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AXIS : Gustav Line BETA AAR Round Two - Eye of the Elefant


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Given how bunkers become tank magnets as soon as they are spotted, one would have to have at least one tank in position to support it if it's LOS is over 150m, or a Shrek if it is less.

Personally, i would opt for deploying it with a maximum LOF of under 150m, and give both a tank, and a Shrek, a chance of a kill, if it is attacked by armour.

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One of the things I love about this game is the - near true to life - randomization of some events. The Brummbar fired the sIG 33 shells 38kg/84lbs total throw weight - very similar to the size of our modern 155mm projo, with likely a roughly equivalent burst radius and frag pattern. You could reasonably expect that having one land within 8m of your current position to put a serious crimp in your day. However, small irregularities make all the difference. Let that shell land on the far side of an 18 inch high fold in the ground and it could easily deflect the bulk of the blast and frag above you, leaving you 'shadowed' and relatively unharmed. Conversely, let it strike a tree on its way down and detonate 80m away but 4m up and you could be buzz-sawed by the frag. CM seems to me to model random effects fairly well, and that is one reason I love it. I've had shells cause casualties at range, when nearer personnel were unharmed. Totally believable.

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The Thirteenth Minute

GaJ continues to drop mortar rounds on my squad in front of the Right Tit... I haven't suffered a casualty from this fire for a couple turns now.

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My left side recon has gotten pretty deep without any contacts and without coming under any sort of fire. Could this stretch of ground from the map edge to Hill 109 be undefended? I find it hard to believe so will be pushing all the way to the crest of the ridge to find out.

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I really appreciate GaJ for providing these very nice foxholes for me to use on both the Left and Right Tits. Thanks man.

The team that I have on the Left Tit in the foxholes spotted an MG this turn.. this MG team on Hill 109 appears to be area firing on the left slope of the Left Tit hill. This following turn I am unleashing hell on this team... several teams will be placing MG fire onto it, including the Elefant... while my repositioned Brummbar places a round on the MG's position. Hopefully the MG fire will pin this team keeping it from displacing allowing my Brummbar to take it out.

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To the right of the Right Tit I also spotted another sniper team. this team ran into the woods below the road (see the second image for where this team is located).

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Here is the current SITMAP.

Note the locations of the enemy contacts and sightings and the repositioned Brummbar now on the Ridge Road. You might notice another UI infantry team spotted this turn further down the ridge road. An MG team perhaps?

Also note how deep my two recon teams have penetrated.. neither has come under fire.. GaJ either has his troops under terrific fire discipline or these teams have not been sighted.. I find that hard to believe, so I expect GaJ is holding his fire. As soon as he fires on these teams he will unmask some of his defense to my overwatching units.

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Morthomme,

Earlier in the AAR thread, Bil explained that he purchased one specialist team "Propaganda Kompanie" detachment. A kubelwagen with 2 German soldiers, each with a Leica camera with 2 rolls of film. If one gets killed you do buddy aid and try to recover some of the unused film. If you buy veterans, then the pictures turn out really nice, like these. Don't ever buy green or conscript PK or in the pictures you mostly see their thumbs or the inside of the lens cap. ;-)

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Morthomme,

Earlier in the AAR thread, Bil explained that he purchased one specialist team "Propaganda Kompanie" detachment. A kubelwagen with 2 German soldiers, each with a Leica camera with 2 rolls of film. If one gets killed you do buddy aid and try to recover some of the unused film. If you buy veterans, then the pictures turn out really nice, like these. Don't ever buy green or conscript PK or in the pictures you mostly see their thumbs or the inside of the lens cap. ;-)

HA! Funniest thing ever.

If one of the Propaganda team dies, I hope the other grabs the Leica.

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The third picture makes me wonder: Do troops actually get cover benefit from captured enemy foxholes? I mean I have often enough sent people into them hoping they'd protect them, but it always looks like they don't enter them properly.

