AAR: Ranger/Airborne Short Camp.

[Lt. Ketch]

This is long AAR for a short Campagin.

I still consider myself new to MBT. I’ve only done three PBEM games and it was a mixed experience. In an attempt to explore the world of high mobility, I constructed a mobile ranger/airborne company. Since I’ve played this game over the course of a couple of months and write my AARs at work when it’s slow, I will not be able to supply all the details, of my force make up. Regardless of the details, I’ve learned a fair amount.

I set this up as a small generated campaign, US Army vrs. N. Korea, 2006. My force is core plus minimal support as I want to keep things small and simple. Because of the mobility of my forces, the map is 120 X 120.

Composition (Updated after thrid battle):

HQ
TI Scout APC transport (added after 2nd battle)

Ranger Company HQ
1 60 mm Mortar
2 Snipers
1 LAW Team

The command staff is supported by –
1 APC
2 Hummers with 40mm AGL

2 Ranger Platoons, each consisting of –
3 Ranger Squads
1 MMG squad
1 Ranger Patrol
1 40mm AGL
1 Ranger Law team
1 84mm Recoilless rifle teams

Each of these platoons is supported by –
4 APCs (M113A3)
2 Hummers with 40mm AGL

1 Airborne Platoon comprised of –
2 Rifle squads
2 Airborne squads
1 Javelin ATGM team
1 MMG team

Supported by
2 Chinoks with 2 miniguns (Upgraded from blackhawks after 2nd battle)
2 Blackhawk coppers with 2 50 cal MMGs

The Company is supported by –
2 Apache Attack Helicopters
4 120mm SPMs (added after 1st battle)
2 Sheridon Airborne tanks (added after 2nd battle)
2 Ammo carriers (added after 2nd battle)

Support for first battle troops include –
1 UAV for recon
1 FO
6 120mm SPMs



1st battle – Meeting Engagement.
The map is hilly forest with secondary roads running E-W about 500 meters from the bottom edge of the map and one running SW to NE. The objectives are clustered, one south along the road, in the center in some woods 200-400 meters from the road and in the north on a hillside 200 meters from the road. Visibility is fair, 29 turns.

The Plan:
Running like mad along the south road is a dead giveaway so I decided to focus on the northern and center objectives. There is no clear path through to the objectives. There is a small open space that due E of the N objective that I used as a deployment zone for my ground based troops. From there, the 1st platoon of Rangers planned to strike across some woods and was anticipated to make the objectives on turn 3 and set up a defensive perimeter by turn 4. The Airborne troops, carried in their Blackhawks will fly out to a hill overlooking the center objective, taking up a defensive position from which to strike from and overlooking a clear area N of the objective along the road that the enemy may use for maneuvering armor. The 2nd Ranger platoon will travel down a fairly clear path from the deployment clearing in order to provide the umph needed to take the objective should the enemy make an attempt on it. The Apaches will accompany the airborne as an escort, but maintain a low profile. The FO will all accompany the airborne. The Company commander and his escorts will travel behind the Rangers towards the center objective, but hang back so as to support either the north or the center troops. If the opportunity arises, troops will mount up and move south through a series of clearings towards the southern objectives, but shall otherwise ignore the south. My SPMs were deployed slightly south of center so as to have full range of fire across the board.

What really happened:

Pregame saw my UAV finding several MANPADs and than crashing horribly as well as enemy bombardment in the south. As previously mentioned, I didn’t have anybody down there.

In the South, the enemy seized the objectives early and held on to them the entire game. I never made an attempt on them, deeming them insufficient to risk a mad dash with units that were needed elsewhere.

The Northern objectives were a little less boring only in that they had heavier bombardment land on them (no damage) and airstrikes (again nothing) after I took them, but the units of the 1st ranger platoon never encountered enemy ground units in the area. They were recalled to counter attack the central objectives at the two thirds mark in the battle. More on that later.

The Rear area did see some action as the enemy ran some loaded APCs (a half dozen at most) into my rear. Two were destroyed by direct fire from the mortars which than retreated north then west of their starting position. Two other were destroyed by the Apaches some time later in the battle. As all my units (excepting the HQ) were mobile, I didn’t haven’t anything in the rear area that I needed to protect. I just moved it. My SPMs were never found.

All the real action in this battle took place in the center. The objectives were situated in the trees. My troops landed on the backside of the planned hill and set up the defensive perimeter overlooking the road. There was also an open area several hundred meters from the south side of the hill. The first units spotted were some ATGM teams that I took the MMG to. After two turns of turkey shooting, I scuffled my units south and to avoid bombardment. It came and went with little damage. It was about than that everything broke loose.

