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CMSF 2 – US-SYRIA BETA AAR


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On ‎6‎/‎24‎/‎2018 at 2:39 PM, Bil Hardenberger said:

The BMP 2 is now re-manned and I will be moving them toward a firing position next turn to attempt to engage a Scimitar further in depth.

Nooooo!  :o

In my experience BMPs are utterly myopic compared to anything western, even with someone in the command seat.....I greatly fear for your BMP's well being.

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10 hours ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

Nooooo!  :o

In my experience BMPs are utterly myopic compared to anything western, even with someone in the command seat.....I greatly fear for your BMP's well being.

I am trying to be careful with them... they are not the equal to anything western, so I hesitate to throw them in to the line with the LAVs, and that is why in these turns I am refocusing them to fire support for the Dumayr irregulars.

8 hours ago, HerrTom said:

I'm loving this!  Gonna steal the GIF idea for when I find the time to get back into writing AARs.  You really do set the gold standard of presentation - but will the Blood Board match such splendour? :D

Thanks Tom... as for the Blood Board.. oh yeah, it is going to get quite full, stay tuned.  :)

Bil

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10 hours ago, Vinnart said:

Enjoying the excellent presentation as always Bil especial the Gifs to actual see the action. Strange seeing Syria and US as allies in the commentary as those units are so used to being on opposite sides. Cool though to now have the freedom to mix and match forces like that if one want to. Good luck and for God's sake get organized will ya 😉

Yeah the mix and matched forces was done by George, not in QB.

I'll work on organizing better.  ;) 

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4 hours ago, Bil Hardenberger said:

I am trying to be careful with them...

One thing that BMPs can be very handy for (not that @Bil Hardenberger needs my advice) is fire support by area firing on things that other units have spotted. To make it not overly gamey you can restrict it to targeting things their own dismounts have spotted. That is one of the major roles that they actually have.

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MINUTE 7

As LAV #4 and #1 were moving towards their hulldowns positions they both spotted one of the Marders that came in with Baneman’s advance guard moving laterally just in front of KT-1.  LAV #4 and LAV #1 both spotted and opened up on the enemy IFV which suffered several hits in the side and a few penetrations.

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Later it took several frontal hits and one partial penetration and internal spalling. 

Those things are tough, but I expect it took some damage, perhaps to its weapon systems (the ATGM took what looked like several direct hits), optics, or maybe, if I’m extra lucky, to its crew or passengers. 

It was reversing when I lost sight of it but not before taking several more hits.  It never spotted my firing LAVs. 

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Still, that doesn’t mean another vehicle didn’t, so next turn I will pop smoke and withdraw LAV #4 as it seems very exposed right now.  LAV #1 will also pull back over the ridge.  These LAVs are too light to go head to head against Marders and there are way too many enemy vehicles in the area next to the Marder to take unnecessary chances.

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One Scimitar moved quickly to join its partner at the Farm 011 and Farm 012 area. 

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Speaking of that… two of the T-90s are moving as fast as possible, starting next turn, to try to get eyes on one or maybe both Scimitars there.  I think having these tanks deeper in the AO will hopefully disconcert Baneman some and could make him react with his Leos to counter them.

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The intent with my moves right now is to try to isolate one or two of the enemy vehicles at a time while limiting my exposure to the bulk of his firepower.  Basically move into a position, spot if possible, take a shot or two then withdraw, rinse, and repeat.  I do not want to stay in one position longer than necessary in this environment.

Moving my fighter group from the Monastery area toward DUMAYR may not have been my smartest move... they are getting very tired and a few units are fatigued or exhausted.  Definitely not the same quality as line troops.  I am worried about them now... if they get caught in the fields with his technicals moving in on them they could be in trouble... I am moving another LAV into position to help in spotting those pickups and I am trying to position the RPGs in spots where they can get firing solutions if the trucks move in close enough.

006.png

PIR:  Will the enemy Mechanized Force attempt to seize KT 2?  It does not appear Baneman is trying to attack KT2 yet, but he could be building a Support by Fire (SBF) position to support such an attack.

PIR:  What is the force composition of the enemy Advance Guard?  This formation appears to mainly be made up German units, Marders and two Leopard 2A4s. 

PIR:  Where are the enemy tanks?  The enemy Leopard 2A4 tanks are in the KT1 line providing fire support.

Edited by Bil Hardenberger
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MINUTE 8

A relatively quiet turn… I think Baneman has hunkered down, at least temporarily.  Next turn it should liven up again as my T-90s, all three of them will move into hulldown positions, my LAV-ATs will be in their hulldown positions and a couple of the LAVs will also move into hulldown positions.

Only a few minutes until the main body arrives.  I will admit that I am disappointed that I haven’t had more contact with Baneman’s forces and been able to attrite it at all.  It is taking much longer to deploy and reorient than I expected.  I will have more pieces in play next turn than any previous.

The USMC dismounts achieved the OBJ GARNET (touch) this turn… the T-90s will be passing them to go into their positons next turn.  Real curious how Baneman is planning on countering my tank threat.

