AAR Operation Battle of Kursk

[Rhodes.R]

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
S3 BATTLE STAFF
Headquarters
7th Cavalry Regiment
COMBAT AFTER ACTION REPORT
Name of Combat Mission: Battle of Kursk
Game: Hell Let Loose
Server Hosted on: Training Server 1
Date of Combat Mission: 12JUL25
Time of Combat Mission (Zulu): 0115z
Mission Controller: Corporal Rhodes.R & Corporal Slagg.J​

Number of Attendees: 74
7th Cavalry Personnel Involved in Action:

First Lieutenant Macpherson.C
First Lieutenant Swanson.B
First Lieutenant Leifried.R
Second Lieutenant Maines.Z
Sergeant Major Komar.T
First Sergeant Balazova.S
Sergeant First Class Herber.R
Staff Sergeant Silvis.B
Staff Sergeant Wisniewski.A
Sergeant Von Busch.M
Sergeant Moreau.M
Sergeant Wagner.D
Sergeant Solo.H
Sergeant Berkowski.C
Sergeant Felton.J
Corporal Coutu.M
Corporal Ackelson.K
Corporal Jinto.H
Corporal Grimshaw.J
Corporal Williams.JB
Corporal Feathers.A
Corporal Angels.N
Corporal LaRoche.P
Corporal Moff.N
Corporal Plummer.M
Corporal Travis.W
Corporal Beauchamp.R
Corporal Rhodes.R
Corporal Slagg.J
Corporal Yee.L
Corporal Jay.JH
Corporal Koalafied.C
Specialist Williams.S
Specialist Tech.C
Specialist Narayanaswamy.A
Specialist Frink.D
Specialist Becker.J
Specialist Atkins.DS
Specialist Harris.W
Specialist Payne.J
Specialist Tawfik.Y
Specialist Arnold.W
Specialist DAmico.J
Specialist Murdock.T
Specialist Loup.N
Specialist Sibley.K
Specialist Martinez.X
Specialist Giglio.M
Specialist Tilley.B
Specialist Smallbeck.E
Specialist Hellious.T
Specialist Hermes.S
Specialist Kinder.E
Specialist Yaeger.C
Specialist Baktash.L
Specialist Bonderant.F
Specialist Flick.J
Specialist Austin.M
Specialist Rose.MJ
Specialist Videnovic.Y
Specialist Pollock.R
Specialist Tovarysh.U
Private First Class Muller.AS
Private First Class Kenton.W
Private First Class Hoover.T
Private First Class Daelomin.J
Private First Class Phoenix.L
Private First Class Sosa.C
Private First Class Doss.R
Private First Class Patterson.H
Private First Class Quicke.R
Recruit Theo.H

Sergeant Thrawn.N (RET)
Corporal Sokol.Z (RET)

 

[Macpherson.C]

Element Callsign: Able Axis Squad
Element Leader: First Lieutenant Macpherson.C
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Sergeant Major Komar.T

Pros:

• Enjoy the historical Ops
• Fantastic squads to capture Windmills with, very cohesive and communicative
• Satchels
• The map flipping between phases was something I haven't seein in a bit and was interesting

Cons:

• Command Comms were horrible

 

[Hermes.S]

Element Callsign: Axis Squad - SL
Element Leader: Specialist Hermes.S
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Sergeant First Class Herber.R
Staff Sergeant Wisniewski.A
Sergeant Felton.J
Private First Class Muller.AS
Recruit Theo.H


Pros:

• Such strong work to make it historically accurate. The effort to make it what it was...LOVE IT. Solid work to those making this ( Rhodes / Slagg)
• On a Platoon / Squad level: Great work. Strong communication. No bs. I need you here, do this...do that...It worked.
• I didn't get to hear the squads hotwash...but they were Johnny on the spot when and where I needed them.
• Having a squad that consists of SLs, x2 PSGs, ASLs...As an SL I almost didn't have todo anything.
• When an order was given there wasn't any hesitation. Discipline wins games. Instant willing obedience. I may not always make the right call but I had a squad that listened and that's what it takes.
• Top scores across the board on both rounds as an infantry.

