AAR A/2-7 & C/2-7 Joint FTX- Operation SpyMaster 27AUG23

[Komar.T]

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
S3 BATTLE STAFF
Headquarters
7th Cavalry Regiment
COMBAT AFTER ACTION REPORT
Name of Combat Mission: A.Co & C.Co Joint FTX Operation SpyMaster
Game: Hell Let Loose
Server Hosted on: Training/Event
Date of Combat Mission: 27AUG23
Time of Combat Mission (Zulu): 2230Z​

Mission OIC: First Sergeant Komar.T & Captain Strider.R
Mission Controller: First Sergeant Komar.T & Captain Strider.R
Number of Attendees: 93
7th Cavalry Personnel Involved in Action:
Lieutenant Colonel Rob.Y
Sergeant Major West.B
Major Rollins.R
Captain Strider.R
First Lieutenant John.K
Second Lieutenant Longmen.D
Second Lieutenant James.M
Second Lieutenant Smith.V
First Sergeant Komar.T
Sergeant First Class Becks.J
Staff Sergeant Hermes.S
Staff Sergeant Canuck.J
Staff Sergeant Avery.D
Staff Sergeant Williamson.J
Sergeant Meyer.T
Sergeant Dietz.H
Sergeant Anderson.P
Sergeant Mueller.H
Sergeant Balazova.S
Sergeant Ackelson.K
Sergeant Thrawn.N
Sergeant Wags.D
Sergeant Whaley.H
Sergeant Webber.R
Sergeant Hellious.T
Corporal Burgin.J
Corporal Cantrell.J
Corporal Donato.E
Corporal Williams.S
Corporal Jinto.H
Corporal Busch.J
Corporal Coutu.M
Corporal Sotelo.R
Corporal Owens.J
Specialist Tovarysh.U
Specialist Johnston.J
Specialist Joshothy.J
Specialist Henderson.B
Specialist Guillermo.C
Specialist Choi.S
Specialist Mitchell.L
Specialist Caldreas.B
Specialist Raine.A
Specialist Carmine.J
Specialist Knapp.D
Specialist Blade.B
Specialist Swanson.B
Specialist Ching.H
Specialist Chay.S
Specialist Baldrick.D
Specialist Sokol.Z
Specialist Smithers.R
Specialist Hampton.D
Specialist Silvis.C
Specialist Silvis.B
Specialist Willis.B
Specialist Jefferzon.Z
Specialist Karr.H
Specialist Corsino.D
Specialist Kiing.T
Specialist Maca.D
Specialist Zulu.P
Specialist Quake.B
Specialist Slagg.J
Specialist Rasmus.M
Specialist Zincoff.O
Specialist Rivera.A
Specialist Rousseau.A
Specialist Argentini.E
Specialist Button.J
Specialist White.N
Specialist Scarselli.T
Specialist Massey.A
Specialist Williamson.JR
Specialist Bastogne.M
Specialist Walker.S
Specialist Cris.C
Private First Class Rhodes.J
Private First Class Lowther.B
Private First Class Devito.D
Private First Class Lucas.A
Private First Class Watson.J
Private First Class Plum.L
Private First Class Arfuso.V
Private First Class Narayanaswamy.A
Private First Class Vostok.V
Private Curran.J
Private Landry.H
Private Felton.J
Private Leaf.J
RCT.Lee.R
Specialist Winter.A (ELOA)
Corporal Smith.N (RET)

 

[Komar.T]

S3 BATTLE STAFF
Headquarters
7th Cavalry Regiment
COMBAT AFTER ACTION REPORT​

Element Callsign: Commander AXIS
Element Leader: First Sergeant Komar.T
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element: First Sergeant Komar.T


Pros:

• Great Turn out! 90+ member again!
• Great communications between tankers and infantry
• Reaction to contact and filling holes was amazing
• Holding of the middle point for 30 minutes with only a garrison to spawn off of was very impressive, great individual work from multiple SL's to get a new garrison up in the strong point once one went down.
• New concept liked by a lot of people, lots to build off of in future FTX's, will revisit Supply Town at some point.

Cons:

• Artillery balancing still needs some work on
• Back and forth over the middle point did not work as intended, but was very impressive to watch.
• Garrison in Phase one did not get blown up when originally scripted to do so
• Map Flipping for the first 20 minutes was a real drag, 17th time was the charm will have to look at contingencies in the future if we need specific points on the map.

