Thanks for 'The Sunken Lane', Bil Hardenburger...

[MikeO]

When I opened up CM for the first time and saw this one my jaw hit the floor. I did my own version of the Battle of Cristot for the original SL boardgame when the 'Crescendo of Doom' module came out. When I got 'Steel Panthers' home this was the first battle I tried to cook up with the editor. Naturally I was going to do the same with CM and couldn't believe that someone had got there first

Why this battle? Well I come from Middlesbrough in NE England which is the main recruiting area (as well as Nth Yorkshire) for the Green Howards. It was also CSM Stan Hollis VC's home town - he ran a pub there after the war. Years ago I came across some excellent local unit histories in the town library including books on the Green Howards and the 50th Northumbrian Division. The Cristot battle was described in detail and seemed a natural (some was reprinted in that excellent 'Gold Beach' booklet by Dunphie and Johnson that you used as a source).

Well I still want to do an operation based around this sector, perhaps widening the action to include Pt.103, St. Pierre etc so I hope you don't mind me borrowing some of your map ideas? Also intending to do more of 50th Div's battles against Panzer Lehr; Lingevres, Tilly-sur-Seulles etc...

Cheers,

Mike

(oops, sorry that should have been 'Hardenberger')

[This message has been edited by MikeO (edited 07-16-2000).]

[Bil Hardenberger]

Mike,

I am glad you were pleased to see it. I really enjoyed putting it together and have no problem whatsoever with you expanding on it... use any of my ideas you wish.

Have you played it yet? If not, try it as the Brits and play as true to history as possible... I would be interested in hearing the results.

Bil

[Henri]

There is a detailed AAR from Fionn on Thegamers site describing his game with Bill playing this scenario my comments on Fionn`s brilliant play was posted Friday on the war-historical usenet forum.

Some may not want to read that before they play the scenario

Henri

[stodge]

MikeO - Up the Boro! Im from Guisborough!

[MikeO]

Spoiler Alert!

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Oh yes, this was the first scenario I played. I did notice Fionn's AAR on TGN but deliberately avoided reading it so I could play blind. Naturally, I chose to command the Green Howards and started advancing the companies cautiously forward through the first set of cornfields to the ridgeline with the second cornfield area in front; pretty much following the initial lines of advance shown in 'Gold Beach'. Must admit my knowledge of how the actual battle went influenced how I planned to proceed from here on. I knew about the danger from the 'White House' off to the left and the trees at the bend in the sunken lane. Also I'd read about the fatal mistake of the 4/7 DG tanks in racing forward and leaving the infantry behind. The forward SS infantry in the actual battle lay hidden as the Shermans passed by and allowed concealed AT guns to the rear, near Pt.102/Cristot, to knock them out one by one.

I decided to keep the tanks back in an infantry-support role and advanced them to the slight ridgeline in as close a hull-down position as I could manage. Really didn't know what enemy forces to expect except the obvious SS PGs with plenty of MGs, 'fausts and 'schrecks. But in this close-up bocage country I could imagine a PAK40 concealed in every patch of wood. What if there were vehicles? I feared they might have SP guns waiting in ambush. Even half expected a counter-attack by PzIVs of the Panzer Lehr off to the right which occurred at Pt.103 around this time.

With a tank platoon lined up on each side of the lane, together with most of the two infantry companies, I sent several squads down the trees on each of the lane. As i did this, WHAP!, one of my tanks on the right flank was destroyed by an unseen enemy but my forces spotted a couple of MG teams on the other side of the cornfields and started pounding them.

My troops advancing up the lane came under fire from the trees at the bend but I'd anticipated this danger - my 3-inch mortar spotter in the centre had already called a fire mission on this point and the bombs started falling right on cue to devastating effect.

By the time A and D Coys arrived as reinforcements, the enemy teams on the other side of the cornfields were keeping their heads down as my tanks, 2-inch mortars and MGs laid down fire. The enemy at the bend in the lane were also cowering from my 'mortar-hate' so I rushed D Coy (with Hollis) up the centre with the extra tanks. I sent A Coy off to support B Coy on the right. With the bend in the road taken, along with some prisoners, I judged the time had come for A and B Coys to rush across the cornfields on the right and take the wooded ridgeline opposite. The tanks and support weapons remained on my own ridge in case the enemy weren't as suppressed as I hoped. This proved to be a sound decision for as my platoons charged across a number of enemy units revealed themselves opposite my extreme right and sent tracer zipping through the corn. All my Shermans and Vickers opened up in response and the crafty enemy had to throw themselves into the mud. Not going to badly so far, but that constant rain and thunder is depressingly ominous! At this point I feel things have gone too easy and the enemy is holding back his worst surprises...

On my left, not much activity but I notice enemy squads from that sector working their way towards my troops holding the trees around the sunken lane. I decide to hold on at the bend in the road for the time being as I have the support of my reserve tanks here. Also there seem to be enemy troops moving in from the south-west and I'm in danger of being attacked from three sides. If the enemy on the left can be drawn off toward the centre then I can deliver my left hook against a weakened sector.

Well my Green Howards have cleared the right wing ridge and are putting down fire on the patch of woods beyond containing a victory flag - it soon falls. On the left I start to hunt forward with tanks and infantry, mindful of the 'White House' farm on the extreme flank. They take the left ridge with no casualties - the farm seems empty!

I'm still cautious on the right as there is a lot of open ground between me and the trees bordering the lane diagonal. Suddenly there seems to be dozens of SS troops moving through the woods on the south side of the diagonal towards my troops holding the centre! I have a Firefly and Sherman on the lane at the bend but they can only fire at the edge of the wood. I arrange my D Coy platoons in spaced lines facing SW to resist the onslaught. It's close quarter mayhem in the woods with grenade detonations and Cockney (hey, these are Northerners!) cries of 'Bar-sted'. I edge my Sherman forward in 'hunt' and he helps with point blank fire. Luckily he doesn't succumb to any wily 'faust. After some pretty tense minutes, and heavy casualties on both sides, the SS are forced back.

