Year of the Rat Campaign

Vietnam theater

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Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by toonces » 2009-05-11 00:37:56

On Easter, 1972, the North Vietnamese launched their largest offensive of the Vietnam War. Their objective was to capture territory in South Vietnam including many provincial capitals, destroy as many South Vietnamese units as possible, and to some extent, weaken US resolve to continue fighting in Vietnam.

The campaign lasted from 30 March - 22 October, 1972, and incorporated several phases. The first phase consisted of North Vietnamese offensives, culminating in the capture of Quang Tri in I Corps, and nearly the capture of Hue, a move to sieze Kontum in II Corps, and an assault on the capital of Binh Long Province at An Loc. The second phase, during May, was a consolidation phase during which the US built up its forces and also launched Operation Linebacker. The third phase lasting, roughly, until the end of the campaign consisted of South Vietnamese counterattacks to sieze lost territory like Quang Tri.

This is the campaign I would like to model in the Vietnam theater.

I had been struggling for a while to find a suitable campaign scenario for historical Vietnam. I think this campaign offers several good reasons to be the a good Falcon scenario. First, it uses large numbers of NVA/NLF forces attacking over much of South Vietnam, so it will work well with the Falcon campaign engine (as opposed to smaller, localized operations like the siege of Khe San). Second, the whole campaign encompasses 6 months- a bit too long in my opinion- but can be broken into 3 distinct 2 month phases which are more manageable. Third, tying in with point two, each phase has fairly well-defined victory objectives that can be written into a .tri file for each phase; ie. first phase victory conditions are NVA capture of Quang Tri, Hue, and An Loc; third phase victory conditions are S. Vietnam forces capture Quang Tri, An Loc, etc. Finally, because Linebacker took place during this offensive, the air tasking for bombing missions "up north" are believable...as are CAS and interdiction missions "down south". Whatever the player does will be believable in the big scheme of the campaign.

My vision:
I have a bunch of materials that I have either bought or downloaded from the net. Wikipedia has a very good summary of the offensive (google Vietnam 1972 offensive- it's the first link). One of my sources has an OOB for both sides at the division level. This is suitable for this campaign I think. I don't think it is necessary to break down the ground OOB further than divisions- not that I have the info, but there are alot of irregular forces that participated in the war so I don't want to get hung up on Battalion details. Furthermore, my vision is to have a robust reinforcement system for both sides, basically using the same unit designations but broken out by division level- meaning 305 Division 1st Bde, 1st Battalion might show up at D+0, D+7 days, D+10 days, D+20 days and so on to simulate reinforcements from the north, the dispersed nature of forces so that when a Battalion is "killed" in the Falcon world there are actually significant forces that "melted into the jungle" at the point of contact and returned later, and so on. [I'm flexible on this idea if anyone has better ideas...] I have a fair air OOB consisting mostly of F-4s, B-52s, F-111s, F-5s, F-105s, and CV aircraft like A-4s, A-6s and such...alot of OV-10s and A-1s that, unfortunately, we don't have pits for yet in FF5. But there's alot of flyable planes in FF5 that will fit in without alot of work that will be player flyable.

This won't be a 10 mission, 3 day campaign. The player will play this as much for the experience of flying in the environment as to win the campaign. CAS missions should kill things; but no one strike is war-winning. There will be low clouds, rain and weather. There will be AAA and SAMs. The player should count on aborts and more mission planning than usual with respect to routes, terrain avoidance, SEAD, etc.

Work:
I already have the OOB in my head and translating it to pixels won't take more than a day or two. The hard part (as usual) is fixing the links and such. I have an idea that we can manipulate the river characteristics such that they aren't "area water" and units can pass freely over them.
The links along the major combat routes will need a thorough review.
I'd like to see us experiment with movement costs to slow ground movement down, but not eliminate it, to make the pace of combat more like jungle and siege warfare.
Alot of the tough work for this theater is already done. Alot of tweaking will be necessary.

Moving forward:
I'll try to post some scans of my sources tomorrow, if I can get to the scanner without being caught :wink: I have to figure out what's up on the FF5 side- this needs to be FF5 compatible because there aren't any really good FF4 cockpits to go with the Vietnam planes. Let's face it, this is an F-4 Phantom theater; we need the FF5 Phantoms in this bad boy.

