CM:BO Invitational PBEM Tourney of "Stars" …. Part II

[Treeburst155]

More news from the front. Fionn just picked up a Tactical victory over Bill Hardenberger. The score was 62-38. Congratulations, Fionn!!

Here's the updated standings:

Fionn...........474...6...79.00

SuperTed........154...3...51.33

M. Dorosh.......150...4...37.50

Claymore..........99...1...99.00

Berlichtingen.....70...4...17.50

Moon..............60...1...60.00

Bill Hardenberger..38...1...38.00

John Kettler.......20...1...20.00

MickOZ............17...1...17.00

Sorted by average:

Claymore...........99...1...99.00

Fionn.............474...6...79.00

Moon...............60...1...60.00

SuperTed..........154...3...51.33

Bill Hardenberger..38...1...38.00

M. Dorosh..........150...4...37.50

John Kettler.......20...1....20.00

Berlichtingen......70...4...17.50

MickOZ.............17...1...17.00

[John Kettler]

Concerning Fionn's AAR:

Yes, I made some major mistakes, for which I paid dearly, but Fionn seems to have very little understanding of the extreme paucity of tactical information from which I was working

throughout most of the game. Time and again his analysis faults me for this or that wrong decision or for misallocating effort. I submit that's easy to do when you know what your plan is, where your troops are, what your specific objectives are, etc., as Fionn did of his men. Sadly, I didn't have the password to Fionn's brain. Nor was my telepathy working.

Fionn has my password from the game. I therefore invite him to see how little I had upon which to base my tactical decisions. Where he knows I "didn't do X" and "should've done Y," I had a display showing maybe a squad when the entire wood was full of SS infantry.

As noted before, with whole platoons of German infantry running at me, I got not so much as a sneeze, let alone a huge sound contact, before my left flank was first engulfed, then destroyed.

Thereafter, it was military improv central, with a few local wins on my right. And while Fionn was telling me that I was still viable on the right, the reality was that the platoon in question already had significant problems, with a squad pinned and another shaken, the platoon HQ dead, crossfires coming in from multiple axes, then the 120s came crashing down and put practically everyone but the Ma Deuces to flight.

Fionn marvels that I had two of my three FOs shooting at more distant targets, but he doesn't know that I was trying to inflict as much damage as I could, while I could, while trying to hold his infantry at bay via defensive barrages into the treelines he occupied. I had no real sense how strong he was in the areas he describes. That information simply wasn't available to me when I sent the mortar fire orders out. And believe me, retargeting times were a major consideration.

Both of my 81mm FOs died while conducting defensive barrages under direct infantry fire. One barrage was practically on my position on the left flank. Had I even a hint of his battalion HQ's presence right there blazing away itself (yes, you read that right), I would've taken the chance and shifted the 4.2". The problem was that this meant retargeting, and my whole position was in imminent danger of being stormed. I was concentrating on trying to get all my 4.2" rounds off before the FO got hit. Since I had a shoot in progress, I gambled that I could last one more turn and hold off the inevitable infantry charge. Autosurrender put paid to that.

Fionn comes across as all-knowing, which is easy to do in hindsight, but I found the fog of war to be thick and often opaque. I've never played a CM game before in which I was opposed by so many troops yet had almost no information. I have no idea why. Instead of sound contacts at 500m I got no sound contact

at 40m. Strange.

Of course, none of this changes the annihilation of my unit.

I would like to respond to Fionn's remarks on

the viability and vulnerability of his battalion, as opposed to my take. Consider:

Fionn's battalion HQ is within at most 200m of the Allied board edge. There, it is highly exposed to prep fires and a subsequent advance. The existence of a major German concentration was evident before the game ended, therefore its location is a logical target for Allied artillery. Several other platoons are similarly exposed along the forward edge. Thus, his main CP and a good portion of his combat power is subject to being first blasted, then devoured.

Next, though I do not claim it's exhaustive, I did take a peek at some of his units. Quite a few are shaken or panicked, and of the squads that I saw, casualties ranged from 2-9, with half a squad down being fairly common. His two platoon remnants on Hill 197 are in sad shape, and the formation in the small VL on the right

is on its belly and has taken some lumps too.

I'm not sure about the status of his troops in the center. I do know that most of his combat power is forward. His position therefore lacks depth. He's probably in fairly good shape on my far right, having brought in an essentially fresh platoon.

Further, he pushed some of his people long and hard to get them where they wound up. They can't move that way any more. This inevitably impacts his tactical options.

