v4 CPX Sat Nov 9th

[Slaggg]

Press Release--

A terrorist organization known as "Fighters for Freedom from Tyranny" or F4T, has claimed responsibility for a series of recent violent actions:

-Tues, Oct 15--A suitcase bomb exploded on a platform at the Central Train Station in Frankfurt-am-main, killing 42 people and wounding nearly 100.

-Thur, Oct 17--11 were killed and more than 30 wounded in a car bomb blast at Munich's Oktoberfest Celebration.

-Mon, Oct 21--A group of terrorists siezed control of an office complex at Soldier Field in Nurenberg, taking 67 people hostage. German elite police units responded, resulting in a stand-off that lasted for more than 12 hrs, with 9 German Polizei dead. The terrorists detonated an unknown type explosive, destroying the office complex and killing all hostages. No terrorists are suspected to have survived the blast.

Information gathered suggests that F4T is preparing to commit similar acts against various Western Economic Institutions. The UN has agreed to a preemptive police action, targeting F4T, in order to prevent any further acts of violence. This Police Action will comprise a joint US/German Armored Task Force.

F4T Background:

F4T has been a behind the scenes player in the terrorist community for over 10 years. They cite their opposition to the oppressive nature of Western Economic Culture as their call-to-arms. Recent events and information compiled suggests that F4T plays a much larger role in the global terrorist threat than previously believed.

[Stoffel]

Hi James

I dont know if I can be there jet,this is because I still need to hear from my reallife CO in which company he will place me(dutch army reserve)

So I certainly dont have the time to do serious planning and other stuff.

Mostly because I dont know if I can be there and I dont want to waist precious time if I am not playing myself.

Henk

[Slaggg]

Here's the matchup:

REDFOR

James Sterrett CO

David Fraser

Henk Stoffer

Redwolf

Goran

Brian Oliver

Randy Martin

vs

BLUEFOR

Red 6 CO

Goatchomper

Warwick White

Bernard Cousin

Rattler

Jeff Gilbert

Wolfgang

I was expecting a few players to sign up, now I've got 14 It's shaping up to be a fine battle indeed. There's room for observers, so don't hesitate to show up, especially if you'd like to be an 'observer in reserve'.

A couple of notes for observers:

Please let the Umpire know if you have to disengage from the game, he'll let you know when it's ok to leave. TacOps gets cranky if you logoff in the middle of an orders exchange or combat phase. Same applies to logging on.

If you intend to be a reserve player, limit your observation to one side.

and lastly,

Don't be afraid to ask questions.

Enjoy the Mayhem!

Edit: changed out Hub for Jeff Gilbert.

[ October 27, 2002, 03:08 PM: Message edited by: Slaggg ]

[LibertyOrDeath]

I have a question.

Is it possible to transport a teammate's units in the helicopters that you command? That would make for a very interesting multiplayer situation.

[James Sterrett]

What Redwolf means is: NO.

It is technically possible. It also puts you in grave danger of some wacky results, like units disappearing.

Unless absolutely necessary, do not load units owned by one player into units owned by another player in multiplayer games.

We did it once in testing and the results were... not good... after a Net hiccup hit the data stream.

[LibertyOrDeath]

Originally posted by James Sterrett:

[QB]What Redwolf means is: NO.

It is technically possible. It also puts you in grave danger of some wacky results, like units disappearing.

QB]

I hope it can be fixed with a patch. It'd be so much fun if your ground troops are able to be flown to an LZ "nap of the earth" by a teammate's helos and then watch the helos disappear from view as they fly back toward their base.

[Jingo]

Hey hey. It's been a while since I posted on the forum. Anyway, I just ordered TacOps 4--should get here before Nov. 9th. I would like to sign up as an observer / possible reserve for BLUEFOR.

Some background:

-I've never been in the military.

-I enjoy wargames, but I don't consider myself a true Grognord

-I'm not terribly familiar with TacOps, but I know the basic.

-I did do some beta testing for version 4.

-I've never played TacOps online or even PBeM.

-I don't know all the jargon you folks throw around like candy

-I'm sure I won't be staying all 6 hours.

If these aren't problems, please sign me up!

[SGT Casey]

Sign me up as an observer-in-reserve. I'll join the regular Tacops channel and someone can direct me to the side which might need another player the soonest so I know who to observe.

Dave

[Slaggg]

Problems?!? You think you got problems? Well, let me tell ya....(flags down the bartender)

No prob at all. We'll see ya there.

[LibertyOrDeath]

I just ordered the game and I'd like to observe.

[Redwolf]

Actually the teammate transport worked fine in the "traitor" battle.

But yes, it was the only time.

[MajorH TacOps Developer]

Don't use "teammate transport" until I release a patch newer than 403FG. Fort Knox has had problems with teammate transport that I only just yesterday started to figure out.

It appears that umpire activities that change the PIN of units that are being carried by helos or vehicles that belong to a player with a different PIN can set up crash situations.

[Wako]

My copy just arrived and if possible I'd like to observe....

[Jeff Gilbert]

I would like to get in on this. Blue side if possible. It apears I've got the time that day ...

I also emailed Slagg

[James Sterrett]

Just in case, keep in mind that the civilian bersion of TacOps will only handle 20 participants, including the umpire. It looks like this game is popular enough we may run out of room for all the observers....

I'm sure the observers can work out a rotation or some such, but the limit is something to keep in mind.

