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ALLIED - CMBN-Market Garden - BETA AAR (the better beta beater reader)


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Really? You REALLY thought that I'd restart? Did Custer try for a restart? Did Napoleon cry foul after Waterloo and spend years refighting a lost battle, all for want of a restart?

We fight.

I thanked Bil for his gentlemanly concern, all the while silently laughing. He was so transparent. He's afraid that my wife will beat him and this was his only way out! He used the three-legged dog of a map that he crafted to his own benefit as an excuse. I've robbed him of that! The battle is already won: he is morally adrift. It is a contest of wills, not forces. All that remains is to move my men about such that his men can lay down their arms with honor.

Turn 58:00 to 57:00

I saw something...

Turn5windmill.jpg

Yes, Bil is sneaking into MY windmill. I'm not sure if I should be angered, or grateful. Regardless, some of my forward C Coy men in the farmstead opened up on his men. I fired the first shot. Do I get points for that?

No screams. Alack.

Also, down in the wheatfield where I spotted Zebra and 27, I saw this:

Turn5halftrack.jpg

So, that looks like an armored platoon on the move. If I were Bil, I'd count the teeth on the sprockets, check the helmet webbing, and be able to tell you what the squad sergeant had for lunch last Tuesday. But I'm me. Instead, I will eat his lunch! And then date his girlfriend. Bwa-ha!

I'll locate that contact on the big-screen, later.

Ken

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...more.

This is what I've got at the end of Turn 58:00 to 57:00

Turn5bilend.jpg

Bil's pushing to the town. Sigh. I will counter. Why? Because it's more fun that way!

Okay, okay, some future general (or past general wannabe) reading this is getting all pissy. I'm going to get his guys, because I can cut them off. I can apply a lot of combat power into a small space and his LoC to the town will be under my guns. I hope. (My blue 'x' position is good, but exposed.) Regardless, I do have other overwatch positions.

If I can catch his halftracks out in the open with some well-aimed Cromwell fire, I'll have achieved a nice coup. If not, well, I'll send in the PBI. Okay, "para's"' I'll send in the PBP.

My plan, next...

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Plan at 57:00

The next turn will be 57:00 to 56:00, hence, this is my plan at 57.

Turn4ordersphaserooster.jpg

No! That's not my entire plan. Sheesh. Just some parts of it.

I'll talk blue and orange first.

Blue is the two cromwells I'm moving to the blue 'x'. If they can get there in time, it'll be great. Halftracks filled with troops: like sardines in a can. The danger is how exposed they are to their left, Bil's Bastion. I =know= he's got armor somewhere. No doubt holding it back.

To protect the Cromwells, I'm doing a couple of things. I'm taking my leftmost Cromwell and putting it forward, near the edge of the dunes. That's the other blue track. Note that there is a crestline running parallel to the lines. The orange line and the left blue line are not visible to one another. The leftmost Cromwell (of 3 pictured) can gain the highest ground. Yeah, LOS is a two way street.

The dunes are THE dominating terrain feature. I've got it. I just have to use it. (I'm thinking of a synergistic leveraging effect and it's efficacy when used in all four dimensions. But I digress...)

The orange is a Piat team. They're moving up to join the sniper team. I need eyes over that ridge to protect the Cromwells' left flank. That should help.

Here's a closeup of the PIAT team. (I finished their orders after this screenshot.)

Piatorders.jpg

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NOTE: This is a beta. Some of the icons you see in the overhead shots are mis-located. The units with mislocated icons are closer to Screen Center Bottom. (Not all, just some, are mislocated.) Carry on...

Let's talk green line.

I started with one AA tank. Well, hell. One tank is just a target, isn't it? So, I've decided to toss the other AA tank there, as well. And, if two's good, three's better. So the 95mm CS tank goes also. These three tanks represent a lot of infantry shredding firepower. That's good. I think I'll need it to pry Bil out my pilots' bar.

The first AA tank is kicking up a nice rooster tail. That's right Bil, I'm coming...

Turn3eatingdust.jpg

For a big picture, we have this:

Turn4theplan.jpg

The same roles are assigned, but with some sharpening. B Coy, pink, still has the cut off role. (Also, a secondary role of securing the town. Later.)

C Coy, yellow, will pressure. The more they push, the less Bil will have available to go to town. The windmill is cool. I want it. (And the all the nice ground around it.)

