Origins 2016 - Scenario 1

[MikeJ19]

The Soviet threat is continuing to melt away. I'm resupplying my AHs for the last push.

[MikeJ19]

The Soviet presence is almost nil - TF B is doing a good job of retaking lost ground.

[MikeJ19]

Game over - a tactical success at 73%.

[MikeJ19]

A snapshot at the Soviet kill chart... As Stimpak said, the King of Battle strikes again...

[CapnDarwin]

Great AAR! I hope you found the scenario both challenging and fun. [8D]

[MikeJ19]

AAR

What did I do right?

Patience. I did not overreact to the early Soviet success, especially in the North. Instead of trying to move all of TF A around to deal with the Soviets, I sent some elements North and brought up my AH.

I used my AH very well – they were very effective throughout the scenario. I think that by keeping them over friendly territory and using their long range I was able to slow down the Soviets without losing to many helicopters to AD fire.

My forces kept constant attacks happening along the entire Soviet approach. I think this helped lower the Soviet’s readiness. I’m still not sure what happened between 0508, when TF B was basically destroyed and 0608 when the Soviet threat suddenly seemed beatable. I thought I was going to lose at 0537. As I remarked on the thread, something happened in the 30 minutes between 0537 and 0608 to push the Soviet command cycle by over 30 minutes.

I did not panic when the Soviets crossed the Neckar. Instead I jockeyed my forces a little. If I had moved everything to regain a foothold I would have lessened the pressure on the Soviets in the middle and that might have let them get down in numbers to the Lauter.

What could I improve on?

Being ready earlier on – once again I was surprised by the speed of the Soviet advance. I was expecting to get my units in place and then be able to react to the Soviets, but the Soviets were driving the events right from the start – I was shocked by their speed. I should have planned my movement into my defensive positions more carefully. This was especially clear in the South, where I lost lots of units as they tried to move to defensive locations, but actually walked right into the advancing Soviets and were just chewed up.

Soviet artillery is very powerful, I needed to move my forces more quickly to stop them from getting pounded – on too many occasions I left forces in place too long and then paid the price.

Preserving my HQs – I lost too many HQs in this scenario and it really affected my ability to fight the battle. It caused my issues with readiness and resuppplying across my whole force – especially for the AH.



Thoughts on the scenario/game

That was fun. I was sure that I had lost and then I was able to recover and slowly push back against the Soviets.

I think I got really lucky. Either the Soviets advanced too quickly, or I happened to take out the right HQs but something changed in about a 30 minute window from me being thumped to a win being possible (even likely).

Seeing the power of the Soviet artillery was scary. They did tons of damage and almost knocked me out completely. Luckily for me, the Soviets were not able to really exploit the advantages their artillery provided.

[MikeJ19]

Capn Darwin,

It was a fun challenge and a neat scenario. I will try another one of the Origins scenarios soon, but am going to try Hell's Crossroads first...

I'm glad you liked the AAR.

Have a good day,

Mike

[zakblood]

must admit thats a great AAR and well played

[MikeJ19]

Zakblood,

Thank you very much!

Have a good day!

Mike

[Remmes]

Very nice AAR, especially the way you explained your decision making process. Enjoyed it!

[MikeJ19]

Ramses,

Thanks! Have a good day,

Mike