"The Luga Breakthrough" Tourney Now COMPLETE

[walpurgis nacht]

Originally posted by Brent Pollock:

and orchestra rehearsal for me this week, there're plenty other things chewing up evening time.

And I thought I was the only orchestral musician to frequent the forums . . . . which orchestra?

[Brent Pollock]

Double bass in theCalgary Civic Symphony

[Ted]

I haven't heard from from jdsu yet.

Hope everything is ok

[Brent Pollock]

Here's my round 1 AAR [without screenshots]:

LUGA BREAKTHROUGH TOURNY

ROUND 1

German: Me

Russian: "Neutral Party" Joe O'Donoghue

SET UP:

Kept more or less to the default set up

Biggest fear - ATGs! My "heavies" are the Pz 38(t)s, which can still be sliced and diced by 45 mm AP. With so little time, I won't be able to do much recon, so I think I shall opt for "recon by burning PSW" and proceed as if there are no significant AT assets until proven otherwise. The Flakwagon will stay out of sight as long as possible just in case some flyboys show up. Rest of the right hand group on the road was going to sweep the road and decide on splitting up once the crossroad was secured. They also start by area firing into the crossroads and the shack beyond; low ammo be damned!

Left hand group will drop its infantry in the wooded horseshoe, then send the AFVs to cut the rear of the church. My secondary worry was that there would be an observer with LOS to the yellow group, so they were given Fast orders to try and clear the impact zone ASAP. They were also all given Area Fire orders to try and knock out every window in the church, in case there was an overwatch unit therein; I didn't think it would do much, but hoped that the Russians would all be Green or Conscript, hence rather fragile, even in a church.

The FO doesn't have LOS to anyplace I consider useful, so I send him wandering up the ridge to try and gain LOS to the church and the woods to the west of it. Another possible target zone is the bridge. The firing plan is either HE vs trees or smoke vs buildings. With only 60 rounds, he won't be good for much more than one turn of firing.

How it unfolded:

A tad of mortar fire at the outset irritates a few riders and infantry, but there are no serious casualties. AT Team defending the crossroads gets overwhelmed by the green group.

The yellow group's infantry gets most severely mauled after it encounters a stubborn infantry platoon in the woods-road between the horseshoe and the church. This obstacle is eventually overcome only by AFV & on board mortar support. The payoff at the end, once the AFVs have cut off the rear area (for the loss of a lone Pz II to a 45 mm ATG), is a couple of near-full squads throwing up their hands and being marched back to the crossroads. Part of the reason I take so many casualties is that my opponent does a masterful job of masking the true strength in that area; every time I think I've cleared the patch and move in, another squad seems to pop up and smash the probe.

Green group is only really limited by how quickly the troops can recover from the "advance" sprints". They take very few casualties and eventually end up church & east edge of the village. Their armour takes two casualties probing the bridge; when the T-26s appear, they zap the lead PSW. Eventually, all three are KOd around the bridge by co-ordinated fire coming from all the Pz 38 (t)s from both groups, including the prober. I then gamble green group's probing Pz 38(t) by rushing it to the bridge, whereon it is KOd by the other 45 ATG that reveals itself, but only as a "Sound Contact". The lone crewman that bails out eventually holds the bridge for three or four minutes while under fire; this results in the interdiction of two or three Russian 50 & 82 mm mortar crews that try to withdraw through the bridge. Posthumous Eisenkreuz. My nose bloodied, I resolve do stop pressing the bridge directly, but do end up sending yellow group as close to it as I can on the south bank. This works well, with no incoming AT fire bothering the panzers nor the SPWs, which unload a few squads; the flag ends neutral rather than Russian [HURRAH!].

Notice through all of this that I do not mention any supporting missions from the FO. That is quite simply because he eventually ran into a Russian patrol moving on the ridge and was swatted in an instant…truthfully, I was more concerned about losing the points than I am about losing the 60 rounds of battalion mortar OBA. The "probe" turns out to be two or three platoons, which make a late surge towards my beleaguered troops near the horseshoe, but they get beaten back by the timely arrival of some AFV MG fire.