I can put it together with ground units, air OOB, a very good set of notes, and maybe, maybe, when we figure out how to make FF5 compatible ground units, we can rebuild it quickly (2 days) at that time.

Comments welcome.
Toonces out!

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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by ccc » 2009-05-11 02:18:31

thanx for your passion on this theater :mrgreen:

in short,

- i like your campaign idea/design. the best part is you come up with the objectives to win.. now TRI can be editied easily and reasonably according to history.

- tile/tile set remained the big headache. i've not check current tile set with Pathmaker yet.. so i don't know how the road/river defined on tiles. once in a while i wonder if SM could re-tile Vnam128 with default Korea tiles, of course, with Autotiling tool..then i may apply similar tricks used in Kurile test, to help clear the road system.

- vnam is a 128 theater. you probably need many units for [reserve] order!

- road system around Quang Tri is buggy.
Last edited by ccc on 2009-05-11 05:17:27, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by Sherlock » 2009-05-11 04:59:30

ccc wrote:- vnam is a 512 theater. you probably need many units for [reserve] order!
I think you meant to say that Vietnam is a 128x128 theater? :mrgreen:
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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by ccc » 2009-05-11 05:16:51

ah - typo.. should be 128.

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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by derStef » 2009-05-11 09:01:33

wonderful campaign ideas as usual mate!

You are the man with the ideas!

I'm sure up to give full suppor, once i have "finished" my current projects.

but you know my idea, of fixing the terrain first and then building a campaign. so i totally agree with ccc.

keep up the good work buddy



rock on and let's "run through the jungle!" :)

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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by toonces » 2009-05-11 10:46:43

ccc wrote:thanx for your passion on this theater :mrgreen:

- vnam is a 128 theater. you probably need many units for [reserve] order!
Yes, I noticed that. My idea is to make all countries except N. and S. Vietnam neutral.

If required, we can change the attributes of the Thai airfields (Tahkili and so on) to US allied or controlled, but leave the rest of the country neutral.

My understanding is that Vietnam itself isn't all that big so if we can cut out all the non-players, the amount of area in which we have to stick ground forces is relatively small.

We have to, have to figure out how to make rivers not "area water". And, in fact, I have ALOT more to say about this, but it will have to wait until later this morning and a new thread.

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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by toonces » 2009-05-13 22:18:27

Update:

I spent a while rebuilding the US air OOB. So far it looks ok, but it will probably need adjustment once I get input from the experts on the true OOB. I mean, I have references, but they're a bit vague in some areas.

I built the NVA 308, 304, and 324B divisions; and the SVA 2, 99 Marine, and 1 Div; and the US 196 in the area ivo Quang Tri and Hue.

I have good offensive NVA movement from Laos to capture Quang Tri, bridges, factories, etc. Right now they're impaling themselves on the SVA units; I will need to alter morale settings on SVA units once everything is up and running.

The links across the DMZ are a mess, but my units want to cross the DMZ- so I'll be working on that.

That's it so far. If anyone is interested in helping, let me know. There is plenty of work to go around. For example, an historic 1972 NVA air OOB would be very, very nice.

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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by ccc » 2009-05-14 02:37:17

Hi Toonces,

Glad to hear you made progerss on Vnam campaign.

your tweaking approach seems weigh more on adding combat units.. hope the terrain/bridges and road systems are ok in this defined combat zone.

my failure report here..
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=21498

btw our Vnam OOB resources here..
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=19438

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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by toonces » 2009-05-15 02:00:02

Hey ccc,
You are correct. Right now I'm focusing on inserting the units. I plan to work the links after the units are placed. This is opposite what Derstef does, but I'm confident (or maybe just hopeful) that once I have the units placed and can identify the choke points I can work around them, rebuild them, or whatever.

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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by toonces » 2009-05-21 16:07:05

Update 5-21-09:

Added the full NVA OOB first draft. Divisions:

MRTTH: 308, 304, 324B
B-3 Front: 32, 2
MRNTN: 5, 7, 9, 1

Each division is (roughly) 5 Brigades of 5xAk-47 infantry battalions, 1 Brigade of 5xT-54 Armor battalions, 1 Brigade of 5x2S19 SP Artillery. A few of the southern divisions are 7 Brigades of infantry, 1 brigade of armor, 1 brigade of artillery.