Strider is the best!

 

[Strider.R]

S3 BATTLE STAFF
Headquarters
7th Cavalry Regiment
COMBAT AFTER ACTION REPORT​

Element Callsign: Commander Allies
Element Leader: Captain Strider.R
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element: Captain Strider.R


Pros:

• Good turn out! Nearly 100% signups from Aco and Cco
• Planning sessions were engaging and creative
• Engagement was high with the new format and evolving objectives as the operation unfolded
• The match was balanced as for skill levels and firefights were tough and fun
• Communication on Allied side was clear

Cons:

• Communication could be a little bit more coordinated, there was at times moments where assaults were out of sync between tanks and infantry
• Artillery could be balanced a bit more, restriction on number of shells would most likely solve problems of being overwhelming, requiring careful use of ammunition
• HLL hates giving us the points we want, should have bought a lottery ticket for the amount of times we flipped and

 

[Whaley.H]

Element Callsign: Jig Tank Squad (AXIS)
Element Leader: Whaley.H
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element: White.N Lowther.B

Pros:

• Crew loved the operations intent
• Crew loved the challenge
• Crew was happy to have been able to do infantry and tanks
• great communications between armor and inf
• Great amount of leadership shown from all troopers today

Cons:
- Troopers mentioned that it was difficult and not as fun due to the amount of deaths from stationary tanks (Understandable I should have been a better TC and expected them in those positions)

 

[Thrawn.N]

S3 BATTLE STAFF
Headquarters
7th Cavalry Regiment
COMBAT AFTER ACTION REPORT​

Element Callsign: Tank Lead (S.A.D.)
Element Leader: SGT.Thrawn.N
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element: SGT.Thrawn.N
CPL.Jinto.H
RCT.Lee.R

Pros:

• Great Callous from Infantry squads allowing for fast armour response or reaction
• Superb defense from all Squads, Excellent assault from enemy team
• Enjoyed Operation setup and execution, tough at times but made it extra fun

Cons:

• 20 mins for Map Flip Stupid HLL
• Disadvantage from enemy Heavy in beginning round of Phase II made a difference in the long run for tank combat

 

[Avery.D]

S3 BATTLE STAFF
Headquarters
7th Cavalry Regiment
COMBAT AFTER ACTION REPORT​

Element Callsign: Axis FTL5
Element Leader: Staff Sergeant Avery.D
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Specialist Baldrick.D
Specialist Swanson.B
Specialist Argentini.E
Specialist Rasmus.M


Pros:

• Everyone had a lot of fun.
• Team managed to work really well with each other a engaged enemy forces on the flack for our assigned locations.

Cons:

• Unlimited Arty was too much had a hard spawning in.
• Need to make a new way to do command comms to cut down on unneeded info.

 

[Busch.J]

S3 BATTLE STAFF
Headquarters
7th Cavalry Regiment
COMBAT AFTER ACTION REPORT​

Element Callsign: Tank Lead
Element Leader: Corporal Busch.J
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Corporal Busch.J
Corporal Coutu.M
Specialist Choi.S


Pros:

• Great use of inter-tank communication and battlefield communication which was vital in my crew eliminating 1x 76 Sherman & 2x 75 Sherman tanks.
• Amazing use of the buddy tank system which allowed us to engage enemy tanks from different angels.

Cons:

• I had mic issues halfway through the match which caused some miscommunication and confusion in orders.

 

[John.K]

Element Callsign: Infantry Commander Allied
Element Leader: First Lieutenant John.K
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
First Lieutenant John.K

Pros:

• Comms were fantastic, the mesh of Arty, armor, and infantry worked fantastically. Everyone worked together very well.
• Overall extremely fun, SL's coming together for the planning was a great experience.

Cons:

• Exploring the rigid Gari placement would be the only con I can think of, seemed to restrict both sides.

