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CMPzC Normandy '44 Caen Operation - Allied HQ


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You definitely dodged a bullet there, if not a few hundred, as it looks extremely risky advancing across the open in that sector without armour support, or fire suppression on the hedgerows. Two more MG42's in the mix and it could get really nasty.

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Turn 7 completed

Someone takes a pop at a sniper section moving through the wheat. Those with sharp eyesight will see a faint pinprick of light just to the left of Tommy's head, as the bullet wings harmlessly past

ScreenShot2013-08-01at195846_zps9db4449d.png

Missing seems to have triggered our hero's decision to make like a shepherd and get the flock outta there. This is a wise decision because C Coy's advance elements are moving up the hedge line to the right...

ScreenShot2013-08-01at195907_zps48d30990.png

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Turn 8 completed

Not much to report - D Coy is moving into the orchards supported by the recce squadron, area fire going in from B Coy in reserve. C Coy is moving into position to protect D Coy's flank and swing into Buron. A Coy is forming up to the west. A Coy took one casualty from fire emanating from the centre of Buron.

I'll post a situation map with pointy arrows and things next turn to show where everyone is.

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Turn 8 completed, no casualties to report. Here is a situation map with pointy arrows and oval shapes:

ScreenShot2013-08-03at072518_zps269ad17c.png

D Coy is continuing its advance to the south and will skirt Buron's east side and only then swing west. It hasn't met any resistance yet. Enemy presence has been detected along its axis of advance in the small black oval but I suspect that presence will be long gone before I get there. Just in case two mortar sections have been called in to lay down a stonk in the area.

C Coy is moving parallel to D Coy but further to the west. Its job is to move into the eastern side of Buron and flush out any enemy elements. Already a small enemy presence in the black oval area has withdrawn (black arrow). Once ensconced in east Buron, C Coy will swing west and begin advancing along a wide front to flush out enemy stragglers towards central Buron to what is suspected to be the main or one of the main enemy locations in the large black oval. Enemy movement away from us has been seen. There are some heavy calibre weapons facing east (AT gun that took out our stuart) and a couple of guns facing south (you can see a puff of smoke just above the words B Coy where these pieces are still trying to get the 3rd A Coy scout.

B Coy is holding back for the time being and it is using everything it can bring to bear to lay down some support fire into central Buron to support C Coy's advance. 51mm mortars are firing ahead of C Coy too.

A Coy is moving forward on a rather narrower axis. Two 51mm mortars are going to lay down smoke to the left of that axis in the area where our scouts attracted some mg fire. The smoke is masking A Coy's movement across this exposed patch. I am expecting retribution from the board's smoke experts for this....A mortar section has been called in to lay some fire into the black oval area. At least one section of enemy has been seen moving west, presumably to try and block A Coy's advance.

Overall Battalion is satisfied with the advance to date.

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Pretty limited - I've got the Battalion's mortar platoon, consisting 6 tubes.

However under the CMPzC rules (as I understand them), each fire mission is limited to a maximum area fire zone of 20m per tube. My mortars are in 3 sections of 2 tubes each, which means that each fire mission can only be an area fire mission with a maximum target zone of 40m.

That restriction pretty much limits the mortars to hitting specific targets rather than operating as harassing fire over the objective as a whole.

At the moment it is a question of locating the enemy's main defensive positions before committing these assets. My intel tells me that we are facing about a company strength force and that's quite a small force for the space being defended, so it isn't obvious at the moment where they are.

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I could of added the 24 guns of the 12th Canadian Field Regiment. They would of been present in 3 x 6 gun CM batteries. Each tube would have a maximum area fire circle diameter of 35m, therefore, a 6 gun battery would have a maximum area fire circle diameter of 210m, plus or minus 10%, = 230m. Therefore, an area of 700 x 230m could have been stonked at the start of the battle.

The reason I did not add these weapons is because a CM battery can be used in only one CM battle in a PzC turn, and if the Axis assault the hex during their PzC turn 01, I can add the artillery to that battle. The interesting thing will be if they don't, then I would of missed an opportunity to make this battle easier. Artillery allocation in CMPzC is a game within a game.

