The Battle of Zugdidi, multiplayer mission

[Speed_2]

Hey, I just got done (I think) with the first version of a fairly large and long mission I am calling The Battle of Zugdidi. Though it's got spots for 12 people, it can be completed by as few as three or four. I'd personally recommend five or six.

 

I'd would be highly appreciative should any of you fly this that you report any bugs you might find!

 

WARNING! due to the large number of units in this mission, some users with older computers will experience low frame rates at the beginning of the mission while the enemy is attacking.

 

Here is the briefing:

 

SITREP

Ground:

NATO has attacked our army in Georgia in an attempt to push us out of the country. Our last major stronghold in the Samegrelo region is Zugdidi. We have detected a major NATO armored attack coming from the south. Frontal aviation will be tasked with repelling the enemy attack and then providing close air support to friendly forces in an attempt to break out from Zugdidi and capture positions to the south.

 

Enemy ground composition includes armored vehicles from the US army, armored vehicles from the remnants of Georgia’s army, and a scattering of air defense vehicles (mainly Rolands) belonging to the German army.

 

Air:

Currently, neither side enjoys much of an advantage. Our forces have deployed SA-10s and SA-11s that are preventing enemy air from operating over the battlefield. Likewise, the enemy has deployed Patriot, Hawk, Roland, and short range IR guided missiles to prevent us from supporting our ground troops using fixed-wing assets. Frontal aviation will be tasked with opening up the air war by approaching the Patriot SAM site in NOE flight and destroying it, allowing our Fixed-wing SEAD aircraft to get close enough to take out the Hawk and Roland sites. Once all long range radar guided SAMs are destroyed, we will launch CAP, SEAD patrol, CAS, and other strikes using fixed-wing aircraft.

 

FARPs:

Currently, we have two FARPs in operation: one located in the Zugdidi central park area, and the other located 16 km to the northwest, south of Gali. KA-50 aircraft groups 1 through 6 will be based out of Zugdidi, and groups 7 through 12 will be based at the northwest FARP.

 

INTEL

Army units:

A major enemy offensive against our forces in Zugdidi is expected in the very near future. The enemy supply level is good, and their morale is high.

The enemy has deployed defensively near major bridges and at opportune ambush locations. Total enemy strength in the area is estimated to be from 150-250 armored vehicles, and 50-100 AAA, SAM, artillery, and support vehicles.

 

Air defenses:

Patriot, Hawk, Roland, Stinger (Avenger, Linebacker and MANPAD), SA-9, SA-13, AAA, small arms

 

Air threats:

F-15C, F-16C, AH-64D, AH-1W, A-10A

Air threats SHOULD be neutralized by our air defenses early; later, once enemy air defenses have been disabled, our fighter aircraft will assist in maintaining air superiority. However, the possibility of encountering enemy air threats remains.

 

Enemy airbases:

F-15Cs, F-16Cs, A-10As are operating out of Batumi. Enemy helicopters have been detected from time to time over the battlefield, mostly near Senaki. Our low altitude SAM coverage mostly keeps them from operating near Zugdidi. An enemy FARP remains unaccounted for, and needs to be disabled/destroyed if found.

 

CAS

Aircraft# 51 through 58 (Sorties 1 through 8)

 

Task:

Support friendly ground forces

 

Loadout:

12xVikhrs

10xS-13 rockets

Cannon

50% fuel

 

Details:

Between 30 and 60 armored vehicles, believed to be of the US army, have been detected approaching from the south. Frontal aviation will attempt to eliminate these attackers before they take Zugdidi, and if Zugdidi falls, will attempt eliminate all the occupying enemy forces.

 

Once these attackers have been dealt with, our ground forces will wait till we have eliminated the long range radar guided SAMs and achieved air superiority over the battlefield, and then begin a frontal attack on enemy postions. Our army commanders want fixed-wing support overhead as well as rotary-wing assets before they feel confident enough to proceed with the attack.

 

Warning!

Until the two Hawk sites and Patriot site have been dealt with, the maximum safe altitude in the Zugdidi area is between 500 and 600 meters. A large hill to the south blocks low altitude LOS for the Patriot and Hawk sites over the Zugdidi area.

