AAR [HLL PC] Operation Rusty Anvil @2230z 11NOV23

[James.M]

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
S3 BATTLE STAFF
Headquarters
7th Cavalry Regiment
COMBAT AFTER ACTION REPORT[
Name of Combat Mission: Operation Rusty Anvil

Game: Hell Let Loose
Server Hosted on: Training Server 1
Date of Combat Mission: 11NOV23
Time of Combat Mission (Zulu): 2230Z​

Mission OIC: Second Lieutenant James.M
Mission Controller: Second Lieutenant James.M
Number of Attendees:
7th Cavalry Personnel Involved in Action: 81
Lieutenant Colonel Dread.M
Captain Cameron.J
First Lieutenant Smith.V
Second Lieutenant Argentini.E
Second Lieutenant Anderson.P
First Sergeant Komar.T
First Sergeant Sven.S
Staff Sergeant Phillips.B
Staff Sergeant Hermes.S
Sergeant Webber.R
Sergeant Balazova.S
Sergeant Hellious.T
Sergeant Thrawn.N
Sergeant Warren.G
Sergeant Whaley.H
Sergeant Ackelson.K
Sergeant Bizutto.A
Sergeant Cantrell.J
Sergeant Hansen.Z
Sergeant Rhodes.R
Specialist Choi.S
Specialist Blade.B
Corporal Guillermo.C
Corporal Herber.R
Corporal OCulien.M
Corporal Sotelo.R
Corporal Travis.W
Corporal Zulu.P
Corporal Smith.N
Corporal Berkowski.C
Corporal Brough.C
Corporal Busch.J
Corporal Groves.A
Corporal Jinto.H
Corporal Moreau.M
Corporal Owens.J
Corporal Williamson.J
Specialist Tovarysh.U
Specialist Noriega.D
Specialist Lemon.D
Specialist Fields.M
Specialist Baldrick.D
Specialist Felton.J
Specialist Grabo.M
Specialist Jefferzon.Z
Specialist Karr.H
Specialist Katz.A
Specialist McMillan.H
Specialist Quake.B
Specialist Richman.A
Specialist Rivera.A
Specialist Rousseau.A
Specialist Silvis.B
Specialist Simonis.T
Specialist Strole.Z
Specialist Willis.B
Specialist Zincoff.O
Private First Class Bean.P
Private First Class Bachelder.A
Private First Class Leaf.J
Private First Class Leifried.R
Private First Class Summers.J
Private First Class King.DJ
Private First Class Mead.T
Private First Class Wisniewski.A
Private First Class Eller.J
Private Hazen.D
Private Ackerman.J
Private Baldwin.C
Private LaRoche.P
Private Lawton.D
Private Woody.W
Recruit Porter.V


Pros:
• Excellent Preparation by both Commanders.
• S5/S3 collaboration worked well, special thanks to the 16th IR for attending.
• No tags seemed to work well.

Cons:
• The Operation was likely too complex in parts.
• Late scratches and arrivals made the already complex comms system nearly impossible to keep the integrity of.

 

[Leifried.R]

Element Callsign: Axis Tank Commander - Iron Chef 2
Element Leader: PFC. Leifried.R (Tank Commander)
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:

• CPL. Berkowski.C
• CPL. Busch.J

Pros: Fantastic execution on Initial plan. Gave the Allies a hell of a time off the bat with some solid tactics devised by 2LT. Argentini.E prior to the FTX. Comms were fantastic and pings were active. Couldn't ask for more cooperation between Tank Elements & Infantry. Overall great teamplay, just didn't go our way

Cons: Not sure if the right questions weren't asked or information wasn't correctly relayed, but we weren't aware as a team that we needed to take church back in order to be victorious until only 15 minutes left in-game

The premise for this FTX was fantastic. The 7th Cav operates at a level adequate enough to execute on complex ideas like this one and make it a hell of a lot of fun

10/10 would do it again

 

[Cameron.J]

TEMPLATE

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

Element CallSign: Allied Commander
Element Leader:
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:


Pros:

Cons:

 

[Sotelo.R]

Element Callsign: Allied Armor - X-Ray 2, Cheap and Easy
Element Leader: Corporal Sotelo.R (Tank Commander)
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Corporal Sotelo.R
Specialist Richman.A
Specialist Choi.S

Pros:

• Crew chemistry felt good, along with excellent execution of individual crew tasks, proving successful by taking down 4 vehicles and neutralizing multiple dozens of infantry.
• Although we had a terrible start in the beginning, the American armor element bounced back and shifted the armor tide back to our favor.
• Infantry coordination and support was as strong as ever.
• Comms system was very creative and worked well for armor, but I see the difficulty with infantry.
• Nameplate removal was awesome, having to PID friendlies and targets was a much-needed breath of fresh S3 air.

Cons:

• No real huge cons, although callsign element just isn't practiced enough to utilize at the moment.

