Steel Fury Kharkov 42

Installed and briefly messed around with it. I definitively like it. The manual was slightly better than in the demo. There is a lot to learn yet.

It does look great!

Cheers,

How much is a user interface worth?

Well folks, I am enjoying Achtung Panzer Kharkov 43. So much that I've got a serious case of Graviteam virus and yesterday I decided to get Steel Fury Kharkov 42. First I downloaded the demo to check out if there was any type of graphics incompatibility issues (there was none). But the sim's interface of the demo is hell and the user's manual editor appears to be Google translate. After Achtung Panzer Kharkov 43, I was expecting some clunkiness in those two aspects of Steel Fury. Still, I was shocked with the demo's interface and manual.

I'm not a gamer that expects 100% polish in games and simulations. I don't even care about storylines, campaigns or how many missions the game has. As such, from what I saw in Steel Fury's demo, I'm going to enjoy this thing. Yet, I can't help but wonder about the impact of presentation in Graviteam's offerings. Sales lost ... developer goes under ... we are left again in the dark.

It is kind of funny that other GREAT games have wonderful interfaces, manuals and tutorials but still struggle to convince gamers about their worth. And I'm not going to give names ...

Yes! Download of Steel Fury is done. Off to climb the ultimate learning curve.

Steel Fury Kharkov 42 demo.

Cheers,

TacNuggets #1: Overwatching and Overlooking Battle Spaces

The official line: TacNuggets is an experimental series of short entries about tactics. This series will  focus in simple tactical problems and their solution, using several simulators and games. Not intended to provide a full tactical meal, TacNuggets is just a snack to get your warrior spirit going through dull periods of time at work, the downloading/installation of your favorite game, your significant other's nagging, the music on  your credit card's customer support line or the loading time of your next DCS Black Shark mission.

The fine print: TacNuggets is mostly about: (i) blunders that consistently get me killed and prevent me to complete scenarios and write a decent after action report; (ii) over analyzing tactical axioms that most people can practice in their sleep; (iii) fattening your warrior spirit with an unhealthy snack that will leave you unfit even to command a pack of sheeps and  (iv), camouflaging the diminishing lenght and quality of the blog's entries with new names or word tricks.    

Without further addo, let's go straight into this first entry.

Simulator: Steel Beasts ProPE
Topic: Bounding Overwatch

Steel Beasts ProPE Resources: Gary Owen's 1st Volunteer US Cavalry

Steel Beasts ProPE (SBProPE) is the home version of an armored warfare simulation used by several armies around the world. Although the civilians like me can jump on a virtual tank and blow stuff up in a jiffy, it is always more enjoyable to play an SBProPE scenario using real life tactics. Real life tactics, as much as you read about them in field manuals available elsewhere, are not easy to put into action. The experience can be overwhelming because, as in any other military-grade simulation, the virtual battlefield in SBProPE is brutal and unforgiving.

Fortunately, the SBProPE fans community includes many soldiers and tankers from around the world who are more than willing to help. These guys take this hobby to the next level. Some of these fine men are just outstanding. One of them is a gentleman that goes by the (nick?)name of Gary Owen, a former US Cavalry Trooper who owns the 1st US Volunteer Cavalry (1stVUSCav) website.

There are many reasons why I keep coming back to Gary Owen's (GO) website. Just to mention a few: the choice of topics, GO's extraordinary ability to point out what's critical in those topics and GO's easy to understand, didactic writing style. The 1stVUSCav website also has a whole section about Soviet/Warsaw Pact forces organization and tactics.

A short time ago, I had the honor of GO commenting on one of this blog's entries. I can only hope that in future he will continue to do so.

Cheers,

Advancing Through Hilly Terrain (Tank Tactics)

This entry is a continuation from a previous one that dealt with some of the problems of cresting hills while moving to contact or conducting reconnaissance. In that previous blog entry, an M3 Bradley CFV/M1 Abrams MBT hunter/killer team was moving north and had a hill between them and enemy-held terrain. I'm using Steel Beasts ProPE for this write up.

If cresting hills is not a good idea, what is one to do then?

As one of the faithful readers of this blog (thank you Alan for visiting!) commented in the previous entry, the key is moving like the flow of water. Move around hills, not through them. There are many variations of how to do this and I'm going to write only about the one I'm most familiar with.

