IICptMillerII

A fair point. The easy answer is, I wanted the scenario to be focused on the consulate evacuation and not as heavy on the other aspects. That, and as I mentioned I'm not trying to write a technothriller here. This AAR is a bit of a proof of concept, seeing how viable/workable it is to create a hybrid AAR like this. So far I'm finding it quite manageable and fun to do. That means there could be a follow up to this AAR, or even a whole new scenario in the future. So at the least, it may be possible that I do a new AAR like this with a more thoroughly equipped OpFor. The not-so-easy answer is, even if the Abbudin Regime had land based or air based anti-ship missile assets, it would be extremely difficult for them to get any missiles through to targets. Both the Enterprise and Wasp are mutually covered by the host of CGs and DDGs, as well as the F-18s flying air superiority. Further, the Regime would have difficulty cutting through the significant jamming present and finding targets to engage. In fact, the only ships they could hope to engage at this point is Task Force Wasp. There is no way for them to see the Enterprise and her company at this time. Additionally, even if they were able to get good locks on, lets say the Wasp, the Regime would have to volley fire a huge amount of missiles to have any chance of scoring a hit. Here's the quick math rundown: the ships of Task Force Wasp carry a grand total of 220 missiles capable of shooting down incoming missiles. Standard doctrine is to fire 2 anti-missile missiles per incoming ASM. That means that, to break even and increase the chance of a kill, the Regime would have to fire over 110 ASMs to cut through Task Force Wasps missile shield. Now, that does not factor in the Hornets. Each Hornet carries 6 AMRAAMs and 2 Sidewinders as a standard load, plus its 20mm gun. All of which are capable of shooting down incoming ASMs as well. Enterprise has 12 Hornets assigned to air superiority, for a total of 96 more missiles. So, for the Regime to cut through all of Task Force Wasps missile defense, and all additional missiles carried by the Hornets, they would have to fire at least 160 missiles all at once to have a chance of scoring a hit. Also don't forget about point defense weapons like the 20mm Phalanx CWIS, deck guns (which are capable of engaging incoming missiles) and passive countermeasures like chaff and flare, which ships can deploy in defense against missiles. And again, this doesn't take into account my jamming, or the fact that the P-15 land based missile only has a range of 45nm and would be easy prey for Tomahawks. The second the P-15s illuminated their radars to target my ships, they would be instantly detected by all of my various ELINT assets (situated at different bearings, so triangulation would be very quick) and engaged with Tomahawks. All of that said, like I mentioned earlier future scenario's can cover the larger spectrum of warfare.

I'm really excited for book 2. I think I remember reading somewhere that they are shooting for a Christmas 2020 release, though I could easily be mistaken. I think I know about the Russian officer you're talking about, and I agree, I hope he makes it. I really like how the Russian leadership is characterized. They aren't written as deranged villains out of a Bond movie, but as believable characters with realistic motives and rationale. Well, most of them at least. I've played through a handful of the Northern Fury scenario's in CMANO. They're all incredibly well done, in my opinion some of the best user made scenario's available. They are rather large and complex though, so taking one on is certainly a commitment in my experience. I think that's a good thing, but they definitely aren't casual 'pick up and play' scenario's.

Thanks! I have, and I really enjoyed it. I think it is exceptionally well written, especially for a technothriller. In fact, one of the authors who goes by AirborneRifles over at Grogheads has done some amazing AAR writeups there, and was my initial inspiration to do my first CMANO AAR last year. The only real issue I had with the book was that it ends just as the war gets going. I want more! Really hoping part 2 comes out as soon as possible.

I'm pleased to announce that this AAR is now also featured on the front page of Grogheads! It can be found here: http://grogheads.com/aars/20294#more-20294

Thanks for the positive feedback! It's been a lot of fun to put together so far. They don't. The closest thing they have to anti ship capability is the Su-22s armed with the AS-9 anti-radiation missile, which is very effective against ships if their radars are on. My shipborne radars are off however, and it would be very difficult for the Su-22s to get off shots regardless. Plus, as everyone will soon see, Al Mout International is in for a rough time.

