Josey Wales

I usually think of Green troops as being able to do one thing. You can rely on them to take that hill, defend from this position, kill one vehicle with their AT assets etc., but you can't rely on them to do more than this.

In CMFI, Italian troops are usually Green by default. Ideally, you use them in the attack against a fixed position. You give them a ton of supporting fires, preferably from Brixia mortars, and you hope that enough of them make it to grenade range to make the difference.

Any more complex plan is inviting failure - you can't guarantee that any individual part of a Green formation will actually be able to do it's job, but with careful hand-holding and limited expectations, they can still be useful.
 

Thanks both for digging out these references. One of the matters discussed in that thread is how match-up between the spotter and the firing unit affects response times. I did a bunch of tests with on-map organic 60 mm mortars and off-map 155 mm howitzers, with the following spotters:
Battalion HQ Mortar Section HQ (the lowliest HQ but in direct command of the 60mm mortars) FO, assigned to the Battalion FO, assigned to the 60mm mortar section (tested for mortars only). All were regular, no leadership or motivation modifiers, and the missions were point-target medium duration/medium intensity approximately to the same spot on the map, with perfect LOS.
I measured:
"Receiving" phase duration - until the fire mission request is confirmed by the firing unit "Preparing" phase duration - until the first spotting round falls on the map (not applicable for on-map mortars, where I've included this phase in "Spotting" "Spotting" phase duration - until "fire for effect" order is given "Delivery" phase duration - until the first for effect round hits the map (for on-map mortars, until the round is fired) Below are the averages of (only) 3 tests for each case. It appears that Mortar Section HQ can reach its own mortars by about 1 minute faster than Battalion HQ, but in the three tests I did, it needed more spotting rounds (4-5) than Battalion HQ (3 in all three cases), so the delivery time was 6-7 minutes. Declared delivery times were 6 minutes for Battalion HQ and 5 minutes for Mortar Section HQ. Matchup with respect to force structure matters for on-map mortars, but not much. The FOs had a short receiving phase and needed between 2-4 spotting rounds. I can't say if it matters where in the Battalion the FO is attached. Force structure matters but not much.

For the 155 mm Howitzers, there doesn't seem to be a big difference between Battalion HQ or low-level Mortar Section HQ in response times. Both have declared 13 minutes and achieved between 11:20 and 14:32. Battalion HQ needed 2, 7 and 4 spotting rounds, Mortar Section HQ needed 5, 5 and 3. The FO cut both communication time and spotting time by about a half, his performance matching the declared 8 minute delivery time. 2, 3 and 3 spotting rounds were needed.

I've finished test for German weapons at 40 m and 150 m and now I'm working on the Brits. Some interesting findings:
As HMG, MG42 is markedly more powerful than MG34 at these distances, but there isn't much of a difference between them as LMGs MP40 not only performs better than the MP44, but outdoes everything except MGs and sinper rifles, even at 150 m There is a difference in the effectiveness of the scoped Kar 98K depending on whether it is handled by a trained marksman or a regular soldier (an assistant leader in my test), at 150 m the difference is much more significant Gewehr 43 is roughly twice as effective as the Kar 98K The Karabiner 98K isn't worth much in general  

Yes, it's up to the player and it's a fair choice whether the extra purchase points are worth it. Based on my CMx1 experience, panzerfausts with 30m range are only useful if your opponent is either careless or desperate with his tanks. But I may be wrong
Anyway, I've been looking for a way to compare the firepower of individual infantry weapons and then squads. The problem is that when the entire squad is fighting, you can't tell who is doing the most damage. I have the general idea what to expect from each weapon but I wanted to see some numbers. So I set up the following test:
Make a map - a shooting range with several lanes running in parallel, each for one weapon test At the end of each lane, put two U.S. ammo bearer teams (two men each) in foxholes (for some protection). These "target troops" are regulars with zero leadership modifier but motivation is set to fanatic so that they stay and don't surrender when getting massacred at close range. I empty their weapons at the start of the test by giving area fire orders (cool fact: aim rearwards, out of the map - ricochets can easily kill at 500 meters!) On the other side, isolate small teams where only one man has the weapon being tested. He can have teammates but they must use different ammunition, so that our main man is the only one shooting in the end. In fact, where appropriate, I like to provide a leader with binoculars to aid with spotting. If there is no other way, I use snipers to "surgically remove" unwanted team members. All teams must be regulars, with zero leadership modifier and normal motivation. I empty the ammunition supply of these test troops as and then reload from supply trucks only the one type of ammunition that is needed for the tested weapon. The other teammates, if any, stay empty. I march them to a set distance from the target troops and give target arc orders to open fire. I save the game at this point to be able to repeat the test as many times as I want. The test then runs for 10 minutes. If they take all 4 target troops down within those 10 minutes, I record the time it took them to do that, in seconds (a number between 0 and 600; in practice the lowest so far has been 7 seconds). If they don't take down all 4, I record the number of kills they made in 10 minutes (a number between 0 and 3). Repeat 50 times to get decent statistics (ouch!) Bottom line, I work out the average number of kills per minute - "bodies per minute" as a measure of firepower of the given weapon at given distance. An imperfect one (does not account for suppression) but hopefully objective. I'm sorry for the quality of the pictures, there's some crazy limitation on image size on this forum...

