BlackMoria

Hmmm. The bribes have been payed, the required sacrifices made..... So where is it?

First off, I am former military, which colors my opinions on such matters. I don't have an issue with the graphical depictions. It can be far worst - the depiction of men just hit with a 155mm round could show limbs and bodies blow apart. Many games, primarily first person shooters, really dish out the visuals for violence. Shock Force is downright tame in comparison. That said, I think it is good to have it shown, least we lose touch with the fact that war is a brutal, bloody, nightmarish pasttime. Other players have commented on how they try to preserve their pixeltruppen as much as possible and have guilt when a number of them fall. That is a good thing in my opinion. If our leaders who send men and women off the war had such sensibililtes, perhaps there would be less armed conflict in the world today. But really, SF is downright tame in its depiction of violence. Just look at the video games and the movies for comparison.

My vote is to release the single scenarios. My justification is as follows: 1. You get the benefit of people like myself who play it and can make comment, so you in essence, get a Beta test of the scenario by someone other than yourself. 2. On the main forum page, someone is decrying the fact that campaign scenarios are not released as single scenarios and I have heard similar sentiment in other threads over the last six months. Normal Dude released his Task Force Panther campaign as single scenarios. If you did so as well, a trend could get established that hopefully others will folllow. 3. I don't think releasing single scenarios undercuts the campaign. I know that I will play your campaign for sure because even though I have played a few of your scenarios that may be in your campaign, I want to play through it again with force attrition and see how I fare. My two cents...

The excellent Task Force Panther campaign by Normal Dude is available as individual scenarios in the repository. Hopefully, other designers follow suit and release the campaign scenarios as separate single scenarios.

Moon let slip in another thread on the Strategy and Tactics Forum this interesting bit of intel. Hopefully, his comment is factual and not a throwaway comment to the slavering masses. If so, just a few more weeks till the Brits enter the AO. Oh....and the lineup starts behind me.

You don't even have to be touching the CAS kill zone.... just being outside it puts one in danger of munitions applied to your precious whatever, as I found to my chagrin when one of my HMMVs got served up a 500lb 'party cracker' in 3:10 to Yuma. Vehicle was 100m outside the CAS zone. And I hold my breath anytime I have Apaches working the map. Apache rocket attacks have very large 'beaten zones' and since one can't control the direction they attack from, so being even 500 metres outside the CAS area can mean one can take a stray rocket in the pie hole.

Canadian doctrine is for ICVs to be part of the defense, either dug into the position or with run up positions within the position and the vehicles 100 to 200m rear of the position prior to the run up. Service support vehicles are usually of to one rear flank in a harbour hide which is about 400-500m from the position. Given a typical CMSF map, the service support vehicles would most likely be off map unless the map was huge.

I attribute it to 17 years of military service in the combat arms and some 30+ years of playing wargames. A mis-spent youth pushing cardboard counters or minatures around rather than chasing woman and guzzling beer. I could regale everyone with the time I totally screwed up our brigade exercise because I was in charge of the enemy force and I so totally screwed the brigadier's exercise by neutralizing friendly forces, hitting echelon units and raiding the brigade forward HQ and taking out the brigade commander in his command post. I got a supreme dressing down, a letter of reprimand and my career took a hit. I am still bitter about that to this day, despite being out of the service some 14 years now. A hard lesson about the military mindset but I still have pride that my one shot at command resulted in a company worth of troops completely screwing up a brigade worth of troops in some 36 hours of operations (I ran the company like a company of Soviet Spetnaz).

