fa3_c60_feintParryRiposte

[SuicideKing]

I heard comrades died gloriously and the Party had a party. Which is excellent!

Please let me know how to make it better, below.

[SuicideKing]

I've already been asked to shorten the Situation section and reduce markers. I'll probably just remove the formation markers outside the AO, unless anyone specifies which markers are troublesome/overwhelming/etc. I had thought using an AO would pretty much make it clear that the ones elsewhere can be ignored, but it seems that wasn't so. As to why they're there at all - for story/background/tacticool reasons.

[Pooter]

2 Marids, 2 Gorgons, a Mora, 2 Kumas and 2 ifrit HMGs might be a little bit much.

Also the Mora's thermals were still on.

We went in with 3 fireteams, 2 IFVs and a HAT team.

I (as IFV gunner) got at least one marid, and the two ifrits. RAT killed the Mora and the HAT team killed the 2 Gorgons and a Kuma, but the second tank just tore us apart.

The way that I see it there are three ways to use EI vehicles,
1. Fixed emplacements (box them in).
2. primary targets at the beginning of the engagement.
3. DOOM-mobiles. The basic idea is that the players should see the vehicle, but has to avoid them. The vehicle drives around screaming "DOOOOOOMMMM" and if it sees you then you will experience just that.

The Ifrits and Marids act as DOOM-mobiles.

The Kumas & Mora are hiding a little too well to be primary targets (although we did engage one at the beginning, it had a friend that we never did see).

Part of the problem is that the land is so flat that we have no way of knowing that the vehicles are there until they destroy us.
Another part of the problem is that the Kumas cannot really be handled by anything except HAT or another tank.

Looking through the map they're a bit nerfed, the Gorgon has no MP-T and the Marids have no 40mm, but we have no way of knowing that.

The gorgons and the Kumas are marked on the map, however normally those denote general areas where we will find units, and not exact positions. Nobody during that mission even thought that these might denote positions of enemy vehicles.

[SuicideKing]

Well that's why a tank and an attack helo were provided!

The "doom machines" were supposed to be distracted, and honestly I don't think anyone should be told their exact armaments. I really don't remember any other mission that spells out what weapons enemy vehicles have...

Same for the markers, choosing to not consider them, or interpreting them in a particular way, is up to the CO and SLs...there's also the case that markers at best indicate last known positions, so expecting something NOT to be there is odd. Of course there's also the briefing:

ENEMY FORCES

Approximately 3 platoons worth of infantry, garrisoned in buildings and patrolling the airport. Recon indicates multiple IFVs and tanks. CSAT QRF situated in
the SW part of the airbase. One FV-720 Mora has been spotted, and MANPADs may be present too. The shipping yard appears to be guarded by infantry only, as far as we can tell.

I see that this may need to be updated to include gorgons, but it does spell stuff out. Probably everyone got scared of the SITUATION section and didn't read this part

I could add a friendly static titan at the edge of the radar base, but I wasn't sure that would make good gameplay. It may be able to assist in some of the action.

Mora's IR will be nerfed.

But yeah, as far as vehicle balance is concerned, NATO gets 3x Marshals,1x Slammer UP, 1x Blackfoot. I could change one Gorgon into a Mora, but the Marids and Ifrits are really 1-hit kills for R(AT). Everything except the Kumas will die to a single tank shell or a few 40mm rounds from the marshals. Blackfoot can 1-hit almost everything too (of course, there is enemy air defence). Gorgons are mostly dangerous because of Titans, and I think I should be able to reduce their ammo count.

[Boarnoah]

I like the objective complexity. This, quds radio hour & that winter invasion(?) stand out to me as some of the most engaging FA missions.

As for sitrep, really appreciate when such thought is put into the overall picture (with a background as to other units operating the area etc...) adds a lot to making it feel like a proper mission rather than boilerplate capture/destroy objectives.

The situation report could have been a fair bit shorter, while still giving a good picture of the NATO invasion.

Same goes for the other markers. I'd maybe stick with marking division (or w/e the next higher level of abstraction is) and their objectives at the time over marking, that would still give a good picture without seeming cluttered (use of the front line/contested zone markers etc...) would help here.

Ah, some more minor gripes. Some of the unit names felt a little off. CTRG Marines(?) that sounds a little off, I can't see them operating as line troops which a marine battalion would imply (Apex is probably going to make me eat these words).

And the fact our zodiacs were not in fact zodiacs .

EDIT: Dear god my grammar


Again, lovely attention to detail. I really enjoy seeing these, but at a slightly shorter/more abstract level.

Hope to see more, and of course a replays of this one!

[SuicideKing]

Hey thanks for the encouraging words!

Yeah, the situation tab and markers need to be looked at again. I actually had more markers, and in fact other "platoons" fighting nearby but then that killed the server There was also supposed to be a AI tank platoon assisting the assault but then I had to kill the idea.

Already have front line markers, probably will remove the other Company markers.

