Vanu Rangers

I had some time to kill so I started to create a mission in ArmA 2. This was really my first time creating a mission from scratch.

I started by creating a simple USMC HMMWV patrol consisting of two HMMWVs that was tasked with going into a medium-sized city and patrolling the streets. Little do they know but there is a group of insurgent-controlled technicals on the far side of the city that move into the city shortly after the USMC patrol rolls into the city. I actually set the player as a civilian police officer that starts on the outskirts of the city. I wanted to observe how the AI react to contact and behave in various situations.

I noticed how the smoke and fire add-on I'm running works. The smoke billows a lot more and flows with the wind. I thought the effect of the fire spreading to adjacent buildings, structures, and foliage is a nice touch. I even figured out that the fire can injure people, which was a very nice surprise, as fire typically doesn't hurt people in ArmA 2.

I later added in a flight of A-10s that didn't seem to work at first. I did give them a long flight path, one that I thought might take a while because I wanted the ground elements to engage each other for a while and then have the A-10s come in, seemingly in support of the USMC patrol.

Since I couldn't get the A-10s to work, I decided I should just add more to each side to increase the intensity of the fight. I grouped all of the USMC elements together under one command and gave them a very structured and intricate patrol route. The insurgents were split into 5 groups of 6 vehicles a piece, each group heading to different parts of the city to simulate an attack on the city.

The timing is excellent. The USMC patrol gets into the heart of the city by the time the insurgents attack. If the first wave is defeated, the USMC patrol carries on into the southern part of the city, making contact with more insurgent groups and then swings back east and then north again. They then typically make contact with one of the insurgent groups that went north.

Then I figured out what I did wrong with the A-10s. By default they are set to status of "In Formation", which means they are in a wedge formation but on the ground... Since I placed them over the water, they just sunk to the bottom. So I changed their status to "Flying", which places them in the air at proper airspeed so they don't plummet to the depths like before.

This worked miraculously, however I still need to work on the timing of their arrival because they arrive about 90 to 120 seconds before the USMC patrol gets into the city. They fly over the city and spot the insurgent vehicles before they get into the city - out in the open - and begin tearing them up, as shown by massive plumes of smoke. I think this is a more realistic approach to an assault style mission instead of a patrol mission like I originally intended it to be. The CAS would be sent in first to knock out critical targets such as the massive insurgent convoy before it gets into the city, limiting collateral damage and the threats of urban warfare. I think I just need to learn how to use triggers, so the A-10s can be in a holding pattern over the sea and can be called in when needed. But that's a lesson for another day.

Attached is the mission as I left it, and the smoke and fire add-on that I mentioned.