New Germany Reforged Preview AAR of FPG_A6_Soviet Main Attack Force(alt)

[Tazak]

Forewords from Tazak
Welcome to the AAR of FPG_A6_Soviet Main Attack Force(alt), I will be the commanding general of the 57th Guards Motor Rifle Division (57 GMRD) charged with defeating the NATO forces in my area of operations (AO from here afterwards). I will follow soviet tactics as much as possible to crush the imperial Yankee dogs (I can't help myself sometimes [;)]) of the US 3rd Armd Division lead by katukov

Foreword from Katukov
Welcome everybody. I hope that you'll enjoy our AAR. It's worth mentioning that in our games played during the beta testing of Reforged, it was me who was commanding the Soviets, while Tazak was leading the NATO forces. This time we decided to switch the sides. It's going to be a very deadly and hopefully dramatic game. As a US commander, apart from the standard vast array of weapons, I'm going to have at my disposal one launcher of tactical ballistic missiles with a nuclear warhead. An opportunity of nuking the Soviets, was just too good to miss it

Why this scenario, well it gives both sides the full range of weapons of war to play with, tanks, infantry and artillery, helicopters and air support, and NBC weapons, it is one of the larger scenarios and the map allows for manoeuvre within a set piece battle (Soviet attack on a NATO held defensive positions). This scenario is one of the alterative scenarios that replaces the Soviet T80U with T80BV, we selected this one as it provides a more historical portrayal of the forces that would have clashed and more balanced for a H2H game, plus we wouldn't want to take away the enjoyment of clashing with massed formations of T80Us.

[Tazak]

The Soviet mission and forces:
Mission


Forces:
I have under my command:
Divisional HQ (Main and 2 alt HQ’s),
Divisional Arty Group (DAG) of 4 Batteries of 2S3 from the 128th Guards Arty Regiment
2 flights of 2x Mil24 hinds (60+ minutes out)

174th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment (GMRR) consisting of:
3 battalions of BMP2 equipped troops
1 battalion of T80BV
Regimental Arty group (RAG) of 3 batteries of 2S1
Assorted support elements (recon, SP-ATGM, Air Defence)

51st Guards Tank Regiment (GTR) consisting of:
3 battalions of T80BV
1 Division Tank Battalion (50 T80BV)
Regimental Arty group (RAG) of 3 batteries of 2S1
Assorted support elements (recon, Air Defence)

Army Level Assets:
2 fire missions of 220mm MRLS with Non-Persistent Chemical warheads (CG - phosgene)
1 SS-21 Fire mission with Persistent Chemical warhead (HD - mustard agent)

Front Aviation support
2 flights of 2x Su25 (armed with 80mm rockets)

Key totals:
T-80BV [m] (Main Battle Tank) - 216 starting
BMP-2 [m] (Tracked APC) - 134 starting
2S1 Gvozdika (Self Propelled Artillery) - 36 starting
2S3M Akatsiya (Self Propelled Artillery) - 24 starting

That’s a fair amount of firepower to hammer the US positions with and a small sea of T80BV and BMP2 to crush the US troops, who knows maybe katukov will run out of ammo before I run out of tanks!! Apart from my Mi-24 I have everything at my disposal, I have no major reinforcements so I need to make everything count and hit katukov’s troops hard and fast.
Comment: I have named the chemical agents for flavour

[ivanov]

I'll be commanding the US forces belonging to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 3rd Armored Division ( two armored and two mechanized battalions ). My brigade's standard tank is a M1A1 Abrams, while the mechanized infantry companies of the armored battalions are equipped with the M2A1 Bradley IFV. One battalion of the mechanized infantry fields also older, M-113A1 APC's. My recon platoons are equipped with the M3A1 Bradleys. I can count on a fire support of an artillery battalion ( three M-109A2 batteries, equipped also with ICM and FASCAM munitions ). The higher command promised an air support, that is due to arrive some time after the beginning of the battle. It will be few AH1F Cobra and OH-58A Kiowa helicopters plus four fearsome A-10 Warthog attack planes. They are able to wipe out an entire enemy tank company in one strike and if well used, they may change the course of the battle. However due to the strength of the Soviet air defence, I'll be reluctant to use the air support, unless I manage to suppress or destroy the enemy SAM's with my artillery. Lastly, the higher HQ provided me with one MGM-52 Lance launcher equipped with a tactical ballistic missile with a nuclear warhead. This launcher is going to arrive 300 minutes after the beginning of the battle. I'll try abstaining from using it, unless the situation becomes really critical.





