Ambush AFV scenario, looking for advices

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Ambush AFV scenario, looking for advices - 9/8/2020 6:12:03 AM

xavutrecht

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From: NL
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I am struggling with this one. My first one.
I can deal with the first treaths, AT gun and first AT-10 team but I get crushed by the other ones.
I usually send somne scouts ahead and on the left flank. works well for the first part, less well for the push forward.
Any advices?

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Xavier

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RE: Ambush AFV scenario, looking for advices - 9/10/2020 12:15:14 AM

OldSarge

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From: Albuquerque, NM
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Are you referring to the ATGM Ambush scenario?

I won't give any spoilers, but some hints.

- Dismount your scouts and MG team.
- Move them along the southern side of the map is fine, but there are also some interesting positions on the north side as well. Use the terrain to your advantage.
- Keep your vehicles out of the enemy LOF until the scouts report possible locations.
- When moving your vehicles into firing position, take advantage of the 'Hull Down' movement command where possible.
- For targets that the vehicle can't see use the 'Target' command to area fire in the vicinity reported by the scouts.
- After the turn is over reverse move the vehicle out of enemy LOF.
- During replay check with each scout to see if they have located any hidden ATGM firing.
- Don't forget that you have an off-board mortar that can be used to suppress a suspected ATGM location. It doesn't have much ammo so you're best of using it with short duration, point targets.

I did variations of this while my forces went down the map. I took my time and used my IFV as a fire base, plastering anything they could with area fire where there was suspected enemy positions.

Attachment (1)

< Message edited by OldSarge -- 9/10/2020 12:17:48 AM >

_____________________________

You and the rest, you forgot the first rule of the fanatic: When you become obsessed with the enemy, you become the enemy.
Jeffrey Sinclair, "Infection", Babylon 5

(in reply to xavutrecht)

Post #: 2

RE: Ambush AFV scenario, looking for advices - 9/10/2020 6:50:15 AM

xavutrecht

Posts: 801
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From: NL
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Thanks.
I will check the north side of the map.
I am maybe making my life difficult since I would like to avoid any casualties on my side...
a pity the 60mm mortar has so little ammo.
Definetly an interesting scenario.

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Xavier

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Post #: 3

RE: Ambush AFV scenario, looking for advices - 9/10/2020 1:40:51 PM

OldSarge

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From: Albuquerque, NM
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Having a casualty averse mindset is proper when playing the Western forces. The scores are weighted to discourage high casualties by any of the Western countries.

My casualties were largely from one scout team getting into a position where it got into a firefight with an OPFOR infantry squad and was roughly handled. U.S. cavalry scouts, and similar recon teams, lack the intrinsic firepower of an equivalent well ordered infantry team.

It is a fun, well designed scenario and I'll definitely play it again later!

_____________________________

You and the rest, you forgot the first rule of the fanatic: When you become obsessed with the enemy, you become the enemy.
Jeffrey Sinclair, "Infection", Babylon 5

(in reply to xavutrecht)

Post #: 4

RE: Ambush AFV scenario, looking for advices - 9/10/2020 5:52:06 PM

jwarrenw13

Posts: 1897
Joined: 8/12/2000
From: Louisiana, USA
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I decided to try the ATGM ambush scenario after reading this. It is quite interesting. Without giving anything away, I've tried three times now and had my butt handed to me each time, in different ways. And I've learned those ATGMs just don't miss. In each try to far I've quit after receiving enough casualties that I think the platoon leader would have hunkered down and called for help rather than take more casualties even though in one I was making some good headway. I've learned something each time. It is a great puzzle, though to some new players it might be very frustrating.

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RE: Ambush AFV scenario, looking for advices - 9/10/2020 6:35:08 PM

OldSarge

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From: Albuquerque, NM
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One of the big mistakes I made was in forgetting to distribute the Javelin launcher & missiles to the teams as well as equipping the teams with available M136 AT4 missiles, additional ammo and 40mm grenades.

The Javelins would've come in handy later on, but by that time it was too late. Lessons learned the hard way.

_____________________________

You and the rest, you forgot the first rule of the fanatic: When you become obsessed with the enemy, you become the enemy.
Jeffrey Sinclair, "Infection", Babylon 5

(in reply to jwarrenw13)

Post #: 6

RE: Ambush AFV scenario, looking for advices - 9/11/2020 4:39:53 AM

jwarrenw13

Posts: 1897
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From: Louisiana, USA
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DOH! I'm still new to the game and did not think to equip my teams with what is available in the Bradleys. I feel so stupid now. Glad I never did anything that stupid as a 2LT. Okay, maybe I did, but I probably got straightened out by an 'old sarge'. Thanks for the advice.

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RE: Ambush AFV scenario, looking for advices - 9/11/2020 1:08:19 PM

OldSarge

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From: Albuquerque, NM
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quote:

ORIGINAL: jwarrenw13

DOH! I'm still new to the game and did not think to equip my teams with what is available in the Bradleys. I feel so stupid now. Glad I never did anything that stupid as a 2LT. Okay, maybe I did, but I probably got straightened out by an 'old sarge'. Thanks for the advice.

You're welcome! Always glad to help out. Another tidbit you might be interested in is the 'Pause' command, described on page 60 in the manual. It comes in very handy for having your Bradleys popup & fire at a designated target for a given time period and then scoot back out of sight before OPFOR sends you their regards.

Have fun!

