Battlegroup NORTHAG: Objective LOG & Hill 214 PART I

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Cold War month marches on and I am putting various rules and scenarios through their paces. Battlegroup NORTHAG was high on the list. I’m no stranger to any of the Battlegroup series and NORTHAG ranks quite high with me regarding sheer enjoyment and narrative-building. While I have some little items that “irk” me about NORTHAG, all-in-all it’s a very solid set of rules for any Cold War Gone Hot afficionado.

This post is not really about NORTHAG but rather about a scenario I cooked up for use with the NORTHAG rules taken straight from the pages of the Team Yankee novel by Harold Coyle (and the subsequent board game by Frank Chadwick published by GDW).

The Objective LOG/Hill 214 scenario is a big one – topping off at 700 points for both sides and a morale battle rating of over 70 for both sides – featuring the entirety of Team Yankee and a full Soviet Motor Rifle Company. Since the US M1s are prohibitively expensive points-wise (in order to discourage their use as they were not as prevalent in 1983), I’ve bolstered the Soviet MRC to include a full T-62 company but with a twist. The T-62s don’t come on the table until the Hill 214 objective falls to the Americans. This represents the Soviet counter-attack from the book with a whittled-down Team Yankee after a period of hard fighting – and hard fighting it will be indeed.

Before we get into the plan and the fighting, let’s quickly get oriented. (“orientated” for the Brits).

Image courtesy of BoardGame Geek. You can clearly see Lemm and Arndorf on the maps. Hill 190 is Objective LOG and HIll 214 is above it to the north. Team Yankee’s attack is coming from the south. Figuring that defile is going to be targeted by the Soviets, Team Yankee is assaulting from the high ground southeast and southwest of Lemm.
The large town of Arndorf in the foreground, looking south towards the village of Lemm. The American attack is coming from the south, across the river from Lemm. Lemm, along with the small hill next to (Objective LOG) it are objectives for the Americans, as is the hill close to Arndorf (Hill 214).

The following gallery shows some of the topography that the fight is going to occur on. As an aside, I am very happy with the table and setup. I think it was Napoleon or Wellington who said “money spent on wargaming terrain is seldom wasted”.

The town of Arndorf
McPizza King – that eternal symbol of Western decadence!
The village of Lemm – the scene of very hard fighting
Secondary E-W road leading into the Lemm
Secondary N-S road leading to the bridge into Lemm. The hills to the left and right of this road are where the Americans are attacking from.

The battle for Lemm – featuring a river crossing and a “light” urban fight was tough. Objective Log is also proving a really tough nut to crack. While Team Yankee is advancing, it’s not been without cost.

I allowed the Soviets to make some of their fire missions “on call” vrs “timed” provided their commander was still around. They had to pre-plot all of their target points but could stipulate the turn those arrived. They purchased the maximum limit of 8 fire missions of 122mm HE artillery. This fit in a bit more with the “Dunn Kempf” stuff I’ve been reviewing. The Americans purchased a howitzer battery and so enjoyed “on call” artillery the entire game – however I’ve limited their salvos to 8 (also keeping with the GDW “Team Yankee” theme).

The Soviets had 2 timed, pre-registered target reference points on the road to Lemm to aid in the defense and as you will see, this really caused some havoc. In fact if there is a key take away from this battle so far, it’s that the artillery is the infantry’s worst nightmare in modern war. King of Battle!

The American plan was to shoot the hell out of Lemm along with the artillery firing into it constantly to destroy or neutralize (NORTHAG calls it “pin”) the enemy and soften them up prior to assaulting. There is motorized infantry platoon (BTR-60 mounted) in Lemm, on Objective LOG and on Hill 214.

