Heirloom_Tomato

MOVEMENT TO CONTACT

The battle begins and my task force starts deploying. 2nd platoon (tanks) moves forward to establish hull down positions on the rise in front of them. 3rd platoon (tanks) establishes hull down positions on the MSR.


Artillery begins to fall on NAI 1.

On the left flank, scout team 3 moves forward, dismounts and establishes an observation post. All is quiet on the left.

Immediately after taking hull down positions, 2nd platoon encounters and engage enemy infantry moving in the open.

Upon doing my terrain analysis, it became quickly apparent to me that NAI 1 would be an excellent defensive position due to it’s cover, concealment and dominating sightlines along MSR Titan. In short, it is an excellent place for infantry to dig in and engage my forces as they try to move down the MSR.
It appears that the enemy is aware of the defensive advantages of this position as well. The enemy team my tanks engaged is proof that the enemy is on NAI 1 in some capacity, but to what degree?

In order to find out, I dispatch 2nd platoon (infantry) to begin moving towards NAI 1. In addition, scout team 1 pushes up to get extra eyes on and help discover any hidden threats not yet uncovered by the tanks.

As 2nd platoon and the scout teams begin their movement, Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) indicates that there could be a concentration of armor in the vicinity of NAI 1. I waste no time getting the JTAC to call in an Apache to put eyes on the area, and missiles into anything spotted there.

Scout team 1 dismounts and pushes up slightly to get better eyes on the tree line, but spot nothing. Covered by the tanks and scout team, 2nd platoon moves up on line and dismounts its infantry.

Meanwhile on the left flank, 1st platoon (infantry) covered by 2nd platoon (tanks) move forward along MSR Titan to gain a position overlooking NAI 3.

NAI 3 is close to the MSR and would be an ideal spot for the enemy to launch spoiling attacks against my task force moving down the MSR, such as firing RPGs into the flanks of my vehicles. Further emphasizing this point, SIGINT reports that there are potential contacts in the building complex farthest to the rear. Perhaps this is an enemy outpost watching the MSR? To prevent the enemy from launching any spoiling attacks against my task force and to deny him his (potential) observation post, 1st platoon (infantry) will establish a base of fire observing NAI 3, and then sweep and clear the buildings to ensure no threat is posed to the rest of the task force. As 1st platoon moves into position and establishes overwatch, the platoon fire support team calls in a fire mission on the suspected outpost. The mission is a single section (2 tubes) of 155mm and will be short but violent.

Shortly after calling it in, the fire mission lands.

The fire mission is short, only dropping a handful of rounds. As soon as it ends 1st platoon (infantry), covered by tanks on the MSR, advance and dismount in front of NAI 3.

Back on the right flank, my infantry are now fully deployed and arrayed against NAI 1, supported by their Bradley mounts, some tanks, and a scout team. Despite being in the open, my men have not taken any fire. Further, despite having good direct observation of the NAI, I have not been able to uncover any enemy positions. It’s time to advance.
I bring all my tanks in the area on line and begin bounding the infantry forward in teams towards the tree line.


As this is happening, an enemy artillery barrage begins to land. It seems to be falling in the open field to the rear of most of my forces and poses no immediate threat to me.

@Badger73 When I looked at the turn @stikkypixie sent me, I was able to see right away the Stryker was sitting in rocky terrain. I loaded the scenario in the editor and then went to the deploy blue screen. I moved the unit in question one action square over and then tried to put it back. The game would not let me put it back into the original position as the terrain is impassible to vehicles. The only explanation that made any sense was a terrain change made after the units had been deployed as there is no way the original scenario creator would have been able to deploy the unit there in the first place.

@Badger73 When I looked at the turn @stikkypixie sent me, I was able to see right away the Stryker was sitting in rocky terrain. I loaded the scenario in the editor and then went to the deploy blue screen. I moved the unit in question one action square over and then tried to put it back. The game would not let me put it back into the original position as the terrain is impassible to vehicles. The only explanation that made any sense was a terrain change made after the units had been deployed as there is no way the original scenario creator would have been able to deploy the unit there in the first place.

