The End of "Monster" Wargames?

Depending on what definition you use, I am not a so-called "grognard". I like serious games and simulations and I make no difference whether their format is a flashy immersive first/third person 3D environment or an older, turn and hexes counters on a map. However, I reckon I missed all the fun of what many have called the golden age of board-based war gaming. In other words, I have no traditional war gaming pedigree and thus I am no grognard if I measure my qualifications against that experience.

That's why I like to read and listen to those who have that experience.

One of the fellows I follow is Michael Peck, who writes for the Training and Simulation Journal. He obviously likes the computer war game format, but I suspect he has the board game experience too. In the latest print issue, he reviewed Gary Grigsby's War in the East. The byline of the review is that War in the East is among the last of monster war games.  It is a positive review, but the doomsday tone is everywhere.

For 30 years, legendary designer Gary Grigsby has been churning out classic war games with Jurassic interfaces. WITE at least progresses to the Neardenthal stage, but in a Darwinian world where e-mail is dismissed as too slow and people have the attention spans of fruit flies, this kind of intensive simulation falls somewhere between anachronistic and intimidating.

There may be a sequel to WITE, perhaps on the Western Front. But his branch of gaming, this style of gaming - one that demands time and commitment yet offers much in return - is fading. Farewell to the monsters, and the giant void they'll leave behind. 

I heard that type of tone many times (war games/flight simulators are dead), yet I hardly can keep pace with the many great offers out there. And I am very picky in what I play! In addition, for what is worth, a quick glance at the official WITE forums at Matrix Games shows a lot of youngsters playing this war game.

Maybe no genre is actually dead or dying. Maybe we are confusing these deaths with the death of long spans of leisure time?

Cheers,

DCS: A-10C Warthog - Death Came Through the Clouds - Debrief of a Close Air Support Mission - Part 3

I've just spotted the Marines in the ground and I am getting ready to be talked on my target. The air support operations center (ASOC) is monitoring my radio exchange closely and that is good because they will have to clear me hot when I find the target (Note: ASOC is mentioned here just for fun and are not featured in the sim). There is no official joint tactical air controller in the ground ... yet somebody has to clear my shots. War has its bureaucracy too.

The Marine describes the village as a built up area, sized 2 x 1 km, with the squad located in its eastern extreme. The insurgents have a truck-mounted AAA gun south of their position and would be visible when approached from the east.

As I approach the town from the northeast, I start turning southeast, keeping the village on my right and avoiding getting to close to it. A moderate left bank is great for keeping the targeting pod on my right wing clear of visual obstructions (airframe, wingtips, the fins of the Sidewinder missiles).

Below the cloud deck. The village I am observing with the targeting pod is NOT the one seen near the water bodies in the background but one located a bit farther.

The tactical awareness display (TAD) is a great asset to keep your head in the battle. The position of the US Marines squad is the yellow "6" mark (actually a waypoint I manually entered when they gave me their coordinates). The rings are 20 miles each.

Finding targets with the pod is not easy when the enemy is located within the clutter of built up areas. The FLIR imaging helps but let's not forget that I am observing from 8 miles away. I play around with the gain of the imaging system and it improves the picture. I find the target some 2 minutes later ... it is my lucky day.

Target acquired. I mark it with the laser so it becomes a mark point in the navigation system and its position can be stored and used by the inertially-guided JDAMs.

The ASOC wants out of the radio conversation (I am sure they are busy routing flights to other fights) and clears me hot..

I put the target on my rearand I fly away from it in a shallow climb. After gaining altitude I am going to turn into the target and drop the JDAM through the clouds.

A close up of the tactical awareness display as I fly away from it. "A" is the mark of the target. The wedding cake symbol indicates that markpoint A is now the "sensor point of interest" SPI. The diamond is the position where the targeting pod is looking at. The ring is 10 miles.

I have done my area ingress checklist some minutes before, but it I like to double check my weapons selection. The stores management system shows I have selected the GBU-31 on station 5.

Altitude comes at a high price for a bomb-loaded A-10 and he pays in time and airspeed. I am now above the clouds, at 6,000 feet and 248 KIAS. I can't imagine doing this in a conventional battle zone infested with radar guided missiles.

I now turn into the target. The pod has gone blind, but it is still pointing to the target. 15 nm to go!

