CA Battle Group Fullerton - battle plans?

[Lt Bull]

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone has had any success with the said scenario? It is very similar to the US Task Force Marks scenario. Both depict a raid on a OPFRs camp suspected of terrorist activities and the OPFRs units are identical in both.

However, the CA and US OOBs are very different. Main difference being that the US get Apaches and Javelins, whereas the CA get Eryxs and ATGMV Iltis LUVW TOWs.

In both scenarios, I have found the use of the 4 sniper/recon teams and the placememnt of smoke rounds from the 2x60mm mortar, 1x81mm mortar and 1x155mm arty to be critical. However, my battle plan for Task Force Marks needs very precise execution. My initial attempts at Battle Group Fullerton have so far been rather disaterous and, given the weaker OOB, prospects for a sure victory seem remote.

Any ideas?

BTW-I am looking for TacOps oppoennets (PBEM or TCP/IP). Drop me a line at lt.bull@optusnet.com.au

Lt Bull

[minmax]

Lt. Bull,

Since you have less fire power I have tried and been lucky about 30% of the time with a concentration of firepower in the north and the use of smoke to insert troops literally on top of the bad guys. It gets dicey but like I said I have enjoyed some limited success with this tactic.

When the mech forces arrive I set up tons of small ambushes in some cases let a group pass and then hit the follow on. It creates enough confusion that I make the time limit.

Again its not pretty but it seems to work okay.

Hope that helps.

[David Fraser]

I found that the key is to

a) Use snipers to take out SAMs around the perimeter

Use smoke to isolate each opfor unit one at a time

c) Use infantry to "distract" opfor units while the snipers take them out one man at a time. This works well. Each opfor unit will fire at what it thinks is the greatest risk. If you have an infantry section close to it and 2 or 3 snipers slightly further away the opfor unit will only fire at the section. Within a round or two the snipers will wipe them out.

When opfor rienforcements show up their are enough woods to hide infantry in to destroy their vehicles with anti-tank weapons.

David

[Bob I]

In Fullerton the four sniper teams have the same weapons and ranges (not the case in the US variant). I always use the snipers to "take out" the SAM teams (which means they do have to be judiciously placed to see/reach the SAMS. I only start sniping, however, after I have begun zeroing in the arty for suppression of annoying OPFOR MG and other infantry. I always land (on the south side of the main compound) -- and have them march through the woods -- Eryx teams (usually a couple) to take out the BTRs (which will do a number on the snipers if revealed). I have sometimes used the snipers (once the work of clearing out the SAM and MG teams is over) to snipe at OPFOR in the A compound objective. The more OPFOR killed here, the easier the insertion via chopper of friendly forces for occupation.

Once entrenchments have been cleared, the insertion (under smoke) of Eryx units into these positions will do wonders to keep back BTRs (only if smoke is maintained on the Eryx positions) -- remember: you can see them but they cannot see you.

These things usually work for me.

[Lt Bull]

Thanks guys,

Seems like those are pretty much the kind of tactics I have been using myself. However, things go very wrong whenever a sniper gets spotted. Your chances for success drop significantly when this happens. If you set the SOP to pop smoke if fired on, it can save your sniper, but it will take several "valuable" turns for the smoke to clear before you can shoot again. I usually put my snipers in positions where they can see as many SAM units as possible so they can knock em out from the one sniping position.

Although it can be consdiered more conservative and safer, I also occassionally direct the 81mm or 155mm HE arty at the sniper target and/or place 60mm smoke on non-target enemy positions (especally the ones with MGs) while the sniper is taking shots. This all is time consuming and use of TRPs and arty fire management is critical. The timing has to be pretty good so that when the sniper finishes off one target, there is minimal time in waiting for any smoke cover to clear so he can get LOS to the next target.

If all this goes well, all the SAMs and all the units covbering the north and south perimeters are eliminated. What remains are the inner camp units and the camp BMPs. I have at times felt short on time and have rushed in a chopper to drop men off at a building that has been cleared while smoke covers otehr known enemy positions. I have found this too be too dangerous as RPGs from enemy infantry units seem to be able to target the chopper from within the smoke that is supposed to be blocking their LOS.

I would be interested to hear how others have handled the "inner camp" units and under what conditions they decided to send in the choppers to drop off units within the camp, or is attacking on land through the camp more popular. I can testify that taking out the all the SAMs does not guarentee the safety of any chooper airlifting unist into the camp even with smoke cover.

Lt Bull

[Covert Sniper]

Lt.,

I have played Marks a number of times but not Fullerton. As far as dealing with the inner camp, I supect that they would be just about the same.

