Cold Steel SBCT Campaign (Untested Conversion)
 

Yet another campaign found in my archives; and quickly converted over.

Not playtested; just done to rescue from oblivion.

Re: Cold Steel SBCT Campaign (Untested Conversion)
 

I'm going to start play testing this campaign,since I can't get an email game going to save my life:)

I'm going to include Fraps images of the battles as well. Just downloaded it,version 3. something.

So far looks interesting and is very well written. Here goes.

Re: Cold Steel SBCT Campaign (Untested Conversion)
 

I remember this campaign. It was a good one.

Re: Cold Steel SBCT Campaign (Untested Conversion)
 

Funny - I actually have the original working quite well under the current engine! :-)

Re: Cold Steel SBCT Campaign (Untested Conversion)
 

Just a couple of pics showing deployment on the first scenario.
Command,FO,ammo and artillery and main force at the southern
river ford. This area has no enemy fortifications.

Re: Cold Steel SBCT Campaign (Untested Conversion)
 

Turn 4 Progress, main force on right map edge has received some sniper fire. popped smoke.

artillery set to hit suspected atgm positions on next turn. smaller force on left will engage that area.

one pic of each included.

Re: Cold Steel SBCT Campaign (Untested Conversion)
 

Hello,

Presentation of the campaign:
"The player is given a reinforced company of light mechanized infantry consisting of three platoons of Stryker vehicles, one platoon of MGS vehicles, a scout platoon of Bradley's, and a mortar platoon.
Rebuild points will be few. Be very careful not to incur unacceptable losses."

First impressions of the beginning of the campaign:

Very interesting topic to a scale (reinforced company) fun to play.
I really like the choice of a fixed core

Decisive victory in 9 turns. 7 infantry losses (all caused by a sniper easy to locate but difficult to discover - The shots with the Z key has not helped reduce the effectiveness of the sniper. Had to get very close position to uncover and thus allowing its kill)

Passage to the second scenario:

While the presentation indicated that rebuild points will be few, I realize with amazement I have 1,885 points for repair and extend my core force!

That's too much to repair as the player's attention was focused on being very careful and also it allows to significantly expand the core forece that could well distort the spirit of the campaign.

Then came the choice of the support units phase: I have 1644 points while the presenting of the scenario prodigal any purchasing advice.

To keep up with the main idea of the campaign, I think that we should not have support points (unless the author of the campaign has provided them, but in this case it is necessary to indicate at the player what to buy ).

To do this, it would require a change with the campaign editor indicating the number of points "Build" specifying something reasonable to be determined (armor is about a little over 250 points, 100 points a sniper) and ban the support indicating - 1 in the corresponding field.

I have not yet played the second scenario, I'll do it without support and with my original core force.

Thanks for your work
Regards
Yves

Sorry for my poor English

Re: Cold Steel SBCT Campaign (Untested Conversion)
 

Turn 7 progress- This is basically over. HQ unit has not been spotted,but resistance is down to one tough sniper,as far as I can see.

Suspected atgm area was easily overrun. All vic hexes have been taken.

Two images show atgm area and remaining resistance.

Re: Cold Steel SBCT Campaign (Untested Conversion)
 

Scenario 1 (walk in the park)

The map is OK,maybe a little to small.

The enemy is under powered. I would suggest at least several vehicles,two or three trucks to ship product and two or three small
armed vehicles for patrols. Maybe more troops.

Image shows final score and breakdown.

Re: Cold Steel SBCT Campaign (Untested Conversion)
 

Interesting gameplay. A few notes: a) The M1128 MGS is not available in the USA OOB until June 2006, b) The M1129 120mm SPM is also not available, but only til August 2005. The timeline is off or the OOB, one or the other.

I get the limited rebuild or expand core points, but I was allotted over 2K points and even more in support. Now, I have not investigated the Campaign engine, but it seems odd to me, at least, that a guy or gal can add Air elements to an SBCT core but not in support.

Finally, I only got a section of Cavalry Scouts not a platoon of six, and a section of the SPM's not a platoon.

In the third scenario, the CH-47D Chinook helos ought to be modified in the Editor to increase range. With only a company of the heavy lift helos, we have a lot of vehicles to ferry to the airport, thatis too many turns IHMO. So, I'd suggest upping the speed of the Chinooks to 255, it won't get the bird there and back in one turn but it's close enough so that on the second turn it makes it all the way to the departure line.

Alternately, place a Styrker platoon with vehicles on the tarmac, and have the player ferry the remainder of the force.

