Battle of Tiems

The Battle of Tiems is a little-known divisional-level engagement between Imperial and Rebel forces. It is unclear exactly when the battle occurred, however, it is likely to be during the Galactic Civil War era. It is interesting because it is a relatively rare large-scale engagement expounded on in any detail.

Terrain Description
The Battle occurred in an area between the objective city of Tiems and the Landing Zone. Notable terrain features include Gopps Forest to the South. Blue River provides a curved cordon in the northeast cordon. IN between Tiems and the LZ is a small town along the main road. The road net itself is in a rough fishbone, with three bridges across the Blue River.

The precise size of the map is unknown because General Rieekan neglected to put a scale on his AAR maps. The set of diagrams in general is pretty but rather unprofessional and lacking in fine detail, leaving questions as to the professionalism of even the better Rebel generals.

Battle Description
The Rebel mission apparently originated as a rescue to liberate "several thousand" imprisoned Rebels. For this, General Rieekan was given at least 3 regiments. The raid was successful, but TIE fighters had apparently delayed the arrival of his evacuation ships.

The Imperials responded quickly in battlegroup strength, employing four infantry regiments and prepared a hasty attack.

The Rebels set up a hasty defense using available terrain. A single regiment is deployed into six strongpoints (according to the map) along a line that used the Blue River to the north and Gopps Forest to the south for cover. Two regiments are set up in ambush behind the forward line, creating a fire sack.

The Imperials deployed into a three-front, one-back formation and attacked on 1330 (no idea whether that is local time, or Galactic Standard). The north and south flank held, but the center was pressed hard enough to retreat. The Imperials advanced, with the reserve regiment apparently held in march condition (estimated from the symbology on the map) along the main road.

The Rebels in the center made it to the town and dug in. The Imperials walked into the fire sack's kill zone. With over two regiments in an envelopment against one regiment's flanks and a second still in marching formations, the Rebels claim to have annihilated the enemy column.

The Imperial forces beat a hasty retreat to Tiems and called for reinforcements. A native division came up, but this time the Imperials waited 12 hours. The Rebels think that they were waiting for the weather to clear up so they can launch the attack with air support. Anyway, the attack fell onto empty air - the Rebels managed to escape.

Rebel Commentary
The battle was apparently considered by the Rebel Alliance to be a textbook defense, in that Madine chose it for an orientation meeting with new Alliance commanders, taking diagrams straight from Rieekan's AAR report.

The following is taken from the Rebel Alliance Sourcebook

''"These are the lessons of Tiems: first, General Rieekan knew his enemy. Imperial tactical doctrine requires commanders to ". . . concentrate the maximum force against the weakest part of the enemy's line. Such attacks are likely to gain the highest benefits for the smallest cost." Rieekan knew that the weakest part of his line was its center; he had good reason to expect the Imperials to attack there.''

"Similarly, he knew that, in the event they scored a breakthrough, the Imperials were likely to follow up hard and fast, attempting to get into the Alliance forces' rear areas, cutting them off from retreat so that they could he destroyed in detail. With knowledge of how his opposing commander's mind worked, he was able to tailor a trap that the enemy would find virtually irresistible.

"The second lesson of Tiems: training pays off. The Alliance troops performed brilliantly. The battalions on the left and right flank held their own against twice their number for over two hours, allowing time for the trap to develop. The battalions in the center put up a strong show of resistance to the main attack, taking tremendous casualties, and then, when the time was right, pulled out and fell back to the town in good order. This maneuver could only have been performed by highly-trained, highly-motivated, and well-led troops: others would have almost certainly disintegrated.

"The final lesson of Tiems is this: you don't have to annihilate an enemy to beat him. The lmperials started out the campaign with four regiments. They lost two regiments in the battle. Shortly thereafter, they were reinforced by a full division of four more, giving them a total of six. The Alliance began the campaign with three regiments. They used up most of a regiment in the execution of the trap, leaving them two in any shape for further combat. Thus, when the battle opened, the lmperials had four regiments facing three. After they were reinforced, they had six regiments facing two. By all rights, the Alliance Forces should have been overwhelmed In short order. Instead, the Imperial commander delayed his attack until he had air support - which was too late.

Futher commentary

 * Madine describes this as a "Mobile Defense", but it seems more like a positional one incorporating a fire sack. The Rebels in this case are forced to defend a certain area, the units themselves are relatively static infantry units, and two-thirds of the length were holding firm rather than being in any kind of mobile defense.
 * The Imperials did not try and achieve a favorable Correlation of Force against a fairly strong (if hastily erected) defensive position during an assault. There was no attempt to establish a strike sector of concentrated force. According to Rieekan's map, the main effort regiment (the 2nd) covered as much terrain as supporting effort regiments (each taking about a third of the battlegroup attack zone). Considering the lack of air, artillery and armor support to the Imperials, it is perfectly conceivable that Rieekan would have been able to annihilate them using more conventional defense tactics.
 * From the map, neither side apparently made much use of reconaissance. Rieekan apparently just deployed his defensive strongpoints and ambushes, and then sat back passively. The Imperials in turn advanced after their breakthrough without scouts, vanguards or flank security, any of which might have been able to warn them of the impending ambush. Further, no attempt was made to scout the Rebel positions after the defeat. If they had done so, they might have been able to catch the Rebels as they loaded onto the transports (and thus relatively vulnerable).
 * From the map, the Rebel regiment planning to ambush the Imperials from the north was depicted as behind the Blue River. The only way across the river in their area is a single bridge. How did that regiment join in the attack in significant numbers (as opposed to being annihilated as they tried to go across the bridge chokepoint or waded across the river?)
 * The diagram implies the Imperials left 4th Regiment (in reserve) in march formation as they advanced, and hanging right behind the 2nd without any distance between the echelons. How is the 4th expected to deploy to support the 2nd should it be required, even if no ambush had occurred.
 * Madine criticizes the Imperial commander for timidity, but even a 3:1 COF superiority isn't really that decisive if the attack has to be made by infantry over open ground without fire support against defensible enemy positions (which now had time to dig in even deeper). Especially if more than half your troops are natives of questionable quality (the RASB gives the impression that local armies tend to be conscripted and of poor morale).