ncc1701e

I will probably be wrong about this but wouldn't it be a good idea to have a dedicated thread outlining confirmed issues with the new patch?
Each patch issue would be outlined with a brief description and its current status. This will give players an idea of whether they want to start or continue playing battles and campaigns. The thread should be blocked from public posts and controlled by Developer(s). Players can pile in on separate threads about other potential issues. 
At the moment browsing the forums I can see:
1. RT: PBEM games are not compatible and have to be finished in 4.0
2. FI: Fallschirmjager uniforms have issues. 
3. BN: Appears to be some odd behaviour of troops fleeing towards the enemy to seek cover.
 

CMBN 4.0 Patch Has New QB Maps.  They are easily identified by "2019" in the Map name.  I took a good run at the bocage maps and personally enjoyed the game play with them.  There are a few maps devoted to the Rhone Valley of Southern France. So river crossing and Hills. 

INVERTED KILLSACK
Moments after the Bradley engages the single ATGM team on Hill 113, a worst case scenario develops. An entire company of T-72AV tanks appear along the ridgeline of Hill 113. My entire force suddenly finds itself in a killsack. Most of my assets are deployed. The infantry are in the process of advancing on and clearing objectives, with their Bradley’s sitting in overwatch positions. Further, most of my tanks are either engaged at point blank range with the remains of the T-72 company on the reverse slope, with their sides and rear facing Hill 113. I only have a handful of tanks in overwatch observing the direction of Hill 113.

This is an extremely dangerous situation. The potential exists here for OpFor to inflict severe casualties on my force in a very short amount of time, and all of this can occur without me being able to properly react. In short, it could all be over for Task Force Miller.

The drama kicks off immediately. CPT Miller’s 66 tank, part of the handful of tanks on overwatch of Hill 113, is fired on by one of the enemy T-72s. A half second later, the 66 tank engages the same T-72 that fired at it. The sabot from the T-72 crashes into the lower glacis plate of the 66 tank, but is defeated.

The T-72 is not so lucky. The sabot from the 66 tank hits and penetrates its target, sending the sabot through the chin of the turret and out the back, detonating the ammo stored in the turret on its way through.
What follows is another short, violent tank duel. The other tanks in overwatch, including 2 tanks on the MSR, engage the threat on Hill 113. Bradley’s, including the infantry company commanders track, engage with TOW missiles. Sabot rounds and ATGMs (TOW’s from the Bradleys, AT-11s from the T-72s, and AT-5a’s from a few BMP-2s) zip past each other.

Despite the excellent gunnery of my tanks and Bradley’s, not all shots find their targets. The T-72s are firing from behind a berm at an elevation advantage, making them tough targets to hit. A number of sabot rounds and TOW missiles miss, and some that hit are defeated by the combined armor and angling of the T-72s.

Casualties are suffered on both sides. I quickly lose an Abrams when an enemy AT-11 tank fired ATGM slams into the top turret of one of my Abrams as it tries to orient itself towards the new threat. The ATGM punches through the soft top turret armor and explodes inside, killing the entire crew.

A moment later, one of the tanks engaged in a knife fight with the enemy T-72s in the reverse slope killsack takes multiple hits to the rear of its turret. It too is quickly destroyed, taking its entire crew with it.

Bradley’s from 3rd platoon in overwatch of their infantry currently clearing the woods of NAI 1 are hit next. One enemy sabot round destroys 2 of them, punching clean through the first Brad and into the second. If there is a silver lining to this, it is that the infantry was already dismounted.

My tanks and Bradley’s quickly increase their return fire, and soon gain fire superiority. A flurry of killing blows follows, and within the next 20 seconds, most of the OpFor T-72 company on Hill 113 has been smashed.

This engagement occurred over the course of roughly 50 seconds. I had no chance to give new orders based on the new threat. All I could do was watch. Luckily for me, I had maintained decent overwatch positions with my reserve tanks, and many of my Bradley’s were in positions that granted them some level of concealment to the threat. The rest all came down to the gunnery skill of my crews and, in the case of my Abrams, their excellent armor that allowed them to survive frontal hits.
This could have been disastrous for my forces. If I had not maintained good overwatch, I could have been stuck waiting an entire minute to react to the new threat on Hill 113. With modern weapons and targeting, as well as it being an entire company of enemy tanks, a minute would have been more than enough time for the T-72s to destroy/cripple most of my soft/vulnerable assets caught in the open. Remember, if I lose more than 30% of my force, I lose the battle.
What saved me from defeat has more to do with basic tactical fundamentals and less to do with equipment or technology (though equipment and technology certainly helps). All elements, while moving through the open, positioned in the open, or overwatching smaller assets like infantry, were in turn being covered themselves. Further, I knew Hill 113 was key terrain based on its near dominating sightlines covering the part of the map my Task Force has to initially deploy across. If I had not had my rearmost tanks oriented towards Hill 113 overwatching the rest of my Task Force, the T-72 attack could have been a complete disaster for me. Additionally, if my opponent had committed his two tank companies at the same time (the company in the reverse slope position, and the company up on Hill 113) he could have overwhelmed my vehicles by catching me in a deadly crossfire. 20 T-72 tanks, firing at me from different directions, elevations, and distances likely would have caused much more damage to my forces.
For now, I’ve managed to keep my Task Force intact. However, these killsack engagements are a sobering reminder of how quickly I can lose my command, and how crucial basic tactical fundamentals are regardless of weapons and technology.

INSIDE THE KILLSACK
Two teams of tanks scramble up to either side of the enemy position, creating a killsack. The enemy tanks are stuck. They cannot maneuver or stay still without taking point blank fire from multiple directions.

The next 20 or so seconds see a flurry of action. Number 1 tank is the first to fire, but miraculously the round is deflected by the T-72s ERA.