H-HOUR This is the situation at the start of the battle. Carrier based AEW is in the air, as is a patrol of Prowlers performing EW and 2 flights of 2 F/A-18F Super Hornets providing CAP. Additionally, the EC-130H Compass Call is coming on station and is conducting active jamming. This jamming coupled with the Prowlers will hopefully be enough to frustrate the Regime radars. Speaking of which, all Regime radars, including illumination and fire control radars are active. The white text next to enemy radar and SAM sites shows the pulses of energy from these active radars. They clearly know we are coming and are combing the sky trying to find my aircraft. With air units on station or arriving on station, it is time to initiate the first Tomahawk land strike. This strike will come in 2 primary waves. The first wave is designed to strike enemy ADN assets and government/military targets in Al Mout. The second strike will be aimed at radar sites and any remaining ADN assets that survive the first strike. SAM sites are capable of targeting and shooting down incoming Tomahawk missiles. To combat this, constant jamming will make it difficult for their radars to find and track the incoming Tomahawks. If they are able to fire at the incoming Tomahawks (which is likely) there will be 5 assigned to each SAM target to insure that at least a few are able to get through. All other targets (radar sites, government/military targets such as buildings) will receive 2 Tomahawks. This is to ensure maximum damage against these targets while insuring against weapon malfunction. The order is given, and the ships of CSG 12 fire their Tomahawks at their designated targets. 111 Tomahawk missiles are launched in this first salvo. Nearly half of the total number of Tomahawks I have on hand. A strike like this gives a visual example to the term “shock and awe” which, rhetoric aside, is a very real thing. As the Tomahawks approach the coast (10-15 minutes after being fired) they begin to be detected by enemy radars. Fire control radars from the SAM sites try to lock on to the incoming missiles, but cannot cut through the jamming until the Tomahawks are very close to their targets. Some SAM sites manage to fire missiles at the incoming Tomahawks and knock a few down, but the majority of the Tomahawks are making it through and striking their targets. A few of the weapons malfunction, but the majority perform as advertised. In response to the Tomahawk strike, the Regime appears to scramble aircraft from Al Mout International. Multiple bogies are quickly detected climbing into the sky. The bogies are quickly identified as Mig-25’s, first by the E-2C and then visually by the F/A-18F’s Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) camera designed to spot, identify and track aerial targets out to 100nm. The Migs begin to chase down and engage the Tomahawks striking targets in and around Al Mout. They are able to shoot down a number of the relatively slow moving, non-maneuvering Tomahawks. Tomahawk Strike Battle Damage Assessment (BDA): The strike was largely successful. Most of the Tomahawks made it to their targets with only a few malfunctions. Most of the SAM sites that were targeted are either completely destroyed or heavily damaged. In Al Mout, all strategic targets were hit except for the government complex. However, one of the SA-6 SAM sites is still active. Additionally, the SA-2 site still appears to be active, but its radars are not emitting which likely means they were destroyed. These two SAM sites pose a direct threat to air operations over the city and will have to be reengaged before the Marines begin landing operations. A second Tomahawk strike, primarily targeting enemy radar sites and priority targets in the vicinity of Al Mout will commence shortly. In order for the second Tomahawk strike to be successful, the enemy Mig-25s will have to be dealt with. A group of 8 appear to be heading out to sea towards my aircraft and ships, while a second group appears to be forming up over Al Mout International. This has the makings to be a pretty big air battle.

I’m not planning on releasing the CM scenario as it is basically just a heavily modified version of MOS’s “The Coup.” I may end up releasing the Regime reskin as a pack though. I think you’ll really enjoy it. I’m very happy so far with how I’ve been able to mesh together CMANO and CM. The next few updates are focused entirely on CMANO too, so stay tuned! Let’s go with that! In all honesty, I wasn’t trying to be the next Tom Clancy/Larry Bond by writing a complex techno thriller scenario. I just wanted a quick and easy backdrop to give context to the scenario. The idea behind the consulate being stormed was more of a hostage situation on a national scale, something corny out of a movie like Die Hard. “Threaten us with enforcement? Well we’ve taken the girl hostage! Accept our demands or she gets it!” Original? No. Clever? Hardly. Adequate to give context to a US Marine amphibious operation into a hostile city? Sure! Thanks! I’m pretty happy with how this is turning out so far. Hopefully everyone finds it to be entertaining as the AAR develops. So far as a proof of concept for hybrid AARs, I would say it’s pretty viable. It’s a decent amount of work to put together, but it’s been very doable so far.

