Rugged Defense CM Tournament AARs - Buckeye vs Barleyman

[RobH]

Rugged Defense is currently running 2 CM Tournaments. One is based around Fionn Kelly's Short-75 Rules, the other around his Panther-76 Rules with certain exceptions and restrictions being made to the base Rules.

Both Tournaments started off with 48 players in each, players deciding which of the two Tournaments they would enter.

The Tournaments are mirrored Attack/Defend battles played on a pre-designed map with each Round involving a different map with different challenges. Although playing both battles in each Round on similar maps, each player had the opportunity to choose their own forces to suit the particular map in question. You can read all about the Tournaments and the Tournament Rules from the Rugged Defense Combat Mission Tournament website. Indeed, all the maps used are still available for download on the RD Tournament website if anybody wishes to play them.

Currently the Final Round 5 of both Tournaments has just begun.

I asked the 6 guys playing in Round 4 of the Panther-76 Tournament if they would kindly write AARs for their battles in order to provide a learning exercise for us on how to conduct effective CM attack and defensive techniques. In addition, there will also be one AAR from Round 4 of the Short-75 Tournament.

Allies Defensive Perspective

German Attack Perspective and Plan View

Click to enlarge images

Round 4 of the RDCM Short-75 and Panther-76 Tournaments was a 3,750 point German Attack on a Lakeside Resort Town occupied by the Allies at 2,500 points. Just one little problem. It is December and although the lake is not yet frozen, it is not a very pleasant morning. Foggy and damp ground conditions with not too many leaves left on the trees to give the attackers much cover. Fog has been turned off for clarity in the above images.

The large lake in front of the town surrounded by hills considerably restricts the options open to the German Attacker. The only way through with vehicles of any sort is up the attacker's right flank where a road also leads into town. A few fords on the attacker's left flank provide possible additional access to the town for infantry forces. The hills surrounding the lake provide many vantage points for the German Attacker to bombard the town with whatever long range fire-power he may possess. However, with damp ground conditions, the German player needs to be very careful about bogging with any vehicles he possesses. If the German Attacker can take the town, he also needs to try and secure the victory locations behind the town to be certain of a good victory.

You now have the opportunity to start reading the players' AARs and to download and watch the movies to see and learn how the "experts" do it.

AARs will be posted at approximately weekly to fortnightly intervals covering the 7 battles involved.

Remember, everybody is playing on the same map but chooses their own forces according to the Tournament Rules. The AARs address the following questions:

1. The rationale behind the force selections ie why did you pick the forces you did?

2. What were your initial plans for your attack and your defence?

3. What happened in practice and how were your plans modified as the game progressed?

4. Why you think you won or you lost?

The first AAR to be published is Barleyman vs Buckeye and the movies are available to download and watch too. This is a very interesting battle and there are a number of specific tips and techniques used by both players that will benefit many CM players.

Go to the Rugged Defense Tournament AAR website and enjoy!

Many of the players in these Tournaments are active on this board. If you post to this thread any questions in connection with the AAR, I am sure the players will respond. Alternatively, this thread may be a useful focus to discuss certain tactical points or issues for the benefit of all CM players that come out of the AARs .

Needless to say, all 4 players in the Final Round 5 of these Rugged Defense Tournaments have also been asked to provide similar AARs for their battles.

Robert

[ May 26, 2002, 04:26 AM: Message edited by: Robert Hall ]

[Buckeye]

Gee, no comments? I'd certainly be interested in what people think of the game. Thanks, Rob, for all your hard work on this.

[Cameroon]

Originally posted by Buckeye:

Gee, no comments? I'd certainly be interested in what people think of the game. Thanks, Rob, for all your hard work on this.

Well, speaking for myself, it sounds like Barleyman had a rough time of it Those Hellcat's gave a good accounting of themselves. Given the outcome, I have to agree with Barleyman's assessment that not purchasing the expensive Panther's would have been a good idea.

