BigDork vs Penry 2 - BigDork Tries to Redeem Himself

[BigDork]

After the crushing defeat the Germans suffered last game I needed a chance to redeem myself and also push the Americans out of France. This time my counterattack will push my men through a few fields and ultimately drive the Yanks from a small village.

In this battle I have at my disposal

1 company of grenadiers with each platoon supported by 1 panzerschreck

4 MG42s

4 81mm mortars, 2 120mm mortars, and a FO to call in the boom

3 squads of pioneers. Their charges will help me to blow holes through the bocage and allow me greater freedom of movement

1 StuG to change it up from always playing with a PanzerIV

Above is the map with my initial plan. The men in red include 2 platoons of grenadiers, the StuG, and a squad of pioneers to open up the bocage. The yellow group are my MG42s which will push forward and set up a base of fire so my infantry can cross the stream. The blue group is 1 squad of grenadiers and the remainder of my pioneers. They will hold back for a bit until red group makes contact and gives me a feel for how things are. I also have an extra HQ unit up on my right flank which will act as scout and potential spotter for mortars if I find a concentration of Americans. Hopefully it'll help to keep Penry on his toes.

Here's a closer look at the battlefield and what my men are initial crossing. I hope to make it to the far bocage and the stream before contact. If Penry is aggressive and pushes forward he could catch my men in the open and make things a real slog from the start. I put the chances of that at 50/50. He's shown in our last game a willingness to be aggressive and go on the offensive even on defense. It could definitely pose a problem. I hope that sending my StuG forward with the initial push will help to drive off any initial defenses.

[BigDork]

TURN 1

It's go time and like a swarm of ants my men rush forward.

TURN 2

My pioneer team opens up the way for my men to advance through the bocages.

A part of my problem last game was I could only move through the hedgerow where the gaps were. It restricted me and made things slightly more difficult. This battle I've come prepared.

TURN 3

When drawing up my battle plan one worry I had was that Penry would move a force forward across the stream to the bocages and force me to push forward through open ground. In fact I somewhat expected it. I figured there were two ways I could approach that, either I could move forward cautiously and give him time to set up a forward defense or I could try to rush forward and catch him before he could really set up to repel my offensive. I opted to go for the second option.

With the hole blown in the hedgerow by my pioneers 1st platoon rushed forward into the field. I had hoped that the StuG would be able to follow through the gap as well to provide support but unfortunately the hole wasn't big enough and it began to go around on a longer route. Unsupported but undeterred my men pushed forward even as light gunfire started coming their way.

As one of my men drops dead we ID an infantry team on the other side of the bocage covering our approach. This 4 or 5 man team was able to cause a couple casualties by the end of the turn but hasn't disrupted my push too much. Unless Penry rushes some extra support to cover my advance through this field his men will quickly be overwhelmed.

The scout HQ team on my right flank is proving useful. As they moved forward to a position along the stream they ID an American MG team set up behind the wall on my left flank and an infantry squad moving around in the trees along where I plan on advancing. 4 minutes from now the 81mm mortars will start falling.

[sburke]

Very cool, keep em coming! I'll play Marley's redemption song in the background while I read.

[Macisle]

BD,

Thanks for this AAR. I recently played a QB vs the AI on this map, commanding a company of Amis and a scout team supported by one Sherman. I had to post because your attack plan is literally EXACTLY what I did. I had one scouting unit on the right flank, with the rest following your exact attack groups and routes, planning to cross river bed, through the woods, take the large building bordering the two-star zone and use it as a launch point to take the town.

So, I'm very interested to see how this goes with two humans duking it out!

Good luck!

[BigDork]

TURN 4

I ordered my StuG to pull forward in the plowed field to a point where it had LOS on the American MG I had spotted. As my guys rush forward to take up positions on the hedgerow that MG could be a problem and I don't have the 4 minutes it will take for the mortars to arrive. I figure a little direct HE will do the trick just fine. Unfortunately the first shot goes a bit long. Hopefully the next one won't miss.

