WIP British campaign

[bardosy]

Guys, I have a question: all of you have the Marine module? I tested the new (#6) mission yesterday and it needed the Marine module, because of syrian airborne troops. And I need your opinion about it: replace the airborne guys to special forces and keep the campaign marine-free OR can I leave the airborne guys and the BMP-3s...?

Changelog (14.01.2010):

* mission #2

- Remove one platoon from the two in the second syrian wave in the forest, but the remaining one platoon is advance in very wide front.

- Add B co's mortar to the start up force.

- Move Jackal detachment's HQ units from startup to reinforcement 3.

- Add a light cover (bush plantation) in front of blue's startup area.

* mission #6

- The first playtest done. It's almost ready for betatest.

@BlackMoria

While I may not have overall have liked the scenario because it is not my cup of tea as the brits say, I do appreciate the map

Out of this campaign, what kind of scenario you like in this map?

I mean, if I would create a single scenario on this map, what kind/type you like on it?

@Wiggum

Thanks! I hope you will enjoy this one too.

But Dam it! was a little different, because of light infantry. Here you have a lot of Warrior and Challenger2...

[BlackMoria]

@BlackMoria

Out of this campaign, what kind of scenario you like in this map?

I mean, if I would create a single scenario on this map, what kind/type you like on it?

A scenario in which the insurgents are using the forested areas as a refuge and blue forces are mounting a mission to encircle them and destroy them. Red's mission goal is to escape while preserving his forces. It would principally be a infantry battle. It has great potential to be played either side.

But I haven't created any scenarios yet, so I don't know if the system can handle victory conditions of red forces escaping off map.

[souldierz]

Bardosy,

I have all mods so I'm set for whatever forces you put in.

With the 3rd mission the position of the uncon guys sound good, but I still would recommend maybe giving the Syrian forces in the houses by the mine and RPG or and a Sniper.They never took 1 shot at me the last game and there was no real need to attack that area.Also you have a point on the ATGMs, as just a suggestion, maybe have some heavy machine gun crews move and try to set up facing the town instead of ATGMs.Receiving heavy MG fire from a distance could be good at harassing the player.It's not to heavy from far, but yet not to soft either.The ATGMS where they are now, I'm not sure if they will get the player, but who knows, maybe some unlucky player will run into that trap.

On the 2nd mission it's good to hear the wide front part.I think that might be better and it will keep the Syrians from clustering and forming a nice juicy target for an air strike.What I was mostly suggesting on that 1 is to maybe have the Syrians move and set up a defensive perimeter on the forest edge near the city as well.I think it would create a spectacular shoot out between the city and the forest.Also I forget the directions now, but maybe put an ATGM and MG at the top of the big hill located below the second city near the big open area, above to where you have 2 ATGMs already in the open covering the big open spot(right side of map).One of those buggers managed to get a shot off on some troops, but were quickly and easily killed after wards.

I'm not trying to be a Montgomery by dominating your plans:), but these few things I think would be in the Syrians best interest at defending from the Brits.No biggie or love lost if you chose not to include them, your the general for the Syrians so you decide whats best for their defense.Also it's probably best I don't know, because I probably will replay the final version of the campaign later on down the road when it's all said and done and changed.

I was looking at the 4th mission and studying it a bit and have yet to play it.Congratulations on another gem of a map,very good looking and well done.So many windows and buildings for the Syrians to hold up in and also some clear LOS spots to see a good distance.There's also a lot of room to move around on the map.Seems like many different ways to approach this one and that map is really luring me in, it looks like this is going to be a very good and interesting mission.

[Paper Tiger]

replace the airborne guys to special forces and keep the campaign marine-free OR can I leave the airborne guys and the BMP-3s...?

That's a bit of a no-brainer to answer. USE THE AIRBORNE UNITS . If folks don't have the Marines module, tough! The Airborne units have different weapons which makes them very different from SF units. And , of course, you get to include the BMP-3, a unit which hasn't been used enough by Scenario designers in my opinion.

Let me know when you've got a new version for testing and, if my schedule permits, I'll give it another spin.

[bardosy]

I created two version: one with Airborne and an other with SF. So finally I will create two version of campaign: one for British only and an other for Marine and British...

I was working on the last mission at the weekend, but it's not good.

I wanted a non-advance mission, when the Brits are holding and the Syrians attack. (Really they not attack, but break through and Brits have to hold them).

The first Syrian wave is works, but the other 2 just stop and didn't want move... I have to figure out some solution for this...

[bardosy]

OK. I could manage to fix the last scenario. Now the Syrians really want to break through.

I will try to fix the IED guys in every scenario (when you tested these, the IED guys were hidden, but I read somewhere, they don't detonate if they are hidden. So I'll unhide them).

And I try to add more syrians to the building near the mine, what souldierz suggested, adn one ATGM will be move from mine to police station. These are just small fixes and then I will repack the campaign and post it here soon (I hope before weekend).

[souldierz]

Finished the 4th mission- Aleppo Suburb

SPOILER........................................................ SPOILER

If I could sum this mission up and the tactic used in one word, it would be Blitzkrieg.

The British had a very overwhelming force and with all the British troops on screen my computer was lagging.I really didn't need any Infantry for this map, because of all the vehicle firepower, but regardless of that, Infantry is always needed.All those Challenger tanks might have even done the job themselves alone.I guess this mission was to simulate a full out hard core British Invasion and I think it would be impossible to lose.

