Merr Random Skirmish Campaign (solo)

Merr · Post by **Merr** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 4:22 pm

An ahistorical (carryover) campaign depicting the Tank Battle at Arracourt, 19 September 1944 ...

3 Scenarios ... Morning Fog / Mid-day / Afternoon ...

... Meeting Engagements ... (Allied Player).
Elements of the 4th Armored Division must stop Pz. Brig 111, Pz. Brig 113, and Pz Gren. Rgt 2113 !

Features ... Random Map, Random Order of Battle, Random AI, Random Bonus ...
... and other kinds of Random Spam-dom.

German "What-if" .... What if Manteuffel's plead for air support was granted?

Download located at link to thread in Scenario Design Forum ...
LINK... viewtopic.php?t=28015

Big Credit to Amaris (Alex) ... without the Ama Random Map, it wouldn't be possible !

junk2drive · Post by **junk2drive** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 7:02 pm

Looks good. Feldgrau too.

Merr · Post by **Merr** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 7:57 pm

junk2drive wrote:Looks good. Feldgrau too.

Thanks Paul ... I hope you like the 2" Mortar Addition to the three Sherman carryover models. I spent hours debating on how to make it "fair" but I'll await comments on that.

Also, I wanted to mention the other features ...

Random Deployment ... zone like areas.
Random AI Teams and Aggression ...

The mixing of AI teams really made me see how interesting the AI handles the odd stuff ... For example ... In one test run there was a German Mortar that was pissing me off really bad. I couldn't get near it because there was a StuG that apparently was in love with the mortar. It acted like a guard dog. Worse yet, it reached Gold Elite status and there was a VP nearby that I couldn't capture. The Stug/Mortar combo made me think they were on the same team and the mortar (fixed unit) was acting like an anchor because the StuG wouldn't stray too far before returning back to the mortar. In the end, I pulled an M18 off the main fight and hunted the StuG down, waiting for it to turn it's back. I needed to end the mission fast before I lost anymore carryover units!

Anyway ... I hope to have this out soon. I've been spending hours going over the Order Of Battle script and mixing it up a little more (balance wise), which takes hours because I run the mission, check the units, make a change, run the mission, check the units, make a change ....

I'm really surprised everything glued together without too much grief ... I hope folks can unglue it if they want to make their own! Amaris' Random Map is probably the best example at a clean script

(to understand that is).

Rob

Merr · Post by **Merr** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 8:27 pm

I want to quickly talk about the CarryOver stuff.... blah blah blah,more talk is good, share time.

At the beginning of the 2nd and 3rd mission, you can "purchase" new CarryOver units to continue the journey. Some might be tempted to spend cash on the tanks so I made the carryover units "special". Besides, if the OOB rolls all vehicles, who is going to take the VP in the forest?

I also wanted to create different units because once the battle starts, your units get woven with the support units and unless you kept a score card, you'd get lost in the shuffle!

So, a quick list of the units .... (which, BTW are only carryover types ... unique)

M4A3 ... Just a Sherman with a 2" Smoke Mortar.
M4A1(76)W ... Just a Sherman (76) with a 2" Smoke Mortar.
M4A3E2(75)W ... (you guessed right!) ... Just a Jumbo with a 2" Smoke Mortar.

Armored Infantry ... Plain old infantry with an extra AP Charge.
Armored Bazooka ... They had extra bazooka's around ... 3-man Team / Elite Hunter.
Armored Halftrack ... Gave the crew a pair of eye-glasses ... Now can Scout Area (like the infantry), can reveal too!

PzG Infantry ... Extra AP charge and a new uniform.
PzG Panzerschreck ... Same song and dance ... 3-man Team / Elite Hunter... (shares the same uniform).

If anyone likes this camp, I can make an MP version, maybe a solo German side.

Back to work...

