FT-ness DAR - Russians

[JasonC]

FT-ness Action Reports - Broken vs. JC and JC vs. Broken.

First my force selection and set up as the Russians. We are limited to 300 points of armor. The terrain is large town with heavy woods on a rainy, foggy morning. I decide to base my defense around infantry numbers and wire. The idea is just to put large numbers of men in good terrain and make it hard to get at them. The AT defense will be conducted on a shoestring. Standard rariety and outlawed conscript spotters with very poor LOS and good cover, all combined lead me to believe artillery will be ineffective. The battle is also long, making quick breaks by lighter arty indecisive. Even with TRPs.

Normally in this terrain I'd want HMGs and guns to play a significant role in the defense, the long range component. Since I expect visibility to be low, however, I put little faith in them here. I will use a few LMGs as listening posts ahead of the main infantry. Overall I have 265 men, with half of them SMG armed (133). I expect the attackers to be more heavily equipped with tanks, vehicles, artillery, and support weapons, but no more numerous in actual infantry.

So, my force is -

Rifle 43 company (HQ, 1 MMG, 3 platoons)

plus 4th Rifle 43 platoon

SMG company (9 man squad variety)

4 DP LMG

24 wire

1 T-34

1 76mm ZIS-3

2 AT minefields (regrettable choice - ATRs or roadblocks might have been better given the terrain).

(Sorry about how dark that picture comes out - it isn't a full bmp. The writing should at least be clear. For others I can use jpg, but for this overhead view with "overlay" comments I have to use gif for the text to be legible).

Key - Blue are terrain areas discussed in the narrative. Red are friendly force groupings. Light green are obstacles. The small red "x"s show positions my listening posts and an early patrol intend to occupy in the first couple of minutes, beyond the allowed set up line.

At the set up I find the large town area extends beyond my set up zone, and despite the "heavy woods" setting in the remaining area, there are multiple open routes to it for vehicles. I can't set up the mines far enough forward to be beyond the town, and of course can't use them on pavement. ATRs from hiding might have been a better idea, or roadblocks (and one less DP LMG). Daisy chains would be too easy for pioneers to pick up.

As it is, I put the AT mines off on one flank in a path between woods. If vehicles make an end run along that edge they might get lucky. But I basically consider them a write-off at this point. Visibility is 180m from the second floors. Good enough that more MGs might have been useful, but s'ok. There aren't many good spots for the ZIS. I put it deep inside the town in a patch of woods near the back, with LOS to the objective buildings and some LOS lines along the last streets. It won't really help with AT defense that far back. But can shell any of the objective buildings lost with its HE, if push comes to shove. The lone HMG also goes on this left side of the map, in the second tier of buildings with LOS lines right and left, nearly parallel to the front.

The T-34 is in reserve on my right rear. It is pretty much my entire AT defense. Its job is to bushwhack armor already otherwised engaged, by picking the right street to drive down, and not to show itself for anything else. The main defense against German armor will just be (1) hiding and (2) slinking out of LOS, to the backside of buildings, once spotted. Maybe infantry will hit something close with ordinary grenades, after using up their useless molotovs. From the get-go, armor is the only thing that really scares me.

The infantry are well led, with a clear division of the commanders. Half are high morale and half are high combat. I divide them into two company sized formations, each with 2 rifle and 1 SMG platoon. The good shooters go left with a defensive mission, the good morale right with a more complicated role, which I will discuss below. First the remaining minor elements of the defense.

The last SMG platoon, not well led, is to operate beyond the main defense zone as an outpost. They are directed at the far right corner of the town, beyond the initial set up zone. ("SMG Patrol" on the map). They will move into it in the first 2-3 minutes. One green squad from that platoon is split and set up in "reverse slope" building positions just outside my wire - meaning, rowhouse positions that mostly face my lines rather than his. These are not supposed to fight until they are passed. The LMGs are mostly also set up to advance to building OP/LPs in the first few minutes. One is dug in on the far left flank to listen around the AT minefield.

The wire covers the left front of the town in a refused left, stretching to an open square area with longer lines of sight across pavement, where gaps are left ("Red Square" - see next). Some of the nearest buildings beyond the gap have their front faces wired, however.

