SuperTed Posted March 28, 2002 Share Posted March 28, 2002 I decided to put the AAR thread here so that it won't require so much bumping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker Posted March 29, 2002 Share Posted March 29, 2002 AAR Rabbit’s Foot A joint effort by Hawk (Axis) & Walker (Allied) ‘God they’re slow,’ Captain Blickman muttered. He was standing at the east end of the bridge his company was supposed to hold at all cost, watching his heavy weapons being manhandled across. ‘All we need is a lone Kraut to appear through the fog, and they’ll all jump in the river.’ He was in a foul temper. His squads were green, his officers were green, his CO, Major Quincey, had laughed out loud when he had passed on warnings of a German advance on the bridge. ‘Captain, we’re here for some r&r. So get the hell out of my office and go rest and recreate. And by the way, I need all your wheels. We’re having a soccer match against a bunch of locals tonight and I need them to illuminate the pitch.’ Resisting the urge to throttle his CO, Blickman had marched out, fuming. And now Rome was burning while the emperor was prancing around in some muddy field miles distant. He looked up again and sighed with relief. His heavy assets – a couple of mortars, two MMGs and a pair of zook teams – were off the bridge and heading for cover. Blickman ran into the middle of the bridge to where his precious .50 was still in the process of being hauled, ever so slowly, towards the relative safety of the village. ‘Who’s in charge here?’ He asked. ‘Dixon, sir.’ ‘Well, Dixon, if you and your men are still on this bridge two minutes from now you could well become the prime target of every Kraut lurking in those woods over there.’ He gazed in the general direction of the trees bordering the village on two sides. Not that he could make out much from where he was standing. A light fog had set in, casting an ominous cloak over the terrain and cutting visibility to less than an eighth of a mile. Captain Blickman walked into his command post, a large house 100 yards northwest of the church and the same distance from the bridge. He sought out Lootenant David Bishopf, his crack platoon commander. ‘Did you get your picket teams back in, Dave?’ ‘Yes sir, they came in a couple of minutes ago. Almost wept with relief to see me.’ Bishopf frowned. ‘Saw nothing and heard nothing. Shouldn’t have to send green troops out like that. More likely to get themselves captured or killed than to bring back anything useful.’ Blickman sighed. He seemed to be sighing a lot lately. ‘Anything to report, Dave?’ ‘I took the rest of the platoon east into the orchard to collect my teams. Thought we might be able to lurk behind the bocage and do some damage to the German scouts. Didn’t work out as planned, though. Couldn’t see far enough through the hedge to do much good.’ Blickman stifled another sigh. ‘D and E platoons should be arriving any minute now, Dave. They’ll be tired, though. The Major’s playing football in a field surrounded by all our transport, lights blazing. And he took our artillery FO along too. Apparently he’s the guy who wins the games for them.’ ‘Right, sir, then we’ll have to make do with what we’ve got.’ Thank goodness for Bishopf, the Captain thought. The view from Hawk’s side of the hill: At start: 3 platoons SS rifle (a mix of veteran, regular and green) with two green spotters (81mm mortar and 75mm arty), and two HMG. Two platoons and the support sent through the forest on my left, one single platoon on my far right. These did nothing but move & sneak along each flank until they attacked near the very end. The radio crackled. The panic in the voice of the lookout in the bell tower was evident. ‘Smoke! German Tigers approaching from the east!’ Blickman and Bishopf looked at one another and sprinted to the church. They mounted the steps to the platform and listened. Engine noise. Many engines. Engines revving at top speed. Muffled shouts. Bishopf turned to his CO. ‘Can’t be Tigers, sir. Sounds more like trucks. Offroad probably. Won’t get far in these wet conditions unless they stick to the tarmac. Maybe they’re as green as we are…’ ‘Sounds good to me, Dave. Every minute they lose is a bonus for us. So let’s get things organised around here. Suggestions?’ Reinforcements. Two platoons with engineers (regular and green) and two flamethrower teams, all on trucks, arrived on turn 7 and 9. I decided to send the trucks around the orchard. Big mistake! I forgot to check the ground conditions. Damp! I bet the drivers had a thing or two to say about stupid leadership! The trucks hardly moved and one bogged down. Decided to unload the trucks and send the troops through the orchard (beginning to worry about remaining time), while using the trucks as a diversion on the road. Second big mistake. Didn’t allow the troops enough time to unload. The officers got off, but the remaining units stayed on the trucks. All in all I probably “lost” three turns worth of movement, and at this point I was certain I had a time problem! Thought “what the heck” and decided to stick to my original strategy (pincer attack). Lootenant (formerly Leftenant) Bishopf was his most experienced officer, ex-Eighth Army, a veteran of the North Africa campaign, recently attached to the US army as a tactics & weapons specialist. If anyone could keep the company fighting it was Bishopf. ‘Suggestions. Yes, sir. The first platoon to get here holds the church. Minus one squad to reserve. The second platoon on our north flank, minus one squad. No splitting of squads. They’re brittle enough as it is. My platoon on the south flank. That’s where I would be pushing hardest if I were the German CO. Our MGs stay where they are, guarding the bridge. Too risky to try and reposition them. Mortars into the scattered trees northeast of the bridge. The two reserve squads in those scattered trees too, covering the east end of the bridge. The two zooks will have to work their way east and hope for the best. There’s not much cover outside of the houses, though. And the heavy weapons HQ will have to act as an outpost on the edge of the marsh in case they try to sneak up on us from the left along the river.’ Captain Blickman thought for a moment. ‘Sounds good. But I don’t want anyone stuck in outlying buildings with no chance of retreat. And yes, I realise the church is a death trap if they have anything bigger than an 81 mm mortar. We have to hang on to it as long as possible, though.’ ‘That’s what I was thinking, sir. I’ll give the job to Farley and two regular squads. That leaves us with two regular squads, all the rest are pretty inexperienced.’ Blickman nodded. ‘We’d better have separate command posts. I’ll be at company HQ, you stay with your platoon and the MGs.’ And so they prepare for battle, and wait. Two units are briefly sighted from the church, moving west through the woods on the right. Then a report from the left of infantry in the woods northeast of the bridge. Then the zook hiding in the scattered trees 100 yards west of the bocage-lined orchard disappears. Artillery fire hits the church, causing some casualties. Smoke falls south of the road by the river. Then a platoon of Germans emerges from the woods on the right next to the river, followed by another three squads. The attackers are met by heavy fire from all the buildings within range. With four squads providing supporting fire, two squads of SS Rifle 44 run through the hedge to storm the rightmost building occupied by an MMG and a green US Rifle squad. One German unit is driven off, the second gains a foothold in the building and reduces the MMG to one man before being eliminated. In the centre, two platoons of infantry advance largely unopposed along the road to the large building opposite the church. On the left, two platoons advance and occupy the northernmost house against the heroic resistance of an HQ unit that should not have been there. Bishopf joins his commander at the company command post. Attacked with the single SS platoon. Wiped out the defence and moved toward the bridge. This went quite well, probably because there wasn’t much defence there! Finally managed to get the engineers into some kind of order and rushed them through the orchard. In the meantime, the two platoons on my left had walked right into the main line of resistance and were being cut to tiny pieces! Had tried to lay a smokescreen, but without much success. ‘So this is what it feels like, the prospect of becoming a chapter in a book titled Gallant Last Stands’. Blickman studied his platoon commander. Bishopf had somehow found the time to smarten himself up. ‘The Major told me to go rest and recreate…’ Bishopf cut in: ‘First things first, sir. Maybe I’ll join you when this is over. In a German POW camp. Here’s the situation as I see it. Everyone is in place in the inner ring of buildings. There’s nothing more we can do. Either we hold or we don’t. It’s that simple. If I’d known we’d have that much time… I’ll admit I’m worried about the right flank. If we lose the only building south of the road at the bridge, and he smokes us there, stopping him crossing the bridge will be difficult. There’s no cover and our men won’t stay in the open for long without running for the trees or overcrowding the buildings. There’s a shallow depression in the riverbank just by the east end of the bridge. I’ve sent one of the reserve squads to hide there in case Jerry makes a run for the bridge. Maybe they’ll stay put, maybe they won’t. If he has any armour we’re in real trouble.’ The radio operator cut in: ‘Farley, sir. He’s under attack in the church. Says it’s nothing serious, only one squad. Pioneers, certainly not high quality … he’s driven them off, reports five casualties. Says not to worry, he’ll hold as long as the building doesn’t get torched. Says to watch out for flamethrowers.’ Blickman looked at the Lieutenant. ‘Wonder what that was about. You don’t attack a church with a single squad.’ Bishopf peered towards the church. ‘Maybe they’re scraping the barrel. Maybe they’re all green troops. Maybe the rest of the platoon refused to go. Maybe it was a diversion.’ The radio operator spoke again: ‘Farley says he can see flamethrowers advancing beside the road. And several unidentified units approaching the church from the east, too. Could be FTs. Requests permission to evacuate if necessary.’ Blickman considered for a moment: ‘Tell him to do what he can without getting wiped out. It’s up to him.’ He walked over to the other side of the room and gazed towards the river. ‘More smoke. This is it. That damn bridge…’ One engineer squad attacked the church to allow the FTs to move forward across the road. Too late. The engineers were unsuccessful in penetrating the US defences. I attacked the bridge too soon on the left, and without proper scouting. Apart from my obvious mistakes, I believe it was my playing style that betrayed me. When attacking against the AI, I usually give myself plenty of time to set up the attack. Having “only” 30 turns with a lot of ground to cover convinced me that I had very little time available, and that was probably my biggest mistake. These battles have taught me a lot, and I hope I’ll become a better player for it! The smoke came, but the Germans didn’t. Farley took a squad out of the church and drove off the two HMGs on the east side. The battle ended, a standoff with the bridge in US hands. Captain Blickman reported 31 casualties. Major Quincey won his game. The F0 scored three times. Nobody got a medal. . . . . Hawk, you were very unfortunate! Thanks for a most resounding defeat in Give & Take and two great games. It was a huge pleasure playing you, good sir!! Chris Walker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperTed Posted March 31, 2002 Author Share Posted March 31, 2002 Very nicely written, guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave H Posted April 4, 2002 Share Posted April 4, 2002 Although I'm no longer in the tournament, I wanted to write AAR's for the scenarios I played. Here is mine for Nothing Fancy. My first impression of the map was that it looked more like a quilt than a map. The square hills and woods looked bizarre. It took me a few minutes to realize the German side, southwest of the diagonal ridge, was identical to my side on the northeast. Everything was duplicated: vegetation, walls, buildings, roads, even the topography. In my beginning setup, Ted had "generously" given me two 105 mm howitzers on the board. I could either set them up far to the rear either on an exposed ridge or in the woods, or what I thought was far too close to a defended ridge. I opted to set up on my extreme right, where I thought I could use them to cover the two nearest hills. And so they did, neither of them ever seeing a German or firing a shot. I split my infantry company, assigning each platoon HQ one of the VLs. C platoon went to the NW hill, B to the next, E "platoon" (HQ, 50 cal HMG, mortar, & bazooka) to the next, and D platoon to the SE hill. B & D platoons each included a MMG, mortar, and bazooka. Since C would be closest to my 105s, I figured (hoped) they needed less support attached. When turn 1 ended, I was reinforced with an M4 (105) and three M4s. I sent one M4 to support each flank, and kept two on my ridgeline in overwatch. After turn 5 I received four more M4s. I sent one more to each flank and kept two more for overwatch. My first sign of the enemy was on turn 9. My E "platoon", which had managed to misplace the 50 cal HMG in the bocage, had mortar fire drop nearby. No casualties, but it's hard to shoot back at an invisible enemy. At the end of that turn, four more M4s arrived. Two more went to each flank, and the overwatch tanks moved forward to support the center. On turn 11, my D platoon came under fire from an StuH42 parked on the road through the woods. Luckily, the first supporting M4 was on the job and got a first shot kill. Then on turn 13, an "Assault gun" on the southeasternmost hill fired at D platoon. Another supporting M4 knocked it out. A third "Assault gun" fired at that Sherman, and yet another of my tanks KO'd it. Meanwhile, one of my M4s moved to take up what I thought was a good hull-down position overlooking the road running through the center of the ridge. It survived just long enough to identify a PzIV in the distance up on the far ridge. As the turret began to rotate, 2 AP shells arrived. One missed, but the second didn't, so the Americans lost their first Sherman. In addition, I deduced that the central road was highly hazardous to any American's health. I found out later how true that was. By turn 17, C platoon had secured the VL on my far right, with one M4 in support. E platoon had spotted German infantry in the SE half of the central woods. E had already survived a substantial mortar barrage that left dozens of craters all around them. D platoon was in a firefight in the woods on my left, and B had contacted the infantry in the central woods, on the other side of the road. They got close to the road to be able to see the enemy through the woods. Then all of the Americans, especially me, received a nasty surprise. The Germans not only had tanks on their ridge looking down this road; they had a BIG gun pointed directly down that road, right at B platoon! As the firefight across the road escalated, someone set the woods on fire (thankfully, on the German side of the road). I haven't figured out how that happened. To add to the carnage, my 50 cal HMG began area firing down the road, and my 81 mm mortar spotter fired in as well. When turn 20 began, the Americans controlled all four VLs. Since there was no activity in the NW, I began moving C platoon southeast toward the next VL. Then smoke began falling on the NW hill, so to counter a last-minute attack I turned C platoon around. This took them out of the battle; they ended the scenario without firing a shot. Simultaneously, smoke began falling on the left (SE) VL, and my troops spotted a "Tiger?". I had five M4s close at hand, but I was not happy to see a Tiger. On turn 23, the single "Tiger?" morphed into TWO "Tiger?"s and a "Panther?"