kohlenklau Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Maybe I am rusty at playing PBEM but my spotting seems real slow in this battle. I have numerous troops with binocs looking at certain areas and only very slowly are trenches and units being revealed. Part of me wants to just rush the 3 Stuarts over towards the retreating Italians and just lay waste. I think I will just go for it and push all 6 Stuarts over while I rush in my platoons that are near the retreat zone. The destroyer's fire doesn't fall for another 7 minutes. My timing got goofed. I didn't have an FO with LOS to that deep of an area. He who dares, wins... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fizou Posted January 29, 2014 Author Share Posted January 29, 2014 Kohlenklau, The final call is yours, just remember the big picture. Most important is that you take the hex, second to destroy Italian AT assets and third to destroy the Italian force. You will probably get another stab at these Italians before they can withdraw to Ribera. Ribera is your main objective and the PzGren that holds it have pak40 AT. Those Stuarts will be very voulnerable so having them in numbers will be important. Regarding casualties.. US Para > Italian Inf 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kohlenklau Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 I got some bad news.... Remember the 47mm ATG's that hadn't made a peep? They made a few peeps. That leaves me 4 Stuarts. I will pull them back tight. Good news: He is on the run right towards a USS Buck area fire due next turn. I think he will most likely not survive this battle. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburke Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 I got some bad news.... ? That is really wipe open. Hope it is game bad news. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kohlenklau Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Are we the only CMPzC game going down? What a shame. This is really enjoyable. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kohlenklau Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Sorry sburke! Didn't meant to alarm you. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburke Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Sorry sburke! Didn't meant to alarm you. whew, np. Glad to hear all is okay, other than your tanks.... No idea about other PzC based op layer games. Broadsword and I use different op layers, but are having the same fun with them. Our only problem now is there seems to be several that we are interested in and choosing is so difficult. Also finding ones that coincide with CM timeframes is still a little tough. That will change however as BF continues. And then the decisions will become even harder LOL 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kohlenklau Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Do you and Broadsword need CM players? Do you have an AAR thread? I guess I don't recall seeing it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburke Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Do you and Broadsword need CM players? Do you have an AAR thread? I guess I don't recall seeing it. Actually we are in a lull. We are really thinking to do an Eastern Front one. Broadsword would have a far better idea than I on what the thinking might be for a multi player multi sided thing. It is something we've both been interested in and to my knowledge has only been really done seriously once way back in CMx1 days. Then again for all I know there could have been a dozen tries at it. Some of the other CM groups seemed to have mentioned some stuff along those lines, but I can't speak for what they might or might not have done. :-P 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kohlenklau Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Gadzooks!! Lost another Stuart. I thought he was in a safe spot but as he was pulling back and getting bracketed the driver went backwards up an embankment and got nailed. I have 3 Stuarts left. One was already over on the far side so he is pushing forward via my left flank. Finally within canister range and he let go. I think he will turn the tide quickly in the Italian rear area. I have 178 troops still. So losses of 60 so far but I am doing buddy aid as we go along. His Brixias have really hit me hard... A new USS Buck barrage is due to fall in his main area. I screwed up and adjusted too far way from the current area so it skipped time. But this may play to my favor as when the barrage lifted he does not know where it will fall next. Maybe I will be fired after this battle but the follow on forces should be arriving soon so these airborne companies need a break eventually and would not be worth using in the attack on Ribera. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fizou Posted February 22, 2014 Author Share Posted February 22, 2014 kohlenklau, Luckily this is not the eastern front.. so no penal battalions. Here comes an update on the other fields of battle during the 10:00 to 12:00 (AM) time frame. Below is the campaign map, with Ribera and the surrounding areas. The yellow box indicates where Kohlenklaus river crossing and VPL battle is taking place. The red box and arrow indicates a simultaneous battle (not the exact time but also during the 10:00 to 12:00 time frame. Exakt times are decided by unit speeds and how long they move on the campaign map during the movement phase. This creates different battle lengths in CM and tactical situations/problems on its own.) B Coy from 1st Bn, 504th PIR, 82nd Airborne is tasked with disrupting and destroying a Italian artillery battery that has harassed our units during the morning and opening hours of the operation. Had it not been for B Coy, the units opposing Kohlenklau had been supported by these guns in his current battle. If the battery can be silenced we wont have to suffer from its fire for the reminder of the operation. Below, a pic of the map. Blue line indicates US deployment zone. Red, the Italian ditto. US force: 61 men from B Coy from 1st Bn, 504th PIR, 82nd Airborne. The paras are cut of from the reminder of