"Downtown" Beta C1-1 (Toonces mod)
Posted: 2008-12-22 03:56:06
Hi all.
I've been working on some ideas with the Nevada campaign, and today I decided to try to expand upon those ideas in the Vietnam theater. In order to make sense of this mod, I have to provide a bit of background:
Motivation: The most limiting factor in PMC campaign building (imo), has been the lack of a 'working' ground war and working .tri files to create a goal-oriented, 'winnable' war. Therefore, we have two options to create a so-called working campaign; we can fix the ground war, or we can work around the ground war. This mod attempts the second option- to work around the ground war but still have a goal-oriented, winnable war.
Background: The Vietnam war was several years long. The air war itself was fought in phases, in addition to smaller continuous actions. But the most notable thing with respect to Falcon 4 and other PMC campaigns/theaters is that the historical Vietnam conflict took place in a timeframe that dwarfs the one in the stock Korea campaign, as well as many of the hypothetical campaigns (eg. Europe). The take-away is that in order to game the Vietnam conflict within the constraints of the Falocn 4 wargame engine, we must tackle a managable chunk. We can't game the entire war.
Furthermore, the stock Korea campaign within Falcon 4 depends upon a ground war for victory conditions. Yet, in the historical Vietnam war, while ground was gained and lost the ground war was not the basis for the historical 'victory conditions'. (In fact, we could open a huge can of worms discussing what would have constituted victory in Vietnam). Ultimately, the ground war is nearly irrelevant if we are looking to game the Vietnam war in Falcon 4, unless the scale was drawn into a very small area/battle.
The inspiration for this mod came from a war boardgame called, "Downtown", created by Lee Brimmicombe-Wood and published by GMT Games. "Downtown" games the Vietnam air war at a scale of 'raids', single sorties like the Navy's Alpha Strikes. The culmination of the game is the campaign system during which the player games a 3-7 day portion of the Vietnam air war. The ground war isn't simulated beyond air defenses and targets for the US player. This is the idea behind this Falcon 4 mod.
Execution: In order to fulfill these objectives, it is necessary to introduce a new paradigm for the approach to Falcon 4 campaigning. Why does the air war have to be fought with a ground war? Why does winning and losing have to be tied to ground objectives? In fact, why do we need to rely upon the Falcon 4 .tri file to decide victory or defeat for us? Can we not approach the campaign as a wargame in the boardgame tradition? Can we assign our own arbitrary victory conditions based upon our own scenario? Is this even possible within the Falcon 4 campaign engine?
Fundamental to the execution of a campaign in which we self-determine victory or defeat is: a) a firm delineation of what constitues a level of victory and b) a clear scoring system that can be self-implemented by the player with a minimum of confusion. These two factors must work within what we are capable of executing inside the limitations imposed by the Falcon 4 engine.
This goal of victory will be accomplished through an assignment of victory points awarded for targets destroyed, and campaign victory conditions will be determined on a scale based upon a cumulative victory point score.
Part 1: This mod alters the Vietnam1/save0.cam file.
The first step was to open up the file in Tacedit and make the following changes-
All aircraft for both sides were deleted. Helicopters were left in place.
No ground forces nor SAMs/AAA, etc. were adjusted.
The following US OOB was built-
Udon: 2xF-4C, 1xRF-101C, 1xKC-135
Korat: 2xF-105D, 1xF-105G (Wild Weasel), 2xF-4C, 1xF-4D
Takhli: 1xF-105D, 1xEA-6B, 1xKC-10
The following DPRV OOB was built-
Kep: 2xMiG-17F
Gia Lam: 1xMiG-17F, 1xMiG-21F-13
[**NOTE: all DPRV squadrons are given A-A specialty to prevent ground attack sorties generated by enemy ATO.]
Victory Points
In order to calculate victory conditions, victory points are awarded for succesfully attacking ground targets. Victory points are also awarded for SAMs and aircraft destroyed, and aircrew killed or captured.
Target List
Downtown provides a very nice target list. Unfortunately, many of the targets don't match perfectly with available targets within the PMC campaign. Fortunately, there are plenty of targets within the PMC campaign from which to choose to create a workable frag list.
The format is Target name, Location hex (ignore), Organization that can attack target, victory points for slight/medium/heavy damage. For purposes of this campaign, we will use VPs for med damage=damaged, heavy damage=destroyed.
Targets with a * are ones that are clearly identified by name in the PMC theater.
