Firestorm: Stripes

In the early hours of morning, Serzhant Umraefein grumbled, "Attack along the Hof Corridor, eh?" He glowered out into the darkness, trying to determine the best course of attack against a dug in opponent. Somewhere, out of eyesight, he could hear helicopters idling. Little did he know, that noise would spell doom for his mission.

With objectives spread across the enemy lines, and few obvious threats on either flank, it was judged a two pronged attack utilizing the BMPs with T-72 support on the right flank would be the order of the day. The infantry was deployed poorly, with one company holding the enemy's objective while the other hunkered down in the woods to defend the Hail battery, rather than pushing forth to crush the opposition. Additionally, the initial placement of our artillery observer placed our initial target out of sight, resulting in poor utilization of the Hails in the early stages of the battle.

"Der'mo!" Cried Serzhent Umraefein. "Where are they firing from?" His right flank had exploded in fire, with several of the BMP-1's and one of his T-72's being destroyed from the volley. "Push forward! Push forward!"

The Americans began the first round by revealing an ambushing platoon of Abrams tanks on their left flank. The ensuing fire from said tanks destroyed several of the BMP-2's advancing along that flank. Meanwhile, the Sheridans hidden in the forest in the center of the American lines opened fire on the T-72's, destroying one. Across their lines, the American's held their positions, preparing to allow the Russians to break upon them like a massive wave: loud, but largely impotent to dislodge them. The T-72's, BMP-2's, and Spandrels on the right flank advanced towards the jaws of the enemy, but only succeeded in eliminating one of the Sheridans hunkered down in the woods. On the other side of the battlefield, the BMP-1's advanced towards the American infantry holding the building in front of the third objective. However, tactical mistakes began to reveal themselves as the infantry held their positions rather than advancing to take the fight to the Americans. Meanwhile, the misplaced observer discovered he could not sight his target, and was unable to range in a new target in time to fire.

As he watched fire tear his T-72 support to pieces, Serzhant Umraefein realized his mistake. "Push the infantry forward! Get them to grips with the enemy!" Although he believed it would likely be futile, he intended to do as much damage to the American lines as his troops could muster.

As the second round of combat began, the Americans continued to hold their positions, confident in their ability to hold back the Soviet advance. The Sheridans and Abrams opened fire on the advancing T-72s, crushing them in a withering hail of fire. Realizing they would likely not secure victory without them, the Soviets began urging their infantry forward out of the forest to support the BMP-1's in their advance into the town. Although the BMP-2's were able to bring their Spandrel missiles to bear on the Abrams, they were unable to penetrate the tanks improved armor. Meanwhile, the Soviet artillery continued to flounder as the observer continued to fail to range in.

"Why are the Hails not firing?" Cried Serzhant Umraefein. "Bring all the firepower of Mother Russia to bear against these Capitalist dogs!" Although losses were beginning to pile up, he still felt confident he could bring victory to his command.

As the third round of combat commenced, an American scout section arrived to assist in securing the left flank against the oncoming Russians. Meanwhile, the Abrams shifted their fires to resume the destruction of the BMP-2's, while the Sheridans attempted to destroy the Spandrels hunkered down behind the smouldering remains of the T-72 company. While the Abrams destroyed several more of the BMP's, the Sheridans failed to destroy any of the Spandrels, simply bailing one. Meanwhile, the American infantry destroyed one of the BMP-1's advancing on the left flank, as the mortars ranged in on one of the infantry companies, pinning them in place. The Soviets responded soundly, with a combination of Hail fire and Spandrels causing enough casualties among the Sheridans for them to spike their tanks and flee. Meanwhile, the infantry in the center continued their advance into the town, hunkering down behind several walls. Although the BMP-1s advanced to engage the scout section and infantry holding the objective, the infantry intended to support them failed to recover from the mortar fire, and held their positions.

As he watched his losses mount, Serzhant Umraefein felt a pang of regret. His mistakes had led them to this point. Still, as he watched his forces advance on the left flank, he remembered the day was not lost. Not even those damnable helicopters trashing his artillery could stop them firing!

The fourth turn saw losses continue to mount, as the Americans reinforced with a platoon of Stingers and a flight of Air Assault helicopters. The helicopters landed behind the Russian artillery, but failed to destroy or route the battery as a single launcher stood resolute. Meanwhile, the Abrams advanced in order to eliminate the Spandrels and BMP-2's, although a single BMP survived the fire. Meanwhile, the Stingers advanced to hold the center while the infantry holding the left flank began pouring fire into the BMP-1's, causing heavy casualties. In response, both infantry companies pushed forward in a desperate bid to take the objectives. The single remaining BMP-2 fired into the landed helicopters, and succeeded in bringing one down. Finally, the Shilkas moved forward to begin pouring fire into the apartment building the Americans were garrisoning.

Serzhant Umraefein cradled his head in his hands. He would have to answer to his superiors for this debacle. Although his forces were closing on the objective, he had suffered unimaginable losses. Additionally, he had a feeling he had not heard the last of those proklyatyy helicopters.

In the ensuing two turns, the Soviets attempted to push forward to take the central and left objectives with infantry. Meanwhile, the Abrams and American infantry continued to pick off Soviet assets, to include the Shilkas. The leftmost company of infantry managed to get into range to conduct a poorly executed assault against the infantry garrisoning the building. Although they were able to create a few casualties, the assault was pushed back, leaving the Soviets out of position. The machine gun teams that were left behind to guard the objective attempt to dig in, but fail to find defensible positions.

Despite their advance, the American forces succeeded in pinning the Soviet infantry in place in the center of the field, preventing them from threatening the objective. Meanwhile, the helicopters returned to threaten the Soviet objective. The gunned down one of the machine gun teams, and prepared their infantry to disembark and claim the objective. At the same time, the infantry on the left flank was pushed from the building. An important, if Pyrrhic victory for the Soviets. In the final moments of the match, a tactical misstep left the artillery observer out of position to threaten the objective, allowing the American 82nd Airborne to dismount and claim the objective. A hard fought victory for the Americans.