Night combat

[John_d]

Hi all, just playing an operation at the moment and I've come across a situation where I'm unsure of what to do. Basically, I have a company of Panzergrenadiers (with 3 MG42s and an 81mm mortar, enough halftracks to carry said Panzergrenadiers, a 81mm mortar carrier and 3 StuGs. My orders are to defend a large village (about 1.5km x 1.5km) against a rather large Russian assault (intelligence suggests 2 infantry battalions plus armoured support). So I'm outnumbered about 6 to 1. The first battle went swimmingly- textbook reverse slope defense stopping the main assault and then swung round the flanks to create a kill-sack. My losses were light, but lost a platoon HQ which might be a problem.

The second battle is about to start and I'm unsure of what to do. Night has fallen and it is snowing hard, reducing visability to something terrible. I still have to hold the village against attack, but b/c of the poor LOS, I am worried about the enemy infiltrating my lines of cutting my troops off. I also know from the previous battle that alot of the Russians are carrying SMGs, so I am wary of engaging them at close range. These two factors, combined with the fact that I am so heavily outnumbered, make me think that I will need to modify my tactics if any of my troops are to make it through the night. I have had four ideas so far:

1) Select one block of the village to hold and hope the Russians don't get too close. If the Russians turn up, I fight. If they don't, I stay put. Maybe keep a couple of half squads out as spotters. This would ensure that I still held strategic points for a counter attack in the morning.

2) Hide and wait for re-enforcements the following morning. Then counter-attack when they arrive

3)Use the cover of darkness to infiltrate the enemy lines in order to trap and encircle them once re-enforcements arrive. I already have troops well forward of the village who could do this.

4) Set up a series of small ambushes within the town. Create kill zones with halftracks parked just out of sight (with the engines running!). Wait for the Russians to turn up, shoot for a minute or two, then jump in the halftracks and ride off. Repeat.

With any of these, I intend to keep my ranged weapons well out of harms way b/c they won't be any use at all at night

Any ideas or comments would be appreciated

[Kingfish]

Forget about #3. You do not want to bump into SMG-equipped Russians at night.

Best to adopt 4-1-2 approach, with your final positions fronted by open spaces of at least 40 meters or the extent of LOS, whichever is greater.

BTW, which Op is it? Sounds interesting.

[John_d]

#3 might work just b/c I already have a platoon in place from the ealier fighting. But ur probably right- no point blundering around in the dark with a battalion's worth of SMG squads out there!

Its Peipers Chariots of Fire

[Bannon DC]

Didn't the Germans defend villages from the rear of the village? This sounds like what your suggesting in a couple of your options.

Letting the enemy in will break up their own LOS. You can take on their lead units as they cross a street while there following units are still in building or further back and can't see you.

Doesn't sound like a situation where you want to be out fumbling around in the dark. You could quickly find yourself outnumbers and dead. With those odds, you will need every platoon you have.

I would go for your fire and retreat option. Keep in mind though they if your squads will get pinned and a hasty dash for the HTs might not always go as planned. Can you "withdraw" into a HT?

Are you playing the AI or a human?

[John_d]

Thanks for the responses. I'm playing the AI, btw. In the end I went for options 3 and 4. It also turned out that I had a battalion of re-enforcements, which evened things out a bit. I deployed my troops in an arc several metres deep across the village, with one platoon positioned behind the enemy lines at a rail depot.

Within the first minutes the infiltrating platoon got shot to pieces (as predicted by Kingfish) and the survivors jumped into halftracks and beat a hasty retreat. On the way back (they were about 800 metres from my front line and consequently right in the middle of no mans land) they drove right through the middle of an enormous column of Russian troops heading for my right (undefended) flank. A good bit of gangsta style drive by shooting polished off an couple of Russian SMG squads and the platoon went off to defend the point that the column was heading for, by driving through the middle of it guns blazing. Suprisingly I only lost a couple of gunners from the halftracks doing this. At about the same time, I'd sent a company HQ out from my command post in a halftrack to rally the infiltration platoon, but he had run into a Russian armoured column on the way in the middle of no mans land. He bailed out and took shelter in a nearby house, where he spent the rest of the battle holding off repeated attacks by Russian infantry. He eventually racked up a cool 43 kills before I was able to send a rescue party.

The main part of the attack came through the middle of the village, hitting the company that had been doing all of the previous days fighting. One of the bloodiest CM battle I have ever seen. Bodies and burnt out tanks everywhere. The Russians eventually broke through the line and the battle descended into a swirling mass of soldiers fighting from house to house. Couple of jaw dropping moments cropped up- a group of my troops scoring 35 kills and 3 T-34s destroyed. And a lone Russian (as in an SMG squad reduced to one man) singlehandedly clearing out a building containing around a dozen Panzergrenadiers. My troops were eventually forced to withdraw, but only after decimating the Russian attacking force (and suffering about 60% casualities in the process).

On the far right flank there was another attack, but my defending force only consisted of the remains of the infiltrating platoon and 3 StuGs. On this side, all of my defenders (except 8 infantry men, a StuG and the HTs) were wiped out. I take my hat off the to soldiers that destroyed one of the StuGs- one molotov thrown at 30m by ski troops moving at full pelt went straight down the hatch and killed the tank commander. Had to watch it on replay a few times to get my head around it.

All in all, a good result. Its the next mornings battle now and my troops have been forced back about 500m into the village itself. I've set up my defences around the village church- the only tall building on the map so a useful spotting position for my mortars. This is an awesome operation and I would recommend it to anyone without hesitation