Nippy repels the fascist invaders! (Long AAR)

[Nippy]

Now it’s the AI’s turn to kick my ass for a change…

June 1942

Quick Battle

Dusk/Clear/Dry Ground.

Mission: Soviet Defense against German Assault

Map: Small, farmland, gentle slopes, and light tree cover.

Points: 1250

Rarity: Standard

Number of Turns – 40 with Variable ending.

Enemy Force Disposition – High Quality Waffen-SS Armor with Mechanized infantry support.

Unit Purchase Phase – Just to kick things up a notch, I’ve restricted my self to Green troops. There will be a random Con or Reg here and there, but that’s about it.

Soviet Forces (All Green)

X1 ’42A Rifle Company

X4 Maxim Machineguns

X4 1938M 45mm AT guns

X4 1942M 76.2mm AT guns

X2 Snipers

X2 PTRD teams

X2 DP LMG teams

X5 76.2mm Artillery Spotters – They make fritz go boom

X3 TRP – They help Fritz go boom

X2 Anti-Personnel Mines

Deployment Notes

*Note: The PTRD/DP/Sniper combo teams will now be called Screening Groups or “SG” for short.*

Zee Cunning plan.

Other Thoughts on Defense:

1. The TRP - Nothing spoils a good attack like well placed artillery. Nothing stops an attack butt cold better than well placed and timed artillery. Hence the TRPs, because the 8 minute delays without them make Russian artillery just about useless.

2. AT Guns – The AT guns are grouped into supporting teams. One 76.2mm and one 45mm per team.

3. Forward Recon – Speaking of teams, here’s another one of my own creation. These are one of my favorites. They consist of a Sniper, Man portable AT asset, and a LMG. This is a catch all forward warning group. Sacrificial lambs for the most part, but they can deal some damaged to an attacker. The LMG chews up the infantry, the AT weapon puts the hurts on any light tanks, and the Sniper can see them all coming a mile away thanks to his LOS bonus.

Now bring on the Fascists!

Turn #1 Order Phase – Everybody hide! Well, not everybody, SG-1 has been ordered to move (Sneak) up to the edge of the forest they are hiding in. A single enemy Tank(?) has showed up at the far edge of the map.

Turn #1 Action Phase – I made myself a cup of tea…oh, you want to know about the Battle. Well the Germans are driving their army (I count 6) of Tanks(?) right down the road that runs East/West half way across the map, that will of course run him right into Group-B.

One thing I would like to mention at this point. I’m a bit disappointed that the SG-1 and SG-2 got melded into my MLR because of lack of cover on the map. This type of force mix is in its prime when it’s well ahead of the MRL and providing intelligence on incoming enemy forces and taking pot shots at the enemy. Ah well, tis not to be this game.

Turn #2 Order Phase – Just watch and wait.

Turn #2 Action Phase – SG-1 just moved into position. Good thing too, because 11 AFVs of unknown makeup (EFOW sure is fun, isn’t it?) are heading right from Group-B. Plus some vague infantry contacts have been spotted at the north end of the map.

Turn #3 Order Phase – No orders, I like to let the Germans get real close before opening up.

Turn #3 Action Phase – An enemy infantry platoon has just showed up around the north most TRP. The Rest of the German tanks are holding back while a single and suicidal SP Gun(?) charges down the middle of the road unsupported.

Turn #4 Order Phase – I’m going order two Arty spotters to drop some 76.2mm party favors on the Germans at the North most TRP. SG-1 is going to make the supreme sacrifice by pinning the Germans in the location of the TRP. I suspect they won’t last long. Just for fun, SG-1’s PTRS is going to take some shots at the mystery SP Gun.

Turn #4 Action Phase – Ouch, SG-1 took it on the nose. The AT rifle and sniper are routed and about to die, however the DP is still firing like mad and the first of Artillery has started to show up. Also the Leading mystery SP Gun has stopped dead in its tracks. The PTRD didn’t score any penetrating hits, it may have killed the commander and shocked it though.

Turn #5 Order Phase –To hell with it, I’m throwing everything but the kitchen sink at these bastages. I’m unmasking every Maxim HMG and AT gun I have. This should prove interesting. I’m also ordering a third Arty spotter to fire at the North most TRP.

Turn #5 Action Phase – 3 enemy Tanks dead. In exchange I lost all of my AT guns. I did figure out what the mystery SP Guns are. The ever loveable Stug B. Piece of crap AI! If I’d of known this, I would have just bought a KV-2 and have been done with it! Crap crap crap…

Turn #6 Order Phase – I’m switching my Arty strike to the armor at the center of map in hopes of buttoning them up and slowing them down. I’m still keeping a few hitting on the North most TRP though, there is a lot of enemy infantry there.

Turn #6 Action Phase – Half of Group B just routed.

Turn #7 Order Phase – Not much I can do. The AT guns are gone and Arty strikes take 6 minutes to call in even with LOS on the target.

Turn # 7 Action Phase – The Turkey Shoot continues. Things are not looking good.

Turn #8 Order Phase – I don’t believe it. The DP from SG-1 is still firing. I guess he’s getting revenge for the AT gunners.

Turn #8 Action Phase – The AI is now starting to roll his armor right down the middle of the map and there isn’t much I can do to stop him.

Turn #9 Order Phase – I’m switching a few Arty observers to the Southern TRPs as a few armored cars are lingering around them. Group-A’s infantry has come out of hiding and is now slugging it out with some enemy infantry.