Here's how the US order of battle looks like.

Divisional and corps level units:

2-82 artillery battalion ( three companies of M109A2 )
1 Lance SSM with a nuclear warhead
2 flights of 2x A-10 Warthog


HQ of 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Armored division:

2 flights of AH-1F Corba and OH-58 Kiowa
1 air defence platoon of M-48A1 Chaparral

TF 2-76

3 companies of M1A1
1 company of M2A1
Recon, mortar and air defence elements ( M3A1, M106A2, M163A2 )

TF 4-67

4 companies of M1A1
Recon, mortar and air defence elements ( M3A1, M106A2, M163A2 )

TF 5-18

3 companies of M2A1
Recon, anti-tank, mortar and air defence elements ( ( M3A1, M901A1, M106A2, M163A2 )

TF 1-26

4 companies of M113A1 with a M150 anti-tank platoon each
Mortar and air defence elements ( M106A2, M163A2 )


All in all this is a very formidable force:





The Soviet 57th Guards Motor Rifle Division under Tazak's command will poses customary numerical superiority ( 2:1 in tanks ), which is not that bad given that I my forces will be on the defence. The main problem I'm facing, is that not all of my units are deployed at the beginning of the battle. Usually the main force multiplier of the US forces is artillery, but none of my M109 batteries, will be available right from the start. They arrive as reinforcements over the period of 60 minutes, which may be critical for the outcome of the battle.

[Tazak]

Da Plan
Hit him hard and fast with flanking attacks supported by massive arty strikes to create a breakthrough for my tank forces who will drive westwards to secure the depth position. The briefing mentions not all his forces are in the area so I need to move fast before his reinforcements can strengthen his positions. With a bit of luck I can hold onto the initiative and keep him responding to my actions. Note: screen shot shows starting setup, later screenshots will reflect the starting changes I make in line with the plan.



Blue areas: suspected enemy positions
Yellow stars: planned chemical strikes
Red Stars: initial fire plan
Green arrow: my Maskirovka
Gold arrows: my main thrust

Suspected enemy locations: I'm ignoring the north west corner as there is only 1 VP there out in the open with little to no cover, if I bottle up his forces in this area I can pound them with arty from a safe distance. The other VPs I've grouped together and looking at the terrain there are some decent defensive locations with good cover and high ground giving clear line of sight (LOS) into open ground killing areas. I suspect some forward defensive positions with his main defensive area around the hill and towns to the centre west (it has 3 high value VPs)

Main thrust: this will be in 2 phases.

Phase 1 - 174th GMRR has the honour of leading the attack with 2 motor rifle battalions (MRB) securing the two hilly towns before The 3rd MRB will push through and capture the northern most VP before it becomes my regimental reserve. The regimental tank battalion will be split between the 3 MRBs.

Phase 2 - 51st GTR will push through 174th GMRR and thrust west before turning south and forces a river crossing at several points allowing them to attack the hill and towns from the north, hopefully my maskirovka is successful and the bulk of his troops will be on the south/east sides of the hill and towns.

Phase 2 will see 174th GMRR pushing south to clear the main wooded area.

Initial fire plan: the 3 northern-most stars will receive heavy (2S3) fire to create a breach point within the NATO defences, while the 3 centre-most stars will receive suppressive fire (2S1) to pin his troops down while my main thrust breaches the northern most defences.

After this fire plan, my 2S3 will go into counter battery mode while my 2S1's will remain on-call.

Chemical Strikes: the two northern most stars either side of my main thrust will be hit with CG-phosgene NP chemicals, allowing my troops to attack into the area with minimum risk of contamination. The centre star I will hit with HD - mustard agent to deny the wooded area to the US troops.

Note on chemical weapons: these are not meant to kill but to reduce the readiness of any troops caught within the contamination, this in turns reduces their accuracy and ability to fight, and should force him to bug out of the locations as each minute reduces his readiness and can cause casualties. NATO troops spent a lot of time training to fight under NBC conditions during the cold war for this very scenario.

