Gridley Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 I'm a long time player of WWII strategy/war games of many different map/unit scales, but I'm very intrigued by Shock force, both in terms of time period, unit scale, and graphic appeal. I'd like some opinions of how well the game represents modern combat dynamics. As a real world example, the cooperation between a US stryker battalion and Iraqi police, the latter of which failed to maintain their strategic positions in Sadr city, leading to a protracted firefight to retake part of the city, was a recent news story. Would this type of engagement be possible to simulate in Shock Force? What are the limitations? Many thanks in advance! Scott Gridley 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YankeeDog Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 Yes, in my experience SF can simulate an engagement like the recent Sadr City stuff, albiet not perfectly. As the developers have said time and time again, CMSF is intended to represent the "hot" part of a hypothetical invasion of Syria by the US, not dissimilar to the US invasions of Iraq in 1991 and 2002. As such, it mostly focuses on military vs. military (or at least paramilitary) engagements. So it's not built with the intention of modeling counter-insurgency stuff like what's been going on in Iraq for the past 5 years. With this said, it does include many of the tools you need to represent this kind of thing (IEDs, sucicide bombers etc.), so it does a passably good job of it. To really represent protracted COIN ops, CMSF would need a more detailed modeling of factors like civilian population, cooperation with local forces (or lack therof), collateral damage concerns etc. In short, doing COIN in CMSF is kind of like playing soccer with a volleyball. It ain't perfect, but it still works OK. Cheers, YD 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyD Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 For Iraq-centric fighting (as opposed to Syrian invasion) there is a growing number of pretty decent 3rd party scenarios over at cmmods.com. I've got a Shia-on-Sunni revenge scenario up that has a not-particularly-overwhelming U.S. Humvee patrol show up at the wrong moment on the opposite side of the fight than the local police! Very different feeling compared to the standard rapid maneuver armor-heavy invasion scenario but the game seems to handle it pretty well. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gridley Posted April 18, 2008 Author Share Posted April 18, 2008 Thanks all. I've taken the plunge and purchased shock force. Upgraded 1.07 to 1.08 last night, and had an hour to familiarize myself with the system. I am very impressed thus far. Will certainly be checking out the other scenarios at cmmods, including those you've authored MikeyD. Maybe I'll even post a few! Best, sg 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huntarr Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 OUTSTANDING! Welcome aboard. Essential Reading: http://www.battlefront.com/discuss/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=71;t=000187 http://www.battlefront.com/discuss/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=71;t=000141 http://www.battlefront.com/discuss/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=71;t=000142 http://www.battlefront.com/discuss/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=52;t=004148 [ April 18, 2008, 09:21 AM: Message edited by: Huntarr ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomm Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 Make sure to customize your hotkeys in the hotkeys.txt file that should be in the CMSF main folder! That is, if you do not prefer the space-bar pop-up menu. Best regards, Thomm 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Webwing Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 Welcome aboard Gridley!!! You will be overwhelmed by the number of scenarios available. There are also 2 more new user made campaigns that will be release soon. It should keep you busy for quite some time! - 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirtweasle Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 From what I can gather listening to people who were there, (maybe not Sadr City Spring '08 but close) and reading reports and things like Michael Yon's dispatches and other sources I'd say this game will get you pretty close as far as a game goes. Now, whether you think this is interesting, a fun game or not, or can accept some still un-resolved nits to pick... well, you can download the demo and decide yourself. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gridley Posted April 18, 2008 Author Share Posted April 18, 2008 Originally posted by Webwing: Welcome aboard Gridley!!! You will be overwhelmed by the number of scenarios available. Already am! Just the 5.0 rated ones at CMMODs are considerable... There are also 2 more new user made campaigns that will be release soon. It should keep you busy for quite some time! Any links for the soon-to-be-released campaigns? EDIT: Found one: TF Narwick Thanks for the warm welcome all. You're sure to see more of me! [ April 18, 2008, 12:22 PM: Message edited by: Gridley ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handihoc Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 I think you're going to have a lot of fun. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Webwing Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 Originally posted by Gridley: Any links for the soon-to-be-released campaigns? EDIT: Found one: TF Narwick There's the one that comes with the game - TF Narwick by bardosy - Crossroads Trilogy - my first attempt at a campaign - In Search of a Ghost - my second campaign - The Hasrabit - by Paper Tiger. He is promissing to upload it this weekend!!!! - Task Force Panther by Normal Dude - no release date yet but it seems it won't be long - There will also be a campaign to accompany every Module. And loads and loads of individual scenarios. Have fun! - 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoolaman Posted April 19, 2008 Share Posted April 19, 2008 I'd say keep in mind that if you never played combat mission before (and even if you have) there will be a pretty steep learning curve, so give it a bit of time. Some important points are not covered in depth in the manual, but as you can see, a question in good faith will be answered quickly and cheerfully here in the forums, and there is plenty of good info if you go digging. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paper Tiger Posted April 19, 2008 Share Posted April 19, 2008 The Hasrabit - by Paper Tiger. He is promissing to upload it this weekend!!!! Uploaded check out my post in the scenario forum for more details 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.