4th Brit Scenario AAR

[Javolenus]

OBJECTIVE: Recce the Syrian airfiled and don't get caught. The place is due for a surprise attack a few hours later.

TERRAIN: Dark patches of undergrowth offer possible concealment. Wherever possible, I'll try to HUNT along these patches of scrub. The airfiled is criss-crossed by roads - maybe they'll be patrolled, so best avoid if possible.

NOTE: I feel that the main thing here is not to get caught. And so I don't set target arcs and I move all units on short HUNTs followed by HIDEs.

SETUP: 2 Team enters at FRV 2 and makes for OP8; HQ enters at FRV 1 and makes for OPs 6/7; 1 Team enters at FRV 1 and makes for OP 1; 2 Section is split into A and B Team, which enter at FRV 3 and make for OP3.

2238: 2 Team spot Enemy vehicle, range 350m, and go to ground. HQ recces the minefield, heading for a point halfway between OPs 6 and 7. Meanwhile, OPs 1, 3 and 4 are reached.

2240: HQ now heads for OP6, as does 1 Team. 2 Section B Team heads for OP2. Units HUNT, using scrub for cover where possible. I set fairly short way-points followed by HIDE commands. The key thing here is patience. I'm concerned more with not getting caught, not sustaining casualties, than with heroics.

2245: 1 Team spots Enemy MG unit plus several other unclear contacts - the Toms go to ground. Meanwhile, HQ reaches OP 6 and HIDES. Shortly after, 2 Enemy vehicles appear on the road near OP 6. Both vehicles pass within metres of HQ (SM MacClachlan) but contact is avoided. Nevertheless, HQ goes to ground.

2250: Now only 2 Section (A and B Teams) active - other units risk compromise and so freeze. 2 Section B Team makes for OP 2 but spots an Enemy vehicle and goes to ground. A Team nearly stumbles into an Enemy MG post - again, the soldiers freeze and go to ground.

At this point, all my units risk compromise if they move, and so they stay put and sweat it out.

RESULT: Minor Victory with 346 points. We had no casualties. According to next briefing, the recce was a success and useful info was gained. The attack will go in as planned with, it would appear, the element of surprise still in tact.

NOTE: the scenario AAR gave Enemy casualties as 1 KIA, 3 WIA and 1 MIA. But at the time I was unaware that any of units was compromised - heard no weapons firing. Also, the next mission briefing hailed the recce as a success and made it sound as if the coming assault would still be a surprise attack. Just thought I'd mention this.

[phil stanbridge]

nice thanks. I have failed this scenario at every attempt. I will use your tactics next time.

[phil stanbridge]

Right I'm about to embark on this mission again. So far in the campaign I have two tactical victories and one total victory with 6 KIA and half a dozen injured. I've lost 2 vehicles. Enemy casualties are about 300 KIA and about the same injured, with loads of tanks and vehicles destroyed. So far so good, but this mission kills me.

I must look it up, but how do you 'insert' your troops in different FRVs?

[Ryujin]

During the setup phase you should see several areas on different sides of the airfield painted blue representing your starting points. In the case of this mission you can start your guys at any of these spots and this makes a huge difference. To place them in the setup phase, select the units you want to move and give them a move order in the zone you want them to start in. They should instantly "teleport" there.

I actually started on the opposite side of the airfield. When I played through I was compromised so I just shot the place up. I think we could loosely call it reconnaissance by fire, as in I shot the all guys around the objectives so we could stroll around and reconnoiter the airbase without any distractions. The syrians were pretty much helpless in the dark and my snipers had a shooting gallery. Stealth evidently isn't much of a factor in the mission success.

[phil stanbridge]

During the setup phase you should see several areas on different sides of the airfield painted blue representing your starting points. In the case of this mission you can start your guys at any of these spots and this makes a huge difference. To place them in the setup phase, select the units you want to move and give them a move order in the zone you want them to start in. They should instantly "teleport" there.

I actually started on the opposite side of the airfield. When I played through I was compromised so I just shot the place up. I think we could loosely call it reconnaissance by fire, as in I shot the all guys around the objectives so we could stroll around and reconnoiter the airbase without any distractions. The syrians were pretty much helpless in the dark and my snipers had a shooting gallery. Stealth evidently isn't much of a factor in the mission success.

I was obviously selecting the wrong insertion points because I tried that and it didn't work.

I thought this mission was all about stealth, so that's a very interesting point you make. I'm sure I tried something like that before, and I inflicted quite a lot of casualties but I left two or three of the locations unexplored due to lack of time - but I lost the mission. So I will try again by splitting my dudes up.

[Ryujin]

The trick is to find the right balance for the situation and extensive contingency planning. Stealth is good for reaching some of the objectives, firefights do take time and can be tricky if your thinly spread. But on the other hand some objectives may just be too hard/too long to reach. So the key seems to be tempo, distribution of troops, and fluid tactics, all of these need to be in a good balance. Reach what you can with stealth, but be ready to get aggressive if your spotted or run out of time, once again you need to balance the troop distribution so you don't put too many guys on an objective that can be taken with stealth and instead be able to concentrate your troops where you may need to assault.

[phil stanbridge]

well I scored a draw, no winner, which is better than losing is it not? I didn't win because I was spotted (one of my snipers was injured). I made it to all of 7 of the points for the first time and I didn't fire a shot. I tried to be as stealthy as I could, but playing this on turn based is a nightmare! By the time I had moved one of my split teams into position to move to an area of interest the Syrians had started to run in my direction. I had no comeback so I hid for as long as I could. The problem is of course because there is no winner the mission sees that as good as a loss so what effect will this have on the next mission? I have played the next mission twice before now, and found it quite challenging. But how does winning the recon mission open this one up, or does it not matter?