Royal Mud Marines

[afreu]

Lead a battalion sized units of Royal Marines on an amphibious landing operation.

You command Yankee, X-Ray and Zulu company + some additional support units and various indirect fire and CAS assets. The coastal defense consists mostly of reservists and a few special forces.

This is a three phase operation, starting 45 minutes before sunrise. Time is a crucial factor. If the Royal Marines don't manage to overcome the enemy defenses quickly they are in danger of getting pushed back into the sea by enemy counter attacks.

The scenario is available at the repository.

Have fun! Feedback is highly appreciated.

[KirkeeTim]

Only had a quick dip into this so far with the first company group. I found the map excellent for light forces. Plenty of scope for platoon minor actions, having to find just the right fire support position and sending assault sections flanking. Personally, as a former 29 Commando Forward Observer I'm looking forward to getting stuck into this one properly.

[handihoc]

I'm half an hour (gametime) in and loving it so far. For obvious reasons it brings to mind Normandy, which helps slake our thirst as we wait for that title to arrive (well, my thirst, anyway!).

Lovely, very detailed map. I've got the Syrope mod installed, so that adds to the European feel. Having some great little skirmishes (and a couple of very nasty encounters!). Too early to give a comprehensive review, but it certainly bodes well so far for anyone interested in infantry based operations.

[handihoc]

Wow, I am really having a whale of a time in this mission! Masses of atmosphere, lots to think about in terms of managing men and ammo, bringing up supplies etc.

I've had my butt well and truly kicked a couple of times and had to start again from the beginning, which does make me wonder if it's a tad too difficult. At Iron level wego (my preference) the enemy AI does play a very effective game - loads of particularly nasty ambushes and surprises, and their aim tends to be quite deadly.

But it really is great fun - I congratulate you on creating such an epic and deeply involving battle. I'll report back when I've completed and follow up on whether I think the difficulty should be adjusted or not.

[afreu]

I usually play on veteran difficulty in real time. In my opinion it's manageable. Although of course my judgement is biased since I already know how the enemy is going to behave

I know one can get quickly frustrated if a mission is too difficult. I try to find a way to make a scenario challenging and fun at the same time. So that ideally even if you get annihilated by the AI you still had a fun time ;D

I'm looking forward to more feedback from you, handihoc! There are a few things I could change to reduce difficulty, like adding more support assets or decreasing the enemy counter attacks.

[handihoc]

Yes, the great thing is that I enjoy it enough to want to play again and again even though I'm getting pasted. That's one of the signs of a well-designed battle.

It's also made me very aware of caution - sometimes I've a tendency to push forward too hard here and there, and this is one scenario that punishes you very severely for that! You've given plenty of time for careful manouevres, and that's something I'm now taking more advantage of.

It'll be a while before I can finish it as I have a busy week ahead, and it is a long battle. But I will definitely debrief later.

[handihoc]

Afreu, I've restarted for about the sixth time now. At Iron level it really is a mother of a tough battle, but incredibly good fun. Frustrated though I am at the punishment I keep taking, I can't help but go back in for more!

The problem I keep having is that, after taking Phase LIne A and Obj Keynes, my men are so badly mauled and short of ammo that by the time X-Ray co arrive Yankee is in no state to fight on. But I'm convinced and determined I'm gonna change this and get a win!

Changed tactics again slightly this time in, and seeing a slight improvement. This is really good, expertly designed scenario. Well done, mate!

[Erwin]

Congrats on your design. Royal Mud Marines is the best CMSF scenario I have played since I started a couple years ago.

It seems like the Brits don't have the US decent type equipment and seem to be short on heavy support. But, I really enjoyed figuring out how to use the myriad of light vehicles, and doing resupply etc. (It was a headache to find out that some units can board vehicles and use the HMG's or even drive the vehicles while others cannot. But that is black eye for the CMSF manual that is cluttered with so much essentially useless detailed info, yet does not deal with these critical issues!)

I did have to save and redo Yankee Co's attack on the fort bunkers several times until I figured out how to kill them with only squad weapons. The hidden bunkers were a "lovely" surprise. However, during the rest of the scenario I felt like good tactics worked out well.

One feature of other less-well designed scenarios that disappoint is that the enemy makes stupid suicidal attacks at some point and that's when one picks up a lot of points and usually a frustratingly early auto victory leaving one feeling cheated. In your RMM, the enemy attacks were quite nasty. I only survived as I had as SOP always positioned units to defend against the unexpected. Once again, good tactics were rewarded. Fantastic!

Once I understood the Brit capabilities and limitations, (requiring a few restarts) things went well, and I felt that I ended up with TOO much men and material. I was able to keep the third Zulu company out of the fight completely other than the snipers and Javelins, and I didn't use the final aircraft reinforcements.

Played at Elite level, and Result was a Total Victory:

OK: 316 vs 127

KIA: 47 vs 381

WIA: 64 vs 233

MIA: 0 vs 30

Tanks: 0 vs 3

AFVs: 0 vs 18

Other: 4 vs 6

Please let us know if you have done other scenarios. Royal Mud Marines was exceptionally excellent! Thank you...

[afreu]

I'm really happy to hear such a positive review. I especially like that you had the patience to not give up on the scenario after a first defeat.

Another scenario with a few positive reviews is Joint Venture, available on the repository.

I'm constantly thinking about doing new scenarios. It's just difficult to find the time for developing the ideas and making the scenario.

[Erwin]

I can tell. It seems that it takes a lot longer to design and test a good CMSF scenario (which intimidates me) than for CM1 (which is relatively easy).

Figuring out how to take out those pesky bunkers caused me to reload those files several times and replay just that part of the operation before moving on. But other than that, I felt rewarded for good tactics.

What I thought made RMM quite brilliant was the mix of Brit units and the lack of tanks etc which seem to unbalance games - tanks and AFV's are like having prima donnas on the battlefield that can be KO'd so easily with ATGM's. imo CMSF shines in urban and the relatively short range wooded operations as in RMM which are not suitable for armor.

I enjoyed learning that I really had to dismount the Brit MMG's and Grenade Throwers, and to use the vehicles as taxis and not as lightly armored support vehicles. (But, WHY can one dismount US 50 cal's from Humvees, but not from the Brit vehicles!!!???)

After RMM I now find that playing the US is a bit boring as the US always has SO much firepower and ammo and everything. In almost all US scenarios, the tactics are about blowing everything up in front of you. The Brits don't have the luxury of firepower and effectively unlimited ammo, one has to play more skillfully. (Of course it helped that the Brits in RMM were all Elite I think.)

I suggest that you do a harder version that doesn't include Zulu company. I proved that it's not really needed, nor is the final aircraft reinforcement. Mayeb make the victiry conditions harder? I should not have gotten a Total Victory, as I did make mistakes and lost 47 KIA.

I will check out Joint Venture.