Combat Team Bravo - ArmA2:OA Blog

New Website!

2012-02-03T15:25:00.000+11:00

Combat Team Bravo has moved to a new site!

Visit aef-ctb.com to keep up to date with the teams activities and get involved with the campaign series!

C1M1 - Breadcrumbs

2012-01-06T15:54:00.000+11:00

Run on 3/1/12 with CTB, AAF, OCB

CTB 1-SOD infantry callsign Joker-1 was assigned to search for the flight crew of a downed USAF C130J, now confirmed to have been hit by MANPAD systems in the eastern Hazar-Kot Valley. Three fire teams (two assault and one fire support) successfully eliminated both a mobile AAA vehicle and a cache of air defense missiles identified by early air reconnaissance. Teams then advanced to the crash site and encountered somewhat stiff resistance in the form of technicals and light infantry (local militia). Upon reaching the crash site, teams found no trace of the flight crew. It is believed that due to the heavy enemy presence, it is unlikely they made an escape and instead have been captured by local insurgents. Teams made a quick withdrawal with the extraction point to regroup and await further orders. Callsigns broke all contact with local forces by nightfall. No significant casualties on the side of BLUFOR, estimated 25-30 dead OPFOR.

Local tactics of encirclement were attempted by opposing forces but were identified and dealt with promptly by infantry callsigns. Also of note was the local resistances lack of indirect fire which has featured heavily in recent engagements, although this was the first contact with fighters in this region of any significance (or notable size). A lack of IED's or other traps also suggests fighters were not expecting a western presence in the region, and that the downing of the C130 was more an act of opportunity rather than a planned action.

Video filmed / edited by AEF Rhodesy

CTB Mission Test Night

2011-07-07T14:15:00.000+10:00

Rhodesy's Rangers released!

2011-05-24T14:38:00.000+10:00

From BIS Forums: http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=119555

The 75th Ranger Regiment is a lethal, agile and flexible force, capable of executing a myriad of complex, joint special operations missions in support of U.S. policy and objectives. Today’s Ranger Regiment is the Army’s premier raid force. Each of the four geographically dispersed Ranger battalions are always combat ready, mentally and physically tough and prepared to fight the War on Terrorism. Their capabilities include air assault and direct action raids seizing key terrain such as airfields, destroying strategic facilities, and capturing or killing enemies of the Nation. Rangers are capable of conducting squad through regimental size operations using a variety of infiltration techniques including airborne, air assault and ground platforms. The Regiment remains an all-volunteer force with an intensive screening and selection process followed by combat-focused training. Rangers are resourced to maintain exceptional proficiency, experience and readiness. The 75th Ranger Regiment is a proud unit and a team of teams serving the Nation - Rangers Lead The Way!"

So its finaly here, nearly 10 months later and im at last at a 1.0 release. I've put ALOT of work into these guys so i hope you all like, been my main project all this time and im fairly happy with the outcome, but i still have lots planned for these guys.

Any missions you guys make and want to share i encourage you to PM them to me as i'll add them into the next release (which is planned to be a BIG one) same goes for any sweet screenshots or videos, the more the better.

Once again thanks for all the support guys, please let me know what you think of these guys, if you want to report bugs please let me know exactly what it is and be as detailed as possible, will make my life alot easier cheers.

All Credits are given in the readme shown below as are known issues.

Hope you guys enjoy!

Cheers
Rhodesy

SECTION LEADING: THE CORE OF COMBAT

2011-02-08T08:36:00.002+11:00

Delta has put together the first in a series of documents detailing the different team roles within CTB. The first up is the Section Leader.

"Being the section leader gives you tremendous power yet vast responsibility. Your team is relying on you more than you are on them. Your role is the father of the group. You are making decisions for them to action. While they trust that your decisions will help them see the end of the fight, you must trust yourself that you have given sufficient thought to what you want them to do. The following is a basic guide to how a section leader can get the most out of his team. It will outline two type of actions, offensive and defensive, each with their own unique ideas and uses. It will also attempt to cover the finer
points of section operations, that sometimes get overlooked, such as logistics and forward-planning."

You can read the whole article here: Section Leading: The Core Of Combat

S70 Training Night

2011-02-07T10:14:00.000+11:00

2011-01-08T10:27:00.000+11:00

Armaholic announced that Placebo announced the 2010 Community Awards on the BI forums!
This is the third annual and we are happy to celebrate the passion and creativeness of our dedicated community.

