agusto

I can't talk for the Soldiers here but the hardest thing about basic training for the USAF in my opinion was folding my clothes properly. No matter how hard I tried I just couldn't get all the seams of my underwear to line up right. And no, I'm not kidding. That was probably the hardest thing I endured in basic.

VasFURY,
 
I can't speak to the game, but the actual analyses we conducted during my Cold War days at Hughes as a military analyst showed beyond all doubt that one and done was the only survivable approach to ground attack in a Fulda Gap type air defense environment. Repeat passes simply cost lots of planes and did very little further damage. Studies showed, the magic flight altitude number for approach prior to brief weapon delivery popup was 200 feet, high enough to avoid ground clobber (plane goes splat!), yet low enough to keep from being eaten alive by SAMs and AAA.
 
Regards,
 
John Kettler

Another F'd up day for Marines in Ramadi as a massive IED explosion raises a dust cloud along the MSR.  Casualties unknown yet.
 

4:30 AM

The insurgents have gone quiet with only an occasional gunshot to break the stillness. Lt Romaniecki has disbanded 2nd Squad and distributed it's men to fill out 1st and 3rd Squads and the MG team. Capt Heverly has called for a planning session in the gov't complex to lay out Alpha company's role in the BN's plans.

Lt Romaniecki and HQ team move out for a meeting with Capt Heverly and the other A company Pltn commanders to review their role in the coming fight.


Captain Heverly in front of the Gov't complex. One thing I am looking forward to coming back in CMBS is mixed units. Cpt Heverly is the black soldier on the left. I find the game even within the limits of CMSF as compared to later releases to be more personal. Lt Simpson, 2nd Pltn commander is inside prepping the briefing area.



Lt Linthicum of 3rd pltn on the move. The situation in 3rd platoon area is not yet secure. The destroyed Stryker is a stark reminder of the firefight here just a short time ago.



Lt Crane 1st Pltn Bravo company having secured the Al Hurriyah mosque awaits orders.

Drop the covered target arcs, cancel hides and let 'em have it! One more building, on one more block, on one more street, in one more neighborhood, about to be secured.

LOL, yeah I am behind. In my defense what little free time I had today I spent testing.

The real problem is that the new forum SW actually works well from my phone so I can answer posts even when I have no time to play.

“Blackknight Six, this is Blackknight Five, over.”  LT Romero, the XO of B CO, called his commander.  His Bradley, along with B CO’s first PLT, was driving hard for hill 347 and helped in decimating the Russian mech PLT in the field where Outlaw 16 had died. 
“This is Six, send it.”
“Just linked up on ground with Outlaw elements.  Confirm that 16 actual is down and will work a nine-line MEDEVAC for their personnel.  They state that the Russians right in front of us have at least two T-90s hull-down at the base of the hill.  I say again, there are tanks to our direct front, close range!”
 
CPT Fuller ponders this for several seconds.  He had planned to send his tank PLT to sweep wide to the left, reducing remain in resistance in the small copses of trees between fields and orienting fires to the south, around and behind 347.  He shifted gears in an instant. 
 
“Roger, break, Blue 1 this is six, over.” 
 
“Six, this Blue One, I monitored.”  LT Trevor Stanley from Pittsburgh responded with clipped precision, indicating he heard the report from Blackknight Five as well.  Although just a second lieutenant, Stanley was a graduate of Officer Candidate School.  A former 11B sergeant, he had fought two deployments in Afghanistan, both to RC-East in Khost, during which time he had earned both an Army Commendation Medal and a Bronze Star, each with a “V” device, for valor.  After OCS he amazed his instructors by requesting to branch Armor, rather than Infantry.  He like to joke that it was too much work to fight dismounted, and his inherent laziness combined with his penchant for muscle cars made tanks a natural fit.  He was easily the most competent platoon leader in Farmer’s company, and his tanks were drilled to a razor’s edge.   Farmer could hear the turret hydraulics of Stanley’s tank in the background – the turret never stopped scanning as the LT replied to his commander.  He had just completed a quick spot report in BFT2 indicating his wingman had engaged and destroyed a BMP far to the south, and was preparing to bound his platoon sergeant’s section forward to begin sweeping left.
 
