Yankee Team, 1966 - v1.50 (CoW)/1.30 (non-CoW), now also on Steam Workshop

[CCIP-subsim]

And one more update, most likely the last before the mission is finalized and submitted to community pack [:)]

Changes for 0.94:

-Further tweaks to enemy AI behaviour - it should be much tougher to crack now, and oriented mainly towards ambush tactics, as historically (both for MiGs and SAMs).

-Removed the Yorktown from the carrier roster, bringing the total number of possible carriers down to 9. While the CVS ships (ASW carriers) did operate in Vietnam at the time, the scenario structure (especially after I lowered the amount of coastal traffic) means that there's really no meaningful role for a true CVS anymore. The Intrepid, which was a CVS converted to a "limited strike carrier" at the time, stays.

-Added a set of basic pre-set missions for the player side (Two CAP stations with a common prosecution area, AEW and tanker tracks, coastal ASuW patrol) -just to save time if you wish you use them, totally optional and editable otherwise. Or you can always just make your own.

[CCIP-subsim]

After a fair bit of testing last few days, here's a pretty significant update to v1.00 - assuming everything works as intended, this may be the final version. A lot of focus on this one has been optimizing and balancing the scenario.

Changelog for v1.00:
-Revised aircraft availability (more aircraft in maintenance), increased some of the readiness delays
-Reduced friendly A/C skill (expect longer OODA delays - 1966 mostly pre-dates most of the significant changes in US doctrine during Vietnam)
-Significantly revised carrier magazines (weapon allocation may now limit sorties and loadouts will need to be chosen carefully)
-Revised AI MiG and SAM behaviour further
-Revised air defense allocations (SAM sites will have better overlapping coverage, generally located inland)
-Reduced AAA numbers slightly, increased skill
-Reduced MiG numbers slightly (by 10 aircraft), increased skill
-Eliminated all biologicals (no meaningful role in scenario, optimization)
-Eliminated all civilian mobile targets (no meaningful role in scenario, optimization)
-Eliminated all moving enemy vehicles/troops (no meaningful role in scenario, optimization)
-Revised scoring balance further
-Added score bonuses for maintaining SAR helos, ECM birds and recon flights near/in enemy territory
-Fixed remaining glitch with error popups for SAR missions
-Fixed script error that prevented USS Constellation from appearing in the scenario (it is now 1 of 3 possible carriers in TG 77.1)

So, it's now generally a leaner, more challenging scenario.

If no further issues are found, this one's going into the scenario pack by the end of the week!

[edit] uploaded new update 1.01 with a couple of small fixes for scoring.

[hellfish6]

This is an outstanding scenario. It is the most interesting, most challenging and surprising scenario I've played in any wargame I can remember. Great use of Command's capabilities!

[CCIP-subsim]

Thanks so much for your generous words, I'm really glad you enjoyed the scenario [:)]

Meanwhile, one more tiny update to 1.02:
-Removed point bonus for recon aircraft (it was a bit glitchy and recon in itself should be enough motivation)
-Small tweaks to rosters and magazines (added missing Shrikes to Ticonderoga; pre-loaded A-4Cs on TG 77.1 and 77.3 with bombs to make sure they are ready for scheduled strikes - they normally take 10 hours to load, so they ended up behind schedule for morning strikes).
-Further tweaks to air defense placement

[CCIP-subsim]

Added v1.03 with further small tweaks

-Small tweaks to doctrine and ROE
-A few edits and rewrites to mission briefing
-Based on more research, further small reduction of MiG numbers and slight increase in SAM defenses

[Mini_Von]

Hi CCIPsubsim,

I opened the scenario v1.02 up briefly and noticed a small correction that you might want to make. The tanker and AEW tracks should have at least 3 ref points. This prevents the aircraft assigned from loitering up one side and cruising down the other side. Here is a little diagram to show you what I mean.


This scenario looks really fun, can't wait to try it.[:)]

[CCIP-subsim]

Thanks for the tip, Mini_Von, I actually hadn't noticed that behaviour before! That's a very useful thing to know in general [:)]

I've added the new waypoints, added two more pre-set missions (simple SAR helo and ECM tracks off the coast), split the prosecution areas for the two CAP stations, and revised MiG skill slightly. New v1.04 is up with those changes!