The three phase awards event starts today with the nominations and continues with a voting phase in February 2011. Subscribers can nominate their favorite community created piece of work for Arma or ArmA2 (inc expansion/DLC specific mod content) till Midnight CET, January 31st 2011. Winners will be announced in the first two weeks of March 2011.

Marek Spanel, Bohemia’s CEO, explains: "Last time around it was a great success. It proves to us that Community Awards are the right kind of event to support the Arma 2 enthusiasts and help them spread word of mouth about our projects. We would like to continue giving their great work more recognition beyond the usual hardcore community and use this opportunity to introduce the huge size of our Armaversum, as well as the unlimited gaming opportunities brought by the complex yet easy to use mission editor. Thanks to our dedicated community we are able to continue our work of adding and improving the library of military simulations available!”

All details including the competition´s conditions are described at Bohemia´s homepage at www.bistudio.com and on Arma 2 website atwww.arma2.com.

=======================================

Be sure to get your votes in! Make sure you get a vote in for AAW for best addon of the year, and let's not forget AusArmA, no.1 ArmA community website!

The Flipped Bushmaster

2010-12-28T13:53:00.000+11:00

Video speaks for itself...

Christmas Break

2010-12-17T16:24:00.000+11:00

That time again everyone - CTB is taking a few weeks off to eat our own body weight (or more) in whatever food appears in front of us and hopefully drunk a substantial amount.

Regular activity will kick off mid-January 2011.

AAW Mission Night Screenshots

2010-11-17T12:09:00.000+11:00

What a turn out - 37 players, every one of them running the Australians At War addon! It was great to see so many community members getting the gear and turning up - due to the response we'll be running all nights with AAW.

I'll have an AAR done up at a later date, but for now here's some of the screenshots from the night. Don't forget to check out the AusArmA forums for more screenshots, videos and discussion: http://www.ausarma.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=540

Patches! - ArmA 2 1.08 / Op.Arrowhead 1.55 / BAF 1.01

2010-11-12T10:00:00.004+11:00

Quote from BIS:
As a continuous support of its titles, dedicated community and customers, we are pleased to announce the release of 3 new patches which will improve the gaming experience of the titles from our military simulator line up!

Amongst the variety of tweaks and fixes detailed in the attached change-log files, these patches also bring a number of engine improvements, such as: stability and functionality fixes and improvements, various visual optimisations, AI behaviour improvements, new scripting commands and event-handlers, new grenade launcher optics in Arma 2: BAF, doubled texture and sound quality for BAF-Lite and much, much more.

Download them from ArmaHolic now!

http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=12585

Points to note:

If you have combined arms you only need the Arrowhead patch - it will update ArmA 2 for you if you have it installed

Get the BAF Patch even if you don't have the DLC - "Doubled quality of BAF-Lite experience"

Quick AAR & Upcoming AAW Mission Night!

2010-11-10T12:26:00.000+11:00

Just a few quick post game remarks from Monday night and then some info on the Australians At War mission night coming up on Tuesday!

Monday night went well with the player numbers hitting around 30 for the second mission. Operation Devils Tattoo was the first up with a strong turn out from AEF and AAF getting stuck into things nice and early.

Rommel and Swedge clearing the streets.

The mission required the UK infantry teams to move out from PB Gambit, head north and capture a Takistani officer who was training local insurgents. The team split into two with an FSG taking up position to watch the town and open ground surrounding it. The Assault team used the heavy tree line along the dried up wadi to make their advance onto the town.

Assault team making it's move into the town.

Once the assault team was in position, the FSG opened up taking out two technicals and a number of small patrols - this was the assault teams cue to move. Using what cover was available the infantry teams advanced onto the town, and started clearing compounds. A swift counter attack from local guerrilla fighters got the teams bogged down for a good half an hour as both the FSG and assault groups took casualties and had to be given medical attention.

The town itself was eventually cleared, and AEF Floydii made the mad dash back to the patrol base with a very unhappy Takistani officer riding shotgun on the back.

===========================

TUESDAY THE 16th NOVEMBER - PUBLIC MISSION NIGHT

Server Details: AEF CTB
Kick Off: Between 1930-2000HRS Sydney Time, depending on numbers
Mission: 30+ Player Air Assault / SCUD Hunt, Medic Revive
Password: No Password
OC/Server Admin: Swordsman

Australians At War REQUIRED

You can get the addon from the AAW Yoma sync here: http://www.ausarma.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=428
You will also need CBA - link is on the AAW post in point 1 ^
TEST THE ADDON AND MAKE SURE IT WORKS BEFORE TURNING UP
If you're still having issues, get there early and I will help you get it working

If you're unfamiliar with how to use Yoma AddonSync:

Download the program from here: http://dev-heaven.net/projects/yoma-addonsync2009/files (1.0.67 Beta)
Once installed, go to the "Help" menu, then "clientside usage" and then "adding a new server" - this will guide you through how to download the addon

If you have any issues, post on the AusArmA forum topic here: http://www.ausarma.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=540 and we'll help sort them out - it'd be great to see a decent turn out with everyone using aussie units!

