BATTLE 15
Iraq v. G.B. Army, Iraqi Defense
Visibility: 62
Turn: 35
The Marauders had successfully disengaged from the American forces, but were now slowed by difficult terrain, with a rough-sloped river bed and a lengthy bridge over water too deep to ford. As Col. Mustafa pondered the best way to get his men and equipment across, he received an urgent message from scouts who had occupied a 100m hill on the other side of the river - what looked like a sizable unit was moving along the road toward the river. Perhaps inevitably, given the presence of a river and a bridge, the troops turned out to be British - but unlike the previous engagements, this time it would be the Marauders who would have the time to dig in and prepare for the coming assault...
The battle will take place on an interesting map from the Iraqi perspective. There is an exposed 100m hill on the British side of the river, from which fire can be directed at the road. The bride is long, and wooden - a sapper unit ought to be able to destroy it, as could, theoretically, the 120mm mortar section. Should the Iraqis do that immediately? Count on being able to do it in the heat of battle? Should the exposed hill be manned by defenses, recon only, or no one? To give up the western bank is to give up the westernmost VPs, which are quite valuable. In the difficult terrain, it may be possible to stop the British and defeat them in detail, with a possible decisive victory in the end - but that means that the westernmost VPs have to be kept, or recaptured. Thirty-five turns is long enough for the British to do the same type of damage that the Americans did a few battles back - or it may turn out to not be enough for them to advance, given the terrain. Finally, both the northern and southern edges of the map offer avenues of advancing behind British lines. The northern one offers more rugged terrain for protection - but it is the southern one that is well-away from the road that the British are likely to use, and it is somewhat screened by the hills. We shall see what happens.
With the battle taking place in excellent visibility, the British are quickly spotted. Marauders did choose to place some units on the big hill on the western side of the river, and the Bedouins are waiting in the valley just south of that hill. The Brits brought a helicopter, but it is an anti-tank variant.
The Scimitars forged ahead and were quickly dispatched by close assault, but now the Challengers are following up, both in the south and in the center. The helicopters were chased away with some AAMG fire - the few recorded hits were not enough to get past their front armor, though.
The Challengers advance straight toward the southern-most objective, and are successfully ambushed. British infantry has yet to appear. Marauders have suffered some losses - one AT gun and its truck are gone - but in general the defensive line is barely touched.
The infantry finally appears, and is able to target the forward slopes of the big hill in the south. This means that the remaining Challenger finally has some support. The few Iraqi squads in this area are effectively pinned down by the British grunts. Because of the rough terrain immediately behind the forward Marauder units, bringing up reinforcements is time consuming - but that same rough terrain protects those reinforcements from British artillery...
... while in the center, the British just merrily drive their Challengers right into a prepared ambush - these are definitely the easiest tank kills the Marauders have had so far.
The British continue their infantry advance, with the final Challenger immobilized...
Reinforcements are flowing toward the main battle area, but the British maintain their local advantage - their infantry squads are excellently equipped, as usual.
In the center, a British infantry unit finally makes contact with the Marauders. Heretofore, only a few tanks wandered blindly into an ambush and were obliterated at close range. Due to the cover, the British again have local superiority, while any reinforcements will take a while to get involved.
The British essentially did not use the bridge as an attack avenue. The few squads sent this way were chased away by Marauder HMGs. A Marauder engineer did try to take out the bridge, initially, but fortuitously failed (despite using up all of its satchel charges) - this means that now a small flanking maneuver can be attempted...
... which never really gets off the ground, as the battle ends - with no captured VPs and mounting losses, the British simply break off the engagement.
In the end, this was a short, brutal, localized fight, with the painful loss of a few more veteran units. Rough terrain meant that not all Marauder sections could get their shots in, which affects unit development. B Company, for example, remains essentially a green unit. However, one should be careful with complaints, because the gods of war have a strange way of granting one's wishes...