Turn #9 Action Phase – All of Group-B is routing or cowering in fear.

Turns 10 through 44 – A compete Rout-fest. Both SG-1 and SG-2 along with Group-A and Group B were completely eliminated or captured. The AI’s tanks ran where ever they wanted on the map. And the final result? A Tactical Defeat.

The Final Score

Since I know my homestead account will max out it’s bandwidth after three whole people look at it, here is the final tally.

Axis

Troops Okay - 98

Wounded - 112

KIA - 34

AFVs lost – 4

Mortars Lost – 2

Allies

Troops Okay 90

Wounded - 161

KIA -45

Captured – 6

Guns lost - 8

Now the thing is, I expected to lose. I had neither the superiority of manpower, experience or equipment. I wanted it this way. Sure I could have bought a KV-2 with a regular crew and blown the whole German army back to Berlin, but where is the fun in that? I only really got to play for about 11 turns, as the rest was just “Go” button mashing. However, I did learn a lot and got to put a lot of defensive theories to the test. Isn’t generating discussion what AARs are all about? Anyway, Arm Chair General Nippy Blotoalotski will now pontificate the finer points of CMBB and this battle:

Things I did right:

The Arty and TRPs – On the defense you can never have too much Arty and the proper placement of the TRPs along the enemy’s lines of advance will throw even the most coordinated attack into confusion. I checked after the battle was over, the 76.2mm spotters had racked up over 80 infantry kills! Not to mention several knocked out mortars and HMGs.

AT Guns – All were placed so that they could support each other and they all had good fields of view. Infantry and a few HMGs were hidden near by to support them and protect them from enemy infantry. However, I made one critical error that I will mention later.

Screening Groups – They never really got to strut their stuff as the map was too small and lacking in cover to allow them to operate effectively. I love their double ability to both locate the enemy and inflict losses on them, but they aren’t worth the effort on smaller maps. On the Other hand, the DP machinegun of SG-1 kept the German infantry pinned long enough for the Artillery to arrive and inflict some heavy casualties.

Things I screwed up:

AT Guns – I got this right and wrong. What really cost me the battle was the fact I lost my nerve and opened fire too quickly. Early war Soviet AT guns, thanks to poorly made shells, are just about useless at anything more than point blank range. Also I should have bought some more PTRD rifles or Tank Hunter teams to distribute among the infantry, because once I lost the AT guns, I had no way to fight back against the enemy armor.

Artillery – I should have bought some on map mortars for quick smoke and direct fire missions. Even with LOS the Soviet Arty takes 6 minutes to arrive, as opposed to 1 minute on a TRP.

Other Thoughts:

I suppose you are wondering why I didn’t buy any tanks. Well, I stayed away from KVs, T-34s, and 57mm AT guns plus I worked with green and conscript troops because I wanted a challenge. I didn’t buy other early war Soviet tanks because they suck with a capital “S”. You can’t hide them like AT guns, they lack the element of surprise in close quarters combat as opposed to PTRD or Tank hunter teams, and they offer no better hitting power than regular AT guns. Plus the gunners can’t hit the broad side of a barn at 50 meters.

Finally, from the very start I knew this battle wouldn't have a very happy ending. I mean come on, Crack SS Mechanized infantry vs. Green and Conscript Soviet troops? I might as well start issuing “shoot me” signs to the troops. There were a lot of things I could have done better, hindsight is 20/20 after all. But do think about this. Using run of the mill Green Soviet troops with readily available weapons, I inflicted an almost 1 to 1 loss ratio against Crack and Elite German SS troops and Panzers. That has to say something.

And now, some snap shots from the battle:

Bad Odds

Worse Odds

At least I took some with me!

[ October 30, 2002, 08:22 AM: Message edited by: Nippy ]

[Henri]

Nice AAR.

Cnsidering the quality of the troops, maybe there is not much more that you could have done.

I am not sure that putting AT guns in mutually supporting positions with good fields of fire is a good idea - if you can see them tyey can see you. Could the guns have been more effective covering narro corridors of fire through which they could bounce the German tanks one at a time? After all, they can only shoot at one tank at a time...

Henri

[Murph]

Thank you for taking the time to do this.

I must say, I read this board (and also the general forum) every day and enjoy it immensely, but my single favorite posts are AARs with pictures. It's the second best thing to playing the game.

I sit back and savor them like a fine wine. Look forward to more treats down the road.Thanks!

Murph

[Andrew H.]

Excellent AAR.

I think that your point about having more tank hunter teams is a good one - you might consider using tank hunter teams in lieu of your screening groups next time, and putting the LMG/Sniper/AT rifle further back.

If you hide the tank hunter teams, they shouldn't be spotted until something comes within perhaps 50 meters. If it's a tank, they can try to take it out with their tank hunter skills; if it's infantry, they can kill an entire squad with their two SMGs (assuming that the squad is moving in the open). And, they only cost 11 points!

As I mentioned, I'd put the LMG/Sniper/AT rifle guys further back - these are guys that you want to survive the whole battle, and they're less likely to do that if they are up front. Also, I don't think that you need the sniper's spotting ability in your screening groups - they are to stop units advancing up to your MLR, and those units aren't hard to see.

I think your choice of AT guns was good - the 76.2mm gun is a very good all around gun for the Sovs - even against infantry -, and I think teaming one with a 45mm gun was a good idea.