Ritirare! Allied attack AAR

[womble]

Other than that, the only item of interest was the Sherman on the first bridge cooked up big time! Just as well I didn't have any men in the vicinity!

I don't mean to worry you, but if it does that again, or some stray HE gets too close, there's a chance the bridge will drop... Not that there's much you can do about it, but I thought you might want to know.

[Bil Hardenberger]

Turn 40

Well, the standoff between my Sherman and BDs STuG never happened, but I still lost a Sherman to another STuG!

BDs STuG at the entrance to the northern forest somehow managed to take out my rear Sherman, all without the Sherman even getting a visual fix on him, even though he was unhatched, looking directly at it and had an armour arc over its exact position! I'm not sure what else I could have done to get a chance for a shot and I'm more than a bit miffed that I've lost another Sherman to BDs STuGs! Any ideas what I could have done better/different?

I think that setup favored BD's STuG... it had a few things going for it... 1. it was in the woods, this provides some concealment (and cover), and 2. he might be hull down, though I can't be sure looking at your screenshot, but the fact that he is on a hill looking down on your Sherman, that was sitting in the open, makes that a good possibility. Tanks are really tough to spot in those circumstances.

What could you have done differently? You could have gotten your Sherman into a hull down position yourself, if that was possible, and make sure you always use your armor in teams so you rarely have one on one gun fights.

My rifle team in the other part of the southern forest made contact with some infantry in fox holes around the southern barn. As soon as the lead started flying my boys ran away. Soon after they made contact again with some more of BDs infantry. This time my boys threw down their guns and gave up!

Classic example of the problem with sending units out far in advance of their HQ unit. The value of the information they give you has to be weighed against the fragility that comes along with using them this way.

This is a very tough scenario as the attacker, and I think you are doing quite well considering the circumstances.

Bil

[Penry]

@ womble - I've got three minutes until my last reinforcements - another platoon of Shermans by the looks of things. I think I might just make a mad dash for the village, unless some better idea enters my head in the meantime!

@ Bill - Thanks for the advice and the encouraging words. I don't think there are any hull down positions that I can take, and I had three Shermans pointing at the STuG the turn before. Looks like BD has got it into a good spot and isn't going to move it an inch!

[womble]

Looks like BD has got it into a good spot and isn't going to move it an inch!

105mm makes a mess of StuGs that don't dodge... Just sayin'

[Tempestzzzz]

I played this scenario (Allied side) single player. I won't give anything away-but yeah- it was a real meat grinder.

Great AAR's from both sides.

[Penry]

womble - Don't tease, although if I read your hint correctly I might just pull this one out of the bag right at the end!

Tempestzzzz - So far it's been brutal. Let's hope lady luck shines on me again and I get the break I need to make a dash for the farmyard.....

[Penry]

Turn 43

Another quiet one, but a couple of promising events for me.

One of my Shermans finally got a lock on BDs STuG at the entrance to the northern forest. One main round and plenty of small arms fire was directed at the STuG. Unfortunately the main round hit a tree in the way, while the small arms fire made contact with the STuG, causing the commander to button up and reverse his tank back into the forest. Shame the main round didn't connect, but at least it has relieved some pressure on my men!

Towards the end of the round another of my Shermans got a line of fire on BDs rear STuG by the northern forest. Much the same scenario as the encounter above, except the main round hit, causing some armour spalling to the front hull superstructure, while the small arms fire whistled over the top of the STuG. Just as the turn was about to end the StuG started to reverse, but my men were preparing to let loose a second round. Another cliff hanger in the making then.......

Not much else happened at all, which suits me just fine! Having two of BDs StuG reversing back into the forest is ideal for me. Hopefully they are just about to show their faces again when my final reinforcements arrive......

Orders:

Minor tweaks, but basically wait it out for another 2 minutes. Fingers crossed that I take out that STuG!

[Penry]

I see I missed posting turn 44 here, so for good measure.....

Turn 44

BDs STuG managed to withdraw before I got another round off. Other than that sweet FA happened!