Maskirovka: In the south there is a wide open area that is perfect for tank thrusts, it's also a perfect killing ground if covered by tanks and ATGM, I'm expecting a fair amount of his forces will be covering that area and I wouldn't want to disappoint [;)]. Using the Divisional Tank Bn of 50x T80BV and the recon coys from both regiments I will attempt to create the illusion of a tank thrust in this area, hopefully this will draw his attentions while my main thrust clears the northern area and heads south catching him on the wrong side of the hill.

I must mention the weather and time, the scenario starts at 0400hours with sunrise at 0511, Thermal imaging is at its weakest during dawn and dusk so I need to plan my movement of tanks during short window before and after 0511 hours this way I can cover a lot of ground that hopefully is under little or reduced observation, at the same time my feint can cover a lot of open ground while the effects of thermal imaging are reduced.
NATO has a lot of thermal imaging compared to the WP forces and can be a game changer, when playing the soviets you need to look at how to minimise that advantage

[ivanov]

PLAN AND FORCE DISPOSITION:


Let's take a look at the map and victory objectives:





At the beginning of the scenario all the locations containing victory objectives are in my hands. In total it's 21000 victory points. Five of the victory objectives worth 6000 VP's are located east of the Stielbach river. I probably won't be able to hold those positions, so my intention is going to be to defend them for as long as possible, disrupt the Soviet advance and ultimately prevent the hordes of red tanks, from gaining the bridgeheads on the western bank of Stielbach river, where the remaining 15000 VP's are located. I think that the opening Soviet moves are pretty easy to predict. There are only two possible routes along which they can advance west. One in the north along the K73 road and another in the south along the A84 autobahn. I'm facing two Soviet regiments, so they probably will try to move along those two routes, in order to outflank my position on the ridge in the center. It's also possible, that Tazak will chose only one of those routes and feint an attack along the other. So an early identification of his intentions will be crucial.


Let's see now, how my initial force disposition looks like:



At the beginning of the scenario, almost all of my units on the map are locked in place. The central position on the ridge between the two potential Soviet assault routes, is occupied by a TF 1-26, which is a mechanized battalion equipped with M113A1 APC's. This position provides a very good visibility and lines of fire. TF 1-26 has three platoons of anti tank M150's that if well positioned, may wreak havoc among the Soviet tanks. Unfortunately this battalion is going to bear the brunt of the Soviet attack. I expect it will be subjected to a heavy artillery fire, air strikes and possible chemical attacks. So the question is not "if", but for how long my infantrymen will be able slow down the red maelstrom of steel and fire. As stated earlier on, my main objective is going to be preventing Soviet units from crossing the river Stielbach. For the moment the B and C companies of TF 5-18 are defending the crossing points. Their first task will be blowing up the bridges. Of course the Soviets may build their own crossings on the river, but usually this is a very difficult task under the enemy fire. North of the central position on the ridge, there's also a mechanized company of 2-76 and a two recon platoons of that battalion. The only tank unit at the beginning of the battle is the A company of 4-67, which is deployed east of the town of Warmsen

[Tazak]

Soviet opening moves (part 1)

Main Thrust:
1/174 GMRR (+5minute delay to first waypoint) will assault and secure Olderup, I will use the MANPAD teams to create 2 additional bridges over the river, hopefully this will help avoid traffic jams as I push 2 regiments over the river at this point. In addition all battalion groups have been given 5-15min order delays to their first waypoint, this should space them out to avoid traffic jams as well)

2/174 GMRR (+10minute delay to first waypoint) will assault and secure Brockerup and the hill to its north

3/174 GMRR (+15minute delay to first waypoint) will assault the 2000 VP to the west of Olderup,

51 GTR will remain hidden and stationary until my next order phase, when they will be ordered to start rolling west.

A quick note on my fire plan, I would normally only plan 1-2 fire missions per battery to limit the chance of CB fire, however I want to obtain a quick breakthrough so I am going to risk 3 fire missions per battery for my initial fire plan, after this I will limit myself to 1-2 fire missions per battery.

You’ll notice I have not issued orders to attack the northern edge of the woods just southwest of Brockerup, I want to leave some time for my chemical strike to dissipate before I move into the area (hopefully he would have pulled his forces back from that area by then), 3/174 does have orders ending where my other NP chemical strike will hit but I believe I have left enough of a timed movement gap so they should arrive after the NP chemical has dissipated (up to 30-60 minutes after the strike in most cases).