The following lists the US targets for the campaign:
*Kep airfield runway 1120 B USAF, USN 2/6/9
*Kep control tower C 1/4/6 (use radar)
*Kep aircraft revetments B 1/4/6 (use taxiways, hangars, etc)
Xuan Mai insurgency 2334 C USAF 3/7/11
school
*Thai Nguyen iron 0628 B USAF 3/7/11 (use Thai Nguyen Factory)
and steel complex
*Hoa Lac airfield 2035 B USAF 1/4/7
runway
*Hoa Lac control tower C 1/3/4 (radar)
*Hoa Lac aircraft B 1/3/4 (hangars, taxiways)
revetments
Canal des Rapides 1927 A USAF 3/7/11
Bridge (2 spans)
Hanoi railroad repair 2028 C USAF 2/6/9
shops
Yen Vien Railyard 1826 C USAF 2/6/9
Nguyen Khe 1628 D USAF 3/7/11
POL storage
Ha Dong Army 2130 C USAF 3/7/11
barracks
Hanoi railyard 2028 C USAF 2/6/9
Hanoi thermal 1929 B USAF 3/7/11
power plant
Hanoi Le Pap 1929 B USAF 3/7/11
transformer
Duong Nham POL 2013 D USN 3/7/11
storage
*Haiphong POL storage 2411 D USN 3/7/11 (use Haiphong Depot)
*Haiphong cement plant 2411 B USN 3/7/11(use Factory)
*Haiphong East 2410 B USN 3/7/11 (use Factory)
thermal power plant
Haiphong West 2411 B USN 3/7/11
thermal power plant
Uong Bi power station 1909 B USN 3/7/11
Bac Giang 1421 B USAF, USN 3/7/11
power station
Hon Gai railyard 2202 C USN 2/6/9
*Kien An airfield 2612 B USN 1/4/7
runway
*Kien An control tower C 1/3/4 (radar)
*Kien An aircraft revetments B 1/3/4 (hangars,taxiways)
Awarding Victory Points-US:
Target damaged or destroyed: use med damage VP number for damage in Falcon, heavy damage for destroyed in Falcon
2 VPs for each MiG shot down (damaged counts as kill)
1 VP for SAM site damaged
2 VP for SAM site destroyed
Awarding Victory Points-DPRV:
2 VPs for each US fighter lost
1 VP for each US crewmember lost (ie. 2 VP if F-4 shot down and crew KIA/MIA)
5 VP for each US bomber lost (eg. B-52)
1 VP for collateral damage (not implemented yet, keep as placeholder)
Victory Conditions:
The campaign victory conditions are dependent upon the campaign scenario. I built this scenario based upon the Campaign 1 in "Downtown". These represent the idea behind victory conditions- actual implementation will need some tweaking.
To calculate, add all US VPs, all DPRV VPs; subtract DPRV VPs from US VPs and read from the following list:
180+ Decisive US victory
140-169 US victory
110-139 Draw
60-109 US defeat
<60 Decisive US defeat
I've been working on some ideas with the Nevada campaign, and today I decided to try to expand upon those ideas in the Vietnam theater. In order to make sense of this mod, I have to provide a bit of background:
Motivation: The most limiting factor in PMC campaign building (imo), has been the lack of a 'working' ground war and working .tri files to create a goal-oriented, 'winnable' war. Therefore, we have two options to create a so-called working campaign; we can fix the ground war, or we can work around the ground war. This mod attempts the second option- to work around the ground war but still have a goal-oriented, winnable war.
Background: The Vietnam war was several years long. The air war itself was fought in phases, in addition to smaller continuous actions. But the most notable thing with respect to Falcon 4 and other PMC campaigns/theaters is that the historical Vietnam conflict took place in a timeframe that dwarfs the one in the stock Korea campaign, as well as many of the hypothetical campaigns (eg. Europe). The take-away is that in order to game the Vietnam conflict within the constraints of the Falocn 4 wargame engine, we must tackle a managable chunk. We can't game the entire war.
Furthermore, the stock Korea campaign within Falcon 4 depends upon a ground war for victory conditions. Yet, in the historical Vietnam war, while ground was gained and lost the ground war was not the basis for the historical 'victory conditions'. (In fact, we could open a huge can of worms discussing what would have constituted victory in Vietnam). Ultimately, the ground war is nearly irrelevant if we are looking to game the Vietnam war in Falcon 4, unless the scale was drawn into a very small area/battle.
The inspiration for this mod came from a war boardgame called, "Downtown", created by Lee Brimmicombe-Wood and published by GMT Games. "Downtown" games the Vietnam air war at a scale of 'raids', single sorties like the Navy's Alpha Strikes. The culmination of the game is the campaign system during which the player games a 3-7 day portion of the Vietnam air war. The ground war isn't simulated beyond air defenses and targets for the US player. This is the idea behind this Falcon 4 mod.
Execution: In order to fulfill these objectives, it is necessary to introduce a new paradigm for the approach to Falcon 4 campaigning. Why does the air war have to be fought with a ground war? Why does winning and losing have to be tied to ground objectives? In fact, why do we need to rely upon the Falcon 4 .tri file to decide victory or defeat for us? Can we not approach the campaign as a wargame in the boardgame tradition? Can we assign our own arbitrary victory conditions based upon our own scenario? Is this even possible within the Falcon 4 campaign engine?
