AAR AAR Operation Schwarzwald 27OCT2024

[Webber.R]

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
S3 BATTLE STAFF
Headquarters
7th Cavalry Regiment
COMBAT AFTER ACTION REPORT
Name of Combat Mission: Operation Schwarzwald
Game: Hell Let Loose
Server Hosted on: TS1
Date of Combat Mission: 27OCT2024
Time of Combat Mission (Zulu): 2330z​

Mission OIC: First Sergeant Webber.R
Mission Controller: First Sergeant Webber.R, Second Lieutenant Korfias.F, & Sergeant First Class Hermes.S
Number of Attendees: 76
7th Cavalry Personnel Involved in Action:
Colonel Budd.D
Major Rollins.R
First Lieutenant Anderson.P
First Lieutenant Argentini.E
Second Lieutenant Korfias.F
Second Lieutenant Sotelo.R
Second Lieutenant Swanson.B
Sergeant Major Komar.T
Sergeant Major Preacher.A
First Sergeant Webber.R
Sergeant First Class Hermes.S
Staff Sergeant Cantrell.J
Staff Sergeant Rasmus.M
Staff Sergeant Silvis.B
Staff Sergeant Zulu.P
Sergeant Bean.P
Sergeant Curran.J
Sergeant Karr.H
Sergeant Lucas.A
Sergeant Strole.Z
Sergeant Wisniewski.A
Corporal Ackelson.K
Corporal Baldrick.D
Corporal Carmine.J
Corporal Etoh.I
Corporal Hood.D
Corporal Kona.B
Corporal Macpherson.C
Corporal Slagg.J
Corporal Sokol.Z
Specialist Barnes.D
Specialist Barrett.JH
Specialist Bell.T
Specialist Blade.B
Specialist Donk.B
Specialist Ellison.C
Specialist Feathers.A
Specialist Felton.J
Specialist Fowler.D
Specialist Gimson.M
Specialist Harris.W
Specialist Helmick.A
Specialist Jefferzon.Z
Specialist Lewis.P
Specialist Loup.N
Specialist Mair.B
Specialist Mulvany.J
Specialist Patricks.C
Specialist Patterson.C
Specialist Plainview.N
Specialist Quake.B
Specialist Sanchez.R
Specialist Silvis.C
Specialist Smith.ER
Specialist Thrass.ED
Specialist Von Busch.M
Specialist Wagner.D
Specialist Willis.B
Private First Class Angels.N
Private First Class Dieppe.C
Private First Class Duffy.C
Private First Class Freeze.T
Private First Class Grimshaw.J
Private First Class Kavaar.D
Private First Class Plummer.M
Private First Class Rowe.S
Private First Class Tech.C
Private Miller.L
Private Reynolds.Z
Private Roller.D
Private Rose.MJ
Private Williams.JB


Reservist Johnson.G
Staff Sergeant Hellious.T - RET
Corporal Reign.A - RET
Corporal Smith.N - RET

 

[Korfias.F]

Element Callsign: Axis 1st Platoon Leader
Element Leader: Second Lieutenant Korfias.F
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Second Lieutenant Korfias.F

Pros:

Cons:

 

[Slagg.J]

Element Callsign: Allies - Fox Recon.
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element: CPL.Slagg.J

Pros:
Simple but fun FTX plan.
Good responses from elements to command orders.
Dynamic reactions to changing situations.
Effective command comms passage of info for command to react to.

Cons:
I feel I personally overused command comms being a 1 man squad and tasked with intel passage.
Cav servers all perform worse in terms of hit reg and lag for me, making effective play challenging.

 

[Smith.N]

Element Callsign: Axis Delta 2 SL
Element Leader: Corporal Smith.N
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Major Rollins.R
Corporal Reign.A
Specialist Plainview.N
Private First Class Tech.C
Private First Class Grimshaw.J
Pros:

• Even-balanced
• Like Nightmaps
• Fun concept

Cons:

• A bit hard with AO restrictions/map layout (river with 3 chokepoints on west column).
• If AT-Gun assets are approved, place within the allowable AO so they can be destroyed/reduced by infantry

 

[Macpherson.C]

Element Callsign: Axis Able Squad
Element Leader: Corporal Macpherson.C
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Specialist Willis.B
Private Roller.D
Corporal Sokol.Z
Specialist Felton.J
Specialist Wagner.D

Pros:

• Squad enjoyed playing with each other, had a great fight and put up some stellar numbers
• Enjoy the concept of the game mode

Cons:

