Subject: AAR - TF Riki (quite long but interesting)
Date: Fri., 15 Aug 1997 22:24:31 -0400
From: David Anderson <branders@freenet.tlh.fl.us>
To: Tacops Post <tacops@lists.Stanford.EDU>

John Mckinny and I recently finished a game of TF - Riki with John as the
dreaded OPFOR and myself as the brave Airborne Infantry Bn Cdr.:-)

Seriously, though, the AAR report makes good reading. It's interesting to
read both of our takes on the same action. Obviously, we both saw and
didn't see things that the other assumed we would have (or wouldn't as the
case may be).

Here it is.....

AFTER ACTION REPORT, 6/22/97
US Comdr: David Anderson
OPFOR Comdr: John McKinney (Riki Tikki)
Scenario: TF Riki

(Note from Riki: I had just lost a previous game the week before with another player by a very slim margin... hence the reference to the lost battle in the opening paragraph.)

OPFOR REPORT (Riki)
Time: 07:00

A thick morning mist is rising off the Vistula River, about 3 km. ahead,
rendering my binoculars useless. That treacherous river still flows with
the blood of my comrades, who, a few weeks ago, came within a few
percentage points of succeeding in their amphibious assault and destroying
US supply lines. But the Yanks got lucky with their ICM at the last
minute, while I was plagued with slow, incompetent fire support. (Pay no
attention to those rumors going around about how I fell behind schedule
early in the battle, causing the whole plan to fall apart!<g>) High
Command, in a rare show of mercy, has given me one more chance to redeem
myself. If I fail again... well, let's just say I'll probably be shopping
for a new winter wardrobe.

The plan last time involved a complex series of attacks "en echelon" aimed
at securing areas one by one while blinding the enemy to my movements.
Unlike the last battle in which I faced a familiar adversary, this new
American commander is unknown to me, and his behavior will therefore be
more difficult to predict. The US commander, on the other hand, may be
quite familiar with my tactics and may have studied my plan of attack used
in the last battle. I must therefore come up with an entirely different
method for crossing the river safely.

OPERATION SOUTHERN CROSS -- A synopsis of my plan

Rather than a stage-by-stage attack, this time I am going for an
all-or-nothing amphibious crossing in the south -- but with a feint in the
north as well as in the town. If everything goes as planned [insert
laughter here<g>] the US will not learn the size of my force in the south
until it is too late to respond. This should result in at least 25% of my
force exiting safely to later attack the US supply depots to the west.

I have given orders to my battalion commanders as follows: 1st Battalion
(48 BTR90s, with infantry) will start in the north and proceed due west.
Upon reaching high ground overlooking the river, which should be no later
than 7:15, they will reverse direction and head back east, then race south
along the back alley northeast of town and rendezvous with the 2nd
Battalion (another 48 BTR90s, with infantry) just east of the town. This
combined force will continue south, then west, and should be ready to cross
the river in the south at about 7:35. Because these two battalions will be
vulnerable to air attack during the maneuver to the south, several mobile ZSU
units have been attached to bolster their air defense.

Meanwhile, 3rd Battalion (2 companies of BTR80s, 1 company of BRDM2 scout
vehicles with RPK infantry) will be assigned forward security. One Havoc
attack helo has been attached to 3rd bn. for emergency support and forward
recon. The scout company will patrol the eastern edge of the town and make
sure the enemy cannot see my movements to the east. Then the BTR80s will
move in and secure the northeast and southeast sectors of the town, where
they will provide covering fire as well as a decoy for the main crossing in
the south. My plan does not require that I attack the bridge, since I hope to make my exit quota entirely in the south, but the 3rd Battalion's mere presence in the town should tie up a considerable number of US troops in that area.

Obviously, the plan hinges on the enemy seeing my movements in the north
early on. Although I am unfamiliar with this commander, I am banking on
him getting curious and sending at least one air strike to the north in the
first 15-20 minutes. This will hopefully deceive him into concentrating
his defense to the north. If all goes well and I manage to get at least
50% of my force across the river safely, I may send a detachment northwest
to capture US headquarters (UTM 012015) on the northern edge of the
southwest woods which will disrupt enemy air and artillery and help ensure
my final victory. (Not to mention help my image with the brass at the
Kremlin.)