“Blue One, change of plans.  Red continues towards 347 and provides overwatch with Javelins and TOWs to deny anyone getting back up on the hill.  Need you to shift from left to center and find those tanks.  Work to get them focused in two directions at once.”
“Blue one roger.”
“Red one roger!”
“White, you take over the left side and clear those treelines.  Power Six posts a BMP and Flak tank also at the base of the hill.  Red, ensure you keep those pinned down so they don’t distract Blue.  We’ll flush them with arty if we have to.  Take it slow and don’t rush to failure, over.”
Even as CPT Farmer spoke, he watched his platoons respond.  Red one was just to his front, and looked back.  Farmer waved and then pointed directly towards the BMP and Tunguska the Battalion Commander had posted in BFT2.  The lieutenant gave a thumbs up, and Farmer saw his right hand go to his right ear, keying his radio and speaking.  Farmer could not hear him as he was talking on his platoon internal net, but he could see the Soldiers responding.  Infantrymen loaded back onto their Bradleys, and the platoon began bounding forward, as stationary elements kept up a strong fire on the remaining Russian dismounts in the field ahead.
 

 
http://youtu.be/-PeFDwEGIe8
 
Power 3 finishing the Russian infantry from the BMP-3 Power 6 destroyed previously.  Both are holding position in the center waiting for Blackknight to flush or destroy the remaining BMP-3 and Tunguska to their front.
 
“Tactical patience,” Farmer thought, “we really need to develop this situation and see what is really out here.”  White 1, Lieutenant Murphy, was charged with getting a Raven UAS up to observe 347 itself.  Telling him to hustle would not help.  Farmer checked the BFT2 again, and then pulled up his binoculars to watch the company advance.  As he watched, a Blue tank fired again, the AMP round hammering more of the Russian infantry in front of Red.  Then he saw his FST’ers work, as a short quick fire mission of 155mm rounds crashed directly onto a farm complex to the company’s front. 
“Conducting the Symphony of Destruction!”  Farmer grinned to himself and continued to watch his company at work.
 
http://youtu.be/9CGgSUtV6l4
 
Symphony of Destruction, first chord...
 
 
“Steel Five, this is White One, over.” 
“Send it!”  LT Sheridan was moving, thinking and reacting faster than he ever had in his life.  He was still desperately fighting to find any remaining Russian infantry in close proximity to his tank, urging his gunner and loader to try and get the 120mm cannon back into operation and trying to consolidate some control over the disrupted company. 
“This is White One, we have reached the road.  Spotted enemy victors pulling back east down it.  Think we killed two and are continuing to engage, break.”
“Also have good eyes on south slope of Hill 347.  Engaged and destroyed one BMP3 up there for sure.  Continuing to scan, over.”
“This is Steel Five, roger, hold what you got until we can get this Russian outpost sorted out.”  Even as he spoke, Steel’s first platoon was indeed getting it sorted out.  The tanks pulled forward, reoriented to their right and began tearing into Russian infantry with their .50 caliber machineguns. 
“Blue one, Steel Five, have your FO start working up the mortars to hammer the gully to our front.  I want that thing plastered!” 
“Roger, over!” 
 

