After-Action Report: Eastern Front '32

(No, I haven't abandoned PARADOX- I've just been pretty focused on GALAXIA lately)

Months after after the events at the Alamo, the US Army deployed troops to Eastern Europe, warped forward to 2032. These troops are to assist local soldiers against the Wehrmacht and Red Army, as much of Poland, eastern Russia, and northern Ukraine have been sent back to 1944.

Today, elements of the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, based in Fort Stewart, GA, have moved into Chernihiv Oblast, where a platoon of the Ukrainian 80th Airmobile Regiment has made contact with a Wehrmacht panzer company with infantry and anti-air support. 1-238 Cav, Indiana ARNG (1989), has air support responsibility for this sector; AH-1F Cobras will be available.

The primary objective for each side is to capture the enemy's stationary headquarters; secondaries include destruction of HQ vehicles and AFVs.

The following units have been deployed by each side:

US and Ukrainian Army

1 M2A4 Bradley IFV (HQ)(US, 2023)

1 M2A4 Bradley IFV (US, 2023)

1 Mechanized Infantry Squad (US, 2023)

1 M3351 JLTV (LRAS3)(US, 2023)

1 Mech. Infantry Dismount Recon Team (US, 2023)

1 AH-1F Cobra (US, 1989)

2 Airmobile Infantry Squad (Ukraine, 2032)

1 Light Artillery Strike (Ukraine, 2032)

German Wehrmacht

1 Infantry HQ Team (Germany, 1944)

1 Panther Ausf. G (HQ)(Germany, 1944)

4 Panther Ausf. G (Germany, 1944)

1 Flakpanzer IV 'Wirbelwind' (Germany, 1944)

2 Panzergrenadier Squad (Dismounted)(Germany, 1944)

Each infantry figure represents one team (I didn't have anything precisely suitable; these guys are UNSC Marines from Halo)

This is effectively a contest of quality vs. quantity; the Wehrmacht infantry are completely unarmored and lack manportable AT weapons, while the Americans and Ukrainians have ceramic armor plate and pack Javelins and RPG-29s.

The game will last six turns. Objectives are as follows:

Objectives

US/Ukrainian:

-Occupy the German headquarters with infantry for at least one turn (10 VP)

-Destroy the German HQ tank (5 VP)

-Destroy as many other Panthers as possible (1 VP/tank)

German:

-Occupy the Ukrainian headquarters with infantry for at least one turn (10 VP)
-Destroy the US HQ vehicle (5 VP)
-Destroy the other Bradley (4 VP)

Pregame shot. Each side had a six-grid-square deployment zone; HQ vehicles are standing off for now

End of Turn 1

The US/Ukraine won the initiative roll. The lower Bradley and the Cobra each fireballed one Panther with TOW missiles, and the dismounted recon team on the gas station roof called in an artillery barrage that destroyed another. There was no effective return fire; the Cobra was employing Terrain Masking to shield itself from the Flakpanzer.

End of Turn 2

The mechanized infantry squad moved up into the lower woods and fired a Javelin round, inflicting some Stress Points on a Panther, but not enough to Suppress it. The Panther began firing on the Ukrainians in the center woods, inflicting mild casualties.

End of Turn 3

The Cobra shifted left to engage the HQ Panther. Its TOWs missed, and Hydra-70 rocket fire was only mildly effective against the tank's armor. The Panther then shot the Cobra down with a very lucky shot from its main gun! The Wirbelwind, left without any air targets, turned its quad-20mm cannons towards the Ukrainian infantry in the woods, inflicting more casualties and Stress Points.

End of Turn 4

The Wirbelwind began the turn by wiping out the US infantry in the lower woods. The HQ Bradley moved up to get a TOW shot against the HQ Panther, but could not fire and move- it will have to wait until the next turn! The HQ Panther killed several Ukrainians in the headquarters with high-explosive rounds. The final 'regular' Panther destroyed the recon JLTV before being destroyed by a TOW, finishing the job the infantry's Javelin had started.

End of Turn 5

The HQ Bradley prepared to fire, but was knocked out by two well-placed KwK 42 APCR rounds from the HQ Panther, giving 5 VPs to the Wehrmacht! The Wirbelwind began firing into the headquarters, also inflicting casualties.

End of Turn 6 (Game)

The Wirbelwind, more or less the scourge of the Allied infantry units, fell to a Bradley's TOW, while all but one Ukrainian fireteam was wiped out. The surviving handful of Ukrainians beat a hasty retreat from their headquarters, rendered untenable by sustained Panther bombardment. Two HE shots from the HQ Panther failed to dislodge or even hit the US dismounted recon team.

Final Results

I don't think that this was as close a game as the Alamo. My gamble with the HQ Bradley had serious consequences, and the HQ Panther's exceptional marksmanship caused other problems, depriving me of my only air support. Now, to examine performance vs. objectives...

US/Ukrainian:

-Occupy the German headquarters with infantry for at least one turn. Failed.
-Destroy the German HQ tank. Failed.
-Destroy as many Panthers as possible. Met! Four Panthers knocked out; 4 VP

German:

-Occupy the Ukrainian headquarters with infantry for at least one turn. Failed.
-Destroy the US HQ vehicle. Met! 5 VP
-Destroy the other Bradley. Failed.

As it turns out, this was still reasonably close, at a 4-5 Narrow Victory for the Wehrmacht. Though the Americans lost their command Bradley, and the Ukrainians took serious casualties, all German AFVs except for their HQ tank were knocked out easily. Had the HQ Bradley or the Cobra survived, it's safe to say that the HQ Panther would have been destroyed, flipping the results in favor of the Allies.

The 'headquarters capture' objective was carried over from a half-finished game played a few weeks ago. Seeing as the Wehrmacht had no personnel carriers, not even Blitz trucks or the like, and the Bradleys could not move without forgoing their TOWs, it wasn't a particularly attainable objective.

Evaluation

This game represented the first use of Woods in PARADOX. They were treated as simple Light Cover, which seems workable at first. However, optically-aimed tank guns from 80-90 years ago were proving highly effective against well-camouflaged, concealed elite infantry. In the future, infantry in woods may not be engaged from a range greater than 6 grid squares, unless the firing unit has IR Targeting or an equivalent.

I am also considering applying Stress Points to units adjacent to an artillery round strike, not just in the targeted grid square. This would more effectively represent the area-suppression effect that well-aimed artillery can and should have.