Command Ops - Lion Route

I'm giving Flashpoint Campaigns a rest tonight and trying out a new Command Ops scenario, designed by Chris of The Sharp End Gaming blog. Chris' scenario depicts the assault via the "Lion Route" of the British 1st Para Brigade to relieve Frost's men at the Arnhem rail bridge during Operation Market Garden.

I have to admit my knowledge of Market Garden in general and this part of the operation specifically is pretty hazy.  I read A Bridge Too Far over a decade ago and saw the movie when I was much, much younger.  Beyond the general details of what happened I don't remember much.  I know that Robert Redford crosses the river at night in a boat, but I don't think Chris' scenario covers that part.

Here's the opening situation on the morning of the 18th.  Frost is camped on the bridge, and the rest of 1st Brigade is around Oosterbeek.

My initial thought is to pull 3rd Battalion south to a defensive line along the canal north of town, while 1st Battalion consolidates a defensive position on the Oosterbeek objective. Frost and the 2nd Battalion will take up defensive positions around the north end of the bridge, and hold on.  I also send a recce unit to probe the Lion Route objective.

Looks like there are fairly strong German forces taking up positions on the Lion Route objective.  I order 3rd Battalion further south in line with 1st Battalion, and then order both battalions to kick off an attack on the Lion Route objective.

Despite a day's fighting, 1st and 3rd Battalions haven't been able to force the Lion Route objective.  Meanwhile, German units have come down from the north and threaten our rear areas.  I'm reinforced by the 2nd Staffords, who I assign to launch a counterattack against the advancing SS troops.

Situation just after midnight, September 19th.  Frost and 2nd Battalion have been forced off of the bridge.  I've retreated 1st and 3rd Battalions to rest and prepare for a new assault in the morning. The 2nd Staffords have been joined by the 11th and 156th Battalions in their attack on the SS units threatening Oosterbeek.  These troops are proving tough for the Red Devils to dislodge.

Morning arrives, and Frost is in trouble.  I've moved the recently arrived 10th Battalion up to help 1st and 3rd Battalions in the morning assault on Lion Route.  The 2nd Staffords, 156th and 11th Battalions are still bogged down fighting the remaining SS units to the west of Oosterbeek.

Things pretty much fell apart from here.  2nd Battalion was essentially destroyed by heavy SS attacks.  1st and 10th Battalions launched an attack on the Lion Route with some initial success, but were eventually repulsed.  3rd Battalion just decided the entire idea was a bad one, and bunkered down.  Some German paratroopers showed up to the north, so I dispatched the 2nd Staffords and the 11th Battalion to see them off while the 156th Battalion continued to mop up west of Oosterbeek.  We managed to push them back, but only just enough to get a good picture of the massive concentrations of German troops on the Lions Route and bridge objectives.

It was pretty obvious at this point that I was whipped, so I hoisted the white flag and came here to tell you about it.

Despite being thoroughly beaten, this was a fun scenario.  British combat power seems like it isn't strong enough to counter the significant German reinforcements that arrive, so I'm thinking the best approach is to try and force the Lion Route objective early, and then try and hold it strongly enough to siphon off some troops from the attacks on Frost.  Grabbing the objective of the heights north of town might help with that as well, but that seems impractical until most or all of the British reinforcements arrive - at which point there are bad guys between you and there.

This is a challenging scenario that looks like it requires top notch generalship to eke out so much as a draw.  This is one of those I suspect I'll play over and over as the British until I can get good enough to win! A big thanks to Chris for coming up with such a great scenario.

Update: Chris has posted an updated scenario file here if you'd like to give this a whirl.

Hunting Bears: A FPC:RS Campaign Scenario - Setup and first turns

Flashpoint Campaigns: Red Storm has grabbed me in a way few other games have for quite awhile.  The time period covered by the game (and forward) has long been my favorite to play, but there haven't been many games of this scale depicting the a NATO-Warsaw Pact war for a long time.  Combine that with a great game system and you have the recipe for a game I haven't stopped playing since I downloaded it.

After playing some stand-alone scenarios, I've decided to give the NATO campaign a try.  Here's the setup and first couple of turns of the first scenario in the campaign, called "Hunting Bears."

In this scenario I'll be commanding the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Armored Division (Hell on Wheels), on the North German Plain.  It is 0400 the morning of July 22, 1989.  Two days ago the Soviets crossed the Inter-German Boundary at the West German town of Bad Neustadt after months of diplomatic maneuvering designed to convince the world that they were pulling their forces out of Germany and promoting re-unification.  The attack through the Fulda Gap is a diversion, however.  The Soviet main effort will be here, on the North German Plain.

My brigade on this foggy morning is in the vicinity of the West German town of Bucholz in der Nordheide.  The 3-41 Mechanized Infantry is online and in defensive positions.  Of the 4-41 Mech Infantry, Companies C and D are available, with the rest of the battalion expected later.  I also have two cavalry scout squadrons, and the 552nd Military Intelligence Company is in place, watching the border.

