated to deal with it and just need some minor adjustment in position and orientation to deal with issue. The 1 KIA and 2 of my WIAs actually happened in the final push into the hospital proper. The hospital complex fight was one tough one and I had to micromanage some 25 squads in the massive assault into complex from two sides. The assault on the hospital proper was intense given the multi floors of the 4 buildings and that is where all but one of my casualties occurred. Great scenario. I look forward to your other scenarios.

Real life stuff has had to divert me from finishing up the scenario just yet but I intend to finish up this weekend. I did load up my save point the other night and stared at the hospital complex for about 10 minutes with the game paused, considering different ways to breach in. I have only seen one group of insurgents in the hospital complex in my run up to the hospital and I think I neutralized them. How many more enemy are in there is the question which haunts my deliberations. I will let you know how it turns out.

Yes, that would be me. And my name most likely was taken in vain by those who played Joker 3 because the small changes you made to that scenario made it much more difficult to replicate that feat (I play tested the Joker 3 scenario) My success is part system mastery of CMSF, a obsessive amount of micro managing of my forces while playing real time (the only way I play) with frequent pauses and a whole lot of good luck. Having had nearly 20 years in as a combat arms officer does help for tactical savvy and planning. But the real stars are you guys creating wonderful and challenging scenarios. Scenario design is something that intimidates me so I haven't tried it. Maybe some day...

"Good" scenarios is very subjective without knowing specifically what you like. Some people like infantry actions. Some people like armor actions. Some people like MOUT battles, others despise them. Some people like Red on Red or Blue on Blue battles. That is a whole lot of flavors of ice cream, so without knowing what flavor of ice cream you prefer, it is hard to suggest a 'good' scenario. All I know from your post is that you don't like battles with hordes of infantry and/or scenarios with huge maps. That leaves a huge pool of scenarios to suggest from.

I have grabbed up all objectives except for the hospital and hospital grounds with only 1 WIA. However, I may have been too cautious as I don't think I have enough time to clear the hospital. I found the going easy so far (easy being relative) but I suspect the real fight is just ahead.

Good to see you back at this. I despaired it ever being finished given the amount of time gone by. Any timeline of when you estimate the campaign to be polished enough for the slavering masses (Ok. Maybe just me but I think there is a fair number of people waiting for this to come to fruitation)?

Color me delighted!

So I am not the only one who is like that. I have such anti-casualty mentality that it is impacting my enjoyment of CMBN to a degree. That, and I like tanks which actually kill their target. I usually play American and Commonwealth and I get exasperated when I lob round after round from Shermans at Panthers with little effect except to annoy them into shooting back at me. I need to redo the Forging Steel campaign again. I have fond memories of it and it has been a couple of years since I played it. With my memory these days, it will be like a brand new campaign.

You know me, snake_eye. I'm always game to play one of your scenarios and playtest if you like.

Very nice scenario with a very good mix of forces. I loved the map - your forces cannot link up physically until they near the far end the map so you are advancing on three narrow corridors due to the canals/waterways. Also a very generous time limit of 4 hours. I reached the back exit objectives with around a hour and half left on the clock and very minimal casualties (in fact, only 1 WIA). Fortune smiled at me as I took 4 RPG hits to vehicles during the scenario but had no penetrations. Taking it slow, and coordinating your forces with your artillery and tac air will win this one without too many casualties. The enemy is defending in depth so beware of penetrating too deep with one force without bringing your other forces up to support laterally with directed fires. It goes without saying to watch the choke points as that is usually where the enemy defends in strength.

Very nice scenario with a very good mix of forces. I loved the map - your forces cannot link up physically until they near the far end the map so you are advancing on three narrow corridors due to the canals/waterways. Also a very generous time limit of 4 hours. I reached the back exit objectives with around a hour and half left on the clock and very minimal casualties (in fact, only 1 WIA). Fortune smiled at me as I took 4 RPG hits to vehicles during the scenario but had no penetrations. Taking it slow, and coordinating your forces with your artillery and tac air will win this one without too many casualties. The enemy is defending in depth so beware of penetrating too deep with one force without bringing your other forces up to support laterally with directed fires. It goes without saying to watch the choke points as that is usually where the enemy defends in strength.

I look forward to it. What is the ETA on this one?

Very nice scenario. I got a British Major Victory with only 1 WIA and inflicting 130 KIA and 54 WIA on the enemy. It seemed almost too easy as the enemy surrendered well before I got into the fort, which is the only disappointment with the scenario. I advanced with a right flank maneuver with both mech platoons to the urban area on the right flank and then fought on foot with both platoons supported by the following tracks and started rolling the enemy up on the right flank towards the fort when the scenario ended. I had my AHs set for wide area 'personnel' strikes in the enemy rear area and the AHs bagged most of the enemy reinforcements as they attempted to moved up to the fort. Slow and methodical advances with overwhelming firepower (my sections used short bounds and mutual fire support to short rush suspected enemy positions) will win the day for this one. Fine scenario. I look forward to your other scenarios.