The HUD is in the continuously computed release point (CCRP) mode. The triangles inside the ring are the minimum and maximum release distance cues. The vertical line is a guide to fly the bird within an acceptable bombs release flight path. The diamond/square/tadpole combo graphic is the position of the target.

I check and re-check that I have selected mark "A" and not any other navigation point. A distracted pilot can forget about this and have the pod aimed at and the bombs delivered to a navigation point. Believe me, when waypoints/marks/steerpoints start to get close to each other and you are dodging AAA fire, you will never notice the difference. Needless to say that in this case we can't even see who is who below.

My waypoint 6 is the US Marines' position. Have to make sure that waypoint 6 is not selected.

With no JTAC to clear me hot I rely on the authorization given by the ASOC a few minutes earlier. I contact the Marines to report the impending strike.

I pickle and wait for the computer to do its thing. Release!

It feels surreal ... The bomb drops towards the clouds deck in search for its target. I can't avoid to marvel at the technology behind all this.

Bomb away.

My altitude at the point of release is 8,000 ft.

The JDAM gliding towards its target.

Final seconds before utter destruction.

The JDAM falls a few meters off the insurgent truck ...

But the destruction radius of the bomb makes it up for the lack of accuracy.

The Marines can now disengage and move out to a safe place.

I will be posting some notes about this scenario.

Cheers,

DCS: A-10C Warthog - Death Came Through the Clouds - Debrief of a Close Air Support Mission - Part 2

I am about to support a US Marines squad down below the cloud deck, which is at an uncomfortable 3500 feet above ground.

There is no JTAC available and the Marine on the radio has given me his coordinates and elevation. I punched in a waypoint ("Fox", the position of the Marines) into the control display unit (CDU) and I am flying towards it.

To engage the target, first I will have to acquire it. I will do that with the AN/AAQ-28 Litening AT Targeting Pod. This technological marvel is equipped with a CCD and a forward looking infrared (FLIR) camera and is invaluable to acquire and mark targets.

The targeting pod is the third gadget from the left.

The targeting pod cameras can't see through the clouds, though, and I will have to go below 3,500 feet to acquire the target. Unfortunately, below 3.500 feet I will become a target for both the ZSU-23 anti aircraft gun and the IR-guided missiles the insurgents may have. What I will do is to acquire the target while flying  below the cloud deck and keeping a distance of no less than 5 miles from the target, mark the target location with the targeting pod and then climb for a through-the-clouds bomb drop. The weapon of choice is a GBU-31 JDAM, a so-called smart bomb that has GPS/inertial guiding that can glide directly into the position marked with the targeting pod. 

The targeting pod is active in the right multi-function display (MFD). The targeting pod is pointing towards the position of the Marines, but the cloud cover masks any type of image.

Now that I am coming down from the clouds, the targeting pod is showing terrain. Still 33.4 miles to go towards the Marines.

Acquiring distant targets with the targeting pod from a low altitude frequently produces some disorienting, low-angles lines of sight. Please see below.

I am still 31.5 miles from the Marines squad. At this distance, off course I can't see them with the targeting pod.

The Marine told me his squad was located in the edge of a village, but all I can see when I point the targeting pod at their position is an open field. The targeting pod is now using the FLIR camera.

What actually happens is that the targeting pod crosshairs are pointing towards the coordinates of the Marines and the village, but the line of sight collides with a rolling hill in front of them. Note the trees emerging from behind the hill.  

The targeting pod camera is in FLIR mode (hot objects in black). I finally spot the Marines in the village (one Marine can be seen between the crosshairs and the left edge of the multi-function display), from 12.7 miles away!

It has been 8 minutes since I checked in with the US Marines squad. I get ready to be talked into my target.

To be continued ...

Cheers,

Interstellar Marines - An Indie, Sci-Fi, First Person Shooter

This one brought to our attention by a reader of the blog.



Looks absolutely fantastic. The gameplay is still a bit generic for my taste, but I am looking forward to see their first release.

Cheers,

DCS: A-10C Warthog - Death Came Through the Clouds - Debrief of a Close Air Support Mission - Part 1

I am in a holding pattern, on call for close air support to the troops below. The insurgency is well and alive, and the 4th US Marines is having a hard day of fighting. My wingman had to return to base because he was hit in the last mission. With enough loiter time for a couple of hours and a hog still loaded of weapons, I decide to stay. It is lonely and quiet up here. With no enemy radar-guided launchers in the whole theater of operations, the tactical air situation is low threat. But the insurgents are known to have IR guided SAMs, so it is advisable to keep distance, altitude or both from suspected insurgent positions.