[Buckeye]

Gee, and I thought it was my brilliant armor play!

I used Panthers on the attack also, but kept three out of four alive. Barley's problem was partly that his TCs were capped by my sharpshooters, making them far more vulnerable.

[jeffsmith]

Well Buckeye Finally a way to see inside your plans

[Fionn]

Well, I personally found the AARs extremely interesting. The movies too.

I think that anyone who misses out on reading up on what happened in these games ( amongst very good players) should stop wondering about why they aren't improving.

Of particular note...

The recon battle.

The use of snipers.

The EXCELLENT usage of armoured vehicles by Buckeye.

The melding of the component parts into a cohesive whole by Buckeye.

The negation of the "initiative advantage" (which the attacker normally has) through good defensive planning.

NEVER miss an opportunity to peek into the mind of a top player ( like Rob, Buckeye or Barleyman). That's just my opinion of course but I'm disappointed not to see more discussion. Certainly makes me think there's no point publicly releasing all of the AARs I've written. Better to just share them with a few friends privately than put in the extra work necessary to make them publicly available when no-one seems bothered.

So, come on, IF you read the AAR and found it good POST HERE... YOUR feedback is the only damn thing which will motivate Rob and the players in this tourney ( and others) to spend THEIR PRIVATE TIME to FREELY give you information and movies which, if you use them properly, could vastly improve your play AND, more importantly, your enjoyment of the game.

P.s. Kudos to Barleyman for doing so well against Buckeye. Buckeye's a tough player . I should know, I've played him enough .

[ May 15, 2002, 10:17 AM: Message edited by: Fionn ]

[Dirtweasle]

I'll have to look at the movies later when I get home from work to get a better sense of the whole thing.

I hate fords though, and given that one aproach to the town is over ford squares I would have gone some other way. I've seen what happens to infatry crossing fords. They seem to always take excessive casualties. They have to go slow across or tire quickly and there is the problem of getting plastered by even light arty, then they run for cover like crazey and get tired, and are likely to break. I did mention I hate fords?

I'll be intereted to read the rest of the AARs and get a look at the CM maps for this one.

[RobH]

A river crossing of any sort is always difficult. Smoke can help you sometimes but not always.

There are three viable routes into town. Up the road and surrounding terrain on the right flank, round the right hand edge of the lake and across the fords to the left of the lake - all from the attacker's perspective. Obviously infantry are the only unit type which can go over the fords.

I think you will find most of the attackers either go up the right flank or across the fords or a mixture of the two, but the right flank approach has many places for good defender ambushing locations as you will see in other AARs to be published over the coming weeks!

Rob

[Claymore]

Excellent job gentlemen. Especially the defensive work of Buckeye. The importance of wresting the initiative from you opponent is well demonstrated.

Play on!

It just makes me sadder that CMBO PBEM has been a joy denied me since 9/11.

Ah well...I lurk therefore I am.

[Gpig]

Howdy.

I might be speaking for the lurking majority when I say "I LOVE those AAR's. Please keep 'em coming!"

I rarely post in response to these awesome AAR's, but that does not mean I do not appreciate them. In fact, I'm too busy looking for another AAR to digest.

So Fionn, don't be discouraged. They ARE being read and discussed and evaluated. They are fantastic!

Gpig

[GillFish]

Gentlemen,

Here's a newbie question: how do I view the movie files? Also, my thanks to Barleyman and Buckeye for the time and effort involved in creating the AARs. They make great reading are appreciated.

[Panzer_Meyer]

Awesome AAR, I myself read AARs as much as possible. They are very uselfull and I learn a lot from reading them. I read Fionns AARs on CMHQ and they taught me a lot on defending and attacking.

So keep those AARs comming, this one was awesome!

[RobH]

You view the movie files as if you were playing the game pbem. Place the unzipped files in a directory somewhere, maybe labelled "AARs" under the CM main directory. Start CM and click "Join Multi-Player", then "Load Email", navigate to the directory where you have placed the files and load up the first movie file. Instructions and passwords are on the RD AAR page and are also contained in the password.txt file to create the second movie from each turn.

