AAR AAR Campaign Vanilla (1/4) Operation Milkshake 16FEB25

[Komar.T]

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
S3 BATTLE STAFF
Headquarters
7th Cavalry Regiment
COMBAT AFTER ACTION REPORT
Name of Combat Mission: Campaign Vanilla (1/4) Operation Milkshake
Game: Hell Let Loose
Server Hosted on: Training Server 1
Date of Combat Mission: 16FEB25
Time of Combat Mission : 8:30 PM EST

​

Mission OIC: Sergeant Major Komar.T & First Lieutenant Korfias.F
Mission Controller: Sergeant Major Komar.T & First Lieutenant Korfias.F
Number of Attendees: 100

Colonel Hayes.J
First Lieutenant Korfias.F
First Lieutenant Rhodes.R
Second Lieutenant Carmine.J
Second Lieutenant Leifried.R
Second Lieutenant Macpherson.C
Second Lieutenant Sotelo.R
Second Lieutenant Swanson.B
Sergeant Major Komar.T
First Sergeant Balazova.S
First Sergeant Rasmus.M
Master Sergeant Mueller.H
Sergeant First Class Busch.J
Sergeant First Class Herber.R
Sergeant First Class Hermes.S
Staff Sergeant Lucas.A
Staff Sergeant Silvis.B
Staff Sergeant White.C
Sergeant Wisniewski.A
Sergeant Bean.P
Sergeant Etoh.I
Sergeant Noriega.D
Corporal Ackelson.K
Corporal Baldrick.D
Corporal Bazzle.J
Corporal Bell.T
Corporal Cantrell.J
Corporal Coutu.M
Corporal Donk.B
Corporal Ellison.C
Corporal Feathers.A
Corporal Felton.J
Corporal Guillermo.C
Corporal Hood.D
Corporal Jinto.H
Corporal Mair.B
Corporal Moreau.M
Corporal OCulien.M
Corporal Owens.J
Corporal Riley.D
Corporal Slagg.J
Corporal Sokol.Z
Corporal Von Busch.M
Corporal Wagner.D
Corporal Warren.G
Specialist Angels.N
Specialist Baker.JB
Specialist Barnes.D
Specialist Belmont.E
Specialist Blade.B
Specialist Caldreas.B
Specialist Cenname.C
Specialist Crozier.N
Specialist Darko.M
Specialist Daver.R
Specialist Fabie.D
Specialist Freeze.T
Specialist Grimshaw.J
Specialist Hansel.R
Specialist Harris.W
Specialist Helmick.A
Specialist James.M
Specialist Jebediah.S
Specialist Leaf.J
Specialist Lewis.P
Specialist Maikranz.J
Specialist Mulvany.J
Specialist Narayanaswamy.A
Specialist Parton.D
Specialist Plummer.M
Specialist Raine.A
Specialist Richman.A
Specialist Rose.MJ
Specialist Shred.C
Specialist Summer.R
Specialist Tawfik.Y
Specialist Watters.W
Specialist Williams.JB
Specialist Woody.W
Specialist Yee.L
Private First Class Bravo.J
Private First Class Flick.J
Private First Class Hopper.J
Private First Class Kent.S
Private First Class Raffles.R
Private First Class Yaeger.C
Private Austin.M
Private Baktash.L
Private Dennis.V
Private Freeman.C
Private Hooman.Z
Private John.C
Private Milkovic.D
Private Pick.S
Private Smallbeck.E
Private Tilley.B
Private Woods.A
Recruit Becker.J


Reservist Ackerman.J
Corporal Smith.N - Retired

 

[Komar.T]

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

Element Callsign:
Element Leader:
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:



Pros:

Cons:

 

[Woody.W]

Element Callsign: SQUAD 1
Element Leader: SPC.Woody.W
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
PVT.Dennis.V
CPL.Hood.D
2LT.Swansin.B
CPL.Moreau.M
PVT.Bactash.L



Pros:

• being on the winning and loseing side was a nice move around
• vanilla matches are allways fun

Cons:

• balancing but you tried seconded round
• very busy as a sl between SL chat and Command chat

 

[Bean.P]

Element Callsign: Bean Section Parton team
Element Leader:Sgt.Bean
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
SPC.James
CPL.Feathers
CPL.Ellison
PVT. Smallbeck
CPL. Ocullien



Pros:

• These Famine Reaper Men. These proud soldiers took the fight to them opponent.
• It was our job to put pressure on them constantly, and we did that. Thats the name of the game.
• Its always always always going to be fun to run with these guys.
• The guys were johnny on the spot when it came to going to and from garries and op's. Its so vital that we continue to work on the ability to turn on the dime.

Cons:

1. Balance. I mean we try to do it all the time but it might be something to look for.

Overall, I truly feel that this match showed a wonderful masterclass of recon by Noriega and Slagg. Parton great work. Thanks Korf and Komar for putting this together.