Yeah. Foxholes is foxholes, and the "not going into them properly" affects you whether they're yours or theirs. It can be ameliorated somewhat by trying out different Face order directions.

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Morthomme,

Earlier in the AAR thread, Bil explained that he purchased one specialist team "Propaganda Kompanie" detachment. A kubelwagen with 2 German soldiers, each with a Leica camera with 2 rolls of film. If one gets killed you do buddy aid and try to recover some of the unused film. If you buy veterans, then the pictures turn out really nice, like these. Don't ever buy green or conscript PK or in the pictures you mostly see their thumbs or the inside of the lens cap. ;-)

Yeahh LOL :)

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The Fourteenth Minute

My Jpz IV took several shots at the bunker this turn.. all missed except one, which bounced. There have been a lot of misses in this game so far. Of course this is at pretty long range, around 1500 meters.

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Okay, these guys need to boresight their weapons.. the Brummbar took one shot at the MG team and it fell well short. Then the MG team packed up its toys and ran back over the ridge.

That was pre-planned though.. it was not my incoming fire that chased him away. My incoming MG fire never really got started before he was gone. Damn.

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I am pushing two halftracks forward in German style to recon and hopefully draw some fire. The first pushed pretty far down the road and off the side right next to the Spur without any enemy action whatsoever.

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Bil, I got a little request for you.

Could you show us the equipment loadouts for your Grenadiers? Any Feb 1944 pattern platoon with a MP43 aka MP44 aka StG44 squad in there?

I've found myself in QB's to drop (or reduce it to min) one squad from German platoons replacing it by two Scout teams and one two-man MG team. I usually use such "ad-hoc" formations to take the lead in close assaults (as those allowed by having armored troop carriers), with quite good effects. That also works nicely in the defense, as a reaction force ready to counterattack.

In comparison, I don't need to do this with the US Army, I find their squads to be a much better balanced tactical formation so I can combine bits and pieces of different squads with similar results.

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The Fifteenth Minute

Note how far my recon halftracks have driven down the ridge road.. the foremost is almost level with the Spur objective. I am expecting a reaction from GaJ... he can't just let me drive around unmolested like this for long.

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That MG team that I spotted a few turns ago has popped up again.. this time he is setting up on the back side of Hill 109 and facing South.. towards my scout. I think the S Ridge might have precious little defending it.

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There are now two enemy units that I know about on the S Ridge.. both are on Hill 109.. the MG on the back side and a new contact (UI) that appears to be on the front side.. that would not be wise... so I expect it is also on the back side and the contact is just off by a bit.

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I will give it to him.. it takes real balls to kneel and take a shot with a rifle at a fully loaded halftrack. This is the Left Tit sniper... I have gone on a little snipe hunt with 2 halftracks and four infantry teams. This little team's luck should run out next turn.

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By the way.. I have a few other sightings that I do not want to share just yet.. I'd like that to be a surprise in a couple turns. ;)

Also, I am maneuvering against the S Ridge.. two mounted squads from 1st Platoon will assault Hill 109 with two Pz-IVs in support. The other two 1st Platoon halftracks will be going .. somewhere else.

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Bil,

The standard of camouflage for that sniper is simply awful. And nonexistent! How did he ever graduate the Sniper course? Wait. I believe I've found the problem.

http://www.armysniper.org/history/ The site was set up by Rangers.

(Fair Use)

"Although the US Army set up an advanced marksmanship course at Camp Perry, Ohio, the Army had no official sniper course during WWII."

(Fair Use)

Be grateful he wasn't shooting AP and hit the passenger compartment. That wouldn't have been fun. And where's the gunner for him to snipe? Hardly seems fair.

Regards,

John Kettler

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Apparently 'camouflage' in the U.S. army meant looking like other soldiers. Officers removed their insignia and dressed down. They even limited their hand movements so as not to call attention to themselves. Snipers dressing up in fancy camou would've called out 'shoot me first!' :)

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The Sixteenth Minute

The Left Tit sniper team was gunned down at close range.. but not before they fired on, penetrated the halftrack and killed a gunner in the squad inside. My only casualty to this team.. could have been much worse.

