Team Whiskey - WWIII Fulda Gap Campaign

[Ithoriel]

I'm just saying, nobody on the winning side said 'we should go with this technically advanced tank, making fewer of them, and we'll win on the strength of our engineering prowess.'  The winners decided to put as many tanks in the field as possible.

The German monsters - Tiger, Panther and their variants may have incorporated cutting edge technologies but the weren't technically advanced, they were unwieldy, unreliable, difficult to maintain and repair, expensive and largely unsuited for the war the Germans were fighting.

The Germans too planned to put as many tanks in the field as possible, they just didn't do it very well.

The Allies flooded the battlefields with constantly up-gunned, up-armoured, more reliable vehicles and seem to have realised that bigger was not always better.

Post war the US and UK had the industrial capacity to create hi-tech tanks and a political system that disincentivised casualties the Russians not so much.

[bigjackmac]

Ith,

"...incorporated cutting edge technologies but the weren't technically advanced..."
From my point of view, technology isn't necessarily the issue, the idea of quality over quantity in this case means battleship-armored tanks with ridiculously large guns, vice a slew of less armored, less-ridiculously armed guns

"The Germans too planned to put as many tanks in the field as possible, they just didn't do it very well."
Of course the Germans planned to put as many tanks in the field as possible, the number of what was possible was diminished by their choice in tanks.  How many more Pz IVs could they have made if not a single Tiger or Panther was produced?

"The Allies flooded the battlefields with constantly up-gunned, up-armoured, more reliable vehicles and seem to have realised that bigger was not always better."
As opposed to putting into production a tank like the Tiger, which would have meant re-tooling industry, was more expensive, was less reliable, was much more difficult to get to the battlefield, etc....  That's what I'm saying, the WWII Allies chose to go with the tank they could make lots of, that had a gun and armor that was 'good enough,' as opposed to the 'top of the line.'

"Post war the US and UK had the industrial capacity to create hi-tech tanks and a political system that disincentivised casualties the Russians not so much."
I agree with the Western view of casualties having an effect on military doctrine.  I'm just saying, it's kind of funny that we beat Germany using the 'quantity' method, but banked our civilization on flipping the script (even pulling in former WWII German General officers to teach us how to conduct fight severely outnumbered, a la Manstein's 'backhand blow').

V/R,
Jack

[toxicpixie]

I suspect we aimed to fight the wrong war - we were thinking we'd be the Prussiansin 1866 as Austro-Hungarians in the guise of WarPac threw thselves into our needlegun equivalents. I suspect it would actually have more like the Franco-Prussian as the technically superior armour is decisively out manouvered at the operational level.

Fortunately we never had to find out. And we're definitely not as benighted as Napoleon III's chances!

[bigjackmac]

"Fortunately we never had to find out."

Amen brother!

And just to be clear my quantity vs quality remarks, I'm not one of the "oh, the Russkies would have whooped us up and down the street" guys.  I believe the first part of the war would have gone down just like my campaign: NATO being beaten back, heavy casualties, but beating the stuffins out of the WarPac every step of the way.  NATO would have won in the air and at sea, and reinforcements (REFORGER) would have arrived. 

Then, either nukes get busted out, and everyone loses, or the Soviets fall back to their starting lines and we all pretend like this never happened.  I don't believe NATO would have had the political will or military capability to push into Russia (not the Soviet Union, Russia), nor would NATO have wanted to test whether the Soviets would be willing to let NATO roll east without popping nukes.

V/R,
Jack

[toxicpixie]

I don't know if they could have been carried thru effectively but NATOs plans did call for counter attacks deep into Eastern Europe. Hell, the West German Army nearly invaded off their own bat in '68 before the government regained control - four Panzer divisions were on attack-March within the last ten kilometres to crossing the border :S

German will was there, but yeah - not sure how many others wanted to die for the Reich, for a third time in the century!

[bigjackmac]

All,

This is the finale of batrep #7.  So, first off, please accept my humble apologies for the delay since my last post; real life has been kicking my butt.  In any case, when we last spoke, NATO is trying to hold a bridge over the Main River for as long as possible, and while NATO has taken heavy casualties, they are also exacting an atrocious toll on the advancing Soviets.  The fight is really on a knife's edge, where Team Whiskey physically can't stand to take any more casualties lest it cease to exist as a combat unit, whereas if the Soviets suffer any more casualties they won't have the strength to push across the river and hold until the bridgehead can be reinforced.  So, this is about as tight as the fight can get.

The previous batrep showed Turns 1 through 3, so we pick up the action with Turn 4, and the Soviets activate first.


A TOW launches at a T-72, with enemy at all quarters, and close.  To see how the fight turned out, please check the blog at:
http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2015/10/team-whiskey-fulda-gap-batrep-7-part-ii.html

So, stay tuned and I'll get fight number 8 posted ASAP, and I'll look to fight out scenario 9 this weekend and 10 next.  Hope you guys are having a good time.

V/R,
Jack

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Nice to see you back mate, good report.

[Techno]

Blending in with a herd of sheep ?  

Great report, Jack !
Cheers - Phil

[bigjackmac]

Hey, thanks guys, I appreciate it!  And sorry it took so long, I've been pretty busy.