In this mission again some Syrian uncon forces appeared on the left side of the map (North) near the Brit forces leading to another vehicle getting hit with multiple RPGs as soon the Syrians spawned.The Syrian forces that Spawned South in the bush area were killed quickly and I just moved some Brit forces from there.There was so many British forces that they practically flooded the map.When the Syrian tanks spawned on the M5 highway they to fired immediately from close range and were able to get the drop on some vehicles with troops mounted in them, resulting in the majority of casualties.I can't say I'm a fan of these enemy who spawn close to the players forces and cause heavy damage.In reality the Brits would have seen all these Syrian reinforcements coming from way out (especially the Syrian tanks on the highway), but since they only appear at the edge of the map it can give the Syrians a unrealistic advantage of surprise.

Being that there was so many British forces I simply formed battle lines, one behind the other.The center and right flank(South) were made up of 4 battle lines.The first line was all Challenger tanks.The second line was all Scimitar vehicles.The third line was 2 mounted Platoons and the forth line was mounted C2's,FO's,Snipers and some Javelin.The Center and right flank(South) stretched from the main road going into Aleppo to the Canal.

The left flank(North) was made up in 3 lines.First line being Warrior vehicles(No troops in them).The second line was 2 mounted Platoons and the third line was mounted Pioneer Platoon.The left flank(north) was all that was North of the main road going into Aleppo.

Picture below is how the British formation was at one point during the mission.

Some enemy tried to assault up the Left flank(North), but were hit hard by artillery and mortars as well as all kinds British vehicle fire near the opening moments.Picture below is of them being hit hard by Artillery and Mortars.

From this set up the Challenger tanks lead the assault and Blitzed forward phase by phase until they were just past the road leading to the Spot to M5 objective.2 Warriors and recce squad swept the canal, but the Challengers previously took out the Syrians located in the Canal.The Ur Plaza was not assaulted, but kept under siege.Figured I would try and make enemy surrender instead of storming it, because the Plaza seemed very tough and well fortified.Took a long time to kill some enemy in there,they had good cover on second floor in the second row of buildings and withstood a lot of punishment.Same with other objectives.The objectives would be besieged but not assaulted.The original plan was for each Platoon to eventually take one objective each that would be surrounded by British forces, but due to the rapid advance the Platoons were put on hold for assaulting,in hopes of an enemy surrender.One Platoon however took the South West compound.

I figured with all this fire support and air support i would call it all near the Provincial buildings area, but One Cobra was ordered to hammer anything it sees on the South of M5 highway as well as one Artillery support asset.The Syrians really took a British pounding.

Picture below is the Air and Fire support assets striking the Provincial government buildings area under the watch of the Challenger tanks.

After the huge artillery and air support strikes and after the Syrian tanks emerged on the M5 highway taking out some British vehicles and the troops mounted in them (a fight that lasted probably less then a minute before Syrian tanks were destroyed, but i think they managed to get 2-3 shots off each), the Challengers then rolled out to occupy and control the M5 highway.Another Challenger tank was taken out and shortly after the Syrians surrendered with 33 minutes and 46 sec left.

This mission could probably be done with a platoon of tanks and possibly 4 platoons with 1 engineer platoon.Some Jav and snipers could also come in handy as well as some Scout's and some of the Scimitar vehicles.There must be another way again in this mission to somehow effectively get those Syrian reinforcements on the map without spawning very close to the player.Those t72's spawned and hit me good.They are responsible for all my casualties except for maybe one tank and two Warrior's.One warrior was hit point blank by the spawning Uncon teams.I understand the need to simulate the enemy flanking the player and it's good sometimes to see Syrian tanks emerge and try to hit the flank on some mission's, but there's also something that doesn't seem quite right when they do.It's like they got a cloaking device or something(no I'm not a Trekie, or whatever you wanna call Star Trek fanatics) and then they appear in front of your very eyes all guns blazing.

To conclude, roaming across that map in one massive force was pretty cool,but fairly easy despite my casualty count.I never pulled a massive Blitzkrieg move like that before in CMSF so the experience for me was one that was well excepted.I mostly enjoy any mission people throw together so I don't want to be to critical with them, but with that said the more detail and realistic, the better.Whatever the situation be, or no matter how the mission is made, I will roll with it and use what's given.If this was to simulate a massive British invasion then I guess you could keep it how it is.If you would like to give the player more of a challenge then I would suggest taking some Brits out of the map.For some people I think handling all those Brits could be a nightmare.As in most cases though, I enjoyed playing your mission and have no real conflict with it except the ill spawned Syrians who make my Brits think they are fighting against the Predator.

[bardosy]

Thanks for this post Souldierz!

The apearing uncon is in the canal. And I hoped, it cover them. And addition it's a little bit more realistic (I know it's not, bot a little bit more), because the canal can cover their move.

The tanks on the hightway is odd, I believe you. I will reposition their spawn point behind the highway's ramp. So they will suprise the player but not with the spawn.

I felt the brits are too many, but I was not sure. But your suggestion is great. I will decrase their troops, but the main cut will be in the Challangers. They are not in the core units, they are aux units. As you mentioned and I guess, a platoon (3 tank + 1 hq) is more then enough.

And what is your opinion about the support? Have you suggestion what I have to throw out?