Combat Mission/Command: Modern Air Naval Operations AAR Consulate Crisis By IICptMillerII INTRODUCTION This is a hybrid after action report (AAR) using two simulators, Combat Mission Shock Force 2 (CMSF2) to depict the tactical ground combat, and Command: Modern Air Naval Operations (CMANO) to depict the naval and aerial combat. This scenario features a conflict at a US and Canadian consulate in the fictional Middle Eastern/North African city and country of Al Mout, Abbudin. The CMSF2 map was built by LongLeftFlank and then modified by MOS:96B2P for his scenario “The Coup” and is being used with his permission. All credit goes to LongLeftFlank for designing this excellent map and to MOS:96B2P for designing the scenario. I have modified both BluFor and OpFor forces as well as their respective objectives, as well as add in some relevant battle damage, but otherwise the map remains in its original layout. Carrier Strike Group 12 is a historically accurate recreation of the USS Enterprise cruise to the Mediterranean and Persian Gulf from June to December of 2007. The USS Enterprise carrier air wing, and all supporting ships are accurate to the 2007 cruise. This scenario is not designed to be balanced. BluFor is significantly stronger and more capable than OpFor in nearly every way. This is more a showcase of a hybrid AAR between two sims carrying out an operation that fully incorporates both sims strongpoints (CMSF2 for ground warfare, CMANO for naval/air warfare) and weaving them together to tell a story. It is also a proof of concept to see how viable creating hybrid AARs like this is. My advice is to treat this like a superhero movie; there is no doubt about the ending, but you still enjoy the journey. This AAR features several mods. Chief among them are: Veins Smoke and Effects mod Drakenlords Fire mod Regime Forces by myself playing the OpFor DISCLAIMER: The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this AAR are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred. CMANO DISCLAIMER: CMANO is designed to accurately portray military hardware from real world nations, from the years of 1980-2020+ and 1920-1979 (not used in this scenario). It simulates the planet Earth using open source terrain data. While fictional factions can be created and named so, the globe itself cannot be edited. The real-world location of this scenario is located in Libya, however the above disclaimer still applies. This scenario is not meant to portray Libya in any way. It is entirely fictional. SITUATION: Over the past few months the Abbudin Regime has been increasingly belligerent. On numerous occasions they have used their large air force to intercept commercial aircraft and shipping in international territory. In response to this, the UN passed a resolution enforcing economic sanctions against Abbudin. The Abbudin Regime responded by increasing their interceptions, in a few notable cases forcing commercial aircraft to land at Abbudin airports and be subject to “inspections.” The so-called inspections were largely just the Regime seizing commercial property for their own. In response to the Regimes increasingly belligerent actions, the United States deployed the USS Enterprise carrier strike group (CSG) and the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (2nd MEU) aboard the USS Wasp to the Mediterranean. Additional military assets in the Mediterranean have been put on high alert. Two days ago, large numbers of Regime military units were seen moving into the city of Al Mout, the location of the US and Canadian consulates. They began heavily patrolling the city in what appeared to be a martial law posture. Last night, the Canadian consulate was surrounded by the Regime’s military forces. The Regime has demanded an end to the economic sanctions and for the US to recall the USS Enterprise away from Abbudin waters. A tense standoff ensued, with the Regime changing their ultimatum deadline seemingly at random. Finally, at 0200 local this morning the Regime’s military forces stormed the Canadian consulate. There have been reports of gunshots being fired inside the consulate and the fate of the consulate personnel is unknown. Two hours later, US naval and Marine forces were given the green light to initiate combat operations in the city of Al Mout in order to evacuate the US consulate and rescue any surviving Canadian consulate personnel. MISSION: The primary objective is to evacuate US and Canadian consulate personnel from Al Mout, recover/destroy any sensitive material at both consulates, and withdraw from the city. Mission Specific Tasks: Carrier Strike Group 12 (USS Enterprise): Establish local air superiority over friendly naval assets, the city of Al Mout and surrounding area Strike strategic targets in and around Al Mout Strike Al Mout International Airport in order to prevent Abbudin Regime air force from being able to sortie Conduct Suppression/Destruction of Enemy Air Defense (SEAD/DEAD) Provide close air support (CAS) to US forces in Al Mout Task Force Wasp: Transport and deploy 2nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (2nd MEU) amphibiously to the shore of Al Mout Provide naval and close air support to 2nd MEU Receive US and Canadian evacuees Provide emergency medical care to casualties 2nd Marine Expeditionary Unit: Conduct amphibious infiltration of Al Mout Secure both US and Canadian consulates Evacuate US and Canadian consulate personnel to USS Wasp Desired End State: All US/Canadian consulate personnel recovered All sensitive materials recovered/destroyed All US ground forces withdrawn from city Area of Operations (AO) and Initial Deployment: Close-up of Al Mout and Surrounding Area: ENEMY: Regime Military Forces: The Abbudin military is typical of many Middle East/North African dictatorships. It has a large arsenal of older Soviet-era equipment, such as the T-72 and T-62 tanks, and BMPs for infantry fighting vehicles (IFV). The military is made up of roughly 6 divisions and a number of independent brigades, including special forces units that are primarily tasked with guarding key regime assets. Enemy Air Forces: The Regime has a large air force, mostly made up of old Soviet-era aircraft. These include the Mig-21, 23, and 25, along with a small fleet of Mi-25D gunship helicopters and