Now, let's look at his streamlined unit. He left behind his HMGs, his Panzerschrecks, and his mortars in order to gain foot speed. He therefore has made his battalion remnant much more vulnerable to counterattack, especially with armor, than would otherwise be the case.

Finally, I'd like to ask the military historians and veterans how effective an infantry battalion would be if it took over 30% casualties, all in the line platoons, in a mere nine minutes?

Fionn's task organization and tactics were brilliant and brutally effective, but only within the constraints of a highly distorted combat environment. Considering how much armor the Americans had IRL, would you go in the field without your Panzerschrecks? Considering you're outnumbered, are you going to give up the twin whips of your HMGs and mortars? There's a reason why military units strive for a balance of capabilities--no prebattle negotiations!

For the record, Fionn goes out of his way to be fair during them. Be specific about what does and doesn't work for you. Fionn probably won't be bothered. His confidence in his own ability, under any conditions, is supreme.

On CM Tournaments

I say the above as a kind of springboard for discussion of what we're trying to do in this and future tournaments. Are we trying to determine who is best at gaming the system, at squeezing every possible advantage from the units and working right into the very limits of the game engine, using forces ranging from sublime to perverse; or are we interested instead in finding out who is the best battlefield commander of realistic and appropriate forces in historically credible combat scenarios?

Either solution is valid, but the underlying philosophy is radically different. While I enjoy exploring theoretical situations, I personally tend to favor realistic forces in realistic scenarios. To this I must add that I consider meeting engagements to be decided oddities. I'd strongly prefer the concept of playing the chosen scenario twice: once as the attacker and then as the defender. The drawback to this is, of course, a doubling of time to play the tournament.

What I've Learned about Fighting Fionn

I'll close with some information which might benefit those who haven't fought Fionn.

Fionn's fighting style orients on your troops, not the flags. He'll attempt to destroy you as quickly as possible by first imbalancing you, then dealing you a crushing blow. He loves to distract and confuse, and is quite willing to use the indirect approach in order to mass crushing combat power in sector. Mutual support and flexibility are absolute musts. Be sure you protect yourself from rushes through

cover.

If you say something which upsets him, he may well ignore many routine considerations in order to crush you even faster. Fionn's slow speed setting is faster than anyone you've ever fought before. He can and will push his men to near collapse in order to gain a positional advantage or exploit a newly revealed opportunity. His galled setting will practically freeze your heart when he makes his move. Be warned! There is an enormous psychological shock component to his attacks. This is by design.

Fionn's schooled in Soviet tactics, believes in mass (hit me with a streamlined battalion) and Sun Tzu. Make no mistake, his target is your mind. He's looking to paralyze your brain, rattle you and cause you to make bad decisions. Stay centered at all costs.

Because Fionn's stated doctine is "Attack! Attack! Attack!" it may be possible to use this against him and lead him into a nasty ambush by presenting him with a poisoned apple

in the form of an apparently vulnerable unit or flank. Just don't do it the way I did with an open unsupported flank!

Such a theoretical tactic depends, of course, on blinding and/or blocking Fionn's extensive recon elements. In retrospect, I should've placed a smoke screen on my open flank and put out lots more recon further ahead. Effective use of indirect fires, especially artfully sited TRPs, can put real teeth into the ambush. Speaking of fire support, Fionn believes in heavy offboard fires, masses them. and uses them decisively. In our battle he had 3 x 120mm mortar FOs, whom he used with devastating effect.

The other thing you need to keep in mind is that you're dealing with a real pro. I knew he'd be tough, but I had no clue that he'd played 500 games and had won 490, of which 150 were in a row. By contrast, I had zero high level games going in. This is said not to scare you but to prepare you. Fionn is expert at force construction, map reading, tactics, and reading the battlefield. He's mortal, human and fallible, though. He can and will be beaten. Will you be the one to do it?

I hope this has been useful.

Sincerely,

John Kettler

[John Kettler]

Good post! Some brief answers.

Yes, there's much to be learned from dissecting that battle. That's why I've devoted so much time (not a fast typist) and my worn out brain to capturing what occurred

for the benefit of all concerned. I'm disappointed that with so many games going the AARs are few and far between, the reports terse, frequently almost to uselessness. Maybe it's because some people have six games going simultaneously.

Fionn's ability to argue vehemently against any military proposition he disagrees with (or just about anything else) is not in dispute. As his friend, you could do the rest of the world a favor by getting him a Born To Argue! T-shirt so as to provide fair warning to the unsuspecting. Maybe something could also be put in his sig?

