Troubles in the Near Abroad: AAR by James Sterrett
Run on: December 13, 1997


Players:

Russian:
	John McKinney (Riki Tikki) - Commander
	Gary Wollbach
	Ewen Campbell

Uzbeki:
	Russ George - Commander
	Tim Harmon
	Brian Rock
	Nick Moran

	This CPX portrayed a clash between a Russian force of 3 battalions and an Uzbeki 
force (armed with US kit since TacOps won't handle Soviet kit on both sides) of 7 
battalions, both struggling to remove a broken-down RSD-10 (SS-20) TEL [transporter-
erector-launcher] and its missile from the center of the town at 070020 on map 15.  [The 
maps can be downloaded from http://www.sterrett.demon.co.uk/ - they are pkzipped, in 
either .bmp or .gif format.]

	Quick upshot of the game: during bloody fighting the Russians succeeded in 
sneaking a repair crew to the TEL, fixed it, and drove it away - the last occurring just as an 
Uzbeki assault finally crushed the Russian defenses in the city.

Pre-game info:  Situation, orders, plans and deployments:

==========

CNN Broadcast: 06:55, December 11, 1997: Ose Venotu, Uzbekistan.
-----
This is CNN.

  Tensions continue to rise in Nizhnyi Verkhgorod, Uzbekistan.  While the peace talks 
between the Uzbeki government and UNIPP rebels started promisingly, an assassination 
attempt by an unknown party, left several delegates dead and the rest in intensive care, and 
any accord now seems distant.  Uzbeki Nationalist Islamic People's Party [UNIPP] leaders 
have promised to expel all Russian imperialists and their mercenaries.  The Russian 
General Staff claims satellite intelligence shows the Uzbek National Islamic People's 
Army, which controls significant portions of the former Uzbeki military, is moving "large 
forces" northwest, from its highland strongholds towards the main productive areas in the 
lowlands and the Russian border, and meeting little resistance from the demoralized 
Uzbeki Army as it goes.

  Russian forces are on a state of high alert and executing an operation called "Green 
Moon".  Details are sketchy at this time but sources in the US indicate it may be an attempt 
to secure nuclear weapons and prevent them falling into Uzbeki Nationalist hands, 
safeguard Russian nationals in Uzbekistan, and shore up the Uzbeki government.  [cut to 
reporter in a moderately bombed out town; small arms fire rattles in the distance]

  C. Mahaffey, reporting live from the town of Ose Venotu, Uzbekistan.  Sporadic fighting 
has begun to die out with the arrival of a small Russian force, and evacuation of the local 
Russian population is underway.  [Footage of refugees piling belongings and themselves 
onto trucks]

  The Russians seem confident they can handle any trouble the Uzbekis might come up with: 
[interview with Russian Lieutenant]  "The Uzbekis can create trouble, but the so far they 
have put up a very poor fight.  Not like the Chechens at all.  And I can tell you we have not 
seen any of the rumored Western equipment, either.  It's all been out-of-date Russian kit."

  [CNN HQ]  Opinions on the quality of the Uzbeki military vary.  There are persistent 
rumors of the UNIPP having purchased large stocks of US equipment from other Islamic 
states in the region, possibly using future oil and gas revenues as collateral.  Many of their 
officers have been trained by either - or both - the US and the USSR during the Cold War, 
and our sources report that some of them achieved high marks at the academies they 
attended.

   Analysts are fairly certain that the Uzbekis will launch an assault on the Russian forces, 
despite the possibility of a full-scale war, which would likely leave major portions of 
Uzbekistan devastated.  The UNIPP enjoys strong grass-roots popular support in part 
because of its anti-Russian rhetoric, and probably both desires and feels compelled to back 
up the rhetoric with action.  Furthermore, if successful in securing nuclear weapons and 
means of delivery, the UNIPP may be able to face down the Russian Federation short of 
war - and some analysts feel that a failure to mount an effective response to the Russian 
operation currently underway may lead to a splintering of the UNIPP into competing 
factions, giving the Russian Federation and the Uzbeki government time to regroup.  For its 
part, the Russian Federation's policy of maintaining stability and control of the 'near 
abroad', and in particular preventing the spread of fundamentalist Islam into former Soviet 
states, is at risk if the UNIPP is able to gain control in the country.

  CNN will continue to bring you live reports as events unfold....

[cut to commercial for soap-scum remover]
----------

Orders to each side:

(Orders Format: Informal)

Note: morning fog: visibility started at 150 meters and doubled every 3 minutes.  Full 
visibility (4km) was attained at 0715.  Neither side was aware of this before the game start 
time unless they choose 'intel' and got a good weather report.  The purpose of this was to 
allow more depth to the Russian initial defense, as it allowed the sides to set up much 
closer together.

