CMFS2 solo campaign(work in progress) : Oil Thirst - RED(player) vs BLUE

[Bartimeus]

Hello all, I'm working with Lethaface on a new campaign, RED vs BLEU. 

 

The background : 

A COUP led to a power vacuum situation with various parties fighting for control of Syria. With help of Russian elements and emergency hardware (T-90AM, BMP-3, etc), Syrian forces have regained control of most of the territory of Syria; however there is still a lot of places with rebel presence. Some of those extremists, but war has blurred the lines between groups.
After Russian intervention on Regime side, the US send in the marines (officially at the request of some local  groups label as "democratic") stepped in from bordering Iraq and together with local militia forces cleared some area's from 'terrorists'. Coincidentally these area's hold a large part of the oil rich territories of Syria.

The Syrian Regime formally filed a complain at the UN, but strategically it was in their short term interest to deny rebel forces the income from Oil.

However now that Syrian forces have pushed back most rebel groups, time has come to negotiate the reunification of all Syrian lands. Also, the war has been exhaustive and the oil income would be very helpful rebuilding. Until now USA has always confirmed the USMC forces would be only temporary 'inside' Syria, while adding that US has no interests in permanently occupying any territory in Syria. However, no formal negotiation has been started.
Recently US clandestine operators have been spotted around several rebel area's. Various activity has been observed around oil installations, further fueling speculations that the USA is supporting rebel groups setting up their oil industry.

But most alarmingly is the information local informants who have infiltrated the lower cadre of various rebel groups, provide to the government. Several of the rebel groups seem to have decided to combine into a larger 'front', including the militia supported by USA. Rumors are they want to declare an independent state inside Syria, backed by USA.

Time is limited because we know inside a few weeks USA can deploy heavy forces to the area. So, it's an 'all-in' operation from the Syrian government for which best troops and equipment are allocated. The goals are to be reached 'at any cost'. 

 

You will be in command of an Airborne battalion, mount on BMP-3, and support elements. You will face Marines and Syrian opposition fighter.  

 

Scenarii : Number unknow 

As for now the progress are the following :

Scenario 1 : Will be redone 
Scenario 2 : Test phase
Scenario 3 : IA plans and troops deployment 
Scenario 4 : Only a vague idea of the map 
Scenario 5 : Will see
Etc etc..

 

As for now i'm looking for players to play test one or two scenario(2 and/or 3 mainly)  

[url=https://zupimages.net/viewer.php?id=21/17/rsky.png][img]https://zupimages.net/up/21/17/rsky.png[/img][/url] 
Screen for mission 3, i'm really happy with the map and the idea but it may be "too much" in term of scale, but need to be tested first before descale it. 

 

I will try to put more pics in the few coming day as the campaign progress. With Cold War out it the progression may be slow for a couple of weeks  

 

[Erwin]

Looking forward to this.  New campaigns are always appreciated.

[Vergeltungswaffe]

1 hour ago, Erwin said:

Looking forward to this.  New campaigns are always appreciated.

Exactly!

[Bartimeus]

I cannot find the edit button for the first post(i noticed that the pic do not appear on the first), i maybe blind... so pics from mission 3 : 

 

Glad to announce that IA plan is ready for mission 3, now i need it to be tested by player  

Edited May 1, 2021 by Bartimeus

[Bartimeus]

Hello all, 

 

i hope your are all fine, I'm sure your are busy bringing communist to Europe in  CMCW but, if you have some time to spare we are still locking to a player tester. 

Both MAP 2 and 3 have been refine and are in need or further testing. 

On the progress, i will soon start working on AMP4(making the map)  

[AlanSA]

This looks great.

[Bartimeus]

Hello !

 

A little and quick update on the progress :

Mission 1 WIP
Mission 2 is tested, updated and almost ready to roll(need just briefing)
Mission 3 is tested, updated and almost ready to roll(need just briefing)
Misson 4 ready, tested. Need just briefing and its ready to roll
Mission 5 Worp in progress
Mission 6 ready, tested, need briefing and its ready to roll
Mission 7 is tested, updated and almost ready to roll(need just briefing)
8 to X : Work in progress

 

thanks !

[Erwin]

Excellent news, Bart.  It's a huge amount of work to do a campaign, so this will be much appreciated.  

[Bartimeus]

Thanks ! hope you will like the end result.

I have a question for ya all, how long a campagin should be for you(in term of mission) ?

 

[Erwin]

That's like asking how long is a piece of string. 

It will depend if you have branching storylines in your campaign.  ie: A win gets you to Mission A, and a loss gets to to Mission B etc.  But, generally, my personal preference is for relatively long campaigns - minimum of 6-10 missions. 

A longer campaign offers a chance for a good story and many different challenges - especially if ammo and force conservation are elements.  I also like large/huge scenarios that take an hour or two to complete.  Personally, I would avoid missions where the object is to merely get a convoy through the map to exit.  I find too many times that if the human player moves too fast or slowly or does something the designer didn't think of, it throws off the whole scenario.  (I recall playing such a mission in the "British Campaign" and getting all my convoy units off the map, before the enemy main attack/ambush was sprung.)