 

GROUND ATTACK

Aircraft# 59 and 60 (Sorties 9 and 10)

 

Task:

Attack enemy reserve forces

 

Loadout:

12xVikhrs

10xS-13 rockets

Cannon

100% fuel

 

Details:

The enemy is sure to try to launch a counter offensive some time after we advance. To delay this as much as possible, it is necessary to strike enemy armor units that are being held in reserve in the rear.

 

This attack should be attempted towards the late stages of this mission after a significant portion of the enemy air defenses (including all Hawk and Patriot) have been eliminated.

 

GROUND ATTACK/SEAD STRIKE

Aircraft# 61 and 62

 

Task:

Disable PATRIOT SAM site and destroy targets of opportunity in the rear

Loadout:

 

12xVikhrs

10xS-13 rockets

Cannon

100% fuel

 

Details:

The long range of the Patriot SAM is preventing our fixed-wing SEAD aircraft from getting close enough to it or the Hawk sites to destroy them with ARMs. The only way to take out the Patriot is a NOE approach using rotary-wing frontal aviation assets.

 

Intel has identified a low altitude route that can be used to approach the Patriot control radar safely. In addition, a critical flaw in the enemy’s defense has been found: no short range defenses protecting the Patriot have been identified.

 

The route to the Patriot control radar has been marked precisely in ABRIS with waypoints. Aircraft must follow these waypoints exactly or face additional risk of getting shot down.

 

NOTE:

Command has also asked us to destroy any enemy targets of opportunity along the route we are using. There is evidence of an enemy FARP somewhere behind enemy lines, and if found, it must be disabled. We cannot allow our tanks to be destroyed by AH-64s!

 

EDIT: Added updated mission attachements. v1.1b is recommended over v1.1a unless everyone is running the fastest i7 processors and very good graphics cards.

Battle of Zugdidi v1.1a.miz

Battle of Zugdidi v1.1b.miz

Edited February 15, 2010 by Speed_2

[Scooternutz]

One of the best I have seen among the greats. Unbelievable immersion.

[zdXu]

Most complex scenario so far for DSC Black shark. Awesome. Great the detailed briefing.

[Panzertard]

I was like "what the ****, how many units are rolling on to the farp, you say!???" the first time I played it. :lol:

Love the steamroller - cheers. :thumbup:

[Speed_2]

Does anyone have a good objective/mission/message sound? I like the radio static that Dragon puts in his missions every time a message appears, unfortuantely, I do not have any sound anything like that, so I have no sound effects.

 

Thanks for the comments, but I doubt this is really that more complex than others. Oh, and it's something like 50 armored vehicles you get attacked by. It can be won with just three people, but even if you lose the city, in the current version I didn't put in any consequences/penalties. If I made a penalty of not being able to rearm and refuel anymore from the city farp after you regain control of it, that would be simply annoying.

Edited January 26, 2010 by Speed_2

[Speed]

Ok, I now have two updated and upgraded versions of this mission. Several bug fixes were done, as well as some improvements such as trigger sounds.

 

The only difference between the battle of Zugdidi v1.1a and v1.1b is that civilian traffic is forced off, and scenes are forced to medium, in 1.1b. Very few computers are able to handle this mission with acceptable frame rates if scenes are set to high, and civ traffic off just reduces the congestion even more, and even improves realism, I mean, what civilians in their right minds would be driving a car through a battle?! Furthermore, it becomes easier to defend Zugdidi with scenes set to medium (fewer trees in the city).

 

Anyway, I'd highly recommend v1.1b, unless EVERYONE is running a top of the line video card and the fastest i7 processor. The difference in graphics is quite minimal, but you get a huge boost in frame rate with this particular mission.

[dooom]

any servers running this? i cant wait to try it

[Speed]

Here's the problem with this mission: you can't really just put it on a server and let it go, like you could Spider76's 10 bridges. You need to start with at least three people, and to win it, you need to keep about at least three people in it.

 

That said, you could fly this by yourself if you REALLY wanted to, but you'd probably end up losing by having all friendly ground forces die while trying to counterattack.

[blahdy]

I really loved this mission. Could you make a new version compatible with BS2 and A-10C?