Rob

[M. Bates]

That map looks horrific for the attacker.

The tactics I would use would be throw everything against the right. Use lots of smoke, smash through to the town and get one or two flags. Then use the surviving German AFVS to sweep towards the flags behind the town.

Trouble is that 30 turns makes it all a bit tight. Once Barleyman was committed to crossing at the fords it was too late to turn back.

Looking forward to the other AARs to see if the attackers fare any better.

[Walker]

Excellent idea to be able to watch an entire 30-minute battle and read the AARs too! There was a window of about 3 minutes when I would have put my money on a German win - then the Panthers got knocked out, and the ammo crisis prevented further swift progress by the German squads. But I really think it could have gone either way: if the German commander had kept three of his tanks alive to the end (both Panther-Hellcat duels could have gone the other way imo (or does the loss of the TC have a big impact on accuracy too?), one StuH bogged in a uselass position) and if the attack on the right had been a bit better coordinated and supported, I don't think the Americans would have held on. I was surprised how effectively the RRs were used, too. But wouldn't you be more flexible investing the points for the RRs + transport in one or two SPAs, I wonder? And the sharpshooters sure earned their keep! Great stuff, learned a lot, can't wait for the next instalment. Thanks!

[Buckeye]

To tell you the truth, Walker, I also had a few moments of trepidation, but I'm not sure that things would have been all that different if the Panthers had lived. More difficult, yes, but they wouldn't have been able to affect the fight in the town very much, because it was too late in the game for them to work their way around the lake and into the town. Their loss did help my score, though, and since I made it to the finals of the Tourney with only 1 point to spare, it's a good thing my Hell kitties won those duels.

Thanks for the comments, everyone. I'm glad to see that folks are getting something valuable from all the work Rob put in.

And Fionn, I'm blushing.

[Arsenal]

That's just my opinion of course but I'm disappointed not to see more discussion. Certainly makes me think there's no point publicly releasing all of the AARs I've written. Better to just share them with a few friends privately than put in the extra work necessary to make them publicly available when no-one seems bothered.

Fionn,I for one would be interested in more AARs.I've always enjoyed and learnt alot by reading yours,aswell as posts on tactics by people like Pillar,Claymore,Los.I'm sure there are a lot of lurkers who would be interested too,so don't be discouraged .

Buckeye and Barleyman,excellent AARs.I've only had a chance to watch up to turn 9,but from what I've seen it looks like a real tough map to attack on.I looked at the results and saw only 3 axis wins out of 12 games on that map :eek: .

I'm kicking myself for not joining this tourney when it was first announced,because it looks like a lot of fun.I like the whole idea of playing through the editor with custom maps.Will there be anymore like this at RD in the future?

[Patgod]

i read every aar i find. yeah is still suck, but i read them

[Holien]

I have read, I have learnt, I just need to ensure I apply what I have learnt in every game I play.

There are a whole bunch of AAR's for the tourney run by Treeburst and Winecape.

Not sure where they have been posted, I will ask on that thread and try and get a link posted.

I have learnt a lot from your AAR's Fionn, and others. They helped me get my feet with the game and give great insight into how best to play.

So please keep them coming. I know AAR's take a lot of time to do as I had to produce 8 for the tourney.

H

[CrapGame]

AAR's like these are a big part of why I love this game. Every one gives you a little piece of insight that hopefully makes your game a little better, and gives you strategic pointers. Especially with the attached movies.

Thanks for the efforts guys, they are truly appreciated, even if not everyone who reads them says so.

[Herr Oberst]

I second alot of those statements.

The AARs are always a good read, and when combined with the turn files can give you a great deal of instruction on how early some of the experienced players begin adjusting units.

How many of us have lost support teams because we failed to see the developing situation, and by the time we told them to bug out, they received shots in the back from the advancing attackers? More times than I would like to admit to myself...

