Team Whiskey - WWIII Fulda Gap Campaign

[bigjackmac]

Oh my!  Don' worry Lemmey, I'll bring you a straw

The finale is coming right up.

V/R,
Jack

[bigjackmac]

All,

This is the second part of my third Fulda Gap fight, starting at Turn 3.  When last we spoke, Team Whiskey had two Mechanized Infantry platoons on the board, and the supporting tank platoon had just come on.  Regarding the Mech Inf platoons, Captain Phillips' India Company had lost a couple Bradleys and 1st Platoon's infantry has pretty much been wiped out, while Captain Keepers' Kilo Company got the stuffins knocked out of it, down to two Brads and a five rifle teams.

It's Turn 3, and so the US side is able to bring in its AH-64 Apache for rotary attack support, but, to be honest, I'm a bit scared to call it up as the Soviets still have quite a few surface to air missile (SAM) systems on the table.

But the Soviets have suffered to, with their tank platoon decimated (one T-72 left) and half their SAMs gone, but they still have the majority of their infantry, and their four ATGMs are still in play.


The AH-64 Apache zooms in just feet above the ground, slows to a hover, then pops up over the small knoll the US mortars (bottom center, at far left table edge) are sheltering behind.


India Company's 3rd Platoon, under 1Lt Macot, moves up and wreaks destruction. A TOW knocks out an SA-9 Gaskin (top right), while another Bradley fires its 25mm chain gun on an enemy MG in a building (far right).  To see how the fight turned out, please check the blog at:
http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2015/09/team-whiskey-fulda-gap-batrep-3-part-ii.html

I'm really hoping to get two more fights in this weekend, but can only promise one, so stay tuned for more Team Whiskey action.

V/R,
Jack

[Techno]

Excellent stuff, again, Jack. 
Cheers - Phil.

[bigjackmac]

Thanks, Cap'n.   

V/R,
Jack

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Great report!
This Lemmey chap is doing well

[bigjackmac]

"This Lemmey chap is doing well."

It's still early 

More to come, may even have something written up by tonight (but probably not).

V/R,
Jack

[bigjackmac]

All,

It's 0700 on 4 August 1986, and Team Whiskey, as part of the beat up 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, is in full retreat.  But the Soviet 8th Guards Army, which had taken an operational pause and been counterattacked yesterday by 11th ACR, never halted its reconnaissance assets, and the Soviet recon assets quickly noted 11th ACR's withdrawal from its forward defensive positions in preparation for a speedy withdrawal to its next line of defense.  The 8th Guards Army quickly switched over to the attack, flinging its armored formations forward in pursuit of the fleeing NATO forces.

In this, 11th ACR was quite fortunate.  The Soviets, in their haste to turn an orderly withdrawal into a route, and without good prior route reconnaissance into unfamiliar terrain, had gaps appear between their advance guard and forward detachments.  With aerial reconnaissance and surveillance alerting them to the Soviet armored thrusts, Lt Col Lacy quickly issued orders.  Captain Sighe, formerly the the Battalion S-6 (Communications) but now running India Company's 1st Mechanized Infantry Platoon, already had his platoon dug-in in the West German village of Bad Stulz as Team Whiskey's rear guard.

Lt Col Lacy, Team Whiskey's Commanding Officer, quickly dispatched TOWs, machine guns, and the 81mm mortars of Weapons Company, as well as 1st Lt Roberts' 3rd Tank Platoon, which Charlie Company's Commanding Officer is accompanying.  Due to current unit locations, Weapons Company will reach Captain Sighe's India Mech Co, 1st Platoon before Lt Roberts' tank platoon.

So, Captain Sighe's 1st Platoon, with Weapons Company MGs, TOWs, and mortars in direct support, is lying in wait, with a tank platoon on the way, as a Soviet armored column comes flying down the road, oblivious (due to the loss of contact with their reconnaissance) that US troops have filtered into the gap and are preparing to ambush them.

I only got one game in this weekend, and once again I've got a busy schedule at work, kids' schoolwork, and baseball, so I'm forced to again release my batrep in two parts.


