[SP Campaign] (WIP thread) The Red Banner - A Soviet-Afghan War Campaign

[TedHo 53]

THE RED BANNER
by ted_hou

With the amount of high-quality mods out there I decided to start working on a single-player campaign featuring the soviet union's war in Afghanistan in the 1980s. Player will be part of a platoon assigned to 201st Motor Rifle Division, 149th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment, 2nd Motorized Infantry Battalian, 4th Company, which was stationed at Kunduz and took part in multiple offensive/defensive operations between 1980 and 1988. The last soviet vehicle to leave Afghanistan was a BTR-60PB from the 149th Motor Rifle Regiment (Citations needed?). I will do as much as I can to make sure the equipment, tactics are historically correct, and stories/characters will be a mixture of actual events and imagination.

Planned Features:

• Realistic cold-war era soviet equipment and weapons (with assets from VTN, RHS, Leights Opfor Pack)
• Realistic motor rifle platoon/squad structures, equipment
• Realistic motor rifle doctrine tactics (dismounted infantry supported by BTR/BMPs) achieved through AI scripts.
• Historically accurate/semi-accurate ORBATs, callsigns, vehicle number decals
• Characters/stories inspired by actual events and persons
• Voice acting (will be in English).

Current Mod List:

• CBA_A3
• Veteran Mod (VTN): Realistic Afghan-era weapons and equipment. (Current version 0.4.2 build 1450)
• RHS:Escalation: Vehicles and aircrafts. (Current version 0.4.0.1)
• Leights Opfor Pack: Mujihadeen apparel and some retextured RHS assets. (Current version 1.7.1)
• Community Upgrade Project - Terrains Complete(Terrain): (Current version 1.0.1)
• Kunduz(Terrain): Kunduz terrain used in mission 1. (Current version 1.08)
• Tora Bora(Terrain): Terrain used in mission 2. (Current version 1.6)
• IOT_AFG: Mod pack custom-made for this campaign. Contains some re-textured RHS items. Disables VTN medical system and FOV changes. Made relevant RHS assets compatible with VTN standards. (Included in download)
• (Optional) ShackTac User Interface: Supported but optional. All characters are named and assigned to color teams to support this.

Mission 01 Beta:
 
Note: This is a WIP released for testing purposes. No voice acting as of now. If you've bothered to test it, I would appreciate any feedback.
 
Install guide:

• Extract and put both folders ("Campaigns" & "@IOT_AFG")under your Arma3 installation directory.
• Make sure the following mods are loaded when you launch the game.
  • @CBA_A3;
  • @VTN; 
  • @RHS:Escalation; 
  • @LeightsOpforPack; 
  • @CUP_Terrains;
  • @Kunduz;
  • @ToraBora;
  • @IOT_AFG;

Changelog
1/27/2016 M02 Release

• Added mission 02.
• Updated mod requirements. Make sure you have the latest version of required mods.
• Restored weapon zoom, which was disabled by VTN.

12/05/2015 M01 Beta Hotfix

• Fixed black-screen issue on mission start.
• Updated unit gear classnames and config values for latest VTN update

Download (Contains campaign files and @IOT_AFG addon): Dropbox

Edited January 27, 2016 by ted_hou

[Wiki 1558]

Looks promising, good luck with that project.

I'll keep an eye on it.

[corporal_lib[br] 396]

FREAKING A-W-E-S_O-M-E! Wow, I thought it was your joint venture campaign with Wiki, but with his post above mine, seems it isn´t... but you guys are going to work on a third common project right? (i know a great stuff would come out of that colaboration)

Anyways, Ted_hou, there´s already a mod for gorkas uniforms - http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?188409-Gorka-Uniforms

And I was craving for this kind of campaign, recreating live events... outstanding news! Anxious to playtest it!

cheers!

[flatbear 19]

really excited for this. Your last works were really good!

[Variable 322]

Oh man, an Afghan campaign! I've been expecting such campaign since Operation Arrowhead. This era is fascinating, I'm glad such a talented mission maker such as ted_hou will make a campaign for it.

[inlesco 233]

Very nice news!

