Attack on Lamb Mountain - DAR

[womble]

This thread's for showing the Allied side of newlife's "Defense of Monte Agnello - DAR", so newlife, if that's you, you're in the wrong place Anyone else, kibbitz away...

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Spoiler space

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Just some more whitespace to give some grace to those who don't want to see the Allied side of the fight til it's all done....

[womble]

So, it's a huge attack on a large map (#15), with few holds barred. Pre-game conversation with newlife has piqued my interest in air support, and I've always wondered what might be a good way to use a naval barrage... So this weekend has mostly so far been about fiddling with new toys in test scenarios.

And then there's newlife to consider. I said I've no problem with him bringing Tiggers to the cat-fight, so I have to find a way to counter the possible appearance of armour that's largely invulnerable to anything I can chuck at it on a flat trajectory at any range I'd expect to be able to attain on the intimidatingly open terrain out of town. If he buys a couple and puts them on the high ground to the rear, he can dominate many of the approaches to town.

So, big artillery, then. If I want to flatten Monte Agnello (the town), heavy howitzers or naval bombardment will both suffice. Similarly if I want to take the hill itself down a foot or two. Some testing, however, has discovered that a Tiger on the back slope of the mountain, hull down and able to cover the front of the map pretty well, is presenting its front armour to incoming 6" and 155mm shells, and two of the test targets so far have survived Maximum, heavy TRP point target attack by an elite FO controlling a battery of 155s then a CL. They were immobilised pretty quickly, and all external protrusions other than the weapons were shrapnel-blasted off, but no crew casualties were caused, and nothing worse than Spalling penetrations, even from "Rear Top" hits, due, I guess, to the glancing angle of hit.

The test targets were Fanatic, of course, to stop them shooting at other assets I was futzing around with, and lesser-motivated crews would probably have bailed (and died a horrid death). But if he puts a good Tiger on that hill, I'm just going to have to maneuver behind smoke.

Since the size of my force is larger than the class of the map, I'm thinking at the moment of taking a good chunk of off-map assets, just so that I'm not clogging up the start line and presenting a juicy target to early bombardment of cunning TRPs (we agreed no US rockets and no preplanned bombardment of the attacker's setup zone, which is a narrow strip across the width of the map edge, but we didn't agree not to put TRPs there, so I must anticipate no-warning 81mm from about minute 3...)

I've not played newlife before, so know nothing much about his style and experience, so might be best served by a conservative approach, which suits me fine.

So, back to force testing and selection.

[LeeW]

(snip) I said I've no problem with him bringing Tiggers to the cat-fight,(snip)

How about Winnie-the-Pooh too??

(snip)Since the size of my force is larger than the class of the map(snip)

Sounds like the first few minutes might make the force sizes fit the map a little better.

Usually the only time one gets to watch things get blown up big time is against the AI, the players moral usually take a big hit along with the troops, thus all the attempts to make things "balanced and fair".

There is a big possibility that you guys are going to put "fun" back into the "game" side of things.

Looking forward to this DAR.

[womble]

How about Winnie-the-Pooh too??

I haven't checked, but I don't think there are any Brummbaren in FI - those lucky wights GaJ and Bil get to play with those...

Sounds like the first few minutes might make the force sizes fit the map a little better.

Aye, if he thinks of putting TRPs in my zone, and getting started on them early. The setup zone is very shallow and most of the left is exposed to fire from the heights behind the town. The woods on the right will screen me pretty well, though, up to a point, so my "safe zone" (absent TRPs) is quite a lot deeper there.

Usually the only time one gets to watch things get blown up big time is against the AI, the players moral usually take a big hit along with the troops, thus all the attempts to make things "balanced and fair".

I've got so many points that losing personnel probably won't directly make much difference, if I play it right (concentration of effort and all that). The problem is that losing some personnel will tank the morale of their buddies, so what I have left may become combat ineffective.

There is a big possibility that you guys are going to put "fun" back into the "game" side of things.

Looking forward to this DAR.

I'm glad you think so and hope we don't disappoint.

[LeeW]

The problem is that losing some personnel will tank the morale of their buddies, so what I have left may become combat ineffective.

It will be interesting to see how this works. One would think that the higher up the command chain the casualties are taken the more troops that would be affected. But then again maybe good leadership in the lower levels would temper the effect on the troops under their control. Wait and see I guess.

