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Road to Odessa DAR


HerrTom

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Just when I thought I was out, they drag me back in.  Just got a turn from my buddy, now in Shiny, New V4!  May have some fun screenshots for the next couple of turns, but it's not dead! (Huzzah!)

0812

Well, some good some bad.  The ambushing T-64 knocked out another tank and damaged a third, which returned fire and brewed up the tank, killing the brave crew.

Two more BMPs attempting to overlook the bridge crossing got knocked out by the other T-64 entrenched at the bridge.  An IFV caught sight and began firing its autocannon, causing the tank to retreat.

Russian forces are now attempting to cross the ford.  My infantry in position to counter their advances got themselves surprised by some autocannon fire that came from across the river.  They're all suppressed and retreating now.  In response, I've pulled most of 3rd platoon out of position facing the bridge and am bringing them to engage in house-to-house fighting in Pryvitne.  Artillery should begin landing on the crossing.

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As a side note, the explosion smoke on loading an old save is pretty funny!  Confusing, but funny.

Edited by HerrTom
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Sometimes I wonder though...

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He'll get it to me (eventually). :) 

While we wait, some totally from CM:BS screenshots.  The Ukrainian Su-24 flight Grach was cleared for takeoff in the last couple of minutes and taxi'd its way to the runway.

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Grach flight, lead callsign 010 and wingman 011 taxi from their parking spots.

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010 punches his engines, kicking his heavy aircraft down the runway.  The pavement sections are barely absorbed by the suspension on the aircraft's wheels.  Bump..... bump.... bump... bump.. bump, bump bump.

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The bumps suddenly stop as the aircraft lurches into the air.  The airfield roars as his afterburner belches hot air into the still morning countryside. (I assure you, I absolutely didn't Photoshop the terrain for fun :rolleyes:.  I wish it looked that good!)

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The aircraft separate in the air, each taking its own approach.  They fly low to avoid the ever searching Russian fighters that are already crawling over Ukrainian airspace.  The safety umbrella of Ukraine's air defense network has so far kept them at bay, but one wonders how for how long it will last...

The situation on the ground near Malooleksandrivka is getting critical.  1st Company is in dire straights under an intense Russian attack.  The fate of Odessa, and indeed Southern Ukraine, all rests on the brave soldiers of (the non-existent) 26. Mechanized Brigade.

DCS got me thinking that I hope future versions of Combat Mission will eventually render aircraft on the attack.  I know they don't fit on the map, but seeing aircraft scream in and drop payloads would be pretty satisfying.  And before people yell at me saying that they'd be dropping bombs from 30,000 feet, my hunch is a contested airspace is fairer to low and fast.  In my DAR, I call the shots, so I'm going to imagine these Su-24s (if they ever reach their targets) will blast over the battlefield to drop their ordnance on their targets, leaving behind 2,000 kg of bombs and a loud sonic boom. :D

Edited by HerrTom
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1 hour ago, Haiduk said:

Here it go ;)

Beautiful!

0813

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The T-64 at the ford knocks out not one, but two BMP-3s brave enough to attempt the crossing.  Meanwhile, the remains of my infantry on the bank are retreating into the town.  The platoon is now roughly squad strength.  It was a real meat grinder.

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The BMP-2 at the crossing has a close encounter of the deadly kind with a Russian T-72 across the canal.  I think at this point, it's time to stop counting losses and count what I actually have left.  1.Company has taken pretty brutal losses, and the remains of it are all getting rattled.

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But that T-64 keeps blazing away.  At the end of the minute, it's engaging two more BMP-3s it encountered across the canal.

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Some of my troops surviving the Russian advance have reconstituted in Malooleksandrivka.  They're going to bravely find their way back to my lines, probably unsuccessfully.  The Russians are making an effort to cross the ford (I should have expected that!) and I'm beginning to doubt my ability to hold it.  I can only hope that they delay the Russians enough that 2. Company can at least occupy Pryvitne before it falls to the enemy onslaught.

The majority of my forces are in the town, the rest are routed or casualties.  I have, as I recall:

  • 2x T-64
  • 2x BMP-2
  • 1x Company HQ
  • 1x Forward Observer
  • 1x Artillery observation vehicle
  • 1x Konkurs
  • ~3x squads of infantry
  • 6x 152mm artillery pieces
  • 2x Su-24 on the way

Not a whole lot to stand against, at this point, likely two companies of Russian motor rifles...  Good news is that my artillery is going to start pounding an emergency fire mission on the canal crossing any minute now, hopefully catching any Russian vehicles queuing for their crossing unawares with ground bursts.

Edited by HerrTom
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38 minutes ago, Chudacabra said:

Yikes! Is the ford mined at all?

