1.12 "Three Bridges" (WP versus the AI)

[themattcurtis]

This is going to be pretty wordy, but it's a running AAR posted as the scenario progresses. You'll get to watch me F up in real time. It's one of the Red Star scenarios hosted at Wargamer.com. So here I go [:)]..........

The “Three Bridges” scenario played as the WP has me defending the eastern edge of the map against NATO armored forces trying to gain control of ….three bridges. Two span a river running north to south, while the third is on my side of the water body and will allow me to shuttle my grunts north or south, depending on where they're needed.

My troops belong to the 67th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment – read two battalions of BMP-2 riding infantry and a battalion of T-72B main battle tanks. We’ve got a measure of arty support and friendly airpower is circling overhead.

Looking at the map, I decide to plunk the majority of my firepower a few kilometers west of the river. If I fight in the cities on the eastern bank I’m going to end up in a confused brawl with poor line of sight and nowhere to run. I don’t wanna sacrifice the one advantage of my ATGMs, which is their long range stopping power.

But I also need to counter their slow rate of fire, so I need to chose relatively narrow fields of fire set up across terrain I know the other side’s gunning for.

In the north, I settle on a pair of small towns situated on high ground straddling the E-W road running to the first bridge. The way the map is set up, it’s a reverse slope defense. Here’s the vantage point from one of the positions to be occupied by 1st Battalion. It doesn’t extend itself to the west, but lets me see everything east of my position all the way to the bridge. By situating a second company in that hamlet to the south I’ll have overlapping fields of fire, and the other side will already be ducking missiles before it has a chance to shoot back. The position also offers a cover/concealment factor of “60,” which is nice.

The last unit will be closer to the river, but shielded from view, to lend its firepower where needed. And the HQ will be onhand to prevent unneeded morale losses or order delays.

[themattcurtis]

Because I can’t see to the west of my hills, and don’t want to be caught off guard if NATO doesn’t take the highway, I decide to use single BMP reconnaissance detachments (1/R/67th Guards MRR) with their SOP set to hold fire unless attacked. Part of the screen goes to the north, the other the south, and here’s an example of the kind of warning they can provide.

[themattcurtis]

My 2nd line of defense across the northern bridge (as that’s where I’m betting the other side will hit), is my battalion of T-72s. They’ll situate themselves across the bridge and the ground immediately to either side on the eastern bank. Their combined fires will fall on the 1,000m leading to the span and their exposure will be minimal. There's a 4 km gap between my first line and 2nd. The idea is to keep things mobile, avoid having a continual line or highly concentrated units, and create kill sacks.

Finally, I’ll mention here that Regimental headquarters, teamed with a company of BRDM-2s equipped with AT-5 Spandrels will be acting as my anti-tank reserve, scooting from the northern span to the southern area as needed. The middle chunk of the river will be left largely unguarded, but under observation. If NATO wants to ford across, let ‘em. I’ll have time to respond.

Here’s my northern group getting ready to move out, aligned to avoid traffic jams.

[themattcurtis]

Nuthin else until Saturday morning. Real life intrudes

[themattcurtis]

Gettin' tired of posting deployment pics. The way it goes, the 2nd Motorized Rifle Battalion is marked to go west of the southern most bridge and watch over the main highway there from a small forest (measuring about 1 mile deep at its widest point). A complement of BM MRLS vehicles are in my center, ready to dump indirect fires where I need them.

No plan survives, and all that, and the first thing that happens as my troops move out is one of the reconaissance teams to the north bumps into a platoon of Stryker AT vehicles in the little hamlet south of the E-W highway. Our 30mm gun chews up one of the British platforms, but the lone BMP-2 dies as a result of the Brits' return fire. A company of motorized infantry from 1st Battalion is already headed towards that same town, however, so I decide to direct my MRLS tubes there during the following turn.

[themattcurtis]

During the 2nd turn, the MRLS crews open up on the town mentioned above. Each BM-22 packs a bunch of 220mm tubes, so it doesn't do much to beautify the town. Their saturation fire results in three secondary explosions, however, and the last barrage lifts only two minutes before my motorized infantry moves into position -- itself having lost a single vehicle to British artillery. So there, at least, things have gone well.

