Ritirare! Allied attack AAR

[Penry]

Orders:

Slight repositioning of my Shermie quintet, to split them up a bit and get them out of a LOF from BDs northern STuG, should he be mad enough to come back!

Bring my left flank boys over to the forest track wall - they might be able to provide some small arms cover for my farmyard assault.

Bring my rear Sherman forward, to support the assault from the same position as my left flank boys.

Move my bridge boys up to the bridge, ready for the big sprint......

[Penry]

Turn 48

I would really hate to be a defender in or around BDs farmyard! They really got a battering this turn - again!

My five Shermans started off the turn by firing both HE main rounds and MGs all around the farmyard area. Any sign of a defender was met with intense fire. After 15 seconds or so the artillery rounds started to land and almost two dozen smacked into the farmyard, no doubt getting some more kills, and ousting those that weren't killed directly from their foxholes, straight into the LOF of my Shermans, only to be cut down as they ran away! The artillery strike ended with just five seconds to go, so things re set up nicely for a psuh on the farmyard next turn. Impact locations shown by yellow stars. I'm now clean out of artillery, but I think I've used it pretty well (if I do say so myself) and got good value from it!

Other than the considerable action in the farmyard area there wasn't much to note. A few infantry contacts towards the rear of the battlefield, but nothing major to write home about. There were no armour contacts and BDs StuG in the northern forest must be licking it's wounds!

[Penry]

Orders:

With twelve minutes to go and the farmyard just suffering another major pounding, it is make or break time and I've decided to risk all and make and advance on the farmyard.

Infantry:

Remnants of various infantry teams (yellow circles) will run to my side of the near bridge, to secure that objective and allow forward infantry elements to advance on the farmyard.

Forward infantry remnants (red circle) will cross bridge and move to front of forest on other side of the river.

Infantry remnants on other side of river (orange circle) will adance towards farmyard (except MG team setting up and fornt edge of forest)

MG team on left flank (white circle) to set up and provide covering fore into farmyard, in case there are any lurking survivors.

Armour:

Rear Sherman (black line) to take a position on left flank and overwatch into farmyard.

Half track near near bridge (pink circle) to try to squeeze past buring wreck on bridge and cross bridge.

Three Shermans on othe side of river (light/med/dark blue arrows) to advance on farmyard.

Other two Shermans on other side of river to hold position and provide covering fire into farmyard.

Let's hope there are no Schreck super heroes lurking in the farmyard......

[Jaws]

Jaws

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

Some of my missions.

CMFI;

Avanti

and this one

CMBN / CW:

Vierville

A Strange Awakening

CW Holy Ground

Some Campaign missions

And 3 new missions will come with the MG module (one of the maps is being used atm for the Beta AAR between C3K and Bil Hardenberger.

Also I made some missions for CMSF and Afghanistan.

I have no real favorite but Vierville has a special place.

[womble]

Let's hope there are no Schreck super heroes lurking in the farmyard......

Given the time period of this scenario, there won't be: no german infantry AT rockets in Sicily.

[Penry]

Awesome info, thanks womble!

I'll have to look into those other scenarios some time soon Jaws. After all this one only has another 12 mins to go......

[Oddball_E8]

And 3 new missions will come with the MG module (one of the maps is being used atm for the Beta AAR between C3K and Bil Hardenberger.

Oh good, maby you could clarify if there are indeed low bocage in that scenario (there is a discussion about it in one of the AAR threads) since there shouldn't be any bocage at all in Holland (apparantly. I wouldn't know)

[Jaws]

Oh good, maby you could clarify if there are indeed low bocage in that scenario (there is a discussion about it in one of the AAR threads) since there shouldn't be any bocage at all in Holland (apparantly. I wouldn't know)

They is no real bocage in Holland but we have dense hedges in Holland and they have almost the same characteristics as bocage . It has our attention

[Jaws]

It seems you have soften the farm enough to be successful Penry. But don’t count on it

[Oddball_E8]

They is no real bocage in Holland but we have dense hedges in Holland and they have almost the same characteristics as bocage . It has our attention

Good /10char

[Penry]

Jaws - stop messing with my head! The game does that well enough by itself!

The only thing I can think of that can be a threat to me now is some hidden armour (I would have thought BD would have brought it into play by now though), some hidden AT guns (see below) or some arty of his own (which I'll have to be careful of)

[Penry]

Turn 49

Onwards men, onwards!

My three spearhead Shermans rolled forward, spreading death before them, to all those who caught their attention. BDs defenders didn't stand a chance and I counted at least a dozen of his men bite the dust!

My infantry advanced over the bridge and a majority of them made it safely to the nearby woods. A few found the intensity of the situation too much and retreated, even though I didn't sustain a single casualty this turn! I guess their previous experiences have just been too much for them. Hopefully they will rally and I'll be able to get them back to the farmyard once I have fully secured it.