After a good amount of shooting, the American tanks move out and their M113s move towards Lemm to begin the assault (around turn 4). A Soviet fire mission rains destruction down on them, knocking out TWO M113 APCs and killing an infantry squad, pinning the rest of the survivors.
OUCH. 50% of the infantry platoon’s rides knocked out
Soviets move an PKM machine gun team into Lemm. They’re pointing at the houses near the bridge! This is going to be a tough fight!
Americans along the river fighting with the Soviet troops in the townhouse. The small round base is an RPG-7 (rocket propelled grenade) team. The American fireteam, eager for payback from the destruction of their APC, fires, hits and pins the Soviet team, who roll a “1” and fail their casualty save! Time to rush the bridge!
An American team is pinned rushing the bridge by a BTR in the town on “ambush fire” orders. The Americans also pull a “CONFUSION” chit, pinning the Soviet RPG team. The fighting at the bridge is intense, with the Soviets feeding teams into the buildings. Lemm is about ready to fall.
Unbelievably, the Soviets in losing another team pull a BREAKDOWN chit which is played against Captain Bannon’s tank, Y66. I naturally roll a “6” in determining its fate and the piece of crap catches fire. Bannon’s tank is destroyed just like in the book, only a little earlier.
American team pinned down by a BTR down the road. Need to bring up the tanks. I like how the need for tank-infantry cooperation does not seem forced. There are no arbitrary rules for targeting but your tanks are best at knocking out other vehicles and my Dragon missile teams from the infantry dont have clear shots.
The BTR at the other end of the road.
American troops gain a foothold in Lemm!
Once that BTR near the grey house is knocked out, the Americans flood in, using tanks along the river just off to the east to finish off the remaining BTR in Lemm and the Soviets draw another counter.
Final Protective Fires! The Soviet PKM crew fires and pins the Americans at the Gasthaus before pulling out, saving this vital HMG for the fight for Objective LOG coming up after the Americans seize Lemm.
BTR and PKM crew getting ready to pull out of Lemm
Carnage but the Soviets have another trick up their sleeve, a dedicated fire mission targeting Lemm once the Americans over run it!
Not wanting a repeat of what happened outside the bridge losing those M113s, the Americans space out. Good thing too, because the Soviet Artillery is loading as you read this! Note the burning BTRs at the road junction. I love this picture!
I love this picture too!
Back at the bridge, Captain Bannon is funnelling more tanks across the river to prepare for the assault against Objective LOG now. Team Yankee reports to the 3-78 Infantry Battalion TOC that Lemm is secured. All of this carnage was just to secure a jumping off point and prepare for the assault against Objective LOG!
THe M901 Improved TOW vehicles (anti tank guided missile launchers) are moving out from their support-by-fire positions towards Lemm.
And the Soviet FPF arrives. The “6”s are direct hits and other dice are pinning hits. The Americans suffer lots of pins but no units killed this time around.
American tanks and APCs pouring into Lemm
Lemm was hit by no less than 5 Soviet and American artillery fire missions so these buildings are probably shells or rubble piles now…

Hard to believe but this story is only 1/3 finished. Lemm has been captured (liberated?) and Team Yankee is arranging itself for the assault against Objective LOG (Hill 190 on the map). That will be the second installment in this series. I’ll probably skip over some of the mundane movements but the PKM machine gun team escaped and is now “safely” on Objective LOG and the American tanks and APCs are maneuvering to assault LOG next.

Crucially, let’s discuss some post battle (part 1) thoughts there. First of all, the cavalier movement towards Lemm by the American Infantry resulted in the destruction of critical combat power in the form of 2 x M113 APCs. I’m going to keep fighting but the casualties among the infantry are really going to hurt later and the tanks are going to have to do a disproportionate amount of the work. (the work being killing Soviet units).

The lesson here is movement should plan on receiving indirect fire and elements should be spaced accordingly. This was a really expensive lesson that you’d think I would have learned by now 🙂

Second lesson is tank-infantry coordination is crucial because without armor supporting the infantry, the infantry are more vulnerable to vehicle-mounted weapons (this will factor in more for the assault on Objective LOG than anything else).

Third lesson is to assault / attack from multiple locations. Bringing the M1s to the east of Lemm should have happened much earlier in the fight and could have potentially knocked out the BTR sitting at the grey house waiting to ambush those GIs on their way into Lemm at the fight for the bridge. The American attack is behind schedule due to Soviet counter attacks and higher than hoped casualties.

So far this game has been very enjoyable – mostly for the unexpected things happening, and for the tactical considerations that the rules naturally force you to make. NORTHAG are probably my favorite Cold War rules, and I say that as both a former Army officer, and wargamer for 25 odd years – that the experience is as genuine as you can get (note i did not say realistic – but you pay for your mistakes dearly, and you reap the benefits of knowing when to take advantage of an opportunity on the battlefield) . Ive found in this game that the must be eyed from the perspective of a commander. In my book, not much higher praise can be bestowed on a set of rules.

Anyways, I am looking forward to typing up Part II. I’ve played a few rounds this morning and already have experienced some reversals of fortune.

Team Yankee’s assault towards Hill 214 continues! Remember, once Hill 214 falls (if it falls), that triggers the arrival of a T-62 tank company to counter attack. This is where we divert from the NORTHAG scenario template a bit as the reinforcements are event-based and not scenario template based. Stay tuned!

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