the US forces which results in the ISOLATED status in PzC. This lowers their available ammo load out. The ISOLATED status will also lower the units morale in PzC. This has the effect in CM of lowered motivation. Finally the units has LOW AMMO status in PzC (its easy for a ISOLATED unit to get this status if it fires during the offensive fire phase of PzC). The US force has reduced motivation and are very low on ammo. This will be tricky assault. On the up side, we expect the Italians to have even worse motivation and also be of much lower quality. Italian force: The Italian guns are note as X (indicating their numbers are between 1 and 9). I suspect the unit has an even amount of guns. They have also suffered 2 guns destroyed during the operations earlier hours. There should be between 2-6 guns taking this into consideration. The guns belong to the XII Corps and we expect them and their crew, support personnel to be of low quality with very bad motivation. The amount of guns in the unit also decides it headcount by a factor of 10 (8 guns would equal 80 men). Numbers should be favorable for the US. I believe the Italians will have taken up positions in this small village in the center of the map. The wooded area to the north of the village is also a likely position. To the north east of the village a small but dominant hill is a third likely position for the Italian battery. The Italians cant move off map for 30 minutes and with the guns (no motorized transports) that will be very hard for them. I expect them to fight, and die, before they break and surrender to the superior US force. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kohlenklau Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Do we have any heavier armor moving up soon? Shermans! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankster65 Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Beautiful thread. Your pics and prose are second to none! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fizou Posted February 24, 2014 Author Share Posted February 24, 2014 Do we have any heavier armor moving up soon? Shermans! See post #190 in this thread, last post on page 19, third pic. There you have your reserves. Our overall force has 9 Shermans (all located in the southern AO at this time). I might be able to divert a platoon to your attack on Ribera. The enemy will be Pak heavy there so I think lots of artillery will serve you better though. Think USS Buck as well as cruiser HMS Ulster. Beautiful thread. Your pics and prose are second to none! Thanks! ------- As the battle progressed It became clear that the enemy force consists of 6 guns of 65 mm caliber along with 60 men. The picture below shows the location of these guns, the numbers indicating which ones I came in contact with first (number 1 first etc.) My overall plan was to scout the locations of the guns. Spot from distance and call in 60 mm mortar fire, either direct or indirect. As my force is low on ammo my two mortars have 15 rounds between them. With spotting rounds and 6 guns to deal with I would prefer to engage direct when ever possible. When mortar rounds are depleted or if a favorable opportunity presents itself, mg fire from more than one direction is my second method of engagement. As the battle starts not many minutes pass before I start taking fire from one of these guns. I take casualties but see no sign (nor sound) of the enemy gun. I'm perplexed that I don't get a contact as the distance to the gun cant be very far off (with regards to the lay of the land). As can be read on this very forum from time to time, AT guns/guns are being brought up as being to easy to spot. In this battle I was about to find out that this is not always the case. As gun 1 keeps firing on my advancing men (which at times have me believe that several guns are firing at once) I manage to advance far enough to get into good defilade. From there I advance towards the village and spot gun 1 when I'm some 40 meters from it. Its in an orchard with very little ground vegetation so its camouflage must have been good. With three teams I advance from as many directions but to my disappointment the Italians have abandoned the gun and taken up defensive positions in the village. Nice move by the Italian commander. After this heavy fighting erupts in the Village. Im also in for a nasty surprise as most locations in and around the villge can be targeted by the reminding five guns. I have a hard time spotting the guns even as they fire. Im not sure if this is due to their small size, good concealment and camouflage or the fact that I have fewer eyes on target than in most battles. Below, the XO team of B Coy are all taken out by a tree burst from a 65 mm. Guns 3 and 4 in the background. I took this pic a while after the death of these men, hence the gun icons. After a bit of manuvering, a few more casualties (most from the guns, the odd one from small arms in the village), I am able to assault several building from the safe side. With suppressing fire from mmg and BAR:s the house clearing is smooth. The airborne's experience and training takes out its toll. Men from 2nd Platoon quickly gun down the occupants of this house. The defenders in the village pull out, die or surrender as the airborne clears house by house. The remnants of the first guns crew surrender after a short fire fight. With the village in my hands I try to locate the guns that are keeping putting fire through every key hole in the village. From the top floors I have some success. But as seen below I also pay the price when the Italians spot my recon efforts. Four guns have LOF to this area and only the small caliber of the 65 mm guns saves me from severe casualties. Still, many pay the ultimate price. As I start to get spots on guns I move mmg and mortars into position to take them out. Casualties are high and the only relief for B Coy is that this is their final mission in this campaign. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rastamon Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Thanks for posting the AAR Fizou. It's good to see the battle from the other side. I could have sworn that my guns were spotted after firing the first rounds. Guns 2 and 5 were moved to those locations after set-up. This was my first CMPzC battle and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Good to part of the bigger picture. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fizou Posted February 25, 2014 Author Share Posted February 25, 2014 Thanks for posting the AAR Fizou. It's good to see the battle from the other side. I could have sworn that my guns were spotted after firing the first rounds. Guns 2 and 5 were moved to those locations after set-up. This was my first CMPzC battle and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Good to part of the bigger picture. Glad you enjoyed it, we have a tone more coming! Gun number 2 was the only one I spotted fast, the others where quite elusive (especially nr 6). ------ Below, the light blue arrows indicates my initial advance. From here I was able to put mortar fire on guns 3/4 and 2. 2 and 4 was taken by the mortars (on 2 I was able to go direct). The purple line indicates my second stage of advance. To the far right, at the orange circle, a squad from my first platoon run into a group of Italians. I advance under cover fire from a section o rifle men (ammunition is fast running low on my BAR so I use rifles when ever possible). Once in the woods I start to slowly advance forward, bounding over watch with the hunt command. I know the Italians are lying in wait. We soon make contact and a brief but intense fire fight breaks out (one of those little moments that just shows how special CM is). The Garand and Carbine really shine in close quarters. Both sides open up and soon grenades are passing each other in mid flight! An intense moment as both sides exchange HE A portion of good luck, experience and excellent training have the airborne come out on top. The carnage unfolds and the Italian unit is put out off action. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fizou Posted February 25, 2014 Author Share Posted February 25, 2014 From my positions in the villge Im able to take out gun 5 with rifle fire (distance around 200 meters). Its a cat and mouse game as my units try to take up positions and deploy their M1919's but just when they are about to be ready to fire the 65's spot them and start to pour HE their way. I need the machineguns to touch gun 3. My last precious mortar rounds was fired at 3 and 6 but to no/little effect. I send assault teams around the flanks to close assault the guns. Blue arrows indicating the routs. The assault teams are around a squad in size each. On my right I am able to sneak right up from behind (but have obviously been spotted as the Italians have swung round and are waiting for me). With more luck, a slow move and quick trigger fingers my airborne are able to get the upper hand. Most men take care of the gun crew and ammo bearers but the BAR is tasked with suppressing a Italian MMG some 300 meters out. The BAR steadied against the shoulder of a fellow soldier. The little patch of trees is soon quiet again. The precise marksmanship of the 82nd on display. Finally gun 6 is taken out. It has caused 6 US casualties.. the enemy guns have caused 20 casualties between them. Some Italians decide to break and run. Soon after the remaining Italians surrender. This battery wont cause any more US casualties, but the airborne has payed the price. End screen: The US unit has taken 39% casualties and is just shy of dropping to levels of morale (just one now as the breaking points is every 20%). From D down to E. They wont do any more fighting this day. From the 12 wounded I get 25% back, which equals 3 men. ---------------- Having a look at the axis force. We are experimenting with some new rules to stop all battles from being last stands. In some instances that will be desirable but in most it wont. So we are trying the following: After 30 minutes of combat a unit is allowed to surrender. When it does, it is destroyed but 25% of its strength (men only) is allowed to escape and join the closest applicable unit. This offers some incentive to surrender instead of fighting to the death. Having to balance the gain of some men escaping to fight another day with being able to inflict more casualties to the enemy. Another interesting decision. We are also trying a "must surrender" rule. If a unit of morale A-D drops below 20% of its initial strength (in that battle) it must surrender. A unit with morale below D must surrender when it drops below 30%. In some cases last stands will be allowed but we are still experimenting so we will see where it goes. I think it feels pretty good so far. ------------ It was a hard fought victory. The low ammo in combination with excellent deployment on my opponents part made this a much tougher battle than I first anticipated. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Very nice AAR and pics. Thanks... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kohlenklau Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 I don't think I saw a single BAR in any of my squads. Hmmmm. I really could have used them. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fizou Posted February 27, 2014 Author Share Posted February 27, 2014 Very nice AAR and pics. Thanks... Thanks Erwin! I don't think I saw a single BAR in any of my squads. Hmmmm. I really could have used them. The BAR hadn't made its way into the squad ToE of the Airborne in 43 (any grog feel free to correct me). So the BAR will show up in a LMG team instead of the M1919 where the latter must be seen as the superior weapon. You had one BAR team in this battle, I don't think more would have changed the outcome ;-) . --------------------- Also occurring in the 10AM to 12AM time frame, we have another battle, this one is for a 300 VPL. We ca be sure this hex will be fought over more than once in this operation... The orange box is where Kohlenklaus battle is taking place. The black box is where the Airborne attack on the Italian battery is taking place. The yellow box is where a combined force of Rangers and Airborne attack the VPL, held by another Italian battery. The force attacking from the south