First Campaign Report: the 1986 Land Battle in Germany

End of the Campaign

During 2024, my mate and I took several steps to perfect our 'What If?' Third World War campaign: in May '24 we practiced tactical submarine attacks on the Russian amphibious convoy (to comprehend the Anti Submarine Warfare Rules of Naval Command 2021). At the end of September '24 we went through the amphibious landing step by step, as it would be carried out on the West German coast in 1986. Partly with the help of a tailor-made beach mat, we gained insight into how many landing ships we needed, what the order of the different attack waves should be and how we should deal with the scale transition from 1:3000 [sea] to land [6mm/1:285]). In December '24 we played this landing tactically, in 2 phases (2 days). Here we gained experience with, among other things, Naval Gunfire Support within the rules of Naval Command 2021. In between, based on the experiences, I wrote proposals to improve the fleet lists of Naval Command 2021 and at the beginning of February '25 we played the final: the land skirmishes in West Germany, after the Russian Landing Forces were beached.

The Land War (Rules: Fist Full of TOW’s)

For this last part of the Campaign we used a different Rule Book: ‘Fist Full of TOWs’ (2011). Focused on Land Warfare from 1915 to 2015 and use of '6 mm' (scale 1:285) army units. We used a very nice and specially prepared 4 x 6 ft. land mat, together with our 4 ft x 70 cm. beach mat. In

front of the beach a scale 1:700 Destroyer (Sovremenny-class) and 2 LCVP (landing craft Vehicle & Personnel) were present to mimic the Russian Landing Task Group. The Soviet landing Force at the beach consisted of a Motor Rifle Regiment, consisting of 3 Motor Rifle Battalions (BMP-1 tracked vehicles), 1 Tank BAT (T-72A) and 2 reconnaissance platoons (BRDM-2 wheeled vehicles). As NATO had already attacked the Russian Task Group at sea, the starting scenario was that 2 German companies Panzer Grenadier (Marder 1A1 tracked vehicles) were defending the coast and that a battalion of Leopard 2 tanks was 'on call'. One Company Panzer Grenadier was hidden in the small village 'Klein Dorf', the other company occupied 'Hill 117'.

As I would play 'NATO', being a former naval officer, I suddenly had to study Land Warfare Rules and understand what a tank and Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) actually can do. So what are the differences between a naval war game (Naval Command 2021) and a Land Warfare Game (Fist full of TOW's)?

• different scale: 1 cm = 1 nautical mile vs. 1 inch = 100 m. Result: during good visibility, players can see the whole 4 x 6 ft land mat. Result: there is not really a ‘detection phase’, which can take quite a long time within a Naval Wargame (especially if you are looking for a submarine).
• terrain is suddenly an issue… Line of Sight (vs. tree cover or different heights) is something you want to have.
• troop quality seems to be a big part of Land Warfare capability
• miniatures: for a Naval Wargame we use 1 miniature for 1 ship (or aircraft); within Land Warfare (at 6 mm) one miniature tank/vehicle/etc. at 1 base resembled 3 tanks/vehicles/etc. Following the logic: 1 battalion = 3 Companies. And 1 Company = 3 platoons. So my Leopard 2 Tank Bat held 27 tanks on 9 bases: each base (1 tank) was a platoon of 3 Leopard tanks.
• Fist Full of TOW’s used D6 dice vs D10 for Naval Command.
• during the movement phase there are no alternating moves between the attacker and the defender (like in 'Naval command' or 'Ship Wreck') but within the 'Fist Full of Tow' Rule Set one side conduct all their moves & firing (!) and than the other side. It sounds bad but it isn’t, because during the movement phase the other side can have some of its own units in ‘overwatch’ (‘look-out’ functionality) and they are allowed to open fire if the other side conducts its movement and/or ends up in a ‘close combat’ situation (within 1 inch of each other).
• within Land Warfare ‘armour’ and ‘penetration’ of artillery requires roll of dice and calculations, which is comparable to a WW1 or WW2 Naval Wargame with armoured vessels.
• within Naval Command 2021 and in Fist Full of TOW’s both ship classes and types of land units are to use different speeds.
• Fist Full of TOW’s had specific rules for Naval Gunfire Support (by ships) and air attacks. 
  
  
    The Game

Victory conditions: USSR would have total victory if it would conquer 'Kleindorf' village, Hill 245 and Hill 833. If 2 of the 3 objectives would be conquered by the Land Forces it would be a marginal victory (for the USSR). A draw would be the situation when the Landing Force would be able to only take 1 of its objectives. When no objectives would change side, NATO would have a marginal victory.
Deployment: 2 German Company (each: 3 Marder IFV platoon bases) at the coast; their Tank BAT 'on call'. One Company defends 'Kleindorf' (one road inland); the other defends Hill 117, next to the other inland road. Troop quality: good. USSR Motor Rifle Regiment (3 BMP 1- and 1 T-72 Battalions) unloading at the beach. Troop Quality: fair. 1 Sovremenny-class DDG at sea, on-call for NGS (2 twin turrets 130 mm).

Turn 1 (USSR initiative/attacking force)

1 BMP-1 Battalion left the beach and reached the dunes opposite Kleindorf. The other BMP-1 BAT got to the top of the dunes, opposite Hill 117. The second landing wave (the other half of the Soviet Regiment) assembled at the beach. Deployed German Companies stayed under cover and maintained 'overwatch', out of firing range. The Soviets, on top of the dunes, are now spotted and the German Tank BAT is requested for.