I've played two scenarios earning 2 divisive victories.

I like it.
----------

Re: Cold Steel SBCT Campaign (Untested Conversion)
 

Upgraded the standard core with the following,

Assault Engineer Squad x 4
MMG Team x 2
M1126 Stryker + x 4

Stinger Team x 2
M1126 Stryker +

AH-6J L Bird x 2

__________________________________________________ ____________

for Support units I purchased

2 sections of
M270 MLRS
using 227mm m30 cm ammo

3 Scout Teams
4 M1009 cucv light trucks

__________________________________________________ ______________

Re: Cold Steel SBCT Campaign (Untested Conversion)
 

In addition to the above upgrades, I changed the HMMWV AOP FO vehicle to
a M981A3 Fist-V FO vehicle. Increases vision from 30 to 40.

The new core purchase of Assault Engineer Squads is x 3,not x 4.

Re: Cold Steel SBCT Campaign (Untested Conversion)
 

Here is the setup for the next battle.

Map looks very good.

Re: Cold Steel SBCT Campaign (Untested Conversion)
 

Turn 2 progress, uncovering individual infantry squads in the fields,and some enemy armored units spotted by helo. One of my support scout units was destroyed by enemy infantry.

Images show southern task force encountering an infantry unit,and the spotted armored vehicles.

Re: Cold Steel SBCT Campaign (Untested Conversion)
 

Turn 5 progress, lost a grenade launching stryker to a 90mm cannon shot to the side. From an enemy AT wheeled vehicle,EE-9 IV

cleaned up an enemy M8 greyhound formation.

images show both.

Re: Cold Steel SBCT Campaign (Untested Conversion)
 

Turn 7 progress,a leopard tank has made an appearance on the east side of the bridge on the road. Just in time a platoon of stryker vehicles traveling north of the river has managed to get in a good defensive position overlooking the bridge area.

Most of the enemy on the west side of the bridge has been destroyed. One last armored vehicle is seen in the area. The southern task force is moving into this area.

Images show both.

Re: Cold Steel SBCT Campaign (Untested Conversion)
 

I had forgot to mention I set a fast response M270 MLRS missle attack against the sighted leopard 1a3 tank. Once I pressed end turn there was a masssive barrage of missles,and then this,

image shows three destroyed leopard 1a3 tanks.

Re: Cold Steel SBCT Campaign (Untested Conversion)
 

Turn 10 progress,all forces have converged just east of the only bridge on the map. The light attack helo's have uncovered another group of enemy vehicles just down the road to the east.

No counterattacks or anything interesting being done with the AI,
you locate,destroy,move on.

Images show primary task force and new uncovered vehicle.

Re: Cold Steel SBCT Campaign (Untested Conversion)
 

Turn 14 progress, after removing the last spotted vehicles from the map,the force was stalled by a few special forces squads places in the wooded area. It took a few turns to break through the area,a nice little fight.

Image shows main task force after breaking through.

Re: Cold Steel SBCT Campaign (Untested Conversion)
 

Turn 16 progress, Now entering the town on the east map side,some enemy engineer squads present and some heavy machine gun fire that I have not located yet.

Image shows main forces entering the town,having cleaned out all the visible engineer squads.

Re: Cold Steel SBCT Campaign (Untested Conversion)
 

Turn 18 progress, The light attack helo's spotted most of the HMG sections placed on high ground around the town to the north and east,and also destroyed most of them. The main force has broken through the town,destroying the last of the engineers and the enemy HQ. Feels like this one is over.

Image shows main force having completed the town fight.

Re: Cold Steel SBCT Campaign (Untested Conversion)
 

Duzmond: Do you normally keep your units in 1 hex?

Seems unreasonable to me to have four+ 7x3m (stryker) armoured vehicles operating in the same 50 m hex. It would probably be against standard tactical doctrine of the US army too.

Or am I very wrong and fighting my battles badly? (open to anyone to answer - sorry for slight off topic)

Re: Cold Steel SBCT Campaign (Untested Conversion)
 

I keep platoons together usually in the same hex. They don't stay that way if the situation demands it. This one doesn't.

I don't know about or follow any established military doctrine.My play style is a result of having played the game since 2001,though I took 2012,2013,and 2014 off.:)

Now about the multiple vehicles per hex.

Maybe the game should impose a limit of some kind?
I have found having an entire platoon together when defending is considerably more effective in the game. Attacking as well.

It also nice where terrain blocks vision,and having them all together allows better response when an enemy shows up,or you need to attack through a tight space.