That luck only lasts a few seconds however. Number 3 tank of first platoon fires from its position on the right, knocking out a T-72. This is quickly followed a moment later by Number 1 tank firing again. This time, luck is on his side. The sabot round rips through 1 T-72 before smashing into a second behind the first, destroying both of them in catastrophic fireballs.

Half a second later, 1st platoons Lieutenant destroys another T-72 just behind the two tanks knocked out by one round. In the span of 15 or so seconds, 5 T-72s have been destroyed, bringing the total number of observed destroyed T-72s to 6. More than half a tank company has been destroyed in under a minute.
However, due to the slight downslope the enemy tanks are on, and the smoke and chaos, there are at least 4 unaccounted for tanks likely still sitting right in front of me. There is also an ill omen. While the knife fight at the killsack is raging, an enemy man-portable ATGM is fired from Hill 113. A Bradley on overwatch is able to spot the gunner and lob a few 25mm rounds his way. Luckily, the ATGM fails to track and crashes harmlessly into the dirt, but its a prelude of something far greater yet to come.

 

At this stage, you need to split your forces into several AI groups. This is at your discretion but you can have a maximum of 16 AI groups per side. For this small amount of forces, and for what I want them to do, I have created three AI groups.
AI group number 2
This group will represent the infantry squads that are inside the M1126 Stryker carrier vehicles. This group does not take a lot of action in this scenario. Its main objective is to size the ditch once the M1126 Stryker have created a good smoke screen in front of them. To select the units inside AI group number 2, just select all the infantry squad and press the F2 key. You will see a [A2] tag. This is to say that the units are now in AI group number 2.

AI group number 3
This group will represent the M1126 Stryker carrier vehicles. Their objective is to reach waypoint number 1 (see first post) and generate a smoke screen. We can also imagine they can do an area fire on the ditch to suppress any enemy located there. Select all the M1126 Strykers of 3rd platoon and press the F3 key. You will see a [A3] tag. This is to say that the units are now in AI group number 3.

AI group number 4
This group represent the mortar team. Their objective is to perform area fire respectively on Target 1, Target 2 and then Target 3. Select all the units of the Mortar Section and press the F4 key. You will see a [A4] tag. This is to say that the units are now in AI group number 4.

As you can see, AI groups selection is done based on the mission objectives to be done. You can perfectly assign several units from several formations inside the same AI group. All units are, by default, inside AI group number 1.

CONTACT 
As soon as 1st platoon dismounts in front of NAI 3, they make contact.

It appears to be a squad sized element split between two buildings. Bradley gunnery is up to a high standard, and rounds are immediately pumped into both buildings before the enemy has a chance to fire at my dismounting infantry.

The enemy is suppressed, and friendly infantry begins to cautiously advance forward to clear the rest of the complex.

Suddenly an enemy ATGM flies out from behind NAI 3 and slams into a Bradley, destroying it and killing the driver.

Moments later, an Abrams in overwatch spots a BMP-2 hiding behind NAI 3 and destroys it with a HEAT round.

Just as suddenly, more enemy infantry are spotted in the buildings, and a close range firefight breaks out.

The firefight is short and violent. No friendly casualties are suffered.

A lull in the fighting momentarily occurs, and I use the opportunity to push up a scout team armed with a javelin to try to get eyes on the second BMP-2 to the rear of NAI 3.

As the scout team is moving up, they are suddenly engaged by the second BMP-2.

30mm HE rounds streak down the road and explode against trees and the ground, though miraculously none of my scouts are hit by the fire. One of the scouts is armed with an AT-4 and takes a shot at the BMP.

 
Unfortunately the shot falls short, but the scouts are able to crawl out of the line of fire and suffer no casualties. The BMP poses a problem due to its positioning, but the encounter could have gone much worse.
A survivor of the Bradley’s barrage pops up and fires a few bursts. This time, the enemy’s aim is good, and I suffer a casualty.

My infantry, as well as an Abrams in overwatch, return fire with small arms and coax. Its enough to finish off the lone enemy soldier.
The BMP-2 is in a good keyhole position, covering down a road that separates my infantry from the buildings on NAI 3. Crossing a road like this is already a very dangerous thing to do, and is known as a Linear Danger Area (LDA). In order to deal with this serious threat, I move Scout Team 3 off of their observation post and down into a position where they can get eyes on the BMP and engage it with their Javelin.

The scout team is able to get into position and take aim. The scout fires moments later, and the missile hits its mark.

On the right flank, 3rd platoon advances cautiously into the woods covering NAI 1. It doesn’t take long to find the enemy. A fire team takes fire from it’s front and suffers a minor casualty. Thankfully, the soldiers body armor prevents the wound from being serious.

One of the scout teams helping to clear the woods pushes up and spots the enemy. They begin engaging with rifle fire and grenades.

Having pinned down the enemy, the scout team capitalizes on the situation and rushes the fighting position.


The scouts kill the remaining enemy soldier and occupy the fighting position for themselves. In this short but violent exchange, I was lucky. I only suffered one man lightly wounded, while killing 2 enemy soldiers and taking their fighting position. The last thing I want to do is get sucked into a costly close quarter fight in these woods. It’s not even my main objective.

Moments later, another enemy position is discovered further into the woods, on a very slight reverse slope.

 
My goal is to quickly sweep the edges of the forest for enemy assets that can pose a long range threat to my advance down the MSR, such as ATGM teams or artillery spotters. Once these threats have been found and neutralized, the infantry will fall back and let the armored vehicles strongpoint the position. That way, if the enemy decides to attack out of the woods, they will be cut down in the open by my vehicles.
Here is an overhead view of the woods covering NAI 1:

This should help to illustrate my intentions with NAI 1. I would need much more than a platoon of infantry to clear these woods, and even then it would be long and bloody. It simply isn’t worth the effort. The good news is, the terrain appears to be too dense for the enemy vehicles to emerge in any semblance of order or speed. As long as NAI 1 is strong pointed by friendly armor, I should be able to keep it bottled up and it will not pose a threat to my advance down the MSR.
2nd platoon (infantry) along with elements of 2nd platoon (armored) and the Task Force command element move forward to establish new overwatch positions along the right side of the MSR.


