sburke

a 1st platoon team that had been stranded with 2nd platoon is breaking now. Gotta love the behavior in CMx2. The team breaks and heads out across the wheatfield. They come under fire and one of the team is clearly trailing Here one guy stops and turns to check on his buddy and proceeds to try to give covering fire and it's the one injured guy! The face of the enemy

Another TC taken out by an mg team. American armor continues to have difficulty contributing to the fight. One item we found in this battle caught us both by surprise. There has been a lot of discussion of uber spotting by tanks on the forum. I fully expected I would have some difficulty taking on American armor. What we found instead was American armor was exceedingly vulnerable. I got to the point of checking every tank I could see to verify if the TC was exposed. I gave no explicit orders, I didn't need to. If a TC popped his head up, his life expectancy could be measured in turns. As to AT teams, well we will get to that. German vehicles put to work ferrying reinforcements to the beleagured 1st Company. The Americans have broken out into 2nd platoons flank while at the same time a concerted push seems to be organizing for the left crossroads.

Stager has now withdrawn from the wheatfield. 2nd platoon is left hanging to slow the American drive with very little chance of surviving the battle. Note the first pair of MG units on the far left slowly making their way forward to join 1st Company. 3rd platoon 1st Company breaks contact. The leader of this platoon should receive a commendation, they have fulfilled their role perfectly and with hardly any loss. 3rd Platoon 1st Company sets up in their fallback position. 2nd platoon is effectively cut off. American units have occupied the left flank orchard and the hazards of trying to cross the Wheatfield are no better than staying put. ` Friberg, having taken over point defense lies in wait in the center crossroads. In discussing this battle beforehand, the general feeling was the German position was really awful. However as the battle went on I began to realize the Germans were essentially defending in the central position from a reverse slope and it extended for quite a bit. This meant the Americans would have a really difficult time providing fire support to the advance units. 2nd Platoon has been flanked, but it would be some time before the Americans would be able to take advantage of that. Concealment in the wheatfield made it very difficult to target units as we would both discover.

So we head into the critical phase of the battle. The Germans are still unsure where the hammer will fall or even that it is coming soon and the Americans have fallen behind the pace of the scheduled bombardment. Is that not unlike most major battles you have read about? The staff planning that goes into an attack and trying to figure out how long anything will actually take is a major leap of faith. One has to accept that you plan without actually knowing how anything will play out. The first Sherman down.Hopefully this will reduce some of the fire coming off hill 108. The Reich ball express continues troop movements. The unit portrayed is not the unit in the vehicle. The mass of a large attacking force is noted heading directly for Hwy 91 between the left and center crossroads. The call goes out for artillery in a linear strike to blunt the attack. It's time for 2nd and 3rd platoons to withdrawal. Unfortunately for those 2nd platoon units in the wheatfield it is likely already too late. For now they may just have to fight to make time for everyone else.

Genrallly I did split all of them up. I had some issues as this is a depleted battlion and occasionally I had squads that could not split up. My intent with those was to try and designate them for tasks that required some serious firepower. As long as they didn't take a direct arty round that plan would seem to make sense.

I had to step away for a work trip that lasted almost a month, so in actual time I had access to the game about a month. Figure about 2 turns a day and the battle ran for around 75 minutes.

