Chechnya - map/DB mod (v0.61 update + missions + Steam Workshop)

[CCIP-subsim]

Chechnya
MAPS AND DATABASE MOD + SCENARIO PACK
current version: 0.61 beta (5 November 2019)

This preliminary (beta) release models combat during the Chechen Conflict, fought in the Russian-dominated region of the North Caucasus - currently focusing mainly on the Chechen Civil War (1994) and the First Chechen War (1994-1996), with a more limited ability to represent the Second Chechen War (1999-200x) as well.

Mod features:
-Two completed, 15.36 x 15.36 km maps (Grozny and Kalinovakaya), with further additions planned
-A standalone database of historical units and weapons from the era designed mainly for asymmetric, urban combat - represented in three factions (Russian Federation, Chechen Republic, and Chechen Opposition)
-(new) Ten unique scenarios designed for the mod and Grozny map - focusing specifically on actions of Group North on December 31st 1994 and January 1st 1995 (2 large scenarios, 8 small ones; 6 for the Russian side and 4 for the separatists).

DOWNLOAD: https://drive.google.com/open?id=141iUx ... i_NUmi02RG
(scenario pack is part of the download)

...or, if you now have the game on Steam, you can also subscribe to this
COLLECTION ON STEAM WORKSHOP: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/ ... 1903597020
(simply click the "+Subscribe to all" button, and it downloads everything.)



INSTALLING THE MOD
(non-Steam version)

NOTE: you should install the latest (August 1st) Patch for Armored Brigade before installing this update; without it, you may not be able to load the included missions (or indeed any missions - that was an issue with AB scenarios that I believe was fixed in the latest update)

1) Unzip the contents of the downloaded file into your main Armored Brigade folder. Overwrite if prompted.

(note: the mod has no effect on your normal Armored Brigade installation and is safe to install - the maps and database go into their own new folders. The only shared files installed are three small flags for the included factions in the database, which are not used by Cold War AB).

2) Activate the database using the launcher settings, which you can access game's launch menu:




note: this step is optional if you're only interested in the maps, and you can play with default Cold War era units on the new maps if you want. However, I recommend playing with the included DB, especially on the Grozny map which was designed specifically with the mod's database in mind.
The mod must be enabled (as per instructions above), however, in order to play the ten included scenarios.

That's all - now you can launch the game and play the new maps and units!

Note about Steam installation/workshop:
The mod version on Steam and the mod version up for download here are completely identical content-wise, but have slightly different file structure. Missions downloaded via the Steam workshop also have their own separate tab when selecting new scenarios (3rd in a row, after "default" and "user").

You CAN download the mod from the Google Drive link above and install it on the Steam version if you want, following the same instructions above. It will work fine.
However, what you do NOT want to do is install the download version and then also subscribe to the Workshop collection, as that might break the mod. So, if you have this game on Steam - I recommend picking one way of installing the mod and sticking with it. Workshop might be the easiest!


CHANGE LOG (v0.61)
- Added revised map label colours (by Tebeinteresno)

(v0.60)

-STEAM WORKSHOP: The mod can now be found on the Steam workshop. The easiest way to get it there is simply subscribing to this item collection, which includes all of the content released for it so far: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/ ... 1903597020

-"CALIBER TEN" MISSION PACK: 10 new scenarios with detailed briefings and custom no-go zones (plus other interesting features and set-ups)

UNITS:
-reintroduced indirect-fire 2S9 Gvozdika guns, clearly marking them as such. Unfortunately there's still no way to make them do both direct-fire and indirect fire (without unrealistic complications or loadouts). The AI/auto-purchase will still only "buy" the direct-fire version (which is the role in which these mainly saw use in Grozny), but you can manually add either one to scenarios.
-Same two variants of 2S9 (direct and indirect) added to the Chechen side, with small chance of either being auto-purchased (biased slightly towards indirect). Research shows that the separatists did have a number of these running and used them in the battle for Grozny.
-Added a BMP-2 scout section (alongside the existing BRM scout sections) - this is due to 131 Company's scouts in the actions portrayed in the "Caliber Ten" pack using BMP-2s as their mounts (so, they were required for those scenarios!).
-Replaced the mech infantry dismounts on the Chechen side with militia sections instead of combat teams (seemed odd to me to have 3-man teams with all those tubes and long-barreled weapons being tied to vehicles). The separatists really didn't have much of a mechanized doctrine either, and the vehicles tended to get used as scouts, command cars, or resupply vehicles more than anything.
-BTR-80 on the separatist side - the Chechen forces didn't originally have those, but apparently captured a number from the opposition during the fall of 94, particularly in the failed assault on Grozny in November - and had them available for use in time for the Russian assault. A couple were scouting the northern outskirts early on Dec.31st, where they were blown up by Group North's forces from long range.
-Added single BMP-1/2 and BTR-80, as well as single T-62s/72s as scouts for the Chechen side (due to evidence of a few being used as such in above-mentioned actions). Very low chance of auto-purchase.
-Added RPG tubes as weapons to Chechen BMPs, BTRs, and MT-LBs that lack other AT weapons of any serious capability. Like their Russian unit counterparts, these can only fire those on-board tubes when unbuttoned.
-added one extra RPG-7VS round and/or two extra (AT-capable) grenades to certain separatist and opposition infantry units.

