dragonwynn

I will take a look at the trenches SLR. I had actually started them out in a staggered design but then I saw some photos of the battle where trenches were dug into the ruins that were in a straight line. But I see your point about how easy that makes them to mop up. That would be great NPye. If I do any scenarios or additional campaigns I will be sure you are credited. Michael

Yes please do. Also you have some drone assets that may help with the spotting.

Erwin I have a updated . Cam file for that campaign. I will pm you the file. Use it instead of the one you started. It fixes a few issues and adds some additional elements in the first mission as well as some of the others.

I understand completely. And I must say the tutorial is excellent as I have been following it intently. And for what it may be worth I will add credit to you and Erwin for your input into this campaign when I get it finalized. Several of my campaigns in CMBN (The Geilenkirchen Salient), CMRT (The Last Panzer, Rattenkrieg) and Black Sea (The Mountains of Allah) were done to show off the modded work that the many talented people who play these games are able to create. It just seemed an injustice to allow such good work to go by without being put to use. So for you to take the time to put the effort into the tutorial is definately appreciated. On another note have you had a chance to look at the maps in this campaign and see if I was any where near achieving the "environment" over there? Having been there your self I figure you would be a good judge. I watched a number of documentaries to just get a feel for the architecture and landscape but the CMSF editor is limited on map creation options. (I had to use a water mod to get the irrigation canals to look like something besides ditches). Anyhow thanks again. Michael

Yea now the really sucky thing is when I change my pre existing Lt Inf Core unit to poor it doesnt let the TUMs become usable, which means that I have to buy the core unit all over again and re insert into every battle they were used......*sigh* Sometime I wonder if this campaign creation thing is worth it lol. But thanks for the input, it has proven valuable.

You were quite correct. The poor setting gave me Ervins beloved TUMs lol. I will adjust accordingly.

Thanks Combatintman. I was using the Fire Support Section for the Jackals. Didn't k now a poor rating would give the Tums. Will look into that.

Ok based on what I am looking at in the editor the TUM WMIK doesnt seem to have a GL. So I have added the Jackal GMG which gives you the same dismount ability. You will still have some Jackal HMG also. I may be missing something on the TUM but going with the Jackal. Air and arty is being added or adjusted on some missions that did not have them. You may get both or one or the other depending on the scenario. Working in a few ammo supply assets in a few missions. Thinned out a few IED's (there were very few to begin with) but they are still in some scenarios as well as mines (Afghanistan is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world) but there are not a lot. Aggravating yes but it will keep you on your toes. I have tweaked the Brits just a bit based on Combatintman's suggestions (I was already using the Lt Infantry TOE that he had suggested). The 81mm mortars are in District Center already as he had suggested but show up as offmap based on CMSF not letting you visibly see the mortar units. All missions now have extended time limits as suggested. Snipers are crack also. Based on Combatintmans suggestions with the Taliban I have adjusted their status to mainly conscript with a few green, regular and a few veteran units for variety. There are a few snipers but they are mainly regular with a few veterans. Not sure how to remove the individuals in certain units that had sniper rifles though. This is covered in the main briefing at the beginning of the Campaign. Did not want to be repeat the same thing in every briefing. Did add aditional warnings about mines and IED's to the briefings. I will continue to make a few more adjustments and tweaks then hopefully get the updated file uploaded soon. Anymore suggestions please feel free to let me know and I will make the adjustments. Michael

Well hopefully with a little more work I can get a balance that will both be somewhat realistic and actually fun to. All the suggestions are good ones. Erwin instead of reducing the replenish rate maybe a stiffer point penalty for friendly casualties would make a better balance. What you think? Michael

Thanks Combatintman . Wish I could have had that info in the beginning lol. Good stuff that I will look into making adjustments with. As far as IEDs go there are really very few in the campaign. I just factored them in on just a few missions for variety. Aggravating I know. The Taliban 360 threat is present but hopefully not over done. With the advantage of superior firepower of the US and Brits I needed something to avoid the missions being turkey shoots and be boring. So I gave the Taliban that irritating quality lol. The District Center map would have been awesome as I am sure mine is far from accurate. I winged it the best I could. The air and arty are there in most of the missions. A few of the 508 PIR missions are in the Ghorak Valley complex and I was not sure if that was in range of any based arty assets. Based on what I could find the 82nd operated out of Khandahar so most of their operations were airmobile into the Ghorak Valley. But I could be wrong as I am sure you are better versed than I am. The vp thing is screwy so I will look at the occupy space thing. Once again thanks to you and Erwin on your input. I will try to make the adjustments needed. RL and work are keeping me busy so will work on it as time allows. Thanks much Michael OH forgot to add there is like 90% replenish and supply rate between missions. But I will look into some additional ammo options.

