CM Final Blitzkrieg - ALLIED (Defense) BETA Battle Report

[BletchleyGeek]

[JoMac]

Quote:

He's intelligent, but not experienced...His pattern indicates two-dimentional thinking.

 

[John Kettler]

Bil,

This is quite the fight, and the Jagdtiger seeks to be doing quite well for itself. Wonder why Baneman pulled it out of such a wonderful position? Interesting to see a Jumbo in action, but it's ground pressure must be even worse than a King Tiger, and Shermans already had major mobility issues on squishy ground. See, for example, the Roer River Campaign, where the Germans were able to maneuver their tanks (no KT,s, though, I believe) with ease while ours floundered. The January AAR for the 628th TD Battalion (M36) says this was true for winter, as well, and it explicitly lists the King Tiger in the winter mobility advantage category. See (5). This unit killed a King Tiger at Coronne, Belgium, but got it from the flank, not the front. The victim is here.

Your TDs seem to be taking quite the hammering. I agree with the recommendations made by several people here that you fall back to your next line of defense. If you don't, you may find yourself decisively engaged ere long and won't be able to fall back. If that happens, your whole defensive scheme will have been for nothing. Meanwhile, you may find this thread on 90 mm gun performance vs the KT of interest. Finally, you may find this incident (and pic) encouraging, though so far I lack the details. Even so, the facts stand. A M36 of "A" Company, 776th TD Battalion engaged and destroyed a Jagdtiger, the first such kill on the Western Front. The Vehicle Commander, LT John Britz, received the Bronze Star for this action (looks like he later received a Silver Star for other actions; was a very good AFV killer). But that doesn't seem to be the whole story, for there are some who present arguments that this vehicle was destroyed by bazooka fire from the 36th Infantry.

Regards,

John Kettler

[sburke]

 

I think I have target fixation now... that JagdTiger has become my white whale... 

Chapter 1 Call me Bil

I was looking for the one where the lookout cries out "Whale, a Great White Whale, oh wait, no just a regular black whale".  Sometimes you really have to watch what you type into google.

[John Kettler]

sburke,

Excellent and funny! Made me laugh, so thanks for that. Larson was a comic creating genius, and I was sad and shocked when he abruptly left, apparently broken by the constant demands of doing a daily cartoon. The lookout's sighting report, as amended, seems like something right out of Monty Python comedy sketch. 

While we're on whales, do you know the story of the Essex, a whaler rammed and sunk by a whale? It got very ugly out there, and there was talk of cannibalism in the lifeboat before the men were rescued. Some years later, at a dance in Nantucket, a woman approached the captain, who was one of the survivors. She asked "Captain, I believe you knew my son?" whereupon she gave his name and position on the whaler. The captain came back with a shocking but brilliant reply. "Know him ma'am? Why, I et him."

Regards,

John Kettler

Edited January 11, 2016 by John Kettler

[Bud Backer]

I love how perennially relevant Star Trek still is...and that you'd quote it.

 

[Heinrich505]

Bil,

  C3K's Jeep suicide squad might have some merit here...  You'd increase your already legendary status by leaps and bounds.  They could drive circles around the beast, maddening it into a frothy frenzy, all the while tossing grenades at it with the Target Light command.  Hmm, didn't the Romans do something similar when dealing with enemy elephants?

"They stab it with their steely knives, but they just can't kill the beast." [with apologies to The Eagles]

  This is all great stuff.  No need for second thoughts.  You are an aggressive Allied commander with a fast force of armor and you are taking the fight to the enemy.  Colonel Abrams is not going to castigate you for your choice of action.  In fact, he's probably applauding your choice of tactics back at HQ right now as this is exactly what he would have done with the same OOB that you chose. 

  You've given the enemy a substantial bloody nose.  Now, launch the cows on the catapults [its always Monty Python...] and slip back to the second line.

  There will be time later for all those letters to the pixeltruppen family members...ouch....

Thanks for the action.  This AAR crackles with electric energy.

Heinrich505

[Bil Hardenberger]

TURN 28 (1:03-1:02)

HELLCAT RIDGE:  My Team Pain Shermans come around the edge of the woods on the left edge of the map (from my point of view).. one enemy team hugs the ground in the following image as the Easy 8 takes it under fire.  The Jumbo is right behind.

One enemy team is already in the woods... from what I can see might only be these two on this flank for now.

TEAM PUNISHMENT SHERMANS:  Well my plan to use the Team Punishment Shermans as bait worked a treat!    Unfortunately Baneman did not have to bring a Panther over the KT1 Ridge as I drove it into an area where it could kill my Easy 8 with a shot through the turret side. 

As the clock ticked down the Jumbo spots Panther-1 behind two treelines... I do not think he has a spot on the Jumbo.  I also have an itchy feeling telling me that Panther-3 is attempting to get on the rear of this tank.. so the Jumbo could be in serious trouble.

[pnzrldr]

Bil, I figured you would regret not buying any artillery.  Now I know I was right.  Hell, it would have at least covered your withdrawal.  Barring that, if you run far enough, fast enough, that JT will run out of gas before you do!  

[Bil Hardenberger]

TURN 29 (1:02-1:01)

HELLCAT RIDGE:  Team Pain Easy-8:

Team Pain Jumbo (still alive for now):

 

[Bud Backer]

Oh my! That's really rough going, Bil. The LOS on that map looks brutally tricky. 