Red Square

The wire starts again in the middle, right of this gap, and extends over to the right edge of town. The focus of the shooter company is the open square with gaps in the wire. I believe I can put enough firepower into that zone to make it suicidal to cross through the gaps, at least before armor etc has dealt with the bulk of the defenders.

The set up is meant to exploit (1) SMGs into wire from nearby building positions but also (2) rifle squad (and one MMG) fire onto pavement near the limits of LOS. The idea is to not let many overwatch shooters in range of the defenders. LOS limits them to 180m, and most of that is open pavement - thus not a lot of room for shooters in cover.

The Bastion

The leftmost platoon has the refused left "bastion", well wired in and defending the MMG. Obviously he can try going around the wire altogether on this side. I expect that to be slow if he does it, however, and to hear it coming with LMG listening posts. Then I will man the left side of the town behind the salient platoon, which serves as an anchor at the resulting possible bend in the line.

The middle of the town features large rowhouse blocks that are difficult to move through, because they do not have interior doors from one side to the other. This creates some reverse slope effects. The wire is meant to act as an infantry movement "crest", with buildings providing the actual LOS blockage. I expect to be able to concentrate any number of platoons with plenty of SMGs in this center area, against whatever manages to get across the wire as a coherent force. I am not terribly worried about this area.

On the right forward part of town there is a section that can't be wired in, and is thus the natural place for him to try to enter the town. ("Suburb" on the map).

Warm Welcome

I wire the backside of this, to limit the depth of the incursion, and one rifle platoon of the high morale company is right behind it. The last SMG platoon gets outpost detail in this section of town, which I expect to be attacked. If he clears this area and gets to the wire, he will then face a choice - try to get fire superiority across those streets and force crossing, or flank the wire and the town to my right. The former I can deal with by back positions on my side of the street and by rifle squads sighted along it from the right, to stop people on the wire.

Making the natural approach a wheel around my right flank once the "Suburb" is secured. I therefore put the bulk of the high morale company on this flank, outside the paved and heavy building area, in woods foxholes. (More on these positions, including pictures, during the early moves). If he comes wide he should run into these directly. If he hooks in more narrowly they should be behind his own left flank as he wheels. I want morale here because they may have to counterattack.

If he comes around my refused left ("Bastion") instead, then the high morale company is my mass of maneuver and reserve. I can shift platoons leftward into the town if my right is not under pressure. The buildings cut up the LOS and make these movements safe, especially with short LOS lines to begin with, and the wire makes any rapid, deep penetration preventing such repositionings, unlikely.

So, my positionings naturally divide the map into the following sectors (blue areas on the map) - far "Left Flank" if he tries to go around the leftmost wire. Left "Bastion". Wire gap and open "Red Square". Town center and right behind wire ("Warm Reception"). Outpost "Suburb" beyond the wire on right front. "Right flank" outside the town, if he tries to go around the rightmost wire.

I do not expect to defend all of these positions, as I doubt he will have enough to press more than two of them effectively. The flank options face the fewest obstacles, but keep him out of the best building terrain and give me central positioning. He can't rapidly switch a point of attack from either flank to the center, let alone to each other. While I can shift defenders across the interior of the town in about 3 minutes. The frontal routes on the other hand face either wired heavy buildings, open pavement with many exits wired, or multiple layers of SMG ambush.

What I can't afford is fire fights across streets with both sides in heavy building cover, up and shooting. The only thing that actually worries me, however, is armor picking one of these routes and dealing with enough defenders along it to clear a path for his infantry to cross the wire and into the center of the town. But I do not expect him to know how shoe-string the AT defense is, and I expect him therefore to be somewhat careful and hesitant with his armor. The built up terrain suggests sending the infantry first and that is what I want him to do.

[ September 16, 2004, 12:44 AM: Message edited by: JasonC ]

[JasonC]

Early moves.

The listening post LMGs move forward to the first tier of buildings, heading for upper floors. The SMG OP platoon on the right moves to one of the edge "suburb" blocks, but ground floors and back positions. The split squads on the right (used at set up to create extra foxhole positions) form up into full squads. The company HQ there gets on the T-34 for rapid repositioning.

