Mission Idea: Black Hawk Down

[SilentGunner13]

So I had an idea for a mission. I couldn't think of a better name than Black Hawk Down but it is not based on the film or the real life events. Truth be told, it's kind of based on a mission from Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2, if anyone played that. Seeing as I can't use the mission editor, or Zeus worth a damn, I thought I'd throw down here and see if anyone wanted to try picking it up.

What you'll need:

• Two Large Towns/Cities (for Objectives Icarus and Gabriel)
• One Small Town or Military Installation reasonably close to either Gabriel or Icarus (for Objective Sword)

Assets (can be modified for balance):

• 1x Bradley (or similar IFV, must have a minimum carrying capacity of 4, excluding the crew)
• 1x Force Recon Team (up to 8 infantry with 2 armed Humvees, could also provision sniper cover or DMR, also advise regs and above for this asset. If platoon and Knight crew wish, the Bradley could attach to FR).
• Potentially allow a UCAV with limited ground attack capability to assist in attacking some of the enemy armour. Advise UCAV pilot that AA is in the area. If this asset is used, and we have a pilot and infantry comfortable with it, and at Admin/Zeus discretion, allow Force Recon use of a laser designator to vector in surgical strikes at enemy positions to soften them up before the main force arrives. 

Ideally, mission time limit of 1h30m, this time limit will begin when first engagement is made, and end when helo crew is secured.

 

Mission Background: A US UH-60 Blackhawk (or a Ghosthawk if you feel fancy) helicopter, callsign Cipher (or something else tech/nerdy), has been lost while carrying out a test of a top secret, revolutionary new type of radar scrambler within enemy territory. The test was unsuccessful, the helicopter was downed by a shoulder fired SAM within the limits of (insert town/city here). The crew maintained contact after making a crash landing. They reported that all 3 crew members (The 2 pilots and the crew chief) had survived the crash. Radio contact was lost shortly after.   

Scenario: With such an important piece of technology now lying in a wreck in enemy territory, we've had to call in our nearest assets from the neighbouring country. Satellite imagery has confirmed the helo wreckage is largely intact, and its approximate location is marked as Objective Icarus. We were also able to confirm that the helo crew was taken alive by OPFOR, and are being held captive at Objective Gabriel. We believe OPFOR intend to execute the helicopter crew as propaganda. We also believe they will recover the helo wreckage and use it to reverse-engineer the radar scrambler. We cannot allow this to happen Therefore, we have multiple objectives that need to be completed in a short time frame. We don't have time to wait for a larger force. The helo wreckage should be heavily defended, with some armour elements (BMPs etc.) and a medium-strong infantry presence. Objective Sword, the hostile QRF force, should have a weaker presence, but should still be substantial. A few BMPs, and make the rest up in soft targets. The AA presence in the area has been increased since the helo incursion, so use of air assets is extremely risky. Infantry must move in by ground assets. 

Platoon to allocate squads and assets based on a 2 phase mission plan. Ideally, these phases should be completed in order.

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Phase 1: Objectives Icarus and Sword-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Icarus: This is the approximate location of the downed helo. Seeing as we do not have time to round up the appropriate assets to salvage the wreckage, our only option is to destroy it. Anticipate strong resistance from both infantry and a small number of light armored vehicles. There should be some kind of fortifications surrounding the helo. Advise you send a larger force here.

Completion Criteria: The helo wreckage is destroyed.

• NOTE: The wreckage is only considered "destroyed" when 3 or more demolition charges (or a single 4x demo block) have been placed onto the wreckage and detonated. LAT rockets should not count for the sake of challenge)

Failure Criteria: The helo wreckage is not destroyed within the mission time limit.

• NOTE: Failure of this objective should trigger mission failure

 

  Objective Sword: This is the location of the enemy's QRF. As soon as any sort of attack is detected, we believe the enemy will deploy QRF to objective Gabriel in order to expedite the helo crew's removal from the AO, and to reinforce the infantry there. Therefore, a pre-emptive strike would be prudent. It is advised that the attack on the QRF is co-ordinated to begin just before the assault on objective Icarus, so the enemy do not get a chance to fully mobilize. An alternative plan is to potentially set up an ambush along the enemy's path from Sword to Gabriel. This strategy will be at Platoon's discretion. Advise allocating a slightly smaller force to this objective, but send the Bradley along with them for support. Should be moderately well defended but not to Icarus' extent.

