USMC Gung Ho! campaign

[AkumaSD]

Mission 3: CAAT Fight - Played RT on veteran.

Total Victory. 400 points vs their 0. 36 seconds left on the map. 0 KIA/WIA. All equipment accounted for. Very fun. I'm having a blast playing through the next map.

On mission 4, Watching the Detectives, I noticed the Children's Hospital doesn't have a landmark but the Mosque does. The hospital is shown on the tac map though.

I felt like another 30 mins on the clock would have relieved some of the pressure I was feeling.

I replayed the first mission twice this morning and it feels ok to me. I tend to play a slower early game. The pressure I was feeling actually went to enhance the situation at the time. I take back what I said earlier. The rest of the missions seemed to be paced well so far.

The TOWs miss every single time. The infantry refuse to fire their Javelins even though they have clear LOS. Artillery seems to be ineffective on the dug in ATGMs..

Most of the bunkers are well placed into the sides of hills or retaining walls. The TOWs work great but you need to hit the bunkers just right. Some of the bunkers have many trees in front of them that make the shot harder. I was able to take out all but 1 of the bunkers with TOW shots while only missing twice. I'm not sure about your javs. I normally have no problem hitting bunkers with them in other maps but I didn't use them in this one. That sucks about your mem error.

Looking good so far, and I can't wait to get back in it tonight.

How did the rest of the map go for you?

[daft]

How did the rest of the map go for you?

Haven't gotten around to it yet unfortunately, but I will soon.

[Jonny(FGM)]

Just started the first mission. Basically ignored the briefing and moved the CAAT team up to the ridge, while i sent the inf plt to go straight for the town. Casualties still in the single figures, probably about 40 minutes left on the clock, and i have a foothold in the town. To be continued.

[Pvt. Ryan]

Most of the bunkers are well placed into the sides of hills or retaining walls. The TOWs work great but you need to hit the bunkers just right. Some of the bunkers have many trees in front of them that make the shot harder. I was able to take out all but 1 of the bunkers with TOW shots while only missing twice. I'm not sure about your javs. I normally have no problem hitting bunkers with them in other maps but I didn't use them in this one. That sucks about your mem error.

I was referring to the tanks in mission two.

[Paper Tiger]

Do you know I have wondered about those LAV TOW launchers myself. When I was testing that mission they were ELITE +2 and CRACK +1 and the number of missiles that went haywire was really surprising. And then the next time I played, they hit first time, every time.

AkumaSD

I have added a landmark to the Hospital in mission 4. Thanks for pointing that out. I'm looking forward to hearing how you get on with the final three.

[AkumaSD]

I was referring to the tanks in mission two.

Ah, gotcha. My mistake.

[Jonny(FGM)]

Do you know I have wondered about those LAV TOW launchers myself. When I was testing that mission they were ELITE +2 and CRACK +1 and the number of missiles that went haywire was really surprising. And then the next time I played, they hit first time, every time.

I don't think the TOWs like hitting targets in hull down positions. In the first mission I had a TOW team use all 3 missiles on one tank that was in the village, they were up on the ridge and had to fire over the trees and some buildings. The first missile hit the trees, the second missile hit a building, fortunately the third missile hit but I'm guessing i'll be missing those 2 TOWs in the next mission

[Paper Tiger]

I'm guessing i'll be missing those 2 TOWs in the next mission

Don't worry too much about it as I tried to plan the OBs for the first three missions to prevent ammo expenditure from becoming a serious issue. You should have more than enough to do the job.

[Jonny(FGM)]

Just finished the first mission, got a tactical victory. 6 KIA, 9 WIA, 1 AAV lost/

Basically I didn't go for Wilma first, i dismounted the CAAT (probably should have moved them up a bit further first) and had them watch Wilma while i moved White Wolf into Bedrock. Then when Red Wolf turned up i sent them through Wilma, no enemy forces found there (except the tank), my opening arty barrage must have killed them all.