All SMGs have short covered arcs to avoid waste at range, and the ZIS has a vehicle covered arc to avoid firing at infantry. Nobody is hiding - at this visibility and in such cover I see no need. Execution is uneventful. It will be another half a minute for everyone to be in position and stationary, then we will go quiet and listen for the Germans.

Turn 2 - multiple contacts. One infantry spotted at 150m by my left flank LMG listening post. Two others headed for the "suburb" beyond my wire. A potentially sticky situation there, is that one of my SMG squads ends the turn only 112m from a German unit upright and moving in the open, while still on pavement itself. But I've got good building cover 10-15m away to my left front. Also, he is probably a half squad scout. My routes could have been better to keep the building between me and him and thus not tell him I have men in that building, but I expect to make it inside. And 22 SMGers in stone buildings are not going to make way for half squad scouts. (That is indeed the point of this " SMG Patrol").

Turn 3 - One LMG OP is overpowered in the front center of the town. Caught still moving inside the building by a scout that presumably ran straight down the road on turn 1 - half squad or squad. He will presumably now see the wire. Just to the right, 2 infantry spotted, one makes it to the street outside my SMG patrol but is shot from the back position just as they reach the sidewalk out front. SMGs are nasty that way. The unit (probably a half squad) is eliminated instantly with one burst. The patrol is now basically in position there.

Over on my far left, the LMG got off 7 shots and eventually made the unit they were shooting at veer for woods and crawl. Another behind them was briefly spotted, going to ground on one of the early burst from proximity. This LMG team will now hide for a minute. I move the MMG to the other side of a building in the "bastion", to cover this flank rather than the center wire and square.

The main news though is a full platoon's worth of units - 5 infantry - spotted on my right front, headed for the flanking entrance to town that I set up my high morale platoon to counter. They have pinned the LMG ahead of them after it got off a few shots, and at the end of the turn those go into panic. Life expectancy going to zero. My infantry behind uses the warning to settle into positions and shorten up arcs.

I am willing to let him in a bit here. They will have the SMG patrol on their right, wired position ahead of them, and the balance of the high morale company hiding in the woods to their left. If it isn't the front of a large column I may try to bite off this platoon with that company. But it is too early to commit to that, when there might be a main effort behind them.

Overall, he is scouting well and will have eliminated 2 LMGs shortly. I've bagged a half squad in return - about even.

The SMG Patrol

Turn 4 - another unit tries to make it into the SMG patrol buildings - the adjacent one this time. They make it inside rather than being burned in the street. As a result it takes 23 shots to kill them rather than 1 (because the last are diminishing returns, against 1-2 remaining men, and because the cover is 5 times as good). But die they do, to a constant minute of PPsh melody. The unit is IDed as a Jager squad. Meanwhile my right side LMG predictably dies, with a platoon closing in on them. On the far left, despite the order to hide another LMG takes fire and fires back, cautious at the end of the turn after firing 6 times. But even at 80m, they can't be hitting anything, firing into woods with just one LMG. The MMG has repositioned but not yet set up. The last LMG fired a few times at another scout.

My plan for the SMG patrol is to split the now low ammo squad, hide half of them upstairs away from the windows, and send the other half visibly out the back. There is an SMG HQ in the same building, with its 4 SMG and full ammo. So there will still be a decent reception committee (especially if they can catch any additional entrant on the pavement). I don't expect this SMG patrol to hold the suburb area for long, but they have already made it expensive, and kept any advance into the town divided.

13 units of the enemy have been spotted all told. A full platoon on my right front, moving "tight". Probably a platoon on my left flank, working through the woods. Most of a platoon directed at the suburb area, with some successfully entering the middle but most stopped by the SMG patrol. He has lost a squad and a half of these, probably. In return I've lost 2 LMGs, 1 other in trouble, and burned most of the ammo from one SMG squad.

Turn 5 orders - Actually, there may be more than a platoon on my right front. I now see 6 flags and one infantry unit. That might be a platoon with all squads split, or up to two platoons. With LOS limited and the LMG there now gone, there could easily be more behind, just not spotted yet.

I decide to take a small early risk, and order the T-34 up to a keyhole location that sees the heavy building my LMG was in, where a bunch of Germans are currently. I expect his "point" to continue forward and centerward, along a "cover highway" of diagonally placed large buildings with woods between. But others will probably be right behind, passing through that building.

