Volcano

Just FYI, as mentioned in the previous TGIF, we will put the campaign on hold this TGIF because several people (including myself) will not be available due to the Thanksgiving holiday. We will resume the campaign the Friday after that (DEC 2nd), and I will post the scenario at the beginning of that week. (The campaign was originally scheduled where the last mission would have been played last TGIF, but if we recall, it had a delayed start by two weeks). Of course feel free to meet up with others and play a scenario of your choice, or otherwise go spend time with your other family. 😎

Thanks for playing the 8th Firefight 79 scenario. Lots of suspense, but in the end it turned out to be indecisive, but Red did gain some ground in points, so good job. 👍 Currently, Blue is winning by 334 points. Current Score: +834 https://www.steelbeasts.com/sbwiki/index.php?title=Firefight_79 (Left-click on the image to enlarge it)

18 NOV 2022: Firefight 79-S08-4363 (scenario is in the SB Lobby in TS) Points are compared week to week (Blue is positive points and Red is negative points). By the end of Mission 10, if Blue has +500 points or more, or if Red has -500 points or less, then that side wins, otherwise it’s a Draw. On the other hand, if the non-awards modified total scenario points are either > +1500 or < -1500 for two weeks in a row then the campaign ends early. Also, like in the recent MBT 87 campaign, that system of Awards will be used for extra points that might influence the final outcome. Current Score: +924 https://www.steelbeasts.com/sbwiki/index.php?title=Firefight_79 SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS: Draft? No. Any new players will balance out the sides as necessary. Random CO selection? No. Minimum # players: 8 NOTES: Remember to play within the TGIF House Rules and SB.com Community Rules.

Thanks for playing the 6th and 7th Firefight 79 scenario. Good job Red, they won both but Blue kept the points close as well. Current Score: +924 https://www.steelbeasts.com/sbwiki/index.php?title=Firefight_79 (Left-click on the image to enlarge it)

OK, I was very thorough, reproducing the situation and it seems that it was only 120 points that Blue had extra when taking the one objective at 51:48. Not too bad, actually. So that means 405 - 120 = 285 (US) vs. 541 (Soviet), difference of -256 (instead of -136). I'll update the score shortly... 👌

I'll be updating the score soon for S06 and S07. As mentioned in the AAR, I broke the score conditions in S06 -- as the briefing states, Blue had to take both objectives, but only took one. Issue being that points were awarded for the objective score that shouldn't have been (but Red's score was correct). The error being that it should have been "All regions in the group", instead. If anyone wants to check that, you can always open the scenario in the Mission Editor and look at the US side's score to confirm the error if you don't trust me. 😌 (So, I will reproduce the scenario result in a test using the AAR and report file, and determine what the score should have been, based on the replicated result (just trying to be fair with the points, since the score has been reworked entirely to make things "better" (no possibilities for 1000 to 0 scores), but if course it seems I messed a couple up so far.)

Note that there was a small error in the S07, now it is "a" variant (Firefight 79-S07-4363a). So, if anyone downloaded it before now, get it again.

Just FYI for JohnnyCat who agreed to CO "the next mission" for Red side: That will be Firefight 79-S06-4363, and we would find someone else who hasn't CO'd yet for Firefight 79-S07-4363, on the spot. In other words, don't worry you won't have to CO both! 😲

11 NOV 2022: Firefight 79-S06-4363 Firefight 79-S07-4363a (scenarios are in the SB Lobby in TS) The plan is to play TWO scenarios this time, because both are 60 minutes long, but of course it depends on how things go. If anyone has to leave after the first mission, then that is OK, because the second one is smaller than the first. Points are compared week to week (Blue is positive points and Red is negative points). By the end of Mission 10, if Blue has +500 points or more, or if Red has -500 points or less, then that side wins, otherwise it’s a Draw. On the other hand, if the points are either > +1500 or < -1500 for two weeks in a row then the campaign ends early. Also, like in the recent MBT 87 campaign, that system of Awards will be used for extra points that might influence the final outcome. Current Score: +2,059 https://www.steelbeasts.com/sbwiki/index.php?title=Firefight_79 SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS: Draft? No. Any new players will balance out the sides as necessary. Random CO selection? No. Minimum # players: 8 NOTES: Remember to play within the TGIF House Rules and SB.com Community Rules.

