Commanderski

April 3rd, 1944.  0700 hours.
For the first time in days, the sky is clear and the sun is out.  If anything, at least today my soldiers can feel the sun on their faces after days of snow, blizzards, gloom and fog.
While the main thrust of the German attack to relieve the surrounded units in Kovel will commence from the north, my task this morning is to prevent a Soviet counter attack from reaching those troops and upending my main attack.  We are to capture and occupy two villages as well as the high ground at point 208.
Since we have had time to prepare my attack begins with an artillery strike on the first village of Kalinowka.  10th Kompanie SS Panzergrenadiers will seize the village while 9th Kompanie SS Panzergrenadiers will make their attack on Point 208.

The terrain around Kalinowka is similar to what we have been fighting through the past days.  However, on my right, the open and blasted ground, trench lines and shattered trees in front of us are highly reminiscent of the "No-Man's land" of WWI that is so familiar to my troops from the stories of their fathers.

The wide open space, devoid of any cover other than artillery craters, is nerve wracking and daunting.  My men know what will be asked of them and feel they eyes of the enemy on their every move.  No one believes the Soviets will give up the high ground without a fight.

Rushing forward, under cover of our Assault guns, my troops grab any abandoned trench or shell hole they can find.

The men hunker down and wait for our artillery to soften the enemy before commencing the attack.

The men spread out, move up and take positions to wait.  At least those in the trenches feel some relative safety at the moment.  But the men make no mistake in knowing this is only the quiet before the storm.

Unfortunately, all my Panthers are being utilized for the attack on Kovel itself so for today we will rely only on our STuGs.  And there is nothing worse for them than sitting out in the open with zero cover.

As if on cue, suddenly Soviet infantry is noticed darting into positions on top of Point 208.  

On the other side of our battle positions, 10th Kompanie has also made contact and taken their first casualties.  This quiet morning is about to go all to hell.
 
 

Know that it's still highly appreciated. For me FR is the best CM ever.
The waiting was agony though.

Men At Work
 
 

In some scences you can see soldiers with AK-47 rifles or IS-3 tanks on background, but in whole this is good series for all age, though the original book of Yanush Pshimanovski was written mostly for teenagers. The film is enough close to the book
Das Boot also great movie, I didn't know that inintially it was mini-series too.

The Soviet's main line of works has been uncovered.  The Panthers, attempting to punch a hole in their line, do their work and begin driving the enemy out.  Once a hole is made the line can be turned and rolled up all along the front.



The Panthers can only do so much and it's left for my infantry to mop up any Soviets still hiding in the works.

Utilizing the tried and true tactics of suppress and flank, my troops begin carrying the works and their confidence grows for the assault on the town.  Momentum is building...
Here while 1st platoon suppresses a couple stubborn defenders,

3rd platoon flanks to the left and finishes the job.

Doing some play testing of my scenario. The Tiger was sitting by a house and got hit. The explosion took the house down.

1-A customizable random map generator. For sure, this option will attract QB lovers, CMX1 geeks and casual players. It´s a win-win for both developers and customers.
2-Very tiny quick battles (half points of the minimun). Since many people enjoy small battles (actually "tiny battles" are not so tiny)  it should be a nice addition and not difficult to make.
 

Interesting when running these historical actions via CM. I've worked out a good position to KO advancing Soviet armour without taking much return fire. Possible this was same position taken up by 7 Kompanie when they KOd 12 enemy tanks? One Panther not so lucky but boit further forward (see right background)...

One of the things in this action was the Soviets used their aircraft in CAS - this was noted by the Germans as being a new thing. Top tip for CM - keep your AA assets close!


AI Plan after this playthrough required tweaking. Mainly because of what you can see in the above screenshot. I've also added some triggers for the Soviet AI to counter most likely German COA. Now to see if they work!

