OK So I see Geek here has decided to write an AAR of our newest adventure. So I wanted to make sure that I present the Russian side or as I like to call them the Glorious liberators from the Fascist Imperialistic West. I am assuming that Geek will not be peeking in here as well (I am having a tough time not to look at his lies and propaganda posts)
since this game is 2 and a half hours long expect this to be finished sometime around Christmas
Christmas 2017
Con
Greeting Comrades
Its another glorious day in the Russian Ground Forces. After taking major losses around Kiev we have made a strategic advance to the rear and now need to make a stand against the soft Amerkanski forces on this piece of ground.
Our Air Forces have managed to live up to all their expectations and have been swatted from the air like lazy poo filled flies. So now we have ceded air power to the Americans and how do you say you are boned in Russian. Instead you have plenty of Tunguskas to compensate.
Use your Recon to touch startegic points and get eyes on the Americans. They will be coming soon with at least a Stryker Brigade. The railway line is your last line of defense. Do not let them cross it. We will be scrapping up some reinforcements including T90 tanks for you. Use them wisely.
Initial Forces
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So this is my third PBEM game in CMBS and my first attempt to write an AAR on it. I am playing Undercovergeek and between us we manage a lethargic turn or two a night apart from when we are both travelling. So in real time this game will take months...and months, possibly years. In fact I will go to say it will take a long as a certain someone's write-up on Steel Panthers {Edit Fixed this: meant to say Panthers in the Fog}. So don't hold out any hope for a swift and exciting writing pace here.
My last two plays were as Ukranians and currently as the US forces. So what have I learned playing from the US side? War is lethal and the US has an unbelievable edge with precision munitions and drones. However Tunguskas can shoot things down very well if they survive. In order to survive I need to disperse them as far apart as possible and put them under cover or behind buildings. These things are right now worth their weight in gold.
The rest of my plan is brilliant in its simplicity.
1. Get guys into the watertower to see if they can spot anyone.
2. Push Recon units on the right flank into the woods and then see if they can touch any of the recon objectives (plus send one on a further end around)
3. Push the left flank recon units up through the woods to see if they can spot the Yankees (send one Tunguska up there with them)
4. Wait for reinforcements and hopefully have an idea of where the US forces are by then.
5. Use the Tunguskas to keep those same reinforcements alive from the hellfire equipped drones and aircraft.
So lets see how this works out for Ivan. I will only post turns if something interesting happens
Initial and Brilliant Plan
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Quote from: Con on March 23, 2015, 07:55:14 PM
(I am having a tough time not to look at his lies and propaganda posts)
"A smoking ruin. I like that part." :smitten:
(Just to reassure everyone, there is
NO WAY I would dare ruin this by giving away cross-posted intel. (https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fold.wargamer.com%2Fforums%2Fsmiley%2F00000613.gif&hash=8692de0bc694c1fd280a438a2cf38c281f8bbd63))
Quote from: Con on March 23, 2015, 07:55:14 PMsince this game is 2 and a half hours long expect this to be finished sometime around Christmas
Christmas 2017
Can it be April already so I can call this dual AAR my new favorite thing this month? It has to be April somewhere, right? Like... Jewish April? Help me out here, elder bros!
Incidentally, I keep forgetting completely this isn't Russia vs Germany in WW2. No one's fault about that, just habit I guess.
Quote from: Con on March 23, 2015, 09:16:47 PM
So now we have ceded air power to the Americans and how do you say you are boned in Russian.
"BRRRRRRRRTTTT! BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRTTTTTTTT!! WHOOOOSH.... ...... blam"
Quote from: Con on March 23, 2015, 09:16:47 PMIn fact I will go to say it will take a long as a certain someone's write-up on Steel Panthers. So don't hold out any hope for a swift and exciting writing pace here.
You're already infinitely ahead of Panthers in the Fog. That's how math works, right, putting any number above it in the denominator?
Quote from: Con on March 23, 2015, 09:16:47 PMThese things are right now worth their weight in gold.
"BRRRRRRRTTT!!"
(Well, to be fair if it gets closer than whoosh-blam, there might be a chance.)
5 minutes in and I am already breaking out the digital body bags for the poor recon saps. Modern warfare is terrifyingly lethal and there never seems to be a good outcome from pushing too hard and fast for an objective (even though those were my orders).
So UCG has been very aggressive and gotten some of his troops over the river fast (unless my Military Intelligence screwed up by telling me that that this side of the bank was free of Yankees). Wouldn't be the first time that Military Intelligence got it wrong. Their motto is "We bet your life". No wonder the rest of the troops refer to them as green slime.
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In the screen shot you can seem my far right Recon BRDM-2M getting lit up like a piñata by an enemy AFV. I have not been able to ID it but I am assuming it is a recon force most likely a Humvee since a Bradley would have left nothing but a glowing crater. Another non ID Yankee symbol is heard driving around in front of the water tower. I am going to keep my recon HQ unit hidden in there since they are more valuable spotting then firing on a close recon unit. Instead I will start maneuvering my other recon assets to try and see if I can get eyes and hopefully an AT rocket on these burger guzzling capitalists. It's going to be Recon vs Recon and hopefully I can give UCG a little taste of his own medicine.
I learned that Russian optics are crap and the US will almost always spot first.
Turn Time 0224
What are these guys...ninjas? Seriously they must be ninjas. Another recon BRDM goes up in smoke without me even spotting any of the Amerikanskis.
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Of course there is always the chance that my crack recon troops have been partaking of the vodka flavored antifreeze and are now drunker than a weasel. The only thing they will shoot at are the Pink Elephants on Parade.
As for the cunning plan. The recon troops on the far left flank continue deeper into the woods. These guys are equipped with MT-LBM-6M a much superior AFV. I maneuver them towards the edge of the woods hoping to spot these elusive fireball spewing ninjas.
Con
Turn Time 0224
Time for a quick overview of THE PLAN (I need a better name for this plan, one that is grandiose yet vaguely menacing to fit the Russian psyche). Maybe it should be Daring Russian Liberation of Oppressed Masses (5 year plan)? I will accept any better suggestions
Part 1 = Disperse the Tanguskas is done. They are spread along the back edge of the map and or hidden in trees or behind buildings. (Aside the scenario I am playing as the US I just whacked two Tanguskas from 2000 meters away with my Javelins so these guys need to stay out of LOS not easy on this flat plain)
Part 2. Find the enemy forces...well they are ninjas so this is still a work in progress (however see map)
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Con
Varangian Vikings vs Invidious Ninjas
(...do Russians claim their Viking ancestors?)
Dithering Horde
Smiling Wolfhunter ("grandiose yet vaguely menacing")
How about Operation WTF Are They? ;D
Turn 0215
Yay reinforcements....not so yay its a beat up rifle company with dubious morale issues (but excellent field vodka distilling skills)
THE PLAN now needs to get some significant upgrading to make it as cunning as a fox appointed professor of Cunning at the soviet version of Oxford. Also needs a new name and I have decided on
In Soviet Russia Plan is You
Lets keep it simple for these conscripts
1st platoon hooks far right on fast to get behind the trees and defend the railway embankment
2nd platoon hook right behind 1st platoon but will deploy to for a 90 degree angle between the embankment and trees on the left.
3rd platoon will occupy the houses in the middle and be reinforced with HMGs from 4th platoom
4th Platoon HQ will try and race up to where the recon forces are in the woods in front of it. This will be risky but trees are our friends to hide from those prying American eyes in the sky so more troops in there the better.
Less risky but more important I will move the AT units FAST to the wall on the outer edges of the village where they can dismount and have long LOS on to the rail road bridge etc. I will leave 2 units here and if possible run the additional 2 units over to reinforce 2nd platoon in the angle.
Recon units will continue looking for Americans who I have renamed Snipes, now they are snipe hunting!
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1159.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fp623%2Fconradmaher%2FCM%2520Rollin%2520on%2520the%2520River%2520Turn%25200215_zpslk0sptes.jpg&hash=9509b7c536395f06abab4627352734d921414d60)
You could call the new guys, Molotov Cocktails!
(...and now I wait.)
Turn 214 to 213
This is one of those turns that in hindsight I could have figured this out.
Screenshot is of one of the MT-LBM of Platoon 1 coming into the embankment area. I saw that there had been a hit on it which struck me as odd since I was not sure who could have been firing on him. I didn't look at it closely enough and dismissed it as a lucky long range keyhole type of fluke shot. My bad those things never work out that positively in modern warfare.
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The initial plan was to keep the troops bottled up in their AFVs since I was worried that UCG would drop some arty on this area if he was able to get eyes on it (and this was confirmed by my guessing wrongly that there must be somewhere he was observing with the "lucky" shot above. I also was worried that he might have a drone observing and arty can be called down frighteningly quick.
Well UCG in a move worthy of either utter madness or great genius or both has managed to push up a Yankee troop (recon?) into these woods without being observed by any of my finely trained Russian troops. This leads me to believe one of two things, when playing the US you dont realize how well the CC and spotting works for you. When playing the Russians they spot like Mr. Magoo. In fact I think I would take Mr. Magoo over these inept inebriates since at least he would come out miraculously alive at the end. The end result is a toasted MT-LBM with an entire squad of Platoon 1 KIA. They are forever now assigned to the 1st Molotov Brigade.
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So time to get the troops out of the AFVs and into the woods and hopefully flush out these sneaky sons of bitches. I still can't believe that he was able to get them there without me spotting them at all but anything is possible (I will have to check after the game to see if these guys they were positioned closely or planned in the scenario somehow).
On the plus side I finally catch a glimpse of the rare elusive enemy. I will name him Yankee Warbler and add him to my birding book. Unfortunately its the commander who can spot him the ATGM to his left doesn't have LOS so I need to do a little re-positioning. I have also requested some 120mm Mortar fire Personnel on a straight line along the tree ridge line where the Stryker is positioned to hopefully take out any infantry he has dismounted. Of course being Russian it will take 8 minutes to get approval.
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The recon group on the right in the woods continues to dither and even on hunt cannot spot a US AFV which lights them up killing two of them. Additional reinforcements come in the form of ATGM Kornets (these are nasty and have long range fire) and automatic grenade throwers. I will set the Kornets up in the middle in the long houses (meant to represent chicken coops I think) . The grenade launchers I will disperse between the village and try to get some back over to the railroad tracks (I might keep them back to try and dust off the railroad tracks) as well as the woods up front.
So lessons learned so far. Spotting is not in my favor as Russian. I will need to really work on setting up the ATGMS with long LOS. I want to stagger them AT 13 Saxhorns further upfront with the AT-14 Kornets behind them. I am now concerned that UCG might have more forces on the right and left flanks since my spotting is so poor. I will reinforce the left flank woods with the automatic grenade launchers. Rivers are easily fordable now with modern AFVs so I daren't fixate on only the bridge as a crossing point.
Life is getting interesting and we still have over two hours of combat left!
Wait, are the turns counting down?? I thought I saw that earlier and dismissed it as a typo, but I'm seeing it more explicitly at the top of your most recent post, "Turn 214 to 213".
Meanwhile, I won't give the context, but for sake of amusement:
Quote from: UCGTeam 'Crunch' - named almost at the start of the scenario when the stationary Sergeant asked for noise discipline and his squad came loudly crunching through the forest behind him
Quote from: JasonPratt on March 29, 2015, 09:46:13 AM
Wait, are the turns counting down?? I thought I saw that earlier and dismissed it as a typo, but I'm seeing it more explicitly at the top of your most recent post, "Turn 214 to 213".
I was thinking of trying to count the turns based on the game timer to give a better understanding of where the game clock was to help with understanding strategy. Also game turns need to be doubled one for myself and one for UCG so when I read AARs it can be confusing is Turn 49 minute 27 etc?
I can see how the timer countdown version can be confusing as well. Perhaps I will do both; list my turn (or turns if I am combining events in the AAR) along with the time remaining.
Lets see how that works out
Con
Once I realized it was the timer counting down to when the crew you're scouting for arrives, it suddenly made sense. (I thought about that around 30 minutes after asking, smacked my head. :crazy2: )
I am off to sunny southern California for the next four days so no playing until then. Unfortunately its for work so I will be stuck in a hotel listening to lecturers. On the plus side I get to drink on the company and I plan to enjoy some nice warm susnets drinking chipotle infused cucumber margaritas or other nonsensical pretentious So Cal drinks that just don't work in the gritty snowy cold of Boston
Con
WAAAHH!! :'(
...uh, I mean, uh... ... ..... WAAAAGGHHHH!! O0
Turn 047 2:08 remaining
Lets call this one a little payback
The AT-13 Saxhorn ATGM fires at extreme range. Its listed range is 1,500m and I measured our range as 1,420. I was somewhat skeptical this was even going to work since the missile was in flight for a good 7-10 seconds so I thought the Trophy system on the Stryker was going to knock it down. However lady luck smiled on me and it tracked true and penetrated. The Russian bear finally draws some blood.
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Meanwhile I see a rain of fire coming down on one of my recon MT-LMBS on the woods in the left flank. I at first think it might be gunnery fire from an aircraft or Helo but none of my Tanguskas are lighting up as well as the fact that it seems scattered convinces me its long range auto grenade fire. Sort of good news bad news since a helo would have vaporized me but bad news in that the US optics are so good that they are engaging one of my better AFVs from long range and I don't even spot them. I will pull him back since I obviously am being bracketed here.
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Action around the embankment suddenly flares up. I have lots of Yankee track sounds showing up very near to the troops. I need to push my AT weapons guys closer tot he lip of the embankement. I will try and get the MMG to carry some AT weapons to help support the angle. With a crash of the woods at the last seconds a Stryker emerges from the brush right in front of my MT-LMBS. The turn ends with us both rotating turrets towards each other. I order one of my AT units that are disembarked in the woods to hunt towards the Stryker to see if I can nail it with a RPG if my AFV fails. Who will be quicker on the draw? Tune in next time same bat time, same bat channel!.
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Turn 049 and 050 Time remaining 2:07 to 2:06
Both of us slap leather together trying to see who is quicker on the draw. Turns out Ivan beats the Duke this time and another Stryker goes up in flames. But I can't celebrate too soon because some unspotted US troops cut down what remains of my Russian platoon.
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I use my AFV to lay down suppressing fire and send the last two remaining platoon members to hook right and hopefully catch the US troops in the flank.
Well apparently Russian conscript training can do with a refresher since the two soldiers despite being on a hunt command blunder into the AFVs suppressing fire and get cut down on a blue vs blue (or in this case red vs red) friendly fire incident. The hidden US troops to add insult to injury manage to KIA one of the MMG gunners in the far track who decided to jump out early and run into the woods. Well only one of them makes it. I am really going to have to write a strongly worded letter to the Inspector General of Army training and morale. Blind crazy and drunk is not a good combo on the battlefield unless you are a Viking.
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The RPG team that I had working my way up slowly to the embankment spots a US MMG but one of them is cut down before they can do any damage back to them.
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Between the US recon squad/stryker and my own friendly fire I have managed to lose two platoons of Russians at the railway embankment. I will have to pull some of the reserve troops out of the village and send them to the corner for additional reserves and to stiffen the line there. Its going to take them a couple of turns (I estimate 5-8 minutes) to get established and repositioned. Meanwhile I want to see if I can get any better spotting on the troops behind the embankment. Being Russian even with my casualties I should have superior numbers. If I can risk it I might take a couple of the MT-LMBS on the far right over the railway embankment along with their troops and try to push the US left flank. But first I need to have a bit of a better understanding of what I am facing. It's too soon to start committing reserves but this Railway embankment is the key objective and my plan of putting ATGMS on it is going to be severely crippled if I cant clear the other side of US troops. The good news is with us so close and mixed up it will be unlikely that he can call in arty or air on me.
QuoteBlind crazy and drunk is not a good combo on the battlefield unless you are a Viking.
Maybe not even then: Russians are named after Viking settlers after all!
Also, what exactly am I seeing in that last photo? A wide-open patch of concrete squares with one (1) pallet of supply sitting out smack in the middle of it? (...is that a brick of vodka cases??)
Turn 51 Time Remaining 2:05
Holy Smoke or the Russian Orthodox Equivalent . That was an exciting turn. I think I might be underestimating how many US troops are milling around along this embankment and maybe I might be the one out numbered.