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Next to the Right Tit I also have a sniper hunt going on.. this is being supported by a random round from the Brummbar (left side of this image), covering fire from a halftrack and two infantry teams. There are two contacts in this area, one of which I know is a sniper so I am being careful.

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Two of my Panzers are in an overwatch position to Hill 109...

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...they are covering the advance of part of 2d Platoon. The more I see (or don't see) the more I think there are no long range weapons on the S Ridge (other than the MG and the other UI contact)... though there could be something hiding in the depression behind the ridge. I'll find that out in the next few turns I think.

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ForwardObservier, the breakdown of one of my squads is as follows: Leader - MP40, x2 MG 42 Gunners, x5 Riflemen with Kar.98k

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In comparison, I don't need to do this with the US Army, I find their squads to be a much better balanced tactical formation so I can combine bits and pieces of different squads with similar results.

That's interesting - in CMFI, I find the exact opposite. US Squads are big, which is good, but are all armed with rifles, except for the BAR man. My US squads are always being outshot at 200 meters or less by Panzergrenadier squads with two MG-42s and 1 (or 2?) SMGs. And at closer range, the SMG heavy HQ squads are deadly.

I like the US squads in CMBN better - there tends to be more cover, which allows the larger number of men in the US squad to count - a squad or two in what I think of as "line formation" behind bocage can pretty much dominate the field on the other side and generally outshoot any smaller German squads trying to set up a similar force behind another hedge.

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I have been doing a lot of thinking today about this battle.. I know.. I should be working, there is this Design Document that needs to get completed after all.. ;)

What is running through my mind is the lack of enemy AT that I am seeing.. I am getting bolder and bolder with my halftracks mainly because they have not come under any threat. GaJ has had plenty of opportunity to take out one or two halftracks if he had ATGs to do it with. Unless he is waiting for a better target and is hiding them and holding fire. If that is the case then they are very well hidden.

But my Jpz IV and Brummbar have been in their overwatch position (along with an HQ team) for several turns now and nothing is getting sighted in the woods that lie in front of the Spur Objective's front slope.

He HAS to have something that is backing up that now dead ATG... but what? Where? I still suspect there is something in those woods.. but could it be mainly infantry type teams, bazookas, snipers, and the like? They would be easier to hide than another ATG for sure.. I think I would have seen entrenchments as well by now.. but nothing has shown itself.

That along with the scarcity, or seeming scarcity of units on the S Ridge worry me... if he had an ATG on the S Ridge somewhere it would have shown itself by now. I have exposed too many vehicles for it not to have. I suspect he is hoping I will attack the S Ridge and he has long range assets in the built up areas of Tame and S. Maria Infante with which to hit me. He could also have a platoon of tanks hidden in the depression behind the S Ridge... that is a possibility I need an answer to ASAP.

The Spur is a puzzle.. but really I guess if he has not dug in inside the woods then he is probably hiding his main force in the depression behind the Spur in a Rear Slope posture, or has tanks down there waiting for me to expose something he can jump out at.

The other possibility is that he is hiding his long range assets in the village of Tame and the town of S. Maria Infante. This would make sense.. then as I assaulted over the ridge into the backside of the Spur his rear slope defense could hold me while he pummeled me with his longer range assets in the town.

Otherwise I have no answer for his lack of a piquet line to absorb my advance, inflict a few casualties, and gain intelligence. It appears to me, at this stage, and with the paucity of enemy contacts that he is gambling all on one throw of the die... and hoping to catch me unawares as I drive meekly around and over the Spur and over and into the S Ridge... the MG team and the other UI infantry unit on Hill 109 do seem like a bit of a carrot.. "come this way Heinz.." ;)

Still thinking... always thinking, always analyzing. By the way, I do have a couple of sightings that I have not shared that back some of this up... I'll share those insights with you next turn.

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