ArmA 2 Tactical Vignette #1: Leapfrogging a Marine Squad onto Hill 368 (Part 3)

In the previous entry, I advanced through the danger zone "carrying along" the rest of the squad with me (i.e. the AI squad members advanced trying to keep the formation). In this entry, I write about what happened when I ordered the squad to move 100 meters or so into the danger zone.

In the assembly area (starting point) I ordered the whole squad into a line formation and alerted them ("all, danger!"). Then I selected the whole AI squad and ordered them to move 100 meters into the danger zone.

As you may have known, the AI squads in ArmA2 move using bounding overwatch when they are ordered to advance. As expected, in this case some AI men stayed put providing cover for the others advancing.

Ok, fellas: let's chat a bit less and keep cohesion in check. Image is clickeable.

I don't know if the bounding overwatch performed by the AI is by fire teams or something else. It certainly didn't look like one or two fireteams were left behind with the other/s advancing. If bounding overwatch is left entirely to the AI things tend to get a bit messy, with units advancing way too much ahead (see screenshot above).

Ey Marine! There are unknown men at our front and you are aiming at exactly what ...?. Image is clickeable.

Also of note: when the AI is moving with bounding overwatch, the AI squad members tend to forget your "all, look at that position" order. They shouldn't be berated for this, because they cover the flanks very nicely as shown in the screenshot above.

I'm happy to report that upon contact, the AI Marine squad greeted the enemy with an appropriate volume of fire. The nice thing I noticed is that even when the firefight was still raging, some AI Marines were moving ahead.

Still moving on to Hill 368. Image is clickeable.

The Russian squad was wiped out and the Marines got one man (#9 AR) wounded. The tally was much better than in my previous entry. The only thing negative is how the squad spread too much. May be I should have ordered a move 50 meters forward instead of 100 meters? Thank goodness the danger area was big enough to accommodate our lack of cohesion.

In the next entry: What a Marine would do?

Stay tuned.

Cheers,

ArmA 2 Tactical Vignette #1: Leapfrogging a Marine Squad onto Hill 368 (Part 2)

In order to close with the enemy, I need to move my Marine squad through a big open area on which the enemy can deliver fires from the cover and concealment of hill 368. Yeah, barely comforting to know that the enemy can shoot the crap out of us without being seen. I guess that's why they call them danger areas.

I tried to move my squad through the danger area in different ways and in this entry I will write about what happened when I did it in the wrong way.

Please don't do this to your squad!

I deployed my squad in a line formation (to maximize our firepower towards our front) and I moved with them forward until enemy contact.

Race to the swift ... death. Click the image for an expanded view

Among all the things wrong with my squad sprinting straight into a potential curtain of flying hot lead, there is something particularly insulting on how I moved my squad ahead: I didn't alert my squad of the danger ahead ("all, danger!"). The virtual minds of my squadies were clueless. As far as they were concerned, it could have been a sprint to the chow hall.

I was surprised to find out that upon contact, my squad stopped immediately to take shots at the enemy. Not a bad reaction for the AI.

But I didn't notice they have stopped and I continued firing and moving for a little while. As a result, I found myself considerably ahead of the squad.

Sometimes your squad just needs to stop and smell the cordite. Click the image for an expanded view

This is exactly when all the brown stuff hit the fan. The Marines of the squad tried to catch up with me and off course when they move they don't aim and they don't shoot. The situation deteriorated from bad to hopeless in a matter of seconds.

You think you have problems? Click the image for an expanded view

It was a catastrophe. I threw a couple of smoke grenades to withdraw and hide my shame from the enemy.

Don't look at me, I'm tactically hideous! Click the image for an expanded view

In the next entry, how all went better when I moved using bounding overwatch.

Stay tuned.

Cheers,

Combat Mission Shock Force British Forces Released!

News just in (thanks Olav!).

Go grab it, here.

