Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

I played a long generated campaign with Israel v. Arabs (Egypt, Syria, PLO) from ~1948 to 1978 (30 years war?) and decided to try US v. Communist (Russia, China, N. Vietnam) from ~1949 to present to learn those units. Currently in April 1951, battles occur every 4 to 5 months.

With upgrades and unit swaps, core is currently 2 identical reinforced battalions composed as follows:

12 x M26 Pershing Tanks
4 x Sherman dozers
4 x M45 Infantry/CS tanks
4 x Sherman flame tanks
4 x M19 SPAA (40mm twin)
4 x Inf Plt. modified to include
1-HMG
2-Armored Inf sqd (just upgraded to M20 superbazooka)
2-Engineers
6 x 90mm AT gun
6 x 40mm AA gun
6 x M41 SPA 155mm
9 x 8in+ Off Map Arty
3 x 175mm Off Map Arty
1 x Sherman FO
1 x Recon Platoon of
1-FO
2-Cav Scout
2-Sniper
4 x Lt Attack Helo w/7.62 MG

Map size is maximum, all games played with 50 turns. I'm just finishing up a meeting engagement versus Russians on Fulda Gap map. Two large flat-topped 30-height hills in middle, extensive but broken woods all over map exept on hills, which are fairly open, even on the slopes. Asphalt road runs E-W about 1/3 of way down map, with intersecting dirt road NW to SE. Woods border much of E-W road, clusters of bldgs and fewer woods on diagonal road.

1st VP block is between two wooded areas on northern third of map, with open area to east of woods. 2nd VP on enemy side of largest hill, 3rd VP open area with diagonal dirt road w/bldgs passing to NE and woods to West.

Quick and dirty summary of battle:

Support units were:
3 x M3 1/2-track with 3 Scouts onboard each
6 x M3 SPA w/81mm mortar
9 x 105mm off map arty
crapload of M3's to carry troops and towed guns
12 x M3 ammo carriers

Planned to drive tanks from 1st battalion up in woods to west of northern VP and ambush Russian advance with infantry covered by smoke, then use tank fire to kill. Russians had even mix of T-34/85 and heavier tanks. T-34's were not hard to kill with frontal shots using Sabot ammo, heavier tanks very difficult. Ended up using infantry to assault under cover of smoke, or close side shots as enemy tried to move across my blocking force. Pounding with 105mm off-map arty gave excellent suppression even for heavier armor, which allowed me to get in close under smoke cover and finally kill heavier Russian armor. I then withdrew to allow smoke to clear and move my infantry to find and mop up Russian infantry and RPG-2 units.

In the middle, I set up AT guns on reverse slope of big hill with no VP, and mostly just picked off a few advance tanks. AI focused much more on VP hill (duh!) Besides smoke, flanking shoot-and-scoot worked well from sides of hill with 2nd battalion tanks.

Down south, only support tanks were sent to provide some help to all-infantry force. Crept up to VP area and found it deserted. Helo scouting showed his whole southern force had wheeled to the right to re-take center VP. I pounced on southern VP, which caused enemy to stop for a turn or two, then split some of force back to South. Ambushed them with infantry and flame tanks in woods and buildings off road.

As of turn 24, here is the status:

Most Russian vehicles fleeing or burning; several immobilized heavy tanks I'm trying to maneuver around for a kill-shot or infantry assault. Pursuing (cautiously) to see what units I can still catch and destroy. All enemy arty destroyed or rendered ineffective by my arty, except two pesky 82-mm mortars I can't seem to find. Several 14.5mm AA destroyed by my arty, as exposed by helo sorties. Enemy is making a small counter-attack in center, and I don't have any tanks capable of destroying them close by, so I may have to withdraw a little to buy some time again. If I can pick them off, then in the next turn or two I'll take the last VP's to end the game.

Units lost so far:

Support units = 5 Scouts, 3 APC
Core units =
1 M26 (crew survived)
1 M45 (crew dead)
About 4 or 5 tanks have minor damage, one lost its main gun
One M19 SPAA has guns disabled and one AT gun was abandoned and crew fled off map.
Most of my infantry has taken 1 or 2 (or 3) casualties and one has 6 men lost, but didn't disperse.
2 helos retreated off-map

I'll provide more blow-by-blows once I start next battle.

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

I finished up the above battle last night, with good reason it turns out. The enemy counter-attack fizzled out as 3 of the 5 attacking tanks lost their nerve and fled. I was able to kill the two others (T-34/85) with infantry assaults as they advanced up the hill. I was able to kill four of his immobilized tanks up north, and get one of the 82-mm mortars with a helo. As I advanced through the wreckage up north, one of my tanks got popped with an RPG-2 and lost its coax-MG and took 3 damage points, but survived. I decided discretion was the better part of valor and took the last VP I'd been waiting for to end the game.

When I checked out the map, I was surprised to find he had about 30 tanks advancing up the middle in good order, probably heading for the lightly defended hilltop VP. Yikes! Most of them were the heavier (and slower) tanks of the type that had caused so much difficulty before. The five T-34's that counter-attacked last turn must have been the lead elements of that group.

Decisive victory! (no great achievement against the AI, I know)

Next battle is defend against Chinese assault on Korea map. Lots of smaller level 30 hills, one group forming an almost continuous ridgline running NW-SE across the map. I used my Sherman dozer's (i.e., placing trenches and then removing them) to take down some of the trees in front of good firing positions on the leading edge of some of the ridgeline. The middle VP is too close to the set-up line for comfort, so I seeded it with mines and will probably concede it to the expected overrun of enemy infantry and take it back later in the game. I also mined the two roads heavily to keep them from being used by the enemy. No units set up yet, I'll have to wait for tomorrow for that.

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

Sounds pretty awesome. Let us know how that works out!

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

Expected mass infantry attack did not materialize. Instead, mass of t-34/85 did materialize. Uh oh! Classic failure to apply Sun Tzu's advice to "know your enemy." I didn't check the Chinese equipment list before the battle, and mentally was thinking "hey, its still early in the war, I don't think the Chinese had that many tanks yet."

So far (turn 12) it appears they have 2 main columns, both in the South sector, followed up by Mongol Cavalry. One appears aimed at the fore-mentioned VP hex cluster on the ridge extension sticking out almost into their territory. The heavy mine concentration around it, plus artiller, has stalled them there for the moment.

A belt of mines and two platoons of support infantry with bazookas has stalled the second advance, which appears to be aimed at the gap in the ridgeline, probably because that's where the road penetrates it. The enemy have really chewed up one of the infantry platoons, and the other is starting to take fire too.

So far, my self-imposed range limitation has kept just about all of my units from revealing their locations, and I've used woods and smoke to take pot-shots when only a few of the enemy can see me. I usually destroy one, or sometimes two, of their armor each time. Then retreat into a ravine or back over the top of the ridgeline. Even though I'm having to abandon dug in positions, its better than letting them take who-knows-how-many shots back on the Russian turn. It's creating a line of burning wrecks which is allowing me to manuever so that their numerical superiority isn't as bad. As planned, I've given up the VP cluster, although the haven't managed to take any yet. Two tanks made it through the mine cluster, but I've been shooting just about every artillery tube I've got at the area, and immobilized or demoralized most of the tanks that are in position to take it so far.

This is turning out to be a little more interesting than I had expected, since I was caught off-guard by the huge number of enemy tanks, concentrated into those two hordes. Too bad cluster munitions are still a few decades into the future :-)

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

So far the US line is holding, although two more American tanks had to pull back and seek cover after a Chinese armored thrust. The Mongol Cavalry filtering in behind the Chinese vehicles approached to within 500 meters and two of HMG's opened up on them. Several men and horses went down, flailing madly. Fortuitous placement of a sniper (in some woods on a ridge extension) provided a clear view of the hapless survivors. Shots rang out as the brave Chinese troopers tried to find cover. None got away.

Another cavalry squad ran parallel to the line of immobilized enemy tanks, looking for an opening in the minefield. One of the American Pershings, concealed behind a building, placed two well-aimed rounds into the midst of them, scattering horse- and man-flesh in all directions.

Artillery rained down on the stalled Chinese vehicles, and another Pershing emerged from cover to turn two of the buttoned-up T-34's into burning coffins. Slowly and steadily the enemy armor is being reduced in number, with only about 1/2 of the enemy vehicles in sight now able to maneuver.

A quick helicopter sortie across the front was successful in scouting out the enemy's vehicles screened by smoke, drawing fire once from a lone IS-2 tank (T-34/s have no AAMG). Upon penetrating deeper into enemy territory, they encountered sporadic AA fire from Chinese 20mm flak and had to pull back behind a treeline.

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

Nice work. Keep it coming.:up:

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

Reports from the front lines indicate that all enemy armor on the Southern fringe of the battle have been destroyed. M45 Pershing CS tanks are moving forward from their dug-in positions, around the enemies' Southern flank to intercept a company of Chinese infantry, which was finally spotted by a helicopter doing recon over the front lines.

One friendly tank was heavily damaged by enemy fire from a Chinese IS-2 that appeared out of the smoke just inside our perimeter, apparently the only remaining mobile armor of the enemy's most southerly tank force. The rest have either been pinned down in the mine belt or destroyed. A few also appear to have given up their thrust for the road break through the ridgeline, and have headed north to assist in the attempt to take the VP cluster. Nearby friendly units were able to get a flank shot and destroy the IS-2, although a few other of these menaces were spotted in the woods just past the front.

Helos from the northern battalion, which has seen very little action, penetrated deeper into the enemy rear and with great courage were able to close in and spot a group of enemy AA guns that had been harassing them. A call has been made for artillery supression fire as soon as available.

In the center the Chinese have continued to press for the VP cluster, and six more T-34's have become immobilized or destroyed by mines. After the last round of heavy artillery fire landed on them, a Pershing closed in and killed two of the suppressed enemy vehicles. Artillery has been requested to cease fire in this area and comply with the helo's request for suppression fire on enemy AA batteries.

All armor in the souther sector is maneuvering around the southern flank, staying just on the enemy side of the mine belt, while friendly infantry will begin moving forward under cover of smoke to dipose of the 20 or so enemy vehicles immobilzed on the mine belt. Thereafter, the infantry will move forward though gaps in the mines, and advance in front of the armor moving up from the south. Their objective is to find and eliminate the advancing enemy infantry until the enemy begs for mercy!

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

This is A beautiful thread

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

Thanks. I'm trying to find a balance between too much and too little detail, so that it will be entertaining. I want to make it understandable so that everyone can visualize the overall tactical picture, but not get bogged down in every engagement. Constructive criticism is welcome; I want to get better at this.

I look forward to seeing stories from others, and hadn't seen any new ones lately, so I thought I'd contribute rather than complain.