Yeah I had to invent CTRG Marines I was originally going to say they're SBS but then the uniforms wouldn't match, which would bother me! I haven't really played through the campaign so I didn't know that much about them, beyond the fact that they're spec ops-ish folks, and that was enough for me to use them as SBS replacements. Of course then I needed to call them something that explained why they were attacking by sea! Marines are usually shock/elite infantry and that's how they're supposed to be in the mission - didn't intend them as front line troops. They're function is more to assault and create a diversion, and then defeat the counter attack.

Tl;DR, I don't know what else to call them! Open to suggestions, even for the callsign.

I used Zodiac because it sounded cool. That's about it! The fact that they're not using zodiacs did cross my mind, but yeah, didn't know what else. Didn't want to use Juliet because then that would suggest they're a part of the NATO platoon, not an assisting force.

[Peasant]

Really fun and an ambitious mission. My thoughts:

The CTRG can just be referred to as CTRG. In the campaign, I believe they are Naval trained with SDVs and scuba gear. (and Captain Miller is Royal Navy). Many special forces units are trained to carry out amphibious operations. A mission to seize the largest airport on Altis would be significant enough to warrant the use of Special Forces.

Zodiac is a generic enough term to be fine ( I await a letter from their lawyers for saying that though)

It might be worth clarifying that the markers refer to exact positions rather than approximate positions, by for example saying "Recon has fixed the exact position of these vehicles at these locations". In particular, the more NW tank was extremely well concealed amongst bushes.

Two tanks may be a bit much, especially as there is no guarantee we will have a tank/Blackfoot/JTAC or even a UAV operator slotted. Remember, our average attendance for Sundays is 30-35. May want to add a comment that two of (AH1, Tank, HAT) should be slotted, as that gives the platoon two assets capable of killing the tanks. Realistically, Marshalls and RAT can't kill tanks.

But I refer to my earlier position: really fun, really ambitious: It's the sort of mission that really impresses newcomers and stretches all involved.

[SuicideKing]

It's really satisfying to see such a positive response! All those hours in the lab justified.

The CTRG can just be referred to as CTRG

Yeah but I wanted to use a particular division or something. Could I use "CTRG Z Squadron" or something?

It might be worth clarifying that the markers refer to exact positions rather than approximate positions

Don't really want to do that! Plus there's a chance the AI may see something and run around. IFVs are on patrol anyway. I can however specify that the IFVs are on patrol and the tanks aren't, are were last spotted there. Any more feels a bit too much like hand holding.

May want to add a comment that two of (AH1, Tank, HAT) should be slotted

From FAMDB:

Slot all squads, IFVs, tank, demolitions engineers. AH1 recommended. All attachments optional.

I'll probably clarify that the tank and AH1 are more important than demo engineers.

Combining this with Pooter's feedback, I think I'll add a param to remove one Kuma and one Gorgon, and change the other Gorgon to a Mora so that it doesn't have Titans. I'll probably put H-barriers around and make immobile the Mora that's supposed to be the AA gun.

[Pooter]

So we played this with a full Zodiac squad, Alpha, and HAT team. Later we added Bravo, first without their vic then added the vic in later.

The problem I have with the distraction idea is that 1. We don't know that they're coming unless someone is in a perfect position to see them. As a result it ends up being a counter attack instead of a distraction. 2. The time from trigger to them showing up is so short that unless you're ready to leave then they're going to catch you. during the run today I actually zeused the CSAT forces to make them arrive slower so that we wouldn't be caught completely off guard.

This mission is just SOO LONG though.

[SuicideKing]

I was in Zodiac myself, we weren't really off guard, and a few of us saw the vics together. That said, I think the mission could really do with some notifications.

I guess I will add a short delay to the counter attack - and it is supposed to be a quick counter attack (that's why it's called a QRF! ); idea being that the guys in the shipping yard radio in for reinforcements in their dying moments, or if the supplies are destroyed then the plumes of smoke attract the attention of the troops at the airport. It's still a distraction, otherwise the QRF will chill within the airport's boundaries, and the main force assaulting the airport will have to face the QRF too.

But yeah, probably should be clearer with the notification and a slight delay. Beyond that, the briefing clearly specifies where the QRF is stationed, and so I think it should be obvious where it would be coming from once you know the trigger has been fired. I could also change their speed from full to normal.

As for mission length, we still didn't slot the tank or AH1, nor did we slot engineers and initially went in with just 1 mech squad (and Zodiac, HAT). So we were 27 people playing a mission designed for 35 to 50 people! Side effect of not slotting the gunship or the tank meant a more cautious approach: Alpha joining up down south with Zodiac and walking across to the other end of the airport (despite transport being available). Bravo also came in quite late (and was under-strength). No engineers additionally meant the entire shipping yard had to be cleared (we doubled back once to do that).

All this aside, the end trigger was probably too big, I've reduced that to just the airport terminal (previously had some surrounding areas too).

Probably a good way to slot this may be to use the heavier assets as reinforcements (if you really don't want to slot the tank at mission start), that way even if the reinforcing numbers are low like yesterday, their firepower would be considerable.