A call comes over the radio informing the JTAC that the Apache called in on the possible enemy armor concentration behind NAI 1 is now on station. Moments later, a missile is seen streaking into the sky.

The shot came so fast that the Apache pilot didn’t have time to pop flares in defense. The enemy missile hits the Apache, destroying it. This is an expensive lesson to learn. The airspace is not safe for aircraft. Half of my available fire support is now restricted until I can proof the airspace.
However, there is hardly any time to contemplate this new dilemma. The two tanks from 2nd platoon (armored) advance to a berm and discover…

What appears to be an entire enemy tank company in a reverse slope position, at point blank range. Before either of my tanks have a chance to react, one of the enemy tanks fires at Number 3 tank. The round impacts the berm, causing no damage. My tanks are quick to respond. In rapid succession, they pump 2 rounds into targets to their direct front, destroying them.


The exchange is not one sided. Before either of my tanks have a chance to reload, number 3 tank takes a penetrating hit to its lower glacis plate.

The Abrams is destroyed, but all 4 crewmen survive the hit and are able to bail out of the tank without suffering a casualty.
While this is happening, the infantry from 2nd platoon dismount their Bradley’s and begin advancing on NAI 11. They are immediately greeted by a hail of gunfire from enemy infantry occupying the buildings on NAI 11.


The fire causes no casualties, and is quickly returned and silenced by 25mm HE fired from the Bradley’s overwatching the infantry as they dismount.
I’m now in a precarious position. I have deployed infantry and their Bradley’s dangerously close to enemy tanks in a reverse slope position. Further, I now only have 1 tank directly observing and engaging what appears to be a company of enemy T-72s. If the T-72s are able to maneuver out of the reverse slope position, they could destroy a significant number of Bradley’s and Abrams at point blank range with just a single volley. I have tanks in overwatch positions, but they would likely not be able to react in time to prevent a mini-catastrophe.
In response, I quickly maneuver 2 teams of Abrams to either flank of the reverse slope position to keep the enemy engaged and hopefully pin him down/destroy him so the T-72s cannot threaten my IFVs and infantry in the open.

What happens next is pure chaos.

MOVEMENT TO CONTACT

The battle begins and my task force starts deploying. 2nd platoon (tanks) moves forward to establish hull down positions on the rise in front of them. 3rd platoon (tanks) establishes hull down positions on the MSR.


Artillery begins to fall on NAI 1.

On the left flank, scout team 3 moves forward, dismounts and establishes an observation post. All is quiet on the left.

Immediately after taking hull down positions, 2nd platoon encounters and engage enemy infantry moving in the open.

Upon doing my terrain analysis, it became quickly apparent to me that NAI 1 would be an excellent defensive position due to it’s cover, concealment and dominating sightlines along MSR Titan. In short, it is an excellent place for infantry to dig in and engage my forces as they try to move down the MSR.
It appears that the enemy is aware of the defensive advantages of this position as well. The enemy team my tanks engaged is proof that the enemy is on NAI 1 in some capacity, but to what degree?

In order to find out, I dispatch 2nd platoon (infantry) to begin moving towards NAI 1. In addition, scout team 1 pushes up to get extra eyes on and help discover any hidden threats not yet uncovered by the tanks.

As 2nd platoon and the scout teams begin their movement, Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) indicates that there could be a concentration of armor in the vicinity of NAI 1. I waste no time getting the JTAC to call in an Apache to put eyes on the area, and missiles into anything spotted there.

Scout team 1 dismounts and pushes up slightly to get better eyes on the tree line, but spot nothing. Covered by the tanks and scout team, 2nd platoon moves up on line and dismounts its infantry.

Meanwhile on the left flank, 1st platoon (infantry) covered by 2nd platoon (tanks) move forward along MSR Titan to gain a position overlooking NAI 3.

NAI 3 is close to the MSR and would be an ideal spot for the enemy to launch spoiling attacks against my task force moving down the MSR, such as firing RPGs into the flanks of my vehicles. Further emphasizing this point, SIGINT reports that there are potential contacts in the building complex farthest to the rear. Perhaps this is an enemy outpost watching the MSR? To prevent the enemy from launching any spoiling attacks against my task force and to deny him his (potential) observation post, 1st platoon (infantry) will establish a base of fire observing NAI 3, and then sweep and clear the buildings to ensure no threat is posed to the rest of the task force. As 1st platoon moves into position and establishes overwatch, the platoon fire support team calls in a fire mission on the suspected outpost. The mission is a single section (2 tubes) of 155mm and will be short but violent.

Shortly after calling it in, the fire mission lands.

The fire mission is short, only dropping a handful of rounds. As soon as it ends 1st platoon (infantry), covered by tanks on the MSR, advance and dismount in front of NAI 3.

Back on the right flank, my infantry are now fully deployed and arrayed against NAI 1, supported by their Bradley mounts, some tanks, and a scout team. Despite being in the open, my men have not taken any fire. Further, despite having good direct observation of the NAI, I have not been able to uncover any enemy positions. It’s time to advance.
I bring all my tanks in the area on line and begin bounding the infantry forward in teams towards the tree line.


As this is happening, an enemy artillery barrage begins to land. It seems to be falling in the open field to the rear of most of my forces and poses no immediate threat to me.