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

The front is strangely quiet. Friendly Pershing tanks moved forward from their emplacments and destroyed 3 more enemy T-34's from close range, about 500 meters. Engineers from AX platoon have moved into position to assault two more enemy tanks that are immobilized in the mine belt, assisted by scouts from the attached recon platoon.

Pershing CS tanks continue to move up cautiously from the southern edge, ready to link up with AX and AY platoon after the enemy vehicles are destroyed. A few enemy vehicles are reported to have made a probe up the road in the northern sector, but 3 were stopped by mines, and another 3 were intercepted and destroyed by north battalion tanks lying in ambush. Although two enemy vehicles appear to be escaping, the northern sector commander has elected not to pursue.

Southern sector helos attempted to skirt around the advance platoons of the finally located Chinese infantry, but came under intense fire from both the ground troops and distant AA machine guns. Both helo units retreated behind the front lines, but not before discovering around 4 companies of Chinese troops. At least 2 additional companies have been spotted emerging from an orchard closer to the center. Looks like the battle ain't over yet, boys!

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

The enemy infantry came on in a measured advance, but were halted for the most part by responsive cannon and MG fire from the advancing M26 Pershings. A few friendly support vehicles also advanced through breaks in the mine belt and added their firepower to the carnage. There must have been 3 or 4 enemy infantry companies advancing in both the southern and central sectors. The southern sector provided cover in the form of dense woods on the ridgeline they had crossed to reach our positions. We had to keep pummeling them with our SP artillery and vehicle fire before they finally broke and ran. They were able to damage a M19 SPAA (knocking out its twin 40mm) and a Pershing (coax MG gone) with sneaky little RG teams before the day was carried.

In the central sector, a scout team sent to assault immobilized enemy tanks lost their nerve at the last moment and ran back into cover when the T-34 began traversing its turret in their direction. A tandem team of engineers, under cover of thick smoke, was able to approach from the other side and made short work of the stranded vehicle. Not to be outdone (and with some urging from the battalion commander) the scouts redeemed themselves and proceeded to demolish a nearby enemy tank that was also broken down. Removing these sentinels opened the way for the remainder of southern battalion support vehicles (dozers, flails, and flame tanks) to advance through the smoke and up to the perimeter of the orchard. As in the southern sector, enemy infantry emerged from cover and smoke into a hail of fire (in this case, literally due to the flame tanks) and ended up a broken mass of humanity.

Through cat-n-mouse scouting, friendly helos were able to locate 10 enemy AA batteries, which were thereafter zeroed in on by friendly off-map artillery. Swooping in on the demoralized enemy positions, the helos were able to turn the tables on their former attackers, and gunned down the enemy crewmen as they ran. Muhaahaahaa!!

Needless to say, the enemy forces decided that pressing the attack was only suicidal, and they promptly fled the battlefield.

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

Very good work! I like it!

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

Orders have arrived to make an advance into Chinese-held territory, farther up the Korean Peninsula. It's January 1952 and boy, is it cold out! There is snow everywhere, with some drifts high enough to swallow a whole vehicle. Getting up and down the ridges in front of our objectives is going to be especially difficult with all the snow and ice. At least most of the trees have lost their leaves, and there are plenty of them out there.

At least we got some new equipment. All of our M26 Pershings have been replaced by the new M47 Pattons, and each battalion has been strengthened by the permanent attachment of an additional infantry platoon. We have received additional support from division HQ, composed of two battalions of 105mm artillery, four Chaffee light tanks and 4 mechanized infantry platoons. Air support has also been promised, but whether it will arrive, or do any good in this terrain, who can say. At least the whether is holding out, with great visibility. While it bodes well for the promised air support, it will also give the enemy a good view of our approach in the open areas.

As our forces entered the tactical area of operations, the enemy let loose with a barrage of 75, 122, and a few 152mm tubes. They seemed to be searching at random for something to shoot at, although some seemed focused on the roads cutting through the woods in the center of the area. Counter-battery fire seemed partially effective, but I suspect they'll continue to be a problem for some time. What surprised the hell out of our top brass was the arrival of two enemy attack aircraft. We all think they were MiG-15's of some sort, although it's difficult to be sure. We weren't even sure if they were ours or theirs at first, since they just swooped down and shot at something in the saddle of the ridgeline that we couldn't see. Because of the delay in realizing they were enemy, hardly any of our boys even took a shot at them. I'm sure they'll be back...

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

Progress in this snow is such slow going that Division sent up some transports for us. Its the new all-tracked vehicles with some cover overhead. That'll sure help keep us warmer with this cold weather, and ward off some of that shrapnel from artillery barrages, but it's going to be more difficult to watch out for the enemy. Unfortunately, they're not powerful enough to pull the big AT guns with the battalion, so we've had to leave those behind. That's a shame, because they sure come in handy to blunt enemy counterattacks that try to do a flanking maneuver. Let's hope the Colonel puts out some flanking units of our own to keep an eye out.

The attack has been split into 4 prongs, 1/2 of each battalion going behind the mech infantry platoons that were sent up from division. Those guys get cushy jobs back in the reserve, but they always seem to get put out ahead when its their turn to get called up to the front. I'm not sure I'd trade with them.

Helos scouted the open terrain on the northern edge of the area, overlooked by a 20 meter hill. Sure enough, there were a few enemy squads forming a blocking force there. Some of the spare APC's (the one's that couldn't pull the big guns, duh!) and two of the Chaffee light tanks were manuevering up there for a look-see as well, followed by our recon platoon. The APC crews pulled into a shelter in the hill and climbed out to check things out, and immediately were taken under fire by some RG assault squads that remained unobserved with their winter white camoflage uniforms. One of the poor crewmen was killed, and the other guy ran off. The helos circled around blasting the area with their MG"s, but soon had to go back to re-arm. By that time, our recon platoon arrived and dismounted. The APC's provided suppression fire as the scouts moved in for a closer look, and our sniper team succeeded in taking out some of the enemy assault squads. The Chafees also provided longer range suppression with their cannon. Finding no heavier weapons in the area, Section A of 1st Battalion has been diverted to this area as a possible route through the enemy defenses.

Section B of 1st battalion has been stalled in the saddle of the ridgeline, as advance infantry sent through the saddle came under both tank and AT gun fire from another wooded hilltop about 1.5 km ahead. Smoke was place to block their line-of-sight, but flanking fire was then taken from the heavily wooded area off the the South once the pass was transversed. Units are dispersing behind the pass in case we were spotted and enemy artillery is inbound. They'll be held in reserve pending the progress of the other spearheads.

Section A of 2nd battalion has begun moving forward down the dirt road in the center of the map, with mech recon elements well ahead. Good thing, since they uncovered two 100mm enemy AT guns in the second woody ridge, that faces the first one we must cross. 10 minutes of friendly artillery fire convinced both crews to run (and then disperse). Long range tank fire was also received as our tanks crested the ridge, but manuevering through the woods avoided most of it, and none of our vehicles were hit. It was decided not to engage the enemy at long range due to the unnecessary risk.

The lead elements of Section B are just arriving on the scene of a hot firefight between the advance mech infantry platoon and enemy infantry in a clearing where a village abuts the Southern E-W road. About a company of enemy infantry was ultimately located, with several enemy teams destroyed at a cost of several of our men. The integral .30-cal MG team was pretty well taken out when enemy infantry was able to get close while enemy 60mm mortars provided heavy suppression fire. Had it not been for our own suppression fire from the APC's and the SPA 60mm mortar, it could have turned out badly. The enemy have been cleared from all five buildings, thanks in large part to the well placed shots of the bazooka boys, and direct fire from the SPA mortar. There are still several healthy enemy squads in the woods SW of the village, but they will now be bypassed for the support tanks to eliminate.

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

1st Battalion A: Manuevering around to north side of map, ready to exploit breakthrough exposed by advance elements. Those elements have discovered a few more enemy infantry squads, but defenses are light and collapsing. 14.5mm AAMG's shot at helos cresting the ridge, but all three have been spotted and targetted by arty.

1st Bn B: Still stalled/in-reserve short of the saddle in the first ridgeline. Infantry continues to advance slowly. The T-34's and IS-2's that were previously overwatching the saddle have been encouraged to depart with heavy doses of artillery, but at least two, and perhaps three, un-spotted enemy 100mm AT guns continue to bombard the infantry. Waiting for infantry to enter woods on other side of valley to smoke the area, and then rush vehicles across the open space on the other side of the saddle. 105mm arty from division support has been peppering the wooded area for about 15 mins, and one helo ventured over the woods for a recon. Two obviously suppressed enemy infantry spotted in the woods on the fly-over, and five T-34's to the west in open area past woods.

2nd Bn A: Continued west up central road, linking up with forward recon in N-S gully, where the recon got stalled. Previously, across the almost open valley between the two N-S ridges, the other 105mm divisional battery has been hitting the woods, and dismounted mech infantry started across the open area. APC's waited in woodline on our side of the valley. Suddenly, heavy shots rang out and two AT rifles made multiple hits on the waiting transports from 400-500 meters away. One erupted in flames and the other was heavily damaged, although still mobile. One AT rifle was spotted out in the open by advancing infantry, but the other remains hidden. Based on the muzzle flashes, it is also somewhere out in the open behind a snowdrift. Lesson for the day: Sometimes the best place to hide is in plain sight. HQ never called arty on the open area, only the woods up ahead. Those division mech guys who will be walking home now will have plenty of time to think about why they weren't paying attention and looking for enemy AT ambushes :doh:

2nd Bn B: Also linked up with advance elements at the village on the southern E-W road. Another platoon, or maybe a whole company, of enemy infantry has been spotted (via muzzle flashes) in the woods beyond the village. Two more of our men won't be going home. Supporting fire from the new M47 Pattons caused several casualties, and three enemy squads were last seen fleeing back into the woods. The veteran troops of our battalion will be dismounting in the cover of the village and clearing the wooded area to the south of the town, with help from the infantry support tanks and accompanying APC's.

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

1st Bn A: Advance elements peeking around the edge of the hill, checking for any enemy forces to the SW. Main force tanks are beginning to traverse northern base of hill. Infantry dismounting to clear out enemy infantry in woods on southern slope of hill.

1st Bn B: The expected barrage of enemy artillery finally arrived in the saddle. Several tubes of 122mm pounded the area, with only a few near misses pinging off friendly vehicles that were dispersed nearby. Infantry is almost across the valley and into the opposing woodline. Plotting smoke for the run across by the vehicles.

2nd Bn A: Enemy infantry dispersed from the clearing, with 3 Chinese AT rifle teams ultimately destroyed. Long range fire from two enemy 100mm ATG's caught an APC unaware and destroyed it. Moving forward on and around the road at a slow pace.

