Bil Hardenberger

Very clever work. I wish you well with it, and I predict it will inspire others to try to use some of your techniques. Too bad I really dislike CMBS so much. Bil

This was only meant to show, at a glance, the elevation changes. Of course it isn't accurate. I have the elevation contours if I need to refer to that detail. Good observations, though my opponent had little trouble moving forward.

Thanks for joining in Scout. I love when an AAR can feature discussions about both sides of the fight, it makes it more complete.

GATHERING INFORMATION My goal at this stage of the fight is to gather information.. after a couple more minutes have elapsed I am getting a much clearer picture of my opponent's intent. At this rate I should have a fair picture in a few more turns, at least as to what he plans to do on each of the main AOAs. AXIS RED is busy.. a large body of dismounted troops are heading up this axis. STUG 02 has not moved from what I can tell. These troops are moving relatively quickly. AXIS Orange has far fewer forces, so far it doesn't look like he will push anything more than a harassing force down AXIS ORANGE. I fired some light mortars at STUG 01 last turn and it repositioned back a little bit. Just keeping him honest. BAKER COMPANY: 1st Platoon has moved forward, split squads and are watching the enemy deploy. Most of my sound and visual contacts are coming from them. 2nd Platoon's positions: 3rd Platoon's positions:

No it didn't fire. I've seen tanks do that with their barrels with an extreme elevation change covered arc.

From my post above, when playing on the defense I always try to find opportunities for: Counter-attacking with a force large enough to cause serious damage Conducting spoiling attacks on targets of opportunity whenever possible I am not saying whether or not an opportunity presents itself for either of the above in this battle, but yes, I am prepared to act if it does. It is too early in this fight to start thinking that way right now.

INITIAL MOVES I moved a small portion of my units into picket positions, and a small scout force of two jeeps down what I identified as AOA RED. The intention with my pickets, which are very small units made from splitting squads, is to get close if possible to the enemy's lines and setup listening and observation posts to identify movements. My scout force is a bit stronger and the idea is for them to be my first defense along AOA RED, they have one bazooka on hand. They are meant to be a speed bump and to slow, not stop, any enemy advance down this approach. Scouts disembarking: ENEMY CONTACTS It didn't take long for me to start identifying enemy units, and with these contacts and subsequent movements I will put together an intelligence picture of my opponent's intent. The intial enemy contacts were two STuGs and one UI infantry unit, which was moving, otherwise I doubt I would have seen it. One STuG (identified as STUG 01) is sitting on the AXIS ORANGE road and facing my ridge-line. Right now it appears to be a support by fire asset, but more information is needed. Also along AXIS ORANGE is the moving UI Infantry unit. I can't make any assumptions about what he is intending on this axis yet. I will await further information. On the AXIS RED road sits another STuG (STUG 02), this vehicle did not move this turn, but just sat facing up the road. The white carrots in the following image indicates facing for the enemy armored vehicles. STUG 01:

Exactly right, armor tactics is all about angles.

As for an opening turn artillery strike... that could indeed happen, but how would he know what my setup zone actually is and be able to take advantage of it? I setup right to the boundaries of my setup zone with as much of my force as possible to get as many eyes looking down hill as possible.

This will be the final analysis post, if these posts are the appetizer, then after this post I will be jumping into the main course. I hope these aren't too boring for you. ENEMY AXIS OF APPROACH (AOA) ANALYSIS After looking at the map I thought my opponent had three main options for his attack. I think that he will use the road network for his armor, they allow longs fields of fire and he can clear the bocage lined shoulders with his infantry and armor. Anyway, that is how I would attack on this map, and I would do it on more than one axis while maintaining at least a third of my combat power for a breakthrough attack, penetration and exploitation at the location he looks weakest: stretch him, identify weak point(s), penetrate weak point(s), exploit. To find out whether that is what my opponent does or not, you will have to stay tuned! AOA 1 (AXIS RED) - to me seemed the most likely AOA - it contains a good road network for his armor, and is the shortest route to my objectives. AOA 2 (AXIS ORANGE) - another highly likely AOA as it also contains a strong road network, however this route would be costly in time and ammo supply due to the length of road he would need to clear. AOA 3 (AXIS YELLOW) - a very unlikely AOA in my opinion. This route is not armor friendly, and it would mean clearing bocage field after bocage field on the way to my objectives. The drawback for all of these AOAs is that I will see him coming and can take action to block his path. The following screenshots show the map from his perspective... thought they might help set the scene. AXIS RED SECTOR: AXIS ORANGE SECTOR:

