Head For The Hills.... ROW II

[Ali]

I think this scenario got better during time. Start was boring, but that's probably because I played it quite safe and maybe a gamey way

When I started this scenario,other scenarios were almost finished. That is why I didn't believe my briefing and expected more troops being on the Axis side. I was right, I dont think this scenario goes into 'assault' category. Or do you feel different fellow Rumblers?

First I attacked ONLY from right side of the map, so enemy can't use guns + can't take a direct arty on my men.

I advanced quite steadily, keeping my men closely together so they can outnumber any opposing forces. It worked fine, and I took the Hill

When I finally took some action to left side of the map, I already had my tanks covering the hill where infantry was advancing + arty barrage was ready to clear the way. Arty hitted fine + tanks helped, so I got quite an easy ride to the flag.

I didn't care about the flags, I only wanted to take out those guns (as briefing said there would be, this part I believed ).

I run 1 platoon towards the big flag from right side of the map, and guns started to pound at them. My platoon did make it with few casualties. But main thing was that those guns were now exposed. The guns were IIRC about 300 metres away, but still they started firing. Does anybody know, that if they are hiding, do they start firing at that distance?

I got almost all guns zeroed, and took them out with arty + onboard mortars.

- Ali

[ September 29, 2002, 09:28 AM: Message edited by: Ali ]

[Big X]

I have a comment for the designer....

I thought it was a great battle overall. I played the Americans. My opponent and I thought it was some of the bloodiest CM fighting we've seen. I took over this game in the middle for someone who had to drop out. As such, I don't know the setup zones, etc.

My comment is this. My excellent opponent (Germans) neutralized an early attack on the town. That sector of the battle developed into a waiting game once I got the 155mm arty. That is, I pounded the town into dust turn after turn, intending to rush the two flags late in the game with my remaining troops, who were nestled safely in the nearby woods.

After turn 29 (of 36) the computer ends the game due to my opponent's low morale. However, it gave him both flags in the town even though he had about 12 men there: 6 of whom were crew, and none of whom were near (within 80m or so) one flag! I had about 2 platoons worth of men (no crews) all lurking in the forest and ready to storm the town.

None of this is to disparage my opponent, who knows he fought an excellent battle. Since this was a tournament situation, however, I was dismayed to have the computer end the game 7 turns early due to his low morale AND give him the two town flags when I think even he would agree that I could have otherwise taken the flags.

I mean this to be constructive and not sour grapes. From a design standpoint, the scenario lends itself naturally to using the 155mm on the town if the Germans put up a good defense. But to have the computer end the game yet give the flags to him seems to punish the Americans for patiently dropping all their arty and killing as many troops as possible before moving in.

[Scott B]

Originally posted by Big X:

I have a comment for the designer....

That's actually quite interesting. Do you have a copy of the final game file that you could send me? I'm rather curious as to what happened there as well. How low was your global morale?

Scott

[Frunze]

My AAR for this scenario is posted in the ROW AAR thread.

Ali, I'd guess your opponent unhid the guns, none of mine fired until I wanted them to. I probably would have unhid them in that situation too, rather than let enemy infantry get into the woods and storm the gun.

BigX, that sounds pretty strange to me. Usually, when one side surrenders(automatically or voluntarily), the other gets all the flags.

[Jeb]

Hey there folks,

I'm Big Xs aforementioned opponent in this battle, and I'm a little confused at this point. I didn't realize things had gone that way, I thought your morale had broken. Dang, I don't have a movie file left to look at it.

Kudos to you again for playing out the battle as well as you did, the morale break, whoever's it was, surely did effect the score.

Jeb

[Treeburst155]

The Big X vs Jeb battle sounds to me like mutual low morale resulting in a "cease-fire". I've never seen a "surrender" where all VLs did NOT go to one side.

Treeburst155 out.

[Frunze]

I didn't know automatic cease-fire was possible. There's nothing about it in the manual.

[CombinedArms]

Originally posted by Frunze:

I didn't know automatic cease-fire was possible. There's nothing about it in the manual.

I've lost track of my manual, but I'm pretty sure the cease fire is in there somewhere. If both sides morale slips below a certain point, you get an automatic cease fire..

In the the case of an enemy actually surrendering to you (in which case your enemy's morale must be 15% or below IIRC and yours must be 4 times higher) you would CAPTURE not only all the flags but all the enemy units on the board. So if the enemy infantry remained uncaptured AND the flags were split between you, it must have been a cease fire due to mutual low morale.

[tabpub]

As I recall, mutual ceasefire triggers when both sides go under 25% morale. When I played "Sounds of the Night" in the last ROW, I held up my attack when I reached 35% to "save" myself for the final push. Didn't work, but I had no idea where his morale was and didn't want the ceasefire to trigger prematurely.

[Tero]

Originally posted by Holien:

Sorry Tero....

H

Nothing to be sorry about. Your frigging guns would not die when fired upon and you did get some spectacular first round kills that foiled my entire plan.

What can I say. Your defences were well thought out. My plan of attack was the best I could think of given the resources. You won, I lost.

Still, looking back I still would not have done anything differently. And from were I was sitting I did not waste my arty. By getting the FO's to LOS I would have risked exposing them and losing my entire fire support. With 2 (even 1) minute delays I would have lost turns moving them over and still sustaining casualties.

Your entire defence was dependant on those guns. Had those been 75IG's instead of 88's you would not have stood a chance. I did not count on all of them being 88. A big mistake which I paid dearly for. When I got a positive ID on the guns I was too far in to pull back and redeploy.

When the writing was on the wall all I could do was stand my ground and take what I could. Pulling back was not an option at that point. Walking even one FO off the map would have ended the game then and there. I bloody well think that immobilized Sherman of mine which kept my guys afloat even when the moral was down to below 20 should have carried them over that last bloody turn. When it was killed the autosurrender was trigered instantly. A gamey game feature that.

Not that I am sore or anything. You win some and you lose some. Looking at the score sheet the Fire Mountain scen went better for me. That makes up for this one. I'm not sure though how the overall score will be affacted though.

I expect I get a chance for payback when the bloody CMBB ships.

[ October 01, 2002, 02:54 AM: Message edited by: tero ]

[Holien]

Hi Tero,

I understand your point of view on the Arty spotters...

However if you took that view with the rest of your forces you would not ever engage in battles.

If you do not risk things you can not gain.

Also with plenty of woods and cover you surely could have moved those spotters forward a tad.

If you had a spotter on the hill above the town it would have been a different story.

Also if you used the large stuff on my forces in the woods that would have helped you big time.

Yes my 88's were the key to my (the Germans) Defence as it was all we were given.

It just seemed to me that most of your shells fell on empty ground and that to me is a waste of a precious resource.

Good for me

Anyway when we get CMBB in the UK I will enjoy playing against you.

H

[Tero]

Originally posted by Holien:

However if you took that view with the rest of your forces you would not ever engage in battles.

You can lose a squad or two and still get the mileage you need. If you lose your FO then you are in big doo-doo.

If you do not risk things you can not gain.

In this particular scen risking the FO's was not necessary.

Also with plenty of woods and cover you surely could have moved those spotters forward a tad.

And get lucky and get them killed by their own barrage ?

If you had a spotter on the hill above the town it would have been a different story.

Setting up an out-of-LOS barrage from there would have been as good as setting it up from the position I kept them. Using command units was not in my plan as I sure as hell needed them elsewhere.

Also if you used the large stuff on my forces in the woods that would have helped you big time.

The problem was I was in contact with the scattered guns and the force holding the village. What you had in them woods was too vague as a target.

Yes my 88's were the key to my (the Germans) Defence as it was all we were given.

And you used them well. That Marder got zapped as soon as it presented itself so I would have preferred more of those and less of those damned 88's.

It just seemed to me that most of your shells fell on empty ground and that to me is a waste of a precious resource.

The plan was to suppress the defenders and level the village. And it would have worked if you had not had your guns cover the village so damned well.

What you saw as empty ground was potentially hostile to me.

Anyway when we get CMBB in the UK I will enjoy playing against you.

Around October 20th then......

[Big X]

Hi again. Scott B and Jeb, I've sent you both final turn files for your perusal.

To clarify some more.... Both of our ending morales were 22% so it appears the computer enacted a ceasefire. (Don't get me wrong; Jeb was CLEARLY kicking my ass in other parts of the map! I never was expecting a surrender.)

However, to directly quote from the CM manual, page 107: "If BOTH sides' Global Morale is lower than 15% the game will also automatically end." When I saw that mine was 22% I assumed that his must have dropped below 15%

Part of my confusion was also that in the last movie, one of the flags in the town is American , the other a "?" Then the final map gives both flags to the Germans. I know that you can't trust what is apparent from the movie. Based on that snapshot, I'm not claiming the flags should be mine at that moment, but I thought my forces were close enough to at least force "?"s.

