I would like to present the beta release of my first mission and my contribution to the Afghan War Diary Project. This mission will work with Operation Arrowhead standalone.




Description:
This mission is based on a real event that can be found in the Afghan
War Diary. The real report can be found here.

You are the leader of Task Force Bayonet which is sent on a patrol through Sakhe. The patrol is meant to be a show of force ordered because of increased insurgent activity in the area. One Apache helicopter is on standby should you require close air support. A small Chernarussion UN detachment is also on standby at the US base in Takistan.


Features:

Inspired by an actual report of an IED ambush in Afghanistan in 2006

Playable in SP with ARMA2: Operation Arrowhead standalone

Fast paced with lots of action

No required addons!

Installation:
Extract the .pbo file(s) to your ArmA 2 Operation Arrowhead\Missions folder.


Known issues:
Once in awhile the player might be killed by IED explosion.
Sometimes the Chinook sent for extraction doesn't like to land until the player tells the group to board the chopper.


Notes:
This mission will work with either ARMA2: Operation Arrowhead standalone or Combined Operations, but will NOT work with ARMA2 vanilla.
This is my first mission and as such I welcome any comments/suggestions/constructive criticism to help improve this mission
and all future missions I will make.


Changelog:
v1.1

Less enemies: this makes it feel a lot less like the classic "one man against the entire red army" and feels more realistic

UN is inserted via M113 instead of Mi8: the Mi8 refused to land sometimes which was really frustrating

Changed middle HMMWV to armored with M2: adds the option of another M2 to use and keeps the mission closer to the actual report

Added radio triggers for support instead of everything happening automatically: this adds some replay value because the player can complete the mission without utilizing any support at all or the player can utilize all support if he wishes to.

Changed/added some sideChat to go along with new radio triggers

Credits & thanks:
This mission uses tcp's IED/Suicide Bomber script.

Just played it, not easy but nice mission, however I have a few ideas for improvement:

- To keep it realistic, maybe you could lower the count of enemies by a good deal. At the moment it's a gazillion and a half, and they don't retreat. So the only options are either to get slaughtered or kill ALL of the attackers before you extract. With this high number of adversaries, it becomes exactly the "one man versus the whole red army"-type of mission that the "Afghan War Diary" mission series intends NOT to be. Either you should retreat the attackers after a certain amount of them has been killed, or you put in maybe just a dozen or so.

- Why is one of the HMMWVs not armored? In the diary it said there were three M1114, and as soon as one is damaged by the IED, the second would really come in handy.

- The UN chopper did not land but just hovered above the gas station for quite a while until it finally caught a rpg and went down, the UN soldiers were running around like headless chickens and got massacred then (which is unrealistic if you follow the war diary entry even loosly). It was stuck on the gas station roof, so I could use its aft machine gun to fend off the attackers after the HMMWV ran out of ammo (while I parked the AI in the compound west of the gas station), but that is probably not the way it was meant to be. Maybe an airdrop would be easier if the chopper doesn't want to land at all.

- The Chinook flew over the valley a couple of times, but was in no mood to try to land, didn't even hover somewhere, so I had no idea whatsoever where it was supposed to land. And because the whole terrain under it was full of enemies, I hesitated to send my men out to board it, thereby forcing it to land. When I did, they just ran through the enemies without shooting and got killed one after another, the chopper didn't land anyway though. So I reloaded and did not let them board it, I waited. The chopper finally crashed into a tree. Maybe it would be better to let it only come after a radio command, so that the player can decide where and when he wants to be flown out.

After killing all attackers (it was dawning already), I could recover the bodies of the IED victims, eventually I commandeered a civilian car to replace the destroyed Hummer and lead the convoi south to the base, the mission ended at some point on the way (obviously hit the ending trigger area). Results: US: 2xKIA, 12xWIA / UN: 7xKIA, unknown number MIA assumed KIA (didn't find the bodies), no survivors / ENEMY: estimated 100 or so KIA, no survivors.

Thanks for the input Brainbug.

I will attempt to update the mission in the next week or so and try to address these issues.

-Lowering the enemy count would definitely be beneficial because it seems the UN chopper being unable to land is tied to there being lots of enemies around. The Chinook has a similar problem, like they don't want to land into a hot zone. Plus you're right, it is unrealistic to have so many enemies.

-The idea for one of the HMMWV's not being armored was an attempt to make it more challenging for the player due to the lack of an extra M2. It sounds like I should put it in there anyway and let the player decide whether to use it or not.

-Again I think the UN chopper being unable to land is tied to there being too many enemy ai around.

-The Chinook has the same problem as the UN chopper I think. I was already thinking of making all support, including the Apache and UN forces a radio trigger so the player can decide when to call them and it would probably add some replay value as well.

Added 23 hours 28 minutes later:

So I found some time last night to make some changes to the mission. Some of the changes drastically change the way the mission is played out. It definitely has a more "real" feel to it. Feedback is always appreciated so I can improve on this.


Download: Filefront

Great mission! I only wish I could do scripts or I would offer my hat into the ring! I love accurate and historic missions such as the AWD! Oh-rah for bringing ArmA2:OA into further realism! ^_^

Well thanks it means a lot that people are enjoying my mission :).

@Sigint
Knowledge of scripting is not absolutely necessary to create some simpler types of missions as there are already many scripts out there that you can use in your missions. You should give it a go and see what happens. I've been playing around in the mission editor since Arma 1 and only since OA is out have I decided to finally release a mission.

Just replayed it, very good now. Went pretty smooth: I was taking small arms fire while driving through the village, pick up speed, then hit the IED, first vehicle disabled, but noone dead. Pulled the other two HMMWVs in front to provide cover, while the guys from the damaged one took cover and their injuries were being treated. Apache showed up when I had the situation under control already with the two M2 turrets (I didn't call it immediately, just wanted to see if everything works). He later crashed into a hillside, but that is a general game flaw that I won't hold you responsible for. UN M113 took a while, but acted great, unloaded in cover, then M113 took a forward fighting position while the soldiers moved in "danger" (although the area was clear already). Chinook showed up, landed properly near beside the road and extracted everyone as intended.

Maybe not so challenging than before, but certainly a more appropriate episode in the "AWD"-series.

I wish every mission would work so well, good job!

Awesome, glad you enjoyed it! It's always interesting to hear how people take different approaches to the same problem. And yes, with the combination of two M2's and less enemies it is a lot easier but it definitely feels like a better fit for the AWD series.