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New Campaign - needs testers


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2nd try

******* SPOILERS ********

 

 

 

Played 5 turns.  Artillery falls for almost full 5 minutes meaning inf units can't move or do anything for 5 turns except HIDE.  VERY BORING.  Lost all three consular officials plus 3 out of the 4 Elite/Crack drivers as well as all 4 jeeps.  :(   Also company CO and assnt, plus numerous other troops.  Everyone else pinned down.  CF'd to find I'd lost 21 casualties to Taliban's 3.  (675 vs 275 points.) 

If this is to simulate the shock of a surprise attack where one loses important assets right at the start, that's fine.  But, the briefing makes such a big deal about protecting the HVT's that one feel like one has already failed.  I don't want to keep replaying this till am burned out.  So, need your feedback re what your intentions are. 

You may want to warn in the briefing that a massive arty attack is imminent and everyone may as well HIDE and hunker down for 5 minutes and merely press the GO button 5 times.  Or, tone down the arty attack.

 

Edited by Erwin
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This scenario has been tested in WEGO and Real-Time, about half a dozen runs each, I've mostly been focussing on WEGO as that seems the most popular format for large battles.

I think in the briefing I must clearly place much more emphasis on the fact that the Mujahideen (not Taliban, that comes later via ISI) are setting up mortars.....Sounds like those HVT losses could be pretty catastrophic (you might even need a restart), those guys are worth BIG points!  Were they all on the rooftops?  :o

The impressive artillery barrage is actually the lowest intensity possible in the game (8x60mm tubes on four targets, earlier versions had six targets, with four chosen at random from among them, I may return to this format), but with the longest duration possible using the AI 'Support Targets' option (it should last around three minutes, I need to check this). 

The purpose of the barrage.....Well it's an artillery barrage!  They're trying to pin you in place so they can come in and kill you in horrible ways!  (little hint for future runs, if you are prepared to gamble, Elite UAZs move a lot faster than Mujahideen mortar crews fire, you'll notice I only had three vehicle crews in my comment above) As you know from earlier discussions, the mortars won't come back after they cease-firing as the AI artillery seems to be broken in this one (no idea why, still haven't set up all the tests), but that's cool as I figure the four Fitters on the way to your location may have paid them a quick visit in passing!  ;)

As far as I can tell the game has two small arms ammo categories, 'Light Small Arms' and 'Medium Small Arms'.  In CMSF I've found it's possible to resupply AKs, SVDs & PKs from the 5.56mm & 7.62mm stores on Humvees etc. I haven't actually tried resupplying NATO small arms from ex-Soviet stores, but I'm fairly confident that it would work.

There should be three doors at the back of the TV station:  One exits onto the street by the small warehouses in the north-west corner (on the left in the image below), the other two exit through the car park annexe (you can see one of them on the right in the image below, the other is on the opposite face of the annexe):

TVStationBackDoors_zpsgns3ubnd.jpg

All of my buildings should be very precisely modelled, so plot your routes through them point by point, don't just click an end-point.  I actually discovered there IS an error on the version of the TV station that you have, there should be four access doors to the roof, two in the tower (see above), and two facing those (you can just see one on the extreme upper right in the image above), but your version only has three. (Dammit!  :angry: )

This is a legacy of me playing the game too much and still using Ctrl+Click to quick move around while in the editor.....This is a habit I'm trying to un-learn as it's a recipe for disaster on an urban map.  You see Ctrl+Click also just happens to changes the window/door configuration, should you inadvertently do it on one face of a building, with complex buildings built using Alt+Ctrl+Click trickery this can royally **** things up (you see why building tweaks are such an issue now)!  :rolleyes: 

The setup zone at the TV station is specifically there so you can stop that lunatic Ali & his crew from being up on the rooftops filming WWIII break out in your city (and broadcasting it to the bored scions of wealthy families in the Gulf, you know, the sort who own big construction companies and stuff like that).  :lol:

One more hint, remember your non-spies are still built with 'Spy' units, so while they are a bit pants for spying (apart from the KGB guys, obviously) they are still unarmed civilians in a city full of same, so the Afghans won't shoot at them (Unless the homicidal maniac picks up an AK-74 and starts shooting at the Afghans first of course!) or otherwise detain them unless they have an opportunity to directly interrogate them (ie: don't get too close).

