Team Chicago Gets Busy, 1974 - new beta for testing

[HalfLifeExpert]

I've played again.

First, there should be a 'Victory' condition that pops up upon reaching a certain score. I destroyed all Soviet forces with a Final score of 1040.

Ultimately I think this is a good overall scenario, but after playing a couple times I can't help but wonder if the US Ships are not completely equipped to take on the raiding force, and that the player pretty much has to depend on their 6x F-4Ds

I know this was before Western Ships were equipped with proper AShMs, but I can't help but wonder why a primarily Air Defense cruiser was selected for this scenario, as opposed to one that still has it's 6 or 8 Inch guns.

I don't know, just seems like "Team Chicago" isn't really properly capable of doing the main task, as the Phantoms really have to do the hard work.

I know it's a bit late in the game to be bringing this up, perhaps one could see it as a bit of a challenge using ships not really meant for Surface Combat, but I thought I would bring it up.

[Mgellis]

Thanks. I'll add the Victory message.

Biggest reason for the ship choice is...that's who was there. Chicago and the other ships were completing a cruise and they happened to be in the area on that date, so I figured if war suddenly broke out, they would be the ones chosen for the mission, even though they might not be the best ones for it. They were simply in the right place at the right time.

[BDukes]

I've played again.

First, there should be a 'Victory' condition that pops up upon reaching a certain score. I destroyed all Soviet forces with a Final score of 1040.

Ultimately I think this is a good overall scenario, but after playing a couple times I can't help but wonder if the US Ships are not completely equipped to take on the raiding force, and that the player pretty much has to depend on their 6x F-4Ds

I know this was before Western Ships were equipped with proper AShMs, but I can't help but wonder why a primarily Air Defense cruiser was selected for this scenario, as opposed to one that still has it's 6 or 8 Inch guns.

I don't know, just seems like "Team Chicago" isn't really properly capable of doing the main task, as the Phantoms really have to do the hard work.

I know it's a bit late in the game to be bringing this up, perhaps one could see it as a bit of a challenge using ships not really meant for Surface Combat, but I thought I would bring it up.

My strategy was to id and hit the Soviet SAM and missile shooters first (although still on the wall about whether I should of gone after the gun cruiser with aircraft!) I then fired the SAMs in surface mode against the rest. Still took some hits.

Group-wise, the challenge was accommodating for the oiler's lower speed. Thought it as a challenge.

M

[HalfLifeExpert]

Thanks. I'll add the Victory message.

Biggest reason for the ship choice is...that's who was there. Chicago and the other ships were completing a cruise and they happened to be in the area on that date, so I figured if war suddenly broke out, they would be the ones chosen for the mission, even though they might not be the best ones for it. They were simply in the right place at the right time.

Yeah that's kind of what I suspected. Other, more modern, scenarios have given me an aversion to using SAMs in S2S mode, but I think this timeframe didn't give Western Ships a whole lot of choice. There was no Harpoon for another few years after all. And Exocet was still in the future.

Thanks for the clarification Mark.

[GThomas63]

I keep getting the error message: "The scenario file is probably corrupted, could not determine which database to use! You have attempted to load a database that does not exist on the DB folder."

I have updated to version 1.04.114749.

[Mgellis]

Sorry, GThomas63, I'm using the most recent beta with the new database. That's probably the issue.

[Mgellis]

Any more suggestions, corrections, etc. for these scenarios or are they ready for the Community Scenario Pack?

Thanks.

[Randomizer]

Any more suggestions, corrections, etc. for these scenarios or are they ready for the Community Scenario Pack?

Thanks.

I still think that the rather eclectic composition of the Soviet squadron deserves some explanation in the briefing and or differential scoring to identify what the high-value units are.

What are two amphibious assault ships so far south in the South China Sea? Whatever could they have been doing there?

Also the submarine depot ship, why is it there? And two oilers, a relatively scarce asset in the Soviet navy of this era. Their existence without explanation, seems that they have been added solely to act as padded, generic targets.

Is a Kashin really worth the same strategic value as the one-off Boris Chilkun and the other tanker?

I think that the Player's targeting problem is greatly simplified by the Soviet OOB and that essentially makes the scenario a cake-walk where it has the potential to be a challenge.

-C

[Mgellis]

Based on comments by Randomizer and others, I've changed the Soviet SAG. Fewer supply ships and more warships (so it should be a little more challenging, I hope). Version 4 (with both variants of the scenario) has just been posted.

Please let me know what you think. Thanks!

Any more suggestions, corrections, etc. for these scenarios or are they ready for the Community Scenario Pack?

Thanks.

I still think that the rather eclectic composition of the Soviet squadron deserves some explanation in the briefing and or differential scoring to identify what the high-value units are.

What are two amphibious assault ships so far south in the South China Sea? Whatever could they have been doing there?

Also the submarine depot ship, why is it there? And two oilers, a relatively scarce asset in the Soviet navy of this era. Their existence without explanation, seems that they have been added solely to act as padded, generic targets.

Is a Kashin really worth the same strategic value as the one-off Boris Chilkun and the other tanker?

I think that the Player's targeting problem is greatly simplified by the Soviet OOB and that essentially makes the scenario a cake-walk where it has the potential to be a challenge.

-C

[Randomizer]

Excellent! Downloading v4 now but may take a couple of days to get to it. Stupid real-life...

-C

[Mgellis]

Any thoughts on Version 4? Any other changes or corrections necessary or is it ready for the Community Scenario Pack?

Thanks!

[Randomizer]

PM sent.

-C