MAP (GROZNY):
-Flattened a couple of water features (that for some reason weren't flat yet!)
-A number of sharp elevation features (e.g. berms and rivers running in steep gullies) where needed.
-Several custom elevation changes/smoothing (flattened or smoothed out the profiles of several roads; edited elevations manually in the Old Industrial districts to better match this area of town to its real-world counterpart.
-(experimental) new night-time light map, modeling light pollution and more appropriate to wartime conditions.
-Misc label and location fixes.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
Thanks to Veitikka Studios for assistance, and the game itself!
Thanks to 22sec for assistance with height maps!
Thanks to Tebeinteresno (author of original AB maps) for colour label mod!

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FEATURES:

THE MAPS

The mod currently comes with two small-sized maps, representing two different and unconnected parts of Chechnya. (Further areas or maps may be added in the future)
The land outlines and elevation on both maps is sourced from satellite data, while roads and settlements are based on period-accurate topographic maps - with compromises made for good looks and playability. For example, road grids are straightened out and realigned in many places to avoid creating pathfinding and line of sight issues for the game AI.

note: the database mod is not required for the maps; if you only want the maps, you can even install them separately from the data/maps/ folder in the .zip file.

KALINOVSKAYA
(previously released as “Chechnya Test Map”)



Kalinovskaya is an old Cossack settlement in the far north of Chechnya, located on the banks of the Terek river - and is notable for hosting a large Soviet-era airfield. The rest of the area is predominantly agricultural.

Historically, there was not much fighting in this area during the Chechen wars and it remained under pro-Russian control, with one exception: Kalinovskaya airfield, held by the separatists in 1992-1994, was destroyed by Russian air strikes on December 1st, 1994 - with over 100 aircraft (mostly L-29 and L-39 trainers) wiped out by the bombing and left abandoned. Russian ground forces bypassed this area during the initial invasion 2 weeks later, and the separatists abandoned Kalinovskaya without fighting, moving to join the main battle at Grozny.

This map is mostly included as a bonus for now - originally, it was meant to be part of a much larger Chechnya map, but it may be a long time before I get a chance to complete that!



GROZNY



Grozny is the largest city and capital of Chechnya. Founded by the Russians in 1869 on the site of an older Cossack garrison fort, it soon grew to become a major oil refining, transportation, and military hub in the Russian empire and Soviet Union. By the end of the 1990s, its population was over 420,000 people. The vast majority of major combat during the wars in Chechnya during the 1990s took place in and around the city - resulting in tens of thousands of casualties on the Russian federal, Chechen rebel and separatist, and civilian sides. Though known as one of the USSR’s most comfortable cities to live during the 1970s and 80s, Grozny thus gained a more unfortunate reputation as the most heavily fought-over and destroyed city on earth after Berlin in 1945 and before Aleppo in 2014.
Using period-accurate maps and having read through dozens of personal accounts (and even Soviet-era tourist guides), the main goal of this mod was to try and recreate Grozny as it was in the 1990s - much of the city looks very different today, having been essentially flattened during its two wars.


CHECHNYA DATABASE MOD


The included database mod is designed specifically for urban, asymmetric combat on the Grozny map. It includes historical units, formations and weapons - with some compromise tweaks for mechanics to recreate the historical issues faced by armor and poorly-trained infantry in close-quarters combat.

Included in it are three complete factions (Russian Federation, Chechen Republic, Chechen Opposition). At the moment, there is only one era. There are many new units - however no new graphics were added, since all the new units are “kitbashed” from existing graphics (e.g. by putting together parts of different vehicles to represent new units).

The database currently best represents units used during the Chechen Civil War (autumn 1994) and the First Chechen War (winter 1994-summer 1996), but can be used to represent other periods as well.

There are several key features that distinguish the units and weapons in this DB mechanically from “normal” Armored Brigade:
-Asymmetric Combat
-Urban Tactics
-Mixed Forces and Service Vehicles
These will be covered in more detail below.

I definitely recommend this DB for playing the Grozny map, though it is not required.

FACTIONS
There are three factions included in the mod, and currently only a single era (WIP - likely to be expanded and modified later). These are as follows:

RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Russia, which has formally regarded Chechnya as sovereign part of its own territory since 1861, is the primary conventional combatant in the Chechen Wars. Led by president Boris Yeltsin (until his resignation on Dec.31st, 1999), Russia sent large, heavily-equipped forces into Chechnya to restore control over the separatist republic.
Russian forces have plentiful firepower, armor, and equipment - but are low on morale (with a few exceptions like elite Spetsnaz units) and are fighting on less than favourable conditions in the tight urban confines of Grozny.