My Crommies are up the middle. Somewhere a German gunner is drooling.

The green hook is the 95mm Squadron Commander and the two AA tanks.

Orange is the general direction that B Coy will apply fire and/or manuever. That's the slicer.

(I'm also moving the Challenger up between the two Cromwell groups. It'll be positioned to support either side, based on which Cromwell burns first.)

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xAirborneplatoon.jpg

It was a bit of surprise to me when I saw the lack of 2" high explosive rounds. Why did the MOD think smoke was the only reason to bring these things along? Sheesh. I'll use it.

I think your mortar teams probably do have HE rounds. After your post I checked one of my mortar teams and found the HE rounds were not showing on the left hand amo view.

MortarAmo.jpg

But you can see them on the right hand panel. I would guess that if you split your squads your mortar teams would reveal their HE rounds.

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ian.leslie,

Thanks for the check. However, the game treats support teams differently than sub-divided rifle teams. My organic mortar (where' the wife?) does not get the ammo screen on the right of weapon UI. It very well may have HE. I will find out. The hard way.

(Of course, I am curious if I permanently drove away too many viewers based on the 10 minute gap between my posts last night regarding a restart. Hmmph. Cream rises to the top and all that...)

:)

Ken

Edited add: I actually have a screenshot of the mortar team, isolated, just below. Notice how the UI doesn't show the green, available, ammo. I'd love to know whether these guys have any HE. I could test, but that's not sporting, is it?

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TURN 57:00 to 56:00

Sweet gobs o'action! Bil is finally coming out of his shell. That gives my men a chance to bop him.

A lot popped up. I'll focus on a few incidents at a time, then give the overview...

First, Contact 4 3/8's paused in the midst of the wheatfield. My Cromwells have been racing to get in position. Here's what unfolded, a picture a time.

57Therace001.jpg

57Therace003.jpg

57Therace004.jpg

more...

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Turn 57:00 to 56:00

The race, continued...

57Therace005.jpg

They spotted the halftrack in time!

57Therace006.jpg

57Therace0065.jpg

A closeup of the same...

57Therace007.jpg

The result...

57Therace008.jpg

Sweet joy! I could ceasefire right now and walk away a happy man. First shot, first blood, first kill. ALL the important honorifics have been won by the British side.

What does all this tell me? (The game moves, not my rantings.) Bil must have eyes on my backfield. He ordered a stop and disembark for no tactical purpose other than survival. Therefore, he noticed a tank or two. The Cromwells are exposed where they are. I suspect the windmill is his OP. Thinking about shifting center of masses, he is unbalanced on my right. I am merely considered rightfully unbalanced. I win. Again! I'll come back to how this force shift will affect my plan. I'm up to plan 4. (Every battle can be won by using the correct plan. If you stick with one plan the entire battle, you've hosed your odds. If you use as many plans as possible, odds are you'll hit on the right one at some point and win.)

More action from this turn follows...

Ken

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TURN 57:00 to 56:00

End view

At the end of the turn, here's the situation:

57endoverviewcontacts.jpg

The halftracks moving towards my right are out of sight. That'd be contacts 27 and Zebra. One is a squad, the other a flak. Contact 4 3/8's is dead. The passengers survive, but they are in the middle of a wheatfield. Ha ha. ;)

Looking at the picture above, you notice that there are two new contacts. One, tank-like, near the windmill. One light-tankish over by the leftmost objective (orange box.)

Let's zoom into the windmill contact first, shall we?

57Zephyr.jpg

Sweet cannons o'justice! This baby will SHRED my infantry. Err, para's. (If you guys want to see what one of these can do, let me know. I have some screenies from another test battle. ) The good news is that I have tanks with decent armor nearby. However, raining 20mm's can ruin a tank's face. Optics, radios, morale, etc. Having spotted it, it's just a matter of getting the right tools to kill it. Meantime, I'll avoid exposing too many men to it. If I can. (Maybe I can just run it out of ammo? Hmm, that could work...)

Let's go to the Orange Contact:

572000.jpg

Nice. I love how icons fade as sound/fleeting sightings get older. That's what happened here, at orange. Or did it?

573.jpg

ANOTHER halftrack.