Please see a graphical representation in the next figure.

• Of all the members of the hunter/killer team, I've chosen the main battle tank to move and watch ahead. It's always better to make contact with the enemy with the most survivable platform. You may be wondering where all the buzz about the M3 CFVs acting as hunters went, but remember that this situation the hunter/killer team has a moderately small area to cover and is moving ahead as a team instead of separating themselves into different roles
  
• Below the hill, the tank moves following a contour line of the hill, preferably the lowest one. In the figure below the movement path of the tank is represented by the big blue arrow. The small blue arrows fanning out the big blue arrow represent the orientation of the turret.
• The two M3 CFVs provide over watch while the tank moves. They cover the terrain in front of the tank's axis of movement and the right flank. At this stage of the drill, the two M3 CFVs are represented in the figure by big blue arrowheads. The small blue arrows fanning out from the blue arrowheads represent turrets orientations
• As the tank moves across the countour line, successive sections of enemy-held terrain can be scanned with the tank's TIS. The first terrain sections to be visible will be the ones around the "C" label in the figure, then the ones the "B" label
• If enemy units were located at "A", "B" and "C", the tank would make contact with each, one at a time. Compare this to cresting the hill and making contact with all enemy units simultaneously
  
• Once the contour line around the hill changes direction, so does the the direction of movement of the tank. The tank re-orients along new direction of the contour line, stops at the tip of the big blue arrow and waits for the M3 CFVs to occupy new overwatch positions (red arrowheads in the figure)
• The tank now moves again along the contour line (big red arrow in the figure), scanning the western side of the terrain labelled "B" and eventually the terrain labelled "A"

"Tank Rush", the US Cavalry version. Click the image for an expanded view.

There is catch to this. If contact with the enemy is made the tank will be showing not its front but its left hull side to the enemy. Always keep in mind that the tank's best armor is located in its front. So be ready to quickly pull back into cover when contact is made (see figure below). This will allow you to re-orient behind the cover of the hill and then engage the enemy from a hull-down position.

It's better to be nagged about a damaged gearbox than to be awarded a posthumous Purple Heart. Click the image for an expanded view.

Cheers,

Thou Shalt Not Crest ... (Tank Tactics)

Yes, the title of this entry was a bit overboard. There are no ten commandments for tank tactics. There are not even fixed rules in tactics. The tactical level of war is full of paradoxes and contradictions. You are told to advance and attack without pause but if you do it you expose your flanks. You protect your flanks but you divert forces from your main attack force, weakening your advance. C’est la guerre! As Robert Leonhard once wrote in “Fighting by Minutes”, waging war will require you to “sit and walk at the same time”.

One of the oldest adages in war is “always hold the high ground”. The high ground gives you a vantage point from which to see and shoot the enemy. This blog entry is a friendly reminder that carelessly stepping into the high ground also gives the enemy an opportunity to see and shoot you.

The simulation I’m using for this entry is Steel Beasts ProPE.

A US Cavalry M1 Abrams MBT/M3 Bradley CFV “hunter/killer” team is on the base of a hill. Enemy is likely to be on the other side.

Map showing the hunter/killer team (pink icon in the center) and the line of sight (red/white areas) from their position. At this point the team is in the base of the hill and the line of sight is good to the flanks and to the rear. Since no enemy forces are at the team’s flanks or rear, there is no danger so far.

The hunter/killer cresting the hill. Given the small size of the team and the unknown strength of enemy forces ahead, this wonderful view of the valley is quite dangerous. The reason for this is explained in the caption of the next figure.

Map showing the hunter/killer team (pink icon in the center) and the line of sight (red/white areas) from the crest of the hill. Note how the team can see more terrain than before (good), yet it can also be seen from more enemy-held territory (bad). If weak enemy forces are encountered, the team may survive by firing back. But if equal or superior enemy forces are encountered ... You get the idea.

The crest of hills sometimes make great battle positions. But moving through them while on the march/attack/etc, or stepping on them while on reconnaissance is most of the times not advisable.

In the next installment: what to do instead of cresting.

Cheers,

Steel Beasts ProPE to be updated today!

The release of a new patch for Steel Beasts ProPE is imminent according to this post by Ssnake at the official Steel Beasts forum.

