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Good day everyone. Today I will be playing through the 'Abu Susah' scenario of CMSF2. The mission is simple - my two Stryker rifle platoons must bypass the village of Abu Susah, known to be held by hostile irregulars, and destroy any enemy anti-tank weapons. I have 45 minutes to accomplish my task. I know little about my enemy, only that Abu Susah is home to an infamous radicalised madrassa and that there are 'many bad men' with 'many weapons'. The briefing warns me of RPGs and ATGMs. There could also be recoilless rifles. As I am facing irregulars I will also have to be on the lookout for IEDs covering the roads and other chokepoints. Civilian density is moderate, so I will have to be vigilant. The enemy could be hiding in plain sight. The AO is about 900 x 600m across. Abu Susah sits roughly in the centre, north of my start line and stretches to the west, nestling in some rolling hills and straddling a crossroads. The ground is very dry and the weather is hazy and warm, with a light wind blowing from the northeast. Sightlines are relatively open, the AO being dominated by the few multi-storey buildings dotted about the place. Atop hills to the northwest and northeast of my start line are some small farm buildings. Their elevation will provide me with vital observation posts over the AO and into part of the village. The highest building in the AO is a three-storey just on the eastern edge of the village, which I have dubbed the Savoy. The other high point of the AO is a two-storey atop a hill north of the village, which I have dubbed the Ritz. These buildings would make for excellent observation posts and good (if obvious) positions for heavy weapons. There are two routes that I could take to bypass the village. The first is the safest and most obvious route, a simple run along the eastern edge of the AO. This keeps the village at a relative arm's length. This route has two sticking points, these sheep pens and a ditch along the north-south road. The ditch has only three crossing points: one at my start line, one where it is bisected by the east-west road and one at the northern edge of the AO. The sheep pens constrict my manoeuvre space at the north-eastern edge of the AO, forcing me into a chokepoint and providing a position for the enemy. The ditch then forces me into another chokepoint at the crossing. The second route is less obvious but far riskier: a run along the western edge of the AO, along a dirt road that loops around Abu Susah to the North. This route takes me very close to the village and leads through a small hamlet or farm on the reverse slope of the hill in the northwest corner of the AO. An advance along this route would be exposed to fire from the village and would then have to fight through the hamlet/farm (if they are occupied). The one advantage this route provides is that it is far less obvious than the first. I command the 1st and 2nd Platoons of Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 25th Stryker Brigade Combat Team. My platoons are slightly understrength, lacking their weapons squads and I am short one Stryker, forcing my pair of platoon HQs to travel together. This will complicate command and control slightly. We are supported by two sections of 81mm mortars. My men are veterans and are all well-led and well-rested. I have three grenade machine gun equipped Strykers and four heavy machine gun equipped Strykers. All in all, a nice little combat package, with fire support that should be adequate for the mission. Right, analysis complete, now to put my force into action. My first move will be to fan out and get some observation posts up on the hills to the left and right of my start line.

Good morning/afternoon/evening everyone. This will be an AAR series, covering my playthrough of the US Army campaign of Shock Force 2: 'TF Thunder'. I briefly dipped my toe into this campaign in Shock Force 1, but only as far as the first mission. This will be my first proper playthrough of a Combat Mission campaign, and I'm sharing it all with you! So, without further ado, let's get into the campaign briefing. The ground invasion of Syria has begun. After a three-day-long aerial bombardment, NATO forces are pouring into the country from all sides; The US Army from the East, the British Army from the North and South, NATO forces from the North and the US Marines from the coast. I am commanding a battalion of Task Force Thunder, a Stryker Brigade reinforced with armoured units. I have under my command two Stryker rifle companies (A and C), an armoured company of M1A2 Abrams tanks (B), an armoured infantry company in Bradley IFVs (D) and an armoured engineer company also in Bradleys (E). This is a fast and powerful combat force, equipped with the best fighting equipment on Earth and manned by some of the best soldiers on Earth. And in the finest American tradition, the battalion is liberally supported by artillery and airpower. Our brigades mission is to slice Syria in half, striking from East to West along a route designated 'Route Lightning', with our limit of advance being the important Syrian city of Hims (also known as Homs). My enemy will initially consist of Syrian reservists and militia holding the border. These units are poorly trained, poorly led and poorly equipped. As we push into the interior of the country resistance will stiffen, varying from the still poorly equipped but slightly better led and trained regular units, to the elite, well-equipped units of the Republican Guards currently around Hims. Also, scattered throughout the country there will be pockets of paramilitary, special forces and other irregulars, many of which are well trained, motivated and equipped. There will be tough fighting ahead. Speed and force protection is the name of the game for this campaign. Our mission is to neatly snip Syria in half as quickly as possible, but our last objective is a tough urban target. Replacement of casualties and destroyed vehicles will not be happening. Taking too many casualties early on will make our mission exponentially more difficult. I will have to carefully balance aggression and caution to complete this campaign successfully. In the next instalment, we'll take on the first mission. Stay tuned!

I just went all in on Shock Force 2, getting the big bundle (But missed the manual hilariously), and now I'm trying to figure out who can do what within the game, along with doing the tutorial campaign. Being used to Battle for Normandy, I was so surprised when the movement/combat/tactics buttons, just don't include things like taking scouts or anti tank men from the unit group, splitting them up for more selective missions. From playing things like Steel Beasts, DCS, Arma, and studying, I am most comfortable with vehicles. I know how they work, what they do, how to make them kick ass, especially because of Steel Beasts. However, I don't know a lot about infantry. Ignoring the armor differences, I don't know the doctrine of the british military, vs marines, vs nato. Things like unit composition are most important to me when it comes to this, and, if you truly can't break units apart, how can you use them effectively in standard situations? Equipment lists for standard units? What their effective range is, etc. I'd love any advice you guys could give

I just got combat mission shock force 2 and i started to play my first game and noticed that the vehicles would not be visible i can see the humans in the vehicles and the icon of the vehicle but the vehicle will not appear i changed the texture quality and detail levels multiple times but to no luck. I have other Combat mission games like Normandy, Red Thunder, and Final blitzkrieg and the vehicles show up with no problem and this is the first time I am having this problem. If anyone has a solution it will be greatly appreciated.

For Shock Force 2, what do each of the dlc add? How is the composition of new units? How did you enjoy the missions? I'm from the US, so personally, if the M1A2 Abrams is involved, I'm soaking myself XD. Which ones are your guys' favorites?