==========
Russian Orders

Welcome to Uzbekistan.  At least you got a nice part of it - fields, orchards, towns...  not 
the windblown deserts, or the irradiated test grounds.  Your half of a BTR Battalion has 
been in place for the past 2 days, evacuating the local Russian population.

30 minutes ago, life got a lot more complex.  You have just confirmed the tale one of the 
refugees told you:  hidden at 0700020 sits an RSD-10 (SS-20) intermediate range ballistic 
missile, on its TEL [Transporter-Erector-Launcher].  It appears to have broken down and 
cannot be started, but your mechanic confirmed the fault is simple and with the proper 
spare parts it would rapidly be restored to full operation.  From all indications, the TEL 
contains its missile, and the missile has the standard 20 kiloton warhead.

HQ has just responded to your discovery.  You are no longer to evacuate your forces, on 
schedule, in 5 hour's time.  Instead, you must hold on until the necessary spare parts 
(which, of course, resemble nothing in your inventory) can be brought to you, the TEL 
repaired, and the RSD-10 safely driven away.  HQ is sending you reinforcements to help 
cope with the high probability of a UNIPP attack by the time the parts arrive.

The reinforcements should begin to arrive in your area (Map 15) by 0700 tomorrow 
morning.  The spare parts will be hard on their heels, arriving at approx. 0715-0730 
tomorrow morning.  It should take 15 minutes to conduct the repair.

Enemy intentions and strength are not known.  However, it is probable you will be attacked 
in strength as yours is a position forward of our main forces.

HQ confirms that the enemy is using older US equipment on Soviet organizational lines, 
and has purchased Stinger SAMs.  The SAM threat prevents the spare parts from being 
flown in via helicopter and makes air support highly unlikely.

Your forces:

On-map at start: Deploy west of easting 110 on map 15.

2 BTR Companies
	(Each: 14 BTR, 10 squads, 3 PKM, 3 AT7, 2 AGS17, 2 SPG9)

Your choice of minefields, entrenchments, or TRPs totaling to 15

2x 152mm batteries offmap in support.  (50HE, 5 ICM, 6 smoke each)

RSD-10 at 070020 (in game: an MTLB (IV14/15 ACRV) with weapons disabled)

Entering at 0700, west edge: may use any road entry point; may use separate entry point for 
each battalion:

One T-80U Battalion  (31 T-80U in 3 companies)

One BTR Battalion
	Scout Platoon (3 BTR-80 with inf teams)
	ADA Platoon (3 BTR-80 and 9 SA-16)
	3 BTR Companies (each: 14 BTR, 10 squads, 3 PKM, 3 AT7, 2 AGS17, 2 SPG9)
	Mortar Battery (6 2S22 mortars)

Arriving 0715 - 0730: [0716 in fact]

Repair Crew
	3 BMP-3 carrying 2 Engineer Squads

All your forces have both thermal sights and advanced ATGMs.

You have a choice, as well:  you may either gain intel on the enemy; or you may have 
further reinforcements.  The nature of the intel or reinforcement is not clear at this time.  
The choice must be made in your initial plan.

[More intel: knowledge of fog, Uzbeki OOB, orders, & flanking movement (if done).  
More forces: Additional BTR Bn at 0715 and a 122mm MRL Bn.  The Russians chose to 
get more forces; the BTR battalion began to arrive at ~0717.]

==========

Uzbeki Nationalist Islamic People's Army Orders

Format: Informal.

Commander!  You have been chosen for the honor of leading our finest regiment in an 
attack upon the Russian infidel.  They have foolishly left a small outpost on Map 15 - now 
in range of our forces.  We feel that Moscow will give up on the war if we can inflict a 
series of stinging defeats upon them: this is to be the first one.

Crush their garrison (thought to be 2 BTR Companies) and defend the airport and the town 
at 070020 against any counterattack.

Note:  you are not permitted to use indirect fire weapons against the town at 070020.

Your forces:  (Deploy on Map 15, East of Easting 14)

5 Battalions of M-60A3 tanks
	 (Soviet organization: each Bn has 3 companies of 10 tanks each)

2 LAV Battalions
	Soviet Organization:
		Scout Platoon: 3 LAV-25 w/ Inf Teams
		3 Companies
			Each: 14 LAV-25, 10 Inf Teams (6-man), 3 7.62mm MG, 3 Javelin,
				2 Mk 19 AGL, 2 SRAAW team)
		ADA Platoon: 3 LAV-25 carrying 9 Stingers
		Mortar Battery: 6 M-106 Mortar Carrier

You may choose to bring in up to 1 tank battalion from the north edge of the map.  It will 
arrive late, needing 3 minutes to traverse each kilometer.  Thus, if it were to arrive 
between easting 5 and easting 6, it would need (10 km x 3 minutes =) 30 minutes to get 
there and would arrive at 0730.

