Polish Push

[John Kettler]

Troops,

My detailed AAR for this one is now available in the RoW II AAR thread.

Regards,

John Kettler

[JonS]

Polish Push – German AAR

Location: St. Martin-Bocage

Date: Dawn, July 44

Weather: Rain, Damp

Type: Allied Attack

Length: 18 Turns

Forces: Polish Army vs. Heer

Allies: Eric “Diceman” Scurlock

Axis: Jon “JonS” Sowden

Ground: This is a tiny battlefield – barely 400m x 400m. The village of St. Martin-Bocage takes up a good chunk of that space, and two key features are identified within the town, one on the eastern side, the other on the west. To the north are some fields, bordered by high bocage. These hedges will provide excellent concealment for the advancing Poles, but severely restrict his armour. Also, pushing through bocage is very dangerous for infantry, so I think Eric will probably make for the gaps. On the eastern side of town is the main road from the north, and what is probably the most direct, covered approach for the Poles. This is where I anticipate the main effort will come.

Friendly Forces: I have two platoons of motorised troops, of variable quality. In support I have two panzershrecks, two 81mm mortars, three HMGs, and a single 75mm ATG. Some reinforcements, in the shape of a pair of StuGs, are expected on turn 6.

Given my limited forces, I cannot cover the whole front, so I do not try. 1 Pn covers the east end of town, the most likely approach. It has a ‘shreck attached for AT work. 2 Pn covers the centre of town. From here they can defend against a thrust straight down the road – which I don’t really expect – or act as a reserve to move either left or right. In support they have the two 81mm mortars. The Pn HQ is up on a second floor, from where he has good command across the entire front. On the left is a pair of HMGs, the other ‘shreck and a Pn HQ. These are to slow down any forces trying to take me from that flank – I don’t really expect that they will stop the Poles if they come this way, just slow them enough to allow me to reposition. At the rear of the village is the last HMG, with the 75mm ATG and Coy HQ. Their main role is to cover straight down the main road, and to act as a second line in case the Poles come down the left flank. A shortage of infantry is going to be my biggest problem.

In addition, I have two A-Pers minefields, a single A-Tk minefield and a roadblock. The A-Pers mines are in place covering the obvious cover through the bocage on the left flank. This will force any infantry out int the open, as well as slowing them down, which will give the HMGs a better shot at them. The A-Tk mines are laid so as to restrict the vehicular access into the village – forcing any tanks to come down the main road. The road block is on the main rad, working with the A-Tk mine to force enemy armour over to the right flank. It is around the corner somewhat so as to be out of sight to the Poles until after the start of the battle.

The briefing indicates that the Poles are heading this way. That of course means the Polish Armd Div, which naturally means they will have armour – probably Cromwells or Sermans. Also likely is a fair amount of artillery fire.

In order to counter the Polish artillery I have split the squads to provide fall-back positions. Also, there are no forces anywhere in the first row of houses – that’s the first thing I would shoot up if I was attacking, so it’s reasonable to assume that Diceman will too. This particularly applies to 2 Pn, who are clustered around the main crossroads – well back from the leading edge of town.

Turns 1-3: Not much is seen in the first few turns, except a couple of squads scouting down the main road, and a few poking through the orchard on my extreme right flank. I drop a few 81mm rounds on them to slow things down – there are only a few turns in this battle, so slowing the Poles down is as good as killing them. In the meantime, the split squads reform. Some 3” mortar fire falls around the church, but no-one is there, so no damage is caused.

This all changes in the second half of turn three though – two tanks are seen heading into the orchard on the left flank. Cromwells as expected. In addition there is artillery falling on 1 Pns position – and tragedy strikes! One round kills both members of the ‘shreck team are killed by a freak round that airbursts right over them. This leaves me with no AT on that flank, with ID’d armour heading there way. This looks like it is indeed shaping up to be the main thrust.

But, appearing at the same time in the central opening of the bocage over on my left are seven infantry units. Given the British pattern platoons, this is a pn(+). The HMGs are set up to ambush the opening, and duly do so, driving some of the squads to ground.

Turns 4-5: On the left the HMGs do a fine job disrupting the push through the gap in the bocage, assisted by all remaining HE mortar rounds. In return, they are subjected to some 2” mortar fire, which is largely ineffective.

On the right things are a little different. A Polish rifle team scouting forward has been eliminated and another routed off the edge of the map, but the forces behind it are pushing up and are within 40m of my positions, closely supported by a pair of Cromwells. Two of my squads are panicked and useless, and the other is green, so they won’t stand up to much abuse. The ‘shreck that was over with the HMGs is racing across to stiffen up the defence here, and 2 Pn are reorienting towards this threat, but 1 Pn are pretty well finished as a useful force. Things are not good.

