New file at the Repository: Hamid's attack on Hill 412 (2011-06-30)

[Battlefront Repository]

Soviet forces are entrenched at defensive positions around Hill 412. The Mujahedeen started an offensive to capture this Hill and chase away the Soviets. You are to command the 2nd Airborne Battalion of the Red Army and prevent the Mujahedeen in achieving thier objectives.

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[dima]

I haven't got a chance to play it yet but by already impressed by the length of the briefing!

Looks like the author really spent quite some time building this scenario!

[Erwin]

Will take a look at it later. But, I just wanted to say I really appreciate the folks who keep supporting CMA. It's a bit of a Cinderella game (outshone by its sisters) right now...

[Eddie]

Hi all,

Dima, You are right, I did indeed spend a lot of time building this scenario but it was a a joy doing it and I am planning to do another one in the future;). If You have any comment on the mission, it does not matter if its good or bad, I would like to hear. Also, If You have any suggestions or ideas You would like to see, or not see in any future mission I would like to know. I could than try and leave surtain things out, or implement them.

Erwin, somehow I find it more fun to mess around with the editor of CMA then CMBN or CMSF. So, as long as people like to have new missions for CMA I for one will keep creating, and uploading them:).

[Schultz]

Will take a look at it later. But, I just wanted to say I really appreciate the folks who keep supporting CMA. It's a bit of a Cinderella game (outshone by its sisters) right now...

Excellent post, Erwin, I could not agree more...

and thank you Eddie. I downloaded and should get to try it during the weekend

[Eddie]

Hi Schultz,

You are welcome, and if You do get to play the mission this weekend I hope You enjoy it. I played it myself before uploading and the result was a draw:o. I made a few minor changes before uploading and started the mission again yesterday. I saved it halfway and so far lost one BTR and a few men, so it looks like I won't be doing any better this time:D.

[Phantom Captain]

Downloaded and started playing this one as well!

Thanks for the new scenario!! I'm glad too some are still thinking about and making scenarios for this game. It's a nice change of pace to all the other iterations and I really find the combat in Afghanistan interesting and sooo different!

I've actually found I'm taking a little break from CMBN at the moment until the cover/foxhole/wall issues are fixed. Jumped back into CMSF British Forces, who I also really enjoy playing, but then saw this scenario and had to give it a go. I'll report back after I finish it.

Very interesting map so far!

P.S. It's funny because the title on this one ends in a number and when I went to save it it automatically changed the name to Hamid's attack on hill 413. Stopped me in my tracks! I was like, wait, did I miss hill 413 somewhere?? Then I realized what happened!!

[Eddie]

Hi Phantom Captain,

Hill 413 is of map!

[Phantom Captain]

SPOILER ALERT

30 minutes in now and the fighting is intense and desperate!! I have to say I breathed a huge sigh of relief when that BTR and mortar team showed up. Now where's my tank!! Not sure if they can turn the tide yet but my men in the trenches are tired and running low on ammo. Those Mujahideen just keep coming!!

Really really fun fight so far!! It really has the oppressive and desperate feel of the type of combat the Russians must have experienced. It feels spot on to me. Every casualty I take really hurts on this one.

[Eddie]

Hi Captain Phantom,

I'm wondering how You used the reinforcements; for the recapture of Hill 412B and the killing of Hamid, or to defend Hill 412. On my first try I ended up in a terrible mess, and in my second try I only have 12 minutes left before the mission is finished and it looks like I will end up the same way.

[Phantom Captain]

Most excellent little fight, totally loved it. I'll give you a five star rating on this one.

I achieved a minor victory!

MORE SPOILERS BELOW

I brought the reinforcements straight to Hill 412 which was just about to fall when the reinforcements came in. They saved the day and beat back the Mujahideen attack. The BTR I used around the flank of the trenches and then brought the T-55 around there as well which wound up killing all the Mujahideen left attacking. After the hill was secure I loaded the reinforcements back onto the BTRs, drove them over to 412 B along with the T-55 and then advanced to take back 412 A along with the disgraced Sgt and his squad who did eventually get back into the trenches at 412 A. Was an excellent and really fun battle. Battles this size are my absolute favorite. It wasn't easy either and at times it was balanced on the razors edge. Really, right before the reinforcements came in I was sure Hill 412 was going to fall. Thanks and PLEASE make more like this!!