Most of the credit for the victory lies with the two panzer platoons that formed the left hook from yellow group. These guys:

- helped take care of the T-26s on the bridge;

- helped overcome the Russian infantry flanking the church;

- cut down all fleeing Russians;

- staved off the late inning rush;

- neutralised the bridge flag.

Grand fun and a nice tight little scenario.

---------

Here is the note I sent my opponent:

Wow – I had no idea you had so much lurking over near the bridge. Why didn’t you try moving them towards the bridge? Did you consider pushing the other 45 mm ATG into a better firing position, or were you betting that I would eventually move armour there?

If you’d left the bridge tank alone, I might’ve been sucked over there...but maybe not, as I might have thought that was all I needed to hold the bridge. Once you dinged it, and all I got was a lousy Sound Contact, I wasn’t going over there unless infantry had swept the woods...not much hope of that given the timeframe.

I think your sharpshooters dinged 3 or 4 vehicle crewmen. I do not know if I would’ve done better if I hadn’t had my FO walk into a assassination. All I was really counting on him for was a smoke screen for an assault on the church...which ended up being the easiest bit of the whole thing. Was there actually anyone in there on turns 1 & 2 when I tried to knock out every stained glass window in the joint?

If you want to check out my movie files, the German password was:

Psion

I’ll send you an AAR if I generate one.

Have fun in round two.

Brent

[Neutral Party]

First turn sent to Akula2.

Like Holien, I was surprised to see so many high scores for the Soviets in round 1 and would be really interested to hear how these games played out. Hopefully people will post AARs.

Anyway FWIW I have attached the view from the other side of the hill that corresponds to Brent's AAR above

Luga Breakthrough – first encounter AAR

The Soviet Mission is to "slow the German advance at the town and prevent them from capturing the bridge to the Northeast of town".

Initial impressions on the map:

Looks good. The road layout gives the attacker a few options.

Defensive forces are woefully inadequate (as usual ) but generally well positioned. I would have preferred the sharpshooter(Kurtanidze) in a more concealed location though.

Set-up:

Moved Lt Neretin with the associated 82mm mortar (and also the 50mm) to better see down the Luga road as I might want to drop some harassing fire on it. Although the Germans could be coming from anywhere to the South, if they're in a hurry they'll be taking the road. Neretin is in the rocky zone near the building that has LOS rather than the building itself in case the Germans just blow this up – on the assumption that if they can see it, it can see them. Hopefully Neretin's +2 stealth will keep him invisible.

I want to re-arrange Katukov's platoon so the HQ is not the first one to die. The rifle squads are to set up in the woods to the West. Generally get rid of the foxholes as I can't put them where I want them and don't want the Germans to get them. However, I leave one for the conscript Maxim MG. Mogilny's platoon needs to move out of their set up zone (white zone) ASAP - make a dash to the woods west of the village church.

Zelepukin's grouping will relocate to the woods to the East of the bridge to put down flanking fire to any Germans that come close. The AT gun has been relocated to Dolidze's command on the other side of the bridge.

OK - all set

Action:

On set up I see a couple of armored vehicles in the cross country to the West of the Luga road and decide to drop some 82mm mortar that way.

Here they come in all guns blazing over country and down the Luga road. Targets are the church the crossroad area and the light building I decided not to put Neretin in. Best I could hope for here was to cause some of the tank riders to jump off - looks like one did.

I decide to drop some mortars on some of the scattered trees to both sides of the Luga road on an area they must come through. I think (incorrectly as it turned out) I might have immobilized an AC. Still they come.

Most, if not all, tanks seem to be armed with 20mm cannon. Maintain harassing mortar fire. Where is he going with his armor to the West? - looks like he's driving into the open ground behind the woods but that doesn't go anywhere. Must be planning to unload some infantry.

Reinforcements - an infantry company of three platoons arrives but there's no way I can get them to the village with the German armor where it is. I order them to spread out and get into cover. Maybe later when the Germans move through they can counter-attack.

Enemy armored force keeps heading for the shelter of the woods to the west of the village - surely they must be planning to drop off infantry.

My infantry are in place for ambush - hopefully they will do some kind of damage to any Germans infantry coming through the woods. The German commander will probably support them with his armor. I can't see what I can do about that unfortunately.

