Suez Campaign (LCG) - AAR

[Jason Petho]

With the 1.02 UPDATE getting built for release, I thought I would take some free time (HA!) and develop an After Action Report on one of the Linked Campaigns included in the Middle East game.

This is being played with the 1.02 UPDATE.

I will be playing the Suez Campaign, which puts you in command of a tank battalion in 1973 on the Sinai front. The campaign will play through a series of historical battles (not totally, as this battalion didn't see all the battles being portrayed), but will give a good idea of the different types of battles that will be experienced.

After the preview screen, I am taken to start the campaign.



My tank battalion will be my core unit. That means that any losses incurred over the course of hte campaign will be carried over from one scenario to the other. Of course, I will have opportunity to replace some of my losses, but I may not receive enough points to replace all my losses. Obviously, taking care of my force is essential!

Let us review the battalion:




The Tank Battalion consists of a Headquarters Company (which includes some reconnassaince elements and other support weapons), three tank companies (with Sho't Kal (Centurions)) and a Mechanized Infantry company.

A decent sized force with a good mix of weapons.

After reviewing the troops, I'm off to start the campaign. Here is the first mission:



Commando's.

Crap.

[Jason Petho]

Turn 01: Suez Campaign.

After pressing OK above, I have the options to select. I am going with the default options.

Just a reminder, that while I am playing without Variable Visibility, if I was to play this again, I may chose that option to mix up the action a bit.




Here are my initial position, the southeast of the map along the hard surface road. The battalion is spreadout and marching towards the front.



Same view, but the 3D view of the above. You can see my headquarters company in the lead (with the reconnaissance elements), followed by the three tank companies, the mechanized infantry company in M113's and the headquarters coming up the rear.




Here is the a 2D zoom out view of the map. The main hard surfaced road moves mostly east-west and passes through Rumani. There is an airfield on the west side of the map. There are a couple of Objective locations; one at Rumani and the other at the Airfield. Note the exit location at the southwest portion of the map.



Here's a 3D view of Rumani and the location of my troops at the end of the turn. No contact yet, and that's OK.




As my force consists of Sho't Kal tanks, here is how they measure up. Each company has a headquarters section of 2 tanks and three platoons of three tanks. This image is using the Unit Viewer (F3) and displaying the Weapons Range Chart for the primary weapons. You can see the gun is capable of firing out to 4 kilometres, but at that range, it isn't going to destroy much. Even still, the drop off to range is quite slow, that should give me an advantage against opposing tanks.




I also have a 120mm Self-propelled Mortar platoon (M3 Mk. D) There are four vehicles in this platoon. It is capable of indirect fire or direct fire. This platoon is found in the Headquarters Company.



Lastly, I have a 81mm Self-propelled Mortar platoon. There are 2 vehicles in this platoon. It is capable of indirect and direct fire. This platoon is found in the mechanized infantry company.

[Jason Petho]

Scenario 01, Turn 02

The Egyptian turn went by without any action. Here are the starting positions for the turn.



As I am familair with the designer, I have decided against the obvious route along the hard surfaced road and decided to try and find the path of least resistance through the desert. Since this terrain is littered with other terrain types besides desert, I should be able to cross without too much trouble.

Unless, of course, there are commando's lurking.

Here are the positions at the end of Turn 2

[Jason Petho]

Scenario 01, Turn 3.

My cruise through the desert continues. No contact yet, my plan seems to be working. It will be slow going, trodding through the desert, but should reduce my overall losses.

Here is the end of turn 3.

[Jason Petho]

Scenario 01, Turn 4.

No contact.

Here is a 2D view of the route ahead. I hope to skirt just north of the Wellington Plateau label towards HILL 42.0



Here is a 3D view of my column. Notice that I am leading with the tanks. If there are Commando's lurking around here, I don't want them to wipe out a platoon of infantry while loaded in the M113's, so they are bringing up the rear.

[Jason Petho]

Scenario 01, Turn 5.

Contact. Crap.

I have been ambushed by some Sagger's. I lost a Sho't Kal, forcing the rest of the platoon to retreat.



But since it is only one group of Sagger's, I'll risk bringing up the rest of the battalion and assault the position next turn.

Here is a 2D shot of the move.



Here is a 3D shot of the move.




During HAL's turn, the Sagger teams weren't as successful in their targetting, fortunately.

[Jason Petho]

Scenario 01, Turn 6.

First things first, time to deal with the Sagger team.

A direct fire attack, disrupting the Sagger team.



Followed by an encirclement by the tank company, using two of the Sho't Kal platoons to assault the position...



With a happy success! (Keep in mind this is using the Extreme Assault optional rule turn on as recommended by default, so nothing is guaranteed, although one can ensure the results are in their favour with a few preparation moves)



After which, the advance along the northern edge of the Wellington Plateau continues



Here is the same positions as above, but in the 3D normal view.

[Jason Petho]

Scenario 01, Turn 7.

No contact. Phew!

I continued the advance across the plateau. The airfield has come into sight.

I am thinking of advancing along the hard surface road, secure the airfield and the cluster of buildings to the north of the airfield. Securing these positions will hopefully provide me Line of Sight to the rest of the hard surface road towards the exit location, allowing me a quick exit.