Blue ground is only built in the north MR I area.

US air OOB is built but needs tweaking.

NVA air OOB needs complete re-work still.

No links rebuilt yet.

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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by toonces » 2009-05-31 23:34:39

Here is a scan of the OOB map I'm using for the ground forces, as well as the division composition for each side.

I have the entire article (about 16 pages) scanned into a pdf; it's about 6.5 mb total. If you'd like a copy, shoot me a PM with an email address and I'll forward it to you.

Image

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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by Snake Man » 2009-06-01 00:34:38

6mb is too big for my email, but could you please put it up to sendspace.com instead?
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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by toonces » 2009-06-30 12:29:18

Hey gents.
After talking with Hustler, I've stopped working on this campaign (and others for FF5) until the FF5 dev team finishes up the newest DB. They seem to think the DB is what's hurting the campaigns right now. I don't know enough to say either way.

Having said that, I created this campaign (Year of the Rat) using an unlocked FF5 database. So, while the ground movement doesn't work, the air war is fully working, and uses a relatively realistic air OOB for blue and red. I didn't touch SM's IADS; based on some limited playtesting I'm going to tweak it some- basically beef it up as the blue side is too capable of shutting down the red airbases as is.

The campaign 'as is' is alot of fun to fly in FF5. While there's no winning or losing in the sense of the ground forces capturing objectives, there are alot of opportunities to fly inderdiction strikes along the DMZ or to go "Downtown" in F-4s, B-52s, and A-6s.

The campaign is really WIP, and there are so many things I want to fix/finish in it- for example, a TACAN list for S. Vietnam airfields so we can crank down the weather (this campaign takes place during the NW Monsoon), get a decent air planning chart, fix some of the squadron names, etc. Nothing that makes the campaign unplayable, but it's really a rookie job up to now. But, I'm not going to be able to do any tweaking for about another 6 weeks (my family is finally coming down!), and I hate to just let this thing continue to languish on my HD another 2 months.

So, I have 2 questions:

1. Is it worth releasing 'as is' knowing that it is really WIP and needs alot of work still?

2. Do I have permission (pending concurrent permission from Hustler) to release it? It will overwrite the Vietnam1/save0.cam file.

What do you guys think?

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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by ccc » 2009-06-30 12:52:39

you may release any thing as you wish :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

don't forget PMC veitnam itself is a WIP. no harm to release yours - both theater package and your campaign have room for improvement. :mrgreen:

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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by Snake Man » 2009-06-30 12:56:35

toonces wrote:the FF5 dev team finishes up the newest DB. They seem to think the DB is what's hurting the campaigns right now.
Meaning what?
1. Is it worth releasing 'as is' knowing that it is really WIP and needs alot of work still?
Yes.
2. Do I have permission (pending concurrent permission from Hustler) to release it? It will overwrite the Vietnam1/save0.cam file.
The theater dirs and <theatername>.tdf files are there for a reason, we'll just add your campaign as bonus theater "addon" for latest Vietnam release.

I can do the rar + release, when do you think you have the edited files ready?
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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by toonces » 2009-06-30 13:43:54

@ SM, none of the FF5 campaigns work right now- including the stock Korea campaigns. I chatted with Hustler about it via phonecon a few weeks ago and then he and the devs have been looking into it. Their feeling is that the new FF5 database conflicts with the units/loadouts/etc in the Korea campaigns (and PMC campaigns) and this is what is making the campaigns "not working". I have my own opinions, but since I'm not a coder and my knowledge of Falcon's inner-workings is relatively shallow, I'll take Hustler's comments as fact for now. What this means is that until the FF5 devs finish their database edits and release them, building a working FF5 campaign is impossible... If what Hustler is saying is right. This is getting out of my knowledge area very rapidly.

Hustler was kind enough to provide me with an unlocked FF5 DB (not the final version, the FF 5.0 exe version) to use to build campaigns for testing out some ideas. I used that DB to rebuild the Vietnam campaign in this thread. For example, the F-4 Phantoms were completely re-worked in the DB, so using an earlier DB made it difficult/unpredictable when placing them in a campaign. With the updated DB I can build units using a relatively stable FF5 DB so the right planes show up.

