Abu Susah AAR

[BrotherSurplice]

Good day everyone. Today I will be playing through the 'Abu Susah' scenario of CMSF2.

The mission is simple - my two Stryker rifle platoons must bypass the village of Abu Susah, known to be held by hostile irregulars, and destroy any enemy anti-tank weapons. I have 45 minutes to accomplish my task.

I know little about my enemy, only that Abu Susah is home to an infamous radicalised madrassa and that there are 'many bad men' with 'many weapons'. The briefing warns me of RPGs and ATGMs. There could also be recoilless rifles. As I am facing irregulars I will also have to be on the lookout for IEDs covering the roads and other chokepoints. Civilian density is moderate, so I will have to be vigilant. The enemy could be hiding in plain sight.

The AO is about 900 x 600m across. Abu Susah sits roughly in the centre, north of my start line and stretches to the west, nestling in some rolling hills and straddling a crossroads. The ground is very dry and the weather is hazy and warm, with a light wind blowing from the northeast. Sightlines are relatively open, the AO being dominated by the few multi-storey buildings dotted about the place.

Atop hills to the northwest and northeast of my start line are some small farm buildings. Their elevation will provide me with vital observation posts over the AO and into part of the village.

The highest building in the AO is a three-storey just on the eastern edge of the village, which I have dubbed the Savoy.

The other high point of the AO is a two-storey atop a hill north of the village, which I have dubbed the Ritz. These buildings would make for excellent observation posts and good (if obvious) positions for heavy weapons.

There are two routes that I could take to bypass the village. The first is the safest and most obvious route, a simple run along the eastern edge of the AO. This keeps the village at a relative arm's length.

This route has two sticking points, these sheep pens and a ditch along the north-south road. The ditch has only three crossing points: one at my start line, one where it is bisected by the east-west road and one at the northern edge of the AO. The sheep pens constrict my manoeuvre space at the north-eastern edge of the AO, forcing me into a chokepoint and providing a position for the enemy. The ditch then forces me into another chokepoint at the crossing.

The second route is less obvious but far riskier: a run along the western edge of the AO, along a dirt road that loops around Abu Susah to the North. This route takes me very close to the village and leads through a small hamlet or farm on the reverse slope of the hill in the northwest corner of the AO.

An advance along this route would be exposed to fire from the village and would then have to fight through the hamlet/farm (if they are occupied). The one advantage this route provides is that it is far less obvious than the first.

I command the 1st and 2nd Platoons of Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 25th Stryker Brigade Combat Team. My platoons are slightly understrength, lacking their weapons squads and I am short one Stryker, forcing my pair of platoon HQs to travel together. This will complicate command and control slightly.

We are supported by two sections of 81mm mortars. My men are veterans and are all well-led and well-rested. I have three grenade machine gun equipped Strykers and four heavy machine gun equipped Strykers. All in all, a nice little combat package, with fire support that should be adequate for the mission.

Right, analysis complete, now to put my force into action. My first move will be to fan out and get some observation posts up on the hills to the left and right of my start line.

[Phantom Captain]

Very nice!  I'm reading and following along.  I've played this one a few times and I love seeing how others go about the tactical problems.

[BrotherSurplice]

1 hour ago, Phantom Captain said:

Very nice!  I'm reading and following along.  I've played this one a few times and I love seeing how others go about the tactical problems.

Thanks, yeah I thought this was a nice little bite-sized clash to get my teeth into.

[danfrodo]

ahhh, I do love me some professional looking AARs.  Thanks for this, it looks like a lot of effort and is much appreciated.  Do you use artificial night brightness when you take screenshots?  I've noticed in some youtube AARs at night that I can't see anything.

[Erwin]

2 hours ago, danfrodo said:

I've noticed in some youtube AARs at night that I can't see anything.

Yes, me as well.  Glad that I can actually see the details in these pics.  Thank you Brother...