2nd Bn B: Moving slowly down road while friendly infantry and support vehicles hunt down remaining enemy soldiers.

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

1st Bn A: Two mech inf squads made it into the woods SW of hill with their APC's. Chaffee's are right behind. Small arms fire was taken from an enemy squad, so there are bad guys around, but only a few it seems. Main force tanks are almost across the back side of the hill.

1st Bn B: Infantry is across and in the woods. The vehicle dash has begun, and smoke is landing everywhere. One shot from an enemy T-34 missed and was immediately screened by smoke.

2nd Bn A: Continue moving forward slowly. Three more enemy assault teams were neutralized, but an enemy 100mm ATG scored a hit on the lead tank of the main force as it neared the edge of the woods. Main gun and AAMG were knocked out, and the crew almost bailed. Only the quick thinking of a nearby grunt squad saved it from total annihilation, when they popped a smoke round that obscured its withdrawal. A previously hidded SU-76 assault gun also managed to score a hit on one the the infantry taxis, which as usual erupted in a gout of fire. Friendy tanks were able to destroy the offending unit with return fire from about 1km away. The 100mm was also located and rendered ineffective by the two light attack helos, one taking fire from a hidden enemy grunt squad and it is returning to base for repairs. Another volley of enemy 60mm mortar fire caused most of our leg infantry to go to ground, delaying the advance.

2nd Bn B: In the woods to the south, one APC immobilized after it was ambushed by an RG Assault squad, although the enemy were fended off and destroyed by onboard infantry, who also took several casualties. Flame tanks destroyed two other enemy units, and we're chasing down a third. Main force continues to advance behind infantry guides.

Both elements of 2nd Bn are now being preceeded by barrages from the divisional 105mm batteries, since they have been taken off the suppression assignment in front of 1st Bn B. Intrinsic artillery continues to suppress AA, ATG and enemy armor with no LOS to friendly forces.

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

1st Bn A: Main force armor is in the woods. Mech elements from division have emerged from the woods and reached the base of the first large hill on the enemy's northern flank. Orders are to skirt the base of the hill around the NW side, being mindful of enemy AA guns that we know are on the hillside somewhere, and begin penetration into the rear areas. Go team go!

1st Bn B: All vehicles are safely across the vallely and into the perimeter of the woods. Three enemy assault teams have been encountered in the woods and engaged by our own men. One of our mech squads took a beating, but all three enemy infantry are on the run. Two heavily suppressed T-34's were still guarding the back-side of the woods, and used their machine guns to pin down our boys. A main force tank was able to get a clear shot at one of the tanks and it was engaged from 200m with devastating results. A third enemy tank is somewhere to the South, and very close, as it pounded one of our main force MG's that started suppression firing into the woods on the other side of the clearing. As an engineer team started moving south to assault that tank, two more disrupted (but still alert) enemy infantry squads laid into the engineers, who went to ground with only minor casualties. Instrinsic artillery fire has been requested to shift fire to the SW to suppress any other hidden enemy units on our flank as we prepare to cross the clearing. Also, we don't want to get our own heads blown off by friendly fire.:up:

2nd Bn A: Main force units have advanced to the wooded base of a large hill that is part of the enemy's main defensive line. Using the woods and crest of a spur as cover, we are temporarily halting to regroup. A platoon of T-34's has been spotted on the NE side of the hill, in a slight saddle, that we had planned to use as our route of advance. We have requested that they be given a healthy dose of large metal objects falling from the sky before we proceed. Although our concentration of forces at the base of the hill is a bit risky, we have only received a sporadic peppering from enemy 60mm mortars anywhere in the area lately, and intel is confident that all large calibre enemy artillery has either been rendered ineffective or simply run out of ammunition. A probe of APC's with onboard infantry has been sent to explore the southern route (which also happens to be in the direction of one of our objectives). That route was initially rejected as too open and exposed to fire from any secondary defensive line. However, helo scouting and the lack of ANY fire from that quadrant makes it worth reconsideration. Unfortunately, our advancing infantry teams failed to spot a lone enemy unit, and before anyone had a chance to react, the "whoosh" of a rocket launcher broke the silence. The flash of light from a small stand of trees revealed the location of the enemy bazooka team, but not before they had turned one of the taxis into a pile of scrap. The advance infantry, obviously a little pissed off, returned heavy small arms fire, but only succeeded in driving the team to ground. One of the Sherman Dozer tanks manuevered for a clear view, and succeeded in killing the enemy team after a sustained period of cannon and MG fire from about 400 meters.

2nd Bn B: There is little to report in this sector, as we continue a slow advance behind scouting infantry. With no objectives in the area, the Colonel has allowed us to proceed with maximum caution, sniffing for another route into the enemy's rear. We are also to remain available as a reserve force, to head north as needed if group A becomes stalled or heavily engaged.

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

1st Bn A: Three enemy 20mm AA were located when they shot at scouting APC's. All were destroyed by the Chaffees and main force tanks. The northern objective area was approached by some of the section, but section B arrived there first and the enemy fled the battlefield. Some units of section A drove into the enemy's rear area, but did not locate any enemy units.

1st Bn B: Indirect suppression fire by our flame tanks allowed friendly infantry to overrun the enemy infantry in the woods. Moving forward cautiously, the grunts were able to approach and destroy the two remaining T-34's in this wooded area. Mech units moved forward rapidly after this final breakthrough and were able to capture the northern objective, about 300 m past the woods, with minimal effort.

2nd Bn A: Main force tanks proceeded expeditiously through the break in the hills, destroying all three enemy T-34's while on the move. Fortunately, the fly-boys finally saw fit to make a pass over us, probably looking for those T-34's we called in about earlier. They spotted a whole company of the tanks in the flat area behind the large hill, which we might have blundered past. Then "Kapow!" you get sucker-punched in the back when you've driven past them. Instead, it was us that did the sucker-punching; we smoked them real good and then headed north to the Central objective, where we set up in cover of the woods on the far side and just waited. The mech boys kept driving north and took our objective, and when the Chinese counter-attacked with their tanks, we opened fire, just like making popcorn: pop, pop, pop-pop! Too bad, so sad.

2nd Bn B: Since section A was cut off from the Southern objective by a large group of enemy armor, section B turned north to attempt seizing it. This meant picking up the pace a little, and we lost our caution. Also, artillery was running out of ammo, so we weren't able to prep the area in front of our now rapidly moving force, and we paid for it. One of the flame tanks was toasted (literally) by a lone surviving enemy tank in the woods which had not been spotted by the advancing grunts. That turned out to be the worst of the remaining resistance. We spotted a few enemy squads, but they were quickly suppressed or driven off and we proceeded to take the objective with little further interference.

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

The expected enemy counter-attack was both half-hearted and futile. About eight or nine enemy tanks were destroyed, as well as five or six enemy squads. The rest of their infantry units retreated behind smoke, and soon all resistance crumbled as the enemy left the battlefield to the victors. Post-battle analysis showed that the enemy still had a substantial number of infantry units in the large woods to the SE of the central objective, but most were in various states of distress. Several enemy armored units were scattered about, almost all having been immobilized by artillery during the battle. Enemy casualties were heavy, and ours light by comparison:

1 Sherman flame tank destroyed (and crew cooked alive)
5 divisional APC's destroyed
4 tanks heavily damaged
2 helos lightly damaged
3 divisional 1/2 tracks (gun or mortar) damaged
81 men lost
1 aircraft lightly damaged

Apparently the French are having a hard time in Vietnam, and we've been ordered to pack up and ship out the provide assistance. The mission will be to assault VietMinh positions in the highlands on two adjacent mountains, each with a double camel-back ridgeline. Intel says the terrain around the mountains is fairly flat, but with quite a bit of jungle. There appears to be a corridor of loosely connected clearings that would make a good east-to-west route of advance. We're scheduled to attack just after first light when the visibility will be about 500 meters. That sounds good to me, since we'll be able to see where we're going, but it won't allow the Viet-Minh on the mountains to see us coming and fire on us from long range.

We thought HQ might abandon the flame tanks, especially since one got destroyed in the last mission and they're no longer in production. However, I heard they might be useful in that jungle terrain for smoking (haha) out the enemy, so they went ahead and shipped us one from the reserves and plenty of spare parts. We didn't receive any other upgraded equipment, just repairs for our damaged units, and then we had to load up for the trip overseas.

Divisional HQ said there will be plenty of air support this time, with both fighter-bombers and close support bombers on call. The French also had two Russian advisor helo pilots defect with their Mil-1's that they've agreed to lend us. Not good for much if you ask me, since they don't even have any weapons, but the Colonel said they can carry a few men in the cockpit and sneak 'em behind enemy lines, so we'll just have to wait and see. We are also getting four batteries of division 105mm artillery to assist. Looks to be a challenging mission ahead.

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

Upon arrival in Vietnam, we were given four Sherman Flails to assist in the assault, as well as four platoons of Mech engineers. They should help out alot with mine clearing. The Colonel decided to keep each battalion intact for this battle, and we've been moving steadily forward since the operation kicked off. As usual with the military, things started off late, and by the time we got rolling it was well past first light. Dawn is approaching and visibility is about 700 meters or so, not so different than what we expected to have. I wonder if it will help us or the enemy more to have the longer range of sight.

1st Bn is proceeding through the clearing chain as planned, with light resistance. So far our scouts have spotted two SKS anti-tank rocket launchers, two MMG's, and nine enemy squads (either before or after shooting at us). All have been destroyed by heavy return fire from our units. Enemy 60mm and 81mm mortars have been harrassing us, but no barrage has caught us dead-on so far. We've suffered a few casualties, but nothing serious. We'd heard that the VietMinh would bring artillery right up close to the front, but we were surprised how close they really mean. The defector Russian helos dropped a scout team in a small clearing near some smoke puffs about 1.5km from our first stopping point, and when they snuck to the edge of the woods, they spotted three 76mm field guns in sandbagged pits. Needless to say, they quickly called in support. Two snipers were infiltrated by helo, and after about 10 minutes, all the crews were killed without any response.

We've come across the enemy's first mine belt, and with our dozer's and engineers working without enemy interference have easily swept a clear path. We also stumbled across two enemy bunkers, one of which must have been used mostly for storage and as a bomb shelter, because the enemy had let trees and bushes grow up in front of it to such an extent that it had no field of fire after about 50 meters. They manned it up quickly when they saw our engineers filtering through the woods nearby, but a Sherman flame tank knocked it out easily from point-blank range. The 'zippo' also took on the bunker about 400 meters to the north, with similar results.