Btw, is the color filter on screenshots also available in A3? Care to share the config? :)

[TedHo 53]

Thanks guys for your support! Your support is a big part of why I keep wanting to make A3 missions!

;2959268']FREAKING A-W-E-S_O-M-E! Wow' date=' I thought it was your joint venture campaign with Wiki, but with his post above mine, seems it isn´t... but you guys are going to work on a third common project right? (i know a great stuff would come out of that colaboration)

Anyways, Ted_hou, there´s already a mod for gorkas uniforms - [url']http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?188409-Gorka-Uniforms[/url]

cheers!

Collaboration would be fun but it can be slow without proper leadership and some sort of road-map. Sometimes it's just easier to follow your own ideas and do it yourself, especially when it involves scripting. But who knows, maybe there will be a fun project to collaborate on some time.

And thanks for sending the Gorka mod links, they are nice retextures of A3 assets, but they are not what I needed. If RHS releases their Gorka models in future updates I'll probably use that.

Btw, is the color filter on screenshots also available in A3? Care to share the config? :)

Sadly it's just the "Cinemascope" filter in Picasa. What it does is 1) increased contrast, 2) "Redder" color balance 3) Decreased saturation. I've actually been trying to recreate the effect in Arma 3 but I just can't get it quite right. This is as far I as I got when I decided it's just not worth the effort. They make screenshots look good, but the red-yellow tint gets annoying after playing for a while.

PP_colorC = ppEffectCreate ["ColorCorrections",1500];
PP_colorC ppEffectEnable true;
PP_colorC ppEffectAdjust [1,1.2,0,[0.5,0.2,-0.2,0.1],[1,1,1,1.15],[0,0,0,0],[0,0,0,0,0,0,4]];
PP_colorC ppEffectCommit 0;

Edited June 29, 2015 by ted_hou

[mason05 10]

I highly enjoyed your previous campaings and i'm sure this one will be a blast.

[ineptaphid 6413]

Oh wow-this looks fantastic.Love your other campaigns.

[reforger 30]

Sadly it's just the "Cinemascope" filter in Picasa. What it does is 1) increased contrast, 2) "Redder" color balance 3) Decreased saturation. I've actually been trying to recreate the effect in Arma 3 but I just can't get it quite right. This is as far I as I got when I decided it's just not worth the effort. They make screenshots look good, but the red-yellow tint gets annoying after playing for a while.

Maybe you should contact the developer of the Black Hawk Down mission (http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=468306650&insideModal=1). His mission had something like a camerascope to recreate the feeling of being in the 90s.

[Tac Error 2]

The Veteran Mod has a wide-brim Soviet hat and khaki field cap texture, as well as an alternate SSh-68 helmet model.

Have you checked out The Bear Went Over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan? It's a translation of a Soviet military collection of vignettes with critical commentary that you might find useful.

As someone who finds Arma 3 to be quite lacking in 1980s Cold War content, I'll be eagerly looking forward to this campaign!

[TedHo 53]

The Veteran Mod has a wide-brim Soviet hat and khaki field cap texture, as well as an alternate SSh-68 helmet model.

Have you checked out The Bear Went Over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan? It's a translation of a Soviet military collection of vignettes with critical commentary that you might find useful.

As someone who finds Arma 3 to be quite lacking in 1980s Cold War content, I'll be eagerly looking forward to this campaign!

This is great stuff, Breakerchase. Thanks so much!

---------- Post added at 06:26 ---------- Previous post was at 06:21 ----------

I highly enjoyed your previous campaings and i'm sure this one will be a blast.

Oh wow-this looks fantastic.Love your other campaigns.

Thanks for the support! =D

Maybe you should contact the developer of the Black Hawk Down mission (http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=468306650&insideModal=1). His mission had something like a camerascope to recreate the feeling of being in the 90s.

Yes I'll look into it! Thanks!

[Alex150201 894]

My god, looks like ted_hou can't stop making campaign! Well good because i can't stop playing them :D

[TedHo 53]

My god, looks like ted_hou can't stop making campaign! Well good because i can't stop playing them :D

Can't stop won't stop.

[corporal_lib[br] 396]

Hey Ted_hou, found an old but seems well done russian pack camos with gorka - http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=27065

A guy just used on his RHS mission, so I guess it works alright ;)

cheers!

