A Time to Dance.. How?

[hypeboyz]

After finished tutorials I would like to test some real fights and start from small scenario. Hence I've come across this "A Time to Dance" one but got hit really hard.
So this scenario is kind of classic "ACR screening off Soviets advancing" but there is not much room for screening and I have to fight hard for VP grids.
The first point in my head is the camp lee hill, which overwatches the Bundesstrasse towards bad Neustadt as well as the Soviet main advancing axis. Now I have two choices:
1) To fight till the last of A troop with the default SOP. This wiped out my A troop with only 3 tanks left and thus a hard penalty on my vp.
2) To screen with the A troop. This saved half of the A troop but only scratches the soviet main body.
Either approach, Soviets always occupy bad Neustadt earlier than the main body of 2nd squadron and I have to meat grind in the FIBUA surrounding bad Neustadt.
Another idea came in my mind is to meat grind directly in bad Neustadt. This turned out to be even worse as soviets quickly outnumbered and overrun NATO forces.
Therefore I wonder if there could be some better solutions, magic hill standing blocking dozens of T80s on the east bank of Saal etc..

[hypeboyz]

After some google on this specific scenario it is getting more interesting.

This is the only winning video as US and there's another post on steam claiming marginal victory. For some reason soviets didn't even show up when A troop is arrived. In such case US has sufficient time to set up ambush at bad Neustadt and southern edge of the lee camp hill. It is also noticeable that there are 5 vp grids in the original game instead of 4 in FCCW.
In comparison another youtuber had a decisive defeat by losing 70%+ as US but a decisive victory as soviets by annihilating American forces

In spite of the complete mission briefing from the US side, it's seems that this scenario is soviet favored. Would it be a better idea to notice this in the scenario information? Or is there something I got it wrong that US has "more-than-marginal" probability to win?

[Bemused]

I have some details on this in my "The First dance thread" as I moved on to your scenario to test out some things. Like you, I fought the Sovs hard in my first playthrough and pretty much knocked out all of their tanks. I could do little to their huge mech infantry companies in large part due to some bug about Bradley autocannon fire that they are looking at. I won a second playthrough where I used the engineers more effectively (knowing they would leave very early) and setup an ambush over the bridges that remained.

As for the scenario being "easy", it is for the Soviets. Makes sense rght, if it is easy for one side it must be hard for the other! Would be useful to indicate in the briefings which is which!

[hypeboyz]

I have some details on this in my "The First dance thread" as I moved on to your scenario to test out some things. Like you, I fought the Sovs hard in my first playthrough and pretty much knocked out all of their tanks. I could do little to their huge mech infantry companies in large part due to some bug about Bradley autocannon fire that they are looking at. I won a second playthrough where I used the engineers more effectively (knowing they would leave very early) and setup an ambush over the bridges that remained.

As for the scenario being "easy", it is for the Soviets. Makes sense rght, if it is easy for one side it must be hard for the other! Would be useful to indicate in the briefings which is which!

Ahah! Yes I read your post about the first dance. That's the scenario I tried some other day until I found it's another soviet favored scenario. The thing about a time to dance is the very biased victory locations as cavalry is not supposed to fight for grounds especially in a meeting engagement, not to mention the ew and air disadvantage at the beginning of the war. It is somehow winnable if I repeat enough and pray russians not taking the north and central approach, which is impossible to fend off such a pinch with a single troop.
About the first dance it's another interesting story that in the debriefing the h-hour is 0300 but the game starts at 0030. And it's really weird that the given mission dictates the cavalry to take huensfeld, which can only be reached at around 0900 but only 5 hours are allowed for the mission. And the most confusing part for gameplay is that the victory locations are quite distant from Huensfeld.
I find it really interesting if this game could adapt asymmetric victory points as in campaign series vietnam, in which red and blue sides may not share the exactly same set of victory locations, particularly when air assault is involved. Like in the first dance US should take and defend Huensfeld while russians should take the village north of A7.