2nd Bn discoverd a small dirt road that the French said was used for logging in bygone days, so they are driving cautiously up that with heavy prep-fire from the divisional 105 batteries. They've only encountered one or two enemy units so far, although they've been hit with a steady rain of 60mm mortars. Keeping the Flails up front, screened by smoke from our barrage seems to be the best response. They are almost impervious to the small calibre enemy mortars, and the enemy's limited AT capability and the amount of suppression caused by our 105mm makes the risks minimal. They have just come across a heavily mined section of the road, so engineer and infantry teams following behind them have started fanning out to bypass the mines. Two more enemy squads were detected when they opened fire, and they will soon be the subject of retribution.

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

1st Bn continued moving forward, using the clearings to leap-frog from one woodline to the next, until nearing the central objective. Then the battalion split into two sections, one turning sharply north to approach the northern objective and the other veering slightly south to take the Central objective. Both sections cautiously approached and captured the objectives with persistant creeping forward.

2nd Battalion infantry fanned out and secured the flanks of the main force. Divisional infantry, supported by the Flail and Pershing CS tanks took the objectives.

Lack of time has blunted this battle report, and it is entirely uninteresting. Besides closure, it is being written to point out that there were continuous counter-attacks by enemy infantry and SKS launchers until the VietMinh requested a cease-fire and withdrew from the battle (i.e., time ran out). After 2 & 1/2 hours of combat, we had finally succeeded. However it was not for lack of trying to recapture by the enemy. As they filtered back into their own territory, I was amazed at the number of enemy units still concealed in the large wooded areas that were advancing from their emplacements to reclaim the objectives.

Losses:
1 M19 40mm SPAA (crew survived)
3 Tanks immobilized
1 helo slightly damaged
2 trucks w/AAMG from division
2 divisional squads
several men from other units

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

After a few months of rest and refit, we have been called up to meet an aggressive thrust by the Russians into portions of occupied Germany. We are tasked with giving the Russkies a sound thrashing to remind them we will defend the Germans against Communist agression, and also to keep the cold war from getting any hotter.

The terrain is rolling hills with small pockets of woods. There is a paved road E-W across the southern portion of the map, and a NW-SE dirt road that intersects the paved road just past our objective areas. Both roads have bocage along most of their length (i.e., trees growing on rough terrain). The hills are about 30 meters high and there are some depressions and ravines in between, a few as much as 25 meters deep. There are many patches of broken ground dispered around the area.

Division has supplied 2 armored rifle companies, a few half-tracks & M75 boxcar APC's for taxis, ammo half-tracks, and limited air support. The battle plan is to move AT guns up to the hills overlooking the objectives and place them on broken patches, behind cover of smoke where necessary. These will be used to provide distractions for enemy fire, as well as take out some enemy armor. Main force tanks will stay in Bn groups and traverse the low ground between the hills to avoid being skylined and shot at, and take up positions to provide flanking fire as enemy units attempt to seize the objectives. Our own infantry will take the unusual risk of riding the main force tanks up to the expected encounter area and dismount under cover of terrain or smoke. Then they can provide scouting and screening services as the armor moves into better positions. Infantry support tanks will accompany the armored infantry companies from division as one proceeds through the wooded areas near the objectives to act as recon and targets, and the other will advance down the road, dismounting and using the bocage as cover as needed, to penetrate into the enemy rear.

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

After advancing relatively unopposed for about 15 minutes, both armored infantry companies from division ran into enemy mechanized formations and promptly put out smoke and dismounted. Most of the vehicles withdrew a good distance back to avoid the inevitable barrage of artillery. The bocage terrain makes great cover for our dismounted troops, but it is hell on vehicles, so it can also act as an impediment once the advance is stalled - it is much more difficult to flank the obstructing force.

The AT guns on the hilltop was a great plan to start with, but as soon as a larger number of enemy vehicles appeared, they became shell magnets. The Colonel called for smoke to screen a repositioning move to the flanks of the hill to keep them from becoming scrap metal. Only one artillery barrage of 122mm hit one of them before we had them all out of the way. While the guns could have remained hidden for longer and not drawn so much attention to themselves, they probably wouldn't have had much time to escape in that case. So although the kill numbers of enemy armor was disappointingly low, it served to slow the enemy advance slightly and also distract some of his artillery, so all-in-all we'll probaly try it again some time. We lost a 1/2-track in the process, but they knocked out 4 enemy tanks and 2 APC's so far. The enemy fire didn't manage to hit any of the guns themselves, but four crewman were put out of action by a near miss.

We discovered shortly after sighting the enemy's major force groups that they had fielded some new armor. I heard some of the intel guys calling them a T-54-3. Whatever they're called, they have a new 100mm gun and thick armor. A lot of our shots just bounced off their fronts. Southern battalion had to throw up a smoke-screen and dash behind the flank of a large hill to get better positions. It turned out to be a good move, as many of these behemoths accompanied by T-34's tried to come around our southern flank, over a rise on the edge of the battlefield. A steady pounding with artillery slowed and suppressed their movement, so that we were able to demolish 10 or 15 of them, a few at a time, as they rounded the hillside. Another group came down the road and through an open area straight toward the southern objective. We had little to oppose them besides artillery, and they are now in a position to threaten the infantry holding that area.

In the far north, six T-34's were spotted trying to flank in that direction. Four F-84 fighter-bombers have been asked to make some runs over them, and hopefully they'll be deterred before getting into our rear area.

Shortly after the engagement really began, the enemy called in an airstrike of its own on us. Two Yak-9's and two IL-10's came swooping down and laid into the southern group of main force tanks. One Patton and one taxi have been destroyed by rocket fire from the IL-10's. The Yak's picked on some infantry and a Patton, but both survived. One of the Yak's and one of the IL-10's were brought down, and both others were damaged. The IL-10's are tough SOB's, and doing enough damage to knock them outta the sky is very difficult. Fortunately, the Russian pilot was a glory hound and he came back for another pass. That time one of the M19 SPAA gave him a solid hit with it's twin 40's, and he never even pulled up from his intial dive. BOOM! Right into the ground. We all cheered as the fireball mushroomed into the sky.

In the center, main force tanks found little resistance and bypassed to the north the conflict around the road, as the enemy also apparently did to the south. Leading halftracks cleared the way and they were able to completely pass through adjacent terrain, unlike the enemy thrust that is being stalled by our infantry. In the undulating ground to the south of the road, fields of fire are short and unpredictable. While our infantry is taking a beating, it is still in most of its initial positions. Enemy armor is piling up and constantly suppressed by our artillery. Meanwhile, our tanks found an opening in the bocage, raced down the road to get behind the enemy thrust, and have just emerged again. They are circling around to the south and coming upon the enemy from behind. Three T-34's went up in smoke just a few moments ago, and it looks like the Russian center may collapse shortly, between artillery suppression, slightly effective recoilles rifle fire from the bocage into their flank, and our main force armor in their rear. We just need the infantry to hold out for another 10 minutes....

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

The situation hasn't changed much in terms of territory, but we're steadily eating into the enemy's superior number of armored units.

Down south, we knocked out three more enemy tanks, including another T-54-3, but had to abandon one of our own M45 Pershing CS tanks when it was immobilized in an open area, and two enemy tanks could easily get a bead on it. Two platoons of our infantry in a small wooded area to the south of the southern objective successfully ambushed two T-34's from the enemy's UNsuccessful flanking attack that were trying to maneuver around our armor and work their way north to the objective. The main force tanks in the south split up, with one section remaining in ambush behind the flank side of the hill, and the other section climbing up the face of the hill and remaining on the reverse slope to intercept enemy armor as it crested the hill after pushing through our infantry. Four enemy tanks fell prey to this manuever, three by our tank fire and one due to infantry assault.

The enemy's center has not yet collapsed, although we are continuing to apply heavy pressure. Things went bad for a moment when a juggernaut from the days of the last war rumbled out of the woods and pointed its big, ugly snout at us. A JSU-152 had somehow remained unobserved and caught the Bn A main force tanks in the open. They had stopped to take on more Sabot and HEAT ammo from supply vehicles behind a small rise before making the final plunge into the enemy's rear. The JSU was on the top of the hill to the SW of the re-supplying tanks and could see down over the rise. Six of our tanks were able to get rounds off, but none hit, even though they made deep furrows in the ground all around the beast. No one was really panicking since it was only one against ten after all. Besides, those huge smoothbore guns are notoriously inaccurate at long range, and it was about a kilometer away. But when the fire belched out of that gaping maw, you could almost see the huge shell arcing down towards us. Against all odds, it smacked right into the turret of Charlie 1. The force of the impact, and the huge blast that followed, tore the turret right off. Only two men climbed out of the smoking hull, very dazed. A squad of men standing nearby were knocked off their feet, and two of them didn't get up. With retribution on their minds, the other tankers let loose another volley, and JSU erupted in flames from several penetrations, despite its thick frontal armor. With renewed vigor, the crews revved up their machines to end the battle with a resounding crash into the enemy's exposed rear.

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

Enemy activity on the southern flank has petered out completely, with two last T-34's killed while trying to run past. All seven or eight enemy armored units near the southern objective area are in retreat, and we're hoping to give them a swift kick in the a** on their way out.

In the central area, we ceased our artillery barrage and pinned their units between our advancing infantry under smoke cover, and the main force tanks coming up from their rear. All three JSU-122's were destroyed when the attempted to come to the aid of the buttoned-down T-34's and IS-1944's. The enemy forces blocking the road have also suffered heavily and are trying to disengage. Four T-34's, two IS-1944's, and two T-54-3's were destroyed either by infantry assault or while trying to pull back.

On the northern front, the repositioned 100mm AT guns knocked out four enemy tanks as they made a last desparate push to get past our defenses in that area. The rest have decided that they really didn't want to have to learn German after all, and disappeared back into the woods.

On the very northern edge of the battle area, our flyboys made their appearance and hit those six T-34's with cannon and rocket fire like there was no tomorrow. Two were destroyed and two are retreating. The 40mm AA guns near the artillery park (which is the only thing left back there) have been told to keep their heads low, and not shoot "until they can see the whites of their eyes," in case any of the survivors head for the area. The SPA have been put on alert and told they may have to bug out on short notice under cover of their own smoke. The bad news is that a lucky shot from a tank MG managed to hit a vital area on one of our F-84's, and it spiraled to earth in a smoking corkscrew. We didn't see any chute open before impact, so we're guessing the pilot was hit. Some CO's going to be writing a letter home tonight.

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

This is by far one of the best AAR's i've read...and I keep checking back regularly for updates. Thank you for the hard work

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

Thanks for the encouragement Rain. I think most of the other members are playing each other, which makes it hard to write these, since they'd be giving away their game strategy. I'm glad you enjoy my drivel.