USA REPORT (Dave)
Time: 0700

Being a 'graduate' of the 82 Abn Division, I couldn't resist
picking the Airborne Infantry Bn OOB to try out some of the things that we were taught.
One of our missions then was to establish an Anti-Armor Defense (AAD) to
defend an airhead against mechanized counter attack. In this case, the
airhead would be a river, and the expected OPFOR mix somewhat unknown - not
that much different from real life, I guess. I believe in conducting an
aggressive defense, so for my optional units, I selected the 3 CH-47 Chinooks.
This would (hopefully) allow me to put some units east of the river in a
hurry to great the oncoming OPFOR units. Intelligence told us that OPFOR is
racing to the river in order to cross before we can organize effective
resistance. If I could put a couple of ambush teams east of the river, I may
be able to catch him undeployed and disrupt his initial attack. I kept
looking at the available forces, just hoping that the choice of a couple of
gunships would appear, but to no avail:-) Trucks would not be able to get out
in front and set up fast enough. The unprotected Chinooks would have to do.
I loaded 1 inf sqd, 1 MG, 1 TOW, 1 Javelin, and 1 Dragon on each of 2 Chinooks
behind the town. The third Chinook loaded an inf plt and sat hugging the
woods at the west end of the map, in reserve, near the Bn HQ, which was
located in the wedge shaped woods in the center of the west edge of the map.
In the treeline north and south of town and west of the river sat the rest of
the Bn (a strong Co each north and south). The remaining Co(-) was in the
western end of the town. Some of them had plans to scoot across the bridge to
the east side and set up to delay the OPFOR outside the town. I scattered
TRP's at key point to use as shift references for whatever might appear. In
short, I wanted to cause as much mayhem as early as I could to make up for my
severe lack of mobility. One thing about airborne troops...once the airdrop
is over, the walking begins. Yeah, I had lots of trucks, but movement at
close quarters was likely to be hazardous. We shall see how well the plan
worked.

OPFOR REPORT 07:05

I send my scout company of BRDM2s down the road through the mist to within
visual range of the town (2000m) to spot for artillery. I intend to hold
off on attacking the town until artillery has gained full accuracy.
Arghh!!! Just as last time, my artillery is infuriatingly slow setting up
TRPs, and I fear that this delay will give the US time to bolster their
defense on the east side of the town. Uh-oh! Two US transport helos
spotted! One on the plateau northeast of the town, another to the
southeast! Hmm. An aggressive defender. Curses! The helos are dropping
off troops on the ridge -- at least 2 ATGM teams in the north, and even
more units than that in the south -- which I must now concentrate on
eliminating to prevent my movements from being observed later!
Fortunately, my BTR80s (3rd Bn.) emerge from the first clump of woods north
of the highway and fire away relentlessly, aided by the cannon and rockets
of my Havoc, and quickly kill off the ATGMs. I send the Havoc south to the
other drop site.

USA REPORT
0700-0705

Move Out!! The Chinooks head east over the town, and my delay team crosses
the bridge headed for the east end of town to set up. The chopper to the
north follows the treeline northeast of town and sets down momentarily to drop
off a couple of ATGM teams and then heads farther north to drop the rest.
Disaster strikes. A Havoc gunship appears over the ridge to the east and
shoots down the Chinook in flames taking with it an inf sqd, MG tm and ATGM.
Not good. Not only was that a tough loss, leaving the far north of the map
without a tripwire, but it has probably tipped my hand a bit too. In the
south, all is well so far as the troops disembard onto the ridge SE of town
unharmed and the Chinook escapes to the rear. The Havoc roves its way south
however and spots at least some of this ambush team. Revenge is weat, though,
as his attempted rocket attack is thwarted by one burst from a MG. Scratch
one Havoc! How much did his gunship see? I'm not happy.

OPFOR REPORT
07:10

Unfortunately, eliminating the defenders southeast of the town is not going
so smoothly. It seems that #%$@king transport helo (which escaped before I
got a shot at it) dropped off quite a few troops -- including ATGMs, a
machine gun and at least one sniper team. These troops have managed to
duck into the woods and spread out, so a single artillery round won't do
the trick. Oh no! That enemy machine gunner has shot down my Havoc! A
very unlucky and expensive, loss! Now the Americans, who obviously have
TRPs set up, are calling down ICM on my scout vehicles west of the town.
My scout company disperses and successfully dodges the ICM for two or three
minutes --only to be picked off by the ATGMs! *Finally* my artillery
begins to gain accuracy and suppress some of those troops, but by now enemy
infantry has reached the eastern edge of town and is firing on my scout
company from there as well. With so many targets I am forced to use my
entire fire support (expending mortar I was going to save for my crossing!)
A single US jet has attacked my scouts also, but with no casualties. Up
north, 1st Battalion is continuing west and probably has not been spotted
yet.