Cons:

• The complaining regarding the Operation on what was or wasn't balanced, or it should've been this or that. It's a historical OP. Accept the imbalance and the unexpected and stop whining. THATS THE POINT
• It's not a con but boo hoo - map flips are what they are. They warned you ahead of time.
• If this Operation was too long, I have nothing constructive to add.
• Command COMM's aren't a problem if you're not listening to people who don't matter. Mute. Use it. Mute people that don't matter. As an SL, the only people important to me were any infantry, my PLT LT, and the CMDR. Anyone else can handle local comms. I'm done with trying handle communication stories from

 

[Maines.Z]

Element Callsign: Axis Commander
Element Leader: Second Lieutenant Maines.Z
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Second Lieutenant Maines.Z

Pros:

• Pre-Planning was good with each element lead
• Night time was near perfect
• VICTORY!!

Cons:

• Need to work on Comms on my end
• Map flip was confusing as enemy element infiltrated before 5 minutes

 

[Moreau.M]

Element Callsign: Squad 1/1 Soviets
Element Leader: Sergeant Moreau.M
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Sergeant Moreau.M
Corporal LaRoche.P
Specialist Loup.N
Specialist Pollock.R


Pros:

• AT gun ftw
• Interesting concept
• Love me a healthy portion of randomness

Cons:

• A bit too long for my liking

 

[Ackelson.K]

Element Callsign: allied Squad - SL
Element Leader: CPL.Ackelson.K
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:

Specialist Narayanaswamy.A First Sergeant Balazova.S

Pros: Interesting OP

Cons:
Disparity between tanks was uneven

 

[Tilley.B]

Element Callsign: Axis Recon
Element Leader: Specialist Tilley.B
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Retired Sokol.Z

Pros:

• Great Historical Op
• Good infantry Support
• Great Capture & Hold of Windmills

Cons:

• Night to Day flip was not well planned and felt rushed
• Command Comms could be better

 

[Yee.L]

Element Callsign: ARTY Axis Squad
Element Leader: Corporal Yee.L
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Corporal Slagg.J
Corporal Jay.JH
Pros:

• Enjoy the historical Ops
• Fantastic squads to capture Windmills with, very cohesive and communicative
• The map flipping between phases was something I haven't seeing in a bit and was interesting
• loved using arty had a great squad

1. Cons

• bad map pings from units
• no real arty fire missions

 

[Plummer.M]

Element Callsign: Axis FOX P1/ Axis Dog P2
Element Leader: CPL.Plummer.M
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
SPC.Smallbeck.E
SPC.Hellious.T
PFC.Quicke.R
PFC.Sosa.C

Pros:
× Phase 1 everyone loved it.
× Full engagements
× Squad and Command communication really good and clear.

Cons:
× Phase 2 little boring as Mill defense.
× Little aggression from either side made for a dragging map.

 

[Williams.JB]

Element Callsign: Allies Easy Squad
Element Leader: Corporal John Williams
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Corporal Nate Angels
Corporal Aaron Feathers
Specialist Jax Payne
Specialist Youssef Tawfik

Pros:

• Enjoy the historical Ops
• Great movement from Easy Squad. Stellar communication from them and excellent clearing of any location given

Cons:

• Command Comms were the worst that I have ever experienced since joining the Cav
• mind boggling how troopers can allow the enemy to move within knifing distance of them from the side and not engage them. Even more mind boggling that the enemy didn't engage our troops from that distance either
• The map flipping between phases was excessive. Flipping twice between phases was not necessary
• map flip to end the operation killed the chance to get any screenshots from personal stats to help with giving out awards.

 

[Flick.J]

Element Callsign: Axis Squad - SL
Element Leader: Specialist Flick.J
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Specialist Kinder.E
Specialist Austin.M
Specialist Videnovic.Y
Specialist Rose.MJ
Pros:

• Love the historical Operation and how mysterious the Opord was and how we were given different missions dependent on what our MOS was or what team we were on
• Squad was amazing they killed it
• Personally I loved the Operation the Airborne unit in a whole was doing a traffic job 7 manning and we were Johnny on the spot with taking care of enemy flanks.
• Love when the tankers are receptive to comms of where tanks are and what the infantry Needs. The tank crew that was close to Airborne the whole match did an AMAZING job at responding to infantry needs
• Artillery was quick to respond to fire missions which is always great to see
• I love the soviet maps
• Thank you to the mission controllers for getting my section members in my squad I really like playing with them and the chemistry we have as a squad shows itself in the stats.

Cons:

• When we flipped to the Day time setting It could've been a little more organized so we knew exactly where to go I was asking a lot of questions of where I was supposed to be.
• Wish the Opord was communicated more to everyone so the fight at nighttime windmill was a little more tough, felt like we walked in and just kicked butt.