Thanks for the critics!

[souldierz]

The Syrian tanks spawning on the other side of the M5 highway sounds like a good idea.That area seemed tough and will probably hold the player back long enough for tanks to appear.It also cuts the LOS on the Syrian tanks so a stealthy entrance to the battle field can be achieved.

Sounds good on the troop level being lowered, think it would be best.The mass blitz was still fun to do, but very heavy on the computer and could result in a swift victory or Syrian surrender.

The artillery could probably be reduced as well.It is an urban area with people living in it so giving the player a lot of Fire support could result in a massive artillery barrage on urban areas.I found good use for it against the Syrian forces assaulting the North flank, but after wards I had no real use for it and decided to use it all at once on the East end of the map on the urban area.I mainly did that to see a big artillery show and to see if I could pound the Syrians into a surrender.:DIn this campaign i can tell you that the Brits are not going to win any hearts and minds by using all this firepower on Syrian cities, especially when the civilian density is moderate or close to moderate(can't think of the other terms right now) but then again it is a full out war between Nations.

Maybe give the player 1 Artillery support piece with 2 mortar support pieces.So if the player wants to call in smoke cover or hit a trench area he can use the mortars support.If he wants to level a building he could use the Artillery support.So a total of 3 fire support assets,2 being mortars and 1 being Artillery.Maybe give both mortar support to the player right away and then delay the Artillery piece for when reinforcements come.The delay could simulate the time that's needed for the Artillery piece to deploy itself off map or you can give it to the player straight away simulating they already deployed.

[bardosy]

I checked the Syrian tanks and they was behind the M5, except one. Now I relocate it to behind the highway too.

I checked the uncon units too and only one squad has RPG, the others are light armed.

I remove the brit force the majority of tanks (I left only 4 Challangers) and one platoon of infantry. I also remove two tanks from the previous mission.

Arty support: arty is very important in the real world, but it's a huge handicap in this game (because the AI opponent use it badly). And I always try to reduce the player's support, but as the other tester said, it's unrealistic, so I put it back.

But I'll remove one howitzer from this mission, and I left the mortars (it don't destroy buildings) and the Apaches, because they shoot to real target (to BMPs and not to buildings/civis).

I'll check, but I remember the howitzer is delayed. But if not, I'll delay. Thanks for the ideas.

[BlackMoria]

Here is the playtest results for scenario 3.

Map: Excellent

Setup Area: No issues

Force Mix: Good, though it is odd that several platoons of Brits arrive as reinforcements with no transport and have to hoof it.

Reinforcements: Brits - see above. Syrians - I will just echo what Souldierz has commented on and that is Syrian forces appearing in that 'courtyard' or whatever it is supposed to be. That is too close to where Brit forces may possibly be deployed. Souldierz and I aren't saying that you shouldn't have Syrian forces attacking the Brits in the flank, it is the way the game 'spawns' them in amid the Brits without the Brits seeing them coming. If you like a little surprise like that, have the Syrians spawn in from some place where Brit forces aren't likely to be at that point.

Overall, I liked this battle. The only issue for me is Syrian forces 'spawning' in the midst of my forces. Otherwise, good scenario.

[BlackMoria]

I started scenario 4 and is it still in progress so here is my intial observations.

Map: Excellent

Setup Area: No issues, though with Allied HQ being so close, why not include it in the setup zone? If you have a reason for doing it that way, no problem. It just seemed odd to advance 50 metres into the courtyard of the complex just to occupy it.

Force Composition: To early for a final verdict but the Brits just have too many forces and the Syrians get steamrollered. I am just 30 minutes into the scenario and already I have forces up to the M5 observation point on the one flank and up to the Weapons cache on the other. With only 1 friendly WIA to show for it. The Brits need to either be reduced in size or the Syrians need to have more forces or some combination of the two.

Reinforcements: Expect the Brit player to jump into the canal / wadi and use the dead ground to advance as far as he can. I moved a platoon and half of vehicles in the canal and advanced up to the M5 bridge. Just as I was about to move out of the canal / wadi, a company of BMP teleported literally into our midst and the results were predictably UGLY to say the least. I was not happy to say the least and reverted to an earlier game save as the carnage was unacceptable for such a occurance that should have been impossible to happen in the first place.

I mention this as players will do the same thing - using the canal as a means to advance out of line of sight. The BMP reinforcements either need to come in some other place or have the BMPs start the game on map in the canal waiting for the 'time' for them to advance to where ever you want to go.

I will report further once I finish up the scenario. I am only 30 minutes into it so far and outside the reinforcement incident in with my platoon plus of Warriors literally were scraping hulls with a company of BMPs, the game has been enjoyable so far.

Oh. Keep the arty. I am a ex-artillery officer and I finally got some real toys to play with in this scenario.

[souldierz]

I was trying to free up some space and the pictures in my previous post have been accidentally deleted for good.I cannot bring them back and no longer have them on my computer.Yet another lesson learned by trial and error.

SPOILER...................................SPOILER.........................................SPOILER

Finished the 5th mission Aleppo By Night.