 

[Dread.M]

Element CallSign: Sugar3
Element Leader: Lieutenant Colonel Dread.M
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
First Sergeant Sven.S

Pros:

• No Name Plates - I will show up to every OP with this as a rule. It makes it more challenging, and it helps slow down some engagements taking the Battlefield 4 feel out of it.
• Good mission design.
• Great teamwork within the unit.

Cons:

• My reptile brain couldn't keep track of the callsigns that are different than what is ingrained in the normal game play. I got killed multiple times checking the OPORD to figure out who was who. I missed a couple calls because I forgot who I was.

 

[Thrawn.N]

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

Element CallSign: Hotdog 3, Stupid and Dangerous
Element Leader: Sergeant.Thrawn.N
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Sergeant.Thrawn.N
Sergeant Whaley.H
Specialist.Simonis.T


Pros:

• Loved the beginning of match Ambush by the Germans, really good stuff on their part!
• Fantastic callouts, markings, and translation of enemy positions and of immediate/ soon to be threats of all kinds
• Infantry did superb in conquering their initial assault phase and primary objectives
• Comm restrictions and player markers set to off made for good immersion

Cons:

• The callsign names, Hotdog 3, Xray 2, Axis 7 etc. Really didn't enjoy that aspect since its too easy to forget it and more distracting than immersive
  • I understand its meant for a more military feel or whatever, just personally didn't enjoy it.
• Peculiar restrictions for certain areas or points of operation seemed pointless in the long run due to expansion of AO after restrictions were bypassed or Phase change negated the need

 

[Travis.W]

Element CallSign: BigBird, Allied Chief Commander
Element Leader: Corporal Travis.W
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:

Pros:

• Comms and marks were great
• Armor worked very well to eliminate tanks and support infantry
• Lots of coordination was tough but great to see
• ZOC was excellent when we took Sur Mer
• Leadership was willing to put in a ton of work to plan this out to check off the OPORD
• Loved the idea of detachment commanders, would be cool to have them in their own VC with their detachment

Cons:

• OPORD had a lot of details that made it tricky to implement
• Community attendance was sadly low, making it hard to designate units
• Callsigns were fun, but hard to make work
• Could have used more artillery action during specified times

 

[Ackelson.K]

Element Callsign: Axis Tank Commander - Iron Chef 6
Element Leader: Sergeant Ackelson.K (Lead Tank Commander)
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:

• Corporal Jinto.H
• Specialist Tovarysh.U

Pros: Intial plan was really well executed. Good comms

Cons: Difficult to maneuver tanks in this AO. Different callsigns were a hindrance

 

[Bizutto.A]

Axis Element Call Sign: Axis SL - Stonewall6
Element Leader: Sergeant Bizutto.A
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Specialist Noriega.D
Specialist Fields.M
Private Lawton.D
Private Baldwin.C

Pros:

• Fun concept
• having no nameplate and using call-signs made it hectic but realistic
• Good recovery and troop movement even with the handycap

Cons:

• Callsigns are too hard to follow while fighting. SL's need to be in front and it just takes more time with eyes off screen to see who is who.
• Axis early game was on the back foot from the start. Maybe would have been a little more locked in if we have more time on setup.
• My squad was all airborne. They didn't enjoy just being on full defense the entire time.

 

[Hansen.Z]

Element CallSign: Stonewall 1
Element Leader: Sergeant Hansen.Z
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
SPC.Baldrick.D
RCT.Porter.V
PVT.Ackerman.J
PVT.Hazen.D



Pros:

• No Name Plates - Helps with immersion and slows down engagements
• Good mission design.

Cons:

• Not having free reign on squad coms and relying on Proximity was a big downer for moving and reassigning my team
• My VOIP kept disconnecting =[

 

[Smith.N]

Element Callsign: Allied Recon
Element Leader:Corporal Smith.N
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Corporal Smith.N
Corporal Zulu.P

Pros:

• Liked "no-tags"
• Great work amongst officers
• Great marks/pings

Cons:

• Call-sign feature kind of broke down midway
• Comm restrictions made it very difficult as recon to work with my sniper once seperated, as It was only 1-way comms until within local distance

 

[Hermes.S]

Element Callsign: Allies - XRay 6
Element Leader: Staff Sergeant Hermes.S
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
First Sergeant Komar.T
Specialist Quake.B
Specialist Willis.B
Specialist Karr.H
Private First Class Wisniewski.A

Pros:

• Liked "no-tags"
• It was a slow, challenging victory that required extra coordination
• Fun concept, great execution
• Great work from our commander, planning and executing.
• Thank You S3!

Cons:

• The lack of voice comms feels a bit stale and overdone over the last three months.
• Lost three tanks right away - great ambush!
• Call sign feature is a fun idea but challenging to implement and utilize correctly.

 

[Cantrell.J]

Element CallSign: Axis Infantry SL4 "Stonewall 3"
Element Leader: Sergeant Cantrell.J
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Corporal Owens.J
Private First Class Summers.J

Pros:

• No Name Plates
• Good mission design.
• Great teamwork within the unit.