Apart from spraying the farmyard with torrents of lead, my Shermans also took pot shots at the defenders of the far bridge, who keep popping into view now and again. These defenders are pretty brittle too and some of them turned and ran, rather than thn face their inevitable deaths. I also noticed an old Italian anti tank gun, but even though it looks in one piece, it doesn't look manned, so hopefully won't pose any problems for the next stage of my end game assault.

Elsewhere my manoeuvers went to plan, with my various infantrymen all reaching their targets. I know have the first bridge manned, the farmyard ready to be captured and men in reserve to relieve either of these victory locations, ready for the push on the far bridge. With eleven minutes to go it is looking quite achieveable.

I have a Sherman and a SPG focused on the entrance to the north forest, should BDs STuG come back there. I have men lined up to defend my right flank from the southern forest and a MG team overlooking both the farmyard and the far bridge, to provide extra suppression for the big push.

[Penry]

Orders:

Front three Shermans (the blues) - push on the the far side of the farmyard, clearing the farmyard zone then focusing on the far bridge zone.

Rear two Shermans (the greens) - move up the the rear of the farmyard zone.

Left flank Sherman (white) - move up the left flank, to provide and elevated LOF over the valley.

Farmyard defenders (yellow) - advance to farmyard foxholes.

Farmyard MG team (orange) - advance to foxhole and set up overlooking southern forest.

South forest team (black) - return to farmyard foxholes.

[Penry]

Turn 50

Mop up time in the farmyard. Otherwise not much to report, except that I have eyes very firmly focused on where BDs armour is moving, both in the northern forest, and the return of the wounded little Italian tank at the rear of the southern forest. Hopefully in the next minute or two I will have dealt with both! Then the way will be clear to advance on the second bridge!

[Penry]

Turn 51

A quietish turn, but one that went 100% according to plan, so I'm pleased with what happened.

Towards the end of last turn I noticed that there was the odd unexplained round landing near the farmyard, but I had no idea where they were coming from. Right at the end of the turn another incoming round was frozen in mid air, as it descended on the victory location. This turn I managed to catch a glimpse through the trees of the southern forest at my assailant - an Italian mortar team firing slowly into my new acquisition (grey circle)! My left flank Sherman fired a main round at the position, along with some small arms fire from the farmyard, and even though I didn't manage to confirm any kills I did do enough to cause them to pack up and run back into the depths of the wood.

I also caught a glimpse of an anti tank team running back across the far bridge (pink circle). No sign of the antitank gun, just two men running for their lives, so hopefully they are the ones who were manning the AT gun I spotted a couple of turns ago at the front of this bridge!

I then achieved a line of sight on BDs little R35 at the rear of the southern forest (black circle). My left flank Sherman fired a main round at it, but it fell just short and impacted in the dirt immediately in front of the little tank. This was followed up with some MG fire, which impacted into the its gun, which was enough to cause the R35 commander to button up and throw his tank into reverse. Hopefully I'll get a telling shot at it before it disappears.

Lastly, and as expected, BDs STuG (white circle) in the northern forest came into view at the head of the forest road, slammed on its breaks and started to turn to face the farmyard. It didn't get far in its turn before one of my Shermans slammed a main round into its right hull superstructure, achieving a penetration and possibly halting its turn, although it is hard to tell as the turn ended right after the penetration. Still, I have three Shermans with a line of fire on it, so it will only be a matter of seconds before I hopefully finish it off!

[Penry]

Orders:

Left flank Sherman (yellow) - fire of R35

Three Shermans around farmyard (orange) - fire on STuG

Assorted units around farmyard (red) - fire on tank crew.

Rear Sherman (purple) - move up to top of the hill.

Two Shermans around farmyard (light and mid blue) - advance towards far bridge

Halftrack by near bridge (dark blue) - advance towards far bridge

[Penry]

Turn 52

Perfect! Scratch two tanks and at least three men!

First to go was the STuG, which must have been immobilised by my first shot, as it didn't budge an inch before another penetrating round hit its right hull superstructure, spelling the end of its involvement. One crew member bailed out and ran back up the hill and into the woods.....

Then the R35 suffered a similar fate. A single round penetrating its upper front hull, knocking it out and forcing the commander out and running for his life.

I also got one confirmed kill each to the STuG tank crew by the edge of the northern forest, the mortar crew in the southern forest and some Italian infantrymen running back across the far bridge.

All my other orders went according to plan. I now have two Shermans with a good height advantage on the northern slope and one Sherman with good height advantage, and a line of sight down the far bridge, on the southern slope. My southern Sherman is backed up by another Sherman and a halftrack, so the far brdieg should be cleared for taking this coming turn, or at worst the turn after.