Edited by Sgt.Squarehead
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"Were they all on the rooftops?"  Nope, all were HIDING in the start buildings.  Turn 2, I did try to get them to QUICK move from an "exterior" building space (corner of building) into "interior" spaces (less chance of being seen by snipers I hoped).

Re your pic, you'll notice there are no doors from the tall buildings exiting directly into the back yard.  You are correct, the AI will NOT route units the safe route thru that one floor building into the back yard, but instead out the front to be killed in the street.  An expensive lesson.  But, I don't know why you didn't put more doors in the rear so it was easier for units to reach the relative safety of the rear yard before attempting to break out to friendly areas.  (Seems odd to not have more doors to the rear yard.)

The problem with having set-up zones is that a reasonable player assumes that there is a reason that the designer placed units where they are, when common sense would have the VIP's hidden away safely on the ground floor immediately.  So, the set-up zone confused me.  It made perfect sense to me that the TV people would be up top filming.  None of us know there is a barrage coming immediately.   So, I left em there.  At least they spotted the Uncons coming down the street from the south.

However, the TV VIP's were simply lucky that one mortar shell didn't kill em all.  I recommend that you eliminate the set-up zone at the TV station, and/or place the VIP units where you think they should be.  In any case, all three TV VIP's were fine after 5 minutes.  It was the consular 3 VIP's that were all KIA.  I suppose it also have been KGB KIA.  Just bad luck for the consuls, or did Putin know something...?  I bet he did!

Was also bummed that I lost 3 Elite/Crack drivers and all 4 jeeps in the barrage. What was the point of them?  Also, lost one man KIA (not sure if by a sniper or HE) out of the four 2 man crack/elite FO's.  They were all HIDING as well.  So, that 5 min barrage of (only) 60mm(!) that killed 21 guys and 4 jeeps and seemed pretty devastating to me.  If that is your intention, ok.  But otherwise, it could be a problem. 

More of an issue is that is REAL BORING not being able to move anything except the BTR's for 5 minutes while you helplessly watch your casualties mount up.  This is the reason that most games don't feature long initial barrages.  May be realistic, definitely not fun.

Am now playing some CMSF games to get my confidence back...  :ph34r:

Edited by Erwin
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Definitely going to make the presence of hostile mortars much more prominent in the briefing, I'll also point out that the Sukhois are aware of them and will strafe them, so the player will know he's in the clear on that front at least.

You found Vlad then.....He gets everywhere you know!  :o

I did place the TV Station guys where I think they would be but I also pointed out in the briefing that the regime really didn't want them to be there, the setup zone is your opportunity to correct the problem by taking charge.

I'm staggered at the losses you took in the barrage at the consular buildings, I can only assume you hit one of those outliers we hear about?  In all my runs I've never lost a whole Spetsnaz team, I normally leave them hidden at the start and have them slow move to the ground floor until the artillery stops.  I'm off into the game to run some checks on the artillery right now, I adjusted the ammo settings of some of the support weapons and it's just possible I increased the mortar ammo supply by accident.

Really appreciate you taking the time to test this and to provide me with such detailed feedback, it will all be used to improve the finished scenario (I hope).  B)

PS - Minor spoiler.....At no point should you be completely inactive, I've tried to set this up so you can see which way the major attacks are coming and react to that.  In the current iteration ordering that ghastly Gulf News TV Crew off TV Station property is time well spent.

PPS - Major spoiler.....I've never lost a Consular Official in the Consular Buildings, they're usually on the plane back to Moscow by turn three.  I play poker a lot.  :mellow:

Edited by Sgt.Squarehead
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It looks like I did turn indeed manage to turn up the mortar ammo supply, I realised that some of the enemy units were running out of ammo too early in the fight and it looks like I turned up the whole Mujahideen Battalion's ammo supply up, rather than selecting more precisely, the mortars are part of the unit and thus got more ammo too.  I'm going through the units now checking everything.

