BigDork vs Tiresias - A CMBN AAR

[BigDork]

Back in the days of CMx1 I used to love making AARs/DARs of my PBEM games with my opponents. As I begin my first PBEM game in CMx2 I have decided to start up a new AAR so that everyone can follow along.

I kindly ask that Tiresias hold off on checking this out until after the battle.

Note... Google flagged the site for malicious content a while back. The admins state the site is clean but the warnings remain. I have no problems with the site and trust the admins but browsee enter at own risk. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Here is the link to the AAR.

I hope you all enjoy.

[Mord]

Your link pops up as a reported attack page. Might wanna double check that.

Mord.

[ZPB II]

Yeah, Google Chrome wouldn't let me access the site saying it was dangerous.

[BigDork]

Oh yeah, about that... the site is safe. There was a big thread about it by the site admin. There as some malicious links that were posted by a bot a while back in a thread and Google flagged the site. However the site is clean.

The Google warning says nothing suspicious was found during its last visit, but the warning remains.

Other things also site stuff in the last 90 days, so I'm assuming that we will have to have a clean bill of health for over 90 days before the "ban" is lifted...

[Sergei]

Your link pops up as a reported attack page. Might wanna double check that.

Mord.

I thought it was just to say that he's the attacking side...

[eltorrente]

Yeah, I'd rather not visit a site that's flagged like that. Why not just post it here, or find a site that doesn't so blatantly scare away everyone who tries to enter it?

[General Lee Irked]

Yeah, I'd rather not visit a site that's flagged like that. Why not just post it here, or find a site that doesn't so blatantly scare away everyone who tries to enter it?

Ditto

I like AAR's but in this instance...

[BigDork]

Yep, no problem. I can post t here too. Should have just thought of that.

SETUP

The battle is about to commence. My small force of Americans is moving forward towards a small French farming village. Intel reports that a similar size force of Germans is approaching the village as well. Over the next hour our two sides will engage for control of this village as a cold June rain falls from the skies.

The parameters of battle

I will be approaching from the fields (red arrow) and the Germans will be coming at the village from a more built up approach (blue arrow). I predict that Tiresias will take up position inside the orange circle at first and I will try to initially move into the purple circle. I need to be careful though because some artillery could really ruin my day.

I'm worried about this battle for two reasons. The first is the flatness of the ground. There are few covered approaches to the village so I will be forced to group my men up some in order to move them forward. The other big problem I am going to face is that once we are in close fighting, the firepower of the MP40s and MG42s that the Germans have will give my American squads a serious amount of grief.

The village

Here is the initial deployment and move orders of the bulk of my forces. Under my command I have a company of infantry to include two medium machine guns, a sniper, and a M4A3(76)W Sherman tank. The Sherman has orders to hunt up the road some and take position looking for any German armor that may be approaching the village. One of the MMGs is going to take up position on the right flank and watch for any Germans who may be trying to make a flanking move of their own.

The unit in the pink circle is my reserves. It is a depleted infantry platoon. I'll hold them back initially and have them move forward if/when things get hot for one of the other platoons.

Force deployment

[BigDork]

SETUP Part 2

On the extreme left flank I have a M4A1 Sherman that I have given orders to take up a hull down position with over watch of the village. I am hoping that they will be able to slow down the German advance and give my men time to take up position.

On the extreme right, positioned behind a hill and some trees I have ordered 3 units of 60mm mortar to set up. With them I have a command team with radio. Their job is to sit tight and wait for a call for mortar support to come in.

The men are deployed and orders have been given. The battle is set to begin.

[BigDork]

TURN 1

The battle begins quietly. I had feared an early artillery barrage right in front of where my men were advancing. Thankfully that did not come to be. On the left flank my tank moved forward and took up its hull down position but did not see any movement.

The most eventful occurrence of the first moment was one of my sniper teams catching a ride forward in a jeep and setting off to the village. I hope they'll be able to give me an early picture of what Tiresias is bringing to bear.

[BigDork]

TURN 2

Another quiet minute passes. As my men continue to rush forward through the muddy fields I start rethinking and refining how I want them to deploy.

RED LINE

I order the forward sniper onto the second floor of one of the houses. I'm hoping from there he'll have better LOS of the approaching Germans than if he was hunkered down in the trees. Also I'm sure he'll appreciate a few minutes out of the rain. I am a bit nervous of the move because they will have to run around a high hedgerow and into the open for a moment. If the Germans are far enough forward they'll see my sniper moving in.