Final report for this battle:

Friendly light attack helos have made scouting runs deep into enemy territory, locating and then avoiding enemy AA guns. Due to the mobile nature of this encounter, the enemy have not had time to make prepared positions, and the AA is easily suppressed or destroyed by friendly artillery. Since the rest of our force is either in rapid advance mode, or locked in close quarters "push them out" attacks, the arty isn't being used anywhere else, and all of it is available for AA suppression. After being supressed, the hunters become the hunted, and the helos have racked up quite a few AA gun markers for the sides of their fuselages.

Several more enemy tanks were destroyed in their chaotic flight from our advancing main force armor. A T-34 that had been hidden in the smoke around the intense infantry battle for the bocage (surrounding the road blockade) was taken out by an M19 SPAA which absolutely peppered it from the rear as it was fleeing. The entire enemy attack force seemes to be either already destroyed on on the run.

However, the helos spotted a counter-attack of a platoon of IS-1944's, a platoon of T-54-3's, a company of T-34's and a company of mechanized infantry driving west at high speed. They seemed headed for the road, so we set up two of the 90mm AT guns (my earlier assertion of 100mm was an error, due to my days with the Israeli units) in the bocage to either side of the road just were it formed a "Y." We also placed an infanry platoon around it for support. A battery of artillery was targetted about 600 farther down the road toward the enemy. Four Patton tanks hid in woods on either side of the road in case any enemy units broke out into the open country.

Three of the newly arrived enemy tanks were destroyed by the AT guns and infantry at point-blank range. Several smoking hulks of BTR-152 APC's also appeared during the 10 minute artillery barrage, or were dispatched by the waiting Pattons. The enemy counter-attack ground to a halt, and then the enemy literally ran off the battlefield.

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

It is now February 1953, and despite intensive peace talks, the Chinese have failed to make any firm commitment to ending the hostilities in Korea. To further encourage them to make progress, and some concessions, it has been decided at higher levels that we need to take some land away from them. It will probably be given back as part of the negotiations, but who are we to dispute orders? So, we have been assigned back to the Korean theater to assault some Chinese positions that have had plenty of opportunity to dig-in, and they have been generally resistant to polite requests to vacate the premises. There is a large town on the western side of the map, but the hills overlooking the town from the east are the real objectives, and we don't expect an attack on the town to be necessary. The area is, of course, blanketed with snow, although there don't appear to be too many drifts. It is sparsely wooded, although the trees have no leaves since it is the middle of winter, with many smaller villages dotting the landscape.

We have been shipped some of the new M42 Duster SPAA vehicles, which have the same basic weapon system as our M19's they'll be replacing, but more armor protection and quite a bit more ammo storage. I doubt we'll see many Chinese aircraft, but one never knows, and they'll be welcome improvements to our overall force effectiveness. They also swapped out two of our M45 Patton CS tanks in each battalion for the new M103 heavy tanks. They have a massive 120mm gun that can kill other tanks, instead of just infantry, and really thick frontal armor that will be useful for head-on attacks against infantry with light AT weapons, and older tanks. The problem with them is they have so little ammo, you practically have to chain an ammo supply vehicle to them. And they're also as slow as molasses, especially in snow country like this. They'll probably have to stick to the roads for the most part, but hopefully they'll prove useful.

Division has also sent up two armored infantry companies, and made several flights of F-84's available on call. They are armed with napalm bombs, which I've never seen used before, but I hear it's nasty stuff. M75 taxis are also being provided, as well as a few M3 half-tracks to tow the big AT guns. Finally, although not the least by far, division is sending up four Sherman Flail tanks to help clear the inevitable minefields, with two platoons of engineers for support. Despite our requests, no divisional artillery assets will be available. A follow up request was curtly rejected with a nod toward the sky, indicating that the clear weather ought to make the F-84's sufficient while division takes the opportunity to perform maintenance and re-supply on its big guns. Lucky us!

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

The snow has made slow going, and as expected we've been forced to stick to the roads for the most part with the heavy tanks. The armored infantry companies have been sent out ahead as scouts to locate the enemy, accompanied by the engineers and divisional Sherman Flails to clear mines.

Matters have been complicated by the lack of medium caliber artillery. Using our own big guns leaves the terrain in ruins, and further slows progress, while the 60mm mortars on the half-tracks that are integral to the armored infantry companies aren't nearly effective enough against the entrenched enemy infantry. We'll have to update our tactics manual to be sure to bring some medium artillery on all assault missions from now on.

Scouting shows that the enemy has a large number of T-34's, and several JS tanks, many in blocking positions on the two roads. The large, rough-sloped hills also make ideal firing posts for the enemy. The only thing that appears helpful in this engagement is the limited visibility. An overcast and light snowfall has limited the range of sight to just less than a kilometer, about 900 meters I'd say.

After about an hour and a half of trudging forward, with some vicious firefights along the way, we're about 3/4 of the way to our objectives. Enemy resistance is increasing, and some of the enemy infantry has started moving forward out of their foxholes to get into better positions to block our progress. About 1/3 of the enemy troops have a new recoilles rifle that is quite dangerous. Although inaccurate past 200 meters, it is still a threat out to 300 meters, and forces our vehicles to standoff and suppress most of the time. It's made it much more difficult to dislodge the enemy infantry from their entrenchments, coupled with the lack of medium artillery support. Several M75 APC's have fallen prey to recoilless teams, which, unlike the infantry squads that also carry them, are almost impossible to spot until its too late. One of the Sherman Flames had both its MG's knocked out, and a Patton was immobilized, but so far our armor has avoided serious problems.

The M103's have been aquitting themselves very well. Although their ponderous bulk has made slow going, they have been able to ram through three enemy blocking positions with brute force. At more than 200 or 300 meters, the 85mm gun on the enemy T-34's is not able to penetrate their thick frontal armor, and their own 120mm gun is devastating to the enemy tanks as far away as they can be seen in this weather. As expected, ammo supply is a problem, but so far an effective tactic is to have them stop just short of exposing themselves, make an estimated range adjustment based upon scouting reports, then slowly roll forward to spot the enemy tank. Sometimes they take 4 or 5 hits from the enemy tanks that become visible, but one by one the 103's take them out. One of the 103's had its MG shot away, but other than that they are almost invulnerable at long range. Afterwards, the ammo vehicles come up and reload them while the engineers move forward to check/clear mines for the next surge.

While this tactic has been successful in minimizing casualties, the timetable has suffered badly, and division is now pressing the Colonel about his ability to seize the objectives as planned...

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

The enemy was given a sound thrashing in this encounter, but due to the slow progress, we were unable to seize one objective, and one was still being contested when division called off the attack. Apparently bad weather is setting in, and they didn't want to leave us out there exposed, either to the weather, or to enemy counterattacks. We pulled back to our starting positions and are waiting for the go ahead to try again. The Colonel's fitness report might be affected by this one, but so far there hasn't been any talk about replacing him. The brass is always pushing us to attack aggressively, but it's not their butts hanging over the line waiting to get shot! Oh well, at least we know the terrain this time.

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

The attack plan this time will have two split drives into the enemy's positions. The southern drive will advance a short distance NW up the dirt road (with the engineers and Sherman flails in front) until a small town is reached. From there, it will split into two branches, one heading west through a tree covered gap between the BIG hill to the south and a smaller one to the north. It will then be in a position to attack the middle objective from the south. The other branch will crest the small hill and advance on enemy positions at the SE portion of the 2nd (or central) BIG hill. Each will comprise a platoon of infantry with 6 tanks in support. Meanwhile, the other three platoons of infantry will crest the southern BIG hill from the east, place smoke, and emplace AT and AA guns on the crest of the hill to fire down onto the valley to the west. Support will be provided by the 1/2 tracks and APC's, as well as the SPAA and infantry tanks. This attack group will then use the divisional armoured infantry to cross the valley and take the next woodline, and prepare an assault on the southern objective.

The northern battalion will use the paved road as long as possible to crest the 3rd (northern) BIG hill, with smoke to screen the descent on the other side. After passing north of a wooded area, they will also split, with 1/2 turning southwest to assist in taking the central objective, and the other continuing west to pass north of and get behind large hill 4, and attack the northern objective from the north. AT and AA guns will be set up behind the smoke as the armoured group passes through, to deal with the bypassed enemy units in the woods and on the reverse of the hill once the smoke clears.

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

So far the revised attack plan is progressing well. The southern group "going over the hill" has reached the summit, and begun engaging enemy infantry on the reverse slope with support from the 60mm mortar 1/2 tracks and APC's. Three Su-76 SP Guns were spotted at the base of the hill and pounded with 155mm arty. One blew up, the others were suppressed. We got another one with a 90 mm ATG we were able to emplace on the hilltop under smoke from the infantry. The two destroyed Su-76's are both burning, and they're screening the third from getting a bead on us.

Of the two tank-heavy splits, one encountered three T-34/85's in the wooded gap, and destroyed all three: 1 at close range by a M-103 heavy tank, one by a lucky arty shot suppressing them, and one by flamethrowers from a squad of assault engineers. Their supporting infantry (thankfully NOT equipped with the new recoilless rifles) were pushed out of their entrenchments by the APC's and grunts from the other platoon. The other tank-split is stalled at the base of the small hill by mines and AT guns. After one AT gun was discovered, an overflight by spotter aircraft found several more. (the Colonel forgot to use it last time :doh:) Airstrikes were called in and neutralized 5 of them. Since they are organized into 3-gun platoons, we know there's still one out there undetected.

Up north, the heavies have been the big players so far, knocking out four T-34's that were guarding the base of the BIG hill. Progress is not fast, but it is steady, and we've almost reached the splitting point. All units have successfully made it over the hill, and are ready to move ahead.

Casualties are light so far. Several infantry units have a few men down, and three APC's are immobilized. No vehicles have been destroyed. We've been careful to avoid encounters when possible, and focus on clearing the advance route ONLY.

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

The APC's and infantry going "over the hill" have played leapfrog and reached the base of the hill. Several more enemy entrenchments have been discovered when they fired at us, and all were engaged with MG fire from the APC's. The remaining Su-76 was turned into swiss-cheese by one of the Duster's (twin 40mm SPAA) shooting down on it from the hilltop. Having been previously inundated with 155mm artillery rounds, the Su-76 managed to get off two rounds at our advancing troops, without effect, and then its crew hid behind the gun shield, allowing the Duster to roll forward to the crest and rain shells on it from above. Hiding behind their gun-shield was not such an effective defense, since their vehicle was open-topped!