This patch will take the simulation to version v2.483.

Enjoy!

UPDATE: The patch has been released! Info and link courtesy of Alan Giasson (see comments below). Thanks again, Alan.

Rear Area Security with Light Armored Vehicles: After Action Report (Steel Beasts ProPE)

Continued from here.

I'm in command of 2nd Platoon, the one taking the west approach and attempting to get really close to the enemy BMP-2s.

Tactical Plan from the previous entry. Click the image to expand it.

And to re-phrase why both 2nd and 3rd Platoons are tanking such convoluted routes to get into firing range, this nugget of wisdom puts it very eloquently:

A 4,000-metre line of sight allows the enemy to shoot you 2,000 m before you can shoot him.

Rule #9 out of "Nine Rules to help you stay alive with the LAV III"
Canadian Army Field Manual

So we march ...

First nasty surprise of the mission: the route I choose for 2nd Platoon was not 100% covered. In the screen above, an AT-5 missile fired from a BMP-2 just splashed on the opposite side slope of the hill we were skirting. We just pushed pedal to the metal and continued forward. Click the image to expand it.

Our right flank continued to be our upmost worry. Click the image to expand it.

Luckily, the last leg of our approach had a dirt road that that allowed us to march faster. Click the image to expand it.

Last hundred meters of our march. We are moving north now and the enemy is on the reverse slope of this hill. We can hear the firefight between the BMP-2s and the 3rd Platoon in SBF 1 position. It's good that the BMP-2s are busy so we can ambush them from behind. Click the image to expand it.

We sneaked on the rear of the enemy position successfully, but as soon as our first rounds were fired, the BMP-2s turned on us. Under the cover of smoke, I could maintain my position and destroy this vehicle. Click the image to expand it.

I've had a terrible time with the laser range-finder and the ballistic computer for this point-blank engagement. I had to lase something some 400 meters behind the BMP-2 to get the gun elevation of my ASLAV-25 for firing onto targets that close.

While my smoke curtain was still up, this BMP-2 charged on us. It took the combined fire of two ASLAV-25s to stop it. Click the image to expand it.

This is after the smoke washed off. Close combat doesn't get more close than this. Click the image to expand it.

The remaining enemy infantry threat was no slouch. Remember the thin armor of the ASLAV-25 can be taken out by an RPG and that we are in very close terrain. We pulled a bit back and shelled the infantry with HEAT and 7.62 mm rounds. Click the image to expand it.

With the target area finally clear, we can relax a bit with sightseeing. This is 3rd Platoon on SBF1 position. Click the image to expand it.

Cheers,

Rear Area Security with Light Armored Vehicles (Steel Beasts ProPE)

This tactical vignette is about the use of the light armored vehicles, specifically the ASLAV-25 featured in Steel Beasts ProPE.

Given the high tempo of modern armored/mechanized operations, rear area security is always challenging and a major concern of operation planners. In this user-made Steel Beasts mission, I wanted to see how well a couple of ASLAV-25 platoons would cope with bypassed mechanized units threatening the rear area of an advancing NATO column.

Five minutes before the mission start, NATO supply trains moving east through main supply route "Key" (MSR Key) received enemy direct fire coming from the south. At least two Russian BMP-2s have been spotted 3 km south of MSR Key. These enemy vehicles are probably part of a unit bypassed by an earlier NATO attack.

Two reconnaissance platoons (4 ASLAV-25s each) of Company A were tasked to destroy the enemy vehicles in order to allow the flow of supplies along MSR Key. On order, the two platoons are to secure the area where enemy forces are located until more forces are assembled to screen MSR Key.

I introduced the ASLAV-25 in a previous blog entry. Essentially a reconnaissance vehicle, the ASLAV-25's agility and speed will take you out of bad places very fast. Unfortunately if driven by the tactically impaired like me, the vehicle will get into a hot zone as equally as fast. Compared to an infantry fighting vehicle, the ASLAV-25 is under-armored and under-gunned. The main 25 mm autocannon can fire both sabot and HEAT rounds up to a range of ~2,500 m. It should be noted though that the tracers for the 25 mm cannon rounds appear to almost burn out after ~1,800 m and checking where your rounds are hitting beyond that range is very challenging. The ASLAV-25 has also a ballistic computer and a powerful thermal imaging system.