Opening Moves - 1st through the 4th minutes

Keep the above in mind as you read through this post...  
AXIS BRAVO

Using masked terrain as much as possible the RPG team led the movement down this axis, as I felt it was highly probable I could see some armored vehicles try to advance on the Farm.  They were followed by 2nd Squad, 3rd Platoon, and behind them was one of the Recon Squads.
 

Once at the farm, their presence immediately started to pay dividends as they uncloaked at least two light armored vehicles and one infantry unit (on Objective Red).  If that's an FO or an ATGM on Objective Red I am going to want to put it out of action ASAP.. with that in mind the Recon Squad is called forward to push a little closer to get eyes and maybe weapon fire on Obj. Red.
 

With the Recon Squad a little closer it becomes clear that Ian has two ATGMs of unknown type on Objective Red.  Also note the additional two Light Armored Vehicle sound contacts in front of Obj. Red in the dead area behind the far Red Ridge.  The AT Team has taken up position in the corner of the walled courtyard, and is waiting for things to develop. 
 

I did not know which type of ATGM these were, as I'm crap at visually identifying equipment like this.. I need to get better if we keep playing with these rules that's for sure.  All I knew at the time was that these two ATGMs could devastate my movement toward the Bridge objective and I needed to do something about them.  I need to create a weapons identification guide.. that would be useful.
The second Recon Squad moved to the Farm to provide some extra firepower.
 

As the rules state, there is no direct targeting of enemy units in this game, so I gave my forward Recon Squad a target arc to cover Objective Red and let them control their fire. I don't think they did much damage to be honest, but at least Ian will know I see that ATGM and maybe he'll move it somewhere less dangerous.
 
AXIS ALPHA

On Axis Alpha one BTR is providing support in the gully while I originally placed the second BTR in a hull down position to cover the approaches to the Bridge.  The squads dismounted and started to advance down the gully toward KT2 and the Bridge.  
 

Once I spotted the ATGM on Objective Red I popped smoke and withdrew the BTR on the ridge and withdrew it into the gully.  I also changed my mind and remounted one squad in the first BTR to keep them fresh during this Movement to Contact.
 

The other two BTRs dropped off the Mortar Squad and the Platoon HQ.  In this area close to the Bridge the HQ will setup a listening post and hold there until relieved.  The Mortar meanwhile will setup in the little woods with the intent of eventually being able to place fire on Objective Red across map.  The BTRs will be moving back to Objective Blue to pick up personnel to shuffle to this area to keep building my Bridge Objective assault force.
 
Okay, now I will turn it over to Ian who can take his time as I will be on vacation next week     However I will be checking in even though I can't post any turns while I am away.

METT-T: Mission
The mission is straight forward: keep my starting point secure, secure the bridge and if possible take Bil's starting point.
Objectives:
The bridge – This is a modified meeting engagement but this is the undefended objective that we both need to take.
Red setup – My starting point and the twist in this battle – we both have out own objective to hold while at the same time take the bridge.
Blue setup – Bil's starting point.
Tasks:
Use cover to get to the bridge first. I bought recon BRDMs specifically to get there fast. I have routes to move that are behind terrain cover most of the way.
Deny the approach. The Red setup objective appears to have a view (KT7) of the both AA2 and AA3 that Bil might use to get to the bridge.
Probe to see how well Blue setup is protected. I can advance towards the farm (KT3) with support from units on the high ground or hull down behind ridge at KT6
METT-T: Terrain
We took the map from “Tactical Vignette 99-2 The Passage at Wilcox” desighed by George McEwan <http://www.combatmission.lesliesoftware.com/ShockForce/Scenarios/Tactical%20Vignette%2099-2%20The%20Passage%20at%20Wilcox%20SF2.html>. We kept just the rural part for this meeting engagement. To make this more interesting than a race to the central objective like the typical ME we added objectives at each of out starting points too. The idea being it will create decisions and stop this from becoming nothing more than a mad rush.
Here is the map with the avenues of approach Bil could use. I labelled the same locations with the same KT numbers that Bil used – that should help keep things straight.

METT-T: Enemy
Enemy Intentions
Take the bridge and hold their own start point.
Possible Order of Battle
I looked back at our correspondence to find out how we set the conditions on forces:
Further clarification that in this context “no mods” means taking the base as is – no deleting AT teams or XO / HQ support teams.
Enemy Course of Action
I expect that the enemy will likely move to protect the starting point objective and also move to take the bridge objective. I expect some movement on AA1 probably to take the farm. Between the farm and the trees near the Blue objective that will be a good start to protect the Blue Objective. Some other force will likely take AA2 or AA3 to take the bridge. It is more difficult for the Blue side to interdict my movement so I don't expect that. This is Bil so I know the leader ship will be good but you never know how aggressive or not he might be.
METT-T: Troops
See earlier post
METT-T: Time
We set a hour for this battle but both agreed we would negotiate an end at a reasonable time before that if needed. Neither one of use *needs* to fight to the last man.
 

Combat Mission Shock Force 2 PBEM AAR
MSR Titan
By IICptMillerII

INTRODUCTION
 
This is an after action report (AAR) of a play by email (PBEM) battle I recently concluded. The battle is in Combat Mission Shock Force 2 and features a combined arms task force attacking down a major highway against a near-peer opposing force (OpFor).
The map is taken from the first mission of the excellent campaign “Forging Steel” by GeorgeMC. All credit goes to him for designing the superb map. I have modified the BluFor and OpFor, as well as their respective objectives, but otherwise the map remains untouched.
This AAR features several mods. Chief among them are:
Veins Smoke and Effects mod Drakenlords Fire mod Sahrani Liberation Army (SLA) by myself playing the OpFor US 3rd Infantry Division Multicam uniforms by myself A number of the graphics used in this AAR (mainly the maps and task force layout) are large image files and are best viewed in full size, with the ability to fully zoom in on them.
All sprites of vehicles and soldier models used in the map and task force layout graphics are taken from the game “Armored Brigade” by Matrix Games and are slightly tweaked by me. All credit goes to the artists who created these sprites.
 