Keep the AAR's coming.

Thank you.

[Walker]

Buckeye, why didn't you put some AP mines around the fords? I can't find anything in the rules prohibiting their use. Or is it considered poor form? I suppose it would make things extremely difficult for the attacker.

And I noticed that you made a few additional foxholes with half-squads right at the beginning, then reunited the a and b teams. On turn 2 some of the reunited squads were in their foxholes, some were right next to them, and it would seem that the b team joins the a team wherever the latter happens to be. Is this how it works, or is it a random thing, do you think?

[Ron]

Just finished going through the movies, thanks all for putting it up for public viewing. It was very interesting to see Buckeye's and Barleyman's play and the resulting battle unfold. I have a few critical comments, aimed mostly at the attacker.

The map and time limit are definitely geared towards the defender, a 'wet dream' even! Yes I read the Background to the Battle and the rationale for it, but thirty minutes still seems to be an unusually 'tight' constraint on the Attacker here, given the distance and terrain covered, makes for an action packed battle though.

I really liked the defenders use of TRPs and split squads to harass and slow the attacker, and use of arty in general to break up the attack, though the attacker was pretty accomodating in that regard! Even if the defender lost the armor duels on the hills surrounding the town, he was still ahead of the game, as the weak unsupported German infantry that made it into the town at that point weren't going very far, very fast.

I agree with some of the points the attacker makes in his initial rationale though I think he made a few glaring errors in execution and planning, negating the advantages an attacker has. I think the biggest one was the uncoordinated, poorly planned attacks which allowed the defender the time to use his interior lines to reploy and face the next threat in strength. Even the weak recon force on the right would have done some good if it had acted in concert with the main force securing the hills overlooking the town. With that in mind, the recon force should have been beefed up at the start so it could have applied *real* pressure on the defender. By attacking in strength and a coordinated manner through two avenues, the defender wouldn't have been able to concentrate as he did.

Once the recon push had fizzled, a more prudent course of action IMO would have been to take a few moments to secure the hills and organize a base of fire, and then soften the town before crossing. I realize time was a factor but needless severe casualties were taken trying to storm that area, losing the drive of the attack. This is especially true since this approach for the attacker was 'it', and the defender had already shown the trait of being quick on the trigger with the arty in the opening moves against the recon force. I don't think the attacking force was inadequate, just not utilized in the best manner.

All in 20/20 hindsight of course and all in good fun!

Ron

[Buckeye]

Walker: I'm pretty sure that AP and AT mines were prohibited for that round, and that only daisy chain AT mines were permitted. If AP mines had been okay, you're right, they absolutely could have sealed off the fords.

As for re-joining squads: To tell you the truth, I haven't experimented enough to know which half squad rejoins which...so I just jiggle the position into the foxhole if the newly-joined squad if it's not in it already. If it really is always b joins a, that'd be helpful to know. Anyone else sure about this?

Ron: In all fairness to Barley, I think coordinating a strong, two-prong attack on this map would be very difficult. Despite the strength of his attack on the fords, I was still able to hold him off effectively. If he had split his forces, I wouldn't have had to readjust mine as much.

However, your suggestions are not without merit. As it happens, Broken! won his game in the other group using a two-prong attack, and was the only attacker in the Panther 76 group to win. I'll be interested to see the movies of that game when Rob posts them.

[pilgrim]

from Buckeye's AAR:

and I let one of my sharpshooters (on top of the big hill on the left) shoot its TC.

On the forum, I've read that sharpshooters operate in two modes:

1. You manually give them a target, they shoot, and the chance for them being spotted goes way up.

2. You move them into postion but never force a target on them, and then when they shoot they still have a high chance of remaining hidden.

If the above is correct (and someone please correct me if it isn't), did you just allow the sharpshooters to pick their targets, or did you force them to shoot at the TC's?

Great AAR's, by the way. Thanks for taking the time to put them together.

pilgrim