USA REPORT
0705-0710

Numerous OPFOR APC's (looks like scouts?) fall victim to artillery, mortar,
and ATGM fire just east of town. It appears they made an effort to quickly
take the east end of town, or scout it in force, and are paying the price.
OPFOR wreckage makes pretty roadblocks :-)) A large column (Bn size?) of
APC's is spotted coming down the valley running NE from the east end of town.
Some well placed artillery and missile fire takes out several APC's, and well
placed return fire takes out the ambushers. Then they promptly vanish
(presumably into the woods where my ambush team died.) Let's see how a little
airstrike shakes them up (and gather a little intelligence along the way)
We've only seen a Bn so far plus the scouts...there are more of them lurking
out there. I send a couple of HMMVs with scouts into the woods north and
south of the east end of town. There must be other units to the south, but I
haven't spotted any yet.

OPFOR REPORT
07:15

This is embarrassing. Here it is 15 minutes into the battle and after
finally killing off (I think) those defenders in the woods I'm only now
entering the town. My infantry and scout vehicles inch their way through
the streets with the rest of the 3rd battalion about to follow. (Why
didn't I just commit the whole battalion earlier? I must have lost my
usual daring as a result of my previous battle!) An airstrike has spotted
one of my companies of BTR80s north of the highway but my SAM fire fended
off its bombs. I recalculate the schedule and realize that I must begin to
reverse the 1st Battalion very soon if I want to have any chance of
crossing the river in the south by 7:35. But I doubt that the US has
spotted this force yet. Perhaps this commander is not as curious as I had
anticipated.

USA REPORT
0710-0715

The scout team in the north runs smack into a Co of APC's and dies bravely.
The airstrike I called in north of town reveals two large bodies of tracked
vehicles (some tanks?) headed for the river through the woods. The F-16 flies
into a shooting gallery, however, with missiles launched from several
directions and takes at least one hit (all it takes :-)). Time to rearrange a
bit. I relocate a couple of ATGMs lurking in the east end of town to get
flanking shots north as OPFOR vehicles exit the woods to the eastern river
bank. Things are getting dicey on the eastern end of town, so I remove some
of the defenders back to the west side to reinforce the riverfront. OPFOR
artillery pounds the woods southeast of town in retaliation for shooting down
the gunship, eliminating the brave defenders of the ridgeline. Nevertheless,
artillery continues to rain down on their bodies. Apparently OPFOR is testing
new roadbuilding techniques. :-)

OPFOR REPORT
07:20

Aha! At exactly 7:20 a single airstrike has appeared just north of the
town. Was my 1st Battalion spotted? I hope so. In any case, no time to
dally. I give the order to reverse direction, and send the 2nd battalion,
which has been standing by safely in the rear, to the rendezvous point.
Meanwhile, in the town, my scout company has run into pockets of resistance
at various locations which has caused me some losses. I order the RPK
teams to dismount and ferret out these defenders. Using a damaged BRDM2 as
a forward scout (read: fodder) I am pleased to find that the intersection
and the road running north seems clear, so I should have no problem
splitting the remainder of the 3rd Battalion to the north (for decoy
purposes) and to the south (for support). Oh no!!! What miserable luck!!!
Another airstrike has appeared farther to the north just minutes after I
ordered the reverse!! I was afraid of that. During these particular 10
minutes I am very vulnerable to enemy air spotting my secret maneuvers. My
SAMs got a couple of hits but not damaging enough to bring it down. The
question is, was that pilot able to determine direction of movement? I am
forced to consider another reversal, sending the 1st Batalion across the
river in the north after all. But I decide to go with the original plan.
Then comes an even bigger real scare -- ICM has landed right in their path
in the northeast alley! Obviously I did not kill off all those troops
earlier, and rear security has been breached. I fear my plan is now ruined!

USA REPORT
0715-0720

Another airstrike is called in north of town, this time on the southernmost of
the two groups seen in the woods. It's time to evacuate everybody out of the
east end of town, back across the bridge, except for 2 ATGM tms who stay in
position facing north along the east bank. Artillery adjusting rounds are
called for on TRPs on the riverbank. Those tracks whould be about ready to
exit the woods now. Where are they??

