New Campaign - Forging Steel

[George MC]

That might have something to do with patch 1.20. I never had that message, but after loading a save game (not yours, Georges) after having applied the patch. I have being unable to load it, either after a restarting.

I did not have that message on saved games done after the patch.

Cheers

If you have patched the game I don't think you can load any save games from an earlier version of the patch - although I'm not 100% sure - I've found myself unable to load any save games myself after installing the Brit module.

[George MC]

I've been swithering as to wether to release the individual missions from this campaign. I did Red and Blue AI Plans so they are good to go just need repackaging.

What I was wondering is wether these is an interest and whether to release em as a campaign pack i.e. titled "Forging Steel: The Missions" say with the campaign flow chart so players can see where they fit in the overall campaign structure, or just release em as stand alones with no hint as to where they fit in. Appreciate any feedback as to this

Cheers fur noo

George

[meade95]

I would love / vote for stand alone's.....

[handihoc]

George,

Yes, with flow chart, is my answer. I started the campaign a long time back but couldn't continue - can't remember exactly why, but I think it was due to incompatibility with a new patch, or some kind've bug that needed to be fixed. Something along those lines.

I really enjoyed it, as far as I got, and now I'd like to replay it, but don't have a mass of time for another full campaign. So the missions, with info on the campaign structure just to paint the full picture, would be great.

Go for it, please!

And btw, that's the first time I've come across the term swithering. I'm a Brit, but must assume it's unique to north of the border?

[souldierz]

I'd jump on the release it as a Campaign side,I like Campaigns and I love to see the overall result of the operation,and I haven't seen or played this one yet, plus campaigns seem to be rare, But since I see you typed that there is plans for both sides, it would make sense to release it as individual missions, so people can play both sides or even a PBEM.If its single missions and there's a way for players to see where they fit in,in the campaign structure, then I'm all for that.

[George MC]

Thanks for the responses guys - it's done

You can either play the individual scenarios or the campaign. Check out the Forging Steel: The Missions thread.

[souldierz]

Best of both worlds, good call:)

[DaveDash]

I'm really struggling with the first mission in this campaign in 1.21. I've had to restart about 3 times now.

The problem I am having is that the only way to actually spot units (except for vehicles) is to get them to fire at you, which generally results in far too many casualties. Even then most of the time my guys really struggle to spot enemy units even when being fired upon, at best I will get a ?. Wonder if there have been any changes since 1.11 that have increased the difficulty of this mission or do I just suck?

[MeatEtr]

I'm really struggling with the first mission in this campaign in 1.21. I've had to restart about 3 times now.

The problem I am having is that the only way to actually spot units (except for vehicles) is to get them to fire at you, which generally results in far too many casualties. Even then most of the time my guys really struggle to spot enemy units even when being fired upon, at best I will get a ?. Wonder if there have been any changes since 1.11 that have increased the difficulty of this mission or do I just suck?

You just suck, badly.

Just kidding, I never got past the first mission either. Although it wasn't from losing. I parked an M1 Abrams next to a three man FO team which took them only about 20 seconds to toss a grenade and destroy it. I was too pissed to continue and just quit and never picked it back up again.

[DaveDash]

You just suck, badly.

Just kidding, I never got past the first mission either. Although it wasn't from losing. I parked an M1 Abrams next to a three man FO team which took them only about 20 seconds to toss a grenade and destroy it. I was too pissed to continue and just quit and never picked it back up again.

Hehe yeah, I had a Syrian FO team take out two of my scout teams (8 soldiers) the first time.

[Marc Anton]

Hi George as i wrote you in email i endet up with a draw in this campaign. I decided to play again (and again and again) to see if i can achieve a victory, especialy in the 4th mission.

After 4 attempts i gave up. Thats the best i could do

So i think there must be something wrong with the winning condition because i lost nearly nothing and killed nearly everyone.

The AI got 56 men left and most of them are verhicle crews ...

So whats the matter with that mission ?

[Marc Anton]

I played it a fifth time :-) - again only a draw.

Enemy had 12 men left ... i lost 5KIA,1WIA,1 M1 and 1 M2.

4700 points (me) vs 3700 points (AI)

Its unreal

[George MC]

Hi Marc

(just emailed you this).

Cheers for the email and the posted feedback. I’ve just gone and checked the points for Scenario 4 – looks like I might have overcooked the Red points a bit. It also struck me that the Red side is conducting a recon mission – their aim is to ID as many of your units as they can. If you unmask all your stuff Red gets point for spotting them. The trick with that scenario is to keep your main stuff hidden as long as you can and take out stuff with ATGMs, artillery and your dismounts. If you use your M1s Red gets lot’s of pints as that is mainly what they are trying to spot. So although as Blue you have lot’s of firepower Red can negate that advantage in this scenario by encouraging you to unmask your main assets to take out their recon in force units.

The campaign is designed to be very tough, almost too tough I think J The briefings are key to fighting these scenarios as each mission does give you specific orders.

I’ll check out the radio warning – I made a typo in the reinforcement slot and never picked it up (you see what ya want to see when doing these things - why feedback like this is so great) – tac and op map shows em coming from the SW so reckon I just got the message wrong in the reinforcement slot. Doh!

Thanks for the feedback and for giving it a whirl.

I'll double check all the points and stuff and upload a revised version.

Cheers fur noo

George

[Marc Anton]

Thanks for the reply George.

Now i know that the problem was unmasking all my stuff to the enemy.

I read the briefing especialy the first point of my missions order but i didnt even know that the AI can get points for IDing my units in CMSF. (iam an old CMBB veteran :-))

I will give it another test, its a hard nut to crack but i wont give up.