After our suppressing APC's received several inaccurate shots from their recoilless, two of our other APC's dashed forward and overran one of the enemy infantry emplacements, screened by the smoke generated from the massed firepower pinning the enemy troops. We also stumbled across an enemy bunker from the rear while some of our men were manuevering to the north to get a look at the next avenue of approach. Unfortunately, a similar "look-see" to the south was repulsed by an enemy SMG squad that tore up Sgt Kelly's men quite badly. They almost broke and ran, and one of the 1/2-tracks that had recently unloaded its 90mm AT gun had to run over and pick them up. Looks like they'll be out of the fight for today.

Flails, and both mounted and dismounted infantry, plus two tanks continued pushing west through the wooded gap and are just about to the edge of the woods. The heavy's and their support troops are still creeping forward and upward on the dirt road, slowed by mines and caution.

Up north, the heavy tanks destroyed another suppressed T-34 at close range in the woods, and pushed farther southwest to get a view of the back-slope of the BIG hill they crossed earlier, and to eventually engage the enemy T-34's blocking the open area to the southwest, which the main group will have to cross when it splits. The main group also continues to creep forward, using the woods as a shield to the south as they work their way toward the designated split point. So far they are still on schedule, with more than an hour left to reach their objective.

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

Extended combat since my last report makes this one necessarily longer:

The "over the hill" troops stumbled into a mine belt as they advanced across the open ground to the west of the hill. As APC's rolled forward to discharge their engineer passengers, more enemy squads on the flanks opened up, causing a few casualties. Our AT and AA guns on the reverse slope of the hill responded with a fusilade , as well as 3 MG teams positioned in the enemies' former positions for this very purpose. Farther to the west, heavy artillery fire kept the two enemy tanks and AA guns on the low objective hill both screened and suppressed. Two flail tanks from the previously split group to the north peeled off to the SW and joined the mine-clearing operations here, after making a breach in their own sector. Once through the mine belt, the APC's and supporting tanks continued to move forward. One platoon of armoured infantry has dismounted within 100 meters of the objective, into much-cratered terrain and under cover of smoke. Artillery was rolled back farther to continue pounding enemy infantry and a tank destoyer (SU-76M) seen by observer aircraft behind the objective area. (On its second circuit, this plane was lost to enemy AA fire. The status of the pilot is unknown). An infantry assault is planned on the armor after crossing the intervening ground. Hopefully friendly fire won't disrupt that plan. Several enemy infantry squads also opened fire on our APC's from the orchard to the NW.

The scouts and a few infantry squads decided sufficient progress was being made toward the objectives, so they moved farther down around the south side of the hill and discovered four T-34 tanks hidden in emplacements. After snipers took out one of the defending infantry squads, and an airstrike suppressed another squad and two of the tanks, one of the scouts was able to make an assault upon and destroy one of the tanks. Another was knocked out by fire from three 75mm recoilless rifle teams that were loaned from the divisional armored infantry company. The remaining two tanks appear to be unapproachable at the moment. They will be watched in case they abandon their positions to make a counter-attack after we take the objective. The enemy responded to our AT and AA guns on the hill with a formidable barrage of 60 mm mortar fire, which caused four casualties to one gun team, and caused two others to abandon their guns and flee. There might have to be some disciplinary actions issued following this battle for cowardice under fire!

At the split group in the center, the heavy tanks continued to be blocked by the mines, rugged terrain, and enemy armor in and around the NE of the town. Flails and engineers breached a mine belt in the woods just to the west, and then most of them circled back to the north, flanking the town. By now, it was covered in smoke, and engineers from both our own troops and from division were able to both destroy the two enemy tanks in the town and clear the mines from the roadway. The two heavy tanks slowly worked their way forward in the woods to the east of the town, destroying a bunker and two enemy squads in the process. Main force tanks cleared the village surroundings and headed northwest along the south footing of the big hill, toward the objective area on the west slope of the hill. Two AA guns that opened fire on the APC's were destroyed by cannon and MG fire from the tanks.

In the far north, the battalion finally reached its split point, and 1/2 the force peeled off to the SW. Several enemy squads were entrenched in a large open area almost a kilometer square. It was bordered by a thin woodline on all sides, with a small village in the middle of the western edge. T-34's near the woodline on the north side were able to cover the whole area with guns. Travelling down the northern edge, engineers and 75mm RR were able to take out these four vehicles, after they had been supressed with artillery. Two more T-34's guarding the woodline from the north had to be taken out from long range by overwhelming fire from main force tanks, which allowed the infantry to approach. After those tanks were cleared, the remaining 1/2 of the force pushed west and is girding the northern foot of the big hill which screens the northern objective. That force also intercepted and destroyed three T-34's that were heading east at high speed down the road, presumably to aid their comrades. Clean-up operations are well underway in the open area by the other 1/2 force.

With about 45 minutes left on our timetable, we seem in a good position to seize all our objectives, possibly with time to spare on all but the northern-most. More caution will now be permitted to the southern-most units, with corresponding permission to spread out and seek enemy units, as well as the best positions to absorb a counter-attack.

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

For those of you who are actually following my campaign story, would maps of the overall picture or specific action be helpful, or do you really even care for them?

If so, can someone assist me in how to create them? I sent a PM to RERomaine since he did them in his AAR (and even included annotations), but any other help would be appreciated. I'm running on a Win98SE platform.

In that vein, is there any way to capture a picture of the whole map at once, even if its not displayable on the screen because it is too large?

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

For me your descriptions are generaly good enough, if you wanted could post a picture of deployment & plan at the start of the battle. Dont really think it needs more than that unless somebody does something truly heroic & you want to show it.
Rays look like he uses paintnet which is a free download & you can use any number of screen capture utilities.
If you think it will effect your writing style leave it you have a good little following so unless a lot of people ask why bother.

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

to Imp: OK, will do (or don't, as the case may be).

Significant progress has been made in the south. The dismounted armoured infantry platoon around the objective area was joined by another. Creeping forward under heavy smoke, through the cratered landscape, two squads were able to get within striking distance of the enemy IS2 heavy tank, which was hull-down in its emplacement on the lip of the small hill. The first squad was spotted and the big turret rotated in their direction. Then came the blast of HE from its 122mm main gun, and a ripple of MG fire at point-blank range. Two men went down, and the rest beat a hasty retreat. However, this distraction allowed the second squad to inch close enough that it was able to place a bazooka round in the side of the tank's turret from very close. At first we weren't sure it had been effective, since the tank didn't blow up or even shudder. Then the hatch popped open and one of the crewman jumped out. His face was blackened, and all they saw was his wide eyes, desperately looking around for cover. Our guys cut him down and waited for the next one, but that was all. The momentary silence was kind of ethereal. Then the ground to their front began heaving to the impact of our artillery, falling dangerously close. Everyone hunkered down as the shells kept falling. Much small-arms and vehicle MG fire was exchanged in the area, with a few casualties on both sides, but fortunately more were inflicted on the enemy despite their entrenchments.

Units in the central and northern area saw little action, moving forward slowly in the center, wary of both mines and infantry AT weapons. The split units in the north are attempting to rendezvous to make the passage through the wooded terrain on the west slope of the BIG hill and up to the objective area from the back side.

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

The dismounted infantry continues to inch forward in the south, with some of the transport vehicles maneuvering around farther to the south to suppress the flanking fire, as they have no visibility to the front, and would be succeptible to AT weapons at close range anyway. One more enemy Su-76M was found when it blew up after an artillery salvo landed to the rear of objective area. One of our own M75 APC's was destroyed by an undetected RCL team. It was the last thing they'll ever do :mad:

Another AA gun was taken out in the center when it was seen by approaching vehicles, after firing at a spotter plane. Both the center and northern units advanced another few hundred meters toward the objective with little action.

The aforementioned spotter plane sighted a whole field of enemy infantry emplacements in a large open area to the SW of the other open area, and east of the large hill shielding the center objective. Northern units that had intended to link back up with the advancing units have been redirected southbound to place these enemy positions in a hammer-n-anvil move with the heavy units now being directed to move NE from the center sector. A lone IS-2M and a T-34 on the east slope of the central objective's screening hill are the only known threats in this area. The plan is to screen them until our heavy tanks are in a good position to engage them from medium range, and eliminate this threat. Then, placing the northern battalion AA and AT guns on the perimeter woods to provide more suppression, some support tanks and a platoon of infantry each from the central and northern units will crush the enemy infantry units like bugs!

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

Some northern units continue to advance toward the objective, and the others are getting in place for the hammer-n-anvil maneuver.

Most central units are beginning the climb up the SW side of the big hill toward the objective. A Sherman observation tank was straggling behind and was unexpectedly hit twice by large caliber rounds. After the first hit, the crew began frantically searching for the source of the shells. Just at the edge of their vision, the commander saw the muzzle flash of what appeared to be an enemy AT gun. From that range, almost a kilometer, it must have taken a few ranging shots before scoring a hit, but they flew by unnoticed. It is strongly suspected to be a 76mm, as a 100mm shell would almost certainly have penetrated, even from that range. There is now a large gouge in the front armor; one of the shells must have almost made it through.

Meanwhile, the heavy tanks and two Pershings continued northeast to be the hammer on the enemy infantry fieldworks.

Once again, most of the hot action is in the south. Small arms and MG fire from vehicles is making the air thick with lead. Dismounted infantry continues its slow advance. Two more enemy squads eliminated, and two more forced back from their dug-in positions. Others are being heavily suppressed. There was almost no return fire on our advancing grunts. We also noticed several enemy squads leave their entrenchments and move up from the rear to intercept our advance.

Back on the BIG hill that we crossed in the beginning, there is stil sporadic fighting with enemy flanking squads. As one of the forward observers was sneaking down the southern side of the hill for a better view, he stumbled on some loose rocks, and the noise and movement disclosed his location. An enemy squad across the ravine on another low hill opened fire and one man is down. We couldn't even spot them at first, until one of our snipers looked with his scope. He wasn't able to get a shot off, as his own movement would have placed him in danger of the same fate. One of the 1/2 tracks serving as a tow vehicle for the AT guns ran down to pick up the survivor and lend support, and wandered into view of one of the two remaining T-34's. The 1/2 track narrowly missed eating an 85mm slug. After making a sharp turn to avoid further tank fire, the 1/2 track hasn't made it to the rescue yet. Hopefully our remaining observer man won't also get hit.

As a final bit of bad luck, another 1/2 track that was sent to pick up a 90mm AT gun from a disabled 1/2 track was itself de-tracked when it ran over a big rock. So much for roadside assistance when you need it.

