BrotherSurplice

Gosh
Fungling
Darn it

I knew that I'd kept that Scimitar exposed for too long. I knew that I hadn't checked the lines of sight of my other units on the hill. I was just thinking 'my Scimitars are pretty vulnerable there, I'd better pull them back soon'. Then whoosh! Crack! Bang! The Troop Leader's Scimitar is a smoking wreck and no one even saw where the missile came from. How very irritating. The only saving grace is that the whole crew escaped with only minor wounds. I think that the missile was launched from a trench on the eastern slope of Point 228, so I spray the offending trench with machinegun fire from my Scimitar and APCs.
 

Shortly after the Scimitar is knocked out, one of my APCs observes a couple of men from a Syrian infantry platoon HQ moving through the East Yard. As expected, this means that Rinaldi has likely emplaced his infantry platoon inside the East Yard.
 

Happier news from my left, however, as the enemy ATGM team under attack from my scouts suffers a casualty.
 

Meanwhile, the two scout teams on my hill are nearly able to get eyes on the objective.
 

More intel comes in, as the first enemy ATGM team is seen withdrawing and an ATGM platoon HQ is spotted. So, Rinaldi does indeed have the whole ATGM platoon in support. There are three other teams out there, somewhere.
 

The first enemy ATGM team unmasks once more and an MMG platoon HQ is spotted. So, along with his infantry platoon, Rinaldi has both an ATGM platoon and an MMG platoon.
 

Amazingly, a BMP-1 zooms by as well, making a beeline for the far side of Point 228. Sadly, my Scimitars are pulled back and my Javelins are not yet in position, so I am unable to punish this risky move.
 

The MMG team spotted earlier suffers a casualty as it comes under fire from my forces on the hill and is forced to hide once more.
 

The loss of my Scimitar and all the enemy forces revealing themselves rattles me, and I make what may prove to be a very hasty decision. I elect to go with Axis 1; I will assault the East Yard by making a frontal attack with my scout platoon over Tweedledee, with my remaining forces in a support by fire on the hill overlooking the objective. I made this decision because I was becoming concerned with the remaining time available to me and because the BMPs now in position on the reverse slope of Point 228 would make an advance along the main road or an assault on Point 228 too risky. I begin pulling the scouts on the left back to their APCs.
 

Meanwhile, the scouts on the hill are able to identify the burning vehicle behind the toolhouses; it is indeed a BMP-1, knocked out by the rocket strike from my Apache.
 

The first MMG team is spotted making run for it, heading for the more solid cover offered by the berm. Whether this a panicked flight or a deliberate move is unclear.
 

Another BMP-1 is spotted moving for the cover of Point 228, this time from behind the East Yard. Frustratingly, my units are still not in a position to take advantage of his vulnerability.
 

The redeployment of forces from my left to my right is in progress. My scout platoon is far too small to make an attack with anything less than full strength and I want my other two Scimitars on the hill. From now on the Scimitars will all act as one unit. If any other ATGMs take a pop at one, I want the other Scimitars to see it.
 

The redeployment is nearly complete. The Javelins have finally dismounted and are heading for the overwatch positions currently occupied by my scouts. The rest of my force is on the reverse slope of my hill, hidden from the enemy (hopefully). They are very tightly packed though. If Rinaldi has mortars, now would be an excellent time for him to use them . . .
Well, that was an unpleasant few turns. One of my most potent units was taken out at almost no cost to the enemy. Many enemy units revealed themselves, with me unable to actually do anything about it. There are at least two BMP-1s, probably more, now safe and sound on the reverse slope of Point 228, in an excellent position to launch a counterattack. Also, my concerns about the time remaining are actually pretty unfounded. I still have thirty minutes left, over half the time allotted to me. I have committed myself to a course of action unnecessarily early. It's time to slow down, take a few deep breaths, and re-analyse the situation.
My mission has not changed; I still need to occupy the East Yard and inflict casualties on the enemy. I've inflicted a few casualties on the enemy, but nothing decisive yet and obviously the East Yard is yet to be occupied. My picture of the enemy is much clearer now; I know that his rifle platoon is highly likely to be positioned in the East Yard, and I know that he has an MMG platoon and an ATGM platoon scattered about Point 228 and behind the berm. Importantly, a look at the editor gives me some good news; the ATGM platoon is actually made up of only one section, with three teams, as opposed to two sections each of two teams as I had first assumed. I know that he has lost a BMP-1 and has at least two others behind Point 228. If he has his full complement of BMPs, that means that he started with seven; three for the rifle platoon and two each for the weapons platoon and anti-tank platoon. It is still possible that my enemy has mortar support, though I feel that if he had them, he would have used them by now. I still do not know if the crossing points are mined. The terrain remains the same, largely. The most important things of note are the discovery of a partially covered route to the objective and my understanding of the slopes of the hill overlooking the AO. Bar the loss of one of my Scimitars, the situation of my own troops has changed very little; no casualties have been taken thus far and ammunition expenditure has been low. I have thirty minutes left to complete my mission, over half of the initially allotted time.
So, apart from my picture of the enemy and the loss of a light tank, little has changed from the beginning of the match. I haven't really hurt the enemy yet, but I still have a decent amount of time left to finish the mission. I am still going to commit to option one for my plan of attack; it allows for the best concentration of force and is the least vulnerable to a counterattack from those BMPs behind Point 228. For the next few turns, however, I am going to continue trying to shape the battlefield. With my Javelins in overwatch, I should be able to splatter any weapon teams that reveal themselves. I'll periodically unmask my Scimitars and APCs, in an attempt to try and provoke some movement or counterfire from my enemy. When I decide that the enemy has been sufficiently weakened, then I'll make my final assault on the objective.