 

[Sotelo.R]

Element Callsign: Team 1 (1-Allies 2-Axis) Lead Tank Commander "Cheap & Easy"
Element Leader: Second Lieutenant Sotelo.R
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Second Lieutenant Sotelo.R
Corporal Guillermo.C
Specialist Rose.MJ

Pros:

• Tankers had fun playing vanilla again

Cons:

• Enemy AT infantry were just insane, Armor struggled to join infantry to support in the urban areas
• Team frustration came through command comms

 

[Herber.R]

Element Callsign: Baker Squad
Element Leader: Sergeant First Class Herber.R
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Colonel Hayes.J
First Lieutenant Korfias.F
Corporal Wagner.D
Specialist Plummer.M
Corporal Ackelson.K

Pros:

• Very fun and simple match. Always love a good vanilla match against each other.
• Teamwork and communication was very on point up and down.
• The game plan was simple and was very simple, no need to remember strict rules.

Cons:

• Teams seemed a bit unbalanced.
• Coordination with infantry and armor could have been a bit tighter.

 

[Riley.D]

Element Callsign:?
Element Leader: CPL.Riley.D
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
CPL.Riley.D
CPL.Cantrell.J
SPC.Raine.A
PFC.Raffles.R

Pros:

• Great teamwork within squad, whilst being in completely different sections

Cons:

• Trouble working with the overall team to make a cohesive push

 

[Angels.N]

Element Callsign: 1st Match : Allies Bravo Infantry, 2nd Match: Axis Able Infantry
Element Leader: Specialist Nate Angels
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Specialist Carl Shred
Specialist Paul Lewis
Specialist Youssef Tawfik
Private Colby John


Pros:

• Good communication inner squad.
• Good reaction to contact, the best we can.

Cons:

• Bickering in the command chat isn't needed.
• A lot of reaction to contact and no plan was really made to go on the attack.
• A lot of defense was happening and we would get outflanked easily.
• Morale went down quick especially after the first game.

 

[Bell.T]

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

Element Callsign: Allied Recon 2
Element Leader: CPL.Bell.T
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element: SPC.Belmont.E



Pros:

• Fun, yet very tough match

Cons:

• Got rolled, seemed one sided at times.
• Seemed to lack direction at times, so we just did Recon stuff.
• Lack of ammo to reload flares.

 

[Slagg.J]

Element Callsign: C Recon [Axis] - A Recon [Allies]
Element Leader: Corporal Slagg.J
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element: Specialist Cenname.C



Pros:

• Nice to have a simple no frills, stand up fight.
• Busy but effective command comms. Good callouts, reactions and responses to changing tactical situations.
• Excellent in squad comms and coordination with the other recon element ensuring proper coverage and passage of timely intel.
• My Sniper Cenname gave excellent intel and showed good skill in operating in the right spot for the changing situations.
• Good leadership laying out base plans and issuing orders.

Cons:

• Games hit reg once more proved very challenging.
• Occasional clutter in command comms needed firm calls to bring back into order.

 

[Baldrick.D]

Element Callsign: 1st game How squad, 2nd game Easy squad allies
Element Leader:CPL.Baldrick.D
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:

CPL.Owens.J
SSG.Lucas.A
SPC.Freeze.T
Sgt.Etoh.I



Pros: Good comms in squad. Good bounding and covering fire. Good spacing on defense and QRF

Cons: Me or my guys had no negatives

 

[Noriega.D]

Element Callsign: Axis Able/ Allies India Recon
Element Leader: Sergeant Noriega.D
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Private Hooman.Z


Pros:

• Commander was on point, we had a game plan going in and throughout both matches.
• Recon complimented each other excellently
• Command comms were iffy at times, but were quickly cleaned up.
• Garrisons were rarely a problem in both matches.
• Very proud of every SL and trooper that proved no matter your company, we can all work together, given simple instructions for 2 wins.

Cons:

• None

 

[Von Busch.M]

Element Callsign: TC (Goodwrench)
Element Leader: Corporal Von Busch.M
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Corporal Von Busch.M
Specialist Caldreas.B
Specialist Richman.A
Pros:

• Stuart and recon sim
• Loved infantry yelling at me to get my attention
• Command having a plan with tanks
• Command was on point with adjustmants
• Love the vanilla stuff

Cons:

• Lots of rubble and cars
• Multiple people would talk over eachother to report the same thing in command comms
• Too many times did I get hit with Anti-tank rockets and satchels with at least 7 infantry around in a friendly point

 

[Mueller.H]

Element Callsign: 1st: George: Allies / 2nd: George: Axis
Element Leader: Master Sergeant Mueller.H
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Corporal Jinto.H
Private First Class Kent.S
Private Milkovic.D

Pros:

• Great squad. Great people who can read the map and know what's going on.
• This massacre ended 10 minutes sooner than necessary because I openly expressed my suspicions in command chat.

Cons:

• 1st Match:
  • Nobody was in the south defending E/F 7/8. Why would anyone attack from north if their 4th point is south? Why were garrisons up there? L2P
  • No defensiive garrisons were built. I don't know if that was intentional, but it seemed that way. Building them myself was unfortunately too late to defend "Derailed Train".
  • The enemy team was able to run into the last point without being challenged because the defensive team was not good enough to stop them.