Rosseau · Post by **Rosseau** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 2:38 am

I don't think "liking it" will even be a question, Merr. It's like a mini-expansion that also drums up support for the game. I prepare to get beaten by the AI yet again.

poop17 · Post by **poop17** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 3:07 am

yes,love it~

Post by **pipfromslitherine** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 3:46 am

You are a cruel man to tease us with the menu, but not the meal (yet!)

.

Looks awesome.

Cheers

Pip

Merr · Post by **Merr** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 2:36 pm

Sorry Gentlmen ... I was hoping to have this out yesterday ... Actually, I was hoping to have this out on the 19th.

I need to tweak a few more things today but overall it's finished.

Oh ... I'm a little better at "skinning" so you guys will have to let me know how the PzG Skin looks. From a distance, eh who cares. It's the up close that matters.

One funny thing ... My first PzG skin ... It looks like US Army Skin, from the Vietnam era ...

... Just pretend the burnt out 251 is an M113

I'll use this on the US infantry when I get into a Vietnam mod that I'm itching to complete ...
... from the old SPI boardgame, Search and Destroy ... http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/8033/search-destroy
The scenarios are perfect for SOLO play ... Besides, we normally search and destroy anyway!

Merr

Benpark · Post by **Benpark** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 2:43 pm

This sounds fantastic. Thanks very much for the random game type (all who worked on it). It's what the game really needed.

As far as the infantry textures go, maybe more of a solid grey trouser/helmet? The camo smock seemed pretty prevalent, but the other two items a little less so. It would be graphically a little easier to see as well (adding some visual contrast to the background).

Excellent stuff!

Merr · Post by **Merr** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 3:11 pm

Benpark wrote:This sounds fantastic. Thanks very much for the random game type (all who worked on it). It's what the game really needed.

Ben,

I read your other post on your comments about MG ... I need to reply there as well. Very good points you have!

Benpark wrote: As far as the infantry textures go, maybe more of a solid grey trouser/helmet? The camo smock seemed pretty prevalent, but the other two items a little less so. It would be graphically a little easier to see as well (adding some visual contrast to the background).

Wait ... You think the 1st skin (US Army) with grey trousers and helmet would be the one?
I can do that!

Here's one site that has some uniforms that I can reference. ... http://www.tridentmilitary.com/Reproduc ... n-ww2.html

EDIT .. and another ... http://www.by-the-sword.com/acatalog/WW ... forms.html

Merr · Post by **Merr** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 5:14 pm

Here's an "improved" PzG skin ... Thanks for the tip Ben !

It took me awhile (I'm not very good), and the Germans were reluctant to pose for me ...
I'll use this worn out dribble for now.
Back to scripting ... hopefully today.

Benpark · Post by **Benpark** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 5:49 pm

Those look great. Excellent work!

I've been meaning to try to do some 3D models, but keep getting busy with other projects/RL. Certainly on the eastern front game (if and when that arrives).

Merr · Post by **Merr** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 8:31 pm

Benpark wrote: I've been meaning to try to do some 3D models, but keep getting busy with other projects/RL. Certainly on the eastern front game (if and when that arrives).

Yes sir ... I believe you did some work with Panzer Commander Ostfront?

It would be great if you had the time to mess with BA ... so much to do, but little time to do it!

I think an Eastern Front version of BA would be good ... I would expect it to be a whole new game (not a module) because of over 100 units they'd have to build, as well as the scenery.

.....................

I just finishing testing the last Random smack for the AI ... so I'm done.

There were only two AI changes I made ;

Unload units ...
(1) The AI will unload units from a random distance (per/transport case).
(2) When the transport unloads, it will select a random "tile order".
(3) When the unit unloads, it will face in a random direction.
Note: This doesn't effect an unload when the transport is destroyed (intrinsic function

)

Assault Chance ...
(1) The AI will use the actual assault chance before determining if it assaults.(instead of a flat 90%).
I found that the AI was killing off it's troops way to much!
I hope everyone agrees (The AI seems to smile a little more)

back to work ...

