TF FENWICK

[pkpowers]

Does anyone have any stratgey/tactics or even an idea on how to get half-way close to even getting a "draw" in this scenario (FENWICK)... it's a tough one... most of my choppers burn and the guys die in the wire...HELP!!!!! pkpowers

[johnma]

If you use deja.com you can find a long post by the Major on this topic.

In the meanwhile, here's how I once won TF Marks (the same iade as Fenwick)

1. use snipers to kill off SAM 16s

2. use arty and air strikes on the objectives (get rid of those BTRs nea the

objectives, and those pesky infantry teams i awkward spots)

3. get rid of the mg team and infantry team in the entrenchment to the W. of

the wood, but within the perimeter wire (the "middle one": it will allow you to

criculate helicopters using the wood as shelter)

4. smoke and send in C46s

5. in the mean time, using the C53s, do the obvious: Javelins and mg teams,

LAW teams, infantry at the choke points

6. Also, and very important: ferry in the sniper teams, to take part in the

assault on the objectives. Once the smoke lifts, they will be priceless.

7. Most important, too: with arty, mortars, diect fire, clear the entrenchment

directly east of objective E. Under cover of smoke, ferry in an anti-armour

team (2 Jav, 2 LAW, 2 MG) and all the snipers and a few 60 mm. mortars.

The sniers and the mortar teams will be v. important: they will suppress and

eliminate the remaining OPFOR infantry and MG teams in the buildings on

the E. side of the compound.

8. Hopefully, these arrangements, plus the cobras, should help you beat off

the OPFOR counter attack.

[Brad Sallows]

More suggestions...I have only played BG Fullerton, the Canadian version, which has no attack helicopters but provides more ATGW capability and, more importantly, a few more light mortars.

1) Smoke is the key. TacOps does not enforce ammo type limits within the total number of rounds for onboard artillery and mortars; I use 60mm strictly to fire smoke and almost never fire HE with the 81mm. Use smoke to isolate small portions of the encampment into easily assaulted chunks. Use it sparingly and carefully. Ensure you retain about 5 fire missions per group to help deal with the counterattack and 2 fire missions per group for the extrication, not to mention most of your 155 smoke. Screen the BTRs while you approach them with dismounted ATGW to blow them away. (All this usage probably exceeds realism in terms of effect and quantity, but sure makes the scenario easier - mind you, a commander might plan to take that much smoke.)

2) Left to their own devices, the snipers will take down most of the small teams (MG, SAM, etc) in the outposts along the wire while your ground assault is forming up. They need help only in the form of smoke. Use smoke to screen off targets not being engaged by the snipers; it is critical to screen off BTRs and PKMs. The snipers must be positioned to cover the bulk of the fence line with either some decent lines of fire into the depth of the encampment, or within a short move (2-3 turns) of a good secondary position.

3) There are some obvious positions where the ATGW can be sited to cover approaches from a distance which allows them to engage at long range (most importantly, remain outside MG range of BTRs), including the northwest hilltop (which restricts the enemy's approaches to elevation 0). If BTRs start to close with the ATGW, use smoke to give yourself one-way vision.

4) Save all air missions for the counterattack and time them to arrive in a single turn to reduce the effect of enemy SAMs (which should only be those SAMs in the counterattack force if you have used your snipers effectively).

5) My preference is to use the road along northing 009 in grid square 0100 as the DZ/assault line for one company, and the northeast edge of the woods in grid square 0102 for the other company. The disadvantage is that your force is separated for much of the scenario and you must carefully manage your indirect fire support, but the advantages are that your lift aviation can approach and depart unmolested, it enables you to quickly achieve all objectives, and provides excellent all-round defence when the counterattack arrives.

6) Your infantry, supported by 155 HE and mortar smoke, should be adequate to the task of clearing the objectives. The mounted and dismounted ATGW (and attack helicopters) must be set to brunting the counterattack. Even if your assault is not complete when the counterattack arrives in strength, you should be in a position to complete your assault purely with the infantry.

7) Extrication is greatly simplified with smoke.

[McCullough]

In many ways this is my favorite scenario - the sniper and recon teams are a very interesting variation!

Since you get to choose where those teams begin, position them so they can take out as many of the perimeter teams as possible. Within the first minute or two you can have four enemy positions empty - and that means four SA-16's out of the picture

I also have my HMMWV ATGMs and 81-mm Mortar moving into position from the start, rather than landing them later. Putting a few infantry teams out as "LRRP"s gives you very useful intelligence regarding any approaching counterattack, but go lightly here - they are out of the battle if you do a good job choosing their hide positions.

I personally like to use my initial air strikes simultaneously to target the remaining SA-16 units as well as the two BTR units inside the perimeter. Since 4 of the 6 SA-16's are already gone, if you target those last two positions with the two earliest arriving airplanes you will either eliminate the remaining SA-16's or at least draw their fire so that the BTR's can be attacked and hopefully after this is all done you will be ADA and armor free inside the perimeter. All this within the first three or four game minutes!

After this allow your sniper & recon teams to do their work. Put a sniper team on the north side of the perimeter fence covering the three westernmost enemy positions and that team can deal with the two that are in range. A recon team can handle the southernmost of the three, and then slip inside the perimeter to begin clearing things out from the inside. Your other two teams can be moved around the perimeter to continue the surgical removal of those stuck inside.

Use your helicopters and ATGMs to protect the outside area described by the sniper and recon team locations. Essentially for the first 15 minutes you want to allow these teams to do their thing undisturbed by the village security platoon. This limited role also keeps the choppers away from those nasty SA-16s...

By the time you have cleared away the westernmost bad guys you have created your very own safe LZ inside the perimeter. Land all your heliborne troops except for one infantry platoon w/MG teams (I use this heliborne platoon to air assault directly beside Objective E once it has been cleared so that I can gain quick access to the building.)in this LZ. I suggest putting in 60-mm mortars in the middle entrenchment and then an ATGM team or two with a MG team or two in the southern entrenchment to guard that flank/approach.

Have the remaining forces move through the woods for a shoot out with any remaining bad guys. It helps a lot to have your sniper/recon teams in position to support this from both inside and outside the wire.

Typically by the time the recon elements for the counterattack force arrive on screen, the only remaining bad guys (if any) are in the easternmost buildings. These are easy enough to keep out of the picture with a little mortar smoke.

Then it is just a matter of being prepared to take up positions in the buildings and around the perimeter to fight off the counterattack. As the other posters have mentioned, use of smoke is very important here. I like fighting this battle from positions around the objectives because you have such good fields of fire and positions that best allow interlocked and massed fires.

Done correctly, your default force can do this all quite successfully even if you change the OPFOR forces to include all the Optional Forces.

[This message has been edited by McCullough (edited 01-12-2000).]