Hitting the Beach: Semper Fi, Syria! Mission 02, Combat Mission Shock Force

Following up the Recon Marines, elements of Golf and Fox companies come ashore and get stuck in.
See videos early with KZbin membership: / @usuallyhapless9481
Or even earlier over on Patreon: / usuallyhaplessvideos

[@xurxotroche366]

-USN: How many supporting assets do you need for this? +UH: Indeed

[@larsdejong7396]

Clearly more than this. Where are the B-1's? 🤔

[@mimir4965]

Cobra pilot be like: You see that TAXI cab? Co-pilot: Yes Pilot: I don't want to see it anymore.

[@markraffety3246]

US vehicles will still be armed with .50 caliber mgs in the year 2251.

[@usuallyhapless9481]

If it ain't broke!

[@The2ndFirst]

Dude.....It's the American DSHKA

[@kalashnidoge]

Oh yeah, another campaign episode. We are so up right now!

[@ThePhiladelphianGamer]

Man these new ARMA opening cinematic things you are doing are fucking amazing. Keep up the great work!

[@larsdejong7396]

"Extensive urban remodeling." Are you family of Drachinifel, or are all Brits like this? XD I understand the previous mission now; it's to teach you how to play around with heavy firepower. This one simply ads more toys into the mix. Love the briefings, by the way. Reminds me of those old desert storm documentaries.

[@usuallyhapless9481]

Yeah, all Brits have this sense of humour ;)

[@3badgersinatrenchcoat]

The dry humour is to compensate for the wet weather

[@larsdejong7396]

@@3badgersinatrenchcoat Lol.

[@tacomeru]

Say what you will about the protection offered by the AAVs, but they will at least protect against mortar fragments. :P

[@larsdejong7396]

And snipers, so no commanders losing their heads.

[@Marlon044]

Its so strange the marines gave up their tanks but I think its the right call. the 40 mm HEDP does offer alot of support, it can cut into most of the things from the eastern bloc. The downside is yes its armor sucks but hey it's a water taxi.

[@kekistanimememan170]

@@Marlon044I mean I’m sceptical too but the USMC losing its tanks. Doesn’t mean it can’t kill tanks. And if it plans on island hoping around the South China Sea I guess tanks could be a burden guess that’s why the m10 Booker is a thing.

[@Ungood-jl5ep]

@@kekistanimememan170 That is their plan, to borrow US Army armor battalions when needed, either Abrams and Bookers.

[@yuukibr5959]

Considering that the US Marines would be the first responders, it makes more sense for them to be a lighter force compared to an army BCT

[@jonorcutt6030]

Played part of this campaign recently & one thing to be aware of is a bug in a later scenario (“Flirting with Disaster”) where no reinforcements arrive to back up a small troop of scouting Humvees. Shooting up tanks & BMPs at long range w the TOW vehicles is great fun but eventually the missles run out & the tanks close in! This has been mentioned a few times in the Battlefront Forum but apparently never addressed. I haven’t gone back to see if things run to a better conclusion if one takes *Route Tiger* in the campaign-branching “Breakout” scenario. “Flirting with Disaster” is part of the *Route Eagle* branch

[@usuallyhapless9481]

Hmm. Have to keep an eye out for that one.

[@mitamajr]

Thanks for the warning! I have Breakout as the next mission in the campaign.

[@elbastardo1891]

Damn, that sounds rough. I wasn't aware of the bug and played the scenario a while back, luckily the tanks arrived normally for me.

[@ku9305]

Awesome editing, very immersive. Keep it up, Hapless!

[@Lazuli2-6]

Ah yes send in the lunch boxes

[@MrJonnycm]

really looking forward to seeing you do the next mission (provided it hasn't been changed in CMSF2) as that one stumped me for a long time back in the day

[@usuallyhapless9481]

I've been eyeballing it with some concern.