TERRAIN ANALYSIS Okay, for this AAR I am going to provide several maps to help orient you to the terrain. Here is the base map with elevations turned on: That is clear as mud isn't it? You can loosely make out the road net, but the bocage map and even the elevations are tough to decipher. I added the 100 meter grid in Photoshop. ELEVATION TEMPLATE This map was created specifically to highlight the elevation on this map. Blue indicates low ground, while red is high, you can clearly see that the terrain rises from the bottom left corner to the top right. My forces are arrayed on this ridge and will have great visibility. OBSTACLE TEMPLATE This map clears up the terrain and clearly shows the obstacles in this scenario. I will use this map periodically to help you orient the actions throughout this AAR. This template includes the general location of my initial dispositions in blue. BOCAGE TEMPLATE This map clearly shows the road net, and the bocage map. It helps to keep these types of maps clear of clutter for planning and for analysis throughout a game.

There is no need to put a specific number to this... I argue that it is terrain and situation dependent. For argument sake let's assume you are working with a two tank section: If your two tanks can mutually support at 150 meters, why close them up to a specific distance? I would base it on what terrain affords the best protection (i.e. hull-down positions) and still allows both tanks to cover the same ground and also provides a good spread. That might be 25 meters apart in some circumstances... it might be 80 meters, or it could be 500 meters or more on a very open map. It is the firepower that is important, not the proximity of tanks to each other. You increase your odds by separating more as you give yourself the advantage of having two potentially wildly different spotting solutions. Sometimes you want them tight, but again this is dependent on the enemy situation, your mission, and the terrain. The more open the map, the more spread you should use, the more closed the terrain becomes the closer they will be together, and that could be wheel to wheel if the situation demands.

Thanks fellas. For some of my philosophy you can read my two part blog post on playing a defensive game: PLATOON DEFENSE Part 1 and PLATOON DEFENSE Part 2 A quote from part 1: I will, hopefully, illustrate some of the items I have bolded above in this AAR, and hopefully will throw in a surprise or two along the way. Bil

You are taking that too literally.. Guderian said "You hit somebody with your fist and not with your fingers spread." That doesn't mean drive into them in a tight mass, it means to ensure the individual tanks/units can mutually support each other and provide converging fire as needed.

This is correct. Spread your tanks out, as was and is done in real life.. a cluster of vehicles in this game makes them all easier to spot. Especially if they are all moving. Bulletpoint, we weren't there, all we can do is give you some theories as to what happened in this particular instance from the descriptions you provided. Take from it what you will, or ignore all the lessons, the choice is yours.

This is a true After Action report (AAR). I played this game last year against one of my most skilled opponents (ScoutPL). The scenario was Green Hell, my goal was to protect the Farm and Cafe objectives, and if possible, try to take the la Madeleine objective. Simple no? This was the first time I had played this scenario and the scenario and sides were chosen by my opponent. I will give a general overview along with a quick and dirty METT-T analysis, then I'll get right into the action. A word of warning though, there will be no long range tank fights in this AAR, it will be a tough costly mainly infantry slug-fest for both sides. I do hope however that I can at least show my philosophy when on the defense. I will be honest, I struggle the most with the defense, I am very offensive minded and just can't help myself sometimes and overextend, right Baneman? MISSION The mission is simple, hold the enemy at bay and force him to waste his combat power on the drive to my objectives, so that when he arrives he will have a spent force. My main goal is to protect the two objectives in my zone, and preserve my force as much as possible. ENEMY I have been told to expect German FJ troops in unknown strength, though if I go by the tactical map above I can expect a combined force of infantry and armor. All I really know is that they should be entering around the a Madeleine objective area... if the tactical map above is correct. TERRAIN My force is sitting on a ridge-line, so I should have good lines of sight across the entire map. Whether that means I will be able to spot much is another matter. The map is also broken up by bocage lined fields. However they are easily penetrated, so will be easily flanked, also those fields will mask movement wonderfully, for both sides. TROOPS I command Baker Company, with a weapons company (Dog) in support. I will get into my initial plans for this battle in a future post. Initial deployments are shown below.. Baker is spread across the entire ridge-line and Dog has been broken up evenly to support Baker's Platoons. TIME I have 1 hour and 20 minutes to hold off the enemy. That is a long time, but will also mean that ammo supply could be the deciding factor at the end.