The ASLAV-25, looking good before the mission. Expand the image by clicking it.

In a nutshell, the LAV reconnaissance line of vehicles is designed more for mobility and stealthy observation of the enemy rather than fighting. This doesn't mean that LAV can't be used to fight. For more details, I recommend the wonderful short book whose cover is shown below.

This is one of the best books out there about the use of LAVs in reconnaissance and security missions.

Coming back to the mission, here is the view from the ambushed supply vehicles in MSR Key towards the hilly-wooded terrain south where the enemy BMP-2s are located.

Looking south from the main supply route "Key". The enemy is in the hilly-wooded terrain in the background. Expand the image by clicking it.

The enemy is protected by 3,000 m of distance and out of reach for the ASLAV-25's autocannons. Any ASLAV-25s putting their tires through MSR Key or the terrain south of it would be in open terrain and defenseless against the long range AT-5 missiles fired from the BMP-2s.

To close with the enemy within the range of our weapons, the two platoons will approach by separate and covered routes. 3nd Platoon will approach from the west of the enemy position and occupy a support by fire position (SBF 1 in the map, a saddle that hopefully offers both good cover and observation) in order to suppress/harass the BMP-2s and allow 2nd Platoon's approach for a close-range kill from the east.

Plan of attack. MSR Key is the dotted line winding northeast. The box labelled "Kill Zone" is the region where most of the enemy fire landed so far. The suspected position of the enemy is labelled with a red ambush tactical symbol. See text for more details. Expand the image by clicking it.

If anything goes wrong with 2nd Platoon's approach, 3rd Platoon will move to an alternate attack by fire position (ABF 2 in the map) in a last attempt to destroy the enemy.

That's the plan.

Continues here.

Cheers,

Steel Beasts ProPE v2.483 Release Notes Posted

As you may now, Steel Beasts ProPE will soon be upgraded to v2.483.

A few minutes ago, Ssnake posted in the official forums a link to the release notes.

Almost everything I'm playing is getting upgrades/patches! Can't complain ...

One of the things I'm waiting the most from this patch is the infantry being able to shoot from buildings/bunkers. For some reason that was broken in v2.460.


Cheers,

Stay Off the Line of Fire of Your AI Platoon ... or Else! (Steel Beasts ProPE)

Hello, folks!

The ASLAV-25 is one of the many fully crewable armored vehicles in Steel Beasts ProPE . Intended mainly for reconnaissance missions, the ASLAV-25 is an Australian spin off of the LAV-25 used by the US Marine Corps.

Nimble and small, the ASLAV-25 can take you to places no tank can go. This screenshot is from a deep reconnaissance mission I played a while ago. Image is clickeable.

As soon as you hop in your simulated ASLAV-25 you feel its lightness, speed and agility. It is a sense of empowerment being liberated from the threads and the heavy weight of a tank's armor. Unfortunately, any comfort brought by that washes away as soon as you spot an enemy tank or infantry fighting vehicle. More about this in a new blog entry that will come soon.

Fighting in an ASLAV-25 requires very cautious tactics. That I was practicing last night, when my platoon of ASLAV-25s was surprised in a nightmarish worst-case scenario: a platoon of BMP-2s with a 2,000 m+ field of fire on our left flank. The problem with BMP-2s is that they have ATGMs with ranges of 3,000 m+. Compare that to the 2,200 m maximum range of the ASLAV-25 cannon.

I wanted to get out of the kill zone and I didn't even bothered to re-orient my platoon. Full speed forward! I could see the fireballs of at least two ATGMs being launched. Move, move, move! Damn it, where is that fold of terrain when you most need it?

Quickly enough, the adrenaline rush gave way to the disappointing realization that my ASLAV-25 was no more. What the hell?

If that wonderful "after action report" (AAR) tool Steel Beasts ProPE has wouldn't be there, most of the time I would never understand what in earth happened. This AAR tool allows you to review the action, shot by shot, at the pace of your choosing. Here is the screen of what hit me.

There is nothing friendly about friendly fire. In all my rush, I ran my ASLAV-25 (foreground) through the line of fire of a vehicle from my platoon (background). The red line is the path of the armor piercing round. Image is clickeable.