Mi-8 helicopters for troop transport and logistics. Additionally, they have several SU-22M attack aircraft. These are capable of carrying the AS-9 anti-radiation missile with a range of 65nm, which can potentially threaten friendly ships. They have roughly a regiments worth of each fixed wing aircraft variant (20-25 aircraft per regiment) and about a squadron of each helicopter variant (10-18 helicopters per squadron) in range of the area of operations (AO). The Abbudin air force is not known to have any airborne AEW or EW aircraft, though they likely have some conventional reconnaissance aircraft equipped with cameras and ELINT equipment. Al Mout International Airport is just outside the city and has a significant number of air force assets, including at least one full squadron of Mi-25D gunship helicopters and another full squadron of Mi-8 helicopters. Both the Mig-21 and Mig-23 can be outfitted in ground attack roles. The SU-22M is a ground attack aircraft, though they are expected to be tasked in an anti-surface warfare (ASuW) role. The Mig-25 variant operated by the Abbudin air force is an interceptor only. Enemy Naval Forces: The Abbudin navy is essentially non-existent. They do not operate any craft larger than small patrol boats armed with small arms which are not expected to be a factor. Enemy Air Defense Network (ADN): Abbudin’s air defense network is extensive, though dated. In the vicinity of Al Mout, there are at least two groups of SA-6 Gainful SAM (surface to air missile) sites (roughly 10-14 launchers per group) and at least one battalion of SA-2 Guideline SAM launchers (roughly 3-6 launchers per battalion). These SAM sites pose the most direct threat to our forces, as they actively cover both the city of Al Mout and Al Mout International Airport. Further, there are a number of SA-5 Gammon SAM groups. The SA-5 has a range of 150nm, meaning these sites will be a close second priority for SEAD/DEAD missions. There are multiple SA-5 sites that cover Al Mout airspace, one to the North of the city and another to the West. There are also several radar sites, including the P-14 Tall King, P-18 Spoon Rest, P-40 Long Track, and P-80 Back Net air search radars. All these radars have sensor ranges in excess of 100nm with overlapping coverage areas. Many of the radar sites are located near SAM sites and thus will have some form of protection against air strikes. Enemy Ground Forces in Al Mout: Regular Regime military forces wear a uniform that is part olive drab, part knockoff DPM camouflage in an arid configuration. Their helmets are tan colored with red triangles on the front. The exact number and composition of enemy ground forces present in the city is not fully known at this time. From what intelligence there is, it is expected that the Regime has at least one company of mechanized infantry in the city, mounted in BMP-1’s. There have also been confirmed reports of both T-72M1 and T-62 tanks, though their exact number and location is not currently known. Additionally, the Regime is operating a large military police (MP) force in the city right now. These are essentially dismounted infantry operating on foot or out of light vehicles such as the Russian made UAZ car and URAL trucks. MPs can be identified by their white helmets, red armbands and plain olive drab uniforms. There are likely two companies worth of MPs operating in the region of the city that the consulates are in, though an exact estimate is not possible at this time. It is expected that once hostilities commence and the Regime determines our objectives to be centered in Al Mout, they will attempt to reinforce the city from outside. There is at least a battalion’s worth of mechanized infantry that can be road marched to the city within a matter of hours. Other units are present but will take longer to reach the city. Irregular Forces: The Abbudin military is largely a conventional force. They are not expected to have paramilitary or irregular forces in any significant numbers. TERRAIN AND WEATHER: The city of Al Mout is located on the coast and is surrounded by desert. Temperatures during the day are expected to reach a high of 90° F. The weather is forecasted to be a mix of clear and partly cloudy over the course of the next three days and should not hinder aerial or amphibious operations. TROOPS: Carrier Strike Group 12 (CSG 12): USS Enterprise CVN VFA-211 12x F/A-18F VMFA-251 12x F/A-18C VFA-136 12x F/A-18C VFA-86 12x F/A-18C VAQ-137 4x EA-6B VAW-123 4x E-2C 2000 VS-32 8x S-3B HS-11 6x SH-60F 2x HH-60H USS Gettysburg CG USS Arleigh Burke DDG USS Forrest Sherman DDG USS James E Williams DDG USS Stout DDG USS Philadelphia SSN USNS Supply T-AOE CSG 12 is the main aerial and naval effort of this operation. The USS Enterprise is equipped with its entire carrier air wing. She has 36 F/A-18C Hornet multirole fighters, 12 of the new F/A-18F Super Hornet multirole fighters, and a full complement of support aircraft including the E-2C Hawkeye Airborne Early Warning (AEW) and EA-6 Prowler Electronic Warfare (EW) aircraft. A carrier air wing carries an immense amount of firepower for both enemy air and ground targets. Supporting the Enterprise is her primary air defender, the guided missile cruiser (CG) USS Gettysburg. The Gettysburg carries a suite of anti-air missiles that can shoot down both incoming aircraft and missiles at ranges out to 150nm. The extremely powerful AEGIS radar greatly enhances her ability by allowing her to simultaneously scan, track and engage multiple targets from multiple bearings, as well as hand off targeting info to coordinate air defense with other ships. Four guided missile destroyers (DDGs) provide additional air defense, as well as an overwhelming land strike capability. There are 224 Tomahawk missiles (112x RGM-109C, 112x RGM-109E) between these four destroyers. Also in support is the USS Philadelphia, a Los Angeles class nuclear attack submarine (SSN) which brings with her an additional 8 Tomahawk missiles (4x UGM-109C, 4x UGM-109E). She is primarily assigned to Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) and is not expected to play a major role in this operation. Task Force Wasp: USS Wasp 4x AH-1W 4x CH-53E 4x MV-22B 6x AV-8B 2x CH-46E 4x UH-1N 2x HH-60H 4x SH-60F USS Ticonderoga CG USS Bainbridge DDG USS Oak Hill LSD Task Force Wasp is an amphibious assault group that carries the 2nd MEU and all assets required to support the MEU during amphibious operations. She is equipped with her own suite of aircraft, though these are primarily to support the MEU while engaged or perform logistical functions. The four AH-1W Super Cobra’s and AV-8B Harriers can provide the Marines with on call CAS, while the CH-53s, MV-22s and CH-46s all provide a heavy lift capability. The Wasp is escorted by a CG and a DDG with the same roles as the CG and DDGs assigned to the Enterprise; defend the air space and strike land-based targets. 