	[For whatever reason, the Uzbekis completely ignored this option in their 
planning.]

Off-map support:

	2 122mm MRL Battalions, 5 HE shots & 2 smoke shots each.

You also have the option of either gaining more intelligence on the enemy, or having more 
forces.  The nature of the intel or reinforcement is not clear at this time.  This choice must 
be made in your initial plan.

[More intel: Full info on Russian initial deployments (the 2 BTR coy and their 
entrenchments/minefields), early knowledge of the SS-20 and gain a repair crew of their 
own; also know about fog.  More forces: 2 snipers anywhere on the map at start, 2x 155mm 
off-map, 1 Bn M-60A3.]

The Uzbekis chose information and learned:

1) That the fog would be there at the beginning of the game.

2) The SS-20 was revealed: 

	"In response to your lobbying for intel, HQ grudgingly admits the reason you may 
not fire on WOLF.  [The Uzbeki code-name for the town at 070020.]

        There is a broken-down RSD-10 (SS-20) intermediate range ballistic missile in 
WOLF at approx. 070020.  We have the spare parts to fix the vehicle and will attach them 
to your task force [add to forces: 2x LAV-25 carrying an engineer squad, named 
'REPAIR'].  Repairs should take approx. 15 minutes (the problem is simple, but does 
require a special part.)  [If 'REPAIR' spends ~15 minutes mostly undisturbed with the 
missile you may begin to drive the missile away.]  Intel indicates that the missile is in 
prime condition and does contain its 20 kiloton warhead.

        Your primary objective is to secure this missile.  If the Russians repair it and begin to 
drive it away, careful direct fires to disable the RSD-10's TEL (Transporter-Erector-
Launcher] without harming the missile are permitted, in order to prevent its escape.

        We suspect the Russians may have discovered the missile and may be sending a force 
to repair it and move it away.  In any event Russian reinforcements are headed in your 
direction."

3)  "Our partisans in the area of Map 15 are working on providing you with a map of the 
enemy deployment.  We can already confirm that the enemy has 2 companies of BTR 
infantry (Each: 14 BTR, 10 squads, 3 PKM, 3 AT7, 2 AGS17, 2 SPG9).  These have been 
in place for ~2 days and have had time to dig in and emplace mines.  More info to come."  
(They eventually got a complete listing of the defensive layout of the 2 BTR companies, 
inclusive of minefields and entrenchments.)

==========

After a lot of discussion, the Russians deployed their on-map BTR forces ('Alvin') in a 
close defence of Wolf (the town at 070020).  The minefields were laid out to deny the use 
of the factory complex just to the north, and channel an attack into the open ground just east 
of Wolf.  With nearly all of both companies able to fire into this piece of ground, it looked 
like a solid ambush; one platoon guarded the northern approaches to Wolf..

	The reinforcing T-80 battalion ('Boris') was directed along the north road to an 
ambush site at IronJaw (060050), intended to cover the northern approach route and 
prevent the Russian forces being cut off.  The original BTR battalion ('Casper') was sent 
straight to Wolf, and the second one ('Dmitri'), arriving later, was directed to defensive 
positions west of the airport.

	The Uzbekis initially planned to launch a broad-front attack, weighted slightly 
towards the north.  On getting their intel, this plan was changed only to try to hurry up in 
getting into Wolf.

==========

What happened.

Because the Russians had deployed fairly far from the Uzbekis at start, the fog made little 
difference - though it did allow the lead elements of TF George, the Uzbeki force furthest 
south, to get into the ambush zone unseen.  (It had not yet reached Gary's trigger line when 
spotted at 0709 - though if they had spotted it earlier, the Russians might have been able to 
get artillery on it in a more timely fashion.)

The initial ambush went reasonably well, obliterating all but two companies of  TF 
George.  Those two companies of M-60 tanks, however, slipped into the town area 
unscathed.  One went straight for the TEL, and the other hid out in the woods just south of 
Wolf.  The one that went straight for the TEL ran into the 2 BTR companies of Casper 
head-on in the middle of Wolf.  Casper lost a lot of BTRs, but the troops, rapidly 
dismounting, made short work of the tanks with a variety of AT weapons.  One of the BTR 
companies took the majority of the damage; this one was ordered to continue to the east 
edge of town, and the other was sent to the northeast corner - which turned out to be a very 
wise move.