[Tazak]

Soviet opening moves (part 2)

Maskirovka:
As you can see in the screenshot I have moved all units under B command 57th MRD to ensure they are in C3 range and to provide a bit of EW maskirovka to the plan, hopefully his EW will detect this HQ and the other divisional HQ’s in the southern area reinforcing the idea that this is a main tank thrust. I’ve reinforced them with 2 batteries of 2S1 (1 from each RAG) and 1 platoon of SA6 SAM to provide long range air defence.

My Divisional Tank Bn has been split into 2 battalions (using HQ 4/174 GMRR as the 2nd Bn HQ) with deliberate movement orders ending in Warmsen which should provide them some element of cover, all first waypoint orders have been given a 15min delay to allow recon to move ahead.

The 2nd Bn has been sent North West to catch any troops trying to retreat from the centre defensive area.



Time to hit the start button.....

[Tazak]

Soviet Turn part 1: H+ 20 minutes

Comrade Major General Tazak watched as the forward edge of the woods erupted in explosions from the 2S1 and 2S3 batteries fire plan, he could see smaller explosions where several burning vehicle’s fuel and ammo exploded adding to the chaos and destruction, he turned to his signaller “issue code word Gorgon to the 51st” he ordered, unleashing the tank regiment into the fray.

Main attack:
My opening fire plan worked, his forward positions suffering several causalities, my chemical attacks managed to cause some causalities and I’ll see in the next hour if he has moved his troops from those areas as I planned.

My forward units did receive some losses from sporadic fire but nothing for me to worry about and my troops have crossed the open ground fairly intact.



With elements of the 174th GMRR now assaulting the enemy positions, I’ve ordered the 51st GTR to start moving, with the order delay and coming under medium strength electronic warfare jamming there is an around a 35-40 minute delay between me issuing my orders and the units starting to action the orders, this works in my favour as it allows my forward troops to achieve their phase 1 objectives just as the tanks pass through them.

[Tazak]

Soviet Turn part 2: H+ 20 minutes

Maskirovka:
My feint has started well, looking at my recon and tank units several of them have white spots at the bottom right of the counters, and this indicates they have been spotted. Normally this would be a bad thing (if it can be seen it can be shot at) but this is just what I wanted. A few losses incurred and I’ve spotted an enemy unit in the southern woods most likely a recon unit, 1 tank company received orders to close in and destroy it while the rest have been spread out to check the rest of the woods.

In the unit display panel you can see my massed artillery fire did draw some counter battery fire killing 1 2S1 and damaging 2 others along with 2 support vehicles. This was the only CB fire after 10 batteries fired 3 planned fire missions and a few FSCC fire missions, in all not a bad trade and certainly a lower rate of CB than I was expecting, maybe he doesn’t have much artillery??

[ivanov]

0420 HRS

Shortly after 4 a.m the Soviets launched their attack. As expected, positions of battalion 1-26 under command of LtCol Raymond "Koz" Kozinsky, suffered the most. It was not only the artillery fire and air strikes. Worst of all, the position on the ridge was subjected also to chemical attacks. The direct loses during those opening minutes weren't that high, but the readiness of US mechanized
companies and platoon has been significantly affected. Fighting with MOPP gear isn't what you really would like to do under such a circumstances. American infantrymen had to keep their heads down pinned by the enemy barrage and their ability of interdicting the movement of enemy columns has been severely degraded. Kozinsky, a Vietnam veteran had never seen such a fearsome display of firepower.

-”This is definitely not 'Nam' - he thought to himself. The godless Reds have a clear superiority, at least in terms of numbers”.

'Koz' was trying his best to maintain the control over his unit, but the Soviet fire was just too intense. If not destroyed, his 1-26 battalion has been effectively neutralized.

Higher up the chain the command, at the brigade HQ, soon it became pretty obvious to the commanding officer Col Reynolds, that the Soviets were indeed trying to outflank the positions of TF1-26. Their mechanized columns were moving along the predicted northern and southern routes. The advance gained most ground in the south, where Kozinsky's troops on the ridge had been hit particularly hard by a heavy chemical attack. In the north, the advance along K73 towards the town of Olderup was a little slower and the recon elements of 2-67 managed to delay the attackers.