2nd Marine Expeditionary Unit: A Marine Expeditionary Unit is a reinforced battalion capable of quickly responding to flashpoints around the world and conducting sustained amphibious operations. Due to the nature of this operation, no heavy lift amphibious craft are available, meaning the Marines will have to leave their tanks and Humvee’s behind. Two companies of Marines will secure the consulates and will be supported by the battalion headquarters, an engineer platoon, scout sniper platoon, reconnaissance platoon and the AAV platoon that will transport all personnel to and from the beach. This consolidated force is called the Marine Landing Party. C Company, the third rifle company of the MEU, will stay on USS Wasp as a Quick Reaction Force (QRF), responding if needed. Marine Landing Party: Battalion Headquarters Scout Sniper Platoon Engineer Platoon Reconnaissance Platoon AAV Platoon A Company B Company Quick Reaction Force: C Company Naval Support Activity (NSA) Souda Bay: 1x U-2S 1x RQ-4B 1x EC-130H 3x KC-135R 2x E-3C A number of supporting assets are located at the NATO naval base at Souda Bay on the island of Crete. All of these are support assets. A U-2 spy plane and RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV will provide constant on-station reconnaissance of Al Mout and the surrounding area. The EC-130 Compass Call will provide offensive electronic warfare capabilities such as jamming specific enemy radar and SAM sites. KC-135s will provide aerial refueling capability allowing station aircraft to remain in the air longer, and E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Command System (AWACS) will provide additional AEW support if needed. Due to the rapid escalation in Al Mout, some assets at NSA Souda Bay are still being prepared and will not be ready for at least a few hours, namely the AWACS and refueling aircraft. The U-2 is already airborne and flying a racetrack pattern waiting for the enemy ADN to be reduced, and the Global Hawk is ready to be launched. TIME: The date is 5 May. The time is currently 0500 Zulu, 0600 Local. Amphibious operations are templated to begin by 1000 Zulu, though this is subject to the reduction of enemy air and air defense assets. CIVILIAN CONSIDERATIONS: Al Mout is a populated city full of civilians. Efforts to reduce civilian casualties are being taken primarily in the form of weapon use restrictions. Only precision guided munitions are authorized for use within city limits. These weapons include JDAMs and Tomahawks but exclude weapons such as unguided bombs (ex. Mk82 without JDAM conversion, CBU cluster bombs) or naval gunfire support from 127mm deck guns. Once troops are in direct contact, the use of unguided weapons for CAS is authorized (such as unguided rockets fired from Super Cobra gunships) but only against positively identified enemy targets. All other use of unguided munitions within city limits remains restricted. Personnel not in uniform registering weapons cannot be engaged unless they engage friendly units first. All uniformed enemy combatants are free to be engaged at will. INITIAL TASKINGS CSG 12: CSG 12 is initially the main effort. It is tasked with both establishing and maintaining air superiority, as well as carrying out strikes against enemy radar, air defense, and strategic targets. USS Enterprise CVN is the flagship and will support naval aviation as well as being the primary command and control center for this operation USS Gettysburg CG will provide comprehensive air defense to the carrier and ships of CSG 12 USS Arleigh Burke will strike targets designated in Strike Package North USS Forrest Sherman will strike targets designated in Strike Package West USS James E Williams will strike targets designated in Strike Package Airport USS Stout will strike targets designated in Strike Package Al Mout USS Philadelphia SSN will provide electronic intelligence (ELINT) and maritime surveillance, and pilot recovery USNS Supply T-AOE will provide on-station replenishment if necessary and aid in pilot recovery if needed Map of Strike Packages: Naval Aviation: The primary conventional striking power of the US Navy, the entire carrier air wing will be tasked with establishing air superiority and striking enemy military and strategic targets in order to allow the Marines to conduct their amphibious infiltration and evacuate the consulates. VFA-211 (F/A-18F) will establish and maintain a combat air patrol (CAP) over CSG 12 and Task Force Wasp in order to maintain air superiority over all friendly naval assets VMFA-251 (F/A-18C) will remain on standby, ready to perform CAS for the Marine landing party once it has been deployed VFA-136 (F/A-18C) will perform SEAD/DEAD strikes in cooperation with Tomahawk strikes from CSG 12 ships VFA-86 (F/A-18C) will conduct an alpha strike (entire squadron sorties) against Al Mout International Airport with the goal of destroying enemy aircraft on the ground and eliminating the ability of the airport to support flight operations VAQ-137 (EA-6B) will provide EW support in the form of ELINT and directed jamming VAW-123 (S-3B) will provide aerial support, such as aerial refueling, as well as maritime surveillance HS-11 (HH/SH-60) will provide anti-surface warfare (ASW), maritime surveillance and pilot recovery Task Force Wasp: Task Force Wasp will transport the 2nd MEU close enough to the shores of Al Mout to conduct the amphibious infiltration, will support the Marines during their infiltration, and then will receive and care for all consulate personnel and any casualties sustained during land operations. USS Wasp will support both aerial operations and Marine amphibious operations, and will