Monocacy Warparty | Let the games begin!!

Berlin Airlift 12/1/88

The campaign will be run using a simple map of East and West Germany with strategic points color coded to represent control. NATO forces will be represented in light blue and WARSAW PACT forces will be represented in red. Each side will field 2 Divisions that will operate independently of one another...they are not permitted to join forces ... only one Division may fight in any one battle at a time. The goal is to break through towards Poland for NATO and towards Belgium for the WARSAW PACT. The WARPACT will be represented by Soviet and either Czech or East German (decision to be made by the overall commander), while NATO will be made up of West German and BAOR (British) forces. Each city/town/hamlet has advantages and or disadvantages for its control, and may only accessed by roades leading into the sector...so some towns become much more important as they are access points to a variety of other towns. The rules to be used for the miniature battles will be Modern Spearhead with actual OOB's used from 1988.

12/1/88: Tensions have been mounting for decades, and the Warsaw Pact has cut off all routes into West Berlin...surrounded and unsupplied the NATO forces in West Berlin are becoming desperate. The Berlin Airlift to supply West Berlin has failed and President Reagan forced NATO's hand into opening sufficient land supply routes into West Berlin to supply the city. The success of this attack by elements of the BAOR Berlin District, and the West German 1st Division depends on the speed with which the routes are opened and casualties are immaterial.

Victory Conditions:

Victory will be determined after 15 turns. Each side has 8 Artillery Missions to use. Victory is determined by the number of road & village hexes (there will be villages lining the eastern edge of the map) on the eastern edge of the board controlled by the NATO forces at the end of the game. In order to control one of these hexes, the NATO players must have been the last to move a unit through this hex and there must be NO WARPAC infantry or AFV's within 2 hexes of the road/village hex on the last game turn.

Number of hexes Victory

Controlled by NATO Level

0 Warpac Decisive

1 Warpac Tactical

2 Warpac Marginal

3 DRAW

4 NATO Marginal

5 NATO Tactical

6 NATO Decisive

SITREP

Birds eye view from the North East Corner...this is where the action would take place.

Soviet T-72 Poised to defend a hill.

British forces advance towards the train depot.

Brits begin to move past the railroad.

W. Germans moving into a wooded area on hill 120

What became affectionately knows as "the wall of death"...W.German leopards formed up and ready to move forward.

W. German Marder AFV's poised to roll off of Hill 120

W. German Artillery ready to support the NATO assault

W. German Leopards roll across the open field towards the suspected Soviet strong point on Hill 550, just outside of the West Berlin suburban hamlet which NATO forces have been charged with taking.

Soviet T-72's await the W. German onslaught...they open fire, but have a difficult time piercing the Leopard's armor.

Hill 550 after the Soviet T-72's were forced to withdraw.

Brithish armor prepares to roll through a countryside hamlet that they suspect houses soviet dismounted infantry. A tough task lies ahead of this armor column if they hope to clear the town.

TO BE CONTINUED IN TWO WEEKS

2nd Half of Battle For Berlin

T-72's roll towards the W.German right flank...much of the Panzer Group has already been destroyed by cluster bombs from the Soviet S1's

German Leopards prepare to meet the onslaught of Soviet forces moving to their right.

T-64's finally get the orders to move in to assist the T-72 batallion. Things are looking bleak for the W. Germans at this point. All that remains is armor, and without infantry support there is very little hope of securing a town.

The battle for the dense woods and the Berlin suburbs gets hot.

The scene of T-64's after the destruction of the Panzer group, just outside the Berlin 'burbs.

The BAOR troops attempt to encircle the German village after the highlanders were repelled in house to house fighting. The Brits felt the sting of the AK-47 in repeated assaults, but never managed to get a foothold on the village.

The dug in Soviet troops get some assistance from a Hind.

Determining the village was no longer a viable option and seeing T-72's and T-64's approaching from the W.German sector of the battlefield, the BAOR forces have no choice but to turn their attention to a defensive stance.

W. German reinforcements approach the battle (M48's and FV432's), but it is too little too late for the beleagured Germans. The last message these reinforcements were from Squid-6, and all they heard was "This is objective is REDONCULOUS!"