• NOTE: Enemy QRF force should not move before first engagement at either Icarus or Sword itself. In a nutshell, if nobody has started shooting at the enemy yet, QRF stays put.

Completion Criteria: Hostile QRF force is either completely destroyed, or immobilized/combat ineffective before it is able to reach Objective Gabriel.

Failure Criteria: Enemy QRF reaches Objective Gabriel.

• NOTE: Failure of Objective Sword does not mean failure of the mission, but it should make Objective Gabriel substantially more difficult.

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Phase 2: Objective Gabriel -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Allied forces should regroup at a staging area a couple of klicks from the city of Objective Gabriel. Platoon to coordinate attack strategy, all-out frontal, attack from all sides, overwatch etc. Potential for a resupply at staging area as well. Objective here is simple. Find and secure the helo crew. If the Bradley is still functional at this point, it could prove to be extremely useful. The area of Objective Gabriel should be heavily defended, as it is intended to be an OPFOR stronghold. Emplaced machine guns, armour, high amount of infantry etc. Should be a real challenge to get through. The intention here is that you'll be attacking the city with six squads. Resistance should reflect that platoon strength. Helo crew is to be extracted via the Bradley, if it is operational, or via extra humvees provisioned as necessary if the Bradley goes boom. A pre-arranged Extraction Zone should be set 1 or 2 klicks outside of the city. When the crew is safely brought to the EZ, the mission is a success. It may be a good idea to have Force Recon scout the area while the rest of the platoon is regrouping and resupplying.

Completion Criteria: 2 or more of the surviving 3 crew members are successfully brought to the EZ.

Failure Criteria: 2 or more of the surviving crew are K.I.A., or mission time expires before the crew are located.

NOTE: The mission expiry timer should be stopped and disregarded when Zeus/Platoon considers the crew to have been located and secured. I.e. no immediate hostile threat to the crew. Also, no ISIS style executions. The only threat to life the crew should face is potential crossfire as they are moved to the extraction vic . Failure of this objective should trigger mission failure.

 

 

 

• Treat this as a wireframe. This is just an idea I had, and I'm relatively inexperienced at the game, with no experience of Zeus or Mission Editing. If someone picks this up and wants to change some of the mission parameters, assets etc. be my guest. You probably know better than I do.
• If anyone wants me to elaborate or put some more detail into this, I'd be more than happy to when I can.
• My only concerns with this mission idea are finding the right balance in terms of resistance, and also keeping it to an acceptable time.

Edited October 25, 2017 by SilentGunner13

[Silberjojo]

This was a good read  

Get one of the more experienced Zeuses to main Zeus this and you can wankseat, since it's your Idea.

Would also like to make the ambush on the QRF a given. Make it an order from X-Roads

[SilentGunner13]

6 minutes ago, Silberjojo said:

This was a good read  

Get one of the more experienced Zeuses to main Zeus this and you can wankseat, since it's your Idea.

Would also like to make the ambush on the QRF a given. Make it an order from X-Roads

Please excuse the verbal diarrhoea that is my brain going crazy. Once I pop I just can't stop. 

If there's a way to have the QRF stick to a scripted route, then I'm totally game for the ambush plan. Like I said I have zero Zeus or Mission Editor experience so I don't know how feasible this is. I'd need someone else to pick the map, locations etc and actually build the missions. I just put my mind dump here in case anyone liked the idea and wanted to pick it up. Thanks for the feedback though! 

[SilentGunner13]

@Silberjojo do you have any idea of experienced Zeuses and/or editors who might be interested in taking this on? 

[Digby Tatham-Warter]

3 hours ago, SilentGunner13 said:

@Silberjojo do you have any idea of experienced Zeuses and/or editors who might be interested in taking this on? 

Fuck yes.

[SilentGunner13]

11 minutes ago, Digby Tatham-Warter said:

Fuck yes.

Gonna take it on? Awesome man. If you need any more input feel free to drop me a PM! 

[Sarissa]

Not to highjack but, I may or may not be planning a "recreation" of the Battle of Mogadishu.