The negotiations with Fionn, though challenging on multiple fronts for personal reasons, were eminently fair. As previously noted, he did something which was totally legal but utterly beyond my ken when he bought his troops. He then followed up on that with his radical approach to advancing.

When I was raising issues about what we're trying to do in the tournament, I was not focusing on Fionn. It is abundantly clear that

streamlining units is common in this tournament for many, while being apparently ignored by, unknown to or unconsidered by other players.

Rather, I was trying to generate a discussion concerning the a) specific objectives of the tournament organizers here; to learn what the participants are seeking to discover by clashing thus, and c) to propose other approaches which might yield better results in future tournaments.

It comes down to questions of emphasis, historical concerns, real world command constraints, and other issues. Many wargames and fantasy games have been ruined by what some call "system breakers." These are people who methodically seek out and exploit weak spots and gray areas in the rules and/or game engine itself in order to field forces with capabilities the game designers never intended. This board's awash in threads on SMG squads, too many Pumas, no Allied flak tracks, hard to kill SdKfz 7s, unkillable MG jeeps and much more, all neatly encapsulating my point.

Similarly, there are people on this board who routinely use spreadsheets detailing the characteristics of every unit in the game or have even memorized the information for all items of interest. They can and do produce abstruse, excruciatingly detailed arguments which would've driven even medieval popes mad.

Their force optimization studies make much of what the Pentagon produces look like dreck.

That is why I raised the issue in the first place. Are we trying to find out who, under reasonable combat conditions and with a historically appropriate force mix, can best solve a particular tactical problem; or are we trying to find out who can come up with the most lethal optimized force within the point limit, and disregarding such minor issues as rarity, absence from the TO&Es, enemy imposed constraints, logistic constraints, then use that force in such a way as to gain ahistoric benefit from known problems within the game engine concerning tactics, terrain, morale and weapon modeling?

To me, this is a valid set of questions deserving of long, sustained airing by people of every gaming persuasion, questions which go to the heart of who we are as gamers and why we're here.

All of this is moot to Fionn. He believes that, even given rotten cheese, he'll find a way to triumph. I'd try it in the ventilators.

Regards,

John Kettler

PS

The doctrinal attribution is a direct quote from Fionn.

[Treeburst155]

Hi John,

I think this tournament is simply a test of who understands the game the best, as opposed to real life tactics. It is really a mini-ladder. We are playing unlikely meeting engagements using forces specifically tailored to the map and conditions. There are no restrictions on what can be purchased. The only difference between these tourney games and regular ladder games is that the maps are a bit nicer and players get to really cherry pick their forces in the editor.

I have been thinking about starting an Historical Attack/Defend tournament using carefully designed scenarios. No force picking in the editor. Carefully designed attack/defend type scenarios never seen by anyone before.

The aim of this new tournament would be to find out who is the best tactician in realistic situations that were actually encountered. The prize would be the knowledge that you have come out on top after a series of realistic tactical problems were thrown at you. You would be tested on the attack and on defense.

The tourney would probably have to have no more than 10 players. Maybe even less since more players means more QUALITY scenarios.

I cannot design historical attack/defend scenarios myself but there are a some who can. I will be approaching them as soon as I have the time to think about how this thing will work. The tourney mechanics needs to be thought out a bit more.

SuperTed originally came up with the idea for an historical attack/defend tourney. I've been thinking about it ever since. He has already reserved his spot in it too. I will be moving on this new tourney within the week. I'll keep the community posted as things develop. Right now it is nothing more than a very good idea with lots of work to be done (scenario designing) before it can become a reality.

[John Kettler]

Where to begin?

I see I erred in removing "brutal" from my header concerning Fionn's AAR. In many ways, though, this one was worse. I don't know what Fionn does for a living, but he'd be great as a lawyer, a pathologist or a detective. His ability to meticulously analyze, marshal evidence and present a cogent, reasoned argument is impressive. He loves to argue, too, and with the overwhelming power and tenacity of a pit bull on steroids. I've never seen the like. He is the master of withering sarcasm and ridicule.

His magisterial methods, though, tend to make

the Spanish Inquisition look namby pamby by comparison. First he kicks the stuffing out of you on the battlefield, then comes a merciless

critique. Should you not "get religion" and "confess your sins" to this hyperdemanding, intensely critical CM gaming god, or worse, dare to state your views contrary to his, then cometh the whirlwind, as seen above. What's really twisted about this extrusional process is that he tells you to "have fun."

I know Fionn wants us to all be better gamers, and I suppose I should feel flattered by the kudos he gave me in terms of my comparative performance, but I find his teaching methods to be humiliating, painful, embarrassing and ultimately counterproductive and alienating.

