long AAR : Operation Flashpoint 1985

[Nightblade]

Here is a detailled AAR on a PBEM i had with a friend (so you can understand some references in the AARs, my nickname in this battle is Sanctuary, the nickname of my opponent is Sputnik Monroe) , based on the events portrayed in the simulation Operation Flashpoint.

The USA and the USSR are fighting over a country in 1985
Random Generated battle, 1000 Battle Points on a 100x100 map for 19 turns.

Here is the report from my view, i tried to write while playing each turns, this way i could express my thoughts while it was "live" .
As he is not registered here, in the second post of this thread, there is the detailled AAR from his point of view.

NOTE : the same kind of long and detailled AAR , for the revenge (set in WW2) of this battle can be found here
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The theater of operations

The central USSR army
3 rifle platoons
Headquarter
1 T80-B
1 Spetsnaz platoon

The south USSR army
3 BTR-70A + some motorized inf in cargo
2 Rifle platoons

After Action Report :
TURN 0
Basic Units
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-The deployment will have a motorized platoon featuring 3 BTR-70 and motorized infantry this way 3 combat units will be able to cover large distance quickly and capture one objective in the beginning of the mission.
-A whole platoon of Spetsnaz operatives will be present on the field, expensive but they should be able to get the upper hand to the location they will be sent or help to protect something important.
-A T80B is present on the field, the most powerfull and well armed MBT allowed for the USSR in 1985, just in case some APC are present, very expensive so will get along infantry to avoid falling in a AT trap as despite being powerfull , MBT can quickly be destroyed by some well placed AT shots.
I just hope the USA does not have too many tanks, as i don't know how good a T80B can be against US tanks that are not of M1 serie in that game.
-Several "simple" rifle platoons to provide protection for the T80B, they will be the main ground troops that are in my forces.
-No artillery available to allow the expensive T80B to be deployed without cutting in the amount of Rifle platoons budget as i will need infantry, on the bad note it will make attacking defended position more difficult.
I was near to buy some of the good multi missile launcher trucks the USSR has, but in that case i would have to cut the amount of infantry by a half, and it would have certainly be a suicidal choice.
I wish i could have access to some airstrike or Mi24 though, but there was none in the available equipment (or i haven't looked where it was needed).

Let's hope it was a good choice and that the USA will not have too many artillery, or will not find where i am.

Basic strategy for the deploy phase
Leave the North objectives alone, let the USA to think they are the first to get there, in the hope the USA forces that will get those objectives will stay there defending, thinking i will come for them from the east of the map.

I will focus on Central and South objectives with everything we have, this should give me a bit of numerical advantage on both.

Deploy the squads of Spetsnaz , the Headquarter and some Rifle squads to protect the T80B to capture the central objectives. They will be the spearhead for the North attack, if i am able to do so after taking the centre.

Deploy some Rifle sections and BTR-70 with motorized infantry in the south, the BTR70 will help a lot to capture quickly the south objectives and deploy their cargo for a quick defense.

We intend to move North only when we will have secured the 2 other objectives.

Once objectives are captured, will begin to regroup slowly, never staying in the same place, to avoid some possible artillery fire.
And by trying to regroup forces quickly, it may help in the case the USA send everything they got to a single objective, as it should not be possible to defend with only half of the army.

TURN1
We just noticed the USA side has air support, that's a bad new for the soviet army, i was questionning myself on getting or not some AA missiles , but thought that hopefully AT missiles would be better in the case the USA went full armored as they can deploy better tanks, i should have got a Shilka when i could.

So 2 Kiowa for now have been spotted, we hope there is no attack choppers waiting somewhere as the T80B will have a very hard time.
My T80B engaged the one flying high in the north with its main machinegun , very luckily it seems it managed to hit this Kiowa , hopefully it will force it to retreat from the area (or i will have to make sure it never fly again).

The very bad new for me is that it allowed the USA to get a clear view of my troops, my "North alone" plan is now totally broken as he certainly noticed none being there.
So this could possibly lead the USA into moving troops to the North, as it would be an easy capture.