! Fortunately, one of the ersatz Tigers turned into a PzIV, which an M4 knocked out, but this still looked like far too much German armor bearing down on us. A very shot-up D platoon was still hanging on, keeping the German infantry away from my tanks in the southeast. A mauled B platoon had backed away from the central road deeper into the woods, trying to reorganize a bit. When turn 25 began, the Americans still controlled all four VLs. There were at least two M4s on the reverse slope of each of the four hills, and a sprinkling of infantry as well. When the turn ended, one of the central VLs had become uncontrolled, and the other central VL had become German-controlled. To my left I was still under fire by a "Tiger?" and a "Panther?" (both actually PzIVs). So the end result was an Allied minor victory, 52-34. The Americans took 82 casualties (20 KIA), while the Germans took 46 casualties (14 KIA). I also lost one mortar and one vehicle (M4), versus the German's four vehicles (PzIV, StuH42, and 2 Stug III). Kind of a weird result from a scenario on a really weird map. I feel like I should have supported my infantry better with my armor, but the Germans were always so deep in the woods that I could never get a shot at them. THREE 105 mm guns never found a target! Thanks SuperTed, and thanks to Splash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Splash Posted April 14, 2002 Share Posted April 14, 2002 Nothing Fancy DaveH AMIS vs. Splash Germans So I pretty well lost this one in the first 2 minutes. As the Germans if you didn't stick your tanks on top of the hill at the outset and try to pop a few tanks it was a tough row to hoe. 1 company and 4 flags over a BIG area I just didn't think I had the manpower to control that large an area so I decided to give up on one flag. I chose the far left flank as my absentee mostly because no roads led out that way (harder to reinforce). So I sent 2 STUGs and the assault tank down to the right flank flag -- the 2 stugs got out past the flag and had good LOS past the ridge and into Dave's left flank just as his men were forming up to go into the flag. The assault gun was hull down on the road and I let it rip area fire into the US im(ps). Looking good --except in the first 2 secs of the next film a AMIS tank sound icon shows and slowly crawls forward and the assault tank is toast -- that's ok because I wanted to delay Dave just long enough to set my infantry for ambush - which I did. Meanwhile I still had the 2 stugs waiting in ambush but I decide to pull one back. Just as its about to slip away another tank toasts it but that's OK too because my 2nd Stug is pointing RIGHT AT that 2nd tank and my stug pops a shot from 300 metres -misses. Does A SECOND shot - misses. Lazily the Sherman rotates and fires once and my second stug is toast. My right flank crumbles -- I have brought my Pz IV up but they aren't going in. So much for my tank war. My infantry war. right flank My 9 man squads versus a higher firepower 12 squad american. This was going to be tough. Just once in these games as german I would like to have superior firepower at the squad level. Please. One platoon was on the right flank and as Dave rushed the flag I did a nice ambush and clipped some squads and then ran away as tank area fire moved into the area -- not a soul lost. I moved them across the road and trapped one of Dave's squads and eliminated it with a loss of 3 men. A little later I broke another but by now I have more lost and I'm down to about 2 squads of power. I was short about 2 -3 minutes of time on this flank and I pushed too hard at the end so the flag was lost. My infantry war. middle/left flank - my tower of power My other 2 platoons hustled into the central area and arty got LOS into the middle of Dave's centre attack and I let 'er rip to not much effect it seemed to me-- so I moved my squads into ambush and clipped a few men but again to not much real effect. We all ran as Dave started area fire and set up along the road. It was perfect timing as Dave started moving up to the road on the opposite side I caught him and arty had good LOS into the area - along with my 105 howie and then Dave's arty it was a firestorm that seemed to be all in my favor. And yes Dave your arty hurt you there more than me. I avoided the fire break out also (my men were crawling out just as it broke). In the last minutes I made my flag play ( I hated doing it because in made little sense militarily I had the centre in my control) but it was not enough. Despite losing I felt I controlled the game and if my infantry had parity it would've gone like clock work. 2 ignominious defeats at Dave's hands-- I was a depressed little puppy. Thanks for the education Ted and Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voidhawk Posted April 17, 2002 Share Posted April 17, 2002 [Guess I never did post my Rabbit's Foot AAR - well, here it is then! Sorry about the mixed formatting, but life is too short to remove all those CR/LFs...] Well, that game played out quite differently from how I thought it was going to play out. My briefing led me to believe that I had to clear the woods flanking the road of enemy troops, in order to create safe route for my panzers, which would come later. And oh, yes, I had to capture the bridge too. One look at the map showed I had a looong way to go in order to get there. I split up some squads to act as scouts in the woods, and sure enough, they spotted some "infantry?" right away. Although those enemy squads (or half-squads, I assumed) seemd to be heading back right away, it put me in a cautious frame of mind and I took some care to sweep the woods, which all took time. At this point I really only had enough troops (a platoon, a couple of MGs and a couple of green (!) arty observers) to do just that, and I really didn't have much of a plan other than to send 1 platoon left, 1 in the middle, and 1 right. Somewhere around this time I received 2 platoons of very mixed quality troops in trucks instead of the much hoped for panzers. My plan solidified - use the 81mm arty observer to drop smoke at the end of the road next to the orchard, as that was really the only way in for the trucks, and the slight wooded rise would be an sure ambush location. At the same time the center platoon would clear the orchard to make sure the trucks wouldn't get fired on from the bocage perimeter. My left platoon sneeked through the woods overlooking the road on the left, to make sure the coast was clear for the 81mm. And so it went - the 81mm started it long countdown to drop smoke, a couple of squads on the left advanced towards the wooded rise to see if they could draw any fire to give away an ambush, and my center platoon made its way across the surprisingly undefended orchard - not even any fire from the house in the corner. The right platoon made slow progress around the right of the orchard through the woods and pines, pulling a 75mm arty observer in tow. All went pretty much according to plan - the smoke dropped nice and thick, the first platoon's worth of trucks arrived just in time, and the troops disembarked without too much trouble. Flushed with this success I got a little greedy and moved the smoke's target to the center of the village, ready for the 2ns platoon's worth of trucks to rush in. This is where things sdtarted to fall apart. As the 81mm somke point was now out of LOS, the smoke landed wide and far apart and didn't really hide the by now committed trucks at all. The troops from the first wave were still trying to occupy safe places (woods, nearby buildings) and were not of much use to cover the second wave. To compound these problems, I forgot to plot movement orders for the embarked troops ready for them to move as soon as the trucks stopped. This turned out to be a fatal combination. Not only did the 2nd wave come under heavy fire (including bazookas), but the troops just sat there and got shot at. It was painful to watch, especially one truck that was carrying a squad and a flame thrower, which was hit in some manner and caused all 3 to be destroyed in a fire mess. I never even found the eliminated flame thrower... Some troops managed to get off the troops, but were either detsroyed on entering enemy-occupied buildings, or were panicked intorunning away. Around this time my right-hand platoon walked right into a nasty ambush, and as well as breaking a squad almost eliminated its HQ unit...this caused me to re-consider the right-hand advance and I pulled back to sve the HQ and the broken unit. I was surprised that my left-hand advance through the woods towards the church was not ambushed in a similar manner, although even so I sneeked through those woods with great care in order not to be surprised as badly. At this point we were around turn 20 out of 30 - and I wasn't even close to capturing a single objective, and had suffered more casualties than I would have liked to in the process. The left-hand advance had reached the woods around the church, only to find it well defended both from inside the church, and from just inside the stone wall surrounding it. My troops began taking casualties almost right away. In the center my troops had a hard time advancing too, as the enemy had some nasty MGs behind the stone wall running through the village, and plenty of troops in various buildings. Basically, things were not going well, and I was quite concerned I was not going to be able to capture *any* VLs at all. The future was bleak indeed; I needed a change of tactic here. I decided to try and concentrate my troop's fire on just a couple of targets at a time, rather than having my troops fire at a variety of targets and not do much damage in the process. I also had to take great care of my green troops, keeping themin close command radius and not exposing them to enemy fire too much. I also reinforced my assault on the church. To my great surprise the enemy troops in the church started to withdraw - and my troops soon took up positions inside the church (and the crucial top floor, to shoot over those stone walls). The remaining troops on that flank were sent further along in the woods in order to take up a flanking position to be able to provide some cross-fire one the enemy troops, and get closer to the bridge. Meanwhile, slow progress was made in the center, with the 2 HMGs now providing covering fire for house-to-house advances and fighting. On my right front the troops had all recovered, and were no attempting to flank the center road from the right. The enemy MGs proved quite durable, as they kept hiding behind their stone walls, and slowed down my advance right up until the very last turn, when I was finally able to eliminate both of them with intense cross-fire. Anway, I'm getting ahead of myself! The last 10 turns or so were non-stop actions, with firefights breaking out everywhere. I saw enemy troops retreating from the right-hand VL, and I started to sneak troops through the woods around it and towards it, and finally rushing some troops to the small building around the VL right at the very end. My 75mm obs was still counting down for droping HE in the back of the village - would it come in time? The final story played out near the bridge. I sent a half-squad scouting ahead and finally rushing in to the small building on the wood side near the bridge. Surprisingly, they came under bazooka fire on thw way there! A remnant of 3 men made it into the small building, only to lose 1 right away (from where?) and then come face to face with the bazooka team. Amazingly, the bazooka team wiped out the half-squad, which even had an SMG! Finally my 75mm HE started to fall, and seemed to cause some chaos to the various troops milling around in the trees behind the village. I sent a vet squad and HQ unit in towards the bridge in a last-minute rush, as it looked like some enemy troops were also advancing on this as-yet undecided large VL. I took firm control of the right-hand VL in the last turn too. Still no sign of the panzers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Splash Posted April 27, 2002 Share Posted April 27, 2002 Plain and simple Bump! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armdchair Posted May 1, 2002 Share Posted May 1, 2002 30 turn ME Map was mountainous, 1000 meters by 1000 meters. Movement difficult. Heavy fog, dense forest, poor visibility. Road curved from N.east corner down through center of map. A large hill on each side of road w/ a VL flag. Started off in SW corner of map w/ coy of Gebirgsjagers and 2x 81mm onboard mortars. Briefing said reinforcements would arrive at unspecified times and locations. Not knowing when and where to expect reinforcements, thought it would be good idea to push out on either flank, expand perimeter and safeguard possible reinforcement locations. I would send a full platoon( off to the northwest of the VL hill; a full platoon(D) off to the southeast, turning north towards the road about halfway across the map. Platoon ©, less a squad I would send to the base of the hill w/ the VL on my side. The Coy HQ (A-0), the 2 x 81mm mortars and a squad I would send to hold a hill to the right of the VL hill. It would have LOS to the VL on my side and the road between the VLs. I was concerned about trying to hold the VL hill in strength less I become outflanked and heavily shelled. Turn 4: reinforcements in the form of another Gebirgsjager platoon(E) arrived - only on the other side of the map, deep w/in enemy territory. Since tournament games tend to have mirrored forces, etc., it was safe to assume there was an enemy platoon now operating in my rear area as well. My opponent would also be alerted to that possibility - I resolved to move this platoon very stealthily to the rear of his VL hill. Turn 6: reinforcements arrive in a little valley just below the road, a Gebirgsjager platoon(F), 2 x 81mm onboard mortars, a 150mm artillery spotter (w/ 50 rounds) and a Coy HQ(A-1). I have to assume my opponent has just received the same right across the way. I am going send the Coy HQ, the 2 x 81mm onboard mortars to their right and rear up a small hill, hoping to get LOS to the enemy VL hill. I detach a squad to provide security. The rest of this new platoon (the 2 squads and Platoon HQ) I will send towards the road to scout, ambush, etc. Turn 7: first contact. As Platoon B moves in the open towards the n.west side of my VL hill, a squad draws fire, takes 3 casualties. An enemy infantry icon is visible on a hill to the rear. Turn 8: now 2 enemy icons are visible, including a possible MG. I move Platoon B out of range below a ridgeline. The 2-squad Platoon C holding the base of the VL hill I move back towards this enemy threat. In order for the enemy troops to move directly towards my VL they will have to cross 80 meters of open ground. Turn 9: I send Platoon B back towards their attackers through a dense patch of woods. It is my hope that my opponent will rashly assume the way is clear to cross the open ground. I will then catch them in a crossfire from Plt. B, Plt. C, and the detached squad from C (that is providing security for coy HQ (A-0) and 2 x 81mm onboard mortars) on the hill to the east of the VL Hill. Turn 10: reinforcements - another platoon (G) arrives, fortuitously on the edge of the map right behind the hill held by Coy HQ (A-0). Turn 11: an enemy icon, overwatched by other enemy infantry icons, crosses the open space to the rear of my VL without drawing fire. I have Plt. C in “Hide”, I don’t want half a squad, I want the whole platoon if I can get it. Turn 12: more reinforcements; a platoon (H) of Gebirgs Pioneers, w/ 2 flamethrower teams, arrives on the edge of the map to the southeast. This means the other side just got a platoon of engineers as well. I must move the platoon (E) in enemy territory very carefully. I have platoons D & G moving north towards the road on the right side of Coy HQ A-0’s hill. Another enemy infantry icon crosses in the open towards the rear of my VL. This time they draw fire. Both enemy teams (ID’d now as US paratroopers) are eliminated. Turn 13: Platoon B seems to have the enemy on the run in the woods to the rear. I am under the impression that close combat will favor my men. Turn 14: Platoon E that I have in the enemy’s rear area, makes contact w/ a paratroop team and MG team. I see this as a good thing and resolve to overrun this enemy force quickly. A fatal assumption. Platoon F near the road to the n.w. makes contact w/ unknown enemy element. Turn 15: Platoon E eliminates a paratroop team, kills one of a 3-man MG team, whereupon they are ambushed by the US Engineer platoon and flamethrower teams. Platoon B is engaged in a firefight with the enemy platoon in my rear area. Turn 16: Since Platoon E is in varying degrees of morale, I believe any kind of useful withdrawal is out of the question. I have read anecdotally, that sometimes the best way out of an ambush is to attack your attackers. At least, I can take as many of the bastards with me as I can. This proves not to be terribly successful as Platoon E is almost slaughtered to a man. Shades of Custer. And it just gets worse: Platoon B is seeming to get the worst of it in close combat to my rear. A squad is killed, the Plt HQ is killed, another squad panicked. My frustration is compounded by my opponent’s next e-mail. He asks ”You do know what sets fire to things in the woods, don’t you?” Turn 17: Platoons E & B have both been reduced to 4 routed survivors each. Meanwhile on the road to the right of Coy A-0’s position on the hill, an enemy icon has been spotted moving. I have a Platoon D lying in cover on the right side of A-0’s hill. Platoon G is moving west to intercept the enemy force in my rear. Turn 18: my 150mm arty spotter targets the rear of the enemy VL hill. No LOS and a 3-minute delay. Maybe I can get some revenge on the engineer platoon that wiped out Platoon E. A firefight breaks out between Platoon D hiding in