For RL tactics, it depends on what you consider the ANA forces 'role'. If your interpretation of the orders is that the role is more giving the ANA some experience and confidence in the operation, you can give them a large role with the US forces providing support. If the role is the ANA is not doing a 'flying the flag' style operation, then preserving the ANA is more important and then the role would be more a support role in which case the ANA would be used as a reserve and exploitation force. While the orders don't specifically indicate it (one of the points I raised with Snake eyes when I play tested the scenario), there are Victory conditions associated with Sidi Bou Said hamlet, Al Farouk hamlet, and Hill 54. So consider the briefing to indicate that Sidi Bou Said and Al Farouk need to be cleared of enemy. That said, the deployment of the US forces sort of hints that those forces are to take Sidi Bou Said and Al Farouk, leaving the ANA forces to do the heavy lifting for taking Hill 54 and then finally push on towards Nira dam. No doubt, you would think that a truck bourne attack on Hill 54 is a bad idea and that assumption is correct. The battle is mainly an infantry action with the limited AFVs providing fire support for the infantry and the trucks to provide ammo resupply for the ANA. When I did the play test, I had the US forces do dismounted attacks to seize the two hamlets to secure the flanks and only then, in conjunction with the US forces using the newly capture hamlets as staging areas, do a three prong attack on Hill 54. In the meantime, the forces at the dam are to hold on for dear life while you use the forces at the airfield to take the hamlets and Hill 54 and then force the road to the dam and the link up of forces.

I playtested this one for Snakeyes some time ago. Memory is a bit shakey right now so I will start one of my game saves I think I have kept from the playtest to refresh my memory and I will make comment to answer your questions.

Most armies do have have a pool of replacement vehicles but given the cost of modern AFVs, it is very small. After a day or so of moderate losses (depending on the army), the pool will be empty and there will be no replacements for AFV losses. A unit with heavy losses will most likely be rolled into another unit(s) with losses to constitute full strength units at some point. This was not necessary during the two recent Gulf Wars because of the duration of the conflict and the fact that units didn't take the losses to make reconstituting units necessary.

Politics and all aside, in regard to Iran getting nukes, this is one decision that the Western powers HAVE to get right. It is all fine and well to state that Iran has no interest in giving nukes to jihadists but it that 100% certain? Because all it takes is one nuclear fireball in Israel, Europe or the United States and the Middle East will burn. Iran can give no assurances that will be accepted by the Western powers that they will secure their nukes from terrorist and jihadists. Meaning that if Iran persists in pursuing acquiring it own nuclear weapons, there is a virtual 100% chance that someone is going to attack that capacity in some fashion. And the Middle East conflicts will spread as a result. So, IMO, Iran announcing they have nuclear weapons or the western powers perceiving they have them will be the tipping point for further intervention. And depending what how Iran reacts after the airstrikes/cruise missiles hit the nuclear capacity will decide if the US/Western Powers go 'all in' on Iran.

Looks like the roster is full up already.

Well, you can send your love to the Dutch CV90s once the Marder are gone. I am not sure which is the bigger monster for chewing up the enemy in the game - the Marder or the CV90. Both are awesome in that regards.

I am good at all aspects of warfare and with all nationalities except the Syrians who I find too fragile (morale and C2) for my tried and true tactics. Strange thing is, I found I am really good at MOUT combat, but it is my least favorite form of warfare. Go figure. Another thing I found that I am good at - playing large battles in real time. I have found time and time again people who play RT stating it is unmanageable for them above company level but it doesn't bother me at all. I played through the scenario 'Hell for Leather' which has an entire British battlegroup in RT. One has to really love RT to play an entire battlegroup at one time. I like big maps to maximize opportunities for manuever and I like mixed combined arms forces for the synergy I can generate. Not a big fan of QB because usually the maps are too small for my tastes and having the computer pick the forces ends up at times with a bizarre force that no real life commander would ever field against an enemy.

I second BadgerDog's statement. I bailed out my M113 in nothing flat. I don't know why his track was on fire but my instance was taking 14.7mm fire from a Russian made HMG in Bosnia in 1994. Myself and three others in the carrier and it was empty in like 5 seconds...

I will settle for lucky any time. Like the time I had a Stuart tank hidden in trees staking out a fording site and two Panthers suddenly showed and crossed the ford point. They didn't see me, I saw both of them and I 'one-shotted' each cat from the rear when they rumbled past me (range was less than 100 metres for both shots). Sometimes you get the bear, sometimes the bear gets you.