[flatbear 19]

You may also find "The Russian Garrison in Tajikistan- 201st Gatchina Twice Red Banner Motor Rifle Division" by MJ Orr to be interesting reading. The 201st motor rifle division is the division that encompasses the 149th guards motor rifle regiment

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CC8QFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fkms1.isn.ethz.ch%2Fserviceengine%2FFiles%2FISN%2F96545%2Fipublicationdocument_singledocument%2F07877b03-1217-41a7-b689-70bca1058896%2Fen%2F01_Oct_2.pdf&ei=GB-WVZvPEoPLogT5upjoDw&usg=AFQjCNGboN_Y5SNBmg0Ya9V90e8HEGbeHg&sig2=hhz28Avo3PQRPeSVrR-Ajg&bvm=bv.96952980,d.cGU

Also The Great Gamble: The Soviet War in Afghanistan by Gregory Feifer is a good read too

[reforger 30]

If you still need an idea for a (stealth) mission:

During the war the western states (especially the american CIA) gave the Mujahideen weapons and other supplies. Especially the stinger anti-air rockets were very important, because earlier the afghan fighters were not able to harm the russian Hinds (attack helicopters). In one mission the soviets could have the task to enter one of the cave complexes in Kunduz (that with the second water entrance would be nice) and to destroy the stingers there.

I know this idea is very rough and I do not know how far you are with your work, but maybe you can make a nice mission out of it.

[TedHo 53]

;2961193']found an old but seems well done russian pack camos with gorka - http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=27065

Thanks mate' date=' I'll check it out!

You may also find "The Russian Garrison in Tajikistan- 201st Gatchina Twice Red Banner Motor Rifle Division" by MJ Orr to be interesting reading. The 201st motor rifle division is the division that encompasses the 149th guards motor rifle regiment

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CC8QFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fkms1.isn.ethz.ch%2Fserviceengine%2FFiles%2FISN%2F96545%2Fipublicationdocument_singledocument%2F07877b03-1217-41a7-b689-70bca1058896%2Fen%2F01_Oct_2.pdf&ei=GB-WVZvPEoPLogT5upjoDw&usg=AFQjCNGboN_Y5SNBmg0Ya9V90e8HEGbeHg&sig2=hhz28Avo3PQRPeSVrR-Ajg&bvm=bv.96952980,d.cGU

Also The Great Gamble: The Soviet War in Afghanistan by Gregory Feifer is a good read too

This is great material. Thanks so much!

If you still need an idea for a (stealth) mission:

During the war the western states (especially the american CIA) gave the Mujahideen weapons and other supplies. Especially the stinger anti-air rockets were very important, because earlier the afghan fighters were not able to harm the russian Hinds (attack helicopters). In one mission the soviets could have the task to enter one of the cave complexes in Kunduz (that with the second water entrance would be nice) and to destroy the stingers there.

I know this idea is very rough and I do not know how far you are with your work, but maybe you can make a nice mission out of it.

That's a really neat idea! Could be a fun mission. I'll think about it. Thanks!

[Variable 322]

ted_hou, if we are allowed to provide mission ideas, I'd first recommend you the novel "The Cardinal of the Kremlin" by Tom Clancy. You could draw a lot of scenes from it, some will fit Arma 3's engine perfectly. To follow up on reforger's suggestion, and link with this novel, it was suggested that the CIA requested the Mujahideen to extract sensitive equipment from the downed Soviet aircraft they shot down as a form of payment for more Stinger systems. That could be a great mission for Arma 3 - take down a chopper or a Soviet plane, evaluate where it crashed, move to that position before the Soviet rescue and retrieval team arrive, extract the avionics equipment and bug out. That is, of course, if you'd choose to include missions for the Mujahideen's side.

[flatbear 19]

Any hopes of a beta campaign?

