Fulda Gap

fbscheuer

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Fulda Gap PBM AAR, Red Side

The Fulda Gap scenario and map301c can be downloaded at www.tacopshq.com.

I have posted the replay files at warfarehq’s download section, and they can be found at
http://www.warfarehq.com/archives/forumdisplay.php?f=42

Red: Fredrik Scheuer
Blue: Hakan Nilsson

In summary, this scenario, set in 1985, depicts an attack by the entire 39th GMRD against the 1st Squadron, 11th ACR around the city of Fulda. All options except 9 are OFF, so the russians have no thermals and no advanced ATGM warheads. In addition, their artillery is not allowed to fire ICM. The US 155mm on-map battery is allowed to fire only 20 non-HE missions.

1. THE PLAN

a) The Diversion

120th MRR (BTR-equipped), reinforced with one battalion of 152mm howitzers, was to attack across the northern part of the map. Orders were to enter the map at Rasdorf and attack towards Hunfeld. Primary mission was to split the defence and keep as much of blue´s forces as possible away from the southern part of the map. If resistance was very light, the regiment should cross the Haune river and continue west to establish a bridgehead across the Fulda river and/or attempt to exit a forward detachment.

b) The Air Assault

The infantry of the 1st battalion, 117th MRR, was to be loaded into the Mi2 and Mi8 helos and then flown south, escorted by the 14 Mi24s and followed by the awe-stricken gazes of the defenders. They would then land on both shores of the Fulda river where it flows through the city of Fulda. There they would find a plethora of bridges to create a bridgehead around, and it would be very hard for Blue to push the infantry out of the city.

c) The Link-up

The 2nd battalion, 117th MRR, reinforced by one or two tank companies, was to move south in march formation, make a right turn and move into the town of Dipperz, east of Fulda. Meanwhile, the 3rd battalion, also reinforced by tanks, would continue somewhat further south and move into the town of Dirlos. The two battalions would then launch an coordinated attack towards the eastern outskirts of Fulda and at the very least gain a foothold there.

At this time, the 15th Tank Regiment would have arrived, and the 117th should hand the battle over to them. The Tank Regiment should move through the streets of Fulda, where any defenders would be stripped of their technological advantages, and link up with the infantry of 1/117th, securing the bridgehead.

d) The Forward Detachment

Now with the bridgehead secured, the 172nd MRR (BMP-equipped) and the 39th Independent Tank Battalion, would be released and triumphantly roll past the burnt-out hulks of NATO vehicles, majestically cross the Fulda river, and exit the western map edge, driving the panic-stricken remnants of the once so proud cavalry squadron before them.


2. REALITY

a) The Diversion

I expected Blue’s first line of defence to be in the eastern outskirts of Hunfeld, and then a second line on the west bank of the Haune river. I was therefore surprised to encounter a platoon of M1s in the villages of Kirchasel and Grossenbach, situated on the plain 3-4 km east of Hunfeld. The BRDM scout company leading the way was annihilated in a matter of seconds. To me this seemed to be merely a forward outpost, and the 120th regiment was committed to overwhelm the M1 platoon. I soon found that more and more Blue units were drawn into the fight, however, and realized I had moved into the jaws an entire cavalry troop (consisting of 13 M3s and 9 M1s). Shrouded by smoke, the M1s and M3s unleashed an inferno of TOW missiles and 105mm rounds. Mortars fired more blinding smoke directly onto my units, and well-placed 155mm ICM strikes caused a horrible slaughter among my tightly-packed BTRs.

My COP stands were the only units with thermal sights, and after a while my artillery found its targets. Occasionally an artillery shell would land directly on top of a US vehicle, or a temporary gap in his smoke screen allowed my units to unleash a hail of return fire, or I managed to move my tanks into a close assault. This way, I slowly, and with absolutely horrible casualties, managed to break his first line of defence and enter Hunfeld. A few of his retreating vehicles were destroyed there. The 120th regiment reorganized and moved out of Hunfeld and crossed the Haune river a little further north, via the bridges at Burghaun.