I'm still waiting for the cavalry......

I'm off on vacation for two weeks, so we've put this game on ice for the duration. See you soon.....

[Penry]

Back from vacation and I've got the menial tasks out the way, so back to the important stuff!

Turn 45

Another quiet one. Nothing much to comment on, so I'll just post the end of turn positions.....

I did get my last reinforcements though, a platoon of Sherman M4A1s! Advance!!!!

[Penry]

Turn 46

At last some action!

My Shermies steamed forward, catching sight of BDs STuG at the entrance to the northern forest and the one at the far end of the northern forest. One of my boys let off a shot at the far STuG, while advancing, but the shot fell short and soon after it was distracted by a third STuG at the rear of the BDs village.

My Sherman changed target and let off a round at the village STuG, achieving a partial penetration of the front hull superstructure. My front Sherman was soon joined by his mates and three more shots were fired at BDs village STuG, achieving two full penetrations of the front hull superstructure and another partial penetration. Not a single shot was fired in return, so even though I have yet to take the STuG out, I am hoping that it is of no threat to me and it is just a matter of time.....

My Shermies also found time to lay down some small arms fire on the infantry that they spotted around the village. I'm glad I managed to take out a mortar man, kept another infantryman cowering, and just as the turn ended was laying down fire on a MGer! It might be time to start my assault on the village soon! It had best be, there are only fourteen minutes to go!

Other than my Shermies, there was very little action going on. Here is the state of play at the end of the round.

My rear three Shermies has LOS on the STuG in the village, while my front two Shermies have a LOS on the STuG at the rear left. My infantry boys in the southern forest has LOS on both STuGs.

[Penry]

Orders:

Shermies concentrate on the two visible STuGs, then try to mop up some village infantrymen.

Other Shermies and SPG, keep and eye on north forest STuGs

All other units, rest for the big charge.....

[Jaws]

Thanks for this great AAR! This is one of the scenario’s I have created and I can’t tell you how satisfying it is to see how you experience the scenario.

I think you are doing very well for a relative new player and it seems you are not new to games like this.

Charging into 3x Stug can give you a great experience…. But it’s like having sex with a new partner without a condom… it can be great but it can give you also a nightmare for weeks .

Remember your Shermans can fire smoke rounds.

Good luck

[A Canadian Cat]

My halftrack mission did reap some immediate rewards though, spotting a number of BDs units defending the farm, and a sorry excuse for a tank emerging from the woods on the southern side of the valley!

I mean, WTF do you call that!!!

I almost coughed my breakfast up when I saw it putter out fo the shadows! Thanks Battlefront for bringing a smaile to my face first thing in the morning! I wonder what BD is thinking about his hardware - it certainly isn't the Tiger he got to play with last game!

Nice work on the AAR. You started this just after I started playing this scenario so I was not reading it so as not to spoil the action. You are already doing better than I was and those tanks are nothing to dis when you don't have any armour of your own. True, Shermans eat those for breakfast but they eat half tracks just as easily.

I started out with very similar goals - take the buildings and then the first bridge with the first platoon and build from there. I did not try for the woods on the left but other than that pretty similar.

For me the scenario went like this: first platoon started taking casualties immediately but dealt some back too. They secured the buildings and began to work towards the bridge but they were taking heavy casualties form he tanketts. By the time reinforcements arrived things were going badly. The first platoon were very beaten up and unable to advance on the bridge or hold the buildings. During the next two minutes the remaining men from the first platoon were all casualties except a couple of teams that were providing fire support from the trees near the start. And, the entire second platoon - to a man were all taken out in less than two minutes. I had no men left at all before the third platoon arrived. None.

Third platoon arrived and I got them to hunker down near the start and try to stay alive for the Shermans to arrive. It did not happen. All infantry were casualties before the first tanks arrived. With the arrival of the Shermans I was able to get back in the fight but with no infantry at all I was not optimistic. They tried to take the first bridge and did manage to chew up those tanketts but then the Stugs showed up. All Shermans were destroyed before the second set of tanks arrived and the second set did not last very long either.

