EL Derjine Campaign & Stand Alone

[snake_eye]

Wishing to release a Campaign with replacement and or troop attrition level close to what would happen in reality, it takes a longer time to test than expected.

Sorry for the delay.

For that reason, I have already released a battle, "Assault El derjine" (the one you would play if you lost the 1st one) as a stand alone.

Would you like to have the others released as a stand alone as well, or would you rather wait to have them in the coming campaign ?

I would be pretty much interested by your comments on this choice.

Cheer

[BlackMoria]

My vote is to release the single scenarios. My justification is as follows:

1. You get the benefit of people like myself who play it and can make comment, so you in essence, get a Beta test of the scenario by someone other than yourself.

2. On the main forum page, someone is decrying the fact that campaign scenarios are not released as single scenarios and I have heard similar sentiment in other threads over the last six months. Normal Dude released his Task Force Panther campaign as single scenarios. If you did so as well, a trend could get established that hopefully others will folllow.

3. I don't think releasing single scenarios undercuts the campaign. I know that I will play your campaign for sure because even though I have played a few of your scenarios that may be in your campaign, I want to play through it again with force attrition and see how I fare.

My two cents...

[Stingray]

yes, yes, yes!!! Most of the time I do not have the time to play a campaign... the single scenario is the next best thing. Also it allows me to try new tactics before playing the scenario during the campaign.

Thanks

[snake_eye]

From what I read, all of us for the moment are rather favorising the release of the battles as stand alone. That option does not make any shadow on a campaign, if it is one's choice to play it later on. That way if the troops replacement setup doesn't work so well as it did on quite a few campaigns, that doesn't spoil the stand alone battle.

Release in a few days to come of the stand alone battles.

Thanks for your advices.

Cheer

[snake_eye]

Battle stand alone #1 and the following one if you win #2 have been uploaded on the repository "Marines scenarios & campaign".

The power point, flow chart of the battles is included.

The battle following the #2 is done since a while and should be uploaded this week.

Cheer

[Mad Mike]

Hi snake_eye,

thought I give you some feedback on the first standalone scenario "The Back Door 1st Day" where a helo inserted, reinforced Marine platoon has to take the dam.

I managed a total victory in "overtime" (around 7 minutes) with losses of 2 KIA and 6 WIA.

Overall, I liked the map and the battle setup a lot ...

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What I didn't like - the opening mortar barrage which is difficult ot handle, especially with the very tight time limit. Maybe 40 minutes standard plus overtime would be more realistic? Just suggesting here, if you like to keep the "rushed execution of an assault on the dam"-feeling .. that works quite well currently .

[snake_eye]

Thanks Mad Mike for the report.

Please you liked it. For the time period it has to be swift, unless we don't take in account the fact that the bridge and or dam might be damaged resulting in difficulties for passing through after its seizure.

In a real op, we will bring a team close to it, to prevent its premature blowing and the main force will follow closely from the near LZ.

Cheer

[afreu]

Great set of missions. I just downloaded and started playing recon battle 2. The amount of details provided in the briefing and the whole scenario setup is impressive.

[RANT]Only one point, which probably doesn't even belong into this thread, because it has nothing to do with scenario design but a serious gameplay flaw. MINES SUCK A$$. Why is it so damn difficult to implement a mine-detecting ability. The way it's now as soon as you hit a mine, the ONLY thing you can do is to either avoid the general area. Or to give up all empathy you have for your little pixeltroops and send them as suicide mine detecters to clear out a path with their own lives. This tactic would work in a Iraq-Iran kind of scenario but doing it with Marines or US Army soldiers just feels stupid and destroys the game's atmosphere. Get that mess sorted out PLEASE!!! I don't care about new fancy wall jumping animations as long as such basic gameplay flaws aren't corrected.[/RANT]

[snake_eye]

Since mine clearing takes time and is rather difficult to do under fire, the minefield when they are located on the briefing map should be avoided, unless you are willing to accept some eventual track losses and grunts casualties (they do cross them sometimes, without any harm).

Anyway, the minefield when shown are more deterrent than a threat, since you can avoid them and that is what the scenario designer is looking for.

If the game was implementing engineers able to open a lane in a minefield, it will take time and I don't think that the scenario will benefit a lot from that possibility.

However, I will no be against such an implementation.

Cheer

[bodkin]

Don't know if it's part of the proposed campaign but I'm really enjoying the 'A counter attack at El Derjine' scenario. Although the mission statement says you must hold the line indicated on the map, which is a little confusing as there is no line but a serious of scattered objective points that aren't mentioned by name in the briefing but I presume this is what you mean by the line.

Great mission so far it's nice to see someone using the BMP-3's in a scenario.

[snake_eye]

Don't know if it's part of the proposed campaign but I'm really enjoying the 'A counter attack at El Derjine' scenario..

At the moment, that scenario might be the one of the 5th battle (see the flow chart given with the stand alone battles). it will be slightly modified.

The line being hold at the beginning, is shown in red in the Tactical view in the Counter Attack briefing.

For your information, I have delayed the release of the campaign, since I was not satisfied by the 4th battle results ending always with a surrender of the Red side at a time not suited with may scenario; I have found yesterday after numerous trials being previuously done, the right setting.

It is very thrilling and surprising to play it now. I know the setting of the troops, yet I am dumbfounded with what I see.

The stand alone could be release this week for sure. I just have to re write the briefing. An Air Assault on a Radar & listening station on a summit will be done 15 minutes after the beginning of the scenario. That assault will enable you to see the objectives around Midoum.

Cheer

[snake_eye]

The battle following Assault Sidi Brahim is on the repository. This is the 3rd battle being played if you won the 1st an the 2nd ones. I have still not uploaded the campaign, since I think that the management of the core units is one of the biggest problem, that I have had with CMSF. I dropped playing the USMC campaign of the game when in one of the two or three missions near the end, I found myself playing with 4 or 5 guys against the all syrian army !; The same thing happened again and again with other campaign which were made by what I consider like the masters that showed me the way to do scenarios rightly (I hope). I shall release the campaign anyhow, but I think that the core units will be so depleted that the reinforcement being brought in will be absolutely necessary. However, it is very difficult to write an A.I plan using a core unit and not knowing by advance its fate. It could escape complete annihilation or not. To balance the troops is not that easy and to play the campaign from the beginning does not bring necessarily the answers we are expecting.

So , we go for the stand alone for the time being

Cheer