The Uzbekis, finding the ambush, decided to try to sneak through one of the gaps in the 
minefield, by moving their forces through the NW of the two towns at 085025.  The orders 
for moving through this gap came in piecemeal; the companies were, moreover, ordered to 
move around the northern edge of the woods NE of Wolf and then attack, through the small 
clearing, into Wolf and take the TEL.

Meanwhile, TF Rock had run into the Russian ambush at IronJaw.  Group Cat of TF Rock 
moved into the woods at 069047.  The Russian tanks were already in position in the 
woodline at IronJaw, but were under orders not to fire on targets more than 500 meters 
away....  so they simply observed.  As this occurred, the commander of the Russian tanks 
ordered one of the companies to move - it was immediately spotted by the Uzbekis, who 
brought it under fire.  It was wiped out in the ensuing firefight, but the other two Russian 
tank companies, after they belatedly joined in, destroyed those Uzbeki forces they could 
see.  They then retreated to the woodsline at 053045, while the BTR company attached to 
them set up a delaying position at 062054.

The T-80s reached their new spot before the Uzbeki forces flanking Wolf got very far.  
Serendipitously, the T-80s were able to fire, at extreme (3100 meter) range, into the flank 
of the Uzbeki companies as the came, one by one, to the mouth of the corridor they were to 
attack down (at ~077026).  The T-80s were also able to maintain spotting for artillery fire 
on this area, and were hidden by a spur of woods and a town (vic 060045) from return fire 
by an Uzbeki overwatch force in the woods at 073040.  In addition, the company of Casper 
earlier ordered to take up position in the NE corner of Wolf got into place just before the 
appearance of the first Uzbeki units.

	As a result, the Russians were able to put a great deal of AT and artillery fire on 
each successive company, and this spot became the biggest graveyard of the Uzbeki force.  
Had the Uzbekis brought their forces into the woods NE of Wolf, then stopped, out of sight, 
to line up a concentrated assault, the results would likely have been different - equally 
bloody, but much less one-sided.  In addition, smoke would have helped the Uzbekis 
somewhat (though not entirely, at the T-80s and the Russian ATGMs had thermal sights.)

	It also would have helped the Uzbekis if they hadn't chosen to try to thread the gap 
in the minefield, which lead to my twice screwing up and running Uzbeki units into the 
fields.  This caused a lot of understandable annoyance on the Uzbeki side....

	In the middle of this process of chewing up the Uzbeki companies, the Russians 
suddenly decided to pull their tanks back again.  *Blip* no more massed volleys of tank 
fire....  and the infantry company only held off the tank company that charged through the 
gap with difficulty.  However, at the same time the Uzbekis decided to organize the assault 
better in light of their losses.

	Looking back north again, TF Rock kept up a steady pressure on the T-80s - which 
had retreated just before a force of Rocky's came charging at them - catching some of them 
nonetheless and reducing the T-80 force to about 15 tanks.  The battle in the north turned 
into a long hide-and-seek battle, mostly lost by the Russian BTR company in the north and 
the LAV company that it slugged it out with at close range - a deluge of mortar fire from 
both sides produced near-mutual destruction.  However, the tank standoff eventually ended 
when Rocky was persuaded to send his forces south to assist with the assaults on Wolf.  
This coincided with a movement of Russian tanks to a more forward position.  By a quirk 
of fate, the Uzbekis saw the Russians first, blazed away briefly, and then popped out of 
sight, leaving half of the Russian tanks burning...  and as the rest continued their move into 
the woods at 045042, they ran into another force of hiding Uzbeki tanks and were 
ambushed again.  In the end, only 1 T-80 was left alive, and it slowly worked its way 
southwards to end the game at 037025.

	Rocky's tanks charged into Wolf, blowing away the covering force in the north with 
light losses, and penetrated to the TEL.  There they discovered that Gary had stationed a 
company of infantry and their support weapons, which demonstrated that tanks do not 
belong in towns without infantry support.  This assault was soon followed by the tank 
company left over from TF George, which also penetrated to the TEL unseen, and also was 
summarily crushed by short-range infantry AT fire.

	The Uzbekis were pretty much bled white by this point (0750).  They had a reduced 
company of LAV-25 and a company of M-60s moving into the woods east of Wolf, and 
were scraping together virtually anything with a gun for a final assault - including a 
complete round-up of Stinger teams.  It took them until around 0810 to get the assault under 
way, carefully launched with infantry in the lead, and the tanks and LAVs following up for 
fire support, all wreathed in large amounts of smoke, and with TF Rock's last tank company 
joining in from the NW of Wolf..