Turns 6-11: Hoorah! The two StuGs turn up exactly where I need them – on the road just behind 1 Pns positions. They promptly proceed to knock out the two Cromwells on the flank, plus two more that appear on the main road (there is another one skulking about nearby), at no loss to themselves. This is a terrific result for me, soured only slightly by the loss of on of the StuGs to a PIAT round. Even better, a few turns later another platoon of motorised troops turn up as reinforcements, supported by a ‘shreck and a pair of LMGs. By the end of turn 12 I am in a very strong position. The attack on the left and the one on the right have both been halted. I have a StuG controlling the right flank, 2 Pn has barely been engaged, the HMGs are doing fine, and I have a fresh platoon in reserve. 1 Pn is down to 16 fairly shaken survivors, but they haven’t given up any ground.

Turn 12: This turn sees the start of another Polish push – this one better coordinated. One the left 10 units come charging through the gap. Three are quickly cut down, and another routed, but two make it to the track, and a third into the first row of houses. On the right the Poles come pouring down the road, with another thrust through the orchard in support.

Turn 13: This is the crisis of the battle. On the left, the Polish engineers who made it into the buildings quickly cut down the Pn HQ there, and one of the HMGs is panicked by the loss of their leader. The other fights on, but is suffering casualties. Another Polish is eliminated, and the 75mm ATG chips in with some direct fire HE, but reinforcements will be needed here if the break-in is to be contained. Still, it looks as if the break-in forces are cut off, as no attempt is made to reinforce them.

On the right the Poles charge across the open ground to the church, and some make it inside. However, they are surprised by a squad waiting at the rear of the building, while my other forces in the area – including the reserve pn - cut down three other squads in the open. This attack is finished before it really got going, though there remains a few squads to winkle out, plus the last Cromwell to deal with.

By the end of this turn I know I can send some units from 2 Pn over to the left flank, as there is no longer a threat on the right. I also now feel confident of winning this scenario. I intend to consolidate for one or maybe two more turns, then go over to a counter attack and destroy the last of the Poles.

Turns 14-18: I send the Coy HQ from the ATG group and a single section from 2 Pn over to the left to deal with the break-in by the engineers there. They are quick about it, and the two surviving engineers surrender.

On the right the last Cromwell is dealt with by a ‘shreck. With the Polish armour gone I know I have the upper hand and order a general - though cautious - advance. The remnants of 1 Pn start edging down the edge of the map towards the orchard, pushing back the routing Poles as they go. 2 Pn and the reserve Pn start moving up through the centre of town. Even the guys on the left get in on the act, with the Cot HQ and section from 2 Pn starting to advance towards the gaps through which the Poles charged.

In the end, it comes down to a race – I sense that I may be able to force a surrender, but am running out of time. Finally, at the end of the last turn of the scenario, the Poles have had enough and raise the white flag. There were just 19 Poles left, and of them 11 were routed and the rest panicked.

Conclusion: The final score is 85-15 to the Germans, and is noted as a total victory. The Poles are on the run, and I am counter-attacking heavily. This is my best ever result in a PBEM, and am rather proud of it. My basic plan developed at the start of the scenario worked well, and was a major contributor to this win.

Allied Attacker . . . . . . . . Axis Defender

128 casualties (34 KIA) . . 37 casualties (10 KIA)

5 Vehicles knocked out. . . 1 Vehicle knocked out

3 Mortars destroyed

21 Captured

Men OK: 36 . . . . . . . . . . . Men OK: 60

Score: 15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . Score: 85

Global Morale: 0% . . . . . . . Global Morale: 70%

Notes: A very nice little scenario. Quite a surprise for the ROW actually, being this small. I have only two comments for the designer:

1. The briefings were extremely light. There was sufficient detail to get an idea of what I had, and roughly what would be attacking me, but mood and background information was wholly lacking.

2. In principle I hate reinforcements arriving in view of the enemy. As it turns out, the two StuGs arriving when and where they did saved the game for me, but I still don’t like it. Essentially the armour battle came down to a lottery which I was lucky enough to win. Given that I had StuGs, rather than turreted tanks, things could very easily have gone the other way, and Eric would have been crowing about a decisive victory rather than rueing a big setback.

I enjoyed this scenario though. Its small size and few turns meant it was easy to keep track of what was going on, and the action was short and sharp. Of course, it didn’t hurt that this was my best ever result in a PBEM!

[ October 02, 2002, 09:39 PM: Message edited by: JonS ]

[Vadr]

Polish Push AAR - Chuck "vadr" Grimes (Polish)

Setup -

I'm surprised at how small this scneario is, and how short. There doesn't seem to be time for anything fancy, and I certainly don't want to take the Cromwells cross-country. So, another straightforward left hook. I'll pound the town with my arty, advance the Infantry and see what happens. All my forces are on the left side of the map near the road.

Turns 1-7 -

So far, a brutal house-to-house affair exactly as expected. My first probes into the village took heavy casualties, and progress was made only after the Cromwells were put into action. A lucky break on Turn 7: the shell from a Cromwell set the Church on fire. At this point in the match, I'm confident of taking one flag and may get two, but I'm concerned about the heavy infantry casualties I've taken.