the woods on the forward slope of Coy HQ A-O’s hill and at least a platoon of enemy troops on the road above them 76 meters away. My guys seem to be getting the worst of it. What else is new? Turn 19: Coy HQ A-O, while in command of 2 x 81mm mortars, doesn’t have LOS to the enemy troops on the road. He crawls forward to get it. Platoon G heading west towards the enemy in my rear is halted and turned back to reinforce Platoon D that is drawing all the fire. To the south and east of the enemy troopers on the road, my Pioneer Platoon is moving north to outflank them. Turn 20: Coy HQ A-O, targets the enemy on the road for the 2 x 81mm mortars. They fire with what looks like devastating effect. Enemy troops fall back. At the same time, enemy icons appear on my side of the map in a patch of woods between the pinned-down Platoon D on the forward slope and the Pioneers moving north and west. If all goes right, maybe I can ambush my opponent with flamethrowers. Elsewhere, an inconclusive firefight rages far to the n.west between Platoon F and an enemy platoon. Platoon C holds my VL, 2 squads at the base of the hill, facing enemy troops in my rear, one squad on the forward slope as an OP. Turn 21: Enemy troops move back on the edge of the road into range of the 81mm mortars and are greeted again in the same way. Enemy troops (a platoon?) open fire on my side of the map in the patch of woods between Platoon D and the Pioneers. Turn 22: My 150mm arty spotter re-targets the road between the VLs. If there is some massive direct assault by my opponent, it will be a bloodbath. But again, no LOS, and a 3-minute delay. Turn 23: Enemy troops on the road fall back and west to the enemy ‘s VL hill. This is great because my 81mm mortars are out of ammo. My Pioneers ambush the US Engineer platoon w/ flamethrowers, The engineers are caught in a crossfire between Platoon D and the Pioneers. Turn 24: The ambushed enemy dead are ID’d as paratroop teams and one Engineer squad. The 150mm arty clock reads: one minute. Turn 27: I send the Pioneers north to the road, hoping to catch some fleeing enemy. I’ve learned a little bit: 2 Pioneer teams lead the way. The 150mm arty clock reads: 3 seconds. Turn 28: I re-targeted the arty fire to the enemy’s VL hill where lots of icons are visible. In doing so, I lose time. The 150mm arty clock now reads: 35 seconds. I’m an idiot. Let it fall, then adjust. Turn 29: arty falls, it’s huge! It looks like King Kong is stepping on his guys. Turn 30: A Pioneer team is routed by an engineer flamethrower team. But-only a Pioneer team, not a platoon, not wiped out either. The flamethrower team is killed by the rest of the Pioneers. A last-minute attack at the rear of my VL fails. Arty pounds his VL with devastating effect. Ricola AAR Axis: 111 cas. (27 KIA); 1 mortar destroyed; men OK: 169; score: 59 Allied: 138 cas. (34 KIA); men OK: 152; score: 41 -Axis minor victory- A catch-as-catch-can kinda battle, sloppy, not pretty, no shining examples of tactical know-how. Hard to sum up because there was no grand scheme, mostly just reactions. The detailed account probably obscures rather than clarifies what happened. Not the best battle I ever fought, not the best AAR I ever wrote, either. Kudos to Ted for his work and his patience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperTed Posted May 13, 2002 Author Share Posted May 13, 2002 Spider Bump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker Posted May 15, 2002 Share Posted May 15, 2002 Is anyone still playing Crash Landing or Long & Short? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YankeeDog Posted May 15, 2002 Share Posted May 15, 2002 Originally posted by Walker: Is anyone still playing Crash Landing or Long & Short?Yeah, Austin Bowie and I are still at it. Sorry for the delay - we've had rather incompatible schedules. Just after I get back home from a business trip, Austin gets swamped at work. . . We're moving along well now. Long and Short is approaching the endgame, and Crash Landing isn't too far behind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin Bowie Posted May 15, 2002 Share Posted May 15, 2002 Approaching the end game? Yankeedog speaks kindly. I think I should have cleaned this game up and put it back in the cupboard after, ohh, say, my first move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Splash Posted May 26, 2002 Share Posted May 26, 2002 The Wild Bump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White4 Posted May 30, 2002 Share Posted May 30, 2002 With massive apologies to Walker for my lateness, I hereby submit the AARs that led to my demise, and my wife eating Swiss chocolate . SPOILER ALERT FOR LONG AND SHORT AND CRASH LANDING !!!! - - - - - - - Walker (Canadians) vs White4 (Germans) Long and Short Setup ------------ The terrain from west (German side) to east: a strip of town with a flag, a strip of forest, a jumble of suburban houses flanked by large areas of scattered trees, a road with a junction and a flag, a wide strip of brush/scattered trees, a wide strip of wheat fields interspersed by open ground with some small ridges, and right at the back (Canadian side) open ground with a chain of ridges and a flag. The Canadian mission: capture and hold the road junction to prevent German forces from escaping. The Canadian forces: initially 1 company reg rifle, 3 Vickers; later: a total of 3 Sextons, 1 company reg rifle, 1 81 mm arty spotter. No piats. The Canadian plan: to rush the company forward and occupy the first line of suburban buildings. To hold on until reinforcements arrive. To provide support with the sextons, the 2” mortars and the Vickers. The reality: The Canadian company set up as far forward as possible and start their run to the buildings (450 metres approximately). The Vickers and mortars head for a position behind a small hill in the centre. One MG is directed to a hill on the Canadian right. Everything goes absolutely perfect; the units are within sprinting distance of the first line of houses when the first German units are spotted advancing through the suburbs heading for the same buildings. In the meantime a Sexton has arrived and moves to a good firing position behind a ridge. -------------------------------------------------------- The Germans started way in the back of the village with a wirbelwind, and a collection of fusilers made up of 1 coy HQ, 3 plt HQs, 6 smg sqds, and 3 flamethrowers, 3 shrecks. The sqds each had 2 fausts and 2 demo charges (!). About turn 3 another identical force showed up, and then an ostwind all alone about turn 5. I moved up through the woods on a broad and shallow front, with the FTs either mounted on the flak tracks or on the road. ------------------------------------------------------ First contact ------------------------------------------------------- The 3 canadian platoons are ordered to storm over the road into the buildings, the Sexton to fire into a large house that seems to be an obvious place for the Germans to occupy. Again, everything goes according to plan. The Germans are caught moving in the open and seem surprised to be fired on from the row of houses nearest the crossroad. Although the Canadians are tired from the long approach, they seem to inflict some damage on the German squads. Two German squads enter the building targeted by the Sexton and are unable to get out before it is destroyed. A number of flamethrowers are also eliminated. The FO adds a few rounds of 81 mm to the fight. -------------------------------------------------------------- The canadians held the outer edge of town, right by the middle flag. The Sextons shelled the two story buildings in the path of the germans advance, while the infantry pinned down the fusiliers and flamethrowers advancing on them. With some direct fire support from the 2 wirbelwinds, however, the advance continued. And then, when the canadians left the town, I was in a pretty good way. I had lost 2 sqds from the blding explosion (effectively), and maybe another squad in total casualties, and 2 fts, but had the flag, and had knocked out what looked like a platoon trying to run away and a plt in the bldgs. Most of these casualites were caused by the wirbelwinds. The Germans reorganise and very heavy fire begins to cause some distress to the 2 Canadian platoons in the centre. The Canadian commander realises it will be impossible to hold on to the line of buildings and orders his men to pull back, hoping to lure the Germans into the houses to be pounded by the Sexton. Unfortunately, the squads are pinned and fail to exit in an orderly fashion. As a result, they panic and are shot down mercilessly as they attempt to flee into the brush. Only two damaged squads ultimately escape. The platoon on the left fares better. After a fierce firefight and with the long-distance support of a Sexton, all 3 squads manage to withdraw in good shape and take up defensive positions in a hollow in the wheat field on the left. The Canadian commander estimates total German losses at two platoons plus some FTs. In the meantime, the two Canadian Sextons are opposed by two German Wirbelwinds, which do some damage to the supporting Vickers and the HQ spotting for the mortars. Every attempt by the Sextons to eliminate the flak tanks is foiled by their reluctance to stand and fight it out. Whenever they feel targeted they retreat behind the ridge. This little game of cat and mouse is repeated throughout the battle. The second company arrives and moves forward on the right, taking up hidden waiting positions in a wheat field in the centre, in a field on the right and behind a hill a bit further to the right. It is roughly at this point that the Canadian commander realises the significance of the ‘Long & Short’ battle name. So it’s long-range superiority vs short-range firepower… The third Sexton is ordered to move over to the right to try and get a flank shot at those menacing Wirbelwinds. Nothing comes of this manoeuvre, the mobile guns simply refuse to engage. A new and ominous threat appears on the right: a German Ostwind, accurate and powerful and heading into the right flank of the Canadians. Bad news, really bad news. And not a single piat around. Unfortunately for the Germans, one of the Sextons on the left decides enough is enough and targets the Ostwind just before and during its fast move into the right flank. The first shot is a close miss on the stationary flak wagon, the second shot is a miracle hit on a diagonally moving target. A roar of admiration rings across the battlefield. Everyone knows this was the decisive moment. Lucky for sure, but decisive nevertheless. Now the two platoons of German smg troops that had ventured out into the brush on the right are in a hopeless position – trying to avoid getting shelled by the Sextons, under fire from the fresh Canadian platoon in the centre, under threat from the two still-concealed fresh platoons. Curses! The Ostwind, the support I needed for my advance, lies blazing on the field. My fresh platoons advance no further, but instead desperately try to find cover from the two overwatching Sextons. Unfortunately, they are moved from cover to cover as the sextons switch positions to re-engage. The Canadian infantry also moves up, and then engages the pinned remnants. A few panicked men escape from a two platoon assault. ------------------------------------------------------------------ The Germans launch an attack with a depleted platoon on the Canadian left, which is repelled by the equally depleted Canadian platoon with some help from a Sexton. The Canadians send in a 2-platoon attack on the forward German units on the right, supported by long-range rifle and bren fire from the centre platoon, and wipe out the entire pocket of roughly one platoon. The platoons then gear up for the final assault on the road junction. The centre platoon advances left of the road from scattered trees to scattered trees, the right platoons mop up the remnants of the German advance and head for the flag. Casting about the battlefield, I try to assault along the left covered axis of trees and scrub with a platoon supported by a flak wagon. First, I burn the woods where I think the Canadians are hiding, and overwatch their withdraw path with a wirbelwind. Nothing happens, so I advance –into the maws of the other sexton. My rush of 3 squads is reduced to one by the sexton fire, and the final squad advances and bumps into the Canadians. Attempts to extricate this platoon are only moderately successful. The sextons are now shelling with impunity, and I have only 1 platoon left of effectives. The wirbelwinds attempt to take out the sextons before the expected rush. I can hope for a draw… --------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the meantime, one of the Wirbelwinds has relocated to a firing position in front of the large area of scattered trees to the right of the centre VL, behind a clump of scattered trees, and poses an unpleasant threat to the two Canadian platoons advancing through the brush. The rightmost Sexton is ordered forward to either distract the flak wagon or – better still – knock it out. The Sexton gets the first shot, misses, stands its ground as there is nothing to retreat behind, and with its second shot destroys the Wirbelwind as it attempts to back into the scattered trees. Gah! Its over. Heedless of the sextons, my reserve rushes the central flag, with the final wirbelwind banging away merrily. I figure the Canadians only have about a platoon left as well, so I should be good at close range. Three Canadian platoons run and engage, not one! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ With one minute remaining and preceded by an artillery bombardment, the entire company-size force moves forward to positions around the flag, against fierce but futile resistance from the remaining German infantry and the surviving Wirbelwind. Panicked smg units run from cover to cover, the Sextons bang away at targets of opportunity, the Vickers join in, the flak tank does its best to stop the advance. Then the battle is over. One more minute and the junction would have been well and truly under control. As it was, the Canadians were awarded a minor victory, which came as something of a disappointment, all things considered. Still, the Canadians had made amends for their shameful defeat at the hands of Hawk in the Give & Take scenario, and some lessons were learned: that the perceived threat of a powerful unit can be more paralysing than its real-life impact on the battle would merit; that the Sexton is not very accurate, that it has problems firing at moving infantry as well as a highly developed instinct for survival. And that time can run out quicker than you expect! ------------------------------------------------------- End game ------------------- I think the decisive event was my lucky kill of the Ostwind, which had posed a most serious threat. I worked damned hard to get your Wirbels all through the battle but whenever I got LOS my Sextons would back off - very frustrating. The German attack on my right ran into 2 fresh platoons. You have no idea how difficult it was to decide whether to risk an attack under the quadruple muzzles of the quick-firing Wirbelwinds. In the end I had no choice but to go ahead if Î wanted to at least neutralise the flag. Finding cover was a nightmare. And those flak guns never seemed to miss...but I overestimated by far their potential against inf behind a ridge. With hindsight I would simply advance all 3 platoons as fast as possible and damn the WWs! Right up to the last move I thought you must still have an intact plt somewhere in reserve. And one disheartening moment came when my arty spotter got panicked and ran off into a wheat field. He recovered for the last few moves though. ------------------------------------------- With the fast moving ostwind I wanted to pierce your overwatch umbrella of sextons on hilltops, under which I felt I couldn't advance. Beyond 40m my troops were worthless. I had to use Coy hqs as rifle squads in one instance. If the ostwind had gotten about 100m or so more, he would have been in that hollow, and I would have brought up both wirbels on the other side, with the ostwind appearing on his side 30 sec later. While the sextons were at least occupied, and hopefully dying, my inf would run forward. Of course, that didn't happen, and the rest of the game was me trying to run out of LOS of the sextons, and try a bad unsupported attack on your left. I was surprised at how much infantry you had left. The Sextons had really chewed up my force, to the point that I didn't have any intact forces left. I rushed up to repel one platoon, but didn't count on 2 with one supporting. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Crash Landing White4 (British paras) vs Walker (Germans) Started with a company scattered to the 3 corners of the map, - a plt ldr was in the nw corner, with the 3 squad in the bottom sse edge. Mission was to secure all the flags, as they outlined the drop zone for follow on forces (presumably beyond the scope of this scenario, but with ted...). Every couple turns brought another group of reinforcements, 3 total, each about a platoon or slightly more. So I had about 2 companies of glider troops (I hate 7 man squads!), mostly vet/regular, 1 crack, leaders all vet or higher, and a couple squads and a few mortars green. I first reconned the back areas to make sure you weren't behind me. I never saw the second stug, either. My first impression was to force your left flank, but you had a nice crossfire set up in the shallow valley and on top of your rear hill. At this point, not seeing your stug(s) (only ever saw one of them), I was using my mortars and piats as direct fire. Stupid, yes, but 7 man squads just have no resilience. I didn't find out your troops were green until late, was just too far away. You saw me scurrying around as I was trying to alternately escape DF HE, reinforce the other side for a push, or try and lure you into coming out into a cross fire. Simply put, my plan of holding the drop zone was wrong. At the end, I knew the flags were at a premium, so my depleted guys ran for them- I should have stayed put! ----------------------------------- The terrain: a square map 800 x 800 metres with numerous hills and depressions, many clumps of scattered trees and brush. A total of six flags, two within the German setup zone. The flag hill on the western boundary of the German setup zone was christened Lookout Hill, the brush-covered VL ridge running east to west within the south-eastern setup section Seesaw Ridge. The German mission: to hold out against good-quality but scattered Glider infantry until reinforcements arrive and to secure the landing zone, i.e. the entire map. The German forces: initially one platoon of green Rifle 44 infantry, 2 HMGs and 2 sharpshooters. Later: the other two platoons with their company commander, followed by another green company with two HMGs. Two StuHs. The German plan: the German commander with his single green platoon set up his initial force with survival a priority, in a small but useful patch of scattered trees 100 metres east of Lookout Hill and 200 metres north of Seesaw Ridge. Other than that, no plan was on hand. The battle: The first few minutes were characterised by a sense of impending doom and growing gloom as the size of the enemy force slowly became apparent. Scores of sightings were reported, large numbers of Glider troops seemed to be everywhere. And they were all moving towards that one hapless platoon of infantry. The German commander wisely kept his men hidden and hoped that none of the units would suddenly decide to take a pot shot at the many long-distance targets. The remaining two platoons had in the meantime arrived, and were ordered to move south towards Seesaw Ridge. One platoon took up positions along a length of scattered trees at the southeast end of Seesaw Ridge, covered by the second platoon in a large area of brush northeast of the ridge. The second platoon then ran into the same scattered trees, just in time to engage a small force of Glider troops emerging from a depression to their left. An enemy platoon was also seen running into a small clump of scattered trees directly to the front of the German position, south of Seesaw Ridge. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scattered to heck, my first priority is to consolidate my forces on flags. Second priority is to find the enemy. Over the first few turns, though, this rapidly becomes the first priority. Extensive sweeps by paras coming in as reinforcements concluded that there is only a small wedge where the enemy must be. They have been very quiet. The paras form up, with a platoon on either flank , and about a coy in the middle, and advance NE. The various flags (currently all held) are secured by mortar and piat teams. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A firefight commenced, with fire from the British 2” mortars causing some concern on the German side. However, the German platoons held on well and seemed to be achieving a measure of fire superiority. The second German company had by now arrived, and one platoon was dispatched to reinforce the left. One platoon was ordered to a hidden position behind a brush-covered rise on the right, and the third platoon to a strip of scattered trees midway between the left and right platoons. The Glider troops were obviously marching to the sound of the guns, and clusters of squads appeared all around the German positions, on the surrounding ridges, keeping their distance. Where were the promised self-propelled guns? At this point in time, almost halfway through the battle, the four German HMGs were proving to be worth their weight in gold. Plenty of ammo and effective at long ranges, they harassed the British units without respite. ------------------------------------------------------------- Contact- the germans are in a shallow valley on the edge of the map. My advancing right flank platoon encounters them, tries to assault, and runs into a second platoon. It falls back into cover near the flag. In the following turns this flag (Seesaw Ridge) will change hands 3 times. My left flank platoon sets up in ambush on the reverse slope of the other close by flag hill. The coy is positioned between these two flankers, and sends out a recon platoon. This platoon enters the valley, and comes under a crossfire from HMGs in the valley and on the far hill, as well as infantry in the valley tress and brush. It withdraws. I peel off two platoons from the central position and move them to attack Seesaw ridge, with the emplaced platoon supporting. With supporting fires from the central position, we gain the flag, but are exposed for all to see. A STUG shows up, and convinces my exposed troops to move.I fall back to covered positions , set up an ambush, and hope that the enemy will counterattack. ---------------------------------------------------- The long-awaited StuHs arrived and were ordered to proceed to firing positions in the centre and on the left. The British commander launched his first attack on Seesaw Ridge, and a reinforced platoon in the brush on the west end of the ridge came under heavy fire from the German squads. Another two platoons attacked from the south and attempted to establish a position on the hilltop under the flag. The British commander now had a company on the ridge, under fire from two German platoons roughly 100 metres to the east at the foot of the hill, from two squads on the east edge of the ridge, and from the HMGs and other more distant squads. The Glider platoon on the west end of the ridge was driven off with heavy losses, but the German squads on Seesaw Ridge panicked and fled, under fire from the Glider units on the hilltop. In the meantime, one of the StuHs had become bogged and immobilised and played no part in the battle. The other StuH gained LOS to the hilltop and fired two shells into the cluster of Glider squads, causing dreadful damage. The British infantry broke and ran for the brush behind the hill, leaving the flag unclaimed again. Accompanied by the good wishes of every German soldier in the field, the SPA unit carefully made its way to the hill in the centre of the German position (‘please please don’t bog…’) from where it would pose an all-round threat. Once it arrived there, every Glider squad on the western ridges sensibly withdrew into cover. The central platoon of German infantry prepared to move to the left to reinforce the seriously weakened units there, and two squads from the left flank reoccupied Seesaw Ridge to gain a position from which they could pour fire into the Glider squads in the clump of scattered trees left of the flag. The germans crept up seesaw hill, and had a stug. It was way out of range of my piats. If I could regain the hill for a bit, I had a shot at being close enough with piats to take it out. I also moved the central position closer to seesaw ridge to support, and moved up the other piats. The mortars are now expended. -------------------------------------------------------------- Two platoons of Glider troops now attacked the leftmost German position in the scattered trees. The attack posed a most serious threat also to the units on the ridge, which had to be withdrawn and suffered significant losses in the process. The German commander decided to risk bogging his only remaining StuH and ordered it through the low ground and onto Seesaw Ridge. This move took all of two minutes, during which time the British attacked the hilltop with one squad and suffered heavy losses. In the centre and on the right, all had been quiet for several minutes now, and the platoon that had initially remained hidden, then moved into the large area of brush in the northeast corner, was ordered to run west into a tiny patch of scattered trees on the German right flank (this platoon had mysteriously appeared with only two squads). ---------------------------------------------------------- The STUG is moving! Its coming to help out seesaw hill. The german infantry has barely moved, but has been firing relentlessly. The paras have been doing a lot of 75mm DF HE induced running, but not a lot of shooting. Here is my chance to take that tank out and resume the para advance! ---------------------------------------------------------- By now the StuH had reached the higher ground at the east end of Seesaw Ridge. The lone Glider squad had been driven off, and the British 2-platoon attack on the German left had foundered. A platoon of Germans was back on the ridge and the British force seemed to be in rather dispirited shape. Although the German units still retained good morale, ammunition was becoming a serious problem. Most units were down to their last 5 rounds, with 5 minutes to go. The reassignment of the StuH had allowed the British to reappear on the ridges around the German positions, so orders were given for it to move up on the right of the ridge to fire at the units around Lookout Hill. Several desperate attempts were made by courageous piat teams to knock out the StuH, all in vain, although one piat came very close but was killed by the last round of a weak and shaken German squad. One piat team was driven off by a sharpshooter. -------------------------------------------------------------------- The piats have been ineffectual. Apparently they did not have their morning tea! Well, time to see if I can dislodge the germans, by threatening the other flank. The far left flank, yes, its been very quiet, is the scene of my next debacle. I rush my flanking platoon into a copse of quiet trees about 70m away. Along the way, they pass a group of germans rushing in the OTHER DIRECTION. Other than Seesaw ridge, this is practically the first observed movement by the germans! And it spells bad news. -------------------------------------------------------------------- The German commander now ordered a task force of a company commander, an intact squad and two depleted squads to run around the large hollow on the German left towards the two flags on the south side of the map, and for the two-squad platoon to run to another tiny patch of scattered trees close to the northern map edge. Hardly had these troops left their positions when a platoon of Glider troops appeared from the west and occupied the scattered trees the Germans had just vacated. Caught in a crossfire from the full platoon in the large clump of scattered trees in the centre and the two German squads in their new position, the British infantry was wiped out within two minutes. Most German units now had little or low ammunition, and in the final three minutes of the battle the British tried and failed to secure Seesaw Ridge, the German task force on the left managed to neutralise the two flags it had been ordered to run for, and on the right the two-squad platoon together with the full platoon succeeded in securing Lookout Hill and neutralising the flag further to the west. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Its down to the wire. In order to fight off the expected last turn rush, my scraped up troops attack early, hoping to knock out the stug and then defend in place. The assault kicks off as a scattering of german infantry runs around the flank, obviously trying to get in the rear and take the flags held by empty mortars. Unfortunately, that did not lessen the number of germans covering the hill or on it. My troops are repulsed, and the stug lives. Ah, to have air support now… ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The battle ended with each side controlling one flag. As a consequence of the heavy losses suffered by the British, the result was a tactical victory for the Germans. Seesaw Ridge on the German left was quite literally covered with dead unit markers, almost all German squads were out of ammunition. Reviewing the astonishingly rugged performance of his green troops, the German commander was left wondering what he could have achieved with a platoon of veteran troops. And the lesson was learned that if green units are given tricky tasks to do they will usually get themselves into perilous situations, but if they are asked to do simple jobs and kept under close command they will often perform well. Afterword: Crash Landing has been the most frustrating game (? since playing these last 2 battles I wonder whether CM really is 'just' a game - ) ever. Green troops are basically only of any use for SIMPLE jobs, like 'hold that clump of trees' and NOT 'I say chaps why don't you run over into that hollow, crawl to the other side and then assault the enemy in those scattered trees over there'... And because I set up with 1 platoon (yes, platoon) of greenies plus 2 HMGs and 2 sharpshooters, my eventual total force of 2 coys of almost entirely green squads was supposed to advance to recover the more distant flags in addition to securing the 2 closer ones. The joy of getting 2 StuHs later in the battle was short-lived as one of them bogged & immobilised after moving all of 50 metres. So things looked pretty grim at several points of the fight, and it was very sporting of you not to simply decide to defend 4 flags but to also go for the two closest to where my reinforcements came in. I was VERY daunted by the huge number of probably high-quality units you seemed to have (how many did you have? 9 platoons?) and VERY worried that you might have a couple of those dreaded 3" onboard mortars. All in all it made for a static battle with little hope of capturing more than 2 flags, if that. But I must say it sure was (is) a cliffhanger! Two STUGs? I only ever saw one, and he was more than enough. I am a victim of my own indecisiveness. I should have strongly pressed the attack when I saw only the 2 platoons on my right/ your left flank. Then I could have been right in the german deployment zone, and able to use my close range firepower and piats. As it was, I decided to hold (note to self – do not pay attention to the mission briefs! If it says hold, you attack!) the flags I had, which allowed the germans to reinforce unmolested and setup in good positions. But the fight for the one flag, which eventually swallowed up the bulk of my force, just kept escalating, and I did incremental reinforcement to it, not the whole force at once. Very well played – I did not know the experience level of the germans unit near the end, and by then I had no forces to take advantage of the green quality they had. That did explain why they hardly moved, though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperTed Posted May 30, 2002 Author Share Posted May 30, 2002 Great stuff, guys! I especially like this: "It is roughly at this point that the Canadian commander realises the significance of the ‘Long & Short’ battle name. So it’s long-range superiority vs short-range firepower." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker Posted May 31, 2002 Share Posted May 31, 2002 That's ok Ted, mock me I deserve it. In fact if W4 hadn't mentioned it in a mail I probably still wouldn't get it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperTed Posted May 31, 2002 Author Share Posted May 31, 2002 Originally posted by Walker: That's ok Ted, mock me I deserve it. In fact if W4 hadn't mentioned it in a mail I probably still wouldn't get it... Chris, Happy to oblige. Did you notice all the titles are relevant in some demented way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker Posted May 31, 2002 Share Posted May 31, 2002 Ted, if you give me your address I'll send you a big bag of salt... [ May 31, 2002, 06:10 PM: Message edited by: Walker ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YankeeDog Posted June 3, 2002 Share Posted June 3, 2002 OK, here's my monster AAR for my epic victory in Long and Short against Austin Bowie. As a little preamble, this was probably my most successful battle yet against a human opponent; while the score (88-12) was not quite as one sided as my victory against DL in Rabbit’s foot (91-9), DL surrendered in Rabbit’s foot after it was clear that he would not be able to turn things around and win the round. Austin was a good sport and played L and S through to its conclusion – it ended in his Canadian’s global morale surrender on turn 21. So I figure I’ve got some bragging rights here. I have to admit that some of my smashing success was luck. I’d like to think a fair amount of it was good tactics, though. I’ll do my best to say where I think I gained an advantage because of luck, and where I gained because of skill. Given the fact that the German players in general scored much better than the Canadian players in this scenario, I will also try to throw my $.02 address the whole balance issue. Most of this AAR was written while play was in progress, so much of it reflects my thinking while I was planning and plotting moves. OK, here goes. If you have not yet played SuperTed’s “Long and Short”, you may want to stop reading now to avoid spoiling an excellent scenario for yourself. AAR FOLLOWS Scenario: The Long and Short of It v1.0 by SuperTed (Newbie Tourney version) Opponents: YankeeDog (German Heer) vs. Austin Bowie (Canadians) Final score: 88-12 YankeeDog. Global Morale Surrender at the end of round 21. YankeeDog’s AAR: Notes on briefing: The date is April 7, 1945. I am in command of a scratch force assigned to hold open a crossroads; a critical junction leading to a bridge that is an escape route for the remaining German forces in Arnhem. Units of the Canadian 1st Army are known to be advancing into the area from the East. My units at start: Two company commanders with EXCELLENT bonuses (CC+2, all others +1), four understrength Fusilier SMG platoons (just two SMG squads each) – the SMG squads have two Pzf-30s and two demo charges each. I also have two shrecks and two flamethrowers (!!). All units are “Regular”. Briefing states that I can expect reinforcements, but gives no information as to what kind. Intel on enemy at start: Not much. I know that they are Canadian, and the briefing states that they are not expected to have “significant armour support”. Map: The map is basically three zones: My setup area – the Western third of the map, which is all heavy buildings and woods. There is a big VL in the center of this area. Between this zone and the next is a line of woods/tall pines. There are two roads that cut through these woods. The Center zone is mostly light buildings, with some scattered trees and a little bit of broken ground and woods. The side of this zone that is closest to his map edge (i.e., farthest East) is mostly brush and some scattered trees. There is a VL at the edge of the light buildings in the center of the map. His third of the map (and I presume his setup zone) is mostly open ground and field. There is some relief to the terrain in his third – enough to provide him with some covered lanes of approach to the village, but not enough to remain completely concealed. There is also a VL in the center of his third of the map. There are many roads in my setup zone and in the village in the center. A single road continues from the center VL straight east, and then turns south, ending in the southeast corner of the map. Analysis: This is basically a battle over the center VL – it will be extremely difficult for either player to challenge the other VLs. His most likely avenue of approach to the center VL is my left flank – it has the most covered lane of approach. At the start, anyway, I have nothing that is very effective at ranges of over 100 meters. Given that he has Canadian forces, I can be pretty sure of the kind of infantry I will be facing, and I can be pretty sure he will have a substantial firepower advantage at ranges over 100m in a squad vs. squad fight. He will probably also have 2” mortars, which will also give him a range advantage. He may also have Vickers MGs, and I can’t count out the possibility of artillery support. As such, my first challenge will be to force engagement ranges that favor my squads, which will be deadly in a short range fight. In fact, it may be best for me to play for a tie with the VLs and try to hit him for casualties – my best chance of getting short engagement ranges is if I get him inside the buildings. I also have to worry about exactly what “significant armour support” means. I have learned the hard way not to trust ST’s briefings too much. “Significant armour” is quite a subjective term. Commonwealth forces have all sorts of armoured units – ranging from MMG carriers to Sextons, that might not be “significant armour” in the sense that they are not much of a match for tanks, but they could give my short-range forces real headaches. Battle plan: First and foremost, get my units forward and into some of the high buildings in the middle of the map and see what I can see. Then, depending on what reinforcements I get and what his forces are doing, try to lure him into the village to slug it out at close range. I don’t need to control the center VL to win as long as I win the casualty count, but I can’t let him control it. Initial Setup: The company commanders are each given a shreck and a flamer. One is set on my left, and one on my right. The platoons are setup in a rough line along the edge of my setup zone: B platoon is Left, D is center and C is right. E is in reserve center-right Turn 1: All units are ordered to move forward in a rough line, with E following slightly behind as a reserve. My objective here is to get units far enough forward to see what I have to deal with in terms of what is forces composition is and where he is moving. As such, moves are plotted for maximum concealment to keep out of LOS from his side of the map. SuperTed has a habit of throwing surprises into his scenarios, so I also follow proper overwatch discipline in my advance – in the short sight lines of the village this means very short bounds and mostly one squad overwatching for another. Once units get into the large buildings in the middle of the map, the platoon COs sneak and hide into the upper floors to hopefully observe enemy movement Turn 2: By the end of turn, I have an OP with LOS to the road on his side of the map. This will at least allow me to see and counter any kind of mounted infantry or light AFV rush on the VL along the road. Turn 3: I get reinforcements - another Company HQ, two more understrength Fusilier platoons (same composition), another shreck and another flamer, and a Wirbelwind (!!). I split the two platoons to right and left and send them following behind my first wave as a tactical reserve. The Wirblewind goes forward towards my left flank – I’m already guessing that his most likely approach is along this side of the map. The Wirble also embarks the new Flamer – he’ll take forever to get forward otherwise. Turn 4: ENEMY SIGHTED!! One enemy infantry unit walking along extreme East (far) edge of map from South to North in center. No other sightings. This seemingly minor sighting is actually huge – there is no conceivable reason why he would be transiting infantry laterally in his rear area like that unless he was massing units for an advance on my left flank. My suspicion has been confirmed – his initial thrust, anyway, will be on my left flank. Turn 5: My analysis of the enemy sighting in turn 4 is confirmed – by the end of turn five, I have spotted a total of 6 Infantry units moving toward my left flank, some of them quite far forward and almost to the road that runs across the enter of the map. My OPs in the top floors of the large buildings are really paying off. Judging by the spottings so far, his got at least two platoons coming up the left flank – two almost at the road, with a third coming up farther behind. He’s moving very aggressively, too – there’s a lot of running. I also have decent LOS to the center and right by the end of turn 5. If he was making a strong a move along any of these routes, I can be pretty sure I’d see at least a couple of units. Phase 1 of my battle plan is done, then – I have identified his primary approach route. Now I need to counter his move. This means I need to gain local superiority on my left flank and draw him into a fight that will favor my units – a sub 100m infantry fight. I am going to use the Wirblewind as bait on my left flank to draw his infantry into the village on my left flank, where I can decimate it with my SMG squads. This is risky; the Wirble is a high-value unit. Turn 6: More reinforcements!! Another group identical to the last: A Company HQ (A-3) two depleted platoons (H & I), a Shreck (T-7), a Flamer (T-8), and another Wirblewind. Lots more enemy spottings as well – a couple of new ones, and a big group in Southeast corner of map. The Southeast spottings appear to be a full infantry company - by the end of the turn, a total of 13 units are spotted here, one group headed left, one group headed forward up the center, and a third forward along the road towards my right flank. These are probably platoons. The center group is slightly bigger and may contain the Company CO and perhaps mortars or PIATs. Turn 7: I continue to observe lots of infantry movement, especially on the left flank, where he has at least on platoon on my side of the road (and within 90m of my hiding infantry squads), and his recent arrivals are also moving up. I also spot a Tank? moving due north long his map edge. He appears to be pausing his advance on the left – perhaps to move up support units. Hopefully not because he has spotting any of my units sneaking among the building and is preparing to pouncing on them. . . I could have popped my Wirblewind out of defilade on my left flank and taken some shots at his infantry this turn, but I chose not to – I want to delay contact one more turn so I have a chance to shift more forces to my left flank to prepare the ambush. I am worried though, that he may have heard this Wirblewind – his leadmost infantry is only 120m away from it. Turn 8: I decide to engage and pop my first Wirblewind up over the rise on my left flank to take some potshots at his advancing infantry. This works fairly well. The Wirble takes and Infantry Squad? under fire and causes at least three casualties. It also exposes another Squad in a light building very close to the Wirble which is taken under fire by one of my squads nearby – this squad also takes at least three casualties. My engaged squad takes one causalty. So far, so good – a 6 to 1 casualty ratio. I also observe a lot more enemy movement, especially coming towards my left flank, but also the groups moving up the center and right. I also spot another AFV, this one IDed as an SP Gun? - It seems to be following behind the infantry approaching my left flank. This means that he has at least two pieces of armour headed toward my left flank. OK, at this point the battle is 1/3 done, and in hindsight I already have a huge advantage. Why? I have a massive advantage in observation. I know exactly where his units are, and I can make an educated guess as to where he’s going. So far, he’s spotted only my Wirblewind, and maybe 1-2 of my forwardmost infantry units. I’m sure he has no idea where the bulk of my force is, and what my general battle plan is. At this point, I get a little cocky and some of my next moves were not so wise in hindsight and could very well have allowed him to even up the score. Fortunately, luck and some tactical errors by my opponent keep things going my way. Read on for details. Turn 9: More reinforcements!! This time, just an Ostwind. This is obviously my best AT asset so far – it can take out just about any Allied armour with a flank shot, and given it’s high accuracy and ROF, even has a decent shot at taking out tanks from the front. If I really am facing SP Guns (which makes them almost certainly Sextons), and Ostwind will eat them for breakfast. For my orders on turn 9, I unhide a couple of my infantry units around the Wirblewind on my left flank to help take on the infantry unit nearby – the one squad in the light building is dangerously close to my Wirblewind. Initially, I had planned on reversing this Wirblewind at the beginning of this turn. Since it seems to be doing pretty well, though, I decide delay this order a bit so that is reverses back down to defilade at the very end of the turn. In hindsight, this was a big mistake that could have cost me dearly. As it turns out, in addition to the platoon I have already contact with, there is another enemy platoon in the scattered trees just in front of my extreme left flank. During turn 9, this entire platoon close assaults my Wirblewind. Fortunately, they are unsuccessful, and in the process take heavy casualties from the Wirble and from a couple of my nearby (about 20m behind the Wirble) infantry squads. My estimate at the time is that I cause about 10 casualties. Unfortunately, a couple of my infantry units that spring up from their hiding places to help defend the Wirble are in LOS to one of his SP Guns?, and take a few casualties, and one of my platoon commanders is panicked. Fortunately, I have a Company CO nearby that takes over his platoon. So this exchange is a net gain for me – I deal out about 10 casualties, and take only 5. I don’t think my tactics were necessarily all that wise, though. I now know that he had no PIATs at all for this engagement. At this point in the battle, though, I did not know this. If he had a PIAT anywhere near that Wirble, it probably would have been fried canadian bacon. If I had immediately withdrawn the Wirble back down into defilade, it would still have served it’s purpose – to draw his infantry forward and into my ambush, but it would not have been so exposed to close assault or IAT attack. If anyone’s curious, I did some impromptu testing after the fact. As it turns out, under ideal conditions (i.e., the Wirble drives right into their ambush) a regular Canadian infantry platoon sans PIAT and mortar as at best a 1 in 3 chance of taking out a Wirblewind in a close assault on any given turn. If the Wirble has some infantry support and the infantry have to rush the last 20m or so (as happened in this battle), the chance of success falls way off. So Austin’s attempt to take out my Wirble with just infantry was a mistake. I just got lucky because he had no PIATs and was a bit overly aggressive. Elsewhere on turn 9, my other Wirble (in my center), plays tophat and lowsky with one of his SP guns – a couple of rounds are traded but there is no damage is caused to either side. By the end of the turn, my center and right flank infantry is in good ambush positions at the edge of the village – I am in no danger of being outflanked. I also observe him moving a platoon into the scattered trees on my side of the road just to the north of the center VL (my center-left flank), and I spot a third SP Gun? of his moving on the road on my right flank. I’m doing well. Turn 10: Analysis: Time to bug out on Left. Unfortunately, much of D is panicked and so may get caught under bombardment by SP gun in building. The building should stand for one more turn, though – it doesn’t have any asterisks yet. Fortunately, his forward most platoon on this side looks to be all pinned/panicked (I wonder where he put the PIATs?) so it won’t be able to pursue too closely. I also need to check A-0 to see if it can be targeted by SP Gun. Those SP Guns are going to be Ostwind fodder if I play my cards right – they’re probably Sextons. B platoon may get it’s action soon as enemy has now advanced into scattered trees nearby. He has HUGE amounts of infantry – I sure hope I’m getting more. . . My casualty count isn’t too bad – I took 5, he took at least 9, and probably at least one or two more, so I gave about twice as much as I took. I’m likely to lose more next turn with that SP Gun targeting the building with panicked units from D in it. He will probably take a few, too. Time to get behind the reversed slope on the left and try to atritt him some more. I need to be very careful with the Ostwind – the way this battle is shaping up, getting Shreck shots on his Guns will be extremely difficult. The Ostwind can certainly take them out – but can be taken out, too. It much faster targeting (turret vs. none), and a higher ROF, so it should win 1:1. I needed make sure I don’t exchange it, though – he could gang up on it with two or more SPs. I need to keep advancing on the right so I have ground to fall back on over there. I also need to be very careful with Wirble V-2 – make sure he can’t move his SPs to get LOS to it. I may be able to keyhole it to get some more shots on his advancing infantry in center. Turn 10: I decide not to press my luck any further on my left flank – I order the Wirblewind on my left flank to fall back a bit. Where my infantry squads can help cover in more. Also in my left flank, I order those units who are in LOS, or are likely to come into LOS, of his SP Gun to fall back a bit. One of my platoons is mostly panicked from the fire of this SP Gun, so I’ll have to rely on it’s natural preservation instincts (i.e., breaking and running for the rear) to save it. Things continue to go well