Diggers At Work After Action Report Part I

[Bishop746]

This is my first AAR but it looked like alot of fun to write one up. Its for WBW's Diggers at Work. Great scenario; if you havent played it then be aware that reading this AAR will spoil some of the surprises and there are several that are really good and Im not even done yet.

Here goes.
04-20-05
The platoons started moving forward until they reached the wooden structures at the edge of the open gap in the trees. C Platoon (middle) began to receive heavy small arms fire immediately to their front. I moved them into position with two squads up with the LMG section and one squad in reserve in the rear with the HQ.

D Platoon (bottom) moved forward maybe 150 meters after first contact before being hit with heavy small arms fire. D Platoon deployed the same as C Platoon except I had the advantage of moving my scouts forward to get a good idea of the enemy’s strength. My plan was to hold with C platoon and move forward with B and D platoons to seize the objectives to their front and put pressure on the enemies flanks.

The best laid plans of mice and men.

After several turns, both D and C platoons were facing increasing small arms fire and some heavy weapons. Enemy fire was inaccurate but plentiful and causalities began to mount in both platoons. The number of visible enemy troops was increasing as was the volume of fire; which now included mortars.

I moved the Company reserve out of the Refinery to 200 meters behind C Platoon (middle) to act as a mobile reserve.

B Platoon (top) was the only unit faring well. I set my scouts range to 0 and crept them forward with the platoon not far behind. The scouts made it to the edge of the open area between the rubber trees without receiving any fire from the enemy. An NVA platoon was crossing the open area heading SSW towards C Platoon. They had not seen my scouts yet. Within one turn I had two squads and a LMG section up and firing into the NVA caught in the open. Most turned and moved back into the treeline but two squads were pinned in the open. This action alone prevented an entire enemy platoon from hitting C Platoon from the north(screen wise).

C and D platoons could not prevent the capture of two victory hexes and casualties had totaled a squad in each platoon so I pulled both platoons back to prevent being overrun. The Australians moved back in good order and are still combat effective.

It is now turn 8 and I’m waiting on my artillery to fall which should be this turn. Reinforcements have arrived to the south. I hope to keep the company intact until reinforcements are in position.

More later.

[Bishop746]

Diggers At Work Part II

Brought to you by SPAM: When there is nothing else in the house, there’s always SPAM. Just don’t ask what’s in it.

--------------------------Spoilers Alert--------------------------

Turn 8 began with a heavy 105mm artillery barrage that fell perfectly on two groups of Viet Cong in the open. Several Viet Cong squads were pinned after the barrage fell so I moved my APCS down the Xa Long Tan road and deployed E platoon behind D, which had lost its LMG section trying to move. I deployed one squad poorly and they popped smoke and retreated after taking several causalities. The APC’s were in good position to put heavy .50 caliber fire on exposed Viet Cong squads. I haven’t been hit with an RPG yet but I’m not moving too fast with my APC’s until I can reduce the enemy numbers in front of E and D platoons.

I linked A and C platoons up and moved them to avoid the mortar attacks that were beginning to fall more accurately.

B Platoon was still raking the exposed Viet Cong squads in spite of losing their LMG section also.

Turns 9 to 11 things began to happen rapidly. In spite of heavy artillery, Viet Cong began crossing the middle section taking advantage of my troops having to pull back deeper into the rubber trees. C and D platoons put several enemy squads in a crossfire and they turned back. D platoon could only help a little since the enemy was taking advantage of the line of sight my APC had and had advanced to within 50 yards of squad D3 and the scouts. The enemy was forced back by accurate small arms fire and grenades but took more casualties.

At this point, A platoon and elements of C platoon began to receive LMG fire from behind them. They were able to kill one of the crewmen but the gun is still operational. Fortunately, the Australians spotted a suicide bomber along the rear road and put him under fire. Good experience ratings make a difference but where there’s one suicide bomber there may be more that I haven’t seen. Of course, this has me second guessing my intended plan but being shot at from the rear with an LMG has that effect on a person.

B Platoon has completely destroyed the enemy that I can see in front of them except for 3 men in a VC squad. I hope to move across the open area and seize the objective. I need the points but I also want to force him to divert forces from the southern part of the battlefield to give relief to my beleaguered C, D and E platoons. That is, of course, unless an NVA laser tank doesn’t appear behind my lines and begin vaporizing my units.

Turns 12+ soon.

[Bishop746]

Diggers at Work Part III, Final

Brought to you by Smith and Wesson, because some people just have it coming.

-------------------------------Spoilers Alert-------------------------------------

Turn 12 began with another well placed artillery barrage by my forward observers led by a Major Stanley who has an Arty rating of 91. Without line of sight, he’s artillery was effective; with line of sight his artillery was devastating. Without artillery I would have lost this scenario.

D platoon in the southern part of the map had stopped the Viet Cong advance with E platoons timely arrival. I moved the APCs too close to the enemy and lost one to an RPG or missile of some sort. The APCs were pulled back and shifted to the left to get a better field of fire and better support from the infantry. Over the course of 6 turns I slowly moved two APC’s towards C platoon in the middle and left one with D platoon. The enemy never really threatened D and E platoon again after several artillery barrages and devastating heavy and small arms fire. The most the Australian platoons received was sporadic OPFIRE when they moved.

A and C platoon had moved forward to a line parallel with the wooden structure when the enemy made another attempt of pushing through the center with approximately two platoons. A and C Platoons began to get hit with very accurate mortar fire being directed by a FO that was less than 250 meters away. My platoons tried to eliminate the FO but fires soon started in the rubber trees and several units became pinned; so I focused on pulling both platoons back towards the Refinery.

To the north at B platoon occurred one of the few good decisions I made. B Platoon crossed the open area and maneuvered into position above the Objective hex without taking any fire from the enemy. I positioned my platoon with good fields of fire and seized the objective and waited for what I hoped would be a counter attack. Within one turn, the enemy diverted two squads and an MMG towards B platoon. The firefight lasted roughly three turns but swung to my favor when the MMG was destroyed by small arms fire. On the 17th turn, the platoon popped smoke and waited for the end of the scenario having completed both goals.

In A and C platoons area the Viet Cong attack ran out of steam after the two squads and the MMG were diverted. I had rallied my platoons enough to get them to the edge of the trees with the refinery behind them. By this time, the APC’s were lined up in excellent positions and were raking the advancing enemy. At the end of the scenario no platoons were under an immediate threat and all squads were in fair to good order.

Results

Mission: Draw

Australian Casualties 77 Inf
1 AFV
Viet Cong Casualties 234 Inf

I’ve been playing Steel Panthers a long time, not this version but others, and I think I did a better job pulling my units back from fights they cannot win. In the past I had a habit of leaving units in bad situations because I didn’t want to give one hex to the enemy without trying to inflict massive casualties. What usually happened is the enemy got to close and I couldn’t extract my units in time.

Thank you Wild Bill for an excellent scenario and I hope everyone enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it.

Bishop

[Pepper]

Great AAR! I could visualize the battle unfold ...

[Bishop746]

Thank you.

I'm foolishly designing a scenario right now but when I'm done I want to play another scenario and write up more AARs.