ROLLING THUNDER Demo AAR

[snake_eye]

            ROLLING THUNDER Demo AAR

 

 

***********************WARNING SPOILERS*****************************

 

 

Well guys you are about to discover how I fought in George "Rolling Thunder" Demo scenario playing the US side. I had asked George, before playing it, if he thought that it could be of some interest to post my AAR. George gave me the go ahead and added I should have a blast playing it. Well, I have had a blast, for sure, playing it RT Elite, and getting a Tactical defeat. I am not complaining at all, it was a well deserved defeat.

However you, like me, would have thought that the battle could not end with a defeat and that a second try should be done. That will be the second AAR and it will start with 48:39 remaining time on the clock. It might seem odd to start the second battle with a save made in the first. Sure, but that was the only way to show you that at a given time in a battle, you are at the right time to make a choice whether it is good or not you will not find it out immediately, but that choice will stick to you till the end of the fight for the best or the worst. Believe me whatever you attempt to do in order to change your destiny, won't make that much difference in such a short time. So it was that way that I had a blast. In my second battle I did not repeat my mistakes and ...... Well, You'll find out, don't worry.

 

First battle, first blood............

The map is splendid, the AI pretty good and the enemies setting as well as some of their movements highly realistic.

George briefing as usual is very realistic and obliges you to be fully concentrated in order to retain all the orders. I haven't read all the notes being impatient to play that battle. I just had few glances at it and it looks like it is full of very pertinent advices about ATGM. Players should read it with extreme attention, it will surely help them.

 

Like many of you I am a newbie at CMBS and not aware of all its possibilities. Ignoring them, might bring us on the verge of disaster.

That's why before even getting into the detailed AAR you are deserving, here is the first advice that will get you out of trouble for what I consider a very high threat and laser targeting is surely one to be aware of.

I have noticed that when a track is lazed, it reverses as you may have found it already. This unfortunately, more than often brings your track in a more exposed area and if you try to move the track once more forward, it still, being lazed, keep reversing again. I have found that ordering it to move fast allows it to resume its moves, not taking any attention to the lazing. That allows it to reach a safe area quickly. That is better than few forward and back uncontrolled movements, which end with the track being destroyed.

 

You are impatient to get the result of my attack, so here is the AAR

The losses percentage includes the KIA -WIA -MIA

Notice the aircrafts losses. In that battle they stand for choppers and UAV

 

 

2 x BMP's destroyed on the right can be seen

A Bradley is burning. The HQ team had, luckily left it earlier and is now hiding in the wood edge on its left.

3 x Tanks (T 90's) tell tale icons are a reminder of their attack  through the woods.

 

1 x T-90 was destroyed, by an Abrams, while moving through the wood gap on its way to its left and 2 are still hiding at the wood edge

 

A stinger has just been fired at an incoming chopper

[snake_eye]

The AAR will continue tomorrow

[TAKODA]

Very nice AAR so far snake_eye, I love this scenario.

[snake_eye]

Thanks Takoda. It is indeed a pretty good scenario.

 

More actions reports

 

My mortar carrier is destroyed, taking the full blast of the air attack

 

Revenge, this stinger shot is scoring a deadly hit on a Hind

 

My left force is moving through the wood, after it has been found that it was clear of any tank.

 

My left attack force has cleared the wood and is moving along the river being hidden by trees.

My Scout team on the right wood is ordering a shelling on the hill crest to suppress potential ATGM positions

Edited March 29, 2015 by snake_eye

[snake_eye]

The battle grows in intensity...... 

 

My right attack force is starting to probe the village approach while a Paladin is shelling it. Earlier a scout team was killed along the right hedgerow.

An Apache has been ordered to hunt the hills for hidden ATGM teams

 

My left attack force is advancing cautiously and taking defence postures near the bridge while directing an Apache strike toward the hills and the rear of the village to support the right force advance

 

My attack on the right flank is under heavy fire. My force is clearly checked by the ATGM set on the hills crests. and having a plain sight on my attack axis.

 

 

As I wrote it earlier I had a Tactical Defeat at the end of the running time.

As I feared the fact of playing RT did not allow me to have a good situation awareness and made me fight for nearly an hour on the left of the map, since some tanks and tracks were spotted by my Raven drone abreast the main road. The enemies facing my right were not spotted but in very small numbers by my other drone. They were not an actual threat so, I concentrated mainly on the left.

My decision was backed by the fact that the ground on the right was mostly denied of concealment, while the left area, allowed a safer approach toward the bridge through the woods and across the main road toward the bridge.

 

On the left my first action occurred when a HQ Bradley moved toward the wood path entrance, following the plan I had thought about. It was lazed as soon as it went out of the wood being at the end of the road running near the edge of the map. I had it fire some smoke canisters and resume its way. So good, it reached a spot near the path and when the smoke cleared away it discovered a BMP 3 backward, that had move nearly parallel to its pathway but in the opposite direction. The BMP 3 was disposed off immediately. Minutes later another one came out of the wood near its wrecked comrade and it was also destroyed by a squad combing the wood next to it. So far so good.