Cheers,

ArmA 2 Tactical Vignette #1: Leapfrogging a Marine Squad onto Hill 368 (Part 1)

[Off topic: excuses! I've spent all my available gaming time since Saturday trying to get ArmA 2 to run decently in my computer. It's like another game inside the game, but off course less enjoyable. I've tried all the tips available elsewhere in the web and more or less succeeded. Now my ArmA 2 looks worse than the original Operation Flashpoint though, so bear with me for the ugliness of the screenshots. Donations for a new computer will be gladly accepted :) .]

The purpose of this tactical vignette is to explore the bounding overwatch movement technique in ArmA 2. Specifically I want to see how it works in ArmA 2 and how well can one simulate the US Marine Corps take on this movement technique.

This vignette is heavily inspired on an article Chuck "Magnum" Ankenbauer wrote for SimHQ.com. By the way, if you are looking for a great online tactical experience in ArmA 2 I would recommend you join the online sessions hosted by Mr. Arkenbauer at the SimHQ ArmA 2 server.

Pretty much like those corny and extremely cheesy stories that precede adult-rated movies let me assassinate your suspension in disbelief with the background story of this vignette.

The point platoon of a US Marine company team has driven a Russian company-sized combat patrol off a small airport.

While the US Marines point platoon was going firm at the airport and waiting for orders from the company commander, remnant enemy forces delivered indirect fires (rockets and mortar rounds) from reference point "Hill 368" to the airport.

The enemy fires from Hill 368 will threaten our urgently needed heli-borne medevac efforts.

One squad of the Marines point platoon is tasked with clearing the enemy from Hill 368.

Tactical situation. The enemy forces at Hill 368 are estimated to be an infantry squad. Northeast of Hill 368, an enemy infantry squad is withdrawing. A US Marine squad is assembling near the southern tip of the runway and is tasked with clearing Hill 368. Image is clickeable.

A panoramic view of the airport, Hill 368 and the starting point for the Marine squad (labeled as "assembly area"). Image is clickeable.


Panoramic views from a different angle. In the foreground, the starting position of the Marine squad (labelled as "assembly area"). In the far background, the objective (Hill 368). Between the two, the ominously big danger area the Marine squad has to cross. Images are clickeable.

This vignette will focus on the movement across the danger area south of Hill 368.

To be continued ...

Cheers,

On Reading and Playing

At SimHQ.com, Chris “BeachAV8R” Frishmuth added a great article to his "Read it-Do it" series.
This series is an "exploration of the close relationship between the books we enjoy reading and the sims we love to play".

Besides the great material and writing style Mr. Frishmuth pours into each article, his idea of coupling what he reads and the simulations he plays is fantastic. The synergy between reading and playing around with simulations is a great "enjoyment multiplier".

Kudos to Frishmuth, let's keep those books close to the computer, and let's start a new section here at the blog: Reading and Playing!

In this section, I will post books and game/sims that mak good combinations.

Cheers,

Combat Mission Shock Force: British Module Demo Released

Battlefront just announced the release of a v1.20 demo including contents from the British Forces and Marines modules.

... the all new v1.20 demo for Combat Mission Shock Force, including British Forces and Marines content, is out now!!! With an additional and completely new British mission, the demo showcases all the new features of the latest v1.20 of the series, includes full multiplayer functionality and a total of 5 (!) missions.

As for the British Forces module, the word is that they are working on the installers so the release won't be until the next week.

Link to the demo

Cheers,

"The Power of Paper", an article by Michael Peck at TSJ

In the latest issue of Training and Simulation Journal, Michael Peck has an article about board gaming. Unfortunately, this article is only available in the print version of the journal so I can't link you to it.

Mr. Peck makes a point about how boardgames are still relevant and great tools to understand historical conflicts. He focuses in tactical wargames, including the almighty Advanced Squad Leader. A bit more detail is provided on relatively recent boardgames, like "Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear" (Academy Games).

"Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear". Image from Academy Games used without authorization or monetary gain. Comment below if you want it removed.

I was kind of surprised to see an article about paper wargames surrounded by ads for computer simulation projectors that cost around $100K a piece.

