Episode 2:
Deep doodoo time
BAH! Shozbot. I'm in the worst bit of doodoo ever. We maul away at horrible things in the 3oclock region, squad is making noises about the fort, gah.
I use up the remaining G30 in panic shots, this is lamb dinner for me and the squad, we're being slaughtered one at a time, 3 at a time, it's hell.
I use my binocs what else could I bloody well do. I'm stuck on my favorite hill and this is not the way I intendend things to be.
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Technical note:
my squad are doing what humans do, they fight and scratch. The ai is flanking, charging, hurting, crawling, waypointing away, coming back, the whole episode is what humans do. Both sides. WHY if this is the case does ANYONE use dumbed down troops, non-experts, non-seasoned troops, WHY would anyone use =0 instead of =1. I'm gonna die, but everything is working as it should, my squad aren't looking for contact lenses, the ai isn't going mute into hunt-the-last-soldier syndrome. It is so rare to get a ding dong battle going, This is, as the game should be. You've fallen or tripped over the g-spot of the ofp engine. I hope other authors rip through your mission.sqm to find out what it is. Normally, tanks alter ai behaviour for the worse. It didn't happen. What on earth can I say but bloody well done.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE authors, get into this mission.sqm and find out what the chemistry is. It's a magic number, it isn't some massive piece of scripting, it's just a 'balanced' number.
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I surrender.
The music, AGAIN, makes it. It really is tragic. *detested* the "all your fault" that is SO CRASS. Of course it is, it's BLOODY OBVIOUS. I'm feeling quite bad enough thanks, you tripwired here, changed me from wanting to try again, to ummm, should I? The sentence works even better (for me) if you just removed that remark. Dont change a single word if it feels wrong.
I'm not fussed about the timing of the release. Iraqi's during pinch-the-oil part1 were released about 2 weeks later, Germans in Russia weren't released until 1957/9 and some not till 1965. (most) Italians were freed the day Patton hit battle of the bulge.
The darkness spoilt it for me. It's not a black op mission, You can't see the surrender, You can't see the rain, No General is going to commit a full army in that.
various retries. All getting much better, and slippery when wet mouse controls surrender me again. Am not fussed. This is 'ok' But i end in a mess of a full retry. Mostly / entirely my fault, Sore that I wont re-create the hell I fell into.
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Restart:
No sir, no G30 for me, not never again.
start much as before, 1st time i actually notice spetz running to boat, clever.
gloom dark not nearly as noticeable 06:20
This time I leave squad on alert and #2 takes out the entire fort unnassisted plus a few other nasties here and there knocked over be others. Nothing comes near us, #2 knocked everything away > 250 meters
Decide to change tactic (only because I've played the other way a bit too often). decide to drop down to beach. Thought in mind of facing reinforcements from fort. Knock off that nasty pair that would have tried to hide in bushes above fort, before they get the chance. Then of course, ratbag author has an AT soldier on cement block and I lose #2 because of him. Soon take revenge. Grab his rpg coz i know what's coming.
No sign of movement or enemy from 3 o'clock, nor really, anywhere else. That initial massacre did most of the work needed (so far).
Beach is considerably brighter than anywhere else. A single comes over the ridge and goes down, should have got suspicous but instead run smack into god knows how many in front of fort as i Turn the corner. Retry
Get to corner again, lie in bushes, I know from terrain most of squad are 'safe' lower down, and my attack angle. I did a dog's leg to force my squad in temporary opposite direction to me. Pick out three nasties at sandbags, undoubtedly more. Knock them off just as one of them fires launch grenade, it actually wizzes over my left ear before it hits the sea. (!!!!!) You never want to see one of those getting bigger as it comes. Had i charged up ridge that launcher grenade would've killed off most of me. I find swerve tactics gets a squad where I want them without move commands.
There's at least another 3 in the road direct front. Grenade laucher goes again and drops 20 meters? in front of me.
various retry saves in this corner. among which 1,2,3,4 soldiers rush out of fort, nasty bugger up where I originally started from, soldier - pair i thought i'd knocked off in bush were actually there, troops that i'd estimated at 3/4 in front of sandbags were at least a 9 man squad and were in the process of doubling back up road, since I had vacated their original objective, one baddie in sandbags swiped me. grenades not launchers dropping just a little short of me to spectacular visual, All great stuff.
Finally end up in M2 post just in time for M113 & Co to come spilling down roadway / hillside. M2 took a lot out and visually spectacular with tracers red and green going every whichway, #3 down #7 down,, 4,5 and we're overwhelmed. Retry
Decided to wait them out in my now favorite corner. Again stunning visuals through binocs as streaming enemy ai gets cut down by green tracer, M113 and T55 in shadows, target them, wham, their both dead from squad fire.
Zapped by god knows what coming around other front corner. whatever it was, was a lot of it, retry.
various battlefests all from this corner. I could, should have, tactically run away. I *would* have been successfull. But, the truth was I was enjoying myself too much, Each time I got knocked over (or over-run) I'd hit retry, just to see / watch what the ai was doing , both sides. tanks went boom / didn't go boom, etc. Got in nest again to devastating effect, eventually all of us ended in death trap near hospital tent with that 'other' squad coming down that hill. Tested out a few squad commands to check ai-lag during battle. Nothing detectable by me while i lived long enough.
My squad losing it a bit with tank close, but the effect was one of they pop their head up, they're shot dead.
Mist having a good effect. Barely seen nasties with their guns blazing (only way to pick them out).
Eventually 'won' with 2 squad members left, the medic and another, and called it quits. I could have done better by much, 11 man squad at start of blap fest each time. I was road testing too hard to be bothered with that. Issue being, you didn't make it too hard (afaik)
Two unpleasant tastes in mouth. Tank did what tanks do and climbed into bed with me. Sat near hospital tent and might as well not been in game. Waypoint him away, or something. I *know* he's not supposed to get that far.
2nd bad taste was: I won, mission complete, while nasties are still shooting. I hate that. please fix it, or make them flee.
Outro was fine, nice ending shot to flag which says a thousand words. Very smart, OF COURSE they would off limits the wrecked tanks, nice touch. Body bags far too orderly for my liking.
yet again pilot, a winner, only this time, it's significantly boosted in ferocity. Whatever you done, you dun good. God how I hope authors rip into your sqm settings and find out why these buggers were so unpleasant. It makes me cringe, the dreadful missions I've played that only needed this to make them a rave.
I congratulate you for another reason, you have that capacity to rip out what doesn't work. The M113 at front door was sacrificed and the benefit is plain to see.
You didn't need to end it here, you could turn it into Ben Hur and go after those two towns, they are, 'logically' pests being so close. As commander, I *would* order my troops up there because this fort has always been a death trap in every mission I have ever played it in.
Enough.
Thank you.