At first when I saw the map I thought this was going to be an Urban nightmare,but it ended up being quite fun to play and I ended up playing it twice to try two different plans of approach.The first time the Brits spread out in a line from one end(North) of the map to the other(South).The Pioneers were the center of the formation, the Jackals were parked and scouts took the top floors to guard the area.The British Inf then moved from one building to the next in a line formation and the snipers and javs occupied the top floors with C2 teams at times.Everything was going good, but time was ticking down fast.While trying to preserve the Brit forces as much as possible I made it near the British Embassy, but seeing how tough the resistance was in that area, I knew there was no way I was going to solve this mission in this very dense area with the little time left and if I rushed it would have been a needless blood bath.

Picture below is a UAZ full of Syrian special forces and above them is a Javelin missile that has its eye locked on them.At that moment I suspect when they looked up, they all shared in the same thought, if they even saw it.

I then restarted and tried the mission again,Second time playing though ended up being a blood bath anyways,because this time I decided to move very aggressively up the 2 roads where the Brits start and move like a convoy at a faster pace.When under fire I would try to pin and assault the enemy position with a Brits team while still moving forward as best as can be done.This method ended up being very costly and men were shot easily in Jackals and others fell on the street.Despite Brits going down, it gave it a cinematic feel when on the ground level watching them react as bullets whizzed by their heads.It was also impressive to watch, because the Brits being Elite and simulating SAS troops were hitting the enemy very quickly and precise, knocking and pinning them down in a matter of seconds and then simultaneously one team would assault and clear the room fiercely killing the majority of the enemy team.Cobras did gun runs and then as the Brits on the North road got closer with the British Embassy a Fierce fight broke out.All the Brits were then moved to the top floors in the major buildings and tried to soften the enemy from there.The Brits moving on the South Road were held up and took casualties and were not able to meet up with the other forces near the British Embassy.The Brits who moved in on the North road managed to break through into the British Embassy, but also took heavy casualties due to the rush to get it.With about 4mins and 16sec left the Syrians surrendered.I don't think I found the hostages,no message told me I did and I'm not sure if I killed the enemy target Biological Bob(Good name made me chuckle lol),I think I did though.

Picture below is British Infantry walking past a Syrian team hiding behind a house.You'd think that at least one Brit would have looked left or right, but they moved on and the Syrians soon realized they were completely surrounded by Brits and opened fire.

Picture below is the end result of that scene in the picture above.Another Brits team came around the corner and fast and ferociously gunned down the Syrian team before they could shoot any other Brits.

There's not much I would change, but since it is a very dense urban area simulating a downtown scene in a major city, I would definitely give the player more time to complete this mission.I managed to complete it by rushing my forces, but it was costly.Another 15-30mins might be enough time and still have the effect of rushing the player,but also allowing him enough time to move in a fashion that will allow him to preserve his forces.When enemy gather in one spot they form fierce resistance, those firefights took time to resolve without taking heavy casualties.

The high rise firefights were a treat to watch and became extremely intense at the British Embassy.That building was fortified well and was hard to get at,there was some real tough resistance there and the games biggest firefight happened there.

The Jackals I found to be out of place in this mission.After a while I just didn't use them, because they were to soft of a target for the Urban environment(no cover at all for the men in them),maybe a different vehicle could be used or some jackals replaced.

The Campaign is now finished and The last mission ended up being costly because I did it fast and sloppy.That gave me the majority of deaths and an ugly mortality rate for this campaign run.Here is the final results,cant say I like that number much and I hope others can accomplish this campaign with a lower fatality rate when the final version is released.Says the Nation is proud of me,but with that 55 and 74 casualty number, I feel like a casualty myself.

I enjoyed playing this campaign.It offered beautiful maps and a variety of tactical play and was well worth the playing time.With a few improvements and when its in its final version, I think people all over the world will enjoy playing this campaign as I did .Great Work Bardosy and thanks for the Campaign game, it was also fun typing up the events that took place.

[bardosy]

@BlackMoria

Mission #3: Thanks, I did it, I removed the syrian reinforcement to the other flank (South). I hope it will be a better place.

Mission #4: The HQ is the cover. You told me in the mission #2, you need a cover for the startup area from the enemy. The enemy is in the Ur Plaza and if there is no HQ buildings, they could destroy in the startup. Anc the HQ occupation is not so easy, because the syrians shoot me, when I test it and I wanted to ocuppy it. If it has been in thesetup area and you placed units in it, it also got casualities in the first seconds.

I just reduced the brit forces (I left only 4 tanks and remove an infantry platoon and one of the howitzer).

The BMP platoon in the canal could be realistic, (but I hope - with reduced froces - the player cannot reach that point so eraly as you did) because they come from the canal-tunnel under the M5 (unfortunately there is no bridge in CMSF), so they could suprise the brits. Usually I really agree with you guys, when a syrian teleported in the border of the map, because in real life, they could be spotted it before. But this canal is very good, because it's a realistic situation IMHO.

@Souldierz

If the syrian surrender, all of your objective will be done. So you don't need to find the hostages and kill Biological Bob (the name was inspirated by Chemical Ali. I just read the news this morning he was executed in the close past.) if the syrians surrender.

Time: as you felt it, I gave so little time to inspirate an aggressive assault and it's simulate the specops missions' tight schedule.

Jackals: if this mission could be an American, I use Humvees with M2. But it's not. And Brits use a different theory to their vehicles. I couldn't find wheeld, armed with machinegun and armored vehicles for this. But a machinegun vehicle is very useful in this mission: it can supress buildings.

