THE OUTSKIRTS OF MIKOLAYEV -- Russia (advance) vs. Ukraine (defend)*
*
NOTE : As this scenario was created, the war in Ukraine was grinding on, with the Ukrainian Army fighting doggedly against superior Russian firepower (much of which, it appears, has been used indiscriminately against civilian targets, resulting in horrendous and totally unnecessary loss of life). As Steel Panthers MBT is a "neutral" simulation it has been difficult for me to separate my personal feelings, which are strongly pro-Ukraine, from the task of objectively drafting an accurate and plausible game scenario, particularly because REAL people are REALLY dying, in front of our eyes, every day, on the TV-screens. I can only say that I hope, despite the above, that I have succeeded in the design; I also hope that the conflict does not escalate further, as that could be the end of us all. As we simulate war, let's hope for peace, fellow MBT'ers.*
*
March, 2022 : Russian invasion forces approach the small town of Mikolayev'ska out the outskirts of the city of Mikolayev, just north of Odessa in southern Ukraine.*
*
This scenario depicts the battle situation where the Russians try to dislodge a stiff Ukrainian resistance, on the way to cutting off Ukraine's central heartland from its only access to the sea.*
*
The scenario can be played either as the Ukrainian or Russian player although it is more challenging as the Ukrainians. (If you're playing the AI, I recommend you run the Ukrainians, for this reason.)*
*
Some unit characteristics, weapons and so on, have been changed from the default, to reflect the ad hoc, chaotic nature of the confict. Due to the nature of this battle I would suggest that anything less than a "Marginal Victory" for the Russians, be considered as (at least) a "Marginal Victory" for the outgunned Ukrainians. An experienced Russian player should win against an experienced Ukrainian one about 4 times out of 5, as revealed by playtesting.*
*
GENERAL NOTES : Both sides have a number of fairly significant handicaps. For the Ukrainians, much of their army is made up largely of poorly-trained Territorial Defence and "Foreign Legion" (represented by "Generic Green" units in the game) troops, who are short of modern anti-tank and anti-air weaponry. Also, since most of Ukraine's armored units have been held back for use on the vital Kyiv / Kharkiv front, the Ukrainian side is very short of tank support. The Russian army, made up mostly of professional soldiers, is better-trained and has far better mobility and firepower; but it is suffering morale issues after its slow and poorly-executed initial invasion phase, and it is being forced to fight a pitched battle in close-quarters suburban terrain.*
*
Both sides should take a careful look at the map before starting play. The Ukrainians have managed to erect barricades in a lot of the easiest road access routes into the town, and as a consequence, the Russians will either have to waste valuable time to allow their engineer and mine clearing tanks clear these obstacles, or, they'll have to take chances crashing through houses on either sides of the town's streets, to be able to overrun both Ukrainian positions and the Victory hexes. Remember; every Russian tank or other AFV immobilized in a building on the right-hand (east) side of the map, is one less available to fight its way over to the western Victory hexes!*
*
A special note applies here; it appears that when a first AFV crashes through a building (regardless of whether that tank got immobilized or not), the SP-MBT game engine regards that hex as "rubble", meaning that succeeding AFVs can transit that hex with only a small chance of being immobilized themselves. In game terms, this means that sometimes it may make sense for the Russians to deliberately immobilize one of their AFVs, simply to clear an ingress route around the map's many middle-of-the-street obstacles (e.g. Dragon's Teeth, barbed wire and so on). Both players should expect this to happen and should make plans to deal with it.*
*
AS THE UKRAINIANS : You start out possessing most of the Victory objectives; but expect the technologically superior Russian army to steam-roller the relatively weak infantry formations that you have defending the town. Unfortunately, most of Ukraine's armored forces and air support forces have had to be requisitioned for the Kyiv front up north, so don't expect much in the way of tanks (and no airstrikes). Also, your air defence forces are very weak; preserve ammunition for your MANPADS units (by disabling the missile launcher) as you will not be getting resupply during the game. You have only a token amount of artillery; use it sparingly, to pin down advancing Russian infantry units and, on a good day, perhaps immobilizing a Russian AFV or two.*
*
Your biggest shortcoming, however, is more subtle. Specifically, even though a few of the much-talked-about Western resupply man-portable AT weapons have now shown up on the battlefield, most of these are next to useless against the frontal armor of Russian tanks. So you will, in some cases, need to sit there and wait until the T-72s drive right past you, and only THEN dare you fire at them! Don't forget that many of the better Russian AFV's are very well-protected against light AT weapons of the sort that you have; these tanks have "active defence" that can shoot down missiles, explosive reactive armor and, last but not least, very good anti-HEAT protection. It will often take multiple hits to kill one of these vehicles, and you have a finite number of RPGs. You do have some ATGMs, but they are mostly older models that (again) are ineffective against Russian frontal tank armor. Positioning these carefully will be absolutely critical to mounting a proper defence.*
*
Also, many of your irregular units (e.g. the foreigners invited by Mr. Zelensky to come and fight on Ukraine's side) have some combination of poor training, or poor morale, or both. These formations have a bad habit of routing, and / or surrendering, at the worst possible moment. So always have a backup position to avoid your front collapsing without warning, due to a lucky Russian shot or artillery barrage.*
*
AS THE RUSSIANS : Your forces have far better firepower than the Ukrainians do; but taking the town of Mikolayev'ska is going to be anything BUT "easy". GRU reports say that the town is just "crawling" with Ukrainian and third-party defenders, and you have only a short number of turns in which to clear the town and reach the western side of the map.*
*
Also, due to bad planning, some of your forces will be late showing up to the battle, so you will have to launch your initial assault with only what you have at the time. You have some good artillery at your disposal but you do NOT have unlimited ammunition for this, so use it carefully, as dislodging defenders from prepared positions will be much more difficult without using indirect fire weapons. Be very careful not to let the Ukrainians get a good shot at your "specialist" (engineer / mine clearing) tanks, as without the ability to clear the barriers that have been placed in the middle of streets throughout the town, your forward motion will be greatly retarded or in some cases, stopped altogether.*
*
Finally, some of your conscript soldier units (though still individually better than the Ukrainians, particularly their irregular forces) are having morale issues and they may decide just to sit and hide, when ordered to move forward and fight. After all, President Putin told them that they were just going on a 'training exercise'. If by 'training' he meant, 'coming up against people fighting ferociously for their homeland', then that is the best, if the most dangerous, kind of 'training'.*
*
Design by: Bulos Qoqish 

