New file at the Repository: Wittmann's Demise (2013-04-17)

[Battlefront Repository]

Background The small but fierce battle that took place some 50 kilometers south of Caen in the fields and woods between the small Normandy villages of St. Aignan and Cintheaux on August 8, 1944 has become famous for two reasons. First, it marked the death of Nazi Germany’s most famous tank commander, SS Hauptstürmfuhrer Michael Wittmann, holder of the Knight’s Cross with Oakleaves and Swords. Second, the battle was a pivotal moment in the next to last great British offensive in Normandy, Operation “Totalize.” Playing The Scenario First off you will need to patch your game to 2.00 to play this. The READ ME contains full background info about this very famous (infamous?) action and is worth checking out before playing the scenario.This scenario was primarily designed for play as German attacker Vs Allied AI Defender and all third party testing has been done this way.. There is an AI Plan for the German side but the AI does not do attacking as well as a human would. Still it’ll give you some fun – especially if you like KOing Tigers! If playing against the Allies/Germans there are multiple AI Plans. German AI Plan 1 and Allied AI Plan 1 are the ones that best recreate the actual order and pathway of the attack. You can switch off the other AI Plans in the scenario editor. Given the force balance it’ll also do for H2H. However, this is a historical scenario and the forces are not balanced. It’s a very tough call for the Germans (as it was in the actual event) so I’d su...

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[Erwin]

So, we simply replace the old Wittman's Demise with this? (No reason to hold onto the old one?)

[George MC]

This is the new thread for Wittmann's Demise.

There is an extensive thread on that covers different opinions on what actually happened in this action at the following thread

And the original thread (with comments etc) is here

[George MC]

Thanks to Mr Jensen for playing the scenario and for your feedback. There are three AI Plans and one of them is a bit easier to play against than the others or you are really 'Der Mensch'

I've not managed a clean victory yet and keep losing Wittman and all his team!

[umlaut]

Thanks to Mr Jensen for playing the scenario and for your feedback. There are three AI Plans and one of them is a bit easier to play against than the others or you are really 'Der Mensch'

Well, though I am Mr. Jensen (why doesn´t the repository use our nicks, BTW?), I´m pretty sure I´m not 'Der Mensch'. It must have been the easy one. I was rather surprised myself at my few casualties:

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Quick AAR:

I decided from the beginning that I would do everything to avoid the orchards/woods on my right flank, as fighting there would negate the long range advantage of my Tigers.

So I more or less sent everything forward along the road - with my Tigers as a cautious spearhead.

I was probably pretty lucky at the start, because I very quickly spotted a couple of the Shermans lurking by the walls in Gaumesnil. I decided to take a big chance and rushed a platoon of Tigers up parallel to the road on the right side. The gamble paid off and I managed to take out the Shermans from the eastern edge of Gaumesnil.

I moved my forces forward very cautiously with one platoon of Tigers in constant overwatch in the wheat fields in the middle of the map - supported by the Jagdpanzers as more stationary overwatch. The Tigers leapfrogged forward one at a time (with cover armor arcs) - and managed to take out a lot of allied tanks in the eastern orhcards in the process.

The second platoon - Wittmann´s - did more or less the same thing on the western half of the map - and took care of almost all of the allied tanks in the northern woods.

The Pz IV´s didn´t do much serious fighting against enemy tanks and were mostly used to mop up crews.

When I reached the objective by the road (point 122?) I turned my forces (Tigers, Pz IV´s and one infantry platoon) to the right and moved towards the second terrain objective.

This way I managed to touch both terrain objectives with 33 minutes left. I had lost about four Pz IV´s, two or three Tiger commanders and a few infantry units. Most of my infantry were still trudging along the road somewhere around Gaumesnil at the time.

As this point I had been forced to deviate a bit from my resolution to avoid the right flank: The road on the left had simply become too congested. So I moved one infantry platoon, the four Panthers and a handful of Pz IV´s up the eastern edge.

They moved very, very cautiously, using this method: Infantry spots enemy tank, Panthers and AT-teams move in position to kill it. This way I managed to take out all the allied tanks on the eastern edge of the map - without losing more than two or three Pz IV´s. It definitely would not have been that easy in real life.

When I felt relatively certain that there were no more enemy tanks around, I halted my forces. I had spotted a lot of infantry and foxholes in the orchards but didn´t want to risk my own forces by going in there to deal with them. So the last 20 minutes was spent trying to get as many of them as possible by use of artillery only. I don´t think it was very effective, but it was fun to watch.

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So: As I said before - a great scenario. Very fun to play, but - for some reason - perhaps a bit too easy. Or maybe I just got really lucky. Or both.