So i need to capture the south quickly with the BTR-70, then move everyone to the north, where it seemed obvious at first i would not attack.
I will leave the south undefended once objectives are captured. With some luck , and if i can get rid quickly of the Kiowas it will leave the USA to think my forces are always in the south so he may not expect an attack elsewhere.
In fact i am rolling the "North for last" plan to a "South for last" plan, a complete change with some rock&roll in the middle.

My BTR-70 are moving at full speed , they are now very near the south objective, the rifle squads present in the south are rushing to the center objective instead of following the path of the BTR70, as a part of the change of plan, next turn i will have everyone disembark.

After engaging the Kiowa, my T80B has moved in the small village, trying to get out of clear vision (clear shot ?) from the flying damaged Kiowa.
But the 2nd one is not too far , flying very low to avoid taking fire, but i noticed it and will try to get a direct shot when i will can if it stays there.
My spetsnaz troops are heading toward this Kiowa position too, with some luck they will take it down quickly.
The centre rifle platoons are moving to the forest in direction of the north instead of following the T80/spetsnaz troops.
The Spetsnaz are now officially renamed "T80 baby sitters"

TURN2
Damned Kiowas, they have certainly noticed everyone now breaking most of my planning, one has been damaged a lot more while flying over me, i even noticed an explosion on it so i hope this one is down for the count as in real the Kiowa are not armored choppers.
But more annoying is the fact one has just destroyed 2 of the 3 BTR-70 , and their cargo. That's sad, as they were very near the unload point as they were supposed to unload during this turn.
The USA have been lucky to find and get them now as the BTR destruction have killed the motorized infantry that was inside, and what's even more humilating is that the USA will never know what they just succeeded to do there.

My troops are really inaccurate when trying to take the helicopters down, i wish they were trained a bit more (or had some good AA weapons)

Fortunately, there is always one BTR-70 alive so it succeeded to get the cargo out in time , at least not is lost in the south.
But they are always under the fire of this Kiowa and trying to fire back (again those inaccurate gunners of mine need to be fired), the T80B is trying to give some support by firing without accuracy from 1km away.
I wonder what will happen there, as for now the surviving mech infantry and a RPG team is pinned down.

The Spetsnaz squads are now in the village, surrounding the T80B to offer some protection just in case, we will try to move as soon as possible in direction of the centre objectives.
The other rifle troops from the south are always running toward the centre, and the centre rifle troops are running to the north.

I hope next turn, my troops will be able to fire with a better accuracy, those Kiowas are really a big threat , revealing everything of my army and capable of delivering heavy shots with accuracy while being hard to hit.

TURN3
Another Kiowa coming from the south border of the map just destroyed the last BTR-70 in its 1st shot, incredible how much precision those flying killers can have while being on the move.
At least some of the motorized infantry survived and should be able to disappear in the forest and maybe capture their objectives.

The first south objective has been captured by one of the survivors of the last BTR-70, that's a good thing, the first good thing happening since those drunken troops decided to miss every of their shots, offering perfect target to those 100% precision Kiowas.

The spetsnaz platoon is progressing slowly along the T80B, ready to fire at any more Kiowas trying to approach, but with the incredible accuracy of those choppers, it may be hard to progress without a problem, at least the T80B seems to be able to fire at 1km, let's hope it will get better with its accuracy at such high distance in the next turns.

One of the south rifle squads is now progressing to the centre, while the other changed direction and is now in the forest, heading in direction of the south objective, to help getting rid of the Kiowas that seemed to like this area too much, hopefully this should be enough to force those flying pests to run away.

The central rifle squads are always progressing to the North objectives, now hiding inside a field that should provide enough cover in case of another of those Kiowas decide to come there.

TURN4
The survivor that captured the objective in the south have been killed in a heavy bombing run from a Kiowa that then retreated out of view, those aerial pests are really unfriendly.
Another full squad of survivor is near and now moving to the objective location , while a rifle platoon is always heading there too from the forest.
The other southern rifle platoon is always going to the centre, but there is a bit of walk before it can arrive.

We have noticed some of the North objectives being captured, and near them 2 M113 and a M113 Dragon has been spotted i guess there were carrying some troops.
They are 150/200m to the west of the north objective and are moving, maybe they will try to capture the central objectives before we can get there.
It is possible for such fast APC, as we are moving slowly trying to not get surprised by some of the annoying Kiowas. We will try to not fall in a possible future trap, but we need to get the centre objective, so there may be a big fight there in the next upcoming turns.