The battle in question here had a terrain tile changed after the units were deployed. Unfortunately, the Stryker ended up in impassable terrain for a vehicle and is now stuck. I have modified the battle and the updated version is available here:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/j5dkfyhnq5pt93i/AAB9JnzIDNo5Kr-jZ8e6B7Nna?dl=0
I will submit this up the chain of command and hopefully it can be included with a future patch for CMSF2.

There is a minor issue the scenario Allah's Fist. It appears when a reinforcement arrives in impassible terrain and remains stuck for the remainder of the scenario. I have moved the unit in question over 1 action square and now it is able to move freely. Here is a link to the updated scenario:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/j5dkfyhnq5pt93i/AAB9JnzIDNo5Kr-jZ8e6B7Nna?dl=0
I will pass this up the chain of command and hopefully it can be included with a future patch for CMSF2.

There is a minor issue the scenario Allah's Fist. It appears when a reinforcement arrives in impassible terrain and remains stuck for the remainder of the scenario. I have moved the unit in question over 1 action square and now it is able to move freely. Here is a link to the updated scenario:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/j5dkfyhnq5pt93i/AAB9JnzIDNo5Kr-jZ8e6B7Nna?dl=0
I will pass this up the chain of command and hopefully it can be included with a future patch for CMSF2.

There is a minor issue the scenario Allah's Fist. It appears when a reinforcement arrives in impassible terrain and remains stuck for the remainder of the scenario. I have moved the unit in question over 1 action square and now it is able to move freely. Here is a link to the updated scenario:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/j5dkfyhnq5pt93i/AAB9JnzIDNo5Kr-jZ8e6B7Nna?dl=0
I will pass this up the chain of command and hopefully it can be included with a future patch for CMSF2.

CMBN 4.0 Patch Has New QB Maps.  They are easily identified by "2019" in the Map name.  I took a good run at the bocage maps and personally enjoyed the game play with them.  There are a few maps devoted to the Rhone Valley of Southern France. So river crossing and Hills. 

An example of friction during combat...
This outside RAKOW. So backstory - so far my attack has pretty much rolled forward much as it did on the 11th August 1944. My advancing armour has come under fire from hidden AT guns. I've lost a few PzIVs to this fire but I've been IDing the hidden PAK. Two main nests have caught my attention and as yet there appears to be a hidden nest which is slowly exacting a toll on any panzer daft enough to let me order it forward. There was wee scrap on Hill 251 to clear off some pesky Russkies so I could establish a FO OP. This meant I could now bring my arty to bear but as I'd poor spots on the enemy PAK i thought I'd go for smoke so I could make a dash across the bridge and into town.
So...
 PzIVs (part of one zug in overwatch) Smoke starting to fall from my arty.

My arty spotter OP on Hill 251- you can see the smoke starting to shroud the approach across the south bridge into RAKOW (ignore the burning PzIv on the distant far left. The end of a tentative Plan A...).

We're off! And the first panzer makes it across.
Into RAKOW.
The rest of the zug follow close behind. No shots, save some grenades and rifle fire from defending Soviet infantry but the tanks are buttoned and moving at speed.
At this point my recce light SPW are now moving fast right behind, currently unbuttoned but they will be ordered now to button up.

At range and unbuttoned they are using area fire at some houses on their left flank. Smoke and dust shroud the right flank.
But... as I commit to charging across I start to notice some gaps appearing in my smoke screen. Not large gaps but crucially around the bridge...

Then the smoke dramatically clears around the bridge. The lead SPW is hit at close range by what looks like a 45mm Pak firing from their right flank concealed amongst some hedges/bushes. It rolls on and comes to a rest. all the crew killed. Following behind at a 15s interval speeds the following SPW, who is also hit coming onto the bridge. This is when i realise there must be two as no way could a gun reload that fast... The third SPW crashes into the second, stalls and not long after is hit again killing all on board. Luckily the turn ends and I manage to stop the rest in the cover of some buildings a few hundred meters up the road. So now I have a platoon of PzIVs running about in RAKOW with no close infantry support. What could possibly go wrong...
My timing to move units into concealed positions to enable them to make a dash in took time. Meanwhile, I'd to lay a long enough smoke screen to cover the approach and protect from long range fire from multiple PAK nests. I had thought my overwatch had suppressed the enemy defenders, but these light PAK were keyholed and out of LOS/LOF of my overwatching panzers. Co-ordinating all those took a bit of time which meant my SPW were making their dash just as the smoke screen was starting to fade at key places. So poor combat recce and coordination on my part led to eighteen pixel grenadiers and their rides being taken out. Tough gig being a panzergrenadier in my command...