 

 

 

 
“Vovk, this is Brytva 22.  We are at our position at the north end of the town.  Borsuk 21 is destroyed.  We didn’t see what did it.  We have fired at some infantry to our front, and believe there is an element on our east flank, but we are secure here.  Believe the enemy has a foothold in Krichek, but with infantry to help we can probably push them back out, over.” 
KPT Kovtun winced at the news of another destroyed BMP-2 – his last remaining – but was heartened by the optimism of the Flakpanzer commander.  Serzhant Levitsky was usually far from optimistic, and if he was acting so positively it must mean he felt the situation was well in control.  He turned to MAJ Harris who was working diligently on his PDA.
“Is it done?” 
“Roger that, Kapitain.  We are tied into the Task Force fires net now.  Couple of minutes and the top of that hill should get flattened.  But make sure he knows that SFC Bagby is headed up that way on his left”
Kovtun turned back to the radio.  “Brytva 22, American artillery will hit the hilltop to support you.  If you need it adjusted let us know.  You retain control of my command truck and the squad and machinegun team with them.  Continue to hold the north end of the town.  Be alert for the American Team Sergeant – he is moving up to recon on your left.”
MAJ Harris paused before heading out the door back to his HMMWV.
“Oh, and SPC O’Brian on the far bank managed to destroy an enemy T-90.  With the first two company-teams in range now, the Russians should have a very hard time.
Kovtun nodded to the American, without a smile.  “Good.” He said.
 

I figured I'd get back into some Combat Mission, but I'm not feeling up to continuing The Road to Montebourg yet.
I got ahold of the Euroscape mod and fired up Task Force Thunder for a bit of fun.
Aside from needing to swap out some weapon sounds (damn "brass tinkling" sound effect gives me a headache) I had a lot of fun.
 
Check it out.

Thank you for the compliment.
I actually did a search on YouTube for the Euroscape mod before I recorded this and got no results. I figured it might help such a large mod if people could see what they're getting.
I think I might record a few more videos of some random battles to show off the mod a bit more, the mod is very impressive.

Reminds me of Harpoon 3 and Command Mondern Air/Naval Operations, where you need pen, paper and calculator to figure out how many missiles you need to shoot at a ship to penetrate its defenses of CWIS-guns anti-missile-missiles. To score a hit on an AEGIS destroyer you need something like 40 missiles fired simultaniously, 39 get shot down and one hits the target (hopefully something important, like one of the radars). If you are firing on a formation of multiple AEGIS destroyers, the number of missiles you need increases dependent on the formation of the ships.

The hard part is watching your hand picked guys die and having to start anew from another perspective. Pnzrldr is doing an admirable job in this aar, the closest I have seen for anyone doing it in what we would consider a campaign is the red gambit series and that guy sucks at character development (a whirling dervish tomahawk wielding Native American being just one example). It is apparently his first writing experience so perhaps he will improve, but the characters in this AAR are frankly better.

Just met Scott for lunch (we work about 20 minutes apart), and we discussed how to improve this scenario specifically... some of the points we talked about:
Give the Ukrainian MRC a platoon of T-64s in support Insure the US Scout platoon supporting the Ukr. MRC have their support (or some of it).. Scott was especially adamant about this... I say nay   Give the Russian force some dismounted ATGM teams.. I would replace the Khrizantema section with 3 or 4 dismounted teams  Reduce the US reinforcements to one single Company team.. preferably infantry heavy (two Bradley Platoons, one M1 platoon) - that change alone would make this scenario a nail biter at this point That's pretty much it.. we both think the scenario design and the situation presented is unique and challenging... but it does require some tweaks.. but with those it could be one of the most memorable in the game (if it's included).  Hopefully The Teacher is reading this.
 
One more thing.. from our discussions it was clear to me that Scott has no clue that my Assault Company is coming for his units in the town... won't he be surprised when they pop into view a couple hundred meters from the Town Hall objective?     

Never surrender!