[edit] Further work tonight, bringing the file up to v1.05. Cumulative changes.

-Added (optional) pre-set missions for SAR and ECM
-Decreased MiG skill slightly
-Revised and cleaned up MiG prosecution areas
-Slightly revised and cleaned up target and defense placement areas
-Reduced number of SA-3 batteries present
-Reduced number of EW radar sites
-Added a few more LDGP bombs to carrier magazine loadouts (particularly to Enterprise and Constellation in TG 77.1, which have heavy strike aircraft aboard).
-Enabled quick turnaround by default for pre-loaded support/patrol/recon aircraft with eligible loadouts

[CCIP-subsim]

Added v1.06, with a few additional tweaks to target placement and the briefing.

The main change though is the removal of all SA-3 sites. They worked extremely well from a game balance perspective, but unfortunately were not historical - it seems the first SA-3s entered Vietnamese service only in 1973. They've been replaced by a couple of additional SA-2 sites, and the slightly denser AAA placement should help as well.

[Rory Noonan]

Very, very impressive. I think this kind of scenario is the future of CMANO. Would you consider a post on 'the making of'?

[CCIP-subsim]

ORIGINAL: apache85

Very, very impressive. I think this kind of scenario is the future of CMANO. Would you consider a post on 'the making of'?

Thanks! And sure, I'll see what I can do once I'm satisfied with the scenario. Maybe I could do a youtube video for it or something of the sort.

[CCIP-subsim]

Added v1.10. Just a couple of small changes:

-Fixed error with civilian shipping (accidentally put it in a no-navigation area)
-Reduced SAM numbers slightly
-Revised target placement/type (removed most of the hardened targets, took them out of RP2 where they were previously being placed - they're now across the map; added some bridge targets instead)
-Small tweaks to aircraft availability

This should be pretty much it - unless I find more things that need changing, it'll most likely go into the scenario pack shortly!

[magi]

ORIGINAL: Mini_Von

Hi CCIPsubsim,

I opened the scenario v1.02 up briefly and noticed a small correction that you might want to make. The tanker and AEW tracks should have at least 3 ref points. This prevents the aircraft assigned from loitering up one side and cruising down the other side. Here is a little diagram to show you what I mean.


This scenario looks really fun, can't wait to try it.[:)]

ill be darned.... thanks....

[magi]

this sounds very compelling.... gonna try it....

[Primarchx]

Not sure why there's a penalty for hitting SAM/ADA sites. Iron Hand was an integrated part of RT missions by late '66. I can understand no points, but a penalty seems out of character for the time.

[CCIP-subsim]

Yeah, I've been looking into a bit more research (I have to admit that I've been learning and researching as I went), and I have to agree that it's a bit illogical by late '66. The only thing I need to make sure is to balance out the scoring again. Just like with the SA-3s that were previously in the scenario, it's one of those things that worked really well from a gameplay/challenge perspective, but maybe isn't so historical. So I'll see what I can do here!

[CCIP-subsim]

Alright, after a holiday hiatus, I'm back with what's hopefully the final version of the mission!

Main changes:
-Removed penalty for attacking NV air defenses
-Slightly reduced points for bombing objectives (to balance out the previous penalties)
-Updated briefing accordingly

Iron Hand missions are now fair game, but keep in mind that they'll score you no points, and your allotment of weapons for them is limited!

[Primarchx]

Giving 1.2 a try. Noticed a target appeared on Hainan Island, PRC, and is not engagable.

[hellfish6]

Can you throw this up on Steam Workshop? It'd just make it easier to update as needed.

This is seriously my favorite scenario of all time - including the ones I made for myself.

[CCIP-subsim]

Hi folks, sorry for the veeeery long radio silence - it's been a long winter for me, but I'm back now

I've posted v1.21, which is a straight conversion to the latest database. It has also been added to Steam Workshop for easy access!

I'll check on the Hainan target issue - that's an odd one I've never seen; unless you mean a ship contact, there shouldn't be any targets there (unless that's a glitch of some sort).

[CCIP-subsim]

And oops, already found a couple of small things, probably related to 1.11 changes! Need to look over the new ROE settings for missions and AI units. Should be still perfectly playable.