[womble]

Well, that's my force selection completed. As I feared, I couldn't justify buying naval support. I get more 155mm rounds for the points, and can at least exercise control over the rates at which they arrive. Light Cruiser salvoes are immensely impressive and destructive, but I like to use Arty to deny areas, and as far as I could tell, there was no difference in RoF between Harrass and Heavy.

And 155 howitzers come with smoke, and make just as big a boom, on a much shorter call time. And having 3 batteries of 'em gives me a load more options, including interleaving bombardments.

So there's a Bttn of Armoured Infantry, basically Green/High/+1, with one Company of mostly Veterans mounted. The Green companies have better officers and NCOs than their enlisted men. They have left their pop-gun ATGs behind and their T30 assault guns all seem to have suffered mechanical failure (useless blimmin' things; they lose to HMGs - points better spent on another Sherman).

There's a veteran Airborne Demolitions platoon, which I'm going to call "pathfinders". They've got a couple of snake-eater marksman teams and FOs and will be instrumental in taking the urban objective.

I've got a double helping of TRPs to represent the careful and accurate survey done by the Pathfinders, and they'll be helping the abovementioned 12 tubes of 155 as well as a battery of 105 and 3 brace of 81mm.

There are 3 short platoons and a CoyHQ of Shermans, 10 in total.

While newlife picks and sets up his force, and once I've done some chores, I'll maybe do a bit of screenshotting of the map and flag up some of what I think is salient.

[womble]

Objectives, then, to start map appreciation.

There are four terrain objectives, all, since it's a QB, "Occupy" types. The town, the peak, the Monastery and a farm off to the south west. The town is the biggie, then the peak and the other two are tiddlers in a ratio of 6:2:1:1, splitting the 650 terrain points up 390:130:65:65. The remaining 350 points are allocated to destruction of enemy forces.

So, holding the town is vital, and the smallest VLs are small indeed.

Below is my first attempt (to my recollection, at least ) to link an image into a post. I'm sure it will work eventually...

Wow gosh. First time!

That's the whole map apart from a tiny sliver on the south edge. It's about square, and I slid it over to the right to get the view direction indicator in.

As you can see, three of the objectives are relatively close together. Holding those as a group would go a long way towards putting a seal on the win. Holding town and Monastery, and denying the mountain top to newlife would be nearly as good.

[womble]

The opposition.

Well, it's probably going to have tigers, since newlife asked about them and, since rarity is "Loose", it could have quite a lot of them. A quick thumbnail sketch in the QB purchase screen suggests a couple of companies of PzG (dismounted) and up to 10 Tigers. So, 2/3 the infantry I'm bringing, and equal numbers of tanks... Looks like I'm really going to have to make my artillery count... No, realistically, I'm approximately hosed

If I can grab the town with infantry, maybe I can suck him into a knife fight that I can win; at any rate, I should be difficult to dislodge. And I've got enough targets perhaps that he might run out of shells, though perhaps not 7.92mm.

[LeeW]

(snip)No, realistically, I'm approximately hosed (snip)

Maybe, but don't forget the "action" should be entertaining and fun to watch. You're already coming up with ideas to turn things to your advantage. Now we will see how it "plays" out.

[womble]

Maybe, but don't forget the "action" should be entertaining and fun to watch. You're already coming up with ideas to turn things to your advantage. Now we will see how it "plays" out.

There will almost certainly be a degree of "urban renewal"... And newlife might not take more than 3 or 4 Tigers... He might want some indirect HE, or more infantry.

[womble]

I was going to tart this up with some pics and "flavour" but I just don't have time right now.

So, we've begun.

The Plan

Given potential time constraints (could be receiving shelling in my start zone in 3 mins) and the general openness of the terrain combined with the ability of 2-3 well-sited Tigers to dominate it, I felt the least worst approach was a novel (for me) "balls-to-the-wall" charge. A main force descent on the largest victory location... Recon is, in this case, for pussies A platoon of Shermans and a company of mounted Armoured Infantry were despatched straight up the fields to the front of the town, while a battery of 155s pulverises the frontage. The other two batteries of 155 were tasked to drop quick smoke missions either side to limit any interdicting fire from the flanks of the town, while the 105s do a little suppression of the farmhouse northeast of the outskirts of town, where another platoon mounted in a "rag tag fleet" of mostly M2 half tracks pilfered from command elements.

