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

[JDR Dragoon]

Players notes and considerations.

This turn is late afternoon (18 to 20 pm), last turn of full daylight. Visibility is still 3 hexes (4,5 km).


US MPs finally catch a Spetznaz team, after they succesfully used an SA-18 to shoot down a C-141 Starlifter, as it approaches the Rhein-Main airport. Good, since the more of these I kill, the better my ability to shift forces will be. In addition, the security measures imposed by the 3rd Bde/4th ID seems to have been succesful, since they were hardly hit by the activity of the infiltrators this turn.


At Göttingen the entirety of the 10. Armor Div. throws themselves at the Bundeswehr covering force: 2 Regiments of T55 tanks and one of T72s, supported by an OT-64 equipped Motorrifle Regiment from the 2. Mech Div. charges the two W-German panzer battalions covering this sector. They manage to kill a goodly amount of WAPA armor, the older T55s being no match for modern 105mm guns. In addition they radio for support: Antitank Helicopters kill even more armor, supported by Alpha Jets equipped with AP clusterbombs detonating even more of the older Polish tanks across the eastern slopes of the hill. The only fly in the ointment is the loss of a single Alpha Jet to a Polish ZSU 23/4.

The rest of the 2. Mech. Div. Gets targeted by harassment fire, making especially certain to direct copius amount of counterbattery fire against the located artillery. In addition, the located HQ in Duderstadt, which is likely the divisional command post for 10. Arm. Div. gets hit heavily by a bomb armed Alpha Jet strike, destroying much of the surrounding town



Near Hessisch-Lichtenau the Polish 5. Armor Division still cools their heels, no doubt waiting for the flanking attack by the4. Mech. Div. to develop before trying their luck. So far the 4. Mech. have had significant troubles negotiating the forested heights of the Kaufinger Wald, so a concerted attack is unlikely to materialize for the next 2-4 hours. In addition, Air-Recon reveals, that more enemy units are lurking behind the frontline for their turn. The paucity of action here also means, that I can turn my attention towards bombarding the located artillery, and targeting the suspected CP of the 5. Arm. Div. with a rocket armed fighter-bomber strike.



Down in the V Corps sector the 57th GMRD continues to shuffle its units around, while pelting the covering force with artillery and long-range missile fire. But this inactivity of course also allows me to dedicate artillery resources towards targeting his located artillery and HQs here as well. The only real activity seems to be the 20th GMRD, which continues to push forwards. An impudent battalion of T62s gets punished heavily by american Attack Helicopters and M113s equipped with TOW missiles, acting in concert with the 2-32 Armor Battalion, losing over 10 tanks, albeit at the cost of the 2-32 getting scattered and disrupted by WAPA artillery fire. The 2-33 Armor Battalion quickly moves up to support.



On the road to Fulda the 39th GMRD starts to poke its head out again, no doubt wanting to test the US defences during the evening and night. Down in the Rhön there is still no change, as American artillery and Attack Helicopters continue to attrition the Soviet armor.



In front of Bad Neustadt the enemy also continues their waiting game, allowing the West German and American defenders plenty of opportunity to mass long-range fires against the few WAPA units showing themselves. A possible divisional CP of a second echelon division is detected S of Suhl as well.



At Pfarrweisach the 27th GMRD tentatively starts to poke their heads out again, with the divisions T64 equipped Tank Regiment being especially aggressive. The division gets treated roughly by NATO artillery, and the T64s get hit by Attack Helicopters and multiple A-10 strikes, which also rubble much of the city of Pfarrweisach. Multiple sightings of dust plumes, corroborated by ground-search radar suggests, that the enemy attack here is likely to get rolling again soon.



To the south of Pfarrweisach enemy infiltrators proceed to direct multiple airstrikes against the HQ of the 1st Brigade/3rd ID, the HQ of the 3-12 Cavalry Squadron and B Coy/10th Engineer battalion. In all cases US and Luftwaffe F4s chase the enemy fighter-bombers away though. But in the case of the 1-76 Artillery Battalion the strike gets through, demolishing 5 out of 12 203mm M110 SP howitzers. Ouch! On the bright side, the capture of some of these Spectznaz infiltrators gives away the identitity of their parent formation; namely the 1st Guards Tank Army. Excellent. All that is left now is to discover where the exact boundary between the 1st GTA and 8th GA is. In addition, the CHAPARRAL SAM launchers accompanying the howitzers shoot down one of the attacking MiG-23s.



At Lichtenfels the crossing are now under artillery fire and the demolitions fail to fire again, despite the presence of two engineer units! The lead T64s of the 6th GTD is now almost within range.... In addition, the enemy ups the ante here by airstriking the HQ of the US 3rd Infantry Div., located south of Lichtenfels. At Kronach, the reported number of interdiction sorties reported by USAF A-7s and F-111s operating from England leads me to believe, that something major is afoot. Just to be on the safe side, I strike the located HQ in Kronach repeatedly with A-10s, although unfortunately without choking the roads with rubble from the destroyed town



East of Kulmbach, the East-Germans continue to press forwards, albeit somewhat more carefully. The T72s of the 7. Panzer Div. show themselves again, although the identity of the Motorrifle unit north of Kulmbach remains unknown. US 3rd AF units continue to punishing the travelling east-german columns between Kulmbach and Münchberg as well.



And this is just silly. I guess they really want to die in that East-German HQ....



The combination of interdiction against his travelling units and me engaging in lopsided battles on my terms drives the score even further in my favor by another 100 points. The only bad thing is the loss of another fighter-bomber. If I had been without that, my score would have been even greater . In addition, the identity of the last Soviet army attacking me is now known. Unfortunately it is a Tank Army, so there is likely a lot of armor waiting in the wings.

Now darkness begins to descend on this first day of battle.....