I was able to finish the battle up last night (was up until past midnight after a 3&1/2 hour drive). It did take an interestering turn for a while and I did learn a few things that should help me in the future.
My assessment of the battle from the last time I posted
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Overall, not the most riviting battle, but then that's what the enemy want's you to think.
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was a little more accurate than I originally thought. The enemy's northern force was never fully liquidated, but there were very few units left at the end. They also manged to blow up an APC and I lost a hummer to artillary fire. The enemy was dropping 130mm and 152mm off board as well as a couple of 82mm mortars on me and a few times I wasn't able to get out of the way fast enough. I thought my troops did a great job at holding off what was ultimately 2+ platoons worth of rifles squads plus some support, but at games end, I found out that he had over a company of infantry coming in for an unexpected direction that would have overrun the objective. I think I could of minimized damages to myself (I've gotten pretty good at pulling out of an area), but I would have taken a fair amout of damage. Lessons learned - later.
The central area was taken with little difficulty, but the enemy didn't want me to have it for long. A platoon of MBTs came roaring across the map a few turns after the flags fliped. I can't remember the model of MBT, but it was top of the line, EVA, vision of 30, just about everything. They were the only unit that could pose any kind of threat. Luckly, my Apaches (contrary to remember) both had minimal AT weoponary and my javilin ATGM had been loaded into a blackhawk the turn before. I set up the ATGM north of the objective overlooking a clear area west of the objectives. The Apaches went to low altitude, one overlooking the same area from the south, the other circling around behind the tanks. All four tanks were dispatched, in short order. On the AI's turn, the Javalin took out the lead tank, and immobalized another. The Apaches were then able to take out two more on my turn with the Javilin finishing off the immbolized one two shots later (EVA proved a problem). I did lose one hummer to a really stupid move. The second problem arose at the 23 turn mark when a platoon plus worth of infantry showed up, coming from the south. They were part of a company's worth of troops that one of my Apaches found. The only troops I had around the objectives were a RR team, a Law team, a ranger patrol, and a scout section, plus a Hummer and a south APC both armed with 40mm AGLs. I lost the scout ACP (which was really dumb) but was otherwise successful at driving the enemy away with minimal support. 2nd Ranger platoon did come to assist at turn 25 and was able to dispatch two squads and a ATGM team, but four squads were taken out by the ranger platoon, the scouts and the AT teams. I was very proud of those guys.
The souther objectives proved a lot more defended than previously anticipated. Loaded up two blackhawks with elements of the Airborn platoon and made a raid on the objectives around turn 19. The raid consided of an airborne squad, a rifle squad and the MMG team. Initually it was supported by one of the Apaches, but it left to support the middle when the tanks and infantry showed up. While my units were able to take the objectives and disrupt units north of them, it was not to last. The enemy called down 152mm steal rain that landed right on my units. I scattered and one unit blundered into a platoon worth of infantry coming in from the east. The blackhawks were able to pin the enemy and my rifle squad popped smoke to keep them from comming too close. I ultimatly evacuated all of the units, the blackhawks finishing the last of their ammo as they dusted off. The enemy quickly re-took the objectives.
The end result was a marginal victory. I lost 19 men, 2 APCs, 2 softs and an AFV while the enemy lost over 20 AFVs, and over 500 men. I consider it a success agaisnt the AI but fully acknowledge that a human opponent would have made better use of his infantry than a flanking manuever that lasted 27 turns.
Lessons learned
1. My force is too small to spread out over three objectives. Two objectives might even be streatching it. I need to keep it consolidated, or I'll be overrun without any support.
2. As I am limited in ranged anti-armor weaponry, resupply units are important.
3. If I'm going to pull a decisive victory, I need to protect my high point units. I know this seems obvious, but it's something I need to do.
4. My force is high-tech enough that I will always be outnumbered at least 3-1 (closer to 4 or 5).
5. I need to keep moving. As most of my units are mostly infantry and lightly armored, if my units get caught in the open or pinned and victem of several bombardments, they will die.
During resupply and repair, up upgraded a couple of units and expanded into two areas that I lacked previously. I upgraded two of the blackhawks to Chinoks with the miniguns. I did this for two reason: 1. The mini guns will provide better cover than the MMGs 2. I'll be able to evacuate any unit on the map and multiple units if need be with one chopper. I also picked up an offical command vehicle for my HQ in addition to a pair of ammo carriers and a section of Sharedon airborne tanks. I wanted to get some ground support that could deliver a punch. I used the Sharedons before in a PBEM, using two of them as my only armor support to a MECH company facing down a T-80 company. They performed well even though I lost one. I figured they would perform equally as well here as I want highly mobile units that can hit and run and are easy to airlift (with a carry cost of 6, I believe). I toyed with the idea of upgrading a couple of hummers to Bradleys, but I'm afraid that it would put my force value a lot higher than it is currently and I'm still questioning if I'll be able to survive the onslaught on all the units the enemy will be able to buy.
The next battle is another meeter (I'm getting just a little tired of these, but they can teach you a lot) with high visibilty (91) in a moderatly hilly area. My first concern is what the enemy might hit me with. In my first battle, the enemy had A/C that proved annoyance even though I didn't lose anybody to them. As I've embraced my mission of hit and run, any damage to my transports could prove fatal, so I picked up some stinger MANPADs, two for every platoon. They'll be able to travel with the units without needing extra transport. If all else fails, I can airlift them to strategic points and extract them later. I also picked up two ammo cannasters that I'll take with the airborne and twom more ammo carriers. While I'm still planning the locations, the goal is to move the two ranger platoons and set up ambushes along possible routes, than fall back or flank, always moving. I entend to keep everything close, but not too close. The airborne will act as reserve, but if LAD is too thick (which is very possible) they will set up a fluid defensive position with the support elements and 2nd ranger will become the reserve. We'll see how it goes. The goals are as follows:
1. Don't get backed into a corner. Always have a way out.
2. Destroy as much of the enemy as possible.
3. Be constantly moving
4. Overwatch! Overwatch! Overwatch.
If any of you veterans want to chime in, I would love to hear what I can do with a force like this.
I may end up cutting APCs next battle to prevent an outragously valued force.