I just wrote a new campaign end text and it says about casualities too so if next time you prevent casualities, the text will be wrong.

Thanks for testing it! I'll try to post into this thread the two new, and last missions. If you can download here, test it too, please.

[bardosy]

Ok, I couldn't attach the last two missions into the post, so I uploaded to my place. You can download it from here.

It contains 3 single missions. Mission 6 and 6a is almost the same, but 6a uses Marine module because of syrian airborne units. Mission 6 uses special forces and no need Marine.

You can run these missions as a single missions.

[BlackMoria]

@BlackMoria

Mission #4: The HQ is the cover. You told me in the mission #2, you need a cover for the startup area from the enemy. The enemy is in the Ur Plaza and if there is no HQ buildings, they could destroy in the startup. Anc the HQ occupation is not so easy, because the syrians shoot me, when I test it and I wanted to ocuppy it. If it has been in thesetup area and you placed units in it, it also got casualities in the first seconds.

I just reduced the brit forces (I left only 4 tanks and remove an infantry platoon and one of the howitzer).

The BMP platoon in the canal could be realistic, (but I hope - with reduced froces - the player cannot reach that point so eraly as you did) because they come from the canal-tunnel under the M5 (unfortunately there is no bridge in CMSF), so they could suprise the brits. Usually I really agree with you guys, when a syrian teleported in the border of the map, because in real life, they could be spotted it before. But this canal is very good, because it's a realistic situation IMHO.

Your reasons make perfect sense. Too bad bridges can't be simulated because I didn't consider you were simulating the BMPs were coming from the other side of the highway. Makes total sense now that you mention it.

Looking forward to testing the last scenarios.

[bardosy]

BFC remove the bridges from their project, because it didn't work in CMx1 neighter. The AI was unable to cross under a bridge...

I cannot imagine a CM:Normandy without bridges, but - I'm affraid - we have to prepare for a Normandy where no bridges. It means: no Pegasus Brigde X(

[stoex]

bardosy, I distinctly remember Steve saying that Bridges and water would definitely be in CM:Normandy.

I sure hope that's still true...

[souldierz]

For the 4th mission the troop level is fine, but maybe you can mix up or replace the Jackal vehicles with Spartan's and Bulldogs.The Jackals have MGs and can suppress buildings, but because they have little armour(they barely even have doors)they get gunned down very easy in close quarters urban combat.Assaulting or raiding a downtown area with Jackals would be suicide, especially when there's APC's available.Imaging if they only had Jackals in the situation Black Hawk Down in Somalia(I now it wasn't the Brits there, but I'm just using it as an example), that would be a very nasty outcome, like the outcome I got.I would also advise putting the time up a bit(unless heavier vehicles are put in then a fast rush could possibly be done), because the SAS are known for doing their missions quickly and being on a tight schedule, but not if it's known to lead to slaughter,at least I hope not or there would be hatred towards the leadership and mutinies and scandals as well.The firefights always dictate the momentum of the battle and if the resistance is fierce then it will have to take more time to get to the objective.An in and out job would be nice, but I think that would only work with a few enemies.When there's many enemies in hard angles in urban areas, firefights will bog the player down unless he really doesn't care about casualties.

My play style has molded into a way where I will try to keep the casualties low as possible.For me, this now dominates the time limit that's set, so people who revolve around the time limit might have different feedback.I always try to advance as fast as can be possible,but the One thing I never liked was the rush of that clock in this game, so I will always advocate for more time in certain missions, but at the same time I will also try to be realistic in suggesting the time limit in knowing what the intentions are of the mission maker.I just don't want the mission to be a joy kill for others who are like me and feel the same way about the time limit as I do and I suspect there are many like me who do not like the rush of that little ticker.It does give the feeling of a general breathing down your neck telling you to keep moving in some missions,but generally that feeling goes out the window after a while and in some cases my reply would be 'after you general' or 'I will not lead the men into your pointless self slaughter' .Maybe that would make me a good soldier or maybe a bad one,but mostly (if not all the time) I don't feel the need to sacrifice a few good pixel men just so the situation ends 10-20 minutes earlier,unless of coarse a nuke or something big is about to go off or happen, then by all means advance at all cost's:).

Same deal as before though,no love loss no matter what you decide;).Some may share in my opinion and some not, doesn't matter, they all amounted to fun and enjoyable missions anyways.

I downloaded the other 3 missions you posted and I managed to finish the 6th mission Aleppo International that have the Syrian Airborne.Very Awesome firefight, but unfortunately time ran out for me.I no doubt could have moved faster in some areas and I did leave some platoons static for a while without moving them closer to their objectives and I definitely could have moved faster with the forces that started off in the North West, but in this mission getting some casualties out of some very tough spots is what really bogged me down and kept my attention while time was ticking away.It turned out to be a very interesting and fierce fight around the Mosque that took most of my attention because the situation was intense and I really did not want to miss the action that was taking place.

I'll eventually get around to posting the results with a few comments later, but that's it for me this day.Don't think there would be anything to change in the airport mission. I personally don't think there's any bad airport mission out there, airport missions are usually some of the funnest missions to be played and this one was very fun in my opinion.

[souldierz]

Finished the 6th mission Aleppo International.