Public Mission Night Invite - Mon 8th Nov 2000HRS

2010-11-06T11:20:00.003+11:00

Server Details: AEF CTB OA Server
Mission: Operation Devils Tattoo
Password: No Password
Addons Needed: None - BAF desirable but not essential
CO/Server Admin: Swordsman
Drills required: N/A - Organised Public Night

Similar deal as the last two Tuesday nights, but the mission isn't as big. Seeing as I won't be able to run a game this Tuesday, I'll be running a smaller one on Monday - say tuned for another big mission the week after. Will play through Devils Tattoo, then head off to the pubs for some Domination or Insurgency.

If anyone's been playing with us over the last few weeks and wants to join in, make sure you're on AusArmA Teamspeak 3 or at least able to use in game VOIP - anyone not on TS3 or VOIP will be removed from the game server.

TS3 Details: http://www.gametracker.com/server_info/202.62.137.195:9987/

2/11/10 Post Game Review

2010-11-04T11:38:00.000+11:00

CTB held a public mission night on the 2/11/2010, running Operation Broken Wing, details and discussions on AusArmA here: http://www.ausarma.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6431#p6431

Overview:
With 34 players turning up for the night it was a surprise for us that we even got the game started to begin with! We really weren't expecting another great turn out like last week, so things quickly got started. Groups were organised with AEF Zomba taking the FSG (consisting of 2 Jackals + dismounts), and AEF Wolffy and AAF Glenn taking an infantry section each. AEF Swordsman headed up the command element with AEF Rhodesy operating as the JTAC for AEF Floydii in the A10 circling above (and letting us all know how he hadn't blown anything up yet).

With the FSG on overwatch, the 2 sections made their move for the first intersection leading out of the Airfield. The plan was to secure the pilot and return him to the airfield before heading on to the crash site and 2 anti-air positions.

Contact with the enemy was made when we were not even 100 meters out the front gate. The small encounter was cleaned up in a matter of seconds and the infantry moved on across open ground. Then the militia made their real move - multiple 4 man groups if infantry came storming across open ground from compounds to the north, and where met by furious fire from 20 UK and US infantrymen.

Command team covering the rear of the infantry advance.

Due to tree cover the FSG was unable to immediately engage the threat, but once the enemy moved into the open Zomba's men climbed out of their hammocks and put down suppressive fire with their .50 cal and GMG mounted vehicles. The fire was welcomed by the infantry, but not so much by the command group who had grenades exploding in the trees above them. AEF Rhodesy later issued a formal request that the FSG all chip in to buy him a new set of pants, as his suffered some sort of strange malfunction during the incident.

The intersection was secured and a brief counter attack fended off before the FSG was asked to locate a new firing position. A high feature to the west was located but required infantry screening before the vehicles could move through the dense green zone to reach their destination. The 2 infantry groups were split, with Wolffy's team making a bee line for the pilot, while Glenn's team screened the green zone towards the new FSG firing point. The AAF group encountered small resistance and made short work of the task, with the FSG moving through and establishing a new overwatch position.

Wolffy's team was not so lucky. After clearing through the southern industrial sector, the team got bogged down and then cut apart by heavy emplaced weapons and IED's in the dense buildings and thick shrubbery. While the AAF team continued to make their way to the crash site, a Jackal with the FSG medic was tasked back north to help deal with the wounded and get the AEF section back on their feet... but not before a stray grenade (the origin of which is still under investigation) landed square on the captured pilots head. Unfortunately, our captured friend Gary the Pilot was killed in action, and the rescue operation called off.

The crash site from the FSG location.

Meanwhile, Rhodesy was busy at the overwatch position, calling in air strikes from Floydii's A10. They eliminated the southern AA site with both gun runs and laser guided munition strikes. Most infantry caught out in the open were also cleaned up by bombs, missile runs or heavy cannon fire.

With both infantry teams now up and running, they converged from both the south and east onto the crash site, with the FSG teams (now also split in two and attached to the two infantry groups) also moving in to provide cover fire. A small counter attack from a group of militia in the hills was defeated, and the flight data from the C130 was retrieved. The infantry teams then proceeded to remove the remaining AA vehicle to the east before regrouping and returning to the airfield.