receive all evacuated consulate personnel and casualties suffered during land operations 4x AH-1W will provide Marines with CAS while embarked on amphibious operations 4x CH-53E can provide heavy lift support of both land and naval operations 4x MV-22B can provide heavy lift support of both land and naval operations 6x AV-8B will provide Marines with CAS while embarked on amphibious operations 2x CH-46E can provide heavy lift support of both land and naval operations as well as pilot recovery and humanitarian assistance 4x UH-1N can provide logistical support to both naval and land operations as well as pilot recovery 2x HH-60H can provide logistical support to both naval and land operations as well as pilot recovery 4x SH-60F will provide ASW and maritime surveillance to Task Force Wasp USS Ticonderoga CG will provide comprehensive air defense to the carrier and ships of Task Force Wasp USS Bainbridge DDG will provide air defense and maritime surveillance, and is capable (though not initially tasked with) conducting land strikes with Tomahawks USS Oak Hill LSD will provide amphibious support to Marines and can receive Marines, consulate personnel and casualties as an alternative to USS Wasp 2nd MEU: Upon arriving on station off the coast of Al Mout, the 2nd MEU will conduct an amphibious infiltration of the city. Using amphibious vehicles and supported by CAS, they will make landfall and proceed into the city to the US and Canadian consulates. They will evacuate all personnel and human remains (if/where applicable) and remove or destroy any sensitive materials before withdrawing from the city and returning to Task Force Wasp. A detailed landing plan and tasking follows in the next section titled “Amphibious Plan.” Special Assets: Special assets are designated as units not operating directly from either CSG 12 or Task Force Wasp. They are primarily reconnaissance and support units, providing constant direct intelligence gathering capabilities and EW support as well as aerial refueling and AEW 1x U-2S is tasked with providing direct imaging and intelligence gathering of Al Mout and the surrounding area to give commanders a better idea of the situation on the ground and to provide early warning and tracking to new threats, such as enemy reinforcements to the city 1x RQ-4B is tasked with providing direct imaging and intelligence gathering of Al Mout and the surrounding area to give commanders a better idea of the situation on the ground and to provide early warning and tracking to new threats, such as enemy reinforcements to the city 1x EC-130H is tasked with providing comprehensive EW support in the form of direct jamming of specific enemy radar and air defense assets as well as providing additional ELINT support 3x KC-135R is tasked with providing aerial refueling 2x E-3C is tasked with providing additional AEW Emissions Control (EMCON): EMCON BRAVO All ships will restrict radiation emissions (radars are off) but can still communicate and data transfer All aircraft are EMCON DELTA – unrestricted emissions AMPHIBIOUS PLAN Plan: The amphibious plan is as follows. The engineers will land first and perform a quick sweep of the beach for mines and obstacles. Imagery shows that the beach should be clear and free of mines and obstacles, so the sweep should be quick. A and B Companies along with the scout sniper and recon platoon and battalion headquarters element will land when cleared to by the engineers. The engineers will make breaches large enough for AAV’s to pass through at breach points Elmer and Fudd. A Company will proceed through breach point Elmer onto MSR Wiley to MSR Market. At the intersection of MSR Market and Wiley, blocking position Bugs will be established. Then the company will continue down MSR Liberty to the US consulate. Similarly, B Company will proceed through breach point Fudd onto MSR Coyote to MSR Market. At the intersection of MSR Market and Maple, blocking position Bunny will be established. Then the company will continue down MSR Maple to the Canadian consulate. Upon reaching the consulates, the Marines will secure the compounds and establish a security perimeter. Scout snipers will establish overwatch points on the roofs of the consulates. The Marines will first evacuate consulate personnel to the AAVs, then secure/destroy any sensitive materials on site. Once the consulates are secured and policed, each company will withdraw to their respective blocking positions, recover the Marines manning those positions, and then withdraw to the beach. From there everyone will amphibiously embark and return to the ships of Task Force Wasp. Taskings: A Company: Establish blocking position Elmer on MSR Market, move to and secure US consulate via MSR Liberty B Company: Establish blocking position Fudd on MSR Market, move to and secure Canadian consulate via MSR Maple Engineer Platoon: Provide initial beach screening and breach points at point Bugs (for A Co) and Bunny (for B Co) to allow immediate road access to MSR Scout Sniper Platoon: Will provide rooftop security at both consulates once they have been secured Recon Platoon: Reinforce blocking positions C Company: QRF Landing Plan: A MEU comes with 12 AAV-7s organic to the formation. Due to the size of the Marine Landing Party and the lack of use of other amphibious landing craft, there are not enough AAVs to land the entire landing party at the same time. The landing party will infil and exfil in waves, designated below: Infil: 1. Engineers, Scout Snipers, Recon platoon 2. A Company, Battalion Headquarters 3. B Company Exfil: 1. Engineers, Scout Snipers, Recon platoon, all consulate personnel and casualties not already evacuated 2. A Company 3. B Company, Battalion Headquarters Supporting Fires: Once ashore, and as long as the airspace remains clear, the Marines will have overwhelming air support. Both the USS Wasp and USS Enterprise will have on call CAS dedicated to supporting the Marines. Wasp: 4x AH-1W Super Cobra’s 6x AV-8B Harrier’s Enterprise: 12x F/A-18C Hornet’s VMFA-251 (Marine aviation) Due to the restrictions on unguided weapons use inside city limits, the Marines will not have access to mortars or naval gunfire support. However, the Cobra’s will still be allowed to engage positively identified enemy targets with unguided rockets.