This isn't boot camp in Full Metal Jacket, yet he seems to use methods even more devastating than that memorable DI did, and I never signed on for anything more than a game with him. To be "tutored" by Fionn is apparently to abrogate one's self-esteem and any claim whatever on basic human dignity. His boundaries are another matter entirely.

Fionn is undeniably a CM master. Would that he had interpersonal skills to match.

Sincerely,

John Kettler

[John Kettler]

The last ambulances are loaded and leave as Graves Registration goes about its melancholy

business of policing up, sorting and burying

what once were fit young men.

Greeted by this appalling sight and worse smell are the reinforcements, whose horrified musings and rising gorges are recalled to stern duty by the barked command "Eyes front!"

The column trudges forward, ever marching toward the sound of the guns.

Regards,

John Kettler

[WineCape]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Posted by Treeburst155:

I have been thinking about starting a Historical Attack/Defend tournament using carefully designed scenarios. No force picking in the editor. Carefully designed attack/defend type scenarios never seen by anyone before. The aim of this new tournament would be to find out who is the best tactician in realistic situations that were actually encountered. The prize would be the knowledge that you have come out on top after a series of realistic tactical problems were thrown at you. You would be tested on the attack and on defence. The tourney would probably have to have no more than 10 players. Maybe even less since more players means more QUALITY scenarios.

I cannot design historical attack/defend scenarios myself but there are a some who can. I will be approaching them as soon as I have the time to think about how this thing will work. The tourney mechanics needs to be thought out a bit more.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Mmmm, very interesting Mike.

I'm willing to sponsor this one too, maybe we could give the winner of this Invitational, as well as the winners of Tourney's I & II automatic entry then?

You're right though, the historical attach/defend scenario's have to be well though out/designed and historical correct, a task that will be no small feat. Playing these scenario's in both attack/defend mode against each opponent without picking your forces would sure be an almighty test of CM skills, and will go a long way in counter-balancing the Invitational Tourney's nitpicking of force selections.

E-mail me when you have come closer to some concrete idea Mike.

Kind regards,

Charl Theron

[Berlichtingen]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Treeburst155:

I have been thinking about starting an Historical Attack/Defend tournament using carefully designed scenarios. No force picking in the editor. Carefully designed attack/defend type scenarios never seen by anyone before. ...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

E-mail me... I've been working on the framework of a similar idea and I may have some ideas you can use

[Treeburst155]

We have another completed game to report. Texas Toast has bested MickOZ by a score of 64-21!! Congratulations Texas Toast!!

Here's the standings:

Fionn..............474...6...79.00

SuperTed...........154...3...51.33

M. Dorosh..........150...4...37.50

Claymore............99...1...99.00

Berlichtingen.......70...4...17.50

Texas Toast.........64....1...64.00

Moon................60....1...60.00

Bill Hardenberger...38...1...38.00

MickOZ..............38...2...19.00

John Kettler........20...1...20.00

Sorted by average:

Claymore.............99...1...99.00

Fionn...............474...6...79.00

Texas Toast..........64...1...64.00

Moon.................60...1...60.00

SuperTed............154...3...51.33

Bill Hardenberger....38...1...38.00

M. Dorosh..........150....4...37.50

John Kettler.........20...1...20.00

MickOZ..............38....2...19.00

Berlichtingen.......70....4...17.50

[Treeburst155]

Oh, I forot to comment on the posts above regarding the attack/defend tournament.

WineCape, you're gonna run out of wine if you don't watch out. How big is that cellar of yours anyway? You'll hear from me this weekend on this new tourney.

Berlichtingen, I'll be talking to you about this tourney by the weekend also when I have some time to devote exclusively to it. Your input will be much appreciated.

Be advised, gentlemen, this tournament is still pre-alpha at best.

[Shandorf]

Well, Treehead, considering his nick is Winecape I would bargain that his wine cellar is quite large and full to boot.

Ahhh.. Reading the latest string of posts it seems I have climbed higher for the prize of Good Sportsman. Muahahahaha! (<-JOKE)

Fionn can be a grueling teacher I must admit. Even I have lost my temper in a game or two with him, but alas, it means nothing. Tis a game after all.

Speaking of Fionn and games.. I have seen the map that Fionn and I are to battle on. All I can say is that either I will be fighting for my life after turn 2 or I will be sweating nervously many turns into the game. I have one word to describe this map...FOG.

I hate fog. Fog hates me.