[JohnO]

Hub,

had to leave the CPX on the Blue side. So it will be up to Slaggg to let Jeff Gilbert join the Blue Team. It would put us back even with manpower with Red Team.

Also hows it going James My Blue Intel people says that you are really planning hard on this battle againt the Blue Team:) They even say it is almost to the point of obsession

Red 6

[MajorH TacOps Developer]

>keep in mind that the civilian version of

> civilian TacOps will only handle 20 participants

Also ... Internet play is much slower than LAN play.

Having 20 players/spectators in an Internet game is likely to produce very long times for sit updates and orders exchange. You could be looking at 4, 5, or more minutes of data flow for each minute of game time - especially if some of the players are using 56K dial up connections.

[James Sterrett]

Dear Mr. Ex-Blue-CO: we'd be happy to discuss the intensity of our planning process in exchange for information on Blue's deployments.

[LibertyOrDeath]

Originally posted by MajorH:

>keep in mind that the civilian version of

> civilian TacOps will only handle 20 participants

Also ... Internet play is much slower than LAN play.

Having 20 players/spectators in an Internet game is likely to produce very long times for sit updates and orders exchange. You could be looking at 4, 5, or more minutes of data flow for each minute of game time - especially if some of the players are using 56K dial up connections.

How does the umpire download the orders? Is it one at a time or is it simulataneously?

[MajorH TacOps Developer]

Orders exchange happens automatically once all players and the umpire have selected "Begin Combat" or when the umpire selects "Begin Combat with Options".

The latter approach of the umpire forcing the start of the orders exchange and combat turn is normally what is done in CPXs.

[LibertyOrDeath]

Originally posted by MajorH:

Orders exchange happens automatically once all players and the umpire have selected "Begin Combat" or when the umpire selects "Begin Combat with Options".

The latter approach of the umpire forcing the start of the orders exchange and combat turn is normally what is done in CPXs.

I'm confused. When the umpire forces the start of the orders exchange, are the orders files queued and downloaded one file at a time? Or are they downloaded all at once?

And how are the combined orders from the umpire's PC uploaded to the players' PCs? Again, are the combined orders uploaded to the PCs one PC at a time or is it done all at once?

If the umpire queues the orders and sends and receives them one at a time, then the umpire wouldn't really be able to take advantage of the speed DSL or cable has to offer, especially if the other players use 56k modems during these exchanges.

[ October 27, 2002, 11:43 AM: Message edited by: LibertyOrDeath ]

[MajorH TacOps Developer]

Don't think about this stuff, just run the game . Most of what you are asking about happens transparently and automatically. It is way harder to explain than it is to do.

The general flow of a typical MTM game turn is as follows. A turn consists of a simultaneous orders phase followed by a simultaneous movement and combat phase. During the orders phase, each player gives orders to the units, off map arty elements, and or air support sorties that he controls. When a player has finished giving orders he selects the Combat/Begin Combat menu item. This causes his computer to automatically send a ready signal to the umpire computer. Once the umpire has received a ready signal from every player, the umpire computer will automatically begin to obtain orders from all players. Once all orders have been received, the umpire computer will automatically combine them into an orders/situation update and then transmit it back to all players. Once all players have received the orders/situation update, the movement and combat phase will automatically start on their computers and on the umpire computer. Movement and combat will then be displayed more or less simultaneously on all computers. Players can not issue new orders to their units until the movement and combat phase has finished on all player computers. When the movement and combat phase is completed on each computer, another ready signal is automatically sent to the umpire computer. Once the umpire computer senses that the movement and combat phase has been completed on all player computers, it will automatically authorize all players to begin a new orders phase by sending a signal to their computers that re-enables their menus. This cycle is then repeated for the duration of the exercise. The umpire has the option to alter this cycle somewhat.

Instead of waiting for the players to signal that they are ready to proceed to the movement/combat phase, the umpire can use the Combat/Begin Combat w Options menu item to force the immediate start and display of a movement and combat phase on all computers – whether the players are ready or not. The umpire can also choose to use an orders phase timer that will automatically force the start of a movement and combat phase after the expiration of an interval specified by the umpire.

"Forced start" plus an automatic time limit on the amount of time allowed to the players to give orders is the method most commonly used for both hobby and military game sessions. In this mode, the game runs on full automatic and the the umpire is free to step away from his computer to do other tasks.

[MajorH TacOps Developer]

I need to take one thing back from the previous post. In an Internet game the umpire is seldom able to safely step away from his computer for more than a few minutes.

There almost always seems to be at least one player in an Internet game who is having a bad day with his ISP or his connection - especially the dialup gents.

[LibertyOrDeath]

Originally posted by MajorH:

I need to take one thing back from the previous post. In an Internet game the umpire is seldom able to safely step away from his computer for more than a few minutes.

There almost always seems to be at least one player in an Internet game who is having a bad day with his ISP or his connection - especially the dialup gents.

Sometimes people get disconnected because of call waiting causing an automatic disconnect. It has happened to me a couple of times while playing Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord TCP/IP. But that could be remedied by entering *70 w XXX-XXX-XXXX in the telephone number field of the dial-up settings. It should disable call waiting while online.

[JohnO]

Originally posted by James Sterrett:

Dear Mr. Ex-Blue-CO: we'd be happy to discuss the intensity of our planning process in exchange for information on Blue's deployments.

??Mr.Ex-Blue-CO??? You know something that I don't know