CHECHEN REPUBLIC
The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria was a separatist state that split off from Russia as the Soviet Union was breaking up in 1991. Led by president Dzhokhar Dudayev (until he was killed in a Russian air strike in April 1996), a former Soviet Air Force major-general, the Chechen separatist possess a semi-conventional military force - including dozens of tanks - but their real strength lay in conducting a well-prepared urban defense with heavily-armed foot combatants working in small groups. The Chechens had de facto managed to beat Russia during the First Chechen War in 1994-1996, surviving as an increasingly fundamentalist state until decisively defeated in the Second Chechen War in 1999-2000.

CHECHEN OPPOSITION
This additional faction is mainly meant to represent local Chechen militias that split off from Dudayev's separatists and went over to form a pro-Russian 'provisional government' in the summer of 1994. With military aid from Moscow, they then staged a campaign to wrestle control of Chechnya away from Dudayev - and at one point had even succeeded in capturing Grozny for a short period - but were decisively defeated on November 26th, 1994, when their unsuccessful second assault on the Chechen capital resulted in the loss of hundreds of their militias and destruction or capture of 40 Russian tanks (and their 'volunteer' crews). This event resulted in Russia's military intervening directly within a matter of days, marking the beginning of the First Chechen War.

THE MISSIONS
Currently, 10 missions are included in the mod, as in the list below:

The Caliber-10 series are a set of 8 small-scale scenarios (think more Close Combat than typical AB scale!), with a very specific focus: the actions of the Russian Army's 131st Independent Motor Rifle Brigade in downtown Grozny during the ill-fated New Year's assault on Grozny, as well as those of the separatist forces opposing them. Particular focus is on the Brigade's commander, Col. Ivan Savin - and while the scenarios aren't strictly a campaign, when played in order, are meant to tell the story of this unit and its commander during their most difficult battle.
You can download a separate .pdf document with the eight mission briefings (plus a bit of expanded info) HERE: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1B-L7q ... J9qEp9nYYi separately - though it's also included in the mod download (it'll go in the Armored Brigade main folder if you just unzip the whole mod there as instructed).

The two New Year's Storm missions cover the same units and actions, but at a much bigger scale - instead letting you control much larger forces over a very large portion of Grozny. One mission is from the Russian Group North's perspective, while the other is from the Chechen separatist perspective. This will be an ongoing series, with the remaining three groups (West, Northeast and East) and their opposition to be covered in future scenarios.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The mod's database must be enabled in the game start menu to play these missions (see instructions above on how to change the DB in your game start menu).

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Further additions and documentation are planned (eventually!) - I hope to make more map additions, work more on units, and build some scenarios with all of this as well. However, this is hopefully a good start - and an interesting change of pace from the usual for AB players [:)]

[CCIP-subsim]

MOD NOTES AND DOCUMENTATION
(WIP)

Note:
The Chechnya DB only features the mod’s factions, meaning that to go back to playing with Cold War forces - you have to exit the game, select the default (or other) DB in the launcher settings, and re-launch your game.
(note that only the Cold War sides and eras have been removed from the DB - the units, weapons, etc. are technically still there but inactive and not usable in game sessions. At a later date I may go through and clear unused Cold War entries from the Chechen entirely. I have kept them since the Russian side especially is derived from late Cold War Soviet units, and I don’t want to risk accidentally “breaking” any new units by removing weapons etc. that they use.)


ASYMMETRIC COMBAT

In the Cold War AB you’re probably used to, different types of units might meet each other, with nations possessing unique characteristics - but, by and large it’s still focused on fully-equipped regular militaries going toe to toe with each other, each with a combined arms doctrine that enables them to fight the enemy on close to even terms (with the possible exception of Finland, which had to practice asymmetric deterrence to survive). Chechnya, however, is a very different case.

The two main sides (plus the auxiliary “opposition” one) are not made equal at all, and though the First Chechen War (and especially the first battle for Grozny) did see both sides employing conventional, combined-arms warfare to some extent - there was also always a huge disparity between the two sides in terms of tactics and heavy equipment. The numbers are nearly always on the Russian federal side, where one might recognize the Soviet combined arms doctrine (albeit a bit worse wear), with plenty of armor and firepower. On the Chechen separatist side, long-range firepower and armor are scarce, but the militants are armed to the teeth for close-range ambushes. As infantry, the separatists generally operate in smaller units but have a significant “home advantage” - which in game terms simply means the units are tougher and react more quickly. Conversely, the Russian military suffered from massive communication, coordination, and supply/manning issues - especially in the early stages of the war.

Another feature in this mod is the unequal use of scouting units. The Chechen separatists have a significantly expanded “menu” of infantry units they can deploy as scouts, meaning that they can have some very potent forces deployed forward at the start of scenario not just for scouting, but as ambushing and infiltrating troops. The Russian side’s scout units work mostly the same, although Spetsnaz operatives and some additional mechanized teams can also be deployed forward as very potent combat scouts.

