BrotherSurplice

I think the late variant Shermans still had the edge, but much less of one than vs. the T-34/76. Having a two-man turret eliminates the earlier T-34s from being considered in the running IMO.
Over the years I've gone from thinking the Germans had the best tanks, to the T-34, to the realization that the much-maligned Sherman was the best tank by a pretty wide margin. By "best" I mean operationally and strategically. Ease of production, reliability, parts standardization and supply, ease of transport (could and did go anywhere by whatever), adaptability and ability to upgrade, crew situational awareness and comm equipment, ergonomics and crew fatigue, ease of bail-out and ability to survive (astonishingly low fatality rates compared to the other tanks of the war across the board), etc. The T-34 K/D ratios were appallingly bad and, unlike the Sherman where on average four guys survived to apply lessons learned, you had just one for the T-34.
The Sherman was truly a war-winning tank in every sense of the term. Sure, it might be in trouble in certain tactical situations vs. certain opponents, but those don't outweigh its strengths and performance in macro.

I was guessing ICM, because I can't imagine a 70s-80s war scenario where the submunitions aren't being flung around like candy to delete tank formations.

Oh boo-hoo. This kind of moral virtue signalling crap is exactly that, and I stand by my statement. Anyone who has devoted the past 20 years of their lives (and yes, there are some) to trash a game online at every possible chance they get across every possible medium is mentally disturbed.
I also love that you have conflated what I said to be a personal attack against you and anyone else that has ever criticized the game. Guess I just absolutely destroyed myself then! Consider me slayed.

Yup. Unfortunately there are a handful of mentally unstable/disturbed people out there who have literally dedicated their lives to trashing BFC and Combat Mission at every turn. The reasons vary, but most of it boils down to stupid people being mad that they were matter of factly told off instead of being coddled and treated specially. This disenfranchised mob tends to conglomerate, and you get the hate groups/groupthink you are seeing. 
This is one of the main reasons I was always against CM moving to Steam. Granted, my logic is not the most sound, and it is a personal opinion, but I just didn't want these people having another avenue to complain about the same old things. Now that CM is on Steam though, and the overhead is being taken care of by Slitherine, I do not think its a bad thing for BFC. The outrage mob will scream about the game the next few days, but it won't last. Give it a week or two and you'll start to see more sane opinions come forward as the dust settles. The misinformation, such as spotting being a diceroll, certainly annoys me in particular, but that's the internet for you. 
Its also important to point out that with CM published on Steam by Slitherine, there isn't anything to worry about. They will handle the community outreach on Steam as well as advertising. If, at the end of the day CM doesn't perform on Steam, then it won't be the fault of BFC, or even Slitherine for that matter. And we are a very long ways off from drawing any drastic conclusions like that. 

I'm not sure you could say London represented anything, it is probably the most awful City i have visited in the World, yet it still attracts people like moths. No idea why, once outside the tourist spots it is just a the Have or Have not place. 

London is not particularly representative of the rest of the UK.  Many of the smaller cities offer a quality of life that Londoners can only dream about.  Example: Edinburgh

In the "uk". When you were "a school". Ah, that sums up life in Murdoch's Dictatorship of the Semi-Literate.

I agree, as an average consumer myself, I can't wait to leverage Steam's public platform for the benefit of the community and to provide honest feedback in good faith.

A few additional. 
Indirect fire Hide in a building, direct fire Hide behind a building.
Pin with MGs.  Kill with HE
What teams/vehicles have overwatch for the moving teams/vehicles.
Disembark at least one terrain feature away from OpFor.
Supporting fire call time is X minutes.  Where am I likely to need supporting fires in X minutes. 
Pay attention to team/vehicle suppression meters. 
What is X Platoon's contingency if it gets hit by indirect fire.  
Maintain C2.
Maintain a reserve. 
Don’t be in a hurry to die.

See title.
Anyone else got simple advice for new players?
Here's a short list of mine:
Do not get shot at. Shooting makes you easier to see. Cover arcs are not magic. Maybe allow your troops to wait a minute before flogging them onto their objectives. Don't call in that airstrike. No seriously, don't. It'll hit your own guys. It doesn't matter how thick your armor is. You don't assault a position by running straight into it. Use more ammo, you don't get bonus points for frugality. Limit your leaders exposure. Split your squads. Three guys in one action spot are not as vulnerable as six. Maybe we can make a community contributed list Murphy's Laws of Combat Mission.
At the very least, let's have a fun thread for once.