Far side is.  I should've put them IN the ford, but I wanted to be able to retreat across it.  All-in-all I put too many forces forwards.  A platoon each defending the bridge and ford, a platoon in the town, tanks distributed and perhaps recon on interdiction forward would have been a better layout.

 

Oh yeah, I also forgot about the 2x Shturms I have further back.  Hopefully they'll see some success (though I've never found them to be that useful in the past...).

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2 minutes ago, Lmurfe said:

Which graphic mods are you using? (Please god, let it be a mod and not photoshop) Looks great! Amazing DAR and scenario. Looking forward for more. 

It's all PS. I'm not even playing Combat Mission! It's all a lie!!!

Actually, I'm using Kieme's terrain and vehicle textures plus BTR'S Russian Army Regulation Standard. Then I'm running Reshade v3 on top with SSAO and some color correction mostly. Only PS I do on these screenshots is to trim the UI out and occasionally, if I feel like it, remove the ambient occlusion from showing through smoke.

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  • 2 weeks later...

0814-0815

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Autocannon fire from across the canal knocked out my T-64 at the ford.  No bueno.

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Meanwhile, Russian forces rout the infantry dug in around the bridge, practically driving over the prepared positions.  This does not go unnoticed by the T-64 parked in the trees.

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Boom! One of the BMP-3s gets nailed by a 125mm shell. Infantry begin to exit the vehicle, contused and confused.

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The commander fires his machine gun at some of the dismounts while the gunner aligns his next target...

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The catastrophic detonation roars above the battle, knocking leaves off of trees dozens of meters away.

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A third BMP rolls into the kill zone, but catches the T-64 reloading.  30mm APFSDS shells kill the driver, panicking the crew.  They dismount and are cut down by coax fire.

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Meanwhile, a survivor from the first line of defence opens fire on a Russian team entering the southern bank of the cana.  So far, no one seems to be hit and the Russians dive for cover.

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I think most of my forces are going to panic at the first sight of return fire at this point.  It's getting pretty desperate.  Five more minutes until 2nd company arrives.  Hopefully they can delay the Russian attack for further reinforcements...

Artillery began landing on the ford, and I haven't seen any further crossing attempts by the Russians after the first one was foiled.  Hopefully the ground bursts can take out some BMPs and injure any dismounted infantry in the treeline.

There is at least 1 BMP-3 across the canal at the bridge, and I don't doubt more are coming.  Hopefully the Shturms and BMP-2 can get a firing solution on them once the smoke clears.

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3 hours ago, HerrTom said:

30mm APFSDS shells kill the driver,

Em... HOW ??? Was there a penetration ?

 

3 hours ago, HerrTom said:

Autocannon fire from across the canal knocked out my T-64 at the ford.

30 mm ? The same question then. And from what range and in what point the tank was hit ?

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4 hours ago, HerrTom said:

Both cases from within 100m I think. I didn't see what killed my tank at the ford, though. Surprised me, too!

Can you replay it and see in details ? Looks like its a reason for bug report, especially with driver death. 

Edited by Haiduk
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@HerrTom

Obvious bug. Can you send me saved turn ? 

Second issue, which I see here - stupid AI behavior. Both RUS infantry and UKR tank crew instead to run behind own destroyed vehicles and retreat in safe place, are running directly in LOS of enemy weapon or playing Rambo, shelling enemy BMP with AK in front of it guns. 

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0817-0818

I think I doubled up a number earlier or something.  By my count this should be the right time...

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The easternmost Shturm locates a BMP-3, but not quickly enough.  30mm cannon fire slams into the thin vehicle body, killing the gunner.

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Artillery continues to land around the ford.  I'll have to do a BDA after the battle to see how much damage it did.  Another barrage is set to land on the bridge.  If it doesn't collapse, I'll direct Grach 010 and 011 to sink that bridge.

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CM does provide quite the destructive panoramas.  There are still two more companies of blood and steel to throw into cauldron!

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The westernmost Shturm confirms my suspicion that Shturms are useless as it gets nailed by another BMP-3 while it aims.  (Does anyone have any tips on how to use these guys?  I know they were a little close at about 1 km, but how often do you get sightlines longer than that?)

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One of 3rd Platoon's BMPs rakes a Russian transport flying down the highway.

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The last remaining dismounted ATGM lands a shot on another enemy BMP.  The round penetrates through the left hull, setting off a catastrophic explosion in the ammo carousel.

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Two more BMPs rush forwards, under autocannon fire from my defending BMPs.  They're beginning to panic just at the sight of enemy vehicles.  It may have something to do with the 80% or so casualties that 1st Company has taken thus far...

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Still no activity from the ford.  Maybe my mines and artillery has stopped them from attempting a crossing for now.  The main enemy thrust appears to have transitioned to the bridge.  At least a platoon has already crossed.  In the next minute or two, a retasked artillery battery will begin to slam the bridge crossing to deter any additional crossing.

