A most engrossing scenario. As the Izzies you get to test your air-plotting skills by taking out Syrian SAMs and radar flak with jets to make it safe for helo-borne paras to assault the town of Nawa, which has 10,000 points worth of ammo dumps up for grabs.
So after a furious air bombardment the flyboys destroyed practically all air defense assets by turn 8 (of 40), along with a handful of T-62's and BMP's. Unfortunately this came at the cost of a UAV and 2 jets worth 600 points
. BTW switching from one pre-positioned FO to another outside Nawa while micro-managing the entry and exit hexes for each jet was quite useful, maximizing proper target acquisition and minimizing exposure to SAM's or AAMG's.
Then came the tricky part, navigating troop-carrying helos as close to the town as possible. Fortunately none were lost as the para groups landed to attack Nawa from 3 directions.
As backup there were attack helos with chain guns, Hydras and Hellfires to deal mostly with APC's and tanks, along with light attackers with MG's for infantry. They were absolutely essential in providing the paras with close firepower support (sorta like flying tanks yet much more vulnerable).
It was quite instructive to see how helos could fly furtively around the town's perimeter--even following infantry along streets as the battle progressed--to deal with stubborn defenders. The jets had done their work well; only enemy small arms and some inaccurate wheeled or tracked AAMG's contested the skies above town.
By turn 20 the Izzies had destroyed all 20 ammo dumps (plus the enemy AO) and seized all objectives. Unfortunately most helos had run out of ammo while the paras had taken fairly heavy casualties. One objective was now undefended and a couple others looked in extremis. Enemy counterattacks were looming and there were no infantry reserves. So it was most fortunate that the battle ended at that point, before weaknesses became fatal.
Final score was 19440:1424. Those ammo dumps--besides providing the Izzies with 10,000 battle points--gave nearly 4,000 more for arty overload, although it would've been a DV without them. Thank you Mr. Lundstrom!
#195 Bringers of Punishment
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