the bear marches west: sample scenarios

8/10/2019 The Bear Marches West: sample scenarios

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The Bear Marches West

12 SCENARIOS FOR 1980S NATO VS WARSAW PACT WARGAMES

Russell Phillips

Cover i llustration and maps by Ao ife B rown

Shilka Publishingwww.shilka.co.uk



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The B ear Marches W est / Russell Phillips. —2nd ed.



Table of Contents

Introductio n....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ...... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ...... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... .......... .........

Openin g Shots ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... ... .... ... .... ... .... .... ..... ..... ...6

Mackall' s Defe nce... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... ... .... ... .... .... .....9

Gas! Gas! Gas!.......... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ...... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ....... ...... ....... ....... ....... .......1 3

Mackall' s Defe nce Redux.. ... .. .. ... .. .. .. ... .. .. ... .. .. ... .. .. .. ... .. .. ... .. .. ... .. .. .. ... .. .. ... .. .. ... .. .. .. ... .. .. ... .. .. ... .. .. .. ... .. .. ... .. .. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..1 6

Kryshin in 's Canal Crossin g.. .. ... .. .. .. ... .. .. ... .. .. ... .. .. .. ... .. .. ... .. .. ... .. .. .. ... .. .. ... .. .. ... .. .. .. ... .. .. ... .. .. ... .. .. .. ... .. .. ... .. .. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..2 0

Seiz in g th e Weser... .... ... .... ... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... ... .... ... .... ..... ..... ..... ..... ...2 2

Bezarin 's Atta ck... .... ... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... ... .... ..... .....2 5

Zir in sky's C rossroads... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... ... .... ... .... ....2 7

Hunte r and H unte d... .... ... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... ... .... ... .... ... .... ..... ..... ..... .....2 9

Check and Checkmate .... ... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... .... ..... ....3 1

Race for the Lein e... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... ... .... ..... ..... ....3 4

Desperate Measures... .... ... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ..... .3 8

Appendix: Alternate Tab

About Russell Phil



IntroductionWe w ill do a ll we c an to i nsure peace. .. but if war i s i mposed upon us w e w ill be t ogether shoulder to sho ulder as i n the l ast warto st rive f or t he h appiness of mankind.- Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy K onstantinovich Z hukov

These sc enarios ar e al l set during a f ictional war bet ween NATO and the W arsaw Pact during t he 1980s. They ar ebased on battles d epicted in three n ovels: Red Army b y R alph Peters, Team Yankee by H arold Coyle and Red St ormRising b y T om Clancy. For each scenario, a sh ort introduction gives t he b attle's con text an d weather con ditions.Deployments ar e d escribed and the f orces l isted. Maps ar e i ncluded, but players should feel free t o a dapt them tothe t errai n they h ave a vailable.

The scen arios are desi gned to b e su fficiently g eneric t hat they can be u sed with any rul es s et. Consequently,players m ay n eed to modify t he f orces i n order t o create a b alanced g ame. Most rules i nclude a p oints s ystem, andthis s hould be u sed to a djust the f orces to ensure t hat they are reason ably w ell balanced for t he ru les t hat are t o b eused.

The f orces gi ven in the m ain text are based on the f orces descr ibed in the n ovels. An appendix, written by U .S. Army officer Glenn Dean,

organisations of t he ti me.

Note t hat s ome sc enarios l ist large n umbers of vehicles. Although the f orce l ists gi ve n umbers of actual vehicles, these sc enariosare i ntended for u se w ith rules t hat u se a si ngle m odel to repres ent a platoon or l arger f ormation. Numbers of actual vehi cles are

given to give needed.

2



Kryshinin's Canal CrossingOn the f irst day o f the w ar, a recon naissance p atrol detached from Captain Kryshinin's d ivisional forward securi tyelement has f ound a t unnel under a can al, high and wide en ough for t anks t o p ass through. The r est of Kryshinin'sforces j oin the p atrol just as N ATO forces arrive to recap ture t he crossi ng.

Map

The r oad tunnel passing u nder the can al is hi gh and wide en ough for t anks t o p ass through it. The can al banks canbe cl imbed by vehicles an d infantry, but they are t oo steep for veh icles t o take u p hull-down positions beh indthem. The bu ildings t o the w est of the t unnel are f arm buildings, with a w all enclosing the com plex.