Lets start from my left to right most of the action is centering along the rail road embankment. My poor RPG gunner tries to flee back down to the Russian side of the railway only to get spectacularly felled in a most Hollywood style by US infantry fire (I suspect some dismounted MMG). My remaining MMG gunner takes up an open position further on the left but has very little supporting troops. He begins to sing "Lonely...oh so Lonely" to distract himself.
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At the same time the Russian RPG two man section that I had pushed over to the other side of the embankment is suddenly beset upon by hordes of US infantry (ok that is a little exageration) but for sure several elelments including a Javelin unit. My guys like Hans Solo fire first and throw grenades like they are going out of style. For sure we get 2 KIAs maybe more but this is as close as knife fighting in a phone booth for these guys.
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Next a Stryker appears out of the woods surprising my MT-LMBS and lighting him up. He attempts to reverse down the embankment but it is too late and he joins the growing list of Russian KO vehicles.
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Not content with taking out my AFV and while my RPGs are distracted fighting for their lives against other infantry the Stryker proceeds to tool up the RPG 2 man section. One is killed immediately in a hail of explosive grenades, the other surely cant be long for this world.
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Overall situation - Not good I feel like I am outside of the decision loop here and I am reacting and not causing UCG enough problems and distractions. My left flank is increadibly weak on bodies now and I know that there is at least a platoon maybe more with a Stryker facing them. The good news is I have 2 MT-LMBS I need to be a bit nervy here and send those AFVs forward supporting each other. I need their firepower and can only hope that the few dismounted troops that I have will be enough to prevent any US AT fire.
In the center I need to send my troops into any remaining MT-LMBS and acquire more RPGs and launchers. These can be useful against troops as well and this fight is getting ugly. I will bring my reinforcements into the middle to try and support them again all of the reinforcements need to be totting RPGS and I will split them into different elements.
On the right I have a half platoon over the embankment I will push them against the US left flank and hope that I can split UCG forces and attention. Find em, Fix em and Flank em...well I have all three fo those going for me but why do I feel like I am going to get F***ed by em!
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Other than that there is shelling in the woods behind th angle so that place will get hot soon as well as shelling in the woods on the far right flank. I move my recon away and keep loading up the troops in the village to send in as reserves to the railroad embankment.
Turn 055 (I think I numbered my turns wrong) 2:04 remaining
All the action still centers on the railroad embankment where despite this being modern warfare we are fighting with bayonets here just like these guys great great grand fathers in WWI.
Starting from left to right on my side of the embankment. My two MT-LMBS push slowly forwards while the lonely singing MMG gunner gets suddenly cut in half by a hail of automatic grenades. the right MT-LMBs takes heavy fire (also looks like auto grenades) and retreats back with its radio shot out (no big loss the Russians only use it to listen to the playboy channel). However the right MT-LMB does his job and hangs in there surprising another Stryker that emerges from the woods. He pumps round after round into the Stryker. I am not sure if this is because the Stryker is that much tougher or because the Gunner has enough adrenalin coursing through him to go toe to toe with King Kong. End result is positive for me the Stryker is KIA.
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In the center the reinforcements arrive and disembark
The RPG gunner gets cut down by the US infantry (I would have bet the center Stryker would have taken him out).
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Just as it looks like the center will be dominated by that Stryker my little half section of troops armed only with their Kalashnikov s opens up in a suicidal manner on the Stryker facing them. Just when I am sure that they are all about to be vaporized the Stryker fails morale and reverses away. My troops proceed to hustle then into the MT-LMB to pick up a launcher and grenades which would have done them a world of good if they had had those 30 second earlier!
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I split my platoon on the far right into an AT section covering the embankment and push the infantry down the woods line in hunt mode but so far no contact. I also take my Tangushka which is loitering at the far end of the railroad tracks under cover of the trees and decide to be foolhardy with him. I give him a move command to get up on the embankment and use those powerful AA guns to hopefully sweep and destroy any US forces crossing or getting near the railroad. This could go south on me but if UCG doesn't spot him the Tangushka could club the US like a Canadian on a Harp seal.
Turn 57 and 59 Time remaining 2:02
Two hours remaining and already committing reserves. Not good not good at all. However these last two turns did go better than expected.
The Gunner on the MT-LBM 6M was squeezing the trigger for all he was worth because he knew his end was near. With a hail of grenades probably launched by another Stryker this MT-LBM 6M gets battered and knocked out. These Russian AFVs even the more modernized versions have not been proving to be made Russian tough. I guess the old Russian proverb of Quantity over Quality still holds true.
The Gunner tries to make a break for it but he is horrifically cut in two. Both the MT-LBM 6M and the dismounted gunner never saw their foes even though we are less than 20 meters apart.
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Trees have been removed but here the Gunner meets a sad death
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Not all the action this turn is taking place on the railway embankment. I was going to give the embankment a fancy name like the Russian Equivalent of Purple Heart Railroad but it turns out that the Russians dont actually have a badge or award for being wounded in combat! Its a short hard brutish harsh life for your average Soviet conscript. I in true Soviet style am not shedding many tears over losing my soviet pixel troops. Just send more of them into the grinder.
The other action is at the weather station where another Stryker (recon variant) has finally popped up. My recon HQ unit that is hiding on the Weather station upper floors opens fire with their RPG. With a deafening bang the rocket impacts on the Stryker and causes a massive detonation. Strike one Stryker. The recon unit then proceeds to light up a US recon team that was snooping around. Based on the number of US sound contacts around the weather station my guys are not going to be around for long. Its time to make a last stand with them but they have already made a mark on UCG task force.
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Back to the bloody embankment and more of my troops get cut down (another 2 in the remaining section on my left flank). This corner is now dangerously thin and I estimate that there are at least two strykers and a mix of 2 heavy weapon sections a HQ and a US platoon of infantry facing them.
My left flank is doing better. My RPG unit and Infantry platoon are sweeping forward through the woods on a hunt. I know there are US troops here but hopefully I hurt them and rattled them with my previous RPG unit and having them hit in the flank will cause them to pull back even more. With a crunch my quiet sweeping forward is rudely interrupted by the appearance of another Stryker (this one a regular one not a Recon or HQ type) appearing suddenly in the underbrush and heavy woods. What luck one of my MT-LBM6M in overwatch can engage it and begins to rain down a hail of 30mm HE and APDS on to it. Multiple hits impact the Stryker. My infantry react by facing it. By the end of the turn the Stryker is still alive but I doubt for much longer.
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My latest idea for the embankment is not to throw any more troops into the cauldren on my left flank. The opposition is just too strong. Instead I will push some AFVs and troops to support the right flank other side of the embankment push. I will continue to bring at least two platoons of infantry over as reinforcements from the village. Slow and sure we have over two hours left to play so I dont want to over commit my forces here yet.
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I lifted this idea of a BloodBoard from another AAR where they listed the AFVs/Tanks that were KIA for both sides. I have added in the Stryker that is currently getting pummeled by my MT-LBM6M as a kill. Lets hope that I was not being to prideful to add it before it is confirmed. However you can see I am beginning to move the needle in my direction by inflicting pretty serious AFV losses on UCG. I just need to stop losing so many troops.
Blood Board
Russian US
3X MT-LBM 6M 5X Strykers
2X BRDM-2M
Turn 061 2:02 minutes remaining
This is going to be a loooooong war filled with really intense moments
My faith in the MT-LBM 6M was not misplaced and it pulverizes the Stryker into a slagged heap of burning metal. No survivors crawl from it. I know that its platoon disembarked earlier and this is a regular version of the Stryker an M1126 equipped with Reactive Armor Tiles. Comparing it with another Stryker I conclude I was damn lucky this one was equipped with the deadly Mk.19 40mm grenade launcher. Looking at the other KO Strykers I count 2 with the 50cals and 3 with the Mk19. I want those Mk19s dead they wreak havoc on my infantry. Those of my poor bloody infantry who have so far survived would agree with this statement.
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As my RPG and Platoon section slowly sweep forward my far right MT-LBM 6M charges over the embankment and railroad line to help support them in overwatch. Seconds later he spots a Javelin AT gunner taking aim at him. Utilizing good self preservation tactics (hit every god damn button you can find) he launches smoke, backs up back over the embankment like an Italian valet being given the keys to a Ferrari and unleashes a hail of 30mm HE over the heads of my RPG team (scaring the crap out of them) into the vicinity of the Javelin gunner. Amazingly all this action worked and my AFV survived as the Javelin gunner never got his shot off (he could have been too close since you need a min of 75 meters). The poor sap suffers the same gruesome fate that my guys were experiencing on my right flank.
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Meanwhile in the hexenkessel of death and destruction that is my right flank strange happenings are occurring.
I spot two separate Strykers one opens up and suppresses my lone alive trooper with its 0.5cal. Suddenly another one appears...not only does it appear its rear is facing me....I am being mooned!
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This insane Stryker is armed with a Mk19 and I prefer being mooned then being shot to pieces. Well the US driver must be panicking since not only is he facing the wrong direction from me he precedes to fire smoke to HIS rear and then backs up TOWARDS my positions. Unfortunately the one MT-LBM 6M that could have given him a good rectal exam with its 30mm APDS had been driven back earlier by the Stryker with its 0.5cal causing some penetration into the engine compartment. I can imagine the Strykers commander stroking out over the actions of his panicking driver and explaining that get the F*ck out of here means moving FORWARD!.
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The turn ends with no additional kills on either side. In other news my recon element hold up in the weather station lost another team member as more US recon elements close around him. Still he did his job and if he can take any more Yankees with him to Valhalla he has already exceeded my expectations.
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Quote from: UGeekI swear to god if Con puts a scratch on it im going to fly to Steve Grammonts house and punch him in the neck.
I have about three turns to type up
Lots of good Hollywood style action. UCG is throwing the kitchen sink at me very early
Con
Turn 63, 65, and 67
Where to begin! This has been a very eventful three minutes filled with highs and lows. I think I will suffer an aneurism if this tension and roller coaster ride keeps on at this pace. If I start smelling burnt bread time to dial 911 and tell them I am stroking out!
I have combined three turns but I am going to try and deal with them one minute at a time to help you dear reader (whoever is depraved enough to be reading these AARs for the sake of some dubious pleasure) follow along with the action.
Lets start Turn 63 Time remaining 2:00
The minute starts off OK but ends like a kick to the balls. Russian balls (and fully inflated I might add for you Patriots fans that get the joke). The sound of rotors thumping through the still air tells me that air assets are coming into play. Of course I already have been told that all Russian helicopters and planes have been turned into giant lawn darts so it's time to see if those Tunguska's can return the favor. So far I haven't heard the high pitched SSSSsscrreEEE that indicated the Apaches are coming in on their attack run but it can't be long now. Nuts are tightening and sphincters are loosening across the entire Russian line as everyone hopes some other poor bastard is in those choppers sights. All we need is Ride of the Valkries to start blaring over speakers and the crap will well and truly hit the fan.
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Starting with the Hexenkessel my left flank at the railroad embankment. I move my 2 MT-LBM 6M up thinking that they are facing only a Stryker with a 50cal and a Mk19. armed Stryker that is facing the wrong way. Easy pickins right.....no wrong wrong wrong. The 50 cal disables the first MT-LBM 6M with the driver bailing out of the immobilized vehicle. I will make sure that the Main intelligence Directorate will hear about this disgraceful abandonment of expensive Russian Military hardware. Then auto grenade fire takes out the second MT-LBM 6M blasting into the drivers compartment with a shower of sparks it grinds to a halt KO. Neither AFV ever saw their killers. This little corner of the battlefield has become a Russian graveyard of dead bodies (mostly only bits of bodies) and burning AFVs. Between the KO burning vehicles and the smoke discharges (and a potential WP barrage) that area is smokier than a Grateful Dead concert. One other interesting thing to note is that I have been seeing explosions occurring on and over the US forces. Its not coming from me so I suspect that he UCG has been dropping a couple of arty rounds short. Alternatively he might be finding out that those helicopter pilots live by the motto shoot first and never ask questions.
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During this action I continue to push forward with my platoon section and RPG section in the middle against UCG left flank. I know there are US troops loitering about like delinquent teenagers somewhere there. I also send over an additional MT-LBM 6M a solitary HQ support soldier and a three man A team left from 3rd squad to support them. Lucky I did since the Americans open up and seriously wound 2 of the 1st squad and one of the RPG gunners. However as they focus on them the 3rd squad team blazes away at the US forces and annihilates them.
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Not all the action takes place at the railroad embankment. The recon team now down to only LT Nageav sees a three man US recon section running into the building in front of them. In desperation I bring the BRDM-2M up to where it can see that building since I expect the US troops to hole up in there. With a bit of luck I might be able to get them with the 14.5mm MG.
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The final situation is looking a bit grim but I do have plenty of reinforcements so perhaps I can still get things to swing my way. I send some more infantry reinforcements from the center group to whats left of my left flank. I order the Saxhorn ATG up closer to the embankment hoping the smoke will give him some cover. I bring the AGS 30 Grenade launcher up to the railway line in the middle to provide support to the left flank. Reinforcements in 2 AFVs from the village continue to sweep fast to my far right flank. Maybe I should direct them to the middle instead?
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Turn 065 Time remaining 01:59
Not too much in the way of death and destruction this turn. At the weather-station the BRDM 2M slowly moves into position to shoot the small low slung concrete shack that the US recon team entered mere moments earlier. Proving that in combat as in comedy timing is everything those sneaky recon soldiers had beat feet out of there without stopping and had run into the base of the weather station. The poor BRDM 2M never saw them leave and dutifully following orders began to futilely blow holes in the empty cement shack. The US recon guys under no pressure calmly fired from inside the weather station and brewed up the BRDM 2M.
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However this is not the end for our brave heroes. Lt Nagaeve observing his -1 leadership rating decides to panic and tries to make a break for it. Running down the musty stairs of the weatherstation he comes across the US three man recon unit with their backs to him. They are loudly celebrating their recent BRDM kill and dont hear Lt Nagaeve screaming like a little pre teen girl as he pounds down the steps. He pauses to empty his clip at them killing one and continues running out the door. Now if he had stayed and finished the job he might have had a better chance but the surviving members of the US recon team cut him down before he even takes 10 steps. Let us all please observe a moment of silence because despite his bad leadership Lt. Nagaeve still put a licking on UCG troops and AFVs that they will remember for a long time!
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Action is now taking place on the far right. One of the Kornet ATGM spots a low slung shape working its way across the woods. He spots and fires and away goes the missile. His target an M1128 Mobile Gun System (MGS) Stryker. The turn ends with the missile still in flight. Will it connect?
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Closeup of the MGS Stryker
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Railway embankment situation takes a short breather this turn as I sort out my troops and start planning their next locations. Push the HQ lone guy out to some isolated trees to get LOS on those damn strykers that are chewing up my left flank. Consolidate the remaining troops and AFVS and continue to push against the US left flank. Keep the reinforcements from the village going towards the right flank (where the Tunguska is located). I continue to see explosions taking place in the Hexenkessel on my left flank but they are not coming from me so I can only hope that some Southern Good ole boy with itchy trigger finger is thinning the Us forces for me. The helicopter sounds are getting more ominous so I move my Tunguskas away from where they were hugging the buildings into a more open area. I dont know if this makes any difference in the game but it is what I would do in the real world to give the AA radars a better chance of acquiring targets.
Right Flank Tunguska
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Left Flank Plan
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Too late now to write up the last turn but stay tuned its a doozy
Con
Turn 067 Time Remaining 1:58
This is the turn where I realize that UCG has not been reading the modern warfare manual. In a move of either brilliance or utter madness UCG has thrown the kitchen sink at my right flank. Is he going to be the dashing and daring Patton or will the US forces follow the 7th Cavalry and UCG channels his inner Custer.....time will tell.
First let's see if the Kornet ATGM finds it mark. With a deafening whoosh the missile tracks in unerringly on the unsuspecting M1128 Stryker MGS. A massive detonation takes place but no penetration or smoke is seen rising from the Stryker...could it have survived? After a long 15 seconds or so the Styrker is shown as KO. I surmise that maybe the missile detonated early (probably APS or some tree branches) but was so close that the blast still was able to kill the Stryker.