ORANGE LINE

I order the left MMG to move into the tree line that follows the road and set up. This'll give them an overview of the majority of the village. It's an exposed position and I know they will be in danger so I don't intend for them to hold it for long. I just want to slow up Tiresias getting settled in. On the right flank I order the other MMG to move forward with the intention of setting up in one of the buildings. They are still at least 2 minutes from arriving there and that could change based on where the Germans are found to be coming from.

BLUE LINE

My initial plan for the infantry is to put 1st platoon right into the thick of it. 2nd platoon will be right behind them to provide some extra fire support and fill in for them as the 1st platoon takes casualties. 3rd platoon is moving right and I am thinking of trying to have them flank around. The problem with that is there is a lot of open ground and they won't have much support from heavy weapons. The flanking move is also determinate on the Germans and what they do.

[BigDork]

TURN 3

Another quiet minute passes as my men continue to move forward. I did find the first tense moment of the battle for me happen as my sniper team sprinted around the hedges and out into the open. Thankfully they were not fired upon and hopefully were not spotted.

My sniper team running towards their new position

TURN 4

CONTACT! Almost as soon as my sniper got set up in the second floor of the building they spot some German infantry sneaking between buildings on the other side of the village.

Despite having a short covered arc my sniper takes aim and starts firing. As bullets start whizzing past his head and impacting near his feet the German soldier hits the turf. As he started low crawling his way back towards cover he became the first casualty of the battle.

I was unhappy with where my M4A3 Sherman in the center had been positioned. While it had a good view of my side of the village he didn't have any visibility of the Germans approaching. I ordered him forward to take up a hull down position and take a look. I gave him a 10 second pause before retreating. I just wanted them to pop their head up to see what was going on and back off. If Tiresias had somehow gotten a 'shreck crew into the village quickly the Sherman would be vulnerable.

The risk was worth it. My Sherman spotted a Panzer IV in position down the road, near the back of the battlefield. Even as the driver threw the tank into reverse my Sherman took aim and fired. As the minute ended, the first shot was heading down range.

In the red circle, the bigger white dot is the muzzle flash from the Sherman and the smaller white dot is the incoming shell.

[Mord]

Gettin' good already. Nice cliff hanger.

Mord.

[BigDork]

TURN 5

The next minute starts off with a bang (sorry, couldn't resist). Despite firing on the move as they were reversing my Sherman was able to fire on target. The 76mm AP round ripped through the Panzer IV's armor setting off a huge explosion.

From what little I've seen of the battlefield so far it appears the Germans are slowly and cautiously approaching the village. That hunch coupled with the destruction of Tiresias' tank lead to me deciding to risk rushing 1st platoon into the buildings of the village. If I can get in there first and get set up the Germans are going to have one Hell of a time trying to evict me.

Unfortunately I make a slight tactical blunder when I order 1st squad to run out in the open towards the first house. I should have had them use the ridge line to provide some cover. Thankfully as the minute ends they still had not been fired upon. All subsequent units ordered into the village have been given a bit less direct route that keeps them out of sight.

[Baneman]

Nice AAR so far, although you might want to switch the Victory Locations off for your screenshot

I hate to harp on the (perceived) shortcomings of the game, but once again we see a moving tank spot the stationary tank first ( presumably put there specifically to overwatch that road )

Ok, granted the PzIV could maybe have been semi-behind the house and thus a little more protected, but still, it shows how difficult it is to use overwatch tactics to interdict portions of terrain when the enemy can invisibly cross or occupy that terrain and/or eliminate the overwatch.

[BigDork]

Gettin' good already. Nice cliff hanger.

Mord.

Thanks Mord!

Nice AAR so far, although you might want to switch the Victory Locations off for your screenshot

I hate to harp on the (perceived) shortcomings of the game, but once again we see a moving tank spot the stationary tank first ( presumably put there specifically to overwatch that road )

Ok, granted the PzIV could maybe have been semi-behind the house and thus a little more protected, but still, it shows how difficult it is to use overwatch tactics to interdict portions of terrain when the enemy can invisibly cross or occupy that terrain and/or eliminate the overwatch.

Glad you're enjoying it so far Baneman. No problem, I can switch it off for future screenshots.

