AFTERMATH:
A few units are no longer green recruits, but no one is a veteran, yet. In fact, one of the Peoples Army squads that had to be completely replaced was also one of the high-experience units (by which I mean - about 60 morale and experience).
The only units to join the Marauder core were a platoon of mountain infantry (a ranger unit, with some NV, and organic mortar support - like the scouts before them, a specialized unit that managed to survive the general collapse of the Iraqi army) and a prime mover for the two 120mm mortars. However, two platoons of engineers and the two batteries of 130mm field guns decided to remain in support of the Marauders as they moved on from the river valley and finally encountered their first road - but the convenience was short-lived. Just as the Marauders were entering a small village with some fields of crops next to it, Lt. Col. Mustafa received a warning from one of the villagers - a unit of soldiers, who did not look European, has occupied a cluster of small hills that dominate the road intersection on the other side of the village. The only way forward is through...
BATTLE 03
Iraq vs. Saudi Arabia, Iraq Assault
Visibility: 43
Length: 39
Finally, a fight with high visibility. I expect that every unit will get some shooting experience. It is an assault, and the two engineer platoons who had temporarily joined up with the Marauders will hopefully clear any obstacles. The two 130mm batteries, with their 10km range, are also in touch and ready to provide support.
The map is essentially flat, with an East-West road in the northern portion; the road has an intersection with a NW-SE road just west of the village the Marauders passed through. To the west of the intersection are several hills which dominate the approach and, due to the high visibility, will also dominate the entire expected battlefield. However, it is in the flat lands where it gets interesting. High grass grows freely on the battlefield, providing some concealment (but not cover!), but there are some hexes with an elevation of 2, rather than 0. By placing support weapons on these elevated hexes, I achieve a good field of direct fire, unobstructed by the grass. These two images are taken for a single HMG section, positioned at height 0 vs. height 2. A couple of hexes apart, a bit of hex-hunting to find the correct height, but the difference is stark:
Since this is an assault, both the attacker and defender start dug-in. Due to the high visibility, a number of Iraqi support weapons will never need to move, and will still be able to direct-fire against the expected first line of Saudi defense. Unless the Saudis have excellent spotting ability, or decide to advance, they may spend the battle under fire from (to them) unreachable, perhaps even invisible, dug-in HMGs and mortars. In fact, this battle will be in a way the mirror image of the previous two - the Saudis may be able to see who is shooting at them, but won't have the range to engage them, as opposed to Iraqis having a 500m-range rifles, but not seeing anyone beyond 100m.
The Iraqis set up in a line, but without attempting to cover the entire height of the map - the main axis of advance will still be along either side of the road, with an additional company further south. I make a mistake here - the hills in the north offer at least some break to the line-of-sight. The AK-47 company would probably do better there, able to close to 400m or less more easily. Instead, I deploy them as the southern-most company, facing the fewest natural obstacles and the longest fields of fire - a job for which the Mosin-armed companies would have been better suited. The ranger platoon will move along the road, behind the general advance, and hopefully provide a decisive punch if the enemy defensive line proves too stubborn. The sappers have AK-47s, grenades, flame throwers and satchel charges - in other words, at ranges beyond 50m, they are no better armed than a Peoples Army AK-47 squad.
The Peoples Army grunts advance to contact, and find it about where expected. Several Saudi platoons, supported by a few MGs, are dug in around the hills next to the road.
The standard Saudi infantry looks like this:
Their FN-FAL rifles are actually less lethal than the AK-47, but more lethal than the Mosin, while sharing Mosin's range. Of course, each Saudi squad also has an MG, which is distinctly average in terms of lethality and accuracy. Nevertheless, the Peoples Army squads will engage at range, with support weapons used liberally to pin/retreat/rout the Saudis. For the first time, Peoples Army units will get to see the enemy they are fighting at the same time as the enemy sees them, and will get to shoot back when shot at.
After several rounds of intense combat, some of my frontline troops are beginning to do something that rarely happened to infantry units in vanilla SP - they are beginning to run out of ammunition, starting with the grenade launchers. By choosing to fight a battle at the longer ranges of the weaponry (which means impunity for my heavier support weapons) I sacrifice accuracy and ammo consumption for fewer losses. I only have a single section of armored ammo carriers, but they will have to be enough. Grenade launchers will need it first, but AAMGs and even HMGs are not far behind. But, as none of the objective flags have been taken, I can't afford an excessive delay to resupply. The Peoples Army may have to advance without support, with only their trusted Mosins... I wish there was a good way to model bayonets...