I was fortunate enough to have many readers of the blog playing the scenario (thanks!). Furthermore, some of them were kind enough as to allow me to post their after action reports in a blog post. So, without further addo, here we go ...
"Anonymous" smartly avoided the firepower-dilution complications of wide attack frontages and went for the jugular of the enemy with a hunter-killer approach (dismounts find the enemy, LAVIIIs destroy them by fire).
Lost 2 men killed and 8 wounded. No LAVs were destroyed, 1 immobilised.
Began by bounding infantry towards the ditch with 2 LAVs overwatching at their starting positions and 2 following the infantry. Followed the ditch to the village. Got 2 men killed and 5 wounded trying to assault the heavy mg. Another 3 wounded clearing the village. LAV's were mostly used to fire at areas where infantry found the bad guys. Only once an LAV has spotted and engaged a sniper that was crawling somewhere.
In the end got major victory with 100 points for securing the village, 300 hundred for taking out the mg, recoilles rifles and rpg teams, plus a 100 for enemy casualities.
In retrospect i could have done better if i first secured the hill on the left and established some kind of support by fire position there. But since i was not sure regarding the oposition i was going to meet in those woods i've decided to take more direct route.
Doug Miller went in with a left flanking maneuver and closed in with bounding overwatch. Undeterred by occsassional setbacks originated by non-shared battlespaces between the dismounts and LAV IIIs, he secured fire superiority and mopped up the village. Rumor has it that Doug moved up the food chain of simulated armored warfare and now shoots SABOT rounds from 50 tons-and-above tanks. :)
After taking a look at the ground I decided my best bet was to move to the left, advance up the hill, and use the cover of the trees to maneuver close to the marsh crossing point at the back of the map that leads into the rear of the village. I set 1 Section and the Weapons section in the field to the front of the village to lay down suppression fire, and advanced the right-most two LAVs to about 250m from the front row of buildings, also to lay down fire on the village.
Under cover of this fire I advanced 2 and 3 sections and the HQ section to the base of the hill on the left, using the orchard to the left front of the village as cover. I then bounded the remaining two LAVs past the infantry and about half way up the hill. I continued this pattern until the LAVs were at the top of the hill and the edge of the tree line overlooking the village, and they and the infantry had engaged the insurgents in the woods. I then moved 1 Section to the ditch in front of the orchard, and Weapons section up the hill. Two LAVs remained in front of the village to fix the enemy.
Unfortunately, I advanced Weapons section too far out of the tree line, and they took casualties from a sniper. After clearing the woods I again bounded LAVs and infantry through the woods, clearing opposition as I went, until I was overlooking the crossing point. One LAV was too far out to the right, and was quickly picked off by an RPG.
Once I could move to the crossing point and lay fire on snipers between me and the village, it was really just a matter of bounding infantry fireteams into the village and clearing house-to-house. I used the LAVs to overwatch and lay heavy fire on any enemy positions that opened up on the infantry.
Final tally was a Total Victory for the Canadians, with 3 KIA and 3 WIA and the loss of an LAV.
This is definitely a scenario where you have to make excellent use of cover, formulated a plan of assault before moving, and use strong suppressive fires on the objective. The enemy are in excellent positions and well hidden. Moving toward the trenches in front of the village seems tempting because of the cover, but it also struck me as the ideal location for ATGM teams. Flanking and a good base of fire are recommended.
This was a lot of fun. It was the first time I'd played Canadians, who seemed a lot more fragile than the US Army and USMC trrops I'm used to. I could have also made a lot more use of smoke on my approach to the village, though it probably wouldn't have saved me from the casualties I did take were from poor unit placement and not during advances across open terrain.
Last but not least, Desdinova has posted his after action report in his Dog Company blog. Never timid on the trigger and sense of humor, he found the enemy too elusive for his men's gunnery. His blog was added into the blog roll and we will be following him.
Cheers,
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