I then decided to organize a tank hunting party, since one tank was accounted for and it seemed most likely that maybe two or more were with him, in the wood I had to go through. The Icons with a ? were multiple and I had only one plainly shown. My squad moved as far as it could from the wood (near the BMP 3's wrecks) concealment to its edge in order to assess that threat.

Meanwhile I had 3 x tanks moved from their center location to the far left.

One was deployed among the forest houses, got lazed, moved back and then was fortunate to scratch a T 90 emerging from the left (it came from my wood objective).

Then the squad identified 2 x T 90's blocking the wood path entrance.

I had a tank moving all the way to the left beyond the slope in order to be hidden from the tanks. Then I moved it slowly toward them wanting it to engage them hull down. It did not work that way. it got lazed by an AT 14 positioned on the far side hill slope. Before I could react (I had not used the fast order) the tank kept moving back and forth instead of going straight into the foliage of the wood edge and it was squarely hit and destroyed. The crew bailed out.

I then decided to use a precision mortar fire shelling being asked by my infantry squad. Soon one T 90 was destroyed. The other one was no more seen having reversed into the wood.

The only way to get it in order to get through the wood was finally to send one Abrams to get it out of the way. It worked and within few minutes the last tank, some Red infantry and surviving crews were history.

I was then able to move forward and across the road. from there, I moved all the tracks and tanks in a defence posture, not far from the bridge, facing the end of the first village and being hidden from the map far side by the trees lining the river berms.

From now on, due to the short time limit remaining, I had to start to move my force that had being idle on the right.

Meanwhile, they had sustained two tracks casualties (a Brad and a mortar carrier) from repeated Hind attacks and to my relief, one of the two Stingers teams had shot one.

I made a cautious Recon toward the first hedgerow located at the top of the slope descending toward the right village. I moved a squad along the tree line going straight at it. The squad did not draw any fire, so I moved their Bradley level to their position, then a tank and minutes later other tracks with their teams riding inside.

Time was running down fast. By that time I had lost my two Raven's and I had difficulties registering the Paladins fire call into the villages. I could only do it on the one being in front of me and specially on the nearside facing my attack force.

I sent the Apache to strafe the far side hill crests, where some AT 14's teams were surely having a pretty good sight on my incoming force and called some mortar shelling

Later in the AAR I read that one Apache had been shot down.

More time was lost, so I decided to move forward along the road leading to the village and at the same time on the over side of the hedgerow lining its left side.

I was immediately in contact with the enemies Infantry and had to deal with at least 3 BMP 3's. I lost a tank and at least 2 to 3 Bradley's there.

The time limit had been reached and few minutes later, the battle ended.

 

A more precise analysis of what was right and wrong will follow, since it will be compared with the following resumed battle from a save ending with a Draw

 

More later.....

[Neurasthenio]

 

 

My mortar carrier is destroyed, taking the full blast of the air attack

 

 

The Hind seems to love the Mortar. Happend to me too and besides I just learned it the hard way not to put a full squad in a house right beside the carrier still having 80% of its ammo... :eek: 

[snake_eye]

The battle was resumed from the earlier save file

 

I have decided today to resume the battle from a save done at 48:39 when the left force was dealing with the 2 tanks blocking the wood path entrance.

Once the tanks had been destroyed by a precision shelling for one and shots from one Abrams for the other one, my left force moved toward the bridge.

I was about to have one Abrams crossing it, when it was immobilized at the bridge entrance. A second Abrams met the same fate. They had to shoot at enemies patrols being on the other side of the river and once they were eliminated, I was able to assess what was responsible for their immobilization. To my great surprise, there were mines spread across the road at the bridge entrance ! Thanks George !

My next move was to order the Bradleys forward toward the passage allowing them to move on the other side of the small river. They were able to do so without any problem, being hidden from their left flank by the trees lining the river and by the upward slope on their right flank.

Once they reached the passage, I dismounted the Infantry from the tracks and had 2 Bradleys moving with them on the left of river and the remaining Infantry on the right toward Objective Sapphire. The Bradleys destroyed on their way a 2K22M Tunguska and a Kryzanthema. They reached the objective, but did not get points , since a handful of Infantry was still in it hiding on the right of the bridge among the thick vegetation.

 

More later....................

Edited March 31, 2015 by snake_eye

[snake_eye]

The battle AAR continues.....

 

At about the same time I had decided to stage my attack on the right. That time, since a small Recon party was already at the point, I moved the two tanks available and all the tracks with their Infantry loads toward the right of the village at full speed (that is a fast order) not wanting to see them reversing at the first lazing. I had the 2 Abrams moving far right and back toward the village and ordered them to fire in it. I had a shelling planned on the right exit of the village as well. Everything worked as planned, but I had nearly all the time sound of choppers attacking. I lost that way my farthest right Abrams.