I've fixed the problem and also amended the fire plan slightly.  The original six target fire plan often resulted in The Government Buildings or Soviet Consulate taking a double pasting (one target was centred on each tower or building), so I've gone for a compromise with five targets for four batteries, no more than one target per general location.  If I could get the AI artillery to work properly the artillery fire would be a lot more nuanced, but it seems to be a case of everything at the start or nothing at the moment.

I do appreciate the help finding these things, I've got so used to those barrages that I just never noticed the extra duration.....Sorry for freaking you out!  ;)

Edited by Sgt.Squarehead
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I'm not many turns into this scenario, maybe 10 or so. What I did was abandon the TV station immediately and now the TV crew and the platoon acting as bodyguards are crawling trough the old town on their way to the Government Buildings.

I have not evacuated anyone yet. My plan was to hold tight until the reinforcements arrive. Maybe this was not the right call...

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Wow!  You went into Old Town.....That's where the bad guys usually live!  :o  

Fortunately for you the Mullahs have called them all to the mosques to announce how they are going to skin the communists alive, meanwhile you're sneaking through their houses, I love it!  :lol:

Better hope you are outta there before they come home though!  :ph34r:

That's something I really didn't expect and it's exactly why I need testers.....There's no right or wrong way to go about the evacuation, it's doable in several ways, I've tested lots, but never the one you are trying, so please let me know how it goes.

Thank you very much for taking the time to test this, it's a big scenario and fairly ambitious, so I really value your input and your opinions will be taken into account as I work on it.  At least two more AI plans will be coming once I've ironed the bugs out of this one.

PS - Please let me know if you find any problem buildings in Old Town, sorting that lot out took me forever so I'm hoping there aren't any, but if there are I'd rather sort them now.  B)

Edited by Sgt.Squarehead
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Erwin, just noticed you said you had Crack drivers.....You must have been running an older version, these guys are all the crème de la crème (Elite, +2, Extreme, Excellent) in the most recent version.  Ensuring you have at least one intact Forward Observer or Air Controller team for when the Sukhois and artillery reinforcements arrive is absolutely critical (The DRA officers can call the aircraft/guns in but probably not quickly or accurately enough).  The relief force includes a Regular Forward Observer and Air Controller, but if you can preserve the Spetsnaz teams they are dead useful later on in the battle (I usually get too gung-ho and get one of the team clipped at which point they can't call in fire).

I've been correcting issues and amending the briefing as I go along, I'm also running my own test battles too (In the next one I'm going to try out Ivan Zaitzev's "Your house.....I is in it!" technique for myself!  :ph34r: ).....Version 1-3 is provisionally ready, but I'd rather wait a little longer before posting it to see if anything else crops up, I don't want to waste you guys time if I can help it. 

I really do appreciate you guys taking the time to play this through for me, it's absolutely invaluable for me to get these extra perspectives.....If I've messed up I will always endeavour to fix it as swiftly and efficiently as possible.  B)

 

Edited by Sgt.Squarehead
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I also don't understand "evacuate".  Evacuate to where??  I assumed you meant that we concentrate forces on the VL's. 

My intention was to do what Ivan did - (both for the TV guys and the police station guys).  But, I have learned from other scenarios that one NEVER should just run out blindly on turn one as that can lead to very nasty ambushes.  So, I spent the first couple of turns having a careful look around the locations to see if there were enemy units nearby.  I thought that was eminently realistic and sensible.  But, in your design that leads being trapped by arty and then nothing can move.

I'll wait for your next version before trying it again.  But, from past experience, after 3 tests, objectivity declines, and also it becomes a PITA to replay the scenario.  Recommend that you try it out yourself b4 asking for volunteers.  You would have discovered your arty error immediately. 