I never played a paper wargame so I'm not in a position to judge. But anyway, one must remember that right after the news that Saddam invaded Kuwait broke, a high level Pentagon official called Booz Allen Hamilton's wargames honcho Mark Herman demanding a quick reaction wargame on the crisis. Mr. Herman was already wargaming the crisis with his peers. The game of choice was "Gulf Strike", a boardgame Mr. Herman had published a time before.

"Gulf Strike", the boardgame by Mark Herman. Image from boardgamegeek.com used without authorization or monetary gain. Comment below if you want it removed.

Cheers,

DCS Black Shark 1.0.1 Patch: Read Me File Available

The "read me" for the upcoming 1.0.1 patch is available at the DCS Black Shark Official forums.

And just when I was half-way proficient with trimming of the helicopter, this:

In addition to the original trimmer implementation, in which control input is disabled for 1 second to allow the player to quickly re-center his controls, a new method is included in version 1.0.1, using a different re-centering logic. In the new method, control input is disabled until the player returns the controls to their neutral position. This allows the player to re-center his controls smoothly, minimizing unwanted control input.

The new trimmer logic is optional and is selected ON by default upon installation of the patch. Selection of the trimmer implementation is available in the GAMEPLAY menu of the game options.

The Yaw (heading) autopilot channel functionality has also been redesigned. If the yaw rate is under 3 deg/sec. when the trimmer button is released, the autopilot will stabilize the helicopter heading. If the yaw rate is greater than 3 deg/sec., the autopilot will stabilize the yaw rate to maintain the turn.

This sounds better than the current trimmer implementation. Nonetheless is going to take some time to re-learn.

Totally unrelated image from a previous entry: tactical landing! Do not attempt this at home, folks!

Cheers,

In case you haven't noticed ...

This blog has a new banner! :)

It's the second time that I get goodies from this great freelance artist.

Cheers,

The "Push Button War" Myth and Wargaming

The "Push Button War" myth is the wide-spread notion that NATO superpowers win wars with the ease of pushing a button just because their arsenal is so superior.

In this forum discussion, it is hinted that the lack of challenge in Combat Mission Shock Force is that it lacks a worthy opponent with the right tools of war.

The notion that modern superpowers can win wars with little effort may have started when the first Tomahawk missiles flew from the Persian Gulf to Iraq back in 1991. Ever since then, there is this pervasive view that if a NATO superpower goes to war, it should be a short and almost blood-less affair.

There is no doubt that NATO superpowers have awesome tools of destruction. The superiority of equipment is in our favor. Every branch of the US Armed forces (except for the US Marine Corps, whom our leaders have chosen to ignore at our own peril) has the fanciest tools a professional soldier can imagine. We have the biggest guns, case closed ...

... Not!

You don't have to be a military insider to grasp how hard, tactically challenging and blood-letting is to fight modern wars.

Battle of Fallujah, almost a casualty every block of urban combat

Big fight at An-Nasiriyah during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Even friendly fire incidents!










Battle of Fallujah again, it is heart breaking to see how you can loose half a platoon in just a few blocks of urban fighting





What it has driven our armed forces into victory is not having the biggest guns but the training and prowess of our servicemen.





In this book, Stephen Biddle argues that in an armed conflict, even when one side has an edge in technology, training is the determining factor for victory and the best indicator of military power. If you have a chance to read this book, take a special peek at his war gaming of the Battle of 73 Easting.

Back to Combat Mission Shock Force, in the same way that hastily thrown together trivia doesn't help to understand a particular topic, data worshiping is not a good way to understand modern conflict.

The argument that Combat Mission Shock Force is un-challenging because the Syrians have less than stellar arsenal is way off. In real life, a war with Syria would be not a cakewalk. Combat Mission Shock Force is un-challenging because poor scenario design and other flaws in the game engine.

Is the myth of unbeatable modern NATO forces going to make war game developers shy away from designing modern conflict war games and simulations?

I hope not.

Cheers,