The Chechens also have some unique mobility advantages; for example, while both in the Cold War AB database and on the Russian side, a lot of the crew-served weapons are static and can only be placed at the start of the scenario - but the Chechen the separatists can move the same weapons around to an extent. Some units also have special perks; for example squads from designated “ambush” formations are a bit stealthier, while squads for “infiltration” formations move quicker than average infantry.

Whichever side the player takes on - it’ll be clear they’re not equal to the enemy in many respects, and must adapt. There is no such thing as a fair fight on the streets of Grozny, much as it was historically.

This is reflected in unit costs. These have been completely customized for this DB. Unlike the default AB database, where the “cost” of each unit largely reflects its objective combat value, this is not necessarily the case in the Chechnya DB. Unit rarity is taken into account as well. For example, the same exact tanks are far more “expensive” for the Chechen separatist side compared to the Russian side - simply because the Chechens had very few available, making them a far more precious asset that is ultimately not a match for the Russians in sheer numbers (so it’s probably best not to spend all your scenario points on these if you’re playing the separatists!) Likewise, while the T-80U and T-90 tanks were (theoretically) available during the Chechen Wars, they saw the barest of experimental deployment - which is why they are so “expensive” in the database, reflecting their rarity.

(Note that this is not a concern for auto-purchased units - the DB is set up so that the AI will not foolishly dump points into rare units, and some units like the T-90 can only be manually purchased by the player and will never be auto-purchased by the AI).

In all, expect an interesting change of pace from the balanced, force-on-force combat of AB - this is semi-unconventional warfare at its messiest!

URBAN TACTICS

As already mentioned above, units in this DB will behave a bit differently here than in the Cold War database. This is mostly reflected in numerous weapon, damage and unit function tweaks.

In general, infantry plays a bigger role here; infantry units, especially on the Chechen separatist side, are much tougher to kill and carry a lot more weapons and ammo for their size. Nearly all of the guerrilla foot troops have at least some chance of killing armored vehicles, with even snipers and scouts typically carrying RPG tubes and anti-tank grenades on them. However, while there are a lot more close-range anti-vehicle weapons (especially RPGs) around - their actual reliability and effectiveness has been somewhat reduced, especially against actual tanks. Armored vehicles are now more likely to survive RPG hits, especially directly from the front.

Conversely, some units will now also fire small arms at vehicles, especially lightly-armed ones. While these have little chance of making a kill - they will force the opponent to button up, and may occasionally make demoralized Russian crews rout even without inflicting fatal damage.

Howitzers (on the separatist side) and SP guns (on the federal side) have been converted from on-map artillery to direct-fire weapons (as this was the role in which they were used inside Grozny). On the Russian side, tweaks have been made to loadouts - with scarce enemy armor, tanks now generally carry more HE ammunition. Some Russian infantry also carry the new RPO “Shmel” - a potent anti-personnel rocket launcher with a thermobaric warhead. Many lightly-armed vehicles without ATGMs now also have RPG tubes on board that their crew can use in a pinch (against either hard or soft targets) - but only when unbuttoned. Units that previously only had a special weapon (e.g. an AT launcher, mortar, or HMG) have now also been given some extra close-range weapons like SMGs and grenades for close-range self-defense.

In all of this, some compromises have had to be made that might feel a bit unfair or “gamey” - you will almost certainly notice that a lot of ammunition now gets expended at what used to be very “soft” infantry targets in AB, even if they’re out in the open. Tweaks will continue to be made for the mod - but as you play, keep in mind that this mod was designed to convey the challenges of urban combat in Grozny above all. Whenever something works a little differently from the norm, or damage numbers are “fudged” to favour a particular tactic - it’s usually because it reflects some aspect of the actual war. Be mindful of your ammo and the condition of your troops - fighting in close quarters is still deadly, but now you’re even more likely to find yourself in a stalemate situation by running out of vital weapons or units.

MIXED FORCES AND SERVICE VEHICLES

In the standard AB, the morale/training of units is generally pretty consistent across nations and services - and vehicles/squads are mostly standardized for an entire service. For example, while you can purchase HQ and recon formations, they’ll use the exact same vehicles as standard formations (i.e. a scout BMP-1 and an HQ BMP-1 are still the same exact BMP-1). Likewise, infantry dismounts in mechanized formations will generally be standardized.

Not so in this Chechnya DB - formations are now much more diverse, and vehicles are much more specialized. While a mechanized infantry squad might still ride into battle on a standard BMP-1P, a company formation will be led by a BMP-1K, with a smaller HQ team on board. Meanwhile, a scout formation will now instead use the BRM-1 (a recon variant of the BMP-1 with a turret that’s set a bit further back, and a different weapon loadout), while HQ units will use a BMP-1KSh Potok-2 which only carries a dummy turret and additional radio equipment.

This applies to other unit types and sides as well - and even within formations. Many platoon- and company-sized formations will now be more mixed, and some units within them may be quite unique. For example, a company of weak militia squads will be led by an HQ unit (field commander) with a strong, well-armed bodyguard who will be far more resistant to damage and suppression than the other squads around him.

