So, as my first steps towards making scenarios I'm trying to figure out the terrain editor.  But I can't seem to load any maps into it.  When I try to load the NTC maps into the editor I find no *.TALACOSI files that I can open in any of the folders.

What am I missing?

Also, does anyone else have weird terrain like these on their NTC maps:

A spike in a dry lake bed:



A pit near Irwin City:



They are both really there- they reappear every time I load the map.  Do I just need to download the map again, or are these always present?

OK, I developed a couple of rules:

1. No photos that reveals the inner organization of the FOB.
2. No photos of locals' faces.
3. No photos of patients.  (See below.)

I have discovered that this disqualifies a LOT of my photos.  I know that rule #1 is probably futile, as the ANA is full of spies and my photos are all kinda dated anyway, but I'm being cautious.  I'm sure as hell not posting my aerial views of the FOB!  The reason for rule #2 should be self-evident.  But, that's why the photos I'm posting are a bit boring.  I've got some great shots of the FOB artillery, and some soccer games at dusk, but they violate my rules.

So, I suppose you are all wondering what I was doing in Naray...



Well, I was part of a surgical team attached to a BAS.

Here is my operating room:



If you look very close you can see the fly-paper...

My hooch is next.  Note the cocked and locked Beretta next to the bed.  Some of those ANA guys looked pretty shady...



I really can't complain, though.  I had concrete walls and a bed, when most guys were living on cots in tents.  As a matter of fact, the little building I lived in was the designated bomb-shelter.  (It was a small, disused interrogation building.)

Here's a jam session at the BAS:



Here's a general view from the FOB, showing mountians and HESCOs.  For the uninitiated, HESCOs are wire and fiberboard cubes that one fills with earth as a barrier.  Sort of a sandbag on steroids.  Any student of modern US operations should know about them.  Also, the tents had been sprayed with quick-drying insulating foam- that's why they look funny.  It permanently ruins the tent, but it's better than freezing.



Here are more HESCOs, with a Blackhawk landing in the background:



More HESCOs, with our urinals (for comic relief):



Here's a view from the FOB, of the Kunar River, looking southward:



Same river, looking northwaed.  I think the bridge at Naray is lost in the shadows:



The town directly across the river from us was Shahmazur.  Here are a few shots:
(The second one has a Blackhawk over the town.)









Here's the creek outlet, just below Shahmazur:  (where we tried to aim the golfballs)



Her's a great golf shot, off of the latrine roof:



Schmeltzer's left leg is straight, and his eyes are still on the tee.  Outstanding, considering that he'd never hit a ball before deployment.  His right elbow should be straight, though, until much later in the follow-through...

That's also as much of the FOB as I am willing to show.

Here's an "artistic" golf photo, with the terraced fields of Shahmazur in background:

 

A Chinook landing, and coming close to brownout:



More Chinooks, one sling-loaded:



One of the local jingle-trucks:



Final shot of a trooper leaving the latrine roof, in winter, with Shahmazur in background:



Also, I just checked out GoogleMaps, and they now have a decent high-res map of Naray.  Those images must be pretty recent, too, because the FOB is shown just south of Naray- it wasn't when I last checked a year or so ago.  But, of course, the FOB images are relatively low-res.

You all may be wondering about all of those mountians to be seen towering over the FOB.  When I first arrived I , too, had visions of Dien Bien Phu dancing before my eyes.  But I was assured that Naray was secure.  Basically, it was the most northerly full-sized FOB up the Kunar Valley.  It was surrounded by smaller OPs and mini-FOBs that were on mountaintops.  Nuristan was just north of us, and that was indian country, and you could nearly spit into Pakistan from Naray, but any attacker had to get through those outer FOBs first.  (But FOB Keating in the town of Kamdesh was one of those, wasn't it...?)  And the towns in the center of the valley, along the roads, were reasonably anti-Taliban. 

Later.

Sorry, I took a while...

I just played my first head to head game with an old college buddy of mine (Elsenborn Ridge) and we loved it!  It may have been a bit too large a scenario for beginning players, though.  But we're playing again next weekend.

I was a fobbit, so not many interesting pictures.  Mostly of the FOB, in winter.  (And for obvious reasons, I can't post those...)  But I'll see what I can dig up.  They may be all quite non-military photos, though.  Mountains and such.

I was in Naray, so that's where I'd center my map, if I had my druthers.  20kmx20km would be more than enough.  The Asadabad area would be a close second preference.  But these areas are so mountainous that most (US) military activity is heavily funneled along roads.  I'm not sure how interesting a map it would be for most people, at this scale at least (100m grids).  Any scenarios I'd make would be wholly notional.  Well, unless Kamdesh is on the map- then I suppose I could research and model the night assault that happened there this October.  Those guys were from my current unit.  Sort of.  It's all quite upsetting.

Also, where would you get a high-resolution satellite image?  GoogleMaps has a pathetic low-quality one, especially near Naray.

I'm a Linux fanboy, so I am quite familiar with OOo.  But I have never had reason to play with any app that reads Access files.  I'll look around.  I assume it is OOo Base?

So.  When is the Battle Command Linux port coming out?  :o)

Thanks, all.  Later.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!

We hope you are enjoying the game over the holidays.

Attached....Christmas 1776.

5x5, Quietus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Casp       

Here's wishing the community and developers a very Merry Christmas.
May we all take a moment of our lives, especially during this holiday season, to thank our service men and woman for their sacrifices and wish them all a safe and speedy return.

Here are a bunch of free applications compatible with most of Microsoft's monopoly :)

OpenOffice

Acrosome, we would like to try and create a Kunar Valley map for you that can be used to create scenarios.  We are studying the area now.  Is about 20km x 20km enough? 

It is Access, but a very old version (97, as in 1997).  There are some free viewers you can download from the internet also that should be fine for editing data.

Please post some photos from your tour and the Kunar Valley if you would like to.  Curious to see them.  Happy holidays.

Ah, yes, I totally missed that there was a second page to this thread now...  My bad.

Wow.  Lots of good stuff.  When I have a day free I'll have to play with it.  I'd love a map of the Kunar valley, since I was there.  (Note the avatar.)  And a bunch of guys I know just got back from Qalat this summer!

Obviously, I need to buy MS Access...  Why is it so f-ing expensive?  $188 on Amazon.

Acrosome, you may have missed this from the Junkyard Dog...

Note: the Winzip password for http://www.historicalsoftware.com/kmp/UNIT DATABASE TEMPLATES POSTWAR Sept 05 2008.zip
is:  butthead

Note also that though the balance of the units are complete, there are still some that have graphics only.