Marc

[George MC]

Hi Marc

Yeah the scoring system in CMSF does allow the scenario designer to crate very varibale victory conditions. In this scenario (counter recon) Red is looking to gain as much info about your force as they can - your job is stop em by taking out their recon assets but trying to keep your main force uncovered. How well you do in this one dictates what version of the next scenario you face.

Good luck with it

[George MC]

Juts uploaded version 3 - slight tweaks to the victory conditions for the counter recon scenario and corrected a couple of typos. Also tweaked the vehcile recovery settings so there should be an even greater chance of getting your stuck AFVs back for the next scenario. As always I'd appreciate any feedback.

As an aside I noticed when you update the file you lose all your ratings and review comments - all I did was gently tweak the scenario can't I keep em?

[handihoc]

Thanks for the reply George.

Now i know that the problem was unmasking all my stuff to the enemy.

i didnt even know that the AI can get points for IDing my units in CMSF.

Hi George,

That's something I didn't know either - adds quite an interesting extra dimension to the game.

I tried this campaign quite a long time ago and really enjoyed it - as far as I was able to get. I got hit by the Very Big Map Bug and couldn't progress beyond a certain point (iirc, the third battle).

Thankfully that's long been fixed.

However, there was one thing that annoyed me, and I recently restarted the campaign and the same thing occurred. It's the fact that, after completing the first mission and making pretty good progress (even better this time around, as I had the 'advantage' of prior intel) I then found myself starting mission two right back at the original starting point. All my gains had been wiped out and I had to trudge cautiously over the same ground again.

Have to say, it put me off continuing this time around. I do hope to continue at some point as I really want to complete it, especially now that you've tweaked it further, but gaining ground and then having it taken away from me because of the way the scenarios are designed feels unrealistic.

But keep 'em coming, George. I've played several of your scenarios and they're always a great challenge and a lot of fun to play.

[George MC]

Hi H

Cheers for the comments.

The first mission is simply a recon action. I never figured players would get far on the map - could be I give them enough time to work their way through the map? My idea behind playing two maps is the first mission you ID Syrian units, second mission depending on how you do in the first one gives you more/less intel for your full on attack. That way in the first mission you would only move forward a short distance i.e. probe the enemy lines find out where stuff is - blow some of it away with your arty/air then second mission you are attacking through the enemy position (you get lot's of points for reaching the far side of the map in mission 2).

As far as I know that's the only scenario this happens. In some respects the old CMX1 operations allowed the player to hold ground whereas the campaign model used in CMX2 is a series of linked scenarios. Not saying the old CMX1 operations system was better - those who play or played ops in CMX1 will all have their own tales of woe of the AI setting up next to your advance units, weirdly drawn front lines in subsequent actions etc.

Cheers fur noo

George

[handihoc]

Just re-read the briefing - properly, this time! - and it does make it pretty plain that Mission One is purely a recon mission, with major engagements not encouraged. My fault for not doing that in the first place. A well written briefing can make a world of difference to how one approaches a battle or campaign - though, like me, I reckon there are a lot of players who have a tendency to rush in with minimal time given to reading it.

Additionally, I have a tendency to keep pushing forward wherever possible. Had I known that the enemy were scoring points for id-ing my tanks I'd have been much more cautious in the opening stages.

A little more professional discipline required in my barracks, I think!

I still do think it would have been good to have had Mission Two's setup zone set a little further forward, though - don't know if the editor permits that (?).

Anyway, gonna have to start again at some point, now you've tweaked it. This time I'll be much more aware of what I'm revealing to the enemy.

One question: are the Reds scoring points for spotting/id-ing my units from the start, or only later on? Is it only specific recon spotters that pick up the points, or any enemy who spots me? And if an enemy unit spots me, then dies very quickly, do they still get the points?

(OK, that was three questions, not one.)

[DaveDash]

So I thought I'd revisit this campaign.

I recall getting my butt handed to me in the first recon mission, so, I thought I'd try something a little different.

I have quite a heavy mechanised force, so, what's the point in trying to be sneaky? It's a recon mission, so, let's recon by force!

The US Army did a Thunder Run up the middle of Baghdad, so I'm going to do a Thunder Run up the middle of the road.

Put all my mechanized force into formation, slow move, suppress the living hell out of everything with the Brads, and off we go!

The result didn't turn out too bad. Got all my boys home in one piece, I'd call that a success.

Recon. US Army style.

[George MC]

Just picked up the past two posts - my apologies guys for the (very) late response...

@Handihoc

- Red just get the points in the opeing mission. Can't recall off hand if they get em on anyothers - think they might get points in the second to last one as Red is doing a recce. Briefings make it clear though

@DaveDash - He! Crude but effective Like yer stylee!

[PaulMG]

I tried this out last weekend. I quit when I started losing tanks after losing other assets. Now that I have read through this thread, I will start over. I'm new to SF and didn't get the nuance of how to play this.

George's CMBB stuff is tough enough to scare me away from this one but I'll give it a go.

Anyone new to all of this should read these pages for tips.

[Euri]

Just a quick question in this excellent campaign. In saying that in recon and counter recon missions blue and red, respectively, gain points by IDing enemy forces, do we mean a positive ID of the enemy unit or does spotting an enemy contact (red questionmark) gain the points as well?

[George MC]

Hi Euri

I believe you need a positive ID to get points for the recce missions.

These are the harder missions to do I think. In one as Blue you have to spot the enemy without being blasted. In the counter recon the enemy are looking to encourage you to reveal your assets. Be keen to hear how you get on? Good luck!

@Paul - hope you are still deep in the fighting?

Cheery!

[PaulMG]

Cheers George

I haven't played much of anything this summer. I do plan of getting back into this now that winter is coming.