The only thing that really caused me any problems was the tank just behind Wilma, I had red wolf moving down the slopes but stopped and hid them while i waited for the TOW to turn up. For some reason after being layed down in the same spot for 5 minutes the tank suddenly could see them, and started to lay into Red Wolf. In the end i restarted and took the tank out with a volley of ILAWs. Once the tank was taken care of I sweeped around the back of the town with Red Wolf.

The AI surrendered with 5 minutes left, good job they did otherwise I don't think i'd have hd enough time. The time limit is pretty tight but obviously doable. Onto the next mission!

[daft]

Well, I messed up the assault on the town. One question though after watching one of my assaults on a house; do Red infantrymen have the ability to use hand grenades Kamikaze-style, or did I just watch my boys pick off an enemy soldier with an live grenade in his hand? A panicked Syrian ran into my support squad, and he sort of... blew up when they shot him. Took for of my lads with him.

[Jonny(FGM)]

As far as i'm aware there is no kamikaze tac AI in the game (although i keep meaning to check to see if IED trigger men will blow themselves up). Sounds like you just got unlucky and shot the rifleman just after he'd pulled the pin

[daft]

As far as i'm aware there is no kamikaze tac AI in the game (although i keep meaning to check to see if IED trigger men will blow themselves up). Sounds like you just got unlucky and shot the rifleman just after he'd pulled the pin

Yeah, most probably. I was a bit surprised by this.

[AkumaSD]

Mission 4: Watching the Detectives - Played RT on veteran.

Tactical Victory. 375 points vs their 61. I initiated a ceasefire with 15 minutes left on the map. I had 3 KIA, 5 WIA and all equipment accounted for. The enemy had 91 KIA, 51 WIA and 10 missing.

This map was a blast to play. My casualties came very late in the game. I thought I would have enough points to win the map so instead of getting a few more of my guys killed and tearing up more of the town in the process, I decided to shut the battle down.

Sounds like you just got unlucky and shot the rifleman just after he'd pulled the pin

Ha! that's awesome.

[Paper Tiger]

That's a very good result. You should be well set up for the fifth mission and I'm looking forward to hearing how you get on with it. It has the potential to be a real toughie. I only ever played it as a stand alone mission and so BLUE was at full strength. Because I know its secrets, I didn't have much trouble winning it. There are four different AI plans and so a LOT will depend on which strategy you choose and which AI set up plan you're up against. If you get lucky (25%), you can walk over the AI. On the other hand...

[AkumaSD]

Mission 5: Bridges Version 5 - Played RT on veteran.

Tactical Victory after I ran out of time. I had 1 KIA, 10 WIA and all equipment accounted for. I went through all of my available mortar and arty support. Most of my casualties came from crossing the bridge on the left of the map with a few others coming from Humvee gunners getting hit by MGs. The enemy had 94 KIA, 65 WIA and 15 missing.

I spent most of the time clearing the enemy out of their positions on the side of the hill. I barely touched the main objective and didn't make it to the objective in the top right of the map. The battle was intense once I made it over the hill. Very fun to play. I took a peek at the next map and now I can't wait to get off work so I can go play.

[Paper Tiger]

Interesting result. That mission has changed substantially from its Dinas counterpart, not the least because RED lost all its tanks. The BLUE side lost the tank platoon as well but instead, fields those fantastic LAVs and AAVs and, coupled with the javelins, TOW humvees and the SMAW teams, BLUE has a fantastic amount of fire power at his diposal. And yet, it seems to be a tougher mission than the Dinas version for some reason.

I'm looking forward to hearing how you get on with the finale. I've been 'creative' with the minefields in that one...

BTW, you'll be happy to hear that each mission sports at least two distinctly different AI plans, (The Bridges mission has four) so if you want to replay the campaign later, it might surprise you.

[Jonny(FGM)]

I have 1:13 left on mission 2.

This is a toughie! i've only just got past While E Cyote.

***************************SPOILERS!!!!******************************

I had my MG teams up on one of the big hills close to the Blue setup zone but i had advanced out of their range so i loaded them up into the LAVs and sent the LAVs at full speed to Whiley, i should have realise that the bridge would have been IED'd although i'll be very curious to see where the trigger man is! Amazingly only one serious casualty taken.