OPFOR REPORT
07:25

I come up with a way of perhaps keeping the idea of a feint to the north
still alive. I am assuming the hidden FO is somewhere on the high ground.
First, I detour the 1st Battalion east a few hundred meters to the valley,
hopefully out of sight of the FO. Then, as the battalion heads south
again, I split off one BTR platoon and send it up on the ridge again, but
farther to the south. If the enemy spotter is where I think it is, this
may give the US the impression I was just shifting my forces south by only
a km. or so. I also reorganize my attack so that part of the 3rd
battalion, already farther to the south, will join in the main assault
while tardy 1st battalion units take over town security. This will help
accelerate the timetable, hopefully before the US can respond to its new
intel. My BTRs are now moving into the town, headed for their respective
waypoints. My damaged BRDM2, which has been spotting for TRPs north of the
town, is now crossing the river on what will most likely be its last recon
mission(!)

USA REPORT
0720-0725

APC's in the town behind me!! Between me and the bridge! Where did they
come from? OK, time to shift artillery to the east side of the bridge. I'm
not ready for him to own this side of the bridge yet. My 81mm mortars have
been concentrating on his forces just east (now inside) the town. Now they
are out of ammo. I need this like..... :-(

OPFOR REPORT
07:30

Things are quieting down now, as 1st and 2nd Battalions have rendezvoused
and are headed for the southern valley. The US still has two infantry
squads in the town on the east side, but the main roads are clear so I can
still get around quickly. I send one BTR company to the north sector of
the town, another to the south, and a few surviving scout units by the
bridge. To my amazement, that damaged BRDM2 has almost made it across the
river without drawing any fire! I order the BTR company in the north to
follow it in hopes of securing that little spit of land across the river.
If they succeed, they will be good position to intercept enemy
reinforcements en route to the south later on, or at least draw fire away
from the southern crossing. In the north, I am beginning to smoke the
riverbank which should look like a convincing prelude to an attack there.
A US air strike at 7:27 at the east end of the bridge is repelled by SAMs,
but no telling what that pilot saw. My forward recon unit is now in
position overlooking the southern valley, and reports only a SAM and an MG
unit there. Not a massive defense. The main attack is scheduled to
commence in just over 5 minutes.

USA REPORT
0725-0730

My artillery fire aimed to land on the east side of the river lands among my
friendly troops and takes care of some of my own valuable trucks and
suppresses some of the troops defending the bridge. The trucks were sitting
in town (supposedly safe) for use when needed to transfer assets. Who needs a
friendly fire chance in TacOps II. I can do it all by myself, thank you very
much! OPFOR is adjusting fire on my side of the river to the north. I don't
know whether to believe it or not. Seems like his northern units have moved
on. A feint? A double feint? Waiting time.

OPFOR REPORT
07:35

Smoking the northern riverbank continues, along with decoy spotting rounds.
A firefight is breaking out between infantry units on opposite riverbanks
in the town. Most of the rifle fire is coming from the southern sector,
which is good -- this will give me an excuse to shell that area and prepare
TRPs for my crossing in the south later without tipping my hand. The enemy
is now shelling my amphibious crossing in the north part of town, but with
HE, not ICM. My amazement continues as that same damaged BRDM2 succeeds in
landing on the opposite shore! Those 2 US squads in the east part of town
have moved west and have picked off a group of my BRD1s coming up from the
rear, just north of the intersection. I order a remaining BRD1 to drop off
its RPK team, which will stand guard and alert me if the enemy infantry
starts getting into my rear. Meahwhile, up north, I have ordered my
platoon of decoy BTRs forward, which are promptly hit by enemy ATGMs. I
switch to using mortar in the north to hit the ATGMs -- still pretending to
make this look like a major attack -- but relocate my heavy artillery to
the south (wait time, 2+ minutes -- arghh!!). I call in air strikes in the
enemy's rear (8 minutes out), in hopes of intercepting any reinforcements
later once the attack in the south is underway. Everything is set for the
main attack to commence at just after 7:35. But one group of BTR80s has
jumped the gun early, and has been hit by previously unspotted ATGMs on the
opposite shore. I curse at myself for not going over everyone's orders
more carefully. That one mistake may have tipped my hand a minute too
early!

USA REPORT
0730-0735

Now there is a lot of smoke landing on my side of the river to the north.
Again, I'm not sure whether this is for real or not. Meanwhile, a US inf plt
trapped on the east side of the river is creating a nice diversion by taking
out several APCs with LAAWs and grenade attacks, and a flurry of Javelins
eliminates a BMP(?) plt coming out of the woods just north of town. Damn! My
artillery rounds land on the west side of the bridge again, destroying more
trucks. Meanwhile, every shot I fire seems to draw very accurate artillery
fire and it's hard to outrun those artillery shells on foot.

