Sniper Mission Help

[rogue187]

I have playing through the British campaign for the first time and came across the mission where you have to reece an airfield. Needless to say I was a little shocked to see a squad of guys, one leader, and two sniper teams as my reece force. Given the huge map and short time, I was only able to use my two sniper teams to clear 4 of 8 CPs before time ran out. This remined me of the USMC mission where you have to eliminate the HQ untis prior to the US invasion. I have a couple of questions:

1. How do you use the sniper teams to actually target a particular group? From my experience, they use a lot of ammo just trying to kill one group let alone several.

2. Why are the mission requirements so high? When I did the British mission, I was surprised to see that I was required to eliminate the garrision units when I was supposed to be stealthy.

3. Is there any way to keep my teams from firing? I play the we-go with this game. I find that I will tell my teams to move, then they will open fire on the enemy before time runs out. Most of the time they don't really hit anything, waste ammo, and give away their position.

So how do I use sniper teams to kill select groups, not waste ammo, and meet very high mission requirements?

[flamingknives]

1. Target commands? Narrow cover arcs?

2. Because scenario designers are big meanies. If it's the mission I think that it is you can get a good score without engaging the enemy.

3. Short cover arcs.

[souldierz]

Small fire arcs are great for letting your troops spot and hold fire.When ordered to hide they hold fire also,but lose some spotting capabilities.So when they are given small fire arcs, they keep their heads up without firing a shot and the enemy will still have a hard time spotting them.

Snipers I find usually take the initiative and take the shot that they find is most appropriate.If there are no fire arcs and no direct enemy fire command then the sniper seems to usually be the only one that shoots unless the enemy is close.I think it ultimately comes down to the range of their weapons.I haven't tried everything with the snipers yet so there's probably a few points I'm missing myself.When I played the Marines first mission of the campaign my snipers that were covering the open areas took 3 shots and resulted in 3 kills without anyone else firing.

One sniper saw 2 enemy troops in a field,one was prone the other holding and kneeling and they were 400 meters away.I then canceled the snipers small fire arc and allowed the sniper to act on his own(no fire command).The sniper took aim and shot the kneeling man through the head.The unit of that enemy would then disappear(No LOS they ducked down in tall grass) then later reaper and more enemy were identified in the unit seen crawling through the grass by the Marine sniper.In this case the sniper never fired again, because I guess trying to hit a prone moving target 400 meters out crawling in long grass would be to tough of a shot and a to much of a danger if they took it.

After again in another situation, a sniper saw 2 enemy men with their backs to them moving away in the open.Again I took the small fire arc off and allowed the sniper himself(no target command) to fire.As a result, both enemy that were up and moving away giving the sniper a perfect target, got shot 1 bullet each through the back resulting in 2 shots 2 kills.

I haven't played the British campaign yet, but if your required to eliminate an enemy squad, try to get closer to them and ambush them in a quick gun battle instead of trying to get your sniper to pick them all off 1 by 1.

[Moon]

ATTENTION! SPOILERS!

Given the huge map and short time, I was only able to use my two sniper teams to clear 4 of 8 CPs before time ran out.

Actually, from what I recall (I designed the mission but it's been a while) you can win the mission when you reach 4 CPs as long as you stay undetected! Keep in mind that the CPs are just meant to "assist" you. You are not supposed to "clear" them. They are placed on the map (by your commanding officer) because intel is thinking that they are making for good vantage points and/or to doublecheck a specific area. The overall goal is to find out what enemy is there and where they are without giving away that an attack is staged. If you follow the mission's objectives in those broader terms, it will be easier to "win" the mission.

1. How do you use the sniper teams to actually target a particular group? From my experience, they use a lot of ammo just trying to kill one group let alone several.

Target arcs will get the job done, but - DO NOT USE your snipers in this mission. You will lose more points for having your guys spotted (and firing increases the chances of that happening a LOT) than you can ever gain for reaching all the CPs!

2. Why are the mission requirements so high? When I did the British mission, I was surprised to see that I was required to eliminate the garrision units when I was supposed to be stealthy.

I am not sure if I understand what you mean, but perhaps you are mixing up two missions? There are two missions: one is the recon where stealth is important, the second one is the actual attack. For the latter, no stealth is required (and you have more units, too, although still limited because they have to actually be helo'd in).

3. Is there any way to keep my teams from firing?

This was answered already. Short cover arcs are the way to go.

[Pvt. Ryan]

You are very likely to fail the mission if you kill any of the enemy, or even open fire, in the scouting mission.

[Elmar Bijlsma]

I recall doing well enough knocking a few of the more objectionable Syrian patrols on the head. Though I can't recall if I ever got fired upon in return.

I thought it a rather fun change of pace.

[MeatEtr]

You are very likely to fail the mission if you kill any of the enemy, or even open fire, in the scouting mission.

Nah, don't sweat it, IIRC I played this mission twice and won both times while taking most of the CPs for victory. I had my boys go weapons-free and they got a bunch of kills in both victories. No ninja antics required.

