Jump to content

CMSF2 - UK-Germany Beta AAR


Recommended Posts

Well folks, here we are again. Your favourite ( I hope ) underdog is once again risking everything ( because I have a named unit on map :ph34r: ) against Bil, the evil genius.

This battle is essentially a classic Meeting engagement between our recon elements and will escalate as our main forces enter later.

Bil and I are both using forces from 2 nations and the makeup is essentially the same:
Each nation has a platoon of mechanised recon and an infantry company with a couple of attached tanks.
The battle area will also have some local guys, some of whom are on our side and some who have been seduced to the dark side.

In my case, I am fielding elements from the UK and Germany.

The battle is set up ( thanks to George MC ) as follows :

Turn 0:
Scouts - on-map in the set-up zone at the start:
British recce platoon (Scimitars);
German Aufklaring platoon (Fenneks).

Turn 5 Advance Guard:
2 x Leopards;
German PzGr Company HQ and Obs section and the 1st Platoon (Marders);
Artillery ( some 105's ) and on-map mortars;
Myself as the German body HQ - performing a classic c3k manoeuver by waiting until it's safe.

Turn 10 Main Body:
2 x Challengers;
Brit Arm.Inf company (all elements) - Primarily infantry mounted in Warriors.

Turn 15 Rear Guard:
Remainder of the German PzGr company - 2nd and 3rd Platoons (Marders).

Bear in mind that I've never played CMSF1 and barely touched on CMBS due to my preference for WWII.
So I am ignorant of many of the weapons systems and their capabilities.
Just pointing out how underdoggy I am ( gotta get the excuses in early - yeah, I learned that from c3k too ! :lol: ).

Edited by Baneman
Link to comment
Share on other sites

And here's the first look at where this is all going down - this is a pretty magnificent map ( I tried to make a small map once and it was a fairly miserable effort, hence my admiration for well made maps knows no bounds ).

Looking North ( my deployment zone is top left )

Map looking North.jpg

Looking South

Map looking South.jpg

Another view South ( just a bit to the right of the above shot ) showing what I like to think of as an abandoned archaeological dig site.

Map looking South2.jpg

Rolling hills - check.

LOS nightmare - check :lol:

Edited by Baneman
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We're up against joint US-Syrian forces - how that happened is hard to imagine, but I'm going to go with the US having been bribed with oil money to pull out of NATO and now they're trying to keep our filthy grubby NATO hands off that same oil.

Feel free to speculate !

I'm going to assume here that Bil will have far better screenshots of the map and its objective areas since he also has mad skills in the photoshop department, so if you're unhappy with what I'm showing or cannot make something out - go read his thread ! :P

Right, so here we have an overview of most of the map, showing our brave UK recon force - 8 Scimitars, a Mortar Fire Controller Team in a Spartan and an infantry recon section in a FV432.

In the distance you can see 3 groups of uncons henceforward referred to as (A), (B) and (C). A & C are infantry and B is a group of 3 armed "bakkies" - that's "pickups" to non-South-Africans.

CMSF2 0001 Initial units.jpg

Eastern aspect of the map showing high ground which is a concern and worry for me. I have named these features accordingly.
Dig site is the "abandoned archaeological site" I mentioned earlier. ( Bil's deployment zone is more or less between Worry Ridge and Obj Garnet )

CMSF2 0002 the Eastern aspect.jpg

This shows uncons A & C, but is primarily to give a feel for the map with its many Heights and dips. LoS will be crazy, but at least there will be places we can hide.

CMSF2 0003 map.jpg

Some close up shots.
This shows Uncons A & B again and more detail of the map. As you can see, the rear vehicle has an SPG9 mounted. Front vehicle has a 12.7mm DShK and the middle a 7.62 MMG.

CMSF2 0004 Uncons AB closeup.jpg

CMSF2 0005 uncons B.jpg

Edited by Baneman
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ze Chermans :
The Germans appear to favour smaller units and have only 4 vehicles in their recon platoon. 2 of their Fenneks are armed with an MG, 2 have some sort of HE chucker (vehicle shown).

