A Helluva Road Opening

[Erwin]

Getting burned out on CMBN so really looking forward to this treat v2.

While I LOVE the new set-up zones and addition of the German Marder recon vehicles, am still puzzled by the default set-up.

The orders are to 1) clear the road and break the siege of the ANA platoon; 2) recon and clear the RHS village.

So, what is the USMC platoon doing in the cliffs on the left flank? They do not appear to have much spotting value to the village on the left flank, and it does not appear necessary to explore that village anyway. This platoon appears to have no purpose other than move em to the right flank for that village clearing (while leaving the mounted USMC platoon as a reserve).

Conversely, while the orders are to explore and clear the RHS side village, why are there only two recon teams and some vehicles on the right flank where you would expect a lot more in support?

Why is one Dutch vehicle immobilized? It seems its only value is for stripping it of ammo.

Tactics questions:

What I love about this scenario is that there are so many options as to how to proceed down the road. My question is what are the most RL/realistic tactics?

1) Would one put the Recon Marders on overwatch by the bridge and let the mounted truck convoy move ahead until contact?

2) Would one or both ANA platoons be dismounted and HUNT along the road to trigger ambushes while being covered by the trucks and other AFV's?

3) Would the NATO Marder recon forces lead the way dismounted to trigger ambushes with the vehicles backing em up followed by the trucks and mounted or dismounted ANA inf?

4) Would the Marders and inf teams recon along the flanks while the USMC and ANA focus on the road?

I suppose my question is should the ANA do the road clearing work until they get into trouble and only then bring in the NATO and USMC forces? Or, should NATO do the recon/road clearing, with the USMC for back up, and leave the ANA relatively safely in the rear with the truck convoy till they reach the besieged 3rd platoon in the dam area?

[Erwin]

Any takers re sorta RL tactics?

Otherwise I'll just have to play it as a gamey bastid and do what is logical to play vs the game system...

For example, the US have lots of Javelins and it would be easy to take out the first enemy technicals one sees with them. But, would one use such an expensive weapon on a pick-up, or try and maneuver something else to shoot it? (I did see a doc where a Brit team used a Javelin to kill a single sniper, so maybe...)

This is such a good scenario with ANA, Germans and US vs Taliban. So, I would love to at least try and use doctrine.

[BlackMoria]

I playtested this one for Snakeyes some time ago. Memory is a bit shakey right now so I will start one of my game saves I think I have kept from the playtest to refresh my memory and I will make comment to answer your questions.

[BlackMoria]

For RL tactics, it depends on what you consider the ANA forces 'role'. If your interpretation of the orders is that the role is more giving the ANA some experience and confidence in the operation, you can give them a large role with the US forces providing support.

If the role is the ANA is not doing a 'flying the flag' style operation, then preserving the ANA is more important and then the role would be more a support role in which case the ANA would be used as a reserve and exploitation force.

While the orders don't specifically indicate it (one of the points I raised with Snake eyes when I play tested the scenario), there are Victory conditions associated with Sidi Bou Said hamlet, Al Farouk hamlet, and Hill 54. So consider the briefing to indicate that Sidi Bou Said and Al Farouk need to be cleared of enemy.

That said, the deployment of the US forces sort of hints that those forces are to take Sidi Bou Said and Al Farouk, leaving the ANA forces to do the heavy lifting for taking Hill 54 and then finally push on towards Nira dam.

No doubt, you would think that a truck bourne attack on Hill 54 is a bad idea and that assumption is correct. The battle is mainly an infantry action with the limited AFVs providing fire support for the infantry and the trucks to provide ammo resupply for the ANA.

When I did the play test, I had the US forces do dismounted attacks to seize the two hamlets to secure the flanks and only then, in conjunction with the US forces using the newly capture hamlets as staging areas, do a three prong attack on Hill 54. In the meantime, the forces at the dam are to hold on for dear life while you use the forces at the airfield to take the hamlets and Hill 54 and then force the road to the dam and the link up of forces.

[Erwin]

Both approaches seem logical. I assumed that it's the ANA doing their thing with the US and Germans in support. Altho the question is what is the role of the German recon and Marders and squads.

I can see the reason to clear the RHS village from the US perspective. But, I agree there seems little need to clear the LHS village as it doesn't seem to have LOS to the road. I was planning to use the US on the right flank, the Germans as recon up to the bridge, and then support the ANA while the ANA go up the road, take Hill 54, and move on.