NGP85 "81: Better Dead than Red v1.1"

[JDR Dragoon]

Players notes and considerations.

This turn is midday (12 to 14 pm), Visibility is still 3 hexes (4,5 km).


No Spetsnaz caught this turn, but the slippery buggers continue to delay and harass reinforcements moving across the Rhine towards the front.

In front of Göttingen the Polish 10. Arm. Div. seems content to sit tight and gather strength, so I decide to shake them up a bit. First the Korps Attack Helicopter Battalions strike at a deployed battery of ATGM vehicles on BRDM chassis south of Göttingen, which is then followed up by a flight of Alpha Jets loaded with AP Clusterbombs. The offending unit (likely part of some army-level ATGM unit, since it seemed to be screening the terrain between the 10. Arm. And 2. Mech Div) is no more. I hope that can shake him a bit. The bad thing is, that one of the Alpha Jets got creamed by a SAM as it screamed down the Leine valley towards its target. Oh well, tough break. At least the ATGM unit got totally destroyed.




After molesting the Polish artillery last turn, the 2. Kom./PzAuklBtn 2 decides to head north parallel to the Leine River, in order to make sure that no sneaky polish engineers try to erect crossings further downstream from Göttingen. South of Göttingen the 2. Mech Div. follows the retreating NATO covering force only slowly, allowing the W-Germans ample time to get away. The 2. Mech unit trying to advance north along the western side of the Weser river, that got creamed by artillery last turn, also decides that it is perhaps wise not to press the issue. I give them some more artillery just to keep that thought foremost in their mind :cool:




South of Witzenhausen the Poles doesn´t seem eager to hunt the covering force too much either and follows only fitfully here as well, allowing me to fire even more artillery at them. Parts of the 57th GMRD do follow the withdrawing W-German 5. PzAufklBtn along the boundary between the US V Corps and GE III Korps, directing airstrikes that cause heavy losses to the W-German Recon units, but losing an SU-17 to a US CHAPARELL SAM as well.




In the US V Corps sector only the 57th GMRD seems to be determined to push forwards, while the 20th GMRD seems content to sit tight, gathering its strenght and bombarding with artillery. They force the US covering force a few clicks more back towards the Fulda river, where several engineer bridges have been erected to facilitate their withdrawal. Counter-battery fire against identified gun positions prove effective this turn as well. Although the assigned Air-Recon missions prove unable to find the exact positions of the located enemy artillery, they do provide useful information on other enemy dispositions.




South of Fulda the 39th GMRD relapse into inactivity, either unable or unwilling to press forward against the US covering force. The units threatened last turn thus slips away. I am somewhat worried by the presence of the unidentified Airmobile Infantry Unit though, since this might mean that he is up to something sneaky-beaky. Time will tell....




In the VII Corps sector, the savaged T64 battalion withdraws quickly to avoid annihilation. That is one problem averted. The persistent threat of infiltration from the woods north of Mellrichstadt is also averted somewhat when heavy concentrations of W-German and US artillery brings the lead BMP company to a halt with heavy losses. This area also sees WAPAs first attempt at quelling my artillery by counterbattery fire, but all they manage to do against my well entrenched rocket launchers is to rubble the nearby city of Bad Neustadt. The rest of the 79th GTD seems satisfied hanging back from direct observation. Perhaps the unit is about to be relieved?




Between Bad Neustadt and Pfarrweisach, things are heating up. The BTR equipped company that I smashed with artillery last turn still lingers around and it gets the ”Treatment” again, followed up by a napalm and clusterbomb strike by A-10s. The net result is that the company is wiped out. More results like that please!




Further to the south, the remnants of 27th GMRD, heavily supported by airstrikes, skirts westward through the woods, taking care to avoid the heavy US presence near Pfarrweisach. They crash into the West German covering forces holding the line to the north of the Americans, causing heavy losses. Supported by artillery and A-10s, the West German 342. Panzergrenadier Battalion from the 34. Panzer Brigade which constitutes the covering force here disengages. The problem is, that a breakthrough here, on the juncture between GE 12. Panzer and US 3rd Infantry would threaten both the integrity of the VII Corps (by capturing Schweinfurt), which have very few reserves, and risk the units deployed east of Bamberg being cut off and destroyed in case the 27th GMRD chooses to swing south. Local reserves are quickly sent to the area: Attack Helicopters from 3rd Infantry Division, a Tank Battalion from the 1st Brigade/3rd Inf, plus 4 battalions of Leopard 1 tanks from the 34. and 36. Panzer Brigades/12. Panzer Div. This should suffice, but still doesn´t remove the problem of me playing a shell game with reserves shuffling back and forth. If more than one crisis develops in the VII Corps sector before the REFORGER units arrive, I might very well be done for.




At Coburg the V-hex still hasn´t changed color, and the retreat continues flawlessly. The only traces we have of the enemy is a cloud of dust on the horizon, corroborated by SIGINT. Further to the south, 2nd Squadron/2 ACR completes its withdrawal behind the Main river, blowing the bridge behind them.




SE of Kulmbach, the 1st Squadron/2 ACR and the 2nd Brigade/3rd Inf pulls back another 10 kilometers. The flanks have been secured by blowing the bridges across the ”White” Main at Kulmbach, but the units are still in danger of being cut off if they do not withdraw behind the ”Red” Main before dark. The crossing site over the "Red" Main south of Kulmbach is secured by a West German company from Jägerbattalion 761. As at Coburg, the Americans have no problem losing their slowly advancing East-German pursuers.




SIGINT shows the now familiar agglomeration of E-German HQs N of Hof, and a possible Army or Front HQ moving towards either Meiningen or Coburg. All my Recon-missions have been expended on targets nearer the frontline, and in any case, the airplanes available to me now are not suitable for going on deep strikes against such targets. I will just have to wait untill more suitable strike-aircrafts become available.







The score doesn´t advance much in my favor this turn, primarily due to the loss of a strike aircraft, but the destruction of two enemy companies was very welcome to me. The operational problems I am contending with remains the same though: If I do not advance my lead in scoring, I will stop his first attack echelon, but my units will be so ground down in strength that I cannot hope to stop the next. In addition the problem in the VII Corps sector is aggravated further, thus necessitating me giving ground up quicker than I would have liked to, in order to avoid units being cut off.