Shock Force 2 Unofficial Screenshot And Video Thread

[George MC]

Some shots from Bridgehead at Brandenburg.

 

[37mm]

Just checking out the latest patch...

 

[IICptMillerII]

Nice vid!

Looks like you're using a new skin for the Abrams. Is that the case? Looks pretty good!

Have an opinion on the latest patch, specifically in regards to the TacAI?

[George MC]

Great vid thx @37mm 

[37mm]

8 hours ago, IICptMillerII said:

Nice vid!

Looks like you're using a new skin for the Abrams. Is that the case? Looks pretty good!

Have an opinion on the latest patch, specifically in regards to the TacAI?

Not yet... I didn't see any issues with units in the open (say on a street).

Infantry firefights seemed a bit "stickier" with less withdrawing (for instance units under heavy fire on a second floor had to be ordered down to the ground floor if I wanted the firefight to break off... usually it's a struggle to keep units on the second floor without them automatically fleeing to the bottom) however the US infantry was crack (and presumably well motivated) whilst I can imagine most of the opposing fighters were also well motivated.

I did seem to catch a lot of units withdrawing from the back of buildings and, as this was an old CMSF1 scenario (triggers didn't exist), I can't think of any planned AI reason why that would be so... indicating a possible tac AI issue (one to keep an eye out for).

 

I transferred some of my CMSF1 mods before the repository shut down for good... I think there is an Abrams mod in there but I've used them all so long I couldn't tell you what it is or where I got it from.

 

 

[IICptMillerII]

1 hour ago, 37mm said:

Infantry firefights seemed a bit "stickier" with less withdrawing (for instance units under heavy fire on a second floor had to be ordered down to the ground floor if I wanted the firefight to break off... usually it's a struggle to keep units on the second floor without them automatically fleeing to the bottom) however the US infantry was crack (and presumably well motivated) whilst I can imagine most of the opposing fighters were also well motivated.

Thanks for the reply! Yup, sounds like things are working as intended here. One only has to look at the tough fighting that took place in Fallujah to know that even a poorly trained force (by conventional standards) that is well enough motivated can be extremely tough to dislodge in urban conditions. 

1 hour ago, 37mm said:

I did seem to catch a lot of units withdrawing from the back of buildings and, as this was an old CMSF1 scenario (triggers didn't exist), I can't think of any planned AI reason why that would be so... indicating a possible tac AI issue (one to keep an eye out for).

Without seeing it myself, or more specifically the enemy units morale state it is really hard to determine what is happening. Though I do have a theory: this is likely morale shock you are seeing. When a unit takes enough casualties and a general beating and they enter the 'shaken' or 'panic' morale states (the ones where you cannot directly control them anymore) the infantry will then displace and try to get away from the fighting. To me, this is the ideal way for this behavior to be implemented. Playing the game singleplayer, there is always going to be the lack of higher guidance to remove these shattered and broken units completely from the fight. That said, I think that everything is working very well right now. 

1 hour ago, 37mm said:

I transferred some of my CMSF1 mods before the repository shut down for good... I think there is an Abrams mod in there but I've used them all so long I couldn't tell you what it is or where I got it from.

Ahh ok. More mods lost to time with the original repository going down and the current mod warehouse in the state its in. They look good!

[37mm]

3 hours ago, IICptMillerII said:

Without seeing it myself, or more specifically the enemy units morale state it is really hard to determine what is happening. Though I do have a theory: this is likely morale shock you are seeing.

That was my top theory too however a lot of the retreating units were combatants that I hadn't encountered... so I found it strange.

Either way, I've just checked the scenario in the editor & there was a rather questionable AI plan in it... so forget my observation in that regard.

So far, so good... with the latest Tac AI.

Edited July 23, 2020 by 37mm

[IICptMillerII]

Ahh ok. That makes sense then. Thanks for the feedback and video!

[37mm]

I am so enjoying this patch...

 

[Bozowans]

I love those videos.

The new patch is really good so far too. The only complaint I have is that they still haven't fixed the trench bug, where unspotted enemy trenches are still clearly visible to the player. That's annoying, but I am really loving the way the AI works now so far.

I just finished one scenario where you get a company of British light infantry attacking a small town held by a full battalion of poor quality green Syrian Army troops. Aside from some air support, I didn't get a lot of heavy weapons to blast them out of their buildings, so it mostly came down to classic fire and maneuver tactics and assaulting the enemy up close. With the AI now being more reluctant to just run away only to get mowed down in the open, the Syrians defenses were mostly just static, with the men cowering in place and putting out sporadic fire until I got close enough for them to surrender. I took a LOT of prisoners, more than 100 altogether, which I'm pretty sure is more prisoners than I've ever taken in any CM scenario I've ever played. I probably could have taken more but the extreme heat slowed down my advance considerably.