Thanks for playing the 5th Firefight 79 scenario. Great job Red, they gained just enough ground back in points to keep the Total Scenario Score (pre-awards modification) within the 1500 range. This gets them out of the early termination situation. 👍 Current Score: +1,527 https://www.steelbeasts.com/sbwiki/index.php?title=Firefight_79

4 NOV 2022: Firefight 79-S05-4363 (scenario is in the SB Lobby in TS) Points are compared week to week (Blue is positive points and Red is negative points). By the end of Mission 10, if Blue has +500 points or more, or if Red has -500 points or less, then that side wins, otherwise it’s a Draw. On the other hand, if the points are either > +1500 or < -1500 for two weeks in a row then the campaign ends early. Also, like in the recent MBT 87 campaign, that system of Awards will be used for extra points that might influence the final outcome. Current Score: +2,059 https://www.steelbeasts.com/sbwiki/index.php?title=Firefight_79 SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS: Draft? No. Any new players will balance out the sides as necessary. Random CO selection? No. Minimum # players: 8 NOTES: Remember to play within the TGIF House Rules and SB.com Community Rules.

Thanks for playing the 4th Firefight 79 scenario. Round of applause for Tankhunter, the MVP of the scenario. 👏🙌 Current Score: +2,059 https://www.steelbeasts.com/sbwiki/index.php?title=Firefight_79 The fact of the matter is, at this point we are now in early termination territory. If Red cannot bring the score down to +1,500 in the next mission, then the campaign will end early in a Blue victory.

Yep, it really depends on how much time the unit spends in one place. The more time that passes, the more obstacles that would generally be constructed. Of course in modern warfare, usually a unit doesn't sit around in one place very long though. However, for the sake of scenario design rule of thumb, I'd say that for a Mech Bn, you'd figure that each company would have at least 1x and usually 2x, and at most probably 3x minefields to deploy, if you don't want the entire front line a solid belt of minefields. Then after that, about 4x to 6x single strands of wire per non-command non-support vehicle (in other words, per front line combat vehicle). Then take that total number per platoon and divide by whether you want double or triple strand wire obstacle (or not if you just want single strands). So, for example, using 6x strands for each combat vehicle that would be 6x single strand wire obstacles, or 3x double strand wire obstacles, or 2x triple strand wire obstacles. Then include vehicle emplacements (one for every combat vehicle, and at most two per, to allow alternate position - but that is a luxury) and you have a very good deliberate defense situation. Then you can possibly allow them to all be deployable in company sized different color deployment zones to increase the Planning Phase "fun".

28 OCT 2022: Firefight 79-S04-4363 Points are compared week to week (Blue is positive points and Red is negative points). By the end of Mission 10, if Blue has +500 points or more, or if Red has -500 points or less, then that side wins, otherwise it’s a Draw. On the other hand, if the points are either > +1500 or < -1500 for two weeks in a row then the campaign ends early. Also, like in the recent MBT 87 campaign, that system of Awards will be used for extra points that might influence the final outcome. Current Score: +1,464 https://www.steelbeasts.com/sbwiki/index.php?title=Firefight_79 SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS: Draft? No. Any new players will balance out the sides as necessary. Random CO selection? No. Minimum # players: 8 NOTES: Remember to play within the TGIF House Rules and SB.com Community Rules.

Just FYI, So it seems there is still some strange behavior here in Network Session. For the past weeks we have been looking into this, and have fixed (hopefully) all remaining issues recently, for the next patch (post 4.363). In the mean time, it was expressed that a way to work around this problem is ... In Network Session, if you observe the T-72B3 FCS doing some "crazy" (like acting jittery, or as if there is some kind of conflict going on) then in the gunners position change the FCS into "emergency" [. key] and then back to "normal" [, key] and then the issue *should* resolve itself. If you jump out of the tank and back in, you might have to do it again. It seems that the HOST and CLIENT were getting out of sync with an FCS setting, and doing this toggle between normal/emergency forces a message to be sent across the network.