Fundamental to the execution of a campaign in which we self-determine victory or defeat is: a) a firm delineation of what constitues a level of victory and b) a clear scoring system that can be self-implemented by the player with a minimum of confusion. These two factors must work within what we are capable of executing inside the limitations imposed by the Falcon 4 engine.
This goal of victory will be accomplished through an assignment of victory points awarded for targets destroyed, and campaign victory conditions will be determined on a scale based upon a cumulative victory point score.
Part 1: This mod alters the Vietnam1/save0.cam file.
The first step was to open up the file in Tacedit and make the following changes-
All aircraft for both sides were deleted. Helicopters were left in place.
No ground forces nor SAMs/AAA, etc. were adjusted.
The following US OOB was built-
Udon: 2xF-4C, 1xRF-101C, 1xKC-135
Korat: 2xF-105D, 1xF-105G (Wild Weasel), 2xF-4C, 1xF-4D
Takhli: 1xF-105D, 1xEA-6B, 1xKC-10
The following DPRV OOB was built-
Kep: 2xMiG-17F
Gia Lam: 1xMiG-17F, 1xMiG-21F-13
[**NOTE: all DPRV squadrons are given A-A specialty to prevent ground attack sorties generated by enemy ATO.]
Victory Points
In order to calculate victory conditions, victory points are awarded for succesfully attacking ground targets. Victory points are also awarded for SAMs and aircraft destroyed, and aircrew killed or captured.
Target List
Downtown provides a very nice target list. Unfortunately, many of the targets don't match perfectly with available targets within the PMC campaign. Fortunately, there are plenty of targets within the PMC campaign from which to choose to create a workable frag list.
The format is Target name, Location hex (ignore), Organization that can attack target, victory points for slight/medium/heavy damage. For purposes of this campaign, we will use VPs for med damage=damaged, heavy damage=destroyed.
Targets with a * are ones that are clearly identified by name in the PMC theater.
The following lists the US targets for the campaign:
*Kep airfield runway 1120 B USAF, USN 2/6/9
*Kep control tower C 1/4/6 (use radar)
*Kep aircraft revetments B 1/4/6 (use taxiways, hangars, etc)
Xuan Mai insurgency 2334 C USAF 3/7/11
school
*Thai Nguyen iron 0628 B USAF 3/7/11 (use Thai Nguyen Factory)
and steel complex
*Hoa Lac airfield 2035 B USAF 1/4/7
runway
*Hoa Lac control tower C 1/3/4 (radar)
*Hoa Lac aircraft B 1/3/4 (hangars, taxiways)
revetments
Canal des Rapides 1927 A USAF 3/7/11
Bridge (2 spans)
Hanoi railroad repair 2028 C USAF 2/6/9
shops
Yen Vien Railyard 1826 C USAF 2/6/9
Nguyen Khe 1628 D USAF 3/7/11
POL storage
Ha Dong Army 2130 C USAF 3/7/11
barracks
Hanoi railyard 2028 C USAF 2/6/9
Hanoi thermal 1929 B USAF 3/7/11
power plant
Hanoi Le Pap 1929 B USAF 3/7/11
transformer
Duong Nham POL 2013 D USN 3/7/11
storage
*Haiphong POL storage 2411 D USN 3/7/11 (use Haiphong Depot)
*Haiphong cement plant 2411 B USN 3/7/11(use Factory)
*Haiphong East 2410 B USN 3/7/11 (use Factory)
thermal power plant
Haiphong West 2411 B USN 3/7/11
thermal power plant
Uong Bi power station 1909 B USN 3/7/11
Bac Giang 1421 B USAF, USN 3/7/11
power station
Hon Gai railyard 2202 C USN 2/6/9
*Kien An airfield 2612 B USN 1/4/7
runway
*Kien An control tower C 1/3/4 (radar)
*Kien An aircraft revetments B 1/3/4 (hangars,taxiways)
Awarding Victory Points-US:
Target damaged or destroyed: use med damage VP number for damage in Falcon, heavy damage for destroyed in Falcon
2 VPs for each MiG shot down (damaged counts as kill)
1 VP for SAM site damaged
2 VP for SAM site destroyed
Awarding Victory Points-DPRV:
2 VPs for each US fighter lost
1 VP for each US crewmember lost (ie. 2 VP if F-4 shot down and crew KIA/MIA)
5 VP for each US bomber lost (eg. B-52)
1 VP for collateral damage (not implemented yet, keep as placeholder)
Victory Conditions:
The campaign victory conditions are dependent upon the campaign scenario. I built this scenario based upon the Campaign 1 in "Downtown". These represent the idea behind victory conditions- actual implementation will need some tweaking.
To calculate, add all US VPs, all DPRV VPs; subtract DPRV VPs from US VPs and read from the following list:
180+ Decisive US victory
140-169 US victory
110-139 Draw
60-109 US defeat
<60 Decisive US defeat