You'll have to excuse the double post here, but I feel compelled to share this.
I think some of the misconception about what is happening in the game is coming from the fact that the TacAI always aims for center mass. The real world is not like World of Tanks or War Thunder, where shot placement on specific 2in by 2in spots on a tank has been developed into some kind of gamer science. In reality, all gunnery (small arms, AT, tank, autocannon, missile, etc) is based on the principle of always aiming for center mass. This is as true today as it was back in 1944/42/insert warfare date here. The modern training doctrine, ie standard gunnery in an Abrams tank, it to ALWAYS laze a target at center mass, and then immediately fire. This is called 'lase and blaze' by gunners. There are many reasons to do it this way, but the most important two are 1) if you do not lase the center mass of the target, you can get a bad laser return, which gives you an incorrect range to target, meaning your shot will miss. And 2) because even in an M1A2 SEP Abrams tank, which has a gunner and tank commander sight that is 1080p resolution with a x50 zoom, it is still hard to pick out individual parts on a tank in combat conditions. 
To illustrate this, here is a video of an actual Abrams on a training range. You can see the thermal sights they are using, the targets and everything. The gunner does not look for a specific part of the target to shoot at, he fires center mass after a quick and successful lase:
 (Btw the comments on this video are pretty hilarious)
This second video shows an actual battle position (BP) engagement on a training range. Note that the tank pulls up into the firing position, scans for and engages targets (fires twice) and then reverses. All in the span of 20 seconds. This is irregardless of return fire in a real life combat situation. Tanks train to constantly reverse out of and advance into firing positions to reduce the chance of them being shot at at all:
In summary: tanks always fire at center mass. Even in good hulldown, tanks still reverse out of line of sight to prevent themselves being shot at at all, and to greatly reduce the chances of them being ranged in on/hit if they are engaged. 
Edit: Ninja'd again, by @Saint_Fuller who makes an excellent point which my post helps to illustrate as well. 

Tank gunners aim center mass because that is the only practical option.

Aiming for specific parts of the tank is some gamey **** straight out of some arcade tank "sim" game like War Thunder, where distances are compressed hilariously and engagement ranges are consequently stupidly short.
 
This is a modern thermal gunsight. That object at 0:12 that gets shot at? That's a T-55, skylined, in the open, on a hill, under 12x magnification.

Good luck finding let alone hitting comparatively tiny "weak spots" when the reticle is the same size as the entire damn target, with your WW2 daylight optics and fire control methods amounting to "estimate the range and then adjust by observing fall of shot".

This test is flawed. If you leave your tank either out in the open or in a hulldown position after it has been spotted to just keep getting shot at, of course it is eventually going to take damage/be destroyed. And the turret being more vulnerable than the hull is a product of real life. BFC did not make the hull armor on the panther thicker than the turret, the actual Germans did. In the modern titles tanks tend to have turret armor that is better than the hull, because that is how most modern battle tanks are designed. 
No one, and I mean no one, in a competent military is taught to stay in one place after the shooting has started, regardless of return fire. BP engagements are mobile. Tanks will come up to the hulldown position, fire a round or two, and then reverse back into cover. Rinse and repeat. Tank fighting positions are specifically designed for this. They have a built in platform to allow the tanks to reverse into cover. This principle is so fundamental that they teach engineers who drive the bulldozers who dig the fighting positions how to do this during the intro course. If you could put an M1A2 Abrams in a hulldown position and let any WWII AT vehicle fire at it indefinitely, it would likely kill the Abrams. Law of averages wins in the end.
Hell, there are real world examples of this principle too. Iraqi tanks in Desert Storm were dug in but did not move at all, nor were their fighting positions designed to allow them to move. They were supposed to stay in place, and they died very quickly, despite being in hulldown positions, because they just sat there. 
There are plenty of AARs on this forum, some even by myself, that show hulldown being effective. But I won't belabor this post with anecdotal evidence. Point is, it doesn't matter what tank/vehicle/asset you have. If you leave it in place and expect it to survive everything thrown at it, you're going to have a bad day. 
@Pete Wenman's test concurs what I and others I play CM with/against see all the time in game. I guess the moral of the story is, if you perceive hulldown to be bad, then stay in the open. 
Edit: Ninja'd by @Rinaldi

The point of hull down is that it forms a battle position. Its only one part of the formula of breaking an enemy targeting solution. The other one is time. Why should we take anything away from a 'test' that doesn't mimic a battlefield condition where a competent player repositions a tank in BP frequently? I also enjoy the casual ignoring of @Pete Wenman's results. It's okay Pete, the reasonable people see you. 

Because I'm bored, I've played around with this.
My set up
Two Panthers firing under AI control
Two Sherman fly, under my control, as targets. One in open ground, immediately behind a strip of light wood (no trees) the second hulldown behind a 2m high berm, which again has a strip of light wood on its top.
Range just over 1500m
I've run this test 5 times so far, which is nowhere near enough for a real analysis, but I'm getting a feel for the results.
Rather than worrying about hits and locations I'm counting AP shells fired in order to destroy the target,
                      AP Shells fired to destroy target
Try                        OG                                HD
1                            3                                    6
2                            5                                    9
3                            3                                   14
4                            2                                    6
5                            4                                    8    
So it took 17 shots to kill the five Firefly in open ground, against 43 to kill the five hull down tanks.
That's an average of one open ground kill every 3.4 shots, against 8.6 shots for the hull down target, and so on these numbers it takes over twice as many shots to kill a hulldown target than one in open ground.
Works for me, but you mileage may vary
P
 

Someone here is failing to understand, that's for sure LMAO

This is by far the stupidest thing I've read on the forums in a goddamned long time. 

