Notes about the 'OPFOR Challenge II' tournament

[Dr Zaius]

I've been asked a few questions about the tournament, so I'll use this thread to answer them (I'm sure there will be more).

1). Will ladder points be awarded for this?

Currently, DA is not listed on any of the Warfare HQ ladders, but that may be about to change. If the DA ladder is up and running when the tournament is complete, then yes, ladder points will be awarded. The winners will get more than the losers.

2). What if the scenarios turn out to be a blowout?

That should not happen as the scenarios have been designed with balance as a primary goal.

 

[Dr Zaius]

3). Where will the battles take place?

All over the world, but mostly in the Middle East. The locations will be real, but the situations are all hypothetical.

4). Will the OOBs be based on real units?

The units are hypothetical, however, in some scenarios the BLUEFOR may closely resemble actual US military forces. The OPFOR may represent a hypothetical Iraqi force in one scenario and a fictional Krasnovian force in another. The OPFOR may closely resemble some real world forces, but it is not a factual OOB.

5). How will the OPFOR be able to compete?

For this tournament, the OPFOR is on equal footing with the BLUEFOR in some situations. Both sides have significant combat power and the support to back it up. Some scenarios will simply be a large scale movement to conact, while other scnarios will indeed have an attacker and a defender. Some battles might see the OPFOR as the defender and other as the attacker.

 

[Dr Zaius]

6). Will the OPFOR be based on Soviet built equipment?

Yes and no. Primarily, the OPFOR will resemble units from the Russian republics and various Middle Eastern nations, however, anything is possible! :devil: This means the BLUEFOR will usually have a slight technology edge, but not always. The "Krasnovian" Army has provided selected units with the best equipment from Russia, India, and China. In some cases this puts OPFOR units on equal footing with the best BLUEFOR has to offer. The OPFOR air force can also be a potent force to recon with too.

7). What time period will the scenarios cover?

1985-2010. Anything is possible...

8). How large will the scenarios be?

That differs from one battle to the next. Some are fairly small while others are in the medium-large range. All of the scenarios have been set up with the forces for each side completely task organized with appropriate logistics pre-set. If the player leaves the primary maneuver units task organized like this, then the scenarios really aren't very hard to manage. If the player elects to "un-task organize" the units and break them down into their respective sub-components, then, of course, that's going to mean more work for the player.

 

[Dr Zaius]

There are currently 11 players signed up for the tournament at this time. Ivan does not have an opponent as of yet. Hopefully one or two additional players will sign up before the deadline, but if not then one player will become a "reserve" player. If someone drops out during the course of the tourny, then the reserve player will take his place.

At this time, the tentative force commanders are"

BLUEFOR: GaryB
OPFOR: NORAD

There are only a few days left prior to the start of the tournament. I advise all the team members from each team to get in contact with each other and make sure they are on the same sheet of music. I advise the team commanders to get in contact with each member of their team and remain in contact throughout the duration of the tournament.

NORAD has volunteered to serve as the OPFOR commander since no one else has offered to do so. He is new to DA though. The OPFOR team members should consult among themselves and ensure that this is the chain of command they want. NORAD has offered to move aside if a more experienced DA player steps up to the challenge.

A few words about the scenarios. Be careful gentlemen! These scenarios pit very evenly matched forces against one another. Since both sides have an equal chance to win, you will need to use all of your assets wisely. Loss of a critical support unit early on in the battle could cripple you. S2 is at a premium. Gather as much information about the enemy as you can and use his weaknesses against him. Fairlure to to paint a proper S2 intel picture of what the enemy is up to and where he is will almost certainly result in a harsh defeat. Neither side can afford to wage a battle of attrition so plan well gentlemen.

The first scenario will be mailed out on the day the tournament begins. You ARE NOT permitted to open the scenario in the editor to see what the enemy has. Please honor the intent here or it will spoil the fun for everyone.

 

[Ivan Rapkinov]

woohoo! victory be mine!

 

[KG_Norad]

Like Don said, I am TOTALLY willing to allow a member of the club the privilage of leading the Glorious OPFOR State into battle. I do not mind acting as the "reserve member" or if another DA player shows up, just playing. I am indeed new to the game. However if fate decrees that I should lead the Revolution so be it, I will do my best to make those imperialist dogs pay..in blood, but again please feel free to speak up. There won't be any hard feelings!

 

[Alkiviadis]

New OpFor Player

Hi

I'm on the OpFor team, have many years wargaming experience, but I've only played 2 scenarios of DA...It really sucks one in. If anyone wants to do some training games I'm available for a PBEM game.