[@mitamajr]

Oh yeah it is a nightmare even in CMSF2

[@statstats3724]

Great stuff as always. It's really quite a change of pace when you don't have an IFV you feel safe moving around in. I decided to 'hop' single squads (which is still a fair few men!) up the map in the AAVs, one vehicle at a time, which went well enough - if I had lost one it wouldn't have been too bad, though in part because CM doesn't cover the loss of strategic mobility that would cause. Later on you get scouts with Humvees and LAVs, which are much better for testing the ground to see if it's covered by an ATGM.

[@copter2000]

Probably my favourite mission in the campaign. Just pure fire powers awesomeness.

[@theofficerfactory2625]

I remember in the demo version of SF2, there is an amphibious operation that I played quite a few times. I ams surprised that wasn't part of the campaign.

[@Ungood-jl5ep]

It's a stand alone battle. "Day at the Beach"

[@PitterPatter20]

Yup. It's still in the main game, just in the single scenarios section. Still fun as well!

[@The2ndFirst]

Thanks for this Hapless. I love this format of you videos. It's entertaining.

[@usuallyhapless9481]

You're welcome!

[@SilencedMi5]

I'll second what someone else has already said - excellent editing and narration. Really brings these missions to life!

[@Mr66D]

My own playthrough of this mission was remarkably similar, with pretty much the same plan - the main force does a big right hook through the objectives while Fox Company opportunistically rolls up the left once it comes in, all while supporting fires smash actual or suspected enemy positions. A few differences though: 1) For whatever reason I was able to provoke the Syrians in BLT Obj. 2 into opening fire earlier and smothered them with Mk19 and rifle fire before advancing, and secured the objective without loss. 2) I was more aggressive with the AAVs, and got away with it. Starting them out in keyholes between buildings but eventually moving them up with the marines and supporting positional assaults, though admittedly a few RPGs came close. 3) Though I also suffered 13 casualties (2 dead, 11 wounded), they were to different causes. I managed to keep my marines safe from the Syrian mortars (except for the same recon marines getting caught in the open at OP 101), but took losses almost exclusively to Syrian infantry at close range as the marines cleared buildings, buildings that I should've just flattened. Plus one loss to friendly fire from the cobra. The lesson learned, from analysis of my own playthrough as well as watching this afterwards, is to have a better plan for supporting fires. I still had naval gun ammo in magazines and bombs still hanging from hornet wings at the end of the mission which should've been used to knock down more buildings. That would've translated directly into fewer marine casualties. I was a little surprised the Syrians didn't surrender. I ceasefired with 5 minutes to go and only 6 enemy left on the field, a mix of uncon spies (a little unnerving to see) and shellshocked lone survivors of shattered squads. Thanks for putting so much effort into these, they're a real treat to watch. Cheers.

[@Marlon044]

Reminds me of Arma 2 single player mission where your squad drops in by heli, all goes well....until a bmp shows up

[@usuallyhapless9481]

Luckily no BMPs here!

[@Marlon044]

@@usuallyhapless9481 lol true, would have been interesting 😄

[@johnfarrelly6670]

Woo Hoo beer time just got getter! 🍺

[@Anu242Bis]

Interesting approach! I’ve been playing this campaign myself lately and I used the reinforcing Fox platoon as a maneuver element rather than trying to rush down the MSR. I found that maintaining the relatively longer engagement ranges on that left hand side flank was a key combat advantage and I really didn’t want to close up with the buildings. Definitely could have used the AAVs more myself but like you I was scared of anti tank emplacements. Loved the JDAM power in this engagement too! Thank you for posting your playthrough, it is very illuminating.

[@PitterPatter20]

Awesome second episode! Loving this series!!

[@kevinl.o.torres8962]

The mix with the Arma 3 scenes is veru good!