I took a little video if it : )

************************** End Of Spoilers ****************************

Here's a shot from the end of the last turn. This t-72 is right at the edge of the javelins range at 2498m i think lol.The snipers originally spotted those tanks (i'm sure you know which ones i mean) but it took them about 10 minutes, and it even took the javs about 5 mins to aquire them.

[Tuomio]

The TOW platforms are useless, their capability is random at best. This is now with 2 days intensive testing, playing only the initial 20-minutes.

Results of my tests:

1. When your foot-HQ is on the move, it can have radio contact to higher C2, but its subordinates can NEVER have other than direct com (visual, speak etc.) until HQ stops. By this conclusion, NEVER move your important HQ:s on foot, you will break too many things.

2. Indirect spotting information is passed only trough the C2 levels, never on the local level ie. footsoldier from different branch, does not pass information to other branches directly. This could have large impact on army with limited C2 like syrians, unrealistic impact.

3. I did not get any satisfactory results from trying to help TOW platforms trough C2 information. They can sit all day staring at downhill and never spot the 3 question mark tanks from 1km away. Any other team, non binoculars even, were faster spotters than LAV-AT, even without any C2 information.

4. The LAV-AT either saw the question mark as tank rapidly (say 1-minute perioid) or it did not, at all.

5. Enemy ATGM can see you if you come out of hull-down, provided the hard-terrain does not restrict. Particularly the orchards. Yes, your footsoldiers also. Yes, at night. Orchards = death traps.

6. Many of the problems were probably due to the tank-ditches, because M1 had similar problems, altough their better instruments seemed to compensate some of the failures.

In conclusion:

Some unknown LOS bug restricts any non-random (in a tactical sense) direct fires from your initial ridgeline, better not to try. Don't keep your hopes high for spotting any entrenched enemy units until you stand on top of them (recon troops), so most likely its complete waste to try recon anything. Do not move your recon HQ out from the vehicle.

[snake_eye]

Hi P.T,

Still trying to fight my way, not into the town, that I am succeeding every time, but against the TLR and the victory points of the first battle USMC meet the Flintstones. I am about to think that the logic of the results of that battle are coming out of the characters of the famed TV movies, I watched when I was a teenager.

I played five times that battle and always managed to get into town. The first time, having had a Minor Defeat T.L.R. I went on playing, the 2nd battle , High Chaparral and ended busted out having got a Minor Defeat T.L.R.

Since I am the kind of guy who wants to understand what went wrong, with the 1st battle, I have played it again and again. The 2nd battle was my fault, even if the odds against the blue are quite a bit on the high stake.

After the 5th battle of the famed USMC meet the Flintstones, being in the dark, I am still awaiting for the spark that would lit a little fire to let me see clearly the explanation.

I have had at the moment 1 Minor Defeat with the Syrian Surrender, 2 Minor Defeat T.L.R, 2 Draw no Winner with the Syrian Surrender. In each battle the town and its central area had been reached after quite a lot of urban fights, with the help of all the full assets or with a moderate use of them. That doesn’t make a big difference. To take Wilma and the two compounds on the left side of the map has the same result. Bedrock is a hard core Mout fight. “Stalingrad” should be its code name. You said that you have few A.I scenarios. I must have had again and again the worst A.I victory point’s ones.

Your scenario is good, the map is good, the Opfor a bit too strong. Yet, we can manage that difference. We can not always beat the T.L.R, but that we can try to manage it again. What is surely wrong somewhere is the way you are accounting the victory points.

It is a P…in the ……S to have such results that we can not explain, on a militarily basis. Militarily speaking, I have done what should be done. I am right into the town, they have high casualties, no way out, they surrender and I am getting the results here above. That I am sure is frustrating many players, since they will not get farther than the 2nd battle. That is too bad.

I have made an Excel file, from the AAR reports. I have also, pictures of the troop’s location in town at each battle’s end. I don’t want to spoil the scenario by showing the meagre red troops locations left, but if you want to have a look at them, let me know.