[chuckdyke]

I liked the grenade launchers on the Strykers. My vehicles were hidden behind the crest as much as possible and with shoot and scoot tactics I put on suppression on suspected enemy OP's. I acquired all the Javelins and used them whenever the enemy gave its position away. It didn't all go my way, and I lost a Stryker. Spoiler there are plenty of IED's. In post processing I blend on screen mode to make the graphics lighter. The lost Stryker must have been an IED. 

Used Screen Mode to make it transparent. 

The battlefield when it was all over the roads were the danger zones. Against a human player it would be much harder the AI just can't hold its fire.

Edited August 16, 2021 by chuckdyke

[Monty's Mighty Moustache]

2 hours ago, chuckdyke said:

I liked the grenade launchers on the Strykers. My vehicles were hidden behind the crest as much as possible and with shoot and scoot tactics I put on suppression on suspected enemy OP's. I acquired all the Javelins and used them whenever the enemy gave its position away. It didn't all go my way, and I lost a Stryker. Spoiler there are plenty of IED's. In post processing I blend on screen mode to make the graphics lighter. The lost Stryker must have been an IED. 

Used Screen Mode to make it transparent. 

The battlefield when it was all over the roads were the danger zones. Against a human player it would be much harder the AI just can't hold its fire.

Now that is quite the spoiler riddled post. Might be an idea to remove it before BrotherSurplice sees as he may not have played the scenario before.

MMM

[chuckdyke]

31 minutes ago, Monty's Mighty Moustache said:

BrotherSurplice sees as he may not have played the scenario before.

Really? I thought that AAR stands for After Action Report. But OK he doesn't need to read it. Just to make you happy I delete it. I thought we compared tactics. I can't even edit it anymore. But feel free to report it. 

Edited August 16, 2021 by chuckdyke

[Monty's Mighty Moustache]

24 minutes ago, chuckdyke said:

Really? I thought that AAR stands for After Action Report. But OK he doesn't need to read it. Just to make you happy I delete it. I thought we compared tactics. I can't even edit it anymore. But feel free to report it. 

He may already have finished but I got the impression that it was more of a DAR but I may be wrong, it happens often. This line made me think he was just starting:

20 hours ago, BrotherSurplice said:

Today I will be playing through the 'Abu Susah' scenario of CMSF2

Nothing wrong with comparing tactics and I'm not going to report it, just thought it best to check before posting spoilers as others may not have played it either (like me). Perhaps mark the post with a big "***********SPOILERS***********" exclamation at the top so people know to skip it if they don't want to know anything?

MMM

[chuckdyke]

6 minutes ago, Monty's Mighty Moustache said:

Nothing wrong with comparing tactics and I'm not going to report it, just thought it best to check before posting spoilers as others may not have played it either (like me). Perhaps mark the post with a big "***********SPOILERS***********" exclamation at the top so people know to skip it if they don't want to know anything?

All good I remember next time after a while you can't even edit your own posts anymore. Happy gaming. 

[Benjamin Ritchie-Hook]

14 hours ago, chuckdyke said:

I liked the grenade launchers on the Strykers. My vehicles were hidden behind the crest as much as possible and with shoot and scoot tactics I put on suppression on suspected enemy OP's. I acquired all the Javelins and used them whenever the enemy gave its position away. It didn't all go my way, and I lost a Stryker. Spoiler there are plenty of IED's. In post processing I blend on screen mode to make the graphics lighter. The lost Stryker must have been an IED. 

Used Screen Mode to make it transparent. 

The battlefield when it was all over the roads were the danger zones. Against a human player it would be much harder the AI just can't hold its fire.

Spoiled it for the rest of us too, bravo 

[chuckdyke]

2 hours ago, Benjamin Ritchie-Hook said:

Spoiled it for the rest of us too, bravo 

It is called in After Action Report don't read them if you don't like spoilers. I tried to delete it but the system won't let me. Happy gaming I appreciate other people's tips but you call them spoilers. Now see or you can win this scenario. 

[Rinaldi]

Looking forward to this one Surplice.