MISSION
Task Force Miller is ordered to assault down Highway 3, named Main Supply Route (MSR) Titan, in order to allow follow on forces to continue the attack.
Mission Specific Tasks:
Secure Bridges 31 and 32. Destroy any enemy forces in the vicinity of MSR Titan Do not suffer more than 30% casualties Desired End State:
MSR Titan, to include Bridges 31 and 32 secured and not directly threatened by the enemy. Task Force Miller combat effective and capable of conducting follow-on operations.
 

 
ENEMY
S2 (Intel) indicates the enemy is present in battalion size and are made up of elements from the 16th Guards Tank Division. Specifically, elements of the 47th Guards Tank Regiment appear to be deployed to our front. S2 anticipates a mix of dismounted and mechanized infantry (mounted in BMP-2s) in battalion (-) strength supported by at least one company of T-72AV tanks. It is anticipated that at least one additional company of tanks, maybe more, could be present on the battlefield, possibly as a quick reaction force (QRF).
The enemy is well equipped, well led, and well trained. They are expected to stand and fight and will not give ground easily. Entrenched enemy units not immediately threatening the MSR should be bypassed or be destroyed with indirect fires.
The T-72AV is a very capable tank and is well crewed. It is capable of frontally penetrating our M1A1’s at combat ranges. It is not a threat to be taken lightly.
Additionally, enemy infantry may be equipped with the AT-14 Kornet anti-tank guided missile (ATGM). This weapon can easily destroy our M2 and M3 Bradley/Cavalry fighting vehicles and can severely damage, disable, and even destroy our M1A1’s.
 

 
TERRAIN AND WEATHER
The weather is overcast, though rain is not expected. The Air Force has assured us that the weather will not impede their ability to support the task force.
The landscape is a mildly arid temperate climate. The dominating terrain features are Hill 113, and the gorge that runs North-South, crossing under MSR Titan at Bridge 32. The gently hilled terrain is a mix of grassland, agriculture, and light forest. The forested areas are not expected to prohibit tracked vehicles, though caution should still be used if passing through.
MSR Titan runs East-West along the 2240 Easting. It crosses two obstacles, unnamed gorges, at Bridges 31 and 32.
Several settlements of varying size are scattered through the area of operations. Only one is named, Kronenburg. The rest are designated by named areas of interest (NAIs). The most significant of these are likely to be NAI’s 5, 8, 9 and 12. These are larger settlements located closest to the MSR.
 

 
TROOPS
Task Force Miller is a combined arms task force composed primarily of two companies, one mechanized infantry and one armored. The armor company is Alpha Company equipped with M1A1HC Abrams tanks. The mechanized infantry company is Charlie Company riding in M2A3 Bradley Fighting Vehicles (BFV). Neither the tanks nor BFVs are equipped with explosive reactive armor (ERA) packages, so they are more vulnerable to HEAT rounds, specifically modern tandem HEAT warheads. These units come from 1st Battalion, 64th Armored Regiment. The parent division is the 3rd Infantry Division.
Also attached is 1st Platoon, Alpha Company, 5-7th Cavalry. The scouts operate the M3A3 Bradley Cavalry Fighting Vehicle (CFV).
Supporting Fires:
The task force’s Joint Tactical Air Controller (JTAC) is assigned to the headquarters element of Alpha Company, and rides in a Humvee. Charlie Company has its Fire Support Officer (FSO) in its Bradley Fire Support vehicle (BFIST), part of C Company’s headquarters.
We have been given priority fires for the following assets
Battery A, 1-41st Field Artillery. x6 155mm Paladin self-propelled guns 1 flight of AH-64D Apache Gunships (2 helicopters) Armed with: 30mm HEDP x1000 70mm HE Rockets x38 AGM-114 Hellfire x8 1 flight of A-10C Thunderbolt II’s (2 fixed wing aircraft) Armed with: 30mm APDU x1350 500lb bomb x4 AGM-65 Maverick x4  

 
TIME

The time is 0830. Task Force Miller has 2 hours to accomplish its objectives.
 
INITIAL SCHEME OF MANEUVER 
The initial scheme of maneuver, illustrated by this map, is as follows:

 
Cavalry Scouts (White)
Scout team 3 will advance to NAI 2 and establish overwatch positions North-East to screen the task force’s left flank. Scout team 1 (dismounted) will observe to it’s North-East to provide another set of eyes from a different location to spot any threats that immediately appear as the task force deploys.  
Tanks (Red)
3rd platoon will advance down the MSR and establish hull down overwatch positions that will allow observation down the entirety of the MSR and its immediate surroundings. 2nd platoon will advance forward into hull down positions and establish a base of fire position to cover the infantry 1st platoon will advance forward directly in front of NAI 1 in order to directly observe and engage any threats spotted there and allow the infantry to move up, dismount and begin sweeping the NAI.  
Infantry (Blue)
For now, all infantry platoons will remain mounted and stationary in defilade as the tanks and scouts move forward to their initial positions. Once the tanks/scouts are in position, the platoons will fan out and deploy against their respective initial objectives. 1st platoon is tasked with clearing any discovered threats in the immediate vicinity of MSR Titan. 2nd platoon is effectively the reserve element and will respond to developing threats as needed. 3rd platoon is tasked with sweeping NAI 2 if the enemy is discovered there.  
Preparatory Fires
1 section of 155mms (2 guns) will fire a light mission against NAI 1 to suppress any enemy forces deployed there that could threaten the initial deployment of the task force. The remaining 2 sections of the battery will be on call for fires.

