AAR: The Iraqi Lost Legion - generated campaign

[Wdll]

I never tried it, so I don't know how it works, but when you create a new game you have the option to set the points for each side. Perhaps giving more points to the enemy side would work.
Or, if that failed, perhaps not using all the points yourself.?

[raginis]

As expected, there was no British opposition to the crossing itself. The first British unit was encountered well back from the river, with a field of crops providing it some concealment and allowing it to fire on the Iraqi troops as they emerged from the river valley.



And what a British unit it was - its basic weapon was the SA80 Rifle. Here it is compared to the AK-47, the Mosin M.44 Rifle and, just for fun, the American M-16:

Weapon ACC KILL RAN
SA80---6---3:0---9:0
M.44---1---1:0---10:0
AK-47---1---3:0---8:0
M-16---1---3:0---8:0

Why is the SA80 so much more accurate than its Iraqi or American counterparts? I don't know. Combine it with the fact that this British infantry section has 2 MGs at its disposal, with ACC of 30 and KILL of 5:0 (extra accuracy is, presumably, just a way to model the fact that there are two MGs in one weapon slot), and the fact that it had a NV of 15 - and what you have is a Terminator unit, all at a cost of 29 points, compared to 13 points for a Peoples Army squad (at equivalent experience). Peoples Army, again, are armed only with an AK/Mosin and grenades, with no NV. Still, as this battle showed again, there is no fire like Z-fire.



The battle settled into a pattern - a Peoples Army squad would advance, hoping to draw fire, and then either a sniper or the HQ would attempt to spot the firing enemy unit. If they fail, the hex where the fire came from, if identified, would still be subjected to Z-fire from HMGs, 60mm mortars, and AGLs, as well as the MGs on the trucks. After a few rounds of suppressive fire, another infantry squad would advance, and either draw fire or close with the enemy unit. This was a costly strategy, but the damaged squads could always be withdrawn (except when they couldn't - a couple of enemy units entrenched in the river valley were able to fire on retreating Iraqi squads; the only three Iraqi squads that were eliminated completely died in this fashion).

In the end, no more than a marginal victory was achieved. The final VP cluster remained out of reach. With only three units - the HQ and two snipers - able to match the British units for visibility, it was simply not feasible to push too hard for that third VP cluster. The British fielded a reinforced rifle company (so roughly 1/3 of the force I did), with no air support or armor. However, their infantry units were so effective that they could stop my infantry in their tracks.



End Result: Iraqi marginal victory

[raginis]

AFTERMATH:

A few units are no longer green recruits, but no one is a veteran, yet. In fact, one of the Peoples Army squads that had to be completely replaced was also one of the high-experience units (by which I mean - about 60 morale and experience).

The only units to join the Marauder core were a platoon of mountain infantry (a ranger unit, with some NV, and organic mortar support - like the scouts before them, a specialized unit that managed to survive the general collapse of the Iraqi army) and a prime mover for the two 120mm mortars. However, two platoons of engineers and the two batteries of 130mm field guns decided to remain in support of the Marauders as they moved on from the river valley and finally encountered their first road - but the convenience was short-lived. Just as the Marauders were entering a small village with some fields of crops next to it, Lt. Col. Mustafa received a warning from one of the villagers - a unit of soldiers, who did not look European, has occupied a cluster of small hills that dominate the road intersection on the other side of the village. The only way forward is through...

BATTLE 03
Iraq vs. Saudi Arabia, Iraq Assault
Visibility: 43
Length: 39

Finally, a fight with high visibility. I expect that every unit will get some shooting experience. It is an assault, and the two engineer platoons who had temporarily joined up with the Marauders will hopefully clear any obstacles. The two 130mm batteries, with their 10km range, are also in touch and ready to provide support.

The map is essentially flat, with an East-West road in the northern portion; the road has an intersection with a NW-SE road just west of the village the Marauders passed through. To the west of the intersection are several hills which dominate the approach and, due to the high visibility, will also dominate the entire expected battlefield. However, it is in the flat lands where it gets interesting. High grass grows freely on the battlefield, providing some concealment (but not cover!), but there are some hexes with an elevation of 2, rather than 0. By placing support weapons on these elevated hexes, I achieve a good field of direct fire, unobstructed by the grass. These two images are taken for a single HMG section, positioned at height 0 vs. height 2. A couple of hexes apart, a bit of hex-hunting to find the correct height, but the difference is stark:





Since this is an assault, both the attacker and defender start dug-in. Due to the high visibility, a number of Iraqi support weapons will never need to move, and will still be able to direct-fire against the expected first line of Saudi defense. Unless the Saudis have excellent spotting ability, or decide to advance, they may spend the battle under fire from (to them) unreachable, perhaps even invisible, dug-in HMGs and mortars. In fact, this battle will be in a way the mirror image of the previous two - the Saudis may be able to see who is shooting at them, but won't have the range to engage them, as opposed to Iraqis having a 500m-range rifles, but not seeing anyone beyond 100m.

