Squad Strongpoint - An Iron Front Liberation 1944 Single Player Mission (Sorta) - Briefing

A couple of fellow readers have asked me for the file mission of the "Overrun!" scenario and blog entry I posted a while ago. I am always willing to share scenarios but I am not very fond of the time-consuming process of polishing them ... (as you may have noticed I am on a very short supply of free time ... hell, I can't even answer all those great comments you guys leave!). Nonetheless, "Overrun!" was just a throw of units and waypoints. Believe me, not worth even 2 seconds of your time. So I decided to put up something on the same topic but with a bit more of meat and make it available for the readers of the blog. The scenario is about a thinly manned German defensive line facing a Soviet forward detachment's infantry-armor hasty attack.

The player is placed in the boots of a German sargeant in command of a squad strongpoint. Directly under his command, the only 4 men left of his squad. The strongpoint has a Pak40 AT gun, plus two mounted MG42s.



You are warned that my scenario/mission creation and editing skills are atrocious on both the narrative and formal implementation grounds. This scenario wants to be more about the grim realities of the men in the outer edges of a WWII German defensive position than about cool, flashy, action-packed, entertainment-oriented bang bangs. I also have no idea on how to create a proper in-game briefing (you will have to read it below), or update the in-game "task update/messaging" system. Mission ends when you either move out of the strongpoint area before the company commander allows you, when you reach a rally point after being overrun, or when you die. The scenario has no victory conditions, objectives or score system (although I saw something about that the last time I played it). Score yourselves, dudes: if you make it alive and killed a lot of enemy troops, you kinda know you won.

I will take no bitching about design flaws, bad trigger settings or pretty much anything else that may irritate you, make your hair fall, make your left testicle go dry or any other undesirable catastrophes. I will take full credit for this scenario in the rare event that it can be played and mildly enjoyed, though. Do not distribute or tell your friends about this scenario. It would be embarrassing for both you and me.

Briefing

- You are in charge of a 4-men team manning a squad strongpoint.

You can switch to any member of your squad. Switch to any squad member and once you become him, position it wherever you want. When you switch to other squad member, the previous one that you have been playing as will be in the very exact position you left him. This script thing is very useful to position the other members of the squad into very precise positions without them moving out like headless chickens. You can always get them back into formation by the regular in-game orders interface ["`" (select all), "1", "1"]

 - The strongpoint has fully crewed static weapons: 2 MG42s and one Pak40 AT gun.

You can't control these units, yet you can man these weapons if their crews die.

- The strongpoint has a small AT minefield in front of it. Due to its incomplete state, it is not expected to produce significant casualties to the enemy. There are no obstacles for either the enemy infantry or tanks.

- A Russian forward detachment is mounting a hasty tank-infantry attack towards our positions. As per their standard tactical procedures, they are expected to attack in echelons. The first echelon will focus in a quick breakthrough to the rear of the German defenses. They will be moving fast and will be prone to bypass you. The second echelon is likely to engage you more decisively.

-Your mission is to engage the enemy from your defensive position. On order, move towards the rally point to support the main line of resistance. The odds are against our side and you are not expected to destroy the enemy completely.

You will start nearby the strongpoint with a waypoint signaling you about its location. Move to the waypoint and then deploy your men among the defenses. You need to step on the waypoint, otherwise some scripts go bad and the mission will be even more senseless. If you move too far away from the strongpoint, the mission will end. The enemy will be attacking shortly with tanks and infantry.

Be proactive (engage enemy infantry and tanks whenever possible, watch out for the AT and MG42s being manned) but not stupid (you may need to keep your head down for some time).

The company commander is watching the battle and will order you to move to the rally point (some 1000 meters back from the strongpoint) if your position has been outflanked or overrun. A new waypoint will show you the position of the rally point. When this happens, you are not obliged to immediately jump out of the safety of your position and run towards the new waypoint. Pick up the best time to move out. If there are enemy targets that you can engage and destroy from your position, do engage and destroy them. If moving out would involve a bullet in your rear end, wait for a better time. Once you are on your way towards the rally point, please remember that the enemy has already broken through your position. Keep your eyes and ears open!

The ArmA 2 engine has this fantastic "tasks system" that allows the player to re-read what he needs to do at any time during the mission. The use of the task system is beyond my capabilities, so please try to remember what you need to do. 

 - If your position is overrun or outflanked, a company of PzIVs will counterattack from the NW direction and then push towards your position to re-establish the outer defensive line.

Download the scenario here.

Cheers,