[Eddie]

Hi Phantom Captain,

Thank You for Your comprehensive AAR and rating, five stars.:cool: You did a better job than I did, especially at Hill 412. I lost one BTR there because of this fellow with a RPG.:mad: Hm, this makes me wonder whats wrong with my tactics considering the fact I created this mission myself and knew what was coming at me. I had a draw both times I played the mission.:confused:

This evening I uploaded version 1.1. This version eliminates two small matters I overlooked in the original file, and I gave Blue some more points when they achieve certain objectives. Now that these matters are fixed and Blue gets better rewarded things could get a little bit more difficult. Anyway, I intend to start on a new mission in the coming days and it will be about the same size as this one. A small sized battles is less timeconsuming to create and at least as much fun to play as a larger battle. I will have to start from scratch but eventually I will get there.

[Erik Springelkamp]

Gave this one a try, and had good fun, but blew it.

The first reinforcement came a minute late to save the hill and the trench there was already occupied by the enemy. My BTR was destroyed as soon as it showed itself in the counter attack.

Never mind, I'll try again, very immersing experience.

[Eddie]

Hallo Erik,

Jammer dat je de missie hebt verloren. Heb je de BTR verloren bij de brug of bij heuvel 412? Zelf had ik het voertuig al verloren bij heuvel 412. En vanaf dat moment ging alles helemaal fout. Zoals ik gisteren al had aangegeven heb ik een versie 1.1 geupload. Als je de missie nog een keer wilt spelen zou ik die downloaden. In die versie heb ik enkele foutjes gecorrigeerd die best enige invloed kunnen hebben op het verloop van de missie. Sorry hoor, maar toen ik las dat je bij jou naam als locatie Groningen stond kon ik het niet laten mijn reactie in het Nederlands te schrijven.

Groet'n uut Grunn!

[Schultz]

Good job Eddie,

I suffered a minor defeat while having great fun... it was very tense but there was always hope.

I failed to control all the trenches; having ignored hill 412B FOP

there was also a lone rifeman hanging out a window in the small town. haaaaa

a BTR was on its way to shut him up when time ran out.

This is a nice size battle; as good as most stock scenarios. I'll give you 5 too! Thanks!

[Erik Springelkamp]

I recorded a little exchange of fire between a MG and a mounted recoilless.

http://www.youtube.com/user/ErikSpringelkamp?feature=mhum

I didn't find your version 1.1 at the repository yet.

It is probably in quarantine or something.

Will look again tomorrow or so.

Ik verloor de BTR direct bij de tegenaanval op de zojuist ingenomen loopgraaf dicht bij zijn aankomstpunt. De ene Soviet sectie met hoofdkwartier daar was man voor man gesneuveld - maar ze namen veel mujaheddeen mee.

Ik probeerde direct een tegenaanval met de BTR en de twee infanterie secties te voet, maar de infanterie vluchtte na het eerste slachtoffer toen ze de overmacht zagen, en de BTR werd na een paar MG salvos opgeblazen.

Dat was duidelijk een roekeloze tegenaanval.

Eerlijk gezegd heb ik het toen al opgegeven met de bedoeling om opnieuw te beginnen.

Woon je ook in Groningen? Met Bertram erbij hebben we - als ik me niet vergis - dan al drie Groningers op het forum hier.

[Eddie]

Hi Schultz and Erik,

Schultz: to bad You suffered a minor defeat but I'm glad You had fun playing the mission anyway. So You had a lone rifleman hanging out a window at the small town eh, than You must have been completely overrun at Hill 412. If You had more time You would have probably recaptured Nikita and could have won a minor victory. Thanks for Your reply and Your rating, I am really taking this as a compliment. The concept for my new mission is buzzing in my mind and I have already started working on the map. It will be about the same size and I will upload once it is done.