I'll down a whole glass. Cheers.

Oh look yet another 'hulldown is actually counter intuitive'  - this silliness is right up there with 'maps are too small'

 
Everyone. Take. A. Shot.

Well considering every military in history has trained to aim for center of mass, this seems like the nitpick of all nitpicks. If anything, its an indication the game is behaving correctly. Absurd. Aim does not get magically thrown off target just by firing. This is why recoil mechanisms exist. And if we are going to nitpick and say "the ground is shifting" well as it turns out militaries are actually competent and train for this eventuality. Weapons crews, gun crews, tank crews, etc all take this into account and make micro adjustments while firing to ensure they are compensating for these small variables. Though I know some here will refuse to accept it, I think it is clear that the game accurately models a crews overall competence depending on its veterancy level, and that is more than enough to cover this "issue." Yes, and the sky is blue. Seriously, what is the point? This is known in the real world, yet there is not a single military out there that advocates for fighting tanks out in the open opposed to hull down positions. Again, it turns out that militaries are pretty competent when it comes to this stuff. Yeah, the driver can't see anything in a hull down position. That's why the job of spotting targets is the commander and gunners job, the two people with the best optics that can see over the hull down cover.  Not true. Spotting is 1:1. If less of a vehicle is visible it is harder to spot. There are tons of anecdotal examples of this on these forums alone, people complaining that their tank can't see through some bush or through some smoke or dust, etc. The more obscured from view a vehicle is, the harder it is to spot initially.  The obvious answer is stop getting your tanks shot at. Regardless of what the tank is or what is shooting at it, it is never a good thing to be directly engaged. Again, this is a nitpick. Soft systems on the outside of a tank are more vulnerable than the best armored parts of the tank. This isn't rocket science. And we all know that if BFC were to introduce some form of "center mass deviation" where there was some random chance applied to shots to be off their aimpoints to varying degrees, you would likely be the first to start complaining about how unrealistic that is because ballistics are a well known and quantifiable science.  Mantlets are a historical weakspot on tanks, both in WWII and the modern era. Anywhere you have a gap or disconnect between otherwise solid parts is going to create structural weakness.  This is objectively false. I already know the thread where this hysterical myth first gained infamy, and I don't feel the need to restate the obvious. If you think standing in the open is more conducive to your own survival, then more power to you.
Finally, its a game. It simulates combat pretty damn well. And its fun too. No game is perfect. No sim is perfect. Hell, some argue reality isn't perfect. If you can't get over that, and you really think the game is so terribly flawed in all these micro ways that add up to ruin the game, then just don't play it. Life is short. I'm sure there are better things out there than spending years constantly trying to prove the already known quantity that nothing is perfect. 

Something of a long break between entries, but oh well, let's take a peek at the next mission.


The mission is a little more sedate than the last one. The scout platoon of TF Thunder has encountered resistance from dug-in enemy infantry whilst reconnoitring along a small valley through which runs an alternate route of advance, Route Echo. Two rifle platoons from A Company have been appointed to clear the enemy out. We must sweep the enemy off the high ground along the valley and then regroup at the far end. I have an hour to complete my objectives.
The enemy is known to be light infantry, dug in with trenches and bunkers. The size of their force is unknown, as is their quality. This close to the border, it is possible that they are reservists. Given the size of the AO, we may be facing a company, possibly reinforced. No armour is known to be in the area.

The valley runs south-east to north-west, Route Echo running along the valley floor. The AO is roughly 1km x 1km, covered in a thick haze.


As you can see, to the north-east and south-west the ground rises sharply, the high ground dominating the valley floor.

The valley floor is almost pancake-flat, with a small rise covering the start line of my force. At the north-west end, the ground begins to drop, with some form of earthen works in the low ground.

My force consists of the scout platoon, made up of three scout teams and their platoon leader, all mounted in Recon Strykers. In ten minutes the detachment from A Company will arrive on the field, made up of two rifle platoons, along with the company MGS platoon. A two-gun section of 155mm howitzers is initially on call for fire support, with a section of 120mm mortars due to be available in ten minutes. Due to the haze, drone or air support is impossible.
This looks to be an interesting battle. The haze could be a problem, but the Stryker recon vehicles have excellent IR optics and the Syrians . . . well, do not. I think the best thing to do would be to climb the sides of the valley from my start line, gently feeling my way forward. As the briefing suggests, bunkers can be dealt with through precision artillery fire and Javelins. As for the assault on the enemy positions, I am unsure at this point whether I should deal with them sequentially, using one platoon at a time on both sides of the valley, or if I should make a simultaneous attack on both sides of the valley. Or I could do something very different, concentrating both platoons on one side of the valley. But I'm getting ahead of myself. First the reconnaissance, then decide on the assault plan. Stay tuned!