Total blood bath and I made no progress at all. Wow! Of course I was playing against my toughest opponent, who regularly kicks my ass. This scenario is a very scary ambush that the Italian player can press home to vicious effect. I do not think that the US has any chance if the Italian player is aggressive right out of the gate.

I'll keep reading but you clearly already did better than I did. Well done.

[A Canadian Cat]

While all this was going on I had some close contact action by my left flank half track. Out of nowhere one of my FO team got hit and killed. Not just any member, the bloody forward observer himself! Big loss! I think I have been far too hasty in pushing a minimal force up onto the ridge, in fact I don't think I should have come up here at all.

No the valley is a death trap. I suppose that if the US gets some high ground they could prevent the guys in the valley from being chewed up from both directions.

Either that or I should have sent most of my men up to this ridge and cleared it out!

Now you are talking!

[A Canadian Cat]

all I got were two big WTF moments!

WTF 1

My bazooka armed rifle squad successfully jumped out of the back of the halftrack and were setting off on their little run to the 'safety' of the trees, when BD decided to spoil their party with a single main round form the norther R35. And who should be right in the centre of his crosshairs? Why the bazooka carrier of course! Scratch four men and send the rest of the squad running away, back over the fence.

WTF 2

Just as the bazooka carrier gets around the front of the halftracks he takes a deflected small arms round to the chest and promptly snuffs it! I mean, not even a round intended for him, just a stray round that pinged off the side armour of the bloody hafltrack!

Oh man.

As you saw, those US half tracks are very fragile - and they know it. The reverse to safety at the sight of pretty much anything.

How much worse can it get? Don't answer that please!

Compared to how I did you are kicking ass

At this point in my game I had no operational vehicles and no soldiers left at all. The Italians had infantry in the woods on both sides of the road and the tanketts were intact and had the whole entry road covered.

Oh, sorry you said "Don't answer that"

[A Canadian Cat]

Best news of the turn though was the arrival of some more reinforcements, and some meaty ones at that!

Now, I've never seen these things before, but I'm guessing they are the WWII version of a tin can with a BFG glued on top! I'm sure going to wrap them in cotton wool and treat them as if my mission depends on them, which I guess it does. If I can neutralise BDs R35s, then life is going to become at lot easier for me. I might even be able to exert some pressure on the farmyard! But let's not get ahead of ourselves eh!

Oh, yeah I forgot about those guys. Yes tin can with a BFG on top - good one. They can be effective but are very fragile. For me at this point in the game there were scads of Italians in the forests at the top of the hills and all the Tankettes had sight where the 75s came in. All dead and burning in under 2 minutes.

[A Canadian Cat]

I was going to say "Don't listen to him, Shermans are uber", but I see you've found that out already.

Nice going, looks like you're going to turn the tide

Things did not go so well when my Shermans arrived. With no infantry they arrived with no idea where the enemy was. When the first turn started they were immediately facing three Stugs that had the drop on them. They did manage to take out one Stug but all five were destroyed in short order. Two in the first minutes and the rest in the following two.

Ouch.

[A Canadian Cat]

:b:

Cheers for clarifying. I'll certainly be conscious that it should be SOP in future. Shame it doesn't happen automatically, but them the breaks!

The good news is you only forget once:)

[Penry]

Jaws - At least half the pleasure I get from playing great games like CM is doing some sort of narrative alongside it, so it's a pleasure to do these AARs. Great work on the scenario, even if it the toughest SOB that I have yet to come across.

I'm still very Green when it comes to CMBN and FI/GL. I had the original games and played BO the most, but never managed to get sucked in like I have since buying BN. I get most of my pleasure playing a human, something I never managed to do with the original trio. Some have suggested I get more experience playing SP, and I'd love to do the campaigns, but I never soom to get the time/inclination. Playing a turn every day ot two seems the perfect pace for me.

I think one thing I need to work on is doing multiple actions per unit per turn. I think I'm a bit one dimensional, in that I tend to give them one order and that's it. Half the problem lies in that I'm still not 100% sure how much all these different units can achiev in a minute. Practice makes perfect.....