• Night Maps
• Point did not feel well balanced due to AT Guns having a ground advantage
• AO Restrictions being breached too often

 

[Wisniewski.A]

Element Callsign: Axis Charlie Squad
Element Leader: Sergeant Wisniewski.A
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Specialist Patterson.C
Specialist Gimson.M
Specialist Quake.B
Specialist Harris.W
Specialist Smith.ER
Pros:

• Squad did a great job moving together and solving problems
• The capture point flipped a ton, this exercise was a great show of skill on both sides and demonstrated how evenly matched 1st & 2nd platoons are

Cons:

• Assets allowed in restricted space made it really difficult to destroy them
• The ruleset seems to have been unclear to people on both sides. Need to make sure SLs are reading and understanding the rules and enforcing them

 

[Kona.B]

Element Callsign: Allies Charlie SL
Element Leader: Corporal Kona.B
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Specialist Helmick.A
Specialist Bell.T
Specialist Von Busch.M
Private First Class Kavaar.D

Pros:

• Squad worked well together
• Great flares and info on command comms for enemy movement
• I actually enjoyed the night map and the specific map that was chosen

Cons:

• Command comms could get cluttered with everyone trying to talk over each other making it hard to hear what was being said
• Minor rule violations with AO's and OP's but not terrible from what I saw

 

[Argentini.E]

Element Callsign: Allied Recon Leader Able
Element Leader: First Lieutenant Argentini.E
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
First Lieutenant Argentini.E

Pros: I enjoyed the concept of going back and forth. Each time the map switched it was a fresh start with new response.
Slagg comms helped determine enemy assault directions with use of 2 flare guns between us.

Cons: Anderson drove

 

[Carmine.J]

Element Callsign: Axis Recon
Element Leader: Corporal Carmine.J
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Private Reynolds.Z

Pros:
My sniper and I enjoyed the match for the most part I know it might seem like there are a lot of cons but we had fun despite the difficulties, the FTX format feels balanced even though the point switches control constantly. It makes the defending team play much more conservatively and the game doesn't feel like it stagnates like it would if only one team were holding it the entire time.
My sniper and I knocked out an attack Garrison and 3 OPs & I put up spot flares constantly through out the game trying to provide intel to the team as to which direction we were getting pushed from.

Cons:
I have 1200 hours in this game and I've never experienced these kind of in game comms issues, my command/unit comms dropped and came back multiple times through out the game and I had to rely on markers and text chat half the time. Not really any fault of the FTX, but it did feel like a handicap and I know I wasn't the only one that had this issue.

For offense we had some really strong attacks, and a couple times when we lost the point we took it right back. However, I couldn't really stand how far back our default garrisons were. If your OP went down it took a good minute to get back to the front.
As far as defense goes, we struggled to put the hardpoint garrisons in defendable spots and it felt like it was a constant struggle to find supplies and ammunition for spot flares and replacement garrisons which means we weren't running nearly enough support players, I saw some but not enough. Once again the default back up garrisons were just too far back and if the hardpoint garrison went down it was difficult to make an effective response with how far back they were. I would've liked to see some engineer built defenses go down through out the battle ,but it was a little difficult with the terrain, just remember barbed wire is cheap and only 10 supplies.

The map choice and AO/spawn restrictions really limited the abilities of recon. Half of recon is going to shut down artillery and go behind enemy lines sacking spawns and there was just no way for us to flank easily without OPs and we couldn't go beyond the redline when we were defending so we kind of ended up just falling in with the rest of the infantry and were solely there for spot flares. Americans were attacking downhill ,but at the same time I feel like the night and fog were an advantage to them. They encircled and hit us from different directions really well. I lost count of how many times someone burst through the fog at close range with an automatic and all I had was a bolt action.

Definitely noticed a lot more rule breaks as far as the spawn restrictions compared to the last FTX we did this format with. We were attacking the point and my sniper very visibly saw 2 Americans spawn in on an Outpost when they were suppose to be restricted to a garrison. Also the 1 garrison we found and took out was no where near the hardpoint, it wasn't even in the 2x2 grid square, it was all the way in the South. I understand it was probably an attacking garrison at one point ,but the Americans were still using it on the defense as well as we saw 2 squads worth of people spawn on it, and I thought they were restricted to just the 1 garrison in the 2x2 the hardpoint was in.


GGs to all.

