RescueToaster

The Twenty-Third & Twenty-Fourth Minutes – Saga of Tank Section 1
“If the tanks succeed, then victory follows.”
Heinz Guderian
 
Tank Section 1... quite an exciting turn to watch actually... well, it was for me.   
As tank 1/8 came around the corner it immediately spotted a T-62 presenting its flank.  It appears that Warren did not see their approach!! 


Kill 1 - T-62 While the crew of 1/8 was exchanging high-fives a BMP-1 popped into shooting range and fired it's gun... which surprisingly hit 1/8 and penetrated! 
 


Though shocked and surprised 1/8's crew got its siht together, neatly pivoted its turret and destroyed the BMP.  Damage from the BMP's gun  round was minor, though the crew would remain shocked for the remainder of the turn and would start to withdraw in the next.

Kill 2 - BMP-1 Tank 1/9 drove up alongside 1/8 and while it was dealing with the BMP, 1/9 spotted and destroyed another T-62... these were almost simultaneous actions.


Kill - 3 T-62 So overall a successful foray.  Warren did have some infantry teams in this area by the way... luckily none were in position to attack my tanks and they were following his armor up the hill.  After these two turns some of these teams started skedaddling back to the woods.
Tank Section 1 will now withdraw a bit and wait to see what Warren's response is.
 
One of the Dragon teams joined in the fun launching a Dragon at another BMP.


 
After these turns Warren started to pull back on this approach. The following image shows his high-water mark...  if he had kept pushing he would have run into my three M-150's kill zones... Warren's foremost BMP was meters from entering the killing zone of the M-150 shown in this image when it started to retreat.
The three surviving Dragon teams are withdrawing to their next line, in case the Soviets decide to push their luck.

The Twenty-First & Twenty-Second Minutes – Beyond Here, There be Dragons
“Battles are won by slaughter and maneuver.  The greater the General, the more he contributes to maneuver, the less he demands in slaughter.”
Winston Churchill
 
There was a second T-62 in Dolbach, and this one caught one of 2nd Platoon's tanks.. after two penetrations...

On my far left with the delay force, Warren's T-64B across the map caught one of my M-113s trying to withdraw and took it out with one round.

It's obvious now that this Soviet force has taken the bait and is pushing into my Scout teams, obviously trying to go on an APC killing spree.  Note my Tank Section 1 (1st Platoon) is moving up carefully.. if they are spotted Warren hasn't shown any reaction. 

The Soviets are leading with their tanks... oh joy... well my lead 3rd platoon Dragon team takes a quick shot (note this took about 10 seconds from spot to launch).  

The result.. another burning T-62.

This team was heroic.. firing a LAW at a BMP, which alas went high (you can see the rocket just above the BMP)...

...but also a 40mm HEDP round which hits and penetrates!  The BMP was withdrawing as the turn ran down. 
This team has another T-62 in its sights for next turn... if that damned Dragon can finish reloading before they eat an HE round!

Tank Section 1 is closing in... note how I am staying close to the trees to remain out of the LOS of that damned T-64B across the valley.  I'm curious to see Warren's reaction when he notices these guys coming up his rear.  I really hope he didn't leave a couple dismounted teams in these trees...  ..but I think this is an armored attack.. I have seen no hint of any dismounts (other than the dismounted tank crew)... still.

Oh.. and my support started to arrive.    Including my mortars and 155mm battery falling on Dolbach.. and my two AH-1s arrived in zone... though I do lose one to a MANPAD.
Oh!  And some great news!  My Cluster munitions Battery freed up and I was able to plot them this turn too.. it'll arrive in six minutes.  

After looking at my options with the Short route.. now that my tanks are here.. the less I am liking it. I wanted to drive up the flank of the enemy BMPs in the treeline overlooking my right.. but that looks hazardous.  
So.. remaining ever flexible, I have decided to pull all of the 3rd Platoon tanks out of the stream bed and push them around the right and deep onto the Soviet held road.  Note the smoke rounds used to block Warren's eyes on this movement.  Once they get on the road there will be very little left to stop them.  On my right (Warren's left) he has two damaged T-64As and some BMPs.  But this type of fight will not be to the BMP's advantage, it'll be fast and close.

The Nineteenth & Twentieth Minutes
“The important thing in strategy is to suppress the enemy's useful actions but allow his useless actions”
A Book of Five Rings - Miyomoto Musashi

Starting to get HOT... this is a long one.. so buckle up!!  
These two minutes of action unfold a lot of important developments for this battle.  On my right, 2nd Platoon/s tanks made it to the low ground that composes the Short Option...