Again, I have to say that if we were in real fight, I will understand that we can not win at all. All enemy force try to do so. But we are in a tactical game with battles that have to be fought after the preceding ones. If, because of the A.I, victory points, just a few of us can go through, you are depriving the other ones of the pleasure to go forward. We had the same, victory points problems, happening for the twin scenarios from the Road to Dinas and for Second Storm. I know that to set the victory points setting is an intricate matter and that it is difficult to see how a scenario runs, when multiple A.I plans are in effect, but to have them ruined the excellent work you have done and not letting you know about won’t be fair.

I hope you will be able to take this matter in effect in these scenarios and the Nato’s ones

Cheers

[Jonny(FGM)]

snake_eye

The first mission is easy, well not easy but i can't see where you're going wrong

First of all ignore wilma, just drop some (you don't need much) 155mm and 81mm into the trenches there. Move the TOW up on foot to get eyes on the tank and take it out. Move straight into bedrock with your inf plt and take wilma with your follow on plt and then move around the back of bedrock with this plt.

this way you should inflict heavy casualties in the terrain that suits you best and force a surrender with minimal casualties.

[snake_eye]

snake_eye

The first mission is easy, well not easy but i can't see where you're going wrong

First of all ignore wilma, just drop some (you don't need much) 155mm and 81mm into the trenches there. Move the TOW up on foot to get eyes on the tank and take it out. Move straight into bedrock with your inf plt and take wilma with your follow on plt and then move around the back of bedrock with this plt.

this way you should inflict heavy casualties in the terrain that suits you best and force a surrender with minimal casualties.

Hi Jonny,

Actually, I am doing well, play RT Elite, without pausing most of the time. Wilma is taken without any cost. I just have a linear 60mm mortar barrage brought on the trenches while the grunts go downhill toward it.Prior to that assault, the tank being there, is usually nailed either by a Tow and or a Javelin (sometimes the Tow Humvee is destroyed, but the Tow team is able to set the launcher nearby to good effect). From Wilma another squad is going downhill to assault the compound. Before, the tank lurking down there is destroyed by a SMAW team and or AT4 from the overwatch squad anti tank team. Sometimes that tank refuses to be destroyed until quite a few SMAW rounds. But the crew has dismounted a long time before. The SMAW team is then free to breach the compound wall, with its demo charges and to assault with the squad. Every Syrian inside are either fleeing or shot.

Meanwhile, on the hill crest above Bedrock, the FO, the Javelin, the Tow, an MG team and the Co HQ are doing their job and either calling Mortar, Artillery and later on the Apache as suited.

I have no difficulties in getting to the town edges walls and from there into it. The tanks at that time have all been destroyed (that makes 4 of them)

Just beginning to get into a MOUT fighting, the AAV are coming in.

Not along the road and surely not along it. I have tried it, once out of the 5 times, just to see if it made a difference to have the Syrian surrender more quickly. It did; I got 3 AAV destroyed and a Mk 19 Humvee. Only one 50 cal Humvee made it to the end of the road. I was however able to get the grunts to take a foot hold in the last houses on the left of the road and get safe there.

The AAV are coming close and able to get into town when the situation is unfolding the good way. I am able to clear the houses one by one. I don’t have time to go farther than the Mosque grounds and I can not push from that axis on the right toward the road. No time left to manoeuvre by careful fire overbounds.

Then either the TLR is falling on me or the Syrian are surrendering.

The casualties are in direct relation with the clearing of the town; If I have time, they are low and rise if I am speeding the attack, feeling that the TLR is near. They are anyway, what one could expect of such a fight. Not yet, the highmark like in the Fallujah Marines battle

If, I make a military analysis of the fight. I have won it, being well into town, inflicting serious casualties to the enemy and having cut all its escape possible axis, either by having troops or by having killing zone set on them. The way you use artillery into the town is rather disturbing, if I look at the results. The 155mm should have put down the houses, killed and or shaken the enemy hiding in them. It looks like they are able to get away with it, considering the number left at the end of the game. They must have been in the cellars !!!!!!!