Turn 17 -

Guess I've missed a few updates on this one. It has been a very difficult fight and my casualties have been tremendous. I've killed 2 enemy AFVs but have lost two Cromwells in exchange. I virtually demolished the left side of the village with artillery and tank fire and now hold that victory flag. My troops are fortifying the rubble. I don't think the enemy has the strength for a last-turn counterattack but you never know. I guess I'll settle for a draw on this one (if I can even get that with my heavy casualties). The only way to get the other flag now would be with some sort of gamey last-turn rush and I'll not try that.

Result - Draw (50-50)

Conclusions -

I guess the result speaks to how well-balanced this scenario was. Looking at the map he really had nothing left to stop me from taking the other flag, but I have no time.

Key events were me setting the Church on fire with that lucky shot on turn 7, and the fact that I was able to kill both of his AFVs before they could do a *lot* of damage. Had I not gotten lucky in both instances, I might not have even been able to get the Draw.

Not much to say about this one really. I think it's extremely well-balanced and will be very popular for PBEM and TCP/IP. Perfect for a short TCP/IP game and an easy but interesting PBEM.

Might have to try playing this one using the Ironman Rules...8)

[WWB]

Thanks for the great feedback guys. I can see 2 overall issues identified in the posts above:

1) Big scoring swings. I agree that that is how the cookie crumbles in small, heavily armored battles. Throw in luck on something this scale, and weird things are bound to happen. There is very little that can be done about this aside from a total re-vamp of the battle losing most of its strong suits in the process.

2) The sometimes sudden appearance of the Stugs. It came up in playtesting to some extent, and I thought I had licked it. But now I have taken more drastic steps to deal with the issue. The map has been extended slightly, and they are now PZIVs.

As for balance, it seems to me that it is rather balanced. The 57-43 swing is not all that large, especially considering the variance in scores.

Thanks again for the comments, and I hope you all enjoyed it.

WWB

[Heavy Drop]

My AAR for this battle can be viewed at:

http://13815000.home.icq.com//ppmain.html

It was the first one I did and includes to many graphics/screen shots to fit here comfortably.

It is probably more useful in the 'what not to do' column for the Allied Commander. I, however, prefer to think I was up against a much superior opponent - Cuz'n - and fared better than expected.

[ October 04, 2002, 11:02 AM: Message edited by: Heavy Drop ]

[Holien]

You are an Artist....

Nice AAR...

H

[CuznJG14]

Great AAR Heavy Drop!

Here's the German side of this story

Polish Push

Being the map was on the small side, it made things sort of easy to set up a defense, ..well ‘sort of’ 

My defensive setup had the 75mm pak set up in the rear of St. Marten Bocage, covering N42 as it entered through the center of town.

Next to the pak I had the Company Comander set up to provide radio directive and act as a rally point if we were overrun.

I situated the 2 mortar teams I has on the hill behind the town with a view of the woods on my left flank.

The roadblock was placed at the entrance to town

I set three minefields.. 1 at my extreme left flank, one at my extreme right flank, and 1 covering the exitway through the bocage in the center.

I positioned 1 platoon on my right flank hidden in the town buildings, the other platoon was hidden in the left portion of town, I further split this platoon by splitting the squads in half, so I could cover more area.

2 panzerschrek teams were split yet again left and right.

1 HMG team was placed in church, the other hmg team was placed to cover my extreme left.

All my men had ‘hide’ orders

Now the wait began 

My opponent, Heavy Drop decided to use the cover of the woods on my right flank for his attack.. unfortunately for him his men ran straight into a minefield, they were demoralized, and on the next turn I gave my troopers the order to open fire on these troops.

It was brutal, bodies everywhere.

HeavyDrop decided to bring a Cromwell through the woods, a Cromwell VI with a 95mm gun no less!

I ordered the Panzerschrek team on my right to fire, they did and missed! The Cromwell then reversed through the minefield..and the Minefield took it out!

Close call!

If that Cromwell got through he could have lobbed HE shells and flattened my hiding places!

Heavy Drop then called in Smoke, to mask his attack down the road to the buildings on my left..he succeeded in gaing a toehold in 1 or 2 buildings, but his troopers were cut off there, and could not advance further.

2 more cromwell tanks made their appearances, and they really shot up my troopers well the way they should...lobbing HE from a distance.

My HMG team in the church broke and ran, plus a full squad routed out of the church as well!

Just at that time 2 STGIII’s made an appearance on my right 

STGIII #1 advanced down the road, and immobilized a Cromwell, but then was shot by same Cromwell 

STGIII #2 peaked his snout out long enough to trade fire with the disabled Cromwell, killing it, then advanced and took out another Cromwell that appeared stuck in the field.. unfortunately it tried to take out a third Cromwell and lost that duel 

My right flank was severely depleted, and just then a motorized platoon showed up with another PanzerSchrek and 2 LMG’s 

I immediately moved these men into my right flank to secure it, and they held quite well, until the end when a rogue Cromwell decided to Barrel through town 

Another Cromwell was able to sneak down the N42 and attempted a frontal assault on the town.. he took out a Panzerscrek team and again demoralized 2 split squads of troopers.. I hastily ran the PanzerScrek team I had hidden on my left into a position 20 feet at a 5 o clock position to the Cromwell.... next tuen and the Cromwell was history.

