The Green Zone

[souldierz]

I replayed your mission and figured I would see how far I could proceed knowing that this mission was a little to heavy for my computer.At times the whole thing turned to a slide show for me and making sense of what was happening was kind of hard, but it didn't last the whole game, only when the reinforcements for both sides arrived and the slide show would eventually simmer down a bit after wards.It was still a bit laggy on the ground level, but when I zoomed out and looked at the map from an overhead view things became a lot better and I could understand and make sense of what was happening and could proceed on with the mission with a good frame rate.

I had to play in somewhat of an unorthodox style, because from an overhead view I could not get the Marines in proper cover when advancing with the reinforcements.I had to sacrifice cover a bit and rely on the Marines firepower to proceed.For the ambush part I played in detail on the ground and for the reinforcement defensive perimeter I also played in detail by zooming in and finding them good cover for the firefight.The break out to the ambush was done with me relying purely on Marine Platoon fire power and less so on cover because zooming in to find spots got laggy and I did not want to pause constantly and I really wanted to finish this mission.

If my computer could handle this mission better, I would have increased the time limit to 4hrs and give it a real serious try in completing it.This was a tough mission and ended up being an all out infantry battle, pure chaos with explosions and tracer fire lighting up the scene as day turned to night.Very tense moments and aggressive firefights that made for a grand battle that I know i would have enjoyed further with out the lag part, but enough about the lag, I was still able to proceed and keep on playing.This mission kind of reminded me of the Movie 'When We Were Soldiers' when the reinforcements were in a defensive perimeter.All out firefight amongst the vegetation.

SPOILER

First couple of times I played the ambush part and did not proceed.This time I started over and proceeded on to the end.The first time playing the Ambush scene was a very intense fight and was great eye candy.Got very close and personal and the Marines would defend the ditch, holding back the Syrians with every little bit of ammo they could find.At one point it turned into a sinister volleyball match where both sides would not fire but hurl grenades at each other over and across the main road.Eventually the Marines would run out of ammo and get chased out of the ambush area.

This time around I figured I would try to avoid the eye candy of the tense firefight for the ambush area and try to get the Marines who were ambushed out of the kill zone and to set up another defensive zone.After grabbing all available ammo from the vehicles the Marines ran fast into the ditch to the East beside the road and deployed smoke.The humvee's crew bailed on the spot on the road and the crew took cover in the ditch also.One LAV ATGM was immobilized and the crew was ordered to bail out and run to the ditch where all other forces will be forming a tight compact line in the ditch beside the road.The LAV's that were mobile were ordered to deploy smoke and move fast and take up positions in the bush area East of the road but just short of the intersection staying close to the Marines in the ditch.The command LAV was hit and the crew bailed and rallied with the others and another LAV took out a suicide VBIED near the intersection.When all Ambushed forces were together in a compact line formation in the ditch,they then proceeded South down the ditch in a leap frog fashion and then moved to to set up a defensive perimeter in a ditch near the dirt road river crossing.There they were able to use a small hill to the North to mask the enemies view on them while they held ground and anything that came over the hill or near it was in short range and shot down quickly by the Marines.The LAV's I tired to mobilize in a column on the road east of the ambush area that went past the walled compound.They continued to get bogged down and the last LAV caught an RPG while stuck.The crew bailed and the vehicles with the crew were forced to quickly clear out the walled in compound east of the ambush area while under fire from many angles.The LAV ATGM crew parked in the compound and eventually bailed out so the crew could hold the buildings.The other LAV moved around the corner to see if he can protect the flanks of the Marines in the trench and the now cut off crew men holding in the walled in compound.RPG's and bullets are flying all over the place and Cobra cannon fire is repeatedly and constantly called in at the Ambush area and around it to help support the Marines.At this point the hopes of uniting the crew and vehicles with the Marines in the ditch are slim due to hostile and friendly fire.

picture below is the Convoy Marines Defensive perimeter

Friendly fire happened fairly often in this mission.Not once,not twice, but three times in a row there was a mistaken in identity and one of the Cobras engaged the ditch the Marines were located in and defending, resulting in a significant amount of casualties.Later on in the mission more casualties will happen as a result of blue on blue fire.Here's some examples.A mortar strike missed its marked landing short and hitting some Marines,Explosions as well as rocket fire from the Cobras will have hit the Marines.A LAV missed his shot hitting the wall in front of the Marines causing more casualties.And various things would also hit the Marines from the massive air strikes.