This extends to forces as a whole. There are wide - sometimes dramatic - gaps in training and morale, even on the same side. On the Russian federal side, while the average infantry and mechanized troops (representing conscripts and often treated as cannon fodder) are of poor quality and poorer morale - scout and airborne units are a bit better in both respects, while Spetsnaz units are cut from a different cloth entirely and will cut through even the toughest Chechen fighters. Same is true of the guerrillas, which range from highly trained radicals to poorly-motivated militia. Always check your formations before you buy - even on the same side, units can be dramatically different in quality and capability.

Lastly - I’ve included some units in the mod which are not terribly useful, but are unusual in AB terms and might be fun to have around; this is especially true of the repair and recovery vehicles you’ll find on the Russian side. They don’t serve their actual purpose (since repair and recovery is outside the scope of AB gameplay) and are probably not worth their “cost” in points. However I included them for future use in scenarios, since historically many of them did get caught up in combat in Grozny. Similarly, you will find some special formations in the Russian OOB for the same reason - such as groups of demoralized stragglers, and mechanized units lacking dismounts (or with only a few dismounts instead of full platoons of infantry on board); these, too, are not the way that IFVs should ever be used - and yet thanks to a series of snafus, ended up in the middle of a major battle.


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HOW TO PLAY

General recommendations:

-In Grozny, try playing on smaller map sizes - 3-5k m width/height seems to be best. I definitely don’t recommend playing battles on the whole 15x15 km map; yes, it’s possible, but the pace of movement through urban terrain will likely be exhausting, and the AI may not perform at its best.
-The Sunzha river in Grozny is not supposed to be fordable - however, if you plan to play on a large map that requires the enemy AI to cover both sides of it, you may want to switch water to fordable to avoid confusing the AI, since there are very few bridges across it.

Weather:
-In general, I recommend using “Fair” or “Poor” weather to represent conditions in Grozny during major battles there. Visibility was often a problem.

Grozny climate/terrain defaults are mainly intended to represent key periods during the fighting in 1994-1996 (and can be changed by the player when setting up battles). These are as follows:
September-October: Summer (representing a mild period in 1994, when the first serious attempts to take Grozny were made by anti-separatist militias during the Chechen Civil War)
November-December: Autumn (representing this period in 1994, which included both the disastrous November assault on Grozny that ended the Chechen civil war, and the initial Russian invasion in December. I recommend setting the ground to “wet” for December, as it was very muddy in this period.)
January: Winter (represents spell of cold weather in early-mid January 1995, coinciding with heavy fighting in the city. I recommend setting “destruction” to 10% for any scenarios set in Grozny in January.)
February-August: Barren (this represents Grozny in its badly-shelled, damaged state - as you may see on the cover image, destruction, damage and disrepair were widespread. While the initial operations to capture Grozny in 1995 had wrapped up by mid-February, March 1996 saw a major raid carried out on the city by separatist militia - which proved to be merely a “dress rehearsal” for “Operation Jihad” in August of the same year, an even more massive raid coinciding with peace talks to end the war, which ultimately went in the separatists’ favour.

Air Operations:
-Russian Federation should always have air superiority in all battles where they appear. At no point did the Chechens have the ability to contest Russian air superiority.
-Chechen separatist aviation: only two instances of attacks by Chechen L-39s are known during the Chechen Civil war in summer-early fall 1994. On December 1st, 1994 - before the start of the Russian invasion - Chechen aviation was destroyed by massive Russian air strikes. As a result, no Chechen aircraft should appear at all when fighting the Russian federation.
-Note that after a number of friendly fire incidents early in the Dec-Jan assault on Grozny, Russian commanders asked their leadership to stop sending aircraft and air strikes during urban combat were essentially suspended and not resumed until the Second Chechen War in 1999, when those coordination problems were worked out.

Suggested force mixes (for both player and AI)

Russian Federation (standard):


Chechen Republic:


Russian Federation
(Group North during their New Years' assault on Grozny - shortage of infantry, very vulnerable):


Chechen Opposition:


I recommend giving the AI a +15-25% bonus when setting up scenarios - in my experience, that gives it about the right level of challenge!

[CCIP-subsim]

(post reserved #2)

[CCIP-subsim]

GROZNY MEMORIAL CORNER



(translated or adapted poems, quotes, and other bits about Grozny and the war, in English)

Y.A. Mesheryakov - "Column"

Tearing out bits of asphalt and gravel,
Checking optics, still lined up in ranks
On approach down this highway to heaven
They roll past in their thundering tanks

They were fit for range qualifications
But today comes a different test -
Without maps, and without explanations
Death awaits them beyond the next crest

They’ve been moved from their dug-in positions
Lost their lines of maneuver and sight
With no intel, no time for decisions
They drive blindly towards their last fight…

E.M. Kandybenko- “Conversation”

I cannot understand, Ivan, how all this happened
Again the smell of smoke and rumbling of the BTRs
There’s fear in every home - why did you come here?
Tell me, Ivan, what brought you to my door?