[CombinedArms]

Originally posted by tero:

Originally posted by Holien:

However if you took that view with the rest of your forces you would not ever engage in battles.

You can lose a squad or two and still get the mileage you need. If you lose your FO then you are in big doo-doo.

etc., etc....

Tero,

At the risk of possibly offending you, let me point out that Holien is an outstanding player (and ROW I finalist) and it would be a good idea to consider taking his advice. Reasons can always be found for not doing what experienced players advise, but more might be learned by thinking about the potential up-side of the advice and trying to find ways to make the advice work.

I got (so far, I think) the top score in this scenario as an Axis defender, and I did it in large part because my opponent underused his artillery. EFFECTIVE use of artillery is one of the main differences defining stronger players. In this case, the artillery is a potentially effective counter against both the 88s and the infantry in the woods: possibly the only effective counter. What I think Holien is advising you to do with the FO's is to perch them at the edge of the forest (still under cover but with good LOS out over the Axis controlled hills). It would be very hard to see such FOs from 400-500 meters away. They're really pretty safe. Then they can bring down quick, accurate fire on the 88s. If your infantry in the woods hits opposition, you could pull back and plaster the positions with some arty. For that you might not have direct spotting, but you still might inflict heavy damage.

Holien once tanned my hide quite thoroughly in a game and I asked him for advice. He generously provided it. I learned enormously both from that advice and from the example of his defensive play. Now I've got a good chance to make the finals in ROW II. If you want to beat him in CMBB, I'd suggest listening to him now.

[ October 01, 2002, 01:41 PM: Message edited by: CombinedArms ]

[Big X]

Hey Jeb, we even impressed the scenario designer with our casualties!

"Man, that final body count was spectacular. 600+ casualties between the two of you."

I knew we had something special.

[tabpub]

Originally posted by Big X:

...To clarify some more.... Both of our ending morales were 22% so it appears the computer enacted a ceasefire. (Don't get me wrong; Jeb was CLEARLY kicking my ass in other parts of the map! I never was expecting a surrender.)

However, to directly quote from the CM manual, page 107: "If BOTH sides' Global Morale is lower than 15% the game will also automatically end." When I saw that mine was 22% I assumed that his must have dropped below 15%

.

And to quote from read me for patch 1.12" * If both sides have global morale below 25%, a battle will end immediately with an enforced cease-fire."

I think this will answer exactly what happened.

[JonS]

Head for the Hills – German AAR

Location: Waldesch, Germany

Date: Noon, March 15, 1945

Weather: Clear, Dry

Type: Allied Assault

Length: 36 Turns

Forces: US Army vs. mixed Volksturm, SS, and Luftwaffe

Allies: Warren “The_Capt” Mirron

Axis: Jon “JonS” Sowden

Situation: This scenario worries me. Not so much because of the scenario itself – that looks interesting – but because of my opponent. I me The_Capt in ROWI, and he took me to pieces, and then went on to come second overall in the tourney.

My mission in this scenario is to defend the approaches to the Rhine around the village of Serrig.

Ground: This is a rather big map. However, it quickly becomes apparent that large tracts of it will never be used. For example, the large area of crops in the SW corner will never be used. The three main features are the isolated but heavily wooded Hill 178, with Serrig on its northern flank, and the wooded ridge running from Hill 183 around to Hill 182. Between this ridge and Hill 178 is a wide, open valley running east-west, through which runs the main road. The bottom of this valley is marshy, and in general an un-promising approach. In particular, between Hill 178 and Hill 183 is a very wide area of open ground.

Due to the extensive wooded areas, the only vehicular route from west-to-east is through Serrig and the open valley. Except for a narrow trail through the woods on the southern flanks of Hill 178. This trail is certainly an axis to watch, but it is so far away from the key areas that it isn’t of great concern.

Friendly Forces: I have a very mixed bag; two veteran pns of SS rifles, four green pns of volksturm, a crack pn of pioneers, plus half a dozen 88mms in the ground role. In addition there is the usual mixed bag of support weapons and small units. The notable absence is the complete lack of indirect fire support, other than a pair of on-bard 81mm mortars. A small reserve consisting of a pn plus some AT assets is dues to arrive in around 20 minutes.

After much to-ing and fro-ing, I split my forces into two company-sized groups, each of two volksturm and one SS rifle pn. One company is on Hill 178, and the other on Hill 182. All squads are split to create reserve foxholes. In each case the two volksturm pns are forward to take the first shock of assault, with the SS rifle in reserve. The pioneers are locked down on the forward slopes of Hill 183, so there isn’t much I can do with them, but they will move around into reserve behind the company on 182.

On the forward slopes of 182 I position a screen composed of sharpshooters and LMGs. In Serrig I place a very small covering force, consisting of a lame Coy HQ (no leadership bonuses – oddly, since this is my A0 unit), an HMG and a ‘shreck. I have no expectation of being able to hold Serrig, so I won’t even try.

I have three small sections each of an LMG and a ‘shreck providing AT cut-offs. The mortars are under a Coy HQ on the SW slopes of Hill 182, from where they can bring down fire onto Serrig and the forward slopes of Hill 178. The 88s are in a deployed in a U-shape created by Hill 182 - Hill 183 - Hill 178, covering the main vehicular route. The wooded trail is covered by a ‘shreck section and a daisy chain.

Due to the limited forces I start with, there is no one initially defending Hill 183 at the rear. If I need to, forces will fall back on it as the battle develops. Also, there are the reserves arriving later, and finally, any crews or otherwise useless units I will send to that area.

The daisy chain mines I use to restrict all vehicle approaches other than through Serrig (which is in any case covered by the fixed minefields and roadblock), while the wire is in two barriers on Hill 178.

My basic plan is to firmly hold Hills 183 and 182, while contesting Hill 178 and Serrig. Since those latter two are effectively isolated, I expect to ultimately lose them, but intend to make Warren pay a high price for them. Since I expect to lose them, I will not be reinforcing them, and I also don’t expect to see any of the forces initially deployed there make it back off the hill. It’s tough being a soldier sometimes.

Enemy Forces: Given the nature of the ground, and knowing that Warren isn’t an idiot, I assess that he will likely make his first effort onto Hill 178 making good use of the covered approaches there, with a secondary push onto Hill 182. I expect his forces will be infantry heavy as the briefing states that I am facing the 87th Infantry Division, though there will doubtless be some armour involved.

It is unlikely that anything other than scouts will be sent straight into Serrig, as the approaches from the east are so open.

Given the location of the flags, this course of action (main effort onto Hill 178, secondary effort onto Hill 182) doesn’t worry me too much since it will leave me with a greater point value of victory locations. Any forces that he commits to securing Serrig and Hill 178 will effectively be stranded there because of the open ground between there and the Hill 183 – Hill 182 ridge.

Of more concern would be a main effort up my right flank through Hill 182, the victory location, then around to Hill 183. It is for this reason that the Pioneers will make their way around to this flank.

Turn 1: Hmm. Warren must have been very careful with his initial setup, as I can’t see any of his forces. I spend the turn recombining split squads, and starting to move the pioneers back to a more useful position. I have taken great care to move them over a concealed route, as I don’t want Warren to see them, and their initial position is quite exposed. Once I get them into dead ground I will leave them inactive for a while to recover from their exertions over the last few days.

Turn 2: A bit more excitement this turn. I can see elements of two platoons, both running towards Hill 178, which suits my plan. One of them I disorganised I think with a little on-board 81mm fire. Right at the end of the turn an M4A3 arrived in the same area, and was promptly buttoned by a sharpshooter.

Turn 3: Another M4A3 appears near the first. That makes half a platoons-worth, so there are most likely two or three more out there somewhere. The US infantry seems to be heading towards the left forward volksturm pn on Hill 178, so I start to move the SS rifle pn in behind them.

Turns 4-7: Warrens main effort is definitely onto Hill 178. I can see the equivalent of four or five rifle pns, plus at least one support pn, as well as three M3A4s. I have eliminated a half-squad scouting towards Serrig when it got hung up on the wire, and have driven off a few more. In return one of my 88s has been knocked out. Annoyingly, this is to a pair of Shermans just out of LOS. Warren uses area fire to pummel the position until the crew breaks. I’ve unmasked another 88, and it is engaging some infantry above Serrig.

After a long period of inactivity, his Shermans have started moving, one towards Serrig, and the other towards the wooded trail.

On my right my screening force sees a new US pn advancing on Hill 182 – here comes the secondary effort. By the end of T7 they are into the treeline. I had three LMGs overwatching this route. Unfortunately, having seen nothing at all there in the first six turns, I decide to pull two of them back, so when the US forces start appearing on T7, they are badly out of position.