I still had a basically intact platoon on my left, and towards the end I moved these guys in position to throw out the few Polish troops that took refuge in the outermost buildings.. the game ended as they were doing so.

I had a PanzerSchrek team on my right hidden, though the loader was dead and it was previously demoralized... he fired 2 rounds that missed the rogue Cromwell heading into town, and I even had the remains of a squad...3 men fire a Panzerfaust at him , all missed and the game ended with this Cromwell in the right side of town... I was in the process of running the panzerfaust team on my left over there as the game ended.

My 75mm Pak was ineffective as Heavy Drop did not take the main road 

The Pak did rout a Polish squad that was attempting to take the church!

My 2 Mortar teams never fired a round!!! Except some smoke I believe..

Heavy Drop played a great game given the parameters.. his Engineer team was eliminated before he could clear any mines, and the right side mines really held my right side for me! Without them Heavy would have easily grabbed a foothold in town and would have rolled around my rear in rapid time.. as I only had enought troops to cover the outskirts of town... not the rear nor mid.

cuzn

[Holien]

Hi My AAR for The Push....

Set-up

This map is a small affair with the town close to the start line for my troops. I have two platoons and an Engineer platoon of two sections and a flamer. A 4.2” spotter and the Company HQ with a couple of Vickers. For support I have three Cromwells one of which sports the nifty 90mm building leveller.

The choice of approach is either down the road on the left flank and wheel right into the town or across the damp fields on the right and through the bocage. Choices choices…

Well considering the 18-limit time frame and the fact that I get two TRP’s I go for down the road approach. After careful study I put one platoon on the left with it’s two Vet sections split to do the recon work. The other platoon with one team split is on the right of the road and both will use the gaps in the bocage.

The Engineer section will be the reserves and the green Cromwell on the far-left flank with the two others just in sight of the Church but out of LOS for anything else. The church will be levelled, as it is the strongest point for the defenders in this section. One TRP will be placed over the crossroads, which with its light trees is a great place for an AT gun or defenders to protect either flag.

The other TRP is placed just on the edge of the main wood line on the rear hill in LOS of the road entrance. That has a good LOS to the road and is a spot where I would place an AT gun. I just hope Redwolf is like me.

The plan is to advance to contact on the left flank taking and securing the first flag and if strong enough swinging to the right to take the second flag. The likely spots for resistance will be hit with 4.2” fire and the spotter should be able to bring in quick fire.

LOS is poor and I ensure that the spotter is linked to a HQ with stealh abilities. The two 2” mortars are linked to the HQ with good command and combat bonuses.

I expect a static defence witb AT guns and Shrecks and maybe a tank as a surprise. If after the fight for the 1st flag feel it is a set up then I will hold back and settle for a draw if I can achieve it. I know form the forum that Redwolf knows his stuff and I can expect a tough game. I just need to keep it simple and over power him before he can react to the simle thrust and gather his reserves.

The Reality

Well the first turn saw my men advance to the edge of the town. The Church took serious pounding and the woods took some airbursts. No men were lost but I had ID a roadblock and some infantry scurrying in the open behind it.

Second turn all hell opened up. A team running for the cover of a stone building ran over a minefield leaving one man behind. A German HMG opened fire and caused several deaths. This HMG was suppressed by the 4.2” mortar spotter who switched target to the crossroad TRP. Good news is that location has several German Infantry teams dug in. I hope the 4.2” next turn will do wonders.

The far flank the gap between the Bocage and board edge is targeted by an 81mm German mortar. Would guess a TRP and an on board mortar team. This and a hidden Motorised German squad cut down the two split squads and lose 3 men in return.

My Green Cromwell rushes up to the edge of the gap in the bocage on the left and I move everything forward. In a bit of a quandary with that damn mortar, either to continue with the engineer platoon through the gap or halt for a turn and lose the half squads being ripped by the German squad.

The other issue is when to move the tanks forward on the road and going on Fionns maximum that if you have something and are scared of losing it you negate it’s effectiveness (or words to that effect). I will therefore press on and hope that the AT Guns and Shrecks miss. I hope there are not to many other minefields and that my ½ squad can keep that HMG busy while the 4.2” sorts out the crossroads. The 2” mortars will try and suppress the squad on my left so I can finish him off, if he does not bug out?

This turn is frantic. The HMG is brought down to two men. The solitary Motorised Inf Squad is forced out of their foxhole and mown down as they retreat. I manage to get my squads into buildings on the right and close to the crossroads. The 4.2” spotter showed a 22-second delay on the TRP but took close to a minute. Bugger.

This next turn should see those Germans there suppressed, as there will be a full minute on them. I guess that Wolfie will have seen the two rounds that have fallen and know what is going to hit him. If he bugs out it should catch him in the open. He is left with a tough choice. I have some units close by but they are in a heavy building which was left empty and that should help them. The crossroads have more German squads there than I expected. Last turn I spotted what I guess to be the HQ and a single Squad. This turn two more Squads appear one of them a Green unit.