The crash site with UK and US forces clearing the area.

CTB PvP Public Missions Night, Thursday 28th 2000HRS AEDST

2010-10-27T15:25:00.000+11:00

TS3 Details: ts.ausarma.org:9987
Server Details: http://www.gametracker.com/server_info/202.62.137.196:2302/
Mission: Various Player Vs Player (PvP) Missions
Password: No password
Addons Needed: None - BAF desireable but not essential
Drills required: N/A - Organised Pub Night
Start Time:
ACT 8:00PM
NSW 8:00PM
TAS 8:00PM
VIC 8:00PM
SA 7:30PM
QLD 7:00PM
NT 6:30PM
WA 5:00PM

All players are welcome, regardless of team or affiliation.

AusArmA Post: http://www.ausarma.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6315#p6315

How to Operate M18A1 'Apers' Antipersonnel Mine (Claymore) with Ace2

2010-10-12T09:22:00.000+11:00

AusArmA Event - Operation Foothold, Stage 1 (Review)

2010-09-27T20:43:00.000+10:00

The large online COOP event went off without a hitch last night, with a grand total of 41 players entering the fray on Operation Foothold 1. Here's a quick summary from the mission OC Floydii:

"So what happened? I'll recount from my point of view (Mission CO) refer to my initial briefing for how it was supposed to run:

After stuffing around at the base for a bit, 2/3/4/HQ loaded up in the Chinook and proceeded to the LZ south of objective Alpha. Section 1 was subsequently landed west of firing point one (FP1). Delta's Section somehow lost the mortar, so it was MG's all the way on the support position.

After the Longbow trashed two T55s at FP1, Rommel's section 1 proceeded to attack the enemy with great vigour (and some casualties). After killing a ZSU23 by themselves, Section 1 seized FP1 and started shooting alot of dudes from it.

While all this was happening, Kushluk's Section 2 and Zomba's section 3 were pushing up the green zone towards Alpha, picking off random Takiban and getting lit up by the occaisional MG nest.

Delta's mob were taking about as much fire as they were giving the whole time, which was good, because Delta's a ho, and also it also took alot of fire off everyone else.

After OBJ Alpha, everything kinda flowed well, and we seized Bravo without much hassle. The only major issue being Swordy's surprise Takiban trying to attack from the south.. but Arrow and Ruggle, our angels of death, quickly saw to that..

I'll let others relate thier own stories and pictures (I didn't take any because I was too busy herding the cats)."

Here's a collection of videos and pictures put up on the AusArmA forums from community members, but head over and check out the full thread at: http://www.ausarma.org

AAR from section leader Rommel:

It all started, at a small airbase in Southern Takistan.
After waiting at the base for about 15minutes, and a curious end to what had intended to be marching drill (an impromptu casualty in overcoming a obstacle). My section loaded up in the recently landed Chinook. We took to the skies, what actually happened is a blur; especially as to the precise details; I just remember seeing the ground (ie straight down) out the left hand window; for almost the entire flight.

Upon landing, command let us know of two T55s, almost 2k from our LZ, but not much help that made, considering I'd lowered my view distance to 700 during the flight in (VD changer in a helo? Who'd of guessed). After securing the LZ, an immediate (no reason?) casualty occurred in fireteam 2 (reason is believed to be a collision (ie BIS bug) with the rigging structure at the immediate LZ). I then instructed my section to swear by a no engagements past 400m rule, for a multitude of reasons, but mainly so I'd be able to keep control during a firefight.

After coordinating the JTAC onto the T55s, and confirming their swift destruction, we pressed east... into a minefield. After spending a further 5-10minutes evading said obstacle, I was instructed by Swordy that it was a ambient feature by BIS, and was of no consequence.

Empowered by this enlightening statement, we pressed onwards in alternating bounds through what we learnt to call the valley of death. Hearing nothing but constant small arms fire coming from our South, we continued the maneuver forward with no shots fired as per our 400m rule. When in range, all hell broke loose, and a steady moving assault began. Then the enemy spotted us. Using all our 'vigour' we returned fire onto FP1, and received it back in the form of 23mm. Things weren't looking up at this point; a key quote from the night being "wait out CANT HEAR"; an undertone of the amount of fire traversing my position.

Under the pretense of observing AA missiles being fired from FP1, we took to the North flank and charged FP1 in two bounds (thats almost 200m). Having secured the position, I then proceeded to go eat some tucker.

Some time passes...

