Thunder Runs Baghdad 2003

[Duzmond]

http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=27039

Are there any scenarios on this? I couldn't find any.
Seems like a good subject for a tank game.

[Suhiir]

"We captured an Iraqi brigadier general in the raid," he said. "He was completely surprised there were American tanks in the city. He believed their propaganda that the Americans were a hundred miles south, dying by the thousands. All of a sudden he's coming to work and there is a tank battalion rolling down the center of Baghdad."

Always makes things much more difficult when you lie to your own commanders.

[shahadi]

Lying to your commanders is one thing, but lying to a whole nation, is wholly different ball of wax, aka: Gulf of Tonkin and 54,000 dead later.

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[mkr8683]

Originally Posted by Duzmond

Are there any scenarios on this? I couldn't find any.

I spent almost a year and a half in Baghdad (4th Infantry Division). I found a copy of the Thunder Run book by Zucchino in a pile of donated books, and actually read it where part of the battle happened (I was at FOB Prosperity my first tour, right off Route Aeros). That was when I first got there in '06, and it didn't take me long to lose my taste for all things military.

Anyway, I recently found my government-issued, spiral-bound, unclassified map book of the Baghdad area with grid overlays. I thought it was something special but no doubt can be found on the internet. I ordered the Thunder Run book off Amazon, and with these two tools, I set out to create this campaign.

I had set up a test scenario but apparently overwrote it. I still have the incomplete, 200x160 map of the Baghdad area I made from that map book (I put a few personal touches, like labeling the Karadah Peninsula 'The Donkey Dick." Why? Because that's what everyone called it, and that's what it looks like on a map). Now that my Desert Storm campaign and Civil War mod flops are posted and over with, I need to get back at Thunder Run. The test scenario played pretty close to the descriptions of combat in the book, and it was, at times, a bit hairy. The major let-down was that the technicals didn't seem to want to fight the tanks and Brads.

But anyway, thanks for the inspiration! Back to the drawing board.

Matt

[Suhiir]

I'm really looking forward to an accurate/realistic map of Baghdad as I need one for the campaign I've been putzing with creating for years.

If you want the technicals to fight your tanks/brads give them a weapon with AP/HEAT ammo. If they only have HE ammo they tend to flee rather then fight. Seems the game is smarter then real people sometimes

[mkr8683]

The problem with too many Iraq scenarios is that everyone seems to think Baghdad is in the desert. It's not, it's just dry as hell. Not really any grass on the ground, lots of trees, crops, and some vegetation, but mostly just dried-out dirt. When you go out west toward Anbar, it turns into straight desert, but Baghdad is just dry, dusty, and filthy.

Thanks for the suggestion about the technicals! Glad I bought a copy of MBT so I can clone modded units, hehe.

Matt