...one of them gets a spot on Warren's star killer BMP-1P in the treeline across the map and after some back and forth missed shots it finally lands one... damn fine shooting for a vanilla M-60A1 on the move.

 
One of 3rd Platoon's M-150s spots and fires at the T-64A that was beaten up by 1st Platoon's Tank Section 2 last turn (and again in these turns) as it withdrew through the woods into the open ground... the M-150 does hit with its TOW.. but the T-64 shrugged off even that blow.  However.. I would be surprised if any of Warren'e two surviving T-64As have a working gun now.  


 
On my left Warren is indeed up to something, the action was preceded by an artillery strike on the the woods in this area.  Sadly the only casualty was the Scout team that was calling in my Cluster mission... isn't that the way it always works?

...initially three BMP-1s and two T-62s broke cover.

The 2nd Platoon leader team fired a Dragon at one of the BMPs.. which missed long.


The BMP then oriented on the 2nd platoon Leader's M113, which was caught too far forward and put one gun round through it's front armor... killing the vehicle and it's crew.


 
After reloading, 2nd PL's Dragon gunner took aim at the T-62 traveling with the BMP and succeeded in killing it.  FYI, the Dragon firing animation is still a work in progress, so I am keeping zoomed out from it.  Hopefully losing this tank will make Warren pause or change his tack towards my Scout teams.

Remember that my units on my far left were originally meant as a decoy.. and hopefully his attack will orient itself on them and away from my main combat power. 
 
By the end of the twentieth minute there were five T-62s (including the dead one) and five BMP-1s identified... so I think at least two Platoons of tanks and two platoons of BMPs.  I suspect these BMPs do not contain any infantry, so this is probably meant as an armored raid into my rear.  That's how I see it at this point in the game anyway.

I have started moving 1st Platoon's Tank Section 1 across the map to hopefully hit his attacking force in the flank, or better.. the rear.  It'll take a few minutes for them to get into a position where they can begin hunting.

 
Back on my right, Warren has pushed at least one T-62 forward to blunt my tanks coming up the stream route.  Spotted by the same M-60A1 that just took out the BMP, with this result:


So to recap... if Warren pushes towards my Scout teams on my far left.. then that suits me.  It's less fire power for him to devote to blunting my tank movement on my right. 

My scouts and M-150s (which are withdrawing as fast as they can) will transition into a Delay operation now.
 
Final bit of action... on my right, 1st Platoon's 2nd Tank Section (tank 1/7) took a penetrating hit from the T-64B across the valley (should be the final undamaged T-64 on the map).  The M-60 suffers one casualty and minor damage.  Damn... well hopefully I can pull it out of the line before it gets hit again.

The Fifteenth through Seventeenth Minutes
“I would rather you made your appraisal after seeing what the enemy does, since it is certain that, angered and outraged, he will soon launch a determined counterattack."
Isoroku Yamamoto
 
The fifteenth minute saw the loss of another M-150.. I swear the track of that ATGM fired from the BMP-1P... it's like magic the way it hugs the ground comes over the top of the hill and hits him in the lower hull.. must be a crack gunner!  Pretty sure I was hull-down to that BMP and T-64B too.  C'est la guerre. 

Pushing on... 
So over the next few turns Warren, who has finally figured out that the central approach is masked from my view, has been pushing his T-62 Company and some BMPs far forward...

...is he planning on defending the town?  Pushing into my rear area?  If the latter.. then I have no defense.  Just don't have the combat power available to fight off a determined push. 
What to do.. what to do... well first of all, I need to confirm one or the other.  If I need to react and push some support units over towards my M-60s for protection then so be it, but I plan to continue my movement with the tanks.  That, hopefully, will force him to redeploy the assets in the center, maybe weaken any attack into my rear area.
In the above image.. note the contact icon (BMP) which Warren has pushed forward... very close to one of my Dragon teams.  Bad news.. the visibility here is very dodgy and it'll be tough to get eyes on that BMP unless it moves forward.  I am pretty sure this is one of his remaining BMP-1P's that I lost sight of a few turns ago.  Probably followed up by the BRM-1.

You can download it as a PDF here.
http://dobrochan.ru/src/pdf/1205/Red-Army-by-Ralph-Peters.pdf