Britain's Joy

[Kozure]

"Britain's Joy" Hostage rescue scenario in the British module.

Anyone manage a victory on the first play through?

I've played once, and I can see how I can probably get better results on a second try, but I'm pretty uncertain of how I could have done better without knowing what I know now.

--==>> SPOILERS <<==--

I moved in column up the road, but given the time restraints, I tried to move pretty fast. Knowing that I didn't have much time, I scouted with one of the HMG Tums and dismounted sniper teams and FOs for a better look once I had a "?" contact.

I came under fire from the recoilless up on the far left hilltop and pasted it with an airstrike (losing a TUM to its fire) and then tried to bull through the various teams set up on the hill and next to the road, hitting with airstrikes where possible.

I was running out of time and tried a rush, but ran into the mines at the crossroads - fortunately I had staggered my units and only lost one TUM to that.

Instead of going directly through the town, I flanked all the way to the back (lost a TUM to long range fire in the fields) but got two sections to the back behind the hostage area. When I used charges to blast my way in, the MG team executed the hostages immediately.

I managed to get sections within striking distance of both hostage areas before the time ran out, but it was tight, and I took a lot of casualties moving at the speed that it seemed I had to move.

Anyone had better luck (i.e. a victory) on a first play through? Does it become much easier on the second play?

[Smaragdadler]

Just played it for one time as pbem (as blue). If I remember right it ended with all hostages dead, but red surrendering, because of high losses.

[HighlandLaddie]

I was able to resue the hostages in the town through the backdoor by sending a small force (a couple of MG armed recce vehicles and an engineer section, together with the FO) along the escarpment, sheltered from enemy view and fire, once the road climbed past the first "layer" of the "layer cake."

There is a gap passable by vehicles in the second escarpment all the way down to the extreme right, and another, similar gap in the third escarpment as well, a bit to the left of that. I left the FO in his vehicle on a prominent knoll after passing the first gap, from which he could see and call in air attacks on the town. He was never shot at.

After an initial air strike on the buildings commanding the approach to the town from this direction, I sent my engineers (with two snipers), still mounted in their vehicles racing directly to the town wall opposite the walled courtyard where the hostages are. The two recce vehicles accompanied them, providing MG cover for this move, and concentrated their fire on the few town buildings overlooking the open ground the engineers would have to cross to reach the courtyard wall (the buildings were unoccupied). One party of the engineers, covered also by the snipers, blew a hole in the town wall and took the house immediately to the left of the walled enclosure. With an MG armed recce vehicle waiting immediately opposite, the second party of engineers crossed to and blew a hole in the enclosed courtyard, permitting the recce occupants to drill the enemy MG crew guarding the hostages. All of this batch of hostages were rescued, with no casualties among the rescuers.

Meanwhile, I sent the main bulk of my force toward the remote hostage location. They were not as lucky. I lost one recce vehicle, and some time, to the AT position high up on the ridge before the Apaches destroyed it. I probably used too much time breaking through the infantry astride the road, as even after a pasting from the air (perilous close to my own observers, who have no real good vantage point) I lost a vehicle here to surviving defenders.

Then I stayed off the road, preferring the low ground to its left, which is shielded from enemy positions in the town or near the main entrance to town. So I avoided the roads near the town entrance and encountered no mines. (While I was crossing this low ground, air support was attacking the town entrance and the ground off to the right of the remote location).

But nearer to the objective one must climb back up and regain the road. Some of my forces were held up closer to the remote hostage site by enemy infantry in positions to the right of the road, but I managed to get three vehicles to the remote building's entrance, only to have the time run out literally as I was giving the blast order.

My biggest regret is not using more air power earlier. I was unsure how many passes the Apaches could make, and underused them, for fear they would be empty when I really needed them. If I had it to do it again, I would have pasted any likely enemy location without waiting for the enemy to be seen, and made sure all my aircraft were empty when time ran out.

[BlackMoria]

I rolled the FO over to the extreme left and got a visual on the village and the area between the village and the compound. I got both Apaches to 'hunt' this gap and they did a number of passes and were engaging stuff I couldn't see with rockets and guns. By the time I risked some vehicles to push up into visual observation, most of the enemy near the compound between the village were pretty worked over by the Apaches. Taking the compound as easy at that point.

I had two groups move on the village. One group used the low ground and flanked to the far side of the village and up to the level of the village for a 'rear door entry'. The other group moved on the village from the direction of the compound, mainly with the purpose of having the enemy reveal themselves so that they could be engaged by airpower.

The plan worked so well my casualties were only 2 WIA. The key to the my success is using the airpower to work over the enemy and soften them up for the pixeltruppen and you don't need eyes on the enemy to do that.