I will say nothing else since Fionn is a master at picking apart my words here and may deduce my plan.

As for my games....

The depraved Aussie Mick

In all truth I don't know if Mick is an Aussie. It is just that I can't help picturing Paul Hogan in a leather vest when I think of him.

Anyway, our battle continues to be a game of cat and mouse but I have made a few moves to force Mick's hand. My 105mm VT arty continues to pound his troops on the reverse slope of the gargantuan hill that dominates the center of the map.

Only 4 more turns left in this one. The ending should be quite bloody.

Manpie

His super stealth KT KOed one of my tanks and then abruptly turned on its cloacking device and disappeared from the map. Quite annoying if you ask me.

Berli (The Tourney Whippin' boy)

Hey, I didn't come up with the title...

I have wounded him grievously, but I fear I have back a wounded animal into a corner. But hopefully I can put the dagger in him and twist it vigorously within the next few turns.

SuperTed

Well, since the pool table battle was tossed out, I won it BTW, we are prepared once again for a new battle. I still need to deploy.

Claymore

Sent my picks of to Mike. Haven't heard a thing back.

Fionn

His over confidence is his weakness. My faith in my ability is mine.

BTW... Since it appears that Fionn is taken the tourney to school, so to speak, I say we have a prize for the tourney contestant that loses to Fionn by the least.

Jeff

[Treeburst155]

Texas Toast Beats Fionn 99-1!!!

Ooops, that was Claymore vs Berlichtingen. Sorry.

The truth is, despite a valiant effort by Texas Toast, Fionn managed to get the best of him by a score of 65-35. Congratulations, Fionn!! The juggernaut rolls on!!

The best score obtained against Fionn was by Bill Hardenberger who managed 38 points. Texas Toast was close with 35. John Shandorf and that nutty physicist Claymore are preparing to do battle with the Irish Incinerator now, along with some of our low profile contestants. Good luck, fellas! Better you than me.

Here's the standings:

Fionn..............539...7...77.00

SuperTed...........154...3...51.33

M. Dorosh..........150...4...37.50

Claymore............99...1...99.00

Texas Toast.........99...2...49.50

Berlichtingen.......70...4...17.50

Moon................60...1...60.00

Bill Hardenberger...38...1...38.00

MickOZ..............38...2...19.00

John Kettler.........20..1...20.00

Sorted by average:

Claymore............99...1...99.00

Fionn..............539...7...77.00

Moon................60...1...60.00

SuperTed...........154...3...51.33

Texas Toast.........99...2...49.50

Bill Hardenberger...38...1...38.00

M. Dorosh..........150...4...37.50

John Kettler........20...1...20.00

MickOZ..............38...2...19.00

Berlichtingen.......70...4...17.50

[WineCape]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>John Shandorf and that nutty physicist Claymore are preparing to do battle with the Irish Incinerator now ... Good luck, fellas! Better you than me.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Dare I ask for a DAR/AAR for the above 2 matches?

I know Shandorf is "compelled" to an AAR/DAR otherwise he will not be allowed to return to the Peng thread ...

Kind regards,

Charl Theron

[jshandorf]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by WineCape:

Dare I ask for a DAR/AAR for the above 2 matches?

I know Shandorf is "compelled" to an AAR/DAR otherwise he will not be allowed to return to the Peng thread ...

Kind regards,

Charl Theron<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

In the past when I played Fionn more often than not he would always talk me into doing an AAR turn by turn. Damned if it didn't make getting out turns even more difficult. Not only did I have to plot my moves I had to actually justify them in writing! Oh, the horror. Secretly I came to believe Fionn only wanted me to write the AARs so he could gloat over his bone crushing victories.

But anyway, if you guys would like an AAR I suppose I could do it again. There is two ways I could do this: 1)Give the AAR here every fews turns or so. 2) Write up a turn by turn AAR. The things to consider with both options are:

1) I can't be real specific about what my plans and intentions are since the battle is ongoing.

2) You won't get it until we are done, and considering Fionn is the Potato nation we only got 1 possibly 2 turns out a day in the past. Thus it will be 2 weeks at best before you guys see anything.

Jeff

[ 07-25-2001: Message edited by: jshandorf ]

[Lorak]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by jshandorf:

In the past when I played Fionn more often than not he would always talk me into doing an AAR turn by turn. Damned if it didn't make getting out turns even more difficult. Not only did I have to plot my moves I had to actually justify them in writing! Oh, the horror. Secretly I came to believe Fionn only wanted me to write the AARs so he could gloat over his bone crushing victories.