1.  Recuperator failure might or might not result in breech out of battery, but most tank crewman would not want to risk firing once they know their recoil system is jacked, especially war-shot ammo. 
2.  Both of the Abrams hit hard by 30mm are now expensive machinegun platforms.  Will look over the rest of the damage to see what else, and will post.
3.  Yes, driving through the woods was risky, and in retrospect, foolhardy.  I failed to anticipate how far forward Bil had pushed his INF.  However, based on where my reinforcements teleported in, I had little choice in the matter.  If I had an inkling, I could have led with dismounts, but it would have much slower and you guys would have roasted me for excess caution in any event. 
4.  Trophy's reset time is marginally slower than ARENA - on the order of 1.x seconds I think, maybe a bit less.  Biggest drawback is, Trophy only has 2 shots per side, but those shots have complete coverage.  If I understand ARENA properly, it has LOTS more segments (21?  23?) but once one of those segments is gone, it has a gap someone could (with luck) hit, say with consecutive rounds on the same azimuth.  I could be in error on this - will have to go back and see if the system does some sort of automatic rotation to cover gaps. 
 
Next post will be a day or two.  I owe next turn back to Bil.  I am exactly one behind on posts right now, and hope to stay nice and tight for the duration.  Next turn will feature gradual recovery from the ambush you witnessed, along with some nifty long range Abrams execution. 

Which is fairly inaccurate. Firstly, what time-frame are we talking about? A ) 1994-1995 or B )1999-2000? 
 
If it is A-
The realities of Grozny were the following:
-In a two days delayed response local civilian population was told to leave the city (a sizable number chose to stay);
-Heavily fortified positions across the whole city;
-5-12K enemy combatants in the area to 12K troops available (1:2.4 at best and 1:1 at worst is hardly enough to assault a city successfully);
-No sizable local guerrilla support;
-Air support was not available for the first two days of the operation.
 
If it is B-
-It was an enemy state capital with no accountable local support;
-Evacuation corridors were provided a month before the initial assault;
-Most of supporting actions for the monthly duration of the blockade were performed with Air instead of Artillery (which leads me to believe the same would be done in Ukraine).

A couple of hours on google earth seem to show something resembling defensible bridges in the following places.
 
1) Terny
 
2) Ulyanivka
 
3) Tuchne
 
4) Romny
 
5) Sokyrynynsti
 
6) Veselivka
 
7) Poltova/ Tereshky
 
I apologize for butchering the names
 
The defensibility of all these points really depend on how marshy the river banks are.  In some cases there are multiple bridges which could make one big scenario or several small ones.  I assume flow a bank conditions vary a LOT by time of year, but a wet summer sank the Germans in 1914, so its not a completely crazy assumption.  A drought puts Russian tanks on the outskirts of Kiev in a week, near as I can tell.  Are their any dams, canals or something that could be used to intentionally flood meaningful areas?

APS, both Russian and American, are based on SOLID current systems, with minimal future extrapolation. Israeli Trophy and Russian Arena are both tested and have operational backgrounds. A few more years of tweaking, and, IMHO, what's in the game is pretty darn close to what will be on AFV's.
 
Hypervelocity sabot rounds are "proof" against APS. The energies needed to propel 10kg at 1800m/s require a tank to absorb the recoil. Thus, tanks fight tanks. A swarm of IFV's/ATGM carriers can destroy a tank. They need to salvo fire, and all focus on the same vehicle. That target, if it survives the first barrage, will pop smoke and try for cover. (That's why they pop smoke when lased. It's hard to keep 'em in sight.)
 
APS is a very good protective layer. Next is ERA. Then the armor itself. It's all about layers. Like ogres. And onions.
 