Sorry, I have to disagree. All I see in this thread is the JasonC fiasco all over again; well meaning constructive criticism (and yes, in that thread quite a bit of nasty stuff was mixed in, but that doesn't diminish from the well-said truths) was openly ignored and he wasn't willing to lay down what he was proselytizing. Not sure what these other boneheads thought they were doing over the last two pages, but people like @BrotherSurplice were on point.  He's had constructive criticism from page 1 and has consistently and has rather arrogantly ignored it all. 

To honour how badly this thread has been derailed, I present a poem:   I met a traveller from an antique thread, Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of ****posting in the BFC forums. . . . Near them, on the sand, Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed; And on the pedestal, these words appear: My name is Oleksander, Ukranian of ukranians; Look on my tactics, ye Mighty, and despair! Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal Thread, boundless and bare The lone and level foxholes stretch far away.”

+1 to this. I would love to see some of the advice in this thread put to good use. I think it would help everyone to see it all play out in a PBEM. I would throw my name into the ring of possible contenders, but unfortunately Olek has seen fit to block me as he feels I have been too critical of him. 
Not only is Rinaldi a fine opponent, but he creates very well done written/video AARs. A battle between him and Olek would prove to be very educational, and would no doubt be well presented for everyone to see and understand. 

This battle already took place and I got to see @Sulomon play it 'live and in real time' - the purchase of Tunguska's is the least of Olek's questionable ADA choices, I'll say that much.

Uh-oh, your power levels are showing!

Hot damn this is exceptional bait. Hats off to you sir. I nearly chomped down, hook and all!
Alas, I am already quite full from taking the OPs bait. Maybe next time 

Did you really just use GFP as a source?

Yes
The almighty dollar. Western MBTs are hard to maintain, require much more involved crew training at the first echelon to keep running and fight the tank well. They're also, let's be frank, designed around armies that have (in theory) the logistical capabilities to keep them in action: which our export clients do not possess on paper or in actuality. Finally: their threats aren't near-peer.
Last time we danced this dance, you were shocked to discover from the Dev team and other people with experience in Western MBTs (myself, Panzersauer, among others) at the low resolution of Russian MBT FLIR, the fact commander's optics are slaved to the gunner on the most numerous chassis, the fact that Western tanks have driver's night sights, 480-1080p FLIR, etc etc. So don't take this the wrong way: but let's not argue from a position of ignorance again on the technological (qualitative) and quantitative advantages we hold.
If you want to pose legitimate criticisms, you should attack the backwards-ass doctrine we're currently untangling ourselves from and the general atrophy of NATO member's armed forces - the Bundeswehr being the most demonstrative. We got the material, but the means remain a question mark.  

Yawn...

Ok, if you're going to post stuff, you should probably have a slight idea as to what it is you are posting. 
The United States has over 4,000 Abrams in its active inventory. The Russians have less than 1,000 operational T-90s. 
The meme of red hordes died a long time ago. Continuing to base all future conflicts on this assumption is both ignorant and embarrassingly wrong. 
The West, specifically the United States, has both a quantitative and qualitative advantage over the Russian military. This has been the case for decades now. 
Please, please let this terrible meme end. 

Russia would be outnumbered, they don't have nearly as much industrial capability, military capability, and manpower.

Good show.....Reverse slopes only really exist when you are stuck on the ground. 

Cheers. No, it still has some munitions left.
 
Yes, that little bit of re-evaluating was quite helpful. Cheers Bil, and yes, I really must take better care of my vehicles. I've done this in other battles too, left my vehicles exposed in one spot for too long. Even the mighty Abrams can be greatly inconvenienced by a lucky Sagger hit.