< Message edited by OldSarge -- 9/11/2020 1:29:47 PM >

_____________________________

You and the rest, you forgot the first rule of the fanatic: When you become obsessed with the enemy, you become the enemy.
Jeffrey Sinclair, "Infection", Babylon 5

(in reply to jwarrenw13)

Post #: 8

RE: Ambush AFV scenario, looking for advices - 9/12/2020 8:31:38 AM

xavutrecht

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From: NL
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quote:

forgetting to distribute the Javelin launcher & missiles to the teams

There is some equipment in the Bradleys?
How do you distribute it?
Now, I feel stupid.

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Xavier

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RE: Ambush AFV scenario, looking for advices - 9/12/2020 8:46:12 AM

HunterICX

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From: Spain
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quote:

ORIGINAL: xavutrecht

quote:

forgetting to distribute the Javelin launcher & missiles to the teams

There is some equipment in the Bradleys?
How do you distribute it?
Now, I feel stupid.

If you have infantry inside the APC, select the Infantry (Not the APC itself) go to the Special Orders and hit Acquire, then you get a drop down with all the equipment and munitions stored inside the APC and when you click them the Infantry will carry these like a Javelin Launcher and a spare missile if it has one.

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RE: Ambush AFV scenario, looking for advices - 9/12/2020 1:29:21 PM

xavutrecht

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From: NL
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Awesome!

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Xavier

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RE: Ambush AFV scenario, looking for advices - 9/12/2020 5:22:15 PM

jwarrenw13

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From: Louisiana, USA
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quote:

ORIGINAL: xavutrecht

quote:

forgetting to distribute the Javelin launcher & missiles to the teams

There is some equipment in the Bradleys?
How do you distribute it?
Now, I feel stupid.

Don't feel bad. I already KNEW this and had done it before, but just completely forgot about it when playing this ambush scenario. Three time in a row.

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Post #: 12

RE: Ambush AFV scenario, looking for advices - 9/13/2020 9:08:28 AM

xavutrecht

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From: NL
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I made it!
Thanks for the tips. Javelin really helped to clear the AT-4 teams and the MMG/HMG nests.
Quite a learning curve.

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Xavier

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RE: Ambush AFV scenario, looking for advices - 9/13/2020 1:41:09 PM

OldSarge

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From: Albuquerque, NM
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Outstanding!

Congratulations on your perseverance!

< Message edited by OldSarge -- 9/13/2020 1:52:59 PM >

_____________________________

You and the rest, you forgot the first rule of the fanatic: When you become obsessed with the enemy, you become the enemy.
Jeffrey Sinclair, "Infection", Babylon 5

(in reply to xavutrecht)

Post #: 14

RE: Ambush AFV scenario, looking for advices - 9/17/2020 9:15:04 PM

jwarrenw13

Posts: 1897
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From: Louisiana, USA
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I finally got a win. 5th try. I was not going to move on until I won this one. Hints that worked for me, without giving anything away, I had to get down to the ground level and look closely at the terrain view for every unit every turn, more than I ever have in a game. Also I had to be very, very patient, and not rush anything. It seems like 40 minutes is not enough time when you start the game, but it is plenty of time to win without rushing. You will think you are not making progress, but things will start to break open if you are patient. I got the win with 16 minutes left. Something else, too. I learned during this exercise that vehicles won't always go where you want them to or take the path you want them to take. That scenario has some impassable rocky terrain for Bradleys, and sometimes I couldn't tell what was impassable and what wasn't. Having a Bradley take a wide detour when there are ATGMs hunting them is not fun.

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RE: Ambush AFV scenario, looking for advices - 9/17/2020 11:10:10 PM

OldSarge

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From: Albuquerque, NM
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Congratulations! Persistence pays off!

The only indication that a vehicle can't move into a given terrain seems to be the end mouse icon will change color/shape over the impassable terrain. I can't get a screenshot of it, but it is an inverted pentagon filled with red/black and has a yellow arrow. It is a bit subtle and easily overlooked, especially when the terrain on the other side is passable. The pathfinder will simply try to find a path around the impassable terrain, and very often ignore concealment or cover in the process.

_____________________________

You and the rest, you forgot the first rule of the fanatic: When you become obsessed with the enemy, you become the enemy.
Jeffrey Sinclair, "Infection", Babylon 5

(in reply to jwarrenw13)

Post #: 16

RE: Ambush AFV scenario, looking for advices - 9/18/2020 12:13:28 AM

jwarrenw13

Posts: 1897
Joined: 8/12/2000
From: Louisiana, USA
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What I learned is that if you click a movement choice and then put your cursor on the vehicle and move your cursor slowly from the vehicle toward the point you want the vehicle to move to, without clicking, that the little green hex where the cursor is will turn red if you meet impassable terrain. So you can search for a route through the terrain using that method. You might have to click several waypoints to find a path, using that method from waypoint to waypoint. Or you might find you simply can't get even roughly directly from point A to point B without a wide detour.

Maybe everyone knows that except me, but I never saw that mentioned in a tutorial or video and could not find it in the rule book. Moving my Bradleys on the path I wanted them to follow became a lot easier after I figured that out.

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RE: Ambush AFV scenario, looking for advices - 10/23/2020 11:40:26 PM

OldSarge

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From: Albuquerque, NM
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Usually Hapless just did a YT AAR of this scenario in case anyone is interested. ATGM Ambush

He was able to get two Bradleys up on the left past the rock escarpment. I was never able to do that, I'll have to try that scenario again.

Enjoy! Spoiler Warning for anyone who hasn't played the scenario.

_____________________________

You and the rest, you forgot the first rule of the fanatic: When you become obsessed with the enemy, you become the enemy.
Jeffrey Sinclair, "Infection", Babylon 5

(in reply to xavutrecht)

Post #: 18