.....

If you want to release the campaign as an "official" add-on release for PMC, then I'll clean them up and get them to you before next Monday.

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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by Snake Man » 2009-06-30 14:34:42

toonces wrote:none of the FF5 campaigns work right now- including the stock Korea campaigns. Their feeling is that the new FF5 database conflicts with the units/loadouts/etc in the Korea campaigns (and PMC campaigns) and this is what is making the campaigns "not working".
So you are talking about specifically a FF5 issues here... not just the generic "ground units don't move, campaign is broken!" thing found in AF and OF also?
If you want to release the campaign as an "official" add-on release for PMC, then I'll clean them up and get them to you before next Monday.
Well I don't want to do anything here, but if you have something that some people might enjoy, then surely we should release it. And we should make it proper release instead of letting it overwrite existing campaign etc. Of course if it would be a hotfix, then overwrite would be okay, but as I understand it, this is completely reworked campaign using the historical stuff, so definitely this need its own dir/theater name.
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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by toonces » 2009-06-30 15:07:19

SM,
Yes, I am specifically referring to FF5 campaigns not working. If the links are fixed, the ground units will move offensively in FF4, but since FF4 doesn't have all the aircraft upgrades like Phantoms, A-6s, A-4s, MiG-21s etc, it's not nearly as fun to fly in FF4/OF/AF.

I have more to say, but I'll save it for another thread so as not to derail this too much.

I got the ok from Hustler, so give me a week to clean everything up and put together the scenario notes and I'll shoot you the files.

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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by toonces » 2009-07-01 11:40:51

I spent a couple of hours tweaking things last night.

Changed one CV air complement to F-4B, F-4B, A-6, A-4E, E-2C.

Removed 2 squadrons of B-52s.

Need to add in some A-5s.

Added 3, SA-2 battalions, two on NV airfields, one on DMZ. Added about 4 battalions of ZSU-23-4. Need to really scrub the air defense OOB at some point. My reading indicates that most aircraft kills were due to AAA, not SAMs nor MiGs.

Added three more squadrons of MiG-21s (-21MF, -21PF, -21F13). Some aren't flying. I don't know why.
Added two squadrons of J-6.
Added two squadrons of MiG-17. I don't think many of the MiG-17s are flying for some reason.

Flew a few missions on the blue side with the F-4B.

The ATO is tasking ridiculous missions into N. Vietnam. A number of deep strikes were tasked with a single flight of A-4s into downtown Hanoi. That is simply suicide.

I fixed a bug (I think) where none of my F-4s were being tasked with strike missions, by setting my F-4Bs as air-ground specialty.

My A-4s are being tasked with SEAD and SEAD escort, which is nice. I tried an A-4 mission but had a CTD.

Switched to red side. Had a CTD with a MiG-21PF. The ATO doesn't seem to be tasking alot of the squadrons, but there are still alot of MiGs flying so this might not be a bad thing. The FLOT around the DMZ was quite busy with MiGs.

I can't tell for sure, but I think the F-4Es from Thailand might be porked due to a refueling bug. I have plenty of tankers on the ingress/egress, but I don't think the AI is tanking so the missions are too far for the F-4s to make it all the way to the DMZ.

I added 5 OBJ along the Laos/Cambodia/Vietnam border and linked them to simulate the Ho Chi Minh Trail. I added in a few supply battalions. I didn't have my references out, so I couldn't reconstruct an historical HCMT path, but I just wanted to try out the idea. Provided the terrain tiles don't prevent ground movement (ref: that discussion a while back about swamp preventing tracked movement or something like that), this should serve as a road through the jungle without the actual "road". The idea would be to set up targets of opportunity for players to fly search and destroy missions or armed reconnaisance.

Overall, my problem is the same as it always is: I just don't have enough time to create and test at the same time. My strike mission in the F-4B took an hour and a half "real time" to fly, plus a BARCAP mission. 2.5 hours of real life gone, plus an hour of tweaking...and that's it for the night.

More tests tonight.

Things we need:

TACAN channels for main US/SV airbases.

VPAF skins for the MiGs.

Place aircraft with proper skins on the proper CV/re-skin some F-4s/strikers to get a full complement of proper skins. IE., two squadrons of "Kitty Hawk" F-4s, a squadron of "Kitty Hawk" A-4s, etc.

