Talk:AFOH/@comment-27015223-20151006084239/@comment-27015223-20151008102256

IC: Lieutenant Colonel Bennings, Commanding Officer, Task Force Hunter. Owen Stanley Mountain Range.

A battalion-sized remnant of a brigade of Millinium mechanized infantry was reported in the Owen Stanley range, including a company of armor. Task Force Hunter, under Bennings' command now, was tasked with searching and destroying this force. The enemy was composed of a hodge podge of units that had refused to retreat and instead had hidden themselves in the mountains. Most of their heavy equipment was still intact. Two companies of infantry and one company of armor, with a platoon of mortars and a battery of howitzers in support. Bennings, on the other hand, had three companies of infantry (each with a platoon of Fire Support Jaguars with 115mm guns), one company of light tanks, and a platoon of mortars...three additional sections of mortars if the rifle company units were counted, but Bennings planned on leaving them in the company commanders' hands. The enemy were definitely somewhere near a pass called the Gauntlet Corridor, where they'd attempted a push but had been torn apart by AFOH forces before scattering into the mountains. Those AFOH forces had now pulled out, and the job of finding those Millinium forces was left to Bennings.

TF Hunter divides its company of tanks into platoons, with one platoon joining each rifle company. The fourth platoon holds back to guard the mortars and the rear. Alpha Company Team takes point through the pass. Bravo and Charlie Company Teams follow in an arrowhead formation. The plan was that once Alpha "found" the enemy, they would quickly pull back, while Bravo and Charlie went for the kill.

Instead, Charlie Company Team was engaged first, with a wave of RPGs and ATGMs launching from TF Hunter's flank. The Griffins' APS worked, but it only protected their individual vehicles. One Griffin was hit, but its ERA saved it. The Jaguars of Charlie Company Team were hit as well. Most of them shrugged off the hits with their heavy armor, but a couple received critical hits, while one had a catastrophic explosion with all infantry still inside.

TF Hunter's reaction was fairly swift. All infantry dismounted and spread out. Alpha and Bravo Company Teams opened up with massive suppressive fire to help Charlie fall back. The mortars launched a salvo of smoke rounds to create a smoke screen before pounding the mountain slope where the enemy fire had come from. The dismounted infantry rushed up the slopes to engage alongside the 8 Griffins of Alpha and Bravo, with the less-mobile Jaguars providing fire support. Charlie joined the reserve platoon of Griffins as a reserve force. The Jaguar mortars continued giving indirect fire support.

The two company teams quickly annihilate the initial enemy force, but more and more enemies join the battle, and mortar and artillery fire begin pounding the AFOH units. After three hours of combat, both sides disengage to process what they'd learned and reshuffle their footing. AFOH encountered no enemy tanks, and no Griffins were lost during the uphill assault. A couple Griffins were damaged or destroyed by artillery in the reserve. AFOH occupies the pass and the slopes on one side. A recon team is sent to the slopes on the other side. The enemy occupies the slopes on one side further down the pass.

Task Force Hunter and the Griffin performed well in their first engagements, though their performance against enemy armor has yet to be tested.