My Green T/C in the Cromwell on the left takes a bit of shrapnel and the tank buttons. The mortar rounds are shifted to my men attacking the lone German squad. I am lucky and it does little. I do now have a fix on their position behind a two floor building that my tanks have LOS and were ordered to target. I know from past experience that mortars can easily be knocked out by falling rubble and this is what I shall aim to do next turn.

No more minefields have been spotted and my men seem to be in good order. The 2” mortar teams are moving up as are the Vickers. Must keep up the pressure and get in quickly before he can shift his reserves from the other approaches. I might have found a Shreck team hidden behind the Church and there is a unit firing at me from a Heavy building on my right. I would guess the lone, now dead German squad would have some buddies nearby too.

It was a HQ unit behind the church, which is now dead. The HMG unit is down to one man and will soon be dead or will have his hands in the air. The building hiding the mortar unit falls down and there are two foxholes behind it. I would guess two mortars are now out of use as I see two crew units in the vicinity.

I target a Heavy building, which is likely to have a unit in it, and "lo and behold" that turn a unit decides to leave the building and seems a tad bothered. My forces move around the left edge of the town and one flag is showing as mine. At the crossroads there are several empty foxholes and I would guess the ½ squad-digging trick. There seems to be a HQ unit, which is on the verge of cracking and two green squads. One of which is doing the headless chicken routine and is down to 5 men as it jumps in and out of the foxhole depending on the mood of the AI.

The remaining squad seems to be in good order and is not yet identified. I have a green squad in a heavy building that took a few 4.2” hits and they are now in panic mode. They should recover quickly as the HQ has some hearts as one of its bonuses. There is a healthy squad of Germans behind the crossroads moving up I would think he would keep them back based upon the 4.2” arriving. In the two stories buildings to my right there are two infantry markers harrying me.

I target the HQ foxhole with my green tank on the far left that can just see the edge. I lift the 4.2” and bring it back down a bit further. That should give my Green squad a chance to regain composure. Should start landing in around 50 Secs. My men on the far left are sent in a wide arc looking for guns and any stragglers as I bring them around towards the next flag. I need to ensure that I can bring my tanks forward safely.

I have a my squads in the middle move up to ruins and engage the Crossroads while those on the right hold position and finish off the HMG by occupying the foxhole. I await my reserves and hope that he has not sent any AT units through the bocage into my rear. I should be safe for another turn and then will move the tanks forward to support my Infantry. The loss of a tank might throw victory into doubt and I need to ensure that I am not being set up.

Well the next turn sees his men around the crossroad panic and flee. The HQ unit is destroyed by fire from my Green Cromwell and that seems to seal the fate of the remaining squads. As they up and run they pass through the 4.2” fire, which is plotted at the rear of them and this causes even more casualties on the units. The HMG last man dies as my Polish occupy his foxhole and there does not seem to be any serious resistance to my front now.

On the left I have a squad of Engineers moving along the edge of the far woods looking for AT guns and none are found. They help ensure that his retreating units continue there run. I discover the knocked out 81mm mortars and catch one of the crews. In a wooden building I knock out an At team and another HQ unit.

At the start of the next turn I am shocked by the appearance of a Vet and Regular Stug III on the road on my left flank. This is potentially bad news but on closer examination I think it is bad news for Redwolf and I bet he is cursing big time. Anyway I can target near the lead Stug with HE from my green Cromwell and plot for him to move into LOS. That should help button the T/C and help ensure it targets it as soon as I get LOS.

I have a Piat Team on that edge and order it to run into a wooden building right next to the Stug. He should be able to do that without being seen and at that range should get a decent shot on them. The other Piat team is within range, but down to one man so order him into a building a bit closer to take some shots. I order the two Vickers to open up on them to ensure those T/C’s shut there hatches and also a 2” mortar.

With the platoon on the right I order them forward to take over the foxholes around the crossroads, the green squad has regained composure and will push forward as well. The Squad in the middle will push forward along the line with my right flank, while the units on the left will get out of the way of the Stug’s and try and cut off the retreat lines. I might have to bring them back if any Infantry show up on my left.

The two Cromwell’s on the road are now rushed forward to help engage the Stug’s and the remaining Infantry I hope I have cleared the area of AT guns and teams.

Well the next turn is frantic and on the left flank the Vet Stug falls prey finally to my Green Cromwell. My Flamer team crosses the road but come under fire from the Stug's. His Infantry line continues to retreat and I engage a MG team in one of the heavy buildings on the right. At that close range my squad should have the upper hand.

Some of his infantry flee past my squad in the woods and I will have to chase them to ensure they either flee the map or put their hands up. So far there seems to be only one viable squad left for him. I know that there must be more around or near that last flag. His last Stug is being targeted by two Cromwell’s and the two piat teams. I do not old out much chance for it on the next turn. If it were me, I would be retreating off the map.

The next few turns continue at a frantic pace. I learn to my dismay that I have not cleared the area of AT weapons and my Support tank with the useful 95mm takes three hits. The first bounces the second kills a crewmember and takes the track off while the final shot brews her. The consolation is that the Stug dies.