[Penry]

Orders:

A general moving up of the valley of my Shermans, followed by a handful of infantrymen to secure the far bridge. All units to fire at will.

[Penry]

Turn 53

Everything is going to plan. It must only be a matter of time before BD waves the white flag!

My two forward Shermans made short work of the bridge defenders that decided to hand around and fight for the last bit of land. The result was never in doubt though and it wasn't long before they had well and truly secured the location.

My left flank Sherman pushed all the way up, so it won't be long before he clears that area of the battlefield.

Two more Shermans secured the road leading from the famryard to the far bridge, so the coast is clear now for my infantry to push up to the farthest victory location.

Orders:

Infantry push on and secure the far bridge.

All other infantry to dig in.

[Penry]

Turn 54

Not a huge amount to report, except my Shermans went about their business of sweeping up what remains of BDs defences.

My Sherman on the north side of the far bridge mopped up the AT gun crew that were nearby.

My Sherman at the far end of the northern forest liquidised one cowering tank crew.

Otherwise the turn was unremarkable, with the first two VLs well secured and my infantry taking their time moving up the the last central VL.

Orders: Above two mentioned Shermans to sweep around the eastern end of the map, clearing out any of BDs stragglers.

Continue to move towards securing the far bridge.

[Penry]

Turn 55

Looks like BD has all but thrown the towel in. No resistance to my Shermans driving around and mopping up the remnants of his defence.

Here's how things looked at the end of the minute:

[poesel]

First: thanks for making this AAR - it was and is a pleasure to read.

I have however some issues with the scenario and wanted if you see that similarly. I haven't played it but from your description it looks like that BD had bottled you up quite nicely. Then close at the end you get a bunch of Shermans and simply blast him away.

Am I wrong with that impression or is this just a bit unbalanced?

[A Canadian Cat]

LOL. I think it is unbalanced too but I was totally slaughtered - to a man as the US. Read post 188: http://www.battlefront.com/community/showpost.php?p=1464819&postcount=188

[Penry]

poesel - Thanks for the feedback regarding my AAR. It's been a roller coaster of a ride, which has pulled all sorts of emotions from me, but I love playing this game and love writing AARs.

As for game balance, it's a hard one. Looking back over this AAR there have been times when I've been close to throwing in the towel and then times when I've thought that I might just pull a victory out the bag.

I got off to a bad start and it wasn't until the fifteenth minute, with the arrival of my tank destroyers, that I thought I might be able to make any sort of impression in the valley. BDs R35s and defensive setup were causing me all sorts of problems and I had no ideas about how to make any headway.

For the next ten minutes I got the impression that I was slowly working my way back into the game. My tank destroyers were giving BD something to think about and he was no longer dictating events quite so much. I was also laying some serious hurt on his farmyard with my prolonged artillery strikes.

Then, around twenty five minutes in, BDs STuGs showed up and BD once again took the initiative and my optimism and maneuvers ground to a halt. I had no counter for these brutes and I got the impression that BD could do pretty much what he wanted.

Thankfully I 'only' had five minutes to wait things out before my first lot of Shermans turned up. I think I got a good slice of luck with how things turned out and things could quite easily have gone badly for me in these match ups. The Shermans are good, but also very vulnerable if they take any sort of penetrating hit.

Minute 37 was a huge one for me. My sniper hero really turned the game for me psychologically and I began to think that I really could get a good result out of this encounter. I was finally able to visualise pushing on down the valley and rolling over BDs defenses.

When my second platoon of Shermans turned up with fifteen minutes to go, on the southern side of the river, I knew that I had BD over a barrel. I now had Shermans on both sides of the river and I was sure that I could get a lot of value from that turn on. I decided to turn the aggression full up and really throw everything at BD, which I get the impression broke his resistance both in game and in real life.

I'm not sure that I would have done so well if the second lot of Shermans had arrived on the north side of the river, or if I hadn't thrown caution to the wind and gone all out.

I also think that the outcome could have been much worse for me if BD had been much more aggressive in the first quarter of the encounter. If he had been able to get more guns on me while I was bottled up in and around my buildings then he could have massacred my men.

Of course these things are all very well in hindsight. That's the beauty of this game IMO, or one of them at least. Knowledge is power and having a good feeling for the situation both at the present and near future are vital. If BD had known that I had no answer to his R35s, or STuGs then he could have made mince meat out of me!

My last thought on 'balance' is that, to be honest, it doesn't really concern me that much. I'm not a fan of balanced encounters just for the sake of balance per se. I think as long as there is enjoyment to be had then I couldn't care less is I win, lose or draw. It's all about the journey for me, however rough it is!

[poesel]

Ok, then my impression was a bit off. Good to know.

About balance: I think a scenario should be rewarding to those who played well. If you do well and all is naught because the other side gets reinforced like hell then it's just no fun (exemption: op-level or campaign games).