There are few enuff players playing any of these games let alone testing.  You don't want to burn out testers as there may not be anyone else to actually play the completed scenario.

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Erwin, I've tested this thing so many times I just didn't notice the change in the mortaring as I already said. It starts at around 30 seconds in and should end on the fourth turn, it should last about 3-3.5 minutes total.  I'd inadvertently turned the mortar ammo setting up by one level, so it lasted longer than it should have in your test. 

Even so I've tested this thing with every possible AI mortar option and with two salvoes hitting the consular buildings directly (rather than one centred in the road between them as the current target is) and never suffered casualties like yours.  At worst (IIRC) I've lost one man from each of two Spetsnaz teams one Elite driver and a Consular Official, bad but not catastrophic.  The only casualties that matter are the HVTs & Spetsnaz, all the others are insignificant (in the full campaign version it would be wise to preserve your core troops of course).  The Spetsnaz only really need to survive long enough to blunt the major Mujahideen attacks with multiple air-strikes, but if you can keep them going longer and resupply them from a BMD or BTR they are an absolute hoot when the Hinds turn up!  Any UAZs left in the target area are toast, I always dismount the ones I'm not using and place them side-on under the balconies, but with only one exception that I recall they always get trashed.  In that instance one survived, but the wheels had stage two damage so running would be quicker (So use 'em or lose 'em.....FFS don't leave the drivers sat in 'em!). 

I've made the briefing MUCH more explicit about the presence of hostile mortars and you do always have the option to move before the mortars start up (you may take some casualties if you are too tardy about getting units into cover).  I commonly do this when I'm playing against the AI, probably because I've become so familiar with the AI artillery process I guess.

The 'Evacuation Route' is marked on the map (The southern highway tiles are an 'Exit Zone', I'll use a different terrain objective for it to make this more obvious, the current one is quite hard to see TBH.).  It is possible (but risky) to have all of the HVTs at the Consular Buildings jump in a UAZ crewed by one Elite driver and just drive them off the map.  You have to pick the right route of course and there's always an element of luck as you will be in sight of a few (now rather better in some instances, due to your earlier input) snipers for much of the journey, but an Elite driver will not be put off easily and the UAZ is a fast and fairly hard to hit target.  Once I'd established that this was so (I haven't actually checked this option since I turned up all the snipers at your request, but you can be absolutely sure I will do before we communicate again) I got into the habit of keeping the KGB guys around as they know their trade, hence one of them winding up armed with an AK taking pot-shots at the Mujahideen.  The more vehicles running around on the map, the more alert the Snipers appear to become, for best results, in my so often repeated experience, try one vehicle and cross your fingers.

 

Edited by Sgt.Squarehead
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Yup.....Still possible:

HomeInTimeForVodka_zpsdmmpqkw9.jpg

Nobody even fired at them!  :o

ExitZone_zpsy9lcptgb.jpg

I forgot to take the exit zone shot in the first test of this, so I ran it again and got them through again, but this time they were very nearly hit by what looked like a stray KPV round from one of the BTRs by the Government Buildings, I think it may even have wounded someone, but they still got through for VPs!  B)

In the process of trying to make the Exit Zone more visible (You just can't on highway tiles, the faint hint of green around the edges, just visible in the image above, is as good as it gets.....Nothing I can do about it. :unsure: ) I did discover that one of the hidden preserve objectives was set to 'Occupy' so that's another minor issue fixed as a bonus.

Edited by Sgt.Squarehead
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Further testing of the artillery revealed.....Another minor map glitch!  The Governor's Palace gatehouse hadn't been 'tuned' and had too many windows & doors, one of which was in a wall (fixed it).  Keeping in mind the hideous losses you appear to have suffered I've reduced the length of the barrage by approximately one minute.  I've returned to a six random targets configuration, but they are now spread around a little more than in the earlier iterations.

I've made a few other minor amendments here and there (not all HVTs are created equal) and expanded the briefing in order to clarify any issues raised in this thread so far......I any await any further feedback before posting version 1-3, which, assuming I don't need to make further changes, I will probably do immediately after the useless delayed highlights C4 Formula One coverage later on this afternoon.