In the final arial pictures of the battlefield, you can see the Soviet armor has secured the middle Berlin Suburbs with multiple armor platoons, and the BAOR forces have turned their attention from the assualt of the village, to defending their withdraw.

Overall a great battle. We learned many valuable lessons. First and foremost, town blocks are very hard to take unless you have softened them up with artillery fire. The simple fact that the defenders get to throw fire into your approach and any suppressions they achieve cause a -2 modifier for the attacker. A true monumental task for an assualt. We also learned that AFV's do not stand up well to cluster bombs, AND you MUST keep infantry and armor together, otherwise you get a very lopsided attack as armor pounds infantry into the dust. Some good things to keep in mind as we move forward.

The campaign now turns to a WarPact offensive as NATO forces attempt to steel their nerves. Soviet forces must now decide where to attack; Falkensee (just west of Berlin) or Lubeck, and push the war into West Germany.

Nato Mobile Defense 12/7/88:

Warpac BMP's rolling out of W. Berlin towards Potsdam

Day 1 of invasion of W. Germany...Warpac AFV's on the highway to Magdeburg

12/7/88 Nato Mobile Devensive

A reinforced infantry brigade of the W. German 2nd Army & and several infantry battalions of the BAOR , supported by artillery, defends the southern flank against elements of the Warpac 5th Tank army near Magdeberg.

Warpac:

Elements of the Soviet 11th Tank Corps & the Czech 2nd Tank Division enter anywhere along the eastern edge of the map on turn 1.

Victory Conditions: Warpac players win a Decisive Victory if by the end of 20 turns they have established an east-west corrider at least 2 hexes wide and free of all NATO units spanning from Potsdam to Magdeberg.

Troops Available: 2 Soviet T72 Tank battalions, 3 Soviet BMP battalions, 5 Soviet Mortar platoons, 2 Soviet Recon platoons, 1 Czech T64 Tank battalion, 3 Czech Infantry battalions, 4 Czech mortar platoons, 2 Czech Recon platoons, 1 Czech Rocket Battalion 15 fire missions.

NATO:

Elements of the BAOR and 45th W. German Division set up anywhere from mid-map to the western edge.

Victory Conditions: prevent the corridor from opening to Magdeberg.

Troops Available: BAOR: 1/2 Challenger Tank battalion (3 tank platoons), 8 Warrior AFV's, 2 mortar platoons, 1 infantry battalion, 2 Artillery pieces (10 missions apiece). W. German: 1 Marder battalion, 2 infantry battalions, 3 Artillery pieces (5 missions apiece).

SITREP:

The battle began with British forces deploying near Magdeburg and the main crossroad, while Germans held Magdeberg proper and the bridge at the crossroads. Soviet forces advanced along the souther ridgelines, useing the rising hills to mask their movement. Meanwhile Czech forces moved a batalion towards the crossroads and another batallion northwest towards Magdeburg. The fight would start at the crossroads as German Jaguars opened fire on the bridge and the T-55's crossing it. Before long the T-55's had cleard the German batallion tasked with holding the crossroads with the help of heavy mortar fire. The northern Czech batallion stumbled upon the german artillery hidden in a woodline, a fierce fire fight would break out and most of the Czech infantry would be cleared from the northern attack force.

The crossroads in the center can be seen, as smoldering tanks and Jaguars litter the road. To the south can be seen more smoldering armor as British infantry equipped with ATGW's opened fire on the mounted infantry (BMP'S). The lead elements of the T-72 battle line can be seen approaching that woodline and Magdeburg on the far western side of the battlefield.

Soviet forces engage the British held treeline and approach a well defended Magdeburg.

The carnage that the Czechs faced at the bridge and crossroads

Czechs engaging the German artillery in the tree line.

T-72's advance on the British

More T-72's hit the British left flank.

British officers review the plans to defend Magdeburg

German Marder's brace themselves to defend Magdeberg.

British Chieftans attempt to hold the treeline, but there are just too many Soviets

The slow plodding Czechs finally reach the crossroads...the burning hulks of German Jaguars can be seen.

Czechs at the crossroads

The battle reaches the climax as Soviets push into Magdeburg with infantry and T-72's

Soviet troops roll into Magdeburg.

The last sector of Magdeburg is under assault by a vastly superior Soviet assault force.

