Tactical Battle Series: Armor Operations

The Tactical Battle Series is a set of scenarios played out on a single map utilizing the same objectives for each side for each scenario. The set contains the following installments: Airborne Operations, Armor Operations, Line Operations and finally Combined Operations. The scenario design is for the Allies to have a 3:1 superiority over the Axis forces with each mission lasting 48 hours.

On Day 2 of each scenario the Axis will receive a full complement of their starting force (another regiment if they started with a regiment, etc.) There are multiple reinforcement lists for the Axis side so that these additional forces will arrive at one of three possible entry points: far north, far west or far south. These three points will be randomly selected by the game engine.

The Victory Points are spread out over three primary objectives: Deelen Airfield (50 split 75%/25% between Occupation and Completion), Checkpoint North (25 split the same) and Checkpoint West (25 split the same).

The map is a cropped version of the stock Arnhem map and the .cop and .cop.cache files must be installed in the map folder of your game directory. The map is situated so that the entire map is visible within the game at the third zoom level.

The scenario file can be placed anywhere in your Scenarios directory, however in the screen shot below I have it saved to the Tactical Battle Series directory by simply adding that folder to the Scenarios folder.

The weather for the scenarios is a snow pattern with snow ground conditions, a minimum temperature of -5C (23F) and a maximum temperature of 1C (33.8F) with sunrise at 08:39 and sunset at 16:48. These conditions will greatly impact the air availability for each side, with the possibility that all sorties may wind up as canceled due to inclement conditions.

Armor Operations

D01 09:00 The initial order provided to the first wave:  1 Plt A Coy 702 TD Bn is pulled back into a defensive position to serve as early warning against the western approach of three possible entry points for Axis reinforcements. Likewise the Recon Coy is sent to the northern approach.

The 14 Arm FA Bn is moved forward to bring its 18 M7 105 mmHMC (Howitzer Motor Carriage) into effective range of the three objectives. 1 Bn CCA/2 is ordered to attack the Checkpoint West Objective and CCA 2 Armored Div and the AAA Bn are moved north while the supply base is detached and moved south to stay out of the way in case the Germans come from the west.

The southern approach possibility is left open as I do not have enough forces on map at the moment to account for that.

D01 10:01 2 Bn 41 Armored Inf Regt arrives on the battlefield and is ordered to attack the Deelen Airfield Objective using an Avoidance Route with Minimum Rest (all other settings are left to their default). This element consists of 758 personnel and 69 armored fighting vehicles with an anti-personnel firepower rating of 348, anti-armor rating of 557 and an armor value of 129.

While this is not the strongest force component I have at the moment (the 1/66 attacking attack the Checkpoint West Objective is, it should be sufficient to take control of the airfield (obviously depending on how vigorously it is being held by the Germans).

D01 11:01 The final reinforcement arrives, 2 Bn 66 Armored Regt. This force of 396 personnel and 73 armored fighting vehicles has an anti-personnel firepower rating of 446, anti-armor rating of 1,044 and an armor value of 974. They are also ordered to attack the Deelen Airfield Objective with similar settings as 2 Bn 41 Armored Inf Regt.

Once that group of two independent attackers takes the airfield, I intend to strip one of them off to attack the final objective, that being Checkpoint North.

D01 12:00

D01 15:00 Stunned to find the primary objective completely abandoned by the enemy, I order 2 Bn 41 Armored Inf Regt to defend there. 2 Bn 66 Armored Regt has its existing attack order moved to the Checkpoint North Objective.

Back west the 1 Bn CCA/2 attack on the Checkpoint West Objective is failing miserably as they have yet to secure the checkpoint and are beginning to lose units.

D01 21:00 1 Bn CCA/2 has lost another unit and is down to two frontline companies. They are ordered to fall back towards Ede to reorganize. Once the entry point for the Axis reinforcements is known later on Day 2, I intend to ground the remains of 1 Bn CCA/2 with the 1 Plt A Coy 702 TD Bn currently guarding the western approach and deploy this ad hoc force where needed.

D02 06:00 Something buggy seems afoot as the 1 Bn CCA/2 has not budged a single inch in its reorg task. Their fatigue level is at zero and the last entry in their message log is “D1, 09:16 New Orders”. I take a game save at this point in case this is something needing reported (or perhaps I do not understand how reorgs take place as I use them rarely).

The save game can be downloaded here.

D02 09:09 The German reinforcement is detected in the northern approach by the Recon Coy stationed there that will be destroyed in short order (sucks to be them).

Getting pissed that 1 Bn CCA/2 has yet to budge, I group them with the 1 Plt A Coy 702 TD Bn and issue an attack order on the Checkpoint West Objective with all settings balls to the wall.

D02 15:00

D02 21:00

D03 03:00 I wasn’t expected a walk in the park here, but with roughly a 3:1 advantage at the start I am looking quite inept at this point.

Damn…

After-action Report

D03 09:01 The Germans snuck in and took the airfield away from my control near the end. It changes hands a few times but I lost it to those bastards.

A freaking draw…

Review Final Situation

Check that…I managed to take the airfield back but still a disgusting draw.

The scenario can be downloaded from the Missions and Scenarios page of this website: it is located in the Command Operations Series section. It can be also downloaded directly from here.