3rd Company 1st Platoon now begin the third part of the mission, force the enemy to deploy and stall on Hwy 91. Here you see units in a firefight the width of a road. This is not a fight they can be expected to win, they will need to break contact again soon. More American armor is moving up Stager meanwhile has shifted back to his original position and is about to warn the Americans that direct fire support from the hotel is a dangerous game. 3rd Platoon 3rd Company is showing the effects of the bombardment. Though still mostly intact, it is becoming questionable how effective this unit will be as a reserve. This will have unforeseen and tragic consequences for 1st platoon 2nd Company. Next up, The American view I am going to pause here as shortly after this the s**t really hits the fan. I want to give Broadsword the opportunity to comment on the American perspective of events so far, how they may or may not have affected American planning and what the Americans are thinking to do next. For you Monday morning quarterbacks it is important to note one item you can not see in this. Broadsword and I have had a number of games together and have begun to have a sense of the other's style. I prefer an active defense, I don't like sitting still and waiting to react to enemy moves. I prefer to try to keep them off balance (one reason to not play against the AI. It could care less what I am thinking). Broadsword on the other hand generally likes to keep me guessing about where the attack is going to fall. This battle saw both of us moving slightly different. The state of my units makes my usual tactics difficult to use. These troops tire fast and cower relatively quickly. I have been extremely dependent on my StuG units to carry the load. My ambush by the OP unit would generally be the exception, my infantry would not be able to employ fire and movement tactics reliably. Broadsword on the other hand moved a lot faster than I expected. We had deliberately kicked the clock on this game out to 4 hours. I was expecting the Americans to spend more time trying to recon my positions. That the attack would develop as fast as it did was unexpected. I was still unsure 20 minutes into the game that everything on my left wasn't a diversion. The relative lack of activity by the Shermans was weighing on my mind. Again an item that Broadsword deliberately included in the plan that achieved it's intended effect.

The artillery storm continues while the Germans start shuttling units to support 1st Company. I would end up setting up a shuttle service with transfer points as there was no path for vehicles across the map. It was a bit of effort, but the result was MG teams showing up still in good shape. These would add a level of resilience to 1st Company that was badly needed. 3rd Platoon had been effectively removed from control and would continue to fight from 3rd Company's AO. 2nd Platoon was being mauled and would only suffer more. 1st platoon was mostly intact but rattled. Once again units from the PJ Bn would prove crucial to stabilizing the line and allowing significant numbers of units to break contact. 1st Company would eventually be fighting from their HKL.

At the time I was so focused on the battle being waged by my screen, I didn't register the import of the artillery barrage hitting rearward of them that started this turn. For the most part it landed in open fields, however a squad of 3rd Company's reserve platoon was wiped out in the storm. Until this point my total casualties amounted to about 4 men. I had destroyed 6 enemy armored vehicles and killed or wounded an indeterminate amount of infantry. More importantly what I would slowly realize as this artillery storm continued was the enemy timetable had been broken. The artillery barrage was falling in an area where it could do me little damage and the enemy would have to continue their assault with no benefit derived. My screen had accomplished 2 of their objectives, disguise my HKL or main line of resistance and disrupt the enemy tempo. The last objective was in sight, slow the enemy in the kill zone established along hwy 91. As the barrage line would seem to indicate, the primary thrust was directly between the boundaries defined by the crossroads and my kill zone on hwy 91 was directly athwart this path. Though the battle on my left flank would continue, I suspected it would not be reinforced and 1st Company would be able to handle it. It would need some additional reinforcements but those were available and I believed I had time to get them into position yet.

Schwimmer finishes off the second Stuart and then figuring luck has been pushed too far, pulls back out of LOF. Smoke columns mar the blue summer skies marking the damage done to US armor units.

The PJ units continue to maul American armor as 2 more Stuarts fall victim. Schwimmer hits a second Stuart moving behind the one he just killed. Over on the left Stager also finds another target hopefully giving the Americans enough of a bloody nose to slow down and rethink their plans here. German luck which has been incredibly good so far finally runs out. An American artillery barrage hits some of my reserve forces. One squad takes several direct large caliber hits and the foxholes are not enough.

While in the center crossroads Schwimmer puts the Americans on notice that crossing Hwy 91 was going to require a concerted effort. I like this sequence as the the effect on how a turn plays out is very dynamic. As the StuG rolls up, the only enemy evident is an infantry unit which it proceeds to hammer. The immediate result (besides the infantry casualties) is a dust screen in front of my now stationary StuG. As the dust clears, it reveals American armor attempting to force it's way into the orchard. 2 Stuarts would fall to this StuG as the American Light tank company continues to take the brunt of the casualties.