But anyway, if you guys would like an AAR I suppose I could do it again. There is two ways I could do this: 1)Give the AAR here every fews turns or so. 2) Write up a turn by turn AAR. The things to consider with both options are:

1) I can't be real specific about what my plans and intentions are since the battle is ongoing.

2) You won't get it until we are done, and considering Fionn is the Potato nation we only got 1 possibly 2 turns out a day in the past. Thus it will be 2 weeks at best before you guys see anything.

Jeff

[ 07-25-2001: Message edited by: jshandorf ]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Really....

Just how long does it take to type

Damn, I shouldn't have done that!

Of course I am sure you would add a little color comentary about your oponents gaming tactics, like setting your AFVs on fire and making your guys run screaming off the map....

Lorak

[Jarmo]

Thought I might write up something about now.

I'm in the middle of a fight with Texas Toast.

I have the germans and we're using short 75.

The map is thickly wooded, with a ridge going through in the middle. It divides the area in half, one end of the ridge closer to me, one not. It's a nightfight.

As soon as I saw the map, short lines of sight and lots of good cover, I realized it is ideally suited for tank heavy force.

Using massed tank firepower I've made good progress in my right flank, destroying lots of Jeeps and killing several infantrymen. Unfortunately my left flank is bending a bit under pressure. I belive however, that the situation can be remedied with a decisive counterattack.

[Shandorf]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Jarmo:

Unfortunately my left flank is bending a bit under pressure. I belive however, that the situation can be remedied with a decisive counterattack.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

You hear that Toast? Look out on your right flank attack!

Just thought I mention it incase you didn't realize it.

Jeff

[TexasToast]

Hmm, when I saw the map with short lines of sight and lots of good cover, I thought it was ideally suited for an INFANTRY heavy force. I guess we'll find out shortly.

Standing by for decisive counterattack (thanks for the tip)...

TT

[TexasToast]

Here is the AAR from my game with Fionn. I wrote my description first, then he added his comments from the German perspective:

SETUP AND INITIAL PLAN

The map consists of a square urban area with large heavy buildings and three major east/west streets. The city is divided left/right with a wide main street down the middle, and many buildings in the center are separated from their neighbors by scattered trees instead of open ground or pavement. There is one flag in the center on the near/far edge of the town, plus four flags in a line from far left to far right midway into the town. There is considerable open ground with woods surrounding the city. It is daytime and raining, August 1944.

We decided to play an all-infantry battle, I was Americans. I selected a Crack Rifle Company and stripped all the mortars and bazookas. I then added 5 Veteran Rifle Platoons and a Regular Rifle Platoon, which got me to an even 1500. I did not spend anything on artillery since I expected close quarters fighting, it isn't that effective in heavy buildings, I wasn't sure I could pin Fionn down long enough, and I wanted as much infantry as I could get.

Comment: I also purchased an infantry Bn. I stripped it of its mortars and Fos and went into the village with a GREEN Panzergrenadier Battalion (including mortar support). I planned to simply advance to contact, determine which flank was weakest and hit Charles there. I planned to position 3 x HMG42s in buildings with a clear view down the long main avenue dividing the left and right halves of the town from eachother with a view to preventing lateral displacements of reserves to whichever flank was most threatened. 3 MGs wouldn't stop all movement but they would slow it and possible disorder it a little and that was sufficient for my purposes. I also purchased on Regular company with a view to providing a ready reserve on the most crucial flank. I felt the game would be decided on Charles' left flank and placed the entirety of the company on that flank.

I went with more experienced infantry because my general plan was to concentrate on a few good defensive positions and then let Fionn provide the momentum. I needed for the infantry to be able to withstand the initial charge in good order and be prepared to counterattack. I broke my force into three companies, each led by a crack platoon. I chose two forward positions to create defensive strongholds, and sent two of the groups off and running to man them. I held the third company (which included the regulars) back roughly in the center/left. I sent one veteran platoon up through the woods on my left flank to watch for a wide flanking maneuver or to advance on the enemy flank.

Comment: I merely disposed the German forces in a wide skirmishing line and moved cautiously into the village with the entire Green Bn. The Regular company moved through woods on Charles' left flank since I wanted them on hand on the decisive flank and away from the meatgrinder that cityfights end up being.

FIRST CONTACT

My forward elements reached their positions just seconds before the Germans.

Comment from German Player: The price I paid for choosing Green troops. Their extra command delay proved decisive at several points in this scenario.

Fighting erupted in three buildings. On my left and right side I cut down a squad or so, and in the center an entire platoon.

