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New Small SP Scenario - "Shadow and Flame"


astano

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My new (and first) scenario is now available from the Repository.  You can get it here.

 

The scenario is built on a new 800 x 800m map and features a US Bradley platoon (+) attempting to destroy a small Russian rearguard. 
 
From the briefing:

SITUATION



It is 2230 on 09AUG2017.

Earlier today, TF 2-64 "Rogue" conducted a deliberate attack along the axis of MSR ROUTE YANKEE. 2-64 met stiff Russian resistance along the axis of ROUTE GREEN, a secondary road atop a slight ridge running perpendicular to ROUTE YANKEE. Despite repeated attempts, 2-64 was unable to achieve a breakthrough at ROUTE GREEN. With darkness falling and 2-64 tiring and running low on ammunition, the attack was broken off until morning.

Not long after 2-64 broke contact, sympathetic locals informed US forces that the Russians had withdrawn from their positions along ROUTE GREEN. A subsequent fly-over by UAVs appeared to confirm that the positions along ROUTE GREEN had been abandoned.

S2 now believes that Russian forces, their flanks threatened by successful attacks to the south, have withdrawn to more defensible positions further along ROUTE YANKEE. S2 further templates that an enemy force will remain in position along ROUTE GREEN in order to delay US forces and allow the Russian main body enough time to resupply and dig in.

Based on this estimate, higher intends to secure the intersection of ROUTE GREEN and ROUTE YANKEE and destroy the enemy delaying force under cover of darkness in order to allow the main body of TF 3-64 "Rampage" to assault Russian positions at daybreak, before they have a chance to resupply and dig in.

Weather is currently cool and cloudy. Conditions are generally dry, and there is a light breeze from the West.


MISSION

3rd Platoon, Devil Company, 3-64 will destroy enemy forces along ROUTE GREEN no later than 0000 hours 10AUG2017 in order to allow for uninterrupted passage of follow-on forces.

ROUTE GREEN sits atop a low ridge with rolling fields extending in either direction, making it a valuable defensive position. ROUTE GREEN is bisected by ROUTE YANKEE, the TF's axis of advance. North-east of the intersection of ROUTES YANKEE and GREEN is HILL 136, which was heavily bombarded by 2-68's and divisional artillery earlier today. Beneath HILL 136 are some workshops and warehouses. South-east of the intersection is an unnamed town designated on your maps as CHICAGO. To the best of our knowledge, CHICAGO is still occupied by civilians.

In order to allow the main body of 3-64 to pass through the AO unmolested, you must accomplish the following tasks:

-Destroy enemy rearguard forces
-Occupy the high ground on HILL 136
-Occupy CHICAGO

Because CHICAGO still has a significant civilian presence, your ROE prohibits you from indiscriminately firing on the town. You may fire on known or suspected enemy positions, but try to preserve CHICAGO as best as circumstances allow.

Additionally, you need to keep your forces at 80% strength or better so that they can conduct follow-on operations.

You have an hour and a half to complete your objectives.


FRIENDLY FORCES

You command 3rd Platoon, Devil Company, TF 3-64 (CAB) "Rampage." 3-64 is fresh, having only recently entered the AO from Poland, and Devil Co was the battalion reserve for today's action, leaving your men well-rested and fully supplied. In order to maximize the element of surprise, 3rd Platoon's rifle squads have infiltrated to within 400 meters of ROUTE GREEN, leaving the platoon's Bradley IFVs behind. The platoon is currently in defilade at a point marked POINT 116 on your map. Your Bradleys are scheduled to arrive in 45 minutes on ROUTE YANKEE for the final phase of the operation.

Attached to 3rd Platoon are two sniper teams from the HHC Sniper Platoon, and two Javelin teams from the HHC Scout Platoon.

You have priority of fires from one battery of the Battalion's mortars (2 x 120mm). The remainder of the Battalion's artillery is currently repositioning and resupplying, but one battery (3 x 155mm) should be ready and at your disposal in half an hour. You have a limited round-count from the 155s in order to preserve ammunition for follow-on operations.

You also have been tasked the HHC's RQ-11B Raven drone.

You have some limited pre-battle intelligence from the earlier UAV flights.