Ahh ok. I'm still excited for any benefits that are developed from the contract that eventually make it through the grapevine to the commercial versions of CM. C'mon man, go big or go home! T-80s!

This highlights one of the many strongpoints of CM in my opinion. The lack of borg spotting makes the battlefield much more realistic. Borg spotting in an otherwise great simulator/game can go a long way to hindering any other features of the simulation, like what you mentioned in Armored Brigade. I think its just one more example of how even in a similar genre of games (simulation/wargame) CM still stands above. FWIW I do enjoy Armored Brigade for what it is. At the least, I am always looking for a way to scratch my cold war itch. I think AB does a lot of things well, and it is still being supported and developed by the devs which is always a good sign to me. If there was a CM game that covered the same conflict that AB does however, the CM title would be the dominant game for me by a lot.

Glad to hear that CM is making the rounds through various defense industries. In my opinion that exchange can only be a good thing for BFC, even if it does mean some of the commercial stuff slows down a bit. For what its worth, I know I personally would love to see some additional analytics included in CM, even simple ones such as a label on a vehicle penetration in the after action review screen. Battlefield forensics can be a lot of fun and a great way to learn the game. No idea if that's what you're talking about, or if the analytics you're including for the Brits is all behind the scenes code based stuff.

I think there is a way to tell if a unit is out of APS. Under the vehicle subsystems panel it usually lists the APS. If the box is green, you have it, and if its not, then you don't.

Did you try setting it to "Desktop" without also forcing a resolution in the text file? I've never manually set a resolution size in the text file, so it could be that is causing an issue for you somehow.

https://www.marcorsyscom.marines.mil/News/News-Article-Display/Article/1505738/marines-to-receive-more-m27s/ I think I saw some decent A2 models on CadNav Would definitely make for a better swap. Heh, I stand corrected. Those silly Marines

Some pretty cool stuff here. Lots of potential to add new/more flavor objects to the game to increase the immersion. Just FYI, the M27 IAR for the Marines is meant to replace the SAW, not the M16/M4 series. I think it would be really cool to see the ol M16A2 in SF2. I would try it myself, but I'm working on something else at the moment. Cool stuff!