The pioneer pn has moved back to a concealed position, but are still weary. They will need to rest some more before being used in anger.

Turns 8-12: Warren tries to bull his way through the wooded trail, but the ‘shreck ambush I had set up there works a treat. His Sherman is a smoking wreck now. There is still a rifle pn there, but without armour there is only so much they can do. I manage to extricate the ‘shreck team and part of the Pn HQ from the ambush site, but the LMG gets wiped out.

On Hill 178 the SS Rifle pn are in position behind the wire in front of the flag. Warren makes some halfhearted probes towards the VS pn down near Serrig, but I think he is just feeling me out until he can bring up more forces. I reply with some mortar and long-range HMG fire. Sadly, the second 88 to unmask meets the same fate as the first.

On the right the US company coming up the secondary axis brush aside my screening LMGs, though I do manage to get the sharpshooters out.

The 88 on the forward slope of Hill 183 starts taking long range pot shots at these guys, confusing a few of them. I can’t tell if they are causing any casualties. With the unmasking of this 88 an ordeal that will continue over many turns begins. It starts with some 60mm mortar fire on turn 11. By the end of T12 two of the crew are casualties, but with the assistance of the bty commander, the rest of the crew stick to their task.

The SS Rifle Pn in reserve on the long ridge start moving forward in response to the secondary probe. The Pioneers are still resting behind them, but are now pretty much ready to go. They haven’t received any artillery fire, so I think they may have got away un-noticed.

From time to time I have caught glimpses of a US halftrack, skulking about near the US start line. It seems to be towing a gun of some sort.

Turns 13-17: Lots of action over this period!

On the right, the two VS pns are each attacked by a US pn. There is some stiff fighting, but it is still too early to tell who will come out on top. The SS Riles have moved in on the right of the line, between the VS Pn and the map edge. The Pioneers start making their way forward to this area, but they have an awfully long way – 300m – to go, so it will be quite a while before they are in position.

The mortars have expended all their ammo onto Hill 178, and start moving back to Hill 183, along with the crews of the two KO’d 88s. The Coy HQ that was directing the mortars moves over to command an HMG that has been receiving a lot of hate. It is down to one man left, and has broken, but it is still in its original location, so has all its ammo. Since it is now immobile, as long as I can keep the last man firing he won’t be running away anywhere.

The 88 on the forward slope of Hill 183 has lost another crewmember, but the Bty Commander is gamely keeping them to their task. They have been under mortar and artillery fire for about six minutes now, and there is an enormous beaten zone around the gun that bears witness to their bravery at sticking to their task. To crown things, they have knocked out one of the M4A3s, and since no more have shown up that leaves Warren with just one left, plus the halftrack which continues to mooch about.

I have received my reinforcements in the NW corner of the map; a SS Rifle pn mounted in trucks, a Marder II, a PaK 40 75mm ATG towed by another truck, and a 75mm spotter. The infantry aren’t really needed at this time, so I move them behind Hill 183 with a vague plan of maybe reinforcing Hill 178. The ATG and the spotter start moving to the area of the KO’d 88 that was west of the mortar position. From there they will have a good view over the rear slopes of Hill 178 and into Serrig.

On Hill 178 things are not so good. The VS Pn that was just beside Serrig has been wiped out to a man, as has the covering force in Serrig itself. They were attacked by at least two pns, and went down fairly quickly. Up at the top of the hill, the other VS pn has pulled back towards the flag to avoid being flanked by the US pn that hit the ambush site. They managed to get into position, and are currently heavily engaged with that pn. Honours are about even, but the old men of the VS can’t keep this pace up for long and will fold soon. The SS Rifle pn is in all-round defence about the flag.

Turns 18-20: The VS pn on Hill 178 is down to just two men, both of whom are running for their lives. The US pn seems to have suffered fairly heavily too, and one of the squads has been eliminated. I have moved the bulk of the SS Rifle pn in behind what was the VS line to stop this thrust.

The 88 on Hill 183 has finally succumbed, to a tree burst above the gun that wrecked its elevating gear. With no chance now of fighting their weapon, the crew have abandoned their piece, and have pulled back up to the summit of 183. The bty commander has moved over to give personal direction to the two guns astride the road.

With the fighting getting very heavy over at Hill 182 the motorised pn of reinforcements has started moving over that way, though due to the distance it will be a while before they get there.

The fighting at Hill 182 has been very heavy, but overall I’m pleased with the way things are going so far. The left VS pn has seen off they pn that attacked them, killing or wounding all but 7 shocked survivors. In the process they have used nearly all their ammo, and have lost half their effectives. Right now they could now be pushed over by a stiff breeze, but I don’t think Warren will be coming this way again – the main effort seems to be right at the top of the hill, where I have spotted nine units of various types. I’ve lost a section from each of the VS pn and the SS Rifles there, and been forced to pull back slightly, but with some HE fire from the 88 across the valley on the rear slopes of Hill 178 I seem to have stopped them for the moment. The pioneers have made it up to a useful reserve position, but I ran them to get there quicker, so now they are tired again.

Turns 21-23: This is quite a profitable little interlude for me. The SS Rifles up on Hill 178 earn their keep by effectively destroying the US pn that wiped out my VS troops. The Marder knocks out the halftrack and the 57mm ATG it was towing, while several of my guns take some of the buildings in Serrig under HE fire to shake things up.

But the most dramatic happenings are on Hill 182. Warren slips his forces slightly to his left (i.e. closer to the map edge) and tries to force his way through using weight of numbers. In the way I have nothing but Unterofficer Frickes’ single squad of nine men, hunkered down in their foxholes and ready to fight. And boy do they fight! By the time it’s all over, there are the corpses of 10 US units scattered about them, and they have lost just one man lightly wounded. Another three US units are scampering off to the rear. The Yankees won’t be coming through there either today. It is quite an incredible defence, and the unit stats show that they have definitely killed 22 Amis, and the dead include three Pn HQs, two rifle sqds, two ‘zook teams, two flamethrowers, and an M1919 MMG. The Pioneers are in reserve here, but it turns out they aren’t needed – all that running for nothing!

As a result of this action the motorised pn are no longer needed on this flank, and so they turn their trucks round and start heading back to Hill 183. The Pioneers aren’t needed here anymore either, so they start moving off to a position from where they can overlook the valley.

The 88s by the road have been throwing HE into Serrig, and in response have attracted the attention of the American artillery. Once again the Bty commander shines, keeping his men at their posts as the rounds fall around them.

The Americans in Serrig have been re-organising themselves for a while now, and have started moving out again. Their first objective seems to be the 88 on the rear slopes of Hill 178. Since I don’t have any infantry in the way, it will be short and sweet when they get there.

Turns 24-25: I briefly consider following up Fricke’s success on Hill 182 by sweeping forward to wipe out the last of the Americans on this flank, but decide against it. I am fairly low on ammo, and I don’t know just how many of them are left out there. Instead I reposition my sections back in their starting positions, and await whatever Warren has left on this flank. Not much I think.

The SS Rifles on top of Hill 178 are now fighting for their lives. A US engineer pn has appeared from around the wire, and are heavily contesting the flag. I have killed some of them, but there are so many, and I am so few.

The thrust against the 88 has turned into a two pn attack. I have tried to use HE – both from the gun under threat and from the 75mm across the valley – to hold them back, but I fear it is no good. They have gotten to within 9 metres, and the gun will be destroyed next turn. To make this success somewhat less sweet for Warren I have my 75mm spotter plotted to have his rounds fall on the attacking pns next turn.

Once that gun has gone, there is nothing left to stop the Americans trying to push across the valley onto Hill 183. I am trying to reposition the Marder into a location from which it can fire into the gap, but there doesn’t seem to be any spots on the southern flank of 183. The 88s by the road cover the gap fairly well, but one of them has fallen to the US artillery, and with the other being just a short switch away I doubt it will last long.

Turns 26-30: The SS Rifles up on 178 have succumbed, but not before they made the engineers pay a fairly stiff price. Now all I have left on that benighted hill are an HMG team, and a scratch section of three ‘shrecks. The HMG has moved down to the wreck of the 88, and in the process freed the crewmember taken prisoner there. From this position the HMG can cover the gap between there and Hill 183 – the US infantry that was here has charged off across the gap and is trying to take 183 before they run out of time. The ‘shrecks are the remnants from the various pns that were on 178. For a while I had them covering the wooded trail, in the expectation that Warren would try to push more armour through there. That hasn’t happened, so I am now sneaking them around the eastern side of the hill to see if I can bag anything good round there. However, it is strangely silent, all the US forces seemed to have moved on.

Both the 88s by the road have been knocked out - in fact, all the 88s are gone now. They were useful while they lasted, but they are so desperately vulnerable to artillery fire that it is no great surprise they are gone. The points loss could hurt me later though.