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The chopper sounds get deafeningly loud and first one then two then three and for good measure a fourth SAM lifts off of three Tunguskas. All SAM rapidly rise up and track towards the same spot in the sky. I count four explosions but none of the Tunguskas list a kill. I suspect that they got something because I hear multiple explosions but I don't see any debris or smoke normally associated with a downed air asset that would indicate that they took an Apache out of the sky. I will have to listen for the Chopper sounds next turn to see if it is still circling. As a precaution I will need to move all my Tunguskas about 50meters to prevent them becoming casualties from any precision munitions if UCG has drones or other air assets that can spot them.
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Back to the far right flank where the biggest surprise of the encounter so far awaits me. With a frenzied scamper US forces cross in front of the Tunguska that has been laying in wait up there. It opens up with its dual 30mm HE and while not killing any of the US MG element that ran across the railroad I bet everyone of them will need a new change of underwear.
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With 5 seconds left more US forces in the shape of Mk19 Stryker rumble across the railway. The Tunguska is merciless and no amount of reactive armor can save the Stryker as its armor is blasted away and it is turned into a blazing twisted ruin. No one climbs out as the smell of burning flesh now joins the other horrors of this corner of the Ukraine.
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With a growing sense of disbelief I realize that my HQ element that I had sent to some trees outside of the embankment area to spot for the left flank was now spotting two additional Strykers (1 a Mk19 and 1 a 50cal)plus associated infantry squads on my RIGHT flank just opposite my Tunguska. The turn ends just as these are spotted. My Kornet ATGM also spot two Stryker M1064A3s (Mortar versions) located far back in the fields behind the embankment. Unfortunately they are moving too fast for me to get a shot off at them.
This changes everything with the forces facing me on the embankment UCG must have committed his main attack onto this objective. This cant be a feint to draw my forces away its too much. I reread the mission briefing and as usual its very economical with the truth. "A long motor column their forward elements have probably reached your operating area [no shit] Intelligence indicates they belong to the 5th Stryker Brigade Combat team."
Here is what I suspect I am facing in part or in support at the embankment objective
A Company Stryker
1st Infantry Platoon in 4 Strykers (right flank)
2nd Infantry platoon in 4 Strykers (left flank)
3rd Infantry Platoon in 4 Strykers...not Observed yet
1MGS section (3 Strykers) (support located near weather station)
Recon Section (typically 2 Strykers) Already on the embankment
Mortar Section (2 Strykers) supporting in the field behind the embankment
1 HQ/Fire support (2 Strykers) mixed up could this be the first kill by the river crossing railroad bridge?
Update to the Plan
I am facing way more opposition at the embankment than planned for. I order the Tunguska to beat it fast away from this spot to try and get some distance from the US forces that made it to the other side. I stop the 2 MT-LBM-6Ms to stop and dismount infantry. I would rather they are out of their tracks even though we haven't gotten to the edge of the woods. I pivot the center force away from the left flank to the right flank. I might be able to creep the MT-LBM-6M to the edge of the woods where they might be able to get shots off at the right flank Strykers. I need to pull even more forces away from the extreme left flank and the village where I was worried UCG might do a river crossing. I need some tanks!
BloodBoard at this time point
Russian US
5 MT-LBM 6M 6 Inf/HQ/Recon Strykers
3 BRDM-2M 1 MGS Stryker
My Right Flank SitRep
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Overall Embankment Plan
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Turn 069 1:58 remaining
Finally a turn that I can catch my breath.
No one died, no explosions, whistling death unexpected surprises etc.
The Tunguska makes it out of the woods alive and continues trundling away from the embankment to a nearby woods ridgeline. Troops disembark from the far right MT-LBM 6Ms and deploy in the sunflower fields.
I start pulling more troops from my extreme left flank to reinforce the right. A peaceful minute in what has been a very draining war so far!
Turn 071 1:57 remaining
I got cocky and paid the price.
Not much happening except my own stupidity. I got too caught up in thinking i could maybe get a shot at the Strykers on the far right flank. If I moved one of my MT-LBM 6Ms to where the HQ unit spotted them (reversing him so he kept facing the right flank) I should be able to whack one or two of those Strykers in the rear as the troops dismount. It was too tempting a target and I bit on the bait like a leopard on a wounded baby gazelle. Of course what I forgot was that that the reason I had originally sent the HQ unit to that location was to spot the units on the LEFT flank. They (US forces) had no problem spotting my MT-LBM 6M and proceeded to give it a very stern talking too...with 40mm HE grenades from multiple directions. Ugh...
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In other action two Tunguskas from the extreme right and extreme left cut loose with their dual 30mm HE at a target in the sky. Since they used their guns and no sound were heard for planes/choppers I am assuming that they were firing at a drone. I hope they got the bastard cause eyes in the sky make a huge difference for the US.
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The far right Tunguska can spot into the woods and I order him to call in arty (mortars) in a line along the woods line. It is sooo much longer (7 minutes) compared to the US on call fire that can be dropping on you in 2-4 minutes.
My concern is that I have gotten pushed out of the woods thus allowing his Javelins to setup in there and potentially have a very happy time picking off my T90 reinforcements when they finally arrive. Lets hope the arty gets there before the tanks do.
Sitrep
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Turn 073 time remaining 01:56
Most of the turn is quiet. I continue to re-position the troops, taking more infantry from the village and the extreme left flank to help throw against the embankment eventually. In the last 5 seconds my lone HQ soldier from 2nd Platoon Lt Isotomin spots a US soldier toting a javelin come up opposite him. Aha I think here is UCG already bringing up those javelins to try and whack any reinforcements I bring over to the embankment.
Lt. Isotomin might have a+2 leadership rating but he obviously spent too much time on the books at the academy and not on the range. Despite unloading his entire clip of Kalashnikov rounds at the javelin gunner he didn't hit him at all. The turn ends with javelin gunner cowering against the gravel of the embankment. Hopefully Lt. Isotomin gets his act together and picks off this missileer next turn.
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I'm glad to see I'm not the only person who likes to use the term "missileer". :coolsmiley: O0
Turn 075 time remaining 01:55
"Fool me once shame on me. Fool me twice watch it I am HUGE!" Bonus points for anyone who can name the game and character that this quote comes from.
But it is true I have been fooled, now I need to make sure I am not fooled again.
Lt. Isotomin tries to kill the javelin ATGM but is instead mortally felled by infantry small arms fire coming from further left of the embankment. The javelin now fires at my MT-LBM 6M located a little off the embankment. I hadn't thought that UCG would target the AFV with the javelin. (Later in the turn for a brief couple of seconds I spot another javelin missileer closer to the MT-LBM 6M). Either way one of the Javelins fired by either of these troopers flew unerringly towards it victim and slagged that MT-LBM 6M into a twisted wreck sitting at the bottom of a crater. I have now lost both AFVs that I had pushed over the embankment onto the US side. Javelins are just wicked. Well played UCG.....well played.
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Individual arty rounds now start impacting near the center group. I suspect the M1064A3s mortar Strykers are ranging in on them. (doing a little additional digging it's probably not M1064A3s I think it may be an M1129 since these Strykers fire their mortars through the top of vehicle which matches the one I spotted).
Not all goes UCG way however. My Kornet ATGM gunner spots another Stryker a new variant. This is like bird watching except its a lot more lethal. The Stryker is a Red, White and Blue banded M1134 ATGM version (very rare)!. I bet UCG let out a screech like a howler monkey when it brewed up. Interestingly the Kornet ATGM had to fire two missiles at it since he guided the first one into the ground.
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Hope they didnt owe anyone any money since no one gets out of this one alive
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I need to maneuver my spotter and the recon group extreme left to see if they can get some sort of spotting onto the railway embankment. Time for them to start bringing arty fire down on the US forces that are milling around in those woods.
I went back and checked the range of the Kornet ATGM shot that KO the M1134 Stryker = 1,513meters. Turns out the Kornet has an 8,000 meter range and rides a laser beam so not wire guided. No wonder the US tankers fear these things.
I just wanted to check are people enjoying these AAR from UCG and myself? Is it OK do you want more or are people more like this is Meh?
Thanks
Conrad
MORE!!!!!!
Turn 077 Time remaining 01:54
Not much to report this turn. I maneuver my last scratch force of dismounted AFV drivers and gunners on my left flank. I don't hold out a lot of hope for them doing much but maybe they will surprise UCG US forces if they do a fool hardy rush over the embankment. My auto grenade launchers in the middle see more US forces hot footing it over the embankment on the right flank. Unfortunately they had not completed setting up the grenade launcher and the US troops moved so fast that they didn't get any shots off on them. 120mm Mortar fire is going to start in about 4 minutes though on the right flank so hopefully that will catch them unaware.
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Turn 079 Time Remaining 01:53
Uh Oh....about 45 seconds apart two Tunguskas one on the far right and one on the far left let rip into the cool misty air with their dual 30mm. This time I hear the screech of helicopters as well. Time to tighten the helmets we are about to get another run at us from most likely some Apaches.
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The poor scratch group of left over crews on the left flank get sweept away from the disciplined and overwhelming firepower of the US forces. I now have nothing but a single AT missile unit cowering on the left. I have totally seceded the left embankment to UCG. Its not as bad as it seems we have almost two hours left to play I still have tank reinforcements arriving, Infantry in the village and I know where he is.
Turns out my Saxhorn HQ unit can weasel a line of sight very close to the top of the left embankment. I call for 120mm mortar fire in a circular patter anti personnel. It will take at least 7 minutes. I wish I had found this units LOS earlier but oh well. Calling arty so it arrives on time is more art than science, but I sure do miss how fast the US forces could call it in. Almost all the US units can call in anything with times typically between 4 to 8 minutes. That is just an awesome force multiplier for the US player.
In the center I hear lots of AFV noises. I think 3 Platoon maybe arriving
3 more minutes (and spotting time) before arty lands on the right embankment.
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Quote from: Con on April 15, 2015, 11:12:42 PM
I just wanted to check are people enjoying these AAR from UCG and myself? Is it OK do you want more or are people more like this is Meh?
Thanks
Conrad
Quote from: UCGWTF is this?
Still going
Stilllllll going
Oh shi............
>:D O0
(Edited to add for clarity: I love this AAR more than steak. O:-) )
Turn 081 Time Remaining 01:52
Lets call this one Green Eggs and SAM and by green eggs I mean Apaches.
No less than 10 SAMs fly off the rails from the Tunguskas. Not wanting to be left out of the party the lone MANPAD (located at the embankment) fires off as well. Congratulations comrade MANPAD you have just become an RPG gunner since the Igla SAM is a 1 shot weapon with no reloads.
So 11 SAMS scream off to a very narrow part of the horizon. The same area where the choppers from earlier tried to ingress in on. Seems these US flyboys are a bit dumb and like to show off their hot dogging skills. Let's see how well they hotdog with 11 SAMS on their ass.
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My Tunguskas meanwhile obviously went to the school of North Vietnam AA since they are whailing on that fire button like its a red headed stepchild. Some of the Tunguskas are down to 2 SAMs. A couple of US Arty rounds start impacting near the village as well. Time to move all the SAMs 50 to 100 meters around just in case UCG get cute and tries to triangulate some from the smoke contrails their locations and drops some arty there.
My 120mm spotting rounds start landing on the right embankment. I wonder if UCG will scamper those troops back over the railroad tracks.
The center group tries to lay low and hope that the Strykers become visible from what I am still presuming to be the US third platoon.
On the left flank the immobilized and abandoned AFV gets taken out (yay made UCG use some extra LAWs). The poor single Saxhorn ATGM spots a sniper unit opens fire and MISSES (damn these Ruskies need more time on the range). The snipers not surprisingly cut him down mercilessly.
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Turn 081 Time Remaining 01:51
Just as I suspected I start to see US troops scurrying back over the right embankment away from the US side. Even though it will cause a delay I find that I can shift the Arty fire back about 30 meters directly on top of the embankment. This means that there will be rounds landing on the US side as well. It's worth the delay especially since UCG like to be aggressive and I am betting he won't pull those troops back far enough. Delay is 2 mins
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Arty for the left railway embankment is still 5 mins away. Potential spotting rounds are dropping but since my only Russian consists of learning how to surrender and asking if she has a boyfriend the spotting speech in the game doesn't do me any favors.
Since I know he is now pulling back his troops now is the time to bring up my guys from the wheat fields. I give them all move slow orders towards the woods line. Its slow and exhausting but it's the safest in case UCG left anyone behind.
Arty rounds continue to impact in the village. I spot a US recon team on foot on my far left opposite my recon teams but the distance is so great that there really is no point in engaging them.
I note that there are no more chopper sounds. I know in other CMBS games it lists the firing unit if it destroys an aircraft but I haven't seen any of those messages pop up for me during this game.
Quote from: UCGChuck Norris should drive a Tunguska, i wish i had one
Similar to Christmas Eve during WW1 peace breaks out on the right near Cons graveyard. The troops are playing shadow shapes by the light of a burning Stryker
''Now do Startled Moose, bwahahahahahaha thats brilliant, oh youre surrendering, do you have a Tunguska?"
Turn 083 Time Remaining 01:51
Not much happens this turn. I see more US troops dashing back to their side of the embankment on my right hand flank. This confirms my choice that it was worthwhile to shift the arty fire. Arty rounds intensify impacting in the center village. According to the arty timer its still 5 minutes until my 120mm mortar fire comes down on the left flank
Turn 085 Time Remaining 01:50
The embankment is turning into a seesaw. US troops are jumping over it towards the Russian side on the left flank and retreating back over it towards the US side on the right flank. My 30mm dismounted HE grenade launcher in the center lobs a couple of grenades towards the US infantry which it spots on the left flank with little or no effect. There sure are a lot of infantry working their way into the area where I called arty fire on. Lets hope they are still there when it arrives!
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Other events are that my recon HQ unit on the extreme left flank as it was repositioning spotted a US Humvee with a spotter unit in the center of the map. My guys have nothing that could damage the Humvee but I might think about bringing their AFV up to the same spot see if it can put a little hurt on a key unit for UCG.
US arty continues to rain down on the village
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Turn 087 Time Remaining 01:49
Embankment right flank as my troops low crawl towards the woods line a Stryker that that sneaky SOB UCG had left behind opens up on the RPG team quickly with Mk19 grenades. The grenade splinters do their job and both RPG soldiers collapse into a heap of sodden torn flesh before they have a chance to fire back. Their twitching remains are a stern incentive to the rest of the platoon to make sure you crawl extra low. There is no such thing as a flesh wound from a 40mm HE grenade launcher. However by firing on my RPG the Stryker ends the turn spotted by the far right MT-LBM 6M. Could the RPG team be avenged?
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In the center 1st Sq A team crawling forwards spots an M1129 brought all the way up to the embankment line. The pepper it with small arms fire causing it reverse and wounding/KIA one of the mortar men. In return they take some heavy Mk19 fire from an unseen Stryker killing one of the two team members.
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My 30mm dismounted HE grenade launcher in the center continues to lob grenades at US infantry forces that are clambering over the left flank embankment. They dont seem to be doing much damage or stopping those troops. More ominously two Tunguskas start firing into the grey sky with their 30mm cannons. Every time this has happened in the past has been followed in close succession by a helo attack run. Will this time be different?
Lastly the heavy arty fire in the village finally claims a victim. Judging by the size of the blasts I am facing 155mm Howitzer fire. It takes down one of the main structures and during the confusion and dust and mayhem a 155mm round impacts through the thin roof armor of an MT-LBM 6M that was behind the building. The resultant explosion leaves nothing recognizable behind of a fully armored vehicle. The Russians in the surrounding houses are dazed and bleeding from the ears from the force of the blast.
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Arty fire is beginning to rain down on the right hand embankment. I can only hope that it is hurting UCG. The left hand embankment is still undergoing arty spotting. The Russian voices on the radio net are probably telling me something critical but again unless they are asking me out I can't understand them
Turn 089 Time Remaining 01:48
The Stryker seconds after killing my RPG team is lit up by the rightmost MT-LBM 6M. One of their 40mm APDS rounds found a weak spot because the Stryker explodes in a spectacular and powerful explosion. If this was Hollywood it would be in slow-motion with bullet cams and a 1000 strong choir of eunuchs singing a mournful lamenting dirge in the background. That's how epic this blast is. The only thing better would be if UCG loaded it up with infantry to shelter from the arty rounds.