Well, it took longer than expected to put this together, but better late than never, right?

My basic plan at this stage is to initially make an attack by fire from the berm, driving them up the ramps into positions where they will be hull down and able to engage the enemy static tanks and fortifications. Meanwhile, the breach team will move to the berm opening and begin looking for mines. 1st Platoon of A Company will be first through the breach.

My Fire Support Team calls in the Shadow UAV. Hopefully, this will enable us to ID enemy tanks and strongpoints before my tanks go up the berm. Even against an inferior force, every advantage helps.

Worryingly, one of my tanks bogs down in the sand. Fortunately, it eventually frees itself. The Strykers are not faring any better, the soft sand reducing their speed.

Already my UAV bears fruit, spotting two static tanks and enemy infantry in their trenches.

3rd tank of 1st Platoon makes a daring dash across the berm opening, beelining for the furthermost berm ramp.

The MGS platoon begins moving up. I intend to use them to shoot up the fort through the berm opening as I make my attack.

The UAV spots some destroyed bunker tanks, victims of the aerial campaign.

Shifting its attention to the enemy positions straddling the highway, a few minutes of observation reveals enemy bunkers.

3rd Platoon of A Company arrives, and I order them to join the queue of vehicles forming up behind the breach. It's time for the tanks to go over the top.




The carnage is wonderful to behold. The tanks of 1st Platoon methodically engage and destroy the tanks and bunkers that they spot.

Astoundingly, enemy troops are already fleeing into the desert.

The breach team moves up, sniffing for mines.

My tanks are having trouble spotting the static tanks in their battle positions, so I call in precision fire missions from my artillery to do the job instead.


With the tanks and bunkers that are spotted being destroyed, my tanks now engage the enemy infantry in their trenches, bombarding them with HE and hosing them down with their co-axial machine guns.





What I expected soon transpires: Syrian T-55s (mobile ones) are spotted moving up at the far end of the wadi. However, they fail to make use of the concealment offered by the wadi and are quickly knocked out by the tanks on the berm.


To try and spot the remaining enemy static tanks, I unbutton my tanks. This swiftly draws a hail of machine gun fire from the trenches, and two heavy DShK machine guns also open up from the watchtowers of the fort. I immediately task one tank each to the offending HMGs.

2nd Platoon of A Company arrives, along with the last of my artillery support.


More T-55s trickle along the wadi, meeting the same fate as their comrades. One almost makes it to the trenches.

Almost.


Precision 155mm rounds come in, frustratingly landing in a perfect straddle around the southernmost static tank. Meanwhile, Syrian troops continue to flee in twos and threes into the desert.

I call a harassing fire from the 155s down on the trenches either side of the highway, keeping the pressure on.

My precision rounds are finally able to hit something, achieving a perfect double tap on one of the static tanks.

At long last, the breach team spots a patch of mines and begins clearing.

Yet more T-55s filter in and are wiped out.

An entire tank company now lies in twisted, burning ruins.




While this is going on, Syrians continue to flee their trenches in ones and twos, which unfortunately sends them out of the frying pan and into the fire

The next precision shoot once again performs a perfect straddle of the southernmost static tank. I need to kill this tank, and my tanks are seemingly unable to spot it.

The patch of mines is partially cleared.


Airburst rounds begin to burst over the Syrian trenches, for now coming in at a slow, steady pace. Just enough to keep the infantry that hasn't already fled nice and rattled.

The last of my precision rounds are once again defeated by this blasted (or rather, un-blasted) static tank. I have no choice now but to lead the assault with my tanks, instead of leaving them on the berm as I had previously planned. The tanks will go through the breach first, as I am confident that they will be able to safely engage any static enemy tanks that decide to open fire. The Strykers will follow shortly after and make their assault on the fort.

More intact static tanks lie in wait on the north side of the fort too, their deep fighting positions allowing them to escape the ire of my Abrams.

Moving up to the berm opening, 3rd tank spots one of the dug-in tanks and engages it.

As the tanks line up, the MGS' move into position. Bunching up like this dangerous, but I'm confident that for now, we are safe.



Meanwhile, I am putting my fire plan into action. I will be pounding the fort with two 155mm sections, one section placing its fire across the whole fort complex and the second section targeting the barracks building. Judging from the amount of Syrians that I've seen fleeing into the desert, I am confident that there aren't many men left in the trenches astride the highway. Consequently, those trenches will only receive fire from the remaining 155mm section. When my units can get eyes on, I will be hitting the trenches north of the fort with the 120mm mortars.