ENEMY FORCES

It is unclear what enemy forces may be in position along ROUTE GREEN. 2-68 was opposed by a Russian Battalion Tactical Group, equipped with BMP-2s and T-72B3s, but UAV fly-overs didn't observe any operational vehicles remaining in the AO. Reports from the locals indicated that the armored forces were replaced by approximately a platoon of troops mounted in trucks and Tigrs, but S2 does not consider this information totally reliable. Additionally, Russian forces have taken a beating over the last month's combat operations, so you may be faced by second echelon forces with lower-quality troops and equipment. Nevertheless, be prepared to run into some armor and expect determined resistance.

S2 expects the Russians will have ATGM teams covering ROUTE YANKEE, as well as FOs and/or FACs to direct fire on US forces advancing on YANKEE. Expect some infantry teams and light vehicles in positions to protect these assets. HILL 136, CHICAGO, and the workshops and warehouses in front of HILL 136 were all occupied by enemy infantry earlier in today's fight and offer good cover and LOF over ROUTE YANKEE, so the rearguard has probably re-occupied some of those positions.

Russian forces may also be under the effects of our ongoing electronic warfare efforts. However, because this area is not being specifically targeted for EW, any such effects are likely to be light.


BASIC PLAN

There's no indication that your approach has been observed. Your platoon should be able to approach the buildings at the foot of HILL 136 mostly in defilade. Alternatively, you may be able to cross ROUTE YANKEE and approach CHICAGO directly from the south. Either way, you will need to locate and destroy any enemy ATGM teams before your Bradleys arrive. Don't forget to use your UAV to scout ahead of the dismounts' movement, and that you have some smoke available from your mortars for obscuration.

NOTES

Be advised that your Bradleys may arrive within or nearly within LOS/LOF of enemy AT assets. This is intentional. You should use your dismounts, UAV, and artillery to locate and suppress or destroy all the enemy AT assets you can before the Bradleys arrive.

The purpose of the PRESERVE objective is to encourage and reward the player for not indiscriminately and preemptively bombarding CHICAGO, and its point value reflects this. Even if you do totally destroy the town, you should still be able to win the scenario if you meet your other objectives. Additionally, keep in mind that small arms, 25mm (Bradley), and even limited amounts of 155mm fire will generally not be enough to fail the PRESERVE objective.

 

I'd love to hear how anyone who gives it a try does, and any feedback would be appreciated. 

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Hi Wolfseven,

 

Really glad you enjoyed the scenario!  However, I'm not sure I follow your last remark.  If you're referring to the contact icons at the start of the battle, the spotted units are due to pre-battle intelligence preparation of the battlefield (in this scenario, the earlier UAV overflights), not enemy forces your troops presently have eyes on.  As the icons fade and disappear during the mission, it's because your troops have never spotted them to begin with - the contacts are from before the battle and, just like contacts spotted during the game, will eventually fade as they age.  You need to spot these enemy forces with your "own" assets (your troops or UAV) in order for them to "reappear."

 

Hope that helps... if not, could you elaborate on the issue?

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Fun mission. I played the US, turn-based, veteran. I was able to keep a steady, cautious pace and get a good result with only scattered casualties. As a measure of comparison, I found the scenario similar in difficulty to the scenarios in CMSF base game, and a bit easier than the CMSF modules.

 

I moved all three squads through the workshop on the left, then up the hill. The two snipers and one Javelin team scouted the right side, near the town. Javelins killed two Tigrs, and precision 155s killed the BMPs (the only rounds the 155s fired). By the time the M2s arrived, things were well in hand. If anything, I felt I had too much firepower. I grew to really hate the Russian snipers, though.

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Glad you liked it.  That's just about the difficulty I was shooting for - hard enough to make it interesting, but easy enough that most players should be able to win most of the time; the kind of scenario you can download and beat in an afternoon. 

 

Regarding your plan,

it pretty much mirrors my favorite approach, except that I used my 155s to suppress stubborn defenders in the town and lay smoke so my rifle squads could move in for the assault.  Frankly, I don't think I ever thought to use a precision mission on the BMPs.

