I consider this a story and not an AAR. I wanted to try to write an informal AAR that was quick and easy, but this is reading more like a story as I write it.
Joining
Loaded up on Lashkar Valley and was placed on the German side. Only squad that had enough troops was an APC squad which there were three different APC squads named. I am strictly infantry, but these guys were only using infantry kits.
I joined and soon after the squad leader left leaving me in charge. Funny how I am the last guy to join but the first one promoted to squad lead. That's a system with flaws. However, it is a good thing since few people want to squad lead and I have had a good deal of experience.
Leading
Took charge of the squad and since I just joined, I actually asked my members what the hell is going on and where are some possible caches? We had not objective markers up and as I later found out our situation was pretty bad.
We had a decent coverage of three or four FOBs around the map and I decided that we should spawn in the western hills and get on top of a nice big hill, get some recon done, and pinpoint enemy activity.
Misled
Well, we ended up on the wrong hill which is my fault but was still a good hill to recon the northwestern part of the map. We were in the Alpha mountain range as opposed to the approx. Delta/Echo mountain top that overlooks the river fork which is the one I wanted to get on.
A few enemy contacts mostly involving techies and one two-man sniper team and a couple stops to scan the surrounding mountain side and we finally made it to approx. A4 mountain range. As I dreaded, it seemed empty. Little did we know there was a cache in the farthest north west of the river that was scarcely occupied. Should I have made us walk further north to ensure no caches were there? I believe so.[b/]
Known Cache
Since a known cache appeared at the very bottom of the map in the east, we were almost directly opposite of it. There was enemy activity along the northern river, but it could possibly be just from the main and not a cache. Rather I stopped at A4 or went all the way to A2 area to check that very top part, it wouldn't matter as much. Cuz helo would be quick to get us, and even if there wasn't a helo walking an extra grid squad or two that large wouldn't made much of a difference in affecting what happens at the opposite side of the map.
We had a very cool helicopter pickup. Found an ice flat spot on top of the mountain range at A4. Talked to helo pilot through in-game text. Marked location with squad radio, and notified pilot "YELLOW SMOKE" to land there. He came in, did a fly by, made a U-turn and landed right on it as I yelled to the fellow squad mates to "LOAD UP!" and "LET'S GO GUYS!".
Landing
On way to Squad 7's position in the mountain range east of the river next to main, I was hoping we wouldn't land into trouble since squad 7 was already there. I knew better though. Never land directly on top of an infantry squad. I always play it safe when it comes to transport. Wanting to take a risk and knowing we might be in danger on landing, I ordered the squad as soon as we land, run away, get prone, and find some cover.
I was actually more worried about the helicopter pilot killing some of my squad while turning or just landing too quick. Funny thing is, as i'm running to cover with one guy with me, we are taking fire from a compound in the mountains. Good thing I warned the squad and anticipated some possible danger.
Failing
After that, things weren't too smooth. As we enter the compound we were taken out. We had support from squad 7 and squad 3 nearby in the hills, but it just went bad there. Something I'd like to train with my unit the C/1-18th Infantry.
I tried to get some FOBs up as all ours were taken down (possible team switcher that knew all three or four as said by a squad mate) but it was slow and perhaps I was too slow. I wanted to make sure the bridge by main was clear and since we didn't have transport the supply truck be right with us on foot. I have to rethink my risk assessments and take more risks and not play so safe.
We got some FOBs up and got a great spawn system back up, but by the time we reached a cache and took it out - our tickets ran out with the Taliban having about 5 caches left.