Scenario 516-Not what we wanted

[SaS TrooP]

Waiting for the final result :P
You were somewhat lucky that reinforcements went into the close combat.

By the way - as I apparently cannot send you an e-mail - I know you play PBEMs a lot. Care to join a rather serious campaign?

[Aeraaa]

You got PM.

[Aeraaa]

Aftermath



First, results and casualties:





Equipment losses:

Portugal

21 M113 APCs
1 M577 AOP
2 V150 light AFVs
7 AML60 light AFVs
18 M48A5s medium tanks


USSR

4 BRDM-2 scout cars
2 MTLB-82 mortar carriers
15 BMP-1 IFVs
3 BRDM-2 Faktoriya tank destroyers
10 MTLB APCs
1 BMR armored engineering vehicle
10 T-55A medium tanks
26 BTR-152 APCs
3 120mm mortars
3 PszH-IV scout cars
3 trucks
6 85mm AT guns
11 T72AV MBTs
9 T62D medium tanks
1 GAZ-66 truck
18 BTR-60 APCs
1 UAZ jeep
1 Mi-24 attack helicopter
1 MiG-23 fighter bomber
3 Su-7 attack aircraft

Units that were hit the hardest for Portugal were the Lagunari, Motorized 1/1, Pioneers and Mechanized 1/1. Motorized 2/1, Mechanized 2/1 ,Motorized 1 /2 and the Cavalry regiment had significant losses as well, while the rest had light losses. More than a third of the tanks was knocked out.

Result was a very close marginal victory. Portuguese brigade failed to capture the eastern part of Orsiglia, which still has significant Soviet forces inside. That being said, it demolished the Hungarian battalion sized force around Corregiogli and Melara and captured both towns. Thanks to that, it got a secure bridgehead over the Po to continue operations.

To recap what has just happened, the battle can be split in 4 phases. In phase 1, river crossings over the Po were secured and the western part of Orsiglia assaulted (was defended by a screening force of a recon platoon and an engineer company-). In the second phase, the Via Santa Croce road was secured, after defeating the Hungarian reinforced company that was defending it. Western Orsiglia was captured and the defenses of the eastern part reduced by tanks, ATGMs and air strikes. Finally, Portuguese forces took positions to assault the other two towns. In Phase 3, the bridges were captured and Corregiogli and Melara close assaulted by infantry+ tank teams. Finally, Phase 4 included the capture of all 3 towns. This did not go exactly smoothly, as the Soviet counterattack prevented the capture of eastern Orsiglia. However, that same counterattack was defeated by a hasty defense and the destruction of the bridges and then a limited attack captured the southern bridge.

Portuguese military relied on 3 things: ATGMs, tanks and air force. ATGMs were crucial in reducing the defenses of eastern Orsiglia by firing across the river, by providing overwatch opposite of Melara and Corregiogli and by defeating armored counterattacks. MILAN were particularly deadly, as their TI could hit Soviet targets much further than the 16 map visibility permitted (plus they could fire through smoke). Tanks were used in every offensive action, whether in the open or inside urban areas. The fact is that Portuguese infantry has very low stats (a little more than 60 on both traits IIRC) and thus cannot be relied for extended firefights, or for keeping their cool under fire. Thus, my plan was to draw enemy fire out by them, at which point tanks blasted the revealed enemy to pieces. Although Portuguese M48s were quite old tanks (but with a modern gun), they were still instrumental, proving that you definitely need armor in any kind of attack and actually, they killed the most tanks in the battle, surpassing the excellent MILAN ATGMs. Finally, the air force eliminated on board artillery and helped in the reduction of defenses in Orsiglia and via Santa Croce road. Artillery presence was not that great compared to other brigade level battles, but they did have an important contribution in destroying the bridges and halting the Soviet counterattack.

The ambitious Cavalry maneuver was scrapped pretty early when it was evident they wouldn’t be able to secure the crossroads behind Orsiglia on time (plus, I’m not sure what they would do vs. T62s and T72s) and Lagunari fought fiercely against bad odds despite having almost no AT weapons. Pioneers and infantry did suffer from Soviet artillery and close combat despite the tank support. Finally, after I surveyed the map, I realized to my amazement that the Soviets had one more T72 company (so, a full tank battalion) that was uncommitted to the north.


Another great scenario ends, many thanks to SaStroop for the design. Final positions are shown in the map below:

[Oche]

Very good scenario, and better map. I played this one in PBEM, like 2 years ago Had much fun with it, i think i managed to creep away with a minor victory playing as WARPAC side, against a 2nd grade NATO heavy underdog side well stocked with first grade ATGMs and enough Air support to wreak havoc on the defending soviet units.