I bolded the part above... it is a very good idea to slow down and re-analyze, I do this all the time.  Let the situation develop a bit the situation could become a little clearer. 
Excellent use of the available tools in the game to help with the analysis of what you are seeing in-game... nice to see someone taking that lesson and running with it.
Looking forward to the next post.  Keep those vehicles hull down and use terrain masking whenever possible!
Bil

Cool AAR, enjoyable read.....Has the Apache expended all of its ordnance yet? 

Gosh
Fungling
Darn it

I knew that I'd kept that Scimitar exposed for too long. I knew that I hadn't checked the lines of sight of my other units on the hill. I was just thinking 'my Scimitars are pretty vulnerable there, I'd better pull them back soon'. Then whoosh! Crack! Bang! The Troop Leader's Scimitar is a smoking wreck and no one even saw where the missile came from. How very irritating. The only saving grace is that the whole crew escaped with only minor wounds. I think that the missile was launched from a trench on the eastern slope of Point 228, so I spray the offending trench with machinegun fire from my Scimitar and APCs.
 

Shortly after the Scimitar is knocked out, one of my APCs observes a couple of men from a Syrian infantry platoon HQ moving through the East Yard. As expected, this means that Rinaldi has likely emplaced his infantry platoon inside the East Yard.
 

Happier news from my left, however, as the enemy ATGM team under attack from my scouts suffers a casualty.
 

Meanwhile, the two scout teams on my hill are nearly able to get eyes on the objective.
 

More intel comes in, as the first enemy ATGM team is seen withdrawing and an ATGM platoon HQ is spotted. So, Rinaldi does indeed have the whole ATGM platoon in support. There are three other teams out there, somewhere.
 

The first enemy ATGM team unmasks once more and an MMG platoon HQ is spotted. So, along with his infantry platoon, Rinaldi has both an ATGM platoon and an MMG platoon.
 

Amazingly, a BMP-1 zooms by as well, making a beeline for the far side of Point 228. Sadly, my Scimitars are pulled back and my Javelins are not yet in position, so I am unable to punish this risky move.
 

The MMG team spotted earlier suffers a casualty as it comes under fire from my forces on the hill and is forced to hide once more.
 

The loss of my Scimitar and all the enemy forces revealing themselves rattles me, and I make what may prove to be a very hasty decision. I elect to go with Axis 1; I will assault the East Yard by making a frontal attack with my scout platoon over Tweedledee, with my remaining forces in a support by fire on the hill overlooking the objective. I made this decision because I was becoming concerned with the remaining time available to me and because the BMPs now in position on the reverse slope of Point 228 would make an advance along the main road or an assault on Point 228 too risky. I begin pulling the scouts on the left back to their APCs.
 

Meanwhile, the scouts on the hill are able to identify the burning vehicle behind the toolhouses; it is indeed a BMP-1, knocked out by the rocket strike from my Apache.
 

The first MMG team is spotted making run for it, heading for the more solid cover offered by the berm. Whether this a panicked flight or a deliberate move is unclear.
 

Another BMP-1 is spotted moving for the cover of Point 228, this time from behind the East Yard. Frustratingly, my units are still not in a position to take advantage of his vulnerability.
 

The redeployment of forces from my left to my right is in progress. My scout platoon is far too small to make an attack with anything less than full strength and I want my other two Scimitars on the hill. From now on the Scimitars will all act as one unit. If any other ATGMs take a pop at one, I want the other Scimitars to see it.
 