	The Russians had had their TEL repair crew sitting SW of Wolf (at ~065013) for 
about 10 minutes by 0750.   The recurrent Uzbeki penetrations to the TEL made them very 
nervous about sending the team in before the situation seemed secure.  Eventually, 
however, the need to drive the TEL away over-rode this caution, and a small escort force 
went out and helped the repair crew to the TEL.  At 0810, the TEL repaired, the Russians 
began moving it out of the city....  narrowly avoiding having it and its escort force be 
spotted by TF Rock's last tank company, which moved out of sight into Wolf only a few 
minutes before.

	The final Uzbeki assault unrolled far more smoothly than their previous attempts.  
In heavy slugging, they cleaned the Russians out of Wolf by about 0830, losing about half 
of their force in the process, and gaining great disappointment on realizing the TEL was 
gone - a discovery they made at about the point the Russians drove it off the west edge of 
the map (at 0830).  The game was ended at 0834, and the Russians declared the winners.  
Gary made a well-grounded demand for a large round of medals to be showered on his 
forces in Wolf, which were wiped out taking the brunt of the Russian's successful defence - 
indeed, the one company of Casper that defended the keyhole in the northeast of Wolf was 
more continuously in action than any other force in the game, as it was holding off Uzbeki 
assaults nearly throughout the game.

Casualty statistics:

Uzbeki

UNIT                 START   NOW     ELIM    EXITED

M60A3 Tank            154     13     141        0
LAV 25 IFV             99      7      92        0
Inf Team                6      2       4        0
Inf Team               60      5      55        0
MG Team 7.62mm         18      2      16        0
Javelin ATGM           18      0      18        0
MK19 AGL Team          12      2      10        0
SRAAW Team             12      3       9        0
Stinger SAM            18     12       6        0
M106 Mortar Carrier    12     12       0        0
Inf Engineer Squad      2      1       1        0

Force Lethality Value, Start: 20787
Force Lethality Value, Now: 2700
Casualty percentage: 87
Force Lethality Ratio, Start: 1.4:1
Force Lethality Ratio, Now: 1:1.7

OPFOR

UNIT                 START   NOW     ELIM    EXITED

T80U Tank              31      1      30        0
BTR80 APC             123     36      82        5
Inf Team                6      2       3        1
Inf Squad              75     22      52        1
PKM MG Team            24      6      16        2
AGS17 Team             16      4      11        1
AT7 ATGM Saxhorn       24      7      17        0
AT4 ATGM Spigot        10      2       7        1
SA16 SAM               18     18       0        0
SPG9 Team               6      2       4        0
2S22 120mm SP Mortar   12      6       6        0
1V14/15 ACRV            1      0       0        1
BMP3 IFV                3      0       2        1
Inf Engineer Squad      2      0       0        2

Force Lethality Value, Start: 15148
Force Lethality Value, Now: 4653
Casualty percentage: 69
Force Lethality Ratio, Start: 1:1.4
Force Lethality Ratio, Now: 1.7:1

==========

Lessons Learned.

1)  Tactics

	Piecemeal assaults don't work very well against a defense that outnumbers each 
piece of  the attackers.  But you knew that.  Had the Uzbekis launched a careful attack into 
Wolf the outcome of the game might have been very different; I spent a lot of the game 
expecting the Russians to get crushed.

	Players need to keep in mind that the maps are often not big enough to keep the 
engagements completely separate.  I suspect that the withdrawal of the T-80s was made for 
reasons related to the north of the map - but they were a decisive influence on the battle in 
the south, and that battle suddenly went against the Russians when the T-80s retreated.  
What might have happened if the T-80s had stayed, and faced TF Rock's attack, is hard to 
say, though.

	The Uzbekis found their rocket artillery to be unwieldy and ineffective as a primary 
support weapon - especially since they could not fire it at Wolf for fear of blowing up the 
TEL.  The Russians seemed quite happy to have a rocket battalion as support to the efforts 
of their two tube artillery batteries.  While it is good to have the occasional big bang, the 
steady suppression and attrition of tube artillery, much missed by the Uzbekis, is not to be 
left aside.

	The Russians arguably misused their T-80s.  While in TacOps they can be 
penetrated by the M-60A3 at any range the M-60A3 can fire to, the T-80 has a far more 
accurate cannon - thus in a long-range duel the T-80 has a major advantage.  The 500 meter 
ambush range may have hobbled them overmuch, although it does ensure that they are 
almost certain to hit what they fire at with the first shot.  The volleys the T-80s fired at the 
force trying to flank Wolf had a hit percentage of around 10-15% per shot - but with 20 
tanks firing, over several volleys, that rapidly adds up to a tank company destroyed.