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I spot another Stryker M1129 in the tree line close to the center of the embankment. Not really sure what UCG gains by having them so close to the action.
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Another Stryker from the 1st platoon on the left flank crawls slowly over the left embankment. Despite having hidden an RPG team there for this express purpose they don't fire in time and the Stryker spots them killing the RPG gunner and wounding the other team member. The cad immediately surrenders (probably his best move but still ticks me off). Where is a commissar when you need one! One of the center dismounted auto grenade launchers can spot the Stryker so I order it to open fire on him. I dont know if the HE rounds will penetrate but its better than letting them get chewed up by the Strykers Mk19s.
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The Tunguskas continue to blast randomly into the sky with their 30mm cannons. Sure enough I begin to hear the familiar whup whup of helicopters.
Turn 091 Time Remaining 01:47
The Tunguskas light off another 7 SAMs into the Ukrainian airspace. The amount of metal flying around the air here should make it impossible for even a swallow to make it across the battlefield (European or African). I will need to check with UCG after the game to see if I am actually doing any damage to his air units. If I am knocking those helos out of the sky he sure is not hesitating to keep throwing them into the grinder. This time it looks like the Helos are coming in on a different ingress route. They probably learned from those last pilots (those that survived) that it might be better to pick a different approach!
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The dismounted 30mm HE impacts the Stryker straddling the road for a perfect target. Oh if only I had an RPG group that hadn't surrendered! I don't seem to see any penetrations but the Stryker is just sitting there taking the punishment. I might not be putting holes the Stryker but maybe I am shredding those tires immobilizing it? While the Stryker is preoccupied with the grenade launcher team I move my last remaining MT-LMB 6M that is there up to engage it.
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My lone weasel RPG gunner spots another M1134 ATG version of a Stryker. The range is too far for me to engage with him but its good to know there was at least one more. Hopefully those guys are nervous having watched their team mate get booted into the sky by a direct Kornet ATGM hit.
My arty continues to rain down on the right flank while I am still in spotting mode on the left flank.
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My tentative plan is to take the right flank embankment, make it safe for my T90s with my infantry and then to roll up the Stryker line going down the railway. This is an exciting plan that I am sure my tankers are going to be happy to be part of. (It might need a little more fleshing out)
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Quote from: UCGIn a scene reminiscent of Predator, the [US] team leader starts dry shaving his face, pointing into the woods whispering 'I seeeeeeeeeee yoooooooooouuuuuuu'
Quote from: ConI will need to check with UCG after the game to see if I am actually doing any damage to his air units.
While I can't/won't provide details on that, I think I can quote this...
Quote from: UCGLOOK!!!!! Its an invisible Apache in the sky, firing its cannon of dooooooooom at the....... oh f***, thats coming towards me, STOOOOOOOOOOOOOP.
Turn 093 Time Remaining 01:46
Showing the same fire discipline as a cocaine binged Tony Montana the Tunguskas go "Say Hello to My LEEETLE FRIEND" and proceed to unload with everything they have (in fact I spot the commander standing naked atop his Tunguska shooting his Makarov pistol and cackling madly). The skyline is lit up like 4th of July giving the US troops a festive cheer as they watch their burning aircraft and helos colorfully explode. Leading to Ohhhs and Ahhhs of appreciation from troops on both sides who dislike those cocky pilots with their silk scarves, leather jackets with overabundant patches and their ridiculous rampant luxuriant mustaches.
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15 SAMS lift off the rails from every Tunguska into several different quadrants of the sky. With four of the 6 Tunguskas now completely out of SAMs they continue to blast the air apart with their dual 30mm HE rounds. Two destroyed aircraft symbols flash up so at least 2 confirmed kills plus lots of pretty explosions hopefully mean that UCG airpower just took a swift kick to the nads.
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On the ground the message is a bit more mixed with my MT-LMB 6M creeping forward as the US Stryker now moving rumbles along the railway lines. An unspotted Stryker on the US side of the embankment armed with a Mk19 fires on my MT-LMB 6M. In a move worthy of a medal for a hero of the Russian Federation my crew stays at their post. While being pounded by 40mm grenades they return fire on the Stryker on the tracks. In an epic 10 second battle both AFVs and crews simultaneously succumb to their wounds with my crew getting killed as they exit their burning track and no US crew making it out alive of their Stryker.
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On the right flank there was some aircraft fire not coming anywhere close to my troops crawling in the field. Maybe the pilots got a little nervous by the sheer number of hazard warnings coming up on their screens from all the SAMs and threat radars. There was some airburst HE arty that wounded a couple of my guys as they continue low crawling towards the woods line.
My arty continues to rain down on the right embankment hopefully its doing something to UCG. Spotting continues on the left flank with rounds still not dropping anywhere near where the US troops are congregated. LT. Nesterov who is the spotter obviously also is a graduate with honors from the Russian Mr. Magoo school for the blind.
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I updated the blood board things have improved for UCG since the last one having killed an additional 5 MT-LMBs and losing three Strykers. But if you look at the points totals of these kills I am still a good 25% higher than UCG as his expensive Strykers continue to get toasted.
Updated Blood Board
Russian US
10 MT-LBM 6M 8 Inf/HQ/Recon Strykers
3 BRDM-2M 1 MGS Stryker
1 ATGM Stryker
Points total ~1600 Points total ~2100
I have killed at a minimum 2 Strykers on the left bank and 2 Strykers on the right bank. So both those platoons are at least at 50%.
Reinforcements in the form of an additional 152mm Howitzer battery shows up. Since Lt. Nesterov is doing such a god-awful spotting job I give the FO orders to lay a linear line of fire on the Russian side of the embankment with the Howitzers. Time taken is 8 mins (vs 14 mins for a non FO unit). Its a lot easier dropping arty on your own side when everyone has been killed.
Man, this is good stuff. I love the commentary on the screenshots. I might have to borrow that for my next AAR! :smitten:
Turn 095 Time Remaining 01:45
After the last turn I hear no aircraft sounds and none of the Tunguskas are lighting up the sky. I think we gave those mustached pilots such a beating that they are slinking back home to the taxpayer with a bunch of wrecked aircraft. No medals for you today airboys!
Other than that my weasel run comes to an end. Lt Abramtsev spots a half squad of US troops running back over the embankment to the Russian side. Wisely ignoring his AK-74M becuase he knows he cant hit the side of a barn door and honoring the saying a miss is as good as a mile (except for grenades) he hurls a Russian Faberge grenade at them. Unfortunately for Lt. Abramtsev an unspotted 50cal promptly puts multiple fist sized holes in him killing him instantly before he can report whether the grenade did any damage.
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On the other hand 3rd squad A team in the center spots a US MG team and cuts one of them down as the turn ends.
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I also scoot the APCs and the Tunguska on the left flank forward 50meters on fast to avoid any UCG return fire on those units since I am sure they were at minimum spotted last turn. So knowing US troops are clambering wearily over the railroad tracks (again) I make a somewhat rash decision to call in fire on the woods line (again) with the Tunguska. This time I will risk an immediate fire call (ie no spotting) to not give UCG any warning. However I better be praying to the god of arty (a vain and mercurial god) that it lands close to where I need it to land.
Turn 097 Time Remaining 01:44
Oh Oh.....Just when I think that UCG aircraft where done for the war and had gone home with bruised feelings and taken their ball with them all of a sudden my Tunguskas start up again. Obviously a couple of pilots had popped some extra un prescribed amphetamines this morning and ignoring all the death and destruction that has rained around them decide to press on with the attack. I am sure the Military Intelligence Briefing probably had something along the line of "And by this time those Tunguskas must have ran out of SAMs so you will be totally safe"
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Superior US range training allows the one remaining member of the US MMG team to kill 2 members of 3rd Squad A team. Unbelievably though the sole remaining member of the Russian team as cool as the other side of the pillow reloads his AK74M and squeezes off a couple of shots killing the US infantryman. This Russian should be immediately pulled from battle and promoted to head the basic shooting school. Instead he will probably die in the weeds with all his comrades. Let's see how long he makes it.
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Other than that I push my surviving infantry on the embankment towards the right and leave the infantry squad in the field in place. My plan is to try and use arty to thin out the US troops
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120 mm roundballs flung generally in a general direction? :o :o :o :o
Normally I would say 'at least try for some rifled shells!' But I'm not sure the game really models the variable shapes of incoming ordinance that closely anyway.
Turn 099 Time Remaining 01:44
The last SAMs lift off from the Tunguskas. Its all 30mm HE from now on boys. Another aircraft is splashed but not before launching his missile which streaks down with unerring accuracy to impact just short of farmer Igors chicken coop. 10 prized Siberian Fighting cocks (heh heh heh he said cocks!) give their all for Mother Russia.....you shall be avenged! The remaining chickens sensing freedom start flapping madly and scattering around. Hopefully they will continue to draw US airpower after them. These things are better than flares or decoys.
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The timer for the sole remaining member of 3rd squad A team is less than a minute before unseen infantry fire finds him. He did end up dying in the weeds with his comrades. I note that there is a cloud of smoke coming from the tree line where I presume a spooked Stryker has decided to back up.
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The spotter on the right is still spotting he has fired an entire infantry barrage of spotting rounds there will be nothing left to shoot before he dials this in.
The time for the FO's barrage is 5 minutes.
The time for the blind luck arty fire on the right flank is 5 minutes.
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I was going to mention a typical Russian screw-up but now I don't know if this is something that might be a bug. An un numbered Squad/B team had moved forward and spotted a Stryker on the tracks right near the end of their turn. When I looked at the squad I saw that they had RPG warheads but no launcher so I figured someone had screwed up (the Russian verson of Private Gomer Pyle). However when I looked a couple of seconds previously you can see that they have an RPG 26 single shot launcher. Yet they never use it and it disappears off their inventory. Could the RPG26 be defective...containing only vodka and not a very crucial and right now very much needed AT rocket?
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Turn 101 Time Remaining 01:43
Turns 101 to 115
I have put a lot of turns together here since not much uniques was happening each minute. In summary arty causes my guys to get turned into mush and I hopefully payback some in kind to UCG.
On the left hand flank tree line I spot a Javelin crew setting up. Fearing for my Tunguskas and APC on the far right I move them and pop smoke. I also in a desperation move send my 1 remnant broken crew member to engage them. Want to put money on how this turns out. Other than that US arty rains down on my guys on the right hand side and spotting rounds continue to geyser dirt and dust in the air on the left hand side.
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Turn 103 time remaining 1:41
Nothing has really changed except you can see my AFVs who have popped smoke.
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Turn 105 time remaining 1:40
Now and then a Tunguska will fire randomly in the sky..at what who knows..probably large breasted Valkyries coming down to ferry my copious dead back up. My emergency 120mm mortar fire on the right flank was spread around some of it fell on me but the majority landed pretty much where I wanted it to on the railway embankment. If UCG has sneaked up any troops on that side hopefully they caught a face full of it. 120mm mortar fire finally starts arriving during the same turn on the left hand flank of the embankment as well. The 152mm Howitzer fire continues to spot.
In the center heavy weapons fire (probably from Mk19 Strykers kills the few remaining troops on the US side of the embankment.
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Turn 107 time remaining 1:39
My infantry on the right flank continues to endure and get whittled down by arty fire now from the US only. The arty I called down on the right flank is over (was a very short mission hopefully I caught UCG with some of it)
After counting 8 minutes of spotting the arty fire on the left flank only lasted a little over 1min. Sigh but the 152 Howitzer arty is spotting and zeoring in and could start landing any minute. The 1 person crew trying to slow down the Javelin crew did that by laying down and getting killed by them. Thus preventing them from shooting at my AFVs.
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Turn 109 time remaining 1:38
More of the same
Turn 111 time remaining 1:37
More arty raining down
Turn 113 1:36
My turn for the 152mm Howitzers to start coming down
Turn 115 1:35
I see some blue sound contacts disappearing when my 152mm Howitzer rounds start impacting on the left embankment. I can only hope that its UCG turn to suffer
Those of us who have caught up on Geek's side of the fight will find these (and probably subsequent) turns of increasing interest... (https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fold.wargamer.com%2Fforums%2Fsmiley%2F00000613.gif&hash=8692de0bc694c1fd280a438a2cf38c281f8bbd63)
Well you might be left with a mid season cliff hanger then. I am off on a business trip for a week starting Monday :P
Turn 117 Time remaining 1:34
A MMG and an infantry icon on the left embankment are visible briefly before they hit the dirt as more 152mm Howitzer anti personnel shells air burst around them. It looks like the MMG is toting a giant F-off gun as well as a Javelin launcher.
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The Russian FO notes that one battery of 152mm is firing and the other is still spotting so we didnt get massed fire but this might be better for us. A long sustained arty fire will give UCG something to worry about trying to get his guys to safety.
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Other spottings include a sniper team joining the Javelin team on the woods line running on the left hand side of the embankment. I am wondering if the Javelin in the tree line will be able to spot my AFVs on the right hand flank?
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The infantry that remains on the right flank make it into dubious cover of the tree line. At least they are not getting shelled but based on the better US spotting (they must have trained too much with Xbox games) the safety of the woods is an illusion.
Turn 119 Time remaining 1:33
More of my shelling on the left embankment continues to send shrapnel whistling through the air and hopefully the bodies of the poor infantry that are there. As the turn ends my far right Tunguska sees another Javelin team (they are like cockroaches on the US side...everywhere). The turn ends with my Tunguskas 30mm cannons slewing around to target them. The Tunguska commander bets the gunner a bottle of vodka that he will take more than one burst to kill the Javelin. Hopefully they can fire before the javelin crew does but it seems like the Javelin is still sneaking forward trying to find the best shooting spot. Frankly I am amazed that my guys actually spot the US first for a change. Tunguskas crews must get chosen at boot camp based on the fact that they are the only ones in the Russian army who dont need coke bottle thick glasses!
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Turn 121 Time remaining 1:32
The Tunguska commander wins his bet. Three bursts of heavy 30mm HE later and the Javelin crew is cut literally in half.
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On the far left I spot something unusual a M1129 MGS (Main Gun System) Stryker is parading about in the tree line. Unfortunately the Kornets that I have placed by the smoldering chickens and their coops dont spot him. What is UCG doing with this guy it sort of seems like needlessly exposing him for no gain unless he thinks he can use him to take out my far right AFVs?
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What really concerns me though is that the Javelin team in the left tree line suddenly pivots and faces the village and not the far right AFVs. Crap Crap Crap luckily the turn ends before he can light off his missile of doom but there is a clear LOS to one of my Tunguskas from this position (and they have not spotted him). Now I have to decide do I back up the Tungusak or try and send some HE into the area?. I will try the HE. The mad Tunguska commander with a 10 year shot of adrenalin coursing through his body from all the anti air work he had done earlier sees some trees swaying. With his heightened senses and spidey sense tingling he instructs his gunner to give that tree line a serious trimming!
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Turn 123 Time remaining 1:31
Tunguskas are freakin AWESOME. In fact I will rename then Daleks because they are crap at going up stairs but will EXTERMINATE everything in their path.
My ode to Tunguskas
Roses are Red
Infantry are green
Tunguskas are awesome
Since they blow those doughboys into smithereens
Well not only was it one Javelin crew that was snooping around there another one showed up at about the same time that Tunguska opened up. I cant tell if they got them all but I will shift fire in the next turn to where those troops went to ground. Hopefully their will to fight will be at least broken by these Tunguskas.
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Otherwise the MGS Stryker disappears out of LOS. I have the Kornet ATGM scanning the tree line for where he was heading.
Lets see what gets spotted next turn
Con. A lot of your so-called "Javelins" are just AT4's (thin tubes). The fat tubes with mushroom heads are the Javs.
^^ Note: not a spoiler; that's just based on your screenshots.
Note: to drunk Russians, they might look thicker than they are.