 

The first draft of this scenario didn't include the Bradleys - actually, the biggest reason I added them was for the ammunition they carry.  In pre-Bradley testing I found that the firepower from the dismounts + Javelins was pretty sufficient, but that they didn't have the ammo or the endurance to take both the hill and the town.  I ran the scenario several times that way and would frequently wind up with exhausted infantry squads trying to secure the town with only a couple mags of 5.56 and a few hand grenades left, which put the player in a bit of a bind - save their ammo and risk more casualties taking the earlier objectives, or try to take the final objectives with virtually no ammo.  That made the scenario a little more difficult than I was shooting for.

 

I settled on adding the Bradleys because, given the map and circumstances, I didn't think it would be fair to give the player supply trucks, and doctrinally the dismounts aren't intended to operate without their Bradleys for a long period of time anyways.  Also,

adding the Bradleys allowed me to upgrade the original Russian defenses from a handful of Tigrs to the Tigr/BMP mix in the final scenario, as the player now had ample tools to destroy the heavier armor.

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My new (and first) scenario is now available from the Repository.  You can get it here.

 

The scenario is built on a new 800 x 800m map and features a US Bradley platoon (+) attempting to destroy a small Russian rearguard. 

 

I'd love to hear how anyone who gives it a try does, and any feedback would be appreciated. 

 

Good scenario, there is definitely room for tactical decision-making, management of scarce resources (viable lines-of-sight, mortar rounds initially, Javelins initially) and an element of luck to the whole thing, which makes it a pretty good scenario in my book.

 

I decided to run up the left-side of the map, across the yellow crops. That pretty much killed the possibility for long range engagement of the hill top assets although the UAV was a star at this point, spotting a BMP, a Tigr and a team of infantry on the hill as I advanced. I attempted to KO the hill BMP with the majority of mortar PGMs, which was met with a notable lack of success, while using perhaps two or three precision rounds to suppress/destroy infantry I'd spotted with Javelins/UAV on the hill and using a HEVT fire mission to try to clear the rooftops of the apartment block along with some of the surrounding buildings. At some point my troops were spotted by infantry in the walled-off compound next to the warehouse, starting a firefight that lasted several minutes and consumed most of one squad's ammo, while the BMP displaced around the hill, chewing up the men on my far left flank to the tune of eight casualties -- seven in a single rifle squad and one of the attached snipers -- which forced a halt until the Paladin platoon arrived.

 

Once that happened, an Excal made short work of the BMP, then I assaulted and cleared the compound, placing both sniper teams and a single Javelin on the rooftop. That saved my bacon something fierce because the Javelin team spotted a previously unknown ATGM and knocked it out, minutes before the Bradleys arrived. I began sliding my troops forward cautiously up the hill, only to find them suppressed by a sniper team in the apartment block building's upper floor rather than rooftop. At the same time, I shifted my UAV from the hill to OBJ CHICAGO, spotting and knocking out several more vehicles, including a second BMP, with Excals. However the UAV-directed artillery/mortars were ineffective and unable to get fires onto target other than precision rounds, which I was out of for my mortars and conserving for my Paladins.

 

Instead, I waited a few minutes for the Bradleys to arrive, immediately popping smoke and moving off the road, following the same path the infantry had taken at fast speed before sheltering behind the walled compound. I was being overly-cautious and shifted the BFVs around singly, bringing a small amount of 25mm onto the apartment block sniper, then keeping him suppressed with coax. As that happened, I pushed the squad that was just about amber on ammo up the hill slowly in split teams. They killed about four or five remaining holdouts before being suppressed right before cresting. That was when I realized BFVs couldn't get up the hill all and settled for sending one on a sweep around the back, killing the cowering remnants of one squad and two Tigrs. I still couldn't see onto the hill with my BFV and finally just area fired in front of my squad while leapfrogging, which seemed to work as they mopped up and secured the objective.

 

By now I was down to 25 minutes to actually assault and clear OBJ Chicago. Fortunately, I remembered BFVs carry ammo, topped up the two squads still capable of fighting with 5.56 and Javelins, then set out, with one each sniper team and Javelin team to accompany them, into the first set of buildings. That was when an RPG team in the warehouse made their presence felt by immobilizing a BFV as it passed by. Didn't matter much, they were killed, I still had three more and there wasn't much left in the town other than a machine gun, one or two RPG teams and an Igla-armed soldier all by his lonesome.