CMSF2 0006 ze chermans.jpg

And some tank porn - ok, technically there are no tanks on the field yet, but we do what we can :) 

CMSF2 0008 tank porn2.jpg

Lastly, a slightly zoomed shot ( so a bit foreshortened ) looking directly east of my deployment zone.
As you can see, what I have called Apprehension Height and Worry Ridge are dominating features.
I can't see Bil not sending units up there, so several of my units will definitely maintain an overwatch on them.

CMSF2 0010 apprehension and worry.jpg

My Mortar Control team are posted on the roof of the one building I fortuitously have in my deployment zone and they have good LoS as shown

I will definitely be dropping some rounds on the Height to dissuade any spotters/Javelin wielders. When the mortars are available anyway.

CMSF2 0011 concern and worry2.jpg

Edited by Baneman
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Setup and Initial moves

I'm operating under the assumption that no one is going to see the other for at least the first 30 seconds. So I'm pushing forward fast to reach decent positions from which to observe or cover. 2 Scimitars head for Obj Gold - as you can see, the ground slopes down in that area, so we should be out of sight relatively quickly. The infantry recce team will also be moving towards it from the orchard.
One Scimitar "The Watcher in the Woods" is moving up into a small copse which offers an excellent overwatch position.

CMSF2 0012 olives and overwatch.jpg

Pushing the furthest is one of the German Fenneks - it looks like the touch objectives Diamond 1 & 2 and Ruby will be tough to reach as the intervening ground may be extremely exposed.
So these guys "The Sacrificial Lambs" will be attempting to get there early. If they don't make it, it's unlikely that anyone will until the enemy force is largely neutralised ( which may not happen ). So I'm hoping to grab a quick win with a largely expendable unit ( c3k would be proud ).

CMSF2 0016 sacrificial lambs.jpg

On the left flank, the rest of the German recon platoon is moving up as far as the Dig Site. My plan is somewhat nebulous here, but I don't want to leave this edge of the map un-observed.

CMSF2 0017 German moves.jpg

Uncons A, B ( not shown ) & C
As you can see, I'm being cautious with these guys - spreading out and moving forward in bounds. Possibly unrealistic, but most of them are conscripts, albeit highly motivated, so I can imagine them peeking around corners, then again, then again and then moving.

CMSF2 0018 uncons A.jpg

CMSF2 0020 uncons C.jpg

Edited by Baneman
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Baneman said:

Bear in mind that I've never played CMSF1 and barely touched on CMBS due to my preference for WWII.
So I am ignorant of many of the weapons systems and their capabilities.

Oh honey no, what is you doin?

In all seriousness this looks exciting. Looking forward to more updates!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Baneman said:

Bear in mind that I've never played CMSF1 and barely touched on CMBS due to my preference for WWII.

So I am ignorant of many of the weapons systems and their capabilities.
Just pointing out how underdoggy I am ( gotta get the excuses in early - yeah, I learned that from c3k too ! :lol: ).

Been reading Quotations from Chairman Ken as well eh?

One thing to beware of is ammo usage.  I am messing with @George MC's Circle the wagons and have watched  2 teams burn through about 1000 rounds of ammo in 15 minutes.  Granted it is a heavy urban fight, but modern automatic weapons will have you looking for resupply pretty darn fast.

 

correction- that was 2000 rounds....  8 guys.... maybe 13-14 minutes of actual fighting.

Edited by sburke
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Fat Dave said:

Nice screens and descriptions Baneman. Wordt en leuke slagpartij! 😉

Are you from dutch origin, Fat Dave? Despite your Scottisch outfit.

You are almost correct, it should be : Wordt een leuke slachtpartij.

Slacht = butcher 🙂

Edited by Aragorn2002
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, Aragorn2002 said:

Are you from dutch origin, Fat Dave? Despite your Scottisch outfit.