Keep up the harassing mortar fire - probably will be out of ammo next turn. I will also try to work one of the reinforcement platoons round hill 131.2 to the SW into the trees might catch something moving along behind his main armored force. It looks like the troops that came up the Luga road will probably turn to the North rather than head East. Some more reinforcements arrives (a couple of partisan squads armed with pitchforks) - I'll try to get them over to the bridge. Maybe the flag will go red and make me feel better.

Put the final touches to the ambush positioning. Drop some smoke on the approach road to hopefully block LOS of the armor to the woods. Continue the movement orders as before. Wait.

The Germans are definitely unloading troops...building up.

Some armor arrives as reinforcements on turn 7 (3 T-26s). These have better cannon than most of the German tanks I've seen so far. Must try not to lose them too quickly. They are ordered to position to the East of the village with the aim of eventually getting into sheltered firing positions.

Germans begin their move and the ambush forces start shooting (not all of them to start with). German armor is in support. I guess we'll see how long this firefight lasts. To the east some German scouting forces appear and an AC is targeted by my tanks. I change their movement orders to hunt. The German commander will want to take the village before my armor can do anything about it.

Well that didn't work out too good - my tanks take out the AC but when the following tank appears the idiots back off - instead of stopping and slugging it out. End result is a gun-damaging hit on one tank and another backs into a long range shot from what is tentatively IDed as a MK III and is taken out. The first of my squads breaks and runs from the ambush. Way off to the West I see an artillery FO coming to visit me and I hope to take him out next turn - that should piss the German CO off

I expect my last remaining usable tank is screwed by a 20 sec command delay. For what it's worth I give him a fast move order (not hunt this time). I bring another squad into the firefight in the approach woods.

As feared I lose my last usable tank but kill the FO (81mm mortar) so it's not all bad. The woods defenders are being slowly wiped out under infantry, mortar and tank fire.

Galistian’s squad gets a mention in despatches for still shooting even though it's down to five guys. One of the other squads begins to crack and panic. I lose the last tank - not great loss as the gun was kaput anyway. German MKII(?) tank zips down the SN road at the far East side and into the AT gun covered arc. Gun shoots and misses – probably spotted!

The AT gun is ordered to open fire as is the other AT in the village as he has a couple of potential targets with relatively good kill probability. I'd rather he shoots something and dies rather than stays hidden only to get overrun later. Turned out not too bad killed 2 tanks (the tank on the bridge turned out to be a 38(T)E). The hero squad is down to 1 man but their buddies are back in business - for the moment.

Half-way stage. Try to get the out-of-ammo mortars over the bridge and shoot that German tank crew down. (It eventually takes 2 turns of wild partisan shooting to kill the solitary surviving crewman who in the meantime causes both my bridge crossing mortars to panic, forget where they were supposed to go and offer their throats to the Wolfgangs with the red roses)

Over the remaining turns the infantry in the woods gets gradually worn down - eventually a couple of squads (very annoyingly) surrender. That won't help my score at all. I decide to keep the infantry company in the West in place until the German armor moves off and then launch a counterattack. As it turns out they are in no particular hurry which means (1) the infantry is unable to move until very late and has no chance of developing a significant counterattack and (2) I don't get to use my guns in the Eastern woods.

At the end although I don't technically "possess" the bridge to the Northeast, the Germans don't have it either so I consider the mission orders accomplished.

End score:

Tactical defeat for Soviets (Germans 71: Soviet 29)

Things that went right - infantry defence of the woods - these guys held up the Germans a lot longer than I thought they would.

Things that went wrong - biggest failure was the armor fiasco. I guess the main reason for this were the “hunt” orders with the tac AI taking care of the rest. In addition, I should probably not have tried to get the mortars across the bridge as this just led to their deaths.

[jdsu]

Ted,

File sent about an hour ago.

Let me know if you didn't get it.

jdsu

[Holien]

Thanks for the AAR's gents.

FYI re Soviet Success, MrSpkr did very well and managed to use the pitch fork squads to launch a counter attack on the minor flag towards the German rear.