Note:
Quote from: UCGI think Tee Hee is the agreed response here
(possibly taken out of context)
Re the Stryker wandering around weirdly exposed in the trees (not a spoiler since obviously you can see him and were wondering):
Quote from: UCGI shall call these Grammontisms, after 3 in a game i really will fly over there and slap his beard off
That seems vague yet informative enough as an explanation.
Turn 125 Time Remaining 1:30
Several turns have gone by and It's been a bloody couple of minutes and overall not the best news for Ivan.
Starting this turn my brave Tunguska with the vodka swilling and pants challenged commander gets lit up by 105mm APFSDS fired from the MGS Stryker that was in the woods line that leads to the chicken coops. The blast was enough to blow over farmer Igors shed down (destroying his prized giant beet that he won second place at the local fair). Luckily commander Cherkosav already depanted was able to scramble away with his crew in nothing but a smelly white vest and army boots. He did save the vodka though(or stole it off his still twitching but dead gunner) and for that he will get a promotion. So the first of my Tunguskas have been toasted. A moment of silence please!
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UCG not content with that has his MGS Stryker then take out my Air Defense Bty HQ which was in a BTR-80 1V152. Sort of a useless AFV and I am not sure that it was doing any good trying to command those beautiful crazy Tunguskas (the Tunguska commanders had tuned their radios to Katy Perry and were twerking out to Roar). So I am not to upset at this loss of this HQ unit.
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What does bother me is that my reserve MT LBM 6M that I had parked at the end of the woods line had a hailstorm of MK19 grenades land on it and they penetrated the top armor and poof there goes my reserve AFV with its RPGs and three members of 1st Company Rifle HQ including the leader and the XO. I am perilously thin on manpower and this really hurts.
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It didn't all UCG way my Kornet ATGM managed to spot the MGS Stryker and fired its last ATGM. The Stryker watched it bore on relentlessly riding the laser beam that the Kornet crew was painting on the Stryker. Another giant explosion rings out and scratch one more MGS Stryker. I see that a couple of crew members stumble out of the very very expensive burning MGS Stryker.
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My arty FO calls in a line of 120mm mortar HE on the right woods line. They are low on ammo only 22 rounds but their on-call time is three minutes faster than the mortar units with ammo. Hopefully I can get some of those US troops that are snaking their way down the woods line. I am very nervous that the Tunguska didn't get all the Javelins. I see more Strykers at the end of the turn rumbling over the embankment into that left woods line being screened by the infantry moving in front of them. Judging by the way UCG is forcing his way down that woods line I suspect that he has some objectives like reaching the village or exiting off the map.
Blood board now stands at
Updated Blood Board
Russian US
11 MT-LBM 6M 8 Inf/HQ/Recon Strykers
3 BRDM-2M 2 MGS Stryker
1 BTR-80 1V152 1 ATGM Stryker
1 Tunguska
Points total ~2000 Points total ~2500
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Turn 127 Time Remaining 1:29
Planning time - Not the Russians strong suit but lets try it again after all its worked so well so far right!
The left Kornets ATGM at the end of the chicken coops comes under arty fire and is KO (ironically these chickens are slated for good ol flag wavin KFC brings new meaning to the phrase The Colonel wants YOU). The other Kornet is out of ATGM ammo. I pull them both back into a building so that they can restock ammo from the KO unit to the one that is still good.
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Other than that I tell my Recon AFVs in the woods on the left to hunt forward. I am hoping that they will get LOS onto the tree line where the Strykers are moving in and out of. I am catching glimpses of them but never with anything that can take them out. I also order my Tunguska to move closer to the woods edge to see if it can spot. In the middle I order my Saxhorn ATGM to move away from the wall into the open to try and get better LOS as well. The Kornet ATGM in the hay field is ordered to move up also.
I am hoping that I will be able to take the Strykers out with flanking fire while they are fixated on moving down the tree line.
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Turn 129 Time Remaining 1:28
Damn and double damn. The Tunguska on the far right goes up in a sheet of flame. It looks like it was being engaged with small arms fire and Mk19 AP grenades. However closer inspection makes it look like something more powerful took it out. I suspect that there is maybe a third Stryker MGS system lurking in the woods somewhere. UCG is tightening the noose on me.
The Kornets resupply and I send the crew out back to where they did so much damage the last time.
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Turn 131 Time Remaining 1:27
Ivan is slowly getting ground into paste. I should have remembered that Recon in Russian means that they are graduates of the Mr. Magoo school of spotting. One of the AFVs gets toasted by a Javelin that he never saw. Probably from the tree line.
The Tunguska and the ATGMS continue to move up but still dont see any of the Strykers. Arty is spotting. I wish it would have arrived a minute or two ago into that tree line.
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Turn 133 Time Remaining 1:26
Its a good news and bad news. First the good news my reinforcements have arrived
4 T90A tanks and a BTR-80 1V152 with spotter. The bad news they have shown up right where UCG Strykers and Javelin crews are setting up.
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I count no less than 4 Strykers including an M1134 ATGM model. I am between a rock and a hard place here. There is no where to move that I cannot be spotted. This is going to have to be a stand up slug it out fight. Hopefully the ATGMs/Tunguskas on the flank and incoming arty fire can help contirbute.
With a heavy heart I order the T90A to face the corner where the embankment and the tree line meet. I dismount the spotter and run far away from the impending carnage.
Action is immediate. One of the Strykers is hit multiple times from the T90s. The other Strykers halt and start popping smoke. US Infantry is seen runnign between the Strykers but additional HE fire from the T90s seems to be keeping them busy. None of the flanking ATGM etc spot. So far its just T90s versus Strykers. Now thats a fight I like!
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Turn 135 Time Remaining 1:25
The butchers bill is going to be high for myself and UCG. We are trading punches like Rocky and Drago here and the last one left standing is going to be left looking like a derelict wreck. More reinforcements come for me in the form of three additional T90As. I now have three T90s from 1st platoon and three T90s from 2nd platoon plus a 1st company HQ T90.
I order 1st tank platoon to remain stationary and continue to pour fire onto targets that they spot in the corner of the embankment and the tree line. I order 2 tanks of the 2nd platoon to move forward about 100 meters on hunt. I leave two tanks behind (including the HQ tank) to provide overwatch. I order the BTR-80 1V152 to beat feet as quickly as possible along the bottom map edge towards the tree line. I am hoping that if it makes it then I might have a route that the T90s can possibly follow.
I order my spotter who is dismounted to head back towards the embankment into the middle of the field. He cannot spot for dick where he currently is and he is surrounded by large expensive Javelin bait. Better off to be far away from these things.
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The turn starts off with a crash. The tanks from second platoon that are in overwatch engage the ATGM Stryker. Its missiles spin towards the tanks but are not nearly as fast as two 125mm HE or APFSDS. The M1134 Stryker takes two rounds and is annihilated in a catastrophic explosion almost immediately. All those missiles must have cooked off in a secondary explosion after it had been nailed by the T90s.
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The HQ T90 fires at a infantry Mk19 armed Stryker. Simultaneously as its round punches through the Strykers armor KO the US vehicle a Javelin missile pops up in front of the HQ T90 and slams through its thin top armor. Both the T90 and the Stryker begin to emit billowing palls of black smoke. That Javelin was my worst fear there must be missileers hidden in the woods either along the embankment or along the tree line. All the tankers sphincters tighten up since the presence of javelins has the same demoralizing effect on tankers as dropping your soap during a shower in a supermax prison. Two Strykers are burning in close proximity to two more Strykers. In the middle of this hellish ground now my arty starts dropping. The US infantry are earning their combat badges today.
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One of the tanks from 1st platoon gets repeatedly laser painted and hit by at least two rounds of a heavy weapon. I think UCG surviving MGS Stryker is lurking in the woods on the embankment and taking weasel pot shots at me. In fact this MGS Stryker I also think is responsible for flinging a HE shell and mowing down my Saxhorn ATGM crew who were moving up to try and spot the AFVs in the corner.
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The T90 crew taking two hits from the 105mm Stryker gun decide that even though their tank is perfectly OK apart from some dings that it would be better to bail out into the maelstrom of death and shrapnel outside. I know these guys are idiot green conscripts but this takes the cake.
The BTR-80 1V152 miraculously dodging plunging grenade fire makes it to the bottom of the map edge and starts accelerating for the tree line. The crew are frantically throwing all the heavy stuff like radios and weapons off to try and make it go faster.
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So updated Blood Board is now
Russian US
12 MT-LBM 6M 10 Inf/HQ/Recon Strykers
3 BRDM-2M 2 MGS Stryker
1 BTR-80 1V152 2 ATGM Stryker
2 Tunguska
1 T90A
Points total ~2800 Points total ~3100
I decide to try and think like UCG to see how he would now act faced with T90s. I know that scenario makers like to bring reinforcements in closely in time for each side. Based on my reinforcements I would not be surprised if UCG has just been gifted 4 Abram M1A2s (typical US tank platoon formation). Probably along his back border. Still thinking like UCG I go and make myself a bacon sandwich....mmmm bacon. Then I wonder if insects sweat. Lastly I decide that I need to Google some midget porn. Realizing that thinking like UCG is only distracting me I decide to make my own plans and try to anticipate his tactics which are obviously inspired by trying to choose the most exciting action that can involve flames, alcohol, firearms and an alluring sheep in suspenders.
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Quote from: Con on May 05, 2015, 09:40:30 PM
....
I decide to try and think like UCG to see how he would now act faced with T90s. I know that scenario makers like to bring reinforcements in closely in time for each side. Based on my reinforcements I would not be surprised if UCG has just been gifted 4 Abram M1A2s (typical US tank platoon formation). Probably along his back border. Still thinking like UCG I go and make myself a bacon sandwich....mmmm bacon. Then I wonder if insects sweat. Lastly I decide that I need to Google some midget porn. Realizing that thinking like UCG is only distracting me I decide to make my own plans and try to anticipate his tactics which are obviously inspired by trying to choose the most exciting action that can involve flames, alcohol, firearms and an alluring sheep in suspenders.
:2funny:
UGeek was pretty terse on his side this time, so nothing vaguely amusing I can quote mine there (without giving away spoilers).
I have about three turns queued up that I have to write. Might explain his ternses a little bit. Mine as well :o
Con
Turn 137 Time Remaining 1:24
Arty continues to reign down in the bloody corner of the tree line and the embankment
I need to start saving some of these tanks. I order them to pop smoke. Two of them I pull back to my map edge. Since the BTR made it to the village safely I decide that I need to get 2 T90s in behind the buildings as well.
The other T90s continue in overwatch.
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My Tunguska on the far right spots the ATGM Stryker and pours fire into it. I count multiple hits but not any penetrations. After a full minute of loving from the Tunguska I decide to pull him back into the woods.
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I am hoping I can whip the T90 crew from platoon back into their tank if it survives the next couple of turns. Hopefully the smoke will save it.
Over the din of battle I start detecting chopper blades.....
Turn 139 Time Remaining 1:23
The two T90s ordered to the village back up and rotate before throwing their tracks into the "Get me the F*** out of here" gear. Smoke billows from the T90s in overwatch. That sneaky MGS Stryker manages to clip the abandoned T90. Even though it says partial penetration on the T90 (heh heh)the tank blows up spectacularly with flames shooting up into the sky. If Battlefront had the animation I am sure the turret would have flipped up into the air and probably with my luck landed on the crew. Maybe those cowardly tankers were cleverer than I thought at least they got out alive. Congratulations tankers since you survived you are prime candidates and have just been volunteered for the Russian Federation Infantry.
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The Tunguska continues to scour the ATGM Stryker resulting in several penetrations. While the Stryker crew is preoccupied with the sounds of its armor being ablated away they fail to pay attention that they are backing up into the sights of one of the overwatch T90s. A 125mm round proceeds to give them an anal probing that any alien would be proud of. It begins to burn with sheets of flame leaping from it. The ATGM platoon (if the standard formation of three is used) has been wiped out. Vehicles and men. Note to self never volunteer to be an ATGM Stryker crew.
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The remaining MGS Stryker also finally gets his due (though this guy has been a 1 vehicle wrecking crew). The Kornet team from 1400 meters out spots him and sends a Korent ATGM scorching his way. It impacts on the side of the MGS Stryker listing as another penetration. Even though the Stryker does not register as a KO its turret stops moving (and historically even near misses) with Kornets have KO's Strykers. I am guessing this one has gone to the happy Stryker hunting ground in the sky as well.
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Incredibly I spot 2 more Infantry Strykers in the same woods line. Spotting is difficult because of the ferocious amount of haze and burning palls of choking black smoke. But using the funeral pyres of the burning Strykers I can paint a pretty picture for the Russians
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With the chopper sounds getting louder I decide to move the two 2nd platoon overwatch T90s to the right flank embankment. There are some scattered Russian troops there to provide the illusion of supporting fire. I leave 1T90 from 1st platoon in the center to continue overwatch.
After all this time the lone remaining recon trooper in the weather station has been creeping forward to scout the woods edge (an objective). He spots a Hummer with troops and readies his RPG. Could these Recon troops finally do something useful?
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Turn 141 Time Remaining 1:22
The lone recon troops continue to exceed expectations and misses a Humvee from less than 100 meters out. The Humvee safely backs away while taunting (mooning) the hapless recon trooper. I give him orders to crawl to the edge of the woods.
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2nd platoon two T90s continue screaming towards the embankment tree line
1st platoon tank on overwatch spots another Stryker this one attempting to get back to the US side of the embankment. The T90 give the Styrker a 125mm suppository that stops it in its tracks.
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I order the spotter in the field in front of the embankment to send Arty fire along the embankment. There are too many US troops still milling around there.
I also order the spotter in the village to send arty fire along the tree line as well.
Chopper sounds are getting louder
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Turn 143 Time Remaining 1:21
Arghhh this should be called the Turn to Far. I knew I should have pulled that T90 off overwatch but it was positioned in a good spot and doing a good job if any more Strykers had popped over the embankment. However those damn Javelins did me in. Not one but two Javelins are fired from the left flank tree line. I dont know how UCG still has viable troops there since i dropped enough arty to blow off the leaves on all the trees. However he still managed to keep enough men alive (probably bleeding from the ears) which is very very annoying. I feel for all those people who are complaining about US Javelins being as readily available as crack at Charlie Sheens house.
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The death of this T90 means I have lost almost 40% of my reinforcing T90 tanks in less than 10 minutes. At least I have 4 T90s left 2 in the village area and 2 on the right flank embankment.
I am moving my Kornet ATGM to roughly where some of 1st platoons T90s are blazing to hopefully become the backup plan for any more Strykers crossing the embankment.
The remaining 4 Tanguskas light up the sky again. First towards the south and then the South East. That means two aircraft are coming back in (maybe this could be UCG reinforcements). The Tanguska in the far left woods has actually ran dry of SAMs and 30mm ammo. He is now only a giant paperweight.
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Activity starts at the railroad bridge. Two Strykers (infantry versions maybe) pop out from behind the woods and start racing towards the corner of death. They are using the embankment for cover but my ATGMs in the middle of the field see them. It still might work because they are moving so fast that I don't seem to be able to keep a continuous LOS on them which is needed to allow them to launch their missiles.
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A mortar Stryker crosses onto the railway line where it is taken under small arms fire by my recon group. It quickly backs down. A Humvee does make it across the bridge.
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I think UCG is beginning to run out of things to throw at me but I am just as worn down. We are like two battered prize fighters landing haymakers on each other. Someone is going to have to fall to the mat and its going to be really really ugly when it happens.
Turn 145 Time Remaining 1:20
I did a quick calculation and in 10 minutes of fighting (from 1:30 to 1:20) game time UCG and myself have lost 8 AFV each. That is just a shocking amount of carnage in such a short time and it's not over yet. We still have over 80 minutes of playing time left. I will have nothing but shattered remnants left crawling around the battlefield before time is up. I can only imagine the wailing and gnashing of teeth UCG must be having. He probably sounds like a cat trying to take a crap through a sewn shut anus.
First a little infantry on infantry action since we haven't had that for a while.