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

Northern units are almost to the back-side of the big hill, and will soon turn south to approach the objective area. No enemy units have been detected in this area at all. The quietness is a little disturbing, and it's gotten everyone on edge. We're wondering if an ambush is waiting around the corner. It's so nerve-wracking that the onscene commander sent two tank sections and a platoon of infantry in their M-75 APC's back northward to cover the road where the T-34's appeared from over a small rise a short time ago. The infantry dismounted and searched down the road past the burning hulks and adjacent woodland, but haven't seen any more approaching units. The support units heading south for the pincer move have just come into range of some of the enemy positions, and have started harassing fire just to lower the enemy morale.

In the center, we had some heroic action by the crew of one of the M103 heavy tanks. We had allowed the smoke to clear around the enemy IS-2m, and one of our heavy tanks deliberately maneuvered out into the open to get a shot at it. Although probably supressed somewhat by our recent artillery rounds, it still posed a real threat with its 122mm main gun. And it was singlehandedly blocking the southern arm of the pincer, and we didn't want to pass it by in case it decided to come at us from the rear. It got a shot off first, which impacted the M103 and left a huge divot in the glacis. The impact was so loud, it must have stunned the driver, since the grinding of gears could be heard and our tank slowed to a stop. The gunner was apparently not so severely affected, and he got his shot off from about 450 meters. He also hit on the first round, and it penetrated the side of the enemy tank with a "Cccrumpp!" A couple of the enemy crew bailed out, and hunkered down in the pit with their burning vehicle.

Other center units continued climbing the hill, and are just about to enter the woods surrounding the objective area. The enemy 76mm AT gun was made ineffective when one of our light attack helos made a few passes and tore up the exposed crew.

In the south, there was more heroism, as a 1/2 track from division ran a high-speed crossing movement about 500 meters from the remaining IS-2m guarding the southern objective. The enemy tank fired and missed with its main gun, although the 1/2 track's engine was shot up and it was immobilized by the large AA machine gun on the tank. We're mystified how the AAMG was able to function after the pounding that tank took from our artillery. Nevertheless, perhaps that's the reason the tank missed with its main gun, as the commander was busy working the MG rather than spotting main-gun fire. A nearby Patton took the opportunity to approach from the other side, and before the Chinese gunner could get his turret swiveled around, the Patton hit it with a flank shot from about 300 meters away, which despite its thick armor was enough to knock it out with one shot. That 1/2 track crew is going to be recommended for the Silver Star! With the main threat removed, our tanks and APCs followed dismounted infantry to within 100 meters of the objective area, approaching slowly due to both the heavily cratered ground, and the fear of mines. Those fears were realized when one of the infantry teams located an errant minefield with a Mark 1, Mod 5 Big Toe. "Stretcher!"

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

Southern units have completely occupied the objective area and fended off a few enemy infantry units attempting to take it back. Most had been demoralized and absorbed casualties from our artillery, which had intercepted their attempts to move up from their guarding positions. A final SU-76M was discovered immobilized in a shallow ravine on the reverse side of a small hillock. It was quickly dispatched by a Sherman Flail that approached it from the rear. Support units fanning out further to the south discovered a nest of HG assault infantry still waiting for orders. APC's and mortar 1/2 tracks are keeping them pinned down while Sherman flame tanks and a few infantry units accompanying them are disloging them from their positions.

A precision airstrike suppressed the enemy T-34's we had been unable to approach earlier, while our snipers kept the heads down of a nearby squad. Three 75mm recoilless rifles were able to get set up, and while scout teams snuck up and launched diversionary attacks, the 75 mm RR's were able to dispatch both tanks. One of the scout teams got so audacious, they made a running assault on the enemy infantry. Despite their ferocity, they were repulsed, in large part due to suppressing fire from three enemy squads across the small valley. The scouts were rescued when two snipers picked off all of the enemy soldiers near the tanks. Three MG's and the 90 mm AT guns on top of the BIG hill were able to keep the attention of the three squads across the valley.

In the center, depite the difficult natural terrain of the hill, the extensive cratering of the landscape, and the minefields very slow progress is being made. An SU-76M has also been spotted in this area, but it will probably be left for clean-up operations after the main battle. It's too close to risk an artillery barrage, the air cover has all returned to base, and it is shielded from the objective area by terrain. A pesky squad firing from dense smoke has not yet been located, but it is more a nuisance than a threat. Half of the objective area is under our control, and the rest will be as well once the mines are cleared. Another AA gun was located when it minced a divisional rifle squad at 200 meters, but was quickly eliminated. Helos have located and destroyed three 60 mm mortars behind the hill that started to shell us repeatedly once we approached the objective area.

In the north, the pincer movement is succeeding better than hoped. Eight enemy infantry units have been destroyed thus far, and another six are under intense fire. One M75 was destroyed when it wandered too close to an RCL 51 launcher, which managed to get a lucky hit. One of the two snipers in the area was almost gunned down when his position was spotted and several enemy squads chose to make him their last target. He popped smoke and called for a pick-up, which arrived in the nick of time.

As in the center, we have about 1/2 of the objective area in the north occupied, and were merely clearing mines when a platoon or two of enemy infantry advanced on our flank. Our outlying squads came under heavy fire and one withdrew. Due to the undulations of the terrain, only one tank and one APC were able to lend defensive fire support. Other vehicles are manuevering carefully to avoid mines, but should be in a position to respond in short order. The enemy's position seems rather hopeless at this point, and it will probably boil down to how long the Chinese stubborness persists against our intense firepower.

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

There have been minor losses in all three areas, despite our impending victory:

Mopping up operations continue in the south, and the entire objective area appears clear. The nest of infantry has also had major chunks cleared, but a temporary setback occured when a hidden 76mm AT gun in the edge of a small wood to the south opened up on advancing M75 APC's. One was destroyed and another immobilized before a mortar 1/2 track was able to lay smoke in between. A nearby light attack helo dove in and blasted it with .30 cal MG fire after it had been suppressed by friendly infantry. Another T-34 was accidentally discovered near the two recently destroyed, under heavy camoflage. It opened up on a scout team, which lost a man and then went screaming off into the woods. They have not responded to repeated radio calls, but other troops are certain they survived the encounter. It also destroyed one of the 75mm RR teams, who just disintegrated when an 85mm round landed on them. Some of the recoilless rounds they were carrying must have gone off. The other two 75mm RR teams hit it repeatedly with HEAT rounds, but none penetrated its armour. The remaining scout team wreathed it in smoke, and both they and two MG teams fired hundreds of small arms rounds at it. It is buttoned up tightly and appears to be trying to bug out.

In the center, a friendly fire incident occurred when one of our 155mm batteries did not get the word to cease fire, and at the same time allowed it's salvo to move slightly to the east. Two friendly squads were caught advancing, although thankfully in rough terrain where they were able to find some cover. Five men in one squad and three in another were blown to bits, and now the men in those squads are refusing to move from cover. All of the objective area is in our hands, however, and there appears to be little, if any, resistance left here either. There is that Su-76 about 150 meters down the back slope, and the men are discussing whether anyone has the guts to make a move on it. There's a strong probability it was been immobilized, so it may be possible to circle around and get a bead on it from the rear. The captain has promised a free weekend pass for any team that takes it out.

In the north, two tanks and one APC were immobilized by mines hidden under the snow blanket. I guess we should be thankful that's all that happened. The enemy infantry continues advancing, but now that supporting fire is available, most of them are cut down fairly quickly. We only suffered one man wounded, while at the same time they suffered about 25 casualties in the past five minutes or so. Artillery has been targetted at their suspected approach zones. Mine clearing in the objective area is going very slowly, despite the lack of any real resistance, because the mines are sewn so thickly. The engineering team leader believes another ten minutes or so will be required before the area is finally safe to enter.

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

The 60 mm mortar shelling the northern group was finally located taking shelter in a crater from our earlier bombardements. Once it was neutralized, the mine clearing finished quickly, and we occupied the final objective area. The Chinese must have realized their diminished forces had no hope of taking back that real estate once we seized the final objective. They left the battlefield and went crying to their Mammas! Apparently their complaints were heard, because as we suspected when we first launched this attack, we have been ordered to abandon our newly captured positions "in order to promote the peace process." Bah, humbug!

After the usual refit period, we have been sent back to confront the Soviets again. One of the local commanders has gotten too big for his pants, and seized some tourists who wandered into the occupied area of East Germany. When their family members went to plead for their release, he grabbed them too. The Soviet diplomats have basically given our inquiries into the mattter the shoulder shrug, claiming there's nothing they can do. Well, there IS something we can do. But the Soviet's acquisition of the A-bomb a few years ago makes things tricky. We don't want any itchy fingers pushing a big red button by accident (or on purpose, for that matter), so we are making a bold daylight raid with clearly defined force size and operational area, so they'll know its not an invasion.

The terrain is flat as a pancake, with the only cover provided by some large wooded areas, high grass, and a few towns straddling the main E-W road. Visibility is clear, and we're headed out just after noon. You can see about 3 & 1/2 kilometers in the open areas. (I tried to copy the map and post for everyone's benefit, but the color pallette was all screwed up and it was useless. I'll try to post a sketch later). Division has supplied two armored infantry companies, two 105mm batteries, 1/2-track transports for our big guns, and the usual complement of ammo carriers. Three M20 armored cars from the recon company were also cross attached to provide fast scouting, since helos will be extremely vulnerable in this flat terrain. The assignment of some air cover was procured at the last minute, but the only stuff available was some older P-47 Thunderbolts from WWII era. I hear they can take a beating, and they'll probably need it since they are pretty darn slow. The colonel used our recent victory as leverage to get two transport helos and a scout helo transferred to us on a permanent basis. Some of the recon boys are all excited by that, and have visions of secretly dropping behind enemy lines and raising hell. We'll have to see if that's all bravado, or whether they will do it when the time comes.

The plan is to allow infantry to do a quick march down the road, in the wake of the armored cars and a barrage by the 105 batteries. The two battalions will pace them on the flanks about 400 or 500 meters out, each led by an armored infantry company. The ArmInf will dismount when the enemy area is approached, and clear woods and dash across open terrain while the vehicles and armor provide fire support from the woodlines. The main road passes near the central objective, just to the south of it, and a dirt road branches off to the SE and cruises close to the southern objective area. How convenient. So the northern objective will be the most difficult to reach. The towns along the main road will be both an obstacle and a source of covering fire once taken, so we'll go ahead and attack them rather than bypassing them, after a good dose of artillery of course.

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

So far, the operation has progressed as planned. Initially the enemy let loose with several batteries of 122mm howitzers, but either their plotting is very bad, or they're just randomly shooting and hoping to get lucky. Either way, after ten minutes of counter-battery fire, their divisional guns have gone silent. Then they started with a couple of 122mm field howitzers, and our own SPA artillery fired at the area where their smoke was coming from. They have been silent for a while now too, and I think we got a couple of 'em.