The spetsnaz squads continue to move slowly along the T80B in direction of the central objective and the group is now out of the village, while the HQ is staying in there for a turn.
A rifle platoon is protecting the rear of the T80B , while 2 Rifle platoon are going to the North objective from the forest and through some field

100meters southwest of the village, it seems there are some craters, some intel is suggesting that the Kiowa that was heavily damaged could have crashed there. But we have no visibility yet as it seems a slope is between the positions.

TURN5
A Kiowa went under fire from the last motorized infantry hidden in the forest, unfortunately it seems they were always drunk and missed it, allowing the Kiowa to spot then engage the squad.
Fortunately, the Kiowa gunner missed his shots, that's a premiere.

Elsewhere , or maybe it is the same Kiowa that was moving away, i can't be sure, the T80B made a direct hit to a flying Kiowa that is now forced to retreat but may recover in the next turn, so we need to stay alert.

More concerning, 2 M60A3 have appeared on the North west road, they have certainly moved along the border , they will certainly try to get the T80B from behind, good i noticed them coming, i will try to ambush them with infantry, i think the visibility is too high so like me the USA may see what they were not supposed to see that easily, so i must think that nothing i do is hidden anymore.

The M113 has disembarked their cargo, either they will come for us or will deploy in the North objective waiting for us, now that the north objectives are completly in the USA hands.

The T80B , its spetsnaz and rifle platoon escort are always moving to the Central objectives, while the other central rifle platoons are always heading north, but some are staying where they are, as the 2 M60A3 are now a concern, but i doubt they will be able to be an immediate danger to the T80B.

In the south, everyone minus a rifle platoon are heading to the South objective, let's hope it will be enough to get and secure the position.
So the change from "North for last" plan to a "South for last" plan is not anymore actual, things will go back according to the original "Nort for last" planning.

TURN6
I noticed the 2 M60A3 are moving separately now, one is staying +/- near where it was spotted first, while the other is closing in by moving south, certainly will try to get us by the rear and is hinding in the far east village.

My ambush is ready, my RPG squads present in the static rifle platoon are waiting for them to close in a bit more. Unless the T80 got a clear shot possibility, i will let my rear guard to deal with it.
But with this visibility setting i wonder if my troops are really hidden like they ae supposed to be, as the M60A3 are behind houses and i can see it clearly, so i guess my hidden troops are certainly exposed so the ambush will certainly not work correctly.

The M113 infantries are nowhere to be seen, so either they have found a way to hide themselves from my view, or they have mounted in cargo of these M113, that's certainly the most probable answer.

The T80B and its 2 protecting groups are always moving slowly , approaching the Central objective a bit more each turn

In the south, the last motorized infantry has captured 2 more south objectives, he will get a medal for sure, the rifle platoon supposed to help is always moving to its position.
A surviving crew of a destroyed BTR-70 is coming back. And another rifle platoon is moving to the central objectives.

Other than movements, this was a calm turn with nothing really happening.
No trace of any Kiowas.

TURN7
Things are getting serious now, the M60A3 has moved out of the far east village and moved toward the village we were inside some turns ago, but the T80B was in the line of sight, a brief combat occured, and my T80B destroyed the M60A3 without leaving it a chance.

But it seems the T80B got hit, i don't know yet how serious the damages are as i don't find any report about it (maybe the big front armor blocked the shell), but i will redeploy the RPG squads to fit the new position of the last M60A3 in the case it get closer as it has moved to the forest that is over the field where most of the rear guard is hiding.
I hope the cover provided here will hide my squads despite the visibility setting.

I lost track of 2 M113, i see only 1 now far north, no sure what the 2 other are doing, they may have moved away, trying to move out of my vision, or are just there, hidden by some terrain.

The T80B is staying where it is for now, rotating the canon to the direction from where the M60A3 is supposed to come this should help its accuracy. There will be some shells in the air soon if the remaining M60A3 try to attack.
The baby sittings spetsnaz groups are moving very close to the central objectives, but it is on a hill, and they could be exposed next turn if they go there, let's try to not add more loss to this day, as i have no idea how good spesnaz squads can be in SP:MBT.