Things settled down and the Cobras continued to provide cannon fire support for the Marines who were ambushed.At this point the reinforcements arrived.The marines who came in as reinforcements starting taking fire and a defensive perimeter was formed.The firefight that soon broke out was unexpected and nothing shy of being a full out battle.The Syrian's were pouring out of every bush and tree line and the fire rate of RPG's and bullets being shot by both sides amounted to pure chaos and a very tense teeth grinding fight.The reinforcement Marines are now locked into a very gritty and heart pounding battle and the Syrian forces seemed determined to overwhelm and close with the Marines while trying to flank heavily by the North near the main bridge.Mortars were now available and the Cobras were ordered to shift support over to the Reinforcing Marines.Some vehicles are taking hits, but most are in a safe areas and the Marines are in the safety of irrigation ditch's as well as low walls, but due to the shear high level of violence and resistance, some Marines will have fallen from time to time.60mm mortar was used to strike in a general and linear fashion North to South on the crop lands to prevent the Syrian rush.I had 2 120mm(I think it was 120mm) mortar support,so they were used to strike the same crop lands but using an area airburst personnel strike to catch the Syrians behind the 60mm strike.Cobra cannon and rockets continue to be requested and used as well.Explosions and tracer fire were dominating the map and the battle continued to rage on with extreme violence while the support was called in again and again.The 60mm general strike hitting the crop land sounded like a good idea at first until i realized i just gave the Syrians fox holes in bush lands.Some became hard to route out as a result of that, but eventually the massive aggressive and relentless Syrian assault was subdued and halted.Not before taking some heavy casualties,due to enemy and friendly fire.

Picture below is the Reinforcement Marines defensive perimeter and the major battle is about to really take place

Over at the walled in compound where the crew members were holding, things started to really heat up and one of the most Heroic last stands took place with the crew trying to hold at all costs.The other LAV was taken out and the crew of that LAV did not survive and the Syrians were now trying to flood inside the compound.They grenaded and disabled the ATGM LAV and the crew was now trapped inside the building with no way out.The Syrians tried to get at them from the entrance as well as through a hole in the wall that was knocked down.The crew frantically was shooting and repelling the Syrians from the bottom floor with everything they could find out of every window they could get to.At times some Syrians were shot down right outside the door and windows, but due to the superior number of them pouring into the compound relentlessly, the crew members eventually ran out of all types of ammo and could do nothing but watch the Syrians approach them inside the building.The crew tried to evade them, but they were all gunned down and the walled compound was now crowded with Syrian troops.A massive air strike was called in to flatten the area.Normally I would never, ever, call in an air strike on top of downed troops and I really did not want to, but reluctantly I did and will never try to do again.

Picture below is the last stand area,made picture brighter so you could see bodies,there's many more bodies in the rumble but cant see to well