One joint tactical air controller (JTAC) interrupts my wait. Oddly, his not calling in for support for the company he is fighting with, but to brief me about a Marines squad in need of a hand. He heard about this Marines squad on the battalion radio network and passes me a frequency. This Marines squad has no JTAC.

I tune in to find out what's going on, and the first I hear is gunfire and yelling on a hot mic. Pretty intense. I patiently wait for a break on the hot mic and it comes after a loud thump. I offer firepower from above and all I get is a "get the hell out of this network!". This is not the type of misunderstanding you want when you are under fire, Marine!

Eventually, the Marine on the other end comes to his senses and we both rejoice. There is nobody with air controller experience down there. I will have to get talked to my target.

The Marine squad was on patrol when it came under heavy fire from a village. Their AAV threw a track and its main guns jammed. The Marines can't withdraw and are pinned down by a truck-mounted ZSU-23 anti aircraft gun.

I ask the Marine where they are and he throws me a place name. I don't recognize that name and the maps I have loaded in the navigation system are not that detailed. The Marine gives me his coordinates from a hand held GPS.

Manually entering coordinates in the control display unit (CDU). These coordinates will become waypoint 6, which I manually name FOX.

This is the tactical awareness display (TAD) shown in the right multifunction display (MFD). Waypoint 6, the Marines squad position,  is now active and labelled yellow. The white "wedding cake" symbol inside the waypoint is the sensor point of interest (SPI) where I can point my targeting pod. The Marines are some 40 nm southwest of my position.

HUD view: note the waypoint information on the lower right corner ("6/Fox" for waypoint 6 or Fox).

Somewhere down, the Marines wait for help!

Stay tunned, more is coming!

Cheers,

DCS: A-10C Warthog - The Release Dance

I downloaded and installed the release version of DCS A-10 Warthog. Took the hog for a brief flight. I have a lot of things to set up yet, like the HOTAS. Started to port some old missions that I edited in the beta.  I'm exhausted and can't write. But extremely pleased with the release version.

Off topic: thanks for all the comments I have received on other recent posts. I will get back to you, guys. I'm keenly interested in what you wrote.

Cheers,

DCS A-10 Released

Surprise! DCS A-10 got released yesterday. Download speeds are attrociously low, though. I am going to wait a few days until the air clears from the blast. :)

Cheers,

P/S: I have a debrief of a mission I played with the beta version. I wonder if I should wait and play the mission with the release version (?).

ArmA 2 Operation Arrowhead Private Military Company - Key Weapons in Keyhole Positions - Part 2

We are not going to let our dead fall on enemy hands. Mission is to recover the bodies of the two fellow contractors and bug out ASAP.

A quick peek down the street reveals an insurgent group, some 200 meters away from the intersection. It is clear that walking on the street to pick up the bodies would likely bring us under heavy fire. We are not here to fight, but we are surely going to pick one. I decide to set up my group in a position from which we can safely over watch the street.

You please take what I am going to do with a big grain of salt, because there are many inviting positions where to set up our key weapon. Your mileage may vary.

Positions where I could have positioned the group's automatic weapon. Great fields of fire, but likely to be targeted simultaneously by a lot of insurgents. I will not use any of those.

See the small arch in the wall near the bottom of the picture above? Keyhole!

I set up the flank protection heavily anchored on our right, a few meters from our SUV.

Right flank. Two of my men (right in the picture) watch towards the enemy controlled neighborhood.  Another of my men (left in the picture) overlooks our left flank.

A more detailed view of the contractor protecting our left flank. The open field in the background will force any enemy flanking units into a nasty kill box.

I position another man in the left flank. His position is almost in our rear.  He is the guy in our extreme left, and a few meters into our rear but I am going to be near him as I need to closely supervise the key weapon position nearby (see next picture).

Our key weapon (contractor #4) in a keyhole position. Beyond the arch in the wall, the street is getting hotter. 

The insurgents spot us and start coming down the street towards us.

Another view of our key weapon (contractor #4). He is kicking some serious butt (note the radio messages in green).