Here is my quick and dirty AAR. The game play was RT (I only do RT) on Elite setting. I favor real time as it allows me to micromanage to my heart's content and in this scenario, micromanaging is my key to victory. ****** Spoilers Alert ********** I positioned FOs and Javelin teams on the high ground immediately in front of the tracks along the ridgeline. Forces can start on the ridgeline on the left of the road going through the gap but must move forward a bit to gain the high ground on the right side of the gap. At game start, I started taking some fire from a building just beyond the gap, which was hit with mortars in response. Meanwhile, the FAC/FO and three javelin teams moved to the crest of the ridge with the AAVs and Abrams taking reverse slope positions immediately behind the crest. My plan was to establish a firing line along the ridge in the event of a counterattack of armor. My main concern was AT-14 positions in the enemy defensive area so I fired several areas mortar missions on suspected launcher positions. Upon achieving the crest and taking up defensive positions, the Javelins teams and FAC/FO started to spot moving armor. BMPs started to be spotted at the far left corner of the battle area and Syrian tanks started to spotted moving right to left towards the right middle part of the battlefield. This is where micromanagement comes in. I can't get the degree of control I desire using the pause command so I manually manage a tactic I find most beneficial. I run pairs or groups of three M1s up to crest using the hunt command and allow them to spot and engage at will. I limit the exposure to no more than 10 seconds and then regardless of the outcome, the crested M1s are reversed into low ground while another group is moved to the crest, paused and then reversed. Groups of tanks alternate taking a crested hull down postion, spotting, firing once and then reversing. I usually can successfully duck below the crest and evade a incoming AT missile. Using the above 'move to crest, fire and reverse' tactics, the M1s, in conjuction with the Javelins picked off the enemy's moving armor during the space of some 10 minutes. Several AT-14 were spotted and destroyed by mortars. Two AT-14 shots actually struck my M1s but failed to kill them and only did moderate system damage. End result of the battle - I got a Total Victory due to enemy casualties and my forces didn't move forward of the ridgeline. I destroyed 6 tanks and 25 APCs and inflicted nearly 300 KIA. My losses were 3 KIA and 2 MIA, mostly due to Syrian artillery. All and all, it was a good battle and I enjoyed the intensity of doing a 'dance of death' atop the ridge in the face of god know how many AT-14s and not losing a single vehicle. Well done, Snake_eye. It was another great scenario. My choice of tactics made this scenario relatively easy for myself. I am going to try it again by going over the ridgeline and try to take some ground. I anticipate that it is not going to be so easy the next time. Thank you for another enjoyable scenario.

Thanks for the hard work. A question. How does one 'browse' through scenarios and mods? I can't see anything that allows me to go from the 1st page to other pages. If I don't know the author's name, I can only see the mods/scenarios that are on the primary page and can't see any others that would be on other 'pages'.

INFIDEL!!

Not Marines. Canadian Forces. The mortar is the 60mm M19, which is still in use with Canadian infantry units. The time frame and general location of the video would make this 2 PPCLI which was in active operations in Helmand province in August of 2008. Further evidence - the camo pattern is not Marine pattern. I don't know if the Canadians have the AT4s yet (they are acquiring them) but they have plenty of M72 LAWs. Finally, if it was an American unit, it would be a 500 lb+ bomb from called in CAS to deal with the compound, not a M72 LAW.

I mentioned about the 2000 pts for ANY casualties in another thread and Steven said he would check into it. My theory is a extra zero got included and the points given for casualties should be 200. Hopefully, it will be fixed for path 1.2. Edit: D'oh. Ninjaed by the man himself.

I find it unphantomable that the higher ups in the Bush Administration and the DoD were blindsided with the actual outcome when I predicted what would happen EXACTLY when I had conversations with people during the build up to war. I am not gifted with clairoyance or greater insight than most people so if I could foresee this coming, why didn't others? The number 1 unwritten rule for military planning is always plan for the worst case scenario and yet there didn't appear to be due diligence done in that regard. The civilian authority over the military is a mainstay of democracies but still, the military leadership needs to tell their political masters what they NEED to hear, not what they WANT to hear. Even if it means getting canned for their 'presumption'.

:eek: OUCH! Sets the bar for friendly fire. I got POed when the bloody zoomees dropped one on one of my Hummers in 3:10 to Yuma and killed 3. I think my fist would have gone through the monitor if that happened to me.

AAR for H-Minus (Scenario 6) ************ Spoilers****************** After looking at the situation on the ground, I opted to extract the stranded platoon rather than to try to push further out with Alpha company. I had the mortars drop smoke and safely extracted the platoon back to better cover. During the extraction process a few enemy positions were revealed and suppressed, including the hillside recoilless rifle. The air asset was vectored to comb over the hill feature for targets and visible trenching was hit by short duration mortar missions. One platoon advanced on a wide left flanking maneuver to come into the urban area from the left rear and sweep back towards friendly lines. Many enemy were located and destroyed during the sweep. Once this platoon made good headway, another two platoons swept right flanking, one tasked with taking the hill feature and the other to link up with the left flanking platoon in the centre of the urban area. The enemy was tenacious but mutually supporting Alpha company squads quickly overcame the defenders and at end of the scenario (it went the full time allocated), Alpha company held the majority of the urban areas and the hill feature. I got another Total Victory with only 2 WIA. The Syrians were tougher and held up better than in previous scenarios (being elite airborne themselves) and only grudging gave up their positions. A tougher nut to crack for sure but it can be cracked. Expect a tougher battle and dangerous house clearing if you go after the Syrians. Keep tight mutual support of fire base and assault elements. Once the shooting starts for a localized fight, don't hold back and hit the defenders with everything you got. Another good scenario that appears as a simple task to do but the devil is in the details. The defenders can mutually support each other so a full on, half baked, drive into the teeth of the defenders is going to make your casualties skyrocket.