The auto grenade launcher on the center of the embankment spots some US infantry creeping up on them. They unload their clip at them killing one US grunt. Probably not a good use of fire control since now the rest of the US squad rushes up. With his launcher needing reloading the gunner rears up without warning the Sgt and starts unloading his Makarov pistol at the very surprised US infantry (who were expecting a face full of grenades). Even more surprised was the sergeant launcher who while still on the ground with his Kalashnikov watches in horror as Private Terehkov proceeds to try and go John Wayne against a half squad of body armor wearing US infantry. Not surprisingly it does not go well for the auto gunners but the sergeant is the one who gets killed first. His last thoughts as he bleeds into the ground is that he hopes the US bayonet Private Terehkov in the balls for being such a screw up.
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The lone recon guy actually achieves a recon objective scouting to the edge of the woods. He is of course immediately cut down by a hidden Stryker which pops smoke and unleashes auto grenades at him.
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On the railroad bridge the mortar Stryker deciding that small arms fire is not so bad trundles accross the trestle bridge. They are absolutely correct small arms fire is not bad. Kornet ATGMs on the other hand.......not so good. The M1129 Mortar carrier Stryker explodes in a shower of sparks and the mortar crew rapidly perishes inside their burning vehicle.
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The two Strykers streaking for the Death Corner continue to dip in and out of LOS of the missile crews. I think they might make it because I need them to be in LOS for at least 10 to 20 seconds and they never are that long. A tank on the other hand would have no problem taking them out......hmmmmmm. Need to ponder this one.
The two T90s on the far right embankment are looking at the trees and cant believe they made it here alive. With a crash a Stryker appears in the shrubs visible to a lone HQ unit. I order the HQ to fire its RPG 26 at the Stryker without much hope. The T90s I order to hunt towards the Stryker hoping to get a lucky spot on it. The MT LBM 6M that could possibly be in LOS of the Styker is ordered to pop smoke. I know how my luck goes with the Russians in trying to spot first.
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Tunguskas continue to spread fiery death around in the sky. I looked up the points cost of Apaches and almost fell out of my chair. Those tin cans are expensive at 2000 to 2500 points each depending on whether they are light armed or AT armed. No wonder UCG wants to take out those Tunguskas they are murdering him. I am leaning more towards UCG getting additional air power as reinforcements but I am not 100% convinced that some Abrams are going to suddenly pop up at the embankment.
Russian US
12 MT-LBM 6M 11 Inf/HQ/Recon Strykers
3 BRDM-2M 3 MGS Stryker
1 BTR-80 1V152 3 ATGM Stryker (*assumes a kill)
2 Tunguska 1 Mortar Stryker
3 T90A
Points total ~3750 Points total ~4075 (doesn't include air losses
Turn 147 Time Remaining 1:19
On the right flanks the T90s rumble into the gloom of the forest. A pair of US infantry low crawling find themsleves in the wrong place at the wrong time and are annihilated with thermobaric shell.
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Private Terehkov continues to pull of his John Wayne impression and actually kills some poor US grunt with his Marakov pistol.
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US troops continue down the left flank tree line
Turn 149 Time Remaining 1:18
Private Terehkov almost pulls a Clint Eastwood in unforgiven but this although he wounds another US soldier this time he is taken down in a chatter of M4A1 rounds. Imagine the damage he could have done if he had been armed with a Kalashnikov.
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Other than that I bring the far right flank MT-LBMs up into the woods since I am worried that the choppers might target them. The Tungusaks continue to fire into the sky.
In the recon woods near the railroad bridge I bring the recon MT-LBM up the woods edge to see if it can spot that stryker that is popping mortar rounds down around where the Kornet ATGM is located near the chicken coops.
Turn 151 Time Remaining 1:17
More of my troops on the right flank of the embankment continue to get chewed up by unseen US small arms fire. Heavy arty starts dropping on the Kornet ATGM near the chicken coops. Despite the risks I tell them to skedaddle fast out of there. Most of the crew are KIA from arty but the missile unit is still operational
Turn 153 Time Remaining 1:16
small arms fire causes one of MT-LBMs to reverse out of the woods on the right flank embankment. It is promptly knocked out by a US RPG. More of the Russian troops are killed in the woods by unseen US Infantry. God I hate how we spot.
Turn 155 Time Remaining 1:15
US Troops continue to work their way down the treeline. On the right embankment all the remaining Russian troops have been killed. Fearing for my AFVs in the woods I pull them out. Arty fire is 2 minutes out. As the turn ends 2 Infantry style Strykers appear near the center. I have two remnant units there but only one has an RPG 26
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On the far left flank the recon troops try and spot the mortar Stryker.
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Turn 157 Time Remaining 1:14
Unbelievably the RPG finds it mark and another Stryker starts burning furiously. The remaining Stryker backs up over the embankment hurriedly but does spray enough rounds to kill one more Russian soldier.
Arty fire starts zeroing in on the embankment and the tree line.
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Turn 159 Time Remaining 1:13
The game giveth and the game taketh away. As my visually challenged Recon AFV tries to spot the Stryker a 155mm Excalibur high precision munition comes screaming out of the sky and impales the MT LBM 6M. I was going to blame the recon crew but I think this is like the hand of God. No warning and much wrath.
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Out of the blue a 3rd platoon of T90s appears as reinforcements. This actually concerns me both because of the proximity of US javelin toting troops as well as the fact that this many T90s makes me wonder what reinforcements UCG is getting. I just bet its Abrams.....
I split the orders for the 3rd platoon of T90s. One goes Fast North to join he two T90s on the left side of the embankment. One goes to reinforce the two T90s in the village area. The last one stays where it is and helps add to the mayhem and carnage in the tree line by direct firing HE into the mix of 152mm General Purpose Arty that is dropping in there. I hope that I can winnow down UCG troops.
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Turn 161 Time Remaining 1:12
Continuing booming rolls of thunder from the arty dropping. the dust and earth make spotting anything difficult. I can only hope UCG troops are suffering under this barrage
Turn 163 Time Remaining 1:11
More of the same punishment
Turn 165 Time Remaining 1:10
I pulled the T90 out of overwatch trusting that the arty would keep UCG troops heads down in the tree line. Well that trust was misplaced as a Javelin arcs down and spits the T90 like Gus with a fork going after the last pork chop on the plate. In hindsight I should have popped smoke first and then beat feet. I cant believe that the US troops are still able to fight under that maelstrom of death and destruction in the tree line.
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Turn 167 Time Remaining 1:10
I had noticed a Humvee earlier trying to navigate across the railroad bridge towards the US rear (a tactical advance to the rear perhaps). Now another Humvee tries the same maneuver. The still burning and smoking mortar Stryker doesn't give UCG much room to move and as he is driving the heavy vehicle over the tracks one of my T90s in the village gives him a parting gift.
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So, so epic... :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:
Turn 169 Time Remaining 1:09
The burning Humvee on the railroad trestle bridge exit continues to provide an effective obstacle for any more of the US forces to try and cross. (The charring blackened skeletons of the crew and command unit grinning like the dammed as the flames burns their skin off also might give the other US forces reason to pause).
UCG is still sending troops down the treeline his determination makes me sure that he must have a touch objective on or near the village. He might make the objective but I doubt he has done the calculation on the price of blood he has spilled trying to get it. The XO of the 5th Brigade Combat Stryker team is going to have to spend a lot of time writing letters to the families of the fallen. I wonder if they will appreciate their sacrifice to take some chicken coops in a nameless field in Ukraine. Anyhow I order another round of arty this time 152mm anti personnel to fall on the tree line again. 8 minutes damn I should have started this earlier.
Turn 171 Time Remaining 1:08
It's my time to get some luck of the Irish (Russian Irish Russish?). Both my T90s in the village scoot forward fast to see if they can do a shoot and scoot. The far right T90 has barely moved forward 10 meters when a volley of Excalibur rounds lands where it was parked mere seconds before.
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The other T90 noses past the chicken coop fires off a round in the direction of the tree line that the Us troops are advancing. The round lands smack dab into a half squad of grunts who are running forward. Cries of I am hit and medic begin to waft across the battlefield from this squad. I see several squad members running away from the dubious safety of the trees into the fields. I might have broken this unit.
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Its my turn to do some chewing on the right embankment flank. My T90s and MT LMBB 6M spot several US troops (mostly because they fired and hit the reactive armor on my T90). They are learning a valuable lesson you better kill what you shoot at or it will be mightily pissed off at you.
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Turns 173 and 175 Time remaining 1:06
Some distant booming arty possible aircraft drone being shot down and steady movement of US troops on right embankment and tree line. Nothing really noteworthy of a screenshot.
I notice with alarm that I only have 1 Tunguska left that has any ammo. The others are all dry. Hopefully UCG doesn't get any more helos or it will be bad for Ivan.
However I did decide to add a screen shot of a CMBS PBEM game I just finished as the Americans. Not Bad huh. I did everything the opposite so far of UCG. So it will be interesting to see how he prevails in the end (I dont think I will get a Russian victory but I do think that I have prevented UCG getting a Total Victory)
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Wow, that was a crushing victory! :o
You should print that off and hold it close to your chest and rock back and forth as you and UGeek mutually violate each other. >:D
Not to give any spoilers from reading his side, but I honestly could not even begin to guess who will come out ahead in the end here; not from this point, yet.
I roughly figure there's a less than 50% chance that both sides will continue eating each other until the fighting sporadically dies in the latter third of the game, at which point each side will go back to maneuvering for victory points -- with what result I have no idea, although there could be patches of small, bitter duels over them until the end of the game. Possibly resulting in option 2 at last, in a more limited fashion.
I figure there's a better than 50% chance that one or the other side will suddenly develop a breakout lead in force, either from a late reinforcement being far more effective on the reduced field than it otherwise would have been, or from one or two types of unit on a particular side just managing to survive long enough to be far more effective on the depleted field than otherwise. The other side simply won't have enough troops with ammo / will to fight against this newly developed force advantage, and the collapse will happen quickly with a surrender to follow.
I'm very curious to see which way it will go. And I certainly don't want to speculate further on how it might go, since that might give either of you ideas. O:-)
Turn 177 Time Remaining 1:04
Apart from some US troops scurrying around in the woods on the right flank embankment this is a time for both sides to be licking their copious wounds.
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Turn 179 Time Remaining 1:03
I can actually catch my breath and try and do a little planning.
The Tunguska that is in the tree line is the only one with any ammo left (plus I found out he was hording 2 SAMs). I order him to move to the farmhouse where there is already a Tunguska that has burned through its ammo.
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I also reposition my T90s in the farming complex area (I am paranoid after that near miss)
I see lots of US soldiers scampering like little mice back up the right flank embankment away from the heavy fire from 3 T90s that are pulverizing the woods there. They must be stripping the bark off the white birches with all the shrapnel, HMG fire and 125mm thermobaric rounds. I decide to get cute (its worked so well for me so far) and sneak up my last remaining MT LMB 6M on the far right flank. I want to bring him up through the woods and see if he can nail those US grunts as they are crossing over the railway line. What could possibly go wrong
OF COURSE IT WILL GO HORRIBLY WRONG. A hidden Stryker spot my AFV and perforates him with 30mm APDS rounds.
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Turn 181 Time remaining 1:02
No one dies for a change
I move my Kornet ATGM out of the tree line towards the burning T90s. I want to get him positioned where he can hopefully get a shot off at a Stryker if it crosses the embankment. The Tunguska and T90s in the farming complex reposition. The sound of choppers appears heavy in the air again...god damn it how many of those things does UCG have. I must have decimated half the air corps in the Ukraine by now (or at least made them all go buy a new bulk shipment of adult diapers) with all the SAMs I have shoved down their throats.
The turn ends with Mortar Stryker showing up at the corner of death moving fast towards the railway bridge.
Turn 183 Time remaining 1:01
This one left a mark for UCG.
In Deaths corner not 1 not 2 but 3 Mortar carriers start making a break for the railway bridge. What they dont know is that way n the distance is an unspotted Kornet ATGM. With a woosh he fires one then two missiles taking out two different Mortar Strykers. The crews never even make it out of the open top. The third Stryker dropping all pretense of calm panic drives their way out of there like a cop running all the red lights to a doughnut sale.
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Deaths corner is now more aptly named then ever. I can count 11 AFVs from the US and Russian sides in an area less than 200 meters across. I know there are at least 1 more US one in this area but I can't see it.
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The Tunguska barely makes it to its new position before it swivels and drops its last two remaining SAMs at the helicopters. I think I moved him to the best spot just in time. The previous Tunguska claimed a couple of aircraft kills from this spot.
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On the right flank embankment multiple Hellfires bore in....luckily those dopey helicopter pilots choose to spend their ammo on my already smoking and clearly dead Tunguska. The T90s in relief decide to get the hell out of their kill box. The chopper pilots will have to take a remedial class in spotting starting with don't shoot at things that are blazing away under a giant funeral pyre of black roiling smoke.
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I think this turn will have broken UCG a little more.
Just a heads up I have a couple of more turns to write up but I will be heading out on a business trip from Sunday to Friday. Since my company is paranoid beyond belief we have no way of putting any programs on our laptops that are not from the company app store. I looked and funnily enough the company App Store does not have CMBS as an app. It does have the train times in Darmstadt though
We will see how far we get until the next break
Conrad
Turn 185 Time remaining 1:00
My Right flank T90s rapidly leave the US Helo pilots to continue pulverizing the dead Tunguska into even smaller tiny metal fragments. I will hand it to those fly boys when they get an idea in their head it really sticks. They are so intent on destroying that dead Tunguska that the live one smokes one of the Apaches with a SAM.
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Arty continues to rain down on the tree line. I am amazed that UCG troops continue to press forward against t. This is old School WW1 over the top kind of stuff here.
Turn 187 Time remaining 0:59
I cant believe we broke the 1 hour mark left before Christmas 2015. UCG has been a champion at getting turns back. That being said the frenetic pace of combat is beginning to slacken as both sides I suspect are grievously wounded.
I send one T90 into the middle of the woods in the embankment and keep the other two back. I want to get that T90 away from any surviving choppers
Turn 189 Time remaining 0:59
The T90 in the woods tries to do the same thing the earlier MT LMB 6M did which is cosy up to the railroad tracks to see if he can spot any Strykers or troops. The same result but a different outcome happens where an unseen Stryker lights up my T90 in the rear. The difference that some armor gives is immense. The T90 crew laughs of the hits as opposed to the AFV which can apparently be disabled by a mosquito bite. The Stryker seeing that he wasn't getting anywhere trying a rear attack pops smoke and flees. (This last sentence could also be used for a gay bar outcome).
The treeline continues to get pummeled by 125mm anti personnel artillery fire.
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Turn 191 Time remaining 0:57
I rush the T90 that popped smoke into the tree line. Those Javelins have made me a believer that a little cover is better than none. The best safety is not to be seen.
Turn 193 Time remaining 0:56
The T90 that was worried about Javelins and ATGM and Laws takes it nervous revenge on the US HMG crew that has endures arty fire, lots and lots of arty fire and tromping through the Ukrainian swampy woods only to get blown to kingdom come by the T90 suddenly popping up in front of them.
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Around the railroad trestle bridge smoke starts dropping. I bet UCG is going to try and run some more vehicles over it to the other side.
Turn 195 Time remaining 0:55
I pull the far right T90 closer up towards the burning multiple times attacked Tunguska to see if it can get any better spotting on any Strykers on the right embankment.
Smoke continues to grow around the railroad trestle bridge but I have three T90s in the farming complex/tree line that can still spot on and around it.
Turn 197 Time remaining 0:54
I have been jockeying my T90s in the village back and forth every couple of minutes and once again I cheat death by seconds. Three Excalibur rounds slam into the ground where a T90 had been standing 30 seconds earlier
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Turn 199 Time remaining 0:53
Sure enough a Hummer tries to make it across the trestle railroad bridge. One of my T90s gives it the same Viking funeral that the other Hummer got. Now UCG has burning vehicles at both ends of the bridge. I don't think anything on wheels will be able to push by these flaming speed bumps.
I spot a Stryker in the embankment on the right but the only way to get my T90 to engage it is to bring it up into the woods close to where the MT LMB 6M got knocked out.