The Iraqis set up in a line, but without attempting to cover the entire height of the map - the main axis of advance will still be along either side of the road, with an additional company further south. I make a mistake here - the hills in the north offer at least some break to the line-of-sight. The AK-47 company would probably do better there, able to close to 400m or less more easily. Instead, I deploy them as the southern-most company, facing the fewest natural obstacles and the longest fields of fire - a job for which the Mosin-armed companies would have been better suited. The ranger platoon will move along the road, behind the general advance, and hopefully provide a decisive punch if the enemy defensive line proves too stubborn. The sappers have AK-47s, grenades, flame throwers and satchel charges - in other words, at ranges beyond 50m, they are no better armed than a Peoples Army AK-47 squad.



The Peoples Army grunts advance to contact, and find it about where expected. Several Saudi platoons, supported by a few MGs, are dug in around the hills next to the road.



The standard Saudi infantry looks like this:



Their FN-FAL rifles are actually less lethal than the AK-47, but more lethal than the Mosin, while sharing Mosin's range. Of course, each Saudi squad also has an MG, which is distinctly average in terms of lethality and accuracy. Nevertheless, the Peoples Army squads will engage at range, with support weapons used liberally to pin/retreat/rout the Saudis. For the first time, Peoples Army units will get to see the enemy they are fighting at the same time as the enemy sees them, and will get to shoot back when shot at.

After several rounds of intense combat, some of my frontline troops are beginning to do something that rarely happened to infantry units in vanilla SP - they are beginning to run out of ammunition, starting with the grenade launchers. By choosing to fight a battle at the longer ranges of the weaponry (which means impunity for my heavier support weapons) I sacrifice accuracy and ammo consumption for fewer losses. I only have a single section of armored ammo carriers, but they will have to be enough. Grenade launchers will need it first, but AAMGs and even HMGs are not far behind. But, as none of the objective flags have been taken, I can't afford an excessive delay to resupply. The Peoples Army may have to advance without support, with only their trusted Mosins... I wish there was a good way to model bayonets...

[raginis]

The battle against the entrenched Saudis raged on, and the initial mistake of deploying AK-47-armed People's Army units in wide-open terrain became more glaring as the fight progressed. Since the AK-47 company was also the southern-most company, the ended up advancing into the teeth of several Saudi platoons that could shoot them from 600m with impunity (AK-47 has only a 400m range) and, on top of that, there were no friendlies on their left flank. I ended up withdrawing them until the northern two companies, assisted by the mountain platoon, could punch through the Saudi defenses in front of them.

The only late-game surprise came from two MG sections positioned behind a small hill that protected them from head-on fire, but allowed them to harass my units from the flank as they advanced. It took a few turns to defeat them, but they could not turn the tide.



Overall, the first high-visibility battle was also the first battle where the Marauders inflicted more losses than they took. The Saudis brought just over 3 companies of infantry and nothing else to the battle.

Lt. Col. Mustafa has grown quite nicely in the last few battles (I apparently wrote over the saves from the 1st battle, so I don't know what he looked like at the beginning of the campaign). Huge growth in Morale and Arty Command (which makes sense, as he calls in all the arty strikes). Now, the manual states that the Sniper class has a built-in accuracy bonus. I don't know if the HQ class has any built-in artillery bonus, but I won't be purchasing a FO for this campaign anyway. I should note that Lt. Col. Mustafa has never even stood next to a tank in his life, much less commanded one, so I can't explain the Armor Command increase.





Sniper Kattib doubled his kills over the last two battles, and his experience and morale has also grown. He will not be the first Veteran among the Marauders (a 12.7mm HMG section took that accolade), but he's doing fine. Sniper Saqqaf has his work cut out for him if he wants to catch up. The HMG unit that acquired veteran status has only two kills - so kills really aren't that essential for good experience growth. I'm guessing the real consideration here is simply shooting the enemy a lot.







Aside from that HMG section becoming Veteran, there are no seismic changes in terms of overall experience advancement for Mustafa's Marauders. Their next battle will be a "meeting engagement" with the British, where all the VP clusters are on the British side of a river. But that is another story....