• 2nd match:
  • Axis driver sabotaged the game by driving off too late and then leaving the driver's seat. A private took over but obviously didn't know the map. In total it cost us at least a minute.
  • At 1:21:14 IGT Mont Halais was contested. But due to our magical abilities on Axis, we could keep the point for another 24 minutes, until a time limit has been reached to not get a third map flip.

 

[Etoh.I]

Element Callsign: Axis How / Allied Easy
Element Leader: Corporal Baldrick.D
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Staff Sergeant Lucas.A
Sergeant Etoh.I
Corporal Owens.J
Specialist Freeze.T

I wasn't an SL for this operation but just want to share a few thoughts from my perspective

• I wasn't in command comms but both rounds there was excellent communication in both squad and prox comms which allowed us to work well as a whole
• Clean and clear designation of duty from command before the start of the match (particularly responsibilities for the first 5 minutes of each game) was crucial to our early game momentum and action to follow
• The Garrison placements that we implemented (and prioritized) laid the foundation for excellent map coverage and allowed us to adapt to each threat and objective swiftly
• Cautious and controlled play and macro troop movement helped us to keep our footing However
  • This did give the enemy ample time to rebuild lost garrisons and dig their heels in again However
    • When we did eventually control each next point we found few to no backup garrisons in places that we had never reached (there were supplies but no garrisons so my assumption is that backup infrastructure was not prioritized by the opposing team
• Team based, "greater good" mentality had units working together in close proximity to accomplish goals. Risky "heroic" attempts were thankfully, often replaced by controlled unit centered actions and this brought great success
• Many of our squads kills came to us from single file staggered open field runs
• Many enemies spotted easily still wearing bright white winter uniforms
• In the second match the assaults from all sides of town center kept us from being able to confidently commit to an attack on the apparently open next point.
  • There was no call or attempt to prolong the match, the offence from the enemy was constant and from all sides. This took a long time to stabilize. Both team should be proud of this period of the game as the 360 degree defense was thorough and the attacking was stressful and almost successful
• GG to all. I do like hot-washes that are passionate and criticize what went wrong compared to limp, uninterested, long hot-washes. However I think a happy medium can be found wherein if you recognize that you won't be able to communicate your thoughts without high emotions a simple "I'll explain my thoughts in my AAR" should suffice
  • Furthermore I think the AAR is an extremely valuable tool that we utilize and ALL personnel that attended an operation should be heavily recommended to read and (if they so choose) contribute as I'm doing here. Seeing all sides, all perspectives paints an incredible picture and provides such an important resource for us each to learn from

 

[Carmine.J]

Element Callsign: Axis George 1st round / Allies Item 2nd round
Element Leader: Second Lieutenant Carmine.J
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Specialist Leaf.J
Specialist Yee.L
Private Woods.A
Private Freeman.C

OVERALL REVIEW:

• Primary orders were to set up the Northern most Attack Garrison each round before we moved onto the hardpoint and then once captured we would defend the Southern side of whatever middle point we ended up on.
• 1st game we were on AXIS. We set up our garrison to the North in the dockyard and then moved on and proceeded to get taken out by a rocket before shifting to the South to defend where we would stay and hold the courtyard to the South of Town Center for the majority of the match. Once Derailed Train was captured we moved up to defend and held there until our offensive teams captured Blactot and ended the match early as the Victors.
• 2nd game was a lot different. We switched to the US side, in the start of the match we set our first garrison to the North by Pumping Station and then blitzed our transport truck straight past the church grounds into the hardpoint. Rather than stay fully on defense my fireteam broke through enemy lines into the enemy territory East of Town Center, once we made it nearly 2 grid squares away we set up a redzone garrison using the support swap method just South of Rail Crossing. From there my fireteam harassed and intercepted multiple enemy tanks, by the end of the 2nd match Leaf and Yee had destroyed a combined total of 5 tanks including, a Puma, a Panther, & multiple P4s. The attack Garrison was then used to make a flank onto Mont Halais where our combined team after some time finally made a successful push and capture. From there my team defended and held Mont Halais while our offense captured Canal Crossing and ended the game.

Pros:

• Command clearly had a plan set up beforehand on where he wanted certain squads and who was filling what roll, who was setting up nodes, who was setting up attack garrisons, who was on offense and defense. Kudos to Command for having a solid plan beforehand that was simple enough to understand and flexible to the situation.
• My fireteam did an amazing job at staying fluid and switching around to what roles were needed. Support Swapping and bringing a variety of explosives to handle every enemy vehicle we intercepted.
• Back to Back wins.

Cons:

• It was difficult as always to get a word in command comms with how many people were talking. All the information was valuable it was just difficult to add anything in.
• Personally defense bores the hell out of me, it's probably why my section didn't see hardly any action the first match, but I filled that SL slot randomly at the last minute so it's not really a con it's more so just preference. I would have rather been on attack which is halfway what my guys did the 2nd match where we acted as back line ambushers that fell back to defend when needed, but the majority of the time was spent intercepting enemy tanks in the redzones.

 

[Rutkowski.P]

S1 Locked.

 

[Houser.J]

S1 Operations Processed