In the south of my AO, I've placed B Company 3-41 to defend Holm-Seppensen and overwatch the southern-most stream crossing on the map. C Company is place three or four kilometers to the rear as a reserve where it can defend the battalion HQ and shift south to support B Company or north to support A company.  I've also located a scout platoon in the area.  I'm hoping to be able to dash out and blow the bridge.  That will significantly delay any Soviet force trying to cross the stream, and force them to conduct engineering activities under the guns of B Company.

I've place A Company in the center behind a stream.  2nd and 3rd Platoons have orders to blow the bridges in front of them immediately, leaving only the bridge in front of 1st Platoon intact for the forward deployed scouts to use when they retreat.  About three kilometers east of the stream is a belt of mines and obstacles.  I've positioned cavalry scouts to overwatch the minefields and hopefully blow some bridges, slowing the attack.  As soon as I see a significant force of attackers, I plan to pull these scouts back and across the stream at the remaining bridge.

Recon is absolutely essential in this game.  Its rare to find a game that treats recon this well, and makes it so central to success.

To my rear I've positioned D Team of the 4-41 Infantry in the village of Wenzendorf.  This  armor-heavy team is tasked to move to the northeast and take up defensive positions at a crossroads objective to the west of some heavy forest.

Finally, in the north, C Company 4-41 Infantry is in the village of Eversen-Heide.  They'll move east to defend another crossroads objective.  More scouts are located on the east side of the forested ridge overwatching the border minefields.

The balloon goes up at 0400 and Soviet units are seen moving through the border.

In the northern sector, the scouts have yet to observe much movement, though a Pact recon unit tried the mine belt and was destroyed.  A Kiowa scout helicopter has moved closer to the mine belt in the hopes of getting eyes on any advancing Soviet column.  C and D Companies of the 4-41 Infantry are moving into their defensive positions.  It is dawn, with haze/fog.  Visibility is 1500m.

In the center, bridges are blown and  recon unit try and cross the border.  Between mines and the TOW missile and cannon of the cavalry M-3's, nothing makes it across the stream. A cavalry troop manages to blow one of the forward bridges, but pulls back after sighting what looks like a Soviet Tank company and recon troops. Red and blue crosses on the map denote WP and NATO losses, respectively.  Towards the extreme southeastern corner of the map in the screenshot above you can see a number of wrecked Soviet AFVs taken out by the cavalry.

Things have not gone as well in the south around Holm-Seppensen.  The Soviets started the first turn right on the stream, and I had no time to blow the bridge.  Recce and armor poured across, supported by significant artillery.  1st and 2nd Platoons of B Company 3-41 gave a good account of themselves as can be seen by the cluster of wrecked red AFVs to the east of the bridge.  The two platoons are quickly taken under fire by the advancing tanks and pummeled by artillery, leaving them collectively reduced to a couple of squads.

I've ordered the remnants of the two broken platoons and the company HQ to retreat to the ridge line to the west, under the cover of fire from 3rd Platoon and a cavalry troop.  As quickly as I can, I'll move all of B Company across the stream to the west and on to the high ground overlooking the bridge objective to reorganize and resupply.  It looks like C Company will be coming out of reserve sooner than I expected.

Here's my orders for the center sector.  I'm pushing scouts forward to find out where the enemy is, while moving A Company south to cover the vulnerable space between the river and the woods now that Pact forces are across the stream to the south, and behind the blown bridges.

That's the first 31 minutes of a ten hour scenario!  Going into the next turn, the American command cycle is 27 minutes, compared to the Soviet command cycle of an (estimated) 32 minutes.  This means that I'll be able to give orders again after 27 minutes more have elapsed, but the Soviet commander can't issue orders again for 32 minutes.  As the game plays out, we'll check back to see what happens to these order cycles.

Flaspoint Campaigns: Red Storm

A quick screenshot before signing off for the night.  Flashpoint Campaigns: Red Storm was released today, and all I can say is that this game is fun.  If you played the original Flashpoint: Germany, the basic game system here is very similar, but refined.  Beyond that, the maps are more functional and there are a lot more maps and scenarios.  FPC:RS feels like a very polished, very playable simulation of modern warfare.

Recon elements of 2nd Squadron, 11th ACR scout for the enemy in the scenario "Black Horse"

The game gets very high marks from me for designing the entire game engine around command and control.  The variable turn-length system is incredibly innovative and models the OODA decision loop concept very well. I've found the interface very easy to pick up - no doubt helped by my time spent playing its predecessor - and the game very, very playable.  Like Command Ops, this is a game that let's you focus on being a commander and not a micro-manager.

More later.  So far I've only played the tutorial and one scenario, but I'm really, really enjoying it!