Once again things started to simmer down a bit as the sky was changing colors from day to night and stars could now be seen emerging in view(very cool).Some Marines were tasked to move out of the defensive perimeter and to finish off whatever enemy are now scattered before them in the crop lands.Corpses are everywhere.The tempo has now shifted and the reinforcing Marines can now break out of their defensive stance and become offensive and move to sweep and clear the South side of the River.The only reinforcements to come from C company was 2nd Platoon and they were tasked with securing and holding positions in the bush's at the south end of the main bridge.From across the bridge, there they would engage enemies and help relieve the Convoy Marines of hostiles trying to move or set up on their west flank near Ambush area.All other reinforcement Marines were from B company and they moved as follows.1st Platoon moved in a double line formation,with MG's, AT's and C2 forming the second line while the 3 main heavy Plt teams formed the first line.They were tasked to move and clear the village area East of the main road on the South side of the river near it's bank.3rd Platoon moved in the same double line formation and would move beside with 1st platoon securing 1st platoons South flank as they advanced.2nd Platoon was tasked with moving and securing the houses on the South East high ground in the area of operation.They also moved in a 2 line formation with Jav and FO teams attached to their second line.1st platoon cleared the village area and moved on to secure the dirt road river crossing with 3rd platoon still supporting on the South flank and the scouts followed behind them.2nd Platoon started receiving incoming mortar fire and the lines became split.the 1st line was able to proceed but the second line was held up and had to wait for the enemy mortars to stop.After they continued towards the South East houses on the high ground and 2nd Platoon cleared the area and had the first line keep pushing to clear North of their location down hill.1st platoon secured the South end of the dirt road river crossing and the Scouts crossed and secured the North end of the dirt road river crossing.3rd platoon then crossed the river and secure the West flank of the Convoy Marines, while 1st platoon also crossed securing the East flank of the Convoy Marines.From this point 1st platoon along with the Scouts pushed to secure the Ambush area.They got into the area and were half way through, but time ran out and the game was over.

Picture below is something the Marines heard flying over their heads at some point during the mission

Time ran out and it gave me points for securing the Friendly and enemy casualties conditions.The Syrians did not accomplish this and got 0 points.It said I failed in capturing the ambush area.I had a lot more friendly forces there then the enemy, but the enemy did still remain in the Ambush area so i got no points for that.

If i had a good computer, i really would have liked the hard fast paced action that this mission provided.Overall I did like the mission.Its not to often i play a very hard fought, all out battle like that.A real slug fest and very tough.When the game ended and i saw the enemy that were still on the map,my jaw dropped.The whole North side of the River still needed to be cleaned out.Very good fight and if the player does not hold well against both ambush's on both Marine locations then i would say this mission will be very tough and frustrating to accomplish.This mission was a good lesson on force preservation against a superior numbered foe.

[afreu]

Thanks a bunch for your very detailed AAR, soldierz! For me it's really interesting to read how other players experience my missions.

It's a good idea to consolidate your forces east of the highway under the hill. Like you said, they have a clear advantage towards any enemy trying to attack over the hill. Plus, as soon as the reinforcements break through you already have the northern side of the river secured. The way I played it, I had a bit of trouble trying to cross the river without taking too many casualties.

Jep, it's a very tough mission. And I shifted the balance between fun and realism clearly towards the former. Glad you like the mission soldierz.

[souldierz]

The original plan I wanted to do was secure the dirt road crossing with 1 plt on the South and the recon guys on the North like I did, but have the convoy Marines run back over the crossing to the South side of the River.I wanted to bring them back to that small village near the river bank where I would have moved my vehicles up to form a small FOB to bring their ordeal to an end.Then I would have all Platoon's rearm except the 1 guarding the main bridge and cross over and clear the North side of the river, each assign to their own task and area.Time was ticking away so I had to move quickly to get at the Ambush area and left the Convoy Marines where they were.Moving the Convoy Marines to the South side of river might have been a waste of time and to dangerous now that I think about it, but then again maybe not.That little situation got me thinking about all kinds of different ways to secure and get those troubled soldiers across the river safely.

That map I find was very well done.Was it based on a real life location or did you just make it up yourself?

[afreu]

Although inspired by some Google Earth imagery, the map design was mostly my own creation.

[Wiggum]

@ souldierz:

What icon mod do you use ?

In the third picture the icons look a bit yellow, whats this ?

[souldierz]

Well then nice design Afreu, the river and hills with the crops were well molded together.

Wiggum,

I downloaded the Nato icons for all Mods,But those yellow icons you see in the Picture with GAME OVER on it are a result off me brightening the picture.They don't look like that in game, they look like the red ones you see in the other pics.To show the bodies of the last stand scene near that compound, I had to brighten the picture to day time, because it was night time and to dark to see the bodies.So basically those yellow icons don't exist, it's just an illusion.