I didn't know that blue on blue was possible in Steel Beasts ProPE.

Stay tuned for more ASLAV-25 action.

Cheers,

"A Gap in the Screen", A New Scenario for Steel Beasts ProPE

This is the same scenario I used for my "hunter-killer platoon" after action report.

The description of this scenario follows.

A US Cav Sq is executing a screen mission in the Iraqi desert. Around 5 AM, the Sq Commander became aware of a 4 km-wide gap in the Sq's screen line. A quick inspection of the gap was attempted and some Iraqi vehicles were destroyed, but it is evident there are enemy vehicles west of the Sq's intended screen line. 3 BMPs and at least 4 T-72s were seen hastily retreating east. Time is now 6:20 and your Cav Plt is tasked with clearing the marked sector of enemy armored vehicles and re-establish the screen line no later than 8:10 AM.


Expected enemy resistance is probably a mechanized infantry Co(-), likely reinforced with at least 4 T-72s. Your Plt is organized in two "hunter-killer" teams (each one consisting in 2 M3 CFVs and 1 M1 MBT) plus a 2 M3 CFV team. Units located north and south of your sector continue with their screen mission. Watch your fires, we don't any blue-on-blue incidents. The Sq's aerial component is grounded until meteorological conditions improve. No indirect fires allowed due to the close position of the other Plts north and south of your sector. Good luck,

You can download the scenario at the "Real and Simulated Wars Companion Website".

Cheers,

An M3/M1 Hunter-Killer Plt in a Hasty Attack: Learning to Punch with the Fingers Spread

The AAR that I started here (split in several parts), is now consolidated in the
"Real and Simulated Wars-Companion Website".

Please follow this link to the entire AAR.

Cheers,

An M3/M1 Hunter-Killer Plt in a Hasty Attack: Learning to Punch with the Fingers Spread (Part 5)

6:55, Time to move the two M3 CFVs from team 2-A (north flank) out as "hunters".

I want to find out where the enemy tanks are before moving forward the already mauled team 3-A (south flank).

The two M3 CFVs from team 2-A leave the M1 tank behind and move cautiously in separate directions. All those trooper skills will come in handy right now. One M3 CFV (vehicle 2/2-A) moves some 500 meters south and finds no trace of the enemy. The other M3 CFV (vehicle 4/2-A) moves west. At 7:12, vehicle 4/2-A finds two Iraqi T-72s some 1.2 km south of its position. We finally found where the enemy armor is.

Vehicle 4/2-A finds the enemy.Please click the image for an expanded view.

Having accomplish its task (find the enemy and report) I should have pulled out this "hunter" out of harms way. I was in the commander's seat of this vehicle at this point and I have to tell you, the view shown in the previous screenshot chilled my spine. When the spotting of enemy armor happened I had this M3 CFV in an un-covered position, with a ridgeline behind me.

Not the best of places to find out enemy armor with an M3 CFV. The view from vehicle 4/2-A when the enemy armor was spotted. The enemy tanks are somewhere far in the background.Please click the image for an expanded view.

I threw smoke in front and panicked. I could have pulled out moving to my right but I didn't have the guts to leave the safety of the smoke curtain. As usually I couldn't remember about the smoke generator. I was not going to retreat my M3 by moving backwards and cresting the small ridge behind. Sequentially showing the top and then the belly of the vehicle to a couple of enemy tanks is not a good idea.

The it became obvious that the two tanks haven't seen my M3 CFV, so I engaged both tanks with TOWs. Two enemy tanks destroyed. So much for "hunter", this M3 CFV just became a "killer".

Situation at 7:12. We found enemy armor ... and killed it.Please click the image for an expanded view.

A view of the two Iraqi T-72s killed with TOWs.Please click the image for an expanded view.

I bugged out from the area and returned back to the safety of the hills near the M1 tank.

We found and killed two tanks already. The other enemy tanks should be nearby but cannot be spotted from our northern flank team. It's time to move forward team 3-A (south flank).

To be continued ...

P/S: I am sorry the story is trickling down so slowly. Flooded with stuff both at the office and at home.

Cheers,

An M3/M1 Hunter-Killer Team in a Hasty Attack: Learning to Punch with the Fingers Spread (Part 4)

Around 6:51, all teams are at the edge of the palm trees, scanning west before moving on.

