USMC Campaign v0.9, released 25 Mar 2012

bebro · Post by **bebro** » Mon Jan 30, 2012 2:50 pm

Yup. Among other things

Thanks to rezaf, there's also a visual difference now between standard sea and shallow sea tiles. The latter will be impassable for capitals ships, but naval transport units plus a couple of light warships (like PT Boats, DDs) can use them.

VPaulus · Post by **VPaulus** » Mon Jan 30, 2012 2:53 pm

I was just teasing you.

bebro · Post by **bebro** » Wed Feb 01, 2012 2:17 pm

Back to the campaign:

I'll use flame tanks for bonus units, but they'll become available only after Tarawa, so in early 1944, which means they appear only when you're ca. half-way through the (full) campaign. There will be three types, based on M3, M5 and M4 tanks, so you can upgrade the earlier models.

So far I plan to limit bonus units to max. 2 over the whole campaign.

I have no idea yet what to do with the captured eqp mechanics. I can't imagine captured Japanese stuff was used often by the USMC, but I could be wrong here. If anyone has a good idea about this and wants to share it I'd appreciate it. Right now I tend to leave captured units out completely, but maybe I find a good use...

nikivdd · Post by **nikivdd** » Wed Feb 01, 2012 2:37 pm

bebro wrote:

Back to the campaign:

I'll use flame tanks for bonus units, but they'll become available only after Tarawa, so in early 1944, which means they appear only when you're ca. half-way through the (full) campaign. There will be three types, based on M3, M5 and M4 tanks, so you can upgrade the earlier models.

So far I plan to limit bonus units to max. 2 over the whole campaign.

I have no idea yet what to do with the captured eqp mechanics. I can't imagine captured Japanese stuff was used often by the USMC, but I could be wrong here. If anyone has a good idea about this and wants to share it I'd appreciate it. Right now I tend to leave captured units out completely, but maybe I find a good use...

Just an idea:
Instead of a captured unit, what about a freed pow unit? Japanese held americans,british,dutch... Such a unit could join your forces for the rest of the mission and/or campaign.

bebro · Post by **bebro** » Wed Feb 01, 2012 3:55 pm

Enabling allied units that way sounds like a good idea, they don't have to be POWs anyway. On some islands there was also contact to guerillas (Philippines, Guadalcanal too IIRC, maybe more). Thx

I have to see in which scn this fits in best though, historically, and with regards to the core.

bebro · Post by **bebro** » Fri Feb 03, 2012 3:40 pm

OK, I changed plans somewhat. Due to the rework of the eqp I mentioned earlier I'll not release a revised version of part I, but focus on finishing the campaign with the reworks, and release all together as new version then. That will take a while of course.

However, it's overall probably less time-consuming then to upgrade part I separately, then doing other parts. Still if one needs fixes for the version released so far please drop me a note, I'll see to provide them if possible.

As far as progress goes, I'm working on scns 5 and 6 now. At the same time, there are still many gfx to be made, so I switch a bit back and forth between scn and gfx work. Make stuff less boring.

Meanwhile some more previews to shorten the time waiting...

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

VPaulus · Post by **VPaulus** » Fri Feb 03, 2012 6:24 pm

That Catalina is looking so great... and the Corsair...
Great work!

bebro · Post by **bebro** » Fri Feb 03, 2012 7:08 pm

The Catalina is one of my favourites too.

This one is made by using a free model though, so I just rendered it but didn't create the model. I wanted to leave it out completly first, since I found nothing about Catalinas in use by the marine air arm, but it looks too good IMO. So I included some as navy Catalina aux units in some scns...

drjeff21 · Post by **drjeff21** » Sat Feb 04, 2012 1:02 am

Those units look great. I especially like the PBY.

morge4 · Post by **morge4** » Sat Feb 04, 2012 1:10 am

very nice indeed

bebro · Post by **bebro** » Sat Feb 04, 2012 6:44 pm

Thx

Scn 5 and 6 are nearly done now. After that there comes Betio/Tarawa, and I hope to make it something special.

When I read first about the assault long time ago it reminded me immediately on the storming of a medieval fortress with all those heavy defenses concentrated in a very small space.

Just that here instead of walls there are barricades and anti-tank ditches protected by minefields, the towers are bunkers, and the catapults are those big guns from the naval bombardment group. And then there's of course the marines assaulting in their LVTs and landing craft...

bebro · Post by **bebro** » Mon Feb 06, 2012 8:53 pm

Started work on scn 7 for Betio/Tarawa. There will be several types of bunkers, pillboxes, command and observation posts and coastal defense arty in fortified and sometimes fixed positions, like those:

nikivdd · Post by **nikivdd** » Mon Feb 06, 2012 9:05 pm

bebro wrote:Started work on scn 7 for Betio/Tarawa. There will be several types of bunkers, pillboxes, command and observation posts and coastal defense arty in fortified and sometimes fixed positions, like those:

WOW
You're an infinite well of inspiration.
Very well done indeed

VPaulus · Post by **VPaulus** » Mon Feb 06, 2012 10:08 pm

nikivdd wrote:WOW
You're an infinite well of inspiration.
Very well done indeed

Indeed.
I can offer you the SM.84 for you to work.

I've already exhausted all my imagination in trying to make it attractive.

morge4 · Post by **morge4** » Mon Feb 06, 2012 11:40 pm

bebro wrote:Started work on scn 7 for Betio/Tarawa. There will be several types of bunkers, pillboxes, command and observation posts and coastal defense arty in fortified and sometimes fixed positions, like those:

Very nice work! Am really looking forward to the rest of the USMC campaign now...

bebro · Post by **bebro** » Tue Feb 07, 2012 3:56 pm

Thx everyone

Though it will still need some time before this version is testable...

bebro · Post by **bebro** » Fri Feb 10, 2012 4:39 pm

Almost done with Tarawa, next will be Kwajalein, early 1944. Have not decided yet how to do it.

The Marines invaded Roi-Namur in the north of the atoll, the US Army did the attack on Kwajalein itself in the south at the same time. Maybe I make a bigger map including both. Defenses will no be as heavy as on Betio in the Tarawa atoll, but still challenging.

Here's the planned campaign path, though some details might still change, esp. for the scns later:

As you see there's still enough work, but I'm over the 50% mark

Also this is only the main path, a possible alternate one would start with Bougainville, stay there for some scns, then converge later into the main path again. I'll focus on doing the main path first.

VPaulus · Post by **VPaulus** » Fri Feb 10, 2012 5:04 pm

It's looking good.

morge4 · Post by **morge4** » Fri Feb 10, 2012 5:06 pm

Looks good...can't wait to get my feet wet!

bebro · Post by **bebro** » Sun Feb 12, 2012 8:52 am

Meanwhile I gave up the earlier idea for Kwajalein, so the scn will only depict the marine assault on Roi-Namur. Anything else would have required a overly huuuge map, and the army assault in the south would only been done by aux units anyway, so I concentrate on the north only.

All three "atoll scenarios" (Tarawa, Kwajalein, Enitewok) have some special terrain also. Their scale is also more "zoomed in", since those islands/islets are so tiny in reality, but still there was intense fighting.

Oh, and I'll include custom ships, since I found the stock gfx don't look like US or Japanese ships (except the carrier and light cruiser which seem to be made after a US ships). I've done some ship gfx for HOI/Arma quite some time ago, and re-use now some of those models. Here are some examples:

USMC Campaign v0.9, released 25 Mar 2012

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Re: USMC Campaign, Part I released 15 Jan 2012

Re: USMC Campaign, Part I released 15 Jan 2012

Re: USMC Campaign, Part I released 15 Jan 2012