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

[JDR Dragoon]

Players notes and considerations.

This turn is midday (10 to 12 am), Visibility is still 3 hexes (4,5 km).


The fight in the rear against infiltrators and fifth-column progresses this turn as well. A team of Spetsnaz is caught by the 853. Jäger Battalion, while trying to remove the prepared demolitions across the Rhine river bridge at Worms. As they were wearing civilian clothing at the time, they will face court martial and likely execution.

Near Göttingen the 2. Kompanie of the 2. Panzeraufklärungsbattalion, detailed with guarding the Leine river against any crossing attempts spot a tempting target along the opposite riverbank: a Polish towed artillery battalion supporting the advance of the 10. Armored Division. The attached FAC calls in two flights of Alpha Jets (one with napalm and bombs, the other one sporting a less than ideal load of armor-piercing cluster munitions), which spreads about ½ of the artillery battalion across the hillside in bloody chunks. 2. Kompanie then closes in and use their 10 Leopard 1 main battle tanks to further add to the carnage, shooting across the river. Once all is said and done, about 2/3rd of the artillery battalion is destroyed, and I have got a positive ID on the unit at Göttingen. I need more results like this if I am going to win.

South of Göttingen the Polish 2. Mech Div. Seems to have gotten their house in order again, and supported by airstrikes they advance boldly against the W. German covering force. Advance guards also roll along the road-less western bank of the Weser, which I am not attempting to contest. A heavy dose of artillery causes debilitating casualties (ca. 33%) on the lead BMP company though, which should dissuade further advances a bit. It is however clear now, that the threat of a double envelopment of the covering force deployed east of the Weser is becoming very real. The covering force (6, Panzer Brigade, 2. Aufklärungsbattalion plus parts of the 4. Panzergrenadier Brigade) falls back about 3 kilometers, to the next prepared line of defense (the large forested hill just west of Göttingen).




On the western bank of the Weser the remnants of the 2. Mech Div. seems to be content to sit tight and wait me out, while the Polish 5. Armored Div. continues to press the covering force deployed here (14. Panzer Brigade, 5. Panzeraufklärungsbattalion plus parts of 13. Panzergrenadier Brigade) towards the NW (the Polish 4. Mech. Div seems to have dropped back into reserve).




In the US V Corps sector the 57th GMRD continues to force my covering force to grudgingly give ground (1.5-3km on average this turn), but not without getting attritioned itself. The 20th GMRD also seems to prepare to add its forces to the push in earnest. At this pace they will reach the Fulda river as darkness begins to fall. V Corps long range artillery is very effective at their counter-battery tasks this turn as well. Air-Recon also reports the presence of a unit of East-German Grenztruppen in this sector, but no NATO force has so far been in contact with these forces. The 39th GMRD forces directly opposite Fulda seems content to sit tight too.




Down in the Rhön, the 39th GMRD begins to get its groove on: The T64 equipped Tank Regiment, supported by a battalion of T62 tanks (likely from the Divisions´ BMP-equipped Motorrifle Regiment) tries a double envelopment of C Troop/11th ACR and A Coy/3-68 Armor. This draws out a heavy response, from 8th IDs Attack Helicopter Battalions, supported by A-10s and the counterattacking 2-68 Armor Battalion, which allows the threatened units to extricate themselves. Further to the south the 2nd Squadron/11th ACR withdraws into the main battle positions: The covering force battle here is over....




On the boundary between US V and VII Corps, the offending T64 battalion runs into a buzzsaw. A combination of attacks by 5 Attack Helicopter Battalions (3 from the V Corps Aviation Brigade, and one each from the 11th ACR and the 3-8 CAV), sustained attacks by A-10s and attacks by all three ground troops of the 3-8 CAV reduces the battalion from having close to 30 MBTs to the size of a reinforced platoon. Further to the south the remnants of the 79th GTD doesn´t seem too eager to come out and play either, contending themselves with glowering at the NATO positions across the valley. The 27th GMRD sends forth a probe in company strenght, but a W. German battalion size counterattack by the 36. Panzer Brigade, supported by the weight of the divisional artillery, stops them with 50% losses.




At Pfarrweisach, the T64 battalion stopped last turn breaks contact and slinks back to the north. More units, likely also from the 27th GMRD appears, appears to the NW. At Coburg and Kronach the 6th GTD seems surprisingly inactive, seemingly content with watching the US covering forces break contact and withdraw to the W and S. The suspected E-German Motorrifle Division attacking on this axis is spotted this turn as well. The V-hex at Coburg is unoccupied, yet strangely still controlled by NATO....




The covering forces falling back from Hof have no problem disengaging either, and rally around Münchberg. Their East-German pursuers doesn´t seem very eager here either.




I got in several good licks this turn, and thus the difference in kill score grows in my favor. The grinding down of enemy armor and artillery was especially welcome. The problem is my opponents approach to this game. He doesn´t seem to be very eager to attack, and seems satisfied with pushing slowly forward across a broad front, only sending small probes forward, typically in company to regimental(-) strength. This is both good and bad. Good because it allows my covering forces to hold on longer in most places, and gives me more time to prepare my main battle positions. It is however bad in the sense that the constant probing across a broad front forces me to be present everywhere, and to send my scarce reserves scurrying back and forth, parrying each thrust. I fear that once he finds a vulnerability, he will pursue it mercilessly. The only way to counter this is to build up large operational reserves, but the REFORGER units needed for this purpose are still several hours, if not days, distant.