My Sherman was actually stationary when it spotted the Panzer. It had hunted forward to a hull down position and stopped for a 10 second pause. About 7 or 8 seconds into the pause it spotted the German tank. About 3 or 4 seconds into his reverse, just before dipping below the ridge line the Sherman fired on the Panzer.

[ZPB II]

Looking good, interesting to see how this will pan out.

Hate to venture off-topic, but Baneman, have there been tests on this topic?

I play a lot and there is a clear trend that I perceive. When I'm on the offense and my tanks are moving, they are spotted first. When I'm on the defense with stationary tanks they spot the enemy first. There are outliers but I can't shake the general impression I get. Moving tanks shoot far too accurately, but I can't say I feel spotting to be broken.

If moving tanks and units have an inherent advantage, shouldn't the tank rush be the most viable tactic in CMBN? I played a lot of Starcraft & Starcraft 2 and perfected the zerg rush in my peak. I still can't get the tank rush to work in CMBN.

[A Canadian Cat]

I hate to harp on the (perceived) shortcomings of the game, but once again we see a moving tank spot the stationary tank first ( presumably put there specifically to overwatch that road )

Note that @BigDork pointed out that the Sherman was Stationary when it spotted the PzIV. I was wondering what AAR you were reading when you wrote that:)

Also note that the on the move firing issue is well known by Battle Front and they have stated previously that it is a limitation that we need to live with for a while. There is non trivial work for them to do to make it work better. Read http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=98346 Specifically post 25 http://www.battlefront.com/community/showpost.php?p=1290189&postcount=25 I have seen more threads before but that sums it up.

<snip>If moving tanks and units have an inherent advantage, shouldn't the tank rush be the most viable tactic in CMBN? I played a lot of Starcraft & Starcraft 2 and perfected the zerg rush in my peak. I still can't get the tank rush to work in CMBN.

Which is a good thing:)

[BigDork]

TURN 6

The next minute passes by quietly. The only activity is I spot one lone German soldier bounding between buildings off in the distance.

As I prepare for the next minute of battle I issue some updated orders to my men. 1st platoon is ordered to occupy almost all the buildings inside of the victory zone.

In the center I order the Company CO to join the sniper team in the one house. The Germans are moving slowly and I think I may be able to catch them mostly out in the open. My 60mm mortars may be able to inflict some serious casualties. I just need to have a spotter in place to take advantage of it.

On my right flank I order 3rd squad of 3rd platoon to rush off through the wheat field. They are the only squad who is rested. The other two squads are tiring at the moment and need to catch their breath. While there isn't a lot of cover and concealment I intend on sending them around on a far flung flanking maneuver to really trap in the Germans and make this a quick battle.

The blue lines show the covered arcs I've issued to my MMGs who are were given deploy orders. Tiresias' caution in approaching the village has given me time to set up my MGs and will make his job that much more difficult. I am a bit nervous at all this though. As I get set up the possibility of large caliber artillery fire coming into the village and wreaking havoc amongst my men has crossed my mind. However I won't let those fears stop me from trying to occupy the village.

[BigDork]

TURN 8

As my men set out through the wheat field on the right flank they suddenly come under fire. Tracers start whizzing past but thankfully no one is hit. Tiresias has stationed a fire team on the top floor of one of the buildings on the far side of the village and they spotted my attempted flanking movements. Having given their position away the Germans come under fire from my sniper team and the MG ammo team.

[Tarquelne]

Note that @BigDork pointed out that the Sherman was Stationary when it spotted the PzIV. I was wondering what AAR you were reading when you wrote that:)

The Sherman had to move into position. The Panzer missed that movement.

But BigDork does say the Sherman was hull-down. So there wouldn't have been all that much to miss.

Foliage also seems to have been involved - depending on the angle the Sherman may have been pretty lucky to spot the Panzer. But I'm not surprised the Panzer didn't spot the Sherman.

[Heinrich505]

BigDork,

Excellent action. I'm really enjoying it. Thanks for posting. Your screenshots are really getting us into the action.

Heinrich505

[Jaksteri]

Was it possible for both sides to buy artillery on this battle?

[AdamAnt2]

Thanks for the aar,really enjoy them. Keep 'em comin'

[BigDork]

I went back and re-watched the turn in question. My Sherman doesn't spot the Panzer until after it starts reversing.