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OK got back from a week of hellish travel and meetings (but good beer I was in Denmark, Germany and Ireland). Memorial day was BBQ weekend here in the states (I smoked 2 briskets, 4 racks of ribs and steaks chicken corncobs wrapped in bacon and cheese and garlic in a massive smoker I have - my last man toy that the wife let me buy before kids).
In between all this I was able to fire off some turns to UCG and I now see I have to write up 12 turns (or minutes worth of fighting). Its not been as hectic as the previous battles more cat and mouse but I will get to it hopefully today.....after I finish eating more left over ribs and making Brisket Chili mmmmm brisket chili :smitten:
Con
201 Time remaining 0:52
We are two hundred turns in and war even pixel war this is exhausting. My troops are decimated and wavering. Even the ones who have not suffered casualties are nervous and looking askance at their leaders (who they would follow out of a morbid curiosity to see what foolishness they will do next).
In the woods in the embankment line desperate little skirmishes between the remnants of my infantry and whatever remaining US troops UCG can scrape up break out. A US HQ unit totting a LAW gets chopped down while they are trying to cower into the ground. B squad from the motor rifle battalion exchanges a ferocious amount of small arms fire and grenades with a US half squad. Both US and Russians lose 1 grunt each and both quickly move to other ground away from each other. It goes to show you that no one wants to hold this dirty piece of Ukrainian territory. We are going to see who is going to be the more tenacious.
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In the tree line a T90 creeps forward and spots a US sniper team also hugging the ground for all he is worth. The turn ends before the T90s cannon can be brought to bear on him.
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In the village the game of repositioning the T90s continues so that they dont get smashed by any US precision Excalibur munitions.
I am still nervous that UCG will be getting Abram tanks as additional reinforcements but I am wavering in that belief for the following reasons.
1. He has had a crap load of Strykers including specialized Anti Tank Strykers
2. Time is running out for him to bring on any more forces and do something with them
3. UCG has been very aggressive (maybe too aggressive) in this battle. I don't see him sitting on his hands if he had a platoon of Abrams for this long.
4. I have been hammered by countless Apaches. I don't think there are any choppers left in the US arsenal that haven't been tasked to helping UCG out. Those flying deathtraps are expensive so they must be eating into his points for scenario balance.
5. I haven't seen any signs of vehicles coming from the back (UCG side) edge of the map. I have some good LOS from my Kornet teams that are out there and its been still as a grave (poor choice of words).
Even with all these reasons I am still not convinced that I might suddenly be facing these death dealing monsters and they would make short work even of my T90s. Those T90s are my only assets right now that can tip the balance of the battle in my favour.
Turn 203 Time remaining 0:51
My arty fire starts coming down in the treeline. The US sniper unit manages to hug the ground for almost a minute against the T90 MG fire. Eventually the tank tires of this and puts two rounds of 125mm HE into the US sniper.
My T90 on the far right of the embankment sprints to the tree line hoping to surprise a Stryker that was opportunistically spotted by a lone surviving crew member.
I bring my FO team which has been slowly yomping into position where they can hopefully spot the embankment right hand side.
In the middle portion of the embankment I order the half squad to hunt forward I am hoping that I can capitalize on the US pulling back maybe they are in a panic mode?
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Turn 205 Time remaining 0:50
Curses......an unseen Stryker risking it all has crept up and found my half squad. Despite their 3 sets of eyes to the Strykers one they fail to see it. The Stryker unleashes a hail of Mk19 HE grenades while my chaps are lined up like they are on parade. Honestly only one round would have done it since they were perfectly aligned.
Now I am more nervous I know there are US troops in the woods and I dont have any left. No Russian troops to support the tanks versus Us troops and Strykers - bad juju for sure. Time to move the T90s back.
The turn ends with smoke begining to billow in front of the railway bridge. I also might be hearing choppers.....not again?
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Turn 207 Time remaining 0:49
This is awkward. My T90 on the middle of the embankment backs up and is lit up by an unspotted Stryker once again. It even manages to partially penetrate the front glacis plate of the T90 causing it to pop smoke and reverse out of there fearful for its life. That is like a kitten chasing away rottweiler.....just embarrassing. More US troops and a spotted Stryker are seen on the right hand side of the embankment but now that far right T90 is in the wrong position...
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In the tree line the T90 spots a US MMG team again equipped with LAWs. This time he doesn't take chances even with arty raining down on the US team the T90 uses his cannon again for maximum effect. It might be like using a howitzer to swat flies but those US troops have been tenacious.
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On the plus side my FO is finally in a position where he can spot the right hand embankment and call in fire. Time for a plan.....
I am gong to call in plenty of anti-pers fire on the right hand embankment to suppress or kill Us troops then under the arty fire I will bring in my T90s and cross the embankment. Hopefully I can catch some Strykers on the other side and not a face full of javelins. This is not very complex but it suits my mood right now.
Turn 209 Time remaining 0:48
Finally the game of Stryker versus T90 goes my way. The same T90 that previously was pooping its pants spots a Stryker on the US side of the embankment. 1X 125mm tank shell later and you can see that the Strykers need to stay lucky....a T90 only needs to get luck once
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In the tree line another US grunt struggling under the weight of his equipment and grumbling about the idiocy of his orders is trying to make it back to his lines. Before he can make it though a 122mm anti personnel shell fragments in front of him. He is mesmerized by the beautiful bright light It's the last thing he sees as the razor shards sweep through him killing him instantly before he hits the ground.
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Updated Blood Board
Russian US
14 MT-LBM 6M 12 Inf/HQ/Recon Strykers
3 BRDM-2M 3 MGS Stryker
1 BTR-80 1V152 3 ATGM Stryker
2 Tunguska 3 Mortar Stryker
4 T90A
Points total ~4470 Points total ~4635 (doesn't include air losses)
Turn 211 Time remaining 0:47
Not much happened. A US sniper was felled by arty fire but apart from that it was mostly repositioning of the T90s and beginning to call in arty fire from the FO on the right flank onto the embankment. 7-8 turns until it arrives. Then to use it like a WW1 creeping barrage to keep the US troops down while my T90s bring the fight over to the US side of the embankment.
My FO in the village spots a US FO near the railway bridge. I decide to call in a precision strike on him. For the US this would be a 2 minute mission. For the Russians it takes 8 plus minutes. US forces are pretty safe from the Russian precision rounds 8 minutes is an eternity in this type of war.
Turn 213 Time remaining 0:46
Lets tell the story of a AT4 Serial number CHRPC0050 preloaded with a HEAT round. Manufactured in the spring of 2002 by Alliant Tech Systems. This little launcher underwent 100% field release testing for its electronics and moving parts. After final visual inspection it was shipped to US Arsenal at Fort Lewis
There again it was taken out of its protective padding, stripped down and visually inspected. The armorer hooked it up to a testing station and certified that all electronics were still in working order.
It was put back on the shelf with all the other AT4 LAWs assigned to the 2nd Infantry (Indianhead) Division. Once every 12 months it was pulled from the rack and tested.
This particular LAW made the rounds shipped out to Korea where the 2nd Infatnry Division is Headquartered. When the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat team was sent to the Iraqi sandbox in 2004 it was taken out of its protective case and given a 100% recertification.
Never fired in this deployment it went back into storage sitting forlorn and alone apart from routine yearly testing and some sparse maintenance. It did
two more tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan both times never being fired.
Having travelled the globe three times it was finally shipped off to do war with the Russians on a cool Ukrainian morning on 20th of July 2016. There this hunk of plastic and steel was unceremoniously ripped from its protective mounting inside a Stryker, hurriedly thrust into the sweaty palms of SPC first class. He stripped the protective plastic off the cover, checked the battery light and proceeded to hump with the heavy SOB through the thick mud of the freshly ploughed Ukrainian fields. Around him there were screams and gunfire. Artillery shells whined overhead. Shrapnel pattered down on him. Explosive concussions lifted him off his feet. He saw friends blasted apart, lost hearing from the cacophony of sound and madness that is modern war. During all of this he kept his grip on CHRPC0050 LAW AT4.
Making it into the cool and dubious safety of a forest he was assaulted by enemy gunfire, crawling past blazing APCs many of them his own combat brigade Strykers he smelled the chocking acrid smell of diesel and burning paint and chemicals overlaid with the hideous sweet smell of charring flesh. More gunfire ahead caused him to hug the ground more tightly. Low crawling with the AT4 was exhausting him. Sweat ran down his face and pooled under his body armor. The straps of the LAW were cutting into his back and arms. The words of his sergeant killed by artillery early in the fight rang through his ears. Stay down and make it count. A motor coughs and then roars and tracks chew up the ground making it rumble. An ominous dark shape lurches forward. His training saves him he slips the LAW off his shoulder. Smoothly rotates it up into firing position. Safety pin removed, firing rod on the cocking lever engaged, the red lever is held down and his thumb jabs the red firing button. The tank doesnt see him. Thinking thoughts of vengeance he lets fly.
LAW AT4 CHRPC0050 15 years after it has been made, 100s of man hours of testing and maintance, tens of thousands of dollars of shipping costs for multi deployments around the globe, replacement parts, training finally flies off in combat for the first time. It launches true the rocket ignites and sends the HEAT round flying down the barrel at 250 meters a second. Less than half a second after pressing the button LAW AT4 serial number CHRPC0050 impacts on the front of T90A tank of 2nd platoon commanded by a nervous Lt. Fedistikov.
With a deafening roar it impacts on the front of the T90.
"What the hell was that thinks" Lt. Fedistikov as he rotates his 125mm cannon and idly sends a HE round towards a US soldier who had just reared up with some sort of weird US RPG. Damn thing almost scratched my paint."
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Turn 215 Time remaining 0:45
After that close shave Lt. Fedistikov backs up his T90. any more of those single crazy US troopers out there and he could actually get dinged. Well his luck ran out after he had backed up a safe distance some heavy arty falls out of the sky. The shells land so close that they knock a track off his T90. He is immobilized.
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My surviving APC crewman on the right hand embankment flank sees a US trooper head bowed down in exhaustion kneel on the railroad tracks and put his hands in the air.....I think UCG is beginning to break. His troops are getting run ragged and now surrendering. Could this be the tipping point?
The turn ends with the brave little crewman spotting a Stryker rumbling towards him
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Arty starts dropping as spotting rounds on the right embankment.
The screeching of choppers fills the air again. How many Apaches did UCG get! I feel like John Wayne I just can't kill enough of those Apaches!
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Turn 217 Time remaining 0:44
Yep the poor APC crewman gets unceremoniously cut down by the Stryker. Seems a bit overkill but I am sure UCG didnt know what he was.
Apart from that the sounds of the choppers gets louder
Turn 219 Time remaining 0:43
Bloody hell two hellfires from different parts of the map lazily fly over and impact on my MT-LBM within two seconds of each other. Those choppers have finally struck blood. The Tunguska begins to chatter but it has limited ammo. After next turn it will be empty.
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Dropping all pretense of hunting I order the T90 in the far left to get under cover of the embankment trees ASAP. The arty has started dropping and I need to hope that it will suppress any troops that are lurking in there. I also order the other T90 to move towards the arty but to stay in the trees. If the Apaches can see the AFV they can also spot a tank in the near vicinity.
In the tree line I order the T90 to move forward as well. In the village I order the T90 near the chicken coop to move forward fast. I am worried that the US spotter will try to nail him with some Excalibur rounds and they can spot each other. I order this tank to also put a couple of HE rounds at the US spotters position. I am contemplating taking this T90 and running him over to the remnants of the recon platton that is in the left flank woods. I have this crazy idea that I can cross my T90s with a couple of APCs over the river. Unlike the Strykers Russian AFVs and tanks are amphibious. That could give UCG a very nasty surprise!
Turn 221 Time remaining 0:42
I plot the crazy weasel course for the T90 in the village to make it over to the far left patch of woods where the recon units are. I also tell him to send a couple of rounds of HE onto the US spotter to try and keep his head down.
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I order the T90 and remnant soldiers in the treeline to advance towards death corner
I tell the T90s on the far right to get to where the arty is dropping
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Turn 223 Time Remaining 0:42
On the far left the T90 begins its weasel run towards the recon group in the forrest. I am afraid any second that a Javelin will plummet out of the sky lancing it like a giant boil.
On the far right embankment the T90 gets a laser warning. He posts a group of US soldiers desperately trying to slip back over the railway line to the Us side. A few dozen 12.7mm HMG rounds kills all three of them. With anti personnel arty saturating the area and having killed probably the last US combat effectives (I hope) on the right embankment I think its time to implement the plan. My spidey-Napoleon sense is telling me the pivotal moment is approaching.
Way back at turn 057 I had made plans to push my T90s over the far right hand side of the embankment. That time has come. The far right T90 is a 2nd Platoon HQ tank. It is given orders to cross over the embankment fast (in case of Javelin crews spotting it). The anti personnel arty should keep any US troops in the woods on the US side of the embankment suppressed. Now to find out if I was wrong and UCG has a mob of Abrams ready to pick me off as I cross. Wish me luck
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Turn 225 Time Remaining 0:41
I am over. The T90 makes a rush and like a dough boy climbing out of the trenches in WW1 clambers over the embankment and scurries into the woods on the US side. No Javelins or Hellfires from the Apaches stopped me. Hellfire missiles do continue to strike randomly in the wheat fields behind me. I never can tell if these Apaches are actually seeing something and missing or just blasting at anything that twitches.
The T90 on the far left still alive continues its fast run towards the woods.
Turn 227 Time Remaining 0:40
Now its getting interesting. The far right HQT90 hunting forward spots a Stryker. One 125mm HE round later and the Stryker is thoroughly toasted. US troops who were sheltering behind it take off on a pell-mell run but are too remorselessly gunned down by the cannon of the T90. I order the middle T90 to also go over the top and join his brother on the US side of the embankment.
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In the distance I spot a Stryker racing towards the back edge of the US side of the map. The only one spotting him is my Kornet team back in the village.
The far left T90 continues to live and race towards the woods with the recon group in it.
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Turn 229 Time Remaining 0:39
This minute has all the hallmarks of the tide turning.
The HQ T90 on the right flank continues to hunt forward and is presented with a Tankers wet dream. Two Strykers are presenting their rear to him as they attempt a futile full speed retreat. They cannot out run a 125 mm tank shell though. In under a minute UCG has lost three Strykers.
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At the railroad trestle bridge more smoke begins to land. I suspect that UCG is going to try and pull his remaining troops over the bridge. Time to start commit my meager reserves.
I order any dismounted infantry and MMg in the village to start moving up the tree line towards death corner. They will be used to make sure the loading area on the embankment will be cleared of US troops. The other T90 in the village is ordered to move fast to join its sibling in the woods with the recon troops. His job will be to try and fire on any US forces attempting to cross the bridge.
I order my spotter to lay down a long linear line of fire along the railroad from the embankment to the trestle railroad bridge. I want to try an catch any of the US troops who are attempting to retreat that way.
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Turn 231 Time Remaining 0:38
Reserves are moving. On the right flank the T90s move further away from the embankment in bounding overwatch. I see two Strykers attempting to make it to the RR bridge but they are using the cover of the trees at the weather station.
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At the RR Bridge more smoke drops and now a Light Medium Tactical Vehicle (basically a truck) manages to navigate through the burning wreckage littering the exit and entrance of the bridge.
Russian US
14 MT-LBM 6M 15 Inf/HQ/Recon Strykers
3 BRDM-2M 3 MGS Stryker
1 BTR-80 1V152 3 ATGM Stryker
2 Tunguska 3 Mortar Stryker
4 T90A
1 MT-LBM
Turn 233 Time Remaining 0:37
The action now switches to the RR Bridge. A heavy smoke barrage continues to drop down around it. UCG is hoping to obscure enough of the LOS to bring his forces over. The LMTV makes it accross followed by a Mortar Stryker. Seconds later another mortar Stryker tries to navigate over. This time he is spotted by my Kornet ATGM and quickly dispatched. For the US forces this bridge represents safety and death!
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Turn 235 Time Remaining 0:36
There is a lull in the action as UCG contemplates the duality of nature that the bridge represents. Salvation and safety or death and despair? For this turn I suspect despair wins.
