major grunt

Have you checked that the islands are the default OFP islands and not enhanced ones?

It must be the purist in me but I attempt to play this mission in concert with the given scenario. First the leader/player is an inexperienced kid wearing his dad’s uniform and initially carrying his pistol. He is not likely and neither are any of the civilians or militiamen going to know how to operate a M1A1 or T80 or any other piece of complicated equipment. Driving a truck is about the max of their skills. Also an RPG/LAW requires considerable skill to be effective and in general you only get one rocket at a time unless you have an ammo truck. It takes two satchel charges to take out an M1A1 and 4 RPG/LAW to take out either a T80 or M1A1. Hence, stay away from tanks and armor unless you can predict where they will go or you are brave enough to try and sneak up on it. Hopefully when there are no ground troops around to take you out. The two times I won I never used armor nor took any out. Likewise, maybe the militiamen might know how to use PKs or M60s, but believe me in the hands of inexperienced troops they generally just make a lot of noise and attract a lot of attention. Also Bisons and any other 9mm suppressed short barrel submachine gun are extremely short-range weapons since they must use subsonic rounds and have barrels less than 8-inchs long (the suppressor doesn’t count as barrel length). OFP doesn’t recognize this restriction but I try to play it that way. I do agree that the best use of the team is 6 o’clock cover at some distance behind the kid. The medic should be even further back.

I have completed AA twice, once in a purely task oriented mode to achieve a favorable outcome in the shortest possible time and the second time in an exploratory mode to see what all the author may have included in the mission. My times were 13 and 18 hours respectively. Each run through is unique. This is not the typical run and gun type mission and it has no arcade characteristics. It is easy to get immersed in the story line and even consider actions that would benefit the islanders after you defeat the armies. What happens next in the play depends on what already has happened. The fact you can get another medic if you lose the first is just one example of the numerous twists in the play. The author has composed a complex plot with a great deal of randomness that involves large numbers of a variety of units. The mission stretches the capabilities of OFP and the player.

Twistedpretzel: I am composing this reply with more than a little trepidation since it may appear that I know more than I really do. I particularly enjoyed the land navigation portion of AA. With a true pointing compass and the detailed map of OFP (every rock, tree, bush and house is shown and I never used maps that good in the field) it is very easy to move from one location to another. It is never a very good idea to split your forces, particularly when the team is small and resources are extremely limited. In almost all my ofp operations I use my squad primarily as a 6 o’clock cover. Secondly, direct assaults on larger probably better-equipped forces are generally not very wise. Recon and being very sneaky with hit and run tactics has always been the formula for successful resistance. Unlike most ofp missions AA does not provide much intelligence in the briefing. This adds to the realism. Each group of civilians you encounter will provide more humint (Human Intelligence) to assist your decision-making. You need to watch and carefully observe, as Sherlock Holmes would say don’t just look – see. Your search for munitions and destructive weapons will benefit from careful observation. You need to think and operate as a covert agent in an extremely hostile environment. No one place will always be safe and as in real life the situation around you is in constant flux. Finding ways to make the enemies help you (by eliminating each other for example) would be a good idea. Hope this helps.

Su27: I had numerous wierd errors when I started also and Trevor gave me the the following sites to so that I could make sure my ofp 1.96 ws pristine. : http://andrew.nf/OFP/BedtimeReading/modfolders.htm http://andrew.nf/OFP/BedtimeReading/PristineAddons.htm The other adice I got included downloading a fresh copy of the mission and worst of all re=loading OFP entirely. Once I cleared everything out except the "pristineaddons" the misson worked great with no lag and no other bugs per se. Hope this helps.

After being told to read the README, I cleaned up my Level 1.96 to a pristine original and the mission played very well. (Engineers don't read instructions until there is an explosion or at least smoke.) The point is that addons and mods can interfere with one another to make the mission fail. This is a great mission that reflects many of the dark and heavy aspects of actual armed conflicts. A variety of action is possible depending on the player's actions. The overall scenario of anarchy following a global holocaust is well done. Including the end where the islanders have won by defeating their combined enemies but have most likely lost since the chance of survival on the island in the up coming winter is extremely poor. As I told Trevor, I am glad that ofp does not have children or old people because this mission could be even more oppressive to anyone with a modicum of sensibilities. The variability of the play makes this a mission one can play several times without being bored.