Heinrich505 Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 George MC, I finished playing out this remarkable scenario yesterday. In the designer notes, you asked that if anyone had comments about the scenario, to please post them. This was a wonderful battle, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I found that I had to pull myself away from it when other things came up. When I got really going and caught up in the battle, I'd lose track of time and suddenly wonder where the past few hours blew past. Thanks so much for putting this one together for our enjoyment. The time alloted was very generous, a full 2 hours and 30 minutes. I took this to mean that perhaps I should be wary of unexpected difficulties. I ended up getting the enemy to surrender with 1 hour and 30 minutes left in the game. I was playing against the AI and on Elite. While I ended up with a Total Victory, it didn't feel that way, as I had 18 men killed and 10 wounded, losing 2 Armored Vehicles. I had a lot of virtual letters to write. The mix of troops felt just right, the enemy AI seemed to behave very competently, giving me fits at times, and the battle had a very real feel to it, with an ebb and flow that felt just right. It was very enjoyable commanding the Marines, and they worked very well in the battle. The map was amazing - it really helped to draw me in to the battle. I spent most of my time right down on the ground level, looking for elevation changes for my men to take advantage of, as well as giving them "guidance" on where to set up and overwatch. There was a lot of building clearing, with assault teams charging into buildings while being covered by the rest of the squad. Things looked very real. I'd highly recommend this battle. It was a blast to experience, and had a very real feel and look to it. I tracked down the actual briefing by Major Kassner that you referred to in the notes, and your version was faithful to his original idea. I think your AI was more devious than Major Kassner might have expected though, haha. [ [ [ [ Spoilers [ [ [ [ Per your briefing, I split up into three sections, one going fast to the left flank, one going fast to the right flank, and one heading straight up the middle. I put some FOs and Javeline guys on the high escarpment right there where everyone came into the map. I had the snipers up there too. I have to again say that the map was amazing to see. I had the center group stop just before the bridge into the town area, worrying that the bridge might be booby-trapped. I ran some squads on foot into the first gully. I also ran the right flank guys up the large escarpment there, to get some high views of the valley. The left flank boys kept working their way over to the road, as I intended to move in on the village from the left and hold, while the center worked further forward and the right cleared the ridge lines. Everything was looking just fine until a command AAV blew up from an enemy rocket, wiping out Lt. Fish's HQ team, two M60 MG groups, and the vehicle crew. A rather unauspicious start for a battle that was stressing keeping my casualties down. Ugh. Of course everyone now spotted the enemy rocket unit, and laid down fire on the ridge. Just a little late, boys. The crackling flames from the armored vehicle were a constant reminder of me messing up. I had everyone for the center group get out of the AAVs, and they moved slowly and methodically through the first group of buildings. Since the platoon no longer had a commander, I ran the XO unit up to provide some sort of command presence. I don't know if that really had an effect, as there were no red command lines. But, the Marines were still able to split into smaller groups, and they didn't seem to suffer too much when working so independently. That was a big relief. I had only one squad and their AAV on the escarpment on the right flank, and moved the others forward carefully, now wondering what other surprises were in store. I spotted another enemy on the far right escarpment, and immediately opened fire on them, thinking they were another rocket unit. I also dropped arty on them as well. The left flank was fairly uneventful, and I'd just formed up with the 4 AAV and was beginning to move forward when a whole gaggle of enemy vehicles rolled right into my sights. It was a crazy mad minute or two, with me scrambling to unload the squads while trying to blast the enemy trucks and the cab. The enemy lost badly, as I wiped them all out, even the ones that were hotfooting it across the map in a frantic attempt to escape. I wondered at the time if this might have been the main bad guy that I was tasked to eliminate or capture in the briefing. I had one casualty out of the mad scramble, the lead M60 gunner of one of the two MG units. For the next 10 turns I had his two assistants try to locate him in the brush to render buddy aid. It was maddening, because the two bozos kept walking right past him and not trying to help him. I became suspicious that perhaps they didn't really like the guy, and were pretending to not see him in the brush. At this point, I was about to have the LT move over and patch up the wounded MG gunner (I figured he'd find the guy), but the team leader of the other MG unit said they'd take care of it, leaving the LT to continue to give orders to the rest of the platoon. I found out later that the wounded gunner actually didn't get along with the other two guys, as they considered him an arrogant martinet and were trying to get moved to a different MG unit. You just never know who you friends are, or aren't. The other MG unit found the gunner fairly quickly, and rendered buddy aid. Oddly enough, after that, even though the now two-man MG unit was registering nervous, they were consistently ordered forward on foot to support the squads, while the three-man MG unit, showing cautious, was kept in reserve. I wonder if the LT was trying to send a message to those guys. They got shot at a lot, later in the battle, but kept their heads down for the most part. Hmmm.... I was wondering what new surprises might happen, so I moved the left flank squads forward in three groups, holding the others back in good overwatch. Soon a heavy enemy machine gun opened up, as well as an anti-tank rocket team. That brought a rain of machine gun and