Firestorm: Red Thunder

Battle of Dolzig: Holding the Bridgehead Sept. 8th Noon.
Prelude
General-major Nagten surveyed the rolling ground south toward Markranstadt. A lot of German history had been written here; Leipzig to the east, Lutzen to the west, Jena even further west. Gustavus Adoplhus, Frederick the Great, Alte Vowarts had all campaigned here. Another battle was shaping nicely. His attack had shattered the covering force of 1st Gebirgsjager Division, destroying a panzer grenadier company and then catching most of a Panzer Abteilung trying to refuel from local stocks. Nagten’s guess was right; they were short of fuel and willing to sacrifice tempo to avoid running out. Oncle Harri had told of his Vater with 2nd Panzer - how the division had done all that was asked of them, and been destroyed by the Amis when they ran out of fuel. Nagten guessed the Amis were about to learn the same lesson; their Abrams tank, like the T80 the Soviet brothers refused to give to the VA, guzzled fuel like there was no tomorrow.
Polkovnik Barclay eyed the developing attack warily. “They are massing. I don’t care much to be caught in the flank.”
“Polkovnik, you have your orders. Drive directly west on both sides of B181, cross the Autobahn. After that you are on your own. One of my battalions will hold Gunthersdorf as a rallying point for you. It already has cleared the town. Half of my division is already across the Kanal. Your best bet is drive as far west as you can get on half a tank of benzin, and then return for more fuel. Fuel tankers won’t be safe beyond Gunthersdorf.”
“And if the Amis attack?”
“That is actually for the best, Barclay. It is much easier to kill them out of their holes. And once this brigade breaks, I will unleash hell against them in the form of 200 T55 tanks. They have fought their way here moving faster than their logistics support. They will either be in fuel and ammo deficit or rearming and refueling when I attack. I believe they are treating our operation as a spoiling attack and expect us to withdraw as soon as they show some teeth. For my part, I don’t intend to withdraw, and I think I can send the advance guard of one corps and the rearguard of another running back south. Their III Corps will be faced with unpleasant choices when the VII Corps and II Armeekorps prove to be broken reeds.”
Barclay shrugged. “Viel Gluck, Kommandant. Try not to expend my battalion uselessly.”
“It has already proven effective against the Leopard IIs. I won’t use it needlessly."
As Barclay rejoined his column, Nagten smiled thinly. Over the rolling ground, doubtless Ami and West German eyes could see the T64s heading west, showing their flank. They would come now, and come with what they had, hoping to catch an entire regiment from the flank, instead of waiting for the perfect moment, and perhaps counterattacking with a fresh brigade. They hadn’t had time to digest that he had two regiments over the Kanal, and that every inch of ground was crisscrossed with Spigot fire. Or that the 10th Motorisierte had regained its honor and its pluck this morning.

The terrain south of Dolzig is relatively flat, and flanked on the east by a military barracks and the west, at some distance, by the East German north-south Autobahn

We played Bridgehead. Fitzi had a preference for attacking, as he is trying to find a solid American list that can fight both on offense and defense. I was willing to accommodate him, and a die roll was Bridgehead. Perfectly themed.
Fitzi’s force was three mechanized platoons, one 4-tank Abrams platoon, M109s with Copperhead, 3 ITV platoons, one of the new scout elements, and 2 Hueys plus 4, count’em, four A10s.
One of our group was able to link with the internet on his phone, and that allowed us to peruse the new scenario rules, so I was now faced with the 60-point on-table force. 7 T64s were too much of my useful points to start on table so I went with infantry heavy, fielding the two BTR60 schutzen companies, the Soviet BMP-2 company as an ambush, using 2 BMP-1 Zugs as spearhead to dominate the flanks preventing the encirclement I feared. The remaining points were Spandrels and Sturms and all my antiair save the Gashkins. Then, having made an addition mistake, I put the T64 command tank on the table and thus had 5 more points than I should have.
(Editorial – the 60/40 percent rule is a pain in application however good it looks on paper at BF. It’s hard enough having to count units, remembering not to count transport HQ and independent teams, and then divide by 2. With a 100 point list and 10+ units there are about a thousand possible combinations. Figuring this up on game day is a bit of a pain, as there at least 9 scenarios and an unlimited number of boards which influence the game choices).