Marines load up in the well deck of the Assault Ship USS Wasp.

AAV-7s and LAV-25s exit the well deck and head for the beach. 

Marines gather gear on the flight deck of the USS Wasp as the first assault wave passes between the Wasp and the USS Oak Hill.


Marines on the starboard hangar of the USS Wasp look on as the USS Ticonderoga engages attacking aircraft.  

 

The village of RAKOW, Poland, around 40km SE of KIELCE. This is VILLAGE Z in the AAR report at this link: http://www.allworldwars.com/Small-Unit-Actions-During-German-Campaign-in-Russia.html#2212

The map above (kindly sourced by Hugh Davie from Soviet AARs) shows the general dispositions of the Soviet forces in this area during August (RAKOW = PAKYB). The German attack came in from the west along the line of HILL 251.3

View from HILL 25.3 looking east towards RAKOW.
The context of this AAR is the German effort to reduce/eliminate the Soviets Baranow bridgehead in Poland during early August 1944.
I should note whilst I was researching this action, whilst this AAR appears super detailed a significant number of key facts are incorrect - unit make up, commanders, and Soviet opposition. The same action is described in the book 'Armoured Bears' on page 240-241 and whilst having slightly less detail, more or less ties in with the actual German OOB (and listed commanders) and TOE at the time, although again its vague as to the Soviet opposition. I also have access to Soviet AAR reports (which Hugh Davie who used to haunt these forums very kindly translated for me) and they provide an intriguing ins-sight into the fighting in this area. Whilst they confirm a German attack, and the numbers of tanks and light SPW involved are 'broadly' consistent with the size of the German kampfgruppe involved, they diverge on other details such as German losses, the actual direction and the objectives of the attack. All in all though none of the sources dove tail perfectly!! Still, they all agree that Soviet artillery eventually stalled the attack from moving beyond the outskirts of RAKOW.

German Panzer IVs moving up in the early dawn.

Approaching RAKOW and taking fire.
"Three German tanks were immediately disabled, one of them catching fire. Hauptmann Zobel (commander of the 8/II/Pz.Rgt 6) ordered the two platoons to withdraw."

In the early 2000's, knowing nothing about it, I picked up a boxed retail copy of "Barbarossa to Berlin" and ended up spending untold hours battling back and forth across the plains of the Eastern Front. WEGO had me hooked! I toyed around with the original "Shock Force" because it was very familiar to my actual military service, but I'm really a WW2 buff at heart.. I got away from the game as I upgraded computers over the years. A few years ago I started noticing that Combat Mission was out again and with a new engine, but for no particular reason, I never pursued it... until now. Well - a few days ago I bit the bullet and bought the latest build of "Battle for Normandy". Just - wow. After a bitter fight through the hedgerows, my beleaguered US squads finally knocked out the dug-in PaK 40 that had been holding my four Shermans at bay, allowing them to commit to a high-speed "cavalry charge" in-line across the now-secured field in the last three minutes of the game, to form a semi-circle at the objective crossroads all the while gunning down the remaining German infantry as they broke and fled in abject terror! It was rather glorious!

That was only my first mission, and I'm already eyeing the additional content - specifically Russia and Italy... Thanks Battlefront guys - I have returned!

MINUTE 29
My Sherman is back online.

While my halftrack is progressing. But, I have made a mistake asking for a Fast move instead of a Reverse one for having the guns toward the last objective.

My tank arrives in position.

On my left flank, Germans are counter attacking.

But, my halftrack once again saves the day.