It would be nice to find a human opponent actually,but that seems hard to do.:(

Re: Cold Steel SBCT Campaign (Untested Conversion)
 

At the end of turn 18 I spotted the enemy artillery.
And plotted strikes against them.

Images show this.

Re: Cold Steel SBCT Campaign (Untested Conversion)
 

This image shows the final results for the second battle.

A marginal victory. The game ended shortly after pressing end turn.

Re: Cold Steel SBCT Campaign (Untested Conversion)
 

I believe that this is considered very "Gamey" in many circles. Certainly all "house rules" I have found for PBEM from places like The Blitz, etc limit Tanks to 1 /hex and APCs to 2/hex.

Re: Cold Steel SBCT Campaign (Untested Conversion)
 

You realize I'm playing the AI here right?

"Gamey" is when your opponents entire force is AT units,or when there main force has a swarm of cheap vehicles to soak up your defensive fire.;)

Re: Cold Steel SBCT Campaign (Untested Conversion)
 

Even against the AI putting too much in one hex can lead to disaster when it rains steel.

Re: Cold Steel SBCT Campaign (Untested Conversion)
 

Well that's new new I have never come across it, sometimes the situation requires more than one per hex. Certainly they don't stay there because multiple units in one hex is generally counter productive.

Costs movement points to pile them in.
Chance of another unit getting hit by a stray shot
Everyone suffers suppression. from fire.
Cant remember but I think the chance of being hit increases slightly.
Artillery will be more effective.
MG or auto cannon fire at will have a field day, wait & listen to the shots ricocheting of the vehicles.

Versus a human you wouldn't need house rules, I would try to cover the route hexs & then attack.

Re: Cold Steel SBCT Campaign (Untested Conversion)
 

Nowadays I think PBEM players often limit Z fire to a few shots per unit, maybe its not allowed at all - in that case there might be a point to limeting the number of troops in a hex...



For those that might not play PBEM Z fire is the so called 'area fire' allowing the troops to fire into hexes out of direct line of sight.

While the AI does not use it a human player can (use or abuse ;) ),
- and it is hugely effective. It will cripple units, esp. moving infantry and cause most, even dug in units, to a state of retreat/rout if you blast them enough.

If you pile up units in a few hexes it will be a very juicy target for Z fire.

Experienced PBEM players of the type I met when I first started to PBEM over ten years ago were experts at the use of Z fire. The used all kinds of creative SP-Mortar, SPA, SP Rocket, HMG setups taging along the assault columns, maybe not the most realistic use of SP artillery but very effective in game turns.

Against the AI piling up units in the same hex might be useful, getting more OP fire as enemy units appear in their line of sight, but against a human opponent in can be a terrible disadvantage.

:)

Re: Cold Steel SBCT Campaign (Untested Conversion)
 

The AI tags hexes where area fire is fired from as "of interest" for delivering packages by mail. So expect incoming if you do it a lot. A sensible human player would also read all the fire messages and target the area for a quick drenching of indirect fires too. At the very least, the messages will give him info on the forces firing - which he may not yet have located.

Piling up units in one hex can be a nice defensive tactic, until some arty hits that hex, or an enemy finally manages to get a shot into the stack, causing mayhem. Also - the more stuff in a hex, the more MP are charged for going into that hex. The tight pack of units are also not covering other lines of approach either. So it all gets balanced out. Remember that a hex is half a football pitch in size - so packing 2-3 AFV in there is not really "stuffing" it, it just looks crowded since the unit scale (1 pixel to a foot or 6 inches - I forget which) does not match the map scale of 1 hex is 50 metres/yards.

As to Z fire - I hardly ever use that since its rather ineffective in therms of both accuracy and effect - I designed it that way;)!. But I hear lots of complaints from these PBEM players that it is massively effective - are these guys going crazy and firing 50-odds units at a time or something?. Now, that would be nuts. If it is something like that, then I suppose I could implement a "Z counter" so that each Z increments it until some magic number is reached (12 shots?) and Z is no longer available to the player for the remainder of the turn. Better yet - adopt a house rule limiting players to whatever number of bursts of Z in a turn suits them.

cheers
Andy

Re: Cold Steel SBCT Campaign (Untested Conversion)
 

Depends on the size of the PBEM game I guess...:)

I think most people who play with the same buddies have house rules, of various kinds - arty limits, size 0 unit limits, Z fire, resupply rules etc.

Re: Cold Steel SBCT Campaign (Untested Conversion)
 

Yep - and there really is no way to rewrite things to cover each and everyones local house rules.