I apologize for the delay on this AAR, I've been distracted recently... 
AXIS RED

We are now in the 8th minute of action.. not a lot has happened as my opponent is shuttling troops to his jump off positions.  On the back road he is running trucks back and forth,  each one dropping off a platoon of infantry with each load.  I guess he now must have close to two full companies of infantry with support arrayed against me on AXIS RED along with the two STuGs.
My three teams acting as my lead scouts in this sector are doing a wonderful job keeping the enemy at bay in this sector.  I doubt they are causing many casualties, but my opponent is being very cautious and has not advanced in the past several turns.  Once he does start his advance, and now that he is bringing more troops up, I expect it soon, my scouts will fall quickly.

AXIS ORANGE
AXIS ORANGE is definitely a Support By Fire (SBF) position, all of the units that have been identified have been MG or mortar units, along with the STuG of course.
In the image below is shown an artillery mission aimed at the corner of my ridgeline defense.  This did cause several casualties, but it was not as bad as it could have been as many of the rounds fell in front of my positions. 

AXIS ORANGE
I have another scout team, made up of a recon team and an HQ unit (from Dog Company) deep on Axis ORANGE.  Towards the end of this turn the STuG on this axis drove straight towards them...

However, I don't think these two teams have been spotted, as the STuG appears to have turned between two buildings, appearing like it was simply trying to get a better angle on my defenders.  I could be wrong as I lost sight of this vehicle right after this shot was taken, but it looked like it was starting to turn left.
 
AXIS RED
On Axis Red I decided to try to take a long range shot at one of the STuGs to my front.  It is literally a long shot, but taking out or damaging one of these things now could really help in the long run, right Captain Obvious?
My AT Team rushed across the danger area to the hedges on the other side...

Once in position they organized to take a shot...note in the following image that the STuG's flank is facing my team.

Unfortunately... the rocket hits the trees and the STuG keeps moving.. I don't think they ever knew they were threatened...

Both STuGs ended up facing Axis Yellow and appear to be guarding the flank of the Axis RED infantry, which can be seen linking up with the STuGs on the right edge of this image:

SITREP
It has been another couple of minutes and things have developed a bit more... 
AXIS RED:
On Axis RED there are now two STuGs and they are pushing deep and ahead of their infantry.. in fact they do not seem to be coordinated with the enemy infantry at all on this axis.  Also, the infantry contact icons have settled down some, and it appears to me like we are looking at perhaps one FJ company with support assets on this axis.
No firing on this axis, other than my errant bazooka rocket a minute ago or so... which came to nothing, other than letting my opponent know I have an AT team in front of him.  Brilliant.
STuGs on Axis RED:

AXIS ORANGE:
The Germans on this sector have positioned  several MG teams, many of which have started firing on my pickets causing a few casualties, but nothing serious.  So this confirms that he has spotted a few of my teams.  I am responding with some sporadic mortar fire, with no obvious effect.  
It really is starting to look like this is a support by fire position.  The third STuG is still present and sends a round toward my lines once in a while to no effect.. so far.

I need to reinstall my version of CMBN, the version I am running has some graphical issues that look really bad.. smoke, dust, etc... and I saw a German truck driving in his rear and the driver was sitting above the cab.. so yeah.. I need to fix this installation.  Once I do that I'll be able to show more closeups images.

That's the best defence I've ever heard.

Definitely not boring. The last image clearly shows the extent of the hill your opponent has to overcome.
Are you intending to have a reserve to counter attack if the situation presents itself?

Definitely not boring. The last image clearly shows the extent of the hill your opponent has to overcome.
Are you intending to have a reserve to counter attack if the situation presents itself?

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:

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: 
 

This is a different class of AAR. I'm really looking forward to this.

Not taken away in a straight jacket, I mean i committed to actually purchasing A combat mission game. 
After months of playing the various demos (except the Red Thunder Demo that insisted I use an activation key), and watching youtube AAR uploads.....comparing versions, reading multitudes of reviews...and sifting  the useful from the useless, and as we all know, there is a lot more of the latter to be found on the Interweb sites.
I Really like the look of the Normandy theatre, lots of interesting and familiar battles I can relate to.  But I had to put that on the back burner for now as the multiple addons and big pack offers were pushing the price up ...just one more...just one more.....just... 
Anyway I then looked at the latest offering Final Blitzkrieg, the Demo again gave an excellent feel of the game and theatre, but it was too cold and too many trees for my liking. 
So it was off to look at the Red Thunder (on youtube because of the activation key issue)  that became my favourite, and I see it is a very popular theatre for support....and it had all the features anyone could want, troops riding tanks (contentious subject) and the flame throwers....plus all the campaigns and missions had already been designed with the AI keys implemented. And it had no DLC, so out of the box it was ready to go with all the content in it.....that was very tempting, But I kept coming back to the Fortress Italy theatre...
 