Have you tried setting display size to the “Desktop” setting? That’s what I use and I’ve never had any issues on my laptop or desktop running CM.

I'm partial to the US Army campaign titled Task Force Thunder. Its a long campaign with a good assortment of different missions and in my opinion only a few of the missions are duds. The Marine campaign has some great missions in it as well. The Dutch campaign is a lot of fun too, though it hasn't been fully updated to engine 4 standards yet, so you may want to wait on that one.

Based solely on the screenshot you provided, my guess is it is some sort of resolution issue, though more specifically I can't say. I definitely agree that the game looks blurry, and that it should not look that way. Can you post a screenshot of your options page from the CM menu? Might help to narrow down the issue.

Just because this is how you play the game does not change the fact that Steel Beasts is primarily an armored vehicle training simulator developed for various militaries around the world. All of those features are nice, and I use them as well. They are still secondary to the primary function of the sim, which is to teach young armor crewmen how to operate a certain vehicle. In fact, the way it is truly meant to be played is with a modeled controller of whatever vehicle is being trained on, such as the Abrams gunner joysticks. It is a professional training tool made commercially available. CM is the reverse, a commercially focused and driven simulator that in a few small cases is/has been used by professional militaries as a training aid. Exactly. Both CM and SB are great at what they do. Its important to recognize that they set out to do fundamentally different things. A more 1 to 1 comparison with CM is definitely the new Close Combat game that is supposed to be coming out soon. Both CC and CM are tactical ground simulators, with direct control of all individual units with little autonomy and set during WWII.

Being the author of that video, I can confirm that yes it can happen. I’ll parrot others here by saying that Steel Beasts is similar in effect to CM, though there are some major differences. SB is primarily a training tool, a sim focused specifically on modern armored warfare. Further, it is meant to be played from the turret. Yes, you can order units around in a map, and it does have a robust mission editor, but it’s primary goal is different to that of CM. It’s fantastic at what it does, and it has a lot of overlap with CM, but I would argue that it is still fundamentally more different than similar. That said, it can go a long way to giving some context to what you see in the modern CM titles. Anyone who thinks the Abrams spotting ability is overmodeled in CM should play some Steel Beasts. When you’re able to read the belt buckle of an enemy infantryman at 2km while looking through the x50 magnification thermals on the M1A2 SEP, you start to understand why they act as they do in CM. My personal views of the Graviteam games are mixed at best. I really like the operational layer, and the diverse and varied conflicts covered (early war Eastern Front, Angola, etc) as well as some of the graphical effects (mud being thrown by tracks, ground deformation, light gore and destroyed vehicle models). However, I find the games to be extremely clunky. Some say this is actually a feature of the games, but I don’t buy it. The TacAI also leaves a lot to be desired for me, and I think CMs TacAI is far superior in every way. 90% of any given battle comes down to your unit deployment, whether you’re attacking or defending. If you give yourself a good setup, you’ll usually slaughter the enemy. The only real exception to this is when you’re blatantly outmatched, say as an infantry company going up against a horde of heavy tanks. Also, Graviteam lacks an editor which really hurts it in my opinion. To me, CM is the clear choice. That said though, there really isn’t any reason not to own and play both.

Always love seeing 4th ID get some love. Looks great with the portraits!

Congrats on the release!

Great work! FWIW I think these are coming out extremely well. Have you considered working on and releasing them in packs? Instead of doing the entire game and all modules, you could work on one module at a time. Might help to break up the work a bit and give yourself a sense of progress. Just a thought

The size of the gun is much less relevant in modern warfare than it was in WWII. The most important factor is the ammo being fired. For example, a 125mm gun from a T-72M1firing BM-15 sabot rounds is much less lethal than a 105mm gun from a Stryker MGS firing M900 sabot rounds.

Upload the images to Imgur, then copy/paste the link here. The forum automatically embeds them and there is no file size restriction. The short answer is; you can easily outspot Syrian armor without ever unbuttoning. The more detailed answer is; in certain circumstances it can be beneficial to unbutton your NATO tanks. Movement to contact is generally a good time to have TCs unbuttoned. If nothing else, they can more easily communicate with units not directly in their command, such as friendly infantry or light vehicles nearby. You don't put yourself at a significant disadvantage if you never unbutton NATO tanks. In real life, TCs tend to stay unbuttoned as much as possible. Not to aid in spotting ground targets though. Mostly to keep situational awareness of what is around the tank, primarily concerning obstacles to avoid while driving and maintaining unit cohesion. TCs also keep a lookout for enemy air units while unbuttoned, such as enemy helicopters. Both of these functions aren't relevant to playing CM though.