Merr · Post by **Merr** » Thu Sep 22, 2011 9:19 pm

The campaign is released over in the Scenario Design ...
... viewtopic.php?t=28015

I hope it adds some variety to the whole concept of random battles.

I made some last minute changes/additions ...

(1) Ama Random Map ..
- Changed "corn_details" to the Arhem "high_corn". Your infantry are now concealed in the high vegetation.
- Moved the water edging function call to the end of the random map function. This will clean up the edging underneath the bridges.

(2) Stream/River's are ON (25% chance to appear)... I adjusted the VP's so they won't appear in the water. Also, the units shouldn't drop in the water when deploying, except maybe your core fores, but I allowed you to redeploy your forces before the battle starts.

(3) Smoke Mortar Range = 2 ... Needs line-of-sight to reach the 2nd tile.

(4) Pontoon Bridge ... I added a function that builds a pontoon bridge across water (all width's). It's randomly placed. This should help you and the AI with another crossing point. The code will make 5 attempts to place the bridge so it might not appear at all. During my testing I always saw the pontoon bridge.

(5) Water AP cost = 900. In the terrain.TXT file I changed the ap cost to enter water to 900 to help the AI when it negotiates around the water barrier.

That is all (for now) ...

Merr

pk867 · Post by **pk867** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 12:18 am

So how do you install this scenario?

junk2drive · Post by **junk2drive** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 12:54 am

pk see my post in the scenario thread.

Rosseau · Post by **Rosseau** » Sat Sep 24, 2011 12:38 am

Hey Merr,

Thanks for this. I haven't done more than a couple of turns so far, as got a large battle going.

Is there a line of code we can change to make the unit counts smaller for quicker battles?

Either way, thanks again.

EDIT: Now that I'm thinking about it (something I rarely do), I just keep rolling that first scenario until I get a small unit count... duh.

Merr · Post by **Merr** » Sat Sep 24, 2011 3:16 am

Rosseau wrote: Thanks for this. I haven't done more than a couple of turns so far, as got a large battle going.

Thanks for your earlier comments ... I hope this will offer players a "taste" of random map and other concepts (smoke).
Yes ... It is a rather large battle (map,units).

Rosseau wrote: Is there a line of code we can change to make the unit counts smaller for quicker battles?

Yes ... In the scenario folder you'll see the scenario scripts (Arracourt1.BSF, Arracourt2.BSF, Arracourt3.BSF). They are identical with a few changes.
- Open one and look in the body of the first function, StartTurn(side).
- Scroll down a bit and you will find three functions that look like this : (Arracourt1 shown) ...

Code: Select all

		DrawOOB(0,5,0) ;
		DrawOOB(1,7,1) ;
		DrawOOB(1,7,2) ;

The parameters for each are ... (side, number of platoons, force number).
The force number is used for deployment purposes which tells the function what "zone" or area to randomly drop the platoons.(don't change that, for now).

Rosseau wrote: EDIT: Now that I'm thinking about it (something I rarely do), I just keep rolling that first scenario until I get a small unit count... duh.

... That's what makes this really cool about random scenarios ... Especially if you LOSE the battle ... You can simply restart the scenaro, purchase the extra core forces again, then start again! Everything will be different except for the units that carried over from the previous scenario.

I'm going to design a smaller, generic "Quick Battle" type campaign later on.
If you have ideas on "How Big" a small quick battle should be, please post them.
Thanks for playing!

Rosseau · Post by **Rosseau** » Sat Sep 24, 2011 6:00 am

That's great info. I'm going to stick with playing this mod in the time I have. The official campaigns can always come later, as I get better. MG looks really tough.

I think you did a skirmish mod before this one with 3-5 Shermans and 3-4 tracks and infantry. "Small" is pretty subjective, though. So I don't want to cramp anyone's style.

Thanks again, Merr.

Post by **pipfromslitherine** » Mon Sep 26, 2011 4:51 pm

This is very cool. Random maps each time - so you really have to be on your toes! Once again I am bowled over by the things that people can do with the scripting

.

Cheers

Pip