I discover the AT gun and it’s crew, well the remaining chap throws up his arms as my men jump into his foxhole. His forces around the second flag break and run. Several squads flee off the map edge and the two HMG’s in the stone building are brought down to a single man each and are marched off to the rear.

On my left flank a platoon of Germans appear along the road just after the Stugs were killed. They come under fire from my limited forces on the left and I manage to get a 5-man squad into a stone house. This slows down his assault on that side long enough for me to get the 4.2” spotter into view and calling down HE.

In the mean time I get my extra platoon and two new tanks that bring up the Piat and Mortar team. They are rushed to the left flank to beef up the Co HQ who with the two badly reduced squads is holding off the new attack. The Germans have an AT team in range of the Green Cromwell and I try and pull him back out of harms way.

On my right flank I spread out in the buildings to sweep the area clean of any remaining Germans lurking in that region. The next turn is crucial as the 4.2” has 6 seconds before it starts falling on his new platoon and with all his losses so far his men could be close to surrendering. I just need that German AT team to miss and be taken out.

There was no next turn. I received the file and opened it and was shown the surrender screen. I think I must have forced the morale down to a low level, as I do not believe that Redwolf would have hit the surrender button based on the nature of the competition. I can imagine that he is slightly miffed.

Well I am not sure that I would have done any better in the game as the Germans. He was unlucky that I had my TRP over his main centre of resistance and once that had fallen I exploited him quickly and harshly. I used a Vet squad to ensure that broken units left the map and I had enough men on the flank to cover the arrival of his reinforcements. If I had not been as aggressive it could have gone very differently. Or if I had attacked on the right flank away from his reserve entry points then again it might have been a lot harder. As it was, good combined arms and fast follow up won the day and kept him off edge.

Result

A Total victory for the Polish

Allied..................German

41 (8)..................115 (23)

........................26 Captured

........................2 Mortars

........................1 Gun

1 Vehicle...............2 Vehicles

Men OK

144................... 15

Score

84......................16

[von Lucke]

Originally posted by Treeburst155:

I'd be interested to know how many German players lost their StuGs on the turn of entry. If the Poles push hard on their extreme left they will catch the StuGs coming on.

Heh --- I tried! Lord, how I tried! His StuG's showed up at just the wrong moment, and sent my attack on the left reeling!

I dropped smoke on the left, so I managed to make it into the town (despite the mine field!), but Juha had set up a little farther forward then I expected, and my Green troops couldn't push forward. My Cromwells got plastered by 'shrecks, an ATG, and the StuG's (though I did take out one just as it killed one of my tanks). This left me with only one Cromwell there --- and he was immobilized between two buildings, right by the church. When the smoke cleared, his quick turret let him get the draw on Juha's other StuG. Unfortunately, my infantry were so torn up by this point, that there was no way I could press an advance. Fortunately for me, that immobilized Cromwell was in a good position to keep the German troops there at bay.

It was at this point that I moved my flanking force into action: At the beginning of the scenario, I had set up one infantry platoon, one Cromwell, and the flamethrower on the far right, and placed a TRP on the right side of town, in the expectation of moving them in once Juha had committed his forces to block me on the left.

Evidently it worked, as I managed to take the VL on the right side of town with far less effort (even taking out his 75mmPaK in the process).

It was at this point that I shifted all my remaining forces from the left to the right, and occupied most of the buildings on my side of the road. Juha tried to root me out, but now I was the defender, and it was his turn to get a bloody nose. We ended up in a Draw.

Other than my distaste for attacking with Green troops, I liked this scenario. It seemed fairly balanced, and was of a size small enough to make it easy to keep track of what everybody was doing, but with enough force mix to keep it interesting.

[Juha Ahoniemi]

Heh, reading that Von Lucke, I have to post my AAR. So they weren't reinforcements on (my) left? You set them up there :eek: ?

In that case You will enjoy this:

ROWII:The Boots & Tracks Brawl

Tournament 1, section 4

Polish push - AAR by Juha Ahoniemi

Von Lucke(allied) vs. Juha Ahoniemi (Axis)

Ach. Das krieg seemz to komm kaputt...Nein! My orders are not to let the Poles drive trough St.Martin Bogace. Some of my men are unexperienced, and the enemy will put a lot of pressure on their fragile shoulders. I guess the Poles got little pissed off for us when we drove through Poland with panzers on our little sightseeing tour. The task at hand will be a difficult one: there are two big VLs to defend, one on the left and one on the right. I have one anti-tank and two anti-personel minefields at my disposal. I also have a roadblock. I put the roadblock to crossroads on the left. Near that I put the AT-minefield (Yep, at this point I confess that I totally forgot/didn't consider that allied tanks may cut their way through a hedge, if I had considered that the placement of that minefield would have been a different one). The anti-personel minefields were easy to place: the first one I placed to scattered trees in front-left. It is the only cover to seek if enemy rushes through that hole in the bogace. The second minefield goes to extreme right flank to scattered trees. Welcome, any edge-hugger.