	The Russians made relatively little use of Dmitri, the extra BTR battalion.  Only 
one of its companies was ever engaged.  While it was intended to safeguard the TEL's 
evacuation route from Uzbeki infiltration, I wonder if it might not have been well off to 
detach a company to reinforce the forces hanging on by their fingernails at Wolf to ensure 
there was still a TEL to evacuate.

	I do not think the Uzbekis were wise to try to thread the gaps in the minefield.  This 
became a mildly contentious issue: some of the points of view:

	- The Uzbeki complaint was that since the partisans had told them of the locations 
of the mines, and therefore there was no reason they could not have avoided them.  True 
enough they were told, and I accept that it's my mistakes that lead to any Uzbeki units hitting 
any mines at all - I misjudged the approach to one gap once, and forgot where a gap was 
once (all of Gary's minefields were in the open, not in towns - except that one....)  I agree 
they had reason to expect that they would not run over the mines & they are correct in game 
terms.

	On the other hand, in real life terms I think the decision to thread the gaps (100 
meters or less wide), while a much larger opening existed to the immediate south, was 
flawed.  Partisan reports might not be entirely accurate, & drivers make mistakes under 
pressure.  I was quite impressed (if that is the word) when I read through the records of the 
Commonwealth Division in Korea, of the extent to which the CW Div's minefields were 
more of a hazard to its own soldiers than to the Chinese; best to steer well clear of mines, 
even if you think you know where they are.

	As a side issue, this is also the second time I have seen units in TacOps, despite 
having the SOP 'Force Cross Minefields' *off*, try to bull their way through minefields.  
Very odd.

	In sum, I think they have a point (I screwed up) but they also made a mistake.

	The Uzbekis did not make the best use of their intel - partly because they had to 
wait until the last minute to get the info on Russian deployments, which I only got at the last 
minute.  However, they could have reorganized their plan to either concentrate most of 
their force on taking Wolf right away, or hooking through the north, and then plunging south 
to prevent the Russians from evacuating the TEL.  They also should have been aware that 
the defense of the south side of Wolf was weaker (one company), during the opening stages 
of the game; an assault in that direction might have worked better than the outflanking 
attempt to the north.  It is true that the Russians could have reinforced this axis too, but their 
initial directions to their reinforcements in Wolf, and the Uzbeki's initial orders for their 
flanking of Wolf to the north, were basically at the same time.

	I'm also curious why the Uzbekis did not seem to consider the option of a flanking 
force off-map to the north - too slow??

2) TacOps CPXes:

	The game went smoothly for the most part.  Ironically, while the players reported 
feeling quite rushed throughout the game, I was consistently worried that the pace was too 
slow, and so continued to push for speed throughout.  The average ratio of game time to 
real time was ~1:4, but this was probably in the 1:6 range during the periods of heavier 
combat.  Some players liked the feeling of being rushed, somewhat out of touch, and out of 
control; others did not.  Brian Rock, John McKinney, & I had a moderately long discussion 
of this after the game (might have been entitled 'Proper Pacing of a CPX: The Umpires 
Debate'  <grin> ); the upshot of this was that it is a matter of individual taste.  Brian and I 
tend to like the dense fog of war and pace that keeps us scrambling to keep our decision-
making up to the course of the battle; John feels happier with a slower and more 
information-rich game.

	One of the experimental aspects of this game (and the CPX this coming weekend, 
on December 20) was forcing the players to choose between lobbying HQ for more forces 
to accomplish the mission, or more detailed intel.  I've tried to set this up as a win-win 
choice, in that neither choice is wrong.  John McKinney really liked this, and seems to 
have been happy with his extra forces.  The Uzbekis were not as pleased by their intel, 
though arguably they did not make the best use of it.

	The Uzbekis felt that I should have made the location of the minefields they knew 
about more visible so I could have avoided them better.  I have mixed feelings about this, 
basically as outlined above.  (They would have been more visible had I placed Uzbeki 
minefields over the Russian minefields during setup, thus enabling me to see them despite 
the fog-of-war imposed by TacOps.)

	I asked if people felt the capture of the RSD-10 had made a good goal for the game 
as well.  I didn't get many responses, but those I did indicated that it was a nice change 
from the usual 'blow a corridor across the map' type of missions.

	Overall, however, everyone reported that they had fun, and that it had been a tense 
game - certainly, it seemed a very near-run thing from the umpire's chair!

==============================================================

Player AARs:

John McKinney (Russian CO):

This was my first attempt at playing the role of C.O.  I think I did
pretty miserably at it, and I think it is only because I had terrific
support from my subordinates, Gary and Ewen, that we managed to do as
well as we did.  The pace of the game was extremely fast (I thought) and
right from the beginning I began to fall behind the info loop.  I never
did catch up.