This mission was very cinematic for me around the Mosque and the Mosque firefight dominated most of my attention, making me forget about advancing the other Brit forces that were NW.Even though time ran out for me, 1hour like you have it, is probably enough time to secure a victory in this mission.I got distracted and was not fast enough, so I suffered a tactical defeat.

At the North West set up zone,4th Vehicle that has 1st Section mounted in it, is outside of the set up zone.All the other forces can be moved freely in the set up zone except for the one, he's just one tile shy from being in the set up zone.

SPOILER>>>>>>>>SPOILER<<<<<<<<SPOILER

The Brits in the NW set up zone basically moved and cleared the urban area they were in and remained there for the majority of the mission.They would see a lot of action themselves, occasionally getting into firefights with enemy scattered around in the airport compound.The FO's,C2's,Javelin and Sniper teams would occupy the roof tops of the buildings that had good cover on them.From there they would Snipe,Mortar,fire Jav missiles and call in support assets throughout the game while the main British rifle squads pinned down any enemy from the top floors of the buildings they were in.Then the vehicles would knock down walls and fire on the enemy buildings.The NW Brit forces suffered no casualties throughout this mission.Except for a vehicle that was destroyed.

Picture below is of a Syrian squad getting caught running in the open.The one Syrian was lucky as a vehicle round simulated a perfect field goal between his head and RPG.His Luck would soon run out.

Over at the Mosque area and the British forces there, the plan was to have the Engineers occupy the top floors of various buildings that were located East of the Mosque beside the road the Brits started on.From there they had good LOS with the Mosque area.The British Platoon that would later reinforce the area would then try to move North past the Engineers position and swing around to the West and get eyes on the Mosque area as well as the airport.They would have been sandwiched between the enemy near the Mosque and at the airport, but they had a wall to guard them while they cleared enemy from the lower floors in buildings as well as Brit vehicles ready to shoot any enemy quickly that fires form the airport.The Javelins were put on the top floors of 2 buildings and from there they would take out 2 BMP-3's and some technical vehicles while also putting a few into the airport and exhausting most of their ammo.

Looking back it would have been better to sweep the Mosque area from the South, but I was attempting to bypass the city fighting and get decisively engaged with the airport to weaken its defenses so the NW forces could capture it.I ended up getting stuck trying to save some downed men on the road that past the front of the Mosque.

The engineers were set up and the British Plt was moving from building to building while throwing smoke to cover their movements when they crossed big open areas. A Recce Section now occupied a 2nd floor building that is able to see all the Airport compound as well as the Mosque area.They identified some technicals and Artillery was called to destroy them.Everything was going good and according to plan as the Brit Plt was starting to shift West to get eyes on the Mosque area.Two Warrior vehicles also accompanied them and kept themselves behind buildings to block RPG fire from the airport.Here's where some Airborne Syrians at the Mosque decided to show themselves.They fired an RPG hitting one of the Warriors that was moving with the Brits Plt.It survived the hit and the Recce Section saw who shot it.The Warrior did not have good LOS with the enemy in the Mosque so the Recce Section attempted to pin them down.As the Recce Section was pinning the enemy down and the warrior moved up to get LOS on the Syrian position in the Mosque,the Recce Section took an RPG hit from the airport and killed 1 Brit soldier and severely wounding another as well as injuring 2 more men.The recce squad broke their area fire and hid down to give buddy aid to their fellow Brits and to avoid any other RPG fire.The enemy was identified in the airport area and Vehicles began to spray them with heavy area fire.At this point the Warrior that took the RPG hit from the Mosque took another one as it moved and was damaged, but still operational.It was now in good LOS and continued to lay area fire on the enemy in the Mosque.The enemy Airborne in the Mosque had very good cover.Due to the angle, There was only 1 window for them to shoot out of and only one window that area fire could be placed on.It made it very hard to kill them and they put up fierce resistance the whole time and was very hard to tell what damage was being done to them.

Here's where everything went completely chaotic and got very cinematic for me with constant hair raising cool moments.In an attempt to cross the road that goes in front of the Mosque, a Brits Section was ordered to throw smoke then wait 15 seconds and then assault across the street into a building.Where they would take over area fire on the enemy in Mosque.As the order was carried out I must have missed timed something because the Brits did not throw smoke to cover their movement and assaulted across the road.The second their boots hit the road massive volumes of enemy AK fire broke out.2 British Soldiers went down from AK fire.One was dead and the other lay wounded in the open in the middle of the road under enormous fire.The other British troops of that squad managed to quickly get back into the building they were originally in.From there they were far from safe and they started taking heavy fire and another British troop went down KIA.There's now 4 Brits left in the Section and 2 have become wounded also while a 5th Brit lays severely wounded on the road.

(In a previous game I noticed that Friendlies who were severely wounded on the ground WIA could still be Killed by bullets.If a bullet hits a man who is WIA, it will turn him Into KIA.So getting that British troop who was WIA on the road was very important to me and turned into a mission on its own,because I did not want to see him killed)

The situation is severe and a Brits Section is on the verge of being completely wiped out, action needed to be taken quickly.The engineers who had eyes on the Mosque area saw 2 enemy locations in 2 separate buildings NW of the Mosque.From where they were, they continued to lay area fire on the enemy positions that were firing, but was not able to pin them down completely.2 Warrior vehicles were quickly ordered to position themselves between the enemy and the downed Brits on the road and to lay area fire on the enemy locations while another Brit Section moves to help the 4 remaining Brits who are pinned down in a house to try and give them more fire power.At this time 3 enemy locations are discovered and engaged.While a few Brits were attempting to get at the men down on the road, 3 rpgs were launched very quickly one after the other and destroyed one of the Warriors sheltering the Brits who are down on the road.One crew member was severely wounded and now everyone is in danger of ammo cooking off.In a matter of seconds the Syrians reveled themselves in two more locations and now started to gain firepower superiority over the Brits.