After Burghaun, however, they ran into a new wall of steel; the cavalry squadron’s tank company had formed a new defence line. With only a fraction of its strength remaining, beating the tank company was an impossible task for the 120th MRR. By cautious moves they managed to advance a little further, and, most importantly, tied down the tank company for the major part of the scenario.

b) The Air Assault

I calculated there would be little Blue could do to stop me from air-moving the infantry to their intended landing zones, as his air defences were weak and severely spread out.

Wrong.

My opponent displayed an almost pathological hatred towards Soviet helicopters. A few were shot down by ground units, as could be expected, but I soon found that he committed his entire helicopter company (seven AH1s and four OH58s) to hunt down mine. The OH58s were armed with Stinger missiles that proved to be extremely lethal for my poor HIPs and Hoplites and Hinds. The AH1s then moved in, and dogfights ensued in which some Cobras were shot down, but the kill ratio was clearly in their favour. On top of that, waves of F16 aircraft swooped down and picked my off my helos one by one.

I now decided to land my Mi2s even though they were only halfway to their objective. The reason was that I wanted unload my SA14 infantry to defend against his helicopters and aircraft. Bad idea. My Hoplites had not more than touched the ground before they were promptly destroyed by Hellfire missiles from the Cobras. The terrified infantry found that they had unloaded right in front of a platoon of M1s, and were also immediately hit by accurate mortar fire. Two minutes after I made the decision to land my Hoplites, the helicopters and their transported infantry had been obliterated.

Eventually some of my helicopters reached their target, and a very reduced infantry battalion could occupy the buildings on the waterfront on both sides of the Fulda river. They were immediately attacked by airstrikes and artillery, which caused more casualties, but harassment was discontinued after a while. On each side of the river I now had a reduced infantry company reinforced with some AGLs and one AT4, guarding the bridges. In the end, this operation cost me every single helicopter I had available (14 Mi24s, 10 Mi8s and 6 Mi2s), against confirmed kills of four Cobras, but the important bridges were in my hands.

c) The Link-up

The 2nd battalion of 117th MRR travelled 11 km southwards, made a right turn, and entered Dipperz, encountering only sporadic resistance.

The 3rd battalion turned right a few kilometres further south, and started to move toward Dirlos. Upon turning right, they were hit by missile fire from an M3 platoon to the south. They tried to bypass this by moving north, but instead ran straight into an M1 platoon. Switching to combat formation, the battalion now tried to overwhelm the outnumbered defenders. In a superb display of tactics and coordination, the Blue player reverse moved his tanks and at the same time fired smoke from mortars between my forces and his, and thus managed to all the time remain out of my LOS, while firing through the smoke. After taking about 80% losses in the futile chase, the remaining vehicles of my MRB moved into cover and waited. The defence was unscathed, and my plan had received a severe setback.

The 2nd battalion, safe in Dipperz, upon witnessing the destruction of the 3rd battalion, decided not to try to take Fulda on its own, but instead awaited the arrival of the 15th Tank Regiment. In due time, the 15th arrived, and lined up in a east-west direction along the road to Dipperz. The regiment then turned its tanks 90 degrees and started to move south-west toward Dirlos, thus changing from march to combat formation. 1st and 2nd battalion moved abreast with 3rd battalion trailing behind. Meanwhile, 2nd battalion of the 117th MRD moved out on the right flank of the TR.

An extremely fierce battle now took place, the turning point of the scenario. The pattern from the fighting in front of Hunfeld was repeated, only more intense and on a greater scale; M1s and M3s hidden behind smoke killed off hordes of T72s and BTRs, while about thirty soviet artillery batteries pounded every spot suspected of hiding an enemy. My MRL batteries added to the fury , and fighter-bombers of both sides joined in. This time my numerical superiority proved greater than his technical superiority, and the defence was broken. His forces fell back to the western side of the Fulda river and formed a new defence there. The 15th TR was now too attrited to create a bridgehead, however; the 172nd MRR and 39th ITB rolled into Fulda and across the river to create the bridgehead without encountering much resistance.

After 155 turns both sides agreed to a cease-fire, as neither had the strength to achieve anything more. The result was minor Soviet victory.