And Phil - apparently you're not familiar with the good Mr. Dillon, or you wouldn't be surprised by his ability to blend in with the sheep.  I'd tell you how, but this is a family-friendly site

V/R,
Jack

[bigjackmac]

All,

Because I love you so much, and you've been so patient, I present a battle report in its entirety, not split into two parts.  But the next one will be in two parts.  Probably the last one too

It's 1530 on 8 August 1986, and Team Whiskey has taken the better part of the day to recover survivors from the northern bank of the Main River and get reorganized while other elements of V Corps man the ramparts against the Red horde.  However, by mid-afternoon the Soviets have broken through in several places.  Team Whiskey is once again called upon to stem the bleeding.  The Soviets are on the south/west bank of the Main River, in the face of Frankfurt.  It quickly becomes evident the Soviets do not intend on entering the city, choosing instead to conduct a double envelopment to by-pass and cut off the Frankfurt en route to the Rhine.

Team Whiskey, with much of its armor remaining (none committed to the fight at the Main River bridge), rushes a powerful force to the suburbs of Frankfurt to blunt the enemy's northern thrust, with Whiskey's commanding officer, Lt Col Lacy, in personal command of the mission, leading  both mechanized infantry companies and a platoon of his tanks into the fray.  Both infantry companies are understrength (only two platoons each), with a company commander, platoon commander, and one platoon coming over from the recently disbanded (due to casualties/losses) 1st Squadron, 11th ACR.  Additionally, the 81mm mortar platoon is out of the fight as they attempt scrounge new mortar tubes and ammo, having fired off all their ammo, spiked their tubes, then swam the Main River to get back to friendly lines in the last fight.

Captain Bronshtein's Kilo Company (with TOW, MG, and sniper attachments) arrived first, setting up in the southern sector, while Captain Phillips' India Company, still mounted in their Bradleys, swings further north, with Lt Travers' 2nd Tank Platoon swinging north further still.


Overview of the forces, with the usual overwhelming Soviet horde on the left, and the NATO troops on the right, though I must admit Team Whiskey has more than I'm used to, so this is gonna be interesting.


The table, looking west to east from the US baseline.  The tan line across the top is actually a rail line atop a raised embankment, and is key to this scenario.  The embankment is impassable to vehicles EXCEPT in the northeast east (top left) corner.  So the Soviets are kinda screwed in that they have a bunch of armor on hand, but it's all forced to come through a severe bottleneck.  Capt Bronshtein and Kil Company are dug-in in and around the big, black-roofed building at center right, just below the treeline.  Capt Phillips and India will be coming on the board in Bradleys at bottom center (they and Lt Travers' tank platoon are off table right now), and Lt Travers tank platoon will come on at bottom left.

The Soviet plan is shock and awe, to hit as hard and as fast as possible to try to get their vehicles through that damn bottleneck at to left.  The Soviets are running their usual three Mech formations (7 BMPs, 1 command team, and 6 rifle teams each), and they are key to the opening phase.  The infantry from two of the mech formations (2 x command team, 12 x rifle team) stand detached, visible at top right on the railroad tracks.  The infantry from the third mech formation are dismounted at the bottleneck (top left), and all Soviet vehicles are stacked behind them.  The plan is for all the Soviet infantry to move forward to spot and engage US infantry and anti-tank weapons, and for the armored vehicles (top left and top center) to move through the gap like they were shot out of a cannon, then spread out to provide fire support to the infantry and envelop the US positions.


US TOWs in action.  To see how the fight went, please check the blog at:
http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2015/10/team-whiskey-fulda-gap-batrep-8.html

Several heroes identified in this one, I'm sure everyone but Ivan, Rod, and Kyote will like the result   On to fight number 9!

V/R,
Jack

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Nice one Jack!

[Techno]

Seconded ! 
Cheers - Phil

[bigjackmac]

Thanks guys, I appreciate it.

I'm almost ready to post part 1 of batrep 9.

V/R,
Jack

[bigjackmac]

All,

It's 0730 on 9 August 1986, and Team Whiskey is again playing the role of fire brigade.  Having moved to counter the northern pincer enveloping Frankfurt (and successfully turning back the Red horde in their sector), Team Whiskey was pulled back to see where the next blow would land.  They didn't have to wait long.

Rhein-Main Airbase has been key to NATO evacuation of civilians in the region, serving as both a collection point and evacuation point.  But evacuation operations concluded this morning with the Soviets once again striking the flightline, and with Soviet armored formations on the horizon, the decision was made that Rhein-Main had to abandoned.  All day NATO troops have been packing up personnel and gear, and destroying what couldn't be taken.  But these were lightly-armed rear echelon troops, and so with Soviet troops on the airfield's perimeter, Team Whiskey was flung into a hasty defense.  But due to travel issues (military and civilian traffic blocking the way, dealing with Soviet interdiction airstrikes, and getting lost due to no time available for route reconnaissance), only Captain Bronshtein's Kilo Company makes it into position in time, where they link up with two teams from 10th Special Forces Group (10 SFG).  And here comes the Soviet armor...


The opposing forces, with Soviets on the left and NATO on the right.  If you're thinking there's quite a disparity between the two, you're correct


Overview of the map showing part of the Rein-Main flightline, north is down, east is left.  The US force is emplaced in a line roughly running north/south (bottom to top) from the end of the road at the bottom up to the end of the taxi-way at top.  The US does not have a lot to work with in terms of forces or terrain.


I love this photo.  Certainly my stuff isn't as pretty as most, but I do like the Hind hunting out in front of a wave of BMPs laying smoke to cover their tanks and dismounts, as TOWs fly out seeking steel. 


The A-10 makes a run.  To see how the fight's going, please check the blog at:
http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2015/10/team-whiskey-fulda-gap-batrep-9-part-i.html

Part 2 is coming as quick as I can get it typed up, and the final fight of the campaign is happening this weekend.

V/R,
Jack

[Techno]

Terrific, Jack !
Cheers - Phil