[TedHo 53]

ted_hou, if we are allowed to provide mission ideas, I'd first recommend you the novel "The Cardinal of the Kremlin" by Tom Clancy. You could draw a lot of scenes from it, some will fit Arma 3's engine perfectly. To follow up on reforger's suggestion, and link with this novel, it was suggested that the CIA requested the Mujahideen to extract sensitive equipment from the downed Soviet aircraft they shot down as a form of payment for more Stinger systems. That could be a great mission for Arma 3 - take down a chopper or a Soviet plane, evaluate where it crashed, move to that position before the Soviet rescue and retrieval team arrive, extract the avionics equipment and bug out. That is, of course, if you'd choose to include missions for the Mujahideen's side.

 

Thank you variable. That is a great mission idea though I doubt I'll be taking the story to the Mujahideen's side. I have been considering the possibility of including a spetznaz mission, and this seems to be a good story.

 

Any hopes of a beta campaign?

I can't promise anything yet. Progress has been slow but the first mission is mostly complete.

[Alex150201 894]

I can't promise anything yet. Progress has been slow but the first mission is mostly complete.

 

 

I know how you feel dude. I am working on a campaign aswell and I have only done 3 missions in 7 months. It's hard to make good and high quality missions but I think the Eden editor just might speed some things up like decorating the enviroment. If you need any help I'd like to volunteer. I am pretty good with the editor (out of my 900 hours of arma 3 750 have been spent on the editor) and I can also script a bit.

[TedHo 53]

Mission 1 Beta Released!

 

Current Mod List:

• Veteran Mod (VTN): Realistic Afghan-era weapons and equipment. (Current version 0.4.1)
• RHS:Escalation: Vehicles and aircrafts. (Current version 0.3.9.1)
• Leights Opfor Pack: Mujihadeen apparel and some retextured RHS assets. (Current version 1.5)
• Kunduz(Terrain): Kunduz terrain used in mission 1. (Current version 1.08)
• IOT_AFG: Mod pack custom-made for this campaign. Contains some re-textured RHS items. Disables VTN medical system by default. Made RHS assets compatible with VTN features. Will be included in the campaign release in the future.
• (Optional) ShackTac User Interface: Supported but optional. All characters are named and assigned to color teams.

 

Mission 01 Beta:

 

Note: This is a beta campaign release containing only the first mission. No voice acting as of now. If you've bothered to test it, I would appreciate any feedback.

 

Install guide:

• Extract and put both folders ("Campaigns" & "@IOT_AFG")under your Arma3 installation directory.
• Make sure the following mods are loaded when you launch the game.
  • @VTN;
  • @RHS:Escalation;
  • @LeightsOpforPack;
  • @Kunduz
  • @IOT_AFG

 

Download: Dropbox

[corporal_lib[br] 396]

Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!... can I say awesome again??? And great move using VTN, that mod is quite an underdog that needs more community spotlight and great missions =)

 

Testing asap! (a pitty it is just one mission... I want moarrrr lol)

 

cheers!

 

[EDIT] Already have a bug to report: the black screen keeps on even after the introduction... couldn´t see anything, luckly there´s an automatic save after the troops get out of the APC, so I could reload and finally SEE the mission lol

 

This is probably a bug with the black in command since the last arma3 update, DSS mod had this problem of permanent black screen too...

 

[Edit2] Just finished the first (and only for now) mission... literally A BLAST! Felt just like a soviet conscript, hurting for my dead comrades and charging shouting "za rodinaaaaa" against those mujahadeen compounds... and a word of advice: if your team leader says that you shouldn´t touch the bodies of the ambushed platoon, cus they´re booby trapped, you should really comply lol (learned the hard way =D

 

Keep it coming, Ted_hou, couldn´t be more awesomier (so it is planned to have voice acting, just like Bell tolls? wow... just wow! =D

cheers again...or may I say "Na Zdrowie"! (My name is Ivã, I guess I´m a red scum after all lol)

;)

[TedHo 53]

[EDIT] Already have a bug to report: the black screen keeps on even after the introduction... couldn´t see anything, luckly there´s an automatic save after the troops get out of the APC, so I could reload and finally SEE the mission lol

 

This is probably a bug with the black in command since the last arma3 update, DSS mod had this problem of permanent black screen too...

 

 

Hey corporal_lib, thanks for testing and reporting! It's strange since the black screen should fade in in a couple of seconds after mission start, and it has worked fine for me. Are you running any extra mods or dev branch by any chance?

 

And yes, there will be voice acting in the future. =D