155mm shells rain on the fort and trenches.


Syrian conscripts flee the terrifying barrage and are mown down.

The time has come, 1st Platoon of B Company inching their way through the minefield.

Amazingly, no mines are set off and the tanks are safely through.

As the tanks spread out and push towards the trenches, the breach team makes one last effort to spot more mines.

The fort continues to suffer.

There is a nearly catastrophic friendly fire incident, as an MGS spots enemy infantry and in his zeal, shoots an Abrams in the back. Luckily, it only fires a HE shell and the damage to the Abrams is minor.

It is now 1st Platoon of A Company's turn to risk the minefield. Two Strykers manage to squeeze through . . .



While all of this is going on, the 120mm battalion mortars pepper the trenches north of the fort. Chaos ensues as Syrians flee the field and are mown down.

The other half of 1st Platoon traverse the minefield safely.


Their fields of fire now safely clear, the MGS platoon starts firing on the fort HQ.


The two Abrams attacking down the highway continue to hunt for the southern static enemy tank, inching ever closer. The other two Abrams take up position in front of the fort HQ, watching the northern trenches just in case any of the other static tanks try to be heroic.


1st Platoon begins their assault on the fort. I have decided that I do not want to push my luck with the minefield any more. Thus, I will assault the fort with only 1st Platoon. This is risky, but throughout the battle, the enemy troops have been fleeing at the slightest provocation. I judge that the enemy is severely rattled. As long as I handle 1st Platoon carefully, they should be able to take the fort.

At long last, the Abrams spot the dug-in enemy tank, and it is obliterated at virtually point-blank range.

The commander and loader unbutton and mow down more fleeing Syrians.

Fireteams of 1st Platoon hurl themselves forward, as the rest of the platoon lay down suppressive fire on suspected enemy positions. Fire from enemy RPG and machine gun teams within the fort is taken as the fireteams close with the trenches.


The rest of the platoon closes in.


The platoon occupies the trenches, trampling over mangled corpse piles that are all that remains of the previous occupants.



The tanks close in and begin blazing away with their machine guns.

A DShK HMG in the middle of the fort tries to take a crack at one of my tank commanders but is quickly taken out.

A Syrian squad attempts to flee and is swiftly cut to pieces.


3rd Squad of 1st Platoon tries to flank around through a hole blasted in the fortress wall, but are stopped by a squad of Syrians hunkered down in the fort HQ. However, the return fire of my troops is effective and the Syrians either run or surrender.



A fireteam from 2nd Squad dashes through the gate into the fort, making for one of the gatehouses, taking heavy fire all the way. A Syrian team in the gatehouse tries to spring a point-blank ambush but are immediately gunned down by the intrepid team. The team begin to take heavy fire from all angles and are pinned down.

The question of how to save this fireteam is swiftly answered, as the Syrians surrender. I am rewarded with a total victory! Despite some mistakes and missteps, this is probably the best outcome that I could have wished for, with no casualties or vehicle losses whatsoever.
There are actually a surprising amount of Syrian units still left in the field, with several teams in the fort and a few left in the northern trenches. Some of the static tanks have also survived the carnage, their deep fighting positions shielding them from the ire of the Abrams on the berm. However, this cuts both ways as their contribution to the battle was . . . minimal, to say the least. Not a single enemy tank, static or otherwise, did so much as fire a shot throughout the entire battle. But then, I can't say that I didn't expect that. The optics of the T-54/T-55 series aren't fantastic at the best of times, and at night, against the most modern, most powerful main battle tanks in the world? The outcome never really was in doubt.
So, as mentioned this is the absolute best outcome that I could possibly have got. However, some mistakes were made. For starters, I failed to adequately sweep the minefield. Fortuna was kind to me in this instance, and the few vehicles that I risked got through unscathed. But the minefield prevented the ingress of my remaining Stryker platoons. If the enemy in the fort had been less badly shaken, the one platoon that did go through would likely have had a very bad time of it. Unfortunately there was very little I could actually do about this, as my breach team were sitting on the minefield for virtually the entire battle, and still only managed to spot one measly patch of mines.
Secondly, the timing of my fire support left something to be desired. Ideally, my men should have been dismounting from their Strykers just as the last shells were impacting the fort and trenches. However, due to the slow passage through the minefield, the barrage ended long before that. This accounts for the surprisingly stiff resistance that I received from the Syrians still inside the fort.
I failed to keep track of the enemy infantry. What I should have done was keep a tally of the enemy infantry fleeing the trenches and spotted within the fort. This way, I would have known that the trenches astride the highway were unoccupied when the time came to make my assault, and the 155mm battery could have been used elsewhere. I also would have had a decent estimate of enemy troops within the fort itself, as opposed to the big fat question mark that was the answer to that question as I closed in.
Lastly, timing in general. I had one hour with which to complete this mission, and I used up every minute. I spent too long trying to clear the minefield, spent too long sitting on the berm shooting up fleeing Syrians and spent too long waiting for fire support to come in. The end result was that my final assault was made with dangerous haste. I'm not sure what I could have done to improve this, beyond simply more experience with the game and more thorough planning.
I'll try to keep some of these lessons in mind as I go forward. For now though, on to mission two! Stay tuned!

