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Hasty AAR: Rahadnak Valley Search (USMC)


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Uhm.. The permission is set to the whole album. Maybe I linked the temp thumbnail or something. Will be careful next time.

Sitrep @ 8:11

"The sh.. is getting heavy like it weighs a ton". Things escalate quickly. Enemy also had PKM team accompanying the Sniper Team. AND the humvee survivors are getting hammered by a mortar barrage. At the same time, 1st Platoon begins deploying. Their AAVs open fire on Hill 41. Another enemy mortar strike starts right in front of where 1st Plt was suppose to be moving. I shift them couple hundred meters north of their current position. But when the mortar fire will cease, I'll get them back to the southern side of the "Route Major". All the suspected VBIEDs (two, by now) were seen on the northern side of the main road.

Oh, and another suspicious vehicle spotted, moving fast, westbound from the Bridge B2.

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Edited by L0ckAndL0ad
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Sitrep @ 8:12

Mortar round makes a direct hit on one of the 1st Platoon's squads, killing one Marine and injuring another. Unknown sniper (suspected location NE of Hill 54) killed a gunner on one of the TOW humvees, who were overwatching the main road from BLUFOR starting position.

An unarmed vehicle mentioned before arrived at NW ATGM position, just in time for my 60mm airburst strike. BDA yet to come.

And I haven't even gotten into the village yet....

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Sitrep @ 8:13

Oh no... 1st Platoon is getting smashed by mortar fire. I won't even start counting casualties until it's over.

That sniper shot was supposedly a single-shot kill from SVD @ 800 meters. Quite a shot.

BDA on a vehicle that was supposed to pick up ATGM team (or was it?). Vehicle abandoned.

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10 hours ago, sburke said:

For this to be a MOUT fight, you need to get to the "UT".  :D 

Word.

Sitrep @ 8:17

6 casualties in the 1st Platoon, 2 casualties in the 3rd Platoon. Damn sniper ambushed us AGAIN. At almost point blank range.

I hesitated using a costly Javelin missile against the SPG-9 armed technical. But having no other options to engage it with at this moment, I decided to go with the Jav and successfully blew it up.

2x AH-1 Cobras and 4x LAV-25 with LAR Platoon have arrived. Cobras are tasked with hunting for the ATGM team and the sniper who killed the TOW gunner. 2nd Platoon is held back to prevent Friendly Fire during the Air Support mission. Dismounted element of the LAR Platoon will go north. When 3rd Platoon will take care of its casualties, it'll be sent back to AAVs to stay in Reserve again. From now on, I want the LAR Platoon to take care of the northern flank.

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Edited by L0ckAndL0ad
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Sitrep @ 8:19

Ugh... Another mortar fire mission initiated by the enemy. A (spotting?) shell fell between the 1st and 3rd Platoons. How much does he have anyway? Way more than me, obviously. I guess I would've been able to minimize casualties from mortar fire if I got into the built-up area. But with IED threat, it's kind of a trade-off.

2nd Platoon have spotted an Uncon Fighter HQ guy with an AK, getting into the vehicle in the first part of the village. The distance is 600m+, but I ordered them to open fire anyway. M249 should do some effect.

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Edited by L0ckAndL0ad
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Sitrep @ 8:23

Mortar barrages keep coming. Hill 40 near USMC starting position is next in line. But I got everyone out of there. Mostly.

My command of the 1st Platoon has been disastrous so far. 1st Plt got hit by heavy mortar fire in the open again. And by a TOW missile friendly fire once. My Marines were running from yet another mortar barrage into the village. Enemy opened fire from one (or several?) of the houses. I ordered TOW humvees up front to fire on the house. They had better angle of fire than other assets. One of the missiles fell short and KOed a Marine.

Dismounted element of the LAR Platoon slowly but surely moves up along the NW edge of the map. 2nd Platoon & Scout Sniper section wait for the Air Support mission to end before moving further east.

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-PYm-8bWSg83eNkAquINt2zkyrPbh6wABzcgLrJ3

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Sitrep @ 8:25

Both Cobras made strafing runs with guns, one each. Targets were unseen by me, but the locations more or less match to what I marked on the map for ATGM & sniper locations. 2nd Platoon & Scout Sniper section are clear to move forward.

1st Platoon keeps getting pounded by mortar fire with heavy casualties. I'm doing the best I can to gain a foothold in the built-up area. Opposition on the ground is light, on both sides of the road.

Briefing said I have to keep my force 80% combat effective. With so many casualties that I've received so far, I'm not sure I'll keep that 80% bar. Briefing also said that my ROE forbids me from shooting at buildings if there's no positive ID on the enemy there. But with mortar fire being so intensive, I'm thinking I need to start shooting at every 2+ storey building roof I can. To prevent possible spotters from targeting me so damn fast & precise. Civilians should not hang out on rooftops during combat anyway. 