I shall be incommunicado until then, if I find out the result early by accident it will put me in a really bad mood for two weeks.  ;)

 

Edited by Sgt.Squarehead
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SS:  Re the briefing, suggest you emphasize:  "Enemy artillery bombardment is underway!  Get all inf and civilians off rooftops, balconies and also disembarked from soft vehicles and have them HIDE in buildings - preferably upper floors as ground floors tend to suffer more damage from HE."

That should hopefully help the player save the elite drivers and give the VIP's the best chance of survival.  If one was playing RT one could order the above as soon as first shells fall.  But in WEGO it seems fatal that one has to wait for 60 seconds.

Also, most players many not know that ground floors can be deadly in bombardments.

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Suggestions noted and acted on, the exit zone has been expanded as advised (much better, I should have done this in the first place).....Here's the revised briefing:

Quote

The arrival of Soviet forces has triggered a full scale revolt in this province and unusually the insurgents' efforts are focussed on a major urban centre.  Many of the city's inhabitants have joined the uprising, these individuals have numerous small arms and a significant number of RPGs and should be considered hostile combatants.  KHAD reports that the city's insurgents are acting in coordination with a Mujahideen force of approximately battalion strength known to operate in the mountains to the south-east, it is believed that a company sized group of Mujahideen may have infiltrated the city overnight.  These reports also indicate that the insurgent factions within the city are being organised by radicals within the university faculty and religious community and that the bulk of the insurgents are grouped around the city's religious buildings.  Very recent aerial reconnaissance suggests that the remainder of the Mujahideen force are preparing to assault the city outskirts, this force is known to possess a limited number of heavy weapons including recoilless-rifles and several man portable light mortars.  Freshly dug mortar pits and ammunition stores are clearly visible in the aerial reconnaissance photographs and several mule trains likely to be carrying other heavy weapons can also be seen accompanying the Mujahideen forces approaching the city.  It is strongly recommended that immediate precautions should be taken against mortar bombardment and direct heavy weapons fire.

 

^

A company of Sarandoy militia have disarmed the local police and taken over their duties.  In cooperation with a few dozen local fighters with tribal affiliations to regime officials, the Sarandoy are holding a number of key locations around the city, these include the Government Buildings, Governor's Palace and TV Station.  A DRA Mechanised company operating in and around the city has joined the defence force and a platoon with BTR carriers is standing by to evacuate the Governor's Entourage and Local Government Officials, a second platoon is approaching from the north and should arrive shortly. The Soviet Consular Buildings are currently protected by a small force of elite bodyguards & drivers, who while few in number have excellent training and communications equipment, allowing them to establish contact with a Relief Force approaching rapidly from the south.

The Relief Force consists of the headquarters element and one company from a BMD equipped Air Assault Battalion with two platoons of T-62 tanks in support.  The Relief Force has already made contact with the DRA Mechanised HQ and an attached platoon of engineers, who were undertaking demining operations along the highway to the south of the city, these units have now joined the lead element of the Relief Force.  It is estimated that the Relief Force will take between thirty minutes and an hour to arrive, in advance of its arrival a flight of four Afghan Su-17 fighter-bombers is en-route, these aircraft have been appraised of all known Mujahideen mortar positions and tasked with suppressing them before joining your command.  Our own heavy artillery units comprising a full battery of BM-21 122mm MRLs and another of M-46 130mm guns are being brought into firing range as rapidly as possible.  Soviet crewed Hind gunships have been recalled from their patrol areas and these will be made available to the Relief Force as soon as they have refuelled and rearmed.

A DRA infantry unit with limited armour support has been sighted approaching from the east and should arrive at around the same time as our relief force.  We have been unable to make contact with this force so far, but efforts should be made to coordinate with this unit if possible.