I generally send in a couple of anti-armor teams, a few of MG teams and several infantry squads or teams for the assault and occupation of buildings. My usual approach is from the south. I drop them at least 600 meters from the inner camp. Infantry has to cover the ground on foot. MG provides covering fire for the infantry advance while anti-armor (just for insurance) watches for camp armor which should be destroyed with air and ICM strikes by this time.

IMO trying to helo-drop inside the camp has just proven to costly. I struggle with my casulty rate enough as is.

This method does take a lot of time, but the time to do it is avaialable.

Good Luck,

Randy

[Coyote]

I've been most successful when attacking from north and south simultaneously. I leave most of my anti-armor weapons north and east of the camp to catch the reinforcements when they arrive. I only take a few in to get any BTRs that survive the airstrikes.

In Marks, I leave my mortars in the set up box outside the camp and start suppressing the OPFOR MGs from the first round. The hill in the northwest corner is a good place to put a mortar section as they can reach accruacy level 5 in one round. With all of the intell you have in this scenario it is not unrealistic to have a couple of artillery TRPS preplanned as well. If you do this you should see a dramatic improvement in first few critical turns.

The last time I played Marks, I put some blue civilians in the woods on the west side of the camp in a barbed wire enclosure as POWs and "rescued" them on my way out. Since they are unarmed, they cannot be moved until you've taken out all of the nearby enemy units. I had a blast!

Unless you take the optional blue units you can expect some fairly heavy casualties on this one. I often end up losing 20 - 30%.

----------------

UPDATE: I ran Fullerton last night without optional units and all prefernces unchecked.

Time Left: 6 minutes

Mission results:

Blue - Mission accomplished

Red - Mission failure

Blue exit % - 72

Blue Occupation Minutes - 23

Point results:

Blue Attrition Points - 3607

Red Attrition Points - 1531

--------------------------------------------------

Blue Status:

UNIT----------------START--NOW--ELIM--EXITED

Inf, Sniper Team------ 4 -- 0 -- 0 -- 4

Helo, CH146 Griffon....44 -- 0 -- 9 --35

Inf, HQ Command [-].... 6 -- 0 -- 1 -- 5

Inf, Section.......... 18 -- 0 -- 2 --16

ATGM, Eryx............ 18 -- 0 -- 8 --10

Mortar, 60mm.......... 8 -- 0 -- 4 -- 4

ATGMV, Iltis LUVW TOW. 12 -- 0 --10 -- 2

Mortar, 81mm.......... 4 -- 0 -- 0 -- 4

Force Lethality Value, Start: 5566

Force Lethality Value, Now: 0

Casualty percentage: 27

Force Lethality Ratio, Start: 1.2:1

Force Lethality Ratio, Now: 0:1163

-------------------------------------------------

Red Status:

UNIT-----------------START--NOW--ELIM--EXITED

Inf, Team-------------- 12 -- 1 -- 11 -- 0

Inf, MG 7.62mm PKM Team 17 -- 5 -- 12 -- 0

SAM, SA16 Gimlet------- 12 -- 2 -- 10 -- 0

APC, BTR80------------- 39 -- 2 -- 37 -- 0

Inf, Squad------------- 27 --17 -- 10 -- 0

Inf, Team-------------- 2 -- 0 -- 2 -- 0

APC, BRDM2------------- 1 -- 0 -- 1 -- 0

APC, BMP2 IFV---------- 1 -- 0 -- 1 -- 0

ATGM, AT7 Saxhorn Team- 6 -- 4 -- 2 -- 0

Inf, AGL AGS17 Team---- 4 -- 3 -- 1 -- 0

Inf, SPG9 Team--------- 4 -- 1 -- 3 -- 0

ATGM, AT4 Spigot Team-- 4 -- 0 -- 4 -- 0

AAA, SP 23mm ZSU-23-4-- 2 -- 0 -- 2 -- 0

Mortar, SP 120mm 2S23-- 6 -- 0 -- 6 -- 0

Force Lethality Value, Start: 4770

Force Lethality Value, Now: 1163

Casualty percentage: 75

Force Lethality Ratio, Start: 1:1.2

Force Lethality Ratio, Now: 1163:0

[ November 28, 2002, 10:05 AM: Message edited by: Coyote ]

[tar]

I usually assault into the inner camp as follows:

1) Airstrike

2) Smoke

3) Helo-borne assault on the main objective

and one of the others.

This is a bit costly in terms of helicopters lost to RPGs, but I can usually exit before having to really deal with more than the vanguard of the relief force.

I've also had some success dropping troops on the road through the woods inside the camp, under cover of smoke.