Fully develop Ho Chi Minh Trail.

Actually, there's alot more to do...

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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by toonces » 2009-07-01 11:54:58

I posted these over at FF5 forums:

MiG-21 Kill, North Vietnam
Image

MiG Killers
Image

Escort Engagement, North Vietnam
Image

Bombs on Target, North Vietnam
Image

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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by ccc » 2009-07-01 12:25:01

Hi Toonces,

-since you can add HCMT obj and link them, did you fix the broken road in Quang Tri area yourself?
Changed on CV air complement to F-4B, F-4B, A-6, A-4E, E-2C.
Is carrier-based E-2C/AWACS working properly?
Added three more squadrons of MiG-21s (-21MF, -21PF, -21F13). Some aren't flying. I don't know why.
Added two squadrons of J-6.
Added two squadrons of MiG-17. I don't think many of the MiG-17s are flying for some reason.
task them as Air-Air specialty?
For non-AAM armed mig17 or J-6, they need to to be Air-Air specialty, and some tweak/trick to get gunfighter working..you may have to check DoctorX's campaign, first one.
Overall, my problem is the same as it always is: I just don't have enough time to create and test at the same time. My strike mission in the F-4B took an hour and a half "real time" to fly, plus a BARCAP mission. 2.5 hours of real life gone, plus an hour of tweaking...and that's it for the night.


you can run the clock at 16x, then jump in the flight when it get closer to hot zone.. save the boring flight hours.

btw nice shots. :D

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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by toonces » 2009-07-01 12:31:24

ccc wrote:Hi Toonces,

-since you can add HCMT obj and link them, did you fix the broken road in Quang Tri area yourself?
No, I did not fix the Quang Tri links yet. Ground movement is broken in FF5, so I didn't bother with that yet. If you're bored....

ccc wrote:Is carrier-based E-2C/AWACS working properly?
I didn't know it was broken...I'll check on that.
ccc wrote:task them as Air-Air specialty? For non-AAM armed mig17 or J-6, they need to to be Air-Air specialty, and some tweak/trick to get gunfighter working..you may have to check DoctorX's campaign, first one.
I already did that- all PVAF aircraft are tasked with air-air specialty.
ccc wrote: you can run the clock at 16x, then jump in the flight when it get closer to hot zone.. save the boring flight hours.

btw nice shots. :D
I guess I could do that...I prefer to fly the whole sortie takeoff to landing, but you're right, for testing it isn't necessary to fly the whole mission- just the meat. I feel like I miss some of the...interactions that take place enroute by speeding up. It's hard to explain.

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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by toonces » 2009-07-02 00:42:02

I checked the E-2s- they appear to work. They're launching off the CVA and providing advisories (Chalice 2). They pick up an orbit (it looks like two, one probably from each CV) near/south of Da Nang.

There's a bug where the red side stops scheduling missions mid-day on Day 1 (I've only played up to midnight so far). However, after a few hours, the ATO schedules missions again. Despite setting all units to air-air specialty, they still fly strike missions. I'm guessing it has to do with PRI settings in the campaign. Nothing I can do about that. However, they're still flying CAP/DCA too, and the fact that they don't all fly at once, while a bug, is actually more realistic. So I guess it's win-win for now.

ATO still schedules suicide 4-ship deep strikes. I don't know what's up with that.

Overall, I'm fairly pleased so far. It's so rough around the edges still, but the potential is there. The missions are tough and really require the blue player to stay on his toes. I went trolling for MiGs on a BARCAP, drove into a flak trap at 11k, and took a hit that put me in the water. One minute I'm flying along in 4x compression, the next minute my warning panel is lit up like a Xmas tree.

Some playtest pics, cross-posted from FF Forums.

***********************

Mission 8: Yankee Station, off the coast of North Vietnam.

We received word this morning that the North Vietnamese Army crossed the DMZ in force, catching our ARVN allies by surprise. The National Command Authority authorized the full use of force to blunt the attack.

The Commander of TF-77 requested a 4-ship OCA strike near Than Hoa to disrupt enemy air operations.