for me here – incredibly, he continues to press in infantry forward in an attempt to catch the Wirblewind. As this puts them very close to my SMG squads, they take heavy casualties (5 confirmed, total likely much higher) I ID one unit a bit farther back firing at my Wirblewind that I think is a PIAT (I later determine this is a 2” mortar). My squads in LOS of his SP Gun pull back successfully – including those that were panicked – they do take a couple more casualties, but fortunately their self-preservation instinct kicks in and they break for the rear. I’ll have to rally them, but they’re much more useful to me rattled but alive than they are brave but dead. There isn’t too much action other than on the left flank this turn – my Wirblewind in the center pops off a couple of shots at one of his infantry squads advancing in the center, and then ducks back down into defilade successfully – I pop it up in a new keyhole position out of LOS of his SP Guns, but unfortunately it doesn’t see anything to shoot at. A little note on what I’m doing here – a little testing has led me to conclude that my Wirbles actually have the advantage in a head-to-head battle with his SP Guns (I’ve already guessed they’re Sextons) as long as I can get the engagement distance under 500m. At 800m, my Wirbles are dead meat. Between 500 and 800m, either could win. My Ostwind can take out the Sextons at any engagement distance likely to occur on this map, but it still has a greater advantage at closer distances. Since he seems to be intent on bringing his guns farther forward, I’m trying to delay having to deal with the SP Guns until I can force as close an engagement distance as possible. Turn 11: I keep pulling the Wirblewind on my left flank back – remember, I still think he’s got a PIAT in the scattered trees. My infantry on the left flank either stay put or actually move forward – taking care to stay out of LOS of his SP Guns. This works incredibly well. He continues to push his infantry on the left flank forward in an attempt to get the Wirblewind, and they get cut to ribbons by my SMG squads and the Wirblewind – a squad and a platoon CO are completely wiped out, and most of the rest of his units in the area seem to be panicked or worse. This turn, I also ID the unit that I thought was a PIAT on the left flank as a mortar? – I begin to suspect that he does not have any PIATs as by this point I have positively IDed a large number of his units and have not seen a single PIAT. By the end of the turn, the two platoons I have been engaged with on the extreme left flank are badly mauled, and it’s time to go on the offensive there. I also know he’s got about a platoon in the scattered trees in my left center, but I’ve got those trees surrounded – they’re dead meat. Elsewhere, not too much happens. My other platoons sit patiently in ambush – top floor OPs watching his progress across the open ground. I’m amazed that he hasn’t used those SP Guns to knock down some the building with the best LOS, but as long as he doesn’t force me to, I have no interest in initiating combat anywhere else so long as things are going so well for me on the left flank – Once I destroy him there, the rest of his line will be vulnerable to flanking. At this point I can confirm a casualty ratio of 45 to 11 – his actual total is probably much higher. Turn 12: On this turn, I decide it’s time to go on the offensive on the left flank – I send two of my platoons (4 squads – my platoons are understrength), along with a Company CO forward to sweep him from the scattered trees on my far left. Now that I have local superiority and my infantry are moving forward, my Wirblewind on the left flank also crests the rise there in a slightly different position – that way it will be able to lend suppressive fire to the assault. I’m also moving my other Wirblewind to a position on my right that will allow it to aim enfilading fire at his units in front of my left flank with little danger of being engaged by his SP guns. My Ostwind is also far enough forward (in center) now that I’m moving it forward cautiously to try to catch his SP Guns. Elsewhere, I make a few cautious adjustments to my squads’ positions in the center and right, but nothing major. Once again, all this goes very well. My units on the left sweep forward and soon the trees are filled with dead and dying Canadians – another squad is completely eliminated, and the rest of his units in the area are badly mauled and what’s left of them is running home to Winnepeg. The only bad spot on my left flank is one squad that I decided to shift towards center to prepare to deal with his platoon in the center right trees – it comes under fire while in transit over open ground from an unknown source and takes 6 casualties – I thought I had plotted a course that would keep it safe, but evidently not. The likely culprits are IDed by the end of the turn – two squads in the center-left trees. Fortunately, they are surrounded and will be easy to deal with. Elsewhere, once again, not much action – my Ostwind briefly trade looks with one of his Sextons before it backs down off it’s hill, but neither gets a shot off. By the end of the turn, my ambush positions in the leading edge of the buildings in the center and the right (the right is actually in scattered trees) are well positioned and hiding – there is no way I can be outflanked without going though them. It’s now about halfway through the battle and I take stock of my position. My best guess is that I am up against two companies of Canadian Infantry with support from three Sextons. While I have IDed a couple of 2” mortars, I still haven’t IDed anything that’s even behaving like a PIAT – by now, I’m almost sure he doesn’t have any. I have nearly destroyed two of his platoons, and have just engaged a third. I have this third platoon caught in a “C” shaped ambush – I should be able to deal with it shortly. So I have neutralized nearly 1/3 of his infantry, with another platoon of his in serious danger – at the cost of less than a platoon of my own infantry. If I play my cards right, I should be able to end the scenario with uncontested control of the center VL and casualty ratio in my favor. Turn 13: I continues to mop up his units on my left flank – most of what I’ve already IDed here is eliminated or reduced to a 1 or 2-man squad by the end of this turn. I do spot an enemy MMG in the scattered trees on the far left that I had not seen before. It’s got about 6 of my infantry units within 60m of it, though, so it will not last long. I’m also moving a Shreck forward here – he’s moved one of his Sextons pretty far forward on my left, and I might be able to nail it with my shreck if I can finish off the infantry in the area. Most of my effort now is on the platoon in the scattered trees in my center-left. My left flank Wirblewind move laterally to take this platoon under fire, and I unhide all of my squad around this platoon. I also move my Ostwind a bit so that it had better LOS into this area – I still haven’t spotted all of the units I have seen moving into these trees, so I am actively looking for the rest of his force here. My trap in the left-center works pretty well – I definitely cause some casualties, and next turn I should be able to counterattack here and wipe him out. Turn 14: More mopping up on the left – I move my infantry to flank the MMG there in preparation to assault it. In the center-left, my Wirble moves over and takes the enemy there under fire. I also move the first couple of squads into the tress in preparation for a general sweep – He’ll be out of there within a couple of turns. In the center, My Ostwind spots an enemy squad moving up the center and takes potshots at it. He also realizes the value of SP Guns as building demolition contractors this turns and starts area firing on one of the large building in which I have a squad stationed in the center – I have the squad well positioned towards the back of the building, so it takes no casualties, but the building is heavily damaged, so this squad will have to find a new home. Turn 15: By the end of this turn, the far left scattered trees are mine – He’s got one squad there, but It’s broken and down to 2/8 men, so it’s no longer a threat – it’s time to start thinking about crossing to his side of the road. In the center, left, I begin a large sweep into the scattered trees, sending his units running before me. My Wirblewinds do stellar service here – the one on my left flank pushes forward with the infantry and fires on the fleeing units. The one on my right flank catches his units as they try to run back across the road. In desperation, he uses are fire from one of his SP Guns, and an artillery barrage (probably 3” mortar) to try to take out my right flank Wirble – to no avail. Unfortuately, I have a squad about 30m in front of my right flank Wirblewind that is likely to get caught in the barrage. I move My Ostwind forward in the center – it briefly gets LOS to one of his SP Guns, but it backs down into defilade before the Ostwind can fire. Turn 16: I make a an error this turn that costs me, but fortunately my previous successes mean I can recover from these fairly easily. My sweep to the road on the far left is finally complete. He has another platoon (from his reinforcing wave) just across the center road that engages my units as they finish their sweep forward . My units are pretty battle-weary (and low on ammo) what with all the Canadians they’ve taken out already, so I probably won’t be able to get across the road just yet. If my units on the left can keep the new platoon tied down there, though, I should have no trouble establishing superiority elsewhere. I finish sweeping the center-left tree as well, even taking a prisoner (the last of an MMG crew) in the process. Unfotunately, ons of my units (a Company HQ) on the left comes into LOS of one of his Sextons and takes fire. Ironically, the shells miss him and catch a building just in front of him that happens to be occupied by one of my squads – it takes some casualties and breaks It’s in the center that I make my big mistakes. I get a little frustrated that every time I get LOS to his Sextons, they back off and break contact, so I advance my Ostwind to the top of the rise. Unfortunately, this puts it inbetween two of his Sextons, and it gets KOed in the crossfire. This was just plain stupid. I knew where his Sextons were, and while on average I probably would have taken one of the Sextons with me, at this point in the battle there was no need for me to take a risk like that – I would have had his Sextons soon enough. On the right, I move my Wirblewind there forward out of the artillery barrage – it is engaged with his forwardmost Sexton by the end of the turn – The engagement distance is sub-300m so I should have the advantage. Unfortunately, my squad nearby does get caught in the barrage and takes 4 casualties (who says light mortars can’t kill??), but otherwise there is no action on the right. Turn 17: On my left and center, my units are engaged in a firefight with the units across just across the center road from them. The are getting supporting fire from my Wirblewind on the left flank. Unfortunately, my units on the far left flank are in LOS to one of his SP guns, so they take some damage, but his infantry units are also being worn down – the engagement distances are generally under 100m, so I have a definite advantage. In addition, I will be able to deal with that Sexton soon (more on that next turn. On the right, my Wirblewind finally takes out his forwardmost Sexton and spends the rest of the turn shooting at infantry. I quick (20m move will put him in LOS to the pesky Sexton that’s shooting up my left flank infantry, so he’ll probably get another kill next turn. On the far left I rush my infantry across the road at the same time he rushes his infantry forward. The result is a close range firefight where my SMG squads have a definite advantage – by the end of the turn his units are beginning to break. Turn 18 and onward: From here on out, the battle steadily becomes a rout – on Turn 18, I take out the Sexton in front of my right flank with the Wirblewind there. His last Sexton follows on turn 19. After that, my infantry sweep forward with the support of the Wirblewinds’ guns and the whole thing ends in a forced surrender after turn 21. Score: 88-12 Axis Casualties: 55 men (12 KIA), 1 vehicle. 177 men OK Allied Casualites: 224 ( 53 KIA), 6 mortars, 3 vehicles 2 men OK. So what do I owe my stellar victory?? Well, luck did certainly play a role. There may also be some balance issues with the scenario – more on that in a sec. I attribute most of my success to my early ability to gain good intel on his forces disposition and moves. For most of the battle, I know more or less exactly where he was and what he was doing. This enabled my to move my forces quite efficiently and destroy his forces in detail. Unfortunately, it’s impossible for me to go back and play the scenario again totally blind from the Canadian side, so I can’t really tell whether this scenario is easier to play from the German side. On reflection, there are several aspects of this scenario that may make it somewhat imbalanced, especially for newbies: 1) The german intel advantage. From the start, the German player knows that he’s facing a Canadian force. There is only one kind of Canadian infantry squad, so you know exactly how extreme the Long vs. Short firepower discrepancy is. As the Canadian player, there are any of number of different infantry types you could be facing. The Canadian player can be pretty sure whatever infantry he faces will have an advantage in short range firepower (pretty much everything has an advantage of CW infantry in short range firepower), but many German squads can also kick CW infantry in a long range fight owing to the superiority of the MG42 over the Bren. The Canadian player has no idea that the German force he is facing totally lacks MG42s, but the German player knows exactly what he’s facing (in terms of infantry, anyway. In addition, the nature of the terrain (Canadians advancing over relatively open terrain, the Germans advancing through buildings) means that in general, it is easier for the German player to spot Canadian units early on than the opposite. 2) Complexity of force. This is mostly a newbie thing. The German player has infantry, shrecks, flamers, and Flakpanzers to work with. The Canadian player has infantry, 2” mortars, MMGs, SP Guns and Artillery (3” mortar) to work with. To my mind, the Canadian force structure, while certainly potentially quite powerful, requires much more refined tactical handling to be used to it’s fullest advantage – especially the Artillery and SP Guns. 3) Terrain. I don’t think that the terrain necessarily favors either player, but I think that terrain presents a more complicated tactical challenge for the Canadian player. Using buildings to cover movement, and as concealed OPs (top floor) is a relatively basic tactic that I think most players get the hang of pretty quickly. I think the advantages of open terrain are a little more subtle and difficult for the newbie to master – among other things, it gives you long lines of fire that allow you to concentrate fire on one point from a variety of directions. 4) Armour. Sextons vs. Flakpanzers is a difficult one to call – it depends a lot on the situation. Against Wirblewinds, anyway, the Sextons have a clear advantage at long ranges (800m+). The Ostwind seems to have an advantage over the Sextons at almost any range. At ranges below 500m, even the Wirbles have an advantage over the Sextons – the top armour of the Sextons is penetrable by the 20mm at this range, and their higher ROF, higher accuracy and turret give them a real advantage. I lost my Ostwind when I got overconfident and left it overexposed, but I found it pretty easy to close to under 500m and take the Sextons out with my Wirbles. This was partially due to some tactical mistakes on Austin’s part, but I still think the German player has a definite advantage in the armour vs/ armour fight. The Sexton’s anti-infantry firepower (and ammo load!!) is impressive, but the Flakpanzers’ is no slouch – their high ROF and MG make up considerably for their lower blast rating. In addition does have viable anti-armour assets among his infantry assets – the panzershrecks, and then the fausts, demo charges and flamers if the fight really gets that close. As Austin’s disasterous close assault of my Wirble proves, Canadian infantry *sucks* at armoured close assault, and the other infantry assets aren’t going to be much help - it takes a lot of luck to drop a 2” mortar shell into the turret of a flakpanzer – definitely not an anti-armour technique to rely on. The same goes for dropping off-board 3” mortar fire on the Flakpanzers – it’s more likely to use up your artillery shells than it is actually knock out a vehicle. All in all, I’d give the German player a definite advantage in terms of armour asset and also the ability to counter the enemy’s armour. In general, I suspect that this may be another scenario like Give and Take from round 2 – more or less balanced for advanced player, but one side is easier to handle for newbies. It’s easy to armchair general after the smoke has cleared, but two of the tactics that I would have used as the Canadian side that I did not see from Austin are 1) using the 3” mortar fire so create smoke screens to conceal my advance, and 2) taking advantage of the Sextons’ high ammo load to do some urban planning (i.e., knocking down buildings) If the scenario does really need balancing before release to the general community, here’s my $.02 as to what could be done: 1) Give the Canadians a few of their PIATs back. Since the best way for the German player to neutralize the Sextons is to move his Flakpanzers as far forward as possible (and therefore close to the Canadian infantry) to force a close-range fight, PIATs could give the German player a real headache. I probably would have lost at least one of my Wirbles if Austin had had PIATs. Unfortunately, this kind of ruins the elegance of the whole “Long and Short” thing. 