The orchards and fields in front of the town are dead ground to anything behind the town, so the plan mostly depends on the artillery to suppress and demoralise defenders so that the half tracks and shermans can cover the final approach of the infantry (including some engineers). There may be some delays and a slightly longer dash for the infantry if there are obstacles in those fields, but with additional TRPed arty on call, I estimate that they'll be bearable.

On my left, the plan sent a platoon to sit in the farm complexes short of the town, for eyes on that flank. The other two platoons, a couple of shermans and the recon section are intended to make a credible push up the dead ground twards the southwest farm.

Turn 1 and 2

So newlife has got at least a platoon, probably two, of Tigers. One pair came streaking down his right towards where a recon section was making a "speed is life" dash across some open ground in jeeps to dismount in cover and hopefully defilade. Both recon teams got dismounted in time, and one jeep crew, but both jeeps are now junk and one driver was still on board when the engine block stopped an 88mm. I've seen a short platoon accompanying that pair. There may be more. This is quite a stroke by newlife, if he can get eyes on that back corner enough to drop arty in it, as there's most of a company of infantry and a pair of Shermans pinned back there who are likely tiger-food if they try and advance out. For the minute, they're in reverse slope defense, but I'll probably try and slide them out sideways.

The HQ for this platoon is sitting back in the gulch, providing overwatch.

The last two tanks of this platoon came steaming down the central road towards the farm buildings I was planning to install an OP in. I've hooked the shermans left out of the main assault to try and slow them down. The coming turn may see flaming tank wreckage: either I'll get some flank (or even rear!) shots on the Tigers, or the LOS in the field of bushes will work for newlife, and some Ronsons will be reliable. Maybe a little of both, who knows? I've seen a full platoon of PzGr (dismounted) haring down the road after those two kitties. They're really shifting for men afoot, and will only be a minute behind the Tigers, arriving at that big farm.

There's a sixth Tiger, lying doggo next to the hut in the valley on the right. I've not seen any Manner with it, but it's certainly making me fret that he may have brought as many Tigers to this fight as I brought Shermans... Can Zooks and 155 firing at TRPs make up the difference? Can Tigers with scant infantry support dig infantry out of built up area (that's what it comes down to if I'm up against 10 tigers and 3 bare platoons of gropos)?

It's certainly looking like it's going to be an intriguing fight. Unless there are mines in the fields in front of the town and my assaulting troops are eviscerated without even reaching the objective, or being fired upon...

[womble]

Minute 3 (1:58-1:57 remaining)

Well, the promise of smoking tank wreckage has been fulfilled, and the urban renewal on the town proper continues apace.

My sherman casualty was the one trying to get a flank shot on a Tiger by blasting down the wall it was parked next to. Sadly, the intended victim didn't stay parked there, though it looked like it might, and my hapless Sherman wasn't in position in time to get a shot at the side while it rounded the corner of the wall. He managed to hit the lower front hull, though, to, predictably, no effect. Only the loader was killed.

Lesson #1: don't plan on your opponent leaving tanks in one place for longer than the time to the next order phase.

Corollary to Lesson #1: keep your own armour moving.

It would have been nice to be able to throw the sherman in reverse and get out of there behind a smoke screen when the tiger started heaving its bulk into view, but shermans at this date don't seem to have smoke dischargers, and we are playing WeGo.

So, cue much rushing about by my puny little shermans, trying to anticipate where the 3 Plt HQ tank is going to pop out from behind my smoke screen, and attempting to arrange surprises for the tanks that are deeper into my lines, should they maneuver further, or even if they don't.

Some of my infantry are on their primary objective now, others are going to have to hold for a minute while the last shells of the barrage on the town fall. I've debussed some infantry near my shermans to inhibit any shenanigans by the Panzer Grenadiers.

Having noticed the "3rd Plt HQ" designation of one of the tanks, I've had another look at how much armour newlife could have brought... If he's brought more than 11, I've seen nearly all his other assets already.

[c3k]

Recon is, in this case, for pussies

I like it. I like it a lot. I'm going to keep my eye on you...

Ken