Aslan Kuazo - “Dreams (Nostalgia)”

Some nights I dream of what I lost
Of days of youth that might have been
Some nights I see my city as it was -
Its trees still swaying in the summer wind

And, as though walking through the park
I see the Sunzha where it once still flowed
The Stolichny cafe, where even after dark
Old friends always stopped by to say hello

Inside Beryozka’s peaceful archway,
Or Old Industrial’s backyards
Tea, conversation, friendship our way -
No rivalries, save for a game of cards

At Minutka, hop off the streetcar
Get on the bus to Khankala
We’d drink all night and play guitar -
And come back home on the blue trolley

And so I wander Grozny through those dreams -
But dawn must once again return,
And only then I realize, it seems,
That it is all long gone - my city is no more...

Y.Y. Shevchuk - "Captain Markovets"

I did not know Captain Markovets alive,
Saw him slain outside the presidential palace
To his troops’ regrets, he didn’t survive
Grozny’s rain of bullets, cold and callous

I was shooting frames of video - facades
Of the burnt-out buildings, faces, souls
What awards shall we cast for the squads
Of our heroes, when they outlive their roles?

There, I watched, as one of his own soldiers
Closed for one last time the captain’s eyes
Then reached for the stars, still on his shoulders -
“Here, take these - a memory from us”

“Don’t forget this slaughtered patch of road,
Covered in manure and death at every turn
This man raised two daughters - still, to God
He seemed all too eager to return…”

Off Minutka Square, where broken rubble landed
Over the aid station down the street
I looked up from the dead battalion commander,
And saw an empire that was full of shit

Back at home, upon my dusty bookshelf
His two golden stars continue to hurt -
Shards of Captain Sergei Markovets himself,
All the guys who joined him in the dirt

That war won’t look better after this one
Sure, you’ll kill ‘em all - what happens then?
Write your lies alone in your estate home -
Or stay with the captain and his men

[exsonic01]

Thank you so much for your mod, I'm truly amazed by your dedication to this project, which I greatly admire. I learned a lot from you, and I wish I could show DPRK map some time in the future... I found that map making of AB requires much more concentration and time than I expected...

Anyway, I wish you fully recovered, and it would be great if you could make much more nice mods.

[exsonic01]

One question, what would you recommend for training and morale for both sides?

Also, if I want to reenact the "new years eve" assault by "north" group, what would be the maximum points and units?
I'm thinking of 5km x 5km map of northern approach from airport. Or... should I need to include palace region?
For Russian forces, I'm thinking
2~3 T80BV companies
1~2 BMP2 mech infantry company
1 arty battery (18 tubes)
2~3 T72 recons and recon infantry (no Spez)
1~2 Tungu and 2~3 RPO team.

It would be great if CCIP or someone could make some missions of reenacting famous battles of Chechen war and share in the forum.


This looks so cool~!! This should be considered as an official version not just a mod, and CCIP should get some recognition and reward from Matrix!!


Trying to set up new years eve offense, January 1995


5km x 5km zone with 5 VPs. Northern part of Grozny.


Not sure if this setting is proper one. 16k point seems not enough, but it is just 5km x 5km map... But I guess maybe 20k points would be enough? Too high points in urban map like here would bring too high local unit density, which works poorly for AI.


AGS-17 team with vehicle!! I really like this. But as far as I know current AB AI cannot properly use the vehicles for support units, so I guess this is only for players, right? I really wish AB prepare good AI for the dedicated vehicle for support team in the future. ATGM team or HMG or Grenade launcher is very important time to time, and their mobility is very crucial for AI and for player.


Not sure what would be the authentic training and morale.


It is about to begin, but I may remake the mission with 20k for Russia and 13~15k point for Chechen. I think 16k point is not enough.

[CCIP-subsim]

Thanks for checking it out exsonic01 - that looks like a pretty good battle [:)]

I recommend leaving the morale and training modifiers alone, unless you're looking for a specific effect from it. These parameters are fine-tuned already for each side. I definitely don't recommend setting the morale for Russian or "Opposition" forces any lower than it is, because it's already pretty fragile. For the New Year's assault, the defaults will work - except if you're modeling Northwest Group, which can probably do with a +10 morale and training bonus (it was the one group that was competently led and achieved its objectives, with minimal casualties).

I'm actually working on scenarios as well as a campaign for the North group (and the others) - I'll post up what I have of it tonight [:)] I think in my version, it ended up being 14000 pts.

Thanks to Russian-language sources, I have very solid OOBs and plans for all groups in the assault. The trickier thing is balancing it with the way the game works. I've been finding that larger maps and larger groups of forces, while technically more realistic, are something that the AI really begins to struggle with past a certain point in this kind of urban setting.

