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

[Tazak]

Soviet Turn part 2: H+ 121 minutes

Main Thrust:

Disaster has just struck my lead elements of 51st GTR, US arty fired a FASCAM directly into the path of my advance resulting in 2 tank companies and a tank battalion HQ (24 T80BV's) getting caught in a minefield, I have no doubt that these will evaporate in a cloud of ICM fire missions over the next few minutes.

2 US helicopters appeared and invited SA11 missile fire to send 1 spiralling out of control into the ground and scaring the other one, I'll need to keep watching that direction and must keep my air defence systems moving, using recon helicopters to spot AD radar emissions in preparation of arty fire is a good tactic, thankfully the soviets developed some very effective mobile AD systems to maintain a moving AAA/SAM umbrella to protect their armoured formation.

174th GMRR is getting ready to start their southern attack while my arty are hitting tank targets near Warmsen along with my rooks (Su-25 ground attack aircraft).

[ivanov]

0601 HRS

Exactly at 0601 hrs, two perfectly timed ICM strikes hit Soviet tank companies that got stranded on the mines:



Over 20 enemy machines blew up in flames, along with a battalion HQ and support units. This is no doubt a very painful loss and a testimony of an incredible firepower of US forces.

The fighting in the south is over for now and main combat is taking place in the shallow valley between the Chemical Hill and the main US defensive positions in Grafschaft. Our well emplaced tanks and anti tank units start engaging Soviet companies that managed to avoid the inferno of artillery strikes. Two more tank companies arrived as reinforcements, so the Stielbach line is pretty much secured:




Up to this point the Soviet loses have been quite staggering:



Within only 2,5 hour since the battle begun, the enemy forces have already lost over half of their tanks, without even reaching the main line of US defence. With this in mind, the goal of establishing bridgeheads on the western bank of Stilebach seems to be slipping away with each passing minute.

[Tazak]

Soviet Turn: H+ 158 minutes

Major General Tazak stared at the map with growing disbelief "confirm that report of enemy tanks west of the river" he barked to his staff

My 2 tanks companies disappeared in a cloud of ICM as expected, to make matters worst my following tanks companies start receiving fire from katukov's units in positions overlooking Grafschaft and my main thrust, this is not going well.

I'm starting to target spotted and suspected US locations with air strikes and arty, firing arty at suspected locations isn't as effective as firing at spotted units but still better than nothing, I need to suppress his tanks and ATGM weapon systems quickly otherwise I'm going to get ripped apart in short order [:(]. I bring forward my Hind gunships, I've left them as a mobile reserve incase of a US counter attack but I need to be watchful of US AAA/SAM, recent airstrikes have indicated at least 2 units of Vulcans (SPAAA) and at least 1 unit of Chaparral (SPSAM), these while not to the same threat level as soviet AD systems will still bring down hinds if I'm not careful.

[ivanov]

0628 HRS

It looks like the Soviet attack in the center has failed or at least has been severely disrupted. Enemy spearhead started withdrawing about two kilometers short of Sitelbach, leaving burning wreckages on it's path. The remaining tank companies ( two weakened battalions ) split into two columns. At this point, it's hard to tell if that's a result of a planned action or just a sign of increasing chaos in the Soviet ranks ( some companies clearly disobeyed their orders and begun scooting in order to avoid the rain of artillery shells and ATGM's ).

While the Soviet mechanized forces have obviously failed to achieve their objectives, the performance of red air force and air defence have been superb up to those point. A Su-25's strike wiped out an entire platoon of M1A1's on the main line of defence. At the same time, the red SAMs brought down remaining three US helicopters, as soon as the helos came within the range of AD batteries.



In the south few more tanks approached Warmsen, but this time out boys managed to destroy four of enemy machines for the loss of only one Abrams, which is a kill ratio that we really want to see.


Righ now, all the US reinforcements have arrived and the main defensive position is solid and secured. With about 3/4 of enemy tanks destroyed, we expect that the majority of our loses will be caused now by the artillery and air strikes. A flight of Mi-24's has been spotted in the rear and no doubt our guys soon may experience frst hand the wrath of those "flying tanks"

[Tazak]

Soviet Turn: H+ 174 minutes

My main thrust has suffered heavy losses which saw me get a warning about losses reducing my forces to 50% of starting strength, rather than throw away more of my tanks into what is now clearly a strongly held defensive line west of the river I've decided to consolidate my gains and finish clearing the remains of the US forces from the wood.

