Campaign Series Middle East - 2.30 UPDATE

Jason Petho · October 26, 2023, 01:41:45 AM

There is a lot of in your face combat in this session. Attacks all along the front. I have received a tank brigade as reinforcements and have decided what to do with them. Muhahaha. I also had to make a map edit, which I did live, in case you need to see how to do it! Most importantly, I provided some advice on how to assault defended positions with a mechanized force, even with the infantry still loaded!

Jason Petho · November 02, 2023, 09:26:06 AM

I ran into an Sagger ambush. What a mess. So many burning tanks and direct firing at the Sagger yielded very little results. I had to dig them out with infantry and artillery. Alas, the tanks were taking hits the entire time. The eastern approaches are moving, albeit slowly. Lots of intense and in your face action in this scenario, but it is an absolute hoot!

Jason Petho · November 09, 2023, 09:42:10 AM

Campaign Series Middle East: A fun session today. Lots of combat, well, it was all combat. But I've successfully managed to make a few bridgeheads! We went in detail on attacking and assaulting Egyptian positions. I explain when to use tanks in an assault and when not to. Lots of valuable tidbits throughout! I do wish I had some more heavy artillery though!

Jason Petho · November 16, 2023, 03:04:46 AM

The canal front is a slow slog, but the western highway is going very smoothly. It seems that the Egyptian infantry had abandoned its APC's and head south along the canal. This has allowed the western brigade to advance relatively well, with the exception of a few minor ambushes. The canal zone, on the other hand, well that's a scrap and a half - but, I'm making progress. And then, night fell! What a surprise! I did find that I do have some SS-11 halftracks and some jeeps carrying Cobra's. I will see if I can put them to good use. Exciting times indeed!

Jason Petho · November 23, 2023, 01:26:10 AM

With night time, the battles are far slower. All the firing effects are reduced significantly and the movement is slowed to a crawl for vehicles. That being the case, there's some good advancing towards the final objectives. I think I have broken through most of the defences, although I see the legacy AI trying to reinforce the areas that are lost. I ask a pretty important question and would like your feed back around the 11 minute mark, if you don't watch the rest of it, please take a moment to chime in on the question!

Jason Petho · November 27, 2023, 10:04:45 PM

A brand new PBEM against Javi. This is a new format for the PBEM games and videos, let me know what you think of how it flows. One caveat for this scenario is that I had to make some edits to the scenario file to add landing zones to for the Egyptian commando's. The files will be available at the Matrix Games forum soon. Otherwise, this was a challenge and a lot of fun as the Egyptians! There are a lot of different options for play on both sides. Javi tried one method and it was close right all the way to the end.

Jason Petho · November 30, 2023, 10:25:14 AM

Campaign Series Middle East: The advance continues quite efficiently and we're making excellent progress into the outer limits of the city. I ran into a massive artillery area, suffered some tank losses during my assaults, but the air strikes and additional infantry turned the tide. As my tanks advance into the city, I'm realizing I cannot do this without infantry support. Tanks assaulting alone just isn't going to cut it and is generally futile in an urban environment.

Jason Petho · December 07, 2023, 10:24:02 AM

And just like that, we wrapped up the Sharon's Quagmire scenario at about turn 40 (the scenario goes to 60) as I had successfully captured all of the objectives and destroyed all the Egyptian forces. I will replay this scenario after it is scripted to see how that changes things. After we started and finished Operation Bin Nun Bet, the assault on Latrun during the 1948 War of Independence. It's an Israeli attack against a fortified Jordanian Arab Legion position. And that is what it was. Holy, what a blast trying to get into that!

Jason Petho · December 21, 2023, 02:19:10 AM

Campaign Series Middle East: We are giving this scenario a run through before I script it, mainly to figure out timing and see how I can make the Egyptians a "fun" opponent. I asked some questions during the sessions about event points and historical actions. Let me know what you think, I'm really curious what you'd like to see. The first part of the scenario is all about maneuver and the decision processes behind it. It's a good way to get the brain ready for the violence ahead!

Jason Petho · December 28, 2023, 02:34:25 AM

We have nearly overrun the first obstacle along the main route of advance. That turned out to be a little more difficult than I anticipated. In the far north, my Sho't Meteor's are definitely winning the day. The biggest threats so far seem to be the anti-tank guns and recoilless rifles, but the tanks are doing a number on them providing clear attacks for my infantry. Down south, I'm not so lucky as the infantry brigade is advancing without armour support and suffering casualties. The day is cruising along pretty well with some interesting action and lessons throughout!

Jason Petho · January 04, 2024, 12:30:38 PM

The advance continues deeper into the desert. The center had stalled a bit while we had a traffic jam dealing with some rogue Egyptians and the attack in the south, well, that was taking losses all over the place. I finally have a handle on that now though, the approaches to the southern town are nearly secured. There was some oddities with the Legacy AI, as we know, but it is interesting to see what it does in the current situation and gives me more ideas for when I script this scenario. Darkness is coming soon and that will change, well, everything.

Jason Petho · January 05, 2024, 10:21:10 AM

A brand new PBEM against Javi. This time we played a scenario where I am the Israeli's and doing my best to defend against a large Iraqi assault. This was a nail-biting affair, just by the sheer numbers of Iraqi's that were swarming the hills. My reinforcements were slow, but they seemed to have arrived in the nick of time. Well, kind of. The Iraqi opportunity fire left a lot of my Israeli's in shambles. What a fun fight though!

Jason Petho · January 11, 2024, 02:23:34 AM

Night has fallen. I am still suffering casualties, but with the night, they will subside a bit. I had an interesting fight as I pushed Task Force Nir onto the main highway to El Arish, combat that turned out far more difficult than I would have though. Everything has slowed down as night impacts movement for vehicles. Our first parachutists have landed in the Egyptian rear! This will be interesting indeed. But, before we did all that, I went over some information about Iranian Order of Battles that I have been working on. Is this type of information interesting?

Jason Petho · January 18, 2024, 01:55:11 AM

It amazes me how a simple move can change the whole dynamic of a plan. Mistakes happen and I'm not infallible. This session is a good sample of that, although I am making some good progress through the various battles. It's quite interesting how the scenario has turned into five different key fights. Some are going better than others, but I'm definitely behind in the timeline. Even though the AI isn't scripted, it's turning out to be a challenging scenario indeed.

Jason Petho · January 25, 2024, 01:27:32 AM

We went over what I have been working on behind the scenes lately. Exciting times indeed. Then we proceeded to continue the attacks throughout the Umm Katef area. The southern attack on Umm Katef itself is going very well. The northern assault is a massive cluster firetruck. I ran into another T-34 company in the north, buy my Meteors ae making short work of them. The deep south is a curious battle, but it feels I'm finally making progress this turn. The fighting is raging all over the map, it's quite fun!