Here is the 3D view of my column. Armour in the front still!

[Jason Petho]

Scenario 01, Turn 8.

No action during Turn 7 from HAL, but as I advanced at the beginning of Turn 8, there were more Sagger's flying in my direction.

Fortunately, they missed my lead platoons.



Bringing up a couple of other platoons, I used Direct Fire and was fortunate enough to disrupt, reduce and eventually eliminate the Sagger Team.



So I cautiously advance to the edge of the north-south hard surfaced road, at Bir Abu Diyuk.



Here is the layout, my armour preparing for the worst in a horseshoe formation.

[Jason Petho]

ORIGINAL: Jason Petho

Scenario 01, Turn 9.

Continuing the advance after reaching the road to the canal, I find myself ambushed by another Sagger team. This time I lose a Sho't Kal, causing the rest of the platoon to become disrupted.



Not being deterred, I bring up the rest of the battalion, the tanks leading the way and the mechanized infantry bringing up the rear. Here are the positions at the end of Turn 9. You can see the Exit Objective in the lower left of the map that I am eventually aiming for.



Here are the same positions in the 3D view.



Unfortunately, during HAL's turn, that Sagger team managed to hit another platoon.

[Jason Petho]

ORIGINAL: Jason Petho

Scenario 01, Turn 10.

My first move into Turn 10, I run into another ambush, which looks to be a couple RPG teams. Fortunately, their fire missed and the lead Sho't Kal's escaped unscathed.



A quick maneuver by the lead companies, and the RPG teams have been dispatched without additional losses to my tanks.



I bring up the rest of the battalion into positions to give me Line of Sight onto the airfield and towards the crossroads where my mechanized infantry will most likely need to pass. You can see some Egyptian Commando's hidden in one of the villages skirting the road - they will need to be dealt with.



Here is the advance position in 3D. I am not expecting any forces to attack from the rear, so all my platoons are facing west.



Here are my losses so far. Three Sho't Kal's.



And the Victory Status at this point of the scenario.

[Jason Petho]

Scenario 01, Turn 11.

Continuing the advance, I dealt with the Eygptian Commando's, advancing through the airfield, securing the flank and captured the crossroads.



This puts me in an excellent position to start heading for the Exit Hex at the bottom left.

[Jason Petho]

Scenario 01, Turn 12.

Maneuvering the battalion towards the exit objective, including sending out a company along the rails to prevent any surprises coming from the flank.



No sign of the Egyptians. I will start Exiting troops next turn.

[Jason Petho]

Scenario 01, Turn 13.

You can see the results of Exiting my troops through the Exit Location. The value has changed from 0 to 476.



I have left this company just in case something comes into view.

[Jason Petho]

Scenario 01, Turn 14.

The last Sho't Kal company has been removed...

[Jason Petho]

Scenario 01, Turn 15.

The last turn of the first scenario in the campaign. I ended the game with 596 Victory Points which calculates as a Major Victory.

[Jason Petho]

Scenario 02, Preliminary

With the Major Victory of the first scenario, I am able to continue the campaign. Before we start the next scenario, let us review the battalion. In the following images, you'll notice that I have lost two tanks from 1st and 2nd Platoon of the first tank company, and I lost a strength point from the HQ Sho't Kal of the third company.





Fortunately, before starting the next mission, I have some replacements that I can use. You'll note that there are 4 Total Replacement Points that I can use to increase the strength of my platoons. Note that the Morale is 7 for each of the platoons prior to me adding replacements.



Now my tanks are at full strength. Not the morale is reduced for each platoon. They should recover during the next scenario.



After pressing OK, we see what the next mission will bring. Which looks like my tank battalion is tasked with blunting an Egyptian attack.

[Jason Petho]

Scenario 02, Turn 1

The scenario loads and let's take a look and see where I will be fighting. I see the canal!

I start on the East side of the map and the majority of the Victory Locations are close by.



On the map, I start with my reconnaissance company.



Moving the reconnaissance company forward, I provide myself with a good Line of Sight to the main Victory Locations that I will need to secure.

[Jason Petho]

Scenario 02, Turn 2

Here is the situation at the end of Turn 2. A couple of Sho't Kal companies have arrived on the map, the hard surfaced road makes getting them to where I need them. I haven't spotted any Egyptians yet, so hopefully they are advancing slowly.



Here is a slightly zoomed out shot. You can see I have plotted indirect mortar fire along the most likely avenue of advance, near the Aleket Road label.



As expected, here is the present victory condition: Minor Defeat. This means I will have to destroy as many Egyptians as I can, while holding onto the Victory Locations and taking few losses.

[Jason Petho]

Scenario 02, Turn 3

Here is the situation at the end of Turn 3, not too much action happened, with the exception of indirect fire by the Egyptians. My entire battalion is on the map now.



2D view of the situation. I am advancing one Sho't Kal company up the main hard surfaced road and will head towards the 100 VP location near the west edge of the map.



My mortars are hitting the same place as before, although I can't see if I am hitting anything. You can see I am attempting to gain some intelligence by swinging a Sho't Kal platoon south of the marshes.