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Definitely the right decision - we have very limited opposition currently in Buron (afaik) and very substantial counterattack force possibly coming up. The Glens wouldn't thank Division for wasting substantial artillery assets on the assault when they may well be facing a powerful counter thrust by armour and panzer grenadiers

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Definitely the right decision - we have very limited opposition currently in Buron (afaik) and very substantial counterattack force possibly coming up. The Glens wouldn't thank Division for wasting substantial artillery assets on the assault when they may well be facing a powerful counter thrust by armour and panzer grenadiers

Also, even if there isn't an Axis CM battle to assault this hex after the Axis PzC turn, the artillery will perform automatic opportunity fire during the Axis PzC turn, if the enemy unit is spotted by a unit from the same organisation as the artillery.

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Turn 10 completed

These two bods are hot-legging it west down the first east-west parallel away from D Coy. The building to the right is currently being saturated with mg and 51mm mortar fire from C and B Coys and hopefully that will discourage them from taking up residence there

ScreenShot2013-08-03at181455_zps37e031ae.png

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Turn 10 completed

A Coy is moving up to the western edge of Buron. A small smoke screen is being laid to the left of this advance to prevent flanking mg fire experienced previously. 51mm HE mortar fire is hitting the hedge line facing the north - south road into this part of Buron (you can see a small amount of smoke from this).

ScreenShot2013-08-03at181215_zps0f8e4946.png

Interestingly, the enemy team spotted moving west to counter A Coy can be seen emerging just behind this mortar fire from a gap in the hedge line and presumably with the intention of taking up a position facing down the road. That area will continue being hit by mortar fire and I am laying mg and rifle fire there too, to make the area too hot for them. Will they stick it out there or move off?

ScreenShot2013-08-03at181251_zpsac03877d.png

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Turn 10 completed:

Not a good turn unfortunately. Having had limited casualties thus far and none in the last two turns, sheer carelessness / bad practice has resulted in 4 casualties in one of C Coy's platoons. They were advancing down the diagonal road that enters mid Buron, with the intention of swinging south into the orchards. Scouts moving down this channel hadn't drawn any fire and I allowed the platoon to bunch up (as is obvious from the screenshots). A mg opened up from a hedgeline in central Buron enfilading the platoon. Not good:

ScreenShot2013-08-04at002340_zps22dbecee.png

The guy next to the piat is hit

ScreenShot2013-08-04at002435_zps0109aa12.png

The two guys in the central foreground go down together

ScreenShot2013-08-04at002214_zps2d192545.png

Another good lesson to stop your troops bunching. Here I was being greedy, moving the whole platoon when the move should have been conducted in stages

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Turn 10 completed:

The German section moving forwards to the hedgeline to engage A Coy meanwhile decides to elsewhere in the light of the attention being given to that particular location. This is the signal for A Coy to begin pushing forward down the road into Buron

ScreenShot2013-08-04at002901_zps40378ba5.png

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Turn 12 completed:

(I missed posting a turn. Sorry)

Not much happened during turn 11 save for our inexorable advance towards Buron, Caen and Berlin.

Turn 12, however, we seem to be getting to grips with the enemy. Do you remember the machine gunner turn away from our mortars hitting the hedge line facing A Coy? Well they are nothing if not persistent and this turn sees them coming back! Brave eh? Well unfortunately I think (we shall have to see though) the firepower they have to face may be too much. Here they are coming back

ScreenShot2013-08-07at004647_zpsc65efa5c.png

Advancing closer to the hedge line - elements of A Coy in front of them can be seen advancing down the road

ScreenShot2013-08-07at004837_zpsa365c4c6.png

A Coy's area fire into the hedge line

ScreenShot2013-08-07at005015_zps6509639c.png

The epitome of fighting in Normandy villages: A Coy advancing down the road, with the German section visible on the other side of the hedge, a short and, possibly, deadly firefight in the offing

ScreenShot2013-08-07at004746_zps84bbff7e.png

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