Good news is we've held off the Russian advance just barely.  2nd company should be arriving in about two minutes from the northwest corner of the AO.  They're going to rush down the road towards Pryvitne.  Depending on the situation, I may divert a platoon supported by tanks to take the defensive works by the Shturms.  Time will tell.

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9 hours ago, HerrTom said:

The westernmost Shturm confirms my suspicion that Shturms are useless as it gets nailed by another BMP-3 while it aims.  (Does anyone have any tips on how to use these guys?  I know they were a little close at about 1 km, but how often do you get sightlines longer than that?)

Yeah it is tricky. They need some peace and quiet get a bead on the enemy to fire. I find three things help - distance (as you alluded, it can be hard to get LOS over 1K due to terrain), concealment (they can operate from a little way back in a forest, that makes them much harder to spot), other threats (if you can get them setup semi hidden at a distance and have other AFVs in front of them they can last a while). Pretty tall order in some cases. I have had some good use from them in First Clash and a QB where the rolling hills allowed me to get all three of the above.

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13 hours ago, HerrTom said:

 I know they were a little close at about 1 km,

I think, scale of CM battles too tight for Shturm usage. This is "long hand" and AT-reserve. In Donbas I know only two cases of Shturms in combat. During assault of Vuhlehirsk these vehicles was too late directed against enemy tanks, when its already entered to the town. One Shturm was destroyed almost from rifle distance by enemy tank, second was abandoned end didn't engage. Other case happened also during Debaltseve battle, one Shturm have destroyed from 5 km two of enemy armor and one damaged. So, for Shturms need huge map.

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On 3/1/2017 at 2:06 PM, HerrTom said:

It's all PS. I'm not even playing Combat Mission! It's all a lie!!!

Actually, I'm using Kieme's terrain and vehicle textures plus BTR'S Russian Army Regulation Standard. Then I'm running Reshade v3 on top with SSAO and some color correction mostly. Only PS I do on these screenshots is to trim the UI out and occasionally, if I feel like it, remove the ambient occlusion from showing through smoke.

I figured I'd join up here on the forums just to let people know I'd been having problems with the latest version of Reshade (3.0.6). I'm using an Nvidia GTX770, running Win7x64, and no matter what I tried, once in the 3D game environment, I got weird camera plane clipping issues, even before adding any effects whatsoever. It seemed like it created some kind of issue merely by virtue of there being an overlay CMBS did not like.

Anyway, after much screwing around, I ended up finding the Reshade Repository, which contains all earlier versions of the software. Version 3.0.4 is the latest one that works for me without issues.

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Thanks for the info steepdate.  I didn't know there were newer versions than 3.0.4.

0818 - in other words: Man, I can't count!

The timer says 1:12 remaining - 18 minutes since the start... so I'm not sure why or how I got so confused earlier!  Maybe this cold has me seeing double...

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Dust kicked up by one of 3rd platoon's BMPs temporarily obscures its vision of the advancing Russians.

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But that doesn't stop the other BMP from nailing another BMP-3 driving down the highway!

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The autocannons keep chattering away, lobbing 30mm shells into the thin skin of the Russian IFVs.  I don't envy the men given the order to charge! (Maybe I should have a score for Russian units exiting the far side of the map, and maybe a score for Ukrainian units to retreat when I update it?  The Russians get a lot of points for exiting, so the Ukrainian player must interdict them to get enough points...)

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Alas! The Russian numbers are too many, and 30mm shells blast into the forward BMP, killing the gunner.

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The ATGM team takes revenge and fires a Konkurs at one of the enemy BMPs

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The HEAT warhead stops the vehicle in its tracks.

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And as the minute draws to a close... a foreboding sight crosses over the bridge... one of the Russian T-72s!  I'm not sure 1st Company has enough munitions or firepower to knock out this threat.  2nd Company's tanks may be their best hope!

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Still not much cmoing across the ford, as far as I can tell.  I still have my artillery landing sporadic shots on the crossing to deter that.  I have a feeling they may have hit the mines I placed on the crossing and are playing it safe on the actual crossing effort.  I know at least one vehicle also hit a mine attempting to cross at the bridge, too.  Don't have good eyes on to know exactly what it was, though.

I have worn down at least a company, if not more, of Russian troops, though I doubt my ability to continue to resist their technological and numerical superiority...  2nd Company's fate may decide the battle.  This is definitely getting interesting, and it looks like we are indeed going to fight across the entire map - something which I'm quite happy about!

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4 minutes ago, Rinaldi said:

Gripping stuff. This is a real brawl.

Seriously!  And you guys were telling me the Ukrainians didn't have enough troops at the start!

...Well, I don't... but that's beyond my point! :P  I kinda enjoy asymmetrical games and odds.  It's not whether you win or lose to me - it's whether you had a damn good fight!

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