I can post pictures of the Blue swarming all other the place in 4 battles out of 5. The exception, was when I made an attack through Wilma, the compound, the one on the far left and then turned right to attack the other end of the Town as well as the right side of the Mosque district.

No, the problem is the way the points are given. The differences, I have noted are rather curious, since the fights were about the same. All the problems are there and that makes the scenario boring since it does not reflect what reality should be. You do the job and there is no recognition. It was the same on the Road to Dinas and the first and second fights look alike. I never went farther. It was about the same for second storm. It did not reflect reality. I told about it to P.T, but since he knew how to win that was all. I even gave a timing of the moves to allow him to understand what was somehow going wrong.

I have never before been defeated the way it happens every time I try the scenario again. You can lost the first time, but the second time you fare better.

Cheers

[Jonny(FGM)]

I don't know what's going wrong then.

I managed to get a minor or tactical victory despite not complying with the casualty parameters or the preserve paramters (some were intact but some weren't).

without a points break down it's hard to see why you were being awarded a loss.

[Paper Tiger]

snake eye

I have no idea what to say to you. The tactical map gives you a VERY detailed breakdown of all the VPs you can earn/lose in the game.

For destroying REDfor you get 150vps

For controlling the BEDROCK objective you get 100vps

For preserving the five building zones you get 50 points each for a total of 250vps

You will get 100vps if you complete the mission taking 5% or less friendly casualties

You LOSE 100vps if you destroy the mosque.

It's all there. The TAC map also shows you how the five preserve zones are delineated as well as the BEDROCK objective. It took me a while to get a screenshot of those preserve locations so that the player could see everything. I doubt anybody is going to spell it out more clearly for you in their missions or work harder to do so either. I HATE being bamboozled by briefings that don't tell the player what he is expected to do myself so I strive to avoid doing so in my own work.

There are no tricks employed to make the mission artificially challenging, such as having RED forces arrive as reinforcements after BLUE's opening artillery barrage has ceased.

The only time I have ever had any problems winning this mission is when I just rushed the Marines at the objective hoping that the sheer volume of firepower they put out would do the job. It didn't and besides, you are not allowed to win if you take 15% or higher friendly casualties regardless of how well you do. I suspect this is where you are having your problem. This is a very important condition as it forces the player to keep his force reasonably intact so that he has a viable force in the later missions.

Go ahead and post a screenshot of your AAR screen and we'll see what's happening.

[snake_eye]

snake eye

I have no idea what to say to you. The tactical map gives you a VERY detailed breakdown of all the VPs you can earn/lose in the game.

Go ahead and post a screenshot of your AAR screen and we'll see what's happening.

Hi P.T,

I shall send you an AAR of the five, 1st missions with the KIA, WIA, MIA.... as well as the points earned by the Blue and the Red. I don't understand myself, what is going wrong, but believe me it did went wrong. Let's find what is wrong to enjoy fully that good and promising campaign

Cheers

[snake_eye]

Here after are the results of the five, 1st missions. Cheers

USMC Meet the Flintstones

Real Time Elite

1st

Minor Defeat - TLR

Marines Syrians

7 KIA 44

5 WIA 17

0 MIA 43

0 Tk lost 3

0 Trk lost 0

1 o.v.lost 0

200 points 633

2nd

Draw no Winner - Syrian Surrender

Marines Syrians

9 KIA 80

23 WIA 55

0 MIA 90

0 Tk lost 4

1 Trk lost 0

0 o.v.lost 0

325 points 361

3rd

Minor Defeat - TLR

Marines Syrians

5 KIA 39

3 WIA 32

0 MIA 60

0 Tk lost 3

1 Trk lost 0

2 o.v.lost 0

100 points 943

4th

Minor Defeat - Syrian Surrender

Marines Syrians

17 KIA 56

24 WIA 46

5 MIA 130

0 Tk lost 4

3 Trk lost 0

1 o.v.lost 0

300 points 706

5th

Draw no Winner - Syrian Surrender

Marines Syrians

9 KIA 87

16 WIA 60

0 MIA 81

0 Tk lost 4

1 Trk lost 0

2 o.v.lost 0

400 points 372