 

^
It's high summer, the air is clear and the sun is bright, ground conditions are dry and a light breeze blows from the south west.  The city is one of the most modern in Afghanistan and to date remains remarkably untouched by warfare.  Terrain in the city varies sharply, from semi-rural at the eastern outskirts where older farm buildings merge into low density urban areas, to high-density urban sprawl in the heart of the city where tower blocks, tenements and a number of quite modern apartment buildings prevail.

 

^

There are fifteen high-value civilian-assets trapped within the city, organising the safe evacuation of these individuals should be your primary concern.  These individuals are organised into five groups, Consular Officials & KGB Residents located at the Soviet Consular Buildings, the Governor's Entourage and Local Government Officials who are to be found at the Governor's Palace & Government Buildings respectively and a particularly troublesome Gulf TV News Crew who have been broadcasting the most unfortunate footage to the Gulf Monarchies from the TV Station.

Try to defend as many of the key buildings marked on the map in white as possible, it would be advantageous to prevent insurgent forces from entering the most sensitive locations (Soviet Consular Buildings & Government Buildings), all of these locations should be fully under Soviet/DRA control within two and a half hours.  You should take the opportunity to destroy as much of the insurgent force as possible while you have them in your sights within the city, before they can escape and return to their normal hit & run tactics.

 

^

Hold key buildings around the city while preserving your limited forces until the relief force arrives. Preventing further TV news broadcasts from showing the ongoing combat in the city should be among your top priorities.  Above all protect the high-value civilian-assets until they can be safely transported to the 'Evacuation Route' marked in white on your map.

 

^

Your forces are initially severely outnumbered and it may not prove possible to hold all locations, attempt to create safe zones where the high-value civilian-assets can be protected until the relief force can facilitate their safe evacuation.  The Government Buildings are particularly well fortified and it should be relatively easy to defend them with the forces at hand.  Forming escape & evacuation plans for the high-value civilian-assets and acting on them quickly, before the main Mujahiden force arrives, may prove to be an advantageous strategy.

Note:  The extreme southern highway tiles marked in white as 'Evacuation Route' are an Exit Zone for use by the high-value civilian-assets.  Do not place other units on these tiles or they will exit the map!

If you guys think that it satisfactorily covers all the bases I'll post v.1-3 late on today.

Thanks again for your continuing advice and support.  B)

The points values for the HVTs have been reassigned in the following ratios:

Consular Officials, Local Government Officials = 1.25

KGB Residents, Governor's Entourage = 1

Gulf TV News Crew = 0.5

Edited by Sgt.Squarehead
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I still recommend that you state: "Enemy artillery bombardment is underway!  Get all inf and civilians off rooftops, balconies and also disembarked from soft vehicles and have them HIDE in buildings - preferably upper floors as ground floors tend to suffer more damage from HE."

Would also appreciate if you define terms like KHAD, DRA and Sarandoy etc etc.

The above are important for less experienced players like me.

Edited by Erwin
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I don't want to be too specific in giving instructions, but I will place even more emphasis on the imminence of a bombardment.....Will edit the post above rather than posting it all again.

I'll add a glossary to the briefing while this exists as a one off, but this would be included in the Campaign Briefing as a rule.....Pretty close to starting on the new AI plans, I know what I want them to do, now all that's required is to persuade them to do it!  ;)

Edited by Sgt.Squarehead
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I've amended the briefing further and added the glossary, modified the forces very slightly (the morale of the Sarandoy was set too high, they're not that good yet and they're kind of out of favour too) and gone through the map hunting for borked buildings again (found and fixed two more since my last post).  I've also very slightly changed the layout of the 'TV Station', there's now a door direct to the car-park and three doors into the car-park annexe.  Finally I've amended the Blue mortar batteries very slightly to randomise the duration of fire to a limited extent (four batteries, two ammo levels, six targets).....Don't worry Erwin, none of them should last five minutes!  :o