Thanks Erwin. I will look into these suggestions and incorporate them as needed. Thanks for the info on the Tums somehow overlooked them having the grenade launchers. Michael

Thanks Erwin. I will look into these suggestions. The first mission has some Apache assets added as well as the sniper and yes they already have Crack status. The second mission is a airmobile search mission since the terrain in Afghanistan in the mountains didn't often allow for vehicle support. So extra ammo wasn't often available. If you ever watch any of the many documentaries on the war in Afghanistan units on these type of missions often ran short on ammo during firefights. I will look at the addition of a few engineers to help,as well as the time limit. Michael

I added some air assets as well as the snipers into a update file for that mission based on your previous suggestions. I know it is frustrating but it's the only way I could simulate the Talibans fighting style. They are very good at ambush style fighting. I could not locate in the editor a Brit vehicle equipped with a grenade launcher to add in.

Thanks Erwin. I'll look at adding a grenade launcher. The FO was there because he was part of the core unit. Since it's a mobile mission and I didn't add any arty assets. I may however put in some Rotor assets for support. I'll put a sniper in as well. He was suppose to be there. Michael

The Heart of Darkness “We penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness” Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness The Heart of Darkness is a semi-historical CMSF campaign depicting actions of the US 1 Bn 508 Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), 82nd Airborne and the British Army 2 Bn Royal Regiment of Fusiliers in the Sangin Valley, located in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan during March and April of 2007. It is designed with the latest version of CMSF as well as the NATO and British modules which are required. Several mods are included with the download which are needed to create the immersiveness of the campaign. They are included in the folder called Sangin Valley Mods. Just place in your dataz directory and remove when you finish playing the campaign. 1. Blimey's Afghan National Army Mod 2. British Camo Screen Mod by MikeyD 3. 82nd Airborne Mod v. 1.1 by Normal Dude 4. Irregulars Afghanistan by Blimey 5. Muddy Waters v. 1.4 by Birdstrike 6. Humvee modification by myself 7. Softskin Vehicles by Kieme Other mods that I recommend that are not included in the download. 1. All of Kieme's building and terrain modifications (A Must Have for the immersion of this campaign.) 2. Combatants, Mixed Combatants and Syrian Fighters by Mord All credit goes to the authors of these mods. The campaign was designed to be played from the blue side only. Core Units: 2 Bn Royal Regiment of Fusiliers 1 508 Parachute Infantry Regiment ( 82nd Airborne ) 2 Bn 319th FAR (Artillery Regiment) 1 Tolai 309th Corps ANA Campaign Tree: 1. Bombs in the Dirt (British vs Taliban) Draw will advance. 2. Hunting the Vipers (US/ANA vs Taliban) Draw will advance. 3. Blood on the Sand (US/British vs Taliban) Draw will advance. 4. Denial (US/British vs Taliban) Draw will advance. 5. Haven (US/ANA vs Taliban) Draw will advance. 6. Call of the Nightingale (British vs Taliban) Draw will advance. 7. Siege of District Center (British/ANA Police vs Taliban) Draw will advance. 8. Operation Furious Pursuit (US/ANA/British vs Taliban) Draw will win the campaign. Campaign Notes: " War is a sad, horrible, tragic, display of man's inability to accept the premise that the subjugation of one by another will not be long tolerated... ...Paul Mehlos - The Poor Bastards Club In designing this campaign I have tried within the limits of the game engine to recreate what combat in Afghanistan was like. The missions vary from probes, attacks and defense scenarios. All the maps were created by the author (me) and I tried to give each a 'Afghanistan' feel with the tools currently available in the editor. The units are historical though some of the places and engagements are fictional. Unit management is critical in advancing through the campaign. There are no reinforcements, though I have given a high refit and resupply rate to the ISAF forces involved. The Taliban have a unique way of "popping up" anywhere so stay on your toes. They have developed intricate tunnel and trench complexes throughout the valley which allows them freedom of movement. This along with their ability to mingle with the civilian populations make them dangerous. Background "You foreigners have the watches, but we have the time".... suspected Taliban insurgent The Sangin River Valley is commonly referred to by British Soldiers serving in Southern Afghanistan as The Heart of Darkness. In early 2007 Sangin, situated on the Helmand River, was the world’s poppy capital and a vital Taliban stronghold. Given the Taliban’s reliance on poppy to fund their fighters, control of Sangin was vital for the Taliban’s survival and consequently would be fiercely defended. Sangin is a district of the southern Helmand Province of Afghanistan and also the name for a town in the district, population in 2006 at about 14,000. Politically, Sangin held little sway in Kabul, a “minor backwater.” The Taliban did not see it that way, and neither did the Allies. The district and town sit on the Helmand river-valley plain surrounded by rolling hills and mountain ranges to the east and west, and desert to the west and south. It has been referred to as a canyon town, a valley town, a market town on the south bank of the Helmand River. The Sangin valley became known as the Green Zone, with a population approaching 800,000. It is a mix of rocky desert and stretches of farmland, rolling hills, groves of trees, and multiple crisscrossing canals. To the northeast is the Kajaki Dam. The Helmand River rises in the mighty Hindu Kush mountains, about 50 miles west of Kabul. It is about 715 miles in length and passes through desert, marshes, and a lake region at the Afghan-Iranian border. It provides no outlet to the sea. Its water is considered essential for farming and is crucial to the locals. The irrigation system so important to the growing of crops, mostly poppy, is fed by the river and dam and presented Allied forces multiple obstacles they had to learn to overcome. Experts say Sangin’s geographic location gives it strategic importance. It is at the confluence of two rivers in the northern section of the province, the Musa Qala coming from the north, and the Helmand. Just north of Sangin, the land rises to a plateau. Toby Woodbridge, in his book, Sangin, A Glance through Afghan Eyes, wrote "the narrow plateau (offers) commanding views over the town centre, fields, and river below, foot-hills and mountains