Flashpoint Campaigns Red Storm The Pied Piper

The following condensed after-action report details a battle between the West German 4th Panzer Brigade and the Soviet Red Storm Battle Group on D1 + 6 hours, July 21st, 1989 in and around the town of Hameln, West Germany. NATO forces consist of the 204th Panzer Battalion, the 202nd Panzer Grenadier Battalion, and the 201st Panzer Battalion. Soviet forces consist of the 27th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment, two battalions of motorized infantry, and two battalions of tanks.

The ultimate goal of the Warsaw Pact is to secure a bridgehead across the Weser River, whereas NATO must repel the enemy and attempt to hold them to stalemate along the Hamel River. There are multiple crossing points to defend and not enough forces available to cover everything, so the West Germans will employ a scorched earth tactic of blowing the majority of the bridges and fight the Soviets along the banks of the Hamel.

I place my tanks forward at several crossing points with orders to blow the bridges, and the mechanized infantry is situated along the Hamel River to blow the bridges there.

C02: The Soviets are making a strong push for the central bridgehead.

C06: A tank platoon is concealed by a Smoke Screen while the on-map artillery is ordered to barrage with Suppression Fire.

C08: A reinforcement tank battalion arrives and is ordered to deploy along the Hamel River to support the mechanized infantry already dug-in there defending the east bank.

C10: A reinforcement mechanized infantry battalion arrives and is also ordered to deploy along the Hamel.

C13: By the thirteenth cycle a brutal slugfest has ensued with the Soviets taking a severe pounding at the hands of the dug-in West German defenders.

C16: The Soviets managed to cross the river north of the defensive positions; however once they reached Hameln they were effectively stopped in their tracks.

C17: During cycle 17 the Warsaw Pact dropped below 30% triggering a battle declaration offer which I readily accepted.

The West Germans win the scenario with an 81% rating for a Decisive Success outcome, with forces at 64% of starting. The Soviets finished with a 19% rating for a Tactical Loss outcome, with forces at 29% of starting.

The final score was 11,008 to 2,524.

The standout unit was the 21/4^th Panzer Battalion (4 X Leopard 1A1A1 MBT’s) which accounted for 63 kill claims while losing all but one of their four tanks. For their contribution to the battle the battalion (or what was left of it) was awarded five citations for effectiveness.

While the Warsaw Pact did manage to cross the river far north of Hameln, they were not able to break through the defensive line that I had positioned along the Hamel River, resulting in their forces bogging down and being subjected to artillery fire.

This scenario was played on 5/12/16 using game version 2.0.11.4 (beta).