Quote

The presence of Soviet forces in an already unruly province has triggered a full scale revolt, unusually the insurgents' efforts are focussed on a major urban centre.  Many inhabitants of a major city have joined the uprising, they have numerous small arms and a significant number of RPGs and should be treated as hostile combatants.  KHAD reports that the city's insurgents are acting in coordination with a Mujahideen force of approximately battalion strength known to operate in the mountains to the south-east, it is believed that a company sized group of Mujahideen may have infiltrated the city overnight.  These reports also indicate that the insurgent factions within the city are being organised by radicals within the university faculty and religious community and that the bulk of the insurgents are grouped around the city's religious buildings.  Very recent aerial reconnaissance suggests that the remainder of the Mujahideen force are preparing to assault the city outskirts, this force is known to possess a limited number of heavy weapons including recoilless-rifles and several man portable light mortars.  Freshly dug mortar pits and ammunition stores are clearly visible in the aerial reconnaissance photographs and several mule trains likely to be carrying other heavy weapons can also be seen accompanying the Mujahideen forces approaching the city.  It is strongly recommended that immediate precautions should be taken against mortar bombardment and direct heavy weapons fire.

 

^

A company of Sarandoy militia have disarmed the local police and taken over their duties.  In cooperation with a few dozen local fighters with tribal affiliations to regime officials, the Sarandoy are holding a number of key locations around the city, these include the Government Buildings, Governor's Palace and TV Station.  A DRA Army mechanised infantry company operating in and around the city has joined the defence force and a platoon with BTR carriers is standing by to evacuate the Governor's Entourage and Local Government Officials, a second platoon is approaching from the north and should arrive shortly. The Soviet Consular Buildings are currently protected by a small force of elite bodyguards & drivers, who while few in number have excellent training and communications equipment, allowing them to establish contact with a Relief Force approaching rapidly from the south.

The Relief Force consists of the headquarters element and one company from a BMD equipped Air Assault Battalion with two platoons of T-62 tanks in support.  The Relief Force has already made contact with the DRA Army mechanised company HQ and an attached platoon of engineers, who were undertaking demining operations along the highway to the south of the city, these units have now joined the lead element of the Relief Force.  It is estimated that the Relief Force will take between thirty minutes and an hour to arrive, in advance of its arrival a flight of four Afghan Su-17 fighter-bombers is en-route, these aircraft have been appraised of all known Mujahideen mortar positions and tasked with suppressing them before joining your command.  Our own heavy artillery units comprising a full battery of BM-21 122mm MRLs and another of M-46 130mm guns are being brought into firing range as rapidly as possible.  Soviet crewed Hind gunships have been recalled from their patrol areas and these will be made available to the Relief Force as soon as they have refuelled and rearmed.

A company sized DRA Army infantry unit with limited armour support has been sighted approaching from the east and should arrive at around the same time as our relief force.  We have been unable to make contact with this force so far, but efforts should be made to coordinate with this unit if possible.

 

^
It's just after dawn in high summer, the air is clear and the sun is bright, ground conditions are dry and a light breeze blows from the south west.  The city is one of the most modern in Afghanistan and to date remains remarkably untouched by warfare.  Terrain in the city varies sharply, from semi-rural at the eastern outskirts where older farm buildings merge into low density urban areas, to high-density urban sprawl in the heart of the city where tower blocks, tenements and a number of quite modern apartment buildings prevail.

 

^

There are fifteen high-value civilian-assets trapped within the city, organising the safe evacuation of these individuals should be your primary concern.  The high-value civilian-assets are organised into five groups, Consular Officials & KGB Residents located at the Soviet Consular Buildings, the Governor's Entourage and Local Government Officials who are to be found at the Governor's Palace & Government Buildings respectively and a particularly troublesome Gulf TV News Crew who have been broadcasting the most unfortunate footage to the Gulf Monarchies from the TV Station.

Try to defend as many of the key buildings marked on the map in white as possible, it would be advantageous to prevent insurgent forces from entering the most sensitive locations (Soviet Consular Buildings & Government Buildings), all of these locations should be fully under Soviet/DRA control within two and a half hours.  You should take the opportunity to destroy as much of the insurgent force as possible while you have them in your sights within the city, before they can escape and return to their normal hit & run tactics.