Rushing across these open fields towards defenders is starting to take its toll though casualties could have been much heavier. I think I caught Penry my surprise a little bit. While he did have a few watchers on these fields I don't think he expected me to push hard here and doesn't have enough to stop me from setting up on the far sides of these fields.

On my far left flank, 1st platoon is able to slide onto the other side of some bocage to better engage the Americans. Opposing my platoon is a single squad broken up into 3 teams. My plan is to get my platoon set up with 2 MG42s for support, suppress the American squad and then push forward and destroy them. With the amount of firepower I'm going to be throwing at the GIs I don't see them lasting long.

So far my scout HQ team hasn't noticed any new units repositioning across the stream to meet my push. I'm going to keep an eye on that because if Penry can get a full platoon or so on the other side of that open field my guys are going to pay a bloody price just to meet our first objective.

[BigDork]

Very cool, keep em coming! I'll play Marley's redemption song in the background while I read.

I'll gladly keep them coming. For me, making an AAR/DAR while I'm PBEMing makes the game that much more enjoyable. Having a soundtrack to go along can't help either.

BD,

Thanks for this AAR. I recently played a QB vs the AI on this map, commanding a company of Amis and a scout team supported by one Sherman. I had to post because your attack plan is literally EXACTLY what I did. I had one scouting unit on the right flank, with the rest following your exact attack groups and routes, planning to cross river bed, through the woods, take the large building bordering the two-star zone and use it as a launch point to take the town.

So, I'm very interested to see how this goes with two humans duking it out!

Good luck!

I played about half a battle on this map once and already it's going differently. Penry crossing the stream to put a couple squads on the other side of the hedges is already making this a far more difficult fight. I think it's going to take a full scale mortar barrage to clear the way for me to cross the stream and I don't even want to think about taking that village yet. Glad you're following along!

[Macisle]

You post 'em and I'll read 'em! I really enjoyed your Seizing the Windmill AAR over in the CMFI forum. You guys did an excellent job on those. I was in rapt attention with each posting.

Once the New Year is underway, I really need to bite the bullet and start doing PBEM. I'd like to do some AARs, too. Time is a biatch, though.

My battle against the AI on this map went like this:

Lining up my infantry along the bocage in front of the stream, I spotted en enemy mortar team and got the drop on them. After taking them out, I started filtering infantry teams in. One of them stumbled onto a pak40 at its 8 o'clock and took it out. Things looked good, but then I started bumping into various enemy infantry teams and things got hairy for awhile, including my losing a whole team to friendly fire from the Sherman.

After clearing the woods, I blew a hole in the wall of the big 2 star complex and came in on the blind wall. I took one casualty, but found the AI had put nothing in the building and had a whole squad plunked down on the other side of the front wall facing the town. My guys streamed into the building and quickly took them out from above and from overwatch positions on the edge of the woods.

After that, I built up my force and called in artillery on the town. I spotted a number of teams outside in the town and my "deathstar" (the building complex) beat up on them, while my Sherman looked for fire opportunities.

I sent some teams to the rear of the town and started moving some more directly from the deathstar. The AI surrendered before I got very far into the town.

That sure isn't going to happen with a human opponent! I think you've got your work very much cut out for you. I'd say this map very much favors a fighting withdrawal into the town. There are lots of places to fall back to. And taking the two-star building with a human defending it may be a real nightmare. But the town...whoo-boy...that's going to be a tough nut.

Since you've played this map before, I guess it's okay if let out one bit of light "intel." Aside from the two-star building complex, I had a hard time finding good overwatch positions. Time and again, what looked good prior to arrival, found my overwatch units struggling to get vis on desired targets.

I think this is an excellent map and have my popcorn buttered and ready for your AARs!

Again, good luck!

[[MyIS] Buffpuff]

Very nice AAR Dork...Much better than that mess of an AAR I made (though I did have fun doing it).

[BigDork]

Ok... I fell off the AAR train for a bit. Time to catch everyone up to the disaster that is this battle.