Of course others will have different tastes.  

[Bartimeus]

Thanks for giving your opinion. 

It will be more definitely more than 10 missions, I need to work on it but I can reach up to 20 total(I may also do a "slipt" in the campaign, a small mission without bad guys where you chose the path you want to follow for glory). 

The difficulty of the campaing will be balance by the fact the Marines are supporting  Syrian defector, they will not be feature in all mission as the main opponent

[Erwin]

2 hours ago, Bartimeus said:

It will be more definitely more than 10 missions, I need to work on it but I can reach up to 20 total

I think that is a lot if played linearly.  If you have "fake missions" that only exist to allow the player to choose options, that is different of course.  Also, if you have branching storylines that make your campaign more replayable that would be excellent.  But, in both cases, my recommendation is that you don't require the player to play more than 10 ("real") missions to get to the end.  

I play campaigns almost exclusively and my experience has been that a typical designer struggles to come up with even 10 missions that are sufficiently different from each other and compelling to play.  In that case, campaign fatigue usually ensues, and one has to put it aside half-played.  

Just something for you to think about... 

 

[Bartimeus]

 

 An updade on progress(looot of progress have been made). 

We(Letha and me) are standing at 9 Missions done : Mostly medium-small size and two larger. All mission are all different in terms of objective so far.

We have the core force too : 

-Paratroopers battalion, call sign "Isthar". Composed of 3 mechanized company on BMP-3 call sign : Astarte, Ball and Tanit + Ing company and mortar battalion support;
-Special-Force Group  call sign "Alpha-Beta", composed of three  squads : Eta , Kappa  and Omicron;
-T-90 tank company call sign "Istaran".

Le leader of some of those company have been named with the pseudo of player who kindly tested our mission. I hope you will try to keep them alive  

MAP 10 : Undergoin 

MAP 11 : TO DONE 

The eleventh map will be the last one of the campaign. As I work on thos two map Lethaface is re-testing some of the previous mission and writing the briefings. 

One the campaign is release, we will also release individual mission as scenario. It will allow you to play whatever mission you want and it will allow you to take the maps and make it your own. 

See ya

[Bartimeus]

Hello all,

Due to lifes and some other reason Letha and I wont be able to release as inteded the campaign. But the good news is all the missions( eleven of them) are ready(or almost) and will be release as standalone scenarii one by one:
Mission one : https://www.thefewgoodmen.com/tsd3/uncategorized/oil-thirst-01-hell-in-the-kitchen/

Hope you enjoy and have fun with it !

Regard's,

[Bartimeus]

Hello again, 

 

The second mission is out : https://www.thefewgoodmen.com/tsd3/cm-shock-force-2-2/cm-shock-force-2-scenarios/cmsf2-oil-thirst-02-striking-the-hornets-nest/ 

This time syrians forces must destroy USMC units. Red vs BLUE to play as RED. 

Enjoy

[Erwin]

It's hard to make a Red vs NATO/Blue scenario that is fun.  So this will be interesting.

[Bartimeus]

Hello ! 

 

The third scenario is out : https://www.thefewgoodmen.com/tsd3/cm-shock-force-2-2/cm-shock-force-2-scenarios/cmsf2-oil-thirst-03-save-our-brother/ 

A different challenge than the previous one, this time you must save some troops and secure the frontline. Enjoy ! 

[Bartimeus]

Hello ! 

The fourth scenario of the Oil Thirst project is out : https://www.thefewgoodmen.com/tsd3/cm-shock-force-2/cm-shock-force/cmsf2-oil-thirst-04-swamp-and-sweep/

In this one you command a syrian SF group in a night raid. Enjoy ! 

[Bartimeus]

Hello, 

Since last time I realease two news missions of the serie(it will not be realease as a campaign) :

https://www.thefewgoodmen.com/tsd3/cm-shock-force-2-2/cm-shock-force-2-scenarios/cmsf2-oil-thirst-05-saving-letha-iavsred/

And 

https://www.thefewgoodmen.com/tsd3/cm-shock-force-2-2/cmsf2-oil-thirst-06-desert-ambush/

And is a save and run mission and the second an ambush mission enjoy! 

[Blazing 88's]

Good stuff. Thx.

 

[Bartimeus]

Thanks Blazing! 

The 7th mission is now out : https://www.thefewgoodmen.com/tsd3/cm-shock-force-2-2/cmsf2-oil-thirst-07-early-crossing/

 

[Erwin]

Thank you for all your work.  Hope that you eventually put em all together in a campaign.

[Bartimeus]

Will see. First I will put then all out

[Sunbather]

Any news on this project? I wonder if I should just start playing the single scenarios or if linking them in a campaign is still planned.

[Bartimeus]

Hello. Sorry for the very very late answer. You should play the already available scenario. The campaing may never happen, i do not have time to finish it properly(all the mission are ready, but the brif are lacking).

 

Regard'sn