Steel Beasts ProPE 3.027 - The Crossings to Nowhere, AAR

Sitting in the middle of this fictional city, the rear guard of an Iraqi Armored Division is trying to buy some time for the main body, which is withdrawing north. First to make contact with the Iraqi rear guard is US Army's Task Force Hellfighters.

In order to destroy the ENY forces in the fictional city and to secure the future movement of US forces through the Fictional City, Task Force is assigned the mission of isolating the Iraqi rear guard battalion.

The small road leading west from the Fictional City is secured by another friendly neighbor unit located 7 kilometers from the edge of this map. This friendly neighbor unit can't take part in any offensive combat operations for 5 hours.

As per the tactical missions and scheme of maneuver in the previous map, Company A will engage ENY units from the south, Company B will seize OBJ Bastogne and Company C will seize OBJ Sedan in the north tip of the city. I am the XO of the task force and I will be attached to Company C. I have no artillery support available.

As rare as fascinating, the chance to see so many armored units moving towards their LDs is not to be left unwatched. This is the view from the turret of my Bradley IFV, with all the TF Hellfighters on my left. Not all units are visible, but it is quite a sight. 

After barely two minutes of marching, contact reports almost shut down the radio network. Visibility is great and it is fine day to fight a battle.

The rocky terrain in front of the whole C Company makes me wonder if we are going to throw a track ...

Unbuttoned, I keep a close eye of my surroundings. These are Abrams and Bradleys from B Company, which are going through fine terrain so far.

The tank-pure 1st Platoon of C Company is doing well, leading the way for the two platoons of Bradleys behind them. The gap between them is growing, though.

What's holding up 2nd and 3rd Platoons (3C and 2/C of C Company? They need to catch up! I see one vehicle (pink labelled) not moving. That rocky terrain is starting to get into my nerves ...

I can't avoid thinking about what happened to the 1st Battalion, 2d Marines in An Nasiriyah, in which that detour through the west of the city left so many tanks stranded in an open sewer.

The tanks of the 1st Platoon just made it to SBF Charleroi and engage multiple armored targets.

I have my driver to put us in a quiet place, while we wait for the IFVs to make it up north. It took them 10 minutes to get near SBF Charleroi.

The tanks for the 1st Platoon have done some fine job killing a lot of armor. I order them to move 50 meters front and to reorient towards the river crossing at OBJ Sedan.

Which, by the way, is nowhere to be seen from my turret.

With not a second to slack, the IFVs of 2nd platoon are thrown into the fray as soon as they arrive. A thread count on the 2nd Platoon revealed that one vehicle was missing. That's strange, I haven't heard a casualty call on that platoon. The tanks of the 1st Platoon also re-orient and close with the ENY infantry in the edges of the city.

Multiple infantry targets at the edge of the city. Here is the view from my gunner's position, shooting the coax gun.

The approach to the city. Dismounted, the grunts dash towards the buildings. The countless amount of ENY troops we destroyed at the edge of the city was not enough, and we lost one IFVs to an RPG. This was a high price to pay for a poorly coordinated suppression fire plan. Those ENY BMPs in the far background have been destroyed previously by the tanks of the 1st Platoon.

But eventually, we prevail and the IFVs advance towards the crossing. OBJ Sedan is about to be taken.

The final assault. 3rd Platoon makes it through the crossing and will orient south west in a blocking position.

Owners of the objective, the tanks of the 1st Platoon move to the objective.

It was only when the 1st Platoon passed through my position that I realized that it had one tank missing. The missing tank was bogged down in a ditch in front of SBF Charleroi. The other IFV missing was also trapped in terrain, but many kilometers south of our position. 

This in-game AAR report view of the loss of a Bradley IFV from the 2nd Platoon shows the angle of impact, the smoke of the RPG-7 launch and how the gunner was watching elsewhere. 

As I sit besides my vehicle, I'm surrounded by grunts packing ammo and food for their stand fasts in the buildings. My eyes are stuck in the bridge, the dirt tracks from where we attacked and the emptiness beyond. This is indeed a crossing to nowhere, and I can't avoid to chuckle at the thought that maybe the Iraqis laid the dirt tracks for us to attack. As one English officer once wrote, if it is not ironic it is not war.

Cheers,