Something of a long break between entries, but oh well, let's take a peek at the next mission.


The mission is a little more sedate than the last one. The scout platoon of TF Thunder has encountered resistance from dug-in enemy infantry whilst reconnoitring along a small valley through which runs an alternate route of advance, Route Echo. Two rifle platoons from A Company have been appointed to clear the enemy out. We must sweep the enemy off the high ground along the valley and then regroup at the far end. I have an hour to complete my objectives.
The enemy is known to be light infantry, dug in with trenches and bunkers. The size of their force is unknown, as is their quality. This close to the border, it is possible that they are reservists. Given the size of the AO, we may be facing a company, possibly reinforced. No armour is known to be in the area.

The valley runs south-east to north-west, Route Echo running along the valley floor. The AO is roughly 1km x 1km, covered in a thick haze.


As you can see, to the north-east and south-west the ground rises sharply, the high ground dominating the valley floor.

The valley floor is almost pancake-flat, with a small rise covering the start line of my force. At the north-west end, the ground begins to drop, with some form of earthen works in the low ground.

My force consists of the scout platoon, made up of three scout teams and their platoon leader, all mounted in Recon Strykers. In ten minutes the detachment from A Company will arrive on the field, made up of two rifle platoons, along with the company MGS platoon. A two-gun section of 155mm howitzers is initially on call for fire support, with a section of 120mm mortars due to be available in ten minutes. Due to the haze, drone or air support is impossible.
This looks to be an interesting battle. The haze could be a problem, but the Stryker recon vehicles have excellent IR optics and the Syrians . . . well, do not. I think the best thing to do would be to climb the sides of the valley from my start line, gently feeling my way forward. As the briefing suggests, bunkers can be dealt with through precision artillery fire and Javelins. As for the assault on the enemy positions, I am unsure at this point whether I should deal with them sequentially, using one platoon at a time on both sides of the valley, or if I should make a simultaneous attack on both sides of the valley. Or I could do something very different, concentrating both platoons on one side of the valley. But I'm getting ahead of myself. First the reconnaissance, then decide on the assault plan. Stay tuned!

Well, it took longer than expected to put this together, but better late than never, right?

My basic plan at this stage is to initially make an attack by fire from the berm, driving them up the ramps into positions where they will be hull down and able to engage the enemy static tanks and fortifications. Meanwhile, the breach team will move to the berm opening and begin looking for mines. 1st Platoon of A Company will be first through the breach.

My Fire Support Team calls in the Shadow UAV. Hopefully, this will enable us to ID enemy tanks and strongpoints before my tanks go up the berm. Even against an inferior force, every advantage helps.

Worryingly, one of my tanks bogs down in the sand. Fortunately, it eventually frees itself. The Strykers are not faring any better, the soft sand reducing their speed.

Already my UAV bears fruit, spotting two static tanks and enemy infantry in their trenches.

3rd tank of 1st Platoon makes a daring dash across the berm opening, beelining for the furthermost berm ramp.

The MGS platoon begins moving up. I intend to use them to shoot up the fort through the berm opening as I make my attack.

The UAV spots some destroyed bunker tanks, victims of the aerial campaign.

Shifting its attention to the enemy positions straddling the highway, a few minutes of observation reveals enemy bunkers.

3rd Platoon of A Company arrives, and I order them to join the queue of vehicles forming up behind the breach. It's time for the tanks to go over the top.




The carnage is wonderful to behold. The tanks of 1st Platoon methodically engage and destroy the tanks and bunkers that they spot.

Astoundingly, enemy troops are already fleeing into the desert.

The breach team moves up, sniffing for mines.

My tanks are having trouble spotting the static tanks in their battle positions, so I call in precision fire missions from my artillery to do the job instead.


With the tanks and bunkers that are spotted being destroyed, my tanks now engage the enemy infantry in their trenches, bombarding them with HE and hosing them down with their co-axial machine guns.





What I expected soon transpires: Syrian T-55s (mobile ones) are spotted moving up at the far end of the wadi. However, they fail to make use of the concealment offered by the wadi and are quickly knocked out by the tanks on the berm.


To try and spot the remaining enemy static tanks, I unbutton my tanks. This swiftly draws a hail of machine gun fire from the trenches, and two heavy DShK machine guns also open up from the watchtowers of the fort. I immediately task one tank each to the offending HMGs.