Erik: thanks for Your reaction and the recording of the fire exchange and placing it on Youtube.:cool: I do not want to be rude to any one, so in order for everybody to understand what we are writing I will continue in English only. Every uploaded file is checked for its content by Battlefront and it could take 24 to 48 hours before any uploaded file is available at the reposistory. I uploaded on saturday and therefore I can imagine that it stil needs to be checked.

You should be carefull when counterattacking the mujahedeen because I lost the BTR about the same spot You did. If You give the mission another try maybe You should organize Your defences in an other way so You wont get overrun at Hill 412. It is possible, Captain Phantom did it and I did it as well.

To answer Your latest question: yes, I live in the same town You do. And all this time I was thinking to be the only one here playing these awesome games. To my surprise I have never met any person here who plays them to. Well I am sure glad I am not the only one because my wife sometimes doubts my sanity because of the time I spend with these games. Now I can show her that I am not the only person living in Groningen who likes to blow up things on a digital battlefield.

[Phantom Captain]

I'll post a couple more tips here on why I think I was successful even though at times I was severly close to being overrun.

One of the most important things, for me, was getting one of my HQ squads into the northernmost bunker on 412B. The MG inside did terrible damage to the Mujahideen assaults. The Muj recoiless on the truck tried to pick away at the other bunker but I simply abandoned it when he started shooting at it to preserve the men and then re-manned it when he either ran out of ammo or moved out of LOS. I gave cover arcs to the squads in 412B to make sure they didn't expend too much ammo at incoming attackers too far away. The mines to the west of 412B were very instrumental in funneling the Muj attack up onto the ridge thereby letting the MG in the bunker wipe them out. That little ridge just west was literally covered in dead Mujahideen bodies. My squads there took quite a few casualties and by the end were all very low in ammo but with the MG bunker doing it's work they held on by a fingernail.

412 itself was in terrible danger of being overrun and just before the reinforcements showed up I had only an artillery FO there and only 2 men standing from the squad that was defending it. All were firing non-stop. The Mujahideen did manage to get one RPG team into the far western trenchline but it was just as the first BTR showed up and dismounted. That squad instantly suppressed them and the 2 men in the trench simply turned and killed them. I pushed that squad up into the trenches and then slowly flanked around west with the BTR. Then the other BTR and the T-55 showed up and cleaned everything up. I let the men out first moving them up to the trenches on the reverse slope and the HQ team, BTRs and T-55 did a "slicing the pie" movement around the western end of the trenchline and hill.

The remaining attackers were all put down at this point and I was able to resupply ammo for my remaining defenders and give them a rest. The T-55 made a quick move up to 412B to take out that truck with the recoiless which he did right away. I moved all the reinforcements up to 412B and ordered a fire mission on the trenchlines of 412A. Once the fire mission started I finally moved the disgraced Sgt. (can't remember his name) and his squad back across the streams and had them push up against 412A. I had left them hiding where they started for the entire battle so far. The tank remained in overwatch on 412B and one BTR and HQ squad crossed the bridge over to phaseline Svetlana and started moving against 412A. All the movement flushed out more Mujahideed which were all killed by my vehicles and MG bunkers. The Sgt's HQ team and squad were able to get back into the trenches at 412A reoccupying our lost ground.

Right about that time another Mujahideen push began again at Hill 412. I thought, "Oh no!! All this time and effort and now I've left it pretty much undefended and I'm going to lose it again!!". However, that was not the case. The men there held for a couple minutes, lucky I had resupplied their ammo, and I rushed a BTR with a fresh squad of the reinforcements along with the T-55 back to Hill 412 where they again beat back the current attack.

That was when the time ran out and I had a minor victory! Not sure if I ever killed Hamid or if he got away. Looking over the map at the end I didn't see any HQ unit with his name so I figured he died somewhere in the battle.

Again, it was a really fun, intense, desperate little fight. Always just at the moment I though I could relax and take a breather something somewhere would pop up and start heating things up again! Battles this size are definitely my favorite.

