Blue - Tourney Rd 1 - Against Rob C.

[Scully]

Ok, here's the beginning of my aar. I'm going to try to give you an idea of what I was thinking...so don't laugh too hard. I'm still learning this operational stuff.

I tend to be fairly aggressive and try to find the path my opponent will least expect. Sometimes this works...sometimes it doesn't.

If you take a look at my plan map below (apparently, the zipped MSPaint file is to big, so I'll post in the DA Maps section), you'll get an idea of what I plan on doing and what I expect Rob to do.

I'm guessing that Rob will be starting in northeast corner of the map and that he'll move quickly to the south to gain control of the main objectives in the south. With this in mind, I'm going to try a wheel type attack where I'll try to hold him just north of the objectives with one unit and bring my other two manuever units around from the north to cut him off from his LOC and setup some attacks from the flanks.

The early turns will see limited use of my aviation assets as I want to increase there logistics and see what's out there first.

A couple of issues:
1. The map is big! And I'm not very good at keeping my units organized and moving efficiently...particularly my ADA units which I never have positioned correctly.
2. I need to blow the bridges in the south so he can't turn my sourthern flank. Though I think I can still get back and cut him off, it would be an unpleasant task and really throw me off.
3. I'm hoping to isolate his northern screening unit and destroy it early. We'll have to see how this works out and what his response is when he realizes how far north I am.
4. Hopefully I don't run out of turns. The map is big with a lot of space to cover, I'm hoping my move north doesn't keep me from wheeling around south and taking the objectives.
5. At some point, I'm going to need to move my aviation units I believe so that I can maximize my attacks. We'll have to see how that plays out, then find a good location.

Well, let's see how this thing goes! I've attached the big picture map with a rough outline of my plan.

Enjoy,
Brian

[Scully]

Here's a link to my plan map -- http://www.warfarehq.com/archives/sh...=1356#post1356

Enjoy,
Brian

[Scully]

Well, turn 1 has been finished and it looks like Rob has not rushed south as fast as I'd like. He has at least one major Inf unit heading along the northern route (vic Obj. Vilma) that will run into my guys in 2 turns I'd guess if he continues west.

He's also held a major, major armor unit just southeast of the north bridge...looks like he may be seeing which path opens up so he can exploit with the armor.

He does appear to be moving some units south as I've picked up a Cav unit just west of Obj. Angie.

The current disposition of units may give me a slight advantage as I have more bridges available to cross west to east. I'm still hoping to isolate his Inf unit in the north and attack with 3BCT from the west and 2BCT from the south.

The family just got home so I'll have to finish later....

[Scully]

Turn 1 continued...I know you couldn't sleep last night waiting for this. FYI, I'll post some screenshots soon.

With 2BCT and 3 BCT targeting the unit in the north, I plan on using 1BCT to screen my southern flank. Unfortunately, 1 BCT is 2 turns away from getting in position, so I've sent 2BCT's Cav unit south to screen for now.

To compensate for the missing recon assets, I'm going to have one of my AVN Cav units scout the area between 2BCT and REDFOR.

I'm still rushing my Engineer unit south with plans to blow some bridges and have 1BCT's Cav unit heading down that way as well to provide a tripwire in case he makes it around my southern flank.

Issues I'm still trying to figure out...
1. How to maximize my helicopters. I have plenty of AVN support, but I really have no clue as to the best way to employ it. Right now, I'm using 2 units as scouts and I'm hoping that once contact in the north is made, I can bring my Attack AVN units into the mix. Past experience doing this has not been too kind to my pilots unfortunately, so we'll have to see if I can do any better here.
2. How to best use my CAS missions. I only get 10 missions per 24 hours, so I have to be careful what I use them for. I'm always torn between using them to take out support units and HQ's or hitting Manuever units. I have the same question this time around. I guess if I ever figure out what the high value targets are, this will be easier to answer.
3. I can see that keeping all my units moving along is going to be a problem. First, because I suck at it and second because of all the bridges that serve as choke points.

Well, that's it for now. I just keep thinking to myself how those of you reading my AAR and then Rob's AAR could be cringing right now and saying..."this is going to get ugly very soon for Scully."

Take care,
Brian

[Scully]

Ok...we're through turn 2. Basically there are two key areas at this point -- North Center just west of Obj Vilma and the Center just north of Obj Betty. I've posted 2 screenshots here:

http://www.warfarehq.com/archives/showthread.php?t=679

one of each section.

North Situation:
I have 2BCT and 3BCT moving to attack RedFor's 2BDE on the southern flank. I'm using 1-17ACR as a screen west of 2BDE and am trying to loop 2-17ACR north around 2BDE to provide a screen against Redfor reinforcements from the east.

I have 2 Atk Aviation units set to attack -- one from the north and one from the south.

B/3-11 MLRS is set to counter-battery and a CFFZ marker has been set where I think the action will be.

I've also move one of my TAI to the killzone (hopefully). While this won't help on this turn, it will been a tremendous benefit next turn when I'll really pound him.

My intel assets have only picked up a couple of Cav units and an ADA unit between his 2BDE and Obj Vilma. He does have his 1BDE sitting east of the river in an apparent reserve role.

This whole situation looks way too good to be true, so we'll have to see what happens.

Center Situation:
F/1-18 Cav and E/1-18 Cav are moving into position to screen this flank. I don't want anybody sneaking through before 1BCT gets here to protect 2 and 3BCT.

Redfor has A/1-66 CAV in the vicinity, so I'm guessing his 3BDE is in the area.

Rest of Map:
I'm still racing D/1-18 Cav South to screen my flanks in the area of Obj Lisa. My engineer unit is also still moving that way to take out some bridges.

As I expected, the movement of my support units has been anything but smooth to this point. HQ and Supply units are still reasonably close so no major issues.

Still trying to determine best use of airstrikes. If I really get his 2BDE in a bind this next turn, I may use a couple to do some damage with the TAI.

I may also get more aggressive (I've barely used them so far) with my AVN units next turn if there's a good opportunity to eliminate his 2BDE. We'll have to see.

That's it for now.

Take care,
Brian

[Ivan Rapkinov]

blow the bridges!

[Secret Agent]

blow the bridges!

^Spoken from experience.

[Ivan Rapkinov]

well, John contributed - but REDFOR's avenue of advance is restricted if you can eliminate two or three key bridges

I'm posting my own AAR thus far in a sec

[Scully]

I'm going to blow the bridges south of the city to prevent him from getting around my southern flank, but other than that I'm keeping them up for now.

If I can take out his 2bde in the next couple of turns, he's going to be in some trouble. If I do take it out, I'm hoping my original plan of looping around north and cutting him off from his LOC will actually work.

Who the heck knows though...we've only gone through 2 turns.

Brian

[Dr Zaius]

At first glance the terrain doesn't look that important in this scenario, but it doesn't take long to see how critical it really is. Those rivers are a major obstacle to movement and he who controls the bridges controls the flow of battle. Looks very nasty so far.