Picture below is just after the Warrior got taken out by 3 RPG's and the two downed British troops.

It was now a fight in a bottleneck zone with Syrians having 5 separate firing locations unloading around the British 1 location in the house as well as some engineer locations.More Brits men got wounded and the situation was starting to look very bad.1st and 2nd Section were fighting for their lives in the house and 3rd Section was trying to maneuver to flank from the North and they themselves also got into a separate firefight and were unable to relieve the intense fire on the 2 British sections in the house.Another vehicle was ordered up to take up positions in front of the Brits under fire in the house.The one Warrior that was still active was Firing everywhere he could at once in an attempt to pin the enemy.When the second Warrior arrived and relieved the heavy fire on the house, some Brits after a few failed attempts, were finally able to get at the dead and wounded on the road and safely give them buddy aid while hoping that the destroyed vehicle wouldn't produce any explosions.Vehicles from the Brits in the NW were ordered to stretch themselves out along the Highway that is on the west end of the area of operation and to also lay fire down on the enemy around the Mosque.They could only use light area fire because with the heavy area fire some rounds went through the buildings across town and narrowly missed their own men who are in enough trouble as is.

The Brits start to gain momentum and are able to get to the dead and wounded on road while under cover fire from vehicles.The crew from the Warrior that's destroyed gave buddy aid while the 4 remaining brits in the 0ne Section covered them also.

3rd Section was now able to flank from the north due to the vehicle area fire from the highway and were now able to gain some kind of advantage on the Syrians around the Mosque.The Mosque was very well fortified and gave the enemy very good cover.The amount of fire constantly going into the Mosque at all times from all angles was incredible and intense and insane.The Brits must have put well over 2000 rounds into that Mosque as they fired at it for about 45 minutes straight.The enemy Airborne simply would not go down and were very tough.Eventually some enemy were shot down by 3rd Section as the tried to get out the back way and the situation was not fully under control,but the Brits did now dominate the scene for the first time and the 5(there were a couple more enemy locations also, but not concentrated like the 5) Syrian enemy locations that were shooting near the Mosque were reduced to 2 being in the Mosque.

Picture below is of a vehicle who was on the highway.They received a lot of RPG fire and 1 vehicle was disabled and the crew manage to survive and take cover from enemy fire on the other side of the vehicle.This vehicle was beside it and the enemy took an incredible RPG shot that went under the Warrior,hitting his rear right track.They survived and the vehicle was immobilized but still it the fight for the remainder of them mission.

When this was getting close to being resolved I looked at the time and I completely forgot about giving orders to the NW forces to proceed.Time was very low and I was not able to get to the Objectives, but watching the events unfold was one massive cool moment for about 40 minutes.Even though I did not get the objectives I was very satisfied with this mission.There is nothing I would change in this mission.It was an awesome firefight around the Mosque and that was the first time I clashed with Syrian Airborne.Seemed like they launched m203s just as quick as the Brits in some situations.I couldn't understand what these little explosions were as all this chaos unfolded.One thing i did notice and I think it was mentioned previously,was that IED's never went off.I rolled over one of them and I only killed the trigger man at the Mosque later,so I was lucky because it would have taken out the reinforcing Warrior heading to cover the Brits from the Mosque area and would have made a bad situation worse.

Near the end it seemed like the airport also got a little tougher.Did enemies spawn there?

Great mission and I think it's good how it is.I always did like airport missions.The one frustrating thing that plagued me was the cobras.After calling them in and waiting for them to get to the area to area target, it seemed like the only thing they would want to really shoot is the parked cars.They would shoot them then say the were done and there would be enemy on rooftops completely exposed and it was obvious they were there but cobras often would ignore them.I constantly called them in and the rocket fire on the Airport put on quite a show.

EDIT:Forgot to mention that another British soldier would also get WIA on the same road as the others.The one Brit that was dead and the one that was wounded were evacuated, but after another Brit was hit and then safely evacuated as well after a lot of suppressive fire.

[bardosy]

WOW! It was an impressive AAR! "No man left behind!" Well done!

And fantastic screenshots! The RPG under the Warrior is a winner.

I usually play real-time, but a few month ago, I had to play WEGO and this is the difference: in real-time, you can react quickly to unknown danger, but you cannot share your attention. But in WEGO, you can manage multiple fronts with full attention.

In this mission there are two challenge: the airborne troops and the two fronts.

There are spawn in the airport building, but it's almost impossible to capture it before spawning syrians, so they can come from the basement...

[souldierz]

Finished the 7th Mission-No Pasaran

I see Aleppo got updated.Good looking map.In this mission it was a good thing I wasn't attacking.Due to all the units, I had bad lag and the whole game was a slide show for me.It was a relief also knowing that this was a defend mission and I would not have to fight my way into the heavy urban area, with the lag it would have been unplayable.