 

[Anderson.P]

Element Callsign: Able Squad (AXIS)
Element Leader: SGT.Anderson.P
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
CPL.Donato.E
SPC.Bastogne.M
PFC.Devito.D

Pros:

• Good squad comms
• wasnt supply town and interesting rule sets
• enjoyed being on assault! 3rd platoon doesn't do that too often so great change of pace
• excellent friendly artillery! responded to call outs and get in comms about rounds outbound and landing

Cons:

• Command comms are too cluttered and need streamlining
• even up artillery vs potential spawns / run times from rear spawns

 

[Meyer.T]

Element Callsign: Item Infantry (ALLIES)
Element Leader: Sergeant Meyer.T
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Specialist Chay.S
Specialist Ching.H
Corporal Cantrell.J
Private First Class Arfuso.V
Private First Class Vostok.V

Pros:

• Squad had lots of fun
• Did a great job defending cattleshed's from multiple enemy squad's
• Great job with throwing smoke and grenades

Cons:

• Beginning was a frustrating meat grinder at phase one
• Cluttered coms once they were open

 

[Longmen.D]

S3 BATTLE STAFF
Headquarters
7th Cavalry Regiment
COMBAT AFTER ACTION REPORT​

Element Callsign: Platoon Leader Axis
Element Leader: 2LT.Longmen.D
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element: 2LT.Longmen.D


Pros:

• Great concept
• Everyone did amazing!
• Great phases
• EVERYONE DID AMAZING

Cons:

1. Artillery balance (Hard to do)
2. For map flips, the 2ndary point give the defending team like a 3 minute phase for defense development.

 

[Slagg.J]

Element Callsign: B3 Allies
Element Leader: SPC.Slagg.J
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
SPC.Zulu.P.
SPC.Maca.D.
Major Rollins.R.
SPC.Winters.A.


Pros:

• Good format, challenging but not crippling
• My Squad coped very well with the restricted comms
• Comms and combined arms coordination were good
• Having room to maneuver was good

Cons:

• Map RNG was unkind
• We allowed ourselves to become diluted and lost punch.

 

[Smith.N]

S3 BATTLE STAFF
Headquarters
7th Cavalry Regiment
COMBAT AFTER ACTION REPORT​

Element Callsign: QRF Axis
Element Leader:Corporal Smith.N
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Corporal Smith.N
Corporal Herber.R
Specialist Sokol.Z
Private First Class Watson.J
Private Felton.J



Pros:

• Really enjoyed multi-phase concept
• Squad accomplished objectives as ordered
• Quick responsiveness, great comms, good marks

Cons:

1. Artillery balance
2. For map flips, the 2ndary point give the defending team like a 3 minute phase for defense

 

[Carmine.J]

Element Callsign: How Infantry (AXIS)
Element Leader: SPC.Carmine.J.
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
SPC.Raine.A
PFC.Narayanaswamy.A
SPC.Rivera.A

Pros:

• Phase 3, Our squad definitely shined the most re-established a few garrisons that got taken out and held AA network from multiple attacks.
• Raine and Rivera chased off multiple tanks using rockets and satchels under Machine Gun Support provided by Narayanaswamy. Raine took out 4 enemy tanks with Panzershrek fire and Rivera satcheled 2 and destroyed a halftrack with an AT mine.

Cons:

• Phase 1, Boo Defense, Should've been allow to fortify more because the garrison and bunker were in the middle of a field.
• Phase 2, Communications were Chaos, 3 Artillery Guns aimed at a garrison with no outposts allowed made it impossible to regroup with your entire squad at a defensive position.

 

[Hermes.S]

Element Callsign: Squad Lead - Allies
Element Leader: Staff Sergeant Hermes.S
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Specialist Quake.B
Specialist Kiing.T
Specialist Karr.H
Specialist Tovarysh.U
Specialist Zincoff.O

Allied Op-Ord

Pros:

• Enjoyed the no comms in the beginning. Heavy focus on map marks and we hit the nail on it.
• Heavy fighting and good gun play
• Good pings and call outs.
• Good team work and coordination when tasked without comms.
• Always fun to help plan
• The AO for attacks was wide open and it was nice to attempt multiple avenues of approach
• Tankers responded well to call outs

Cons:

• Last month 1/2 Bravo section placed heavy focus on maneuvering tactically and attack a point as one large squad and as SL I failed to link up with my ASL on the majority of the fight.
• Misread Axis op-ord and didn't realize they were allowed outside of Brecourt during setup which allowed them to place mines. Road was mined. Lost 2 HT and x1 recon right off the bat.
• Reaction time to calls, maneuvering, were more delayed than normal.
• Trying to recover from lost op.by having to cover 400 yards felt excessive. Would like to see this with a closer garri spawn, especially since it's the attacking force.
• Medium tanks are crap against the pfaust.
• Difficult to setup an attack from a new angle with a larger force due to limited garrisons.
• Need to work on better hiding of the HT
• Attempted to pair repairmen with tanks but provide little recovery from the fuast.
• Long range rockets were the big killer. Hard to protect armor against.