My air defence managed to knock out a few more helicopters and his tank losses are rising. If I can knock out enough of his troops he wont be in a position to launch a counter attack, I've 1 trick up my sleeve if Katukov does try a counter attack, my 2S3's have FASCAM (or the soviet version of FASCAM) and as I found out having minefields dropped in front of advancing tanks can make a mess of their day



from his vantage point overlooking the valley major general Tazak watched as his tank thrust lost momentum, damn those Yankee's how did they get so many tanks forward so quickly, he thought to himself, most likely the intel about a midday arrival was wrong, he turned to his intel officer with look of anger in his eyes

[ivanov]

0658 HRS

Not much happening at this moment as the enemy forces have clearly gave up on attacking towards Stilebach from the northern direction. There's some sporadic exchange of fire and enemy infantry has practically cleared all of the Chemical Hill from our units. With the majority of enemy tanks destroyed our artillery starts targeting all known Soviet air defence positions. Those targets are easy to destroy but there's a lot of them. It will be really difficult to eliminate all off batteries, so our Warthogs can operate safely in this environment.




Col Reynolds estimates that the offensive capability of the enemy forces has been severely degraded. There are still a lot of Soviet units on the map, but they are mostly infantry, with a very limited fire power in comparison to the tanks. Actually right now, with all the reinforcements in place, the 3rd BTC poses more tanks than the enemy it faces! For now, our main worry remains the artillery fire and air attacks,which are very difficult to counter. It's hard to know what the next enemy move may be. If the Reds decide on a radical change of strategy, we could probably expect an attack towards Warmsen, where still a small enemy force operates. Warmsen marks the furthest point of enemy advance and attacking there wouldn't require crossing of the river. An attack is also possible in the extreme north point of the map, because a weakened Soviet tank battalion is spotted in the woods close to A84 autobahn. Either way our forces remain alert and ready for any contingency.

[Tazak]

Soviet Turn: H+ 200 minutes

"What do you mean you are not releasing the OMG, I need more tanks to smash the weaken Yankees" Major general Tazak screamed down the radio handset to Army headquarters

Well that's my offensive truly over, while pulling the remaining tanks forces back and into resupply I received a 40% warning of low strength, the last 2 companies of 174th GMRR are about to clear the last southern area of the woods. Sporadic fire is being exchanged over long ranges between my forward troops and the US forces, while I may not 'spot' the enemy I'm keeping track of when the fire is coming from and targeting those hexes for arty and airstrikes. I managed to lose a pair of Su25 to US air defence units but thankfully my arty is fairly intact due to limiting myself to 1-2 fire missions (shoot and scoot comes into play automatically). I also moved a 2S6 AD platoon too far forward and lost a few of them to a arty strike.

My Hind gunships are now in a position to start aerial recon, notice how I've got them moving in a loop pattern using the terrain to mask the majority of their flight path as I want to see what AD defences he has forward, if there are no AD assets forward I'll move them closer to the US positions but in a more northerly direction see what's up north

[ivanov]

0720

Still no major Soviet offensive actions and a desultory exchange of fire continues all over the front line. The good news is, that our Vulcans shot down two enemy Su-25's, which is a great because that limits significantly enemy capability of knocking down our tank reserves ( artillery is not that much effective against our M1A1's ). From the other hand, one of our newly arrived Abrams platoons had been spotted by the Soviet T-80 company and in short order all four American tanks were destroyed by the gun launched ATGM's. We mention this incident just in case someone thought, that red tanks are toothless - they are not. And they can bite as hell! The best tactics to counter them, is to remain unseen in good defensive positions, preferably covered by the smoke. Soviet units aren't equipped with thermal imaging cameras, so NATO units must exploit this tactical advantage to the fullest.


