Contact ... east ... enemy infantry armed with RPGs!
Right after that, chaos. My mind is racing and the only thing I can bring myself to is to orient the AAV's grenade launcher towards the enemy. I can hear fire team 2 (the one in the east and closest to the enemy contact) firing their weapons. Should I pull back other fire team from the perimeter in support of fire team 2?
The map interface offers an easy way to target enemy formations. Here I'm orienting the AAV to the enemy contact. Click the image to expand it.The enemy team bugs out but re-appears on fire team's 2 flank. Gah! I should have pulled fire team 2 back.
You have to admit that, warts and all, the AI of ArmA 2 is one of the best out there. In this picture, the bugged out and tried to sneak taking advantage of the woods. Click the image to expand it.Fortunately the AAV appears to be taking care of them.
The AAV shooting at the sneaky enemy infantry. I am looking southwest.Now I am taking fire. What the hell, how the enemy survived the 40mm grenade barrage? I am hit, damn! I move towards some trees trying to get a grasp to what the hell is happening.
This is what's happening.
I move towards the remanants of the AAV. The enemy is already in the village, so close to us. Where the hell is fire team 1? They were supposed to guard the approaches from the village!As fast and furious as it developed, the firefight halts to an end. The silence now is eerie. I move towards fire team 1 position at the south of the village.
A dead insurgent at the edge of the village.
An AAV crewman, KIA. I really hate to say a zap number on the radio.The final tally is 18 insurgents dead or wounded. As for us:
I send fire team 1 to link up with the M1s.
- One AAV crewman KIA
- Fire team 1, one Marine dead
- Fire team 2, one Marine KIA, one Marine wounded
- Fire team 3, no casualties
- Catastrophic loss of an AAV
I send fire team 1 to link up with the M1s.Cheers,
Very interesting read again! Have you considered recording video from some of these tactical maneuvers? I'd be interested to see the flow of action and also learn how exactly you do the commanding of the AI team members. Too bad ArmA2 doesn't have a VBS2 style AAR tool which would enable recording afterwards...well maybe there is a mod.
ReplyDeleteHi Vulcan!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment and for reading the entry.
That is a great idea. I have to tell you, though, that in this case it was utter chaos.
Ditto on the AAR tool, I would like to know which insurgent team got my AAV.
Cheers,
what tool or mod are you using to redirect your fireteams? i don't believe that's vanilla ArmA2. very interesting little scenario. i wish there were more of these. the monster stuff is a little overwhelming. at any rate, very good stuff. almost makes me want to re-install.
ReplyDeletesorry, also, is there a symbol mod that enables you to use nato symbols? i don't follow the mod/addon community very much. looks like i should. thanks.
ReplyDeleteHi!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment.
Don't worry, I don't follow the community that much.
All the stuff shown in my entries is done with plain vanilla ArmA 2.
The only exception is the map in part 2 with the lettering describing the units. That map was edited with MILSketch. There is a recent entry about it in my blog, you may want to take a look. MILSketch is free!
I am using the "High Command-Commander" logic in this scenario. I briefly commented on this scenario editing trick here:
http://kriegsimulation.blogspot.com/2009/11/easier-squad-command-in-arma2.html
Once you are playing the scenario, commanding the fire teams is rather easy. This method has some quirks, but I am still experimenting with it.
Cheers,
Would it be interesting to recreate this Vignette in Steel Beasts ?
ReplyDeleteSure, SB is NOT an infantry-simulator, but the latest version does allow some more intricate moves with squads.
Just thinking aloud, JC.
Best regards, Koen
Hi Koen,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment.
That's a great idea. Is the LAV featured in SB? Otherwise, other soft-skinned vehicle could be used, no?
Do you play Combat Mission Shock Force? There is an scenario in the original version called "Circle the wagons". Think of what happened here but in a urban setting and on steroids. :)
Cheers,
* Yes, LAV-25 is in SB, and carries troops - unlike ASLAV-25, that does not carry troops in SB.
ReplyDeleteNo AAV in SB though.
* You can command the LAV-25 from the observer-position (outside the vehicle or F8), but there is no possibility to crew Driver-, Gunner-, or TC-station - unlike ASLAV-25.
* ASLAV-PC is also present in SB and combines both "features":
a) it carries troops
b) you can man the Driver-, Gunner- (50cal), or TC-station.
* Other vehicles in SB that combine both features:
- M113A3DK
- M113AS4
- M2A2 (and M2A3, but this one carries only 2 troops)
* And then there are some more IFV & APC that carry troops, but where you cannot crew any station: YPR, Marder, Piranha, BMP's, BMD, ...
So plenty of choice, to recreate this ArmA2-scenario in SB & plenty of work as well to do it maybe.
Would you be interested to give it a try ?
In that case, I won't mind helping you out, if need be.
NB what are the orders of the Red units in this ArmA2-scenario ?
& CMSF: no, never played it.
Rgds, Koen
Hi Koen,
ReplyDeleteHave you noticed how lethal can those crunchies be in SB? I've lost so many Bradleys to them ...
Let me try to do an scenario like that. Right now I'm up to the neck with many things, but the holidays are coming! :)
In ArmA2, the orders for the OPFOR were just "search and destroy", with the waypoint over the AAV. Also placed some intermediate waypoints with 100 m placement radius and the OPFOR units themselves with 100 m placement radius for the scenario to be less predictable.
Cheers,