From here on things get easier. On the left I advance, hopping from wood-clump to wood clump with little opposition. My tanks can see and fire on the final objective; Point 102. The enemy is bringing on reserves but its too late. Have to bring up all the tanks in support as there's a lot of open ground to cover between the woods and the objective. They lay down suppressing fire on the clumps of trees around the objective and then put down smoke to cover the final charge. Sgt Hollis' platoon was given the honour of taking Pt.102...Allied major victory.

All in all a most satisfying game. I felt the AI placed too many units too far back - if they had more on the other side of the cornfields they would have inflicted more harm on my advance. As it was, it was my own paranoia that made me so cautious - I only captured the final objective in the last few turns. I suppose that's what bocage fighting does to you. That and the constant depressing rain but, hey, living in Britain is good on the job training for that

[Fionn]

Damn Henri,

I haven't been able to receive Usenet messages since Thursday. Trust me to miss out on that ;(.

Any chance of your reposting here.. Or I might use dejanews..

[Wesreidau]

To Mike-O and Stodge

Hey, I`m from Stockton! Wow...there ARE some other gamers from this neck of the woods after all.

[Henri]

Fionn said:

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>I haven't been able to receive Usenet messages since Thursday. Trust me to miss out on that ;(.

Any chance of your reposting here.. Or I might use dejanews..<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I don't have it here, but I can post it here from the office tomorrow.

Henri

[Henri]

OK, Fionn and anyone who's ionterested, here is my analysis of fionn's AAR on "The Sunken Lane" that I wrtote on the war-historical usenet forum a few days ago. Contains SPOILERS.

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Another very instructive AAR on Thegamers web site by Fionn. One can learn

a lot from this Sunken Lane AAR, not only about Fionn's particular style

of aggressive and psychological warfare (woe to him who plays Fionn as if

he were playing a computer...), but about a number of other things. Before

getting into my comments about the battle itself (based as usual on 100%

hindsight), a few comments.

This battle shows the usefulness of Sun Tzu's maxim "Know yourself and

know your enemy"; although Fionn's opponent Bill was the designer of the

scenario, Fionn used his thorough knowledge of infantry tactics in

general, of the scenario itself and of Combat Mission's possibilities to

the utmost advantage. Small details such as the knowledge that it is

harder to damage an infantry unit on top of a ridge with HE than on the

slope, that split German squads are weaker than the Allies' at close range

but more powerful at long range, such as when it is better to split a

squad, and many other factors are played upon by Fionn like a Maestro

leading an orchestra. True, Bill made a number of mistakes, and failed to

capitalize on Fionn's own mistakes, but the battle was carried out with

brio, and despite the fact that he was the defender, Fionn kept the

initiative throughout the battle and kept his opponent off balance the

whole time, following the strategy maxim that to unhinge your opponent's

mind is to unhinge his army.

Being who he is, seeing that he was outnumbered 3:1 and that things would

get worse, Fionn pulled a Rommel on the British (will they never

learn?...) and decided to attack! It was a brilliant idea to catch his

opponent off balance, and carried out most brilliantly. Bill did not

expect this, and he made the mistake of not deploying his advancing units

properly in case he were attacked, confident that Fionn would be on the

defensive. For example, his right-wing platoon advanced in a full wedge

formation unsupported by tanks, inappropriate for terrain propitious for

ambushes. There is an interesting article (on Thegamers or the Wargamer

site, I am not sure) on infantry positions, and the wedge position with

three full platoons forward is not appropriate for such a situation: the

leading platoon should have been split and deployed in such a way that

when the leading element is ambushed, it can be supported quickly by the

other elements, while the leading element retreats, and supporting tank or

heavy weapons need to be following in such a way that they can be brought

into play quickly.

As it was, the leading British elements were practically annihilated, and

Bill found himself in a situation where he continually had to react to

Fionn's actions, instead of the other way around, since he was the

attacker. If Bill had taken into account (from reading Fionn's earlier

AARs) that in a situation like this Fionn was likely to go on the

offensive, he could have deployed differently and possibly chewed up

Fionn's over-ambitious plan. Othere mistakes such as Bill sending tanks

ahead of the infantry in terrain with hidden positions wer ruthlessly

exploited by Fionn. Although the battle is not quite over, it IS over for

all practical purposes.

In my view, Fionn's big strength in this battle in addition to his

detailed knowledge of the units' capabilities (such as that the Firefly is

inferior to the Sherman 75 against infantry) was his ability to guess what

his opponent was thinking and to exploit it. When Fionn is fighting, the

real battlefield is his opponent's mind, which leaves amateurs who play

only the map in the dust wondering "Wha' hoppen'd?...".

This is not to criticize Fionn's opponent Bill, who put up a good fight,

but who was like a good expert chess club player playing a Grandmaster.

Fionn is a true grandmaster of Combat Mission, and one will have to get up

really early in the day to beat him...

If you want to learn a lot about Combat Mission and about how to fight a

battle, you should learn a lot from reading this AAR. If you only learn

one thing, let it be the following: know your units, know their strenths

and weaknesses, and know those of the enemy even better. And if you don't

like to lose, don't play against Fionn...

Henri

[MikeO]

Hello fellow Teesiders, Wes and Stodge (or are we still Clevelanders or even North Yorkshiremen these days??). Well it sure is a small world. Just wondering: how on Earth are we going to get by without Gazza from now on???????