[OFP] C4 - Thunderclap by The-Architect

Review by Calamity

Overview

Nice pic and a nice little bit of text describing the situation.

Intro

Very nice. The Voiceovers were a little soft, but I could hear them over the music so it wasn’t too bad. There was one scene where the truck (the principle object of focus) was on the lower left part of the screen. The frame just looked empty… As the truck started to approach the base I thought it was an enemy base at first and I was thinking to myself “I hope this isn’t where I’m starting!” But it was alright, I was just linking up with some forces…

Briefing

The Plan is well done. It was a little unexpected to see the links all grouped together at the bottom of the section, but it worked. Actually, as I clicked the links and the map moved to the various locations, I started to get apprehensive because I began to grasp how much area this mission was going to cover. I hope I’ll be able to find some transport…

As I read the extensive details section I figure out that this is going to be a tank mission. The Extended details are found by a link at the bottom of Plan section. The extended details were well written, but it was one long 4-page read. It would have been much easier to navigate if there had been several links to the various sections. Also, when it got to the detailed part about the first of objective there was a lack of Marker tags. Consequently I was reading about Objective 1 and my map was on Objective 3, the last link I had clicked, and on the previous page. A minor thing, but I noticed. Other than that, the map is well marked, the various objectives are extensively documented and there is support in depth (a reserve, but better than most other missions…)

The weapons selection was good, I re-assigned my entire squad, and then read the briefing and found out it was mostly redundant…

Mission

The mission starts out quiet enough. Hop in your tank and away you go. 1 of the 4 tanks was lost during the attack on the first base, the other two were beat up rather badly. The ambush alley does its job and before I know it I’m all alone hauling ass away from tanks and troops advancing on my crippled tank and dead crew. I manage to make the trek to a way station and link up with friendly forces. I get reinforced and I start on the second objective.

Although the author had taken great pains to provide an interesting defense, I simply sat on a hill overlooking the objective and shot a rocket down their throat. A couple of explosions and some radio chatter later I get a save point. On to the third objective.

My first axis of approach was across the road junction in the valley. But this was guarded, so I decided to circle around to the west of the second objective. This was not guarded at all :(

I maneuver to a hill overlooking the third objective from the North and order my sniper to drop his weapon. I take his rifle and casually pick of some squads that foolishly wander into range. Got off some nice 500-metre shots on that one. Order my squad to crisply form the squad’s I’ve dropped, and to set some targets. Then I call in the attack signal for the other squad. In a couple of minutes it’s all over. All the base defenses are a smoking ruin and I’ve found a ammo crate with an AT4 and an almost unlimited supply of rockets. I enjoy my self taking pot shots at the chopper which is flying overhead, never hit it but it was fun…

Finally, when I run out of rockets, I grab a satchel and do in the objective. Mission ends…

Outro(s)

I was delighted that there was one. Some nice voiceovers and some interesting in-vehicle shots that I liked. A little action, a little Ash-n-Trash, and the outro ends.

Special

A nice little radio save point.

The best thing I liked was the squad level tactics. Two out of three objectives had a force in place, which you could call in. As this force was usually on the other side of the objective from you, it was effectively a pincer, and each time the enemy was caught in a deadly crossfire that gave a textbook example of this tactic…

Overall

A Fun little mission that will fit nicely into this *campaign*. It had some weak spots, the author did not cover all the possible routes of travel. Consequently I was able to exploit some holes in the coverage and move my squad without interference. I’m not too sure I should have been able to take the second objective as I did. Perhaps some Player-Present trigger to ensure the player heads down to the base.