This is how the current Soviet loses look like:



From now on, the US forces will be presented with less opportunities of targeting exposed, high value targets. At the same time Soviet artillery, helicopters and remaining planes, still poses significant capabilities of hitting our units all along the battle area.

[Tazak]

Soviet Turn: H+ 226 minutes

Cleared the last of the US troops out of the woods and my Mi-24 gunships didn't draw any AAA/SAM fire on their mini recon route are about the only 2 positive actions so far this turn, still exchanging long range fire and arty fire between the forces overlooking the valley but not at a good rate for my troops leaving me with 32% of my force now remaining although I did manage to catch 4 M1A1 tanks moving down a road resulting in a reminder to US forces that the AT8 tank launched ATGM is still a potent weapon.

My only aim now is to cause as many casualties to try and even the score and to keep the loss as small as possible.



Major General Tazak looked at the map and the consolidated situation reports coming in from his commanders, his pixel troops had performed as well as could be expected in the face of stiff opposition, he had advance a mere 6km but in securing the woodline provided a good jumping of point for the next offensive

[gabeeg]

Excellent AAR!

[Tinkershuffle]

Yeah, great AAR. Are those burning wrecks default graphics of Germany Reforged or a mod?

[WildCatNL]

ORIGINAL: Tinkershuffle
Yeah, great AAR. Are those burning wrecks default graphics of Germany Reforged or a mod?

As of the upcoming 2.0.10 patch, the game will offer two types of on-map kill markers, distinguishing between hard (vehicle / fixed-wing / rotary wing ) and soft (squads / weapon teams) losses.
As always, these graphics can be modded with your own marker graphics.

William

[ivanov]

0804

I looks like there's still a possibility, that the Soviets will try their luck in the north. Two pairs of their Mi-24's begun probing our positions and ran into the A/2-67, which is one of our reserve tank companies. Unfortunately the A/2-67 Vulcan AD battery has been moved south to fend off the Su-25 attacks. The 50 cal defensive fire of our Abrams tanks turned out to be ineffective and the company HQ was annihilated by the combination of ATGM and rocket fire. Despite of this success our only Chaparral battery managed to send one of the Hinds to the ground.





Suddenly, exactly at 0804 HRS, a message from the higher HQ has been presented to Col Reynolds:

-Thanks God - sighed with relief, the tired warrior - I ain't crazy enough to continue the fighting and trying to recapture the lost ground. We'd suffer from the enemy defensive fire as much as he had suffered from ours. I don't want anymore of my boys getting killed senselessly.

There was also another reason why Col Reynolds felt that an enormous burden has been taken off his shoulders. Unbeknownst to his battalion and company commanders, the higher HQ issued a code word Mickey Mouse. I meant that in case of Soviet crossing of the Stielbach river, the 3rd BTC commander was supposed to launch a nuclear strike on the attackers. The consequences of it could be truly grave, since so far the atomic weapons haven't been used in the conflict. As a soldier, Col Reynolds was going to obey the orders. But he felt truly alleviated, that he wouldn't need to execute this one. The US commander quit smoking long time ago, but with all the stress leaving rapidly his body, he felt like he urgently needed a cigarette. One of the staff officers passed him a Lucky Strike. He took of his helmet, took a deep drag and looked at the sun, that could be barely seen through clouds of smoke. It wasn't such a bad day for humanity after all...

***

The US victory came at a very hight cost:




The 1-26 mechanized battalion of LtCol Raymond "Koz" Kozinsky has been completely annihilated during it's valiant stand on the Chemical Hill. "Koz", spent his youth chasing the men in black pajamas through the jungles of Southeast Asia. Now once again he had to put into use his skills of survival in the extreme conditions. He managed to avoid the capture and despite of being wounded, arrived safely to friendly lines.




The battle between the US 3rd BTC and the Soviet 57 Guards Motorized Riffle Division, was one of many waged during the Ten Day War ( known also as the May Day Offensive ). Some argued that it marked a tipping point, after which the Soviet offensive lost it's momentum. Popular revolutions swept through the eastern block and the hardliners in Moscow were eventually replaced by a democratically elected government, which engaged in disarmament talks with NATO. Col Reynolds remained in active service until 1997. After his retirement, he wrote an autobiography called "War and peace on the Chemical Hill", which become an instant bestseller in twelve countries including USA and Russia.