An artillery barrage falls over team 4-A (center group, 2 M3 CFVs). Team 4-A pulls back to safety un-harmed. The enemy has seen us. There must be some infantry OPs somewhere.

Team 4-A pulls back to avoid the artillery fire.

With the certainty that the enemy has seen us, I order everybody to wait for a couple of minutes, and scan the terrain west. No victors out there.

I am a bit scared of letting both teams 2-A and 3-A to start moving west. I choose team 2-A (north flank) as the one to move on first because its avenue of infiltration/penetration is closer to the limit of our sector. If something nasty happens during their approach, they can move north to safety relatively fast.

Team 2-A moves up

Team 2-A advances northwest through a small valley. Formation column, with the tank up front. Because the terrain now is a bit more closed, I want to make sure that if contact is to happen during the march, a tank is the first thing the enemy faces

Another artillery barrage, now on team 3-A (southern flank), produces the first loss. An M3 CFV falls prey to the fire from the sky. This is not a good start.

Team 3-A suffers the first loss.

Fortunately, team 2-A (northern flank) advances unopposed.

Another view of the advance of team 2-A

It’s now 6:55 and the time of deploying the “hunters” of team 2-A has come.

Situation at 6:55. Note team 2-A's advance.

To be continued ...

Cheers,

An An M3/M1 Hunter-Killer Plt in a Hasty Attack: Learning to Punch with the Fingers Spread (Part 2)

The Plan

We are deep in the desert. Right in front of us there is a small valley, oddly scattered with palm trees. West of that valley, the hills we have to clear. Once we get inside this hilly terrain, long range engagements (in which we have such an awesome edge) will be impossible. Whatever happens in the hills, it will be a knife-fight. It's early in the morning and a moderate sandstorm has limited the visibility to 1 km.

Based on the light resistance we found in the last hours and the lack of prepared enemy defenses, the enemy forces are likely conducting a mobile security mission. One hour ago, our Sqn command group has destroyed two PCs and one tank (see reference points in the map). At least 4 T-72s and 5 BMPs were seen hastily moving west.

Our task is to clear the enemy from the sector indicated in the map and restore the screen line.

Forces available for this mission are a US Cav Plt (6 M3 CFV, 2 M1 MBT) which I organized as a Hunter-Killer Plt (see previous post). The Squadron's aerial component is grounded until the climate conditions improve. We have no indirect fire support available for this mission.

My scheme of maneuver is, sequentially:
1) Clear the valley with the whole Hunter-Killer (HK) Plt
2) Infiltrate or force a penetration of the hilly terrain via small valleys/low terrain at the north and southern extremes of the sector with HK teams 2A and 3A
3) Teams 2A and 3A conduct mutually supported HK missions to find and destroy the enemy forces. Team 4A (2 M3 CFVs) stays back in the small valley, alerts of any enemy movement in the west part of the sector and stays ready to reinforce HK operations of teams 2A and 3A

H-K and HK: Hunter-Killer tactics; click the image for an expanded view

The infiltration/penetration of the hilly terrain of 3A HK team (southern flank) could have been made a bit more down south, near the southern edge of the sector. I opted for a small low terrain entrance a bit north than that because I wanted to make sure that team 3A could support team 2A.

Coming up next: the execution

Cheers,

An M3/M1 Hunter-Killer Plt in a Hasty Attack: Learning to Punch with the Fingers Spread (Part 1)

Man schlägt jemanden mit der Faust und nicht mit gespreizten Fingern. (You hit somebody with your fist and not with your fingers spread.) Heinz Guderian
Meaning that you should concentrate your Panzers for one mighty push in one direction and not distribute them over a large area. From WikiQuotes.

The action described below is from a custom-made Steel Beasts ProPE scenario featuring a US Cavalry Plt tasked with filling a gap in a screen line.