[Heinrich505]

Bil,

  Oh Yeah... the Jumbo is a Beast!!!

Heinrich505

[GhostRider3/3]

Exciting stuff.... good action on both sides.

[Lethaface]

@Bil Hardenberger Are you having second thoughts about you naming your teams 'Pain' and 'Punishment'? :-P

As always great AAR! You sure did create some excitement with your bold moves

[c3k]

LOL, yeah, I thought "Pain" and "Punishment" meant that they would cause that to the enemy, not to you.

Tough beastie, that JT.

You have some 90mm TDs: are they able to take out the JT? Or, are you thinking of using them to to pick off other units? Despite the fireworks of the last few turns, you still have a lot of mobile assets left and the map has a lot more space. What's your plan?

Ken

 

[Bud Backer]

LOL, yeah, I thought "Pain" and "Punishment" meant that they would cause that to the enemy, not to you.

Tough beastie, that JT.

You have some 90mm TDs: are they able to take out the JT? Or, are you thinking of using them to to pick off other units? Despite the fireworks of the last few turns, you still have a lot of mobile assets left and the map has a lot more space. What's your plan?

Ken

 

Its a pity that smoke is not really a viable option (I think it was established there is a fairly strong wind?) because it would seem to me that disengagement and repositioning to regain surprise and initiative wouldn't be a crazy idea at this point. It's been a hard few turns for Bil, but the force at his disposal is powerful and I believe he can recover.

 

[Bil Hardenberger]

TURN 30 (1:01-1:00)

TEAM PUNISHMENT - JUMBO:  Panther-3 takes it out with a shot through the side.. so yep.  

I have offered a cease fire to Ian, I am pulling off all objectives so he will at least get credit for the first objective and nobody will get credit for the others.  He did a good job of taking advantage of my mistakes.. mark of a good commander.

Definitely not my best game, sorry fellas, I had hoped to provide a better show.

[Badger73]

 

<snipped>

Definitely not my best game, sorry fellas, I had hoped to provide a better show.

<snipped>

Gosh, please don't apologize.  'Twas a near run thing.  This DAR was great!  Your pre-battle thought process and analysis in itself exceeds the price of admission.  You offer exceptional Lessons Learned.   No one bats 1000.  After you lick your wounds, I for one do not envy your next opponent.  Thank you for all your time and wonderful efforts!

[c3k]

Gosh, please don't apologize.  'Twas a near run thing.  This DAR was great!  Your pre-battle thought process and analysis in itself exceeds the price of admission.  You offer exceptional Lessons Learned.   No one bats 1000.  After you lick your wounds, I for one do not envy your next opponent.  Thank you for all your time and wonderful efforts!

This says it very well.

I'd like to emphasize that it was a great GAME to watch. No, this one did not go the way you wanted, but it could've.

Thanks for taking the time to do such a great write-up/analysis.

Ken "and we all know that Bil will be buying JTs the next chance he gets"

[domfluff]

Thank you for the AAR Bil, the risky moves over the last few turns could easily have paid off, or the Jagdtiger could have bogged itself somewhere useless, and we'd be looking at an entirely different battle.

[Bud Backer]

Gosh, please don't apologize.  'Twas a near run thing.  This DAR was great!  Your pre-battle thought process and analysis in itself exceeds the price of admission.  You offer exceptional Lessons Learned.   No one bats 1000.  After you lick your wounds, I for one do not envy your next opponent.  Thank you for all your time and wonderful efforts!

I can't agree more strongly with this statement. Bil, it's a tough fight for both sides, and a great AAR, thank you for doing it. As always, very enjoyable reading.

 

[AttorneyAtWar]

Good fight Bil, definitely one of the more "different" AAR's, I won't lie In the beginning I thought you had this in the bag, but anything can happen.

[BarbaricCo]

TURN 30 (1:01-1:00)

TEAM PUNISHMENT - JUMBO:  Panther-3 takes it out with a shot through the side.. so yep.  

I have offered a cease fire to Ian, I am pulling off all objectives so he will at least get credit for the first objective and nobody will get credit for the others.  He did a good job of taking advantage of my mistakes.. mark of a good commander.

Definitely not my best game, sorry fellas, I had hoped to provide a better show.

To mr. Bil 

Professor, Doc, Dean of CM gaming Academy 

We all know that this risky double counterattack was part of the show and for audience enjoyment. It didn't turn well, but it's maybe not to late for some heroic defense?

[Migo441]

...I won't lie In the beginning I thought you had this in the bag, but anything can happen.

I was also among those expressing concern about the OOBs at start.  I assumed the German armor would be overwhelmed by the sheer number of American tanks and tank destroyers.  Just too many potential angles, too many fights to have to win.    

I wasn't expecting Hagler vs. Hearns but that's what we got!  Not much cat & mouse, just action that started and didn't stop until the pace spat out one side.

Good stuff.  Thanks for doing this.

[A Canadian Cat]

Gosh, please don't apologize.  'Twas a near run thing.  This DAR was great!  Your pre-battle thought process and analysis in itself exceeds the price of admission.  You offer exceptional Lessons Learned.   No one bats 1000.  After you lick your wounds, I for one do not envy your next opponent.  Thank you for all your time and wonderful efforts!

For sure well said.