POL Move UP AAR (After Action Report)

[Ruggbutt 45]

This is an AAR for one of the missions in my LMR Ground Attack Pack. These missions are for use with the LockOn Mission Randomizer.

 

Today we got reinforcements. They're green as algae. We're ferrying our aircraft to a new airbase (Kirovskoye) today so at least the nuggets will get some formation practice. Our planes are lightly armed, and by the looks of things our loadouts reflect what didn't fit on the convoy that's moved the rest of our ordnance forward to the new base. When flying with Beagle there isn't much talking going on, as we often use visual cues for takeoff and formation flying. This isn't the case today, Beagle will leave a bit later with another group of nuggets. While he's been itching to be flight leader, I doubt this is what he had in mind.

 

We spool the engines up on our a/c and I request permission to taxi. Tower gives me the go ahead and my nuggets line up behind me on the taxiway. I use proper radio procedures for the nuggets, we don't want them to become comfortable just yet. ;) We reach the runway and line up in pairs. I request takeoff and I give my wingman a count then "mark" and we start our roll.

 

 

I barely get wheels up when I'm contacted by Kerch-Bagerovo (where we just took off ) who patches me into Kirovskoye Airbase Tower. Our new base is being shelled and they're requesting assistance. The first few salvos targeted their Patriot search radar and destroyed it. They can't give us exact coordinates where the arty is, just a general direction. They're stymied by the shelling as our forces cleared the area around the base within range of arty units. I tell Kirovskoye Tower that we're airborne and give them an ETA. They have Apaches airborne that are searching for the arty as well. I can hear the shells exploding when Kirovskoye tower has their mic keyed up. They report fires everywhere.

 

 

I'm not thrilled with having green pilots up with me when we have to find and kill these arty units, and I'm worried that their lack of experience may get someone killed, namely me. I turn on my route following autopilot and scan ahead with my binoculars. I spot 5 armored units ahead. As we get closer I see that they're T-80's. And they don't seem to be close enough to the base to be shelling it. I tell the nuggets to spread out and I make a run with my unguided rocket pods. I score a direct hit but I'm loaded out with smoke rockets. This is not good. I'm thoroughly pissed off.

 

 

I call Kirovskoye to tell them I'm on station. I give them a heading relative to bullseye, tell them I've marked the T-80's and I requested that the Apache's take care of the armor. No reason to tell them that I didn't intend to mark the heavy armor. I have 2 laser guided missiles and two cluster bombs. And the smoke rockets..............This is a job for attack choppers. I'm looking for different targets.

 

Up ahead I see muzzle flash, it's the armor. I turn on the Shkval and steer the camera towards the flashes. No wonder the arty is hitting the base, the enemy has diverted it's mobile shore artillery to shell Kirovskoye. They have at least double the range of standard arty.

 

 

From the arty's vantage point you can see the damage being done to the base.

 

 

In front of the cloud in the center, you can see an outbound shell heading towards the base.

 

 

I tell the nuggets to spread out, stay at altitude (3500 meters) and keep their eyes peeled for MANPADS, AAA and SAMs. I choose 10 meters size for my TD box and I lock one of the shore batteries.

 

 

When I get in range I nose down, turn on my laser and let the missile loose.

 

 

 

I don't check to see the results, I pull g's and climb in a right hand spiral. I'll check to see if I killed the bad man on my next run in, I select cluster bombs. In a shallow dive I release a pair.

 

 

I immelman and as my nose reaches level with the horizon my cluster bombs hit. Shack!

 

 

I climb back up to altitude and call the nuggets. I can tell they're itching to get into the fight but that will only happen if I'm Winchester. I don't want to write any letters to wives unnecessarily. I'd prefer to have some time to train these pilots. I switch to guns and start a shallow dive, as my pipper passes over a target I give the trigger a squeeze. I've chosen to bypass auto burst cutoff, so my guns will fire as long as I pull the trigger.

 

 

I see the sparks from the armor piercing shells hit the soft skin of the shore batteries. I get direct hits, then a fire.

 

 

 

I run back in, one more bad guy left and I have plenty of cannon rounds.

 

 

Boom, headshot! :D

 

 

I fly out to the east from the target area and I get pinged by radar. My Berioza is screaming at me. I turn the Shkval on and it's "only" a Shilka. I have one laser guided missile left and it's much longer ranged than the Shilka. I lock the Shilka, fire the laser and press the trigger. 7 seconds later the Shilka is gone.

 

 

I tell my nuggets to join up, we're heading to our new home. I call Kirovskoye and they tell me I'm clear all the way in, and the shelling has stopped. They report the runway clear although some of the taxiways are toast. Full flaps and gear down, airbrakes on and on glideslope.

 

 

I greased her in on the numbers and pop the chute. A landing like that always makes the nuggets respect the instructor, as well as my performance against the arty units.

 

 

I taxi past what's left of the auxiliary tower.

 

 

My nuggets land safely, which makes me happy. We're already short on CAS aircraft.

 

 

 

The events today go to show you how fluid the battlefield is. What was supposed to be a boring ferry flight turned into a fight to save air and ground units that had been moved forward last night. While casualties were low it could have turned out differently. You don't expect to be diverted for a combat mission, but anything can happen. Shortly after wheels up an hour ago things went from bad to worse, but fortunately the enemy hadn't properly reinforced their shore batteries. Things could have been much worse.

 

And if you want to stay on my good side, don't remind me of my beautiful hit on a T-80 with a smoke rocket......................................I'll bet that I didn't even scratch the paint.

[JediMaster 451]

You must have a widescreen monitor. That or you enjoy cropping your photos just so.

[Ruggbutt 45]

Yeah, it's a widescreen. I don't do anything to the pix but resize.

[N.Forsythe 0]

u should make online i bet alot of people will play it online then read the AAR i know i will that will be cool

Edited August 7, 2007 by N.Forsythe