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OPERATION VARIABLE III


Tacbat

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Nice work Dark. That will be helpful when trying to visualize what the ground is doing, especially since there won't be map updates for the first two missions.

That's right: NO MAP UPDATES for the first two missions, so start practising! Oh, and the more complaining I hear about it will translate into more missions without map updates. So, embrace the suck. ;)

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I've been trying some scenarios with no map updates. This is going to be...interesting.

Best I can do is "the way it was" for me: hard copy map, covered in clear plastic, with non-permanent markers (for this exercise, anyway). Know for sure where my start point is, then navigate to any destination via readily identifiable features: X-roads, bridges, tree lines, prominent buildings, contours and so forth. Mark them on the map as you pass them to keep track of your progress. Keep an eye on your vehicle icon in the lower right hand corner for direction. Maybe the gunners can lay on a smoke shoot for guidance (not likely, but useful). Maybe the leaders have a better way of doing it: we'll see on Friday. With the given ORBATs, you are right: it's going to be interesting, especially if you've got multiple units and aggregates to move.

Or, as TacBat says, just "embrace the suck!" :biggrin:

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Would it be possible to conduct, as a simultaneous side-show, operation constant?

We all line up, on the flat map, 100 meters apart, with everything disabled except for crew and the main gun. All gun sights, turret motors, and computer wizardry are disabled.

Last man standing wins.

Not so much a campaign as it is catharsis.

Could certainly be used as a pre-mission drill to up the intensity.

Great-looking campaign BTW.

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Yes, especially since some "work-arounds" were fixed in the last update. ;)

Well, I did figure out that I can give a unit a route to a CP and wait for radio confirmation that they have arrived. Then I can be reasonably sure they're where I put the CP. The trick is remembering where that was. ;)

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Well, I did figure out that I can give a unit a route to a CP and wait for radio confirmation that they have arrived. Then I can be reasonably sure they're where I put the CP. The trick is remembering where that was. ;)

For me, that's where my hardcopy map comes in. Just a dot or a callsign at the current location keeps me updated. I think that the same can be done on the screen map using graphics, but that takes a bit more time as you click through the various tools. For me, it's faster on the paper map.

Of course, the acid test is next Friday: then we'll see how all this works...or not!

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Yes, the trick with no map updates is to know where you are at some point (ie. at the start of the scenario). What I like to do is, give my unit(s) a route, then move their icons to the end of the first checkpoint (or to the end of the route leg) immediately after giving them a route. Once they report they have arrived, then your icons is up-to-date. Then you repeat this process.

Now the problem is that at some point you will likely lose track of where you are when the bullets start flying. You are pretty much screwed after that point unless you can determine your location by the best means available: terrain association. If you get lost, don't worry, look for key features in your immediate area. The hill over there, the intersecting roads, the large clump of trees next to the small one, the four lane highway with the 90 degree bend in the road running through the mega forest, and so on. And if you are really awesome you can calculate a simple back azimuth to figure our your location. That is, look out in the world for a unique terrain feature (like one of those medieval towers on a hill), note the direction and range to you, then look for another key feature and do the same. Back track those azimuths (ie. NE and NW) until they intersect and voila, you are in that general area of the intersect. Put your unit icon there, then plot a route, if your unit starts moving in the direction you expect then you are correct. If not, then start over. :shocked:

And remember, if you don't know where you are then it is *almost* always better to just sit in place and keep trying to figure it out rather than just to keep driving and hoping. ;)

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Yes, the trick with no map updates is to know where you are at some point (ie. at the start of the scenario). What I like to do is, give my unit(s) a route, then move their icons to the end of the first checkpoint (or to the end of the route leg) immediately after giving them a route. Once they report they have arrived, then your icons is up-to-date. Then you repeat this process.

Now the problem is that at some point you will likely lose track of where you are when the bullets start flying. You are pretty much screwed after that point unless you can determine your location by the best means available: terrain association. If you get lost, don't worry, look for key features in your immediate area. The hill over there, the intersecting roads, the large clump of trees next to the small one, the four lane highway with the 90 degree bend in the road running through the mega forest, and so on. And if you are really awesome you can calculate a simple back azimuth to figure our your location. That is, look out in the world for a unique terrain feature (like one of those medieval towers on a hill), note the direction and range to you, then look for another key feature and do the same. Back track those azimuths (ie. NE and NW) until they intersect and voila, you are in that general area of the intersect. Put your unit icon there, then plot a route, if your unit starts moving in the direction you expect then you are correct. If not, then start over. :shocked:

And remember, if you don't know where you are then it is *almost* always better to just sit in place and keep trying to figure it out rather than just to keep driving and hoping. ;)

Yeah I tried that in the top tank platoon......didn't end well. :cul:

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And remember, if you don't know where you are then it is *almost* always better to just sit in place and keep trying to figure it out rather than just to keep driving and hoping. ;)

So much of the combat footage you can watch from the last decade or so on the web looks just like this. Take contact, hunker down, throw masses of ammo downrange, and then call in arty/air.

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Yes, or you risk becoming like 12Alfa's signature: "Lost but making good time."

Seems like the removal of map updates is always great for reinforcing platoon tactics. Just let the platoon commander worry about where you are on the map. If you get lost, it is his fault. In any case, map study is good and it looks like this map from the ever artful manteuffel is tops. Are all of his creations in the download library?

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