AAR for Machete (Scenario 5) I must have been wearing my lucky rabbit's foot of this one. One of the Bradley's moved up the hill into the building compounds and narrowing avoided being taken out by the dreaded AT-14 on a hill. The Bradley was beside a wall and the wall took the hit. Since this was now about 15 secs into the scenario, the pucker factor went way up. I was waiting to get a feel for where the enemy was before I moved the Hummers and with horror, noted that the AT-14 position had visual with part of the Hummer harbour, so it was hammer away with the 50s while getting to cover. A squad and the HQ element from Bushwhacker platoon took to the buildings to get a height advantage and eyes on the area while the 25mm and 50s peppered the area of the AT-14. Once the mortars arrived, the area was subjected to airburst to ensure the AT-14 was dead. Engineers worked down to the nearest mine area and slow crawled in (and took a KIA and WIA despite slow crawling in and out of the zone). In the meantime, one M2 worked itself left into low ground with one engineer squad while the other M2 up in the fenced compound fired TOW missiles at all visible target buildings. In the course of working the area and maneuvering for a shot, the second AT-14 was revealed when it fired at the M2 and missed. The mortars made sure it would not fire again. Slowly and methodically, dismounted Bushwhacker squads and the engineers worked through the map, destroying several infantry strongpoints in the area in the course marking all the minefields. Lost some more engineers in clearing another minefield and 1 KIA with Bushwhacker due to a sniper. Once the AT-14s were killed, it went relatively smoothly albeit slowly. The 25mms of the two M2s working together supported by Bushwhacker made short work of any found resistance. Got another Total Victory. My losses were light, with the majority of them from the engineers. For Normal Dude: The engineers took losses on two of the four minefield clearings, despite moving SLOW in and out of the minefields. I don't know how others are finding the scenario but once the AT-14s die, the Syrians get ground under heel with the M2s working in tandem with mutual support for the platoon. Maybe some more Syrian forces or have more RPGs for the existing forces may be in order. Then again, others have having problems or have passed on scenario due to the difficulty so maybe it is my stellar luck at work again. Both AT-14s missed and they didn't get any followup shot due to be suppressing the hell out of them. Good scenario but watch your movement from the start point or get nailed almost straight away.

All The Way (Scenario 4) AAR *********** Spoilers *************** For this one, I had Havoc plt head for the Scud Inspection site, Bushwhacker plt head towards the nearest complex objective (administration complex) to clear it, and Bear plt deployed to the far deployment area with the intent of taking the high ground and having the option of assisting Magician or coming into the complex from the rear to assist Bushwhacker. Both callsigns of Shadow deployed into building near the corner deployment zone. Shortly after scenario start, Shadow reported sighted infantry advancing across an large open field and the sniper teams went to work, stopping the advance and inflicting casualties. More infantry showed up in the area and were likewise shot up at range by the snipers. Meanwhile, Bushwhacker and Havoc advanced on their objectives and came under fire. Several firefights that last 5 minutes occurred as both Bushwhacker and Havoc platoons tried to gain the upper hand on the tenacious defenders in the complex complex and the scud inspection site. Magican force snipers relocated as Magican squads started to clear the insertion building and prepared to seize the R&D complex. It only took about 10 minutes of Magican force to clear the complex of enemy by breaching into each building and assaulting in. Havoc finally fought their way into the Scud inspection building after several protracted firefights and help from the Apaches. Bushwhacker likewise fought their way the administration complex after several protracted firefights but not before being harassed by several BTRs which appeared by Shadow and moved into the complex. Shadow destroyed one vehicle, Bushwhacker one vehicle and the Apaches killed the remaining 2). Bushwhacker and Havoc tried to push out from their respective captured objectives to capture other objective building further in but got held up by very determined forces covering kill zones. Bear plt, which had taken the high ground, moved into dead ground and took the complex nearest the R&D facility, which was safely in the hands of Magician. Magician snipers moved to assist Bear inflitrating deeper into the rear and towards other complexes. Havoc and Bushwhacker got set upon everytime they tried to push out so mortars and Apaches were called to try to dislodge or attrite the tenacious enemy. They made little headway for the rest of the game, trying to kill the multiple enemy defensive positions by ranged fire. The Apaches seem surprising ineffective in taking out the enemy in buildings, despite repeated cannon and rocket attacks. Bear plt made headway, having taken one complex and moved on another. Finally, the Apaches leveled a key building full of infantry, allowing Alpha company to make some headway. I got a Total victory screen at this point. I got the maximum points (odd, since I still had one complex to take still). It was a tough fight. Havoc and Bushwhacker basically could not make headway after they took their intial objectives due to the overlapping fields of fire and the open ground. Infiltrating one platoon into the center of the complex was one aspect of the plan which worked. Oddly, the Apaches seemed relatively ineffective as their rockets were either off target and the cannons didn't seem to do much to the defenders in buildings. For Normal Dude: The R&D faculty fight is either too tough or too easy. If one uses demolition charges and conducts a proper and aggressive breach entry, it is over in short order with little casualties (Magican had only one or two wounded if I recall). I reverted to a earlier save to see what would happen with a normal assault entry and the Magician forces get the stuffing kicked out of them. Nice work on setting up the complex forces. This was one of the few games in which I literally couldn't make any headway with two of the three Apha platoons after taking the intial objectives. I prevailed but I had to work hard for the victory and preserve my force. Once again, a last game save is available. Nice map and good scenario. Expect a tough fight.