It did feel more realistic than the way the game played before, with my troops slowly advancing from house to house, engaging in brief firefights before dragging out another big group of prisoners, sometimes full squads at a time. Then on to the next house. Some of the fighting in the town was very bloody and difficult though, with stubborn pockets of resistance here and there. The enemy was just so numerous that I had a lot of difficulty at times. It seemed like nearly every building had guys in it. I lost about a quarter of my men, with 12 dead and 30 wounded compared to 200 Syrian dead and wounded alongside the 100+ prisoners. I've never seen an entire 1/3rd of an enemy force surrender before.

And because this is the screenshot thread:

This was one of the more deadly streets. There were multiple Syrian squads down at the end of the street, some with good keyhole positions putting out deadly fire for quite a long time, including RPG fire that caused a lot of casualties among my men. I couldn't get close enough to deal with them. At one point I brought up a sniper team to take shots at them, but my crack sniper lost a duel with some guy with an AK. 

 

 

The scenario ended with a bang. On the final turn of the scenario, I dropped a 2000lb bomb directly onto the roof of a small one-story building at the end of that street with an RPG team inside. Miraculously, one of the guys survived. After the boom, I saw him pop up out of the rubble and take off running toward the rear. He didn't make it far before he was shot. Then the enemy force surrendered. In the end, I only got a minor victory because of all the casualties I took. I was supposed to be below 25% casualties, but I ended up taking 26%. 

[IICptMillerII]

@37mm another great video! If only I could find the time to make a few myself. Glad you’re liking the patch too. 
 

@Bozowans great vignette! That first screenshot is great too, very atmospheric. Really conveys a tough infantry slug fest through an urban hellhole. Also glad to hear that you’re enjoying the patch. Seems to be well received by all. 

[Erwin]

10 hours ago, Bozowans said:

...dropped a 2000lb bomb directly onto the roof of a small one-story building at the end of that street with an RPG team inside. Miraculously, one of the guys survived.

Have done similar on trenches as well as buildings which resulted in minimal enemy casualties and indeed they have been able to shoot back as friendlies assault the position.  Have wondered whether it's realistic that men could still survive let alone function after such a huge blast wave.

 

[db_zero]

@37mm. I watched those videos bloody is the word that comes to mind. The Syrians put up a fight.

[Bozowans]

2 hours ago, Erwin said:

Have done similar on trenches as well as buildings which resulted in minimal enemy casualties and indeed they have been able to shoot back as friendlies assault the position.  Have wondered whether it's realistic that men could still survive let alone function after such a huge blast wave.

Yeah something does seem fishy there. I also had a ton of guys around that building, some of them only 30m away but none of them were phased by the huge explosion. I was afraid that I would cause friendly fire casualties but it didn't matter at all.

 

15 hours ago, IICptMillerII said:

@Bozowans great vignette! That first screenshot is great too, very atmospheric. Really conveys a tough infantry slug fest through an urban hellhole. Also glad to hear that you’re enjoying the patch. Seems to be well received by all. 

Thanks! To sing more praises, the scenario "Ambush at Al-Fubar" now works properly as well. I always thought that the previous version of the game had kinda broken that scenario. It starts with an ambushed Stryker platoon caught in a tight space surrounded by insurgents at close range, with shooting breaking out on turn 1. One of the US teams will always end up taking a bunch of fire at the start, and with the previous AI, they would always try to fall back immediately by running out the back door of their building. Since the position is surrounded though, they would always end up running out into the street in a single file line right in front of a huge group of insurgents, and the entire 5-man team would get mowed down one by one like a bunch of lemmings. Now they shelter in place like they should.

 

Random screenshots:

[Bozowans]

I take too many screenshots. From "House Cleaning":

 

Assaulting the compound:

 

Firing squad:

 

Platoon HQ pokes their heads out to fire into the compound:

 

The Charge:

 

And here is my absolute favorite shot. Here is your action movie poster:

Edited August 4, 2020 by Bozowans

[Tashtego]

                                                                                                    The 1000 yard stare.

 

 

 

[Zveroboy1]

[Lethaface]

Some shots of the second mission in the reworded Dutch CMSF2 campaign: 

Looking great and having a blast!

 

 

 

[Endyamon]

[Molnár Norbert]

[Molnár Norbert]

[Molnár Norbert]

[BarendJanNL]

Nice, enjoying these, keep them coming!

[Ithikial_AU]

On 8/21/2020 at 6:59 AM, Lethaface said:

Some shots of the second mission in the reworded Dutch CMSF2 campaign: 

Looking great and having a blast!

Yes that's one of the little tweaks to the early part of that campaign revamp we made. If you win the first mission, the next two (which occur simultaneously) are set at dusk, but if you lose the first mission they occur much later on in the dead of night and IIRC the troops start those battles in a tired state. Just simulating the advance being stalled somewhat once the Dutch force crossed the border from Turkey.

[MOS:96B2P]

Night Blast.

 

Followed by some room clearing. 

 

Edited September 28, 2020 by MOS:96B2P