Before been able to give my orders for next turn, the victory screen appears. Not really a victory... 30 men killed and 20 men wounded mainly due to artillery like in reality.

Here are the various stats:




The last objective would have been hard to obtain but I think my halftrack and my Sherman would have help me a lot.

The final word for @JoMc67. Hope you enjoy this DAR. Next one I hope soon except if you are bored. 🙂

MINUTE 28
Looks like the last objective is hot. Several enemy moves were spotted.

Seems they are retreating.

But no, others are fighting hard...

I am advancing more squads under fire protection of the others. I am missing a smoke screen here but my halftrack offsets that.

The tank crew is finally back. Tank will move but I am worried about those optics. At least, the machine gun works and it does not need optics, right?

Progression came to a halt.

A panicking guy just found a mine I think. Ouch!

This is not over yet clearly.

But, I have a little surprise for next turn.

A 155mm round is about 100lbs compared to the 30ish lbs of a 105mm. In the early 2000's a lot of NATO planners assumed artillery would be standardized to 155mm but operational experience has shown that cheap, light, mobile guns are valuable. I'd rather have a 105mm on call than a 155mm tied up supporting other units. More tubes are generally better than fewer state of the art tubes with precision rounds.  I think the Russian way of war is on the right track in that regard.
See also the return of 60, 81 and 120mm mortars to NATO after all those theorists thought precision CAS would replace organic fires.
When I joined the military as a field artilleryman, even at the school staff were bemoaning the End of Artillery because everybody was reading about how armed UAVs, small diameter bombs on CAS, land-based CIWS, Hell even tactical lasers had made artillery obsolete. I think NATO thinkers get tied up in the latest and greatest until the next conflict. Look at all the loony ideas before Vietnam, or even throughout the 70's and 80's.

Based on the very limited details you have posted here is what I think happened in your battle; your AT gun spots an enemy StuG and they determine firing at the StuG is a bad idea. I am going to assume a frontal shot with a 57mm AT gun has a low chance of penetration, so better to stay still and make every effort to appear nonthreatening and keep out of harms way. Unfortunately for them, the StuG spots them and fires, killing the team leader and another crew man. Thankfully the StuG finds a new target to aim at and leaves the rest of your crew alone. You don't state the StuG moved away but only that it stopped firing on the AT gun, an important point to keep in mind. Now, a Flakvierling opens fire and begins to send rounds at the AT crew. Remember they are hard wired to stand their ground and stick to their guns because once they run away, there is no coming back. You state in your first post the crew is rattled and not pinned so their only hope for things to not get any worse is to take out the threat facing them. A regular leader would probably say the StuG is still right there, if we open fire, we are dead so keep your heads down boys. But -2 Stevie Screwup forgets all about the StuG, he knows his 57 mm can one hit KO a Flakvierling and if he knocks it out, the suppression he is facing currently goes away. Again, remembering he is hard wired to stick to his gun and not run away, he makes the only right choice in his mind which is to turn and fire at the Flakvierling, attempting to knock it out and making his suppression go away.  Stevie doesn't think ahead to the next turn and what will happen to him when the StuG opens fire again, nope his -2 means he can only think about the here and now and so he makes his decision. As a regular "skills" crew man he has been under fire before, if only briefly, and the adrenaline rush of coming under fire once again and the desire for revenge for his fallen teammates makes him forget all about getting hit himself and focus only on knocking out the threat. It might be the wrong choice in the long run but right here, right now, it is all -2 Stevie can focus on and it works out for him. In his mind it is the right decision because the suppressing fire has been eliminated and for now, he is safe.
That is my take on what happened. You seem to think the outcome should have been different. What do you think should have happened and what evidence do you have to support your reasoning?

You are welcome.  An incredible amount of heart goes into the crafting of this game.

MINUTE 27
By chance, the artillery barrage is touching almost nothing.

My assault on the last objective is on going.


Not much opposition so far, my bet was good.