I managed to inflict some casualties on the US forces as they charged across the gap, but there are at least two sections across now, with three more pinned down in the open. I have MG fire coming in from all angles, but the 75mm ATG has also succumbed to artillery fire. That leaves me with only the Marder as a useful AT platform. It is currently behind Hill 183, manoeuvring back to the position it got the US halftrack from. The motorised pn have debussed behind 183, and are now moving up to the summit. I’m not really worried about my ability to hold here, as this fresh pn should easily see off whatever fragments Warren can get across the gap.

A strange calm has descended on 182 after all the violence there earlier. I have moved the SS Rifle pn (including Fricke) and the pioneers back into reserve positions, and am holding the front lightly with what remains of the two VS pns. Warren has moved his forces well down the side of the hill towards the valley bottom. I think he might be planning to try and come around my left flank here in a bid for the victory location.

Turns 31-36: On the right Warren does make a move with the remnants of is company. However, there simply aren’t enough of them to break through what is still basically an intact line in the woods. The end of the game fids these guys pinned down in the open under fire from my men above them and in good cover.

On the left my ‘shrecks continue to ninja about the place. Not finding any vehicles to shoot up, I wonder what to do with them, finally settling on an approach to the flag on Hill 178, with a view to turning it contested. Warren must have seen them moving about though, because they have a very warm reception when they get near the flag. Though potentially gamey, this move was at least partially in response to US lunge for Hill 183.

In the centre, Warren makes a dash for the flag on Hill 183. Frankly I found it a bit disappointing that the end of the game came down too this. He had to push his men across the open gap then up hill to do anything. Waiting for them I had the motorised pn from behind the hill, and the pioneers who had trekked back from Hill 182 (more running for them), so there was no way he was going to be able to wrest control away from me, especially with the shattered bits and pieces he tried it with. However, I was very worried that he might be able to get close enough to turn the flag grey. Making things more interesting for me was the heavy artillery he had kept in reserve. There is no way he could have known where the motorised pn were, but with uncanny accuracy he dropped 155mm shells on them, and the followed them with the shells as they tried to get out of the way and move to secure the flag. A similar thing was going on with the pioneers approaching from the other direction, though I think he had seen them.

I suffered quite a few in these two pns, but I managed to get enough men into position to stop the US push far enough out to maintain security of the flag.

The 105mm shells raining down on them also knocks out the Marder, which is a bit of a shame. The US forces have one Sherman left, but it is strangely hesitant, hiding behind the church at the west end of town.

Conclusion: The fight ends in a bloody draw. My forces on Hill 178 have been wiped out. All my guns have been knocked out and the Marder is gone too. My AT assets amount to a few ‘shrecks and the odd ‘faust. The two pns I have on Hill 183 are taking a beating under the heavy artillery, and the forces on Hill 182, while largely intact, are running desperately low on ammo.

But, the Americans are a spent force and won’t be advancing through my position this day. However, higher command must order a withdrawal, or reinforce me, else on the morrow my small command will be destroyed when the Amis bring up fresh forces.

Allied Attacker. . . . . . . . Axis Defender

283 casualties (89 KIA) . . 216 casualties (59 KIA)

1 gun destroyed . . . . . . . . 7 guns destroyed

4 vehicles knocked out . . . 1 vehicle knocked out

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 captured

Men OK 174 . . . . . . . . . . Men OK 161

Morale 34 . . . . . . . . . . . . Morale 37

Global Morale . . . . . . . . . Global Morale

Notes: A very good scenario – one of my favourites from ROWII. It has a nice map, and an interesting selection of units, especially from the German side. The variety of types and qualities of the various elements makes for some, um, interesting decisions on how to use your forces. It is nice too, to see an infantry-heavy battle, especially of this size. The scenario is coherent, by which I mean it makes sense and is believable, and fits with the map. Finally, the briefings are well written and referenced.

Some points for the designer to consider:

* The scenario may be a wee bit too long. The last five or six turns were pretty much non-events, except for Warren’s rush for the rear flag. Still – had I been on the attack I would have appreciated the flexibility that having extra time allows.

* The German motorised reinforcements are very limited in the areas they can deploy to. Basically, they are stuck in the NW corner of the map due to all the forest areas and steep slopes. This might have been intentional, but I found it a bit annoying, and spent ages jockeying my Marder around, trying to find good firing positions. In the end, I think there are only a few in the saddle between Hill 183 and the victory flag on the north map-edge.

[ October 02, 2002, 09:31 PM: Message edited by: JonS ]

[Big X]

.[/qb]

[Kanonier Reichmann]

A beautifully written AAR Jon S. Thanks for taking the time and effort for writing such a coherent and easily understood description of the battle. You're shaming me to ensure I try and put something together that is at least intelligible on this particular scenario.

Regards

Jim R.

[Vadr]

Head for the Hills AAR - Chuck "vadr" Grimes (German)

Setup -

Wow, what a terrific defensive position. Despite the ammunition shortage for the 88s, I consider it impregnable against armor. Every 'channel' is covered by daisy-chain mines protected by barbed wire and all minefields are covered by multiple AT weapons. If he exposes his armor I will kill it. Period. What the Americans will need to take this position is a lot of Infantry and artillery. Of course, the Americans rarely experience a shortage of either. Oh well, at least they don't have air support...

2 platoons of Volksturm on my left, with 1 of the SS Rifle platoons in immediate reserve. 1 platoon of Volksturm and the other SS rifle platoon on my right. 1 platoon of Volksturm in the village. the mortars are in battery in the rear of the town with a Company Commander as observer for them. The Pioneers will form my tactical reserve. I'm more concerned about my right flank than my left (better covered approaches over there) so I've placed my TRP over on that side in my blind spot. This is a questionable TRP placement. It will either help save that flank or for all intents and purposes will have been removed from play. A small gamble.

Turns - 1-7

My opponent advances against both flanks. Looks like two companies of Infantry against my left flank and one or perhaps two against my right. Contact was made about turn 6. The first of my 88s has opened up, killing a halftrack and a Sherman, but my Conscript Pschreck couldn't get the job done against a Sherman on the far left. I've pretty much wiped out an Allied Infantry platoon on the left flank, and will now begin falling back towards the top of hill 178, hopefully inflicting casualties as I go. I'm fairly pleased with things so far. I will begin falling back toward the hill crest and the VL there, hopefully getting a chance to ambush him once again en-route. Pressure is terrific though, especially on the left.

Turn 21 -

Well, I must say that the fight so far has pretty much gone exactly according to plan. The Hill 178 VL is in dispute and he may take that one, but he paid cash for it. 8)

The most interesting turn of events occured over on the left where his last two pieces of armor stopped just short of the little 88mm ambush I had set for them. I actually had a shot at the M10 for 2 turns but didn't take it because I was hoping he'd expose the Sherman. Instead, he has pulled both AFVs back around the hill towards the town. He's now hitting the village with heavy arty, and I see a new Infantry formation (Engineers?) moving toward it. My read on the situation is that he's committing his reinforcements/reserves, backed up by his remaining Armor, to an assault on the town. I'm feeling pretty confident about it. The Volksturm in town haven't suffered at all yet and I still have multiple hidden 88s to contest the advance.

On the right, the troops are falling back in tolerable order after inflicting a bloody nose on his advance with the help of the first two 88s. I will probably withdraw further this next turn so as to entice him into the TRP area.

I have moved my reinforcements to a central position where I can get them either to the right flank or the town in a hurry. I have not exposed them yet. Hill 178 is lost to me I think, and I'll not get my reserves shot up trying to get them over there.

Turn 23 -

So far, so good. That Allied armor turned out to be a pair of Shermans. Both are burning merrily now. The Volksturm are taking a pounding from American 155mm artillery in the village.

Turn 26 -

Crunch time. The Americans have taken Hill 178, and are sending a platoon of Engineers against the town. The Volksturm have taken a pounding from American 155s and there aren't many of them left. My Marder is in position to cover the town, and my last two 88s have good fields of fire, but there are 10 turns left. I fear I'll be attrited and lose the town. Hopefully, I can mount a counterattack with my reinforcements and take it back. I have my arty targeted on the Engineers line of advance, 29 seconds out. It will be close. A real nail-biter at this point...

Turn 30 -

Right down to the wire. The Americans have taken Hill 178 and now pressuring the town from two directions. I'm running very short of infantry and am relying on firepower to hold them off while I rush my reinforcements to the town. Sitution on my right is stable, the Americans have just begun re-applying pressure on that side. Everyone is out of artillery now. WE'll be settling this one with the bayonet I think.