17



Weather

Light d rizzle. Good visibility.

Deployments

The S oviet units s hould be d eployed first. They m ay d eploy u p to h alf of t heir f orces up to 50 0m west of t he can al, with the rest

NATO forces enter from the w estern table edg e.

Soviet Fo rces

1x Motor-Rifle Company1x BMP-2 (command vehicle)3x Pl atoons, each with 3x BMP-2

1x Detached M otor- Rifle P latoon3x BMP-2

1x Tank P latoon3x T- 80B

1x S elf-Propelled Howitzer B attery6x 2 S1 122mm self-propelled howitzers

1x SAM Platoon3x S A-13 G askin

1x Anti-Tank P latoon3x BRDM-3

1x Air Support Officer mounted i n a B TR-80K1x F orward Artillery O bserver mounted in a B TR-80K

1x Air Su pport Mission on call 2x ground attack aircraft with fuel-air exp losives1x Attack H elicopter Fl ight. Enter t able f rom eastern edge on a t urn d etermined by rol ling 2 D6

2x Mi-24 Hind

NATO Forces

1x Dutch Tank C ompany1x Leop ard II (command veh icle)4x P latoons, each with 4x L eopard II

1x W est German Anti-Tank H elicopter Flight4x PAH-1 helicopters with H OT ATGM

1x D utch Off-Table Artillery B attery6x M109 155mm SP guns

Objectives

The S oviet forces need to h old the crossi ng u ntil the rest of the d ivision's ad vance gu ard arrive ( around turn 12).

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Check and Checkmate After taking the

Map

28



Weather

Fine w eather, starlit n ight.

Deployments

U.S. forces ar e d eployed in prepared positions on the w estern half of t he t able. Their po sitions s hould be marked

on a m ap, and not pl aced u ntil they becom e vi sible.Soviet forces enter t he t able f rom any p oint in the easter n third o f the t able. They m ay sp lit their f orces an d enterfrom multiple po ints i f they w ish, but each unit's entr y p oint must be d ecided before t he gam e beg ins.

Soviet Fo rces

Motor-Rifle B attalion

Battalion Command2x BTR-60PBK2x T -72

1x M TU-72 br idging t ank2x ZSU 23-4

Motor-Rifle C ompany1x BTR-60PBK with command section3x B TR-60PB with infantry sec tion3x B TR-60PB with infantry sec tion3x B TR-60PB with infantry sec tion

Motor-Rifle C ompany1x BTR- 60PBK with com mand section3x B TR-60PB with infantry sec tion

3x B TR-60PB with infantry sec tion3x B TR-60PB with infantry sec tion

1x Tank Company1x T-72 (command vehicle)

Tank P latoon3x T -72



Mortar B attery 6x 120mm mortar, plus t ow vehicles

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U.S. Forces

The U .S. player may pl ace on e un marked m inefield within the d eployment area. This minefield consists of mixedanti-personnel and an ti-tank m ines, and m ay cover an area of up t o 20 0m x 100m.

1x Tank C ompany (reduced)1x M1 Abrams (command vehi cle)4x M1 Abrams

1x Infantry P latoon1x M113 (command vehicle)2x M113 with i nfantry section & M47 Dragon ATGM

Objectives

In order t o claim a vi ctory, the S oviets h ave to t ake t he t wo hills. If they can rout or d estroy m ore t han half the U .S.forces, they can claim a m ajor vi ctory.

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Appendix: Alternate Tables of Organization !"uipment By Glenn Dean

The 1980s w ere a t urbulent time f or t he U .S. Army, with the i ntroduction of major chan ges i n equipment andorganization. T he “Big F ive” – t he Abrams t ank, Bradley Fi ghting Vehicle, Apache Attack H elicopter, BlackhawkUtility H elicopter, and Patriot A ir D efence S ystem – cau sed significant shifts i n the w ay U .S. Army u nits w ereorganized and m anned. I n particular, ground m anoeuvre units were in transition from the “J-series” Table ofOrganization & Equipment (TOE), in w hich eac h m anoeuvre bat talion had t hree manoeuvre companies, each withits ow n organic com bat s upport and combat s ervice s upport, to t he “H-series” TOE in which the b attalions hadfour manoeuvre companies, with combat services support organized at the batt alion level and then distributed tosupport the individual companies. A rmour f ormations s aw even m ore s ignificant c hange as t he M1-equippedformations t ransitioned to platoons of four t anks each (14 p er com pany) from the p rior f ive t anks p er pl atoon (17per c ompany) of the M 60-equipped formations.