Keyholing

The plan is for the T-34 to keyhole this turn, spend the next tossing HE into that building using "area fire", then reverse out of the area the following turn. I have strong infantry positions on both sides, so I am not worried about his infantry getting too close to the T-34. And the keyhole is very narrow, and LOS limited elsewhere. It will tell him I have a T-34 but he can probably guess that, and a few minutes later he will have not much more of an idea where it is than he has now. The T-34 buttons.

Units that pass beyond the building in question should be delayed by having their reinforcement stream cut off. If they continue they will find my infantry ringing them and lose some in the streets. There is an area of three buildings where they would be safe, but not dangerous to me without more help. If he continues along the flank outside the town he will run into my infantry company. If he doesn't have much and collapses, I might counterattack briefly after the tank's minute of shells - but it is too early to plan on that. The basic idea is just to make his farthest in-strength incursion so far a bit "hot", without giving away my infantry positions yet, if possible.

The SMG patrol repositions a bit as planned, to deal with the low ammo squad. It splits, 4 men go upstairs with their back to the hard interior wall, 5 men go across the street to the rear. I want him thinking they ran out of ammo and have all "D'ed".

On my left, I plan a repositioning of one squad and the company HQ to my far left refused flank, refusing it slightly further. This is in anticipation of losing the LMG LP on that side, and his scouts perhaps lapping around that flank. They have nearly a minute of order delay and would need about 2 more minutes to make the move, so I plan it ahead. With the company HQ in place there, it will be easy to shuffle additional squads to the left flank, if they are needed.

Flankers

Turn 5 - Sure enough, there is another platoon on my right, on the flank of the 7 units already seen. One of my SMG squads takes a single potshot while they are in woods - not great, but makes him duck anyway. Arcs are shortened to hit the open areas. If he wants to shoot at +2 morale regulars in a wooded foxhole from beyond SMG range, he is welcome to try.

The T-34 has its keyhole. I order it to area fire at the building, then reverse back where it came from. 3 added pauses will leave it firing for 43 seconds - 3-4 rounds I expect. He will probably scamper by then. I don't want to still be in place and facing a command delay at the end of this turn, in case he rushes over something with AT ability.

The SMG half squad that pulled back drew fire in the street and crawled rather than continuing their "advance" order. They just make it into the building across the street at the end of the turn - pinned but nobody hit. They lost their command line, though. To help them rally I order their HQ to shift inside the forward building, to restablish LOS and thus a command line. He might see the HQ moving but that can't be helped (sneak would be too slow).

On my left, he has 4 units opposite my LMG, and even with several firing at it they are only "cautious". Sucking ammo out of him. Those may just be half squads, considering how well a green 2 man team is doing under fire from multiple units at 100m or less. My diagnosis is that he sent a scouting platoon up my left flank but it is not any main effort. His main effort seems to be a wing attack on my right flank. The SMG platoon holding the suburb is turning that into a left wheel.

Since I have a company waiting for this plus the T-34, and the SMG patrol out front, this is fine by me. What I'd love to see next is an attempt to accelerate on that side - but that is too much to hope for.

[ September 16, 2004, 01:01 AM: Message edited by: JasonC ]

[Gpig]

Ok. I changed my mind. I'm glad you are doing it this way.

This is great stuff. I love reading your AAR's and also realize the learning that goes with it. (Learning for me.)

Good luck!

Gpig

[zukkov]

good report. now where's broken's?

[JasonC]

As mentioned on the previous thread, Broken won't be doing an in-process report. He might do one at the end - he hasn't decided and will do so then.

[JasonC]

Forest Fighting Flankers

The contact on my right continues to develop. He has at least a platoon there, seven units spotted all told. Most are using area fire at the squad that fired last turn. They don't mind, just ducking and going alerted occasionally. He is probably fighting split into half squads, and has a platoon. He sends one unit into the next woods, and it draws fire there from a previously undiclosed SMG squad of mine. The first burst sends them crawling, then there is a grenade, then the second turns them into a flag. Might have crawled out of LOS distance, might be worse off than that. Only used 2 shots, which is good.