Comment: When Charles refers to "left and right side" he should be more clear. What he actually refers to are the left and right flanks of his leftmost position ( occupied by 2 out of his 3 companies). This is important since he allowed himself to be geographically concentrated in a small section of the city.

All the forces I had encountered were green. At this point I chose to press my advantage with counterattacks on the left and right to try to eliminate the panicked and reduced forces. On my right, the scattered trees provided good cover for moving house to house and inflicting damage.

Comment: Agreed. It was most disconcerting to me to find some Crack squads suddenly appear in the middle of houses occupied by entire Green platoons. How I didn't see them marching through the trees and moving into the house in between at least 2 and sometimes 4 or more watching squads is beyond me. Not being able to shoot them down as they approached meant that his Crack platoons on his right of his main effort ( near the central avenue) got into positions from which they could butcher two well-entrenched platoons at little cost. I was most disappointed. Still, Charles failed to decisively follow up this thrust by immediately committing his reserve. It is my understanding that the reserve was being kept in waiting until I showed my hand and therefore missed an opportunity. On the other hand within 2 turns of his first sneaking into my positions ( and before he had even cleared the houses he snuck into) I had improvised a defence by strippping solitary infantry squads from the infantry platoons on my left flank and rushing them across, under command of Company HQs, to provide support to the forces stemming the American advance.

However, on the left I ran into further forces behind his initial advance and lost the entire platoon in the woods and one of the Crack squads attempting to move across open ground (Sgt Grammont, sadly). On the right side of the city, undefended except for a machine gun outpost watching the street, I saw what seemed to be a few scouts.

Comment: Feeling that this might be a weak flank I was taking care to keep the majority of my force on that flank out of sight of the enemy. In the end I think that the 5 platoons on that flank didn't look like more than 2 or 3 half-squads to Charles as I spotted his HMGs early on and utilised covered routes of advance ( see the Kettler AAR for more info).

THE CRUCIAL STRETCH

At this point my forward left company is down a platoon+ and my forward right company is relatively intact. I have spotted enemy activity further to my left. I decided to commit two reserve platoons to counter the expected heavy push on my left flank, leaving the one regular platoon to hold down the right rear area. This would turn out to be the critical error.

Comment: Agreed. Given NO other information about a PBEM game other than who committed their reserve first I could probably get a 90%+ accuracy rate by simply saying that whoever committed their entire reserve first was the loser.

I began, at this point, a conscious attempt to make the right look like a major attack which had stalled. I made feints into unoccupied buildings which I knew Charles would have to be immediately and decisively counter-attack. If he did then it would mean his reserve was being committed ( I feinted into two buildings and 2 of his reserve platoons re-occupied those two buildings. Chance? I think not.). If he didn't commit his reserve to force me out of those buildings then he knew I'd follow up and turn the feint into a subsidiary attack.

The attack on my left turned out to be nothing more than what I had already seen, and was easily stopped by my initial forces plus the reinforcements.

Comment: But IF the reinforcements hadn't arrived the front would have crumbled eventually. IOW committing the reinforcements saved the front BUT committing them also meant severely weakening the Allied ability to respond to new thrusts. Perhaps a platoon was all that was required?

Unfortunately, a company of Germans appeared on my right/rear and overran my undermanned defenses there. My forward right company was also coming under pressure from new forces to its front and flank. I felt my only option at this point was to go on the offensive on my left where I still had the advantage, to drive his forces back and potentially regain the far left VL. This attack succeeded in pushing the Germans completely out of the buildings on my left flank and the woods behind. But German forces were flooding in the right side, and my forward right position was being overwhelmed.

Comment: Aye, by this stage Charles was reduced to holding significantly less than 25% of the city with forces streaming, unopposed, to his flanks.

THE ENDGAME

Here I had to decide whether to continue my attack and try to hunker down while being surrounded on three sides, or to withdraw. My latest attacks on the map edge left me a clear corridor to the left edge, and I would get the jump on the green forces with my shorter command delays. So, I selected 21 volunteers to cover the retreat, and set off with 87 guys, primarly remants of my reserve and forward left companies. Of these, 82 managed to exit the map. Final result: Allied auto-surrender somewhere around turn 13, Axis tactical victory 65-35.

Comment from German Player:

Basic info to be gleaned:

1. Don't commit your reserve too early.

2. Don't commit too much of your reserve whenever you DO decide to commit it.

3. Don't be too afraid to ever commit it.

4. Don't commit too little of your reserve.

Several of these are contradictory but as with all difficult decisions the ART lies in dealing with the tension between these requirements and balancing your decisions appropriately in the uniquely different circumstances of many PBEMs.

