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

[JDR Dragoon]

Players notes and considerations.

This turn is mid-Morning (10 am to 12 am). Visibility is still 3 hexes (4,5 kilometers). Still a few units needing fuel, but they are solely units in the rear guarding objectives, so they will get theirs in due time.


The Polish 2. Army seems to have lost its momentum. The enemy has withdrawn out of sight completely along the Weser. This is both good and bad. Good in that it gives my forces a much needed breather. Bad in that he will likely be trying some kind of river crossing once the sun begins to set, or perhaps even before.

South of Kassel is the only place where he attempts to push fitfully forwards. The 2. Mech. Div. again tries to budge Panzerbrigade 14, but this time the West Germans, true to their doctrine has something up their sleeve: A counterattack.



The unit chosen for destruction is the ATGM battery guarding the right flank of the WAPA attack. It is subjected to sustained artillery bombardment and strikes by Alpha Jets using clusterbobmbs, before the Leopard 1´s, supported by PAH-1 antitank helicopters, close in and finish it off.

East of Melsungen, the Polish units present continue to watch my lines from across the Fulda. Like their compatriots at Munden they seem to gather their strenght in anticipation of forcing a crossing. Luftwaffe RF-4E´s reveal a large number of Polish Regimental HQs still waiting to cross the border. Follow on forces? Enemy Air-Recon at Melsungen suggests that this might be the place he intends to cross.



At Bad Hersfeld the picture from last turn continues. Again, he is likely trying to obfuscate the location of his likely crossing of the Fulda. SIGINT confirms that the East-German units from last turn are still there. Located HQs and units gets shelled (of course). The relative quiet in this sector allows 11th ACR and 3rd AD Attack Helicopter companies to displace towards Fulda, where they might soon be needed.



In front of Fulda the situation begins to develop. USAF aerial reconnaisance shows the presence of an East-German T55 equipped tank unit coming up from the rear, likely a part of the East-German unit further back. This suggests, that a 2nd echelon division is about to deployed at Fulda.



In the Rhön the 39th GMRD probes again. They get met by the now customary stiff resistance form the 8th ID and 11th ACR and stopped. These seem more like holding attacks, intended to draw off my strenght. I do hope that I am not deploying more that strictly necessary in order to shut down these incursions. On the boundary between the US V and VII Corps, the Attack helicopters of V Corps take their toll again as well.



In the Meiningen gap between Bad Neustadt and Bad Kissingen enemy Air-Recon tries to find my positions, but the they seem curiously inactive here, seemingly content to consolidate their grip on the newly conquered Bad Neustadt. The only exception to this is southeast of Bad Kissingen, where the 9th TD is pressing forwards against Panzerbrigade 34, who is giving ground grudgingly.



Further to the south the 106th GABD seems satisified with maintaining their perimeter at Schweinfurt, with one exception: The division uses my lack of forces to expand their perimeter to the south. At Gerolzhofen The Recon Platoon/D Troop/3-7 Cavalry/3rd ID are able to keep a tab on their movements, but something needs to be done to limit their movements. Meanwhile, airmobile infantry from the 3rd and 4th ID moves in quickly in order to head the soviet airborne troops off before they reach the important Main river bridges north of Kitzingen. The 2/64 Armor Btn of the 3rd ID yet again throws themselves at the airborne perimeter, despite being heavily hit by WAPA close support aircraft.

East of Schweinfurt, in the tenous foorhold I still maintain east of the Main here, the 3rd Brigade/3rd ID stops the 27th GMRD cold. Nobody gets through. This at least gives me hope that the arriving reinforcements will have a solid southern ”shoulder” upon which to act. There are only two problems with this scenario: The first is the fact that 4ATAF reports interdiction against enemy columns moving from Pfarrweisah towards Schweinfurt. The second and much more serious is, that the 6th GTD is changing its direction of advance. Instead of moving due west, the division is now moving NW along the Main, directly towards Schweinfurt! Attack Helicopters and A10s strike the T64 columns mercilessly, while the mechanized infantry of the 3rd ID fires their TOW antitank missiles across the Main, into the flank of the enemy tanks.



At Bamberg the 2nd ACR, supported by an Armor Btn from 3rd ID, stops the East German attempt at cutting off my retreating forces from Bamberg. The retreat here goes as planned, while the two East German divisions are stopped short of their goal thanks to the heavy fire. The only worrying factor here is that the T72 equipped 7. Panzer Div. seems to be back.



Near Coburg SIGINT detects a number of HQs. This suggests that a division, likely 7th GTD, is lurking in reserve.



This turn the kicking of the enemy reaches new proportions, as the score grows 150 points in my favor. Yet this might be deceptive. The hole that has opened between the 12. Panzer Div. and the 3rd ID has still not been closed and on top of this there is another worry: US 3rd Air Force reports detetcting and striking columns of WAPA vehicles moving between Leipzig and Weissenfels. This is deep in the WAPA rear. It might just be another division moving up, but it might also be the vanguard of the second operational echelon. If this is the case, we are likely talking about an entire army of 3-5 divisions moving up in order to exploit a breakthrough...