If you want the final map files e-mail me and I will send you the zip with them all in it.

Cheers

H

[Ted]

JDSU

Got it.

Will send the setup back tonight.

[MrSpkr]

Yeah, I was very proud of those boys. AAR will follow after I get a slew of new resumes, cover letters, etc., etc. out today.

Steve

[Holien]

The end of your 1st week of the second game is fast approaching and as per usual I need a turn check by the end of Sunday.

Also if any players want to send me a turn so I can take a peek at the action I would enjoy that very much.

I had great fun testing this scenario and I have a feeling it will throw out some interesting results.

H

[MrSpkr]

Setup out to Brent.

We be a little behind, but we will catch up.

Steve

[Ted]

Turn 3 with jdsu.

He's on the west coast I'm on the east so exchanging multiple turns on weekdays is tough.

On the weekends we're looking to put in a bunch of moves though.

Holien, sending off turn 2 movie...

[Holien]

Thanks for the file Ted, I know about the East West coast thing and I hope it is not too much of a problem.

The first round I paired people based on location but second to fourth will be anyones guess.

Thanks for the update MrSpkr.

I need the official update by the end of Sunday so I can post it here.

Cheers

H

[Holien]

Mornin Gents..

I have just sent out an e-mail asking for a turn update.

I shall post the update here: -

Ted ............vs jdsu..........FINISHED!!!

Brent Pollock.....vs MrSpkr........Turn 6

Sgt Gold..........vs Andrew Kulin..Turn 17

Preserved Killick.vs Abbott........Turn 17

Walpurgis.........vs Malakovski....Turn 10

Akula2............vs Neutral Party.Turn FINISHED!!

a1steaks..........vs Booz..........Turn FINISHED!!

H

[ June 05, 2005, 11:57 PM: Message edited by: Holien ]

[Ted]

jdsu and I are up to turn 14

We had a good round of TCP on the weekend and should have no problems finishing the game on time.

[Brent Pollock]

As per this morning's e-mail, it should be:

Brent Pollock.....vs MrSpkr........Turn 2

[Holien]

Thanks for the updates Gents.

See figures above...

All seem well on track to finish quickly bar one couple...

I have seen a fair few files and some different approaches to this game.

It will prove interesting to see how people believe how best to defend and attack in this game. It is not an easy game this one, a real challenge.

More on this when we have all finished.

Thanks for the updates and keep at it.

H

[MrSpkr]

Originally posted by Holien:

All seem well on track to finish quickly bar one couple...

Given my dismal performance in finding a job lately, we have LOTS of time to finish.

Steve

[Brent Pollock]

Don't forget to update the HOBBIES section of your CV with the results from this tourny

[Holien]

Brent,

Perhaps that is where he is going wrong?

Maybe remove those odd hobbies from the CV?

Anyway on the Luga front, I have seen some interesting files and while I would love to say more I won't...

Keep it up gents..

Brent I hope you and MrSpkr are not going to be "Tail End Charlies" in this scenario?

H

[Holien]

Good mornin gents,

The weekend is here and I will be chasing you at the end of it for an update.

Good hunting and lets see if the tail end charlies have surged forward.

H

P.s. We have had our first gents finish and results posted. Cheers to Akula2 and Neutral Party

[ June 04, 2005, 04:33 AM: Message edited by: Holien ]

[Ted]

Tracks vs jdsu..Turn 17

We'll be doing dome TCP this weekend and should finish today or tomorrow.

[MrSpkr]

Originally posted by Holien:

Brent I hope you and MrSpkr are not going to be "Tail End Charlies" in this scenario?

Somebody has to bring up the rear guard . . .

Steve

[Holien]

Originally posted by MrSpkr:

</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Holien:

Brent I hope you and MrSpkr are not going to be "Tail End Charlies" in this scenario?

Somebody has to bring up the rear guard . . .

Steve </font>

[Holien]

Mornin Gents,

Two more players finished and just had a read of a great AAR from Neutral Party.

I will send out the chase e-mail later tonight.

Now I do expect to see some movement from all of you.

H

P.s. We now have three games finished.

[ June 05, 2005, 08:39 AM: Message edited by: Holien ]