[WineCape]

Shandorf,

Any form of AAR will be much appreciated. You decide the way you want to present it. If you feel that, for clarity sake, you can only give a complete AAR after your PBEM match, that's fine with us. I know that your cesspoolian friends are waiting anxiously to see if their nominee can make the grade

TexasToast- many thanks for your AAR and the time taken to pen it, as well as for other DAR/AAR's posted so far by participants. As stated before, if any combatant here feel there is a interesting idea/maneuver etc. that has come up in your PBEM battles, post it. We don't expect 19 AAR from all your encounters, but lessons learned/dished out is always welcome! Right Berli?

Kind regards,

Charl Theron

[Treeburst155]

Here's the latest news of the war. Shandorf has beat up on MickOZ by a score of 58-26. This is Shandorf's first completed game and his first victory. More importantly, this is the first victory logged by The Cesspool. Hopefully it will be the last for the Mutha Beautiful Thread. Congratulations anyway to Shandorf!!

Here's how we stand:

Fionn..............539...7...77.00

SuperTed...........154...3...51.33

M. Dorosh..........150...4...37.50

Claymore............99...1...99.00

Texas Toast.........99...2...49.50

Berlichtingen.......70...4...17.50

MickOZ..............64...3...21.33

Moon................60...1...60.00

Jshandorf...........58...1...58.00

Bill Hardenberger...38...1...38.00

John Kettler........20...1...20.00

Sorted by average:

Claymore............99...1...99.00

Fionn..............539...7...77.00

Moon................60...1...60.00

Jshandorf...........58...1...58.00

SuperTed...........154...3...51.33

Texas Toast.........99...2...49.50

Bill Hardenberger...38...1...38.00

M. Dorosh..........150...4...37.50

MickOZ..............64...3...21.33

John Kettler........20...1...20.00

Berlichtingen.......70...4...17.50

[Jarmo]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by TexasToast:

Hmm, when I saw the map with short lines of sight and lots of good cover, I thought it was ideally suited for an INFANTRY heavy force. I guess we'll find out shortly. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ahh.. well actually so did I.

I just figured you'd go light on AT because of it, and that in turn makes the setting suitable for tanks. We'll see if I'm right...

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>

Standing by for decisive counterattack (thanks for the tip)... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Clearly misinformation. Ignore completely...

[jshandorf]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Treeburst155:

Here's the latest news of the war. Shandorf has beat up on MickOZ by a score of 58-26. This is Shandorf's first completed game and his first victory. More importantly, this is the first victory logged by The Cesspool. Hopefully it will be the last for the Mutha Beautiful Thread. Congratulations anyway to Shandorf!!

Here's how we stand:

Fionn..............539...7...77.00

SuperTed...........154...3...51.33

M. Dorosh..........150...4...37.50

Claymore............99...1...99.00

Texas Toast.........99...2...49.50

Berlichtingen.......70...4...17.50

MickOZ..............64...3...21.33

Moon................60...1...60.00

Jshandorf...........58...1...58.00

Bill Hardenberger...38...1...38.00

John Kettler........20...1...20.00

Sorted by average:

Claymore............99...1...99.00

Fionn..............539...7...77.00

Moon................60...1...60.00

Jshandorf...........58...1...58.00

SuperTed...........154...3...51.33

Texas Toast.........99...2...49.50

Bill Hardenberger...38...1...38.00

M. Dorosh..........150...4...37.50

MickOZ..............64...3...21.33

John Kettler........20...1...20.00

Berlichtingen.......70...4...17.50<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Woot! Fourth place! And it can only go up from there.

As for my Fionn game... It has commenced. What has me somewhat disconcerted is the way Fionn has manage to crawl into my head and read my thoughts like some late-night 1-900 physcic. Damn him and his voodoo magic.

Most of my battles are going quite nicely. In fact my game with Berli should give me the chance to pad my stats in next few days.

Jeff

[Berlichtingen]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by jshandorf:

In fact my game with Berli should give me the chance to pad my stats in next few days. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Saddly, I suspect this is true

[Lorak]

Well if this isn't depressing.

Berli is losing to Shandorf. This should make Shandorf even harder to put up with in the future.

The only hope we have is that Fionn manages to beat the snot out of him. This, if the lord is willing, will allow his ego to balance out.

My only question is why Fionn would want to climb into his head. Being the dark, damp, empty space that it is. Maybe Fionn just goes there to think. Lord knows there isn't any thing else going on in there.

Lorak