The 75 mmPaK40 remains near to its original place in scattered woods. It covers the main road through the town. I place a green HMG42 close to it too. I have two panzerschrecks - first is hiding in rough terrain close to supposed enemy route. The second one is in a building on the left. Rest of my troops are scattered, but my principle is that they will not face the enemy alone and always have some other unit to support them. Of course all are within the command range, too. My two mortars are placed on the right, behind a two-floored building where is a HQ unit placed to command the firing. The range is a problem however, there is no good LOS position far enough and the enemy may come quickly inside the shortest range

.

The enemy begins by firing smoke. A lots of smoke. Fortunately my mechanized squad have a good firepower to close ranges and it greets the arrivals (who by the way runs over that extreme-right placed minefied...hehehe) causing several casualties. Then all the hell breaks loose: I back off my squad as the enemy outnumbers them, and keeps pushing towards the VL on the right. Two enemy tanks begins to fire the buildings, destroying the building my squad just fled. Phew! The church is also under fire.

Enemy keeps coming, but takes severe casualties in the process. Apparently a HQ unit falls under HMG fire and one depleted squad runs over the edge, scared by small-arms fire and my mortars. My screck-in-the-rubble misses his first shot (being a veteran and under one point combat bonus. typical...).

But at this point my reinforcements, two StuGs, arrive - and they will tip the balance to my favor. Drawing courage from that, my one-man schreck, under cromwell's fire manages to kill the bastard. Hooray! his family will get his Cross of Iron because unfortunately he didn't survive to receive it...

Another enemy squad, depleted down to two men, flees over the map's edge. A lone cromwell challenges my two StuGs - resulting one KO'ed StuG, and one destroyed Cromwell.

There is a bloodbath on the right. I shoot the enemy with everything I got. I even reveal my AT-gun to fire area fire near to pinned enemy squad (no LOS). I have spotted some perverse peeping-tom near the front hedge. Me thinks he is arty spotter and order some mortar fire there. Hehehe the peeper backs off...

Soon another cromwell speed towards my...PaK? Eh, ok, my guys thinks as they figure this must be a some kind of bonus round and puts a shot right through that cromwell's "wind screen". And meanwhile another cromwell drives between two buldings, giving a hard time for my squad in the opposite house. My new reinforcements are rushing to help their komrades, and a fresh schreck have a duel with that cromwell. A miss. Cromwell shoots. Schreck is nervous, but manages to hit the beast...but it just get crippled to immobilized status. Later that damned green cripple manages to kill my StuG as the smokescreen clears (BTW my opponent used smoke to max!) and it had a fast turret againt my turretless panzer. Scheisse scheisse scheisse, mein panzerwagen!

Meanwhile on the left Polish reinforcements catches me while my pants are down. I am bent over and the Poles are pushing. I had relocated some men from the left to the right to keep that precious VL. But I thought his reinforcements will come from the same route as the first guys. How gullible fool was I. (Note to scenario designer:You are some sadistic git). The rest of the game goes the same old pattern: My schreck hits that newest cromwell, penetrates it with no effect. Sheesh. I am frustrated. All others "brilliant" and brave efforts to KO at least one of those remaining tanks backfires miserably. I can't even get to scare that handicapped green cromwell to throw up it's human interior. I just end up to sacrifice more of my scarce resources. The enemy slowly but surely twists the left flag from the dead stiff hands of my men. In the end, however, I have the other flag.

Watching the map after the firing have ceased I notice that The enemy would have rolled over my remaining forces with ease if he had chosen to do so. Fortunately for me perhaps the early setbacks made him wary.

Allied Attacker

103 casualties (30KIA)

1 mortar destroyed

3 vehicles knocked out

Men OK: 82

Score: 49

Axis Defender

108 casualties (22KIA)

1 gun destroyed

2 vehicles knocked out

Men OK: 48

Score: 51

DRAW

Notes to desingner: It seems that this was quite well balanced. At least I can't imagine how it would be possible to take major beating from either side. But did You HAVE to make those Poles come from the left...?!? I have a bone to pick with You...

[ October 07, 2002, 02:04 PM: Message edited by: Juha Ahoniemi ]

[John Kettler]

Heavy Drop,

That was quite an AAR. I found your initial tactical appreciation to be downright disturbing, even intimidating. How did you do the tactical

graphics? I really wish pictures didn't cause the text to overflow screen width, a real reading hassle.

Cuzn,

Thanks for providing the other side of the fight.

Holien,

Why couldn't you have won some other scenario by big margins? I very nearly had the top score as the Poles unil you came along. Grr.

Juha,

A most engrossing AAR, which I read with considerable interest.

General comment

I know CMBB is out and all, but I am still surprised that the stream of AARs, either in scenario specific or the RoW II AAR thread, has dried up so thoroughly that even this thread is on page 2. What we have is great, but surely there must be more AARs which could be posted?

Regards,

John Kettler

[Holien]

Hi JK,

Sorry to nick your thunder, I was lucky with this game and got on a roll.

I need to play wolfie again with something else as I do not think I got him at his best and with a game that gave him enough options.