[Eddie]

Hi Phantom Captain,

First of all I appologize for calling You Captain Phantom instead of Phantom Captain in my post of today at 03:01 am. It was early in the morning and I was in kind of a rush.

It is amazing how You described details on how You played the mission. Did You do this by memory or did You make notes during gameplay? I would have liked to give Schultz and Erik or anybody some extra information on how to achieve certain goals but decided not to do this because I would not want to spoil anything. But I am glad You made a second AAR and give them and other players the opportunity to bring the mission to a good end. After all that is what everybody is playing the game for.

Spoiler alertSpoiler alertSpoiler alert

You were right in positioning one HQ in the northert most bunker and let other forces leave their bunker(s) to avoid getting shot at. You were also right in the way You let Your forces, including reinforcements, move across the field of battle to continue the fight and pin down the mujahedeen. I did not think that any player would leave Sgt. Tomashov at his hidingplace because every man is needed for defence. One can let him and his men retreat alongside the river toward Hill 412A and from there on to Hill 412. But apparently You did not even need Sgt. Tomashov. I am impressed by the way You managed to keep of the mujahedeen without Sgt. Tomashov untill reinforcements arrived, and the way You ultimately ended the mission.

I have one question I hope You will answer; where You being shot at with at-rockets while crossing the bridge or not? Because if You were not, this could be changed in version 1.1 depending on what minute of the mission You cross the bridge. The at-teams covering the bridge are there untill Hamid is starting to retreat. Also Hamid and his men are now better armed and their AI=plan has been slightley changed which could make it harder to kill them.

[Phantom Captain]

Oh no worries on the name thing, doesn't bother me at all!

Yep, I did it from memory. I play turn based always so remembering the ebb and flow of this one was pretty easy actually.

I crossed the bridge with about 10 minutes left as I remember and I did not take any RPG fire crossing the bridge. In fact there was no resistance at all when my BTR and troops went across to phaseline Svetlana. I'm not sure if that's because the Muj had already pulled back or that I had killed most of them when the T-55 came up to 412B, the mortar strikes started falling on 412A and I had remanned the MGs in the bunkers. I do know I killed a bunch on that side of the stream before crossing the bridge. I think they started pulling back and their movement unhid them and it was easy for me to pick them off from the bunker MGs, my squads in the trenches and the BTRs and T-55.

Yes, for some reason I left Sgt. Tomashov and his men hidden through most of the battle. The bunker and squads at 412B were enough to hold off the attacks and I wanted someone fresh and in reserve to re-man the trenches on 412A so I just decided to leave him and his men there for later. I figured if I exposed them they would either get killed by the attacking Muj from the west or that any enemy left in the trenches on 412A, that I couldn't see, would pick them off if they started firing. It just happened to work out well in my favor I guess.

[Erwin]

Was this played RT or WEGO? Makes a big difference usually.

[Phantom Captain]

Was this played RT or WEGO? Makes a big difference usually.

Me? WEGO, I never play RT.

[Eddie]

Hi Phantom Captain,

You have a good memory and with some missions I can remember some actions as well, sometimes even after years, but not as detailed as You do.

The time that You crossed the bridge explains why You did not get shot at with at-rockets. The at-teams covering the bridge and the retreat of Hamid were pulling back already and even could have left the field of battle. The same goes for Phaseline Svetlana.

There were some muja's hiding and ready to ambush any sovietunit near the stream beneath Hill 412B in case the player would send them toward Hill 412B via the ford. The minute Hamid starts to retreat, so will they and when they do they will become targets themself as You experienced. I figured it to be wise for Hamid, being an important commander, to retreat when he knew the tank and the APC's headed toward Hill 412B so he could live to fight another day. You clearly did not feel the need to use Sgt. Tomashov and his men to help defending Hill 412. The next time I put something like this in a mission I will try to create circumstances that You or any other player will.

Erwin, You are right, to me it also makes a big difference playing CM missions in RT or WEGO. I only play WEGO as well.