Notice, this is a textbook case of where FTs are supposed to be useful. We've had initial spots as close as 25m, and he has a half a dozen shooters available to suppress from positions inside 100m. The enemy are infantry in wooded foxholes using short arcs. So far his regular infantry has fired a dozen times or so without effect, my SMGs have fired 3 times and thrown 1 grenade, no sign yet of any FTs. Me, I consider this a canonical place to use not FTs but a fire mission - but that might take some time to arrange in 180m visibility.

The T-34 tosses in 4 rounds of HE and 5 MG bursts at the large building his may hook inward has been using. One unit had just left the building and reverses direction, crawling, at the first HE burst. The rest may be too far back in the building to be seriously effected. One unit on the top floor, left rear corner is area firing over at my SMGers that just crossed the street - clearly not hurt by the T-34 rounds. There are several other flags in the building, though. One unit made it out and is seen entering the second building cityward. The T-34 reverses on schedule and breaks LOS (by range) by the end of the minute.

In the suburb, my SMGers who recrossed get their command line back and get to "cautious" soon after. Despite the area fire, they make it to "alerted" at the end of the minute - rallied successfully, with no one hit either in the street or afterward. Nobody shot at my repositioning men in the forward building, and I expect they were unseen, which is good.

We Can Hear Them

He sent a unit into the same block, but separated from my positions by the hard interior walls. We can hear them. But to get into my buildings they have to go out in the street again.

Notice, again this sort of thing is supposed to be what FTs are good at - fighting SMG infantry in back positions in stone buildings. He can enter some buildings in the block - it is not a matter of getting shot up in the approach march. We will see if having them in his force does him any good. Me, I'd use a tank in this situation. I'd find an angled keyhole to one of the back buildings in that block and area fire at it with 75mm HE or larger, before sending infantry.

On my far left, he repositions units, not aggressively. My pinned LMG gets off 4 more shots and is hovering in yellow morale states. No real change.

Scanning the map again, I see a scouting platoon on my far left, a platoon directed at the suburb area that has lost a squad or so, more than a platoon on the "cover highway" hook path that the T-34 just shot at, and a platoon of flankers on my right. Perhaps 5 platoons spotted so far (assuming the hook is 2 platoons). The bulk of them a wing attack on my right. I fully match them in that heaviest area in infantry numbers, and have excellent terrain and the defense. So nothing he has done so far is any real threat. A company directed at my right will be sufficient to grab some positions close to my own men, but not to decide anything there.

He has to have a reserve, and presumably armor. He may let the left contacts develop a bit before deciding where and how to use it. For the next few minutes I expect him just to feed troops townward on the "cover highway" and try to worm close from the suburb across to my right.

[ September 17, 2004, 06:40 AM: Message edited by: JasonC ]

[Wicky]

Great reading for breakfast - beats the morning paper

Keep it up

[Other Means]

yes, excellent report.

any chance of an overhead shot with contacts indicated please?

[zukkov]

keep em comin' jc! i like the way you calmly evaluate the situation. if it were me i'd be panicking, just knowing those flamers are fixing to cook my poor guys. anyway, hang in there!

[JasonC]

Other Means wanted an overhead shot showing the current contacts. Here it is. GIF makes the units and terrain very dark, but at least the "overlays" are clear. I hope it helps.

Contact Overview

[Andrew Kulin]

Are there supposed to be any pictures attached because if so, then I'm not seeing any.

Great thread by the way.

[Andrew H.]

I'd forgotten how much I liked AARs - keep up the good work!

[JasonC]

Andrew Kulin - I am using a remote hosting service for pictures, which puts thumbnail pictures with link in the thread itself. You click on those to see the full screen capture. That avoids putting a wide picture in the forum windows and saves bandwidth for the hosting service. But you may be having trouble seeing them - I'm not sure why.