 

[Swanson.B]

Element Callsign: Allies Bravo Squad
Element Leader: Second Lieutenant Swanson.B
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Sergeant Major Komar.T
Corporal Baldrick.D
Specialist Barnes.D
Staff Sergeant Rasmus.M
Corporal Hood.D

Pros:
The operation was loved by all members of the unit.

I saw A LOT of explosive ammi box on the ground. This was requested during post game briefing and was well executed.

Our squad faught well togheter. Good squad cohesion between members

The concept is great. I believe you've achieved your goal of practicing quick attacks and defenses. It really brings a unique and realistic dynamic, different from what we play on our public servers.

I believe that, for the most part, the spawn restrictions were respected by everyone. I saw some people using the wrong Garrison and certain OPs a few times, but overall, I'd say about 90% of the spawn rules were followed. I even accidentally spawned on my OP once when we were defending. Mistakes happen. You just have to recognize them and avoid repeating them! If we really want to be strict with the rules, there should be an admin in the sky observing all spawns and directly punishing those who don't use the correct spawn point. Long and tedious… but if you really want the rules to be respected 100% in the next iteration of this concept, I think that's the way to go.


Cons:
Due to the OP/Garrison restriction, it was very hard to do Airborne manoeuvre. If we died, we were punished too harshly because we had to walk too far. That's life; it's not a big deal since the FTX doesn't revolve around the Airborne troops. I'm just pointing out that it was complicated.

At first, coordination with my immediate team (squad level) was REALLY complicated. My troops were asking me questions that I couldn't hear because there were discussions happening among the PLs on Discord, in Command voice chat, in Proximity voice, and within my squad. It was chaotic.
If we separate into a Discord channel to prepare our game plan, it would be better not to overuse the command chat so that planning can happen calmly and everything can be understood clearly


Note to the squad leader: it would be preferable not to notify in the command chat if you die and have troops with you. Imagine if all 10 squads did that! Just place a marker when you respawn. This will help keep the command chat from getting too cluttered.

 

[Webber.R]

Element Callsign: Allied Command
Element Leader: First Sergeant Webber.R
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
First Sergeant Webber.R

Pros:

• 1st Platoon had an excellent strategy courtesy of SSG.Zulu going into the FTX that was executed aimlessly each flip between assault and defense. Props to the Section Leads for keeping their Troopers moving to their designated positions.
• While most night maps make for some murky combat, I felt like the area around Scar specifically played out well, with visibility not being too cumbersome.
• The repetition in cycles led to some interesting intuition - shout out to SGT.Bean for suggestion moving the garrison location after realizing the bombing runs kept coming in on the same position as our spawn. This led to the garrison being saved from the next bombing run.

Cons:

• AT Guns were surprisingly effective even in no-visibility scenario. Great work by the Sections for spotting for them, but definitely understand the sentiment regarding not being able to interact with them. Will keep this feedback for the future regarding this rendition.
• Minor rule infractions but did not notice an outrageous amount of spawn abuse.
• Anderson thought he was driving a submarine.

 

[Hermes.S]

Element Callsign: Axis Command
Element Leader: Sergeant First Class Hermes.S
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Sergeant First Class Hermes.S

Pros:

• Strong fighting on both sides.
• Chaotic / non-stop fighting and changing hands.
• First time as a Commander for an FTX. - lots to improve on.
• As a team in terms of total time, we held the point defensively the longest.
• It was fun.
• Great work at a squad level. At a platoon level, not so much.
• I love night maps.

Cons:

• Attendance took far too long. It left little time to brief the team and caught us by surprise when the first flip was made. No warning from MC.
• Outplanned. I enjoy planning, it's arguably my favorite part. The roster was completed later than usual due to poor signups, which led to minimal preparation time. I didn't get to prepare as much as I typically like (perhaps prepping on the fly is an area for me to work on).
• Couldn't get a strong enough footing to hold as long as I had hoped.
• Multiple squads not attending to the pre-determined locations at any point.
• Multiple squads not maneuvering to requested positions (not listening to commands)
• Poor response time for orders that were given. Instead of an immediate course of action, per the commander's request, it often took multiple callouts and commands to accomplish what was asked. At our level, this is inexcusable.
• Too much running and gunning - daisy chaining and squads not effectively working with each other to accomplish goals.
• Enemy AT Guns were placed at the top of a hill in an area that, for us as Axis, was considered Out of bounds. This led to them being difficult to destroy as they were inaccessible. These AT guns provided a heavy amount of continued fire throughout the match. I was told I should've had a rocket trooper take it out or build an AT gun to counter it. It would've been a rocket shot from over 200m, in the fog, at night. Any assets that are utilized need to be in an area that is playable by both teams. It's a cheap-ass move.
• Rule infractions on both sides. Our side started "10 seconds too early" which I disagree with because I did not witness that and I was in the map at that time.
• The enemy kept their OPs up during their defensive phase. According to the rules on slide 3, outposts were supposed to be removed. Not only did the enemy not remove any of their OPs, but multiple troopers continued to use them to spawn. It was also used as a warning tool (radar) for enemy movements, which is an unfair advantage. I made my team remove all of theirs.
• Red-zone garrisons: I was under the impression these too, needed to be destroyed if they were not designated the main garrison within the 4-grid square while defending Scar. Apparently, that wasn't the case and you were allowed to keep them up under the honor system that they wouldn't be used.
• Default garrisons were not equidistant and favored the opposing team.
• Winners being defined as the team that holds the point at game end.