British infantry just outside Magdeburg prepare the mortars

The battlfield as seen from Potsdam

Soviet BMP's roll through Magdeburg

The soviets managed to roll the NATO forces. NATO forces were let down by the 1st BAOR Brigade as it sat in the tree line and never answered the pleas of the undermanned Germans in Magdeburg. Once they finally decided to move they chose a path over the hills instead of coming down the main road...a move that could have saved the NATO lines and crushed the Czechs from behind. Hind sight is always 20/20 though.

The missing BAOR brigade of Warrior APC's is seen retreating deeper into W. Germany.

The Soviets are now only two victories away from sending NATO into worldwide turmoil.

12/10/88 Braunschweig, W. Germany

(NATO forces perparing the defenses of Braunschweig)

12/10/88 Braunschweig:

The Soviet 6th Tank Corps attempts a reconnaissance in force against positions held by NATO US and British forces outside Braunschweig, West Germany.

NATO FORCES:
British:3 Dismounted infantry platoons, 3 FV432 Mortar Crews, 12 Warrior AFV's, 4 Challengers

American: 2 Apaches, 2 mobile artillery pieces, 12 Bradleys, 4 M1A1's

Soviet Forces: 12 T-72's, 2 Migs, 4 Hinds, 6 dismounted infantry, 4 Artillery pieces, 2 Czech T-64's, 2 Czech T-50's, 18 BMP's

Victory Conditions:

Soviet Decisive: 30 units in Nato Deployment Zone

Soviet Tactical: 20 units in Nato Deployment Zone

Soviet Marginal: 10 units in Nato Deployment Zone

NATO Marginal: destroy Soviet units equal in number to Nato losses

NATO Tactical: destroy 2x as many Soviet units as Nato losses

NATO Decisive: destroy 3x as many Soviet units as Nato losses

20 Turns.

Soviet forces began the push into Braunschweig at dawn...they were met with heavy, aggressive resistance within the hour. American and British forces pushed hard and fast over the river in an attempt to head off the Soviet assault. This would be their undoing!

Soviet combined arms run into a UK warrior battallion, and make short work of them.

On the other end of the battlefield, US Bradleys attempt to cut off the Soviet push. They would make easy targets for the Soviet T-72's

Unexpected M1Abram fire cought the T-72's offguard,

eliminating the battallion before they knew what had hit them.

The roar of enemy aircraft could soon be heard...

The Soviets would get the last laugh, as a Mig rained fire down upon the Abrams

Apache's tried to answer the call with mixed success

Nato defenses along the river

The main battle takes shape in the center, as both apache and hind's add their weight to the battle

A final push by US forces...a second bradley batallion rushes to the sound of battle to halt the onslaught

In the end...there were just too many soviet forces for even the mighty apache to stop. The Soviet forces won a resounding victory. The push to Hannover and ultimate victory would be the next battle.

12/12/88 Hannover Contested

With the resounding victory, the Soviet forces took a day to recoup and organize...however, the NATO forces, now remotivated with US presence, made a pre-emptive strike in the hopes of keeping the Warpac forces from reaching Hannover.

Abrams gear up for the assualt

NATO forces move quicking to enter the capture zone and cut off Warpac forces

Soviet forces take a beating as Abrams pour fire into them.

In the foreground, a HInd takes a hit early on...

the Soviet air support would face problems all day...especially locking on and destroying easy targets

Even attempts to hit the NATO forces in the rear didn't go WARPAC's way, here BMP's get mauled by Abrams and Bradlys

Continued problems for Warpac Hinds

Even the mighty Soviet Mig went down in flames.

Soviet reinforcements would come too late to help the main force...it had already been destroyed in its entirety

Nato troops unload on the outskirts of Braunschweig...surely there will be another battle for possession of the city...its airfields being vital to Soviet activity in the region.

Another battle was held for the Braunschweig airfields, and NATO forces again overwhelmed the WARPACT forces. Upon the destruction of yet another Soviet armored division (remnants seen pictured above), the Kremlin sent word to NATO representatives that they would be pulling back to East Germany in the hopes of ending the bloodshed. The Cold War looks to have come to an end, but nobody knows for sure what is going on behind the Iron Curtain.