Talk:AFOH/@comment-14850713-20151018170726/@comment-27015223-20151021173812

2nd and 3rd Battalions have already gained the upper hand against the two ambushing companies by the time 1st Battalion launches a violent charge into the battle, accelerating the inevitable defeat of the heavily outnumbered Millineum ambush forces. A handoff ensues where 2nd and 3rd Battalions disengage to hurriedly take up their fortified positions in Wabag, while 1st Battalion finishes off the last of the enemy and acts as a rear guard. 2nd Battalion took a beating with 25% casualties while 3rd Battalion miraculously escaped with only 5% casualties.

1st Battalion gets engaged by enemy Leopard tanks from the 2 advancing Millenium combined arms brigades. The Recon Squadron advances from the fortifications, handing them off to 2nd and 3rd Battalions, and then conducts a leap-frogging retreat with 1st Battalion. The Griffin TD/LTs aren't a match for Leopard 3s in a stand-up fight, as their 127mm guns can barely penetrate the opposing Leopard tank's frontal armor, while their light armor is shredded apart by the Leopard's 140mm guns, and they take heavy casualties. 1st Battalion and the Recon Squadron pop visual and infrared masking smoke grenades as they reverse towards Wabag. The 1MEB's 16 150mm howitzers open fire with submunition-carrying anti-tank (SCAT) shells that strike the vulnerable top armor of the Leopard 3s. Meanwhile 2nd and 3rd Battalions' Griffins let loose with APFSDS, the Pegasi with HESH and ATGMs, and Thunderbolt MC's with SCAT (same ammo as the howitzers) from the protection of the entrenchments. Colonel Bennings orders the infantry of both battalions to dismount and take up positions inside Wabag.

The combination of heavy concentrated supporting firepower and a disciplined retreat allows 1st Battalion and the Recon Squadron to successfully fallback behind the defensive line with 15% casualties in both (mostly Griffins). 1st Battalion's vehicles join the entrenchments, while its infantry joins the positions inside Wabag. They are invisible to the Millineum forces in the urban terrain. The Recon Squadron, meanwhile, also disappears into Wabag (OOC: dun dun dun!)

Meanwhile in the air:

8 AFOH Diables and 7 Millenium Adlers exchange BVR missile salvos. Both sides deploy countermeasures and evasive maneuvers, but they each lose 2 aircraft. The remaining 6 Diables and 5 Adlers scream into the merge then wrench into a crushingly high-g turning fight. (OOC: I'll let you decide the outcome of this one, Bouexic.) Neither side is now able to deploy CAS while the air battle rages.

Back on the ground:

The 2 Millenium brigades press the attack. Howitzers fire a smoke screen to cover their advance as the Leopard 3s, Pumas, and infantry employ a marching fire advance, then begin shelling the 3 battalions of 1MEB's vehicles. The defensive AFOH have the tactical advantage but are outnumbered. The Millenium commander notes the disappearance of the Recon Squadron and notifies the front-line commanders, but they remain unaware of the separation of the AFOH infantry into Wabag. Meanwhile 2 infantry brigades from the SAU 5ID deploy on either side of and to the rear of the 1MEB, presenting refused flanks to avoid being engaged by the Millenium forces, and dig in. The 3rd and final brigade of the SAU 5ID takes up position behind the 1MEB and digs in.