On my right, an armored infantry platoon with flak. On my left, another. In the middle, a flak tank with some infantry flitting about. I'm glad I don't have to search all over the place for targets!

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the game treats support teams differently than sub-divided rifle teams. My organic mortar (where' the wife?) does not get the ammo screen on the right of weapon UI. It very well may have HE. I will find out. The hard way.

Edited add: I actually have a screenshot of the mortar team, isolated, just below. Notice how the UI doesn't show the green, available, ammo. I'd love to know whether these guys have any HE. I could test, but that's not sporting, is it?

Bummer - I was hopeful. This might be an issue worth being addressed by BFC - i.e. report a bug. Anyone using these formations (and with MG that will be a lot) will have trouble figuring out their mortar teams' amo position. Not being able to see the HE shell count will be a serious problem when it comes to commanding the platoon.

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Sweet cannons o'justice! This baby will SHRED my infantry. Err, para's. (If you guys want to see what one of these can do, let me know. I have some screenies from another test battle. )

You have to ask? Yes, please.

The good news is that I have tanks with decent armor nearby. However, raining 20mm's can ruin a tank's face. Optics, radios, morale, etc.

Are you sure the Cromwell's armour can stand up to that thing? Sounds like a test would be a good idea here to.

If you doe one: Yes, we would like to see the results:D

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I cannot believe it; I am enjoying your side of the AAR.

When it first started, I thought really, c3K why in the world did he pick him to play.

But between all the smart remarks, it might appear you actually can play the game. Aggressively, yes, we knew that would happen. But let’s see how intelligent and aggressive it will be.

I DON’T LIKE YOUR COMMENT ABOUT MANY BATTLE PLANS

I like to look at it as one Battle plan and many addendums ADDED to that plan to achieve the original goal.

Seldom does my goals of my original plan change, just the method I go about doing it changes as the battle dictates, Which changes constantly as the battle flows

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Well, I'll choose to take that as a compliment.

I think, though, that I may have to make ANOTHER plan!

Snarkiness aside, slysniper's post reminded me that not everyone reading this has the same comprehension level towards the game and/or history and tactics, nor, as is also apparent, is everyone a native English speaker. So, serious mien on:

The PLAN: Re-read my initial post and the first turn or two. Admittedly, you may need to read between the lines a bit. The force I have has 2 main manuever units, Company B and Company C. They are augmented by 7 armored vehicles and a support company (mortars, vickers, piats). Balance is critical. I have no spare. It's not a 2 up, one back, type of attack. It is purely 2 up. Therefore, each element, or arm, needs to be able to extricate itself on its own.

Usually 2 up, 1 back, provides an immediate reserve or flank force which is unengaged. I do not have that. In fact, my attack is dangerously extended. My left flank (C Company) has objectives which will drive it AWAY from B Company on my right, and vice versa. This is bad. They should be kept such that one can support the other. I recognize that, and my moves should show how that is dictating my tactics.

Whereas I am vigorously pursuing an opportunity on the battlefield to gain a (perceived) advantage, I am not blindly attacking. Yet. That will come later. I can risk a Cromwell (or two) but gain an objective, kill off a platoon, and manuever into some choice terrain. That's a good risk/reward.

More on my plan...later.

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A Segue

I offered, and was taken up on, a posting about the power of the Flakvierling.

In another test battle I was playing the US vs. TacAI Germans. The battle concerns a famous battalion, a bridge, and a Medal of Honor. I'll say no more. (The map is outstanding!) Hmm, I said more.

Here's a pair of pictures, a "before" and an "after":

Quadpower001.jpg

And then...

Quadpower002.jpg

One moment of slackness, one burst, one wasted unit. (The time span was even shorter than pictured. It takes a few seconds for those crosses to appear.)

So, I have a healthy respect for Zephyr sitting near the windmill.

(Again, to assuage the tender sensitivities: my naming conventions actually follow a convention. Today's game has mech infantry being numbered (4 digits for hq's, less for non hq), flak halftracks get animal names, other themes as needed.)

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Looking good, but if I may be so bold as to ask you to turn off the objectives for your screenshots ?

But that's just me.

LOL! I've actually turned them on for the screenies! I hate looking at them or reading the floating sripts when I play. The only reason I turned them on was to help visualize where the screenie was taken.

I'll be happy to keep 'em off. My eyeballs need the rest.

Ken

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