Quick AAR of Defense of Afak and a couple of questions

[Scully]

Since I actually beat the bad guys this time, I thought I'd send out a quick AAR to see if anyone has any thoughts on different tactics for this scenario.

You start with 2 Armor Platoons, 1 Mech Inf platoon, 2 Volcano mine layers, and 1 FIST. After 1.5-2 hours you get support from an Attack Helicopter company (though it flew it's own mission out of my control--at least I didn't control it). The objective is to defend the city of Afak against a Republican Guard Battalion.

My setup:
-I one mine layer on either side of the road about 1000 meters out of the city.
-I had one Armor Platoon with the FIST attached well North and east to intercept any scouts and serve as my counter-attack.
-I placed a Bradley, Javelin Team and Fire Team south and east to serve as a screen and intercept any scouts.
-The remainder of my troops were setup inside the city

The Action:
The bad guys sent one scout North, South and right down the middle of the road. These were all destroyed as soon as they came into engagement range.

The bulk of the OPFOR Armor came right down the road with their Mech Infantry units moving slightly North of the road. The OPFOR Artillery setup just outside the division's rear boundary with one group north and one group south of the road.

Once I realized where the Artillery would be setting up, I ran my Armor/Fist platoon around behind the OPFOR's attacking columns and destroyed all artillery. I then moved this platoon North to prepare to attack the Mech Inf column.

About this time, the OPFOR reached my city defense engagement area. After getting held up in the middle, the Armor column move to my southern flank. The Mech Inf column remained stationary north of the road and out of range.

The OPFOR Armor column was beginning to make some progress against my southern flank. Fortunately, my roving armor platoon was ready to begin its counter attack and the attack helicopters showed up for support. Within a few minutes the Mech Inf column was destroyed along with a number of tanks thanks to the attack helicopters. The scenario ended here with a victory for the good guys.

Final thoughts and some questions:
-Destroying the OPFOR's artillery was critical to success. The few shots they did take were right on target and destroyed two bradley's.
-I'm not sure if my use of the FIST was great, but I figured having it out and protected was the best way to light up the bad guys when the helicopters arrived. Any thoughts?
-The helicopters didn't last too long. Not sure if I was supposed to do anything to help keep them alive? They were effective though and helped cover my counter attack.
-I probably didn't place the mines in the most effective spot. Any thoughts on where to place the mines in this scenario?
-Can the attitude of the mines be changed? Mine were placed at a weird angle.

Well, there you have it. One newbie's thoughts on Defense of Afak. Any comments or thoughts on how other folks played it would be great to hear.

Take care,
Brian

[Deltapooh]

It's nice to see AARs. I get my *ss kicked on this scenario. The scenario notes for this game call for putting laying your mine field 2km outside of Afak. This is the decisive point.

I usually defend the village with infantry and maybe one or two tank/BFV. The rest of my force fights a series of ambush attacks. The Bradley's can be very effective in this role. Plan a path with a series of stop/go nodes leading from the outerpoint of your zone back into the town. Each node should be on a very good fire position. Once your BFV fires a TOW, immediately order it to move out to the next node. Once there, stop, let it fire on the enemy, and retreat immediately.

Meantime, I try to use tanks to engage the enemy artillery before attempting to counter attack.

I usually do alright until the enemy begin dismounting and deploys in force. Vehicles start dying, I start praying, and the helios always arrive 15min too late for me.


I'm not sure if my use of the FIST-V was great, but I figured having it out and protected was the best way to light up the bad guys when the helicopters arrived. Any thoughts?

I don't believe it matters much. The AH-64D in ATF don't require laser guidance, or any information from an independent source. They only shoot at what they can see and is in effective range. However, I do believe your efforts simulate a real battle dilemma for commanders.

Always remember the enemy in ATF (and probably in life) has it in for your FIST-V. If I'm not mistaken, ProSim designed the engine so that when enemy artillery fires at a friendly formation, it focuses on where the FIST-V should be. So protecting them is a real challenge.


The helicopters didn't last too long. Not sure if I was supposed to do anything to help keep them alive? They were effective though and helped cover my counter attack.

You can try to suppress as many enemy units as possible, but there is little you can do. By the time they arrive, you should be running long on vehicles and ammo that can really reach out and suppress the enemy. So just led the fly boys do their thing and launch your counterattack. Remember that when they fire missiles on the helicopters, it takes time for them to reload. This can be to your advantage.


I probably didn't place the mines in the most effective spot. Any thoughts on where to place the mines in this scenario?

CPT. Proctor explains in the scenario notes (located in the back of the ATF manual), that the decisive point is located on the road about 2Km outside of town. However, he's an artilleryman. If he has to use his M16A2 someone has screwed up BIG TIME. So he might not be entirely correct.