Turn 33 -

Did I say out of arty? I was wrong. I was out of arty, he was just holding his fire. One 88 remains but has no field of fire. I managed to get my reinforcements into town before he rushed it but the Marder's gun was damaged by artillery. My troops on the right have fought to the last man (and almost the enemies last man) but I fear he will take that flag with his last few troops and there isn't a thing I can do about it. In the village, it will be bayonets and hand grenades in the streets to decide the game.

Result - Draw

Conclusions -

This was a BLAST to play. I don't think it's very well balanced, and I understand it may not be intended that it be balanced.

My opponent chose to launch attacks on both flanks. If that is dictated by the design setup areas it's brilliant. Had he concentrated all his force on one flank or the other, while positioning some force to interdict my attempts to reinforce the threatened flank, he would have rolled over me. As it was, I destroyed his armor and decimated his infantry, and still only managed a draw by throwing in every available man and gun. The scenario outcome was determined by a close quarters street fight on the last turn of the game after I conducted what I flatter myself to say was the finest fighting withdrawal of my CM career. I do not see how I could have done any better against a competent opponent.

This fight really has been one of my all-time favs. My compliments to the designer.

[Holien]

My AAR...

Set-up

Well this is a really nice map and has loads of atmosphere. A small town off set slightly to my right with large wooded hills on the right and left with a road running through the town. I get plenty of set up room and the attacker is left with few areas not observed by sections of my set up zones. Two set up zones the first is my initial screen with snipers and a few LMG’s. The second is the main defence area with five flags. Two are in the town. One on the right hill and one on the left hill above the town. The last is on a hill quite some distance back slightly off right from the mid line.

The defence force can not hope to cover all the main approaches of attack. I have 7 platoons and 6 88mm Vet AA guns with plenty of HE, some wire and AT mines and various LMG’s and Shrecks.

I would guess with all this hardware and the promise of a mobile reserve this is going to be a big game and I am going to be under the cosh. I need a solid defence against Tero as he has a good reputation and I need to do double the damage on him. My men are on the whole green or worse with only two platoons of Vet SS and 1 Crack Engineer. One of these is fixed into place some way out of the town and blocking the far rear flag. While I have a TRP I do not have any off board spotters and only two 81mm onboard mortars. This is not good, as I am sure to be bombed to hell and back by the attacker.

Well after a long time looking at the map from all angles I decide that I can not hold all the flags and something is going to have to give. My plan is to give up the left flag above the town, as this seems to be the approach he might take. I place the TRP near that flag to give him some hell if he does go that route.

My 88mm AA guns are the game winners if I can use them well I stand a chance of stopping him and winning. This means that I have to have some good LOS and the chance for them to survive without being taken out too quickly by arty rounds. These have to be positioned so that they have limited LOS front on and all (but one) are sighted so that they cover the left-hand side of the map with one near the Town woods on the left side of the hill the town rests on.

I split the 6 platoons I have control over between the Town hill and the one on the far Right. One SS platoon will hold the Town while the other will act as the central core on the right flank. I hope t be able to control the right flank and then switch reserves to the Town. If the main attack comes on the right then at least I will have a strong force there to meet it and can then bring up the Engineers once they have rested.

The left flank and the town are beefed up with wire and HMG teams. I set up the screen force to try and spot what the enemy has and to slow down their advance. Snipers are to the fore and on the far left I position a LMG and the HQ unit.

The Reality

The first turn I see a ½ track and at least a platoon if not more on the far-left flank. I see nothing on my right. This looks like it will be a left flank push full on. I just hope that I can weather it and my 88mm guns do their duty. I combine my units and next turn will re adjust my defences so they really do face his attack. I just hope he uses his artillery in some Pre Attack bombing on those empty woods. I will start pulling back some snipers before they get over run.

Right at least a company coming on my left flank and several vehicles. I pull back another sniper, no point in losing them for nothing. I move my Crack Engineers over to my left flank they have poor FP but they should help shore up that flank. They are still weary but I need to get them over there to rest before the attack hits in two or three turns, maybe longer if I can help it. No movement on my right and clear views in that area. I pull back a LMG to draw fire and reinforce my Main flag, which has no one there at the moment. I just hope my reserves arrive near there.

The next couple of turns see me lose a Vet LMG for the loss of two his men. A Conscript Sniper gets popped and I think my Crack Sniper got a T/C. The main thrust is coming on my left flank and it is at least a company if not more. I have nothing in that area to stop him and he drops a turn of 81mm Mortars on some of my likely positions. I just hope he keeps that up, as I want him to waste as much as possible on empty woods. Sooner or later he will twig but at the moment I have him guessing and that is good, as it should waste time.

The right flank I consider pulling back a platoon and settle on a Volks squad with the company HQ. Just as well as the gamey so and so does have troops on my right. He exposes a flamer as gun bait and I am surprised that my crack Sniper does not take the bait. Then he pulls out an AT team ahead of the flamer. Hmmm AT and Flamer recon LOL. I would guess he has some engineers there and not much else, time will tell.

Well the T/C is not down and out and pops out with his fingers raised in defiance. My Crack Sniper takes another shot and I think misses again. In Return he is spotted and it is a good job I had him plotted to run away which he does. I spot a towed gun on the right flank.

On the left flank my sniper takes a pop at an infantry unit and scores a hit and the unit promptly dies. Hmm I wonder what that could have been. ROFL a sniper takes a sniper He He He… My guy then pulls back. I see I have some visitors on that right flank so will not pull back any more men.

I continue with moving the engineers and I am now blind on my left flank until he hits the MLR. I prey for reserves soon. What I need most are some Arty Spotters.

The next turn my Crack sniper who has taken one of his comes under fire and it is a good job I had him running away. A full squad of GI’s comes charging at his last position… RUN AWAY… As he runs up the hill a spotting round falls into the woods I am about to switch position to. Hmmm I feel he might not survive too long.

Nothing seen on my left flank and I can only guess that he is proceeding with caution I expect to see men on the hill in the next few turns. I am very nervous about my strategy and it could have been a bad one, ahh well you make your bed and now I must lie in it. This turn a HMG unit that I was switching into a position to support the expected main line of attack was broken by long distance mg fire from my right flank. This supports my belief that he is using his left flank to support the main attack on the town by coming through the woods up over the hill and down into the town. At least my engineers are now out of sight and should have some time to recover before they are needed.

Next few turns see more infantry appear on my right flank and he moves up his MG teams from the wood. I just sit and wait and prey that I have enough to repulse him in the MLR. We are now a ¼ the way through the game, still no sight of any reinforcements.

The next major development is the bombarding of the town by some heavy artillery. I would guess 105mm as it does some damage but is not destroying the buildings. Two turns land in the town and this is good news as it is pretty much wasted. He is still scouting the empty woods on my left and I think he is getting confused about what I might have.

The real development is on my right flank. He sends up a platoon of two Vets and one Regular squad into my first ambush position. His probe falls between my reduced Volks platoon and the SS Platoon. This helps me as I can bring to bear some impressive firepower. I was a bit worried, as the first turn he seemed to have the upper hand. However, next turn he withdraws the units (or tries) and this causes them to run in the open and back to some scattered trees. Bad news for them as they take some serious losses as they do this.

We are now a 1/3 through the turns and he has one Vet squad down to 3 men and they are burying their heads in the dirt. He has a reduced Regular squad, which is also in trouble. They have their heads down and two Vet SS units on top of them. The only squad offering any resistance is in light trees with the HQ unit behind them. They are down to 6 men and I feel they will be being pulled back further next turn. I order my men to take up the advantage and pursue to destroy the platoon. I will need to be careful to ensure that I do not fall into a counter ambush.

I think hard about my options and after some consideration I order an attack. I feel that this is the light flank in his attack and that he has much of his forces on the left flank. If I can push down into his support weapons and artillery spotters, I might seriously upset his advance and cause some upset in his overall attack as he tries to counter this push. I have a platoon to act as rearguard if it all goes “Tom Dick”. Also by doing so it might encourage him to push on down to the town with extra haste which will play into my hands. He might think that I have the town lightly defended.

The next turn goes reasonably well and I encircle his reduced platoon. One section makes a run for it off into the woods and I spot a Flamer and MG team moving up the hill. By the end of the turn a squad jumps me on my left who causes some casualties on an SS squad that continues to move rather than return fire. I do a quick tally and so far I have lost around 16 men to his 30 plus.

On the far-left flank his troops make the crest of the hill and start looking down into town. The town continues to take a mixed 81mm and 105mm barrage and cause an odd casualty. I just hope my green Volks can hold him back.

The next turn I plot for my remaining platoon on the right flank to join the battle raging in the woods. I need to bring everything to bear if I am not to be cut down bit by bit. These men have some open ground to cover, which is covered by a Sherman on the opposite hill. I use a couple of the 88’s to provide a smoke screen. This might reveal the guns but I feel that the time is close arriving when I will need to do that and I need to give my green men a bit of cover.