 

[Wags.D]

S3 BATTLE STAFF
Headquarters
7th Cavalry Regiment
COMBAT AFTER ACTION REPORT​

Element Callsign: Allied Echo Tank Commander
Element Leader: Sergeant Wags.D
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element: Sergeant Wags.D, Specialist Henderson.B, Specialist Button.J


Pros:

• Tankers had wonderful communication between each. It was rare to be surprised by an enemy tank.
• Tanks had good coordination and were able to cover each other in firefights.
• Excellent use of infantry pushing with armor, especially in the beginning.

Cons:

• Tough Phase II position to push, especially when axis infantry can pin the medium armor when allies cannot
• Command comms got crazy towards the end.
• Need to make sure we don't get washed out so much pushing. We did at the end and may be due to how far the infantry spawns were from point.

 

[Sotelo.R]

Element Callsign: Allied Tank Commander
Element Leader: Corporal Sotelo.R
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element: Corporal Sotelo.R, Specialist Johnston.J, Sergeant Ackelson.K

Pros:

• Crew coordination and execution of task was superb.
• Overall team plan was solid, worked with moderate success, but...
• Defending team brought their A-game. Armor battles felt like a tug-of-war/chess match, defending infantry adjusted to our assaults with rapid success.
• Armor Platoon coordination felt very fluid and cohesive. Charlie Company is feeling good.

Cons:

• Still is very difficult to attack as American forces with ONLY medium Shermans. German AT still carves up the HADES with zero effort, so maybe allowing the Jumbo 75 would help American armor withstand the attack we are asked to execute.

 

[Canuck.J]

Element Callsign: C/1/A/2-7
Element Leader:
Staff Sergeant Canuck.J
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Specialist Jefferzon.Z
Specialist Silvis.C
Specialist Silvis.B
Sergeant Major West.B

Pros:

• My Arty guys were on point, fast and accurate response.
• Good reaction to enemy movements paired with good communication made the defense work.

Cons:

• Command comms is too busy at times.
• Squad need to work on using local comms when working on AT Gun.

 

[Hellious.T]

Element Callsign: Axis c-2
Element Leader: Sergeant Hellious.T
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Lieutenant Colonel Rob.Y,
Specialist Willis.B,
Specialist Joshothy.J
Specialist Cris.C


Pros:

• Good operation format, artillery was oppressive, but balanced oppression for both sides. The two functional tasks to complete made again for interesting gameplay
• Squad performed well to adsorb the initial brunt of the assault in phase 1
• Squad did exceptional work on protecting the east bound flank of AA network removing assault lanes and many forms of enemy troop deployment areas
• Comms were pretty good, leadership was hectic but hard to imagine scenarios where it was as close as it was with less
• AO worked out even though initially thought it would be lopsided
• QRF was on point
• Charlie Section showed up as aggressive defenders again and it worked out well

Cons:

• 4 seconds yo
• the one spawn was brutal with artillery on AA network without OPs - many a man lost

 

[Webber.R]

S3 BATTLE STAFF
Headquarters
7th Cavalry Regiment
COMBAT AFTER ACTION REPORT​

Element Callsign: Allies George Squad/Delta Reapers
Element Leader: Sergeant Webber.R
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:

Sergeant Webber.R
Specialist Hampton.D
Specialist Smithers.R
Private First Class Plum.L

Pros:

• Fun Op with a variety of differing objectives to keep each part interesting. Even though we weren't able to take AA Network, all members enjoyed themselves with a close fight.
• Phase 1 was executed extremely well given the lack of comms with crossmap redeployment needed that relied on troopers paying attention to map cues instead of verbal commands.
  • The Comms Jamming Bunker definitely added a neat layer to the beginning that would have played much differently without it, it was very fun to plan for and execute.
• Loved that the AO was large, allowing for more interesting flanks and approaches.

Cons:

• While each Squad seemed to perform well in Phases 2 and 3, we weren't able to completely take the point. Could have used some additional coordination Squad to Squad communication for unified pushes like overloading one side together.
• Seemed like a lack of garrisons in Phase 3 leading to not enough differing avenues of approach. When I checked map, we usually only had on average about 3 or 4.
• When both sides are restricted to Mediums, Panzerschrecks far outweigh the Bazooka.
• Delta was split which brought upon the bad juju for map flipping.