Down south, our two sections of BRDM-2 scout cars runs into their UK counterparts in that forest I mentioned earlier -- and their SOP causes them to panic and displace further west....smack dab into a column of M109 SP guns.

The Russian crews fire wildly into the convoy, and at point blank range actually manage to take one of the British vehicles out of action, but the enemy's response reduces three of the BRDMs to burning wreckage and the sole survivor hauls ass -- but not before I see a whole company of Challenger tanks, their HQ safely to the rear, moving in my general direction.

On the eastern (read my side of the forest), that section of Scorpion light tanks has been joined by two more little guys, as well as a platoon of Strykers. They do their best, but under the combined attention of THREE BMP companies they all brew up within the next 15 minutes. Meanwhile, Lynx helos circle overhead.

[themattcurtis]

To the north, BMP-2s from 1st Battalion see a platoon of Challengers stumble into that contested town I talked about before. In an urban setting, though, they're doomed when facing 11 ATGM-equipped IFVs and their dismounts. We trade two more assets for four British main battle tanks, their crews either immolated by our AT-5s or mowed down by small arms fire.....

So far, we've traded 7 crews and their vehicles for 16 of the enemy's. The only down side is my AT-reserve is already suffering from low ammo, so I've pulled it back so it rest and refit over the next hour or so. Hopefully it'll be worth something in the next couple of turns.

Now that my troops are largely deployed, I'm also allowing them to forward fuller reports on their status (wanting to eliminate radio chatter, I ruled out hearing about 90% of their movement delays and enemy sightings -- needing to know only when they were engaging). Now that we're established, I'll want more info. NATO , it seems, is gabbing away. Their radio traffic is a lot heavier.

[themattcurtis]

The next turn sees 30 blood-soaked minutes.

The main British thrust becomes apparent. 2nd Company, 1st Battalion, the unit that took the battered little town on my northern flank, sees first one, then two, then three platoons of Chieftain MBTs try to enter it from the south.

The British lose their Lynx helo to fire from my Air Defense.....

[themattcurtis]

Only to lose a headquarters vehicle and one of the AA platforms to subsequent NATO arty barrages.

And while 2nd company is able to use it cover and its AT-5s are lethal enough at 1,000-1,500m to make the British bleed on a 1-to-1 basis, my brave crews and PBI are eventually overrun. Below is a pair of shots showing how it went down....

[themattcurtis]

See?

Blaze of glory time..... Meanwhile, the T-72Bs from my tank battalion begin trading shots with the advancing British armor once the enemy's closed to within 2,500m of their positions. At that distance, my smoothbores just don't pack the punch to get through their armor, but we don't suffer any losses ourselves except for a lone 2nd company tank killed by improved arty munitions.

But finally, a Chieftain goes down once its platoon moves within my guns' effective range -- I've read my armament's as lethal as the Rheinmetall L/44 given the right ammunition. Seems that's been reflected here.

[themattcurtis]

I've also found the Chieftains' HQ unit. Moving down that E-W road maybe 1,500m behind its frontline assets is a collection of 15 tanks, armored personnel carriers and engineering vehicles that finds itself facing 1st company/1st battalion, which is straddling that same highway....

In the resulting exchange, I lose a BMP-2 but hit back even harder. The bad guys' command staff goes scurrying to the NW.

There's also a NATO airstrike, or at least an attempted airstrike, but I don't see what exactly came gunning for me because it's been shot down by SAMs.

Things haven't gone entirely my way this turn..... a 1-1 exchange rate on the nose, with 13 WP assets lost in exchange for 14 NATO (20 and 30 KIA, overall).

[themattcurtis]

More to come. I keep having to go back and edit typos as the 5 yr old has woken up early and is sitting here with me. Hard to type around him [:D]

[CapnDarwin]

Matt,
 
Nice AAR. I've done my share of typing with a kid or two on my lap. Makes it a bit tough when playing Red Orchestra though...

[themattcurtis]

Isn't that the truth.[:)]

Back at at it....

