Bil Hardenberger

I'm not surprised. Scott told me its taking him about 4 hours to prepare each post... so I hope you guys are showing him some love and appreciation for the effort and labor he is sinking into this. For my part, I can't wait to read his side of the battle.

Yes, that was the video from the previous turn (turn 10). Only one tank has hit a mine.

Steven, they were firing at the crew from the SA-13 they knocked out in the previous turn.. then they started to react to the more dangerous threat, the RPG team. No, just the one immobilized T-90.

The Eleventh Minute - Part 2 In the pocket, my T90s fight back against the RPG team in the house next to the immobilized T90. I still need to decide what I am going to do with this tank section.. I do not want to push only a single unsupported tank forward to hunt for that Tunguska. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IuellWVyIM&feature=youtu.be Finally, I wanted to illustrate the new amphibious vehicle feature in Black Sea... this BMP 3 is swimming the river separating the Recon Platoon from the town in the pocket. I want to bring the second BMP across as well, but wanted to get this one over safely first. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwiP4Tv5nPw&feature=youtu.be Updated Blood Board:

The Eleventh Minute - Part 1 2nd MRC - the two BMP section and the two tank section team started their attack in earnest on the US Recon Platoon... the BMPs stopped and dismounted their infantry to screen their advance. Meanwhile 1st MRC's T-90s and Tunguska provided fire support. The T90 section passed the BMP-3s as they area fired into the orchard. The lead T90 ran into a Bradley CFV and absorbed a lot of fire.. curiously the Bradley never tried to withdraw.. could it have been immobilized? My T90 suffered only minor damage, however the Bradley was knocked out with one round. Video of this action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4te57FT8SAg&feature=youtu.be 1st MRC started to withdraw as can be seen in the following movie while providing fire support to 2nd MRC's attack on the US Recon Platoon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6g0qDA_p-rU&feature=youtu.be

John, those types of technical questions are best asked of Scott. Sorry, you know me, I'm a tactics guy... the technical specifics on the equipment and ammo, other than having a basic understanding of how to apply the different weapons at my disposal, doesn't really interest me.

I just had to give this a shot, with a new video highlighting the T90 action from the last turn: This is going to really help when the action really calls for a video!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P70rlt2s4G0&feature=youtu.be

Miquel, yeah I too am interested in reading Scott's thread.. I'm sure he had a plan, a plan that fell apart in the face of my BMP-3 advance and the cross map fire from 1st MRC... he couldn't pull his company out fast enough. As for the Abrams.. I have done a few tests pitting T-90AMs against Abrams... and regardless of the range it is not pretty for the Russian tank. I have a plan on how to fight them... time will tell if it'll be good enough.

well the scenario you designed just keeps giving on the excitement level, I am just trying to keep up with all of the action!

I believe it was Motorized Rifle Company Miquel. I think two platoons of infantry plus all of the company's BMP-2s have been destroyed. The infantry from the 3rd platoon is without transport and should be pretty much out of the fight. I think fixed positions still have their place.. but you are right, with modern sensors and firepower you really have to keep moving. If you are at a technological disadvantage like Scott was with his Ukrainian MRC and like I will be when his US forces arrive there is little you can do to increase survivability. For example, the BMP-2 that 1st MRC just ran into was hull down, but it didn't help it at all.. my lead BMP-3 spotted and fired first, even though it was moving. I am just a tad nervous about dealing with the US Bradleys and Abrams... that will be a serious test. One thing I will say, you still need to apply proper movement techniques and proper tactics. I was able to basically mass against many of Scott's BMP-2s as they did not appear to be mutually supporting... where mine moved in teams, his seemed to be operating more widely scattered, and thus more individually. That's a recipe for disaster for sure, especially against a technologically superior enemy. A lesson I will take to heart when attempting to deal with his US force.

John, yeah 1st and 2nd MRC each have a Tunguska attached, see my post on my order of battle breakdown.

Wouldn't that be nice.. 3rd MRC is my dismounted company.. sadly no vehicles.

The Tenth Minute First off, turn 10 and no sign of any reinforcements yet. I am on high alert for them at this point. 1st MRC - the enemy BMP that I knew was in this area finally got spotted and eliminated this turn. I don't think I'll be moving this formation any further into enemy territory. 2nd MRC On the left flank of the center hill my T90 hunted forward looking for the mystery BMP 2 spotted last turn.. he did indeed spot and kill him. On the right flank I have a two vehicle section of BMP 3s and a two tank section of T90s moving on the flank of the US Recon Platoon's position. This area was also saturated with T90, BMP, and Tunguska fire to keep their heads down. On the way one of the T90s (the one that got beat up by the Tunguska earlier in the battle) took what looks like an AT4 in the side. Just a little additional track damage. Pocket - in the pocket my T90s were moving fast to get a bead on his Tunguska.. only they ran in to a little trouble. A few RPG rounds hit (no damage) and one of them runs in to a minefield crossing the road... it is now immobilized. There is an enemy team in the buildings next to them. I really got a head of myself in this movement and failed to coordinate my tank sections properly. Damn. Note Tunguska 2's location. I had a couple scout teams trying to get close enough to fire RPGs, instead they were both spotted and decimated by the Tunguska. I have a healthy respect for these vehicles. I only wish I had some dismounted ATGM teams.. something with a longer range. Okay,I think its time for me to stop pushing my luck and start to position my units for the inevitable US reinforcements. I will pull 1st MRC's vehicles back, and 2nd MRC will take up defensive positions on center hill. I would love to take up reverse slope positions but his Tunguska has me spooked... but I am working on that. I am also going to pick up the pace on attacking the Power Plant objective.. I have a feeling it is mined as there are only two openings into the objective and I don't have any breach kits in the 3rd MRC. Blood Board - Turn 10

Yeah, it came in on a flat trajectory.