The south motorized infantry nearly captured every south objective now , 2 crew squads surviving of the destroyed BTR-70 are close to them.

A rifle platoon is always moving toward their position, while the other is always rushing to the central part, but it may take a while before they arrive.

TURN8
A calm turn, we lost track totally of the M60A3, so it may have moved back a bit or is trying to hide deeper in the forest , with some luck it has immobilized itself and we will not hear about it anymore.

In the north, i see only 2 M113, they are not really moving, so they may get in defense.

The south objectives are now entirely in my control, all the survivors are present there, and the helping rifle platoon is now very near. If some surprises are coming, the defense should be at a good level here and we may be able to keep the place for a long time.
Maybe the USA is trying some manoeuver to avoid the centre to attack the south, but they will need transport, as it is far away and the M113 are not moving, unless they have something in reserve i have not observed yet.

I noticed no artillery fires, so it may mean there is no USA artillery, that's good, as we may not have to move constantly and can keep our positions.

A spetsnaz squad has captured the first central objective, followed by the other spetsnaz troops, the T80B is moving along them, and protecting the other flank of the tank, a rifle platoon is ready to anything coming this way.
If the remaining M60A3 try to attack now, it should be well recieved.

I modified the range settings of the units waiting in the field near the headquarter village so they should hide really, so if the M60A3 try to move this way, my ambush should be unnoticed until it is too late, that's the plan.
But plannings seem to go wrong everytime with those drunken troops.
Nothing more to report, all is too calm.

I begin to consider not going to the north objective and let the USA thinking they are defending the place, so they will not go after me, this way it would give more time to regroup.
We will see what happen next before any more moves.

TURN9
We see the M60A3 again, it appeared in the east of the field my units are hidden into.
So i set up the 2 AT squads from the platoon to target it, but no fire yet, i put their range to 300m so they will engage it only when it will approaches to that distance.
I am not sure if it will enter the field or will just move along it.

The other squads in the field stay hidden, in the case the M60A3 get too close, so they will be able to assault it without being spotted to early thanks to the field cover.
Well, that's the theory as i don't know with that visibility setting if my units are really hidden like they should.

My first spetsnaz squad captured a nearby central objective and spotted a M113 Dragon 100/150m north, they were certainly waiting the T80B.
They engaged it with what they had and after buttoning it, they succeeded to destroy it with their AT equipment.
That should have a good impact on the USA side that would then think twice about coming back here.

On another note, they may decide to send everything they have now instead of waiting, we'll see.
The central objectives are near to be completly ours.
Always no more news from the Kiowas, they may have left the area, or be too damaged to move or just destroyed, that's good for us
That was a good turn for us, a welcomed change from the beginning BTR-70 disaster.

TURN10
The M60A3 is now slowly moving trying to stay along the field, its canon is in the direction of the central objectives, he may certainly worry about the T80B that he suspects, correctly, to be there or maybe he clearly sees it with the high visibility setting, i don't know for sure.

My hidden troops in the field have not been engaged yet, it may mean that the M60A3 does not notice them, so the ambush may work correctly.
Slowly, i am moving the 2 rpg squads to its position, let's hope the tank will not notice them as they are the primary spear of the ambush.

The south objective is now secured by a good perimeter of defense, it should be now hard to get there without some hard combat.

The spetsnaz groups are now deploying around the central objective, the T80B is always static, trying to get the 1st shot in the case the M60A3 appear as i am not sure how much hits it can resist anymore.
The tank northern flank is always protected by a rifle platoon that is deploying along a slope.

The rifle platoon that is rushing from the south is now very close to the Kiowa supposed crash site, moving in high grass, they should help in the case the M60A3 comes in the village , as the Headquarter is located there for now and could potentially be at risk.
I will certainly move them a bit inside the forest in the next turn, just in case.

If we can get rid of the M60A3, we may begin to plan a move against the north objective, when the incoming rifle platoon will be ready and the ambush squads back in duty.

TURN11
Nothing really serious happened, but we noticed the M60A3 is going back to the far east village, hiding for a moment behind a house, near the other destroyed M60A3.

Only the rushing "south to central rifle platoon" is now very near the Kiowa supposed crash site, next turn they will be present there.
Who know, maybe we will be able to secure some important informations and hardware here.