Some raw links for the pictures so far are -

http://img24.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img24ℑ=RusSetUp.gif

http://img24.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img24ℑ=RedSquare.jpg

http://img24.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img24ℑ=Bastion.jpg

http://img24.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img24ℑ=WarmWelcome.jpg

http://img24.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img24ℑ=SMGPatrol.jpg

http://img24.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img24ℑ=Keyholing.jpg

http://img24.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img24ℑ=Flankers.jpg

http://img78.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img78ℑ=ForestFightingFlankers.jpg

http://img82.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img82ℑ=WeCanHearThem.jpg

http://img35.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img35ℑ=ContactOverview.gif

[ September 18, 2004, 06:44 AM: Message edited by: JasonC ]

[weasleboy]

Thanks JASON! Your AAR's and pictures are excellent. I can't wait for the next post.I LOVE this stuff!

[Other Means]

thanks a lot Jason. if you run out of bandwidth/space i can host the pictures for you.

[dieseltaylor]

Love the AAR - very clinical disposition of troops.

For completeness and to have the info in one thread could you confirm points for attack and defense?

[JasonC]

It is 1000 points base size, no handicap, therefore 1500 points of attackers and 1000 points of defenders. Forces are unrestricted type, but by agreement no more than 300 points of armor and no conscript FOs. Also, the German attackers must include FTs (this fight - we have another with sides reversed where my Germans can't have them).

[JasonC]

If people are wondering where the next post is, we had a bit of a delay on Broken's end (new computer issues) but are underway again. When there are new developments I will post again.

[Michael Dorosh]

So remind us what the proposition is again - I believe it was "Flamethrowers suck" yes?

[JasonC]

Slightly more complicated than that. The sequence was -

A guy tried an FT ambush based defense and it didn't work. He wondered what he was doing wrong. Others tried to tell him to do x or y to get an FT ambush defense to work. I told him his problem was trying to use FTs in the first place, because they suck, and that his scheme probably would have worked just fine with SMGs instead.

Various others objected to my statement that FTs suck. Some of them kept their remarks to the defense case, and I let their comments pass. Broken, however, added that he preferred FTs on offense, particularly the German ones. He stated that all they needed to work was the right cover conditions - limited LOS with lots of cover, specifically.

I disagreed, saying I thought good use of quality infantry is what mattered in those situations, and that FTs were at best a minor suppliment. And I challenged him to show me, by taking an FT equipped attacking force in close cover conditions, against my Russians. To test FTs on the attack against my "infantry quality" alternative, I wanted the role of armor limited. Specifically, no AFVs with front plates impenetrable by the other guy's main AT weapon of the date used.

He picked October 1943 as the date, dawn with rain and fog, large town with heavy woods as the terrain. We haggled over other conditions (e.g. I am limited to 3 platoons of SMGs) and game size. We also agreed to fight with sides reversed at the same time, in the same conditions, with the difference that I would not use FTs in my attack, while he had to use them in his (3 or more I think we said). The size is 1500 vs 1000, with each side limited to 300 points of armor, force type and quality unrestricted.

So, I expect a demonstration of how FTs help an attack against infantry in good cover in poor visibility conditions. The alternate proposition that I am maintaining, is that FTs won't make any significant difference, and the result will turn on effective use of quality infantry.

(From the choice of date it appears he quite agrees on the importance of SMGs in such terrain and conditions, since October 1943 Jagers have 7 SMGs per squad - and there is already a dead "Jager" unit next to my SMG patrol).

[dieseltaylor]

I have to admit that this is the type of battle I avoid - odds of 3 to 2 with very good defensive terrain sounds like a sucker bet. Town fighting need more than 3 to 1 in my book [especially given that there is limited artillery and armour possibilities]

Also with 230ish men on a 500? metre frontage the defence is not overly stretched to cover its flanks - particularly given the road net and cover are superb. If Jace does not win by a landslide I will have to eat my hat ...

Still as the opponent agreed the terrain !

[JasonC]

Developing Contact

The contact on my right continues to develop. His forward units are pressing onward and another wave begins to appear behind them.

My SMGs told to light up his 2 units in the nearby woods send them heads down rapidly, and before the minute is up they become flags. One squad is down to 15 shots, the other still has 20, at the end of the minute.

The T-34 repositions to another keyhole location, at the end of the wire. This one isn't as narrow and sees multiple close positions. The 190m LOS limit reduces the area of exposure, but I shouldn't stay here too long. It gets 30 seconds to toss a few shells at the foremost building he has reached, then it will reverse centerward.

