Highway 281

[Old Gamer]

This was a fun scenario but not very fun for the Cubans. The orientation of the map is with the Cubans from the bottom. The sides are as you see the map. The Cubans came up the middle in the first wave with their Btr-152ks and Btr60K 100s. I dropped smoke near the first victory hex to isolate the column and be able to engage each vehicle as it cleared the smoke. Most of the Btrs were knocked out by dragons, tows and M48s.

The next wave was several Pt-76s with BTR60K these came in to the left of the main paved road. They hung out there for a while under cover. As each one moved out into the open the dragons and mostly M48 hit them. Some of the infantry survived the destruction of their apcs and began to move to the left toward the victor hex there when they came close the infantry there engaged them and over time broke them and destroyed them. The 105s helped by pinnin them and causing some damage. In the early stage of the game 3 migs flew in and attacked a dragon team and an M48. They destroyed the dragon team but only damaged the M48's turret weapons. Each was either shot down coming in (one) or shot down going out (two). By this time several of the dragons were expended and I moved them back. The TOWs were also expended and were also brought back.

With this wave was a platoon of UAZ-B11s that headed up the right dirt road followed by BTR-152s. These came under fire from the M48s in range and the mortar. These were all destroyed and the BTRS went to the right and joined with the next wave coming up on the right.

The next wave was more Btr-152Ks and now some T-62s. These entered on the right side. One T-62 was immobilized early by a M48 long shot but would do some damage later. The Btr-152Ks came up on the right on the dirt road and were whacked as each cleared the smoke in the center. Very little of the infantry survived these hits. The T-62s sent a platoon to take the victory hex in the wooded area. I moved one M48 to that side to recapture the hex. While they got he hex all of the Cuban platoon of tanks were knock out doing so. I had one dragon in the area which expended its ammo on one T62 and a couple of Btr-152Ks.

A nother wave of trucks with 82mm Mortars came up on the far left side I used a machine-gun team to slow them down and moved up a infantry squad and the M48 that was assigned on that flank. Once stopped I dropped 105s and mortars on then truck which were quickly damaged and then destroyed. The crews bailed out and began running to the left. There did not seem to be much left on the left so I sent the TOW Jeeps I had pulled back to scout that way followed by the M48. There was nothing down there but a single SA-9 which the tank got. The jeep grabbed the victory hexes on the starting edge for the Cubans. It also found some Rocked artillery there which my artillery took under fire followed by the M48.

On the right the T-62' held back covered by the smoke from the burning BTR-152 and were able to spot and destroy the two remaining dragon units in the area. One was just out of range for the dragon to fire a the tanks. I tried to mask them with smoke but the tanks got them before the smoke arrived. My M48 on the right flank then moved up and recaptured the right most victory hex. While this was happening I also moved up another M48 the platoon leader to get a shot at the T-62s when they move to the right. The smoke cleared and that immobilized T-62 got off a shot at the M48 and killed it. Meanwhile the remaining two T-62s were hit by M48s as they tried to take back the victory hex on the right.

The game ended on turn 26 and I had a decisive victory. The dragons were the key to the victory. They hit with most of their shots. The TOWs not so much. The M48s also did very well. I only lost one to the immobilized T-62. My only comments about the scenario have to do with the load outs for the infantry. Only the platoon leader squads had LAWs. I didn't really need them as there was only one time where an squad had to fight a PT-76 with its M79. I hit it all 4 shots with the HEAT round that was issued but no obvious damage. I pulled the infantry back behind a bush and waited for an M48 to come kill the PT-76. The t-62s were the most dangerous. I had to hit them twice to kill them with the M48s which was scary if they fired back. My jets were not effective against the tanks and were both hit but not destroyed by SA-9 missiles.

A good scenario and it was a challenge to figure out when and where the next wave was to come in and be able to position the mobile units to counter the thrust. The artillery for the US was adequate and did its job. The quick response time was very important but not fast enough to save my dragon teams.