Historically, Group North's operations during the assault cover a good chunk of the map - from the top left (northwest) corner, down to just below the rail station. If you go with an 8am start - 131st Brigade (mostly BMP-1s and T-72As) starts off just above the Neftyanka river in those woods/garden lots, while the 81st Regiment (mostly BMP-2s and T-80Bs) should start at the airport - they actually fought a minor action in capturing it, but it's a little outside the scope of the map as it is. The 131st then advanced through Altaiskaya street, turned into the Old Industry highway, then south on Mayakovsky, and then split up east from there. The 81st advanced from the airport down Bogdan Khmelnitsky street, then Pervomaisky Prospekt to Ordzhonikidze Square and then the presidential palace. The main objectives for both were the station and the presidential palace, but since the AI plans around objectives - it'd be worth adding a number of secondary ones. Historically, while there were actions fought even on the outskirts throughout the day - the main defense perimeter on the Chechen side was centered on the presidential palace, going to around Ordzhonikidze Square in the north, just above the rail station in the south, and a few blocks from the river to the west (including the market). That's where things really hit the fan.

Anyway! I'll see if I can get some scenarios up in test versions shortly.

[CCIP-subsim]

Huh, here's a question for everybody:

Are you able to open the "Single Mission" menu with the mod activated?

Looks like with the custom DB, it doesn't open - probably because default missions reference non-existent sides/units, even if they don't actually have to load.

I've found a workaround (backing up and removing all the default scenarios from the folder), which works just fine - just mildly annoying having to do that. Hopefully something that can be fixed [:)]

[exsonic01]

I tested, and same here. When I click the single mission under chechenya mod, then game crashes. So, should I need to back up and delete all default single mission scenarios from scenario\default folder?

Again, thank you so much for your effort.

[CCIP-subsim]

ORIGINAL: exsonic01

I tested, and same here. When I click the single mission under chechenya mod, then game crashes. So, should I need to back up and delete all default single mission scenarios from scenario\default folder?

Again, thank you so much for your effort.

Yes, that seems to be the best I can do at the moment - I'll see if I can ask that to be patched somehow, otherwise what I will do in the next update is see if I can replace all the default scenarios with blank ones (plus backups).


Here is my best take on the Group North as a single scenario so far - still very preliminary, but the no-go zones are definitely helping to make it manageable!



Scenario start - positions of the 131st Brigade (west) and 81st Regiment (east) as of 8:00 local time on Dec. 31st, 1994. Currently clocking in at around 24000 points (vs. 15000 pts on the other side).




It's interesting that even with all the objectives set well back, the AI is still deploying well forward and off to the side (not ahistorical, though, because some of the most capable separatist units were indeed dug in well to the west in the Old Industrial district).
The no-go area in that northwest corner represents Group West's area of responsibility. Considering how bad Russian comms and coordinations were in this operation - these literally were no-go zones, with a number of incidents where the two groups fired on each other when the other's forces got too close.

[Veitikka]

ORIGINAL: CCIP-subsim

Huh, here's a question for everybody:

Are you able to open the "Single Mission" menu with the mod activated?

Looks like with the custom DB, it doesn't open - probably because default missions reference non-existent sides/units, even if they don't actually have to load.

I've found a workaround (backing up and removing all the default scenarios from the folder), which works just fine - just mildly annoying having to do that. Hopefully something that can be fixed [:)]

The system checks the database ID in scenarios before listing them, but looks like there's a bug and other checks are made before the database ID check. Unfortunately the only way to prevent this is to backup and remove all scenarios that use a different database. This will be fixed in the next patch, that should be out in the next few weeks.

[CCIP-subsim]

ORIGINAL: Veitikka

ORIGINAL: CCIP-subsim

Huh, here's a question for everybody:

Are you able to open the "Single Mission" menu with the mod activated?

Looks like with the custom DB, it doesn't open - probably because default missions reference non-existent sides/units, even if they don't actually have to load.

I've found a workaround (backing up and removing all the default scenarios from the folder), which works just fine - just mildly annoying having to do that. Hopefully something that can be fixed [:)]

The system checks the database ID in scenarios before listing them, but looks like there's a bug and other checks are made before the database ID check. Unfortunately the only way to prevent this is to backup and remove all scenarios that use a different database. This will be fixed in the next patch, that should be out in the next few weeks.

Thank you, that's perfect [:)]

This actually was not a problem when I first started working on the DB mod, since I'd kept all the original factions, eras, etc. and just added the Chechnya stuff over it - but after I broke some things, I started separating the DB (though never quite finished it), with all the original units/weapons/ammo still there, but not factions, eras, or formations. I suppose the other way to fix it would be for me to finish removing all the unused entries, and then properly merging my Chechnya DB with the default. But that may be too much work to do right away and that patch would probably come out sooner anyway

[CCIP-subsim]

Been playing around with the Group North scenario today - the enemy is a bit too strong at the moment (I'll have to drop their numbers down by a good 30%), but the pace of the scenario is already uncanny to the way it played out historically. The limited crossings of the Neftyanka might seem kind of annoying (it was in real life - they reportedly lost 4 vehicles that fell or sank in it), but I'd realized this actually has an important role in getting the player to pause and organize before heading into town. It seems like a short trip, but even with an 8am start it takes until about 11am before the troops finally start getting into town, which is exactly when it was historically. Kind of impressive considering it's unscripted!