I put my four minefields so that they connected up with difficult terrain for armor, and yet had gaps big enough for one BMP (or M113/BTR) to fit between them. I deliberately left a gap in the center big enough for two Abrams side by side. I wanted to make it difficult to approach the objectives, but not impossible.
My spearhead deployments ensured that Fitzi wasn’t able to work the flanks, and also had the benefit of thrusting my wings forward while leaving my center pulled back. The shutzen platoons deployed to the flanks, I put a BTR60 transport unit in the center as bait, planning to drop the BMP+Soviet infantry squarely in his attack path at 8.1 inches, lighting him up with Spandrels and then swarming bailed Abrams with infantry.
Fitzi set up conventionally after debating spearheading into the east woods. Three mech platoons on line, the M109s reverse slope, their OP tucked behind a building allowing him observation on a slant to center, and 4 Abrams supporting the center platoon.

TURN 1
Fitzi stepped off with Abrams and infantry in the center fields, moving more cautiously on the left. He moved within 8” on the eastern flank, cut loose with M113 machineguns, and caused no losses. Ditto, on the eastern flank. The center was a different story. Fitzi’s intent was to the pave the way for the A10s to have their wicked way with me, and so his Abrams fired down the slot, ignoring my BTR60s, which he left to his M113s and ITVs. He killed one and bailed another with two hits. He kept his air wing off-table in a calculated move. The other two Abrams had been blocked by their own platoon. The M113s and ITVs managed to kill one BTR and bail another. A long range missile shot missed one of my ZSUs and another missed a BMP-1 recon. Not an outstanding first turn, but not bad.
My reprisal was simple. On the eastern flank, my infantry tossed a couple RPGs and bailed one M113 and killed another. My Hinds swooped in on his artillery, and after the 2S1s failed in their only attempt to shoot, I decided to risk the Hinds to force the VADs to uncover to my Spigots. His VADS dropped two Hinds, and my Spigots killed his VADS platoon thanks to it no longer being gone to ground. Expensive, but the Hinds didn’t get hurt after that. The Hinds killed one M109 and bailed another. Fitzi passed morale thanks to risking his company commander.
My Spandrels (East German) didn’t blitz but my Soviet Sturms did (go figure). The Sturms popped an Abrams; it burned beautifully. A BMP-1 potted an ITV. Again Fitzi made morale. Setting a pattern.

TURN 2
Fitzi proceeded to grind forward in the center, the Abrams pacing the infantry. Fitzi considered keeping the aircraft off-table again because there still were no worthy targets. I talked him into using them by pointing out that each turn he didn’t use them it was about 20 percent of his army off-table. (Boy, was I sorry for giving advice). Fitzi’s J-SEAD (Joint Suppression of Enemy Air Defense) continued but his artillery contributed nothing to the operation thanks to bad spotting angles. He dumped regular shells on my BTR-60s and bailed one. The Abrams managed another kill and a bail, and I false targeted the kill shot onto the SA-9 that had remained bailed. Two SA-9s remained, one bailed. Another missile shot snuck in low, and killed a ZSU-23.
Other ITV fire was ineffectual; they either didn’t hit or I saved. Fitzi pressed in close to support an infantry assault on my eastern flank schutzen company and failed the ‘Follow Me’ necessary to get that infantry platoon into position, and thus needlessly exposed himself to fire from RPG-7s hidden deep in the woods. Despite my having fired last turn, the M113s didn’t generate enough hits to pin, and I saved all three.
On the western flank, that infantry platoon’s M113s tried to take out the Spigot team, and again to no net effect. Failed one infantry save out of 3 hits; he missed his firepower.
Then came Die Walkure. My AA was completely ineffective thanks to his careful preparation, and he smashed up the East German Carnations and the Soviet Sturms. 2 dead one bailed Sturm, one dead two bailed Carnations. But both units passed morale. The Cobras bailed a BMP-1. He debated shooting up the T64 battalion commander who shouldn’t have been on the table, and I pointed out that other than killing a tank, it was wasted dice – the BMP-2s were in ambush, and could not be harmed, and still counted for morale. Forever. Fitzi’s missile hit on the Shilkas proved fruitful as they failed morale.