This scenario is loosely based in the actions of the 2nd Plt, A Troop, 1-4 US Cavalry near objective Norfolk during the Gulf War. During the early hours of 27 Feb 1991, 1-4 US Cav was conducting a screen mission for 1 ID. The S3 of the unit, Major John Burdan became aware that A and B Troops have been inadvertently moving away from each other while moving to establish the screen line. Thus, a gap in the screen line was generated. The 1st Squadron commander (LTC Robert Wilson) decided to inspect the screen line personally, taking along one M3 and an M113. This command group found a dug-in Iraqi T-72 and quickly dispatched it. Soon it became evident that BMPs and T-72s were behind the 1st Squadron's screen line. Lacking the firepower needed to clear this enemy group, the 2nd Plt of A Troop (2LT Adrian Lowndes) was called in to clear the enemy positions and to re-establish de screen line. More details can be found at "The Road to Safwan", by Bourque and Burdan (pages 151 to 153).

Please keep in mind "loosely based". This scenario is not an historical recreation. Over time, I profusively edited the scenario and kept getting rid of the many difficulties the Troopers of 1-4 US Cav have encountered in real-life. Navigation in an almost featurless desert, with few GPS units, with 1/500,000 maps and at night. How they did it, it escapes my comprehension. To make it up for my scenario's numerous excesses, I situated the action during a moderate sandstorm (low visibility), with no air support and no indirect fires availble for blue. I made the gap in the screen almost 4 km wide. I also reinforced the Iraqis with two plts of T-72s and three plt(-) of BMPs, all deployed in depth with infantry-manned OPs up front. I also gave the Iraqis random start positions and two crude plans of armored counter-attack which are triggered based in the reports by the infantry OPs.

The main purpose of editing and playing this scenario was to learn how to use hunter-killer teams in a hasty attack. M3/M1 hunter-killer teams have been widely used by US Cavalry formations during both Iraq wars. For this scenario, I have an US Cav Plt composed of 6 M3 CFVs and 2 M1 MBTs. I organized this Plt as described in an article that appeared in the Armor magazine, back in 1993.

The Hunter-Killer Cavalry Platoon, as described in Armor magazine. (Click the image for an expanded view)

Without further ado, the mission.

The tactical situation. (Click on the image for an expanded view)

The blue units at the north and south extremes of the map, are part of the squadron's screen line and they are out of my control. The gap between both of them is where enemy presence is suspected. The units is at the eastern extreme of the map are part of my Plt. You will have excuse me in that each of them show Plt symbols and nomenclature. They are all just part of the same US Cav Plt. Units 3-A and 2-A have a tank symbol but they are actually composed of 1 M1 MBT and 2 M3 CFVs. This is the first time I use the new mixed units feature of v2.146! :)

The task is to execute a "clear" tactical mission and re-establish the screen line (dotted arrows located at the western edge). The "clear" tactical mission is ussualy executed after very careful planning and is supported with multiple assets. Clearly not the case for this scenario, but I'm claiming METTTC considerations. :)

To be continued ...

Cheers,

A Tank Platoon in the Defense, Part 2: Tactical Misadventures in Steel Beasts ProPE

Continued from here.

I played this scenario with some gentlemen from a very well-known simulation community. The identities of the players are withheld to protect the innocent. :) All tanks in the platoon manned by humans except for tank #3, which was handled by the computer. I played as commander of tank #2.

Our platoon commander decided to go as the FRAGO suggested: stay in BP1, inflict some damage, call for an arty smoke mission and reverse to the alternate battle positions.

We never got a chance.

The enemy attacked our right flank (yes, the flank I was holding) and overran my position. When we detected the enemy tanks, they were at a shouting distance from my position. The call for artillery-smoke from our commander was too late as the enemy was already near our position. The enemy moved to the back to our position and took my tank, then tank #1. Tank #3 got destroyed while it was trying to reverse towards safety. Tank #4 made an heroic attempt to eliminate the fast moving enemy tanks. He took 2 of them with him.

The mission went catastrophically bad.

Below are my thoughts on why I think we failed.

• The prepared dug-in firing positions at BP1 had good fields of fire on EA Dog. Good but not optimal.

Click the image for an expanded view. Left: map, showing our initial positions. Right column: birds-eye view from BP1 towards EA Dog. Note the prepared tank positions in front of each tank. Tank #3 and #4 had good overlapping fields of fire, but tanks #1 and 2 were separated by a small elevation covered by a patch of vegetation and they ended up with different views of EA Dog.

A close up of the individual positions of tanks #1 and #2. Note the slight elevation that separates both, which resulted in non-shared fields of fire. Click the image for an expanded view.