These t ransitions beg an with the f ielding o f the f irst M1 tanks i n Europe i n 1982, picked up speed in 1983 asBradley Fi ghting V ehicles began to j oin the f ormations, and while t he U .S. Army i n Europe w as com plete i n thereorga nization to thi s “ Division 86” structure b y l ate 1986, many f ormations ba sed in the U .S. did not fullycomplete t his organ izational transition until the t ime of O perat ion Desert Storm, or even later.

The t hriller no vels of the p eriod that deal with the p ossibility o f ground combat in Western Europe o ften gloss overthe f iner details of TOE to ser ve t heir own narrative goa ls. Depending o n when in the decad e on e ass umes thebattles are set , an accurate d epiction of t he b attle f ormations i n the n ovels cou ld look somewhat di fferen t. (As anaside: Harold Coyle, a ret ired U .S. Army Armour of ficer, generally p resents t he m ost accurate f ormations; RalphPeter s, a reti red U.S. Army In telligence o fficer, is qu ite acc urate i n his S oviet f ormations bu t less so w ith U.S.

Formations; Tom Clancy, a ci vilian, takes t he m ost narrat ive l iberties w ith TOE).

The s cenarios p resented in The Bear Marches West are d esigned to best r eplicate t he d rama p resented in the n ovels.However, should one seek t o u se t he sc enarios as m ore of a “what if” simulation, and play t he act ual formations ofthe t ime, the f ollowing p rovides som e o ptional scenarios w ith modifications t hat more cl osely repl icate act ualtactical formations.

Note t hat for t he U .S. forces these scen arios rep licate t he com pany/troop-level combat servi ces s upportformations ( also k nown as t he “ company t rains”); these el ements can be omitted if there i s a d esire t o red uceclutter on the g aming table. If your ch osen rules syst em does n ot r eplicate s upport un its, these veh icles can still beemployed as an ti-infantry s ystems as al l are equ ipped with .50-calibre m achine g uns.

Also, fire rules sys tem supports speci alized artillery an d air ob servers, use t hem with these u nits. I f your r ules sys tem doesnot s pecifically p rovide f or ob server r ules, a redu ction in miss error of 5 0-75% is r ecommended for en gagementsin which the o bserver veh icle ca n “spot” the i ntended fall of the a ir or a rtillery st rike, to better si mulate t heaccuracy of these vehi cles an d their grou nd laser designators c ompared to cal ls f or f ire over r adio from a com panyor pl atoon commander.

39



Scenario 10: Check and Checkmate

Option: Full strength Team. T his op tion replicates a d efensive scen ario with a ful l strength company/team, ratherthan the redu ced strength scen ario as p resented in the n ovel.

Change: 1x Tank C ompany TeamCompany H eadquarters

2x M1 Abrams1x M981 FIST-V

2x T ank Platoons, each4x M1 Abrams

1x Infantry P latoon1x M113 command vehicle, with com mand se ction3x M113 squad carrier, with 1 infantry squad and 1 M 47 Dragon each

Combat Service Support1x M 113 Fi rst Sergean t

1x M113 Maintenance1x M113 Medical1x M88 Recovery

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About #ussell $hillipsRussell Phillips w rites b ooks an d articles ab out military t echnology an d history. His art icles h ave been publishedin Miniature Wargames , Wargam es I llustrated, an d t he Society of Twentieth Century W argam ers' Journa l . Some of thesearticles a re a vailable o n his w ebsite.

To get advance n otice o f new books, join Russell's m ailing list at www.rpbook.co.uk/list . Mailing l ist members getdiscounts of f all of R ussell's bo oks, and you can unsubscribe at any t ime.

Word-of-mouth is crucial where you bought it,

Also by Russ

Red S teel: Soviet Tanks an d C ombat Vehicles of the C old W ar

A Fleet in Be

A Damn Close-Run Thing: A Br

This We'll Defend: The W eapons & Equipment of the U .S. Army

Find Russell Phillips O nline

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the bear marches west: sample scenarios

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