A particularly worrying development took place in the south. Or recon units have encountered what has been estimated as Soviet tank battalion, advancing from a unexpected direction, along the difficult terrain towards the town of Warmsen. If the Reds succeeded there, they would manage to unhinge the whole position of US brigade! Col Reynolds knew that he had to react fast.

Two platoons of M1A1 tanks have been dispatched to stiffen the position is Warmsen. Also the artillery deployed FASCAM mines where the Red armor was spotted. Soon, few secondary explosions could be heard in the woods on the ridge.


subir fotos a internet

-”I love the smell of burning fuel in the morning - muttered Reynolds to himself, while ordering another artillery strike”.

Not all was going well for the attacker during the opening phase of the battle. While some of the US units were unable to fight effectively, especially few anti tank platoons managed to inflict heavy loses on the Red armor.







Hidden in a smoke fired by friendly mortars, those two platoons managed to destroy about 20 enemy machines. This is an impressive feat and yet another proof that American made equipment is the best in the world! Also the Soviet southern pincer suffered heavy loses due to the anti tank fire, after the initial success of the advance. What's worth mentioning, is the effectiveness of US artillery. The first battery of M109's arrived 10 minutes after the battle commenced and almost immediately it managed to detect and strike enemy battery of 2S1. Also this time, sweet secondary explosions could be heard. After that the Soviet artillery fire become less frequent. Fearing our counter-battery capabilities, the Reds probably limit each battery to one barrage per turn. Lastly, by now, the US command cycle is slightly shorter than the Soviet one. It gives us an opportunity of issuing the orders to our units more frequently. The additional command phase has been used to order two ICM strikes where enemy tanks immobilized by the FASCAM mines.

Despite the initial shock of enemy attack, it have been the Soviets who suffered heavier loses during this phase of combat:

-"Hold still gentlemen! If the enemy is in your rear - let it be. You're gonna fight and destroy him right there. We're US Army, the best fighting force this this damn world has ever seen! We embrace chaos and we never give up"!

Col Reynolds with no doubt was in his element...

[Tazak]

Soviet Turn part 1: H+ 43 minutes

Main thrust:
The 2 lead battalions of 174 GMRR have nearly secured their objectives, most of the NP chemical attacks have dissipated and I’m engaging the US forces with arty, ATGM and cannon fire from the lead elements, losses in this area have been fairly light. With sunrise a little under 30 minutes I still have dawn on my side reducing the visibility of thermal imaging however katukov has dropped smoke onto 2 of his positions allowing his units to fire from or through the smoke while limiting my visibility. One of my MANPAD units has gotten a bit over eager and is right on the front line, but checking the units LOS (Line-Of- Sight) I can see that any of my units getting this far will be seen by enemy forces in the woods to the west.



“GET OUT OF MY COMMAND POST NOW” screamed Major General Tazak to the now cowering KGB major who turned and ran out of the CP. I should warn Mikhail that his liking of western rock and roll has attracted KGB attention the general thought to himself as he turned to watch elements of 174 GMRR attacking an enemy position, but that will have to wait until after the battle.

[Tazak]

Soviet Turn part 2: H+ 43 minutes

Maskirovka

My feint has made good progress and is coming under an increasing amount of fire losing several tanks from the north-western battalion, again you can see smoke on his positions (I like that he is firing smoke early in this battle as he’ll have less smoke later on when my real tank thrust hits him), while the other battalion has confirmed the southern woods contain no more US forces.

I’ve zoomed into the hexes where his recon unit is next to my tank company, hiding the unit counters you can see the new craters, destroyed and damaged markers and the reduced size minefield marker. The minefield was the result of a FASCAM fire mission from one of the US arty batteries, that he is using FASCAM makes me think he is getting desperate to slow down this southern ‘thrust’, that’s 1 less FASCAM mission he can fire at my main thrust.