Edited by L0ckAndL0ad
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Sitrep @ 8:28

I've gained a foothold in the SW part of the village. Only to get yet another mortar barrage on 1st Platoon's position.... I dunno, being indirect-fire inferior feels not right for the Marine Corps. But I already started working on lobbing 40mm & TOW missiles onto rooftops.

Scout Sniper section stumbled upon enemy MG. They were ordered to hunker down, throw smoke grenade and wait for the Company FO to call in our 60mm mortars. ETA 2 minutes, should be quick.

Some screenshots of the ongoing fighting:

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R070R01GZpo6l9UNgEScK3cy3T8ls438fMjP4SaT

jG0WFQxhBTi7mTjtXdaNCeZS1fNZYi_DXsNQMXqF

Edited by L0ckAndL0ad
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Sitrep @ 8:33

Company FO & off-map 60mm Mortars performed an outstanding fire mission. In just two minutes, they fired at exactly the spot needed, killing enemy MG gunner with airburst shells, and not touching friendlies just ~80 meters away (danger close). Bad news is, gunner's buddy took control of the MG and hit one of the Scout Sniper guys (a spotter, I think). My sniper avenged with M40A3 shot at close range. 2nd Platoon failed to get to him sooner.

Cobras keep working on some unseen targets further into the village. Enemy makes some small movements here and there but nothing is worth a note, except HQ movement from far NE to SE on a truck. Can't get to them with anything.

Resistance in the village itself is still light.

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Edited by L0ckAndL0ad
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Sitrep @ 8:38

As of now, my Marines have found 13 enemies KIA, and positively BDA-ed 3 technical trucks destroyed (SPG-9, DShK, PK), plus several unarmed ones. Friendly casualties are creeping up on me slowly, but I don't want to count them now. 1st Platoon was hit the most so far, but it's holding strong and does its job by holding the foothold in the village.

Enemy sniper fire persists in the southern part of the AO, and I can't pinpoint where it's coming from. My own scout snipers are tasked with counter-sniping. Mortar fire continues after a brief pause.

Southern flank is almost secure. But I'm seriously concerned that the enemy might receive reinforcements, and they'll spawn right on my troops, say, somewhere between Hill 54 and Hill 56, down in the dried up creek. I had something similar happen to me few years back (stock USMC campaign).

I will not advance 1st Platoon forward much for now. I need to finish my flanking movement on the northern side of Route Major. Soon, I'll establish good bases of fire (see map for details) on both sides of the village, and _ONLY_ then I'll proceed with clearing it up. 3rd Platoon might have to come in and relieve the 1st.

2nd Plt's AAVs open up on DShK technical.

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LAR's LAV-25s advance north and immediately engage some distant target (not hitting anything tho)

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LAVs "test the waters" where ATGM previously struck two of our humvees, while dismounted element is scouting further north.

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2nd Platoon reaches SE corner of the AO, does bounding overwatch movement. Possible enemy reinforcements might come through here, I think. If there'll be any.

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My current situation and plans (disregard the timer)

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Edited by L0ckAndL0ad
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50 minutes ago, L0ckAndL0ad said:

Sitrep @ 8:38

As of now, my Marines have found 13 enemies KIA, and positively BDA-ed 3 technical trucks destroyed (SPG-9, DShK, PK), plus several unarmed ones. Friendly casualties are creeping up on me slowly, but I don't want to count them now. 1st Platoon was hit the most so far, but it's holding strong and does its job by holding the foothold in the village.

Enemy sniper fire persists in the southern part of the AO, and I can't pinpoint where it's coming from. My own scout snipers are tasked with counter-sniping. Mortar fire continues after a brief pause.

Southern flank is almost secure. But I'm seriously concerned that the enemy might receive reinforcements, and they'll spawn right on my troops, say, somewhere between Hill 54 and Hill 56, down in the dried up creek. I had something similar happen to me few years back (stock USMC campaign).

I will not advance 1st Platoon forward much for now. I need to finish my flanking movement on the northern side of Route Major. Soon, I'll establish good bases of fire (see map for details) on both sides of the village, and _ONLY_ then I'll proceed with clearing it up. 3rd Platoon might have to come in and relieve the 1st.

2nd Plt's AAVs open up on DShK technical.

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LAR's LAV-25s advance north and immediately engage some distant target (not hitting anything tho)

59zPzAE_nvP6aKI9wxUZmNzp9vu-joenPXJdc7xU

LAVs "test the waters" where ATGM previously struck two of our humvees, while dismounted element is scouting further north.

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2nd Platoon reaches SE corner of the AO, does bounding overwatch movement. Possible enemy reinforcements might come through here, I think. If there'll be any.

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My current situation and plans (disregard the timer)

-6cxBsV8hNLRFLVFhygpjcLEhK-xXT49fuEOKBtn

No need to worry about weird spawning enemy. Nothing like that in this scenario. 