Enemy infantry appeared south and west of the objective. I had two units grab flags (they had been right next to them for a couple of turns, hiding) and dig in. While they were able to repel the first two waves of troops, the number grew quickly. I brought the 2nd platoon closer so as to be able to react more quickly and reshuffled my units to cover the two squads retreat back through the trees.

It was when I sent a Blackhawk around the enemy’s right flank, towards the open area to the south, that I saw what was in store for me. The enemy had at least a company of Mech infantry (BP-60s and 80s with troops), a platoon of tanks (Type 62 and 59) and some SPGs (can’t remember but they had a big gun on them). The initial salvo for rockets from an Apache the moved in was able to take out three of for of the AFVs, but I knew it would be hard to get firing solutions on the units because of the hills and forest around the clearing. One Apache tried to go to high altitude for shots, but was fired on by MANPADs from the west. I had to stay low.

My response to this revelation was to dispatch any the units I had seen earlier in my rear area so they couldn’t flank me unexpectedly, move the 2nd Ranger platoon into position on the South east side of the hill and bring bombardment down on the troops in the clearing. The objectives slowly fell to the N. Korean until units from the hill were able to stabilize the defenses and rally the retreating squads. Popping smoke helped to keep the enemy away. They continued to attack the right flank, but APCs, Hummers and snipers were able to keep them at bay with no damage to our units. The defense took a little while to stabilize in the center and left flanks. Bombardment at this time was light or non-existent either because they were reloading or because our lines were very close to each other. The Apaches kept maneuvering for shots, but one was shot down by a BP-80 (with 3% to hit. I wanted to scream). I was able to dispatch all but one of their tanks with the choppers, but was unsuccessful in clearing the SPGs.

After a few turns, a Type 59 tank crashed into the center of my defense and was able to destroy a Hummer and APC before my infantry was able to take care of it. The SPGs followed, losing all their own units, but destroying another APC and killing a small number of men. Other probing attacks with APCs were met with anti-tank weaponry that almost all of my squads carried. It was right after the tank hit the line that I decided I wasn’t going to see anybody in the North, they were all down here. I packed up the 1st Ranger platoon and started them moving at high speed down the NE-SW road.

Fortunately, I was cautious in doing this and when the lead element (a Hummer with a ranger patrol and 84mm RR) came to a small area of trees on the eastern edge of the clearing north of the objectives (where I’d shot up all the ATGM teams) I unloaded the troops before moving anybody else over the hill that boarded the northern side of the clearing. Come to find out, the enemy was launching a counter attack of their own, hoping to come through the same clear space. I was able to maneuver the MMG on the hill and a couple of Hummers and APCs from the 2nd Ranger platoon on the hill to overwatch the 1st Ranger. The hummers 40mm AGL had 5 heat shells and I’ve had good experiences with them taking out lightly armored units.

I moved the remaining APCs and hummer from 1st Ranger into a depression just north of the trees and unloaded one squad to provide limited defense. I still wanted to hit to objects hard and didn’t want to lose momentum to a bunch of counter attacking Korean upstarts. This was a good move as the enemy, on its next turn, tried to move a half dozen loaded APCs through and around the trees. 1st platoon’s hummer accounted for three APCs with three shots (give that guy a medal), the ranger squad and RR were able to account for the rest. The hill positioned units were able to route all infantry in the area, clearing the road for the APCs to come screaming into the objectives after the 120mm mortars had bombarded them the two turns previous. On a side note, I almost forgot to call off the bombardment once my units held the objectives. That would have been bad. Very bad.

1st Ranger and the Airborne connected the line and were able to repel all attacks made on them. The single Ranger squad on the far right flank that supported the RR and hummer was singlehandedly responsible for fending off a platoon worth of infantry. The AGL from 1st ranger was set up over looking the clearing from the north and was helpful in providing support. While there were a few incursions, all intruders were dealt with in a timely and efficient manner. The enemy continued to counter attack from the south with increasing numbers of infantry and even there SPAA units, but all attacks were deflected and destroyed.

The game ended on turn 29 with most of the enemy running and or destroyed. I had lost several APCS, on hummer, and one Apache. I can’t remember the total in men. Final score was just over 4000 for me and about 1500 for the N. Koreans. Marginal Victory.

The battle went a lot better than expected and I was very pleased with my forces ability to fight against a grossly larger forces. I got lucky in that everything ended up in one spot that was easy to defend and that the enemy’s AD was hampered by the terrain. I after fixing my core, I picked up 4 of those 120mm SPMs for my core. The next battle is a lot more open, visibility of 4. I’ll try to follow it more closely.