How to win "Grind them to Dust"?

[Cpl Steiner]

I am stuck on the second mission of Russian campaign, "The Push from Dniprodzerhyn'sk", called, "Grind Them to Dust". I get so far and then get pinned down by Ukrainian tank and missile fire whilst being pummeled by Ukrainian artillery. I can't see any way of making progress without suffering massive losses. Even trying to keyhole some fire against the enemy using hull down positions doesn't work - the last time I tried I had two tanks suffer damaged main guns one after the other. Waiting for the Hinds to arrive seems sub-optimal. Any tips?

Edited November 26, 2021 by Cpl Steiner

[Erwin]

I played this campaign back in 2017 and I found some savedgame files for for mission 2.  IIRC the "trick" is to understand that the main tank killers are not your tanks but your ATGM's.  You have a drone for spotting and can use your arty to blind the enemy.

The first half of the scenario is about scouting to locate enemy tanks and then carefully moving ATGM's to positions where they can kill those tanks.  Your own tanks are useful for mopping up after the enemy has lost its AT capability.

[Cpl Steiner]

Thanks. I'll have a look at my ATGM assets and give it a go.

[Cpl Steiner]

I finally got a Ukrainian Surrender in this mission but I didn't have any ATGM assets to achieve this (perhaps a different version of this campaign?). In the end, I did something a bit unorthodox. I sent my tanks forward, first cautiously using cover. They came under fire but their "Arena" APS managed to defeat most incoming rounds/missiles and I only lost one. Seeing how effective the APS was I decided to take some more risks, reversing them out of cover and then advancing into the open on the main road towards the enemy held town. Again, they did well, losing one more tank but destroying enemy positions that revealed themselves. Given how well they were doing I decided to go all out and had all my infantry mount up and ordered their IFVs to join the tanks to form a huge mass of armour on the road. I then dismounted the infantry in plain view of the enemy and had every unit, vehicles and dismounts, advance. The enemy went nuts, opening up on the infantry from every firing position. This revealed all of their positions and my T-72s and BMP-3s decimated them with return fire HE. As the mass of troops and armour reached the outskirts of the town my Hind helicopters came on station and started reeking havoc on the enemy. The Ukrainians soon surrendered, leaving me with a total victory and around 25 dead and 25 wounded (rough figures) plus 3 tanks lost and about 5 IFVs (I'd already lost 2 before this "reckless" advance). On the whole I think it was effective, if bloody, and I'm tempted to be more aggressive with T-72s equipped with "Arena" APS in the future. 

Edited November 28, 2021 by Cpl Steiner

[Erwin]

Nice.  Well done!  Mass fire is a good tactic for the Russians.

Edited November 28, 2021 by Erwin

[Cpl Steiner]

Thanks. I think APS is a game changer in how to use armour. Whereas normally some hidden ATGM takes them out, with APS they tend to defeat the first ATGM and then destroy the revealed launcher team with return fire. Also the mass disembark in the open tactic tends to get every enemy with a rifle opening up at long range. You might take one or two casualties but then the accompanying IFVs will annihilate those enemy positions. You can't hit what you can't see so sometimes you have to give them something to shoot at! Basic tactics page 1 I guess but I still struggle. My main failing as a pixeltruppen commander is overcaution.

[Erwin]

Also, in this relatively small map the long range weapons like ATGM's are very vulnerable. So, mass short range fire works well.

"My main failing as a pixeltruppen commander is overcaution."  Playing the CM2 game, caution is generally best.  Recon, recon, recon to find the main enemy assets and then kill them with the appropriate weapon. First choice would be arty.  If that isn't available or practical, go to ATGM's.  Generally, tanks are quite vulnerable and, unless you're in a close range knife fight, best used to mop up inf and light armor once the enemy AT assets are degraded.

Edited November 28, 2021 by Erwin

[Grey_Fox]

12 hours ago, Cpl Steiner said:

I finally got a Ukrainian Surrender in this mission but I didn't have any ATGM assets to achieve this (perhaps a different version of this campaign?). In the end, I did something a bit unorthodox. I sent my tanks forward, first cautiously using cover. They came under fire but their "Arena" APS managed to defeat most incoming rounds/missiles and I only lost one. Seeing how effective the APS was I decided to take some more risks, reversing them out of cover and then advancing into the open on the main road towards the enemy held town. Again, they did well, losing one more tank but destroying enemy positions that revealed themselves. Given how well they were doing I decided to go all out and had all my infantry mount up and ordered their IFVs to join the tanks to form a huge mass of armour on the road. I then dismounted the infantry in plain view of the enemy and had every unit, vehicles and dismounts, advance. The enemy went nuts, opening up on the infantry from every firing position. This revealed all of their positions and my T-72s and BMP-3s decimated them with return fire HE. As the mass of troops and armour reached the outskirts of the town my Hind helicopters came on station and started reeking havoc on the enemy. The Ukrainians soon surrendered, leaving me with a total victory and around 25 dead and 25 wounded (rough figures) plus 3 tanks lost and about 5 IFVs (I'd already lost 2 before this "reckless" advance). On the whole I think it was effective, if bloody, and I'm tempted to be more aggressive with T-72s equipped with "Arena" APS in the future. 

Sounds like a textbook soviet-style assault. Tanks leading the charge followed by IFVs which dismount close to the enemy and continue the assault.

[dbsapp]

On 11/26/2021 at 8:03 PM, Cpl Steiner said:

I am stuck on the second mission of Russian campaign, "The Push from Dniprodzerhyn'sk", called, "Grind Them to Dust". I get so far and then get pinned down by Ukrainian tank and missile fire whilst being pummeled by Ukrainian artillery. I can't see any way of making progress without suffering massive losses. Even trying to keyhole some fire against the enemy using hull down positions doesn't work - the last time I tried I had two tanks suffer damaged main guns one after the other. Waiting for the Hinds to arrive seems sub-optimal. Any tips?

Several important consideration for this mission and for entire CMBS:

- you have UAV that can spot targets and call for artillery fire 

- you have plenty of artillery 

- you have two Mi24s in this mission 

- you have an advantage because Russians have thermals and Ukranians don't

I would say that the key to this mission is to spot targets with UAV, supress troops with artillery strikes and kill the rest using thermals advantage.

 

 

 

 

 

[Rinaldi]

5 hours ago, dbsapp said:

Several important consideration for this mission and for entire CMBS:

- you have UAV that can spot targets and call for artillery fire 

- you have plenty of artillery 

- you have two Mi24s in this mission 

- you have an advantage because Russians have thermals and Ukranians don't

I would say that the key to this mission is to spot targets with UAV, supress troops with artillery strikes and kill the rest using thermals advantage.

 

 

 

 

 

Clear and succinct, and I agree it more or less is universally applicable advice for CMBS.