It was a nice change in pace though.Being able to set up a defense and then do nothing but watch the action unfold(as laggy as it was) was easy on the 'think tank'(except for setting it up) lol.The defense was fairly solid and there was no way the Syrians were going to pass.This reminded me of a game I played in the school yard when I was younger called 'British Bulldog'.I'm sure most are familiar with it and the Brits formed a very solid and unbreakable chain.

************SPOILER***********************SPOILER******************SPOILER

Under 1st Battalion(Lieutenant Colonel Colby)command, The defense was set up so the Syrians would eventually wander in a British kill zone.All inf occupied the bottom floor of houses cutting off main routes as well as back alleys, while the Javs occupied various top floor levels in buildings.FO's were on a roof top with cover, on a top floor and in a bush behind the canal.Vehicles placed themselves on angles by buildings and would create multiple fire alleys with the buildings providing concealment and cover.All angles were covered and the Syrians never made it past the park area.

B company(Major Bemen) took up defensive positions South of the highway and remained there. A wedge was formed. 4th platoon was the left flank of the formation and 5th platoon occupied the right flank.6th platoon later would spawn NW on the other side on the map and they were sent to go and hold in the canal and saw no action.

C company(Major Kinnean)Formed a very wide V shape from the North to the Highway and remained in defensive positions.On the left flank(north) was 8th platoon with snipers and javs, the center was held by 9th platoon and 7th platoon was on the right flank covering parts of the highway as well as the big park.They saw most action around the highway and park area.

Manouevre Support Company(Major Lawton) was mostly defending the Highway ,but was also scattered amongst A and B company.They held their positions and the Second In Command along with a Soldier in his 3 man section were Killed by an RPG that had someone else's name on it.The RPG just missed the vehicle that was no doubt targeted and landed behind it, through a window of a house 2IC was occupying.They were never seen by the Syrians and unlucky for them a fluke shot took their pixel lives.

In the end the Syrians Surrendered with 32 minutes and 55 seconds left.It was good to see a mission where the enemy came out of a dense city instead of the player going in.Most of the enemy were killed on both sides of the highway and in the big park.The elevation in the park helped give the Syrians some cover as they moved but many Inf got killed and pinned there.If I had my time back I would have used all mortar fire on the park near the end.

The reinforcements were unused and I thought they were not really necessary,but maybe flip the positions when they arrive.Make A company Platoon spawn NW and the remainder of B company to spawn SE, so they are closer to their higher ups.If you want to make it more difficult for the player, reducing the number of Brits would do the trick as well as include a few Syrian tanks.If the intention was to make it fairly easy and just a lot of eye candy for the player as the campaign ends then keep as is.If I could have ran it with less lag,I think it would have been cool to watch on the ground level.

For the AI plan,maybe getting the Syrians to set up infantry on the outskirts in buildings could provide the Syrians a better fighting chance before they try to break through, but I think this mission was to simulate a very hasty Syrian retreat that was designed to eventually catch all Syrian forces guarding Aleppo, completely destroying the Battalion and ending the campaign as the Americans cleared it out.

I also think it's worth mentioning that I thought that the British pictures you used throughout all the briefings were great photos.Good Work Bardosy!

[bardosy]

Thanks!

I used the reinforcements as a counter attack. It could shorten the mission: the syrians surrender earlyer if my two arrived platoon insert the city. It could add some dynamic action to the player.

But don't be sure, it's an easy mission! Once - in playtest - I was sure I'll win, but one single wounded taxi driver sneak through our strong defence and catch the exit zone. The syrians immediately got 1500 points and win the mission...

About progress: I just got the proofed briefings from handihoc and I replaced it in all mission and put it together. I just wait for your last AAR, and if you don's suggest any vital changes in the last two missions, the campaign is complete.

The only problem is the name of the campaign: handihoc suggested me to change it, because Bagpipe is assiciated with Scots, but this campaign is English (Devonshire and Dorset regiment). My idea is "Warriors of Queen". What is your opinion? Or any suggestion for the name?

And I created two version, one pure British Force and the other need the Marine module too. What is your opinion: can I publish both in one single zip file (it's 12 MB) or publish seperately in two 6 MB files?

[Paper Tiger]

My idea is "Warriors of Queen".

That would be "The Queen's Warriors"

[gibsonm]

"Soldiers of the Queen", an old barracks song, is in a similar vein. Perhaps a suitable title (but possibily used already).

Britons once did loyally declaim

About the way we ruled the waves.

Every Briton's song was just the same

When singing of her soldier-braves.

All the world had heard it--

Wondered why we sang,

And some have learned the reason why--

But we're not forgetting it,

And we're not letting it

Fade away and gradually die,

Fade away and gradually die.

So when we say that England's master

Remember who has made her so

It's the soldiers of the Queen,

my lads Who've been, my lads,

who've seen, my lads

In the fight for England's glory lads

When we've had to show them what we mean:

And when we say we've always won

And when they ask us how it's done

We'll proudly point to every one

Of England's soldiers of the Queen.

The tune can be heard here:

http://regimental-band-of-the-coldstream-guards-mp3-download.kohit.net/_/336050/mp3player.php?single=1&tellafriend=http://Regimental-Band-of-the-Coldstream-Guards-mp3-download.kohit.net/_/336050&id=336050

Of course, the title alternates between "Soldiers of the Queen" and "Soldiers of the King" depending on the Sovereign.