Tasking: destroy runway and facilities. Ords: 6xMk-83, 2xAIM-9G

Takeoff: 1428L

We are without SEAD escort for this flight, so I decide to bring the flight in on the deck. Our primary threats will be SA-2 and SA-8s, as well as small-caliber AAA. I'm more worried about SAMs than AAA. My intent will be to bring the flight in tight and low, drop in one pass in CCIP, than haul out east.

Coast in- Feet Dry

Image

We are well within the SA-2 umbrella. About 5 miles beyond feet dry, 15 miles from target, we start picking up SAM launches on both sides. I bump it down to 100 feet and multiple SAMs pass overhead.

Close calls over Haiphong
Image

Ten miles to target, master arm on, bombs selected. More SAMs launch from the north.
Image


One misses this close and impacts right beside the plane.

Close call
Image

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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by toonces » 2009-07-02 00:43:30

Target in sight. More SAMs.
Image


This SAM passes so close that the exhaust lights up the cockpit. I thought I'd taken a hit at first.
Image


I popped up to evade that SAM in a jink, and blew my bomb run.

MiGs on the tarmac
Image


I reefed it around to egress and took an SA-7 or SA-14 in the tail. Ejected- captured to get a one way ticket to Hanoi. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.

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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by toonces » 2009-07-02 00:44:50

Mission 10: OCA Strike against Dong Noi (?), just north of the DMZ, Vietnam.

Are your instrument skills up to speed?

Coast in- Feet Dry. Enemy field just off the nose, dropping in CCRP.
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Flak burst illuminates the bottom of the jet, while the lights of Hue (I think) shine in the distance.
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toonces
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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by toonces » 2009-07-02 20:07:52

I think I'm just about done. I spent more time than I probably should have tweaking some skins for the theater. They're so juvenile that I'm I'm not sure why I bothered. I can't do the really good stuff without permission from the authors, and I'm not good enough to create a skin from wireframes. There are already plenty of other experts out there who do that kind of stuff.

Anyway, I did what I could with non-copyrighted stuff and then flew some playtesting from the red side. The blue side seems to be working like a champ. The red side definately doesn't sortie a ton of planes after the first few hours...and it still schedules alot of low strikes. I guess that's ok- I'd rather have heavy DCA instead though. I'm going to do one more tweak tonight and then that will likely be it. The campaign is playable right now (through day 2, 1200 hours at least) from both sides and is pretty fun and challenging. Alot of potential here.

Some playtest screenshots with some new skins:

MiG-19
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Dogfighting a Phantom in a MiG-19 (dropped the MiG-29A pit in there and just turned the radar off)
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MiG-17
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MiG-21F13
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toonces
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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by toonces » 2009-07-02 22:27:06

I made a few final tweaks- added in some RA-5s, RF-101s, and RF-4C...none of which is flying yet. I added a few additional squadrons of MiGs to some of the fields that appear to be working. I added in 2 or 3 squadrons of An-2 and Mi-28. I fixed my J-6 skin. I started a campaign on the red side and altered the sliders to strongly favor DCA and this seems to have red flying alot more DCA and BARCAP. I don't know how it will work after a day though- the campaign always seems to start strong.

I think that's it fellas. I'll try and wrap up my readme file and have it finished up tomorrow I hope. I'll post a link when I get it up.

A few additional thoughts: I used Tacedit to build the campaign, but this is actually a good campaign for building with TCL provided we can differentiate the Division numbers. I didn't break out the ground units by name further than divisional. And, it seems like the same handful of NVA divisions take part in each campaign during the war, so by using TCL we could just edit the x/y locations and rebuild a couple of campaigns fairly easily, eg. Tet, Easter Offensive, Fall of Saigon, etc.

I'd really like to get some TACANs/Navaids in this theater so we can really crank the weather down and force some instrument landings.

I can't think of anything else right now. A few final screenies:

J-6s and MiG-19s on the flightline:
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Enroute to engage some F-4s:
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I was getting vectors to these Phantoms and couldn't break them out visually. Then I noticed the flak "walking" along the base of the clouds and used it to get a tally, which I thought was cool. Unfortunately, I didn't realize the J-6 in FF5 doesn't have an RWR and I ate an AIM-7 or AIM-9 before I could dogfight them. Again, you really need to use historical tactics in this campaign; for example, I could have used vectors to go around these guys, then hook back on their 6, found a ridge to hide behind, etc. Instead I went head to head and paid for it.