west have to cross a river. Two bridges being the only points across. More details. Italian force: consist of 1-9 guns from XII Corps (therefore 10-90 men). They are isolated (so they have reduced ammo) and are disrupted (giving them -1 leadership modifier). US force: consists of Rangers from the 3rd Bn. They have taken part in a lot of action during the operation so far.. this is their 4th CM battle. The Rangers are supported by A and C coy, 1st Bn, 504th PIR, 82nd Airborne Div. These Airborne units have not taken part in any CM battles yet. The Airborne units are all low on ammo, parts of A coy are isolated and have even less ammo. The isolated A coy is on the other side of the river already, coming in from another direction. The force is supported by off map battery from 367th fld art Bn (4 75 mm pack howitzers ). View from the south west. The direction from which the Rangers and most of the paratroopers are attacking from. The south western bridge. View from the South east. From which a part of A coy is moving up. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankster65 Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 For some reason, today your pics do not show up for me. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fizou Posted March 3, 2014 Author Share Posted March 3, 2014 For some reason, today your pics do not show up for me. Thats odd.. Im not doing anything different (using Flickr for all pics). Still no luck Frankster? Anyone else having the same issues? ----------------- Below, my initial plan. I use Mord & DC beautiful unit portraits mod. http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=113824 A must have for me that brings more personality to the battles (especially when playing campaigns). Units from 504th PIR, 82nd Airborne Div and 3rd Rangers Bn set out to surround and destroy the Italian enemy. The Rangers have seen a lot of action during the campaign so far, my initial plan is to move them up, acting as the anvil together with 2nd Platoon A Coy of the Airborne. The reminder of the Airborne will drive the enemy into these two formations, taking the brunt of the action. As I start to move units from A and C Coy of the 504th PIR over the south western bridge under a smoke screen I get spots on several Italian units scattered around the main hill, dominating the terrain. Several 65 mm guns have a good view of the crossing point and I'm forced to be cautious, using MG and mortar fire to silence or suppress the Italian assets. I'm chocked as something much larger than 65 mm start to fall around the bridge. Id forgotten about the German SPA (150 mm Grille) available to the Italians as off map support. Surprisingly Id forgotten about them again when I started to write up this part of the AAR. Their presences was felt. Inflicting some 6-7 casualties and effectively cutting of the bridge for the reminder of the 504th. The barrage continued for a long time resulting in the total destruction of the bridge. Parts of 2nd platoon C Coy finish up buddy aid next to the destroyed bridge. With this bridge destroyed, only one remains across the river. The Germans are sure to counter attack this VPL hex and I think the most effective route is the one over these bridges. My units will now only have to cover one bridge if the Germans elect to do this. Below: The Black route is the most obvious and faster one, but now with only one bridge to cross to the VPL. The red route will take longer and is also blocked by a small unit of Rangers. Before this comes into reality the 504th PIR and 3rd Ranger Bn must clear the VPL hex from the Italian defenders. The advance is slow and methodical. Any sign of defenders are swiftly met by MG and mortar fire. A common sight during this battle. The destroyed bridge leaves most of the 504th PIR on the wrong side of the river. Only one platoon made it across and will make for a much weak hammer than intended. The roles of the Rangers and 2nd Platoon A Coy that are moving in from the other directions will need to be more active. The Rangers are closing in on the enemy held hill. The advance is slow and big parts of the force are moving at a walking pace until they reach their assault positions. Scouts are ahead to avoid any major ambushes. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poesel Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Hi, I'm the enemy in this scenario. Unfortunately there will be no pics from my side as this scenario takes ages to load on my machine. I'll limit my comments to what Fizou already described so not to spoil anything. My plan was to destroy BOTH bridges and delay the enemy as long as I could. I had no order from my CO not to so I tried - well may be I could have asked but the radio was out... The plan failed mostly as I could not use preplanned arty and so my 'barrage' came too late to stop the Amis completely from using the bridge. I was also limited to one gun and so it took IIRC over 30 minutes to destroy the bridge. At this point I guess everyone who wanted had already crossed the other bridge. Add to that that the FO was already dead before the first barrage ended. My cannons did miserably. Two or three of them fell to mortar fire without ever spotting an enemy team. I know that Fizou mentioned that in the other battle where he had problems spotting the cannons. But here it was very one sided. In retrospect I should have put them all in reverse-slope positions but there is only a very small area in the corner that provides this. I also wanted to have some guns having LOS to the bridge to stop crossings before the Grille came. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kohlenklau Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 kohlenklau's battle is over. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathangun Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Hi guys, enjoying the AAR. Would love to give the the campaign system a try over at the FGM. If I may ask a question, if a HQ unit is attacked, what 'CM unit type' is the HQ unit in a CM battle? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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