2nd Platoon of A Company arrives, along with the last of my artillery support.


More T-55s trickle along the wadi, meeting the same fate as their comrades. One almost makes it to the trenches.

Almost.


Precision 155mm rounds come in, frustratingly landing in a perfect straddle around the southernmost static tank. Meanwhile, Syrian troops continue to flee in twos and threes into the desert.

I call a harassing fire from the 155s down on the trenches either side of the highway, keeping the pressure on.

My precision rounds are finally able to hit something, achieving a perfect double tap on one of the static tanks.

At long last, the breach team spots a patch of mines and begins clearing.

Yet more T-55s filter in and are wiped out.

An entire tank company now lies in twisted, burning ruins.




While this is going on, Syrians continue to flee their trenches in ones and twos, which unfortunately sends them out of the frying pan and into the fire

The next precision shoot once again performs a perfect straddle of the southernmost static tank. I need to kill this tank, and my tanks are seemingly unable to spot it.

The patch of mines is partially cleared.


Airburst rounds begin to burst over the Syrian trenches, for now coming in at a slow, steady pace. Just enough to keep the infantry that hasn't already fled nice and rattled.

The last of my precision rounds are once again defeated by this blasted (or rather, un-blasted) static tank. I have no choice now but to lead the assault with my tanks, instead of leaving them on the berm as I had previously planned. The tanks will go through the breach first, as I am confident that they will be able to safely engage any static enemy tanks that decide to open fire. The Strykers will follow shortly after and make their assault on the fort.

More intact static tanks lie in wait on the north side of the fort too, their deep fighting positions allowing them to escape the ire of my Abrams.

Moving up to the berm opening, 3rd tank spots one of the dug-in tanks and engages it.

As the tanks line up, the MGS' move into position. Bunching up like this dangerous, but I'm confident that for now, we are safe.



Meanwhile, I am putting my fire plan into action. I will be pounding the fort with two 155mm sections, one section placing its fire across the whole fort complex and the second section targeting the barracks building. Judging from the amount of Syrians that I've seen fleeing into the desert, I am confident that there aren't many men left in the trenches astride the highway. Consequently, those trenches will only receive fire from the remaining 155mm section. When my units can get eyes on, I will be hitting the trenches north of the fort with the 120mm mortars.



155mm shells rain on the fort and trenches.


Syrian conscripts flee the terrifying barrage and are mown down.

The time has come, 1st Platoon of B Company inching their way through the minefield.

Amazingly, no mines are set off and the tanks are safely through.

As the tanks spread out and push towards the trenches, the breach team makes one last effort to spot more mines.

The fort continues to suffer.

There is a nearly catastrophic friendly fire incident, as an MGS spots enemy infantry and in his zeal, shoots an Abrams in the back. Luckily, it only fires a HE shell and the damage to the Abrams is minor.

It is now 1st Platoon of A Company's turn to risk the minefield. Two Strykers manage to squeeze through . . .



While all of this is going on, the 120mm battalion mortars pepper the trenches north of the fort. Chaos ensues as Syrians flee the field and are mown down.

The other half of 1st Platoon traverse the minefield safely.


Their fields of fire now safely clear, the MGS platoon starts firing on the fort HQ.


The two Abrams attacking down the highway continue to hunt for the southern static enemy tank, inching ever closer. The other two Abrams take up position in front of the fort HQ, watching the northern trenches just in case any of the other static tanks try to be heroic.


1st Platoon begins their assault on the fort. I have decided that I do not want to push my luck with the minefield any more. Thus, I will assault the fort with only 1st Platoon. This is risky, but throughout the battle, the enemy troops have been fleeing at the slightest provocation. I judge that the enemy is severely rattled. As long as I handle 1st Platoon carefully, they should be able to take the fort.

At long last, the Abrams spot the dug-in enemy tank, and it is obliterated at virtually point-blank range.

The commander and loader unbutton and mow down more fleeing Syrians.

Fireteams of 1st Platoon hurl themselves forward, as the rest of the platoon lay down suppressive fire on suspected enemy positions. Fire from enemy RPG and machine gun teams within the fort is taken as the fireteams close with the trenches.


The rest of the platoon closes in.


The platoon occupies the trenches, trampling over mangled corpse piles that are all that remains of the previous occupants.



The tanks close in and begin blazing away with their machine guns.

A DShK HMG in the middle of the fort tries to take a crack at one of my tank commanders but is quickly taken out.

A Syrian squad attempts to flee and is swiftly cut to pieces.


3rd Squad of 1st Platoon tries to flank around through a hole blasted in the fortress wall, but are stopped by a squad of Syrians hunkered down in the fort HQ. However, the return fire of my troops is effective and the Syrians either run or surrender.