My turn. Der Tag had arrived. I dropped the BMPs from ambush and blitzed the infantry into the buildings just in front of them. My Spandrels to the west blitzed to firing positions vs. the Abrams, and I brought out the BTR60s moving left and right of the BMPs to clear BMP fire lanes. Six Spigots streaked in from flanking positions on the well-advanced Abrams, and one finally leaked through the barrage of 3+s Fitzi rolled to avoid damage. One dead Abrams. Sturm fired; one hit – dead Abrams. Three BMP-mounted Spandrel missiles streaked in after my T64 battalion commander righteously missed his shot (he wasn’t really there, and made no real contribution to the battle), and the fourth Abrams died. I didn’t have to assault to collect the scalps of bailed Abrams. However, there were infantry and M113s in reach. Between the RPGs in the westernmost building, and the fire from two BMPs who couldn’t see an Abrams when the last Abrams died, and some fire from BTR60s, three M113s ended bailed four inches from the building where three teams and my battalion CO were located. Massed fire from the other BTR60s shredded the rifle platoon moving to support the Abrams. Both were followed up by an assault; three stunned M113 crews were arrested for trespassing. Two infantry teams added to the carnage, but once again Fitzi’s morale proved golden.

Turn 3
Fitzi took stock, and decided he couldn’t win, and with his center down to five vehicles, 2 infantry stands and no hope, that he couldn’t prevent me from winning either. So turn 3 was limited to him trying to get points.
The A10s were back again, and Fitzi smoked another TOW in to wreck an SA-9 which had just recovered bail. Sigh. So once again 1x 12.7MM MG, 6 Grail, 2 SA-9 missiles take on Die Walkure. By incredible skill (luck) one hits and brings down a Cobra. Smile of satisfaction. At least all those missiles weren’t worthless. Then I remembered the SA-14 stand on the other flank. One of Fitzi’s planes is just barely in range. Three dice, three hits (they’re angry that I didn’t let them shoot last turn, having forgotten them). Fitzi missed one save. Is it possible? Yes! A 5!! One A10 aborts. (Seriously guys, I know we all whine about AA effectiveness, but my take, from about 4 years in the missile R&D business, is that what’s getting modelled is damaged, not always shot down aircraft.)
Did this help the hapless Carnations and Sturm I left as chew-toys for a repeat airstrike? I couldn’t know how well things would go the previous turn, so they were purposely left to slaughtered, and were, to prevent Fitzis Abrams and infantry from miraculously continuing the mission (Charlie Mike, back in the day).
I didn’t complete my part of the turn. It was a math exercise, with BTR60s chasing enemy infantry and my missile weapons – 2 Hinds, 6 Spigots and 9 Spandrels – using the 7 remaining US vehicles for target practice. Fitzi resigned. PACT wins 4-3

HOT WASH - Fitzi and I discussed the outcome. It's tough to attack in open country with an infantry list and light armor. This is, IMHO, NATO's main weakness. They rely a lot on missiles, and missiles can't move and shoot reliably, and eventually the infantry assault blocks the target anyway. They also have too few tanks to cover the battle field so they are subject to the tip of the spear problem - a tank attack finds itself subjected to an ambush at close range because it has to dive right in, and finds itself readily flanked.

AFTERMATH

For 12 hours the 221st Tank Brigade romped through rear echelon elements of 1st US Armored Division and 1st Gebirgsjager Division while the 10th Motorisierte advanced past Markranstadt and hammered corps support elements from two corps. At nightfall, both units fell back into defensive positions covering the bridgehead at Dolzig