Time Left: 26 minutes
Mission results:
Blue - As determined by players.
Red - As determined by players.
Blue exit % - 0
Red exit % - 0
Point results:
Blue Attrition Points - 43377
Red Attrition Points - 7279

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Blue Status:

UNIT START NOW ELIM EXITED

APC, M3 Bradley CFV............. 41 14 27 0
Tank, M1IP...................... 41 18 23 0
Inf, Scout Team................. 36 20 16 0
Mortar, Carrier 120mm M1064..... 6 6 0 0
Howitzer, SP 155mm M109......... 8 8 0 0
Inf, HQ Command [-]............. 4 4 0 0
APC, M577 Command Post.......... 9 7 2 0
APC, M113....................... 14 7 7 0
Logistics Package............... 19 15 4 0
VLB, M60 AVLB Bridging Vehicle.. 3 3 0 0
Inf, Engineer Squad............. 3 3 0 0
Demolition Charge............... 12 11 1 0
MLV, M548 Mine Dispenser........ 1 1 0 0
AAA, SP M163 Vulcan............. 3 0 3 0
SAM, Stinger Team............... 4 2 2 0
LUV, LR 4x4..................... 4 2 2 0
FSCV, FISTV M981................ 6 4 2 0
ALV, Load Carrier M548 ......... 8 8 0 0
Helo, AH1 Cobra................. 7 0 7 0
Helo, OH58 Kiowa GP............. 4 0 4 0

Force Lethality Value, Start: 13933
Force Lethality Value, Now: 6708
Casualty percentage: 51
Force Lethality Ratio, Start: 1:7.8
Force Lethality Ratio, Now: 1:9.8

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Red Status:

UNIT START NOW ELIM EXITED

Inf, HQ Command................. 5 4 1 0
APC, BTR60PB.................... 8 7 1 0
Truck, Van 4mt.................. 18 15 3 0
SAM, SA9 Gaskin BRDM2........... 16 8 8 0
AAA, SP 23mm ZSU-23-4........... 16 3 13 0
APC, BMP2 IFV................... 130 69 61 0
Inf, Team....................... 95 63 32 0
APC, BRDM2...................... 34 3 31 0
ATGMV, BRDM2 Spandrel........... 36 16 20 0
Truck, Cargo 10mt............... 111 106 5 0
Inf, HQ Command [-]............. 15 12 3 0
VLB, MTU72 AVLB Bridging Vehicle 10 9 1 0
Truck, UMZ Mine Dispenser....... 12 12 0 0
APC, BTR80...................... 238 24 214 0
Inf, AGL AGS17 Team............. 54 36 18 0
Mortar, 120mm................... 36 33 3 0
Truck, Cargo 6mt................ 198 195 3 0
ATGM, AT4 Spigot Team........... 24 16 8 0
Inf, SPG9 Team.................. 12 8 4 0
Logistics Package............... 183 183 0 0
SAM, SA14 Gremlin............... 81 51 30 0
Inf, Squad...................... 243 180 63 0
Tank, T72M...................... 280 89 191 0
Howitzer, Towed 122mm D30....... 36 36 0 0
Truck, Cargo .5mt............... 6 2 4 0
Inf, Command Observation Post... 24 23 1 0
FSCV, ACRV 1V14/15.............. 18 9 9 0
Howitzer, SP 122mm 2S1.......... 36 36 0 0
Howitzer, SP 152mm 2S3.......... 54 53 1 0
MRL, 122mm BM21................. 18 18 0 0
RECV, BRM1K ACRV................ 3 0 3 0
OCV, IMR2 Obstacle Clearing Veh. 2 2 0 0
MCV, MTK2 Mine Clearing Vehicle. 2 2 0 0
MLV, MTLB UMZ Mine Dispenser.... 3 3 0 0
Inf, Engineer Squad............. 12 12 0 0
Demolition Charge............... 12 12 0 0
Gun, AT 100mm MT12/T12.......... 12 12 0 0
APC, MTLB....................... 12 12 0 0
Helo, Mi24E Hind................ 14 0 14 0
Helo, Mi8/17 HIP................ 6 0 6 0
Helo, Mi2T Hoplite Transport.... 6 0 6 0
Helo, Mi8/17 HIP Gunship........ 4 0 4 0
Mortar, SP 120mm 2S31........... 18 18 0 0

Force Lethality Value, Start: 109097
Force Lethality Value, Now: 65753
Casualty percentage: 39
Force Lethality Ratio, Start: 7.8:1
Force Lethality Ratio, Now: 9.8:1
 
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