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ccc
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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by ccc » 2009-07-03 01:32:43

but this is actually a good campaign for building with TCL provided we can differentiate the Division numbers.
just a sidenote.. use TCL to generate and place ground units at open land, then move them to adequate positions manually.

btw.. nice new skins. for flying mig-19 or -17 , you may use mig-21 pit.

toonces
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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by toonces » 2009-07-03 01:36:58

Version 1.0 is done. You can download it here:

<deleted, will be PMC download>

File contents:
save0.cam
Skins: MiG-17, MiG-19, J-6, MiG-21F13, MiG-21PF
Documents: Year of the Rat campaign notes, No Guts, No Glory an F-4 Phantom Tactics Manual

I need feedback. Check the installation instructions and make sure they make sense; unless SM alters the manner by which it will be installed (ie. some sort of official release).

If it is going to be installed as part of an official release, I'd like it to have some sort of logo in the scenario box you click to select the campaign on the theater screen. I can send you something if you don't have anything in particular.

I hope it's worthwhile. I didn't get to playtest it very much.
Last edited by toonces on 2009-07-03 23:33:17, edited 1 time in total.

ccc
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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by ccc » 2009-07-03 13:41:44

Alright i confirmed your new save0.cam won't work on FF4/RV version. Appearntly database mismatched. :mrgreen:

toonces
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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by toonces » 2009-07-03 13:54:06

:mrgreen:

Do you have FF5 installed? It will be a bummer to have come all this way with you and then you not be able to play the campaign. :(

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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by toonces » 2009-07-03 13:56:31

Off topic, but I think we've moved to the point where we aren't going to be able to create theaters that are compatible with all versions of Falcon...at least not easily. The DB's differ significantly with the release of FF5.

This was inevitable really.

I've been toying with the idea of "revamping" the air OOB of the PMC theaters to make the FF5 compatible- for the air war. I'd like to look at Europe next I think.

ccc
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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by ccc » 2009-07-03 14:21:19

toonces wrote:Do you have FF5 installed? It will be a bummer to have come all this way with you and then you not be able to play the campaign. :(
im waiting Ranger finishing the 5.1 patch. no hurries.

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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by Blackbird » 2009-07-04 00:28:22

Very nice screenshots, good job Toonces. I hope Ranger add A-37 in DB.

toonces
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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by toonces » 2009-07-04 13:11:33

Man, we were so close, eh SM? What did we spend...4 or 5 hours on that yesterday? LOL. It will pay off later, next time I should be able to build that package up largely on my own...maybe with some .bat help.

Looking ahead, there are a few things I REALLY need help with here.

First is the area planning map. I'd like to make the main map on the campaign screen look like an 1. air planning chart or 2. a topographical chart.

I'd prefer some sort of air planning chart. Here's why. When we really get this campaign fleshed out, especially with navaids for the main airfields, I'd like to play with the weather settings and, perhaps, create some fronts and such. In the historical Easter Offensive, the NVA took advantage of the poor weather to launch their attack while US CAS was severely limited by low ceilings. In a perfect world, I'd like to have some sort of planning chart so that players can map out their route and target, taking into account terrain and mountains.

I'd like to force players into a more realistic flight planning mode... more visual flying, using ground landmarks like ridges and rivers to navigate, requiring navigation via radio instruments rather than the HSD, things like that.

If we can't get the charts in the next 4 months, I can get some when I report to my next duty station and try and scan them in...but it would be better if we can find something online now.

****

I know red dog did some work on the Nevada airfields. Along with point one above, I'd like to get TACAN stations set up for the Vnam airfields, and a TACAN list for the pilots kneeboard. Or, better yet, a printable kneeboard reference.

****

A bit of a longer term project, but it would be great if we could get some more tiles. I don't know what I have in mind specifically. Maybe huts and dikes and stuff like that; create more of a village feeling for the cities.

****

I got a new book yesterday, "MiGs over North Vietnam". Only $45, so basically I invested the price of a new sim to keep developing the sim I already have. LOL. I have a few more in my wishlist. For the next iteration of this campaign I'd like to edit the red OOB to give the NV squadrons historical designations (US too). Longer term, I'd like to get some Vietnamese names in the NV rosters, including their aces as the CO's.

