Blackhorse!*
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Date: June 1986*                     
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Battle Location:  Huenfeld, Germany*
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Battle Type: Soviet Advance vs U.S. Delay*
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Design by:  The Camo Workshop*
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Background: At the conclusion of World War II, Nazi Germany was split into four occupation zones, the eastern of which was occupied by the Red Army.  Travel between occupation zones was in any case restricted, and particularly so between the western and Soviet zones of occupation.  Initially, the US forces deployed Constabulary Regiments made up of mechanized cavalry troops to patrol their side of the border.  As the Cold War emerged and tensions rose, the cavalry troops on the border became a permanent fixture that was designed to provide advanced warning of an assault by the Soviet forces.  The area north of Fulda has a "gap" in the steep hills of the Rhoen and the Thueringer Wald.  This gap was initially screened after WWII by the U.S. 14th Armored Cavalry Regiment (ACR).  Following the completion of the 11th ACR's tour in Vietnam, the 11th ACR relieved the 14th ACR in Fulda and took over responsibility for screening the border.  By 1986, the combination of U.S. President Reagan's aggressive posture and deepening economic difficulties in the USSR had made the Soviets desperate.  The Soviets opted for a surprise attack in the hopes of quickly overwhelming NATO, imposing a single regime over continental Europe, and preserving their own regime via a radical change in the world situation.*
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Battle Description:  This scenario depicts an advance by elements of the 39th Guards Motor Rifle Divison (GMRD), in particular the 117th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment (GMRR), north of Fulda.  The U.S. forces are Troop B, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (Blackhorse), and are tasked with delaying the Soviet advance in order that elements of U.S. V Corps can counter-attack.*
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Notes:  If played against the AI, this scenario should be played with the human player as the Americans.  The objectives are point-valued such that the U.S. player can afford to fall back and lose the forward objectives.  The situation on B Troop's flanks are uncertain, and intelligence believes that Soviet special forces are already operating on the U.S. side of the Iron Curtain.  A Military Police platoon has been attached to B Troop to watch over the area to the immediate rear of the troop.*
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Sources:  ADFC-Radtourenkarte 1:150.000 "Thueringer Wald - Rhoen"; Tom Clancy, "Armored Cav";  Andy Johnson, "Warsaw Pact Order of Battle - 1988"; and personal experience of scenario author as an 11th ACR officer during the Cold War.*