A big moment for German armor as the StuG units continue to deter US armor from providing much needed support to the poor GIs. On the left flank Stager despite losing his loader to a mortar round accounts for his third Stuart

The pressure on my left flank continues to grow with an entire tank platoon noted and 1st platoon's defense beginning to fold. Note at least one team is beginning to break under the strain of sustained mg and cannon fire.

Just so folks don't think that tank crews are the only ones who know how to use a pistol. Here an AT guy knows he needs to keep the Shreck for the tanks that are approaching. No problem, he's got a pistol. Bang, take that squad leader. Anyone carrying a thompson is fair game. Time for an overview. You can see some of the TRPs and how deep I was prepared for the Americans to push. So far my attention is largely focused on my left flank though the increasing level of activity towards the center crossroads is very evident. I still was not sure where the main effort would come from but I had seen no movement at all on my right flank and had good OP locations so I was getting more and more certain that the left side of the battlefield was going to be the focus. Note the armor around the hotel. These were Shermans providing direct fire support. I would eventually have to deal with this threat as well. 2nd Platoon was out on a limb and would become more and more exposed with heavy suppressive fire being a constant.

Still trying to help their buddy, this scene was heart wrenching. You could almost hear the classic movie scene of them attempting to stop the bleeding all the time knowing their buddy was slipping away while enemy fire continued to impact all around them. Broadsword and I both have fairly vivid imaginations trying to attach stories to the scenes. It isn't hard with this game. Meanwhile the enemy is blasting hell out of 1st Squad 3rd platoon's old position. This was probably one of my best moments in the whole battle where my plans actually worked better than expected. Usually when I try to do something like this some errant mortar rounds hits em first.

We've had a few suggestions for shorter turns for example maybe a 30 second option. I understand the intent but I think it may become an issue when 30 seconds is then decided to be too long and we want 15, then 10. No this wasn't to re open that discussion, it was to set the scene for a great sequence 26 seconds of mayhem as an assault gun from 1st pltn gives some relief to my landser and escalates the recon battle.

1st Squad 3rd platoon successfully breaks contact leaving the enemy guessing as to what to expect and definitely wanting to blast it's former position. This for me is a perfect example of the role of your screen. Hit the enemy recon and force them to expend time and ammo on a position that is now vacant. This was mostly luck, but you'll find luck falling more often your way if you at least have a clear, simple and hopefully effective plan. They have retreated off hwy 91 and taken up position with the rest of the platoon. Meanwhile 1st platoon has recieved some badly needed help. The Stuart may be a light tank, but can dish out a lot of firepower against infantry targets. My Infantry needs relief from this threat badly and it has just arrived.

Meanwhile 1st platoon continues to struggle as enemy armor moves up to get the attack going, however help is on the way. 1st platoon suffers the first German casualty. Due to incoming fire they will be unable to administer buddy aid and will eventually have to just leave this guy behind. Notice I got my portraits sorted out Mord. In case it doesn't show from my Sig, I have a particular affinity for 352nd ID. Crack SS units with lots of uber toys.. meh. Give me the average Landser underdog desperately struggling to hold off their foe with dwindling resources. These guys are the unsung heroes.

Recon ambush - This is one of those moments where I am just so impressed with the TAC AI. First my team pops up catching the GIs by surprise hitting one. They then pull a PF. Maybe a bit of overkill, but I want this ambush to be swift and effective and this unit to get out of here. They exceeded my expectations. Hey, watch where you point that thing! You'd think the backblast might have bothered the guys on the left. As a last bit of icing on the cake the squad leader tosses a grenade. This ambush was essentially sprung by only 2 members of the team. The others would join in at the end, but by then it was time to consider getting out of dodge. Gotta love that Lansder, nails one guy with his Kar98, then calmly looses a PF. Okay, job over what's next? The hand grenade seemed to be more of an attempt to make sure any other units kept their heads down so these guys could withdrawal.

