Bil Hardenberger

The Seventeenth Minute The Company Team in the south continued to move laterally across the front of 1st MRC... however, Scott ran a couple M1s straight into my initial defense line... his tanks absorbed a lot of fire, RPGs, 100mm ATGM from BMPs, 30mm fire... as seen in the following gifs.. no damage was noted, but I hope he suffered some degradation to sensors. First M1A2 comes over the top right on top of one of my RPG teams... and into the line of fire of two of my BMPs: The second M1A2 went further into the gully and catches an ATGM and a handful of 30 mike mike. These two tanks seem to be his flank protection... One of my forward RPG teams gets a bead on a Fire Support Bradley putting a hole in the turret... this happened at the end of the turn so status is unknown.. but that had to cause some damage, perhaps even a KO. The US Company Team in the North moved very little.. obviously setting up for a move on 2nd MRC... which loses another BMP this turn.. (the BMP that was unhorsed several turns ago by Scott's RPG gunner never was able to be recrewed). If Scott continues to advance at this slow pace he will still be in this area when my air arrives in 8 turns (all of it, two helicopters, and the surviving SU-25.. yes, after further review I did lose that first SU-25 to Scott's AA fire a few turns ago). I owe you guys a Blood Board.. sorry, but I won't be able to get to that util tomorrow.

Dan, yes I will update that with the next turn report this evening.

Yeah I'm sorry I couldn't finish that AAR too.. but I lost all the files in an upgrade. By the way, my opponent in that battle was none less than pnzrldr. He does tend to move without proper recon and it can cost him... he does it again in the next turn (I'll post the report on it tonight). Must be the audacious armor officer in him, balls to the wall, don't mind the flanks! The terrain in this one is difficult.. the biggest problem I have is the equipment quality disparity.. that will be more challenging. Also the lack of any dismounted ATGMs is something I sorely miss.

Thanks Chris... there is no way I can win this one, my goal now is to cause him as much pain as possible before I fall, at least make his victory a Pyrrhic victory.

Awesome. I could use some magic right about now.

Miquel, nope not over yet. I'm waiting for Scott again.

There is fodder for at least a dozen movies for sure... I read somewhere that Children of Hurin could be up soon to be defaced and mutilated by Peter Jackson and co.. I hate what he did to the Hobbit.

It's not often you see a Silmarrillion reference, well done Miquel!!

That is a fair point Dan. Keep in mind that I did not have a good idea about what was in front of me when I made that move so wanted to ensure I could easily over power him. And I expected tanks in the Ukrainian company... I think the prebattle brief kind of misled me there. I also expected 1st MRC to be the company with the initial fight as with that equipment disparity it's where I would have put most of the Ukrainian MRC. Yes it's easy in hindsight to say what should have been done, but in the heat of the moment you have make a decision and deal with the consequences. Like I am doing now.

The Sixteenth Minute US reinforcements.. I guess I am lucky I had enough eyes on the reinforcements to pretty much fully identify almost every formation. US Company Team North (Infantry Heavy) US Center Element (suspected Battalion Command Element) US Company Team South (Tank Heavy) - note direction of movement If you are keeping track, that is: 14 M1A2 SEP 15 Bradley This is nuts. My losses in this turn: note 1: this is labeled as 2nd MRC losses, but the two Khrizanthema were my ATGM section and the BMP in the North was from the GL Platoon) note 2: all of these vehicles were killed without spotting their killer, none could fire in return note 3: the 2nd MRC T90 and the BMP 3 in the center were killed by the suspected US BN command element M1 and Bradley note 4: the North is completely defenseless at this point All Scott has to do now is drive forward with all vehicles in line and I won't be able to do a thing about it. Sure I can pop out and take a few under fire now and then, but this is not looking pretty. I suspect 2nd MRC will be fully eliminated next turn (maybe in two). 1st MRC might be getting bypassed which would be an advantage to me.. but I suspect that Scott is concentrating on the 2nd MRC and then will turn on 1st MRC.. so their time will come.

Just got the next turn... sigh... I was definitely set up to fail in this scenario, I am now convinced of that. I count at least 10 M1A2s and better than 2 companies of Americans as Scott's reinforcements... I will get in to the specifics on this one later, but suffice it to say that it is not pretty... and this game is all but over. I cannot stop Scott from doing whatever he wants with this concentration of force. I need to recover a bit before I post on this turn.

Thanks John, sounds like he is still four turns behind then... yikes. Re: the T-90.. it took minor sensor damage. nothing to be too concerned about. It is on its way to join the force attacking the Ukrainian force in the pocket.. I do not want a T90 with even minor damage going up against M1s... recipe for disaster.

Looks like it'll be later this afternoon before I get the next file. So probably tomorrow before I can get my next post up. I appreciate your patience guys.