• The withdrawal route from BP1 to BP2A and BP2B had no cover or concealment. We should have realized that if the artillery-delivered smoke would fail its purpose (as it did), the withdrawal towards the alternate BPs would have exposed us to enemy observation and fire.

The arrow indicates my withdrawal route, which featured terrain flat as a pancake. The thing in front of my tank is a prepared dug-in tank fighting position.

A bit off topic, I want to mention that my tank took 8 hits during this mission. The 9th was the charm ...

The red rods indicate the direction of the munition hitting my tank. Click in the image for an expanded view.

Cheers,

A Tank Platoon in the Defense, Part 1: Tactical Misadventures in Steel Beasts ProPE

One of the things I like about Steel Beasts ProPE (SBProPE) is that it forces you to think really hard about tactics. The virtual battlefield in SBProPE is fast and brutal and the only way to survive is to get serious about what you are doing with your tank.

This scenario I'm writing about today is part of the older scenarios in SBProPE. It features a platoon of M1 Abrams defending objective "Star" in a sector two kilometers wide or so. The enemy, a motorized rifle company is advancing from west to east.

The OPORD in this scenario is more like a FRAGO, which is correct I guess given the size of the scenario. In the FRAGO, the commander of blue forces orders us to avoid the enemy getting to objective "Star". The commander also has provided some maneuver and tactical guidelines which are depicted in the next map as operational graphics.


Two recon HMMWVs are in front of blue forces as combat patrols and will provide warning of the approaching enemy. Our M1 Abrams tanks are supposed to inflict as many casualties on the enemy by firing from battle position 1 (BP1) towards engagement area "Dog" (EA Dog). On order, we are to withdraw towards battle positions BP2A and BP2B under the cover of artillery-delivered smoke and destroy the remaining enemy forces in engagement area "Cat" (EA Cat).

Simple, uh?

Not quite.

For starters, the scenario is about using tanks, intrinsically offensive weapons, in a defensive role. The British military theorist J.F.C. Fuller, in his "The Foundations of the Science of War", suggested that the basic three actions of combat are: move, strike and protect. According to Fuller, in a typical weapon system, each of these actions influences the other. One soldier cannot fire (strike) as precisely when he is running (move). In addition, if the soldier is running (move), his cover (protect) is reduced. The tank is not exempt from these factors, yet it has a superior mobility (move) that can be used with little compromise of its firepower (strike) and protection against enemy fire (protect). The ability to "move strike and protect" at the same time constitutes the biggest advantage the tank has over other weapon systems. Renouncing to move your tank, as you would do in a defense scenario like the one detailed above, is giving away one advantage. And since the "move, strike and protect" factors seem to combine synergistically, loosing one of three is loosing much more than1/3 of your capabilities. Just staying alive in such conditions requires mastery and study. When tanks stay put in the battlefield with inexperienced crews inside, bad things happen.

FM 17-15 (Tank Platoon) has a whole chapter devoted to defensive operations. In chapter 4 there is this important paragraph:

The two patterns described in FM 100-5 are mobile and area defenses. A mobile defense is executed to destroy the attacking force by permitting the enemy to advance into a position that exposes him to counterattack by a mobile reserve. The focus of area defenses is on retention of terrain; defending units engage the enemy from an interlocking series of positions and destroy him, largely by direct fires.

Since in this scenario we lack a mobile reserve, in this scenario we will be conducting an area defense.

Continues here ...

Cheers,

Steel Beasts ProPE v2.46: Breaching Operations

In this "classic scenario" a company-strong US force has to breach through a minefield and make its way through fighting. The detail in which engineer operations are modeled is outstanding.

MCLIC-M113s move forward to start the breach. Part of the assault force waits in the background. Image is clickeable.

A MCLIC-M113 moves past a M1 MBT that is providing support by fire. Image is clickeable.

An engineer M113 in the forefront passes by a MCLIC-M113 on its way to mark the breach. Image is clickeable


An M1 MBT negotiates de breach. Note the breach marks the engineers deployed. Image is clickeable.


Better keep moving or enemy artillery will dispatch you. A platoon of mineplow-equiped M1 MBTs move forward to avoid de metal falling from the sky.

Cheers,