The Commander Series Forum

Greetings,

I have never photographed and posted before but here it goes. I am attempting to play a campaign using the rules posted in the forum section. The first battle is an assault. It is a 6K vs 3K game.

Basically the assault force is a Soviet Tank Regiment against US units. The Tank regiment has 3 Tank BNs of T-64 ERA and an INF Co riding BMP-1s into battle.

The US has a 4 PLT INF company and a lot of M1A1s. The US rolled to get plus 25% point increase. Both sides have helo support.

Essentially I am trying to explore whether a 27 tank platoon can force a river crossing. I am attempting to use Soviet tactics as per the various FMs I have read.
1. Artillery landing on the village until the tanks arrive
2. Tanks keep pressing forward ignoring losses
3. Attacking on a 2 Tank BN front
4. 1 Tank BN guiding toward forcing a village crossing
5. 1 Tank BN guiding toward a river crossing.
6. INF BN following close behind the Tank BN to take the village.
7. 3rd Tank BN and kept in reserve

I usually play solo in the evenings. I will update as the battle unfolds.

Thanks for indulging me.

Good luck! Unless those M1's get suppressed I think they'll have field day against the T-64's trying to get to the village. Unless those woods block line of sight for long enough to race past...

Looking forward to seeing how this plays out - enjoy!

Actually soviets rarely used tank regiments in the first echelon with that few infantry -forced river crossing is a better task for a MRR, with a lot of amphibius BMP's -and a lot of arty+helo support, and if it's an important junction, some airborne troops can help..

FM's can be misleading sometimes! Just remember, soviets are not the same as in WW2, solving every problem with tanks -if it's a bigger problem, with MORE tanks..

I like the battle you're having and good picture.
On the tactical side,it goes without saying that tanks need infantry and infantry need the tanks. The right balance in a battle group doesn't always translate to the field. If the commander doesn't juggle right then the tanks or infantry get exposed. In the early days of gaming,we didn't get around to painting the fiddly 6mm men and so had tank vs tank encounters! Is all part of the learning process.

Thanks for the comments. I do appreciate the combined arms aspect and tha "proper tool' comment. I am just curious if a tank regiment can force the crossing. I will see.

I agree, that the M1s are a problem, I hope I can fool myself, as this is a solo game, and make the M1s become decisively engaged with the T64s and not support the village.

I will post the next few turns this weekend.

You just need a good-old Soviet artillery barrage to keep the M1's hunkered down ... some thermo-thing type ammo ... that'll do the trick

Turn 1 - Soviets advance both tank battalions. Pushing along road toward village and toward the river. Artillery support against the village. Both sides exchange long range light casualties.

Turn 2 - For the second turn the US tanks sit tight along the ridge line. As the Soviet left flank pushes toward the village a company of Bradley's take a few tank platoons out. The US call in an A-10 strike against the Soviets attempting the river crossing [soviet right flank] with limited success. Soviet artillery again hit the village and continue to suppress the company commander and destroy an infantry platoon and the AA assets.

Turn 3 - The Soviets thinking the tide has shifted in their favor, lift their artillery and push into the village. The fight in the village is ugly and the Soviet causalities are mounting. The supporting infantry battalion is pressing up the road but not nearly quickly enough.

As to the river crossing - the bridges were dropped, one was destroyed, but the battalion has crossed. Additionally the regimental commander has decided to support the river crossing with the second tank battalion. All soviet reserves have been committed.

The US tanks still wait....

On the other side their bridges are dropped and their tanks rush across the river.

Turn 3 overview of the battlefield picture .... The previous photo of the river crossing incorrectly labels the crossing as the left flank. It is in fact the Soviet right flank.

Excellent! Enjoying this.

Nice tanks

Really nice ... keep it coming

Very nice looking game, enjoying following your reports as they come in.

Beginning of Turn 6.

The Soviets have crossed the river and pushed into the town. One of their tank BNs and half their INF BN have ceased to exist as a result of the push.

Currently they hold half of the town while the US holds the other half.

On the Soviet left, they have pushed the 2nd tank BN over the river and were attempting to outflank the US tank position. Their commander hesitated just short of the objective, which I am sure will come up during the officer in charges quarterly review.

So the village hangs in the balance and it seems that neither side has enough to push the other out. The other flank will decide the day.

A few interesting things. First I cheated and didn't buy assets for the Soviet scheduled artillery. It was the 2 turn artillery barrage which softened the village up to allow the tanks to cross in the first place.

Soviet's have been unable to call their HIND into combat due to LOS or suppression issues.

The US has only used it's A-10 twice for similar reasons.

The Soviets also have no more scheduled artillery and are rushing around an FAO who is currently redeploying in support of the tank push.

Silver stars are being submitted on behalf of the Bradley group on the outskirts of the village. They held the line, destroying BMPs rushing to support the Soviet armor, while T-64s shot at them from the rear. They actually rolled 3 saves?!?. Finally they assisted with eliminating the last of the tank threat. They have been redeployed to assist with holding what remains of the village.

The smoke filled village. The Soviets are settling in on the right side of the village while the US clings to the left side.

The right flank of the battlefield showing where the Soviet line of advance has temporarily halted, although they are very close to outflanking the M1 position

Oo, those M1's have got a wee bit close in :S

Did someone channel the spirit of Custer?!

Final report

Soviet Collapse. Both sides were at their breakpoint but the Soviets failed first, leaving the objects in the hands of the US.

The campaign continues and the US rolled an assault and are waiting for reinforcements.

The US plan was to use their tanks more aggressively but kept failing command rolls so played the role of a blocking force instead. This left the village to fend for itself, which it did but would be unable to hold out for much longer due to the Soviet numerical superiority.

As to the Soviet plan, If the INF BN supported the village assault more closely, or were attached to the TN BN, instead of an independent command things might have progressed more quickly on that flank.

Regarding the fight against the US tanks, numerical superiority may have won the day given time and a higher tolerance for causalities. The Soviets were able to push the river crossing and were attempting to deploy on a BN frontage to bring as much fire power to bear as possible before their time ran out.

All in all I enjoyed this greatly and look forward to the US attacking a weakened Soviet TK regt.