beyond". Woodbridge was an officer in the British Army and served in Sangin. He is now a journalist. Woodbridge wrote this informative piece in his book: “From a military standpoint the town (of Sangin) was no natural fortress for those stationed within.” He said foliage and high growing crops reduced the field of view. The rolling hills could mask sight of enemies hiding behind them. There was sufficient high ground in every direction enabling an enemy a good view of the town below. The walls are “interlinked in a warren-like honeycomb without external support, a permeable perimeter enabling easy access into the town’s center from myriad different directions.” Woodbridge said that it was impossible to place enough troopers out there to cover every potential gap, and the enemy had a way of finding the gaps and punching through. He explained that the terrain was such that soldiers were virtually forced to take known paths, vulnerable to easy ambush. The troops had to take round about routes to avoid Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), the most lethal threat they faced. He noted this reality: “From the defenders’ point of view it was a landscape that rewarded constant presence and continual oversight at all times, for the moment you turned to look another way so your enemy would ensure danger greeted the next discerning glance. There was of course no possibility to place a boot on every piece of grass, dirt or track ...” The Sangin District has long been a center for the opium trade, and has long been ruled by tribal politics. The economy depends on this opium. Dependence on opium trade, which is theoretically illegal, usually involves a requirement for a certain degree of instability. As a result, various tribes would work to assure such instability existed in order to conduct their trade. That in turn is related to tribal politics. Local government was weak which made instability easy to create and made it easier to conduct opium trading and smuggling. The opium trade is significant. It is a multi-billion dollar business that accounts for roughly half of Afghanistan’s economic output. Speaking broadly, Afghanistan accounts for nearly all the world’s opium production and Helmand Province accounts for most of Afghanistan’s opium production. In addition to all this, the region provided a near perfect sanctuary to process the raw opium. One estimate states that there are or have been some 30-35 processing labs from which the processed opium could easily be moved to Kandahar and on to Qetta, a major haven for Taliban leaders. The terrain features allowed insurgents of any variety to come through the mountains between Kandahar and Helmand provinces with unlimited access to nearly all Helmand. These features also enhanced the capacity to conduct a lucrative opium trade and enabled intensive arms smuggling to, through and from the region. The British referred to Britain’s operations in Helmand as “Operation Herrick,” and numbered each deployment with a Roman numeral, as would be the case for all British deployments. The strategy was simple yet controversial among the other coalition forces, mainly the Americans. Setup "Platoon House" bases and provide security for the local populations. The Taliban had something completely different in mind than what the British thought they were going to do. The Taliban took the offense in a very aggressive way. So right off the bat, the British and others had wrongly assessed the nature of the threat. The British forces deployed and had barely set up shop when they found themselves embroiled in almost immediate open warfare with the Taliban. The British had no idea that the Taliban’s intent was to destroy them. Over time, the British would send in about 1,500 more troops but it took nearly three months to get them there. During the period 2006-2007, the Taliban showed itself to be a formidable and skilled group of fighters, well schooled on small unit tactics. It operated extremely well in the field. The Helmand environment described earlier gave it plenty of opportunities for ambushes, and fighting quite often occurred with only 200 meters or less between opponents. Close-in fighting seemed to be the name of the game. Bayonets were employed more than once. Air power was used against them within close proximity to friendly forces. The entire landscape in Afghanistan changed. As a result, the British commanders set up what came to be called “Platoon Houses,” small fortified “bases” in the towns of Sangin, Musa Qala, Nawzad and Garmsir. Often these platoon houses were government complexes where the troops could bed down, organize, obtain shelter, and prove a place from which they could launch their patrols. The plan was to hold these towns by using these platoon houses. The Sangin Platoon House was located in the abandoned District Center along the Helmand River. Some soldiers called it “The Alamo.” The fighting here has been so fierce and deadly that British forces called it “Sangingrad” after the WWII Battle for Stalingrad. The enemy commenced its siege of Sangin, then occupied by the British, in June 2006 and this initial siege lasted until late April 2007. At the time the British had several companies located there. Helicopter and fixed wing air came in to support the troops. General Sir David Richards, the NATO commander in Afghanistan at the time, said the fighting here was the worst the British had experienced since the Korean War. Then in April 2007, J/42 Commando participated in Operation Silver, a multi-national offensive to clear the Taliban from in and around Sangin. It was meant to be a surprise, “shock” attack. During Operation Silver, 42 Commando Marines led an armored column and pushed into the town from the north. The US 1/508 Parachute, 82nd Airborne Division, augmented by the ANA, conducted a heliborne assault towards the District Center, coming at the center from the southeast. The 82nd refered to it as Operation Furious Pursuit. This was part of a Helmand wide offensive known as Operation Achilles designed to clear all of the province of enemy. Operation Achilles was the largest NATO operation to date in the war, involving some 5,500 NATO and ANA troops. It was led by the British and, at the request of President Karzai, focused on the Kajaki dam and the towns in the area. The 2nd Battalion Fuseliers infantry had replaced the 42 Commando in the town center. In their first 20 days they were attacked 79 times. (Special Note: This campaign is only partially tested (due to RL stuff) so consider it in test mode. I will make changes based on player feedback.) https://www.dropbox.com/s/sfc5316dglrf452/The Heart of Darkness.zip?dl=0 Place the mod folder contents into your dataz and the .cam file into your campaign directory. Hope it proves enjoyable. Michael

