BATTLE 09
Iraq vs. Saudi Arabia, Iraq Assault
Visibility: 14
Length: 37
Special Battle
There are two VP clusters, one in the North, one roughly in Center. A Southern approach along two roads is possible, and could potentially be used to flank the VP positions. A visibility of 14 means that infantry will be able to engage freely, but any units with 20+ vision will be able to act with impunity... the battlefield is dominated by two 50-height hills on the Saudi side, including one in the center that contains 2/3 of the VPs. On the Iraqi side, there is a 40-height hill that should form a good base for Marauder support weapons. An entire company of Republican Guard tanks appears on the Iraqi side, not to fight, but to boost AI points.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
After defeating the Americans, Col. Mustafa decided to immediately move his troops along the roads he had just cleared, without stopping for reinforcements, or to re-equip the Marauders with captured weapons. This proved a momentous decision, because without the benefit of rest and resupply, the Marauders found themselves face to face with fortified Saudi positions, with a frontal assault the only way forward. Col. Mustafa decided to split his infantry into three columns, each roughly equal to a reinforced company strength. This accounted for the fact that about two companies had suffered serious casualties in the previous battle that could not be replenished. Indeed, several Marauder squads never moved from their trenches in this battle, their numbers too low to provide any help.
Col. Mustafa adopted the same method as he had used in previous battles - a wide front of three axes of advancement, with emphasis on probing enemy positions and taking advantage of the numerical superiority of the Marauder squads. This strategy had worked before, but now the Marauders could only field roughly three companies, without dedicated engineers, that would have to advance on a prepared position sure to be protected with minefields...
... precious veteran scout units took the job of moving in advance of the infantry columns. This proved a mistake, as a scout squad advancing up the southern road was stupidly lost to mines, without learning anything useful of the enemy. In the north, the sniper Mulazim Saqqaf perished because of a mine, again unnecessarily and without any gain. Still, both the northern and the southern advance made contact with the enemy, and the battle was joined...
... the southern advance consisted mostly of troops equipped with AK-47s, although with 20/20 hindsight it should have been Mosins. The Marauder troops found themselves under accurate fire from numerous entrenched Saudi troops, firing their MGs at 600m, compared to the 400m range of the AK-47. The only available cover were two villages - the one along the southernmost road was too far away to allow trading fire, and the one accessible via the paved was defended. Additionally, the few Marauder vehicles providing support were quickly knocked out by as-yet-unseen missile units. Col. Mustafa decides to completely abandon the southern advance, in favor of a concentrated assault on the center.
The northern advance encountered no such difficulties. With only a few Sauid squads opening fire in piecemeal fashion, the Mosin-armed Peoples Army troops are able to advance at a steady clip.
The souther attack is now completely abandoned. The cluster of buildings Marauders hoped to reach looks to be defended. Only a HMG and a sniper remain to keep the Saudis honest. In the center-north area, the Marauders are slowly advancing up the central hill, having identified two tracked TOW vehicles responsible for stopping the southern advance.
The Marauders painstakingly set up for the assault on the center hill, using available cover as they are harassed by Saudi mortars. The elite Mountain platoon knows that it will have to knock out the TOW vehicles, and the ATGs are also moving into position to engage. Because the visibility is only 700 meters, the ATGs, with sights of up to 1,000m, can set up in relative safety from Saudi infantry - but the TOW vehicles, which can see up to 2,000m, must be suppressed to allow the trucks towing the ATGs to get in position.
The slow, methodical attack through the center made considerable progress. Mortars were used to provide smoke cover against Saudi MMGs - it turned out there were no fewer than 6 MMG sections defending this one slope. Z-fire through the smoke proved crucial to suppress those weapons. The Mountain platoon and the ATGs each took out a TOW vehicle - a TOW missile being useless against either infantry or a gun. Marauders possessed the sheer numbers in this sector, so even though the MMGs, the TOW MGs, and the Saudi mortars each took their pound of flesh, there always were enough unsuppressed Marauder squads to press the advance. In retrospect, this was actually perfectly logical - the AI was always likely to mine the flank approaches, and defend the center with actual firepower. Lacking engineers, the Marauders' best course of action was a mass assault down the center.
Perhaps sensing that a breakthrough was imminent, a Saudi platoon launched a counterattack in the central village, abandoning its dug-in positions. This proved a mistake. Saudi troops were engaged at close range, and made to run by experienced, if depleted, Marauder squads.
The battle for the central hill/village/VPs is not over yet, as Saudi reinforcements arrive from the south, and AA artillery opens fire on the advancing Marauder infantry. Having now been in the thick of two battles without rest and refit, some Marauder squads must hang back or risk destruction. Indeed, most units are either in imminent danger of being wiped out by one bad volley, or are at half-strength. Nevertheless, with all three attack axes now focused on the village, the Marauder numbers put paid to this threat as well. With no further protection, the Saudi VPs are captured.
The end result of the battle was a Decisive Victory, but the interesting part was that roughly a company of Saudi infantry, set up to defend the southern approach, never left their foxholes, even when all the VPs were getting captured by the Iraqis. It is unclear to me why, although they would have had an impact in the center had they moved. As it happened, it was simply never necessary to defeat them. Of course, had the southern advance not been halted 1/5 of the way through the battle, these entrenched Saudi troops would have likely shredded my southern company, and possibly prevented a victory at all.