Ha! Yes I am Aragorn, and of course, you are correct, my spelling was harstikke foute. I spelt it like it sounded (it's been a few years now) - but slacht will definitely be the operative word for this battle :)

Looking forward to the contact front! moment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just a quick apology for the slowness of this thread after getting everyone excited - I had a sudden burst of hectic this week. :huh:

Normal service should resume later tomorrow or on the weekend. In the meantime I'm sure Bil is entertaining you with pictures of (my) burning vehicles... :unsure:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, IanL said:

And keep in mind that resupply is not possible after the vehicles are brewing up :)

 

1 minute ago, Baneman said:

Normal service should resume later tomorrow or on the weekend. In the meantime I'm sure Bil is entertaining you with pictures of (my) burning vehicles... :unsure:

:rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Turn 1 : ( bear in mind that I wrote up the info as I was doing each turn, so even though the battle has moved on in time, these are the thoughts I had at the time ).

Well, first blood to us.
It seems that Bil had a similar set of 3 Uncon vehicles. They were over-cautious and did not move.
My Watcher in the Woods turned out to have even better views than I hoped - it spotted the lead vehicle and took it out with some 30mm fire ( initially it fired short, but corrected before the end of the turn ).

CMSF2 0025 Watcher spots.jpg

Overwatch of the two hills. The Scimitar in the Orchard/Olive grove also has LoS to the Apprehension Height.

CMSF2 0031 hill overwatch.jpg

This shows the other movement in this area - the Scimitar unlabelled is waiting for the infantry recce squad to confirm a lack of enemy in Obj Gold - I would have pushed on, but there's always a risk of an RPG7 in the flank which would ruin anyone's day.

CMSF2 0030 end positions.jpg

Edited by Baneman
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Left Flank :

This shows the situation on my left flank. 2 Units have almost reached the dig site with backup and overwatch following up. German Fennek on the left - now titled "Puddlers" - is going to press on much further because ...

CMSF2 0032 left flank.jpg

I discover by looking further back that it seems Bil has a bridge he must cross with the bulk of his forces ( I make an assumption that he did not have a deployement zone on this side of the river ). This is likely to slow him down since I'm sure he's not going to swan around with single units. Thus I reckon I have another turn of largely unobserved movement available.

CMSF2 0033 Backfield.jpg

- Also, when I woke up to turning labels on, it seems that Apprehension Height (aka Hill 41.1 ) and Worry Ridge ( aka Hill 42 ) do have designations. They may be a little hard to read, so I've added them to my labels.

Accordingly, the Puddlers will attempt a crossing of the river as shown.

CMSF2 0034 The hills.jpg

A closer view - the sides of the river are fairly steep and if the Fennek doesn't bog, it will remain in the ravine as a surprise to any infantry that may try to run forward that far.

CMSF2 0035 Attempted crossing.jpg

Edited by Baneman
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Right Flank:

Uncons A - the MMG on the roof - spot a single enemy in the Obj Steel area ( some way ahead of my Uncons C )

CMSF2 0037 enemy uncon.jpg

The vehicles of Uncons B will push forward as shown, with the lead vehicle moving to gain LoS on some of the Obj Steel buildings.

CMSF2 0038 Uncons B.jpg

Last pic shows Uncons C moving forward more, but still cautiously. Also - some of these uncons are not Fit, so small movements is best.

CMSF2 0041 Uncons C.jpg

Edited by Baneman
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Baneman said:

Turn 1 : ( bear in mind that I wrote up the info as I was doing each turn, so even though the battle has moved on in time, these are the thoughts I had at the time ).

CMSF2 0025 Watcher spots.jpg

Allowing us to know your thoughts at the time makes for a much more interesting read IMO.  It's similar to a unit history of a battle.  I'm glad your doing it this way.  The inset photo of the technical is a very cool idea.  +1

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...