March 29th, 1100 hours.  The next day...
Today we must make our attack and ultimately breakthrough to our surrounded troops in Kovel.  Defeat is not an option, only total victory will be acceptable to relieve our comrades before their destruction.  High command has tasked  II Battalion, 434th Regt. with the first part of today's mission.  II Battalion is composed of 5th, 6th and 7th Kompanies with 8th Kompanie weapons.  Additional support will come from mortars and artillery guns as well as 16 Panther tanks from Nicoluss-Lecks 8th Kompanie and a battery of 5 StuGs from 2nd Batterie/StuG Bde 190.  
Again, the terrain will be a major factor as there are still snow flurries, it's freezing and there is snow on the ground.  I really must avoid moving through any dense forest, the main being right in the middle of the map.
7th Kompanie, on my right, moves out.  Again the troops are comforted by the sight of so much armor out to protect them today.



3rd Squad, 2nd Zug, 7th Kompanie has the unenviable job of walking point.  In the face of all that open ground and brooding dark forests in the distance, they grit their teeth and move forward...

 

I like the atmosphere of brooding heat and danger, George. Great pictures. I also like the impression of emptiness and loneliness of the battlefield, from the view of those Panzergrenadiere. Must have been pretty discouraging from time to time.

Well one Soviet AT attack plan done (Alpha version). This version is the bare bones attack framework. it does not take into account what the enemy (German) player may do. The Alpha version is mainly to check co-ordniation and timings. I always seek to attempt to get the AI plan to 'beat' the other side but running through it but not giving the other side any orders. If my AI plan can rinse the static player its a good indication the human player will have to 'do stuff' to prevent being beat. Now thats not always the case (depends...) but its a useful indicator to the AI plan effectiveness.
This shows the infantry echelon going into the attack. The assault group is somewhere up ahead...

The assault group dying their thing.

The German grunt's eye view of impending doom...


I'm now playing against my own AI plan to check how it copes with the other side throwing a spanner in the works. This will give me some insight into how I'll need to either adapt the Alpha AI plan to take into account likely COAs by the enemy player and/or provide suitable encounters - which mat mean tweaks to the overall framework. The constraint in this scenario given its a historical one (and one I have a lot of granular detail about) is making the scenario work but remaining true as much as i can - usual caveats apply - to the actual course of events. In truth it'll always be a compromise as the actual fighting and the Soviet attacks lasted a day. I'm focussed on an initial 2 hour slice.
Now me attempting to screw up my own AI plan.

Yes, well nothing to see here. Must be hot in the tank...

Right lets try sneaking up on them.

“Over!”

That's better!

On a roll now!

The above attack I'm using as its basis the actual initial German countermoves. Which saw a swift armoured counterattack by Wiking Panthers which KO'd 12 Soviet tanks and KIA a lot of attacking infantry in the vicinity of Hill 107n just outside Jasienica. In RL this was a very short lived success.

More images from the front...

Death in the snow.  The artillery has silenced, momentarily, and my troops move back into their previously held positions and are able to give aid.

There is lull in the artillery and the Soviet OPs have been suppressed.  First platoon is across and is clearing the woods to the north.  The time to move is NOW.  It's imperative to take the Stare Kozary rail station before I assault the village.  My men are tired just from running through the low frozen stream.

Los, los, los!

Now I can travel tactically the way you're supposed too. A scout can look over a crest or around a bend before the 'Zug' proceeds further. With the same unit. 

Rubizhne, probably Corsar ATGM hit Russian truck.
 

Wee update. Testing AI Plan (timings with attacking units and arty support - taking some fettling!) and the context.
"At 0900Hrs the Soviets opened a formidable barrage on all the lines of the IV.SS-Pz.Korps, in particularly against the left flank of the Totenkopf and against the entire area of responsibility of the Wiking This shelling, so intense that it was impossible to distinguish the explosions from one another, like a continuous roar of thunder, was followed by ceaseless attacks on the part of the Russian air force on the positions of the artillery. The Totenkopf and the Wiking had to face the offensive of two Soviet rifle corps, supported by a whole mechanized body, between Grabie Stare and Sulejow. Out of the six divisions of riflemen who attacked, four pressed in front of the Wiking!" Ref Trang
Images show elements from the assault group from 59 Guards Tank Brigade - 289th Tank Battalion with tankodesantniki from their SMG battalion plus elements from 301 SU Rgt, No4 battery attack into elements from the 'Wiking'  II/"Germania" at Hill 107 behind advancing infantry from 76th Guards Rifle Division..