Cons:

• couldn't keep track of the callsigns that are different than what is ingrained in the normal game play. I got killed multiple times checking the OPORD to figure out who was who. I missed a couple calls because I forgot who I was.
• was kind of chaotic wish we had more direction because I was a last minute SL

 

[Woody.W]

lement CallSign: nomad 2
Element Leader: PVT.woody.w
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
PFC.leaf.J


Pros:

• hardcore aspect!
• team work

Cons:

• Not having free reign on squad coms and relying on Proximity was a big downer for moving and reassigning my team
• Callsigns are too hard to follow while fighting. SL's need to be in front and it just takes more time with eyes off screen to see who is who

 

[Smith.V]

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

Element CallSign: Allied Lead Tank Commander - X-Ray 3
Element Leader: First Lieutenant Smith.V
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Sergeant Balazova.S
Corporal Guillermo.C


Pros:

• Fun duels with enemy armor.
• No name tags was awesome.
• The concept of operations was fun and engaging!

Cons:

• Callsigns could be flushed out. Perhaps use callsigns based on the unit a person belongs to?
• Outside elements no showed.

 

[LaRoche.P]

Element Callsign: Axis recon - Nomad 3
Element Leader: Private Laroche.P
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Private First Class Bachelder.A

Pros:

• Objectives to do before and/or after caping is really a good concept.
• No nameplates is really something that should be a thing in all operations, makes it so much more immersive.
• Excellent command chat, not too much, not too few calls, just perfect

Cons:

• Time to setup was a little short.
• I understand why people didn't like the callsigns, but overall I had a piece of paper with written callsigns aligned with their respective SLs and unit name like Stonewall 6: Bizutto (Baker)
• Again I understand why people didn't enjoyed not being abled to use unit chat, it was harder not having my sniper and I being in constant communication, but again it wasn't much of a hindrance for me as him and I were only a 2 men unit.

 

[Mead.T]

Element Callsign: Allied Jig Squad
Element Leader: PFC.Mead.T
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
SPC.Grabo.M
PFC.KIng
SPC.Strole

Pros: great satchels by king and great coordination on the South of Vierville to take out enemy panther, great squad to play with
Cons: voip and nametags (think we could do one or the other), lots of moving parts that

 

[Webber.R]

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

Element CallSign: Allied Charlie Squad - Hot Dog Actual
Element Leader: Sergeant Webber.R
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Corporal Herber.R
Specialist Jefferzon.Z
Specialist Felton.J
Private First Class Bean.P
Private First Class Eller.J

Pros:

• Loved the no name-plate aspect. Brought out a slower method of gameplay that required knowledge of the flow of battle for friendly designations.
• The Detachment idea was great. Unfortunately, units kind of got jumbled so multiple times sections under my Detachment were not in my AO for assignment, but would love to go back to this idea in future Operations.
• Axis had a wonderful opener with their AT guns. Took us completely by surprise.
• Allies had a great combined arms push onto Vierville for our capture.

Cons:

• Unit designations was a neat tactical concept, but in practice it was too much to remember when we've been drilling communicating a certain way for years.
• No Squad comms has been used in the last few months of FTXs and Operations and is getting a little stale. Part of the fun of the game is a constant flow of communication between Local, Squad, and Leadership comms and reacting to new information. While its a fun gimmick to restrict some of these every once in awhile, its been done a little too much recently. At the very least I'd like to see an objective to turn it back on like destroying a jammer or something.
• The Squad class limitations favored defending too much. It's way overkill and a hit to our squad effectiveness for every single offensive Allied Squad to be kitted with an MG, whereas I'm sure defending Squads wouldn't mind having an MG42 on every squad.
• Allies had trouble controlling the 4 way east of Vierville, allowing the Axis access to constantly control south of Detachment A and north of Detachments B and C and split us completely and flank both areas. While our Detachment was able to eventually stabilize the area long enough to launch an offensive on Vierville, it took way longer to accomplish than it should have due to flanking teams continuously removing our spawns and hitting us hard from that location. We could have used some more help with that location to keep the roads between our forces clear.

 

[Argentini.E]

Element CallSign: SunRay, Axis Chief Commander
Element Leader: Second Lieutenant Argentini.E
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:

Pros:

• Solid communication throughout.
• SL's gave extra time towards preparation for possible allied assaults.
• Start of the match went exactly as planned.
• All the little details on the OPORD made this a lot of fun.

Cons:

• Confusion with call signs.
• Infantry not happy with local comms.

 

[Anderson.P]

Element CallSign: Allies, Sugar 2, redesignated Hotdog 2
Element Leader: Second Lieutenant Anderson.P
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Sergeant Hellious.T
Specialist Silvis.B
Specialist McMillan.H
Specialist Blade.B
Pros:

• Lot of fun, really unique idea
• Broke through defenses in the north faster than I anticipated
• Getting TK'ed was hilarious pretty much every single time

Cons:

• Confusion with call signs.
• Got lonely with only one person consistently talking in squad