 

[Zulu.P]

Element Callsign: Allies George squad
Element Leader: Staff Sergeant Zulu.P

7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Sergeant Curran.J
Private Miller.L
Private First Class Plummer.M
Reservist Johnson.G

Pros:
good coms and geat movement by sections.

---

Cons:
Night Fog MAP

• The enemy was capturing the point prior to going live, with 25% captured by the time we started.
• We were given a different starting distance than the Axis, assuming it would balance the distance.
• (We were told to start from the Rear garrisons not the line)
• The constant switch between "no OPs" and "OPs" was causing issues with breaking rules.
• I seen and called out when it happen on our side, also would see it happning on the Axis side also.
• REMOVING OP's on Defense:
• Not sure how you would manage to do this when my average life was 15-30 seconds, I barely had any time to drop a new one to destroy it unless I spawn out of defense area (rear garrys or HQ) to drop and remove OP's.
• It was hard to keep track of the rules during fast-paced capture points, leading to slots that should be used for troopers possibly being occupied by Admins. This further caused issues, as commanders frequently had to switch to admin cam to watch for rule violations, then had to pretend they didn't just see where everyone was.

 

[Hellious.T]

Element Callsign: Allies Second Platoon lead
Element Leader: Staff Sergeant Hellious.T Ret

7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Staff Sergeant Hellious.T Ret

Pros:

• comms in leadership were ok, a bit cluttered but workable - discord channels have been utilized previously to limit the clutter
• conceptually goals were met - flipping of the map back and forth
• tough fight all around, tough fights are always good

---

Cons:

• Axis capturing the point prior to going live, with 25% captured by the time we started - stuff happens but a given hard start time when listed in opords shouldn't be to difficult to maintain
• Difficult to incorporate artillery with the on and off again with the defense and offense
• with the lack of OPs and singular garrison on defense as platoon staff I did not feel useful as troopers were dropping in a constant barrage of up and down again

 

[Karr.H]

Element Callsign: Allies first platoon delta squad
Element Leader: SGT.Karr.H

7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
SGT.Karr.H
SPC.Sanchez.R
PFC.Angels.N
2LT.Sotelo.R
PVT.Rose.MJ

Pros:

• Lots of firefights during the entire FTX, contestant meat grinder
• Good info disseminated throughout command comms and map markers
• With the allies having the hill over looking scar we made good use of it placing our AT guns on it and our MGs

---

Cons:

• Axis started capping the point before live time, but it is what it is
• Difficult to set up any kind of defense with no flip time to build up and with out the use of OPs

 

[Silvis.B]

Element Callsign: Axis Sentinel SL
Element Leader: Staff Sergeant Silvis.B
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Specialist Silvis.C
Specialist Jefferzon.Z
Specialist Daver.R
Specialist Class Mair.B
Specialist Thrass.ED
Private Williams.JB
Specialist Donk.B
Specialist Lewis.P
Private Duffy.C

Pros:

• Squad worked well together
• Great flares and call outs over command at the beginning
• I actually enjoyed the night map

Cons:

• Command comms started good and died with the game
• Abuse of AO and OPs

 

[Bean.P]

Element Callsign: Allies Famine SL
Element Leader: Sergeant Bean.P
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Specialist Ellison.C
Specialist Feathers.A
Specialist Mulvany.J
Specialist Patricks.C

Pros:
The boys loved this one it was a hard fought match and we kicked ass.

Cons
Nothing it was overall pretty great just a few rule breaks here and there but nothing major.

 

[Rutkowski.P]

S1 Locked.

Assigned Hood.D for processing.

 

[Hood.D]

S1 Operations processed.