Now, on to Snitch ************ Spoilers ************** Snitch - get to the informant and get him out. More bad guys arrive in 15 minutes to complicate the extraction. I must of lucked into a AI plan that suited the route I selected because I was in, got the 'package' and extracted within 15 minutes. I hit the extraction point just as the bad guys starting rolling. I thought hard about continuing the fight just to see what might happen but elected, as per the instructions, to cease fire as I achieved the mission objectives. Snitch short AAR. Outlaw and Bear headed out and came under almost immediate sporadic fire from some unknown point but it was largely ineffective as Outlaw and Bear disappeared in the building and alleys. Outlaw and Bear squads leapfrogged they way further into the urban areas towards the informant, mutually supporting each other with alternating firebase and assault elements. Four pockets of enemy were encountered and quickly overcome. Collected the informant from his hiding area and withdrew over the same route, with only one more firefight with some enemy with a RPG. Hit the extraction point as the bad guys started to roll in from the map edge. Only 4 WIAs marred a otherwise flawless mission. In and out in under 16 minutes. Despite the ease with which I did this scenario, I can see it being a real handful if one chooses a 'bad' route and is held up or if one takes their time. This is one scenario it which it you have to balance risk of a rapid advance and withdrawal to the time honored cautious building clearing we are all familar with. The issue is simply this - the more time you take, the more bad guys show up to complicate your life. Take too much time and you will find yourself in the dreaded 'Blackhawk Down' type of fight. For Normal Dude: Very nice scenario - try to find the balance between speed and caution and it works well with this scenario. I found it very easy for myself but I don't doubt if I was too cautious or took another route, that it would have been a hell of a lot harder than it was. Once again, last game save is available.

