PBEM AAR - Montleiemar (Video)

[Rinaldi]

Well, another video AAR for you all - the map and scenario is by a "Daniel Pasquale" and can be downloaded here . Unlike my previous AAR, there was in fact a battle of encirclement fought at the crossroads of Montleimar, France. The majority of Germans would historically 'escape' into the Vosges because of their delaying actions - but the battle was a decisive success for the Americans and allowed forces landing in Dragoon to link up with the US 3rd Army. Watch it here:

EDIT: Montelimar is the actual name of the map, clearly I need to retake French.

I commend Pasquale for making a believable map; its large and has multiple good avenues of approach for an attacker:

If you're having trouble following along with what's going along with the video, here's two images to help. The battle can be divided broadly into two stages.

Phase 1

(1) 2P and 3P, Company A, supported by 2P (Engineers) assault along the Road to Orange - 2P and 3P attack to my left, while the engineers attack to the right. 2P, using a platoon of armor, conducts a flanking movement. They run into what appears to be a reinforced platoon of Panzergrenadiers. An assault gun platoon (105s) supports the engineers.

(2)A light tank platoon, reinforced with two Wolverines, conducts a feint attack and scouting mission towards (4) and runs into a series of bunkers and foxholes manned by Luftwaffe Feld infanterie. They attack by moving up in bounds and make ample use of area fire.

(3) The enemy's suspected MLR.

Phase 2

(1) The main force continues its drive, the platoons remain thankfully unmixed and in good order as they assault. 4P, Company A, and much later 2P, Company B arrive (mounted) and proceed down the left flank - both are married to a tank platoon. The Assault Guns continue to cover my right and support the engineers. The bulk of the losses are concentrated in the Engineer platoon and the hapless 4P, Co A - who are caught moving in their halftracks.

(2) The feint attack draws off enemy armored reserves and a knife fight develops amongst the trees. The situation remains largely unchanged for the rest of the battle until the enemy breaks off the engagement. What is left of that force spends the rest of the battle harassing columns of supply trucks arriving on the field.

(3) Under intense pressure and artillery fire, my opponent pulls back, or alternatively feeds in, more LW infantry and PzGren into this new MLR. Treelines are manned by HMGs and panzerschrecks in an attempt to enfilade my movements.

(4) Its clear at this point that my enemy is keeping a powerful central reserve, but its split between countering attacks on either front, and reinforcing the center. Attacks made by tanks are often done blindly and with no infantry support. Despite this, he a third of Company A. Panzer IVs arrive in ones and twos in the center and are promptly destroyed for their efforts.

All in all, a decent scenario. Its definitely winnable for the Axis, far more so than my last H2H on "Muddy Waters", and the LW Infantry were actually above their usual dismal ability. The wooden bunkers are a novelty, I understand that historically the Germans had managed to fortify Montelimar quite a bit as the battle for it raged, but both of us can't help but wonder if a few extra, easier to conceal foxholes would've been of greater use to my opponent. Though my material build up was substantially faster then my opponent, neither of us felt that this game had an 'experience' slant; I think an inexperienced player can easily win on the defense here if he plays his cards right. The relative parity of forces was a pleasant surprise to me. I was expecting to be smashing my head against Panthers; if anything, I think I had a decisive superiority in Armor considering I was fighting largely Panzer IVs (You can tell I'm being serious because I still lost more tanks ).