The opposing forces, with US on the right and Soviets on the left.  As you can see, the Soviets have quite a bit more troops than Team Whiskey.  Neither side has air or arty in this engagement.  The US force, with one Command Stand (Captain Sighe), four rifle teams, five TOWs, five MGs, a mortar platoon, and five M1 Abrams (the Company Commander, Captain Lemmey, and platoon commander 1st Lt Roberts). 
The Soviet force, with two Command Stands (a Commanding Officer and an Executive Officer, in a BTR-50 and BMP-2, respectively), four platoons of tanks, and four platoons of BMPs with infantry.


The table, looking south to north, with the US baseline on left (west) and Soviet on right (east), with the US basically spread around the crossroads and the Soviets entering via the road at top right.


Fight's on!  TOWs open up on the Soviet armored column, wreaking havoc.  To see the first part of the batrep, please visit the blog at:
http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2015/09/team-whiskey-fulda-gap-batrep-4-part-i.html

Stay with me, the conclusion is coming as soon as possible, and the fight is knock-down, drag-out once again.

V/R,
Jack

[ronan]

Good AAR as usual, Jack !
And a lovely terrain !

[Techno]

Ditto !! 

Cheers - Phil

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Superb game Jack!

I ain't dead -yet!

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

I ain't dead -yet!

It can be arraigned. 

IanS

[bigjackmac]

Thanks Ronan and Phil, glad you liked it.  Should have the next one posted tomorrow night.

Ian - Court is adjourned, i.e., I think your auto-fill got you.

And regarding Lemmey, for what's it worth: anyone wishing to see Lemmey perish in the next batrep need only make a small donation to Jack's toy soldier collection 

V/R,
Jack

[bigjackmac]

All,

This is the second part of Scenario 4, Team Whiskey's desperate rear-guard action to cover the withdrawal of 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment.  To refresh your memory, in Turn 1 the Soviets came on the table with a large armored force (Soviet Mech 1 of 6 BMPs and infantry, Soviet Tank 1 of 6 T-72s, Soviet Mech 2 of 6 BMPs and infantry, and Soviet Tank 2 of 6 T-72s) travelling at speed down the road.  I small US infantry detachment was dug-in in and around the village of Bad Stulz, and let rip with five TOW launchers, causing heavy casualties.  In Turn 2, the Soviets were able to reform, begin pushing forward, causing quite a few casualties among the severely outnumbered US troops.  But, just when things looked really dark, a platoon of M1 Abrams came on the board to even the odds a bit.

Back to the action, picking up at the start of Turn 3.


Captain Lemmey leads three Abrams forward on the right, where they exchange fire with BMPs at very close range.


The BMPs take the worst of it.


Things get crazy in the village: I'm known for my missile shots, but this one is going the wrong way!  A BMP launches a Spandrel at an M1.  To see how the fight turned out, please check the blog at:
http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2015/09/team-whiskey-fulda-gap-batrep-4-part-ii.html

In the big picture, Team Whiskey re-formed and fell back with the rest of 11th ACR to its next defensive line near the major city of Frankfurt.  The 11th ACR (hell, all of NATO probably) has taken hellacious casualties, and the Regiment Commander is in the process of re-organizing his force (consolidating Troops** that have taken too many casualties) when something terrible happens...  Stay tuned!

**Am I screwing this up?  I've been calling Team Whiskey "4th Troop," though it is battalion strength.  But now it's seeming to me that cavalry units that are battalion-level should be Squadrons, not Troops. But I'm also using the term "Team," but I don't mean Company Team, I mean Battalion Team, if there is such a thing.  I mean, I know you can cross-attach different companies to make battalion-level teams, I just don't know if they would then be called a 'Team.'  I know I've heard the Army use the term "Battalion Task Force," so is that what I should be using?  Certainly Team Whiskey sounds better than Battalion Task Force Whiskey.  I hate the Army

Anyway, more to come.

V/R,
Jack

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Cool report!

And I still ain't dead! 

[toxicpixie]

The advantage of sitting in the best armoured box on the planet (barring the New Jersey!).

Good stuff Jack, high intensity combat really chews through men and materiel