On my left, my picket line is continuing to hold up the allied advance. They don't seem to be causing many casualties, but they are hindering the timetable and forcing my opponent to deploy heavier units to get the attack going. My 3rd platoon OP would play a really pivotal role in the battle that only became clear in retrospect. Part of what I really enjoy about CMBN is I am always curious as to the impact of individuals on events. The 1:1 modelling of CMBN means I can see some of that. Later in this battle you will see a pretty incredible firefight and what I really enjoyed about it was watching the behavior of individual members of my squad. They are not simply an amorphous unit. One guy can throw up his arms and surrender and the guy next to him put up a tough fight. In this particular case it is early in the battle and my units have not started to deteriorate from combat. Having completed the decimation of one recon unit, the team becomes aware of another recon unit attempting to close. 1st platoon units continue to try to suppress the left flank attack giving me time to re orient Meanwhile armored support is on the way. For the units on hwy 91 it is quite close, but for my left flank they have a bit further to go.

The recon battle is going into full swing now. Though not the first American casualty, this was the first my men actually saw (hearing screams w/o actually seeing anyone is quite unsettling. The harassing fire was definitely finding targets). It was fitting it would be a TC. American tank crews would suffer grevious losses in this battle. TCs were particularly vulnerable. In a larger battle with so many distractions and the need to also provide supporting fire armor becomes exceedingly vulnerable. Forget about whether you should be using hunt or slow etc When lead is flying everywhere, dust is clouding your view and your armor has a specific task to suppress potential enemy positions life is going to get dangerous. My fwd positions pay off on both the right flank and the center as American units are either pinned and unable to move forward without additional support or simply outright ambushed and eliminated. Some idea of how complicated the terrain is on this battlefield is evident here. The American recon crests a small rise on hill 108. They are now completely cut off from supporting fire and at close range to 1st squad 3rd platoon in ambush position. To the left outside your field of view is a minefield. I had very few mines, but figured there was simply no way the Americans could pass up that location for a recon position. In retrospect this might have appeared to be an obvious location for an ambush, but only if you go down to eyeball level and review a very very large map. I placed the unit and even at that time was not expecting anything like this sequence and the events that follow. Tomorrow- The Recon Ambush

By turn 4 Nell had recovered and spotted an American assault force moving towards his position. The artillery fire plan was coming into effect and harrassment fire was falling on suspected forming up positions near the hotel. The forward OPs were also paying dividends. LOS deep into the enemy rear from positions along the hwy was as it turned out quite good. This would make a significant contribution towards allowing me to focus on where the enemy was as opposed to worrying about where they weren't. Again the battle for intel can have really significant implications particularly in large scale engagements. This view is deep behind the center crossroads. 5 minutes into the battle and the first American recon is spotted near the center crossroads. Meanwhile 1st pltn 1st Co units shift position to orient towards the American attack. B team from 3rd squad moves to assist Nell in delaying the Americans.

The first indications of the attack direction was a preparatory artillery barrage as well as tank and MG fire on Nell's position at the 1st Company OP. Though pinned and scared witless, Nell was unharmed. I do not know if the enemy had spotted the foxholes, it seems probable - poor placement on my part. However the protection given was sufficient to allow Nell to survive and even to begin my forward defence. Nell under fire from American units up by the Hotel Though a lot of fire is coming off the hill, the foxholes are paying off The first sign of US units 1st Platoon 1st Company units were taking fire, but unscathed. I could however see rather quickly that my main enemy was not going to be casualties, but suppressive effects. This unit is brittle and if the enemy got in close, my men were going to break, no question. The American advantages at the squad level would tear my units apart if allowed. Though no units had been spotted by the center crossroads the artillery prep included areas around the bloody orchard. I wasn't sure if this was for screening or a wider attack.