Along my northern flank, I delay efforts to push my surviving recon troops any further west. I want to go down that highway and see what's brewing, but get reports that FV432 armored personnel carriers lugging Milan ATGMs stand ready to bloody my nose (pictured below). My response is to assign a barrage from 1st Battalion's eight MT-LB 120mm self-propelled mortars. These guys are parked on the eastern shore of the river.

The barrage -- set to neutralize as I stand a decent chance of destroying these targets, as opposed to Challenger MBTs -- scores two confirmed kills as explosions shred the welded steel hulls of the British answer to the old M113A1.

The enemy answers with fire from an overwatching Challenger platoon, and two of my SP mortars are wrecked before the remainder displace out of sight (I thought they WERE hidden).

But I have something for the British.

[themattcurtis]

I've ordered an airstrike by a flight of SU-24 Fencers with a discretionary zone of two areas centered around the lead Challenger platoon.

The UK troops, by now, seem to be bouncing OFF my northern defenses. As the turn unfolds, several Challenger and Chieftain platoons are seen moving to the south. But not before my pilots swoop in and kill one of those same Challengers with air-to-ground munitions.

All the while, my T-72s continue to bang away without much effect. I set their range at 2500m, and that's just asking too much against modern Brit armor. We lose another tank from 2nd company to enemy artillery. But in the north things seem to be quieting down a little.

A recon section of Scimitars tries to peek into the town to the north of that E-W highway and gets wiped off the map by my hidden recon BMP-2s. And 2nd Company, 1st Battalion gets stung by mechanized infantry that pop up out of nowhere, killing 3 of our IFVs at point blank range. But the bulk of the enemy's efforts shifts to the south.

[themattcurtis]

Down South, 2nd Battalion spies an enemy HQ company a few thousand meters to the west and kills a handful of APCs, engineering vehicles and tanks with its missiles. The responding artillery barrage does little except rattle my troops.

The main story is in that big plain to the east of those woods.

More of those friggin FV432 Milans show up, only to bleed at the hands of my AT reserve BRDM-2s (now out of ammo AGAIN). But I'm now counting no fewer than five tank platoons, heading my way, some of them nose to nose with my dismounted infantry. My BM-22s, which were trying to rest and refit, have had to displace (my fault for keeping them so close to the water's edge, but I thought I'd have more warning than what I've seen).

2nd Battalion bags a couple of Challengers without loss, but things are lookin' kind of serious down here. So far, we're back in the lead when it comes to kills. 44 to NATO's 27.

[themattcurtis]

2nd Battalion keeps chuckin Spandrels at Challenger MBTs, killing two more before the British fall from view. I don't know if they're entering the woods to my north, or if I'm just losing sight of them in the fog of war.

Doesn't matter.....3rd company, the troops on the western edge of the woods and the same fellas who inflicted such pain on an enemy HQ unit earlier are now suffering for their efforts. After pushing through a British recon screen, slogging through woods and taking enemy command personnel under fire (when they started the scenario already tired), my infantry and crews here are exhausted. They're also getting pounded by NATO artillery...losing three BMP-2s to 155mm rounds before a Challenger platoon pops up 1,000m away and kills a fourth with well directed gunfire.

3rd company pulls back before I can either bother to cut new orders...

[themattcurtis]

On the plus side, that BRDM to the north of 3rd company spotted more enemy HQ assets to the NW, and I've called down a second strike from my SU-24s. I would use artillery, except the BM-22 MRLS vehicles have just reached a safe spot to rest and refit. They're shielded completely from view and finally back up to "low ammo." I want to give them another turn.

The SU-24s are again given another discretionary cushion of two areas.

Before I even get there, though, let's look up north.

[themattcurtis]

Where first battalion has finally secured that northern hamlet perched above the E-W highway once and for all.

The Brits continued to nibble at us with FV-432 Milans and Spartans....

[themattcurtis]

But 3rd company bags a few more kills without us losing any additional assets in the process. 1st company, down to about 66% strength and feeling EXHAUSTED (that's becoming a theme), are pulling back north of town to rest and refit. You can't see it here, but eventually the recon troops are now shuffling towards the west since the way was cleared earlier by 120mm mortars.