Yeah I have fond memories of the tank fight in that AAR , not so much the infantry battle that followed.

It's starting to make sense.... the following are in the order of my highlighting above: Both sides hull down? I doubt your Panthers were hull-down as they were moving. I DO believe the Shermans were hull down. The Sherman also has a small turret, and hull down tanks can be very tough to spot. In my very first BETA AAR (for CMBN) I had a hull down Pz-IV that shot up my opponent's armor and he never located it. Trees, even sparse trees can add to the complexity of the spotting solution. Ask C3K how effective tree-lines can be. If the Shermans were stationary, then they had all of the advantages in this fight, stationary tanks spot best. This is why if you must move your tank, leap-frog them so you always have at least one stopped and covering for the other. Always move in pairs at least so you can provide a proper overwatch. Your moving Panthers will NOT spot very well at all. Movement is the worst thing you can do if you can't spot an enemy tank. In these instances, stop, go hull down facing the direction of the enemy fire, and wait. It could take two or more turns to even get a sound contact. I am not surprised that your Panthers never spotted the Shermans... you didn't give your tanks any advantages. Even the best tank can be killed if you are cavalier with them and think they are invulnerable. One more thing from one of your posts... you said "I had three Panthers in a tight group...", of course all you did was make them that much easier to spot by bunching together. Bil

There isn't enough information to really make a determination as to what happened in this instance... 1. It looks like your Panthers were in the open.. how were the Shermans arrayed: hull down, in a woodline, behind obstacles? 2. Were the Panthers moving? 3. Were the Shermans moving? A lot goes into an armor match-up and it isn't as simple as who has the better optics, or even the better crew.

The best strategy for fighting in woods is to avoid them. However, if you must move through them you need to send scouts through the woods ahead of your main body with plenty of listening halts, try to always have about half your force stopped and listening for enemy contacts... hunt only through woods unless you know for certain where they are located. The scouts should not engage (if possible) but should halt as soon as they get any contact whether it is firm or a sound contact... always know what you are going up against before you concentrate your main body against it. I used this technique in my CMRT BETA AAR if you would like to see it in action (follow the link to the exact post where I discuss this). Another reference is a very short AAR I did with C3K with Germans versus Russian SMG troops in the woods. If possible, skirt the edge of the woodline and avoid the center of the woods, which is where you will probably find most of the defenders. I used this technique in my CMRT BETA AAR as well. If you have armor then a tank or two behind your scouts to send random shots as far as they can see will usually spook and make enemy defenders move around, which makes them easier to locate. Good luck.

I bolded the part above... it is a very good idea to slow down and re-analyze, I do this all the time. Let the situation develop a bit the situation could become a little clearer. Excellent use of the available tools in the game to help with the analysis of what you are seeing in-game... nice to see someone taking that lesson and running with it. Looking forward to the next post. Keep those vehicles hull down and use terrain masking whenever possible! Bil

Well, it sounds like something I would never use... although I must say it is aptly named... wherever gamers meet and talk: there is Discord.

Umm.. no relation to anything being developed. Sorry. I did say I was "toying" with the idea right? Haven't made up my mind yet. Now, we've hijacked this man's thread enough for now. Back to you BrotherSurplice! Apologies for the diversion.

Always good to know.. thanks. I am toying with starting another AAR in the next week or so... getting the bug again I guess.

If I was you, I would download one of the many Combat Mission Demos and give it a test run on your current system. You might need to turn off shadows and the like (but maybe not), but should be able to get into it with what you are fielding.