NOTE:  from this point on I will post in blue text to better differentiate my posts from @IanL's as our forces, though different are similar enough to cause confusion.
NOTE 2:  I added a table of contents to the initial post in this thread that I will keep updated as we go along.
METT-T ANALYSIS
MISSION - Move to Contact and destroy any enemy forces discovered in the Area of Operations (AO).  Primary objective: seize the Bridge objective Secondary objectives: Maintain control over Objective Blue If possible throw the enemy off Objective Red. ENEMY - Expect enemy force to be of similar makeup to yours, use care when engaging, the enemy commander is known to be a very capable leader.  Recover the enemy Order f Battle (OB) as the situation develops. Enemy Avenues of Approach (AA): AA1 - A strike directly toward the Farm House is possible AA2 - This is the most obvious Avenue of Approach for the enemy to use as it provides the best cover AA3 - Another possible approach, used in conjunction with AA2 this approach could allow the enemy to get boots on the Bridge objective before I can do much about it, though traveling through those woods should be slow and I should be able to spot movement along this path as it passes over the Bridge road and before it enters the woods
TERRAIN - The AO is fairly open, with a gully running from the blue side to the red, this will probably be the main thoroughfare to the Bridge Objective.  There are woods in front of Objective Blue and on the far side of the Bridge Objective, the latter could be a useful avenue of approach for the enemy. In front of Objective Red are two low ridges, these could provide pretty good hull defilade positions from which to cover the Farm House and open area up to the woods in front of Objective Blue.
Key Terrain (KT): KT 1 - Blue Ridge, this ridgeline should provide good hull defilade positions from which to cover any advance down the Red Gully and into the Gully Intersection where the Red Gully and Blue Gully intersect.  It also provides good fields of fire to cover the open area to the east of the Farm House.  Getting firepower on this ridge as quickly as possible will be very important. KT 2 - Gully Intersection, I expect controlling this intersection will be the key to controlling the Bridge Objective.  Seizing it and maintaining control of it will be important to the accomplishment of the primary objective. KT 3 - Farm House, the house provides the highest terrain between the two friendly objectives.  Controlling the house and the area around it could be the key to the secondary objectives. TROOPS -  B Company, 1st Battalion Guards Mech Infantry INITIAL ORDERS: Command BMP will move to KT1 and provide overwatch over the Blue Gully and KT2 until relieved.  The Command Squad will dismount and join the 2nd Platoon elements overwatching the Bridge Objective.  The ZSU will remain in reserve. HQ Command Squad BMP-2 ZSU-23-4 1st Platoon Mech Infantry INITIAL ORDERS: Hold in reserve HQ on BMP-2 2nd Squad on BMP-2 3rd Squad on BMP-2 2nd Platoon Mech Infantry INITIAL ORDERS: Move along Axis Alpha two squads will maneuver through the Blue Gully toward KT2 while the Plat HQ and the mortar will set up to overwatch the approaches to the Bridge Objective. HQ on BTR-60PB 2nd Squad on BTR-60PB 3rd Squad on BTR-60PB Heavy Mortar Squad on BTR-60PB 3rd Platoon Mech Infantry (Dismounted) INITIAL ORDERS: AT Team (RPG) and one squad will advance along Axis Bravo toward the Farm House to overwatch AA1.  The Recon Squads will follow and support.  The rest of the Platoon will remain in reserve for now. HQ 2nd Squad 3rd Squad Heavy Mortar Squad x3 AT Team (x2 PG-7 and x1 AT-13) x2 Recon Squads
TIME - We gave ourselves one hour to complete this action.

Planning
METT-T will be forth coming. For now I will go out of order and present my order of battle to get things going.
 
METT-T: Troops
Order of battle
A Company, Syrian Regular Army Recon
HQ Team (named Leslie), BMP 2K
1st Platoon
HQ Team, BMP 2
1st Squad, BMP 2
2nd Squad, dismounted
3rd Team AT-7, dismounted
2nd Platoon
HQ Team, BMP 2
1st Squad, BMP 2
2nd Squad, dismounted
3rd Team AT-7, dismounted
 
B Company, Syrian Regular Army Recon BRDM
HQ Team, BRDM-2
BRDM-2 AT5
1st Platoon
HQ Team, BRDM-2
1st Squad, BRDM-2
2nd Squad, BRDM-2
RPG Team, BRDM-2
2nd Platoon
HQ Team, BRDM-2
1st Squad, BRDM-2
2nd Squad, BRDM-2
RPG Team, cross loaded into 1st Platoon's 4th BRDM-2
2 Platoon A Co

 
1 Platoon A Co

 
1 Platoon B Co

 
2 Platoon B Co

 

