ArmA 2: Combined Operations - We have our own server

[Alex Bakke]

Here we go:

We(Me and Liq) were bugging Alpha and Bravo SL's to mark targets or tell if they needed any specific support.
When we didn't and just saw them getting torn to shreds I ordered Liq to bring down hell on earth on anything made out of more then 10kg metal.

The only time we were getting really torn to shreds, was when we were dealing with the Hind that caught everyone off guard - The hind took out most of Bravo, and some from Alpha. Then grenades/rockets took some of the squad out again. So, we took out the hind and got to reviving everyone - By the time we crested the hill however, all vehicle targets at Nur - Targets that we were equipped to deal with - were destroyed, and most infantry were dead. We came into no contact with vehicles during the entire mission, save a shilka and a BTR that the Abrams dealt with.

They got mortars, a javelin and perhaps a sniper.
...just like a fire support team.

The problem, however, is that they're not supporting - throughout the mission they were the main offence, the main way of dealing with tanks and infantry alike.

The problem with infantry domi is that enemies are they same as regular domi, meaning Tanks, BMP's M113, UAZ's, Shielkas, and so on. Things that "footsloggers" have a big problem dealing with.

That's a bit of a stretch. Infantry, with the right equipment, can deal with most stuff. Saying "Oh well there're tanks there, so we might as well send in the big guns" is a little premature.

First attack on (nur?), Alpha was to follow Bravo down the slope and the proceed with a joint "fire-line" into town, after a lot of casualties Unaco made the bold move to suggest taking his squad more east to spread out the line, which worked perfectly.
When attacking the second town I wanted both squads on a huge line walking towards to town so that noone was left behind while 2 ppl got all the kills/contacts.
Looking at the map, that didn't seem to work at all.

It worked out in the end with Nur, but I think that advancing behind a unit is always a poor idea to implement.

Next time we can try adding a real sniper element to charlie/delta and you can run around as a wookie :)

Sure, but we should take the DMR as well.

Bring down the tank/bmp ratio and add some UAZ/M113's instead and the mortars are unnecessary 'cuz the "footsloggers" can deal with them.

As long as we have AT troopers, we should be able to deal with a few tanks; we have in the past.

[Joseph-Sulphur]

Just an idea, but a coloured M203 smoke grenade can be an extremely useful tool for directing air support.

They are the very devil to aim though, since the in-game iron sights for M203s are useless and they bounce absolutely everywhere. But it would be better better than "Oh yeah, kill that house with the um, balcony, thing".

[Alex Bakke]

I should also add that the mod 'WarFX:Blastcore' increases the amount of smoke that a smoke grenades release by a fair amount, which makes it incredibly easy to spot the stuff.

[Liqourish]

Sidethought: I'd hate to replace the infantry mortar with a mortar stryker. Not only is the stryker a chore to move about, but the infantry mortar presents the interesting logistical problem of finding enough backs to stick it on.

[Joseph-Sulphur]

Whoever is the boss tonight decides what we use. My vote is no artillery at all.

[GraveyardJimmy]

I have a version of Domi for Invasion 1944 if anyone would like to try it sometime? Airdrops from C-47s and P51s as a reward. It has revive, jeeps, shermans, weapon resting etc, got it from another server.

[Ansob]

having to wait for a fire mission is not fun, it's just boring.

It's what artillery does.

If you don't like waiting for someone to ask you to blow shit up once every ten to fifteen minutes, don't play artillery! It's that simple. There are other things you can do that don't involve sitting around waiting for someone to call in a target. By definition, arty is an incredibly laid back role (useful for when you want to read a book).

The solution here is to remove the unlimited mortar and mechanise the infantry squads.

We could also keep Delta as a support squad, swap Charlie FO for Delta Engi (so the squads are 2xEngi//2xFO), then replace the rest of Delta with just Riflemen (except the Medic and SL) and leave a man-portable mortar with ~12 shells in base which the Delta Riflemen can carry. This is more work, though.

e; also, enforcing class/kit was really nice. Can we do that all the time now (except maybe Sat)?

[Joseph-Sulphur]

It was great back when we had the support squad, we were basically a mobile Zeus battery

[Liqourish]

e; also, enforcing class/kit was really nice. Can we do that all the time now (except maybe Sat)?

I agree with not letting everyone just pick whatever they want, leaving the squad with 4 AT guys, 2 machinegunners, and one guy who picked up an m32 with flares; however, I'm not sure that we should necessarily stick to what the label in the lobby says. For example, I don't think there's AA included by default which is clearly needed.

I think what would work well is that with exception to the medic, the SL calls out squad roles, and people volunteer for them. That way we can be flexible without everyone just doing whatever they want and screwing up the composition.

[Alex Bakke]

I don't think there's AA included by default which is clearly needed.

There are two AT troopers per squad, so you could replace one with AA.

[sinister agent]

They are the very devil to aim though, since the in-game iron sights for M203s are useless and they bounce absolutely everywhere. But it would be better better than "Oh yeah, kill that house with the um, balcony, thing".

Arma needs paintball guns.

[StrangLove]

That was intense, excellent work by all (especially Charlie), I was glad to see teamwork (Especially Charlie squad's) and it was nice to have a support role that wasn't overkill (Especially because it was Charlie)

[sinister agent]

I think strang might be having an affair with someone called Charlie.

Bravo were clearly best. We didn't alert the whole town and get butchered, for a start. GLOVES OFF.

[Liqourish]

Good session mates!

'Twas an honor to command you all.

The squad leaders all did exceptionally well, especially Xenu. He barely lost any men in that first, bloody assault! The more complicated comms seemed to work rather well, especially once we got into the habit of identifying ourselves before talking.

The initial assault on the first town made it abundantly clear that we can't do domi without proper support. In that vein, I humbly request that we either get mortars back (with limited ammo) or have someone flying around with an A-10. The A-10 is nice, since there's some interesting coordinating to be done, but on the other hand it means that someone is going to be up in the air doing nothing most of the time.

IFVs for the infantry would also help greatly, since it means they could assault the town easier without getting bogged down on the outskirts due to bunkers and MGs.

I'd love to hear more about how the new comms worked out for SLs, since I was in the lonely CO seat and didn't have to talk to anyone other than you guys (and occasionally bob)

[StrangLove]

The Comms were nice, I have some brief points:

- FAC must not be SL as well, it's far too hectic.

- The A10 seems to work better than the Mortars, and still presents a 'logistical problem' in the refuel and rearm capacity.

- Protocol has to be established as to who is talking to who, for example 'CO to ALL' or 'BRAVO lead to ALL', or 'CHARLIE lead to CO'. At several points I was confused as to which channel I should reply down.

[sinister agent]

I'm still sore that I got cut off just as I was about to be given the all clear to go snipe crazy. There were so many heads that had asked to be exploded, and I'd assured them that I would help them out any minute now. But it was not to be.

[Anthile]

http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/54...E4F48528C7664/

That is all.

[Liqourish]

Oooh, sidenote: we need to work on contact drills more. I'm not sure how well things went tonight, seeing as I was a lonely commander, but in general that would be good.

[Brnin8r]

The new comms work well, but I think it would be even better to have a protocol regarding who is speaking and who the player is talking to as StrangLove suggested. I never got around to using the A-10 for CAS since I kind of forgot about it, i think having the marksman of the squad take over the FAC duties is a good option since they are mostly providing overwatch anyway.

[Liqourish]

I think it might be better to have someone other than the marksman doing it, since spotting targets and marking them are two separate things. The marksman will be better at overwatch if he doesn't have to lase.