Fortunately, our mission was clear as a bell: a missile is sitting in a
town on a broken launcher (TEL).  We had to hold off an invading Uzebeki
advance while we attempted to get a repair crew into the town, fix it,
and move it off-map to the west before the rebels got their hands on it.

To accomplish our mission, we were given two companies of motorized
infantry (Alvin) which could deploy anywhere west of 011 on map 15,
which included the town where the launcher was.  One tank battalion
(Boris) and one motorized rifle battalion (Casper) were approaching from
the far west to help hold off the Uzbekis.

Early on, I was given a choice between more forces and more recon.  As
my team was still getting organized, I was forced to make the decision
without their input.  I am guessing that Gary would have gone with
intel, but I chose forces.  I still defend this choice because given the
timings involved in getting the repair crew to the town, the time of the
repair (estimated 15 minutes) and getting them off the map, we would
have had to hold off the enemy for as long as 90 minutes.  I was worried
that we did not have enough material strength to last that long, and I
was more worried about achieving our goals than I was about learning
about and stopping the enemy's.

The extra force turned out to be another motorized infantry battalion
(Dimitri) and an MLRS battery, which came in very handy on a couple of
occasions.

The plan was to have Alvin secure the TEL and the town, and the
surrounding area.  Casper was sent to reinforce that area.  Boris, along
with a mech company from Casper, deployed north of the airfield in an
attempt to shock and disrupt any fast end-around move up that way.  My
hope was to have Boris cause some calamity and confusion, but then pull
them back around (out of sight) to help guard the southern exit route of
the TEL.  Dimitri was stationed in the rear to cover Boris' retreat, and
to guard against any rear penetration threatening the escape route.

I apparently guessed correctly that the the rebels were given the same
choice we were given, intel or forces, and figured we'd know soon enough
what it would be, depending on whether or not their forces made a
bee-line for the TEL at the start.  Sure enough, they pounced on that
town lickety-split, and I knew we had our work cut our for us at that
point.  WHat I didn't know was that even without any 'extra' forces,
they had *two brigades* worth of tanks and LAVs to hurl at us!

Gary did a super job battling off the waves of tanks that kept coming at
him.  I kept offering a company of reserves from Dimitri to help him out
but he kept refusing.  He knew his exact strength and capabilities at
all times, and the enemy's too, it seemed.

Meanwhile, around 7:20 or so Ewen caused a lot of ruckus in the north,
alright, but not without losing a company of tanks himself.  A little
disappointing, but it appeared the rebels got the worst of it.  There
were a couple of communications snafus, once in the very beginning due
to a sudden "freak weather" situation and again later on that I think
contributed to some of his losses.  It will be interesting if he submits
his own details of what happened, as I never understood exactly what
happened in the initial exchange.  

It was around this time that my inexperience as a C.O. started to show
and I began to lose situational awareness.  Printing problems, losing
IRC connection, and other problems started compounding the difficulty. 
Many times Gary had to correct me from acting on information that was
old, or pointing out new threats on recent spotreps that I myself did
not catch.  I'm not sure I was a help or a hindrance to my team, at this
point.  (Good thing my teammates were so easy-going and patient.<g>.)  I
managed to get a couple of reports of "gratifying results" from my MLRS
attacks, but that was about it.

The one thing I *was* conscious of was that while we were waiting for
the coast to be clear in town to bring in the repair crew, time was
ticking away!  I finally insisted on getting them moving whether it was
safe to do so or not, figuring that waiting was the worst decision of
all.  Gary sent a detachment to meet the repair crew then escorted it to
the TEL.  This was about 7:53; we were about 20 min. behind schedule,
according to my original plan.  

The repairs took a little longer than expected, but the TEL finally
began evacuating it at 8:10, about 2 minutes before another major Uzbeki
assault on the town.  This one broke through, and would have eventually
reached the TEL if it had not moved when it did.

The TEL exited about 20 min. later, while fighting continued in the
town.  We were not told to evacuate the troops from there, so they
mostly died a hero's death.  As C.O. I regret this, but sending Dimitri
to pick up survivors would probably have ended up in more casualties,
and given the importance of keeping the nuke missile out of rebel hands,
I felt that the heroism of Alvin and Casper were "justified."  I felt
they helped convince the enemy that the missile was still in the town.

All in all, a very tense, fast-paced game!  Very exciting -- and
extremely close!  I myself cannot take too much credit for this win,
other than offering an initial plan, because I was barely able to follow
the events much less react and give orders in a timely fashion.  But
Gary and Ewen's alertness more than made up for my confusion, and put
together a very responsive, on-the-fly mobile defense.  I look forward
to playing with them again someday (although as a subordinate next time,
I think.<g>)

Thanks to them and everyone who paricipated that day for making this a
great learning experience.