If one enemy team is firing or is detected, it is treated the right way... 🙂

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." Churchill

IMHO these games are AWESOME. If I had a Shelby Cobra I would just drive the hell out of it and never complain about the tune ups 😎

I would like to remind you what has been introduced in patch 4.0 because you complain a lot, and the game looks much better than version 3.0. I will mention only what happened in the gamplay and editor,  it's hard to call it a game break. The only thing is the infantry is leaving the place too easily under fire which seems safe.
In some cases, this is annoying just like spotting a short distance. However, you can still play it.
 
Gamplay
Hulldown Command
 Vehicles have access to a new movement command called Hulldown. This command allows a vehicle to move forward until only the turret is exposed to a specified target, and then the vehicle stops moving.
Improved Infantry Spacing
 Infantry on the move will now respect each other's personal space! While moving, squad and team members will maintain a few meters of distance between each other. Soldiers will also spread out laterally on the move when possible (some terrain may necessitate column movement, such as paths through rough terrain).
Peeking Around Building Corners
 Infantry units positioned adjacent to building corners will now automatically post some soldiers at the corners to observe and fire around the obstacle
AI Proactively Avoids Artillery Fire
 The TacAI that runs soldiers and vehicles will more proactively, and reactively, attempt to avoid incoming HE fire. Two classic examples are that the AI will attempt to avoid being wiped out by incoming artillery barrages and direct tank fire.
Combine Squad Command
 Combine Squad is a new Admin Command for squads. This command is useful for squads that have suffered major losses and need to consolidate their remaining personnel into larger teams.
 
Editor
AI Area Fire Orders
 The AI can now be scripted to use Area Fire! Each AI Order can have a target zone designated.
AI Facing Orders
 Each AI Order can be given a location for it to Face towards.
AI Withdraw Orders
 AI Groups can be ordered to Withdraw towards their movement destination. Vehicles will move in Reverse to the destination, while infantry will leapfrog back while turning around to face behind them.
Campaign Resupply
 Personnel replacements and ammunition levels are now more uniformly resupplied across all core units between campaign missions, as opposed to the all-or-nothing check on each unit done previously.
3D Flavor Object Clone Tool
 Flavor objects can be cloned within the 3D view without having to go back to the 2D view.
32 Order AI Plans
 Each AI Group can now have up to 32 orders, increased from 16.
Stream Terrain
 Small streams can now be placed on battle maps.
 

there HAS NEVER BEEN GAME BREAKING BUGS.
Now the bugs in the 4.0 version is game breaking  in a sense in arty  and infantry reaction to it if you are not accepting of it, but all it has ever taken is to play the game in version 3.0 before that change was made.
what you have is 4.0 format not a good format for play against the AI if you are using arty. Any other way the game is played has been fine, 4.0 is good except for a few other issues.
For those needing to bomb the heck out of AI troops, 3.0 was always still available.
Yes, was it a issue that buying the upgrade and not getting the fix all this time was bad form. Of course it was, but don't act like the game is been unplayable, for it has not.
You all know 4.01 fixes the problems, the releases are close at hand, after all this time you might as well take your chill pills because nothing on your part is making it happen any faster.
 

MINUTE 26
Given the caliber, what an horrible death...

On the left, I am assaulting again the woods and I hope to succeed now.

Same in the main objective, more troops are coming to secure the place.

In the woods, on my left wing, I am now discovering the enemy...


Suddenly, another artillery barrage is restarting. This is like if Germans have nothing more to do to stop me!?


Here, I am a bit puzzled. The tank crew can now go back in their Sherman. Do you think I can move it again with three guys instead of five?

My plan for next turn is a bet. All in to the last objective.

MINUTE 25
On my left wing, after few mortar shots last turn, my men are assaulting the woods.

The objective is to clean up the left flank of my assault on the main objective.

Speaking of it, my troops are approaching of the objective.

My scout team is still ahead of the attack.


And I am lucky. The little trap, setup here, has not worked since these guys are facing the wrong direction. 🤗

My scout team has killed one bad guy but the two others are firing back.

Just the time to throw a grenade before being shot...

Oh no! Brian has been hit! Brian has been hit!

👍Good find! Assuming these are actually yours.
 
 

The delay has given me a chance to catch up in other areas of my life. I have two kids it turns out! Who knew??