Back in Action: Just Around the Bend

My new gaming rig is mostly set up and I can get back to playing.  It's been an interesting exercise seeing what games I re-installed, and which I haven't bothered with yet.

Combat Mission: Shock Force went back on right away, and is one of the first games to be played on the new system.  This afternoon I felt the need for some LAV action, and so jumped in to a scenario called "Just Around the Bend."

Our briefing.  As LAVs should be, we're the tip of the spear.

An overview of the battlefield.  Only one way through, and lots of opportunities for an ambush.

I can already see entrenchments.  Being an American, I'm going to drop artillery on those before I stick my nose too far out.

Dismounted scouts out, to get a look around the bend.

This is why the recon guys get the hazard pay.  Yes, the enemy is there, dug in, and one of my scouts takes a hit.

Having located the enemy, I move up more dismounts and two LAVs to provide fire support.  AP 81mm mortar rounds are starting to impact on the trench line.  It looks like that trench is empty, but better safe than sorry.

My dismounts are take casualties until LAV fire suppresses the enemy infantry. The LAVs seem to have killed or driven off enough enemy troops that I'm able to leave the dismounts in place to tend to the wounded.

I move the other two LAVs of 1st Platoon up and call another 81mm strike on what looks to be a trench line full of Syrian troops.

I should have advanced some dismounts to be sure the nearest trench was empty before moving that LAV forward.  The remaining infantry had an RPG.

They didn't live for long, and the dismounts took them out.  Meanwhile, 81mm AP rounds air burst over the distant trench line.  I've learned to use artillery to suppress and kill the enemy in the CM games.  Artillery and CAS used well keep friendly causalities to a minimum.  I've also learned the hard way to keep my distance - friendly fire causes painful loses.

The second LAV on the right takes an RPG.  I'm sitting still too long.  Fortunately it's only a mobility kill.

The Syrians don't just have infantry defending this valley; a platoon of T-55s rolls out of a side canyon.  Not the most modern of tanks, even modified, but they still mount heavier armor and a much bigger gun than my aluminum-hulled LAVs!  My cannon shells don't seem to be making much of an impression on the T-55 armor at this range.  This could get ugly...

Fortunately, 2nd Platoon has arrived with the company CO, four more LAVs, and a pair of TOW vehicles.  Unfortunately, the road is mined, as the platoon leader of 1st Platoon discovers.  Another mobility kill.

The TOW ATGM carriers move up.  The one to my right launches on a T-55, killing it, but takes a return round at the same time and is killed.

I move my remaining ATGM carrier into a better position, and fire on a second T-55, taking it out.

A few seconds later, the third T-55 dies.

Burning Syrian armor.

2nd Platoon advances to cover as the remaining dismounts from 1st Platoon take up positions in the trenches in front of their vehicles.  With two mobility and one hard kill, 1st Platoon is out of this fight.

The platoon leader of 2nd Platoon calls in more artillery on suspected Syrian positions.  I've taken anti-tank fire from the trenches on the right, and the trenches on the left sit on the objective.  I suspect they're full of Syrian infantry.  The LAV's of 2nd Platoon begin hosing down any visible trenches with machine gun and cannon fire.

3rd Platoon, the XO, and two more TOW carriers arrive.

Anti-tank fire against my hull-down LAVs is ineffective.

3rd Platoon leapfrogs past 2nd Platoon as mortar rounds air burst over the trenches.  I'm going to use the artillery barrage as cover to get a platoon of LAVs in close enough to put cannon fire on the objective.

Evidently, the sight of 3rd Platoon charging down on them combined with the mortar attack was enough for the Syrians, and they surrender.  Despite the numerous soft kills I stumbled into, my actual casualties are low - the five KIA are crew from the two vehicles that were hard killed, along with one of the wounded.  Three of my first group of dismounts were wounded, also.

Syrian casualties are characteristically heavy for CMSF.  Most of these are probably artillery kills.  While probably representative of what a USMC recon unit could do in this situation, this scenario is illustrative of how unbalanced CMSF scenarios can be when gaming conventional engagements.  I find that infantry operations against unconventional forces are generally more challenging - but sometimes, there's nothing like the rush of an LAV recon attack!

Spelk's excellent Command AAR

If you're at all interested in how Command plays, don't miss the excellent AAR Spelk has put together for the first tutorial mission.  This scenario will probably be your first interaction with the simulation, and Spelk does a great job amplifying on the instructions from the tutorial to make your first play through easier and more sensible.

New Rig

Two days ago, after another particularly taxing day at work, I say down at my gaming system, pushed the power button, and listened to fans spin up but no pretty lights. And certainly no games. Poor system had a bad motherboard. 

The net result is I'm in the finishing stages of putting a new gaming rig together and getting everything reinstalled.  Fortunately due to a combination of  Steam sand and good backups of my original game software this hasn't been a horrible task.  It has been talking awhile though.  Regular posting should resume this weekend.