CMBS Rollin' on the River Con vs Undercover Geek AAR - Game Over

[Con]

Turn 209 Time remaining 0:48

Finally the game of Stryker versus T90 goes my way.  The same T90 that previously was pooping its pants spots a Stryker on the US side of the embankment.  1X 125mm tank shell later and you can see that the Strykers need to stay lucky....a T90 only needs to get luck once



In the tree line another US grunt struggling under the weight of his equipment and grumbling about the idiocy of his orders is trying to make it back to his lines.  Before he can make it though a 122mm anti personnel shell fragments in front of him.  He is mesmerized by the beautiful bright light  It's the last thing he sees as the razor shards sweep through him killing him instantly before he hits the ground.



Updated Blood Board
Russian                  US
14 MT-LBM 6M               12 Inf/HQ/Recon Strykers          
3 BRDM-2M                      3 MGS Stryker
1 BTR-80 1V152               3 ATGM Stryker
2 Tunguska                       3 Mortar Stryker
4 T90A
Points total ~4470            Points total ~4635 (doesn't include air losses)

[Con]

Turn 211 Time remaining 0:47

Not much happened.  A US sniper was felled by arty fire but apart from that it was mostly repositioning of the T90s and beginning to call in arty fire from the FO on the right flank onto the embankment.  7-8 turns until it arrives.  Then to use it like a WW1 creeping barrage to keep the US troops down while my T90s bring the fight over to the US side of the embankment.

My FO in the village spots a US FO near the railway bridge.  I decide to call in a precision strike on him.  For the US this would be a 2 minute mission.  For the Russians it takes 8 plus minutes.  US forces are pretty safe from the Russian precision rounds 8 minutes is an eternity in this type of war.

[Con]

Turn 213 Time remaining 0:46

Lets tell the story of a AT4 Serial number CHRPC0050 preloaded with a HEAT round.  Manufactured in the spring of 2002 by Alliant Tech Systems.  This little launcher underwent 100% field release testing for its electronics and moving parts.  After final visual inspection it was shipped to US Arsenal at Fort Lewis

There again it was taken out of its protective padding, stripped down and visually inspected.  The armorer hooked it up to a testing station and certified that all electronics were still in working order.

It was put back on the shelf with all the other AT4 LAWs assigned to the 2nd Infantry (Indianhead) Division.  Once every 12 months it was pulled from the rack and tested.

This particular LAW made the rounds shipped out to Korea where the 2nd Infatnry Division is Headquartered.  When the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat team was sent to the Iraqi sandbox in 2004 it was taken out of its protective case and given a 100% recertification.
Never fired in this deployment it went back into storage sitting forlorn and alone apart from routine yearly testing and some sparse maintenance.  It did
two more tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan both times never being fired.

Having travelled the globe three times it was finally shipped off to do war with the Russians on a cool Ukrainian morning on 20th of July 2016.  There this hunk of plastic and steel was unceremoniously ripped from its protective mounting inside a Stryker, hurriedly thrust into the sweaty palms of SPC first class.  He stripped the protective plastic off the cover, checked the battery light and proceeded to hump with the heavy SOB through the thick mud of the freshly ploughed Ukrainian fields.  Around him there were screams and gunfire.  Artillery shells whined overhead.  Shrapnel pattered down on him.  Explosive concussions lifted him off his feet.  He saw friends blasted apart, lost hearing from the cacophony of sound and madness that is modern war.  During all of this he kept his grip on CHRPC0050 LAW AT4.

Making it into the cool and dubious safety of a forest he was assaulted by enemy gunfire, crawling past blazing APCs many of them his own combat brigade Strykers he smelled the chocking acrid smell of diesel and burning paint and chemicals overlaid with the hideous sweet smell of charring flesh.  More gunfire ahead caused him to hug the ground more tightly.  Low crawling with the AT4 was exhausting him.  Sweat ran down his face and pooled under his body armor.  The straps of the LAW were cutting into his back and arms.  The words of his sergeant killed by artillery early in the fight rang through his ears.  Stay down and make it count.  A motor coughs and then roars and tracks chew up the ground making it rumble.  An ominous dark shape lurches forward.  His training saves him he slips the LAW off his shoulder.  Smoothly rotates it up into firing position.  Safety pin removed, firing rod on the cocking lever engaged, the red lever is  held down and his thumb jabs the red firing button.  The tank doesnt see him.  Thinking thoughts of vengeance he lets fly. 

LAW AT4 CHRPC0050 15 years after it has been made, 100s of man hours of testing and maintance, tens of thousands of dollars of shipping costs for multi deployments around the globe, replacement parts, training finally flies off in combat for the first time.  It launches true the rocket ignites and sends the HEAT round flying down the barrel at 250 meters a second.  Less than half a second after pressing the button LAW AT4 serial number CHRPC0050 impacts on the front of T90A tank of 2nd platoon commanded by a nervous Lt. Fedistikov. 

