gnarly Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 (edited) So a month or so ago I got a message from my most frequent BS opponent, Artemis Quote Just got CM:FB. Matched DAR again, ww2 style?? Yes, he guilted me to another match with promises of parallel DAR reports, this time in the WW2 theater, in which I am still a veritable babe-in-the-woods (having twice been crucified thoroughly by @Meat Grinder): Kinda hard to weasel out of that gambit, so I replied: My previous DAR to which Art refers: It is only today that we both realized, the lazy sod never actually did a reciprocal DAR!!!!!!!!!! Art, that was a...... Edited August 16, 2016 by gnarly 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnarly Posted August 16, 2016 Author Share Posted August 16, 2016 Flow charts, venn diagrams, sand-table dioramas, cost-benefit analytics and random guesses to follow... Like this 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnarly Posted August 16, 2016 Author Share Posted August 16, 2016 But perhaps this option is more tempting.... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnarly Posted August 16, 2016 Author Share Posted August 16, 2016 Artemis has chosen a Meeting Engagement, which is interesting as he's always been a fan of probes over meeting engagements. My Heer are attacking from the south over a 1km x 1km map as below, medium sized armies (approx 2800 points). No airpower is allowed. Ground is dry, weather is clear, and a playful light wind brings the delightful bouquet of rotting meat from the east... Looking west across the map: Looking from the left flank to the NE: From my center to the north: And looking from my right flank towards the NW: 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnarly Posted August 16, 2016 Author Share Posted August 16, 2016 The objectives: SW min VP (my left flank) is a gully/depression in the road, over-watched by a two story building to the rear. This should be fairly defensible with minimal troops. SE min VP (my right flank) is a thinly tree-ed road junction sloping gently down to the north. A few E-W low walls provide minimal cover. Best defended from adjacent tree lines either side, with good LOS over the open country in front. Major VP is a sprawling township, with solid long-range overwatch from Art's baseline treeline (yikes!), and closely bordered by a treeline on my (south) side. Neither side is likely to cotnrol this zone, and it is therefore a zone to merely neutralise with a token presence by game end, and hopefully not get too bogged down in house to house fighting... Yeah right..... NW min VP (Art's right) is a small town, easily defended. At best I could try neutralising his points here, but that's gonna be tough.... NE min VP thickly tree-ed road sloping gently south. Of Art's two min VPs this I have the most chance of dislodging him. If I can get troops all the way over there safely; the approach shares the same downfalls as my right / SE min VP.... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnarly Posted August 16, 2016 Author Share Posted August 16, 2016 Other terrain I've only had a cursory look, but the forest on Art's center baseline has good LOS down onto the major town, which means I do NOT want to be occupying/exposing troops anywhere there but the south side of town, or they'll likely get sledgehammered by tank/howitzer fire. Instead, my major town over-watch is the thick treeline close to its south side, which is also hidden from LOS of Art's treeline.Intent Neutralize the point value of the major VP Defend my VPs Attempt to at least neutralize the point value of Arts NE min VP. Quick and dirt approach Rapidly try to occupy some buildings on the south side of town with a few mechanised squads, specifically buildings sheltered from Art's center overwatch treeline by other buildings. Initial smoke barrage to mask ingress of these troops. Support these by further infantry and howitzers in the adjacent southern treeline. Some reserve troops here as well. Emplace a squad at each Minor VP for defensive purposes Put out infantry recon teams to get a picture of Art's forces and intent. Troops I've hedged my bets, and picked a combined force of: 1 platoon (1st) of mechanized Volksgrenadiers (halftracks) 2 platoons of Volksgrenadiers (3rd platoon has only 2 squads, and both have an extra LMG attached) 1 platoon of 4 x 81mm mortars (on-map) An FO and 5 TRPs 2 x Pz VA Panthers 2 x StuG IIIG assault guns 1 x AA haltrack 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.J.H. Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 I really enjoyed your DAR against Artemis in CMBS - great fight and great presentation. Looking forward to this WWII rematch - give 'em hell! MH 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOS:96B2P Posted August 20, 2016 Share Posted August 20, 2016 On 8/16/2016 at 0:48 AM, gnarly said: <Snip> I've hedged my bets, and picked a combined force <Snip> Always a good idea IMO. Combined arms is the way to go. Looking forward to this. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnarly Posted August 21, 2016 Author Share Posted August 21, 2016 On 8/20/2016 at 1:17 AM, M.J.H. said: I really enjoyed your DAR against Artemis in CMBS - great fight and great presentation. Looking forward to this WWII rematch - give 'em hell! MH Thanks MJH, though I fear, this one will not be much of a fight, as I've already lost significant assets in the first turn. And writing a DAR merely compounds my frustration. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnarly Posted August 21, 2016 Author Share Posted August 21, 2016 17 hours ago, MOS:96B2P said: Always a good idea IMO. Combined arms is the way to go. Looking forward to this. At the rate I'm going, my force is going to be 'uncombined' rather quickly.... I think I do a better job (in the WW2 period) of providing my opponents with a mobile shooting gallery, than actually doing anything of value 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnarly Posted August 21, 2016 Author Share Posted August 21, 2016 (edited) It's bloody difficult to get motivated to write a DAR, when your first turn is a disaster, as it seems almost all my WW2 PBEM's tend to be. So I'll keep it brief, to minimize your exposure to my frustration and venting. Rough plan (already gone to crap) is this: Panthers (far left and far right blue) advance to overwatch positions. Left Panther is moving to hull-down looking straight down the road in front Stugs (middle two blue) advance to more narrow overwatch over the town, primarily to beat down any buildings containing Yanks.. One Stug is carrying a squad of 2nd platoons infantry (parallel yellow dashed line) who will provide reserve/support for 1st platoon from the treeline south of the town 1st platoon (orange dashed) astride 3 halftracks is to race into the southern edge of the major VP town, and spread out amongst a number of houses. I will try to ensure that these are not exposed to Art's dominating treeline to the north, so can only be fired upon from nearby houses. The Stugs shall support these troops. 2nd platoon (yellow dashed) advance one squad to overwatch their VP and the ground in front from the left, and another squad to advance down the right map edge, to get eyes of Art's left flank. Their attached LMG will overwatch from the right. Their remaining squad is hitching a lift on one of the Stugs (yeah, I know no command linkage, but whatever...) 3rd platoon (green dashed: 2 squads) moves up to SW VP, to get eyes N and NE. Emplacing attached LMG into house overlooking VP Mortars (red): 1 section to lay down a smoke screen immediately E-W across the center of town to help mask 1st platoon's positioning. 2 section will advance as shown, from where I think it can get LOS over the area and treeline north of town I'm pushing the Batt/Comp HQ's and the FO up to locations in the tree-lines in the middle of the map, to try and get LOS TRP's as shown, for likely positions Art may use for infantry base of fire, and troop concentrations. Edited August 21, 2016 by gnarly 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnarly Posted August 21, 2016 Author Share Posted August 21, 2016 (edited) Minute 60 So the arrogant little colonel commanding my left-hand Panther was so busy polishing his monocle whilst luridly regaling his crew of his exploits with a Bavarian waitress, that he froze with shock when a tank (?) round screamed past. The second round? F%&*^^ING fantastic, just like every other WW2 armour battle I've done; 50% of my 'heavy' tank assets gone early, though this takes the cake for it's demise, something like 15 seconds. Didn't spot crap either. Useless prick . About the only thing of interest to my was my first ever use of tank riders, though likely they'll die when the Stug gets imploded shortly. Here's a shot to immortalize them before they are torn to meaty charcoaled chunks, with a bonus view of the afore-mentioned tracked BBQ. Oh, the AA halftrack you can see above I've moved up to be a little behind where the advanced mortar team will be, just cos I can. Turn end: Edit: totally forgot to mention enemy activity. As you can see above, only an armour and infantry noise contact in the NE. Edit: totally forgot to mention enemy activity. As you can see above, only an armour and infantry noise contact in the NE. Edited August 21, 2016 by gnarly 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heinrich505 Posted August 21, 2016 Share Posted August 21, 2016 Gnarly, Man, bad news that. The colonel (Was his name Klink? "Hogaaaaan!!!") should have waited for you to let a few landsers poke their heads over the ridge and do some spotting for him before he drove into something's LOS. Nice screenshots and early action. You didn't want your loyal readers to be bored, right? Shake it off, Herr Oberst. We are with you. Oh yes, and tell those guys to stop pulling out shrimp for the barbee...bad for morale this early in the battle. Thanks for posting this DAR. It always takes special courage to put your battles out for everyone to see the good, bad, and ugly. Don't worry about early setbacks. Battle plans always go out the window with first contact. Heinrich505 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnarly Posted August 22, 2016 Author Share Posted August 22, 2016 9 hours ago, Heinrich505 said: Gnarly, Man, bad news that. The colonel (Was his name Klink? "Hogaaaaan!!!") should have waited for you to let a few landsers poke their heads over the ridge and do some spotting for him before he drove into something's LOS. Nice screenshots and early action. You didn't want your loyal readers to be bored, right? Shake it off, Herr Oberst. We are with you. Oh yes, and tell those guys to stop pulling out shrimp for the barbee...bad for morale this early in the