Yes this was a very well done tutorial on scenario design. I have been following it with interest since you started. As you said it does take a lot of time and effort but I feel the same as you it does give a lot of satisfaction when you see it come together, despite the beating you take sometime on feedback lol. Job well done combatintman.

Ok here is an updated .cam file for this campaign. I addressed the concern over to much intel on enemy units. Now the briefing only lists which Russian units are involved but not their force disposition. I shortened the time limit on the first mission to 45 minutes. I also removed the FO from the mission Hauptman Piepers Tank. He had no role to play in that particular mission. https://www.dropbox.com/s/tl1342g4vh16jv1/Rattenkrieg.cam?dl=0 Hopefully this will make the campaign more enjoyable. Just put this .cam file into your campaign directory to replace the old one. You still will need to download the original file with the necessary mods. Follow the instructions at the beginning of the thread. Michael

It's finished but with the mods tacked on it may be to large but I will check.

Ill put up a new link. Not sure why the old one is not working.

Thanks GruntGI. I'll look at buffing up the arty a bit and I'll look at the obj on the one your starting. Maybe one day this thing will be worth something if I don't just delete it first lol.

Thanks very much CptMiller. This was my first truly historical campaign and it was a lot of work but fun as well. Hope you continue to enjoy. Michael

Thanks SLR. You are quite right about the enemy briefing info. Not sure why I even did it that way maybe because I did most if this campaign at around 3 in the morning lol. I work a night shift. Ill look at giving a more vague enemy brief in the update and I'll look at taking out the FO, not sure why he's there either lol. Thanks for the AAR. Michael

You are correct it does in one mission. My CMRT campaign Rattenkrieg also features one in a mission.

Thanks for that information. All of that had simply come from the research I did so I was unfamiliar with the actual locations and names. Thanks for letting me know that, it's good stuff. Michael

Thanks Grunt_GI. I will look at shortening that time frame. Also there is a missing FAC in the second mission but I believe you can still call air support with a HQ. I will add that in with a update. Michael