POST CONTENTS
Ian - METT-T - TROOPS Ian - Turn 1 - Rule Violation! Bil - METT-T Analysis Bil - Recovering Enemy Order of Battle (OB) Ian - METT-T & PLANNING Bil - Opening Moves - 1st through the 4th minutes Ian - First Few Minutes – Moving Out and the importance of C2 Bil - 5th Minute - Area Fire Type 3 Rule demo Ian - Moving into position and the action starts Bil - 6th through 8th minutes Bil - Area Fire Example Explained Bil - the 9th Minute Bil - the 10th Minute Bil - Minutes 11 through 13  Ian - Things start to heat up Bil - Minutes 14 and 15 This game was fought against @IanL, it is long over and Ian will be contributing to this thread as we go, so feel free to discuss tactics used, the rules we adhered to (or tried to adhere to), or anything else that warrants a response of some kind.
The Realism Rules we used during this game were inspired by the rules used by @ncc1701e and @JoMc67 in the CMBN forum (what we called the Star Trek Rules).  I recommend you looking in on those lads and take a look at what they have been doing.
Ian and I, though we used those rules as an inspiration, really are using a different set that more aligns with our thinking of how a realism mod should be applied.  You will see some similarities and some that are dramatically different.  I will list the rules now and leave it up for discussion and debate:
HARD CAT RULES
 ARTILLERY No Pre-Planned Arty on Turn 1 - EXCEPTION:  ATTACKER in an Assault or Attack scenario Once placed, artillery cannot be cancelled Artillery can only be adjusted once spotting rounds start to fall Follow Rule 4 for all Area Fire by artillery or (indirect firing) mortars TARGETING & SMOKE No direct targeting allowed, units must find their own targets Smoke can be used at any time (infantry, artillery, or vehicle smoke of any flavor) INTELLIGENCE Players CANNOT click on Enemy Icons or Units during a Game, only visual examinations allowed AREA FIRE No Area Fire allowed on turn 1 AF-Type 1 Players can order area fire on an Action Spot (AS) that DOES NOT have ANY positive or tentative contacts known by any unit  The PL must have LOS to the AS to direct fire from its squads and any squad to be given an area target order must be in C2 with the PL AF-Type 2 Players can order a unit to area fire on an AS that has a tentative contact that is known only to said unit The squad leader is directing fire AF-Type 3 Players can order a unit to area fire on an AS that a superior of the team has a positive or tentative contact in, as long as the unit is in C2 with said superior The LT is directing fire We can dissect those in as much detail as you guys like.
SCENARIO CONSTRAINTS
QB Meeting Engagement (Tiny) Red v Red No Tanks Infantry Base (any flavor) No other limits
Note that on the map there are three objectives, we each have one friendly objective that we need to protect, and one major objective, Bridge that we will be fighting over.  The intent was to keep us honest and make sure that we didn't just both do a flag rush on the Bridge... I think it worked pretty well as you shall see.
Objective Blue - my setup area  Objective Red - Ian's setup area Bridge Objective - main objective for this scenario My Purchases - BLUEFOR
B Company, 1st Battalion Guards Mech Infantry HQ Command Squad BMP-2 ZSU-23-4 1st Platoon Mech Infantry HQ on BMP-2 2nd Squad on BMP-2 3rd Squad on BMP-2 2nd Platoon Mech Infantry HQ on BTR-60PB 2nd Squad on BTR-60PB 3rd Squad on BTR-60PB Heavy Mortar Squad on BTR-60PB 3rd Platoon Mech Infantry (Dismounted) HQ 2nd Squad 3rd Squad Heavy Mortar Squad x3 AT Team (x2 PG-7 and x1 AT-13) x2 Recon Teams B Company:

1st Platoon:

2nd Platoon:

3rd Platoon:

ZSU-23-4:

I've finally got the big valley map to a point where I'm happy to use it as a 'master map', it takes a little while to load, but it's stable enough once it does:

It's not quite as detailed as I'd like (CM:A Flavour Objects are not the easiest to place, the rocks really hate steep slopes, which is kind of unfortunate), but I've done my best with it.....I dread to think how many times I've clicked on tiny components of this map in preview mode! 
Here's some scenes of daily life in the valley. 
The day starts early for the water sellers who, like almost everybody else, are forced to hire guards to protect them from bandits as they go about their business in this lawless province:

Before their shift at the local mine a group of workers and their guards enjoy a hearty breakfast of local produce:

A large consignment of ore is ready to be delivered to the refinery in a nearby city:

Meanwhile, near the highway, a DRA Army convoy has stopped to refuel and gather fresh supplies for their journey.....The convoy commander engages in the timeless ritual of haggling with the locals over their scandalous prices:

Map can be found here:  https://www.dropbox.com/s/gsrzlgkxrv6yl2t/[Map] Afghan Highway Valley.btt?dl=0
This is a totally blank map, no AI, no setup zones, no labels.....Nothing. 
Feel free to use & modify it in any way that pleases you. 
PS - Ctrl+Clicking to fast move around this map in preview mode within the game editor is not recommended.....You may well delete or modify something! 
 

Doing a small scenario example for AI triggers, I have seen that the "on map" M1129 or the spotter remains stuck in Spotting phase. I am using CMSF2 v2.01.
Rarely the "on map" M1129 will fire, it happens once so far. But, usually, it will just remain stuck. In this situation, the "Delivery = " parameter remains empty as you can see on the below screenshot:

Did anyone else notice this?

@Badger73 has also compiled a useful list of things to read for scenario design. It is here:
http://www.thefewgoodmen.com/thefgmforum/forums/cm2-scenario-design-section.444/ 

Before continuing I would like to give some few reminders on the AI. The AI is programmed by painting on the map the orders that must be performed by each AI group created. AI is not complicated. You just need to practice.
You have four options on the 2D map:
Movement zone:
You can paint square in yellow by left clicking on each of them. The map area that you will define is the zone where you want your AI group to arrive at the end of a particular order. The TacAI will determine the way to go there so if you want to influence the desire path for reaching an objective, you will need to create several orders. Do not forget that the zone that you will define must be large enough for your units. If your AI group contains four tanks, a movement zone of one square is may be not a good idea because the four tanks will not enter in one single square. You may define discontinuous squares. Again, practice to master this is the way to go.
Fire zone:
You can ask your units in the AI group to perform an area fire of a given map zone. For that, you need to paint the square of the zone to attack by using Ctrl-left click. This will paint your square in red instead of yellow. Please note that you can perfectly combine a movement zone and a fire zone in one order. This way, you can ask your units to move to a given position to perform an area fire on something, just do not forget the LOS rules apply. There is a second important thing to know. The area fire order has the lowest priority for your AI group so if your units find a good target, they will engage it first.
Facing zone:
Sometimes, a movement will end up with your units not looking toward the enemy. To mitigate this, you can select one particular square that your units will face at the end of their movement. To select this square, do Alt-left click on it. It will be painted in green. Since this is a single square, I recommend not to select the green square too close of your ending movement zone. Remember all your units will face the same square...
Withdraw zone:
You can ask your units to retreat. Your units will deploy smoke screens if possible. And, if there are vehicles in your AI group, those vehicles will reverse showing their big front armor. But, this is useful also in attack to create a smoke screen for your units. For this, you need to select one particular square by Shift-left clicking on it. The square will be pink. And the square must be in the direction your units/vehicles must face while reversing.
 