We decided to wait until the battle ended as we wanted to focus on it while it was still going rather than the AAR. Just wrapped up tonight so here goes. And no we aren't going to tell you the end of the story first. We will finish this AAR, that is a promise. The two of us have enjoyed this battle way too much and this forum is in serious need of more fun and less quibbling over features. We would hope this would lead to more AARs and who knows, maybe even an AAR section. I am sure the noobs would appreciate it and I would love to have something to read at work while I am goofing off. I have already taken, cropped and marked up most of my screenshots and there are lots and lots of them. For me the first phase of the battle is probably the most interesting. The struggle for intel between the attacker trying to ascertain where your primary defensive line is and the defender trying to screen it can be very intense and have a major impact on the flow of the battle. For the defender it can also mean throwing the attacker's plans into disarray forcing them to make decisions on the fly, get reactive and hopefully lead to poor choices caused by acting on too little info. As an additional benefit, if you are dealing with a fairly complicated battle plan with important timetables, it can unhinge your opponent and deprive them of some of their best weapons. We often complain about scenarios where the time given is too short. I think this battle is very demonstrative of the importance of a schedule decided by folks further up the chain of command and what happens when the grunts on the line can't meet the phase objectives on time. You will know far more about what was going on at any phase of this battle than I did. One thing I found in reviewing screenshots is how much I get caught up in the individual firefights and how hard it was to step back and keep a good perspective on overall enemy intentions. The fight on my far left flank would keep me occupied for quite a bit and if in fact it was primarily a diversion (I wrote this before reading Broadsword's battle plan. I only came to the conclusion that it might be a diversion when the Shermans were not committed and the weight of the attack shifted towards the crossroads), I think it worked pretty well. It would probably have worked even better except for the fact that my lateral movement capability was so limited. I didn't have a choice, 1st Company was going to have to defend itself with whatever help would come from the rear. 2nd and 3rd Companies were incapable of shifting. What I did have in my favor were the TRPs. My artillery defense plan was pretty simple. Conserve ammo and stick to the plan for my artillery's role, not the needs of any individual unit. The plan? I had 3 main objectives all focused around disrupting the attackers timing and reducing the capability of their units for offensive action. I never used anything other than harassing fire. While not as destructive, it did allow me to use my limited assets over a longer period of time. 1. I had a couple TRPs placed in likely forming up areas. By this I do not mean set up zones. I expect they were even further back. What I am referring to is where I expected the enemy would move units to out of LOS of my forces while their recon probed my defenses. The idea here was to pin the units, increase their suppression and cause them to be more brittle once they jumped off. 2. Cutting off forward units from support and covering fire. Once I have identified the thrust of an attack, the artillery can prevent the enemy from reinforcing and if necessary allow me to break contact. I needed to be sure withdrawal was a part of my battle plan as I absolutely knew I would be doing quite a bit and these guys are slow. 3. The kill zone. Hwy 91 was from the start a line I intended to start causing a lot of casualties. My OPs would open the recon battle prior hopefully getting the enemy thinking the hwy was actually my main defense. They would be forced to deploy and prep fire the area. Once they made the assault into the hwy they would be sitting right on my TRPs. I then had several more on the fields further into my defense meaning I could keep the enemy under fire as they tried to move forward. By the time they got through this zone I hoped to have their situation so deteriorated that my beat up battalion would be able to make a stand. What I would consider phase one, the recon battle would last approx 16 minutes though it took me a little bit longer to recognize it. The point that I realized it had likely transitioned to phase two and that I believed I had won the recon battle was when artillery started raining down behind my forward units. With few exceptions that artillery mostly resulted in tearing up fields. Meanwhile the forward units were now bunching up in on the hwy. The enemy's main thrust had been identified and was in the kill zone. Mord your portraits show up later, I started the AAR and screenshots before you uploaded those. And thanks again, they are truly outstanding.