some campaign clarity...

[Superlawndart]

So I'm getting back into things, like riding a bike, it’s all coming back... I went ahead and got the modules and man, the marines are some bad ***'s but it keeps encouraging me to keep the company together instead of a more realistic split... I love have assault movements works but I wish there was more penalty to using the full size of the force... or maybe I just haven’t seen it.

the reason for my post is that I love each mission, and when I complete one its like a reward in and of itself to discover the next mission... but I got a mission I don't think I like so much, it's mission 4 of the marines campaign, when you have 35 min to get to either Eagle or Tiger.

I tried reading the Gung Ho thread but that seemed like a completely different campaign... so I have this small force and it just seems like a big trial and error... there really isn't much strategy I can deploy on this advance as AT units are peppered all over and where they aren’t there are mines... despite the predictability of where you can assume troops are...

So I instantly don't really like this one. I don't feel like I'm really in control at all... It reminds me of some old Gauls ambushing a Roman army on a march through a choke point... Though that might seem cool it’s just not when I have no spotting recon ability... and AT’s always make their mark… from across the map, though lots of trees…

So what is the suggested method to approach this scenario?

No criticism to the designers, this does seem pretty realistic with the exception of the laser precision AT troops on basic difficulty lol... It's just not my preference of play, though I appreciate its necessity. I just want it done so I can get on with the war 

[TheVulture]

That scenario annoys the hell out of me. Fortunately it is 'gameable'. Which branch of the campaign you go down depends on which objective you reach. If you want to go right, taking the full on assault missions, you can in fact just ceasefire at the start and go to it. If you want to take the 'recon' route through the hills (more sneaking around and smaller forces) you need to get at least one unit to the left objective. But you only need one. Since I hate this mission, I tend to just run one LAV or humvee there while everyone else drinks tea. If it gets brewed up, the surviving crew carry on on foot.

In other words, I don't play this remotely as a realistic mission. It is just an annoyance that you have to manipulate to get the campaign choice you want.

[Superlawndart]

Thanks The Vulture, good to know! Any idea the diffrence in going either way? Or does it lead to the same mission?

I'm assuming this choice could change the next series of missions though I have no idea...

[JonS]

IIRC, this mission triggers a branch in the campaign, so yes - the next missions are different depending on which way you go.

ISTR that the briefing is pretty clear about what you're expected to do, and what the results of occupying either the left or the right objective are.

Detailed AAR here:

http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=91121&highlight=decisions+USMC

[contains SPOILERS, obviously ]

[phil stanbridge]

I finished mission 4, as realistically as I could. I lost 1 man KIA but I got to the right hand side with the rest of my force in good order. I've played it a few times so I know how annoying it can be. Those ATGM's are terrible things. If you select the right side, you get the really difficult and challenging Defense of Pooh which is a whole lot of fun. I've just had the enemy surrender to me in that, and I am on to mission 6 which is the Milk Run. I've only played this once before, so it will be interesting!

One thing that really bugs me is the way artillery support seems to randomly diminish as you progress. In mission 6 I now have access to 2 x 81mm mortars both of which are empty, and a few rounds of 155mm. Not a lot of use! I don't understand the prerequisites here. The only way you seem to get a full complement of artillery throughout is if you don't use it!!

[TheVulture]

One thing that really bugs me is the way artillery support seems to randomly diminish as you progress. In mission 6 I now have access to 2 x 81mm mortars both of which are empty, and a few rounds of 155mm. Not a lot of use! I don't understand the prerequisites here. The only way you seem to get a full complement of artillery throughout is if you don't use it!!

That's basically it. The briefings do say that resupply is limited. In practice what it means is resupply for mortars is nil; the rounds you have at the start of Pooh have to last you for that mission and Milk Run too. And possibly Debouche too - not sure on that. After that you link up with the army units and get some resupply.

(You get the same problem with the 'defending the beach head' mission earlier in the campaign, where you usually end up with an FO with an empty mortar since all the ammo got used up in the main landing mission immediately before.)

[Superlawndart]

Very interesting, I was art pounding with impunity... I didn't know if carried over, and that also explained my empty art reinforcement...

But despite dreading this mission I had one of the greatest experiences happen!

I did the opposite of Johns AAR, I went to tiger, it was pretty easy going staying on the far side of the map...

But when I got to the mosque for some reason a driver of one of my trucks lumped out and was panicked, he had a negative command rating... so I tried to rewind to figure out and it appears that it was a pretty far off AT miss...

So this guy jumps out, the full company of troops stayed in the vehicle... I'm just imagining the reality of such an event and I'm like OMG (80’s valley girl there… lol)... So the second truck, just behind this one, I order to go around (we are going between orchard rows) so as he is turning to go around the "abandoned truck" he bogs down... hilarity just mounts...

So I order the driver on the bogged truck into the second truck... they get in the back :/

Just think of this, I REALLY wanted to pull a Patton here and smack the hell out of that panicked driver... this whole situation was SO surreal...

Next I empty a truck as the destination (Tiger) and race it back to the "situation". As he is returning the panicked driver finds his sack and gets back in the truck... and go oh so slow to Tiger....

The truck that was sent to retrieved the guys from the back of the bogged truck arrived, they loaded up, and sped back PAST the other truck with the minus command driver...

The whole thing was so immersive, my imagination went wild with all the horror stories of bad management in the military... Loved it... not many games invoke this kind of imagination anymore... or I'm just getting too old...