 

^

Hold key buildings around the city while preserving your limited forces until the relief force arrives. Preventing further TV news broadcasts from showing the on-going combat in the city should be among your top priorities.  Above all protect the high-value civilian-assets until they can be safely transported to the 'Evacuation Route' marked in white on your map.

 

^

Your forces are initially severely outnumbered and they are likely to come under mortar bombardment until strike aircraft can intervene, plan your moves accordingly.  It may not prove possible to hold all locations, attempt to create safe zones where the high-value civilian-assets can be protected until the relief force can facilitate their safe evacuation.  The Government Buildings are particularly well fortified and it should be relatively easy to defend them with the forces at hand.  Forming escape & evacuation plans for the high-value civilian-assets and acting on them quickly, before the main Mujahiden force arrives, may prove to be an advantageous strategy.

Note:  The extreme southern highway tiles marked in white as 'Evacuation Route' are an Exit Zone for use by the high-value civilian-assets.  Do not place other units on these tiles or they will exit the map!

Glossary:

BMD - Boyevaya Mashina Desanta (Airborne Combat Vehicle).  A Soviet tracked airborne infantry fighting vehicle.
BTR - Bronetransporty (Armoured Transport). A Soviet wheeled armoured personnel carrier.
DRA - Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.  Communist Afghan government formed following the Saur Revolution of April 1978.
KHAD - Khadamat-e Aetla'at-e Dawlati (State Intelligence Agency).  Afghan national intelligence service.
Khalq - (Masses or People).  A faction of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan. Its historical leaders were former Presidents Nur Muhammad Taraki and Hafizullah Amin.
KGB -  Komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti (Comittee for State Security) Primary intelligence service of the Soviet Union.
Parcham - (Banner or Flag).  A faction of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, lead by current President Barbak Karmal.
PDPA - People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan.  Afghan socialist party, comprising two major factions, Khalq & Parcham.
Sarandoy - Militarised gendarmerie with loyalties to the Khalq political faction, nominally under the control of the Ministry of the Interior.

If anyone wants the current version (1-3) I'll upload it here, but I'm going to start on (1-4) with two AI Plans in the meantime & I plan on doing (1-5) with three plans before I'll consider this scenario done.

Next up in this series - 'The Lion's Den', a scenic diversion to a picturesque valley.....Apparently there's some local Tajik warlord who's been causing trouble.  ;)

Edited by Sgt.Squarehead
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Been following this thread for a while; wish I could offer myself as an additional playtester but my plate is full with my own map-projects. Figured it was worth popping in to say that there's a few other silent watchers following this with great interest. I definitely like your scenario design philosophy.

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If anyone else does want to try the current iteration (1-3), it's here:  https://www.dropbox.com/s/waoavka3rk4kvxm/[Test] Action %26 Reaction (1-3).btt?dl=0

This is fully corrected and has a full briefing as posted above.

I'm testing some scenario ideas for Mosul in CM:SF at the moment, so it will be a couple of days before I come back to this one.

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No worries fella, I think most of the wrinkles should be ironed out now.....Hopefully you will be able to play it straight through without any WTF? moments. 

I can't completely rule out the possibility of there still being the odd borked building that I've missed, but there shouldn't be any at all in the primary play area now.

Barring any 'newly discovered issues' the only changes I plan to make are two more AI Plans.  These will change the orientation of the battle, but not it's overall nature, so I may save them for the campaign version and not release them for prior testing.....I'm also kind of itching to pay my tribute to the late (& IMHO Great) Ahmad Shah Massoud, be prepared for casualties when you face the 'Lion of the Panjshir' in his lair!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Shah_Massoud

I'll be basing my scenario on the existing map, but making it a LOT more difficult than that particular cakewalk.....This may well become the final mission of the campaign as it will be a ball-breaker of the first order.

PS - Good luck with the move, hope it goes smoothly for you.

Edited by Sgt.Squarehead
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