Fortress Italy....The very much overlooked theatre of many wargames, and the Unique makeup of the Italian forces in the game really made manouvering as a cohesive force a special challenge. Spotters without radios, operating old French Tanks alongside the might of the German forces, A combination that gave me that extra dimension when ordering forces around....The Italians never had any reason to fight, Mussolini or Hitler in charge of the military forces .....talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place.  With the varied terrain, different weather conditions in the campaign, changing forces depending on the timeframe.....it had just one thing missing....British forces...which is easily resolved with the Gustav line DLC that adds Commonwealth forces.  Looking at the Battlefront site there is the offer of the Bundle pack, And that is what sold it for me......Fortress Italy with Gustav line is the one I purchased today, and looking forward to getting some decent spare time for gaming. ...
Oh....and Hello everyone
 

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.

I made a video about a year ago where I talk about why I like the WeGo system. The footage is from A Muddy Affair. I don't comment at all on the scenario but give a brief summary at the end on how the battle went.
 
I thought the scenario designer did a sterling job on this scenario, it was extremely challenging and rewarding.
 
 

I thought we'd finally come up with a crafty plan to get Calais back. 
Sadly disappointed when the first thing to emerge from it wasn't a Squadron of Challengers, guns'a'blazing! 

Hi Bil, I'm also a big fan of your Battle Drill Blog and your AAR's prompted me to start making my own in a video format. I have learned a lot from your efforts so can vouch that you definitely have not been pissing in the wind!
Many thanks.

Conclusion of the battle!

My men with panzerfausts turn out to be cowards.  Unfortunately my Brummbar doesn't have los so I can't 2 for 1 to kill the American squad and the cowards.  The next turn I send more panzerfausts and some panzerschrecks forward.

The Sherman fires at two squads causing significant casualties and forcing them to retreat but it's too late too little at this point.

My soldier with a panzerfaust 100 makes an impressive shot and kills the sherman!

Taking some friendly fire from my mortars unfortunately.  Should have ordered them to not fire at all.

The last bastion of American resistance gets overwhelmed by small arms and Brummbar fire.


Good game.  My opponent was fairly new and had a poor defense.  A mixed defense of Shermans and ATGs was good but fortifications and defenses in the forests on the flanks would have done wonders for him.  His lack of flank protection cost him his Shermans which were key to defending the town.  I took a lot of needless casualties at the end between friendly fire from mortars and not using my men carefully.  My Brummbars got a combined 29 kills which is okay but not the best.  Could have taken more infantry or other units and still get a total victory.

Hi Bil, I'm also a big fan of your Battle Drill Blog and your AAR's prompted me to start making my own in a video format. I have learned a lot from your efforts so can vouch that you definitely have not been pissing in the wind!
Many thanks.

Well, well, this is an honour  Thanks very much for the praise Bil! Your Battle Drill Blog has been a great help to me in playing CM, and this match has been no exception. Though I question your assessment of my odds. While my total strength is indeed a Company(-), the actual manoeuvre units amount to sixteen infantrymen, four APCs and four light tanks. Hardly what I'd call overwhelming! Still, it depends how much I'm hurting the enemy at the moment I suppose. I do not have a military background, though I am currently reading for a War Studies degree at university and have several internet friends who are military or ex-military.

Having done an AAR or two in my time I understand the workload involved, especially when writing with this amount of detail.  Do you have a military background?
Very well done AAR so far, even if the odds are really stacked in your favor.     Seriously, a Company Team, plus your available artillery and air power against a platoon plus... that is an overwhelming force.  Please don't take that as a hit on you, we fight with the tools we are given.  I do admire how you are approaching this assault and it is a delight to read, so thanks for putting it together.
Bil

My apologies for the wait for this third entry. Making an AAR is a lot more time consuming than I had first imagined! On the plus side, I've progressed quite far since my last post, with far too much content for this one instalment alone, so entry four should be along shortly after this one.
I hadn't mentioned that the enemy might have medium or heavy machine guns in my first post, but I had been thinking about it, so this discovery of an MMG team comes as no surprise. Each Syrian mechanised infantry company comes with a weapons platoon made up of two sections, each of which is made up of two MMG teams. I can expect there to be at least one more team out there somewhere, and maybe two others if Rinaldi has the whole weapons platoon.
 