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MINUTE 9

In trying to get the LAV-AT #6 into a good firing position where it could see into the enemy rear area I pushed it too far... it ended up not being hulldown when it was spotted by the Leopard 2 and was hit, at first losing its weapons, then suffering a wheel hit  becoming immobilized.  Once that happened it was just a matter of time before the Leo found the range and dealt the killing blow.  That was a waste of a crucial piece of weaponry that is 100% on me.  

001.gif

The advantage in playing large scenarios like this is you can absorb losses like this more easily... if this had been a company scale engagement losing that one piece of equipment might have been terminal… in a Battalion sized engagement it is a blip, as long as it doesn’t become a trend!

T-90 #2 moved into its hulldown position, spotted the Scimitar it was sent to kill... however, though it fired twice, one was a miss and the second round hit the corner of a building… damn.  Baneman’s luck has to end at some point.  This is the third vehicle (Scimitar near the ruined farm and Marder hit by two of the LAVs) that I got the drop on, the other two he was able to withdraw to safety.

002.gif

Blood+Board-009.png

Edited by Bil Hardenberger
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7 minutes ago, Hapless said:

Awesome stuff, really enjoying it!

Interesting to see that the uncons aren't consequential enough to make it onto the fabled Blood Board, though I suppose in their little pixeltruppen heads they might be angling towards a slightly different Valhalla.

I only count armored vehicles in the blood board.. so if I lose a HMMWV later in the game it will not show on the blood board either. 

The whole UNCON front isn't very interesting right now... not a lot of combat power there, and they are short on ammo and can't maneuver without getting tired.. so it is a bit stagnant.

Edited by Bil Hardenberger
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22 minutes ago, Bud Backer said:

Dammit, man, I thought you were letting us see behind the curtain at last! The brilliance pulling all the levers. ;)

Ha!  the messiness of the steps I go through to pull these together is best left behind the curtains... much like sausage making.   :D 

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Bah! The loss of that LAV-TOW was minor. It did, after all, kill a Fennek! THAT is a bit of a win, much like giving up a knight to rid the board of a pesky pawn. Errr, maybe not? ;)

In the long run, the misses from your ATGM and your T-90s may lull Baneman into a false sense of security...

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2 hours ago, c3k said:

Bah! The loss of that LAV-TOW was minor. It did, after all, kill a Fennek! THAT is a bit of a win, much like giving up a knight to rid the board of a pesky pawn. Errr, maybe not? ;)

In the long run, the misses from your ATGM and your T-90s may lull Baneman into a false sense of security...

Actually, the LAV-AT that killed the Fennek still lives!  This was the second one that displaced from Hill 42.0 to join it's buddy.

Give him a "false sense of security".. yeah that was the plan all along  ;) 

Edited by Bil Hardenberger
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MINUTE 10

LAV-AT #5 sat still in its hulldown position and waited to get a spot... I was hoping it would be able to get a shot on the Leo, however a Marder came trundling forward next to the Leo... the LAV instantly saw it and sent a missile on its way.  If you watch closely, right before the TOW is loosed the ammo from the LAV-AT destroyed last turn goes up in a fireball.

001.gif

Right before the missile hit, the Marder spotted my hulldown LAV-AT and sent some cannon rounds their way which all went high.  I think the very small footprint of that launcher is going to be hard to hit (that’s my hope anyway).  The missile however hit the mark and that is scratch one Marder.  He won’t like that result and I can only hope it still had its infantry squad in the back. 

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LAV-AT #5 did spot the Leo for a few seconds after hitting the Marder, but lost the spot soon after.  Of course the LAV-AT couldn’t fire anyway as it was reloading.

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The LAV-AT carries two missiles in its launcher and this was the second one this vehicle has fired, so it immediately went into reload mode after firing and this was in progress as the turn came to an end.  Next turn I will pull this vehicle back over its ridge to complete reloading, then move forward one more time in an attempt to bag that Leo.

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The Scimitar opposite T-90 #2 of course popped smoke and withdrew to safety. 

T-90 HQ never spotted anything while it was in position, but it did receive a laser warning, popped smoke and withdrew.  These Syrians are a challenge to use effectively, most of the time they can’t spot worth a damn... in the rare event that they do spot, they miss.  They have missed every shot fired so far.

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This image shows my current dispositions, the enemy situation has become muddled as few vehicles are now firmly spotted.

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The situation in and around DUMAYR isn’t great, the fighters I was moving towards DUMAYR are staggered and spread out from the river bank to their original start positions.  Most are exhausted, tired, panicked, etc.  I just want them over the river and in cover for now.

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Blood-Board-10.png

 

REINFORCEMENTS

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The Main Body arrived in zone   

  • M1A1SA Section (x2 Tanks)
  • D Company Mech Infantry on M2A3 Bradley (x13 M2A3 and x1 BFIST)
  • The remainder of the SP Mortar Battery (x2 M1064A3 and x2 HMMWV)
  • Battalion CO on HMMWV

009.png

010.png

Now I have some serious firepower to engage Baneman with.  Of course this means that his main body will also have arrived and the British Army are no pushovers, though I think my US Army forces have a slight edge.  It’ll be down to who uses them more effectively. 

I have a two stage plan that I have been waiting to implement and now that these troops are on the board those plans are getting implemented.  It will take several turns to get everything into position.

It will get very deadly now in this area of operations.  Stay tuned. 

Edited by Bil Hardenberger
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