Returning to my screen, I see multiple friendlies running past, no let down in the amount of firing, and complaints all round of ammo shortages. Plus some yanks in and about. Yes. Deltas team had arrived.
Immediate actions were, see to the medic, eliminate the threats in death valley (somehow our rear flank had been lost); and then press onwards to FP2.

Under the cover of Deltas section, we completed the assault, taking a single casualty from a lone machine gunner, seemingly staring at us from under a truck within the FP. We secured the perimeter, with 1FT taking the North, and 2FT covering Deltas approach from the South. I am still not sure from where it appeared, but an ammo crate loaded with NATO ammunition was given to FP2, and cured a large amount of ammo shortages in my section; with up to 6 magazines per m240 gunner (x3), and 8 in spare. Needless to say. We were letting them have it.

It appeared in my absence, that OBJ A had been taken, and we preparing for the last push into OBJ B. Misunderstanding the map markings at the time, I had a false impression of the advances made by the other sections, and proceeded to secure the road west of OBJ B.
In an attempt to gain tactical advantage (we couldn't see anything), my section unloaded over 500 rounds into the concealment to our front (killing two previously unknown hidden Takiban); we then pressed forward with bayonets attached under the cover of red smoke to within 120m of the town. Coordinating with command our new position, and held tight.

As reports came over comms that a local MG at the northern most intersection was killed, the mission promptly ended.

AAR from section leader Delta:

4SEC started out alright, organising heavy wepaons to be loaded and preped, along with much needed ammo to resupply sections.

Unfortunatlty I crashed multiple times at the start but swedge was eager enough to pick up the slack and carry on 4 sec till my return.
Upon reconnecting and readying the last ATV, I saw these AAF mobs doing their march drill, though to me in an ATV it looked like ample time to improve my cattle herding skills.

Anyway I touched down with 1sec and moved off with enarcy to my teams FUP.
Upon arriving we started to set up MGs [mortar disappeared, no MK19] and boy did we have MGs. 4 mag58s, 1 MK48 and 2 GPMG mini-tripods.
Problem A] mini tripods are classified vehicles, so upon placing that down, the enemy saw a big "OI! WE'RE OVER HERE YOU PUTRID BILE OF TOWELS, COME CHECK OUT OUR 3D PRON!!!"

Shit got real... in the words of Sylvester Stallone, ya gotta durp what ya gotta durp.

4Sec sustained heavy enemy fire from enemy DSHKMs, RPGs, ZUES cannons, SPG recoil-less and small arms. Needless to say, "ruh roah" was in effect.
We countered with heavy MG fire, Javelin and Dragon fire, to the point no one could hear past the man next to him. The engagement was estimated to have continued for approx 30 minutes.

We re-organised and pushed out to form up with 1sec, dispatching wish to pick up rhodesy. On their return, the ATV had combusted due to an over-pressure of awesomeness seeing the full workings of our mighty community [or so it was explained to me], and rhodesy had to pick up wish.

Rommels talkings pretty much continue it on from there. And yes were in contact with a lot of crap that we exhausted all our munition briefly [engaging AA points and MG bunkers, covering 1sec advance 3 times, stopping enemy flanking elements, trying to kill roger rabbit etc]

Many thanks to everyone who participated - hope to have another event similar in the near future!

CTB Urban Ops Training Night 8/9/10

2010-09-11T17:05:00.004+10:00

Moments from an AEF CTB training session run by Delta 51. Some of the material touched on in this video includes sector responsibility, 360 degree cover, corner stack (high cover), and corner bound. Training and SOPs are continuously practised, improved, and tweaked through experience, debriefs, and team feedback.

Below, debrief of a VTS training mission game-mastered by Delta 51. Objective was to rescue a VIP from the town of Garmsar. Debrief includes comments on assault & support team roles, support deployment, rally points, use of medics, and communications.

AusArmA Joint Operation Announced!

2010-09-08T11:09:00.000+10:00

DATE - 26-SEPT-2010

TIMINGS - 1900HRS AEST [2100HRS NZST]

ADDONS REQ. - OA 1.54. [Recommend BAF]
TEAMSPEAK - AusArmA Community TS (202.62.137.195:9987)

Intel
There is a heavy AAA presence in the valley - be sure to eliminate any AAA sites you encounter to give your air support greater freedom of movement. Consequently, your initial helicopter landing site should be in an area that is shielded from the target areas to prevent it being damage or shot down.

The Takiban do not want to give up this airfield - they have pooled all their available resources into defending it and the surrounding areas. Expect multiple HMG positions, armed vehicles, and both static and mobile AAA platforms. There have also been sightings of some light armour being operated by some of the Takiban regular force - we aren't sure on how many they have but you've been allocated a pair of Army Air Corps Wildcats to help with any armour you encounter.