Extra:

• GIVE ME MORE SOVIET OPERATIONS

 

[Yaeger.C]

ELEMENT CALLSIGN:: AXIS AIRBORNE SQUAD ONE
ELEMENT LEADER:: Specialist Yaeger.C
7TH CAVALRY PERSONNEL WITHIN ELEMENT::
Corporal Beauchamp.R
Specialist Baktash.L
Specialist Bonderant.F
Private First Class Doss.R

-FIRST MAP(NIGHT)-
Private First Class Phoenix.L


Pros::

• Great Communications Between Squad
• Great Usage and Deployment of Supplies
• Good Attacking Movement and Pressing
• Good Usage of Flexing for 7-Man
• Enjoyed Usage of Discord for Communications
• Best Operation Done in a Long Time

Cons::

• Miscommunication at Start of 2nd Match(Day) Meant Unnecessary Running to get in Positions

 

[Kenton.W]

Element Callsign: Squad 2/1 Soviets
Element Leader: Private First Class Kenton.W
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Specialist DAmico.J
Private First Class Hoover.T
Private First Class Daelomin.J


Pros:

• I thought the little night Op prior to the main event was a nice touch
• A very ambitious operation in its attempt to recreate the historic battle
• Good communication within the squad and platoon
• A special shout out to Daelomin and Hoover for their flexibility and quick adjustment as the situation changed

Cons:

• The 'Early Engagement' with the night op caught everyone off guard and was a bit mission breaking as we had command yelling at troopers for firing before the official start time 1:11. It left a lot of people with a bad taste in their mouth and kept us on the backfoot. End Ex/Live Time are important orders that are stressed at every SP and people assumed it was no different for an official op.
• The boundaries were too limiting for the Night Op. We were never going to be able to defend the windmills without crossing the MSR. We had no sight line in front of us.
• Squads were too small for defense. We were getting overpowered having two man squads defending entire sectors.
• The amount of map changes needs some work, also we were unable to get stats as the map was changed for the end of the operation.

 

[Swanson.B]

Element Callsign: Soviet 1st SS Panzergrenadier Regiment Platoon leader
Element Leader: First Lieutenant Swanson.B
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element: Sergeant Moreau.M, Private First Class Daelomin.J, Specialist Becker.J, Specialist DAmico.J, Private First Class Kenton.W, Specialist Pollock.R, Private First Class Patterson.H, Specialist Tovarysh.U, Private First Class Phoenix.L, Specialist Atkins.DS, Private First Class Hoover.T, Corporal LaRoche.P, Specialist Loup.N
- Might be missing some guys there, lots of movement throughout the game

Not Pros, not Cons, just feedback <3

Overall Design: The operation was well-designed and seemed to follow historical accuracy. Very cool concept of playing on day and night.

Start of the Operation:
Imagine building defence and be told you have 2 minutes before going live, but no, you are attacked earlier than expected—about 2 minutes before we were ready. This left us unprepared and out of position. We spent 18 minutes building barricades, bunkers and defences for nothing since we got caught off-guard, out of position to defend and use our built structure. Way to set the tone of the operation!
In SP and operations we focus a lot on live time, Pause-ex, Endex and all that but then you have one side that is live and not the other? Not a fan :\.

AO Restrictions:
AO restrictions limited our tactical flexibility, I love operation with less AO restrictions but that me being an Airborne I guess.
My platoon was mostly made up of Airborne, and the operation wasn't really favorable to our playstyle. All of us, just like recons, are used to moving behind enemy lines, destroying OPs and garrisons, building garrisons behind enemy lines, spotting tanks and taking them out from behind. We couldn't do any of that because all the garrisons were built in restricted zones, and most of the tanks were also well positioned in areas that were unreachable without going out of bounds.
The operation's design is such that it's a face-to-face fight. Simply not my (our) cup of tea.

Platoon Assignments:
Our platoon seemed to be placed in the toughest areas—essentially meat grinder positions. All our assignments felt especially difficult. This may have been true for other platoons as well, but it was definitely noticeable on our end.

Operation Length:
The operation felt too long overall. Shortening it slightly might improve pacing and engagement.

Command Comms:
Personally, I didn't feel like command communications were too cluttered or overwhelming. I have seen way worst.