[Stimpak]

Darn, I was hoping to see a nuke go off.

Kudos to the Americans (Or just Katukov), good job.

[ivanov]

ORIGINAL: Stimpak

Darn, I was hoping to see a nuke go off.

Honestly me to But given how the battle developed, that would be an overkill, However there are so many strategies and outcomes possible in this scenario. I'm sure that the many games will end up in the nuclear Armageddon. Yeah!

[x13fox]

New registered user here but just wanted to say great AAR that has me interested in this game. It has struck kind of a personal note with me. I was stationed in Germany in the mid 1990's serving as an artillery forward observer with the U.S. Army. We still did force on force training in the cold war style back in those days. My first rotation at CMTC(Combined Maneuver Training Center) Hohenfels, I was observing a fixed obstacle defensive position at a crossroads when the "Russians" attacked with 2 MRBs. I shot in a fascam minefield after they initially breached the fixed obstacle. The fascam stopped the first MRB dead in its tracks. I then had two supporting targets along the road they were jammed up on and fired two Battalion 6's (24 155mm Howitzers firing 6 rounds apiece)of ICM. All said and done there were over 20 plus killed vehicles along the road. So as I read the AAR and saw the fascam "go in" it brought back a few memories of that long cold night over looking that crossroads and how one observer with a radio and binoculars could cause so much destruction. From what I have seen and read this game looks very realistic and a lot of fun. I am glad it appeared on my facebook page and that I decided to take a look. Thanks guys.

[budd]

Nice AAR, tell me this will be for sale before the thanksgiving day holiday, 4 days off. Since the re-balancing of the Red Storm scenario's wont be done, i'll have to buy and play this one instead[:D]. I hope, I hope, ..... Food, football and reforged, now that would be a nice holiday.

[ivanov]

ORIGINAL: x13fox

New registered user here but just wanted to say great AAR that has me interested in this game. It has struck kind of a personal note with me. I was stationed in Germany in the mid 1990's serving as an artillery forward observer with the U.S. Army (...)

Welcome on the forum! I'm glad you liked the AAR. It's always good to hear stories of people like you, who experienced first hand what we practice on the virtual battlefield. You should definitely try the Red Storm/Reforged. IMO it's the best modern war game available on the market right now.

[Tazak]

Game over

I sent my Hinds to the north just on the off chance that was lightly defended and managed to get a few kills before Katukov's AD units took one of them out, shortly afterwards his fire reduced my troops to below 30% and the game ended, well I rolled the dice and took my chances. It was a great scenario and Katvkov proved again to be a worthy foe.

I wont dissect my tactics (that what you forums readers are for [8D]), I hope you enjoy reading it as much as Katukov and myself had playing this scenario



Major General Tazak looked at the secure communique in his hand, he could barely believed his eyes, an old friend wanted him back in Moscow to help end this madness before things went nuclear

[Tazak]

ORIGINAL: x13fox

New registered user here but just wanted to say great AAR that has me interested in this game. It has struck kind of a personal note with me. I was stationed in Germany in the mid 1990's serving as an artillery forward observer with the U.S. Army. We still did force on force training in the cold war style back in those days. My first rotation at CMTC(Combined Maneuver Training Center) Hohenfels, I was observing a fixed obstacle defensive position at a crossroads when the "Russians" attacked with 2 MRBs. I shot in a fascam minefield after they initially breached the fixed obstacle. The fascam stopped the first MRB dead in its tracks. I then had two supporting targets along the road they were jammed up on and fired two Battalion 6's (24 155mm Howitzers firing 6 rounds apiece)of ICM. All said and done there were over 20 plus killed vehicles along the road. So as I read the AAR and saw the fascam "go in" it brought back a few memories of that long cold night over looking that crossroads and how one observer with a radio and binoculars could cause so much destruction. From what I have seen and read this game looks very realistic and a lot of fun. I am glad it appeared on my facebook page and that I decided to take a look. Thanks guys.

Yea that FASCAM/ICM taking out 2 of my tank coys really hurt and marked the turning of the tide in this battle I feel