What other scenarios did you design? What's you favourite? Are they all as bloody mean as this one?

[Penry]

Ian - Thanks for the feedback and great to hear your take on the scenario, even if you had an even worse time of it than I did. I'm dying to see how BD's men shaped up and how many he has in reserve reading their newspapers and enjoying the Italian sun!

I presume that all the units are in play now, so it's going to be a very interesting last 14 minutes. I'll be happy if I can get to the farm and ecstatic if I can somehow get to the far bridge. I think the sheds in either forest are well beyond me though....

Hope you enjoy the finale!

[womble]

I think one thing I need to work on is doing multiple actions per unit per turn. I think I'm a bit one dimensional, in that I tend to give them one order and that's it. Half the problem lies in that I'm still not 100% sure how much all these different units can achiev in a minute. Practice makes perfect.....

To my mind, it's better to err on the "too little" side rather than the "too much". At least in the face of the enemy. In dead ground with no chance of contact, you can issue massive strings of orders while you've got the "plan" in mind, and just let them roll turn-to-turn, but in actual combat, your limitation is more often either information (e.g. will I really be able to see/stay hidden at that point) or results (have I suppressed that element so B Team can have a movement bound) than capacity to act. Often, you'll give an order that isn't quite complete by the next order phase, and it's better to let that order complete and the troops rest (and see how the land lies) rather than worrying about a wasted 50s.

[A Canadian Cat]

I'll be happy if I can get to the farm and ecstatic if I can somehow get to the far bridge. I think the sheds in either forest are well beyond me though....

Hope you enjoy the finale!

Indeed, you are doing great. Keep up the good work and concentrate on one thing at a time, just like you are already doing.

[A Canadian Cat]

To my mind, it's better to err on the "too little" side rather than the "too much". At least in the face of the enemy.

I agree with @womble. The more you try to get a unit to do the higher the chance something new will be discovered that will ruin your plans.

However sometimes one action might need some fanciful command staking. For example a tank can lay down a three or four round smoke screen in turn if you stack the commands correctly.

[Penry]

Thanks gents. I have to admit, all the 'grand CM plans' I've had in the past have all failed miserably - they go so much better in my head, so Keeping It Simple Stupid definitely seem to be the way to go! Patience young one, patience.....

[Penry]

Turn 47

Another bad day at the office for BD. The tide has definitely turned and, even though I only have 13 minutes to make things happen, I think I can get something out of this devastating encounter!

The action continued with another round slamming into BDs STuG at the farm. All it took was for a round to spall the upper front hull armour and it was knocked out! What an awesome way to start the turn off, now I've just got to worry about BDs two STuGs in the northern forest!

It didn't take long before I got a lock on BDs STuG at the rear of the northern forest. The first round wizzed over the top of his armour, but the second round achieved penetration of his front hull superstructure, knocking the tank out and causing its crew to bail out before they got involved in a nasty little cook off! Scratch two STuGs and the turn isn't even half way done!

Right on cue BDs other STuG in the northern forest reappeared. It didn't take long for my boys to get a shot off at it, resulting in a partial penetration of its front hull superstructure, but it continued to wiggle forward, trying to squeeze into a spce to get a shot off at my fantastic new arrivals. My Sherman near my buildings got another shot off and caused some armour spalling of its lower front hull, which gave BDs tank commander enough of a scare to cause him to throw his vehicle into reverse, just as he managed to get a round off at my pack of Shermans. Luckily it was just a bit too high and shot over the top of my pack.

They fired back in retailiation, causing more armour spalling, this time to the front hull superstructure, and before I could get any more shots off BDs STuG had scuttled back into the depths of the forest!

My attention was then turned to BDs farmyard. My Shermans started raining down and mixture of small arms fire and main rounds on the various known enemy positions, and the last of the spotting rounds for my final artillery strike landed smack bang in the middle of the square. I recorded three definite kills and next round should see twenty odd rounds slam in the area, to be followed by the last charge......