[raginis]

BATTLE 04: Iraq vs. Great Britain
Type: Meeting Engagement
Visibility: 51 (2,550m)
Turn Limit: 22 turns

MAP OVERVIEW:
Yet another brook, yet again flowing from NE to SW, but this time there is a bridge, and a road! South of the bridge, the cliff on the British side goes from elevation 10-15 to elevation 90-95 in a single hex, with lots of impassable hexes. Given the high visibility, attempting to push over that cliff will be too risky. This is too bad, as two VP clusters are behind that hill. In the northern portion, the Marauders will be able to deploy west of the river, relatively close to the third VP cluster. That VP cluster is located right between two hills of elevation 100, so that position should allow the Iraqi force to dominate the battlefield. At least that's the plan - strong push in the north, with pretty much the entire force, followed by either a defense or a push south, with the two 100-elevation hills serving as a fire base for the support weaponry.



More Marauders!
Given that the enemy forces in all three previous battles consisted of infantry only, and given that this is most likely due to the low point cost of the Iraqi force, I've decided to buy two sections of ammo carriers (2 vehicles each), a platoon of 100mm AT guns (mechanized, as all units with speed less than 3 need their own transport to keep up), and a platoon of T-55s. These additions swelled the point cost of the force, which will hopefully allow the AI to purchase some armor or artillery, but the units themselves are intended for limited use. The ammo carriers will never fire in anger if I can help it, unless perfectly safe. The AT guns provide a slightly better (still low-tech) answer to enemy armor, but are not particularly effective vs. infantry. The cost of each gun, including its dedicated transport, is 60 points, or about two Peoples Army platoons. Finally, the T-55s are not intended as front line troops, but rather as precious assets that the Marauders intend to preserve. The supply lines no longer exist, scrounging the battlefields yields mostly ammunition for the ubiquitous AK-47s and such, but not necessarily T-55 ammo, and no one has the time to fix a damaged tank. So, the T-55s, while costing full points, will essentially be kept out of combat.

Support Units
For the last time, the two batteries of 130mm M46 FG will make their appearance - again, their 10km+ range allows them to aid Lt. Col. Mustafa and his men without having to actually join the Marauders themselves. No other support is available.

A Sporting Chance
The map includes, yet again, a brook, and the opponent is, just as with the earlier brook, the British. Commanded by Field Marshal Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount of Alanbrooke, perhaps? I can try to wish away those 90-elevation hills on the side of the brook, but the realities of the battlefield err... brook... no argument... in any case, the hope is that the British finally bring some armor, artillery, or perhaps even aircraft to the battle. Their "Terminator" infantry units are dangerous enough by themselves, but in full daylight and not dug-in they will almost certainly provide a lesser challenge than before. The Marauders, of course, are gaining experience with every battle, while the AI troops remain the same...

[raginis]

Finally a Challenge
It looks as though the method worked - by expanding my core with relatively expensive units that I won't be heavily using, I gave the AI the opportunity to recruit some armor. The British have brought the Challenger I tank to the field. As subsequent events would show, it is only a section of two tanks, but they are enough. Virtually impervious to all my weapons, except for the AT gun (if it can ever get into position), or the RPG/recoilless (rear shot only), the Challengers are the kings of the battlefield.



Now, this challenger tank went all the way to the river - what was it looking for? I don't know. I tried to patiently position my AT units to take a rear shot, but the turn limit is only 22 - I have to push for a decision. The Iraqi troops captured the northernmost VP cluster, but the two southern ones, as expected, were captured by the British. The only way to get at them is to destroy the Challengers.



Interestingly enough, the Challenger did not take pot-shots at my jeeps or trucks, even the trucks that were carrying AT-guns. However, it must have seen them, as British mortars drew first blood and destroyed one of my AAMG jeeps, and retreated another off the map.



It proved impossible to directly take on the British armor. The Challenger that went furthest east was eventually close-assaulted by a mountain platoon, but it held off my advance long enough to protect the VPs behind it.

The Charge of the Light (Infantry) Brigade
The British did have plenty of infantry, armed with those ridiculous rifles and 2x MGs per squad, so they would have made mincemeat of my infantry...



... if it weren't for a judicious artillery barrage.



Artillery really earned its place in this battle. The HMGs and grenade launchers were simply too slow to keep up with the Iraqi infantry, so at the point where the "meeting engagement" battle became a true meeting, the support weapons were far behind. Due to the 22-turn limit, there was no time to wait for them. Had it not been for artillery, Mosin rifles would have squared off against modern assault rifles and machine guns. Even so, the artillery barrage only stopped the British, but did not allow me to annihilate them or take their VP clusters. The battle ends a draw.



The AI got some artillery overload points, but that's really because it took no artillery for itself. The Iraqi artillery support was somewhat heavy, but I don't think it was excessive. In any case, the Iraqi guns have bid a farewell to Lt. Mustafa and the Marauders continue on alone...