 

As time expired, the last Russian inside the objective area was panicking, so the final result was a total victory, with only fifty points awarded for preserving OBJ Chicago, on account of 25mm use.

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  • 7 months later...

Thanks for this little mission @Astano.

It was recommended over here, and fit the bill well; personally I found it fairly easy, and as you indicate (and I think most competent players have suggested) things for me were well in hand by the time the Brads arrived.

You likely probably won't even see this post (as its a bit of a grave-dig, but comments on the Repository look to have been disabled, and I think most scenario designers really appreciate feedback), but my thoughts:

- to really justify the brads, some kind of late 2 x BMP or 2x BTR surge from behind the village (can it be triggered by the Brads crossing a line/trigger just outside the village? I know nothing about the editor, but this is what you might do in ARMA's editor) would add  a bit of spice.

- also, the AI never surrendered; I literally had to hunt till the very last man (in fact, I think I did kill/MIA them all, but still no surrender; I had to cease fire)? Is this normal/something you control in the editor?

 

- Good fun simple mission, with nice small manageable force. Much appreciated, good newbie mission.

Thanks!

 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi Gnarly,

Glad you enjoyed it and I do really appreciate the feedback.  I didn't notice until now that not only comments but also ratings on the Repository are gone, which is a shame as I had got some valuable feedback from those that I didn't record elsewhere.

Regarding your thoughts:

-It would be possible to create such a "surge" by triggering.  Reinforcement spawns cannot be triggered (as I believe they can in ARMA) but you could add reinforcements and cause them to move with a trigger.  When I initially made the scenario, I actually considered bringing in a Russian mech platoon or half-platoon around when the Brads came in, but ultimately decided I wanted to keep it pretty "set-piece" with a minimum of surprises - including red reinforcements - for the player. That would also have been another wrinkle in a scenario where the primary goal was just to actually complete, polish, and publish a scenario (instead of leave yet another half-cobbled-together mess on my hard drive).

-I saw the same behavior in testing and am not sure what causes it.  There is no way for the scenario designer to specify surrender parameters - they are hard-coded into the engine.  The only control a designer really has in this regard is the ability to manipulate the AI into not surrendering by adding a bunch of AI "reinforcements" timed to never actually enter the map but I don't think that's the case here (it's been a while since I did anything with this scenario).  My guess is that it has to do with the destroyed Russian vehicles on the map, which may be counted by the AI in surrender calculations and having the same effect.  In the end I didn't worry about it much because it generally takes/took pretty close to time to secure Chicago anyways, so by the time the AI is to the point of surrendering time is often up anyways.  Perhaps I will revisit that though.

Thanks again for the feedback. 

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Hi Gnarly,

Glad you enjoyed it and I do really appreciate the feedback.  I didn't notice until now that not only comments but also ratings on the Repository are gone, which is a shame as I had got some valuable feedback from those that I didn't record elsewhere.

Regarding your thoughts:

-It would be possible to create such a "surge" by triggering.  Reinforcement spawns cannot be triggered (as I believe they can in ARMA) but you could add reinforcements and cause them to move with a trigger.  When I initially made the scenario, I actually considered bringing in a Russian mech platoon or half-platoon around when the Brads came in, but ultimately decided I wanted to keep it pretty "set-piece" with a minimum of surprises - including red reinforcements - for the player. That would also have been another wrinkle in a scenario where the primary goal was just to actually complete, polish, and publish a scenario (instead of leave yet another half-cobbled-together mess on my hard drive).

-I saw the same behavior in testing and am not sure what causes it.  There is no way for the scenario designer to specify surrender parameters - they are hard-coded into the engine.  The only control a designer really has in this regard is the ability to manipulate the AI into not surrendering by adding a bunch of AI "reinforcements" timed to never actually enter the map but I don't think that's the case here (it's been a while since I did anything with this scenario).  My guess is that it has to do with the destroyed Russian vehicles on the map, which may be counted by the AI in surrender calculations and having the same effect.  In the end I didn't worry about it much because it generally takes/took pretty close to time to secure Chicago anyways, so by the time the AI is to the point of surrendering time is often up anyways.  Perhaps I will revisit that though.

Thanks again for the feedback. 

No worries, and glad you found this feedback!

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