Sulomon vs Sid: A Quick Battle AAR

[Sulomon]

Hello this is my first AAR.  This is an AAR of a quick battle I fought against @sid_burn  I have fought more recent battles against Sid but this is one of the more fitting battles for an AAR.  I am attacking as Germans against Americans in a medium size attack.

The map is well forested with all the objectives being accessible by forest from my right and there is some forest on my left.  The map for the most part slowly declines but trees in front of the town obscure some los from the hill.  This is my first time attacking Sid in a QB so I am unsure of what to expect.  I expect infantry and artillery but am unsure of how much armor he will take.  I am only sure he will put AT guns on a ridge that overlook a good portion of the hill.  

My own forces consist of a battalion of Grenadiers and three Brummbars.  This is one of my first time using Brummbars and I'm curious how they will perform.  If Sid takes a lot of armor that could be problematic since Brummbars only carry 3 HEAT rounds and aren't very accurate.  Probably would have better to replace 1-2 of the Brummbars with a stug but oh well.  Given the terrain I should be able to get infantry AT close enough against armor if he has any.  For artillery I have four on map 81mm mortars and two off map.  I also have 2 heavy mortars and a forward observer to spot for them.  Unfortunately I didn't bring any trps this battle. 

My base of fire is the hill using my Brummbars and HMGs to fire into the town.  The 10th company will also move here.  One platoon will secure the minor objectives (where I expect only a token or nonexistent defence), another platoon will be with the Brummbars and HMGs to protect and assist with fire into the town, and the third platoon along with the panzerschreck will move into the forest to secure it and flank the town.  The 11th company will move along the forest to flank the major objectives and will be the main force pushing into the objectives.  The 9th company will push along the far right to neutralize whatever forces he has on the ridge and to support the 11th company in their attack on the town.

Will make more posts soon!

[JoMac]

Upload this as a Youtube Video...Or, it didn't happen :-)

[Bulletpoint]

You already played this, so you know how it's going to turn out.

My initial impression is that without real tanks, you're giving long-range control of the open ground to your opponent. That means you have to attack with infantry through a lot of forest. That's usually a bloody affair. Then you'll have to attack buildings with infantry in the forest, which also usually results in high attacker casualties. Not sure how you'll get die Brummbären up to assist if your opponent holds the open spaces.

But don't let my gloomy analysis bring you down - go ahead and prove me wrong

[Josey Wales]

Looking forward to the outcome of this, if you can get the Brummbars in a position where they can level the buildings in the town then do it, that's what they're designed for!

However, you are right to be concerned about your opponents AT capabilities. Good luck.

[Sulomon]

6 hours ago, Bulletpoint said:

You already played this, so you know how it's going to turn out.

My initial impression is that without real tanks, you're giving long-range control of the open ground to your opponent. That means you have to attack with infantry through a lot of forest. That's usually a bloody affair. Then you'll have to attack buildings with infantry in the forest, which also usually results in high attacker casualties. Not sure how you'll get die Brummbären up to assist if your opponent holds the open spaces.

But don't let my gloomy analysis bring you down - go ahead and prove me wrong

Yeah forest fighting and attacking buildings can be bloody.  As for the the "open" space, there are difficulties with los block from trees in front and the sides of the town and the sloping.  Defender is either stuck on a reverse slope or has to rely on the ridge near the back which has a lot of los issues.  Although they could theoretically setup a very forward defense set up in the minor objectives but that would be very daring and risky.

5 hours ago, Josey Wales said:

Looking forward to the outcome of this, if you can get the Brummbars in a position where they can level the buildings in the town then do it, that's what they're designed for!

However, you are right to be concerned about your opponents AT capabilities. Good luck.

Thanks!  

[Sulomon]

Second post!

A good amount of time has passed with not a whole lot of action but there are some rounds and contacts.

Did run into a bazooka team behind some bushes in the first objective but they were killed for only one German casualty.

Got some AT contacts which I suppressed with machine gun fire and called in heavy mortars which knocked out one of the guns.  Unfortunately I hadn't spotted the second AT gun before it immobilized one of my Brummbars by destroying the engine.  Maneuvering my other two Brummbars behind the tree line that blocks los from that ridge.

The 9th company is spread out and has taken some fire but no casualties yet.  One platoon is traveling next to the forest and will probably join 11th company while another platoon is going alongside the side of the map to knockout the AT guns and spotters.  Don't want to risk a duel with my Brummbars and want to use my artillery on the town.  Finally the third platoon is in reserve, deciding what to do with them.

The farthest Brummbar is the immobilized one.  The 11th company is moving without trouble.  The 10th company is also spread out like the 9th company.  One platoon is securing the minor objective in front of the town.  One platoon is with the machine guns to add more support fire.  Another platoon is flanking through the forest where there is a contact but no fire yet.  A panzerschreck has worked it's way up to give the sherman closest to the forest a surprise.  Three shermans have been spotted will present issues.  I'm looking to use infantry AT to knock them out if I can continue to easily work my way through the forest.  Not looking to engage with my Brummbars currently.  The machine guns and Brummbars are maneuvering into positions to start shooting into town, once I figure out how to remove the forward most sherman.  One of the other two is behind buildings while the other sherman has a fair amount of its los is blocked from trees and buildings so it's not a very big threat to my base of fire. 