We haven't run into a cohesive defensive line, per se, so I think our bold thrust must have caught them off guard a little. The colonel had our new observation helo take a high orbit, and it drew alot of AA fire from enemy vehicles in the lead part of the enemy defenses. Most of them were APC's, and we assigned artillery batteries to smother them. Several blew up after a couple minutes of shelling.

The hot action has started in a clearing near the first big town on the E-W road. The enemy had three T-54-3 tanks and two 85m AT guns in the wooded area just past the town, and several infantry and MG positions to the South. Our infantry crept forward occassionally taking fire as they were spotted by enemy units. We elected not to smoke the area, as we wanted to locate the enemy units when they fired at us at long range, instead of stumbling on them real close. Artillery was rained on the AT guns, and we brought up the four heavy M103 tanks to engage the T-54's. We shelled them with the 60 mm SPA mortars in the 1/2-tracks just to harass them, then the M103's rolled out from the woodline and exchanged fire with them. Two of the enemy tanks were destroyed in this manner, while the third was screened by smoke resulting from the 60 mm mortar barrage. While we were repositioning, the enemy replied with a volley from their own 82mm and 120 mm mortars. Most fell off target (we moved) but several fell among our infantry, and we took about 10 casualties. One squad took 5 all by itself. Time to bug out of that area until we can find their source.

To avoid crossing that open area with more vulnerable units who could get popped by unseen enemy AT units, the 2nd battalion has been diverted south through the woods to cross at a smaller gap. They'll then work their way back NE to link up and provide more fire support for the infantry that will head down the dirt road.

After a heavy shelling of 105mm, the town is partially rubbled and on fire. Four enemy infantry were encountered in various states of disarray and cleared from the town by our men, backed up by the Pershing CS tanks and one of the flame tanks. Another T-54 is hiding in a wooded thicket on the eastern side of the town, blocking the road since we can't get at it from the front with the M103's. Besides, at that close range (350 meters) it stands a good chance of knocking them out instead. We'll have to wait for artillery to knock it around a bit before approaching, but we can't afford to hold still while the Russians still have those mortars available. For now, most of the force on the north side will drive deeper into the woods and creep slowly forward to bypass that clearing area.

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

The battle went well for us in terms of equipment, but there were unexpectedly high casualties in our infantry teams. Poor tactics on the commander's part were partially responsible for these losses, as it was assumed enemy units would be (a) easier to spot while not-entrenched, and (b) less responsive after shelling. The lighter 60 mm mortars and 105mm howitzers, as opposed to 81mm mortars and 155 mm howitzers, definitely had less suppression effect on the enemy units. While our troops did destroy many good quality enemy tanks in the woods, they took a beating while doing so. Several infantry units were reduced to 1/2 strength or less, and only their high morale kept them from disbanding completely.

The final attack ended up have three prongs. The northern prong was manuevered to intercept Russian heavy tanks that were spotted moving south from the northern battle area once some of our objectives were taken. The enemy had at least six IS-II and four IS-III tanks, and this was the first time we encountered IS-III's. They have THICK armor. This prong of units did NOT take the northern objective, but rather was defensive only. It was comprised of 10 of Battalion A's twelve main force tanks, with six lying in ambush in a woodline watching the dirt road that angled down SE through a narrow gap in the woodlands. A town just to the NE straddling the road provided cover for the four others. As the Russian tanks came down the road, the first group would fire upon the enemy vehicles with incredible courage, as their rounds would usually miss on the first shot, and even when they hit they had very little chance of penetrating the enemy armor. However, they did attract the enemy's attention, and as the enemy tanks turned to face them, the other four would push out from behind the town and take flank and rear shots at them. We succeeded in killing nine of the enemy juggernauts, with one IS-III retreating behind the hulks of his comrades.

The middle prong, composed of all the dismounted infantry from Bn A, plus the two remaining main force tanks and all the support tanks, pushed east through a large wooded area in front of the middle objective. In the eastern edge of this woods we encountered a company of enemy T-54-3 tanks with a few infantry support. This was the subject of intense combat, with a few infantry skirmishes and MANY infantry assaults on the enemy armor. As mentioned above, the enemy armor was not sufficiently suppressed, and unfortunately our boys took alot of unnecessary casualties. Some tactical training will be conducted by divisional instructors prior to our next engagement! After pushing through the edge of the woods, we encountered the enemy's main defensive line, with two or three tanks companies and many supporting infantry in the 400meter gap from the woods to the objective area. After our mauling in the woods, we knew it would be a suicidal attack plan to charge them with only our rolling barrage as support. The barrage smoke was allowed to clear while we hunkered down and regrouped in the woods. Then I saw a beautiful thing: eight P-47's came boiling down on the enemy tank concentration like angry hornets, guns and rockets blazing. Five enemy tanks were destroyed, and many others suppressed by the hail of bullets and rockets. We saw one aircraft get hit by flak, but that Thunderbolt lived up to its reputation for toughness and was able to get enough altitude back to limp home. That was followed by a massed barrage of 155mm artillery, which caused most of the enemy vehicles to completely shut down. Our tanks rolled forward and destroyed four more enemy tanks that were not hidden by all the smoke. Only one enemy tank returned fire, thankfully missing his target. Our infantry then ran forward with a yell, and all the enemy tanks that didn't flee were quickly overrun. Objective secured!! We also stumbled across several AA and AT guns that had been upset or suppressed by the artillery barrage, and we rendered them all useless for good measure. Then we turned north, and after minimal skirmishes, also occupied the northern objective.

In the south, Bn B traversed the SE running dirt road, where a Sherman Flame and a Sherman Flail were destroyed by enemy infantry AT weapons. Both crews survived with minimal casualties, and after some unremarkable combined arms skirmishes, the southern objective was also taken. With the area secure, an intense search for the hostages was undertaken. While we did not locate the errant general and his staff, we did rescue the hostages from a remote farm and they have been returned to German soil to prepare for their trip back to the US.

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

Great AAR! It's taken me a while to work up to here, but it has been well worth it. I particularly love your mix of the objective with the dramatic. Well done!

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

Ketch, thanks for the vote of confidence. Glad y'all are enjoying this. My long absence was caused by a shoulder injury which prevented me from typing (and doing much else) for a while. So I got way behind in real life as well.

The next battle was an assault against Chinese that went fairly smoothly and took 42 turns. Nothing exciting to report that I recall, except I was able to locate the enemy HQ and destroy it. A Sherman Flail support vehicle, a few support 1/2 tracks, and one of my M-47 Pattons were destroyed. Year rolled over to 1954, next battle is Advance on Chinese, but haven't really started it yet. I didn't upgrade any of my units, despite the fact that M-48 Pattons are now available, figuring it wasn't worth the experience loss. However, in hindsight I should have done a few and phased them in over time, since they have 10 visibility. This was brought home by the visibility range of "11" in the new battle. If it had been less, the M-48's could have come in handy.

I'll continue reports as time permits.

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

The team has been sent to China, our first deployment against them since the cease fire in Korea was signed last year. There are reports that many American POW's from the war are still in the hands of the Chinese. We have been sent on a reconnaisance-in-force to determine whether a small town is a POW site, and to resuce any Americans we find.

The terrain is still barren in this late winter expedition, although there are only a few patches of snow in the area. The ground is hard, with none of the infamous mud that we've encountered on previous battles with the Chinese. The trees are almost bare of leaves, which will help with the reconnaisance mission. The terrain is mostly flat, with a few level 20 hills scattered here and there, with scattered groups of trees as well. There are two E-W roads in the southern operational area, which converge near our launch point, and another on the far northern part of the area.

We're scheduled to launch the operation just after dawn, as soon as visibility gets to about 500 meters, the maximum range of our small arms. Because of the nature of the mission, and the pull-back of regular combat troops, the only divisional support available is some on-call airstrikes and a handful of recon teams that have been tasked to locate the detention camp. Those six platoons of scouts will fan out ahead of our two battalions, hopefully finding the objective and marking any enemy positions for engagement by our main forces.

As usual, we will be splitting into the two battalion-sized forces to advance until the enemy is discovered. The southern group will travel on the hard-packed earth between the two roads, while the northern group threads its way cross-country between the small hills and woods clusters. Just as we started off, some of the enemy's regulary patrol planes must have spotted us, because artillery started falling around us, although thank heaven none of our units were hit. They have started using the BIG guns against us this time, probably because we're on their own soil. At least two batteries of 152mm were heard blasting the earth up in the distance. We were also caught by surprise when an IL-10 Beast (yes, that's what its called) dove out of the sky and started an attack run over our position. Fortunately, our Dusters had not yet packed up for moving, and they were able to throw up a hellacious barrage of shells that distracted the Chinese pilot's attention. All the AAMG's in our group opened up as well, and the "Beast" ended up a smoking hole in the ground after it was hit several times. I counted at least three times his plane shuddered from the impact of our AA fire, but it wasn't until he had already headed for home that we were finally able to bring him down.

Re: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist
 

Our forces began rolling forward, being careful to avoid areas of artillery strikes in case a second barrage follows. After clearing the original launch points and travelling about 10 mins into the enemy territory, our troops stopped. We wanted to make sure any units spotted and who's position was called in by the Beast did not receive an unwelcome "hello" from the Chinese arty. Then divisional scouts were deployed to recon the ground in front of the advancing columns. Our own recon platoons were dropped in blind areas, near units spotted during the two transport helo's forward flight. One of them drew enemy fire as it lifted off, and was hit lightly in the fuselage. The pilot radio'd that he wasn't taking any chances and headed for the rear lines to get repairs. I hope the recon teams aren't discovered and overrun by enemy forces, because it will be difficult to extract them with only one helo. Two of the light attack helo's have been moved forward to provide fire support in a pinch, but that won't help if Chinese armor moves in. So far they have not reported any incoming fire, so we believe the covert infiltration was successful.

I don't know what's going on back there with our artillery crews, but so far they've been doing a pretty crappy job of counterbattery fire. The enemy artillery keeps hammering away, searching out our location. Fortunately they haven't been very lucky, but that's gonna change sooner or later. Our guys better get their act together soon.

About 20 mins after we launched, another "Beast" came zooming out of the sky, and made a pass about 1 km ahead of us. It began strafing and shooting it's AT rockets at the crest of a small hill, and all of a sudden there was a big explosion. The colonel did a quick radio check to get a sitrep on all our units, wondering who was so gung-ho that they'd charged out ahead of the main body. All units reported in OK, and none reported aerial attack. That's when we realized they'd just ice'd one of their own! When the smoke and debris cleared, we could see the silhouetted outline of a burning tank on the crest of the hill. Shouts and "wooo-hoo's" erupted from our lines until the officers told everyone to shut-up and keep their heads down.