2) Trade some (or all) of the MMG teams for MMG carriers. The firepower is about equal, but MMG carriers would also be very useful as bait to draw out the Flakpanzers, which might make it easier for the Sextons to take them on. 3) Reduce the power of the German armour. Trading out the Ostwind for another Wirblewind would be a start. If this isn’t enough, you could replace one Flakpanzer with a Flammpanzer (USELESS against the Sextons), or just eliminate one German AFV entirely. All in all, a great scenario. I’m probably kind of biased, though – after all, I kicked butt. . . Hat’s off to Austin for being a good sport and playing the thing through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Splash Posted June 3, 2002 Share Posted June 3, 2002 The Long and Short of it Witko/German vs. Splash/Canucks Looking over the map I felt the road junction and flag fell to the Germans -- lots of places to dig in and fight. Having no AT assets or armour I felt the right flank was too exposed to any sorts of shelling. April! I don't think the wheat is high yet. To this end I massed my entire Co. on my left flank (East) along the road and humped all the way down my left side into the woods that nestled the town. Except for the start the route was concealed by a ridge right down to the woods which then lead right into town. The downside and upside of my plan was to fight across the town towards the flag the whole stretch could be backed up by my HW's and Sextons sitting along the top end ready for a festive pound the town My right flank was devoid of any assets but a vickers and mortar with PHQ held the middle in the wheatfield at the lip of the road. Between these two flanks I moved in the remainder of my mortars and one Vickers (past the road in the scrub around the knoll). The third Vickers went with my left flank rush. At this point I was expecting the Germans to have a Heavy Weapons component ---- Arty for sure. With the arrival of my second Co. I pushed one platoon over to fill my right flank(West), the second joined the middle Vickers/mortar component in front of my flag and the 3rd went down the road to serve as reinforcements for the Co. already in the woods, I ran my Arty down to join the first Co. in the woods -- He was my lone AT asset. Eventually the 2nd platoon joined in on my left flank leaving my right to be held by 1 platoon. I wasn't too worried about a rush to my flag as I would have them in a VEE crossfire. No AT assets is no AT assets-- I was vulnerable everywhere to that fact. The 3 Sextons were distributed across my front on the three hills running parallel with my back flag and started the process of keeping Witko out of any 2nd floor buildings. Eventually with my troops in the woods I had a birds eye view of Witko's movements and could choose the appropriate buildings with a fair degree of confidence. This is all occurring up to the 14th move. Somewhere in here a Bird showed up (much to my dismay) and I could here a 2nd near my Co, in the woods. My Sexton managed a pop at Bird 1 which sent it back out of sight. My determination was that my Sextons had no chance against the Birds. These things manage to shoot planes out of the sky. So I kept my Sextons doing area fires, creating building damage and the occasional pot shot at the troops or a Bird. Witko's old Windy showed up on my right flank (personally I see no difference between a Bird or a Wind). I was doing a Topsy - Lowsky with 1 Sexton on area fire and I shaved it down to just barely and temporally exposed and the Wind trying to pop it off. Worked for about 2 minutes but finally Windy figured it all out and the Sexton went down. It was a sacrifice I was willing to accept but it meant a tighter control on the remaining 2. All by turn 14 or so. Turn 14 My plan was to spring my trap in the woods at turn 15/16. I was waiting for Witko to move his right flank into position. My front looked like an L lying on it's back and I had to keep Witko's front inside that L which is to say entirely within the town. By turn 14 Witko's right flank had shown up. Some were nicely exposed in the open hiding behind the buildings my Sextons were shelling. One of these elements brushed too close to one of my squads and the fire fight began. So began my attempt to kill 2 birds with one stone's worth of arty. I knew a second Vec was waiting just to the side of where the fire fight began so I had arty target that area where it would pop out to help in quelling my troops. It went swimmingly Bird 2 shows Arty falls. At this point I expect the Bird to pull back -- if it comes forward it enters my Piat kill zone (90 metres or less) and he can't know that I don't have any! Well Witko pulls a newbie. Unbuttoned the Bird drives right through my shelling to within 30 metres of my squads and about 45 metres from arty. My kingdom for a piat! Nay even rifle grenades! It was a pisser! Just to stop and make a point I kept Arty and my mortars always under combat bonus command. The best I could give these boys in shooting ability I made sure they had. This sequence took about 40 shells over 2 turns. OK my arty is staring right into the Bird. I have my troops crawling out of it's way and I'm doing damage to his troops but this tin can with a MG is sitting forward of his troops and I have to wait. First minute nothing- shells are dropping everywhere around it -- he is so close that the outside shells are hitting nearer to me than to Witko's own troops! The agony and waste of it! 2nd minute nothing (110 shells left or so) No wait! The very last shell - you know after the minute is out and all those tally shots keep falling -- well the very last and pop! Birdie 2 is gone. Birdie 1 has been hiding somewhere just out of reach and Windy is mulling over things on my far right flank. OK so I take this opportunity to actually use Arty to kill troops ( a mistake I suppose but not as big as HQ giving me no AT assets ). I'm killing real good and by now I figure Witko with no Arty so I know I'm in the woods to stay. So Bird 1 shows 90 shells left and a clear sighting it is. 1 minute and a bit (50 shells) nothing. I retarget trying to guess where Birdie will move to. I guess right! and unload all I have - nothing! The flag is not to be mine. Endgame Somewhere in here I make my first real error with my 2nd Sexton. I had moved it down my left flank and it was now behind the ridge just to the right of the Co. in the woods. The 2 platoons of reinforcements have entered the fray by crossing the road and entering the town. I have my Sexton pop up for a look see. Across the way on my right flank Witko has been emboldened to strike out for my flag with a platoon and Windy in tow. The troops are not a problem and was disappointed to see only one platoon come out to play. I try for a pop at Windy then stayed too long and Bird 1 kills me in 1 shot. Ah well. Just in case Arty failed I kept most of my mortars ( I hated having to save mortars for AT duty -- I HATED IT!!). So with Windy breaking for my flag I have his platoon in a wicked crossfire from 3 directions (inside my VEE) and my last Sexton riding the bottom of that V at my flag. All mortars are under combat bonus and for the most part waiting (and firing) under direct LOS. Witko's advancing platoon was completely routed but ol Windy just kept right on marching all buttoned up/ hardly firing --must of had over 80 mortar shells fired at it - driving past and to within 30 metres of 2 mortar squads who didn't experienced a single shot fired at them. They were comfortable and shooting at leisure right thru. My Sexton gamely fires a couple of shots at Windy but is forced to pull back and Witko manages to question my flag. Axis 81 Cas. 24 KIA 1 Vec --KO'd 151 - OK 57 points Tactical Victory Canucks 54 Cas. 17 KIA 2 Vec's KO'd 212 - OK 26 points The biggest problem for me was that Witko was a true newbie. I got absolutely no benefit from the idea that I might even have AT assets. From first contact and I was near hidden until that point Witko behaved like as if AT assets never existed. Newbie luck! I curse every portion of this game and may I never, ever, ever play a scenario again where I have no AT assets. As you might surmise --I still haven't fully recovered from the frustration it presented me with. [ June 03, 2002, 12:27 PM: Message edited by: Splash ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voidhawk Posted June 20, 2002 Share Posted June 20, 2002 "The Long and Short of it", voidhawk (Allies) vs. mortar (Axis) "Is this map for real"? was my first thought at seeing the wide open landscape on my side, and the village with trees on the other side. It was clear that there was no way I was going to be able to even think of getting to the far VL, and even the center VL would be tricky as all there was no cover worth speaking of on my side, and plenty of houses and trees on the other. On top of that the briefing made me believe that German forces could come from the side road [my mistake!], so I was hesitant to advance on my right. And oh yes, all I had was a company of regular infantry deprived of PIATs (!), with another one like that on the way, and a 3" observer and some SP guns promised later. My overall plan was to move into the village on my left flank, and then cut across using the various buildings as cover towards the center VL. At the same time I wanted to defend my own, very exposed VL by positioning Lt Scott's platoon and a Vickers behind it in a hollow, and with Lt Moldur and 3 2" mortars behind a small rise way in the back. I had no intent of moving them from there, especially as they would have to cross miles of open farmland to do so. On my left flank Lt Robinnard and Lt Minton's platoons were to leapfrog each other down the road, heading for small depression to hide in at the point where the road curves to the right. Two more Vickers would take up positions in the small buildings on my left flank. And so it went - a little later Sgt Arrow's Sexton arrived on my left flank - I was hoping his shooting would be as good a his name implied! Sgt Arrow advanced along the road to to support Lts Robinnard and Minton. Once in position, Sgt Arrow started shelling tall buildings that were likely enemy observing places, as there was nothing else to shoot at yet. After another 5 minutes or so the second company (Lts Lamons, Mercier and Myatt) arrived, and they marched down the road right away. Their associated mortars, Company HQ and Vickers took up positions behind a small hill near the bend in the road ready to provide supporting fire. Another Sexton, commanded by Sgt Calyn arrived, and he moved behind the small building all the way back on my left flank, and also started shelling tall buildings. Meanwhile, Lt Robinnard's platoon (one of the forwards ones) had split one squad for forward observation duties, and started to enter the trees on my left flank. Some enemy infantry movement was observed there. Lt Minton's platoon carefully moved into position in depressions in the wheatfields in the center of the map, but still some way from the exposed center VL. With the 3 reinforcement platoons closing in to the frontline, the 3" observer started to drop smoke in that same left-flank area to provide cover for the 4 platoons now advancing there. Sure enough, more enemy infantry was seen there, and Sgt Arrow's Sexton started pounding the grounbd near the observered infantry (who were out of LOS) areas while Lt Robinnard's platoon advanced through the trees and came under fire from what turn out to be SMG squads - nasty! The troops realised that short-range firefights were not the way to go, and tried to pull back a little after taking casualties, but the enemy was seen to be taking casualties too from the massed rifle platoons' and Sexton's fire. Then another Sexton, commanded by Sgt Moon, showed up and raced forward to help Sgt Arrow and the somewhat pinned rifle platoons in the trees. As Sgt Moon neared the trees where some hectic to and fro fighting was going on, a WirbleWind was seen on the small rise in the forward center of the village. Nasty! It is in LOS of my 3" arty observer who promptly tried to drop some shells into its open top, but no such luck. It did force the WirbleWind to button up and shift its position a little though. Another unidentied vehicle was heard further back in the village. The fighting in the my left-flank trees continued, with the 4 platoons now engaged there trying to consolidate their positions and trying to stay as far away from the enemy SMG squads as possible. The enemy infantry seemed to be clustered together, no doubt for mutual support, and this seemed like a nice juicy target for Sgt Moon's Sexton, which maneuvered closer to get some close-range shots in. However, after firing some shells and doing some damage, the Sexton came under fire from some hidden vehicle (probably the one heard earlier), and also by a Panzerschreck team from one of the forward buildings. The Panzerschreck missed, but the vehicle did not, and caused Sgt Arrow and what was left of his crew to abandon their vehicle after being hit a second time. That hurt, losing one of my three only vehicles. Must get that WirbleWind! Around the same time, some enemy infantry was observed on the right flank, heading towards my VL, and they soon came under fire from Sgt Arrow and the assembled 2" mortars hiding behind the small rise near the bend in the road on my left flank. This seemed to put an end to their advance. With the fighting on the left flank now now subsided (mainly because what was left of the German troops had retreated back behind a small rise), my forward platoons there took the opportunity to regroup again and take up strategic positions, including infiltrating one of the buildings, to deny the enemy forces a chance to re-occupy the trees here. This was all well and good, but did not help me get to the center VL at all, as the WirbleWind in the center and the other WirbleWind (identified by now) a little furher back made it all but impossible for my troops to move from the left flank towards the center. This forced my to give up on the original plan to occupy the buildings in the front of the village, and instead start to sneak Lts Minton's and Myatt's platoons (who were hiding on my side of the center VL) further forwards so that they could at least contend the center VL. Up until this point things seemed to be under control - significant enemy infantry causalties had been observed, and although I had lost some infantry and one Sexton, the other two were in good positions (one forward, one back) to supports further pushes by my infanrty. I was hoping that Sgt Calyn's Sexton (the one all the way at the back) might even be able to get a shot at one of the WirbleWind's, as the range was sufficiently long that the WirbleWind may not have been able to penetrate the Sexton's front armour. No such luck though - and worse to come - an Ostwind showed up on my right flank, again heading for my VL! This was really bad news, as its 37mm cannon could demolish a Sexton at all ranges on this map, and its burst-fire mode ensured roughly a 3 to 1 advantage is terms of hitting percentages. On top of that the OstWind started to pound my forward group of Vickers and 2" mortars, who were now no longer fully protected by the small rise they were hiding behind. Sgt Arrow was in a reasonable position to take a shot at the OstWind while it was distracted by the mortars, but after firing one shot (missed) Sgt Arrow prudently backed up out of LOS of the OstWind as its expected response was much less likely to miss. The best Sgt Arrow could do was try to set up in an ambush position to catch the OstWind as it moved further towards my VL, but that plan had to be moderated by the knowledge that the 2 WirbleWinds were not far away just behind some buildings (which I had very deliberately NOT destroyed for that very purpose). The OstWind