Ken

LT Tim Sheridan couldn’t believe it.  He was the XO of C Company, “Steel,” of 3-69 AR, and he was leading his Company on the attack through broken woods and gullies.  “What lunatic thought of this approach,” he wondered again, “I just want out of here, so we can get after the Russians.”  He knew it his team was near the edge of the woods, and that Russian forces were reportedly just beyond.  Leading the Company was exciting.  CPT Darland’s tank, “Stone Cold,” had fallen out a half hour prior with a V-Pack clog light, but the crew had fixed it in less than ten minutes, so the commander had not jumped tanks.  However, he had gotten separated from the company, and instructed Tim to lead them into the attack.  Tim couldn’t believe his luck – he was both excited and trepidatious.  He had not been in combat since Afghanistan in 2013, and he knew that barely counted alongside what 3ID was into now, but he was confident that he and the company would do well.  The forest, however, had other ideas.  It had taken them nearly 20 minutes to break through a couple measly klicks of forest!  They kept running into impassable gullies and having to work around them.  Frequently they had to dismount and recon on foot to find a way for the tanks, and all so they could avoid coming into  contact right up the road.  Now though, it was  a little more broken and they could see daylight.  Tim gave his orders to the PLs and watched as they all moved up, but now that contact was imminent they lost some of their discipline and the bounds he had ordered looked more like a herd of cats moving forwards, some rushing some crawling. 
 
Suddenly, all hell broke loose.  Tim found himself down inside the turret of his tank – he had been up in the hatch and looking towards the break in the forest ahead, when… 
The Laser Warning screaming at him, and the driving hitting the brakes had thrown him down inside.  Then even more sudden, sound, shock, a tremendous hammering, smoke, and it all seemed to happen at once.
“Steel, this is Steel 5, contact infantry and BMPs right!”  Even as he spoke he heard another burst of 30mm fire trip-hammering against the heavy tank turret.  Suddenly his APS fired and he realized that it was the second shot.
"Driver get us out of here, gunner traverse right!" 
“Sir, the gun won’t elevate!” his gunner sang out.
“The hell you say!  Fix it, we sort of need it!”  he replied, scanning with his low profile CROWs system.  The CROWs was perhaps the least popular thing with tankers that the Army ever put on a tank.  It was incredibly bulky on top of the turret, restricting the commander’s view and ability to maneuver the tank, and sticking out like a sore thumb.  The controls and screens were poorly integrated, and it made the TC’s job harder instead of easier.  But after ‘ruining’ a couple hundred Abrams, the Army stopped and figured out a new scheme for a ‘low profile’ CROWs that was properly integrated and worked with the systems on the tank.  It still wasn’t perfect, but it was infinitely improved over the original.  LT Sheridan was still trying to figure out which direction his CROWs was pointed, but he noted that it was now pointed at a pair of Russian infantrymen with a wicked looking RPG, so he squeezed the trigger. 
"Sir, the recuperator has a fricking hole in it.  Something came through the turret armor.  I think the gun is toast!  If we fire it, it will probably come out of battery." 
"Hang on, now where did they go...  Okay traverse around and see if you can still shoot the coax.  We just became the world's heaviest machinegun carrier." 
Around him, the tanks and Bradleys of his new command dealt with the unexpected contact as each saw fit.  Most reacted by turning and backing trying to place the heavier armor towards the BMPs and assuming they would find the infantry and suppress them momentarily.  The fire support officer, LT Matt Tanner in the Bradley Fire Support Track (BFST) was not so lucky.  Struck twice by crippling rounds, it ground to a halt with its turret askew and a gaping hole in the front slope. 
 
http://youtu.be/MlRB9V22ias
 
Sorry for having to run this with Alt-T on, but you would never have been able to see it otherwise.  C Company stumbles upon a Mech infantry platoon in the woods.  
 
“Power Six, this is Blackknight Six.” 
“This is Power Six, send it.”  LTC Falkner never took his eyes from his screen as he scanned, answering the radio call.
“This is Blackknight Six, engaged and destroyed two AT vehicles and three BMP-3s, north of hill 347.  Continuing to engage dismounted infantry and other targets as they appear, Break.” 
“We are bounding towards Phase Line Green and should turn the corner on Hill 347 in 2-3 minutes.”
“We have established contact with Outlaw 16 element, and his Brad is gone, as are several scout teams.  Blackknight Seven will get a full nine-line when we’re done, over.” 
“This is Power Six, roger, complete seizure of Hill 347, turn the corner and establish overwatch of Krichek and the Power Plant, over.”
“Blackknight Six, wilco, over.”
“This is Power Six, be swift but deliberate and don’t let anyone get too eager.  Get’r done.  Six out.”
 