[@NarbashEnjoyer]

Damn you are so good at these games man, always a good experience to hear your though process and see your gameplay

[@vicomteturenne]

Nice video! I discovered your channel recently and am enjoying learning about this game. Your grasp of tactics and terrain is impressive. Have you considered roleplaying ROE more? ROE imposes significant real-world restrictions not modeled in the game itself that would make these engagements more challenging in reality. For example, you cannot occupy a mosque that is not first occupied by enemy combatants. Similarly, it is unlikely that non-precision fires would be approved for use against buildings that might contain civilians (at least until you positively identify armed defenders in them). It is surely more effective to plaster the likely defensive positions with indirect fire and air support before closing in, but actions like that tend to cause more collateral damage than U.S. forces (or any allied powers) would be willing to accept.

[@usuallyhapless9481]

Thanks! There are enough missions with specific ROE restrictions that I don't intend to implement any of my own. Personally, for the Shock Force conflict scenario, I don't think Coalition ROE would be that limited. The West is not happy.

[@Prederick]

The production values on this channel are just going up and up and up and up. Love it. I hope the time investment is proving to be worth it!

[@usuallyhapless9481]

Thanks very much! I've gotten the routine down pretty well by now, so it doesn't take as long as it used to

[@ONosbor]

I really enjoyed this one. How many jdams did you drop in the end? I like seeing the characteristically American generous employment of air support. In most CM videos, fires tend to be limited to artillery. It would be cool (for the viewer, not sure if it would be cool for the redfor player) if in a future pvp game of yours, you had no gentlemen's agreement about limiting air support.

[@SharpGopher123]

Am I the only one who saw this get posted 5 or 6 days ago and then suddenly vanish? Nice to see it back!

[@usuallyhapless9481]

That sounds like KZbin membership shenanigans. The video did go live a few days back, but only for members.

[@stardekk1461]

excellent video love the cinematics

[@wojszach4443]

how much fire support do you need? thats too little but i didnt even... more!

[@theslammerpwndu7945]

Just wanted to say that I recently discovered your content and I've binged all your AAR's and quite a few of the few full game replays

[@romain5967]

Praise be.

[@skinnybob6784]

Good stuff :) As always, keep it up!

[@MetallicaMan172]

Wonderful video once again!

[@sirfanatical8763]

12:04 I think that "injection of Speed" isn't the best metaphor here Unless you fancy doing drugs

[@zyavoosvawleilte1308]

Pretty smooth sailing so far, but I do wonder how long the USMC fire support hose is

[@The2ndFirst]

"Residual Syrians" lol

[@jonorcutt6030]

Are Marine Corps 81s the most responsive off map battery in all of CM?

[@usuallyhapless9481]

They're up there. The Brits have a specific Mortar Controller FO in their company organisation who can call in his own Coy mortars inside a minute if you're lucky.

[@patthapon13807]

As a newb, this is the first mission I won without any guide and what makes me addicted to this game. I focus all 2 AAV platoons in a single focal point where I suppressed the Syrian with Mk19 as I moved up my AAVs next to their position. Once I reached their position, my infantry would just jump in and fight at close range. Only 10 men died, which was when I paused the assault to hold my position and ran out of Mk19 to suppress the enemy and I was busy micromanaging Fox company. I tried this in the US army campaign's first mission and it worked out well too. It's the riskiest tactic so far but it's the only one I'm good at as I always get absolutely decimated when I'm more careful with my assault.

[@overwatch1828]

Love your content and dedication to the Battlefront series of games. I'm trying to get M Herm and yourself persuaded to play against each other in a match.... Let me know if your up for it I'll try and put it together of you could reach out to him... He is also posting BF videos on this platform and would be VERY interested to see you both go at it...I think it would be an epic video from both sides... Mirror? ;-)

[@peshka96024]

whats the first game?

[@usuallyhapless9481]

Do you mean this one? kzbin.info/www/bejne/qZvZdXWgZs9rmdU

[@peshka96024]

@@usuallyhapless9481 when the briefing was in some boat.

[@stormcommando1640]

@@peshka96024Arma 3, with mods I believe

[@дроу]

Gaza strategy?

[@skinnybob6784]

Good stuff :) As always, keep it up!