Once the AI menu selected in the editor, you have access to several buttons in the below screenshot:

The yellow colored zone, in the screenshot, gives access to all the possible AI plans within a given scenario. There are up to five AI plans per side plus a special Support Targets plan for artillery and air support strikes at the beginning of the scenario. Basically, one AI plan contains the orders for several AI groups. You can perfectly finish a scenario with one unique AI plan. The other plans are here to surprise your human opponent by new sets of AI orders for your AI groups.
The orange colored zone, just below (yes yes this is orange), allows to increase the percentage of a given AI plan to be selected. If you have one AI plan, the default value of “Used Frequently” is the one to take. According to the manual: "A Plan with “Used Sometimes” is two times more likely to be chosen than “Used Rarely” while “Used Frequently” is four times more likely to be selected".
The pink colored zone gives access to each AI group to give them some orders. Pay attention to select the correct AI plan (Blue or Red) and then the correct AI group to not mix up everything. With a litte practice, this works like a charm.
The green colored zone allows to select, within one given AI group, several orders. By default, the first order of an AI group is Setup. You can use the button Add to add more. The subsequent order will be named Order 2, ...
The white colored zone permits to select several actions that your units must do (orders, floors to occupy, stances, ...). I invite you to read the manual to understand each possible value.
The red colored zone contains two importants values. Exit between 00:00 and 20:00. What does it mean? The units is the number of minutes and seconds since the beginning of the whole scenario. This concept is key to understand how it works. According to the manual: “Exit Between ... and ...” tells the AI Group at what scenario time to leave their current Map Zone and when to arrive at the next Map Zone.
The first number tells the Group to stay at the current Map Zone until the specified scenario time is reached. With this setting a Group never moves on to the next Order before the specified time is reached.
The second number defines the latest time that an AI Group should arrive at it’s next order, and causes the Group to try very hard to get to the next Order in the plan before the specified scenario time is reached. This does not mean the Group will do it, just that it will try. If it has taken excessive casualties, is immobilized or heavily engaged, it may blow the set time. It will still attempt to execute the next order in the plan, just not within the time that the scenario designer allotted for it."
The blue colored zone is the one interesting in this tutorial because, clicking on it, this allows to select the triggers that we have created.
Now that this brief summary is done, let's go to the orders for each AI group.

Marines load up in the well deck of the Assault Ship USS Wasp.

AAV-7s and LAV-25s exit the well deck and head for the beach. 

Marines gather gear on the flight deck of the USS Wasp as the first assault wave passes between the Wasp and the USS Oak Hill.


Marines on the starboard hangar of the USS Wasp look on as the USS Ticonderoga engages attacking aircraft.  

 

Units on Citywide 3 north be advised, multiple reports of shots fired, 605 North 14th Street in the alley.  Units responding advise. 
Unit 2203 enroute from 500 North Utica.
 
 
Unit 2205 in the area.

 
Unit 2205 we can hear gunshots but don't see anyone,  show us out on foot 600 block of 14th in the alley.
 
 
UNIT 2202 SUBJECT WITH A GUN RUNNING WESTBOUND ACROSS 14TH STREET!  WE'RE OUT ON FOOT!

 
Air 11 is on scene.  We've got the eyeball.  Subject running westbound through the backyards 600 block of 14th Street.  Ground units, be advised he is about to come out on 13th Street four or five houses south of Lake Avenue.  He's got on a camouflaged jacket.   

 
Air 11 to ground units take a slow down, shots fired suspect down.  We're going to need EMS and a supervisor 600 block of 13th Street. 

Using the newer Withdraw order to make smoke screens is pretty exciting, especially with Red forces. Going to have a play around with that.

Seven days with no posts?
Let me fix that:
 

Ach weel that buggered up my productivity first thing on a Monday morning!
Excellent video thanks. Great to see this being played. Your video was a masterclass in applying the principles of maneuver, mass an economy of force. And a superb cinematic experience. Thank you.

Great little scrap by @George MC...
 

Fun update. With the release of Shock Force 2 @Mad Mike updated his scanner tool to correctly handle the new files. I quietly updated the site to include new and updated Shock Force scenarios and campaigns. At the time I cooked up a scheme to manually update all the old files too. That proved a bit unworkable so I was wondering where that would go when I discovered that the new tool mostly doesn't die looking at old file so with a few tweaks I managed to get a full scan of all the old scenarios and all but two campaigns. There are some issues. You will see plenty of "unknown" strings in the tables - the new scanner does not get the correct information for all fields and likely will not so this we will have to live with. Also there are now even more scenarios that don't have a home (that I know of) on the web. I still owe @Bootie a list of such files so we can reconcile them.
Check it out here (321 scenarios, 25 campaigns etc.):
http://www.combatmission.lesliesoftware.com/ShockForce/Scenarios/index.html

See this post - Orders for AI group number 3:
You need to visualize where your units are located at the beginning of the withdrawal. Then, paint some yellow squares where you want them to retreat. And be sure to add the pink square in the direction of the enemy. This is what I have done in the above post. Look at the difference of location of the yellow squares between order 2 and order 3.
And also, do not forget the face command (green square) in the order just before the withdrawal order. It may help to have the units facing the right direction before reversing... Order 2 in the above post is using a green square also for this.