The Headquarter left the house it was occupying in the village, it moved inside a small forest to hide more , just in case.

All the other groups are keeping their position, in the central area the whole objectives are now ours, and the defense perimeter setup to prevent a counter attack.
The 2 RPG squads from the ambush try to move in a position that would be better for a direct attack, but i fear their moves would not be unnoticed by the USA.

Now no artillery shots have been noticed, i can be sure there is no USA mortar anywhere, so i don't have to worry too much about setting long timed defenses.
The same can be said by the USA , as i have prefered to give priority to assault ground troops i have nothing to bombard the supposed enemy positions.

TURN12
Here it is, the M60A3 has showed itself, the T80B got the target in its sight and opened fire, with the main gun, then used a missile that landed right on the M60A3.
The M60A3 resisted the direct hits and tried to fire back while deploying smoke but missed its target (maybe the direct hits helped to disable its fire accuracy).
It seems the situation is moving again, but the M60A3 is totally immobilized by the damage it got.

The T80B had no more vision of the enemy tank, maybe the smoke is too much for now, but it fired some rounds to the supposed position, just in case, no idea if they were successfull.

One of the ambush squad is now heading to the immobilized M60A3 position to finish the job.
The other ambush squad is now going to the central objective to join forces with everyone present there.

The rushing rifle platoon arrived on the crash site, but found nothing of real interest, it will join forces with the Headquarter.

The south defense is reporting nothing interesting going on there, so it may be calm until the end of the mission.

TURN13
Nothing serious to report, but the immobilized M60A3 is firing randomly (or at least it seems to be randomly), and so can be dangerous with a lucky hit, the rifle platoon tasked with its destruction is approaching the village, in 3 turns or 4 it should be able attack its flank or rear according to the current position of the tank.

We could just ignore it, but the General requested its destruction at all cost, not sure why, but we all remember what happened to the last officer that asked for a reason to the General orders.
The real reason could be that this M60A3 may see too much of our troops and may prevent any surprise attack planning.

I moved a bit differently the central defense perimeter to avoid some lucky blind shot from the M60A3 to be successfull.

Headquarter is now moving to the central positions, it will soon be joined by the rifle platoon coming from the south.

No news in the south, good news.

TURN14
Nothing really happened again, the M60A3 is always firing its deseperate blind shots, hoping to damage something, but fortunately everyone is out of possible problems now.
Headquarter has joined forces with a rifle platoon and continue its travel to the central location.
The tank busting team is now near the village perimeter, will need 2 or 3 turns to get in position to attack the tank rear and end its threat, that is situation like this you would need some good AT power.

Nothing in the south, all seems calm.

Some news, the enemy Headquarters has been just spotted not too far from the M113 in the northwest, certainly too far away to attack now without revealing too much position.
But i always have no idea on what the USA can actually see from my positions with the visibility current settings, maybe what i think hidden is clearly seen.
I just hope it is not the case.

The rifle platoon going to the north will certainly never arrive near the North objectives before the end of the mission, it is moving just in case it can spot some incoming enemy and engage them.

TURN15
I am now moving some central squads in position, they are targeting the enemy headquarter, we may not be able to hit it as the target is very far, but at least should have some effect on the "safe" feeling the USA side can have there, we will begin next turn to engage it if it has not moved.

I see only one M113 , no idea where the other one can be, an AT squad is targetting it but again it may be a bit far, we will try to get it next turn.
The tank busting platoon is near to be in position to attack the immobilized M60A3 that has not fired in that turn.
They are moving slower than i hoped unfortunately, as the terrain does not help, so i doubt they will attack next turn, certainly more the one that will follow, according to how quick they can move there.

A rifle platoon is heading north, through the forest to avoid a too obvious detection, not sure it will be usefull, but at least they should serve as a possible decoy.

The south defense seems totally safe, either the USA is not able to deploy anything there, or they are more hurt than i thought by all they lost and will never be able to be a danger to the south.
But with the defense that is present there, i don't see them counter attacking that position successfully before the end of the mission. We'll see.

TURN16
Well, despite i wanted to open fire on the enemy headquarters and M113, those targets are really too far way (the headquarter is at +/- 1km away), so i will just continue to target them so it will give an accuracy advantage in the case they decide to move to us.

