I was able to finish up the game this weekend and now have time to post the reminder of the battle, so I will do so.
Starting with 2nd Ranger which was moving on the southern objectives from the west. Their conquest was straight forward, by the book. Advance under the cover of APCs and support elements (Namely a Sheridan tank and at various points by the Chinooks and Apaches. The enemy infantry was able to advance quite a ways past the objectives, but ended up turning around as I came up their rear. Unfortunately for them, they were not organized and come in piecemeal rather than a cohesive group. The company HQs snipers accounted for some ATGMs trying to come in from the left flank, but that’s as sneaky as the enemy got. The Chinooks and Apaches that were resupplying had a nice window so they were able to soften up units coming down the road, some squads being entirely eliminated before my ground troops even saw them. APC fire helped soften up those that made it closer and the infantry was able to keep up a steady march into and through the objectives. This was good, because the enemy called down off map 122mm steal rain at points on the objectives. They shifted it, but it was after I killed their AOP. Casualties were light except in one squad that took 50% (5 of 10 men). After the enemy was removed, the Sheridan accompanying 2nd Ranger moved north along the road to help support 1st Ranger in taking the Center objective. He was able to remove two BMP-80s that were trying to come down the road and flank 2nd Ranger. He continued moving north with the airborne MMG team and a hummer from company HQ. Unfortunately, the hummer was jumped along the road by one of the BMPs passengers and the MMG team wiped out.
The airborne troops spent the second half game acting as scouts and supporting the flanks. The Rifle units continued their supervision of the resupply area with no excitement. The MMG team was destroyed, as mentioned above, while trying to support the left flank of 2nd Ranger. The Javelin team resupplied and moved to a rear area overlooking the area west of the north and central objectives in case the AI tried to move any units through there. This was in response to an APC that was spotted earlier in that area. One airborne squad accompanied the Javelin team while the other continued spotting the right flank of 1st Ranger. Three of the four choppers themselves ended up supporting the left flank of 1st Ranger and proved very helpful in the event. More on them below.
The bulk of 1st Ranger successfully moved north and then east into a stand of trees just south west of the objectives which were clustered in a small town along the N-S Road. The support elements (AGL, LAW, RR,) remained behind to cover the rear and left flank. One an exciting note, the hummer supporting the LAW and RR teams spotted the enemy HQ 250m away and opened fire. With the help of the LAW and RR teams, the enemy was eliminated, but sadly, I was not able to vacate the area before I got rained on and the LAW and RR were destroyed in an orgy of kinetic and high explosive death. Again, I was sad to lose them as they have several kills and good experiences. When I bought those units in the beginning, I expected to upgrade them or at least, not use them much, but they have been some of the most versatile units available to me. Anyway, moving on. The squads of 2nd Ranger were able to approach unseen to the road and there confronted a pair of BMP-80s which were soon dispatched with close range LAW assaults. The squads they carried, while being stubborn, were driven away. My troops also found three MANPAD teams which they destroyed with extreme prejudice. This enabled my Choppers more movement and a newly rearmed Apache quickly made its way north to support them. It was able to destroy to SPAA guns soon afterwards it took up station in support. Soon after the objectives feel (around turn 24), enemy infantry started appearing on the road and area north of the objectives. I brought in on of the Chinooks to help suppress with the Apache, not wanting my infantry to engage until closer. I feared that there was still quite a few units coming and didn’t want to waste shots until they would do something. By the end of turn 26, I had both Chinooks, a Blackhawk and the Apache lined up along a row of trees putting down enough fire to outright kill or suppress two platoons worth of infantry and a ATGM mobile platform. Three Type 59 tanks also showed up on the last two turns (the game extended by one turn), and were destroyed by the Apache.
The game ended with a decisive victory for me having lost 27 men and controlling two clusters of objectives to my enemy’s 500+ men, 30+ AFVs and 20+ APCs not including the artillery I shot up. I lost 5 complete teams, AGL, Stinger, MMG, LAW and RR. Which doesn’t make me happy, but that war. The enemy had very few units left over, most of them being infantry that was marooned when I shot up their transports on my side of the map. I don’t think I would have pulled a decisive if I hadn’t of taken the two clusters of objectives as the points at the end were on the edge of the being a marginal.
Lessons learned:
1 – Strike hard and fast and make sure you have support.
2 – Airborne troops make great eyes.
3 – Hit-n-Run is lot-o-fun, when you do it right.
4 – Wait until the end to take the objectives. They’re not going anywhere.
Going back to my objectives:
Quote:
1. Don't get backed into a corner. Always have a way out.
2. Destroy as much of the enemy as possible.
3. Be constantly moving
4. Overwatch! Overwatch! Overwatch.
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I think I fulfilled them very well. I always had a place to go and always did so. The one exception was my ammo canisters. Once I deployed them in the resupply area, they didn’t move. I think I was able to get away with this because I never engaged anything from this area and it ended up being secure. I say “ended up” because the thought did occur to me that if any enemy sneaked around my defenses, he could do some damage with my units in the open like they were. I’ll watch that for next time.
I resupplied and repaired without expanding or upgrading anything. I considered attaching a dedicated recon element to my force, but figured that the cost wouldn’t be worth the points. It would have added almost 2000 points the way I was considering it and they won’t help me wipe out an equal amount of point. Yes, there are many schools of thought out there about the worth of information, but I decided to not put the recon in my core. See one of the many threads on scouting for arguments one way or the other.
The next battle is another meeter. (Does anybody know why 4 of the possible 5 battles have been meeters?) This one is set in heavy hill with large amounts of forest and rough terrain. The clustered objectives are a lot closer to the enemy than me, so it will be a similar strategy. One of the objectives is just off center of a large hill that is formed like a backwards “C”. It raises out of the plains a half dozen levels, effectively making a fort around the objective. Where long range weapons and mobility will be hampered by the trees and rough, I decided to go with a more explosive support. I picked up 3 MLRSs and 4 NG 155mm SPA with 4 ammo carriers to provide resupply. If I have to storm that fort (not likely), then I want there to be nobody left. I’m still working on the plan. I’ve found that my planning mind is asleep after midnight, so I bought my support and went to bed. Wish me luck. I have a feeling this will be my toughest battle yet, and believe it or not, but I’m looking forward to it.