The redeployment is nearly complete. The Javelins have finally dismounted and are heading for the overwatch positions currently occupied by my scouts. The rest of my force is on the reverse slope of my hill, hidden from the enemy (hopefully). They are very tightly packed though. If Rinaldi has mortars, now would be an excellent time for him to use them . . .
Well, that was an unpleasant few turns. One of my most potent units was taken out at almost no cost to the enemy. Many enemy units revealed themselves, with me unable to actually do anything about it. There are at least two BMP-1s, probably more, now safe and sound on the reverse slope of Point 228, in an excellent position to launch a counterattack. Also, my concerns about the time remaining are actually pretty unfounded. I still have thirty minutes left, over half the time allotted to me. I have committed myself to a course of action unnecessarily early. It's time to slow down, take a few deep breaths, and re-analyse the situation.
My mission has not changed; I still need to occupy the East Yard and inflict casualties on the enemy. I've inflicted a few casualties on the enemy, but nothing decisive yet and obviously the East Yard is yet to be occupied. My picture of the enemy is much clearer now; I know that his rifle platoon is highly likely to be positioned in the East Yard, and I know that he has an MMG platoon and an ATGM platoon scattered about Point 228 and behind the berm. Importantly, a look at the editor gives me some good news; the ATGM platoon is actually made up of only one section, with three teams, as opposed to two sections each of two teams as I had first assumed. I know that he has lost a BMP-1 and has at least two others behind Point 228. If he has his full complement of BMPs, that means that he started with seven; three for the rifle platoon and two each for the weapons platoon and anti-tank platoon. It is still possible that my enemy has mortar support, though I feel that if he had them, he would have used them by now. I still do not know if the crossing points are mined. The terrain remains the same, largely. The most important things of note are the discovery of a partially covered route to the objective and my understanding of the slopes of the hill overlooking the AO. Bar the loss of one of my Scimitars, the situation of my own troops has changed very little; no casualties have been taken thus far and ammunition expenditure has been low. I have thirty minutes left to complete my mission, over half of the initially allotted time.
So, apart from my picture of the enemy and the loss of a light tank, little has changed from the beginning of the match. I haven't really hurt the enemy yet, but I still have a decent amount of time left to finish the mission. I am still going to commit to option one for my plan of attack; it allows for the best concentration of force and is the least vulnerable to a counterattack from those BMPs behind Point 228. For the next few turns, however, I am going to continue trying to shape the battlefield. With my Javelins in overwatch, I should be able to splatter any weapon teams that reveal themselves. I'll periodically unmask my Scimitars and APCs, in an attempt to try and provoke some movement or counterfire from my enemy. When I decide that the enemy has been sufficiently weakened, then I'll make my final assault on the objective.

Well in which case you'll be able to buy me a pint in the nearish future as I will be living not that far away from you.

Your kidding right?
Suggest you start with researching Hitler's attitude to Expressionism, Cubism, Dadaism, Fauvism, futurism or objective realism. van Gogh, Matisse, Kandinsky, Picasso and Cezanne - then look at Hitller's own paintings to understand who contributed more to Western Culture.
Read up on how revisionist David Irving lost his Holocaust libel case.
And finish with watching film from liberated concentration camps at the close of the war if you think poor Nazis are misunderstood.
 

I think it would be best if we could keep this forum confined to CM and WW2 history in general. But, when certain Arrogant (sic) people start spouting about "refugees" then their rants cannot be left unopposed. 
My granddad was an "economic migrant" or refugee as modern parlance would have it. He saw his mates being killed in 1940 on the road back to Dunkirk, then went through the Western Desert, and Normandy, and on to Hamburg. I won't use the words of Roy Keane on a forum that might attract younger readers, but I suggest that "Arrogant" (sic) follows his advice. 

Yes the refugees stole all of the money from the Bundeswehr in the span of 4-5 years, this definitely isn't part of a chronic problem that's existed for far longer then that. It must be nice to be able to scapegoat one decision as the reason for all of a country's failings. It certainly has nothing to do with Germany's military history and all that that entails.

Yeah we have the same problem. We allowed thousands of Angles, Saxons, and Jutes into this country.

The Bundeswehr is in terrible shape. It was only a couple of years ago that it came out that they could barely get Panzergrenadierbataillon 371 up to its paper strength even when stripping the rest of the army for equipment.
https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article144983577/Muessen-uns-fragen-ob-wir-im-Ernstfall-abwehrfaehig-sind.html
In a normal army and with a regular unit, this wouldn't really be a big deal. No one is able to fully meet their paper allocations anyway in most units. When they do get up to paper strength, it's by stripping parts and materiel from other battalions or brigades.
But this is supposed to be Germany's contribution to the NATO VHRJTF, effectively Germany's highest readiness unit. It's supposed to be as well equipped as the Bundeswehr can get. Yet they can barely keep their vehicles running and weapons shooting. It isn't much of a leap to assume that the rest of the Bundeswehr is in similar dire straits with regards to equipment availability.
The state of the German military is a trainwreck, even the Germans acknowledge it and have been wringing their hands over it for years, but no one knows where to find the money to pay for the things the Bundeswehr need to do their jobs.
 

Of course if you lose this battle you will have to resit this year's semester
And ... as I've said before ... this is a toughie - inspired by your AAR I played it again two weeks ago against the AI and came second but still enjoyed playing it.
Feel free to PM me about assistance with your degree by the way - I am not a graduate but have spent a fair whack of time waving guns at people in both cold and hot places since 1984 with the British and Australian armies.

Oh don't worry, I wasn't trying to sound gloomy, I was just trying to be realistic about how my degree is directly useful. I'm well aware of the general utility of a university degree. Even if it were useless, I'd still have no regrets, as I've had a great time studying for it.