AAR AAR Operation Somme 06DEC24

[Komar.T]

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
S3 BATTLE STAFF
Headquarters
7th Cavalry Regiment
COMBAT AFTER ACTION REPORT
Name of Combat Mission: Operation Somme
Game: Hell Let Loose
Server Hosted on: Training Server 1
Date of Combat Mission: 06DEC24
Time of Combat Mission (Zulu): 0130Z 06DEC24 2030EST

​

Mission OIC: Sergeant Major Komar.T
Mission Controller: Sergeant Major Komar.T & First Lieutenant Korfias.F
Number of Attendees: 70
7th Cavalry Personnel Involved in Action:
Major Rollins.R
Major Strider.R
Captain Anderson.P
First Lieutenant Korfias.F
Second Lieutenant Hazen.D
Second Lieutenant Leifried.R
Second Lieutenant Macpherson.C
Second Lieutenant Swanson.B
Sergeant Major Komar.T
First Sergeant Balazova.S
Sergeant First Class Hermes.S
Sergeant First Class Mueller.H
Staff Sergeant Cantrell.J
Staff Sergeant Rasmus.M
Staff Sergeant Silvis.B
Staff Sergeant Zulu.P
Sergeant Bean.P
Sergeant Lee.N
Sergeant Noriega.D
Sergeant Strole.Z
Corporal Ackelson.K
Corporal Baldrick.D
Corporal Bazzle.J
Corporal Feathers.A
Corporal Gardener.J
Corporal Hood.D
Corporal Houser.J
Corporal Moreau.M
Corporal Riley.D
Corporal Sanchez.R
Corporal Slagg.J
Corporal Wagner.D
Specialist Angels.N
Specialist Barnes.D
Specialist Bas.D
Specialist Daver.R
Specialist Dirt.E
Specialist Emanuel.M
Specialist Gimson.M
Specialist Grabo.M
Specialist Griffin.B
Specialist Hansel.R
Specialist Lewis.P
Specialist Loup.N
Specialist Mair.B
Specialist Markel.Z
Specialist Mason.P
Specialist Plummer.M
Specialist Quake.B
Specialist Rowe.S
Specialist Smith.DS
Specialist Von Busch.M
Private First Class Barzon.J
Private First Class Belmont.E
Private First Class Groves.T
Private First Class Keif.A
Private First Class Pollock.R
Private First Class Reynolds.Z
Private First Class Rose.MJ
Private First Class Shred.C
Private First Class Summer.R
Private First Class Yee.L
Private Kinder.E
Private Lynch.J
Private Perez.T
Private Tawfik.Y


First Sergeant Nehez.J - Retired
Staff Sergeant Hellious.T - Retired
Corporal Reign.A - Retired
Specialist Rousseau.A - Retired
Recruit Payne.J - Ineligible

 

[Lee.N]

Element Callsign: Lead TC Axis, Callsign "Rocinante"
Element Leader: Sergeant Lee.N
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Sergeant Lee.N
Major Strider.R
Specialist Bas.D

Pros:

• A lot of fun!
• It was nice to just play to kill instead of playing to win actual points (from the tanker perspective)
• We could really just run around and do whatever we wanted, as we couldn't assault
• This was a great op idea, different from the game norm!
• I ran over Ackelson in a transport truck (right after he shot me out of it)

Cons:

• Strider ruthlessly gunned down Cantrell, unwarranted (deserves a purple heart)
• Perhaps one set of nodes instead of all three
• More infantry would have been great, but 1 tank on both teams with 35 worked out

 

[Korfias.F]

Element Callsign: Allied Commander
Element Leader: First Lieutenant Korfias.F
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
First Lieutenant Korfias.F

Pros:

• Was a fun match, a fun concept, and looking forward to running it again.

Cons:

• Lack of comms
• Lack of coordination
• Lack of stepping up - Need SLs to sign up early for placements

 

[Moreau.M]

Element Callsign: Axis Recon SL
Element Leader: Corporal Moreau.M
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Specialist Rowe.S

Pros:

• Fun Operation, constant pressure was energizing.

Cons:

• Nothing

 

[Bean.P]

Element Callsign: Axis Middle Defense SL
Element Leader: Sgt. Bean. P
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
CPL.Feathers
PFC. Barzon
PFC.Shred
CPL.Wagner
2ndLT.Macpherson

Pros:
-These Reaper Boyz know how to get it done. I could sing their praises all day. Teamwork makes the dream work and it got done.
-Overall, the guys loved this event. We built the heck out of the center node.