grenade fire on their position. It was good I was moving cautiously and slowly on this flank now. The right flank started taking fire from the small groups of buildings they were moving towards, and a lot of overwatch fire started to silence the enemy there. In the center, I was actually having the men clear buildings systematically, so the going was very slow, but very safe too. I finally started to uncover small nests of enemy troops as I neared the second gully/bridge/river area. Because I was so cautious, I was not suffering any (well, any more...ugh...) casualties in this area. When the LAVs showed up, I ran one fast to the left flank, the LAV commander straight up the middle, one to the far right flank to work the ridge line, and one to stay in the right valley and work with the right flank guys who were slowly moving towards the main town, but clearing all the buildings with methodical house-to-house tactics and careful overwatch. Having the AAVs in standoff provided a lot of firepower when the enemy soldiers finally - and foolishly - took their shots. My ridgeline LAV and its scouts confirmed the death of what turned out to be an enemy FO, and then cleared the far right ridgeline. In the process, they provided some really important intel and fired on many enemy positions that they spotted. It was a very good move having them up there. Several more enemy positions were spotted and eliminated, one being a pesky sniper team that ended up getting eliminated by the left flank LAV and scouts. From this elevated position, the LAV had a clear view right down the main street of the town. They stayed there and uncovered some more enemy AT teams as well. Left flank was slowly moving forward, once some enemy positions were discovered and then eliminated or forced to flee by the AAV support fire. I really avoided using the bridges and had the AAVs ford the streams, as well as having the Marines on foot getting wet. I pretty much had the left flank blocked off by now, and I didn't really advance further, preferring to block any enemy that might try to flee the town in that direction. The main push up the middle was done, moving carefully across the stream and then easing up into the edges of the town. I had one AAV that I ordered through the gully and stream but the driver was a cowboy and raced across the bridge, exactly what I was trying to avoid. But, he made it safely, so the next one was ordered across the bridge too. On the right flank, I had reduced the enemy positions in the small group of buildings, but now there was a walled in section that I kept getting partial indicators that enemy troops were still there. There was only one way in - through the front gate. I didn't have any demo guys nearby. Then the enemy inside briefly sniped one of the LAV scouts on the high ridge behind them, so I knew for sure there were in there. Staff Sergeant To volunteered his assault team for the first charge, if someone would smoke the entrance up a bit. The second team gave him the thumbs up and promptly tossed smoke into the courtyard. SSG To delayed the charge just a little, maybe 20 seconds, and then gave the high sign. His team took off straight into the smoke and in a beeline to the first building on the left side of the entrance. They made it in style, setting up quickly inside the building and facing into the complex, which was now pretty much smoked in. A minute later, the second team split into two teams and one went straight through the gate and into the middle building, while the third team button-hooked right and dashed into the right-side building. All this was done without any command lines. The LT was just a little further away and had only grey lines to these guys. I was really proud of the way they handled the assault. Once inside, they moved around systematically and cut down the insurgents without any casualties. It was really textbook. The LT was actually coordinating the move forward to the next group of buildings at this point, so I am sure he figured SSG To would be able to competently handle the operation. The LT was right. The center platoon was now easing forward, with all the snipers and Jav boys in close overwatch on rooftops. I had the one squad clear out a small neighborhood off to the right side of the main road. It was close at first, as there really wasn't any easy way to get LOS into it, but the snipers on rooftops and some covering fire from the LAV across the stream to the right, had the enemy with their heads down. The LAV commander then slipped off to the right on the road, exposing his vehicle but laying down some serious fire on the enemy position. I'm not sure what happened next, but the fire team that was closest to the enemy building, and partially behind a wall, apparently didn't like the LAV firing so close to them, and when the LAV stopped their briefly fire command, these guys dashed around the edge of the wall and into the enemy building. Luckily the two insurgents had been taken out by the LAV and the fire team was not injured. Wild stuff. Then an AT team opened up on the command LAV, but their rocket missed. They took some serious return fire and were partially knocked out. I was now moving the leaderless squads and fire teams forward into the town proper, and keeping the XO team close to them. I was really in the grass with them, taking advantage of the dips and rises, and having them properly covered. The area they were trying to infiltrate had known enemy in them, and while the enemy positions had been blasted, it wasn't known if they were eliminated. The one fire team uncovered an enemy AT unit, but the AT guy was out of rockets and started plinking away with a handgun. The assistant didn't notice my guys fast enough, and the fire team opened up, blasting the rifle guy first (nice touch) and then finishing off the rocket guy who only had the pistol. One of the fire team took a round in the vest, but was not wounded. By this time, I was pushing slowly and steadily in from both flanks, and up the middle. I was still going slowly though, because there was a lot of movement in and around the buildings, and I was getting glimpses of enemy AT teams. The enemy was being spotted really well from the LAV on the escartment. They took out the remaining enemy truck, and several more enemy soldiers were cut