'Germania's the 5. and 6 companies, were nearly overrun southwest of Tluszcz near Jasienica by Soviet tanks and infantry that had broken through Jadwinin. Ref nash.


 

Had wee break due to family stuff.
Back to creating AI plan for the Soviets. Some screens (I'm playing Germans against my AI plan).

SPW move up to support the Panthers.

Männer gegen Panzer 

The Soviet AI plan certainly has mass behind it!

Contact!  The snow has made things very difficult for my pixeltruppen who are finding it hard to coordinate an attack without wearing out an entire company before they even get into action.

On my left my men race into a frozen muddy ditch in hopes of finding defilade from the Soviet bullets.

Safety is relative on this battlefield.  The small shrub trees are hell on lines of sight and now the dreaded Soviet artillery is beginning to fall.  


On my right Battalion Germania continues to struggle through the snow, however, they have made their way up the flank of the defenders and one of my MGs gets contacts and begins to open up on the dug in Soviets.

Meanwhile the troops continue to work their way into assault positions while my StuGs also struggle to find lines of sight onto the objective.  My plan is to smoke the village with my StuGs and rush in with two companies at once.  However, the snow and terrain are wreaking havoc with that so far.  We will see...

Campaign generator.

I think one of these generals is no longer among the living but it's still funny...😀

I think one of these generals is no longer among the living but it's still funny...😀

Here what yesterday our General Staff scored as +1 ship - looks like small landing craft pr.11770 "Serna" was hit by Bayraktar, when it was disembarking SAM system (Orix claimed this was TOR) on Zmiinyi island. Double kill. TB2 also hit facility on the ground
Black Sea Fleet has two pr.11770 landing crafts, year ago from Caspian flotilia to Azov was moved several crafts of this project, but I forgot how much. Caspians have four Sernas 
Situation with attack on Admiral Makarov still unclear, RUMINT source from Sevastopol says about 30 ambulances drove from the Sevastopol port after frigate turned back. Russian TG in own messages also tell there is strike had took place, but damaged ship successfully tured back. Ukrainian official military speakers keep silence.

The push to Koval continues...

No, it has been put on hold until you learn the difference between "too" and "to".
 

As per the above screen shots, II. BtL./Germania's two other companies, (the 5. and 6), were nearly overrun southwest of Tluszcz near Jasienica by Soviet tanks and infantry that had broken through Jadwinin before a counterattack launched by SS-Hauptsturmführer Hans Flügel II. Abt./SS-Pz.Rgt. 5, supported by a Schutzenpanzerwagen company from Ill Btl./Germania, drove them off after destroying 12 Soviet tanks. 
Following screenshots show this attack going in.

“All Bussard Stations, net call, over!”
“Bussard 1 to Bussard Commander send over!”
“Bussard 1 go into overwatch 200m at your 1 O’Clock, Over!”
“Bussard 1, acknowledged, Out!”

“All Bussard Stations this is Bussard 1! 11 O’Clock, enemy tank, 600m!” 

“Load AP!”
“AP, up, safety on!”
“1 O’Clock – AP – 20 mils - 600! – panzer – Shoot!”
“Achtung!”
“Over!”
“1 O’Clock – AP – 20 mils - 550! – panzer – Shoot!”
“Hit!”
“Move forward half right, 50m”

“Perner leader to Perner 4!”
“Perner 4 to Perner Leader, send over!”
“1 O’clock, 300m, slight rise, move out, over!”
“Perner 4 to Perner leader, yes! out!”