I target the flamer with all the FP I can muster and know that there is another one wandering around as well. This could well mean that there are two engineer platoons in the area as well as this reduced platoon. My SS platoon is badly reduced but I order one squad to rush the position where the American HQ squad and two other reduced squads plus flamer is. I hope to get close to the flamer if I can not take it out with my FP.

The next turn is vicious and I manage to wipe out the two reduced squads and the HQ unit. The Flamer buys it as well. The MG takes one man and heads for the woods and sets up again. Another American Infantry squad flanks my force in the woods and I reckon I could be up against some engineers. I also have the second flamer amble into sight and they lose one man. By the end of the turn I have a smoke screen to protect my two green Volks squads which are just about to run across the open ground to the woods. My Co HQ was ordered to pick up command of these two units and is blocked by the newly arrived American squad. I just hope I can get him through.

A new infantry threat is identified in some woods to the left of the current battle and comes under fire from my 88 near the town on the opposite side of the valley. This could be a third platoon involved in the attack on my right flank. I need to deal with this once I have finished off his troops in the wood, if I can achieve this. My SS squads are ordered to target the flamer and ensure that he is taken out before continuing the battle with the enemy infantry squads.

On my left flank things have gone pear shaped as my Volks open up on the Americans on the woods edge. I lose three men and the squad breaks and runs. I have given away my positions for little. The only benefit is that there are at least two American units directly under my TRP and this was targeted by my two 81mm mortars. I hope for a few deaths from tree bursts.

On my far left I have a platoon threat against my sniper and HQ unit. I am going to have to pull back. This is wide open and all I have are the two 88’s covering that approach. I just hope that they can hold back any American advance across this exposed valley floor. I know they have at least one vehicle as back up and could have tanks. I need those tanks to show themselves soon.

The next turn I open up with another hidden 88 so that is three revealed depending on how well he spots them. One adds (I hope) some more smoke in front of the Sherman but it might disobey as it did last time. The new one is targeted at troops above the town. All the HMG’s are targeted at the revealed infantry, they are in good cover but I hope to dent his attack force so that my SS men in the town stand some chance. I feel that I am going to lose the battle unless I get some good reinforcements to pad out my weak defences.

The next few turns are a blur and are covered by the next few paragraphs. The battle on my right flank takes a turn for the worse. My CO HQ is wiped out in return for a measly three of Americans. Only one Volks squad makes it across to the main battle and gets ambushed by an American squad running across to join the battle. The other squad thinks better of crossing after being hit by MG fire from the Sherman. I have to pull him and his HQ squad deeper into the woods to avoid any further trouble.

My 88 above the town reduce a squad near that battle and force it to flee. One of the SS squads is wiped out and the other two are down to 3 men and not much ammo. They manage to wipe out and American HQ unit and force a CO HQ unit to flee.

The two Volks squads and HQ unit try and finish off the MMG but only get it down to two men before running out of ammo. I order them into HTH range and closer towards the American start line. This and the SS men are going to try and draw the Americans into a pursuit back towards their lines. This will delay their advance and while I might lose my men I might bog down his right flank attack. The alternative is to retreat and I will be in the same position.

Good news is that I get a platoon of SS vets in trucks and they are sent to beef up my right flank, as they can not possibly get safely to the town. I also get a 75mm Spotter and he targets the TRP as soon as he jumps out of the truck. I get a 76mm AT gun and Marder II, which are sent towards the large flag, which is just reached by the single Volks squad and Zhreck team. These will fall under command of my Crack CO HQ once he finishes with the Mortars and 88mm under his command.

On my far-left flank a Jeep appears with a flamer on it and my sniper forces it to dismount and then takes on a 60mm mortar team. I am spotted and bug out after taking a few shots. This should worry him and force him to spend time clearing those woods. I keep the 88’s on that flank hidden until I see any tanks appear. That or I get numerous Infantry targets in the open.

The main battle switches to the trees above the town. The town takes continuos 81mm mortar and perhaps some 105mm or 75mm hits. One of these hits my 88 in those trees and takes him out. Several houses are close to collapse and a HMG and sniper pull out to find another home. My mortars target the TRP and I see a three-man squad representation reduced to two so I am having and effect.

My 88’s on the opposite valley are hurting him and I see some more squads reduced. Suddenly against my platoon of Volks on the left middle of the town as you look up the hill come under attack from four platoons marching in close order in the woods. His artillery is now falling all around and I guess he has no clear LOS and is hurting his own troops. I reduce several of the squads and I am hurting him more than he is me.

The next turn I target three 88’s on that cluster of men and I hope the HE will work wonders on that close knit target. So far my green Volks are holding up and I have my crack engineers on his flank ready to rush him at the right time. I unhide them so they can pick off any of his troops coming out into the open ground if they break from the 88’s. As yet my 88’s on the opposite side of the valley have been untargeted and I hope I can keep up the volume of fire to stall his attack.

If he does get through my SS men and a good leader are pretty much intact in the town, as they have been hidden in their foxholes. At turn 18 I am still just about holding on and I hope that he does not get too much more to throw at me. That or I get more reinforcements.

The next turn I manage to get my reduced SS squads and HQ away from his forces on my right flank and move down the hill. My Volks squads are out of ammo and bayonet the 2 men left manning the MMG that had fled me. These squads and the HQ unit move down the hill. He has a choice either to pursue me or risk me getting up to no good behind him and I know what I would do. I might be able to mug some of his troops as he pursues me. I get positive ID on the unit I killed in the woods and it was another HQ unit. This means he has to rely on his CO HQ.

The trucks with my new SS men race up the hill to help reinforce this side. On the far left my snipe takes a few pot shots at the mortar and then legs it. I see a couple of Infantry unit’s chase into my woods. Time to leave by the rear I think.

The main battle above the town is not going as well as it could. He hits my Volks platoon mob handed with at least two platoons and another races across the open ground. I cause quite a few casualties and wipe one squad out. In return I lose one full Volks squad and the other two of that platoon break. The HQ unit is still active and will be pulled back.

My 88’s fail to deliver the shock I wanted. I guess his units are too close to mine and they refuse to fire into that melee. Next turn I hope my men die quickly so that they will open up. A Sherman who crests a ridgeline engages one of the 88’s. The Sherman let loose with 4 shots and I return fire with 3 rounds. I only have 3 rounds of AP left. I have the Vet crew in command of a +1 Combat HQ. My 4 shot should be before the Sherman lets loose with his next round. I should be on maximum chance and at 600m that Sherman should be on his way out. You have to love this game when it does this to you.

My Crack engineers open up on the flanks of the massed Americans and seem to do little. One squad catches a HQ unit and full squad in the open. Rather than hurting them, they take four casualties. That hurt. I am going to have to open up with the two hidden 88’s to help balance that duel. I have heard a tank heading for the gap on the far left and the 88’s should be able to take him on when he appears.

My 75mm Spotter runs up the hill and he has about 20 seconds before his rounds start to fall. I think they are going to be off mark but I might get lucky with any units he has hanging back from the main assault. He is also going to move in a position to cover that line of attack directly.

My Crack sniper in the town dies and his damn artillery shells are still falling. I am going to have to move my SS men over to the left to cover the approach being taken by the attackers if my 88’s can not stop that attack. The HMG’s continue to harry his attack.

I would guess that this is a Battalion attack and so far I have accounted for maybe three (certainly two) platoons on the right flank and four or five on the left. There will be at least three Shermans and should be some ½ tracks. So far I have a good chance of holding him back as his artillery has mostly been wasted and he has had vast quantities of that. If I can hold the attack above the town I stand a chance of getting a draw or victory. If he loses any of his Shermans that will help me stack up some points. I hope his artillery is mostly used up as I could do with moving some troops about now.

My fourth shot from my 88 hits home and I breathe a big sigh of relief. That duel was just too much to handle. What amazed me was that at 600m and on my fourth shot I only had a 40% chance of hitting showing on the LOS tool. I guess that the Sherman being hull down helped reduce the hit chance.

The right flank sees little movement. I see the platoon used to break my counter attack is still in the area I just left and none of his forces are chasing my men. The single Volks Squad I split and sent running down the hill takes no fire and I might be out of view from his forces. I will send the HQ and other squad down there next turn. The reduced SS platoon (dangerously so) will remain in an Ambush position and hopefully score some small victories on his remaining troops. My trucks with the new guys continue moving up the hill. I hope I can unload before any damn planes appear.

The battle above the town continues and two squads assault my platoon of Volks on the right, as you look up the hill. The third one was cut down and these remaining two take a lot of casualties. I think my guys might hold there. I do hear a tank approaching but that will have to come into view of my 88’s and even then my guys are positioned to be out of view behind the trees.