A fireteam from 2nd Squad dashes through the gate into the fort, making for one of the gatehouses, taking heavy fire all the way. A Syrian team in the gatehouse tries to spring a point-blank ambush but are immediately gunned down by the intrepid team. The team begin to take heavy fire from all angles and are pinned down.

The question of how to save this fireteam is swiftly answered, as the Syrians surrender. I am rewarded with a total victory! Despite some mistakes and missteps, this is probably the best outcome that I could have wished for, with no casualties or vehicle losses whatsoever.
There are actually a surprising amount of Syrian units still left in the field, with several teams in the fort and a few left in the northern trenches. Some of the static tanks have also survived the carnage, their deep fighting positions shielding them from the ire of the Abrams on the berm. However, this cuts both ways as their contribution to the battle was . . . minimal, to say the least. Not a single enemy tank, static or otherwise, did so much as fire a shot throughout the entire battle. But then, I can't say that I didn't expect that. The optics of the T-54/T-55 series aren't fantastic at the best of times, and at night, against the most modern, most powerful main battle tanks in the world? The outcome never really was in doubt.
So, as mentioned this is the absolute best outcome that I could possibly have got. However, some mistakes were made. For starters, I failed to adequately sweep the minefield. Fortuna was kind to me in this instance, and the few vehicles that I risked got through unscathed. But the minefield prevented the ingress of my remaining Stryker platoons. If the enemy in the fort had been less badly shaken, the one platoon that did go through would likely have had a very bad time of it. Unfortunately there was very little I could actually do about this, as my breach team were sitting on the minefield for virtually the entire battle, and still only managed to spot one measly patch of mines.
Secondly, the timing of my fire support left something to be desired. Ideally, my men should have been dismounting from their Strykers just as the last shells were impacting the fort and trenches. However, due to the slow passage through the minefield, the barrage ended long before that. This accounts for the surprisingly stiff resistance that I received from the Syrians still inside the fort.
I failed to keep track of the enemy infantry. What I should have done was keep a tally of the enemy infantry fleeing the trenches and spotted within the fort. This way, I would have known that the trenches astride the highway were unoccupied when the time came to make my assault, and the 155mm battery could have been used elsewhere. I also would have had a decent estimate of enemy troops within the fort itself, as opposed to the big fat question mark that was the answer to that question as I closed in.
Lastly, timing in general. I had one hour with which to complete this mission, and I used up every minute. I spent too long trying to clear the minefield, spent too long sitting on the berm shooting up fleeing Syrians and spent too long waiting for fire support to come in. The end result was that my final assault was made with dangerous haste. I'm not sure what I could have done to improve this, beyond simply more experience with the game and more thorough planning.
I'll try to keep some of these lessons in mind as I go forward. For now though, on to mission two! Stay tuned!

Something of a long break between entries, but oh well, let's take a peek at the next mission.


The mission is a little more sedate than the last one. The scout platoon of TF Thunder has encountered resistance from dug-in enemy infantry whilst reconnoitring along a small valley through which runs an alternate route of advance, Route Echo. Two rifle platoons from A Company have been appointed to clear the enemy out. We must sweep the enemy off the high ground along the valley and then regroup at the far end. I have an hour to complete my objectives.
The enemy is known to be light infantry, dug in with trenches and bunkers. The size of their force is unknown, as is their quality. This close to the border, it is possible that they are reservists. Given the size of the AO, we may be facing a company, possibly reinforced. No armour is known to be in the area.

The valley runs south-east to north-west, Route Echo running along the valley floor. The AO is roughly 1km x 1km, covered in a thick haze.


As you can see, to the north-east and south-west the ground rises sharply, the high ground dominating the valley floor.

The valley floor is almost pancake-flat, with a small rise covering the start line of my force. At the north-west end, the ground begins to drop, with some form of earthen works in the low ground.

My force consists of the scout platoon, made up of three scout teams and their platoon leader, all mounted in Recon Strykers. In ten minutes the detachment from A Company will arrive on the field, made up of two rifle platoons, along with the company MGS platoon. A two-gun section of 155mm howitzers is initially on call for fire support, with a section of 120mm mortars due to be available in ten minutes. Due to the haze, drone or air support is impossible.
This looks to be an interesting battle. The haze could be a problem, but the Stryker recon vehicles have excellent IR optics and the Syrians . . . well, do not. I think the best thing to do would be to climb the sides of the valley from my start line, gently feeling my way forward. As the briefing suggests, bunkers can be dealt with through precision artillery fire and Javelins. As for the assault on the enemy positions, I am unsure at this point whether I should deal with them sequentially, using one platoon at a time on both sides of the valley, or if I should make a simultaneous attack on both sides of the valley. Or I could do something very different, concentrating both platoons on one side of the valley. But I'm getting ahead of myself. First the reconnaissance, then decide on the assault plan. Stay tuned!