BATTLE 18
Iraq v. Saudi Arabia, Iraqi Advance
Visibility: 1
Turn: 32
Having literally wiped out the American attack, Marauders were finally safe for the moment. Col. Mustafa took only the bare time necessary to refit his force, and then immediately decided to move west and cross a river to put an obstacle between himself and any further pursuit. With the crossing accomplished, the force once again looked to find an encampment for the night. The Colonel decided to advance toward three hills that would provide some concealment and, together with the river, perhaps allow the Marauders to construct a better defensive position than they had last time. Alas, as the lead elements cautiously advanced, using their night vision to pierce the darkness, it became clear that the Marauders were not alone...
The entire Marauder force is across the river. With visibility of 1, the name of the game will be avoiding another grind down by always applying overwhelming force.
The Toyotas were not even moving, but were still spotted immediately and attacked by Patton tanks. One pickup truck is down...
Compounding the difficulty are the fields growing along the river, slowing down movement and funneling the advance into an area several hundred meters wide... any mortar barrage into that space will be devastating, but if tanks await, throwing numbers forward will be the only way...
The inevitable barrage takes a huge toll, destroying two soft vehicles and the ATGs inside them.
Slowly, slowly, the Marauders advance. Bedouins draw considerable fire, and find the first infantry squad. At 50m, the tribesmen get shredded by the infantry, but the Saudis, in turn, are equally helpless against Col. Mustafa himself, whose unit has Vision 10. Two tanks are identified, and have been peppered by HMGs for a few turns - but they continue to fire, as expected.
A third of the battle is finished and finally the first Patton succumbs to a close assault.
From 150m, a Mountain section puts paid to the second Patton. Depending on how many NV units the Saudis have, the tables may now turn in the Marauders' favor...
Indeed, this is a strange reversal of fortunes. The NV-equipped Marauders are able to simply spot enemy units that have neither moved nor fired. These units can then be shot at, sometimes from only 100m, but they are unable to respond. They can also be suppressed with Z-fire, and then closed with - Bedouins really come into their own in this job...
The only Saudi units able to fire back are Milan ATMs and a (lone?) Scimitar. Other than that, it is a slow, but inexorable advance. Col. Mustafa is on the front lines - two of his squad became casualties but he's also taken out two Milans.
Scimitars are close assaulted - one is taken down by the Bedouin Chief himself, with nothing more than a few Molotovs. The pickup trucks and other vehicles are now tasked with moving support weapons to the northernmost hill, which by now should be safe. At least some of the Saudi squads appear to be trying to recapture objectives - this could be a problem, since any bypassed Saudi squads may run into the heavily wounded troops I pulled to the rear. Indeed, a PA unit (albeit a Company HQ unit) is wiped out in this fashion.
AFTERMATH: There were no further dangerous troops remaining - except two 35mm AA guns which, despite their excellent Vision rating, barely fired. The Marauders achieved a decisive victory. 81mm mortars remain absolute killers of infantry moving in the open.