Turn 237 Time Remaining 0:35
More smoke drifts across the rail road bridge. Glimpses of Strykers appear and disappear in the smoke. They are beautiful these Strykers in the Mist
Turn 239 Time Remaining 0:34
More Strykers are spotted milling around the entrance of the RR bridge. Each of them seems to be urging the other to go first. One of the T90s in the woods line spots a Mortar Stryker heading towards the edge of the map following the railway line. The turn ends without any mayhem on both sides.
Turn 241 Time Remaining 0:33
The mortar Stryker has a stroke of good fortune as the T90 shoots high and its shell goes harmlessly over the heads of the mortar crew. After a qucik change of underwear they decide that being somewhere else (preferably where they can not be shot at) was preferable and they quickly disappear out of LOS of the tank.
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A infantry Stryker was not so lucky it makes it over the bridge past the blazing vehicles only to get unceremoniously shot in the ass (I sense a trend with UCG where his Strykers are getting rectally violated). It goes up in blast of flame and heat before thick oily smoke starts billowing from its hatches.
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The railroad bridge is turning into another graveyard with 6 vehicles now littering it.
At Deaths Corner I position a T90 to face down the railroad tracks I want to try and shoot any more Strykers that are crossing the bridge as well as pound the remaining US troops as they struggle towards the illusion of safety.
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Turn 243 Time Remaining 0:32
I got complacent and forgot that an enemy is most dangerous when badly wounded. What was I thinking! I placed my T90 in the most exposed spot on the map (on top of an embankment) in DEATHS CORNER. Well sure enough the T90 got obliterated. I can't tell if it was a Javelin or from the Helicopters that just wont quit. I hope actually it was from the helicopters since I can deal with those better than Javelins. Those things are just plain evil since they are almost impossible to spot and will kill me dead in an instant.
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Russian US
14 MT-LBM 6M 16 Inf/HQ/Recon Strykers
3 BRDM-2M 3 MGS Stryker
1 BTR-80 1V152 3 ATGM Stryker
2 Tunguska 4 Mortar Stryker
5 T90A
1 MT-LBM
At this point UCG and I should be synced up for turns in the AAR
Actually, I think you're way ahead of him in the AAR. He doesn't list turns, but in his AAR the bridge retreat hasn't happened yet, he's still maneuvering to try it.
I suspect being able to keep 2 or 3 (can't quite tell from your description) T90s on the field this late, has given you the decisive advantage; and that you still have it if you can keep the remaining 1 or 2 tanks alive and picking off the enemy.
Turn 267 Time Remaining 0:23
The last dozen or so turns have been about consolidating my forces and repositioning them. Apart from a brief encounter with a Stryker (more on that below) there has not been any real combat taking place.
I have punished UCG severely for his attempt to take this part of the Ukraine away from Mother Russia. However now I have to go on the offensive and retake my main objectives.
I have a couple of touch objectives worth 50 points each and I am pushing one of my T90s towards them but I need to be cautious since the Americaninskis Javelins can be out there hiding. The math is not in my favor to trade a T90 worth 400 points for a 50 point objective so I am willing to let most of them go.
However the Loading Area (railroad embankment), the weather station and the railroad bridge area are worth 200 points each if I occupy them. Key word is occupy that means getting my troops onto those parcels of ground.
While I have punished UCG forces mine have been nearly shattered in the process as well. Those still alive are remnants and mostly broken ones of their original formations. My only hope is that UCG remaining forces must be in worse shape than mine. However its now my turn to go on the offensive with these desperate ragtag men.
I decide to split my forces into two groups (since I am running out of time) and I need to capture two objectives (or at least deny them to UCG).
Group 1 I designate Battle Group Stalingrad. They are consolidating around the loading area and making sure it is free of any Americans. Their task will be to take the weather station.
Group 2 I designate Battle Group Kursk. They are consolidating in the forest on the far left flank close to the river. Their task is to capture the railroad bridge.
I hope my patriotic names will instill more nationalistic pride in my few remaining men and push them to achieve these last tasks. All the infantry is rated as nervous or worse when it comes to morale.
Battlegroup Stalingrad consists of
3X T90s (one is immobilized on the embankment area and is out of the fight). Out of the remaining two one has suffered some serious damage to tracks and counter measures but is still a potent fighting machine the other is undamaged.
2 Kornet ATGM teams
2 Grenade launcher teams
2 MG Teams
1 squad of infantry
2 HQs
and about 3-4 teams of previous crew-members of knocked out AFVs that have been volunteered for infantry duty. Supporting them I have
1 FO team
5 MT-LMB of which 3 are equipped with the 30mm cannons
Battlegroup Kursk consists of the following
2x T90 both in good fighting condition
3 Kornet ATGM teams (1 is at 30% strength)
2 Grenade launcher teams
2 squads of recon infantry
2 HQ s (1 is radio operator only)
Supporting them is
1FO
4X MT-LMB 6Ms all equipped with 30mm cannons
Realizing that these guys will become hysterical pre-teen school girls at the sound of a shot I will need to devise a plan to get them into the objectives without them being spotted. What does this mean......smoke lots and lots of ganja dense smoke. I want these guys to be able to cross the open ground under more smoke than you would see at a Rastafarian weed convention.
First order of business is to stop using any arty at the moment and to save it for smoke missions. Second I need to get my FOs for Battlegroup Kursk and Battlegroup Stalingrad into position where they can get LOS onto the approaches of the objectives so they can order smoke to cover the attack. I will need to move my forces to their form up points (FUP). Once smoke has been established I need to advance and seize the objectives. Prior to this I will need to send a recon (or sacrificial lamb to the FUP to make sure it is clear and then to see if they can scout out any US forces on the main axis of attack). I need to avoid getting shafted by javelins and having my troops fragile egos shattered by anything that is bad for morale....like gay 80s music from the Scorpions.
If all goes well my FOs should be in position to call in arty smoke so that it starts dropping with 10 minutes of play time left assuming an 8 min on call time (and hopefully some additional run off time will be added)
I will also send out medical parties to any Russian wounded I can find at the embankment battle sites to try and save as many soldiers as possible. Any bit helps when it comes to counting victory points.
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In other news during turn 257 one of my T90s on the extreme right flank spots another Stryker on the other side of the river heading back to US lines? He proceeds to swiftly dispatch it by once again shooting one of UCG vehicles in the ass (actually an impressive shot taken while both the T90 and the Stryker are rapidly moving at over 1800 meters). the question is was it dropping off US troops (including those bloody Javelins) somewhere that could thwart my plans?
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Russian US
14 MT-LBM 6M 17 Inf/HQ/Recon Strykers
3 BRDM-2M 3 MGS Stryker
1 BTR-80 1V152 3 ATGM Stryker
2 Tunguska 4 Mortar Stryker
5 T90A
1 MT-LBM
Turns out my men are spared the horrors of another attack. UCG throws in the towel I guess it was more Custer and less Patton after all.
However my forces are a shell of their former selves and would surrender to a troop of boy scouts right now if they showed up. A costly victory indeed. The US commanders hand is going to get very cramped writing 139 condolence letters!
I agree with the scoring and outcome. What do those who were watching the battle unfold think?
Con
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I think your img code needed a bit of repairing there... ;) Oh, okay already repaired... [editing out mine]
I also think this game needs a much better tally screen at the end. :P I'm glad you kept notes, because I wouldn't have gathered from this screen (which I saw first over in UGeek's thread) that you still had 2 partially operational tanks plus 3 in good shape. (Nobody's fault but mine there; I just didn't keep careful track of them when you were talking about them before your battlegroup tally.)
I'll be very curious what Geek says in his after-action comments on your thread (and vice versa). I haven't thought of any tactical post-mortems yet; in fact I'm probably not competent to do so. :buck2: :-X
OK Here is my Post Mortem
Modern Warfare is very different in feel and scope from WWII. Infantry can be lethal to all types of armor with their RPGs. Arty can drop in incredibly short times. Precision rounds prevent you from holding and dominating a vantage point. Drones provide LOS advantages you can only dream about. Aircraft can be killing machines but are terribly vulnerable to SAMs and MANPADs. AFVs and Tanks can cover huge amounts of ground in amazingly short time. What this leads up to is a very strange dynamic that modern warfare is incredibly lethal, brutal and fast. If you can see it you can kill it.
So IMO in order to win these games its all about doing the following
1. Take your time....Rushing into something you haven't scouted properly gets you killed.
2. Flow across the landscape like water, always seek the lowspots to try and minimize LOS of the enemy (and use smoke)
3. Get your infantry/spotters into good LOS and keep them there
4. Keep your forces spread out but out of LOS for as long as possible
5. Keep a reserve, then keep a reserve of the reserves (and maybe a third reserve). These battles are constantly shifting momentum.
6. You need to feel for the moment when things are breaking (either for you or against you) and act decisively
7. AFVs are still battle taxis. Use them loaded with infantry only in spots where you are sure they cannot get a direct LOS onto them
8. Hammer known infantry positions with anti personnel arty.
9 Consolidate your forces before an attack. You will need to bring a lot firepower to bear to route out defenders.
That being said I think this scenario was a difficult one for the Russians. My recon forces didnt spot UCG at all.....I lost the weather station and momentum rapidly to his forces.
I also was under the impression that UCG forces arrived on the other side of the river (I dont know how I got this impression the briefing is vague on this but I just thought it did). I also thought Strykers could ford or were amphibious but they are not. I spent part of my setup worried that UCG was going to try a right hook on my left flank and hit the village from that direction. I now know it would be impossible to cross the river with the Strykers but it was part of why I deployed my heavy weapons int he village and they were not available when I needed them at the embankment.
His move to get a recon group onto my side of the embankment still shocks me. I had a shorter distance to go and I drove my men like there was an old fashioned Commisar behind them but they still didnt get to the embankment before UCG. That was a ballsy move.
However he hit the embankment sporadically, (I did too). When I did decide to reinforce it I tried to pick a different spot from where the fighting was taking place and picked the same spot where UCG was massing his troops.
I had real difficulty calling in arty first trying to spot and then the time taken (relatively) for Russian arty to arrive was painful. That being said reading UCG AAR my arty did do a lot more damage than I thought it was doing. That worked out well for me.
UCG committed everything to one massed attack right down the center to try and take the village objective. If he had taken some more time and cleared me off the embankment and then staffed it with Javelins and the Stryker ATGM and Guns I would have been toast. Leading the charge with these assets hurt him badly when he needed them most they were already burning and slagged steel hulks.
I was very wasteful with my troops early on and kept throwing more men into the grinder. This really hurt me later when I was thin on troops and couldn't support the tanks and had to send them in blindly. It was very lucky that UCG didnt pick multiples of them off with no infantry support.
I should have set up more of my heavy weapon support teams in positions where they could support the infantry on the embankment. By the time they were re-positioning most of the Russian troops there were already dead.
Moving my AFVs every couple of mins was something I did after having played as the US side and seeing how effective and fast using precision munitions to immobilize tanks and take out SAMs like Tunguskas. During my setup and deployment I paid careful attention on making sure these assets were spread out far and wide so that they could be found all clustered for arty. I also looked to make sure I had multiple hiding spots for them that they could keep moving between so that they were not stationary targets for the precision munitions.
Putting the ATGMS into good fields of fire was worked out very well. I also did a little trick I put the Saxhorns ATGM which had a shorter range and were wire guided out further (closer towards the enemy) and the Kornets further behind them. The Saxhorns got spotted first and UCG devoted a lot of time to killing them diverting attention away from the Kornets allowing them more time to kill his AFVs with their much longer ranged laser guided powerful rockets. I also set them up so they were far enough apart that an arty barrage would take them all out but that they could still mutually support each other with overlapping fields of fire.
T90s are fun but Abrams will still clean their clock. Even though UCG didnt have Abrams the mere thought that they could be present made me hesitant to commit my T90s until I had better intel. I tried to use the T90s in teams where they could support each other and that worked relatively well in the forest.
Overall I think if UCG had been more cautious about his troops and committed to holding the railway embankment and been patient he would have whipped me handily.
Last thought I loved the fact that we both independently recognized the Hollywood movie vignette that this game can bring on the sequence actions in the Weather-station where my lone surviving recon member makes a desperate dash (albeit futile) for freedom.
Con
I'll post over here so it's easy to combine all the info
Firstly well done and thanks for a great game Con
Secondly what an awesome AAR!
I started about halfway between the embankment and my side of the map and was really shocked to find you where I did in the initial turns, thinking you'd be further back
I've read and re read my briefing notes and realised the mistakes I made - the first thing I was supposed to do was kill all the Tunguskas, something I ignored, the next was to capture the points that I did. My biggest error was not realising what the designer was trying to tell me, without telling me - there will be tanks!! I had apaches, atg vehicles and missile carrying drones and I still didn't think I wonder if there'll be tanks
Then I got hung up on the Tunguskas realising that my air power was useless without destroying them - this was the reason for the jaunt up the middle - I had a rough idea where they all were after watching attacks on the drones and choppers, I think I would have broken out of the forest at the northern end and done it too had it not been for the small matter of the T90s arriving - that was really bad timing, assuming that's a hard coded arrival spot for the tanks whatever I did on that side of the map was doomed to failure
In hindsight I should have flooded the right side of the map and used the forests to cover an advance toward the village and the Tunguskas and then come around the top and headed for the embankment the same direction con did, then I would have been behind the tanks!
I pressed attacks everywhere because I became too overconfident in my forces ability to spot first and kill con
However I had a great game and on some days we exchanged 10 or more turns, some turns had me waiting and cursing con for not replying as I needed to see what happened next - surely the sign of a great game
I agree with con about the vignettes and love the little stories that unfold on the battlefield and writing about them makes you feel closer to them - the weather station, the first meeting at the embankment, the Tunguska battles
I hope we can do it again soon
What strikes me when reading the after-action analysis, is that not once, especially on Geek's side, does the nominal reason for the mission on Geek's side seem to make an appearance: screen with initial forces to secure a corridor, and roll a battle convoy through and off the other side.
This makes me wonder whether the mission was designed to be an accidental meeting engagement, where the battle convoy was supposed to roll through, in theory, but in practice the arrival of such a strong Russian probe forces the American convoy to deflect over into fighting it out.
My question to each of you is: do you think, from your various perspectives, the nominal American mission could even be successful? Could Geek have won by managing to screen a corridor and getting his second wave of assets off the map?
I think that if UCG had used more traditional american tactics he would have clubbed me.
The US has awesome firepower and fast reaction time. The scenario timer is 150 minutes or turns. You need to get infantry out support them, pick an axis of advance and clear areas of enemy out. Use smoke and your superior spotting and long-range firepower especially those Javelins to decimate my forces. Scenarios can be tricky due to the coding of reinforcements that can be a big game changer. In this case I did not have an accurate time when the tanks would arrive or where (just my back edge of the map is shown in the tactical briefing). The T90s did pick the worse possible moment from UCG view but from mine it was in the nick of time saving my bacon.
Having played as the US and now as the Russians IMO the US has all the tools to win any engagement decisively as long as they are patient. The Russians need a fair bit of luck and the ability to endure being ground down a lot so keeping plenty of reserves is a key.
Con
UCG if you want to try playing the Russians and are up for another scenario or QB (though I suck at picking forces) let me know
Same for anyone else out there I like having a couple of games going at once and right now I am completely open no opponents :(
Con
Con, granted, but the question was, do you think he could have done that if he had tried to accomplish the nominal American mission, which was NOT to fight with the battle convoy but to pass them through the map asap?
If he's supposed to be screening your forces to create a corridor, then what happens?
Btw, I don't have CMBS, but I do have the WW2 games (CMx3 versions I mean), though at the moment only the Italian game is installed (with its expansion). And it's on my Surface, so on one hand in theory I could send turns in faster (and show off to my bro and nieces >:D ) but on the other hand I wouldn't be able to do screencaps and an AAR very effectively yet.
(Also I have zero experience trying to play this particular system in PBEM, so I don't quite know how to lash things up now. :-[ )
Quote from: Con on June 05, 2015, 04:10:58 PM
UCG if you want to try playing the Russians and are up for another scenario or QB (though I suck at picking forces) let me know
Same for anyone else out there I like having a couple of games going at once and right now I am completely open no opponents :(
Con
Scenario away my friend - i know you hate picking QBs!