 
As the flat crack-boom of tank cannons reverberated across the fields, PkPK Borys Levchenko looked up with his mouth open.  Moments later, they saw smoke rising and it was clearly coming from places they had seen Russian vehicles moments before.  SGT Lerner approached the shaking man slowly. 
“Sir, I’m so sorry they are late.  I know it is no help now for your men, but the Russians are going to wish they hadn’t come all the way out here to get at you, I promise.” 
Breathing hard, and shaking, but with a growl not a sob, Levchenko replied.
“I too am sorry, that you Americans must come so far to fight and die for our country.  Thank you.  Thank you for your help.  Believe me, my men and my country appreciate it.”  Both knew the day’s fight was far from finished.
“Sir, let’s go see if we can help somehow, okay?”
 
SPC O’Brian cursed, “C’mon you bastard, stick your head up again.”  He fired another controlled pair with his M4, then dropped prone, calling out, “Reloading!”
PFC Metcalf fired another shot a moment later.  Neither knew the nature of the troops they saw moving in the treeline, but they knew they weren’t Ukrainian. 
“We should have brought Tom’s team out here with us for security.  Did you hit any?” 
“Nah, I think they ducked down too quick.  We need to bug out.  Lets get back over to our last firing spot.  We’ll have more standoff if they try to come out of the woods, and maybe we can find a home for this heavy-ass missile!”
 

 

I'm preparing my blog to prove the dominance of the Rafale against all fighters for decades to come, you see 
 
Nah, I'm trying ArmA3 scenarios with a tiny of group and doing my damnedest to make them stretch out and be enjoyable.  3 guys on a 32 man coop is hard to scale to be fun.
 
When I get the game, I'm going to try the Russian campaign or Ukranian.  I just really dont think large-scale US involvement would be likely at all, so I'll save that one for last.  I'll also try and pay close attention to see if my infantry complain that the T-90 or M1A2 are overperforming ingame, like how in Company of Heroes your troops banter a bit.  The US vs Russia aspect of the game just disinterests me, because one party is inevitably going to be vocally dissatisfied no matter what.  Ukraine versus Russia doesnt seem as likely to incite rants and groggy outrage
 
Literally, enemy troops jamming communications to send their rivals nothing but Wikipedia links from their own Wikipedia-equivalent to tell the enemy how bad they are.  It'd be awesome.

Oops. I thought I included RPGs in my list. -Meant to.

John, I have identified a second Bradley FSV with the US Company North.. so unless his FAC was in the FSV with the southern company he should still have good use of his support assets.  Of course, he could have more than one FAC too.

The Eighteenth Minute - Part 2
 
Krichek
 
the assault on the two objectives in Krichek are under way... on the East side of the river is 1st Platoon/3rd MRC plus a few recon teams.  The T90 in this view is the immobilized tank.  
 
The 3rd MRC platoon's task is to clear the East side of the river, including attempting to destroy the Tunguska (#1) that is known to be in this area.
 
The Assault Company will seize the Town Hall objective first and then move through the town.. I am not feeling easy about this assault as I still do not have a lot of firm information about what Scott has in the town.. remember I am expecting a full Ukrainian Company with US recon support.
 
Note in the bottom of this image that there is another destroyed BMP (from 1st MRC). .another victim of the M1 Scott has overwatching this highway.  The Assault Company wil have to complete its task with the four tanks and three BMP-3s that have successfully crossed and that are already on the move.  The rest of the vehicles still moving forward will join the 1st Platoon/3rd MRC to clear the East side of the river.

