BREAKAWAY - Soviet, Grognard

[PeterStep]

I have been meaning to put this together and post for a few months now but time has slipped away – bad weather outside gives me a bit of spare time so here goes.

If you have not tried this scenario I suggest you give it a go before reading further to see how you approach it. If you have played it and got a good result please share it. I played as the Canadian first and got a decisive win so knew what I would not do if playing Soviet – but I will save that result to the end.

I will split this into two parts – the (abbreviated) analysis which produced the plan, then screenshots of how the execution phase went. When I say abbreviated I mean there were a lot more things considered but in the interest of brevity I have only shown the key points.

Apologies – I have had to trade graphics quality for file size to make this manageable.

Ground - Features

Ground - features.png (2.03 MiB) Viewed 352 times

South of the river – open ground to the west, steeply and wooded hills centre and east, with a wide river that has steep banks to the eastern and western ends.
North of the river – several prominent hills/ridges which dominate the eastern and central areas both in the approaches to the river and potential exits from the crossing areas. Steep slopes and wooded defile to the west which would constrain and funnel movement – difficult going for motorized elements.

Ground – Objectives

Ground - objectives.png (2.03 MiB) Viewed 352 times

Two high value objectives deep (Dog and Fox) which must be secured to achieve VP win. Lower value objectives at potential crossing points.

Ground - Bridges

Ground - bridges.png (2.03 MiB) Viewed 352 times

West – two bridges starting from same hex in close proximity. Partially covered approaches but constricted and natural chokepoints. Exitst channelled by steep banks and woodland favouring infantry defence. Feature to south dominates north bank but open and vulnerable to air/arty.
Centre – three bridges with separate entry points and reasonably spaced. Some cover on approaches and more open ground on exits apart from smallish built up area of Rottenburg.
East – Four bridges, well spaced with good is somewhat open approaches. Exits into urban, and hilly/wooded terrain dominated by features above and around Tubingen.

Ground – Approach routes (from starting and reinforcement positions)

Own force approaches.png (2.01 MiB) Viewed 352 times

To west bridges – open, observable then channelled to bridge hex.
To centre bridges – some open, substantial cover in central woods but will increase movement times. Opportunity for multiple approaches to limit congestion.
To eastern bridges – direct road route along largely covered valley (chokepoint) and minor road network at far east then opportunity to spread out for crossing, but almost certainly under full observation.

Ground – weather and visibility
10000m visibility but low cloud ceiling which may degrade smart munitions. Strong winds unfavourable to smoke curtains.