[ivanov]

0443 HRS

Soviet advance towards Stielbach continues. The intel tells us that, there are four tank and three mechanized infantry battalions advancing in the area of operations of the 3rd BTC. No doubt, the tank battalions form the core of red tactical groups. So far, it looks like to main effort of the attackers is located in the north, where probably two tank and all three mechanized battalions are operating. Some of the mechanized units intent to tie and neutralize the remnants of 1-26 still occupying the positions on the ridge, which quickly gained the notorious nickname of a "Chemical Hill". At the same time, it seems that main red thrust takes place as predicted along the road K73. The town of Olderup has been cleared of our recon units and the attackers entered in contact with the D company of 2/67 ( mechanized ). From the very start this unit also was subjected to a chemical attack and artillery barrage. Despite of that, our infantrymen morale remains high!




A very interesting situation is developing in the south. There, two enemy battalion size tactical groups have been spotted. One advanced along the predicted southern route ( the A84 autobahn ). For some reason the Soviet task force stopped it's movement in a very exposed spot on the highway. Col Reynolds suspects, that the assault got disrupted, after red tanks started trading fire with our well emplaced anti tank subunits located in the town of Beckeln. This was just too good opportunity to be missed. The commander of 5-18, LtCol Gustavo Suarez was in a direct contact with the supporting artillery battalion:

-"We got here a beautiful view of 30 red tanks, that look like they came here for a stroll. This is when we show them, that they shouldn't mess with the good guys. Light em up, boys"!

In short order a rain of steel and fire fell on the clustered enemy armor.


Further south, our recon units got a glimpse of another battalion, with accompanying recon and anti air units, moving along the hills south of Warmsen. This development is quite unexpected but as they say: if you can see it, you can kill it. Our invaluable artillery dropped FASCAM in order to slow down that advance. Also, the only available by the moment US tank company ( A/4/67 ) arrived to Warmsen and started preparing for a possible defence of the town.




After over an hour since the beginning of the battle, the disparity in loses between the sides, continues to grow:



Unfortunately this trend is likely to change. The Soviets have lost already a quarter of their tanks, while none of the US tanks units has yet entered the combat. The reinforcement begin slowly entering the area of operations and the number of American tanks is growing steadily. When they start suffering loses, the amount of accumulated Soviet victory points is going to increase rapidly.

[Tazak]

Soviet Turn part 1: H+ 63 minutes

Main thrust:
There’s lots going on in the northern sector where my main thrust is:

2 lead battalions have secured their objectives and will start to swing south to clear the woods, the 3rd battalion has started to reach their objective with supporting fire from the northern most battalion in overwatch from the town.

51st GTR lead elements are starting to enter the clearing, my deception won’t hold much longer but hopefully long enough.

On the C3 tab to the right you’ll notice that my command cycle is starting to creep inside the command cycle of the US forces, this is great as it means I can issue orders faster than the enemy, this occurred as my FSCC received an EW spotting of a major HQ and ordered a fire mission against it causing a few casualties, big question is….for how long can I keep that advantage

I’ve zoomed in to a motor rifle company to show another feature, when you have mech infantry assaulting a position you can set the distance from their final waypoint that the infantry will dismount, you can do this at any time not just when you set the waypoint orders allowing for minor adjustments without having to re-issue a movement order.

[Tazak]

Soviet Turn part 2: H+ 63 minutes

Maskirovka
“Enemy tanks spotted in Warmsen” the operations officer for the 57th GMRD said with a smile to his commander, Major General Tazak breathed a sigh of relief his feint appeared to be working with the first sighting of enemy tanks to the south of the main objective as he’d hoped

With the sighting of US tanks where I’d hoped it looks like my feint is having the desired effect, with the order delay and effects of EW it’ll be 30+ minutes before any US unit can move, so any tanks in or around Warmsen will take 45minutes – 1 hour to move from there to the northern part of the hill, I need to keep his attention down to the south for about 1 more hour, after that my main tank thrust will be near the river and hopefully start to create bridging points without coming under tank fire.

In the OB tab to the right you’ll see 2/4/51 GTR showing in red, this used to indicate that a unit was out of command range but has been improved to show low ammo, low readiness as well as out of command range now appear in red.

[ivanov]

0508 HRS


The main Soviet thrust unfolds in the north and the second echelon mechanized units start moving gradually towards the autobahn A84. The US units on the Chemical Hill are either destroyed or incapacitated by now, so they are in no position to prevent this movement. Displeasing as it is, the 3rd BTS's planners envisaged exactly such a contingency.