The platoon in the middle loses a second squad and the three men of the third squad continue their rout away from the melee. My HQ unit is pulled back and seems to be in good order. His attack there is stalled and at least one unit has broken and is doing a headless run into the open. My HMG’s greet his men and further reduce that squad. The area around his men is clear of mine and my 88’s should start to have an effect if they can get a decent LOS.

The 75mm spotter is pretty puffed after his marathon run up the hill and his rounds start falling in the area. I get an odd Tree burst and this helps mess up the attack. On the far-left flank my mortars use all their smoke and it seems wasted as the mortar teams are moved along the ridge out of the blocking laid by the smoke. I am going to have to target those mortars with some 88’s as they could dampen my chance of winning.

The sniper takes a few pot shots and causes a mortar team to stop and a squad to return fire. The HQ with it runs behind the wall and makes it to the other section of woods. I think my sniper’s life is at an end as I don’t think he will be so lucky crossing that open ground and there is a squad in the same woods not too far from him. At least he has tied up some of the attacking force on a merry hunt.

My crack engineer squad takes another 3 men as casualties before pulling down below the ridgeline. This is from a hidden American squad in front of him. This platoon has a HQ unit, which was targeted by 3 88’s and is now down to 2 men and a tad nervous as is the squad just below him. This American platoon is a bit exposed and should start pulling back if I can apply some more DF on them.

The town continues to take artillery fire and takes down a weakened building with no men in it. If Tero loses this game it will be in part down to his poor use of artillery. It really has been wasted and done little. If he had prepped the woods my men were in he would have been in the town drinking at the bars by now. I know he has problems sighting the woods but even un-sighted would have been better than nothing. As it is now, his troops are too close and he can not risk it. With the amount of time he has he could have held back the attack to allowed for this to happen. He has now made comments about the number of guns and that this might win it for me. Bang on the money I have to get leverage from those guns or I am dead meat. Fire on lads, fire on.

The next few tuns were taken over the weekend and have merged into the next few paragraphs. On the right flank I ambush a squad of infantry and a suspected HQ unit rushing through the open heading to the town. This was performed by my solitary squad of green Volks well out of command of my HQ, which had to pull back with the other squad out of harms way. I hope to capitalise on this and send my men to get closer but they take DF from the suspected Sherman and a new squad of infantry. They break and run. At least I caused maybe three losses and slowed his progress. The LMG unit helps with the ambush but is also broken by the Sherman. It looks like I have a reduced squad (1 man representation) a near full squad and a HQ on the way from my right to the Town. They have a lot of ground to cover so I have some time yet.

The remaining American forces are spotted moving forward led by the CO HQ. This is moving towards my new Vet SS platoon and the Volks HQ with reduced Squad backed up by two Shrecks. If I can get a good ambush this will be enough to stop this thrust and throw it back. Now that I know the CO HQ has moved away from my badly reduced SS platoon I shall move them back to come behind the Americans moving forward. That should help break him quicker.

The Reduced Volks Platoon on his baseline continue searching for Arty Spotters to mug. I se that he is redeploying a MG to counter that threat. I hope my men cause enough of a nuisance to disrupt him further.

The battle to the right above the town between my Volks platoon and an American platoon is progressing well. I lose two squads but in return I have destroyed one of his, reduced another to one man and the third is down to three men. A flamer that was moving over to support the attack was mown down by my Crack HMG team (now down to three men) and while he has his HQ unit still intact I have two HMG’s pouring 150 FP a turn on the units remaining.

The other area of concern is where my other Volks platoon was positioned. Multiple reduced enemy squads now occupy these positions and they are firing on my troops in the Church. I target the area with 75mm Arty and this starts falling. Once I have suppressed his troops there my SS men in the Church will sally forth and cut down any survivors. Well that is the plan. The SS platoon is still intact despite continually arty falling in the area. The last turn I hear an ominous sound and it is bloody big shells coming in. I guess 155mm at least. This has been a field day for American Artillery. 81mm (2 at least) 1 x 105mm and 1 x 155mm would be my guess. If any of this hits I am in the poo. So far I have been lucky.

My Crack Engineers squad on the left side of the hill above the Town get taken apart by his Vet Squad and I lose one squad outright. I do however notice that his squad is most probably out of C&C and has his head down. I send the two remaining crack squads and after a volley of satchel charges the American squad hits the dirt but not before killing 4 of my men. I send one squad, which has run out of ammo into HTH range, and the other provides supporting fire. That finishes off that American squad and his platoon on my left has now a 2-man HQ unit and a 5-man squad with another that has broken and is fleeing. I could win that battle if I can get an 88mm on target.

Talking of my 88’s. I lose another to accurate 60mm fire and that means I have only three left. One has not been spotted yet and I am keeping him hidden to help out on my far-left flank. The other two are known and one is a good position while the other will only come into it’s own if he gets into the Town. These two guns are under threat from his limited forces on my right flank.

His 60mm mortars all seem to be on the left flank and I destroy one of them. The other three come under fire from an 88 towards the end of the latest turn. I just hope to get a good blast to take the two out at the same time. I see another flamer moving up on the left flank and I hope I can deal with him like the three that have been wiped out so far.

Bad news for my Marder III. It engages a ½ track and misses. The ½ track has a gun in tow so I target the area with HE in the hope of a knock out. What was just behind it was a TD or Sherman and this gets a good hit on me and puts me out of action. I was using that Marder to plug the gap on the left where he can get vehicles through and behind the town. I had also two 88’s but one of those died from mortar fire. My remaining 88 are hidden and I hope to get a clear shot on his Tank before losing it.

The other hope is my AT gun, but that is slowly being pushed up the hill as it bailed from the truck too early. Hmm bad mistake on my part. I should have kept it with the truck longer. I hope I get some more armour before the game is out. Which is about 14 turns to go.

My HQ unit and sniper on the far left are playing a game of dodge with maybe a pursuing HQ and Squad? I am pulling them back to a large bit of wood with quite a bit of open ground to reach it. I will make a short stand there before pulling back up the hill. I still have my Crack CO HQ in the area and this will be used to control my Volks squad and Shreck team on the Hill with my main Flag.

So far I have given him a bloody nose and I might have done enough to win. If I can top a second tank and stop him getting into the Town it might be enough. His threat to me is on my right flank and I am hoping that my SS Vets can work their magic. He might think I am weak on that side and come charging in, especially after seeing my two units flee from his path. This is of course only valid if I have seen all his attackers. I think I have but if he has any untouched platoons then that will maybe push me over the edge.

The next turn I am hit by yet more heavy shells on the town. One grouping of shells takes out two light tall buildings and a small building in one go. Not a problem as I had no men in there and the men in the Church seem to be bearing up ok. My Crack HMG crew left a badly damaged building into one which was not damaged. That new one is set on fire and they have to lug the MG out of the building. They are getting a bit pissed off carrying all that stuff between the two of them. The Americans up the hill from this part of my defence have two one man squads and a HQ unit with a Zooka team. I should be able to hold them off with my HQ unit, two reduced HMG’s and a 5 man Green Volks Squad.

The other battle in the woods above the church has seen no movement this turn. The Americans are slowly being reduced and my 75mm Arty must be keeping their heads down. A Vet Engineer squad breaks and runs out into the open to be helped on the way by my HMG crew in the Church. My SS Squad fix bayonets and get ready to rush the woods as the last of the 75mm shells hit. I know there are at least three reduced American squads and a couple of HQ units up there. They should be on the verge of collapse after the two turns of Artillery hitting them.

My Crack engineers reduce the American HQ down to one man before pulling back below the crest of the hill. The two squads and the HQ will join the rush on woods with my SS squads. Being hit from two sides should help break what he has left in that section of the woods. I am a bit nervous as a section of woods I have to move through have been hit by maybe 81mm Mortar rounds.

One of my 88’s takes out two mortars on the far left flank and I think there is only now one active. This one I think has used quite a few rounds on my other guns. The TD on the far left turns out to be a Sherman and is now on the road and just about to crest into view of my 88 which killed the other Sherman. He has three AP rounds left and I target that section of road with HE so it is on target straight away. The HQ unit commanding that 88 was moved to try and control two but lost control of this key gun. I rush him back into command range, as its Combat bonus might be crucial.

The other 88 helped break the Vet Engineers in the wood, and is now switched to two AT teams on the edge of those same woods. The other 88 on my left is still hidden and will remain so until I get better than 26% on the Sherman. I think the next turn will see it open up. My Sniper and HQ unit are now safely in the woods and being pursued by a Battalion HQ and another as yet unknown infantry marker. This confirms my view that I am under a Battalion attack. It is also good news that he has his main HQ so far away from the action and not able to rally his troops. It does mean that there are two CO HQ’s not yet accounted for. Mind you one of those could be the other Infantry unit in those woods.