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7 hours ago, George MC said:

No need to worry about weird spawning enemy. Nothing like that in this scenario. 

Oh, okay. Thank you!

3 hours ago, MOS:96B2P said:

Cool, informative SitMap.  The fight to the north (I think north is the top of the map in this screenshot) looks like it could be interesting and decisive.    

Here's what I think.

Even though northern area is very open and suitable for mounted action, it can be also exploited by small infantry units (not to mention ATGM teams) for ambuses. I already lost 2 humvees with all their crews and two Marines from the 3rd Platoon there. I'll proceed forward with dismounted sections of the LAR Platoon, and if anything bad comes my way, I'll send LAV-25s & use 60mm mortars as QRF. Having AAVs from 1st and 2nd Platoons on overwatch at bases of fire on the south side will also help.

Southern and central (farthest) areas are VERY tricky, though. There's a whole trench system there. Staying with somebody above (current 2nd Plt position) on overwatch should make it easier, but still, it's the damn trenches.

The village itself should be somewhat easy to clear, given friendlies on both sides of Route Major.

Here's a piece I keep in my cheat sheet on MOUT on Google Drive (extracted from MCWP 3-35.3):

Phases of deliberate attack in MOUT:

  • Reconnoiter the Objective; (CHECK!)
  • Isolate the Objective; (almost CHECK!)
  • Secure a Foothold; (CHECK!)
  • Seizing the Objective. (will proceed to this one once ISOLATION phase is done)

All the movement in the north and in the south should be viewed as support effort. Main effort will involve clearing the village itself. I should emphasize on how different my approach here is. The briefing suggested sending one of the Infantry Platoons to the northern flank. I view such an idea as a mistake. LAR Platoon is more suited for this terrain. And I need some kind of Reserve. Therefore LAR Platoon is doing support action on the northern flank, while 3rd Platoon sits in Reserve, waiting to be committed at a given moment, at a  given place. So far, it looks like I'll swap 1st Platoon with the 3rd. But the 1st is still very much combat effective. Will need some ammo resupply soon though.

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23 hours ago, sburke said:

Keep in mind the briefing is premised on playing the AI.  Against a human I would toss the briefing other than noting your objectives. Your experience is already much different than mine playing the AI. 

Yeah, of course.

6 hours ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

Gave this a run against the AI.....Damn those Uncons have a lot of mortars! 

Damn right you are, and human controlled mortars in this mission are even more frightening (humans are much better at pattern recognition, therefore better predict movement). My poor 1st Platoon is beaten up mostly due to mortar fire.

Sitrep

Our play slowed down a bit, so there's not much to report. Other than to say that I've spotted one of the enemy HQ units at SE part of the village (one of the compounds near my 2nd Platoon) and requested an airstrike on its position.

Also, I've got some screenies I haven't posted yet.

Scout Sniper team equipped with M40A3 & M16A4s trying to spot enemy sniper.

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1st Platoon's AAVs fire on "a bad guy with an AK" last known position.

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Edited by L0ckAndL0ad
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48 minutes ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

Trust me the AI doesn't do a bad job either.....I reckon 80-90% of my casualties have been mortar related.  Uncons HQs can call in mortar, but the response time is pretty quick by Red standards so I'd guess there may be multiple FOs (or even worse, Uncon Spy-FOs) out there.  :ph34r:

Possibly maybe...

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I never look in the editor until I've played something to death.....Your 'Hammertime' series are still my favourite CM:SF classics, I must have played them dozens of times before I started messing with them.  Certain 'individuals' taking in the view at the first settlement area had a very short life expectancy in the later runs.  :ph34r:

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On 9/9/2018 at 12:24 AM, Sgt.Squarehead said:

Your 'Hammertime' series are still my favourite CM:SF classics

Agree this one is a masterpiece. Hopefully, we will have it back with a real bridge in SF2.

Looking forward for the end of this great AAR

Edited by ncc1701e
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  • 2 weeks later...

Sitrep @ 8:51

Urrrgggghhhhh. 1st Platoon is getting pounded AGAIN. One more casualty. Nothing else to report.

AAVs overwatch 1st Platoon's position from Point 35/36 hill:

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LAR Platoon's dismounted elements move further north:

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Mortar fire on 1st Platoon's position GIF:

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Edited by L0ckAndL0ad
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Sitrep @ 8:54

2nd Platoon's forward element in the dried up creek @ SE got ambushed by some bad guy with an AK and a bunch of hand grenades sitting in the trench line. A frag grenade was thrown our way, and I ordered my boys to run, but one of them got KOed. AAVs on the nearby ridge were immediately ordered to open fire (one with 50 cal for suppression, another with 40mm to kill), while the other dismounted elements are to flank the enemy from the south.

The bad guy throws a grenade (might be a buddy of a sniper I've killed but haven't body yet):

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One Marine gets seriously wounded, while other two manage to get out of dodge:

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AAVs open fire from the ridge:

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