As mentioned, Scout Team 4 has pulled back rather than duke it out with an MMG team. The two Scimitars following them are actually unable to draw a line of sight to the enemy position, but the other two on the hill to my front are able, so I order them to open up on the enemy trench with their machine guns. Their supply of 30mm HE is embarrassingly small and I want to save it for harder targets (namely, the buildings in the East Yard), so I use the 'Target Light' command. Their fire is inaccurate, as word of the enemy contact hasn't yet filtered through the C2 network and thus they don't yet know that there is an MMG team occupying the trench. However, it should be enough to force the MMG to keep their heads down, at least for now.
 

Meanwhile, my Tactical Air Controller team has moved forward and is calling in support. I am hoping that the Apache will be able to sniff out some of the enemy BMPs, so I order a heavy strike to cover the entire enemy side of the map.
 

Scout Team 3 moves up out of the orchard to the edge of the road and spots another enemy unit, an ATGM team hiding in the cover of a berm running along the centre of the far side of the irrigation ditch. Another of my suspicions are confirmed!
 

A Syrian mechanised battalion has a single weapons company, which has a single platoon of ATGMs. This platoon, like the company-level weapons platoon, is made up of two sections, each made up of two teams. As with the MMGs, I can now expect at least one more ATGM team and up to two others if the whole AT platoon is present. Scout Team 3 begin firing at the enemy team, and although their line of sight is quite poor, they are able to make the enemy duck for cover.
 

However, as my scouts take potshots at the ATGM team, they come under fire from another MMG team, occupying a trench close to the other spotted MMG.
 

The Scimitars on the left, which had moved up and began firing at the first enemy team, are swiftly retasked to deal with this new threat. They are eventually able to suppress the second MMG.
 

As this is happening, my Apache is making his first attack run. The first missile he launches is unfortunately intercepted by a tree, but the second slams into a building in the objective.
 

Next up, a rocket barrage on the objective . . .
 

. . . followed by a rocket barrage on the Tool Houses and the berm.
 

The second rocket attack bears fruit, as I observe flames and smoke from a point behind the Tool Houses. A BMP knocked out, perhaps?
 

As a parting gift, the Apache subjects a building inside the objective to a burst of cannon fire, before finishing its mission.
 

As the match goes on, I am continually scanning the battlefield, analysing and re-analysing the terrain and my positions. I spot a couple of things; firstly, the hill to my front is not providing me with as good a line of sight as I had first thought it would. The slope on my side is very gentle towards the summit, and so my infantry teams are taking forever to get eyes on the objective. My vehicles are far too visible for my liking as well. Secondly, my first suggested axis of advance may have more cover than I realised. A spur of the hill juts out towards the objective, pictured here. The ground to the right of this spur is slightly covered from Point 228, at least initially. Perhaps Axis 1 is a better course of action that I first thought?
So far, things have been going mostly my way. Units are moving up, I've spotted an ATGM team before it could ambush my units, MMG teams have revealed themselves at no cost to me, and banter with my opponent reveals that the helicopter strike hurt him quite a bit.
However, I am soon to be reminded that the enemy always gets a vote . . .

I made a video about a year ago where I talk about why I like the WeGo system. The footage is from A Muddy Affair. I don't comment at all on the scenario but give a brief summary at the end on how the battle went.
 
I thought the scenario designer did a sterling job on this scenario, it was extremely challenging and rewarding.
 
 

Next post!  My advance continues against limited enemy resistance.  Not a whole lot of text, mostly pictures.

My two Brummbars exchange fire with the Sherman to my loss.  They both miss their few HEAT shells and the picture Brummbar gets its gun knocked out.  I order the other one to back up out of the los of the sherman.  I let my damaged Brummbar remain in place to keep the Shermans attention.

A lot of dead Americans throughout the front half of the town.  All shot while retreating or routing.

A lot of Americans retreated from my Brummbar fire and the remaining ones are being killed or routed by the large amount of firepower and infantry (around a company of them) I have moving into the town.  


On the right side of town there hasn't been much fire exchanged since I'm still setting up my units, almost a company's worth, and am waiting for my mortars to fire. 
 
My mortars are about to fire or 1-2 minutes away from firing.  I have some concern about friendly fire, some spotting rounds might land on the slope where my right flank units are setting up.  But victory is almost certain at this point so I am not that concerned.

I have two squads mopping up the remaining infantry and AT gun on the ridge.  Not really necessary at this point but I don't want the AT gun to find some unexpected los and hit my units in the town.

The panzerschreck got killed!  Time for a panzerfaust charge!  Will run my men up to the building then behind the sherman.  If that still fails I have more panzerfausts and expendable men.  I also have more panzerschrecks advancing through the town that I can use soon.
Next post will probably be the last post and conclusion of the battle!