Cons:
-Perhaps make the AO smaller. That would make it a bit more engaging for the guys.

 

[Bazzle.J]

Element Callsign: Axis Attack Squad Able
Element Leader: CPL.Bazzle.J
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
CPL.Bazzle.J
2LT.Leifried.R
SPC.Mason.P
SPC.Grabo.M
PFC.Summer.R

Pros:

• Great Op design, very engaging
• Great teamwork, constant comms and good markings

Cons:

• Nothing

 

[Strole.Z]

Element Callsign: Axis Southern Defense SL
Element Leader: Sergeant Strole.Z
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Specialist Hansel.R
Corporal Houser.J
Private First Class Belmont.E
Private First Class Keif.A
Private First Class Reynolds.Z
Pros:
Great Coms.
Great plan from Hazen
Amazing defense by my squad they did great.
Loved the plan want to see it come back

Cons:
No Cons.

 

[Swanson.B]

Element Callsign: Allies Squad Leader Echo?
Element Leader: Second Lieutenant Swanson.B
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Staff Sergeant Rasmus.M
Specialist Markel.Z
Specialist Emanuel.M
Private First Class Groves.T

Pros & Cons:
I think the overall concept of the operation is both challenging and enjoyable. It's tough, but that's part of the appeal.

That said, the mood within my squad was predominantly negative, to be honest. The constant setbacks we faced, hitting a wall with every attempted push, took a toll on morale.

The absence of map markers was a major issue, particularly on the offensive side, as it severely hampered coordination.

Our tank's performance also fell short compared to theirs, which operated with remarkable efficiency as a QRF asset. No matter where we pushed, their tank seemed to appear within 2–3 minutes, creating a frustrating and overwhelming dynamic.

While we committed to a strong push at the bottom, I believe the operation would have benefited from assigning a squad to apply pressure from the north. This might have provided a much-needed diversion or additional angle of attack.

I'm not sure how the enemy squads were organized, but it felt like they had one SL and one MG in each squad. Somehow, it seemed as if there were 10 MGs expertly positioned across the map, making it incredibly challenging to advance.

 

[Hazen.D]

Element Callsign: Axis Commander, "Half-Track"
Element Leader: Second Lieutenant Hazen.D
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Second Lieutenant Hazen.D

Pros:

• Great Comms
• Great Squad Flexing
• Squad Leaders were responsive
• Forces were flexible, responding as needed to hot spots
• Most fun Op in a long time

Cons:

• No mans land keeps commanders from using airheads

 

[Hellious.T]

Element Callsign: squad 1b allied
Element Leader: Staff Sergeant Hellious.T
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Sergeant Major Komar.T
Corporal Hood.D
Specialist Rousseau.A
Specialist Griffin.B
Private First Class Pollock.R

Pros:

• concept is interesting has some merit to be rerun with different maps - open fields were rough
• squad performed where requested within the map and operation
• germans planned well for their locations and defenses

Cons:

• insufficient leader chatter and comms to coordinate the offense or defense
• update op to put nodes within the first "no man" column run times were not great with constructing an offense on a mountain of defense.
• i personally was a little ill prepared was unsure i could so and had no part in prior planning

 

[Noriega.D]

Element Callsign: Allied Bravo
Element Leader: Sergeant Noriega.D
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Specialist Dirt.E
Private Kinder.E
Private Lynch.J
Corporal Ackelson.K

Pros:

• Great concept
• Squad had fun

Cons:

• Lack of coordination
• Limited AO

 

[Mueller.H]

Element Callsign: Axis George
Element Leader: Sergeant First Class Mueller.H
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Captain Anderson.P
Staff Sergeant Cantrell.J
Corporal Baldrick.D
Corporal Riley.D
Specialist Loup.N

Pros:

• Great new concept, never seen before.
• Squad worked very well together and had fun

Cons:

• Squad was tasked with defending the nodes in the north. In the east there was only an open field, which made an attack almost impossible, which is why we were hardly in action for long stretches of the game. Lot of fun when there was action.
• Not sure if were just to good but it felt like an map advantage for Axis. Maybe a more open map like west side of Kursk with windmills as key objective to spot the nodes or each side or a map like Hill 400 with a lot of cover.

 

[Rutkowski.P]

S1 Locked.

 

[Houser.J]

S1 Operations Processed