Fortunately these choppers attack stopped and I was able to move my Infantry and its Bradleys closer and closer to the outskirt of the village.

I ran out of the time limit and I got a draw.

 

The wrong thing I did in my first battle was to play it in RT. I have been since a long time a fierce advocate of RT. Since only fools don't change their mind, I must confess that I am now rather fond of playing Wego.

I did it lately while playing George's "Bridgehead at Kharalyk" by obligation, since my laptop I had taken away with me could only play it that way. In RT I had an almost immediate CTD.

At home my desktop allows me to play RT without any problem with the throttles of the specs pushed all the way in. But the drawback of playing RT is that I am losing rapidly my situation awareness. Fighting on two different areas is rather difficult. I have found in this battle that the time to fight on the left did oblige me to let the right force idle and unattended. When I was coming back to it, I had to assess all forces capacities and threats once again. 

So I am firmly giving as an advice to a forthcoming player to use Wego if he wants to have a clear knowledge of what will be going on.

 

The other wrong thing, I did not do was to limit my shelling to well seen targets. Precision and or normal shelling being used against them once they had been discovered by the UAV or the scouts teams.

I made also an error not to try to Recon with the UAV the far side slopes and hills crests. These allowed, classic military and highly probable good, not to say excellent, positions for the AT 14 ATGM teams.

I read the briefing with attention and decided to commit the choppers later on. That is once the AAA and Igla threats would have been lowered and or eliminated. That did not happen. In my first battle they were untouched and in the second they were eliminated by the ground forces nearly at the end.

My two UAV were shot down and I did not get a clear picture around and in the villages. I should have used my choppers sooner, that is my belief.

 

Another mistake was to let myself engaged on my left in a battle which took all my attention (RT fault). OK I killed the 3 x T 90's and the 2 x BMP 3's at the cost of a Bradley and an Abrams in my first battle and only the Bradley in my second one. It took me a longer time than it was necessary.

I should have let the same force in defence in order to prevent the tanks to get through and threaten my flank. Easy to say, once the FOW is lifted.

I really thought at the time that the Red attack would be done on a broader frontage at first and when it slowed down after the BMP 3 were shot, I expected a second wave to come.

We could argue that an attack against the villages and objective Shappire had better chances to succeed being launched from that area, rather than a lone attack on the right. Of this I am sure, but a strong attack on the right could achieved the same.

However, the difficulty for an attack on the right, is to get without any losses through the vast expense of the fields being denied of any concealment on the far right and a little better on the left, on the way to the village exit.

The failure and or the success of that crossing will depend on the state of combatively of the enemies forces. If they have been attrited in the right places by some shelling and some air attacks, it will be easier to get through unscathed.

A smoke barrage could also be used to good effect on the hills crests to denied or at least to limit a plain view of the fast advancing armored thrust to the AT 14 teams.

 

These are the remarks I have in memory after having thought that battle twice.

 

About the enemies positions I don't have anything to say, but that their positioning is clever. I may point out that their right front near the bridge being mined, seems rather easy to breakthrough if you move your troops along the river as I have done it, once I discovered harshly the mines preventing me to move on the over side and maybe all the way uphill.

George, surely thought that the attack force blocking the wood exit and maybe rushing on the US flank would stall any US move in that area.

 

The only drawback about the Red infantry being present into the villages is that they don't move or at least I have not seen them moving. Once they are seen it becomes easy to break their back with all the fire power available on the US inventory. I understand that setting them in defence is sufficiently difficult, so having them moving around is probably too much to demand to the AI, despites the difficulty of setting their triggers and their pathways. Even so, nothing is granted and the result might be worse.

 

To end that AAR, I can only praise the excellent and realistic map. You could almost think you are in a real world when doing some close up on it.

The AI as far as I have seen it for the Red side is convincing, even if the left assault lost after its initial start its momentum, leaving the tanks hiding at the forest entrance. But that was maybe what the designer wanted ?

The briefing was brilliant. It really put me into the battle, even if it was a bit long and made my memory work hard with all the details I had to memorize.

 

I am sure that this Demo will be very representative for the players of what modern combat is today. However they should always have in mind that from the antiquity up to now, the high grounds have always been a place of interest and that villages street fighting should, if possible, be avoided in order to keep the casualties low, since there are other ways to reduce the infantry fighting from within. Moving your Infantry into it is somehow making a return at the beginning of antiquity. All the fire power assets, tanks, tracks and choppers available should prevent it at the most.

 

AAR at resumed time 48:39

 

Right situation at 48:39

 

Left situation at 48:39

 

ARR at battle end - Draw -

[snake_eye]

Last three pictures :

 

attack axis

 

Right attack seen from above

 

Left attack seen from above

 

 

 

it's now, your turn to play guys.

 

 

Cheer