New squadron patches for each squadron to match up with historical patches.

****

I'd like to see if Qawa can finish that A-1 cockpit.

****

More later.

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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by toonces » 2009-07-10 17:17:38

Please read the entire post

The Year of the Rat, a mod for the PMC Tactical version 1.0 theater is available for download.

This mod is a work in progress/beta version.

This mod is not "officially" supported by PMC Tactical, nor by Freefalcon.

DO NOT REPORT BUGS FROM THIS CAMPAIGN IN THE VIETNAM BUGS FORUM ON THE PMC FORUMS!

You may post bugs/comments in this thread, or at the Freefalcon forums here: http://www.freefalcon.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15940

You use this mod at your own risk!

On Easter, 1972, the North Vietnamese launched their largest offensive of the Vietnam War. Their objective was to capture territory in South Vietnam including many provincial capitals, destroy as many South Vietnamese units as possible, and to some extent, weaken US resolve to continue fighting in Vietnam.

The campaign lasted from 30 March - 22 October, 1972, and incorporated several phases. The first phase consisted of North Vietnamese offensives, culminating in the capture of Quang Tri in I Corps, and nearly the capture of Hue, a move to sieze Kontum in II Corps, and an assault on the capital of Binh Long Province at An Loc. The second phase, during May, was a consolidation phase during which the US built up its forces and also launched Operation Linebacker. The third phase lasting, roughly, until the end of the campaign consisted of South Vietnamese counterattacks to sieze lost territory like Quang Tri.

The Year of the Rat mod simulates the first portion of this offensive. It includes a semi-historical US air and ground order of battle and a semi-historical North Vietnamese air and ground order of battle.

The mod heavily modifies the original PMC Tactical Vietnam version 1.0 historical campaign to bring it to FF5 database standards. You can now fly your F-4Bs and Js, A-6s, and A-7s from the deck of US aircraft carriers in the Gulf of Tonkin against targets in North Vietnam, opposed by MiG-21s and MiG-17/19s.

The ground units are placeholders and do not move offensively. This is a known problem.

There is no trigger file; this means that the campaign, as is, has no victory conditions to end it. It has not been extensively playtested. That's where you come in. I need feedback.

My limited playtesting has shown the campaign to run solidly for at least 36 hours, with intense fun to be had

The download includes:

File contents:
save0.cam
Skins: MiG-17, MiG-19, J-6, MiG-21F13, MiG-21PF (thank you Hustler for your kind permission to mod these skins)
Documents: Year of the Rat campaign notes, No Guts, No Glory an F-4 Phantom Tactics Manual

Installation instructions:

1. Download and install the official PMC Tactical Vietnam campaign version 1.0 from the link in the thread here: http://www.pmctactical.org/foru...p?f=13&t=21379

2. Download the Year of the Rat mod into a separate folder (not your default FF5 installation). Extract the files into a separate folder. Open the scenario notes and read the installation instructions. Follow them!
Available here: http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=6794 ... ddc235a7f2 563a28f5


Post your comments, criticism, and feedback here. DO NOT post problems to the PMC Tactical bugs forums.

Check six,
Toonces

Credit belongs to the original theater developers at PMC Tactical, and the FF5 crew for their hard work. Also, special thanks to Hustler for providing the database that allowed for this campaign to be created.

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arabianjules
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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by arabianjules » 2009-07-17 07:45:43

a few more screenies 8-)

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slippery sods those mig 21`s in the clouds, never got a 1

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more weps please and clean the windscreen, theres a good chap!
AMD 64 3500+ {AGP} 2GB ram, X1950 512mb ATi, LG 22" TFT, Thrustmaster hotas.X

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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by arabianjules » 2009-07-17 07:46:39

Image

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AMD 64 3500+ {AGP} 2GB ram, X1950 512mb ATi, LG 22" TFT, Thrustmaster hotas.X

ccc
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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by ccc » 2009-07-17 08:35:54

nice screenies :D :D

just too much work left to make a better vnam package.. in every field. :(

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Re: Year of the Rat Campaign

Post by Blackbird » 2009-07-18 00:43:59

Beautiful shots Arabianjules

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