Time to take stock of our situation. It’s 0543, we have perfect visibility, nearly 7,000 meters. The Soviets are pushing on three locations. One, to the south of Bad Neustadt. The other, just east, and the last is crossing near Heustreu.

At some point I might have to pull back. I’d rather that’s not now. But there’s one Company of T-80’s in the same location as I have some M1’s and some Cav scouts. If I pull back now I’ll lose one of my VP locations for sure. I’ll hold for one more cycle and then see if we can hold or not.

If we can’t then we’ll extricate and head West onto the ridges. That’ll give us great position to use our 120mm cannons to great effect, especially on a clear day.

0545 : We trade a single M1 for three T-80’s right on the East edge of Bad Neustadt.

0548 : One more M1 down. But the backup is moving in quick like. I’ve got two more platoons of M1’s headed into town along with Cav scouts. Send in the Bradleys!

0548 : We destroy a BMP-2 from 4,300 meters. Nice shot!

0548 : Three more T-80’s down. That company is almost finished.

Well, I hadn’t expected to see that! If the losses get high enough the scenario will end. Normally I see this when I lose all of my troops. How much further will we need to bleed them?

If we can just move into position throughout Bad Neustadt I think we can hold the city.

0550 : Two BMP-2’s down and a mechanized rifle squad.

0551 : Two more BMP-2’s. This is all from the units to the south of town.

0553 : 1 T-80 down.

0553 : 3 BMP-2’s.

0553 : 2 more BMP-2’s to the south. We also snag a pair of HQ units in that mix.

0555 : Airstrike! The Soviets send in a bomber and hit my platoon of M1’s that’s holding the bridge. Luckily we don’t lose any. But man, I hope those reserve units come in. They’re running low on ammo.

0556 : T-80 destroyed.

0557 : M1 lost on the southern crossing.

0600 : Another platoon of Cav scouts arrive but I can’t give them any orders for 34 more minutes.

0600 : 3 M1’s lost! Ouch! Instead of either staying in the tree line or getting into the city they’ve sat in the open and are duking it out with some T-80’s across the river.

0605 : Lost a Bradley covering that east crossing.

0606 : T-80 Destroyed.

0608 : T-80 destroyed just past the Heustreu bridge. This was the last surviving tank of that Company.

0610 : More Cav scouts! Again, way up in Wollbach. 24 minutes until orders.

0611 : T-80 destroyed, just east of Bad Neustadt.

Map update! We’ve got 20 minutes till order time. The big push is coming just east of Bad Neustadt. We’ve got three half strength companies of Soviet Armor coming in. The infantry attack in the south has been repulsed, but with the loss of two M1’s. I’m pretty confident we can hold the area near Wollbach so I’ll be moving that platoon of M1’s soon.

0615 : Another airstrike! This time they go after HQ/D/2nd ACR. No losses this time either.

0619 : Mortars take out a T-80 as it’s crossing the bridge. Go artillery!

0621 : T-80 destroyed.

0625 : The last M1 from 2/D/2nd was destroyed. That platoon was caught in the open, what a bummer. I should’ve steered them across the plains. Now I definitely need to move 1/A/2nd down to cover that gap.

9 minutes until orders.

0627 : Bradley’s claim a T-80.

0630 : One BMP-2 destroyed.

0631 : Two more T-80’s destroyed.

Bingo!

As it stands right now I’m holding a decent share of victory point locations. Couple that with Soviet losses and I’m on top. Not great by any means, but a marginal victory. I likely could send in my remaining armor and cavalry to retake the VP at Heustreu, but I’d rather not lose them. I don’t know what’s on the other side of that bridge. I’m going to run this until orders time and see how it looks.

0632 : 2 T-80’s down.

0634 : My orders phase. I think I’m going to call it a marginal victory.

So how’d I do?

Hmm, lost roughly half of my M1’s. That’s a pretty crappy stat. The most resilient groups of M1’s were paired with Cav Scouts in the OB. I’ll definitely do that again. I should have done it with the others…

Great googly moogly! Destroyed 24 T-80’s, knocked out 25 more. Out of 34 BMP-2’s, they ended up with just 4 functional units.

It could’ve been worse. Digging in helped immensely along with holding the right spots.

And this is the final map. Heustreu would have been tough. They have a platoon of BRDM-2’s with AT weapons mounted. Plus I see a half strength company of T-80’s in the wood line. Oddly enough I see self propelled artillery. I don’t think we ever came under fire from them. Ever. Did they just appear maybe? I’m certain I took no shots from them.

So, next time?

Pair up M1A1’s with Cav platoons. Cover Northwest of Heustreu. There’s a ridge line that might have offered some good shots and helped us contest Heustreu. Keep some recon on the other side of the river. I kept 1/A/2nd near Wollbach, they were the least productive of all my armor. But did they keep the Soviets from pushing that edge? Next time I might just leave some Bradley’s to cover that.

That’s the thing I like about this game. There’s a next time. I can try out a totally different strategy. Then, to top it all off, I can test it out from the Soviet side.

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed. If you have comments, please leave them below. Want to see something? Let me know!