A Few Good Choopers

[MikeJ19]

Good day all,

I need to figure out how to use aviation, thus I'm going to try this scenario.

Here is a look at the battlefield.

[MikeJ19]

And some information on the Victory conditions - with some analysis.

[MikeJ19]

The Soviet forces that I will be facing...

[MikeJ19]

A look at the soviet options...

[MikeJ19]

A second option. I think the first one is more likely...

[MikeJ19]

Soviet – Deductions

I’m assuming that they do not know that they are only facing helicopters, thus they will be concerned about a possible ground threat and not just speeding across the map.

The AD deployment is important to me. I want to attack it first – which will be difficult to achieve. It would be nice to try and get it reacting to my deployment – this would give me a better chance of destroying it and dislocating it.

The bridges over the Womitz are very important and can be used to slow down the soviet advance and to take out forces with my MLRS

The soviet forces going through the forested area presents lots of difficulties for me. They will be hard to spot and shoot at.
If I use the ridge as a firebase, my helos will be in danger from the soviets in the forest….

[MikeJ19]

Thoughts

This is going to be fun. I’ve used helicopters in my last game – but I could have done a better job, so this will be a good learning experience.

Looked up some principles of use of Attack helicopters (AH)

Always treat threat as if it can fight back
Maximize standoff advantage
Keep moving

Some other thoughts

Need to figure out resupply – so that I can ensure that I keep the pressure on the soviets
Use the MLRS to hit soviet force concentrations.
Need to figure out how best to plan helicopter movement - Can I do hit and run tactics?
Look at timing attacks to trigger soviet reaction at their order points.
In my reading on AH tactics, all the diagrams show the AH attacking the enemy’s flanks from the same side.

AH Tactics

Readings on AH tactics showed three type of unit attacks:

Phased - The attack occurs with AH hitting the enemy at specific points in time and with different strengths.
Continuous - Similar to phased, except that it is relentless, AH attacks occurring in different locations but constantly.
All out attack - All AH resources hit at the same time across a wide and deep front.

Okay, so what do I need to do

Find the enemy - Figure out what I am against, where he is and where he is going. This is an early task for the Kiowas

Fix the enemy - If possible, get the enemy to stop moving or to bunch up. Task for the MLRS at crossing points over the Womitz

Strike - If possible, hit the enemy hard, with quick powerful strikes. Task for the Cobras and Apaches

Sounds good, I have lots of resources for finding, not so much for the fixing and striking.
The terrain also offers some interesting challenges. It would be nice to keep the soviets north of forested ridge – keeping them in the open will make it easier to destroy them

[CapnDarwin]

Use MLRS for SEAD operations. Might be a good idea to keep the FSCC off so you have control of those arty assets. You lose out on total number of missions sometimes, but having a ready MLRS in the orders phase can make or break the operation.

[MikeJ19]

Capn Darwin,

Good ideas. I will modify my MLRS thoughts are follows:

MLRS – more ideas, I need to use them to take out soviet AD resources (SEAD – suppression of enemy AD) and to take out HQ units early – to try and slow down the soviet move, which gives me more time to take out their units.

Also, KungPao's comment on another thread reminded me that I need to check out the ranges of my AH - this meant that I took some time and found that under the "View" tab, I can see the max range of my units - I had forgotten this and was about to ask if there was an easy way to do this... Now I know.

[MikeJ19]

Here is my first option...

[MikeJ19]

Option 2 -

[MikeJ19]

Option 3

[MikeJ19]

I'm going to take some time to think of which option I like best as a plan. Some thoughts after looking at the options:

I would like to shape the battlefield, but without ground forces, this will be difficult. In this case, I would like to keep the soviets out of the forest and to confuse/destroy their AD systems. Doing this will shape the soviet forces and give me more freedom of movement/action.

Taking out soviet HQs will help as well and help me with slowing down the soviet reactions.

I need to keep eyes on the soviet advance, to ensure that I react timely to any changes they throw at me.

[MikeJ19]

I would love to try each of the different options, but I think that given my lack of experience with the game and with the helicopters, I will go with the simplest option, Option 1.

This game should not take too long, so I may try a different option right after. I need to figure out how to best plan movement and the attacks of the AH...

[MikeJ19]

And we are off...

[MikeJ19]

This is a very fast pace scenario. After the last scenario, this one feels like a sprint.

[MikeJ19]

Things are improving a little...

[MikeJ19]

A marginal victory

[MikeJ19]

Almost got to a tactical success...

[MikeJ19]

This was a quick game...