Shoutout:
Big respect to all my guys who spent the entire operation on AT guns! Your dedication didn't go unnoticed—solid work holding the line and dealing with armor under pressure. West side was locked down throughout the match by the AT Guns. No tanks allowed there! I am very happy with everything my platoon accomplished tonight.

Flips:
I don't know if its because of technical issues or anything but we flipped way too much time before the operation.

 

[Arnold.W]

Element Callsign: Allies Platoon 2 Squad 2
Element Leader: SPC.Arnold.W
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
SGT.Wagner.D
CPL.Moff.N
SPC.Murdock.T
SPC.Harris.W

Pros:

• We truly enjoyed the historical operation and wish to see more.
• Amazing squad communication
• Having an operation going from night to day was very interesting and was loved.
• During nighttime being severely outnumbered the squad was able to hold and repel.
• Having SPC.Murdock from 1-7! Love playing with people from other Battalions.

Cons:

• Another common con - command comms
• Which in turn turned me into not being able to be clear and concise with my direction to the squad. Something I will work on for the future.
• Having so many map flips and at the end map flipping the last 15 minutes instead of hotwashing and allowing everyone to get their "points"/being able to take screenshots etc.
• Keeping our AT Guns closer to the ~1/2 Row didn't allow them to be fully effective due to the roll of the hills etc.

 

[Giglio.M]

Element Callsign: Axis Tank Commander
Element Leader:Specialist Giglio.M
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
- Corporal Koalafied.C
- SGT.Thrawn.N-RET


Pros:

• Great help from infantry
• AT guns are a great asset
• Excellent work from mission control! Loved day night cycle.

Cons:

• To long with out time disclosure from troopers.

 

[Travis.W]

Element Callsign: AXIS AB PL
Element Leader: Corporal Travis.W
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Specialist Yaeger.C AB SL
Specialist Flick.J AB SL

Pros:

• Different OPORDs was awesome. Loved being flexible with last minute information
  • Night ambush was fun! Having the question of whether to engage Allies in the morning was very immersive going through CoC to get clearance.
• I enjoy the Platoon comm structure. I fell like if managed well it should cut down on command comm chatter.
  • The volume levels between three VCs
• AB was fully encouraged to do AB doctrine and allowed to 7 Man, totally awesome doing what we practice.
• Allies had ABSOLUTE AMAZING defense. Great lanes of overlapping fire.
• Flick and Yaeger were Johnny-on-the-Spots! Always responding willingly to orders when heard.

Cons:

• Command comms were messy at times.
  • Commander at start of match was micromanaging my sections, giving commands that I had just given 30 sec prior
• Arty was constantly asking for fire missions. Great comms from them, could have been used better.
• Communication on map flips were a wreck.
  • Mission Controller should have communicated with Commanders and let them communicate with their team. Fewer cooks in the kitchen
  • Patterson and Phoenix were pulled off to the other team in the "morning" but was really difficult to get clear communication on what was actually needed.
• Felt kinda unfair with Axis completely ignoring the T3 Bunkers and full sending into Windmills. There wasn't really enough reason to spread our forces on three fronts for such a minor development advantage.

 

[Sibley.K]

Element Callsign: Axis Lead Tank Commander - Tank Callsign: Blood Spire
Element Leader: SPC.Sibley.K
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
SPC.Sibley.K
SGT.Berkowski.C
SPC.Martinez.X

Pros:

• Enjoyed seeing an attempt at creating asymmetrical constraints on the two teams
• Night/day flip was interesting
• Good comms across German team. Useful information for repositioning. Good planning by commander 2LT.Maines.Z and ongoing response to the changing battle state.
• Tank platoon executed standing plan well and managed to hold their flanks

Cons:

• Event ran long. 3.5 hours from roll call to completion of hot-wash. Need to make sure we are efficient when switching phases.
• Opposing team did not seem to follow the OPORD when switching maps, daytime engagement started early. I felt like the OPORD was well communicated, however it sounds like there was some confusion for others?
• Please provide a buffer and call EndEX before flipping the map so that we can give teams enough time to take screenshots of their scorecards

 

[Jinto.H]

Element Callsign: Dog allies
Element Leader: Corporal Jinto.H
7th Cavalry Personnel Within Element:
Corporal Jinto.H
Specialist Williams.S
Corporal Coutu.M

Pros:

• Enjoy the historical Ops

Cons:

 

[Houser.J]

S1 Locked.