With a deafening roar it impacts on the front of the T90. 

"What the hell was that thinks" Lt. Fedistikov as he rotates his 125mm cannon and idly sends a HE round towards  a US soldier who had just reared up with some sort of weird US RPG.  Damn thing almost scratched my paint."

[Con]

Turn 215 Time remaining 0:45

After that close shave Lt. Fedistikov backs up his T90.  any more of those single crazy US troopers out there and he could actually get dinged.  Well his luck ran out after he had backed up a safe distance some heavy arty falls out of the sky.  The shells land so close that they knock a track off his T90.  He is immobilized.



My surviving APC crewman on the right hand embankment flank sees a US trooper head bowed down in exhaustion kneel on the railroad tracks and put his hands in the air.....I think UCG is beginning to break.  His troops are getting run ragged and now surrendering.  Could this be the tipping point? 

The turn ends with the brave little crewman spotting a Stryker rumbling towards him



Arty starts dropping as spotting rounds on the right embankment. 

The screeching of choppers fills the air again.  How many Apaches did UCG get!  I feel like John Wayne I just can't kill enough of those Apaches!

[Con]

Turn 217 Time remaining 0:44

Yep the poor APC crewman gets unceremoniously cut down by the Stryker.  Seems a bit overkill but I am sure UCG didnt know what he was.

Apart from that the sounds of the choppers gets louder

Turn 219 Time remaining 0:43

Bloody hell two hellfires from different parts of the map lazily fly over and impact on my MT-LBM within two seconds of each other.  Those choppers have finally struck blood.  The Tunguska begins to chatter but it has limited ammo.  After next turn it will be empty.



Dropping all pretense of hunting I order the T90 in the far left to get under cover of the embankment trees ASAP.  The arty has started dropping and I need to hope that it will suppress  any troops that are lurking in there.  I also order the other T90 to move towards the arty but to stay in the trees.  If the Apaches can see the AFV they can also spot a tank in the near vicinity.

In the tree line I order the T90 to move forward as well.  In the village I order the T90 near the chicken coop to move forward fast.  I am worried that the  US spotter will try to nail him with some Excalibur rounds and they can spot each other.  I order this tank to also put a couple of HE rounds at the US spotters position.  I am contemplating taking this T90 and running him over to the remnants of the recon platton that is in the left flank woods.  I have this crazy idea that I can cross my T90s with a couple of APCs over the river.  Unlike the Strykers Russian AFVs and tanks are amphibious.  That could give UCG a very nasty surprise!

[Con]

Turn 221 Time remaining 0:42

I plot the crazy weasel course for the T90 in the village to make it over to the far left patch of woods where the recon units are.  I also tell him to send a couple of rounds of HE onto the US spotter to try and keep his head down.



I order the T90 and remnant soldiers in the treeline to advance towards death corner

I tell the T90s on the far right to get to where the arty is dropping 

[Con]

Turn 223 Time Remaining 0:42

On the far left the T90 begins its weasel run towards the recon group in the forrest.  I am afraid any second that a Javelin will plummet out of the sky lancing it like a giant boil.

On the far right embankment the T90 gets a laser warning.  He posts a group of US soldiers desperately trying to slip back over the railway line to the Us side.  A few dozen 12.7mm HMG rounds kills all three of them.  With anti personnel arty saturating the area and having killed probably the last US combat effectives (I hope) on the right embankment  I think its time to implement the plan.  My spidey-Napoleon sense is telling me the pivotal moment is approaching.

Way back at turn 057 I had made plans to push my T90s over the far right hand side of the embankment.  That time has come.  The far right T90 is a 2nd Platoon HQ tank.  It is given orders to cross over the embankment fast (in case of Javelin crews spotting it).   The anti personnel arty should keep any US troops in the woods on the US side of the embankment suppressed.  Now to find out if I was wrong and UCG has a mob of Abrams ready to pick me off as I cross.  Wish me luck

[Con]

Turn 225 Time Remaining 0:41

I am over.  The T90 makes a rush and like a dough boy climbing out of the trenches in WW1 clambers over the embankment and scurries into the woods on the US side.  No Javelins or Hellfires from the Apaches stopped me.  Hellfire missiles do continue to strike randomly in the wheat fields behind me.  I never can tell if these Apaches are actually seeing something and missing or just blasting at anything that twitches. 

The T90 on the far left still alive continues its fast run towards the woods. 


Turn 227 Time Remaining 0:40

Now its getting interesting.  The far right HQT90 hunting forward spots a Stryker.  One 125mm HE round later and the Stryker is thoroughly toasted.  US troops who were sheltering behind it take off on a pell-mell run but are too remorselessly gunned down by the cannon of the T90.  I order the middle T90 to also go over the top and join his brother on the US side of the embankment.





In the distance I spot a Stryker racing towards the back edge of the US side of the map.  The only one spotting him is my Kornet team back in the village. 

The far left T90 continues to live and race towards the woods with the recon group in it.