My hopes of beating the Americans to the hedgerow are dashed. Unknown to my men, they are running to their death.

As the seconds go by more and more brave German boys fall to the ground. Their blood spilling seeping into the French fields. In less than two minutes my attack is broken.

Some of those lucky enough to not be cut down by American lead decide that maybe it's not worth dying for the Fuhrer.

Others decide to fight on. After thwarting my attack Penry tried to push forward. A few of his men were surprised to find that there were a few stubborn Germans holding on. Not enough to change the tide of things but I was able to stop them from totally pushing me off the map.

My attack was stopped even with the close support of my StuG. After losing the initiative I pulled my AFV out of the field to keep it safe. Unfortunately my StuG still wasn't safe. Despite the long range Penry had his bazookas open up. After many misses one finally hit the mark.

[BigDork]

Feeling their vehicle hit, the crew of my StuG panics and flees. For the next five minutes I'll watch helplessly as they run further and further away from their abandoned vehicle. The loss of my only armor is quite the demoralizing blow.

The HQ unit on my right flank proves to be very useful. They are able to accurately call in multiple mortar strikes on American positions. I'm sure I'm causing some casualties but I highly doubt it's enough to retake the advantage in this fight.

All good things come to an end and my artillery spotting HQ unit meets theirs. Somehow Penry spots my guys and starts lobbing in some mortars of his own on their position. The loss of the unit comes at a bad time. They had just called in some new mortar strikes on the Americans. Without them as spotters it's anyone's guess where those rounds will land.

The 120mm mortars start to fall a little further back from where I called them in but in the vicinity of some of Penry's men. I'm skeptical that I caused any casualties though. It's unfortunate I lost my spotters because I know for sure that there are GIs in those trees. If those shells had fallen a few meters shorter... Penry would have felt it for sure.

Another one of my mortar strikes was off target, this one falling short. The only good thing about this was that all these men had already fallen to American fire earlier during my failed rush of the bocage.

[BigDork]

My men just can't seem to catch any breaks. I tried bringing a couple squads together to start rallying my men into a force for one last push. Of course Penry noticed this and sent some mortars at my gathering forces.

Things aren't quite all lost yet. Miraculously my StuG suffered no real damage from the bazooka hit. Once my AFV crew composed themselves I sent them back to re-man their vehicle. I can only imagine Penry's reaction to seeing my AFV come back to life and start to fight on.

Here's how the battlefield stands 16 minutes after my men started getting cut down in the field. I'm shifting what I have left (which isn't much more than a reinforced platoon) to the right flank. Penry has committed most of his men to my left and from what I can tell they're mostly still there. I'm going to use the StuG to keep them there, use the smoke from my on-board mortars, and rush the village. It's my desperate, final gamble. I'm almost out of 81mm mortars, out of 120mm, almost all my men are broken, and I've suffered around 60-70% casualties. I'm highly doubtful that I can achieve any of my goals but I'm not quite ready to give up yet.

[Frankster65]

Great AAR! Love reading your stuff.

[BigDork]

I'm preparing for the final push. My men are beginning to stage and catch their breath.

In the picture below, the red line is my projected path. The blue circles show where I feel the American troops are positioned. I was thankfully wrong and still have some 120mm mortars left. I'm going to call them in on the the stand of trees in my path (orange star). The grey star is where I will drop my smoke to help cover my men crossing the stream bed.

The only way this is going to be successful is if my StuG is able to keep the majority of Penry's men on the left flank. If I can keep them contained I should be able to push in and at least put up something of a struggle in the village. However if I lose the StuG or take even moderate casualties on the push to the village this fight is over.

[BigDork]

I have ordered my sole surviving MG42 forward to help the StuG keep the Americans two the left. I also have to MG42 LMGs coming forward as well. It proved to be a smart move, at least initially. My MG team spots a couple American units trying to sneak to the right. They also spot an American HMG set up behind a stone wall. After a few bursts of the machine gun one of Penry's HMGs is neutralized.