John (Riki)
======================================================

Gary Wollbach:


In the December 13th CPX, I was assigned to the Russian Team and given
command of Team Alvin and Team Casper.

Team Alvin's mission was to secure the TEL and city until follow onn
forces could arrive.  Once the TEL was repaired, Team Alvin was to delay
and prevent UNIPP forces from persuing the TEL.  Team Alvin consisted of
A full motorized infantry company (deployed inthe south) and a motorized
company deployed in and around the town and TEL.

Team Casper's mission was to move forward as rapidly as possible, occupy
the town, protect the TEL during repair, and then assist in the
extraction of the TEL.  Team Casper was a motorized infantry battalion
began the CPX on the west map edge.

I was also given 12 minefields to deploy.  I assumed that since we had
so many minefields that the UNIPP forces would be sizable.  I used the
mines to block some key terrain and as obstacles into the city if UNIPP
appraoched fromth NE or E.

As the battle began I knew that the UNIPP forces knew about the TEL.  As
the first wave entered the city so did Team Casper.  There where huge
infantry versus tank battles throughout the town.  I never understood
why the UNIPP sent tanks and no infantry.  Luckily the attacks were
spaced apart and peicemeal and I was able to adjust to the direction the
attacks came from.  The UNIPP forces also seemed to know where all the
minefields were as no unit seemed to stumble into them.

The repair team moved close to the town (12-1500 meters) and an escort
was sent from the tow to meet the repair team.  The repair team was then
escorted to the TEL and repaired it.  These occured between those series
of attacks.  As the TEL was leaving the town another UNIPP assualt
began.

Team Alvin was eliminated and Team Casper was less than 50% at Endex.

As it turned out, the 'grass roots support' had told the UNIPP about all
the minefields.  In retrospect it should have been better to deploy the
mines as a solid barrier rather than in pockets.

gary

====================================================

Russ George (Uzbeki CO):

Participated in my first CPX Saturday and somehow was appointed the
overall commander of my side - the rebel Uzbekis.  That we did as well
as we did is a testament to the quality of the team I had.

The Uzbekis were fighting for national liberation against Russian
forces.  Our initial mission was to seize the airfield and large town on
Map 15 in order to convince the Russians to give up on the war.  We had
roughly a regiment with which to do this.  I organized our forces into
four Task Forces.

TF Rocky with two Tk Bn's (M-60A3) and one Mech Inf Co (LAV-25).  TF
Moran with one Tk Bn and two Mech Inf Co.  TF Harmon with one Tk Bn and
two Mech Inf Co.  TF George with one Tk Bn and one Mech Inf Co.

TF Rocky was in the north and tasked to take the airfield.  TF Moran was
in the north/center and tasked to take the factory complex to the north
of the town and support the airfield assault with fire and to provide
the regimental reserve.  TF Harmon was in the south/center and tasked
with taking the town.  TF George was in the south and tasked to take the
woods to the south and west of the town to repel any counterattack.

During the initial orders we were given the choice of additional intel
or reinforcements.  I chose the intel believing it to be a greater force
multiplier.  That's when we heard our primary mission was to secure a
Transporter, Erector, Launcher (TEL) for a nuclear weapon that was
hidden in the town.  We were given the locations of a BTR Co in the vic
of the town and one in the woods to the south.  Also, minefield
locations were given.  Enemy reinforcements were somewhere to the west. 
A heavy fog was present limiting visibility to 150 meters at game start,
lifting in approx 10-15 min.

Here's where my thinking (in hindsight) broke down.  I believed I knew
how the battle would unfold.  We would take the town against
light/moderate opposition and then have to defend against a strong
counterattack before we could get the TEL out of the town and back to
our side of the map.  Instead, we met the enemy reinforcements arriving
at the town the same time we did.  I had redirected TF George to assault
the town directly in conjunction with TF Harmon when I learned of the
TEL.  But somehow I (OK, I was TF George) jumped the gun and launched
the assault without properly coordinating with TF Harmon.  George was
mowed down in the open east of the town.  Some tanks reached the town,
but without infantry support they were toast.  Then Harmon's assault was
launched with much the same result.  Still not comprehending the
magnitude of the enemy forces in the town I sent in TF Moran and later
coordinated an assault with TF Rocky which was diverted from the north. 
But by then the Russians had taken the TEL out of the town and safely
off their side of the map.  Game over.

What had started out as a planned attack across a broad front turned
into a piecemeal effort to take the town.  Concentrated forces and smoke
on the town is what was needed but I did neither.  My team though was
cooperative and gracious in humoring me and my plans.  I appreciate it
guys.  Thanks to the Russian side too for the "learning experience".

==============================================================