Turn 2 (USSR initiative/attacking force)

1 BMP-1 BAT deploys opposite of Kleindorf village. During ‘overwatch’ 1 defending Marder platoon opens fire with 20 mm auto cannons, out of the hedge cover. The other forward deployed Marder platoon opens fire (at longer range) with Milan anti-tank weapons at the same Soviet BAT. Result: 2 destroyed BMP-1 platoons. 

The second BMP-1 BAT tried to close towards Hill 117 (second axis of attack). The 3 Marder platoons on the Hill open fire in ‘Overwatch’, but missed all!

The second half of the Soviet Regiment reached the top of the dunes. 

During the Defender Turn 2 phase, the German Leopard 2 Tank Battalion showed up: 1 company tanks moved towards Hill 245, overlooking ‘Kleindorf’. The other 2 companies followed the road, passed ‘Dunkelwald, towards Hill 117. Germany was not allowed a ‘fire phase’ as the units in range already fired during ‘overwatch’.

Turn 3 (USSR initiative/attacking force)

The whole Soviet Regiment is now in Western Germany. The landing ships are returning to the Taskgroup at sea. The Sovremenny-class destroyer (1 fire unit) is ready for NGS. The Soviet reconnaissance platoon has spotted 20 mm and Milan fire out of the hedges around Kleindorf.

The destroyer opened fire with both turrets at both reported Marder locations, but because they remained in cover they were not hit.

During the Soviet movement phase, 4 platoons BMP-1 are closing in on the hedges and 3 platoons tried to move around the hedges of Kleindorf. However, the 2 Marder platoons kept on firing during ‘overwatch’ and destroyed (again) 2 platoons BMP-1. During the resulting ‘close combat phase’ at the hedges the remaining dismounted Soviet infantry of this 4 platoon attack was mopped up by the better quality Panzer Grenadier. During the same Soviet movement phase, the 2nd half of the Regiment came over the dunes and pivoted towards Kleindorf. During ‘overwatch’, the Marder Company at hill 117 was more lucky than last turn and destroyed 2 platoons BMP-1 with Milan fire. The remaining BMP-1 joined the shifted Soviet attack axis towards Kleindorf.

During the Soviet Fire phase 2 T-72 platoons opened fire on the defending Panzer Grenadier in front of Kleindorf. 1 Marder platoon was destroyed, but its dismounted infantry was still holding the line. Not impressed by the first round of NGS (unsuccessful), the Soviet command never used the destroyer again during this game..

During the Defender turn 3 phase I had to do something, because the Soviets now seem all to be heading towards Kleindorf, which was only defended by 2/3 left of the Company Panzer Grenadier, supported by 1 Company Leopard 2 at hill 245. So I kept the other Company Panzer Grenadier in ‘overwatch’ at hill 117 and moved the ‘reserve’ platoon Marders of the Company out of the village (where it was hiding) towards the hedges around the village, to help hold the line. The Leopard 2 tanks rushed over the road to close the range towards the deployed Soviet T-72 tanks. As the Leopard 2 has a very good stabilized 120 mm gun, it can fire on the move, which they did! During the firing phase the Germans tanks destroyed some T-72’s and BMP-1. Because the Soviet BMP-1’s used all their speeds for movement they were not allowed (Rule book) to use their AT-3 ‘Sagger’ anti-tank missiles to make a difference.

Turn 4 (USSR initiative/attacking force)

Although the first Soviet push towards Kleindorf was stalled, the danger remained. The Soviet move towards Kleindorf was conducted by an almost intact T-72 BAT and a more battered BMP-1 BAT. The other BMP-1 BAT came out of the woods (‘Meerwald’) and tried to confront the Leopard 2’s with their long range AT-3 ‘Saggers’. During the Soviet manoeuvre towards Kleindorf the Leopard 2 company at hill 245 in ‘overwatch’ destroyed 3 T-72 platoons out in the open at long range (lucky dice!). And the Marder Company still in overwatch at hill 117 took out a company BMP-1 which formed an AT-3 ‘Sagger’ threat to the Leopard 2’s at the road. However, during the firing phase the Soviet Forces focussed on the very capable Leopard tanks and during the following AT-3 cross fire, supported by T-72 125 mm gun fire several Leopards were hit…. but not penetrated, so still in the game!

We were now near (real world) dinner, so we overlooked the ‘results’: the attackers had more damage so far than the defenders and those damned Leopard 2’s seemed to be very tough tanks with a formidable range, speed and accuracy advantage over T-72’s. Even if the Soviets were able to take ‘Kleindorf’, it would be a ‘draw’. But…. the Soviets had still a lot of BMP-1, equipped with long range AT-3 ‘Sagger’, so it wasn’t over yet…    

What’s next?

We decided that this was the end of the ‘controlled’ Campaign steps. We tried 3 Rule Sets: 2 for Naval War Gaming and 1 for Land Wargaming. ‘Naval Command 2021’ (with some house rules) and ‘Fist Full of TOW’s’ had proven to be sufficient to play this fictional 1986 Third World War scenario. We now go back to the drawing board and try to ‘slim down’ the scenario, taking into accounts all the learning points of the several steps, and play the Campaign again at tactical speed in 3 takes (sea, landing, land). With, realistically, the start situation of a wargame reflecting the results (damage, etc.) of the former wargame(s). So, if you lose landing ships during the sea encounter, you have less tanks/fighting vehicles during the Land Battle at the end …