[WildCatNL]

About the first dance it's another interesting story that in the debriefing the h-hour is 0300 but the game starts at 0030. And it's really weird that the given mission dictates the cavalry to take huensfeld, which can only be reached at around 0900 but only 5 hours are allowed for the mission. And the most confusing part for gameplay is that the victory locations are quite distant from Huensfeld.

We'll look into the briefing inconsistencies. Ticket FPSS-6865.

[hypeboyz]

About the first dance it's another interesting story that in the debriefing the h-hour is 0300 but the game starts at 0030. And it's really weird that the given mission dictates the cavalry to take huensfeld, which can only be reached at around 0900 but only 5 hours are allowed for the mission. And the most confusing part for gameplay is that the victory locations are quite distant from Huensfeld.

We'll look into the briefing inconsistencies. Ticket FPSS-6865.

Really appreciate that

[Sun1Cat]

Therefore I wonder if there could be some better solutions, magic hill standing blocking dozens of T80s on the east bank of Saal etc..

I also started with this scenario after the tutorial missions and by some miracle got 6/7 stars. But I didn't like the Butcher's Bill and I started trying different options, eventually even losing several times. In the end, I managed to beat 7/7.

I have attached a screenshot of the map after 4 hours of combat. I recommend moving humvee recons to the other side (green circles on the map)
recon will find out the direction of their main attack. And you will have time to prepare.

and tanks, I'm hiding them in the woods on the Lee hills and maneuvering tanks on the Hill. But do not approach the edge that is closer to the riverbank. I tried to exchange fire with t-80s at a distance, but Abrams runs out earlier. therefore, maneuvering tanks in the woods on Lee Hill is the only strategy that works for me (blue circles on the map)

I suffered the main losses from airstrikes, and at the moment of receiving reinforcements, Soviet tanks reached the plateau and destroyed my Bradlees with impunity.
It's certainly strange here - reinforcements appear right at the tip of the enemy attack and nothing can be done.

A Time to Dance 260118_2319 @ 64_pct__0633_hrs @ 100_pc_0800_hrs.jpg (2.1 MiB) Viewed 2975 times

(I don't know how to hide a big img )

P.S.
I am very glad that the enemy has different scenarios and you never know what he will do next.

[Zumwalt_446]

The key (to me) appears to be blowing the Heustreu bridge to channel the WP attack to the south (or possibly the north, with increased travel time). Since there is only a single crossing point well to the north, blowing the Heustreu crossing allows you to utilize interior lines and concentrate on preventing a breakthrough in the south while maintaining a covering force against a potential attack that crosses in the north.

If the Heustreu bridge isn't blown, the starting NATO force with the first reinforcements (a few Bradleys) doesn't have a chance of stopping a determined crossing attempt. Once the enemy crosses the river there, your lower number of main-line units becomes a serious liability.

I tried a different approach focusing on blowing the southern bridges in my second playthrough, and this led to my forces being overstretched while attempting to defend against multiple axes of attack. So it seems that this crossing point is the decisive objective of the overall scenario.

[hypeboyz]

blowing the Heustreu bridge

Actually it's the first bridge I blow. But as the river is not impassible my tanks on the hill got overrun every time. I think the problem is that I should not stay at the east edge of hill but screening from there.

I recommend moving humvee recons to the other side (green circles on the map)
recon will find out the direction of their main attack. And you will have time to prepare.

and tanks, I'm hiding them in the woods on the Lee hills and maneuvering tanks on the Hill. But do not approach the edge that is closer to the riverbank. I tried to exchange fire with t-80s at a distance, but Abrams runs out earlier. therefore, maneuvering tanks in the woods on Lee Hill is the only strategy that works for me (blue circles on the map)

I see your utilization of the woods on the west side of hill and maneuvering accordingly. I will give it a try.
Thanks to both of you