Can the attitude of the mines be changed? Mine were placed at a weird angle.

Good question. I would like to know how the Volcano works.

[Black Moria]

Can the attitude of the mines be changed? Mine were placed at a weird angle.

The orientation of the minefield is right angles in relationship of the location of the vehicle to where you are emplacing mines.

So, if you select a point 12 oclock of the vehicle, the minefield is going to be oriented along a 9 oclock to 3 oclock axis.

If you select a point 3 oclock of the vehicle, the minefield is going to be oriented along a 12 oclock to 6 oclock axis.

If you select a point 1 oclock of the vehicle, the minefield is going to be oriented along a 10 oclock to 4 oclock axis. And so on.

[Scully]

<<The rest of my force fights a series of ambush attacks. The Bradley's can be very effective in this role. Plan a path with a series of stop/go nodes leading from the outerpoint of your zone back into the town. Each node should be on a very good fire position. Once your BFV fires a TOW, immediately order it to move out to the next node. Once there, stop, let it fire on the enemy, and retreat immediately.>>

Great idea. I just gave that a try and added a more aggressive attack on the rear area and I won in less than an hour (every OPFOR unit was eliminated :) ). Although I didn't do a great job with the hit and run attacks on the main column -- I killed 8-10 vehicles before all my guys bought the farm -- the tactic worked very well on the mech infantry follow-on column. I brought a tank platoon around south, destroyed the southern artillery group and then setup and ambushed the infantry column, destroying it entirely. Once the OPFOR main armored column reached the village engagement zone the remaining units were destroyed.

Now, I feel a little bit like I cheated, (aside from the fact this is my third time through the scenario) in reality how far out of the division area can you venture? I was about 8000 km beyond the rear boundary.

Either way, your tactic was a much cleaner way to win than my first victory in the scenario.

[Scully]

The orientation of the minefield is right angles in relationship of the location of the vehicle to where you are emplacing mines.

So, if you select a point 12 oclock of the vehicle, the minefield is going to be oriented along a 9 oclock to 3 oclock axis.

If you select a point 3 oclock of the vehicle, the minefield is going to be oriented along a 12 oclock to 6 oclock axis.

If you select a point 1 oclock of the vehicle, the minefield is going to be oriented along a 10 oclock to 4 oclock axis. And so on.

Thanks. I was able to change the direction...though it was still off a bit.

Brian

[Pat Proctor]

Always remember the enemy in ATF (and probably in life) has it in for your FIST-V. If I'm not mistaken, ProSim designed the engine so that when enemy artillery fires at a friendly formation, it focuses on where the FIST-V should be. So protecting them is a real challenge.

The enemy focuses on high payoff targets. The FIST-V is a high payoff target because

If you have artillery (which you don't) it can guide in PGM's.
It has a really long view range, allowing you to spot artillery and other high VALUE targets.
It is soft skinned and easy to kill with relatively little ammo


CPT. Proctor explains in the scenario notes (located in the back of the ATF manual), that the decisive point is located on the road about 2Km outside of town. However, he's an artilleryman. If he has to use his M16A2 someone has screwed up BIG TIME. So he might not be entirely correct.

The key to any scenario is focusing all of your assets at a decisive point, getting the enemy to go there, and out gunning him when he arrives.

This scenario is a challenge because you are vastly outnumbered, and you do not have enough obstacles to make him go any place.

This is what you do have:

tanks that can range 2.5km
Javelins that can range 2.5km
bradleys that can range 2.5km w/25mm and 3.75 w/TOW
2 minefields
aircraft that arrive 15min too late.
A CITY TO CONCEAL YOUR FORCES FOR SURVIVABILITY


To me, the obvious tactic is to hide stuff in the city, too deep for him to see you when you are stopped and not firing, but shallow enough to be able to see and identify targets at 2km. Place your obstacles where you know he is going to go to slow him down at that range. Stay in hold fire until he hits your obstacles, and then pound the piss out of him at the decisive point. He is in column and can't mass on you, so you have a fire superiority over him. It will come down to whether you can shoot all of his vehicles before he can get them spread out, stopped, and shooting back at you.

But the mobile, retrograde defense is an interesting tactic as well. You gain the ability to take out his fire support while not being set, stationary, and an easy target for fires. You also gain the advantage of keeping him on the move. But if he sees you far enough out, he will set fire lines to protect his flanks as he moves up. If he gets set before you get a platoon close to him, he will kick your ass in the open ground, with you caught on the move. Risky but a viable tactic.

I get beat everytime I play this scenario, so if you beat it, good for you!