c36_budget_issues

[Raptoer]

Things I intend to add:
We were supposed to have flashlights, we instead had laser pointers.
Markers for our emplacements.

An improvement for the end win trigger.

Other thoughts?

[Raptoer]

I also intend to redo the emplacements on the west side.

[Ferrard Carson]

Since it's a NATO Co-Op, consider using the 3GL magazines for flavor - they're a lot of fun!

I'm sure you're already on it, but fixing the end trigger is as simple as adding a "BLUFOR Not Present" trigger on the hilltop itself that has to fire alongside the "BLUFOR Present" extraction trigger for the ending to process.

Otherwise... very nice mission! Love the variety. You might consider adding a "DLC Required" thing for the chopper pilots slot - I forgot to mention that during slotting, and it could've gone very badly if the pilots didn't have DLC.

~ Ferrard

[boberro]

Empalcements on the north side provide cover, but it was impossible to deploy bipod on them.

[Tigershark]

The flares were next to useless.

Is there any kind of illumination artillery?

[Raptoer]

The flares were next to useless.

Is there any kind of illumination artillery?

There are 81mm mortar flares I think, but the idea behind the flares was to illuminate specific targets rather than the entire field.

Empalcements on the north side provide cover, but it was impossible to deploy bipod on them.

I doubt there is much I can do about that, BI seems to have constricted the bipod based on either the terrain angle or the object angle rather than actually doing computational geometry to determine the real boundaries as deploy time. What really should happen is as you pitch up and down your character stance should shift while leaving your bipod in place so that you have a much wider angle.

[Sparks]

From last night's run (21/6/15):

I really need to figure out how to up the difficulty on this one... As A1 FTL I managed to deal with the west side until my AR and I got shot. I blame whoever threw chem lights on us thinking that it didn't matter because the AI had NVGs (they didn't).
Any suggestions as to how to up the difficulty?

Change the story. Make BLUFOR a team returning after a hard mission went pear-shaped, instead of the current scenario, which is basically us starting off fresh with full ammo and with a spring in our step (bonus points for actually starting mid-air with 1% fuel and damage to the hull and the helo pilots have to make an emergency landing, but I think that might be about three or four miles outside of the limits of what we can expect from Folk pilots - low friction isn't free, comrade... though if you could make the helo land on autopilot and let the pilots take off for egress... but that's a nice to have, not a solution to the difficulty level)

So... irregular fireteams because of casualties. Few (or even no) ARs (if no, you might leave in one MMG attachment with limited ammo to keep the odds survivable). Low and limited ammo for riflemen. Maybe people have injuries. No MRCOs for anyone. Mk17s or even better, iron sights all round. Limited flares (keep the chemlights though, can't make it insanely unbalanced). Don't know if you can give NVGs for a limited time to simulate dead batteries, but if you can't, continue to simulate flat batteries by not giving them out to anyone

And most important of all, a longer time to refuel the helos. Seriously, even with a prepped FARP and pressure refuelling and ten minutes warning for the ground team to prep, eight minutes is a bit... optimistic for a huron (an apache they can do in five but that's a tad smaller). Fifteen minutes seems a bit more realistic. And fifteen minutes is long enough to have at least two waves of attackers hit you and for the third to be rolling up with technicals after the locals have had a bit of time to make shouty phone calls on mobiles, the Bad Guys to get their shoes on, their rifles loaded and piled out of the bar into the technical and get rolling towards the hilltop from a nearby town, and since we only have at most one or two RPG-42 rounds left...

Pressure!

[Eagle_Eye]

I think this mission is running really well. There will always be little things about it that annoy people, (especially the mission maker). At some point its best to declare it dont and move on to more interesting projects. I wouldn't look at us taking low casualties as a bad thing. I know its not the FolkARPS SOP, but it can still be just as fun, and a nice change. (We played a zeus mission last week with 0 casualties, and it was great fun, still really tense and good atmosphere).

I think that the best way to up the difficulty would be to just make the AI a bit more aggressive, give them some technicals or maybe a GMGless IFV. I think a JTAC position with some mortar flares would be a great addition (Playing the campaign recently made me realize how good they are). I know it may not sync up with the intended goal of the mission, but sometimes you need to veer away from that for more fun.

All in all: Slightly ease the visibility for the players and simultaneously increase the number of toys the enemies have and I think the difficulty/fun will increase.

One other opinion: The time limit is perfect. Especially as a host, knowing that this mission cannot be longer than 5mins(setup)+10mins(refuel)+5mins(escape) makes is great for small starter missions and nice breaks between big large scale coops. I would encourage pushing the players more in those 10 minutes than increasing the time.

[Raptoer]

I think a JTAC position with some mortar flares would be a great addition (Playing the campaign recently made me realize how good they are). I know it may not sync up with the intended goal of the mission, but sometimes you need to veer away from that for more fun.

I tried to do this for v2, but I couldn't figure out how. I could give access to explosive round support, but not flares. I guess I actually have to put down an AI unit with a mortar and get him to shoot the flares?

I think that the best way to up the difficulty would be to just make the AI a bit more aggressive,

Unfortunately the ASR AI are cowards. I actually have them scripted to become dumb as rocks until they get to within about 200-300m of us or else they'll just sit in cover the entire time.

give them some technicals or maybe a GMGless IFV.

Technicals might be interesting, especially if I can force the lights for the vehicle to be on. The problem I have with introducing full armor is that we have no AT (Except a MAT team that can take out a few transport vehicles here and there).

I wish I had a replay of what the AIs were doing. I think at least 1/3rd never reached us. I can simulate it by controlling the NATO AIs, but it's not a good representation.

[Eagle_Eye]

I tried to do this for v2, but I couldn't figure out how. I could give access to explosive round support, but not flares. I guess I actually have to put down an AI unit with a mortar and get him to shoot the flares?

Yeah I think you will need to place an actual AI mortar guy. Check the rounds he has here and the use removeMagazinesTurret to strip him down to only flares.

Unfortunately the ASR AI are cowards. I actually have them scripted to become dumb as rocks until they get to within about 200-300m of us or else they'll just sit in cover the entire time.

I know the pain you feel. I have started using "CARELESS" behaviour literally, along with transport trucks to get AI into position.

Technicals might be interesting

I like technicals, because they are easy enough to kill, but can really screw things up for people if they aren't on point. Headlights would be a nice addition, some discussion is here.