Mission
Your mission today is a collection of 3 objectives. Your main objectives are to clear out the Alpha and Bravo areas marked on your map. Your secondary objective is to clear out the 3 firing points used by the OPFOR protecting the valley.

Be prepared for a response when you capture areas or complete objectives

Overview
This is Day 1, Stage 1 of Operation Foothold. The taskforce is setting out from a temporary ISAF air base to make it's first assault into the Rasman Valley.

Operation Foothold is a seven day op aimed at securing Rasman airfield and immediate outlying villages / towns. The airfield is intended to be used as the local base of operations for all taksforce operations in the Takhari Ridge area.

=========================================

VISIT THE AUSARMA FORUM HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE EVENT:

http://www.ausarma.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=5299#p5299

CTB Basic Infantry Training Night 2/9/10

2010-09-03T12:17:00.000+10:00

A few random moments from training. Includes some material on Acronyms, Fire Team structure and roles, some briefing for a simple 4-man clearing exercise and a debriefing for a village-clearing mission. To minimise in-game lag no combat scenes were recorded for this video.

To find out more, visit:http://www.aef-hq.com.au/aef3/help/join_team.php

Thanks again to Swedge for his report on the night.

IED Testing - By Swedge

2010-09-03T11:30:00.000+10:00

Shown: Small-charge IED (ground) detonating at 20m does not produce infantry casualties. When deactivated it becomes a satchel that can be detonated at 20m, producing infantry casualties.

The new British Armed Forces Downloadable Content for Arma 2 Operation Arrowhead (v 1.54.72888) includes 4 IED's: IED (garbage large), IED (garbage), IED (ground large), IED (ground).

The big charge IED's - IED (garbage large) and IED (ground large) - seem to produce equivalent damage to Satchels, ie. 25m is a safe distance for infantry but at 20m you may injure your legs and be unable to walk. Like a satchel, a big charge IED detonating beneath a Jackal 2 will destroy it.

The small charge IED's - IED (garbage) and IED (ground) - are less damaging than satchels, ie. 15m is a safe distance for infantry (bloodsplash on screen but no injuries). At 10m you may injure your legs and be unable to walk. A small charge IED detonated beneath a Jackal 2 will not destroy the vehicle and it will still be driveable.

Anyone who deploys an IED can Deactivate it from 2m. Engineers can Deactivate any IEDs. When an IED is deactivated it becomes a satchel in your gear, which can be deployed as per usual.

So, as shown, this bug enables units to Deactivate a small charge IED, converting it into a satchel (same as big charge IED), and then deploy this satchel with double the effectiveness of the original small charge IED.

Originally posted on the AEF forums: http://www.aef-hq.com.au/aef3/forum/viewtopic.php?p=445673#p445673

AEF's Legacy Fundraising

2010-08-26T11:17:00.001+10:00

G'day all,

28-year-old Lance Corporal Jared MacKinney, from the Brisbane-based 6th Battalion Royal Australian Regiment, was killed in a firefight in Afghanistan yesterday morning.

He leaves behind his three-year-old daughter Annabell and wife Beckie, who is about to give birth to their second child any day now.

"Nothing meant more to him than his family," she said.

29 August to 9 September 2010 is Legacy Week in Australia. Legacy is an organisation founded in 1923 dedicated to caring for families like Lance Corporal Jared's.

Many members of the AEF are current or ex-serving members of the Australian Defence Force or come from ADF families.

Please show your support for the sacrifices made by Australian Defence Force personnel and their families this year by donating whatever you can spare and spreading the word to friends and colleagues, in emails, forums, blogs, and social networking websites you have access to, like Facebook, Twitter and Youtube.

http://www.everydayhero.com.au/aef

Thank you for your time.

Best regards,
Swedge

Images sourced from www.defence.gov.au

==================================================

From the editor:

We play a military simulation game. In saying that, the knowledge that what we do in a video game is also carried out in real life by every day people in our Defence Force is never forgotten. The men and women of the ADF have our utmost respect for the job they do and the sacrifices they make.

For what it's worth, our deepest condolences go out to those who have lost loved ones while serving. We hope everyone will do what they can and donate to help care for the families that have been left behind.

CTB News and Updates

2010-08-25T14:56:00.011+10:00

ACRE Installation Guide

Gene Hunt, from Combat Team Bravo, has created a user friendly guide to installing the ACRE radio add on. You can view the guide here: http://www.aef-hq.com.au/aef3/forum/viewtopic.php?f=321&t=58356

Many thanks to Gene for putting in the time and effort to get that guide together - here's hoping it makes life easier for those having issues with its installation.

