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So this is an AAR based on a couple attempts at this scenario when I played it a week or two ago. Unfortunately, I didn't take any images as I wasn't planning to write this but here we go.

The basic premise is you have part of a panzer brigade defending the town of Amberg as well as the area to the south, where the A6 autobahn travels east to west. Amberg is well protected by a minefield to the east across the Vils river.

The first time I played this, I placed PZBtl124 in Amberg, defending the southern approaches. This worked extremely well and the West Germans annihilated the Czech battalion (maybe slightly larger) that approached it for minimal losses. What I learned however, was my mistake with the other panzer battalion to the south. Here I had the units charge forward to take the high ground overlooking the river, thinking that would be a very strong defensive position, which it would. Unfortunately, the Czechs were already there (need to read the intel files better I guess)! This battalion basically got wiped out and the Czechs surged forward, seized the victory hexes along the autobahn and overran the brigade headquarters.

The failure here was twofold. In my haste, I set all movement to hasty which ended up with my units charging into (and often past) Czech units where they were cutoff and slaughtered. I also sent all the units forward and didn't keep a reserve. I'm still new to tactical land war but that was a pretty obvious mistake.

I decided I could do better.

This time, I repeated the positioning around Amberg of the northern battalion, but for the southern group, I instead set them to move to the high ground overlooking the autobahn east of Hohenkemnath as well as the wooded high ground just northeast of Unterleinsiedel, covering the approach to that town via the A515. The terrain was going to channel the WP into a couple of roads so they'd be vulnerable. Each battalion also left a company of Leopards on the high ground near Ursensollen. Everything was told to move into positions, dig in and hold on. I also set both artillery batteries initially to counterbattery.

This approach worked much better. The Czechs who went north to Amberg again were slaughtered again with little loss to my forces. The second approach worked well. The panzergrenadiers got into place in the wooded hills above the autobahn, barely before the Czech recon got there. The grenadiers took heavy losses but managed to hold on and the autobahn soon became a charnel house of burning vehicles. The panzers just north of there also caught another battalion (maybe a bit more) trying to work there way around the jam up on the freeway and punished the Czechs badly for moderate losses. Ultimately I won a tactical victory with the enemy losing 70%+ of his force. I was also impressed that while a number of Leopard II's were knocked out, most were fallouts, with only 1 or 2 were hard kills, but then again the Czech T-55's just aren't a match.

So, here's what I learned.

1. Always keep a reserve. Expect the unexpected. If you don't, your HQ units may be on the line and that's no way to win.
2. Speaking of HQ's, keep them moving. WP arty is no joke. The second time I ran the scenario, the HQ never faced tanks or infantry but they did get shelled and took some losses. Keep 'em moving.
3. Some of my tank losses overlooking the A515 could've been prevented by using smoke to blind the Czechs. Both times I played this, the battle was over before night so smoke is a nice tool to get the advantages thermal sites bring.
4. After eliminating the Czech thrust to Amberg, I should've used that battalion to launch a counterattack to the south along the river once the Czechs on the autobahn were committed. I did manage to bring forward the reserve companies to the south when it was clear I was holding but I see I could've been more aggressive as a defender. Most of his arty was along the river anyhow so I could've silenced those guns for good.
5. Infantry is still key. Tanks are good at shooting long range but if you need to hold ground, dug in infantry is key. The panzergrenadiers were stars holding the hills above the autobahn. They took heavy losses but they didn't budge and really contributed to the southern prong of the Czech advance being stopped.
6. In addition to #5, terrain is key. Find terrain with high cover and concealment percentages if at all possible. Also, understanding how terrain is something to work with but also deal with. In this battle, the Czechs had just a couple of approaches that weren't great. To the north, an approach over mostly open terrain towards a small city and to the south with a couple roads that served to funnel them to a few narrow paths.

I was much happier with my second attempt but honestly this game has been great fun and provided some great challenges.

I'll try another one soon and maybe do a better AAR next time with pictures and more details!

Thanks for a great AAR. I enjoyed reading it. I think other players would benefit in reading thru your "Lessons Learned". Real world tactics definitely works in this game. And the AI will definitely punish you if you use bad tactics.

Some players are having a hard time using infantry. I have found them to be very effective against tanks if they are in good covered/concealed terrain. I'm glad that you are experiencing the same thing.

That's good stuff. Dug in infantry in good positions are tough. Good terrain analysis is important too. The cover and concealment should be something players are aware of, as is checking LoS.