Bit like a game I have just finished with someone.

But more on that in the AAR to come....

I am now just getting into the delights of CMBB and look forward to the next ROW.

H

P.s. Your game has improved (and I hope mine)since we last meet. These AAR's do show how things can be done. CA getting into the finals is great as the last time we meet his attacking style was not as good as it is now...

No offense meant with these remarks, it is just an acknowledgement of how playing other people improves your game play.

I have a feeling in the next ROW I will find it even harder to make it into the finals, especially if I am drawn against you two old birds... (CA & JK)

[Mick_Oz]

Here's another of my five AAR's.. (posting delayed due to travel):

POLISH PUSH: AFTER ACTION REPORT –

MICK_OZ (ALLIES) v VISOM (AXIS)

Sir:

The following is an account of the largely successful assault on the town of St Martin-Bocage by elements of the First Polish Armoured Division.

There were two key objectives to take in the town. Time was short and we were ordered not to waste time in claiming our objectives (small map, 18-turns).

At the close of fighting, the right VL remained contested, mainly due to the presence of sparse German infantry units. The left VL was securely in Polish hands.. or more accurately, Polish armour… with a Cromwell sitting astride the objective.

Due to the weather (rain) and the damp ground, I immediately decided to concentrate my armour – two Cromwell IV’s and a Cromwell VI – and the bulk of my thin infantry force along the main road (N-42) into town. The right was unattractive for armoured attack.. consisting of wheat and bocage approaches.. the risk of tanks bogging there was considerable. The left-centre road approach (and scattered trees to the left of the road) offered the quickest means to take the town and minimised off road travel for my armour. I posted two half squads, a piat and a company commander to scout the right.. and perhaps feint at an advance.

I placed my two TRP’s as follows: one at the front centre edge of woods directly in back of the town… a likely spot for either guns or enemy infantry. The other TRP I placed to the right of the right VL.. in between two buildings. I ordered my FO (4.2” artillery) to begin shelling the woods-TRP when action commenced. On turn 14 I found that this had resulted in knocking out an enemy gun placed in scattered trees just ahead of the woods. It was a significant loss to the Germans and occurred just seconds into the battle.

I ordered two of my Cromwells to begin shelling the church overlooking the road.. an obvious place for enemy recon or mg units. Sure enough, this resulted in the rout of an enemy mg team. On Turn 2, the church went up.. improving my LOS since I believed I held the armour advantage.

My engineers and rifles platoons (two in total) approached the town on either side of the road.. on the right side, I used smoke to negotiate mines (with some casualties) and gain the dubious safety of two outlying buildings. However, my men were then pinned by enemy fire from a large, heavy building. I also ordered recon units to scout the far left.. not far from the road ahead of one tank in support. They soon came under infantry fire from two buildings guarding the left VL…my two tanks on the road immediately responded.. suppressing the infantry with 95mm and 75mm fire. Then two Stug III’s showed up.

Fortunately, they focused their fire on my infantry and piat team which had gained a foothold in a building. This allowed my Cromwells on the road to target them. My Cromwell VI knocked out one Stug. Sadly, however, my third tank, approaching behind my scouting units through scattered trees on the far left, struck an AT mine and was abandoned. Moreover, the surviving Stug knocked out a second Cromwell IV, directly behind my Cromwell VI.

Help was at hand, however. Two more Cromwells and a platoon of infantry arrived on the N 42.. and both tanks raced up the road, engaged the Stug in a tank duel, and took it out.

My infantry on the centre right, however was in a bad spot. The German squads holed up in a large heavy building had already accounted for my two engineers squads and had badly hurt another rifle squad. I sent my new infantry to their aid, although one squad was immediately routed by mortar fire as he dashed up the N 42 to skirt the bocage and mines. To alleviate pressure on my men, I revealed my squad on the right.. who paid the ultimate price for opening fire and exposing their position. My piat and the company commander survived and late in the battle I brought these over to the enemy’s left as he withdrew. The piat team was subsequently killed.

I sent the Cromwell VI in support but his gun was damaged.. a heavy blow. At least he survived the battle and held the left VL at the end…

The rest of the encounter was a bit of house to house stuff essentially… supported by fire from my two Cromwell IV’s and other units. I was able to break the enemy resistance for the most part and my tanks were directly over both flags at the close of battle. However, as mentioned, a couple of surviving enemy infantry squads or part squads were close enough to one VL to keep it contested.

It was a tough fight and the German defence was effective. The terrain and damp conditions also made it tougher for the attacker, although my Polish forces obviously held the advantage in armour. I was fortunate in knocking out his gun and glad that I emerged relatively lightly from the armour encounter. I thought that my general strategy held up quite well although I am disappointed my forces did not control both VL’s as hostilities ended.

Final Result: Allies (Mick) 52/ Axis (Visom) 33. Allied Minor Victory.

Allies: 112 casualties (30 KIA); 1 captured; 2 vehicles knocked out, Men ok: 72.

Axis: 103 casualties (25 KIA); 1 gun destroyed; 2 vehicles knocked out; Men ok: 53.