CTB Setup Night

All CTB members are encouraged to turn up to the Addon-Setup night being run on Friday the 27th of August, at 2000HRS Sydney time on the CTB game server.

The night will give you the chance to test your addon setups and allow you to get some help with troubleshooting addons such as AAW and ACRE. Logon to the AEF forums and check the battle orders for more information.

AEF Teamspeak 3 Server Up & Running!

After a long period of testing and discussion, the AEF has officially begun migrating to it's now voice comms server! With the imminent closure of Ventrilo a new option was needed, and both Mumble and Teamspeak 3 were put up for comparison. TS3 came out on top and was chosen for a number of security and easy of use factors.

Feel free to jump in the public channels for games such as BC2 and the CoD series:
AEF TS3: 202.62.137.195:9989

As always the AusArmA Community TS3 server us where you'll find the fun and games relating to the ArmA series.
AusArmA TS3: ts.ausarma.org:9987

Roadside Bomb Kills 4

2010-08-23T14:05:00.001+10:00

Campaign related info:
Captured footage from an insurgent camp shows the IED strike that wiped out a US special forces patrol vehicle and its 4 occupants.

Mission Testing Night 17/8/10

2010-08-18T13:00:00.000+10:00

Tuesday night seen a number of CTB regulars get involved with some new mission testing. Two new missions - Operation Horizon and Secure Timurkalay - were made using the newly released AAW units and weapons, and CTB is looking to once again adopt them as a standard addon for the team.

Below are some videos and screenshots from the testing of Op. Horizon.

You can also visit AusArmA (http://www.ausarma.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=5010#p5010) for more screenshots from the night.

CTB Basic Infantry Training Night

2010-08-09T23:33:00.004+10:00

The trainees and trainers after a busy session on the range.

Tonight a handful of both new recruits and veteran members of Combat Team Bravo get down and dirty in a night of infantry training. The night was part of the current Training & Drill system setup by the management group, and is designed to train our members in everything from basic infantry contact drills to providing effective vehicle support in larger operations.

(AEF)Delta giving instructions

Tonights line up seen half an hour on the practice ranges, doing basic formations, fire and movement and a range of other basic skills. Trainers Floydii, Wolffy and Delta ran the evenings proceedings.

(AEF)Gunner doing something... constructive.

Overall, training ran smoothly and after everyone sorted out some ACRE bugs we were straight into Operation Golden Retriever on Takistan.

AO for Golden Retriever

Mission Night - 06/08/10 - Hotel Soap

2010-08-09T12:02:00.000+10:00

Mission Overview
Special Operations and embedded General Infantry members from Combat Team Bravo were inserted to conduct a variety of operations in direct action against Takiban insurgents. The actions were focused within the Feruz Abad region in order to disrupt OPFOR operations and activities.

Objectives
1 - Locate and Establish FOB
2 - Conduct a cordon search for ammo caches
3 - Kill or Capture HVT
4 - Search for supporting Lieutenant [CANCELED]
4 - Disrupt local militia camp

Segment of the AO in use by the team.

Mission Review

OBJ01
Dagger was assigned to locate and secure a possible FOB location out of 3 pre-determined areas. Dagger dispatched with 2 SOV HMMWVs including extra ammo and 2 mortars. Scythe was to prepare the Chinook with the required objects to build a Forward Operating Base.

Upon entering final possible LZ location, Dagger contacted 1 hostile section of 10 infantry, proceeding to out maneuver and eliminate the threats within the SOV's, successfully executed.

Scythe landed at LZ3 and began construction on the FOB whilst dagger provided security. Dagger's RO spotted hostile infantry attempting to ambush the FOB during it's construction and eliminated all hostiles using the MK19 in over-watch.

OBJ02
En-route teams encountered an IED [GR07121494] which was marked and bypassed. Scythe set up an FSP SW of OBJ2 using MMGs and mortars to support Dagger's assault. A snap ambush was set-up prior to eliminate 1 hostile patrol outside of the town, resulting in approx. 5 enemies KIA, however a single hostile hid during the ambush and was able to inflict damage onto Dagger, with one member suffering light wounds.

1 ammo cache was located and destroyed in the NE corner of the main intersection of the town.
Approx. 2 enemy sections eliminated during assault.
On RTB to FOB Pork teams 'safely' detonated the IED to prevent possible accidents.