OPFOR REPORT
07:40

The southern assault begins at 7:35:30 -- right on schedule, but without a
minute to spare. I'm pleased to see that no significant defenses have been
deployed along the southern ridge, though I'm not sure the enemy commander
bought my fake attack in the north, either. Most of the resistance seems
to be coming from the western shore of the town and from ICM which is
landing near but not on top of my units near the bridge. By 7:38, the
entire 1st battalion is off the ridge and beginning to cross the river
without resistance while the 2nd battalion is moving up from behind... At
7:39 my amphib units arriving at the northwestern tip of the town spot 2
enemy trucks rounding the spur of woods to the west. They fire but miss.
I redirect my air strikes to intercept those trucks. That enemy infantry
in my rear has appeared, but my RPK team is cutting them down with their
submachine guns quite nicely, no need to send troops there.

USA REPORT
0735-0740

There he is. After doing a thourough job of laying smoke on the treeline on
the southern west riverbank, 2 Bns? of APC burst from the woods and start
across the
river. OPFOR artillery knocks out 2 TOW tms and 1 Dragon team facing the
river, just when they are most needed. "Hello, Air Force, we could sure use
you now."

OPFOR REPORT
07:45

Artillery is hitting my southern force, but still no ICM (thank God!). Two
single-jet airstrikes have hit, but my AAA batteries are standing by on the
eastern shore and together with my 2 remaining SAMs, force the bombs to
miss. Meanwhile, my own air strike has avoided enemy air defenses and
spotted targets as expected -- 2 trucks at the northern tip of the woods
west of the town -- killing one and damaging another. Good, robbing the
enemy of its mobility is a small victory all by itself. My confidence is
growing, as the first of my units begin to reach the opposite shore
unscathed. The most dangerous part of this battle will soon be over. Oh
no! The dreaded ICM!! The smoke in town is clearing a minute sooner than I
would have guessed, leaving both 1st and 2nd battalions exposed in the
middle of their crossing. Fortunately, the accuracy of the ICM is still
off, and the combined firepower of my 2 battalions is quickly attritting
the infantry in the town. I am also relieved to see that there are no
ATGMs guarding the southern valley.

USA REPORT
0740-0745

Airstrikes called for on the river crossing fly into the usual hailstorm of AA
fire, resulting in less than stellar performance. A check of my artillery
ammo status reveals that I need to conserve fires . I've shot a lot and there
is not enough left to fire every turn remaining. What I wouldn't give for a
MRLS Bn right now. :-) His massed river crossing now continues with little
opposition, thanks to his accurate artillery fires.

OPFOR REPORT
07:50

Success! Both 1st and 2nd battalions have reached the opposite riverbank
with negligible casualties! As they enter the woods, I set up TRPs just
ahead of their path and use smoke to protect their flanks. As planned, I
detach a company or so of BTR90s northwest through the smoke to hunt for
the US headquarters, while the bulk of my force proceeds due west. My BTRs
in the northern tip of the town has spotted and killed a Humvee as it
attempted to enter the southern woods. A transport helo has been sighted
there also, dropping off another Humvee, no doubt. Yikes! Three squads of
solid US infantry has just opened fire on a column of BTR90s from close
range as they approached the woods. In less than a minute a whole company
of mech infantry is wiped out (out of 72 men on board, only 6 survive!).
But most of my force has entered the woods to the north and to the south of
this ambush and are safely out of range. My special detachment, still
pressing northward through the smoke, has not yet hit any defenses
protecting the American headquarters. I begin to fear that I may have
inadvertently shelled the area earlier and perhaps the command post has
relocated (maybe that helo was for evacuating the HQ!)

USA REPORT
0745-0755

I love it. A bunch of APC blunder into an airborne infantry platoon
itching for a scrap
and are decimated by LAAWs and grenade launchers.
I still hold the west end of the bridge. Small consolation, as 2 Bns of
tracks are exiting the map in the south. One major challenge on defense, is
that there are several ways for the attacker to win, forcing the US to defend
everything - the western edge, the Bn HP and the bridge.

OPFOR REPORT
07:55

My HQ-hunting detachment has run into a machine gun nest in the north tip
of the southern woods, but not the HQ. I'm afraid I must have somehow
tipped my hand and the CP was relocated. (Damn! There goes my promotion!)
Well, at least the rest of the mission is going well -- in fact, 2 full
battalions are on the brink of exiting the map, with no enemy resistance
whatsoever. Two air missions reveal some units in the triangular woods and
still quite a few units guarding the bridge. At this point, even taking
the bridge would serve no purpose, as I expect to exit far more than 25% of
my force. I decide to call of the attack on the bridge, as the first 13%
of my force exits to the west.

