Combat Mission Shock Force NATO - A Canadian LAVIII Infantry Platoon in a Hasty Attack - AAR (Part 1 of 2)

The transition from a presence patrol into a hasty attack demanded too much idle time, burnt metal and blood from this Canadian platoon.

SPOILER ALERT: This scenario is going live at the Battlefront's repository within the next 48 hours. If you are going to download and play this scenario, this AAR may spoil your playing experience.

This is an AAR from the scenario I wrote about a while ago. A LAVIII-based infantry platoon was on its way to conduct a presence patrol when it received sniper fire from a village. The initial setup finds the infantry separated from the LAVIIIs, which are in a so-called satellite position.

This is an AAR from the second time I played this scenario. Luckily enough, this time around the sniper fire was ineffective. So I rushed all the infantry forward towards an irrigation ditch in front of a tree grove.

The infantry, feverishly trying to peek out of the cover to find out the enemy. A recoilless rifle round impacted near the 1st Section's position, causing the first two casualties (foreground). The round came from that tree-covered hill in the background of this image.

The enemy recoilless rifle exact position is unknown, but there is a guesstimate based on sound (faint red icon in the background of this image). The presence of this enemy weapon system is hardly an invitation to advance the thinly armored LAVIIIs forward for a close cooperation with the infantry. In this image, one LAVIII is delivering area fire from a distance. The vehicle imaging system can't pinpoint the enemy's position.

After the initial shock of the few rounds of the recoilles rifle wanes down, the position of the enemy becomes more clear. An enemy medium machine gun on our right flank (top right corner red icon) and the damned recoilless rifle (red icon on the left) in a defilade position on the hill left. I sent the 3rd section, supported with a LMG team (left of the image) to flank the enemy recoilless rifle. 

The 3rd Section clearing the enemy recoilless rifle's position.

The position of the just eliminated enemy team has great fields of fire covering all the main approaches to the village, so I thought it would make for a great place to deploy my MMG team. Unfortunately, the bumped into an enemy HMG team and suffered one casualty.

The 3rd Section responded in kind from a nearby position. Note the HMG's barrel stuck in the ground. 

Having cleared the left flank from the threat of the recoilless rifle and HMG, I made the decision to commit to the assault of the village from the left flank. In this image, the 1st Section clears the open path between the tree grove and the wooded hill while the LAVIIIs wait for the signal to advance.

The first LAVIII arrives to the tree grove and with its awesome firepower turns the tide of battle, at least for a while. This picture is from the left edge of the tree grove.  The LAVIII is firing on enemy snipers hidden in the palm grove. The village is on the far side of the palm grove. 

A second LAVIII makes it to our new position and spots an enemy RPG team (red icon) located in an irrigation ditch in front of the village. This was the only occasion in which I can say I felt good about the target acquisition systems of the LAVIII.

The left edge of the tree grove offers reasonably good fields of fire, on some occasions deep into the village. Unfortunately the enemy can target us because of our elevated position. That explosion on the right of the LAVIII is an enemy RPG round coming from the crops in front of the village. A few seconds later,  I lost a LAVIII to one of these RPGs, just a few meters to the right of this picture.

Stay tuned.

Cheers,