down, prompting the enemy to surrender. The surrender came the turn after one guy with a AT rocket took out a second AAV. Doggone it! Last turn and I lost another vehicle and their 3-man crew. The enemy gave up. There was still an hour and thirty minutes left, but hey, a surrender is a surrender. I did very well, pointwise, with the exception of destroying buildings, which I only did acceptably in that category. It was actually great fun to run the Marines tactically in building clearing operations, and it felt very realistic. I could have pushed forward faster, but then I would have run into some rather nasty ambushes that the AI had set up for me. I'd say my pace of advance was just right. Thanks again George for another masterpiece of a battle. It was lots of fun and put together very nicely. As I said before, I'd highly recommend this battle. Heinrich505 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 I couldn't find this scenario in Scenario depot. Where to dl? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petrus58 Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 28 minutes ago, Erwin said: I couldn't find this scenario in Scenario depot. Where to dl? From memory it shipped with the Marines module 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 I have all the modules, but can't see any scenario with the name "TDG 04-7 Rahadnak Valley Search". Maybe it's under a different name? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heinrich505 Posted June 16, 2020 Author Share Posted June 16, 2020 Erwin, I got it with the big bundle when I bought Shock Force 2. Petrus58 is probably correct that it shipped with the Marines Module, as the Marines Module was part of the bundle. Heinrich505 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 I have all the modules, but yeah, I should reinstall from the big bundle d/l. Will do that on my new computer once we figure out why CM2 won't run on it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doomed Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 10 hours ago, Erwin said: I have all the modules, but can't see any scenario with the name "TDG 04-7 Rahadnak Valley Search". Maybe it's under a different name? Just had a look in my Scenario Folder and there is a USMC Rahadnak Valley Search SF2 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 7 hours ago, Doomed said: USMC Rahadnak Valley Search SF2 Yes, I have that scenario. So, what is "TDG 04-7 Rahadnak Valley Search"? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heinrich505 Posted June 17, 2020 Author Share Posted June 17, 2020 Erwin, It's the same as the USMC Rahadnak Valley Search SF2 battle. When I did the topic thread title, I took the title from the briefing screen and used that for the topic thread. I didn't realize the battle was listed differently in the Battle selection screen. Sorry for the confusion. They are one in the same. I just looked on my Battle Selection Screen and it shows as: USMC Rahadnak Valley Search SF2 Heinrich505 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 No worries. It can get confusing when the same scenario is given different names. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petrus58 Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 6 hours ago, Erwin said: Yes, I have that scenario. So, what is "TDG 04-7 Rahadnak Valley Search"? They are one and the same. When you get to the briefing screen, it is named TDG 04-7 etc. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George MC Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 Hi @Heinrich505 thank you for taking the tune to play this and write up this brilliant AAR. It’s a cracking read ta! Really pleased you’d a blast playing this. So many thanks fir playing it and for the feedback and AAR. Much appreciated ta Re the name - i referenced the tactical decision scenario as this scenario was based on it. I’ve done the same for Passage at Wilcox and Bridgehead at Brandenburg. Didn’t think it would end up being this confusing! @Erwin is probably going to implode now trying to find these two! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 Passage at Wilcox was my favorite scenario in CMSF2. Lots of interesting challenges and very replayable - had no idea it was yours George. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George MC Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 (edited) Cool glad ya like it Aye the CMSF2 version has come a long way from the original in CMSF - more experience making scenarios in this game engine and triggers. So if interested here is a link to the vignette that Wilcox was based on originally https://www.dropbox.com/s/4uu14ycqrjvkwg9/tacvig99-2.pdf?dl=0 And Rhadnack Valley Search https://mca-marines.org/gazette/rahadnak-valley-search/ Attack in Brandenburg https://www.dropbox.com/s/r6v86q3471ijkfb/tacvig98-3.pdf?dl=0 I also did one NATO TV 98-5 Steelers with three different NATO forces on a very large map. Oh this one sounds like its right up @MOS:96B2P 's street - https://mca-marines.org/gazette/the-tactical-trainer/ with US stinger armed troops in a warehouse being Kod and the insurgents nabbing the stingers to then go and KO an aircraft due to come in at XXXXHrs. Edited June 18, 2020 by George MC 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOS:96B2P Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 4 hours ago, George MC said: Oh this one sounds like its right up @MOS:96B2P 's street - https://mca-marines.org/gazette/the-tactical-trainer/ with US stinger armed troops in a warehouse being Kod and the insurgents nabbing the stingers to then go and KO an aircraft due to come in at XXXXHrs. The Tactical Vignette and Tactical Trainer/USMC Gazette have some very interesting articles. Thanks for linking this stuff. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George MC Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 6 hours ago, MOS:96B2P said: The Tactical Vignette and Tactical Trainer/USMC Gazette have some very interesting articles. Thanks for linking this stuff. Ah cool - glad you found them useful, I thought they're a useful resource and have helped me with ideas for scenarios or off-shoots from the original article. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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