Should have an update by weekend, with this scenario (plus a couple of new formations) [:)]

[exsonic01]

This looks awesome!!! I was also playing something like this

I also started from 8AM and it is now 10AM but not even occupied the first VP in my map. I can't wait for your scenarios. Thanks for your great effort.

[CCIP-subsim]

Update coming later today or tomorrow, with ~5 scenarios mostly focusing on Group North (and the forces against it). There's some fixes as well, such as changing unit classes for things like mechanized RPO and AT squads to make them behave correctly when on the AI side (currently they just sit back and not go anywhere).

In the meantime, in case somebody was curious what the mod/map's cover image shows as far as the game's map...





The photo is taken sometime in March 1995, from the so-called "Three-Leaf" (Trilistnik) building - a 16-storey modern structure that was a present to Grozny from the Armenian SSR, and built during the 1980s. It was the tallest building in Grozny at the time of the war, and was badly damaged in the fighting during the initial battles in January '95 - not sure exactly when it collapsed (since it was clearly still up when this photo was taken), but it came down completely by 1996.

[CCIP-subsim]

Quick update: good news/bad news!

The bad news is that I haven't quite finalized the update and the Group North scenarios; the good news is that the number of the latter has now expanded to 9! I've now got 2 large scenarios as shown before (one for Russian federal forces, one for the separatists), and seven much smaller - think more Close Combat sized than Armored Brigade sized. They just need a little more time in the oven [:)] (actual scenarios are more or less done, just have to write up briefings and do a few more test runs for balance).

I'm hoping this will make for some interesting play.

The list: (the series of smaller scenarios at the top, and the two larger ones at the bottom)

[lancer]

Hi CCIP

Great job, well done!

Here's a link to an article that talks about fighting in dense urban environments and the lessons that have been learned. It focused primarily on Mosul but references Grozny.

Some of their conclusions are quite interesting and directly applicable to what you've done here with Chechnya.

5 lessons learned from the Battle for Mosul

[exsonic01]

Thank you so much CCIP, take your time~!

[CCIP-subsim]

ORIGINAL: lancer

Hi CCIP

Great job, well done!

Here's a link to an article that talks about fighting in dense urban environments and the lessons that have been learned. It focused primarily on Mosul but references Grozny.

Some of their conclusions are quite interesting and directly applicable to what you've done here with Chechnya.

5 lessons learned from the Battle for Mosul

Thank you, that is a fantastic article!

Having been doing a lot of close case study reading on the 131st Brigade's fight in Grozny specifically - what's really striking about those 5 lessons isn't just how equally relevant they were to fighting that this unit experienced, but how IMMEDIATELY relevant all of them were. Those five factors didn't just play out over weeks, days, or even hours - it was literally within minutes of entering the city that all of these things showed themselves, and changed the course of events. So I definitely agree with all of those "lessons"!

The one thing that's kind of dawned on me over this latest round of research for the scenarios is how despite being looked at as a kind of slow, painful, house-to-house crawl - the New Year's battle for Grozny was actually more... short, unpredictably mobile, and extremely violent. But even at that that kind of timescale, the same patterns still hold true - which is kind of interesting since these are operational factors, but they're still there, even in what's basically a one-day battle. It's too bad that they're kind of outside the scope of what AB does, being more or less all tactical!

Tactically, another really interesting in Grozny's New Year battle was just what a huge difference communications made for the Russian side... and not in a good way. Probably more than any other factor, the complete mess that was their comms net (which fell apart, was broken into, and jammed constantly) was what ultimately doomed the first assault. I've been reading through (and translating) a lot of the transcripts, and it's honestly pretty horrifying - not only is the situation clearly bad and getting out of control, but worse, you can tell that the people involved (particularly 131 Brigade's commander) are realizing just how bad it is while they're right in the middle of it.

The 1994 Russian operation in Grozny suffered from many intrinsic factors, but Russian forces would probably have performed better outside of Grozny’s DUE. Superior fires, mobility, and sustainment capabilities might have helped Russia retain the initiative in a field campaign.

Also something that could be seen pretty much on the scale of minutes and hours. On the morning of Dec. 31st, the Russian forces (save for vehicles getting stuck or falling into the river) pretty well cruised up to the outskirts, and dispatched a bunch of Separatist tanks and other equipment from long range in the process. Then the same units go into the city, and the picture changes...

There is a caveat to that, though - the Russian supply situation was still pretty miserable, and besides the DUE - Chechnya also had mountain areas where, once fighting moved there, Russia also had some really major setbacks. But that's a different story!

Anyway, thanks again for that one [:)]

[Lowlaner2012]

Thanks for all you hard work,this looks really good, looking forward to getting into it when it and the update is released 😀