NATURE OF THE DRILL

Today's drill was a chance for two SLT candidates to practice playing commander in a pickup SLT-style one-life scrim. Cpl. Mumbles was the commander for the Allied side, while Pfc. Trash Pirate was the Axis Commander. The location was fought over Foy Night, with the first round being an attack-attack over the Southern Edge point. Two infrantry squads were formed with a main attacking squad led by Sgt. Christorian from AP2S4, and a flanking infantry squad led by Pvt. Myst AP2S1. We were escorted by a medium tank commanded by Pvt. Zerglin Blood from AP2S1, crewed by Sgt. Murasa of the 70th Armored, Section Two. We were also supported by a Recon team led by Pfc. Cerberus, with Pfc. LuckyShot in the sniper role.

ROUND 1 OVERVIEW

In the first round, the two infantry squads set out in a truck from Bois Jacques with the tank behind, while Recon drove a second truck North out of Road to Bastogne to the trenches Northwest of N30 Highway. There, recon immediately encountered an enemy recon team, and were able to successfully dispatch them. At the cluster of buildings immediately North of Bizzory Foy road, the two infantry squads split up, with Pvt. Myst's squad moving W-NW in a flanking maneuver to get to the buildings NW of Southern Edge, while Sgt. Christorian's squad continued up the MSR to get to the Southern Edge hardpoint, while the tank set up position in the huts between the two squads.

Fortunately, our tank was able to identify the enemy tank and destroy them fairly early into the round, which allowed Pvt. Myst's team to get into position fairly quickly while Recon provided them with overwatch. Unfortunately, Pvt. Myst's squad was ambushed on the road by an enemy infantry squad. After fierce fighting, Myst's squad was wiped out, while the remaining enemy infantry were destroyed by Recon team. As Sgt. Christorian moved into the hard point, they were met with resistance immediately in the hardpoint and North of the hardpoint. Eventually, strafing and bombing runs by the allied commander were able to remove the axis commander and other enemy infantry north of the Southern edge, and Christorian's squad was able to remain in the hardpoint defending it until round end.

ROUND 2 OVERVIEW

During the second round, our objective was to attack Flak Battery while Axis would defend. An unfortunate friendly fire incident occured between a squad leader and a troop transport truck's wheels, leaving Sgt. Christorian's squad without their leader as we attempted to move North out of Southern Edge. After a short conversation in command chat, Allied commander decided to adopt a worst-case scenario where the SL would not be able to respawn. This was decided on due to our first-round victory advantage, and because we were practicing SLT-style scrims, so getting worst-case practice in would be to the benefit of all players. Christorian nominated TSgt. Squeeker from AP2S4 to be the acting squad leader, and leadership communications resumed over Discord. Both infantry squads set out North from Southern Edge in the direction of Foy, with Recon team leading ahead of Myst's squad through the Foy village itself, while Squeeker's squad split off NE up the MSR to the buildings W of Flak Battery to establish a base of fire towards the objective. Recon team was able to identify and dispatch the enemy commander very early into the round. While the enemy commander was allowed to respawn, Pfc. Cerberus and Pfc. LuckyShot are to be commended for their excellent work at reconnaissance, identifying high-priority targets, and quick execution of tactics.

The enemy tank was identified to be E of the Flak Battery hardpoint early on, with a squad of infantry in the hardpoint, but the bombing run by the allied commander was accidentally sent N-S over the hardpoint, causing infantry casualties and allowing the tank to remain. Zerglin Blood's tank moved E just South of Squeeker's squad to set up overwatch and wait to engage the enemy tank. Pvt. Myst's squad eventually encounterd a large infantry attack in Foy and immediately NE of Foy. A long-standing firefight eventually ended with Myst's squad overrun, and our Recon spotter downed, while the sniper was able to continue East to support the main attacking force.

Eventually, our friendly tank was taken out by an enemy precision strike, and the enemy tank was able to roll up onto our main infantry squad. Pvt. Dhalren and Pvt. Aeronovus led a heroic AT effort to destroy the enemy tank with a bazooka but were eventually downed before they could finish it off. One last precision strike by the allied commander failed to connect with the enemy tank, and eventually all allied units were eliminated, leading to a final 1-1 draw between Allies and Axis at the end of the practice scrim.

CONCLUSION

Coordination and communication by every single person on the Allied side was exemplary: it was incredibly rewarding to work with them, help lead them through capturing the objectives and watching them all work their magic. I look forward to future opportunities to take up commander during unofficial hangout nights to get an even better idea of how great everyone plays together.