Looking forward to the next ones, Mr. MC (but right now I need a couple of small infantry battles)

Cheers

[George MC]

Hi Umlaut

My apologies I meant to reply to your post but it totally slipped my mind. Seeing Bil's AAR prompted my memory. I think your tactics were pretty sound in the first place. I did think this would play out more re H2H and I'm in the middle of doing so myself. It's very different from playing the AI as a human player reacts more to your moves. Unfortunately the AI, although I'd done my best to create reasonable plans, is not so reactive. Also the player has way more info than the Germans actually had so i think it's always going to be easier than it was in RL. One of the AI Plans does have a wee twist in that the Allied AI will launch a hooking attack to deal with the type of attack you just mentioned - just depends on what AI plan you draw though... Still it sounds like you had a good time. thanks for the AAR - it's always good to hear how players fight scenarios.

For anyone interested Bil's excellent AAR can be found HERE

[Bob Willett]

My friend and I just finished this scenario via PBM. He was Germans and I was the Allies. It was hard fought from the beginning to the end. He chose to move his Germans via the far left hitting the Gaumesnil area on its flank after sending a few tanks down the middle unsuccessfully and then sending the other half of his forces on the right flank through the orchards and woods. He found out the hard way it was a slow go through those woods and his Tigers etc had difficulty making it to the orchards and they never made it through the orchards and into the town. Gaumesnil finally fell to the Germans but with a German price. He continued through the left flank and down the main road and into the high ground and tried to do an end run into the left side of the town but was stopped cold due to the Allies artillery strikes and key positioning of the Shermans and Fireflies that held of the Germans. The eventual result was a draw. My friend stated he made a tactical error with the Germans half-way into the battle when he attempted to press beyond his objectives and pressed towards the town giving the Allies the opportunity to gain a lot of points taking out the Germans finest fighting vehicles by playing hit and run tactics in the woods/orchards and along the roads and of course with a lot of lucky Sherman shots!

We enjoyed this scenario a lot and hope to play more like this one in the future! LOS was a big challenge throughout the battle because you never could be sure who could see you or if you could see them in several of the areas of the map.

[George MC]

Hi Bob

Thanks for the AAR. Yeah it's an interesting map for sure. I've stayed as close as I could (given the limitations of the map editor) to the actual terrain. I used lot's of aerial imagery taken just before and just after this action so the tree/hedge cover is very close to the actual landscape at the time (lot's of aerial shots are taken at dawn/early evening so you can gauge the types and height of trees and hedges from the shadows.

The actual German assault after Wittmann being shot up on the open ground between Gaumesnil and the orchards went all out through the orchards. The fighting here was very fierce and very close up - similar to what you describe happened in your own action.

If you liked this one you might enjoy Schmiedestahl It's based around a German panzer Kampfgruppe which has been tasked with cutting off the enemy armoured advance guard from their supply echelons and further reinforcements. Whilst the Allied commander’s orders are to secure their communications along the rollbahn and ensuring the main supply line to their forward elements.

Thanks again for taking the time to play out Wittmann's demise and glad it gave you and your opponent such an engaging PBEM.

Cheery!

[Tempestzzzz]

Just updated to CM:BN 2:0 and have been wanting to play this. This is a SUPERB piece of work. Just love everything about it. QUALITY!

Dare I say it-it could be used as a teaching aid at a Military Academy.

Thanks again for this great effort. Well crafted all the way through. Obvious labor of love.

FWIW I didn't move any units and did a minimum amount of interference once the balloon went up. Curious how it would play out as is- Played as Brit against the AI-but got a tactical defeat. Losses were always keenly felt-especially when Shermans were hitting their targets initially but they might as well have shot BB's.

But-Virtual Wittman died in the same manner near the same place as in real life.

3 AI plans-eh What?! will have a go at those cats again.

[George MC]

Just updated to CM:BN 2:0 and have been wanting to play this. This is a SUPERB piece of work. Just love everything about it. QUALITY!

Dare I say it-it could be used as a teaching aid at a Military Academy.

Thanks again for this great effort. Well crafted all the way through. Obvious labor of love.

FWIW I didn't move any units and did a minimum amount of interference once the balloon went up. Curious how it would play out as is- Played as Brit against the AI-but got a tactical defeat. Losses were always keenly felt-especially when Shermans were hitting their targets initially but they might as well have shot BB's.

But-Virtual Wittman died in the same manner near the same place as in real life.

3 AI plans-eh What?! will have a go at those cats again.

Fine praise - thank you I spent a long time poring over maps, aerial shots and creating a timeline of the whole action based on eye witness accounts. It's an interesting fight overall as there is a lot of info about the small detail of what was a comparatively small action.

One of the more common German AI Plans hs the Germans follow their actual line of attack. So I guess it's useful if you are keen to see how the action could play out. Most times Wittmann's group are caught in a crossfire and suffer casualties not dissimilar to the actual action.

Thanks again for taking the time to play it and post your feedback.

Cheery!

[George MC]

Quikc response to the chap who just posted the comments at the Repository (can't reply there as you only have one response) "Installed but "Greyed Out" in Scenario selection Screen. Am running CM:BN 2.01."

I'd suggest checking you have the Commobwealth module installed. Sounds like you don't?