Blood Board Turn 9's updated blood board. Red font indicates kills from the current turn.

The Ninth Minute A lot going on in the 2nd MRC sector. Refer to this image for the location of the following events... As seen in the teaser video, my BMP 3 takes an RPG round (1,2)... 4 dead across the crew and the two teams onboard. The vehicle is still functional, but I won't know the damage until I can recrew it. The enemy soldier, the last survivor from his team falls to my Tunguska fire: This is a weird one... a BMP 2 (3) was spotted just sitting there. It dd not move or fire, nor did my units fire on it, even though it was spotted. It looks like it might be abandoned, but if it is I would expect the hatches to be open. I will investigate. A lone US Scout team (4) watched as the Ukrainian soldiers in the background attempted to escape my advancing units... then he too falls to BMP fire. Brutal. The final right flank Ukrainian MR platoon BMP-2 (5) falls to BMP-3 fire from two directions. Scott does indeed have at least one team with a Javelin (7). It shows itself this turn and fires one missile, which, luckily, was intercepted by Arena (8). I will saturate that area with fire next turn. The first of the US Recon HMMWVs (6) falls to BMP fire.. it tried to escape, but ran out of space. In the pocket one of my T90 sections spots and eliminates this SA13 SPAA vehicle. Not far from the Tunguska actually.. and from its placement and orientation (it was faced away from my tanks) it seems Scott may not have known my T90s were on the prowl in this area. If not, he does now.

To this point I really dig them. Of course I haven't run in to a Bradley in one yet, when that happens I'll have a better understanding of their pecking order re: other IFVs. I would bet BMP-3M (Arena) will be number two and will come up short versus the Bradley. They do come in different variants, the BMP-3M (Arena) being at the top.. the BMP-3M and vanilla BMP-3 are probably just a little better than the BMP-2. APS systems like Arena do give you a sense of security and tend to give you more freedom to be bold with maneuver. But, as seen in the turn 9 teaser they are not foolproof.

I am not happy with that exchange ratio... 2nd MRC is taking the brunt of the casualties... but then they have been doing most of the close fighting. Through the 8th turn they had lost two BMP 3s.. while the Ukrainian MRC in front of them had lost 8... I can live with that exchange ratio.. the other losses were in different units so my losses were spread out while his were all in one force. There are always losses, and while I think the exchange ratio could be better I am happy with the pace of my movement and how quickly his MRC folded. I have no idea regarding your other question.. sorry.

One of the above guesses is pretty damn close.

Scott is getting really good at sending me turns too late for me to do a proper write up.. turn 9 came in last night and it's another action packed turn. Scott's US recon platoon gets in on the action, my T-90s advancing through the pocket fire at "something", one of my Tunguskas fire, and so on... stay tuned, I'll do a proper write up tonight. Here is a little teaser "Snake in the Grass". What do you think is the outcome? Does my BMP 3 die? Does the shooter survive?

The updated Blood Board:

The Eighth Minute Didn't I just mention that I had no information on the infantry from Scott's Ukrainian MRC? Well at least some of them, perhaps two squads worth started moving from the village on the map edge to the treeline where it looks like I might be moving with 1st MRC's BMP 3s. Those BMP 3s continue to bound forward.. no contacts yet, but steadily forward they move. In the background of this image you can see where Scott's US Recon Platoon is located. Well out of the action, for now. 2nd MRC is still working down the rear slope of center hill. Scott reversed his sole remaining BMP 2 back down the hill while it is being pursued by two platoons worth of BMP 3s. I figure I have a couple turns before any US forces show up so I am toying with maybe driving hard into his US Recon platoon to wipe it from the map.. but I don't know if they have any Javelins.. probably not.. I think I would have seen those flying about by now if they were on the field. I also don't want to get caught in the open in the middle of an Abrams or Bradley platoon. Back in the pocket my T-90s are driving hard towards Scott's Tunguska... interestingly the section on the left has driven pretty far beyond the Power Station without seeing any enemy teams. I expected to see a picket or two in this area. I also stayed off any roads in case they were mined. Well well.. it appears Scott has a second Tunguska... this one was seen driving fast out of town.. that could complicate matters.. or it could be an indication that it is not comfortable in the town with my artillery falling and Scott wants to get his high value assets out of danger. Note the BMP 2 on the edge of the town.. I was hoping Scott would creep this guy forward.. he did, area fired close to my scouts (no casualties) and was immediately spotted by one of my BMP3s... result? It's below this image.

Well they have to attack somewhere. In modern warfare, every platoon could have man portable AA, each of his companies might have a Tunguska attached. All I can do is target my air support and hope they survive. I know he has a Tunguska in the pocket, maybe man portable missiles as well.. I do not know what his AD assets are in the relief force... where else could I use my air assets other than against those two enemy groupings? I guess the alternative would be to leave them out of the equation and leave them safe on their bases.

Yes, the scenario designer can set that in the MISSION settings in the scenario editor. It can be set to either Light, Medium, or Strong for each side. I do not know what the setting was for this scenario.

Dan, not in my briefing.