Paper Tiger Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 I've had quite a few PMs from folks over the last year asking me where they could find my Hasrabit campaign. The short story is that, way back before there was a Repository, there was the CMMODS site but it was closed down a couple of years back and when it closed, Hasrabit, and Perdition, were no longer available. Now, I still have all the files necessary to compile the original Hasrabit campaign. I could have it up on the Repository in an hour, no problemo. However, I have to confess that it would suck balls big time. It was my first ever campaign and when I crafted it, I was under the impression that we could only give the AI opponent 16 orders and not each AI group:eek:. This means that I could make the AI a whole lot more effective if I reworked the AI plans as they all have 16 orders and not the 108 that they could theoretically have. Further, some of the maps are a bit ...<ahem>... crap by my standards. So, if I'm going to keep Hasrabit in my signature, perhaps it's best if I did a full rework. Now, no promises that I'll have time to get this all done before we start work on the Market garden module but I'll give it a shot. I think I need a wee break from WW2 and I've always wanted to do another Red v Red campaign, this time using all the goodies that became available in the later modules. So, I'm going to try and put together a new Hasrabit campaign using revamped version of the existing maps plus a couple that were intended for the NATO module but never made it in, as well as a couple of my NATO campaign missions. I'm going to keep Hasrabit's two groups, one Republican Guards and the second, Special Forces. However, I'm going to sub Syrian Airborne for the Special Forces and a couple of platoons of T-90s to replace the Guards Tanks. I'll also bung in a couple of Shilkas for the Guards and the truck there as well. And, use real Red air power as well. The plan will be to have bucket-loads of artillery available to the human player as well. I was too timid with it first time out as it seemed too powerful when used against an AI with only 16 orders:D. Besides, I like to craft them as voiolently as possible. And, I never used UNCONs until I went to work on the NATO campaigns. It might be an idea to get them in there as well where appropriate. If this makes it through to the end, this will be my farewell to CMSF and I'll try to get as much in as I possibly can. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grenvill Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Now, I still have all the files necessary to compile the original Hasrabit campaign. I could have it up on the Repository in an hour, no problemo. However That would be much appreciated There is not to many Red vs Red campaigns around, and not everyone have additional modules 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boche Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Glad to hear it! hope it all ends well good luck! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 This sounds great. I hope you can get the "upgrade" completed. I have the original, but can't recall if I played it. Would definitely give your new version a try. I find myself also getting a bit weary of CMBN and am enjoying getting back to my 11th DINAS mission. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paper Tiger Posted February 7, 2012 Author Share Posted February 7, 2012 Grenvill Perhaps you can get some of the guys here to pass you a copy of the original campaign. I don't want to post it at the Repository as it's horribly out-of-date and somebody would (rightly) give it 1 or 2 stars. It was the 'bee's-knees' when it was first released but now, it's just poor quality. Funnily enough, I started looking at the core units file yesterday and saw that every unit had Crack experience and there were quite a number of +2 leaders. Okay, that was for the Republican Guards and the Special Forces. But the same was true for the AI opponent - lots of Crack/Veteran troops as well. That's so amateur. Since RedvRed is a minority interest thing and I doubt more than a dozen or so guys will ever play this, I need to be personally inspired to return to work on something for CMSF and using Syrian Airborne with T-90s and BMP-3s as well as the cool new stuff is what's going to get me in the mood. I've never used Red airpower either and I'd like to see how it compares to the Blue airpower. I also took a look at the 'Perdition' mini campaign. I guess I could redesign that one quite quickly without including any extra stuff for the CMSF player who doesn't have any modules. Once again, it was crafted using Crack core units as well as 16 orders per AI plan but at three missions where the AI is on the defensive, it's not a such a serious issue. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paper Tiger Posted February 7, 2012 Author Share Posted February 7, 2012 Heh! A more realistic project for the time being would be to redo 'Perdition' first. It's a nice short but interesting campaign and I've had some ideas for making it even more interesting than the original. Two of the maps have been revamped for other purposes: The 'Road to Perdition' map was reworked to create 'UK Cain and Abel' The 'Perdition's Flames' map was revamped to creat 'USMC Second Storm' So, I will use the updated maps for these two missions. The new campaign will be sufficiently different from the original to keep me interested. Further, it will feature a Shilka and some Trucks. That will mean buying both the Marines and NATO modules of you want to play it. I've redone the core unit file and am importing them into the three missions so I'll be able to get started testing straight away. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grenvill Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 hurray! thank you for your patience and work! ( i personally think that RedvsRed is there CMSF engine really shines) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 It's also the best way to understand the strengths and weaknesses of Red's equipment to improve one's Blue game. Am surprised that relatively few even play the Germans in CMBN. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paper Tiger Posted February 8, 2012 Author Share Posted February 8, 2012 Okay, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to pack the original Hasrabit and Perdition campaigns into one folder and upload them to the Repository later tonight. It's just too much work to redo these old campaigns and I'd much rather get my teeth into something completely new using the maps I haven't used yet as well as a couple of choice ones from my contributions to the NATO campaigns. New maps are a LOT of work to craft and I'd rather dodge that bullet this time. I am definitely going to do one last work though but it might take a very different direction from my earlier Red v Red stuff. I'm contemplating a core force consisting entirely of Reserve Motorised Infantry with some truly ancient tanks in support. I quite fancy doing a more infantry-centric Red v Red campaign rather than having Mech forces and tanks for both sides. It might make for a nice city fight as well. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boche Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Well, kind of sad to hear it but hey! ill be looking forward to any work you put out 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sublime Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Paper tiger. Im very glad you changed your mind. I love your road to dinas campaign, to think when I orignally had started it I almost didnt play it because of your warning about how it was armor centric. I love the idea of red vs red, or even blue vs blue. Maybe you could explore this further when the CW module comes out, US vs Brits! or Waffen SS vs Wehrmacht (I like the first idea better). That said, red vs red, infantry centric, sounds fantastic. Plus with more ancient equipment, it just seems more realistic, and it takes more strategy and tactics, without perfect troops and weapons etc. And I also second your suggestion about red airpower. Its very rarely seen, in fact besides Bier und Bretzel and CM Afghanistan I never saw red air power used. Even road to dinas used apaches and cobras...Id love to get some hinds flying around again like In CMA. Apaches are cool, but hinds are just evil. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paper Tiger Posted February 9, 2012 Author Share Posted February 9, 2012 The old files are going up on the Repository as I type this. I guess it will be another 24 hours before it gets through BFC's screening process. The file contains the original, unadulterated versions of the 10-mission Hasrabit campaign and the 3-mission Perdition campaign. They are both playable with the base game only. It wouldn't have taken more than a few minutes to sub in real Red airpower for the current Blue but then, players without the NATO module wouldn't be able to play them. Besides, I would really like to start something new rather than rework existing campaigns. I gave both of them a good look at and jotted down lots of notes to guide me through the upgrade process. Hasrabit first, with 10 missions and a huge number of variants would have required a hell of a lot of work just to reimport the new campaign core units, never mind upgrading the maps or improving the AI plans. I guessed it would take about 3-4 months to do a decent job and I don't have the time for that. Not only that, it would be so far from the original Hasrabit that it would probably be best to rename it. At three missions with no variants, Perdition looked like a more likely candidate for a thorough overhaul. But, once again, the list of changes that would be needed grew and I was looking at about a months work again. But I really want to do one last Red v Red campaign for this title and I'd be much happier if it were an all-new campaign. I plan to use a number of maps from the Canadian and german campaigns for this one and yes, it will be an infantry-centric campaign for a change. Most likely featuring Syrian Airborne and Reserve Motorised Infantry as your core forces with tanks kept to a minimum. When they do appear, they will be relics. It will definitely have Red airpower and shilkas as well as the improved UNCON units for the AI side. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger33 Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Very cool! I missed these the first time around and can't wait to give them a spin. Red vs Red is always welcome. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rambler Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Awesome, thanks for uploading this. Missed it when you first released it because my comp at the time couldn't run CMSF. By the time I got a new one and bought CMSF, I couldn't find Hasrabit anywhere. Glad I'll finally get a chance to play it! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AkumaSD Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 So glad you are coming back to CMSF. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paper Tiger Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 I've been trying to find a 'hook' to hang my campaign on and I've finally found it. Without some theme, all a campaign is is just a string of connected missions. Now I have a story and some interesting ways for the campaign to develop depending on how the player fares in the earlier missions. I might even be inspired enough to create a few new original maps for it as well. I won't say much about it now until I have something real to show. Needless to say it will be Red v Red with the player taking the part of the Government forces fighting against the Free Syrian Army. The first mission is shaping up nicely though and I'll really put it through the paces this weekend. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boche Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Very nice, looking forward to it 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daisy Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Good news, cant wait for a release! Red v Red is always a pleasure to play. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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