was still out of LOS of Sgt Calyn's Sexton way in the far left-hand corner, and really was is no position to duel it out with the OstWind anyway because of the afore mentioned hit percentage differences, and so kept on trying to get a bead on the WirbleWinds instead. As the OstWind advanced further, accompanying infantry was observed close to it, and as they all reached a small depression to hide in they came under fire from my 3 2" mortars hiding behind my VL, the Vickers, and Lt Scott's platoon. I took some minor infantry losses, and the OstWind survived everything thrown at it, but the enemy infantry did not seem happy to come under so much fire and appeared to cower in the depression and started to run around in what appeared to be panic. Good! The center WirbleWind had unfortunately become a little more aggressive at this point and started to pound my already depleted left-forward platoons, pinning some squads but not doing too much damage. As the end of the game neared, it was time to do a quick status check: One - there was no way I was going to get to the far VL, despite sending one team rushing over there through the woods (more as a distraction than anything else). Two - with the two WirbleWinds, buildings, and trees on the enemy's side of the center VL, the best I could hope for was to leave that VL neutral - and that meant smoke and the classic end-game rush! I had reserved enough rounds for my 3" observer to do just that, and started counting down towards the smoke (timed for the last full turn). Lts Minton and Myatt started their final advance in earnest now, foregoing the sneaking and hiding for a more direct advance towards the flag. Three - my VL was in serious jeopardy, as without PIATs, and very unfavourable Sextion-OstWind duel chances, that OstWind could just about waltz right over there AND take out at least one Sexton in the process. That would have been disastrous! I instructed all available infantry firepower there to aim at the OstWind, in order to at least button it, and at best shock it, while at the same time playing hide and seek with Sgt Calyn's Sexton who might be able to get a lucky shot off while the OstWind was distracted. So - what happened? Well, my opponent turned out to have his own center VL flag-rush plans, and because of the better cover on his side, arrived there a couple of turns before the smoke started to drop. This caused some problems for my advancing troops, especially as they came within SMG range. Careful support from units further back minimised casualties at this stage though, even though some units panicked and ran away from the action. The OstWind did NOT advance any further, to my immense relief, and also did not hit Sgt Calyn's Sexton (also to my great relief!). Then the smoke came down all around the center VL, my infantry rushed forwards, more enemy infantry rushed forwards, and one of the WirbleWinds rushed right up to the VL too. And so it ended - one VL each, with the center one neutral (if it were not for that WirbleWind, I may have been able to capture that one too as I had more, and healtier, troops there- but who knows!). Final score: Allies (voidhawk) 42, Axis (mortar) 41, and many hours of lost sleep... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperTed Posted June 20, 2002 Author Share Posted June 20, 2002 Originally posted by voidhawk: ...many hours of lost sleep...VH, That's what I like to hear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witko Posted June 21, 2002 Share Posted June 21, 2002 AAR-The Long and Short of It. Axis-Witko Allies-Splash (this is really only a partial AAR as it is mostly to respond to some points that Splash brought up in his AAR above. Mine should probably be read after his to get a better picture of things) The map had 3 flags. One in each of our starting locations and a jump ball flag in the middle. It seemed fairly clear to me that the middle flag was the gamebreaker in this scenario. With that in mind i set out moving my troops into position. My general thinking was that if i could turn a scenario built pointwise as a meeting engagement into a scenario where i was defending it would be to my advantage. The only other initial decision i made was to leave one whole platoon back to cover my flag. I know i would have been irritated to no end if my opponent slid down the map side and stole my flag to win. By turn 10 i was a happy camper. I had a good hold on the middle of the map and both flanks were covered. I hadnt seen much of the enemy though he had some guns firing at the buildings. I had taken 4 losses but that seemed a fair price to pay for a better position. Turn 14 and the other guys showed up for the party. A firefight broke out on my right flank and i had a visual on 6 squads. One of my SMG squads in a light building took a pretty good beating as i believe 5 of the 6 squads were firing on it. I had a wirblewind in the area to support that flank and he was doing his job well. Splash has questioned the way i handled the wirblewind. It wasnt that i did not consider whether or not he had PIAT's. My thinking was threefold. 1)I had an infantry screeen between his forces and my vehicle. My experience with AT teams has been that they can be a real momentum swinger but by no means are they automatic. In particular they dont seem to do as well when being fired on. 2) There were buildings, trees, and elevation changes in the area. I was trying to position my wirblewind so that it could support my infantry while limiting how many of his troops could fire at it. 3) At that point it was a risk i considered worth taking. By the time i moved the wirblewind up close i was only interested in inflicting damage and making the clock move. Because of the positions of my other troops i knew it was going to be nearly impossible for him to fight his way back over to the middle flag. Also he never really pressed me anywhere else on the map so i was able to let my other troops collapse towards the center further tightening my hold on the middle. As Splash noted i did lose the wirblewind but it served its purpose. What was really stupid was my impatience with the flamers but sometimes you gotta take your shot... The move towards the 3rd flag was probably a bit brash. But at that point i was fairly certain the middle flag was mine and i was hoping that if he had to worry about his flag he wouldnt have time to rush the middle one. As it turned out i held 2 flags and contested a 3rd. I had so much firepower near the flag that i dont think he would have been able to rush it anyway. While the balance issue is something for people other than me to decide i think where my opponent decided to fight had much more to do with me winning the scenario than my use of any particular unit. When i signed up for this tourney i told ted i was probably more of a strategy gamer than a wargamer. While i dont always know the ins and outs of the different units im pretty good at reading and CMBO does a good job of giving me the info i need. Maybe the way i decided to play this one was bass-ackwords but eventually you gotta stop thinking so much and fight. Since I managed to advance to the next round im standing by my decisions on this one. witko Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toran Posted June 21, 2002 Share Posted June 21, 2002 Originally posted by Splash: The biggest problem for me was that Witko was a true newbie. I got absolutely no benefit from the idea that I might even have AT assets. From first contact and I was near hidden until that point Witko behaved like as if AT assets never existed. Newbie luck! I curse every portion of this game and may I never, ever, ever play a scenario again where I have no AT assets. As you might surmise --I still haven't fully recovered from the frustration it presented me with.Hmmmm...smells like sour grapes. You know in hockey at the end of a playoff series the two teams line up and congratulate each other, most of the players sporting the black eyes delivered by the very hands they are shaking. Give Witko his due - he won. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voidhawk Posted June 22, 2002 Share Posted June 22, 2002 AAR "Crash Landing" (or "Six Flags over Wolfheze") Combatants: voidhawk (that's me) Axis, mortar Allies. The mission: Take control of the map (6VLs!) and repel the Allied glider troops. Initial forces: 1 platoon (green!) rifle, 2 HMG, 2 snipers. Reinforcements: more troops and some SP guns later on. My troops start off in the NE corner of the map - the 6 VLS are arranged roughly in a circle centered on the middle of the map. Mostly open countryside, with some gentle undulations and scattered trees. My initial assessment is that there is no way I have enough troops yet to even begin to think of securing any VLs, especially as my only platoon consists of green troops. I decide to hide them behind a nearby rise (I can't even call it a hill), and set up the HMGs and snipers back in tree areas to cover as much open ground as possible. I observe some enemy troops scurrying around in the distance; too far and fleeting for the HMGs and snipers (I keep the latter hidden anyway for now to wait for better targets) to take on. At this point I'm basically hoping my opponent does not make use of this opportunity to attack my troops, let alone the VLs, as there would not be much I could do about it. After a while a couple more platoons (mostly green); I send 1 platoon off to the left (as seen from my starting corner), and the other to right, both trying to maintain a low profile in the process. Around turn 6 the HMGs start firing at distant targets to the S, SW and W. The effectiveness is unknown, but it should cause the enemy troops to slow down and stay out of the open. I try to sneak one of my center platoon's squads over to the rise to the W of it, in order to see what is over in that corner of the map. It is spotted and comes under mortar fire though, leading to a quick retreat and second thoughts about further scouting - at least until more help arrives. At around turn 8 two more HMGs and another company of (again) mostly green rifle squads arrive. I will try to pair up the new HMGs with the existing two HMGs, or at least close enough to them to share the same HQ units for maximum effectiveness. The new platoons are split evenly one left, one center (as reserves) and one right. This will leave me with 2 platoons in each of those directions, with the original left and right flank ones leading the way. Around turn 12 2 StuH42s arrive (regular, green); as the best LOSs are one the right and left flanks, I send one in each direction to take up position from which they can cover as big an arc as possible and at the same time stay far enough back so as not to have to worry about PIAT teams. Many enemy units are sighted in the SW (the opposite corner from where I started). The terrain will mask their further movements, so I'm going to have to be careful where they end up. No doubt a massed attack is planned (also based on how my opponent handled his infantry in "Long and Short"). Well, now I know where they all went - turn 14 finds multiple (at least 6) enemy squads advancing on the NW VL - just when I have a platoon trying to sneak up to the hill there too. My units are quickly overwhelmed by the massed, short-range firepower the Tommy glider troops bring to bear, and my platoon takes many casualties and break. Did I really see vet. troops there? This could be very tough on my green troops. The enemy now holds 4 out of the 6 VLs. As our previous game ended in a draw, it is vital that I can't let this situation continue! Meanwhile my 2 StuH42s have reached good positions and start shelling enemy troops, which are conveniently clustered together. That, together with the 4 HMGs that are also firing should help put an end to the assault. At this point (turn 16) my left flank consist of 1 StuH42, 2 HMGs, 2 full squads and 1 half squad (and some HQ units and a sharpshooter). I decide to commit my center reserve platoon to the weakened right flank, as there is no action in the center, probably in part because the center of the map is well covered by 2 of the HMGs and the left hand StuH42s. In fact, that StuH is probably better off helping on the right flank, and I speed it off in that direction. Big mistake! It bogs down, and is stuck in a useless positions too. Fortunately it is the regular StuH42, so perhaps if I just leave it alone it will unbog by itself. I'm going to have to be very careful with the green StuH - moving it as little and slowly as possible, and in such a manner that even if it did get bogged down, that at least it would be pointing in a useful direction. Two turns later the combined defensive fire I've been able to bear on the NW assault is beginning to pay off; the enemy troops halt their advance and some even start heading back behind the hill on which the NW VL is located. The enemy troops advancing through the swamp all the way on the N map edge are particularly badly hit, and almost none survive the murderous HMG fire (with support from the company HQ who is helping the forward HMG team). The enemy still holds that all-important VL though. A summary of where my units are at this point: Right flank: 5 SQ, 2 HMG, 1 StuH42, plus 3 SQ still in reserve Right-center: 2 SQ, 2 HMG, 1 StuH42 (unbogged by now!) Left flank: 3 SQ against 1 enemy platoon in the trees around the SE VL. I haven't talked about my left flank much so far - this is because for one the enemy is not assaulting me here, and also because I just don't have the troops to do any assaulting myself. So, the troops are just shooting at each other from 100m+ range; basically a holding action. At this point in the game I realise that I am not going to win this one on VLs; my opponent seems to have units everywhere, and even though I have some armour I am not likely to rush it forwards to clear out his VLs as they are likely to bog down and/or get shot at with PIATs. Actually losing a StuH42 would be fatal for me, as not only would this score lost of extra points for my opponent, but I would also lose a potent damage-causing weapon. So, I continue to be very careful with those StuH42s. If I can't win on VLs alone (I still hold 2, my opponent holds 4), my plan should be to inflict as much damage (points for me) on my opponent as possible, and at the same time try to neutralise the NW VL (which is where I halted the enemy assault). Hopefully the resulting 3-2 VL disadvantage can be outweighed by higher losses inflicted on my opponent. Fortunately, my opponent continues to cluster his units together (mine are typically spread out to avoid mortar fire), and a new cluster appears on my left flank around turn 20, and is targeted by my left-hand StuH42 which I slowly move forwards a little to get a better LOS. With only 5 turns left in the game, timing is everything and I start leapfrogging entire platoons on my right flank in order to move them forwards towards the NW hill with VL while keeping the enemy busy and/or forcing their heads down. The plan is to leave 2 platoons in a reverse-slope position right by the hill with VL, in case of a new enemy attack, and let the remaining units move on to the hill from the right-hand side. All my squads are now engaging the enemy, and the action is unbelievable! Some units are starting to run low on ammo. Turn 22 finds my right-hand squads almost in their assigned positions, and I am disappointed that no enemy attack occurs, as that would surely have been very costly for the enemy units with almost 2 of my platoons in a perfect reverse-slope defense in trees. The right-hand StuH42, now being without significant targets, slowly heads closer towards the soon-to-be contended (I hope) NW VL to provide last-minute covering fire. The left-hand StuH42 moves further forwards to occupy the SE VL hill, as by now a couple of my center squads have advanced a little in order to make sure PIAT teams can't get too close (one tries, and pays the prices). At turn 24 my right-hand StuH42 reaches the 2nd of my VLs, and starts shooting at whatever it can see. At the NW VL 8 of my squads (not all full at this point, of course) advance on to the VL in a pincer movement from the left and right...will it be enough to at least deny that VL to the enemy though? Turn 25 - fire and mayhem abound around the NW VL, and although many of my units take casualties from the glider troops who are now almost within arm's reach, the enemy appears to sustain more casualties and has some units break. No significant changes occur at the other fronts, mainly because the troops (and even the StuH42s) are essentially out of ammo by now. End result - the NW VL is left contended, and I did manage to inflict substantially more casualties. Score: Axis 55 (64 casualties, 159 OK) - Allies 38 (130 casualties, 103 OK). One more turn and I think that NW VL would have been mine...but it was enough as it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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