USA REPORT
0755-0800

Now I know what the British 1st Abn felt like. A number of salvos of ICM
rounds (which OPFOR seems to have a neverending supply of :-)) slam into the
town west of the bridge. The remaining defenders hold on for a few minutes
against the mechanized assault across the bridge, but are quickly overwhelmed.
A message from Bde HQ - additional air support is on the way! Wonderful.
I've been screaming into the radio for help and at 0758 they finally respond -
4 minutes out. :-((

OPFOR REPORT
08:00

A glorious day for the People's Confederation of Soviet Republics! (or
whatever we're calling ourselves these days). As of 7:56, one-third of my
force has exited safely to the west, with another two companies about to
exit any minute. Now I'm rethinking my decision about the bridge. Maybe
because I'm intoxicated with the idea of a total victory, or maybe because
I have a mean streak in me (hey, I'm OPFOR<g>) -- whatever -- now I'm
thinking of going for the bridge after all. While not normally
battle-worthy for seizing key land objectives, my force of AAA units,
out-of-ammo mortars and a few APCs with troops might be able to capture and
hold the bridge if I time my attack just right. I also have plenty of
artillery ammo and 2 air missions on the way. The US artillery is landing
randomly in the southwest, so I will have a minute or two before it can
respond. There's also the chance that the Americans diverted forces from
the bridge area to the southwest at the last minute. So, after pounding
the western bridgehead with HE for 3 minutes, I send in my "attack" force.
At first, my probe (a truck full of spent SAMs) is immediately wiped out by
what looks to be stiff resistance, but an air strike at the bridge reveals
only a couple of entrenched positions, plus 3 trucks just to the rear of
the bridge, possibly loaded with troops. I aim my ICM for that area and --
ahhh! The sweet sound of vehicles bursting into flames! I send the entire
group of ZSUs and a few APCs across the bridge while a couple of BTR90s
still holding the northern section of town (remember them?) circle around
via the main roads and attack from the west after killing a truckload of
reinforcements en route. The combined firepower at the bridge seems to be
more than adequate for the job. By 08:00 there are no defenders left on
the west side of the bridge; it is a total victory!

As my command car rolls up from the rear, I light up a Havana cigar, saved
just for this occasion, and try to imagine how I'd look with a pair of
stars on my shoulders.

USA REPORT
0800

Mercifully, the battle dies down. The OPFOR has overrun/bypasssed our
positions, we were unable to blow the bridge :-)) and it's now time to tend to
the wounded. I call off the late air strike, to avoid more friendly
casualties. OPRFOR targets are all behind us now - someone elses problem.

OPFOR SUMMARY:

Basically, the plan worked like a charm. Using the "back alleys" east of
the town is certainly a viable way to shift forces secretly and quickly.
*Assuming* there are no enemy recon units in the rear. Given how poorly I
handled rear security in the early part of the battle, I was damn lucky.
If even one US scout team in the south had survived and stayed quiet (range
set to zero), my whole ploy would have been discovered and easily
countered. Losing an entire company of APCs in a single minute in the
south woods was a small indicator of just how bad a disaster it would have
been if the enemy was able to respond in time. Also, the US opted for
transport helos, which could have easily gotten defenders in my path in
time had they survived long enough. So I was lucky there, too.
Fortunately, the history books rarely cite luck as a factor in deciding
historic battles, and instead let us commanders get all the credit (or
blame!). Hey, who am I to argue with the scholars?<BG>

USA
Lessons learned:

1. After my first airstrike ran into such tough AA fire, I should have
doubled up the others to get a better chance of success.

2. I needed more mobility to successfully defend the river. Against a fully
mechanized OPFOR, I was not able to respond to his lateral moves. Losing a
helo right off the bat certainly didn't help. I knew this
would be a problem and deployed to defend the wide frontage, but there was no
way for me to repond to his move south. The lack of mobility gave me no
capability to fire and move to new positions. On foot, the ATGM tms were
flattened by artillery as soon as they revealed their positions.

3. Artillery ammo conservation.

===============================================
David Anderson | Old Saybrook, CT
e-mail: dranders@freenet.tlh.fl.us
http://www.freenet.tlh/fl/us/~dranders
===============================================

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