[Bulletpoint]

5 hours ago, Sulomon said:

A panzerschreck has worked it's way up to give the sherman closest to the forest a surprise.

Would be great if you could pull this off, but if your opponent has any clue what he's doing, he'll have some flank protection in that forest. And probably not just a lone team. He'd do well to place quite a lot of infantry in the two obvious forested approaches. Not sure from the screenshots how dense the forest is...

[sid_burn]

7 hours ago, Bulletpoint said:

Would be great if you could pull this off, but if your opponent has any clue what he's doing, he'll have some flank protection in that forest. And probably not just a lone team. He'd do well to place quite a lot of infantry in the two obvious forested approaches. Not sure from the screenshots how dense the forest is...

Nah, I was very new and still very bad at this game when this match was happening. A lot of sulomon and I’s games consist of people who don’t know what they are doing throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks. 

[Josey Wales]

49 minutes ago, sid_burn said:

Nah, I was very new and still very bad at this game when this match was happening. A lot of sulomon and I’s games consist of people who don’t know what they are doing throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks. 

I thought that was just me! 

[Sulomon]

1 hour ago, sid_burn said:

Nah, I was very new and still very bad at this game when this match was happening. A lot of sulomon and I’s games consist of people who don’t know what they are doing throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks. 

I got a 4-5 month head start but I wasn't a veteran either at the time of this match.

[sid_burn]

5 minutes ago, Sulomon said:

I got a 4-5 month head start but I wasn't a veteran either at the time of this match.

I don’t dispute it. You were undisputably better than me at the game at this point. 

[Bulletpoint]

1 hour ago, sid_burn said:

Nah, I was very new and still very bad at this game when this match was happening. A lot of sulomon and I’s games consist of people who don’t know what they are doing throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks. 

Cheers to that. That's how we all learn

[Sulomon]

Next post!  Now the casualties are starting to come in but they're still fairly light.  

My advance is still continuing with good gains.  I am dropping smoke on the major objective to help my entry but it's mortar smoke and not very effective, probably not going to affect entry much.  I am calling in heavy mortars which will start landing soon which should be useful.  My opponent dropped AP artillery in the open field around the Brummbars and machine guns but fortunately most of it was to far to the left so casualties were small.

The most important gain so far.  My panzerschreck managed to sneak up and ammo rack one of my opponent's three shermans.  The only enemy infantry in the forest was an enemy bazooka team which got killed by the other parts of the platoon.  This also allows my Brummbars to move much more freely as the other two shermans are in the town and not covering the field.

Well the other field.  Unfortunately on the right flank I didn't check los and a sherman killed 90% of two squads.  Annoying but these losses are acceptable.  The enemy AT gun (which these units were heading towards) isn't really an issue because it doesn't have enough los.  I will send another squad and a machine gun team or two to kill them anyway.  The rest of the 9th company is moving in with the 11th company to push into the major objectives.

One of my two Brummbars has pushed up and an enemy bazooka team ran up but got suppressed.  Telling the Brummbar to target it and am telling some infantry to target and move.  After that it will start to bombard buildings and infantry.

While I haven't encountered any units in the forest a machine gun in one of the buildings killed a squads worth of infantry.  Annoying but like the casualties for my companies, the casualties are light.  Force cohesion and my attack plans haven't been affected.

Next post will be soon!

[Pete Wenman]

On 2/24/2018 at 6:27 PM, Sulomon said:

The map is well forested with all the objectives being accessible by forest from my right and there is some forest on my left.  The map for the most part slowly declines but trees in front of the town obscure some los from the hill.

Great to see this map featuring in an AAR. It's one of those that is really subtle to fight on with interesting LOS

P 

[Sulomon]

Just now, Pete Wenman said:

Great to see this map featuring in an AAR. It's one of those that is really subtle to fight on with interesting LOS

P 

Yeah, one of my favorite maps to have fought on.  I wonder if it would work if the map was changed so the attacker started at the bottom and the major objectives were at the top.

[Bulletpoint]

17 hours ago, Sulomon said:

The most important gain so far.  My panzerschreck managed to sneak up and ammo rack one of my opponent's three shermans. 

Well done. Nothing like a succesful Panzerjagd. You proved me wrong and probably taught your opponent something too.

[Sulomon]

Next post!  A little bit more casualties but a good amount for the enemy too along along with a weakening defensive position.

My enemy moved his sherman up, either underestimating the Brummbar or overestimating his sherman.  Surprising line of sight through the trees.  His sherman fired and missed then my Brummbar fired and penetrated the turret.  Only one sherman left out of the three.

