Our brigade was hastily withdrawing west towards a new assembly area. The brigade's counter attack needs to wait for the units to reform and replenish. My infantry platoon was no different, but we were closest to the enemy and deemed in the best position to delay the enemy.



I'm going to be commanding the crew of a US TOW missile team. This is game play from a Cold War, custom made, single player scenario.

In The Art of Maneuver, Robert Leonhard questions the rationale of medium and heavy anti-tank weapons, which puts dismounts to fight tanks on tank country. I would argue that many times the tactical commander has no choice but to fight on the wrong terrain. In this AAR, an infantry platoon dismounted from their M113 IFVs executes a delaying action at a town.

The tactical situation. The leading elements of a Soviet forward detachment (tanks and BMPs, red icons) are probing towards the village in the center. This village offers good cover for my dismounts (blue icons) and I positioned them in the west side of it. Three smoke fire missions (red rectangles) are on the ready with the purpose of breaking up the combined field of fire of the enemy vehicles. Note how the M113s were left in the back (west). My TOW missile team is on the treeline, near the vehicles.

The town's layout follows the contours of a small river. There are two crossing points over this river and I have covered those with the infantry's AT-4 (short range rockets). The enemy is attacking/probing from the right.

My TOW missile team in the back of our delaying position. I am at the edge of the treeline, scanning for targets in the distance (far background), east of the village. Note the open tank country from where the enemy is approaching.

Dismounts of the 4th Squad in a position overlooking the south most river crossing.

The first enemy formation to show up was a Soviet tank platoon. Here shown cresting the ridges east of the village (in the shallow valley, mid background).

Our TOW infrared target acquisition system is good enough to distinguish vehicles up to 4.5 km. In this picture, the enemy vehicles have just started to roll down the slope towards the village. The wide view of the TOW's targeting system has two brackets from which one can figure out if the targets are within range. In this case, the enemy tanks look smaller than the bracket and are indeed out of range.

The narrow field of view provides a more detailed picture. But the enemy is still out of range.

Once apparently in range, I fire and guide my TOW missile (propulsion hot stuff is orange, in the cross hairs) onto the target. In this case an enemy tank.

A well prepared defensive position would require an extensive work of the sector/s of fire, so one would know exactly when to fire based on pre ranged landmark. In this case, there is no such guidance and I had to guess. This lack of references fits on the theme of a hasty delaying action. I have to confess that my missile was fired out of necessity too: the tanks were about to get into the cover offered by the town. The seasoned tactician will notice that I am also engaging the enemy vehicles from their front instead of the preferred side shot.

I guided that missile with all care and I saw an impact. But the fate of the tank was unclear yet.

This image is from the AAR recording tool in Steel Beasts. My first TOW missile hit the enemy tank to no effect. A combination of aspect (TOWs are better used when fired at the enemy flanks) and high range may had a negative impact.

The reloading of a second missile takes some time, which appear to be years in tank-combat time.



The enemy tanks keep pressing towards the village. They were just about to get out of my sights when I fired a second missile.

This time is a good hit, just in the junction between turret and hull.

I try to engage the other tanks, but they just disappeared behind the treeline near the village. Note the open terrain elsewhere.

The tactical situation at ~8 minutes into the mission. The enemy vehicles (red icons) have just pushed into the village. My original plan was to cut the momentum of their attack with artillery fire missions at TRP1, TRP2 and TRP3. The use of combined HE and smoke artillery munition was supposed to cut their LOS and bring them into the village scattered and piecemeal to be engaged by my infantry men carrying AT-4s. As seen in the map above, I am quite delayed asking for the fire mission.

Because the fire missions were already plotted, they don't take the regular two full minutes to splash. Soon the east side of the village is shaken by the artillery rounds. In this picture, the tank I destroyed previously. Note the smoke and dust billows from the artillery fire impacting TRP1.

My dismounts at the village make a stoical stand against the BMPs, which start to chew them up whenever they see them. Note the smoke in the far background.

Alerted by the calls from my infantry at the village, I decide to engage whatever vehicle I can see. In this case one BMP, at which I fired a TOW not using the thermal imaging. In mid flight, my own artillery starts to fall in front of the enemy vehicle, blocking my line of sight. I keep the cross hairs right at the last place where I could see the vehicle, just hoping.

The TOW finds its target. Luck has just switched sides.

After switching to the thermal sights, I can see through the artillery's mayhem. I get to destroy another BMP.

On the meantime, at one of the crossings, my infantry is already taking shots at the BMPs.