battle. Thanks for posting this DAR. It always takes special courage to put your battles out for everyone to see the good, bad, and ugly. Don't worry about early setbacks. Battle plans always go out the window with first contact. Heinrich505 Thanks Heinrich. Normally I would do exactly that anytime after the first turn, or as an attacker in Probe or Attack. But this is a Meeting Engagement, and Art had exactly the same terrain on his side (slight rise to hull-down overwatch). So I think this was more a fast-draw-McGraw shootout. And perhaps I should have put the now crispy Panther into overwatch from some trees or something (the fact that we didn't even get a sound contact suggests Art probably did such.). C'est la vie. Certainly in CM: BS, getting these hull-down overwatches in the first turn is imperative; he who moves into such positions later will almost always succumb to he who is already there, regardless if you know the opponent is already there. Anyway, I'm sure more happy snaps of mutilation and carnage on my side will follow shortly.... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnarly Posted August 24, 2016 Author Share Posted August 24, 2016 (edited) Minutes 59-57 Oblivious to the demise of Colonel Klink and his tank mere meters away, a team from 3rd platoon advances blithely into the sights of that same tank (hereon known as Colonel Hogan.....) who proceeds to give them a HE lesson in situational awareness.... As I suspected, Colonel Klink lost in a race to a hull-down overwatch with Colonel Hogan, who is astride an Easy Eight.... I wonder if the gamey baas-terd did something like a very narrow Armour Arc straight down the road, to minimise his spotting time? My remaining Panther spots an M36B1 tank destroyer advancing down the road from Art's left, but cannot get a clear shot before losing sight. By the end of the turns, there are multiple infantry contacts on the edges of the NE objective, likely a platoon. Meanwhile 1st platoon reaches the town unmolested, and begins garrisoning the southern buildings as fire teams under cover of the mortar smoke screen. A halftrack is spotted by a 1st platoon halftrack on the outskirts of the NW objective, and retreats under HMG fire. A nice overview over the town looking NW, with the halftrack contact barley visible behind a tree: End situation: No changes to movement orders; teams are pushing up on the left and right flanks to get more info and LOS. 2nd Section of the mortars is still moving up to their overwatch position Edited August 24, 2016 by gnarly 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnarly Posted August 28, 2016 Author Share Posted August 28, 2016 Minute 57 1st platoon continues consolidating in town, whilst 2nd platoon's HQ spots a 2nd Easy-8 traversing right (east) from the location of Hogan's tank. Art starts dropping some mortars to the rear / SE of the village (behind 1st platoon's half-tracks) late in the turn. My rear Stug starts taking HMG fire from the NE VP location; he'll drop some rounds in that vicinity, whilst reversing somewhat. My Forward Observer decides that that NE VP looks like a juicy location for an arty barrage, and contacts the mortar HQ with a fire mission. But it seems like the mortar HQ is out of contact with both his mortar sections by likely an action square or two. For F^$#S sake.....!! The micromanagement in this game ****s me to tears at times.... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnarly Posted August 28, 2016 Author Share Posted August 28, 2016 Minute 56 Elements of likely a platoon, including a flamethrower team, start entering the NW part of town: A HMG crew member is spotted retreating from the NE VP location after a few Stug rounds. The mortar schmozzle continues; the 2nd section mortar teams are still moving into voice range of their HQ, prior to deploying, so there likely goes another complete waste of points... Oh, and to cap all this of, I was so busily loading my squads up with ammo from the half-tracks at start of the game, that I didn't realise till my first proper turn that I'd left the half-tracks with nothing but the belt already in their HMGs...... sigh.... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heinrich505 Posted August 28, 2016 Share Posted August 28, 2016 Gnarly, Whoo boy, looks like a cage match is about to begin for the Village. "Two men enter, one man leaves..." The SNAFU with the HMGs might be a good thing. You won't be tempted to put your halftracks into harms way now, thus saving you the points of burning halftracks. I find it too tempting to try and use them as mobile MG forces and usually end up with them knocked out or burning. Good action so far. The bright side is you haven't lost any more armor. +++ Heinrich505 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted August 29, 2016 Share Posted August 29, 2016 "The SNAFU with the HMGs might be a good thing..." I agree. It's often too tempting to use a halftrack for fire support at too close range and they get snuffed fast. About 500m is the min range I would use a halftrack for support fire. Otherwise, use em like they are merely sexy-looking trucks. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnarly Posted August 29, 2016 Author Share Posted August 29, 2016 Minute 56 The Amis advancing into the buildings on the NW side of the crossroads in town are caught by fire from a 1st platoon squad. My rear Stug catches sight of some armour on the outskirts of Art's town (NW minor) VP, and engages: Hopefully he can finish the job next turn, and bag a halftrack as well! My other (forward) Stug is re-positioning to also get LOS onto this location. In the higher (more southern) treeline, I'm re-positioning my Panther to get LOS onto Art's backfield, and hopefully one of his Easy-8's. I'm also shifting the AA-halftrack to get LOS over the town's crossroads, and provide suppressive fire onto any buildings the Amis garrison. There is an additional new tank contact north of town, as below A spotting round lands forward of my right flank VP 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnarly Posted August 29, 2016 Author Share Posted August 29, 2016 5 hours ago, Heinrich505 said: Gnarly, Whoo boy, looks like a cage match is about to begin for the Village. "Two men enter, one man leaves..." The SNAFU with the HMGs might be a good thing. You won't be tempted to put your halftracks into harms way now, thus saving you the points of burning halftracks. I find it too tempting to try and use them as mobile MG forces and usually end up with them knocked out or burning. Good action so far. The bright side is you haven't lost any more armor. +++ Heinrich505 1 hour ago, Erwin said: "The SNAFU with the HMGs might be a good thing..." I agree. It's often too tempting to use a halftrack for fire support at too close range and they get snuffed fast. About 500m is the min range I would use a halftrack for support fire. Otherwise, use em like they are merely sexy-looking trucks. Good points guys, I have far too often got carried away with using them as mobile gun platforms, only to rapidly lose the gunners, and then find the driver panicking and the halftracks doing circle-work off in a field somewhere.... Maybe I can knock out Art's halftracks instead? The rear Stug can certainly see one, but he has an M4A3 to finish off first.... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnarly Posted August 30, 2016 Author Share Posted August 30, 2016 Minute 55 It seems the Yanks built those M4A3's damn tough!! The Stug hits it 4 times, 3 of which are critical (2 penetrations and one spalling), plus a weapon mount hit. It retreats back into the minor town VP, missing with its initial return shots. Meanwhile 2 new M4A3's enter town along the same route as the ground-pounders, obviously to dislodge that 1st platoon squad.The reciprocal view from above that 1st platoon's squad (pictured in Minute 56) looking back NW towards the minor town VP: My advanced mortar section comes under fire from town, as does one of the halftracks, losing its gunner. My armour and FO are re-positioning in the center for better vantage points, and putting down some fire on spotted MG and mortar teams forward of the minor town VP 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnarly Posted September 7, 2016 Author Share Posted September 7, 2016 Note I somehow had minute 56 occurring twice above. Can't correct it on these forums, but timestamp below is now correct. Minute 53 In town, the leading M4A3 all but obliterates that 1st platoon squad, whilst an infantry firefight erupts amongst the various other buildings. My direct cannon fire on Art's support assets outside his small town seems ineffective; there is still firing from a mortar team on the road, an MG team in the woods and a bazooka team is also spotted. Late in the turn Art’s Hellcat on his left flank advances out of the treeline, into my remaining Panther’s view. Oh the tension!!!! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnarly Posted September 7, 2016 Author Share Posted September 7, 2016 (edited) Minute 52 The tension is..... ....unresolved. The Panther and Hellcat trade multiple missed shots, with the Hellcat eventually retreating back into the treeline. In the center, the forward Stug (Sgt. Lohmeyer) spots and gets a penetration on the 2nd M4A3 in town, with a least one casualty. My AA halftrack (in the rear treeline with the other Stug) briefly fires on this same M4A3 as it retreats but it looks like it’s only damaged the commanders gun mount with a solid burst. At the turn end, the AA halftrack gets eyes on one of Art’s baseline Easy-8’s. I’ll likely get it to hose the Easy-8 down whilst retreating the halftrack, at the same time advancing the adjacent (rear) Stug slightly to get LOS on the same tank. The town firefight continues, with another advanced team reduced to combat ineffectiveness. A third team retreats under 50cal fire from a halftrack. My remaining effective 2 section mortar (the other has ‘lost’ its tube/leader???) puts down direct fire on a HQ sheltering in a building to the rear. Hogan’s Easy-8 meanwhile starts advancing into town. On my right, I’ve still a squad advancing slowly down the map edge. Summary: Edited September 7, 2016 by gnarly 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heinrich505 Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 Gnarly, I was pretty sure the Hellcat would be toast...appears like he escaped for now. It looks like you've got some nice fields of fire for the Panther on your right flank. Sounds like the 50 cals are becoming a real headache. If you can drop some mortars on them that would be a good start. I get the feeling you have recovered from the initial loss of Klink's Panther. Heinrich505 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.