OBJ03
Callsigns again moved off within 2 SOV HMMWVs on an extended operation to secure 2 enemy lieutenants, however due to low fuel, OBJ4 was canceled with the new obj to secure a fuel supply from a local contact in Sakhe.

The first lieutenant within Feruz Abad was located in the southern hill overlooking the town. Initially the target was cooperative but attempt to take the life of one of the Dagger operators and was put down, investigation pending.

Zero casualties during the kill or capture
approx. 1 enemy section and sporadic infantry eliminated.

OBJ04
Teams pushed on towards Sakhe, encountering a second IED [GR03690522]. The IED was disabled and teams navigated around the area with caution. Upon reaching Sakhe, teams located an enemy training camp.

Scythe split up into a sniper team utilizing the eastern ridge, and an assault team, whilst Dagger divided an LMG team to provide support from the western ridge.Snipers initiated contact whilst the assault elements swept through the town eliminating all threats and locating a cache.

A hostile patrol in the southern hillside must have heard the gunfire and proceeded down to ambush. Both teams suffered 2 injuries as of this however no CASEVACs were required.
Approx. 3 enemy sections eliminated
Teams secured fuel and RTB for the day.

Summary
Duration: 3.5hrs
70+/- OPFOR KIA
- 6 Sections
- Sporadic engagements
0 BLUFOR KIA
3 BLUFOR WIA [No CASEVAC required]
- 1 Injury during ambush, flesh wound
- 1 Injury from enemy sniper fire
- 1 Injury from falling off a roof
0 CIV KIA
0 Assets Lost

Mission Night - 21/7/10 - Black Gold

2010-07-22T12:12:00.007+10:00

Mission Overview
Your group is the lead element of the 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division. You consist of 4x M1A2 Abrams MBT's, and 3x M2A2 Bradley IFV's, without dismounts.You have been tasked with clearing passage into Northern Takistan via the barren oil fields located in the country's north east. To counter our movements, the Takistan Military has moved elements of the 1st Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Mechanised) and the 3rd Brigade, 1st Armoured Division to hold the area between PL-Gold and PL-Terril. The force consists of an unknown number of BMP-2's, BRDM-2's, BRDM-2 ATGM's, T55's and T35's. The unit also has infantry teams helping with defence.

Objectives
1 - Cross PL-Gold
2 - Eliminate Armour
3 - Eliminate HQ-BMP

Mission By: (AEF)Swordsman

(AEF)Swordsman's M1A2 entering the AO

Mission Review

CTB got stuck into Black Gold as the first mission for the evenings proceedings. The heavy-cav based mission is aimed at training vehicle crews and improving their situational awareness.

OC (AEF)Floydii heading south

Mission commander (AEF)Floydii split the four Abrams main battle tanks into two groups, one covering the northern flank, and one covering the south. The Bradley IFV acted as the unit scout travelling in the center of the formation and calling targets.

(AEF)Chappy's vehicle after the hit on
his vehicles tracks.

Upon entering the AO, the two groups encountered a small scout party of 6 BRDM-2 variations and disposed of them with the longer ranged main guns on the M1A2's. The two groups of MBT's then engaged the defensive line of the remaining Takistani Mechanised Infantry Division, eliminating the majority of the BMP-2's in quick succession. During this period (AEF)Chappy's M1A2 suffered damage that rendered his vehicle immobile, making the situation for the vehicle commanders interesting.

The two groups were able to offer supporting fire to each other from their over watch positions, which allowed CTB to successfully destroy the T55 counter attack that attempted to flank the group to the north and south (resulted in 5 more OPFOR heavy vehicles destroyed).

(AEF)Kynetic enters the fray.

From this point on, reinforcements arrived and the remaining two Bradley IFV's joined the fray, helping to clean up the infantry defending the oil platform with their cannons, as well as knocking out two entrenched BMP's with TOW missiles.

The MBT element moved through the AO in an extended line, converging on the enemy HQ and eliminating the unit commander with a single SABOT round from 2 kilometers. The remaining armour in the area was destroyed and the group moved over platoon line Gold after the 45 minute engagement came to a close.

(AEF)Swordsman's M1A2 from the view of (AEF)Thyco's M2A2.

Lessons Learnt

Crew commanders quickly learnt to stay on their guard and scan every direction for targets. The mission also highlighted how important it is for vehicles to choose the correct position in the terrain (e.g. hull down).

Overall the mission ran well considering the majority of the players and even some of the vehicle crew commanders were new to heavy-cav style game play. Everyone involved enjoyed the mission and looks forward to future cavalry missions.