[Con]

Turn 229 Time Remaining 0:39

This minute has all the hallmarks of the tide turning.
The HQ T90 on the right flank continues to hunt forward and is presented with a Tankers wet dream.  Two Strykers are presenting their rear to him as they attempt a futile full speed retreat.  They cannot out run a 125 mm tank shell though.  In under a minute UCG has lost three Strykers.







At the railroad trestle bridge more smoke begins to land.  I suspect that UCG is going to try and pull his remaining troops over the bridge.  Time to start commit my meager reserves.

I order any dismounted infantry and MMg in the village to start moving up the tree line towards death corner.  They will be used to make sure the loading area on the embankment will be cleared of US troops.  The other T90 in the village is ordered to move fast to join its sibling in the woods with the recon troops.  His job will be to try and fire on any US forces attempting to cross the bridge. 

I order my spotter to lay down a long linear line of fire along the railroad from the embankment to the trestle railroad bridge.  I want to try an catch any of the US troops who are attempting to retreat that way.

[Con]

Turn 231 Time Remaining 0:38

Reserves are moving.  On the right flank the T90s move further away from the embankment in bounding overwatch.  I see two Strykers attempting to make it to the RR bridge but they are using the cover of the trees at the weather station.





At the RR Bridge more smoke drops and now a Light Medium Tactical Vehicle (basically a truck) manages to navigate through the burning wreckage littering the exit and entrance of the bridge.

Russian                  US
14 MT-LBM 6M               15 Inf/HQ/Recon Strykers          
3 BRDM-2M               3 MGS Stryker
1 BTR-80 1V152               3 ATGM Stryker
2 Tunguska               3 Mortar Stryker
4 T90A
1 MT-LBM

[Con]

Turn 233 Time Remaining 0:37

The action now switches to the RR Bridge.  A heavy smoke barrage continues to drop down around it.  UCG is hoping to obscure enough of the LOS to bring his forces over.  The LMTV makes it accross followed by a Mortar Stryker.  Seconds later another mortar Stryker tries to navigate over.  This time he is spotted by my Kornet ATGM and quickly dispatched.   For the US forces this bridge represents safety and death!

[Con]

Turn 235 Time Remaining 0:36

There is a lull in the action as UCG contemplates the duality of nature that the bridge represents.  Salvation and safety or death and despair?  For this turn I suspect despair wins.

Turn 237 Time Remaining 0:35

More smoke drifts across the rail road bridge.  Glimpses of Strykers appear and disappear in the smoke.  They are beautiful these Strykers in the Mist


Turn 239 Time Remaining 0:34

More Strykers are spotted milling around the entrance of the RR bridge.  Each of them seems to be urging the other to go first.   One of the T90s in the woods line spots a Mortar Stryker heading towards the edge of the map following the railway line.  The turn ends without any mayhem on both sides.

Turn 241 Time Remaining 0:33

The mortar Stryker has a stroke of good fortune as the T90 shoots high and its shell goes harmlessly over the heads of the mortar crew.  After a qucik change of underwear they decide that being somewhere else (preferably where they can not be shot at) was preferable and they quickly disappear out of LOS of the tank.



A infantry Stryker was not so lucky it makes it over the bridge past the blazing vehicles only to get unceremoniously shot in the ass (I sense a trend with UCG where his Strykers are getting rectally violated).  It goes up in blast of flame and heat before thick oily smoke starts billowing from its hatches.



The railroad bridge is turning into another graveyard with 6 vehicles now littering it.

At Deaths Corner I position a T90 to face down the railroad tracks I want to try and shoot any more Strykers that are crossing the bridge as well as pound the remaining US troops as they struggle towards the illusion of safety.

[Con]

Turn 243 Time Remaining 0:32
I got complacent and forgot that an enemy is most dangerous when badly wounded.  What was I thinking!  I placed my T90 in the most exposed spot on the map (on top of an embankment) in DEATHS CORNER.  Well sure enough the T90 got obliterated.  I can't tell if it was a Javelin or from the Helicopters that just wont quit.  I hope actually it was from the helicopters since I can deal with those better than Javelins.  Those things are just plain evil since they are almost impossible to spot and will kill me dead in an instant.





Russian                  US
14 MT-LBM 6M               16 Inf/HQ/Recon Strykers          
3 BRDM-2M               3 MGS Stryker
1 BTR-80 1V152               3 ATGM Stryker
2 Tunguska               4 Mortar Stryker
5 T90A
1 MT-LBM

At this point UCG and I should be synced up for turns in the AAR

[JasonPratt]

Actually, I think you're way ahead of him in the AAR. He doesn't list turns, but in his AAR the bridge retreat hasn't happened yet, he's still maneuvering to try it.

[JasonPratt]

I suspect being able to keep 2 or 3 (can't quite tell from your description) T90s on the field this late, has given you the decisive advantage; and that you still have it if you can keep the remaining 1 or 2 tanks alive and picking off the enemy.