[raginis]

BATTLE 16
Iraq v. U.S. Army, Iraqi Defense
Visibility: 65
Turn: 35

Despite fighting off the British, the Marauders knew that the Coalition forces would soon be back - and with strength. Therefore, Col. Mustafa ordered a retreat - but alas his troops were simply not fast enough to outrun a pursuing American force. In broad daylight, and this time completely in the open, the Marauders were forced to do battle again, with barely any time to dig in...



The only notable features are a few hills in the center and northern part of the map, and the northern road. The VPs are so interspersed, that it is impossible to predict where the Americans may attack. With visibility at 65, the Marauders are keeping their heads down in their dug-in positions, hoping for flank and rear shots on enemy armor. The RPGs and recoilless rifles are positioned forward, hoping to be bypassed initially. Should the expected Abrams tanks be defeated, enemy infantry will likely not have an answer to Marauder heavy support weapons.



And the north it is. Six Abrams, plus other assorted vehicles.



First blood is well and truly drawn. The sole northern ATG takes its toll on enemy vehicles, including an Abrams. Infantry immobilizes another one of the beasts. However, almost any unit that fires is spotted and subjected to devastating return fire. Two veteran RPG sections are done for, having destroyed only one M113 between them.



The carnage continues. The northern ATG is out. Due to being positioned in the center, and just behind a hill whose slope runs SW to NE, the other two ATGs cannot see any American vehicles. An elite Marauder squad is out. Another Abrams is taken out by a fire bomb, while a repeated Molotov assault makes another Abrams retreat. Two are immobilized - meaning that there is now no way to lure them into an ambush ... but I put one of those Abrams under sustained small-arms fire, to button it as thoroughly as I can - and then a unit armed with nothing more than grenades manages to kill it in close assault.



The American infantry's advance appears to have been screened by that one hill in the north, while the grunts certainly benefited from traveling along the road - a pretty good idea, actually. They are now moving around that hill, and encountering the first Iraqi resistance. They are also actually within the LOS of Col. Mustafa himself, inviting a mortar barrage.
No infantry appears either in the center or the southern sector, so the sizable Marauder forces positioned in those sectors begin to slowly make their way north - including the recoilless rifles, whose 1,200m range may yet come in handy...



The only Marauder units on the central hill were three People's Army squads that are training up to become scouts. They are the only Iraqi troops that are completely exposed to all the American units that are advancing along the northern road - that is to say, all the American units. All other Marauders are either too far, or screened by a hill. Consequently, these three squads have borne the brunt of all artillery barrages, and have been targeted by American MMGs following up behind the infantry, as well as several vehicles. One of these unfortunate PA units is ground down to zero men without retreating - the others are basically in a constant state of retreat/rout. Reinforcements are finally arriving from points south but, in terrain this open, they are easily spotted. Getting in close enough to kill enemy vehicles will be the challenge.



The battle is now essentially a meat grinder, with American infantry attempting to advance, supported by fire from their APCs, tanks, and MMGs. In the northern part, there are three operational Abrams tanks, but their behavior is bizzare - one is immobilized, and firing freely. One does not appear immobilized, but is not moving, yet firing freely. One was previously routed by a series of Molotov/fire bomb assaults, and retreated, but is now in "Ready" status, apparently undamaged, yet not moving or firing, and facing in the opposite direction. Marauder mortars manage to pin the US infantry assault, but the Iraqi infantry units are running out of ammunition, especially the western-armed troops. Reinforcements are marching up, but in this visibility, they have themselves suffered losses. American artillery barrages (105mm) have literally wiped out several squads in one shot. Marauder jeeps have been decimated by enemy Dragons. However, in all of this carnage, a recoilless rifle finally records a first kill - a Vulcan AA vehicle. This kill was achieved from some distance, by a unit that so far hasn't been used much in the campaign; a very satisfying kill.



Bedouins attempt to bypass the battlefield and get at the enemy mortars, but a HMMV opens up on them from distance. A charge would be futile, so they will be withdrawn.

AFTERMATH: Not much changed tactically for the reminder of the battle. The reinforcements from the central and southern sector, which included some very experienced troops, eventually ground down the enemy attack, and even took out two additional Abrams tanks. One of these was the strange tank that, while apparently undamaged and in "Ready" status, neither fired nor moved for most of the battle. A few smoke barrages broke LOS between the infantry squads and enticed the Americans to advance closer, which sped up the decision, as the infantry squads shredded one another from close range. Overall, the losses of experienced troops hurt, but there were a few promotions as well. The Marauders found a weapons cache with some old Strela AA missiles - just about enough to outfit three units of inexperienced men.

RULE ADDENDUM: I have a few People's Army squads that earned enough experience to get a promotion, but that also lost 50%+ of their complement. I don't "demote" them by using the Change button to change them to the same type of unit (with loss of experience) - I simply replenish them, but don't promote them. If they manage to survive the next battle without 50%+ losses, they will be eligible for promotion.