John, I'm confused by your post as I am up to date with my posts... up through turn 15... what turn is he on? What major event(s) occurred? All the links to my posts are here: CMBS BETA Battle Contents

Sorry Dan I missed this question, and am not sure anybody else answered it... normally armored vehicles carry two smoke launchers... I don't think that normally those can be reloaded from within the vehicle, so once both launchers fire off you are done. Someone more tech savvy please correct me if I am wrong here. I've never seen infantry suffer casualties from vehicle smoke grenades. By the way, wind direction and strength has always been important when using smoke, or when waiting for dust to clear. Smoke should be used like a temporary terrain obstruction. Note: on the real M1 smoke grenades can be fired in salvos of 6 (3 from each launcher), or all 12 at once... I don't think they ever fire all 12 at once in the game.

Update: just got an email from Scott, I should have the next turn at some point today. So we will be getting back underway very soon.

You guys need to hurry Scott along as he is the bottle neck... I am caught up and just waiting for him.

If you can get that kill ratio with a T-90AM versus an M1A2 SEP v2 in CMBS against a human player then you will indeed be a formidable player.

Flank shots are effective against the Abrams.. however in my tests even when getting a beautiful flank position often the M1 will spot, be able to rotate its turret, and fire before T90 ever gets a firm spot. I did get quite a few kills in my tests, and those were only against stationary M1s with no AI orders, and most of the time they were dearly purchased. These M1s will be commanded by Scott who knows his business, he would not be a Lt. Colonel if he did not. The M1A2 SEP spots faster, shoots more accurately, and is far better protected than the T-90AM. I know my limitations, and yes it is that bad of a matchup.

I see what you are getting at... the 1st MRC units that are closest to the map edge are snipers.. all others are in hide or reverse slope positions with no LOS to the edge at all.. the snipers are acting as observation and listening posts (OPs and LPs) only and will have no effect on Scott's Americans if they come in in area 1... Area 2 as you mention has nobody overwatching it... Area 3 has 2nd MRC in front of it.. but most of those units (except for the two BMPs and infantry hunting the US Scout platoon) are now in the gullies (or moving there fast) with no LOS beyond their immediate vicinity. The BMPs and infantry next to his US Scout Platoon are also moving to the gully and do not have visibility to the edge and in fact are moving laterally trying to get away from anything that could be coming in. Area 4 has the Khrizantema section overwatching, but they can't see all of that area (due to ground undulations etc.) and I only hope they can spot and kill something before eating some SABOT or TOWs if the Americans even arrive in that area. ​I do appreciate you chiming in... sorry for my previous reaction, it sounded like you were accusing me of being less than honorable in my deployments to this point.

It's all good.. I don't mind criticism, as long as its constructive... I might deserve some damning criticism for how I am playing this scenario.. but to this point I don't think so. I will agree with a few of your points: Splitting my armor is a problem and goes against my usual practice... my thinking: T-90AMs do not fair well versus M1A2 SEPs, so I chose to use most of them against the enemy formation they stand a better chance against, namely the Ukrainians in the pocket. The others with 1st and 2nd MRCs will be used to snipe at enemy vehicles as or if the opportunity allows, and hopefully will survive long enough to hurt Scott some. Khrizantema section is too close to be effective.. well maybe.. long LOS is not easy to find on this map... I suspect they could die quickly versus M1s as they are a real bitch to kill.. but if I can get some flank shots then they could be effective... we will see shortly I think.

How close to the edge do you guys think I am? Most of what I suspect will be where Scott's reinforcements will arrive I have no visibility on at all. I could have ran all the way to the edge of the map with 1st MRC, and with elements of 2nd MRC but that would have been less than sporting, and even if I had my units would not have lasted long at all. No, I want to engage Scott's US forces in close terrain to nullify his range advantage, and to hopefully force him to piecemeal his units through this terrain as he hunts me down. The only unit I have that has some visibility on a portion of the edge is the Khrizantema section of two vehicles. But I would have been a fool to not overwatch this area... if Scott comes in on the northern edge in strength then I doubt that little bit of force on my part will matter much.

antaress73 I can't wait to read an AAR from you... seems you have all the answers.

I certainly am not resting (see the above two posts). I know exactly what's coming, and I am not in a comfortable position.

Thanks... 1st MRC's support fire for 2nd MRC was opportunistic.. I was lucky Scott so exposed his Ukrainians on that flank of center hill to allow me to have a perfect flank attack by fire opportunity. Good tactics are all about being in position to take advantage of whatever the enemy gives you... rarely would it work out this well if you tried to plan it that way. Well I do have most everything under cover now.. Scott will either have attack into close terrrain to roll over 1st and 2nd MRCs or bypass one (or both?) of them... ignore one MRC and it can pop up and take him under fire from a flank or the rear. I think he will roll over 2nd MRC and attempt to pin 1st MRC in place as it is the strongest of the two formations.. then he will bypass with whatever he can spare to go after my units around the pocket at high speed. That's what I would do, and I'd attempt to do it with as few troops as possible. This could get ugly, and it could be over quickly depending on how strong the US force is. Truthfully, I would be comfortable, were I in Scott's shoes, attacking this Russian force with one US company team, two platoons of Bradleys and one platoon of M1s... that's all it would require.