OGF Keller Posted November 20, 2002 Share Posted November 20, 2002 Well, just finished playing it as Axis against the AI. Here is the result...Spoiler info in follow-on posts.. [ November 19, 2002, 11:00 PM: Message edited by: OGF Keller ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OGF Keller Posted November 20, 2002 Author Share Posted November 20, 2002 Ever since I got CMBB, I have been looking forward to doing this scenario. After a half dozen or so quick battles, and some good TCP/IP games, I took a stab at this one. This 50+ Turn Large scenario is a terrific challenge as the Axis commander. As the scenario designers (Abbot) mentioned in the briefing, Berezina is designed to be very DIFFICULT for the Axis attacker to win. I actually feel quite good that I got a draw here, and managed to rough up Ivan considerably. Some key principles I put into practice in this scenario. --Patience. It is SOOOO tempting to rush in and grab the town with the initial forces at your disposal, and then move onto the other objectives. No, no, no, a thousand times no. A well planned attack on the town, getting your infantry and HMG platoon to the edge of the woods and your AFV's in good defilade positions initally is key. -Get your Arty spotters into the woods immediately so you can bring artillery fire down into the town, but only when you can spot real units. No blind barrages!!! --Use your PSW's to smoke out his anti-tank gun emplacements. --His infantry is going to be holed up in the thick buildings. Once you spot him, get your AFV's into firing postion to attack those positions, but in defilade relative to the antitanks assets you have smoked out. Walls provide very good hull down cover. Also, be PATIENT deploying your 150 mm infantry gun -- again, firing position to hit the buildings, but defilade to anti-tank/gun emplacements. I didn't get it deployed until around turn 20, but once in the fight, Ivan ran for his life. --Yes, you can take the town just with your foot company -- save the motorized infantry for the distant flags. --Exterminate him -- really, don't just win the town and hold it. Drive him out of it, into the woods behind, and hunt him down. I thought afterwards my big mistake was not deploying my motorized infantry and armor reinforcements sooner to go after the other objectives. But when I looked over the final map, there was simply no way I was going to get the other two flags without getting a serious mauling. Look at the AAR -- he has more than TWICE as many guys as I do in this engagement!!! Meanwhile, the town was VERY doable over the course of the 50 turns, and, combined with basically annihilating his forces there, the draw was achieved in this VERY difficult scenario. [ November 19, 2002, 11:08 PM: Message edited by: OGF Keller ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abbott Posted November 20, 2002 Share Posted November 20, 2002 I am pleased you enjoyed the scenario. I played through its different incarnations a dozen times and enjoyed making it very much. A minor victory was the best I ever achieved and that was rare. A draw was a normal outcome and I lost a couple close ones and one badly. That big old dinosaur of a KV can be an absolute nightmare! I used the foot assets to take the town. I completely agree that setting up HMG’s and HE support before launching an attack on the village flag is necessary. The PanzerGr’s. I used to assault the flag on the hill. That sure produced a tense fight at the pass on more then one occasion. Taking the final flag near the bridges over the gullies was almost impossible for me. It required (the two times) I was able to gathering together every asset I had left available. If the air support is effective it certainly helps. I only captured all three locations twice out of all the play testing I did. Thank you for posting your results. I enjoyed reading your post greatly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
demoss Posted November 20, 2002 Share Posted November 20, 2002 [spoilerS HERE, as if you haven't already figured that out] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I thought this one was great as well. I got a major victory, but had to REALLY scrape for it! The air support was useless (whatever little it did was outweighed by the point loss for a shot-down Stuka!), but by towing the PaK 38 from one good firing position to another (using the unhook behind woods & Move to Contact trick, which is truly vital here) I was able to bag the KV-2 and distract the KV-1, allowing my pioneers to deliver the final candygram (I tried the PzJg Is, but they couldn't pull it off). The T-34 did NO damage, being taken out by a 38t with little trouble. I never did get the third flag - I tried a gamey last-minute tank rush, got shocked, and ended up with it contested - but with all the carnage going on, the flags are almost irrelevant. The scenario might actually be better without them (or at least without the one in the town, maybe the second one too), because they induce the AI to launch futile counterattacks. Personally, I think using the artillery on the town is a mistake - the foot company can do it with help from the Pz IVs (which is what they were built for), and the sIG if needed. Save the artillery for guns and/or the second & third flags. All in all, though, this scenario was one heckuva blast. [ November 20, 2002, 12:18 PM: Message edited by: demoss ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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