P.S. Don't forget to use your arty.

[Pvt. Ryan]

I took most of the CPs, lost no men, and still failed. I don't remember having arty in that mission.

[rogue187]

What about the Marine mission? From what I rememeber you had to take two spots and try to eliminate the enemy HQ units. By the time the mission was over, I hadn't killed all the HQ units and my guys were almost out of ammo from shooting all the other squads up.

[c3k]

Huh! I was able to only get a minor victory (if that!). I don't think it's physically possible to QUICK your teams to each of the CP's; only a few are in range given the time limits.

Ken

[rogue187]

Thats the same problem I had! When I tried to quick move my sniper teams, it took too long for them to recover to meet the requirements in the time frame.

[Clavicula_Nox]

What about the Marine mission? From what I rememeber you had to take two spots and try to eliminate the enemy HQ units. By the time the mission was over, I hadn't killed all the HQ units and my guys were almost out of ammo from shooting all the other squads up.

3 Points, 1 is guarded by armor the other is guarded by a bunker. There are also a few trenches, some of which hold troops, others sometimes hold troops. Bad guys hiding out in buildings, and some roving patrols. The best I have done on this mission is just barely take and hold all 3 points and kill a bunch of bad guys with no casualties. This one is very easy to mess up because you can't hammer your way through it.

[c3k]

********SPOILERS************

I regard this one as unwinnable. The briefed sniper observation points are too far away to get to in the time given. I played through twice. Playing WeGo, with plenty of saves and mid-game restarts, I actually bettered/cheated on one of the plays.

I split my men up into as many units as possible. I plotted the best way to get one group to each observation point, allowing some groups to "touch" a nearer observation point on the way to the next one.

There are not enough groups to cover each observation point.

There is not enough time to get to the furthest observation point.

Avoiding ANY casualties, and occupying as many observation points as is physically possible gets either a draw or a minor/tactical victory.

I _think_ the briefing is one of those "cutesy" we'll tell you one objective, but grade you on another. I _think_ the real objective is to identify enemy units, NOT gain the OP's. So, you're not infiltrating, you're actually observing.

After cheating my way to fulfill the briefed objectives and still not gaining a total victory, this gets tossed in my "broken" file. In that one, I withheld fire, did not engage any enemy, and touched or occupied all but 2 of the OPs.

Ken

[hcrof]

I got a minor victory in this mission. It was ages ago so I can't remember the details but essentially I started near the airstrip then split my forces in 2 and each went for 2 objectives. They leapfrogged over to each objective and on the way they spotted quite a few of the enemy.

In the end I didn't make it to all 4 objectives but I didn't get spotted so I got a minor victory. The briefing did say I wasn't expected to make all the objectives so I played it very 'stealth' and avoided contact by the largest margin possible. All they got was a few question marks.

[Moon]

I _think_ the briefing is one of those "cutesy" we'll tell you one objective, but grade you on another.

Not at all. It tells you that you shouldn't get hung up on the OPs.

I _think_ the real objective is to identify enemy units, NOT gain the OP's. So, you're not infiltrating, you're actually observing.

Precisely. Which is why...

There are not enough groups to cover each observation point.

There is not enough time to get to the furthest observation point.

...this doesn't really matter. Depending on where you choose your starting/insertion points, you may not be able to reach all of them indeed. But you only need to reach a few WHILE STAYING UNDETECTED to score a victory.

Avoiding ANY casualties, and occupying as many observation points as is physically possible gets either a draw or a minor/tactical victory.

There is no difference between a minor/tactical victory and a major victory for the purposes of advancing the campaign.

[c3k]

Moon,

First, just to assuage any hurt feelings, have I mentioned that you make good games? (Whew, don't want the designer to sulk!!!)

I have not re-read the briefing. What I remember is that I have 3 objectives; first, and most importantly, NOT to be seen. You even hint/state to use restricted cover arcs to prevent opening fire on the enemy. The next objective is to gain the OP's in order to ascertain the enemy's dispositions prior to the next battle. That tells me, and apparently others, that the terrain objective will lead to gaining the intel. In short, if I get my men into the designated spotting positions (gaining the OP victory locations), I will be rewarded with intel for the next battle. Obviously, that's not what you meant. Shrug.

As you state, even a "little" victory is all that's needed to move the narrative forward.

I think the need to ID enemy units DURING the battle, and NOT necessarily getting to the OP's, could've been communicuted to the player more clearly.

For what it's worth, you battle concept opens up a huge opportunity for scenario designers. Infiltrate to x positions. If, say, 1/2 or fewer of x positions are gained (due to victory point determination) or you are spotted (high points to enemy for your casualties), then the next battle starts with you having limited, if any, intel and the enemy is in prepared positions with reinforcements. However, if you gain over 1/2 x positions with no casualties (successful infiltration to good OP's), you start the next battle with a much higher intel percentage. (Adjust enemy's readiness level accordingly.) That's a huge benefit.

Your design shows how to expand the envelope in that manner.

Thanks,

Ken