Here I am closely cooperating with my key weapon. Keyhole positions may produce some interesting fields of fire issues. In this picture, two insurgents can't be engaged by the key weapon (see insert in upper left corner), that's why I was there to provide support. The two insurgents were quickly neutralized by my  fire.

The firefight lasts for a good 4 minutes. The enemy tries to flank us at our left, but they get caught by the two contractors watching that flank. Our right flank doesn't get engaged.

Running from place to place within our defensive position (supervising and making sure everything is all right), I found this other excellent keyhole position in the house just in front of the mauled SUV. The street where the insurgents are coming from can be seen in the background. I would have loved to put my key weapon here, but it is difficult to herd AI-controlled team mates into houses.

When the firefight winds down, I bring a team member to over watch me while I retrieve the bodies.

Two casualties recovered. Time to bug out.

We mount up and get out of the place by going cross country, as far as we can from the built up area.

Cheers,

ArmA 2 Operation Arrowhead Private Military Company - Key Weapons in Keyhole Positions

Position key weapons in keyhole positions. Read that one in a US Marines Corps field manual and can't remember which one. Key weapons are usually automatic/heavy weapons and keyhole positions are ones with narrow and deep sectors of fire. A keyhole position is difficult to target simultaneously by a whole group of enemies. The enemy bounding group falls in the keyhole's field of fire and the over-watch group can't target the keyhole position.

This is a short story. It's not about US Marines and the key weapon is not a SAW but an XM8 kited with a longer barrel and two 100 rounds drums (the so-called automatic XM8). Not too different than the XM8 carbine I have in the role of  group coordinator.

Gah! Life at 5.56 mm! We are a 6 men group of contractors carrying XM8s, one FN FAL and one M4. With its 7.62 mm rounds, I would have preferred the FAL as the key weapon, but the rate of fire and ammo loadout of the automatic XM8 won the bet this time.

My group is the quick reaction force/counterattack team of a small convoy transporting a VIP through insurgent territory. One of the most famous convoy drills practiced by private security companies is to block intersections with one vehicle while the main body of the convoy zooms by. Today something went awfully wrong after a vehicle covering the intersection got fired upon by insurgents. The rest of the convoy didn't stop, and everybody expected the engaged vehicle to swiftly pull out of the kill zone. The convoy coordinator watched from the back of his speeding vehicle, horrified at the density of tracers zooming through the stationary vehicle left behind. Gator (our call sign), where the &#!@ are you!


We have our own problems. We trail a bit behind trying to keep gun tubes on a suspicious vehicle that follows us and doesn't neither approach us nor let us out of their sight. Before the radio call I had to fight the temptation to turn around and shoot the hell out of it. Our level of alert is high, but our security is lousily focused at those guys in our rear mirrors. Our driver is pretty much the only one doing his job right. He leans forward, as if trying to get t into focus the dim shapes of the firefight ahead. $#!+, did you see that?

Our SUV speeds forward towards the troubled vehicle. I pull the kevlar blanket from my door and throw it to the rear seats. Never let armor mask your fields of fire. We are about one kilometer, behind. We really messed up this one!

Panoramic view of the shoot out, or what is left of it. We (quick reaction force, to the right in the foreground) have arrived to the scene. A badly mauled SUV is in the intersection. There is one KIA contractor on the opposite side of the vehicle and another up the street. It looks like the contractor in the background was dragged and left there. The enemy fire has certainly come from the street that goes towards the background.

Stay tuned, more is coming soon.

Cheers,

Combat Mission Battle for Normandy - Interview at RPS

A great interview about the upcoming Combat Mission Battle for Normandy was posted at Rock, Paper Shotgun.

RPS is one of the gaming sites I really look up to. Their style is fantastic and their war gaming articles/interviews show that they know their turf.

The interview itself is very informative. Knowing Steve Grammont from the forums, in the interview he is always being ... Steve. I didn't appreciate his mention of "chronic complainers" (people on BFC forums who complain, chronically). It came out a bit unkempt for an interview that should be focused in bringing more wallets to the store. As for Phil Culliton (new BFC recruit/programmer), he mentions that the tactical AI has "quite a lot of changes that have made a real difference". That's one thing I will try right away as soon as I get my hands on the new Combat Mission.



Gotta go to work ... :)

Cheers,