The rest of this post will be at 24 minutes.  My men have made progress helped by the dead sherman and Brummbar fire.  In the top the 3rd platoon of the 10th company will try to destroy the last enemy sherman.  This is important and while I hope the panzerschreck succeeds if it doesn't I'll launch a panzerfaust charge with the platoon.  The 11th company with platoons from the 9th and 10th companies will enter from the bottom right corner and right side of the town.  Elements of the 9th company will destroy the last AT gun and possible spotters on the ridge.  After that they will secure the last minor objective and flank the rear of the town.

Major and first entry by my units into the town.  Almost no resistance has been met.  From what I have spotted my enemy units are further back in the town.  Going to move my squads from house to house under cover fire from the Brummbars and HMGs.  I have heavy mortars dropping in the further back part of town in 5 minutes which will provide an excellent opportunity to take the second half of the town where a lot of his units are.

Second entry point into the last major objective from the right side of town.  Not properly in the town yet but they're about to be.  They will provide flanking fire.  Really should have brought pioneers.  Lots of buildings right next to each other in the second major objective instead of separated like in the first major objective.  

I am having some annoying los issues with my Brummbars and HMGs.  Fortunately I am still managing to get good shots.

 

Some Brummbar shots I took at retreating infantry.  For my Brummbars I set to either 30 or 45 seconds for target briefly.  30 For 1 shot and 45 for two shots at normal crew skill.  I use target briefly just in case they identify their own targets in the second half of the minute.

The match is going well and the enemy position is rapidly weakening.  The only difficulty is his last Sherman which can kill a lot of infantry and stop an advance through the town.  Ideally my infantry will kill it.  As usual next post will be soon!

[Hardradi]

Looks like he got caught napping as you have pretty much turned his left flank. Enjoying this. 

[Sulomon]

Next post!  My advance continues against limited enemy resistance.  Not a whole lot of text, mostly pictures.

My two Brummbars exchange fire with the Sherman to my loss.  They both miss their few HEAT shells and the picture Brummbar gets its gun knocked out.  I order the other one to back up out of the los of the sherman.  I let my damaged Brummbar remain in place to keep the Shermans attention.

A lot of dead Americans throughout the front half of the town.  All shot while retreating or routing.

A lot of Americans retreated from my Brummbar fire and the remaining ones are being killed or routed by the large amount of firepower and infantry (around a company of them) I have moving into the town.  

On the right side of town there hasn't been much fire exchanged since I'm still setting up my units, almost a company's worth, and am waiting for my mortars to fire. 

 

My mortars are about to fire or 1-2 minutes away from firing.  I have some concern about friendly fire, some spotting rounds might land on the slope where my right flank units are setting up.  But victory is almost certain at this point so I am not that concerned.

I have two squads mopping up the remaining infantry and AT gun on the ridge.  Not really necessary at this point but I don't want the AT gun to find some unexpected los and hit my units in the town.

The panzerschreck got killed!  Time for a panzerfaust charge!  Will run my men up to the building then behind the sherman.  If that still fails I have more panzerfausts and expendable men.  I also have more panzerschrecks advancing through the town that I can use soon.

Next post will probably be the last post and conclusion of the battle!

[Bil Hardenberger]

Nicely done AAR, thanks for the reading material.

[Sulomon]

3 minutes ago, Bil Hardenberger said:

Nicely done AAR, thanks for the reading material.

Thanks!

[Sulomon]

Conclusion of the battle!

My men with panzerfausts turn out to be cowards.  Unfortunately my Brummbar doesn't have los so I can't 2 for 1 to kill the American squad and the cowards.  The next turn I send more panzerfausts and some panzerschrecks forward.

The Sherman fires at two squads causing significant casualties and forcing them to retreat but it's too late too little at this point.

My soldier with a panzerfaust 100 makes an impressive shot and kills the sherman!

Taking some friendly fire from my mortars unfortunately.  Should have ordered them to not fire at all.

The last bastion of American resistance gets overwhelmed by small arms and Brummbar fire.

Good game.  My opponent was fairly new and had a poor defense.  A mixed defense of Shermans and ATGs was good but fortifications and defenses in the forests on the flanks would have done wonders for him.  His lack of flank protection cost him his Shermans which were key to defending the town.  I took a lot of needless casualties at the end between friendly fire from mortars and not using my men carefully.  My Brummbars got a combined 29 kills which is okay but not the best.  Could have taken more infantry or other units and still get a total victory.

[Bulletpoint]

Thanks for the AAR.

Seems your force picks worked out great for you, but did you ever consider buying some Nebelwerfers? That village looks like a good target for those.

Of course, it would be a gamble too - a crafty opponent might anticipate artillery on the town and place most of his men outside.

[Sulomon]

5 hours ago, Bulletpoint said:

Thanks for the AAR.

Seems your force picks worked out great for you, but did you ever consider buying some Nebelwerfers? That village looks like a good target for those.

Of course, it would be a gamble too - a crafty opponent might anticipate artillery on the town and place most of his men outside.

I haven't used rockets much, in general I prefer to put my points more in infantry and tanks than in artillery.   

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Was a bit surprised your opponent didn't use a delayed 'linear strike' into the woods, they are such an obvious axis of advance and the US usually have plenty of artillery to spare.