 
The most forward recon team with 1st Platoon/3rd MRC spots a Javelin team about 300 meters away.  It is facing East towards 2nd MRC,  This is awesome.. Scott has Javelins in the pocket too?  Damn you Teacher!!

 
In the town itself.. Scott appears to be orienting on my recon teams on the outskirts of the town... this is exactly what i want him to do so I can move my Assault Company into attack position with the least amount of interruption.. my main worry is ATGM teams though, not vehicles.
 
On the outskirts of town Scott moves a BMP-2 perfectly in the sights of one of my recon teams.. it has a beautiful keyhole view through the gap between two buildings at the vehicle...

 
It took three rounds but eventually it does the job:

 
Here is the view looking East... note that the Tunguska (#2) is now well forward behind the building as shown.. you can also see the position of the BMP-2 that was just destroyed, a BTR command vehicle that just moved into position.. and my crawling recon team which will attempt to take out the BTR.  I just want to keep him busy and feeding troops into this area.

 
Blood Board

The Eighteenth Minute - Part 1
 
Tons of action this turn, so this is going to be rather lengthy.  This scenario has devolved into two major battles.. my 1st and 2nd MRCs against Scott's Americans, and the battle to reduce the pocket.  Both are complicated affairs, at least from my point of view... Scott has terrific visibility across most of the map and I am learning that some areas are now shut off from me.  He is slowly restricting my maneuver choices with his overwhelming fire superiority.
 
1st MRC
 
Happy to report that the Bradley Fire Support Vehicle (FSV) that was hit by an RPG round last turn was indeed knocked out.. interestingly, only one hatch opened, which could mean that only the driver survived... which would be good news as it would reduce, slightly, Scott's fire support flexibility.

 
Across from my initial screen of RPG teams and the BMP platoon Scott withdrew into a tighter formation... he killed one RPG team this turn and degraded one other.  I moved one BMP (under a smoke screen) from the gully they were deployed in to hopefully a flank position on Scott's company... it moved into position just fine but gained no spots during the turn.. I will move it again next turn to try to get in to Scott's rear.

 
Looking from Scott's perspective... you can see how tight the US Company team is now positioned.  My BMP #1 has a spot on two M1s.. umm.. if I can see them, guaranteed they can see me... could be trouble.

 
I have no clue how this M1 from the US Company Team North saw this 1st MRC BMP all the way across the map.. but it did, and it quickly destroyed it:

 

 
2nd MRC
 
Scott is still taking his time moving in on 2nd MRC... I have four vehicles remaining as can be seen below (x3 BMP-3, Tunguska).. not a lot of combat power, but enough to keep Scott busy for a several more turns hopefully.  Note the US Scout (single man) next to the Tunguska... and the Ukrainian soldier on the hill.. I have a feeling these two units are giving Scott some great intel.. that is not good.
 
Seven turns until my aircraft arrive in the AO.

 
Power Plant
 
I finally got a hole in that damned wall this turn... so with that in place the following is my assault plan... 
 
I have had a team in this area for a few turns.. was hoping they would spot a minefield if one existed across this opening.. they have not so I will attempt to enter the compound with this team in this direction. This team will enter through the hole made by my T90 a few minutes ago.  the intent for this team and the team at #1 is to be a diversion for the main thrust through the gap at #3...  With a BMP in the gap I will suppress the buildings within and enter through this hole with a full platoon of infantry, they will clear the compund one building at a time. I was hoping I would get a hole in this corner of the compound as well.. but alas my BMP failed to get a breach.  The platoon in this area will remain in reserve for now. 
 
Scott can now overwatch the road I have been using to move my Assault Company into action... in one action that is going to come back to haunt me..  the battalion HQ track (BMP-2K) with the FAC team was spotted and destroyed by Scott's overwatching unit.. probably an M1... 

'unable to depress its guns'!?! Narrative or really happened? Because gun depression limit is AFAIK on BFC's 'never' list.

Forging Steel is a great campaign, I got my buttocks handed to me playing it.