I spent the long weekend playing Task Force Panther given the terrible weather here which precluded going anyplace or doing any yardwork. I did Pigs of War, Snitch, All the Way, Machete and I am halfway into H-Minus. *********Spoilers Alert ************ Pigs of War Absolutely freaking intensive. Lots of big booms. I am all smiles because I like scenarios like this. Quick AAR. I started forward to reach the reach the stranded Corp squad but noted 4 enemy vehicles adjacent to the target building. I made the hard call to leave them rather than risk a entire platoon getting caught in a protracted firefight with enemy armor imminent. I had the stranded detachment hunker down in one of the high points of the building. The detachment killed 1 BMP and a TOW vehicle (I had deployed the two TOW vehicles well forward) killed another vehicle another one. Meanwhile, a heavy artillery barrage of smoke an HE hit the entire defensive areas for a few minutes. Only two wounded, thankfully. Then the first onslaught of mixed armor rolled forward. Company of BMP with a platoon of T55. The forward air controller started screaming engagement coordinates to the 3 A10s on station, sending the winged guardian angels inbound. They were still a minute or two out so Alpha company watched grimly as the red juggernaut rumbled slow forward. Two enemy vehicles were destroyed as the TOW dets fired then displaced to new firing locations. Finally the A10s arrived and all hell broke loose. Shock and awe time as the A10s dispatched the enemy armor. Real fun to watch the fireworks and big booms. With the first wave destroyed, the TOW dets returned to their initial firing points. The corp troops held out having some wounded and dead and I grappled with going out and retrieving them or having them try to make for friendly lines but I opted for them to remain hidden in place. More armor was immient. The second wave came in hard and fast. Looked like another company plus of BMP and a platoon pllus of T55. A10s arrowed in towards the areas as the javelins and TOWs opened up on the rapidly advancing armor. 5 Kills but not nearly enough as the enemy armor pushed in hard and fast. It was going to be down to the wire if the A10 would arrive in time. The A10s arrived as the lead elements of the armored onslaught entered the Alpha company kill zone. AT4s and M72 arced through the air knocking out several BMPs and immobilizing one T55. The A10s hit the rest of the armor and another 'shock and awe' moment occurred with lots of big booms (big booms are good ) Finally it was over. I got a Total Victory. I had 6 KIA and 7 WIA, including the casualties for the Corp troops, who survived being isolated. Over 46 Syrian armored vehicles were destroyed and 400+ personnel casualties. This scenario will leave one breathless, balanced by elation and concern. What it comes down to is this - the A10s will destroy the Syrian armor...absolutely. But will they destroy enough of them in time before Alpha company takes a beating? For Normal Dude: Alpha company fired off every single Javelin and 90% of the AT4s and LAWs so you achieved your stated intent on that. The TOW vehicles fired off about half of their TOW missiles and actually survived the fight. Three A10s was right. I am going to do this one again at some point but only use 2 of the 3 A10s and I will let you know the outcome. I also have a last game save available. Pigs of War - five stars all around.

I will go out on a limb and will predict that within the next 5 years that US forces will be involved in some fashion in Pakistan, unless the current Pakistani regime can successfully and decisively deal with the growing Taliban influence in the Swat Valley that is growing outwards. The US or a Coalition will need to go and clean up the mess the Pakistani military/government can't handle. Iran is another source of potential US 'intervention'. Within 10 years my gut tells me. The current kook in power keeps talking like he is got some manifest destiny to unite Islam (and trying to get the bomb to boot) which may mean another 'imposed' regime change may be in order. The horn of Africa area (Somalia, Sudan) is another areas. Once the piracy of the Arden pisses enough people off, there will be a call to deal with the Somali issue once and for all and eradicate the pirates and their supporters (namely the warlords). I say the tipping point on that decision will be within the next two years. The president of Sudan is looking for a bitch slapping, so unless he walks a fine line, he is likely to get it as there is quite a bit of international sediment to deal with the genocide in Darfur. The next major conflict may be between Nato and Russia within the next 15 years. The Georgian conflict I think lit the slow simmering fire of another Cold War, as least as long as Putin clings to power. And I see him clinging to power, even if it means taking a step back on reforms and the advances that Russia has seen since the end of the Cold War. You heard it here first, if these come to pass.

When installing CMSF on Vista, use the install as administrator option and specify a game directory rather than settle for the default. Some people have reported some issues with game files getting split between directories which results in some weird situations in which some scenarios and campaigns seem to 'disappear'

RT is the only way I currently play CMSF. I've gotten comfortable with games llike Armored Task Force and its siblings and Harpoon 3 which are only played RT, so it is my preference. I like that I can pause when necessary and study the situation. I like that I can micromanage to my heart's content if I am so inclined. I like being forced to think on my feet if I chose to not hit the pause. And big scenarios don't bother me, probably due to playing games like Armored Task Force and Harpoon 3. So I am an advocate for RT. I realize it isn't for everyone though.

I've never played multiplayer myself so I am in the same boat as Afreu. Hey Afreu ... you game? For the record, I enjoy campaigns and playing against the AI because I have played in other multiplayer games (just not CMSF) and I can't abide the ego issues some people have.

I believe the standard practice is commander 'eyes out' when not in contact with the enemy. Which is why in the many, many vids of tanks on the move, you notice the commander's head is out of the hatch. Despite advances in optics and sensors, the field of view is smaller than what the mark 1 eyeball can see and situational awareness is paramount. Once in contact with the enemy, protection of the commander trumps the benefit of having him 'eyes out'. So, if the enemy is at 50-100 metres, the commander WILL be buttoned up unless he is manning a pintel weapon and taking it to the bad guys.