 

[Dr Zaius]

Please re-read question 1-8. The answers have been updated!!

9). Will I be premitted to "magic move" my forces prior to the start of the scenario (on turn 0)?

Not unless the OPORD specifically states that you can. Otherwise, you must work with them as is. Some scenarios may allow one side or the other the option of repositioning forces prior to the start of the scenario. In that case the OPORD will have detailed instructions on what the limits are.

10). Do I have to follow the plan of attack in the OPORD?

Well, you don't have to, however, these are your orders from higher and they have outlined a credible course of action. Players are not completely bound by the OPORD though. The enemy assessment in the OPORD may turn out to be flawed due to the fog of war. You, as the senior commander on the scene, have greater situation awareness thus it is appropriate for you to conduct the battle as you see fit. That is, unless the OPORD contains specific notes (for tournament purposes) that must be followed.

11). Must I keep my maneuver units within the phase lines and boundaries?

Yes and no. Most of the phase lines are part of the overall OPORD and are meant to help you keep track of the battle and plan accordingly. If the battle develops differently than expected, you can use the graphics menu to draw your own operational graphics. You will, however, need to keep your forces within the overall outside boundaries (i.e. the entire map is not open to maneuever).

12). What if my opponent and I are late with a round?

See the tournament rules. In general, if it looks like a lot of people are having difficulty meeting the deadline for a specific scenario, then we will push back the start of the next round by a few days to give everyone the chance to finish. All players are encouraged to meet the deadlines already established by the tournament coordinator, however, these are not set in stone and may be adjusted if need be.

13). There are only a few prizes available for the winning team. Who gets them?

See the prizes page. In short, the winning players with the best records will get them. If there is a tie, then the commanding officer for that side will determine who gets them based off his judgement of who made the greatest contribution to the team. The tournament coordinator will not be part of the process if that happens. It's up to the team commander to decide!

 

[Alkiviadis]

The Tourney & DA bugs

Please also keep us posted re: the Bugs & the status Tourney start date.
Also any way to compensate re: objective control via umpirering?

 

[Dr Zaius]

Please also keep us posted re: the Bugs & the status Tourney start date.
Also any way to compensate re: objective control via umpirering?

Well, there are two ways to do victory conditions in DA: force-based and terrain-based. In one, the primary goal is to control real estate and in the other it is to attrit the enemy forces by a certain percent. I'm not certain how these settings actually effect the game engine though.

At the present time scenarios start off with 30-40% casualties per side and the casualties do not seem to be adding up correctly. That means the VP totals are almost worthless and the problem does not effect them evenly. Judging victory in the scenarios with an umpire could get tricky. They weren't designed with that in mind. If HPS does not address the problem, then we may have to resort to such a system. This would probably result in a short delay because I would have to retool the scenarios and come up with a system for judging them.

 

[Deltapooh]

What team needs another (poorly experienced and highly risk) player?

 

[KG_Norad]

Glad to have you aboard DP. If the Tournament web page is up to date both teams are even so take your pick!

 

[Ivan Rapkinov]

NORAD: I told you to get him as an advisor!!!!

 

[Deltapooh]

NORAD: I told you to get him as an advisor!!!!

I forgot about that. I signed onto OPFOR.

 

[KG_Norad]

Woo hoo! Can you blame me? being a staff member I have to try to be impartial?

 

[Dr Zaius]

Gentlemen, in light of the current problems with the scoring system I have pushed back the start date for the tournament from 5 May to 7 May. That gives me two more get try to get this sorted out. Two days shouldn't be a major bother to anyone and hopefully we'll have it all worked out by then.

 

[KG_Norad]

I'm with you Don, do what you need to do BEFORE this thing starts. The fewer problems we have once we get into the thing and people get emotionally attached to their wins...the better.

 

[Dr Zaius]

I still haven't recived any feedback on the VP issue. I'm still trying to contact Col Lunsford to see what he thinks. More to follow.

 

[cbelva]

Don, What's the status of the tournament. Are we starting tomorrow or not. I saw your e-mail on decussion group. It is frustrating with Col Lunsford disappears. Thanks for all your work in putting this together. If we have to propone the tournament util we get this worked out, it will not be a problem as far as I am concerned.

 

[Dr Zaius]

I have not been able to figure out why this is happening. It happens in every new scenario I create so it must be a bug of some sort. Since the loss percent seems to chance from one scenario to the next, I haven't been able to come up with any way around it.

Does anyone have any ideas? If not, we will have to postpone again I'm afraid.