But the T80B was not in a bad position and may be able to hit hard, so i moved it out of the hideout and fired at the M113 directly.
Now the unfortunate APC is just burning metal in the result of a direct hit from the T80B.
A light retaliation occured but without damages on the T80B, just in case it discharged smoke and moved back to the safe zone.
I took a small risk, not knowing the exact location of possible hidden enemy troops, but it was a case of "who dares wins" as it was a successfull move.

I think the USA side is now crippled, as they have lost expensive equipment (and with some lucks, they may lose a 2nd M60A3 in the upcoming turns) , and may not have enough infantry to be a real danger to my central defense, i may now have the upper hand on the mission.

The M60A3 has rotated a bit, i think it has certainly spotted the incoming tank busters unfortunately, they are now very near to it (i guess they are at 200m).
It will certainly be a bit difficult to destroy it correctly without the tank gunner acting first.
I will certainly need to "attract fire" with the normal squads, so the AT squad will be able to close in when the M60A3 will be out of opportunity fire.

But, i have always the T80B in reserve, for when the M60A3 will be out of OP fire, in the case the tank busting is not able to attack anymore. The T80B should then be more than enough to end the M60A3 threat when it will be needed.
The attack will certainly occur for the next turn or in turn 18 and should certainly contribute to improve my position in the mission.

Unfortunately, due to the distances and the lack of transport (the BTR-70 are always burning in the south), there is no possible way to get the north objective in time for the end of the mission, so we will just protect what we acquired to keep our advantage on this mission.

TURN17
All is quiet, the M113 is always burning far away and the enemy HQ is always clearly seen, but out of reach from the rifles apparently or i will have fired at it from where the 2 squads spotting it are hidden, and i will not use again the T80B as i don't know if there are some ATGM squads present hidden in the field in the north of the T80B position, i will need it for the M60A3.
The tank busting platoon begin to be in position, 2 squads are targetting the M60A3, and the AT squad is closing in, next turn we may attack if the AT squad can reach the position i need it to be.

Other than that, nothing is really happening, the rifle platoon that was moving to the north inside the forest is now at +/-250m of the destroyed M113, maybe they will be able to see something, but they will never be able to get to the North objective in time as there is only 2 turns left.

Next turn should see a bit more action with the possible attack of the M60A3, let's hope all will be good and we will be able to take it out without any loss, as i have no idea if the M60A3 may be able to engage the squads that are targeting it before my next turn.

TURN18
Good news, the immobilized M60A3 have not engaged our infantry that is moving close to it, maybe they have not noticed it or just are bored.
So we launched our attack, the M60A3 was certainly more damaged by the T80B direct hit than i thought, as the first of my tank buster troopers disabled the M60A3 for good, using a focused GP25 fire.
The crew survived and tried to run away from the destroyed tank, just to fall in the sights of the other squads of that tank busting platoon that were in position. The enemy crew had no chance to survive this ambush, and they were wasted.

On the north, the rifle platoon moved close to the field where i was sure some USA units were hidden, we engaged the Dragon squad we met there (good we have not sent the T80B as i suspected), they retaliated but no loss were done on each sides, and we continued the fire while another enemy squad tried to help the Dragon squad.

We have now spotted that new enemy squad, it is an US mech. infantry , certainly they were linked to the now destroyed M113 100 meters away, they are coming to help the pinned down Dragon squad.
All is now tuning into a good way for the us, we may have now definitively the upper hand.
The T80B is patrolling a bit to the south of the central objectives, to see if they can spot something trying to move, but it seems there is no more US troops alive , other than in the north sector.

TURN19
The last turn of this mission.
The West mech infantry retaliated heavily in the attack of their position, pinning a squad and cuasing 2 losses, forcing this rifle squad to retreat temporarly.
A M113 has appeared and is pinning down our troops.

There are some heavy fires on this rifle platoon position , but we managed to destroy a Dragon squad from the defending US platoon and hit the M113 a bit in the firefight.

The T80B is moving to get the enemy from the side, while the spetsnaz groups and the other rifle platoon are advancing toward the mech infantry positions.
Unfortunately, we may not get in range before the end of this mission.
Considered as a Marginal victory, as unfortunately USSR forces have not been able to capture the north objective that remains under the US control.