It'll be essential to figure out now, what exactly the next Soviet ojectives are.

-"Gentlemen, we poses enough of fire power to stop them and if the goddamn commies break their neck here, the battle will be lost for them"

Announced confidently Col Reynolds in front of his staff.


At the same time, a brutal fighting is taking place in the south:



Our anti tank units along with the artillery, managed to finish off the Soviet tactical group, that got stranded in the open on the A84 autobahn. Right now, there are no more enemy units advancing from that direction. A first tank vs tank combat is taking place in Warmsen. Three Red tank companies managed to occupy the southern part of town,while the northern one is held by our M1A1 company. From such a close distance the US tanks don't poses any tactical advantage, while the Soviet machines, with their gun launched ATGM's are really dangerous. So far the kill ratio in this encounter has been 1:1. A smoke cover and the ICM strikes have been ordered, which hopefully will help pur guys and disrupt the attackers.

It worth mentioning that our artillery continues to do a wonderful job and one of the strikes managed to hit and enemy HQ in the rear. It was possibly a regimental HQ and many secondary explosions could be heard.

[Tazak]

Soviet Turn part 1: H+ 94 minutes

Main thrust:

My Maskirovka is over, the 51st GTR have broken cover on mass and are racing towards the river, I will see in the net 60minutes if my feint has been successful, I can only hope at this point his reserves have already been deployed.

The 174th GMRR are swinging south to clear to the woods, while my artillery are firing on targets of opportunity.

The radio came to life, "Code word matron" was heard through the nearby loudspeaker, phase 2 is underway Major General Tazak thought to himself as he looked at the map his staff were updating with positions of his men and the increasing number of red markers indicating where the damn yankee tanks were

[Tazak]

Soviet Turn part 2: H+ 94 minutes

Maskirovka



My feint is over, while the divisional tank battalion reached the southern most town they have suffered heavy losses but have exposed a number of enemy tanks and TOW equipped M3 Bradley's scouts.

I'll keep them in the town where they can fire near point blank at the US forces from cover, they're not in a fit state to do much other than hang on and ensure katukov keeps some units down that area away from my main thrust, with any luck they will contest the nearby VP at the end of the battle.

The detected enemy forces are about to see what soviet artillery can do [:D]

[ivanov]

0534 HRS

In the north, a mass of soviet armour is still creeping slowly forward. It hasn't reached the autobahn yet. This presented a perfect opportunity for our artillery and another portion of FASCAM mines has been deployed. Few enemy tanks blew up on the minefield but most importantly, they stopped their movement for at least 30 minutes. An entire enemy battalion has been trapped in the plain view of US forward observers.

-"They are going to feel the hand of God now" - said to himself Col Reynolds ordering two more ICM strikes.

It's worth noting, that first flight of US helicopters entered the battle ( a recon unit of one AH-1F and OH-58A ). They don't poses any particular fire power to attack the enemy columns directly. Instead, the helos were supposed to provoke the Soviet AD radars. Without suppressing them, sending in the attack planes, would be simply suicidal in this high threat environment. Unfortunately, very quickly the OH-58A fell victim to Soviet SA-11 battery. Playing hide and seek with Soviet air defence is a dangerous game indeed...


In Warmsen the tank battle has reached it's climax and eventually the US company managed to gain the upper hand. It looks like the Soviet tanks had enough and they started withdrawing from the town. Two air strikes by Su-25's hit the defenders, knocking down four M1A1's. Sadly for the Soviets, they came to late and didn't manage to change the course of the battle. Either way, we urgently need our own SAMs. Currently there are only two Vulcan batteries operating in the 3rd BTC AO, but their range is very limited. The good news is, that a battery of M-48 Chaparrals is due to arrive shortly.



The US reinforcements continue arriving gradually into the battle zone. There's a one tank and one mechanized company, heading towards he main defence line on the river Stielbach. If the Soviets were hoping that they would be able to cross the river unopposed, then they were obviously very much mistaken. Has the window of opportunity already closed for the Red commander? The upcoming 2-3 hours will show.

[Tazak]

Soviet Turn part 1: H+ 121 minutes

SITREP:
Major General Tazak signed the situation report "send this to Army HQ right away" he ordered as he handed it back to Timofei Igor one of his HQ staff