The SMG patrol position continues to receive area fire at past spot locations from infantry advancing on their right in what appears to be his main effort. Nothing serious, occasional heads down - cautious at the worst. His men in the immediately neighboring building - or at least some of them - seem to have headed out the back - but perhaps they just moved to the doorway at the right rear (sound contact locations are imprecise).

I expect he is trying to send in a unit to the right front building, covered by the suppressive area fire. OK by me, there are 9 SMGers there with 24 ammo. I tell them to move to the left rear corner to get away from the suppressive fire. No other action seems necessary.

On my left, his men expend another ten rounds of squad infantry ammo maintaining a pin on a green LMG in a wooded foxhole. Which still manages to get off 2 shots in reply. No sign he is pressing on this side.

So, seeing 26 units directed at me right plus another 7 just beside them (suburb), including an apparent follow on wave (or heavy weapons perhaps - FTs and MGs maybe), I decide his wing attack is probably his main effort for now, not a feint.

I therefore order the SMG platoon from A company to swing over to my right, behind B company and the right end of my wire. They will be a reserve for the right side fight. A company rifles shift positions to straddle the Bastion and the Red Square area.

Some of these moves are risky - including "run" orders across pavement in Red Square - but I don't think he is close enough to do anything about them in the center or on my left. I could do it without the risk but it would take about 2 more minutes to back off and go around. We will soon see if this was a mistake.

Note the orange shaped "L" in the diagram - that is the battle position I want to see. Right now he has seen 2-3 SMG units in the suburb and in 2 in the woods on my far right flank (the light blue circles), and the T-34. But only 2-3 infantry units at each location. Both B company platoons are as yet unused and undetected.

[JasonC]

He didn't just agree on the terrain, he asked for it and picked it. He said FTs work best in heavy terrain, and that he preferred them on the attack. He then added low visibility, in the form of dawn rain and fog.

If it is undoable, any virtue of FTs in the matter should still show up in the performance difference between this fight and our simultaneous sides-reversed battle. Where I have no longer odds, the same restrictions, and have also promised not to take any FTs.

I am keeping that AAR diary as we speak, but not much has happened yet in that one. I've killed one ATR team acting as a listening post. So far the only thing I've lost is the ammo used to do that. I will post another thread about it when things liven up a little, or when I have time.

[JasonC]

Ignition!

His first FT gets off 3 flame shots at a building held by the SMG patrol. From the street outside, beyond range of observation from the back position of that squad, but close enough to see well inside the building and flame its center.

They are regulars in command of a leader with no morale bonuses. They pin, but no worse (at least yet) and no losses. The first flame shot came at 07 into the turn, while they were set to move out, rearward, at 10. They remain where they were, therefore. About 30 seconds later and they would have been upstairs at the back - but obviously still in the flamed building.

Meanwhile, two other units of his are seen with area fire orders at buildings immediately across the street - in one case a 27m, in the other a 32m area fire order. FTs, demo charges? Unclear as of yet. One of these draws 2 shots from an almost dry SMG halfsquad, remains upright but does not throw anything. The other is in the building the T-34 tosses 2 rounds of HE into, and goes heads down on the second of those.

One of my rifle squads on my right fired at a unit it caught in the open, and sends it crawling back. They are now in the middle of an arc of over half a dozen German flags. But they are veterans with a +2 morale leader in a stone building. It does mean he can now see something more like a line in front of him - but with 3 units spotted as shooters on that side, I am hoping he thinks it is just a platoon.

My repositioning of troops on my left went smoothly, all men back in cover or in blind streets and nobody fired upon.

On my far left, the green DP LMG finally buys it. Panicked by fire as a unit appears on the edge 43m away, then those closed to 35m or so and threw a grenade, whereupon the LMG team got up and ran for it, and predictably got fried. That will dry up my info on that side for a bit. Took a lot of ammo with them. Only 1 LMG remains, in front of the "Bastion" position.

What will he do in the flamed building? He could sit and area fire some more, and run that FT dry. That'd probably do my squad. Or he might save the fuel and get that FT back into cover, and send somebody else into the building. On my side, I'll have some choices to make about that squad, too. There are now Germans on 3 sides, close on 2 of them.

[Gpig]

"poit"