On the right flank I lose my Vet Shreck team and in turn ID a reduced squad, which will now be in command of the CO HQ on that side. This means I should be able to move my reduced SS platoon up behind this attack and help break it when it runs into my fully rested SS platoon. That action should kick off during the next turn.

Near his base line my Volks platoon with no ammo (Low) is getting into a position to mug his MG team and hopefully some sodding arty spotters. I guess he might have a surprise for me but I have not run into it yet.

His reduced platoon moving from the right to the town makes no further move and I am going to have to be careful with them. I hope the swamp and open ground they have to cover will cause them some grief. The Sherman continues to pound my fleeing LMG and is hidden out of view from my guns. If he only knew how little AP rounds I have he might risk it? I do have some insurance with 2 shreck teams as yet hidden and two in the rubble of the town hiding, if a bit dusty from all the shells falling.

I am feeling a bit more confidant that I might pull this off. If I am really lucky I will reduce his moral level to an Auto Surrender level, but that is a pipe dream and I will settle for a draw. I hope that he gets no more men or vehicles as this will upset the plans I have. If I get some tanks that will be a big bonus and surely break him.

Hussah! 1st shot hit and wipe out of the Sherman. The gun is a beauty and has helped secure my left flank. The tank is a burning wreck and my gun then engages the remaining mortar, which is now laying rounds down on it. I hope that next turn that mortar will be history. I think that is the mortar team, which put paid to two guns already so it should be low on ammo.

The far left not much else happens, his Battalion HQ is out in the open and my sniper has 3 rounds left to try and dissuade it from coming closer. His Vet HQ and reduced squad make no move forward and my Crack Engineers bayonet some engineers found in the woods above the church. That is another of his squads gone for good and a bit more of morale hit. My SS squad don’t fair as well and lose a few men in the rush up the hill from the Church. They do however reduce the Engineer squad down to one man and next turn should see him being finished off.

The zooka teams at the edge of the woods are not too happy as my other 88 gives them a few close rounds. It looks like they will be bugging out soon. On the battle to the front of the town things are a bit more dangerous. While he does not have much strength left to charge me with his two men and HQ unit I see three-infantry markers race towards my BarbWire line. If this is indeed a fresh platoon, or two squads and a Co HQ then I have some trouble. They will either have to go through the barb wire or cover some open ground and I hope my two LMG'’ and reduced squad and lone HMG can halt there advance. There is a wall for them to cross as well so I stand some chance of stopping them.

My Volks platoon on his base line get closer to his MG and two unknown Inf Markers. These could well be spotters and this is a bit of a gamble but worth it if this is the case. Next turn should see my men close to bayonet range. I hope to get in some quick hits.

My reduced SS platoon continues their move towards and behind his advancing CO HQ and supporting Infantry. I will start running soon as I now know he has most of his men forward. This is because the last unknown marker popped up in front of one of my SS squads. I kill one of the men and next turn I have over 200 FP vs. his 130. I also move the rest of my squads into range and hope to bring some devastating fire on this squad. This is going to be a tough fight but I hope I have the edge on him, if not a hole will appear in my right flank. With 12 turns to go I can not afford any holes at the moment. He is relying on this flank to silence my guns so he can bring in his remaining tank. I need to keep this out of his reach. He has three squads all reduced and I have three at full strength.

The next turn I order my Crack Engineers to continue sorting out his men in the woods above the Church. My SS platoon is now a bit battered and will be positioned around the church to deal with anyone who breaks through. That SS HQ has some good bonuses and he is my lynch pin.

My CO HQ near my hidden 88 is sent forward to the town while the hidden 88 targets some ground near where the American light gun was last spotted. With some good shots I should put it out of action and might even tag the ½ track there as well. The gun then can start weighing into his infantry on the left flank and help close down that avenue of approach from him.

The key battles are this new threat for the town and the right flank. My AT gun is still being pushed up the hill and I have made a big mistake pushing that through the woods. With luck it will not matter but it is a point to note for future games. The CO HQ near my star 88 is ordered upto help in the battle of the right flank.

The next turn on the far-left flank my sniper misses all three times at a target out in the open what a waste. My HQ unit is ordered to sneak and hide and ignores an opportunity of nailing a CO HQ that charges across the open ground to it, what a waste. I think I am going to be hard pushed to hold off the 8 and 6 man units with my 3 man Vet Platoon HQ. I order my Crack CO HQ, which was making for town back to the left flank. I order the Volks squad down from the hills to join him.

My 88 opens up from its hidden position and scores a hit on the “light gun” and takes it out. The mortar going for my star gun is taken out as well. One of the Zooka teams is wiped out and the other breaks and runs with one man left.

The action in the woods above the church does not go as well as expected. I finish off his Engineer unit but take a few casualties, while a 5-man squad in a foxhole reduces one of my crack engineers down to one man. My Crack HQ unit reduces a Vet HQ down to one man and if he loses this unit next go that might break the other units near by? The other Crack engineer unit is in a foxhole with 6 Americans who seem to have their heads down. Next turn I hope I can finish these men off and toss my two satchel charges over to any remaining yanks. I guess my arty did not cause as much damage as I wanted.

The SS unit pulls back to the church and yet more large artillery rounds fall. Surely this is his last turn of artillery. It does a bit of damage but I still have a chance of holding the town. The battle in the other woods achieves little and I ID a full squad of new men at the edge of my Barbwire. I would guess two squads and a CO HQ, but maybe it is a full platoon. If so I will lose my remaining units at the front of the town. I expect a rush next turn if he has used up his artillery.

The Sherman has moved forward but is not in LOS of my guns. He is in range of a Shreck but at extreme range I shall hold off until I get at least 30% or I am desperate. My Volks men charge the MG at his baseline and discover three mortar crews and the MG. I think I will lose that duel as my men have their heads down. Ahh well that was a gamble and it has cost me a few points.

His force of two squads (1 reduced) and a HQ unit move through the lower woods and force my broken Volks squad further back. The ambush in the high woods on the right flank goes well and I reduce one squad down to one man and wipe another out. He has two squads left and a CO HQ unit. This is up against three SS squads and a Volks squad. If I play my cards right I should finish these off and be able to move down to the lower woods. I have my reduced SS platoon about two turns behind these Americans and I order them to run so that I can finish that duel quickly.

The assessment is still good and baring any new Americans I have a good grasp on this game. If I can pop his last Sherman he will surely give up and go home?

The weekend roles the next few turn into the next few paragraphs.

The ambush on my right flank is an outstanding success. I lose maybe three men and wipe out his CO HQ, a MMG, and the remaining two 12 men squads. This is done in a few turns and is because he has his men disjointed from one another where as my men are working in a close unit and hence over power him quickly one by one. My reduced SS platoon plays their role by mopping up his survivors from behind. These men are now sent down the hill to deal with the reduced platoon moving towards my 88.

This reduced American platoon has dealt with my broken Volks squad and seems to be halted while some heavy artillery falls just ahead of them on and near my star 88. This continued use of artillery is astounding the amount he has been given is staggering and it has on the whole been totally wasted.

The small action at his base line with my reduced Volks platoon goes badly and my men are wiped out. If they had ammo then it might have gone better. They were also green quality and broke fairly quickly. I perhaps should not have done that but I justify it as a heroic commander leading foolhardy men. . In reality it will have cost me few points and if it has distracted his forces then it will have helped.

On the far left flank my Vet HQ is taken out by the Battalion HQ and CO HQ. These are now somewhere in the wood and might be on the way to my left most 88. If so I have a crack CO HQ and some reinforcements on the way. It is at this stage that I am glad to have split off one squad from my right flank and moved it back to the main VL. With these men and the CO HQ I should be able to hold him and maybe even wipe him out. I send the crew of a knocked out 88 down there. 6 Vets with 15 rounds of pistol ammo will help out number him.

The battle above the church in the woods swings my way and I manage to capture two MMG crews (1 man each) and wipe out all the remaining squads and HQ units. I have a 3 man Crack squad with 4 man Crack HQ with no ammo who will hunt down the remaining American Vet HQ unit which is down to one man. I have a 4 man Volks HQ and a reduced Volks squad; these will push up over the hill and retake my lost flag at the top of the hill. I see he has moved some crew units up that way, I hope to mop them up as well.

His men in the woods to the left of my barbwire are still hunkered down and not pressing the attack. Artillery is still falling in the town and he still has some large calibre shells hitting and wiping buildings out and not a lot else.

The men on the right of the barbwire take a treeburst from the last round of my 75mm spotter. I think this has reduced one squad by a few men. He has three in the woods and then lo and behold another squad pops up in a wooden building inside the Town. I had not seen him enter the Town and it certainly made me sit up when he appeared. This would lead me to believe that he has a fresh platoon and the HQ unit is in the woods.

Well he did have a fresh platoon as my start 88 still has HE and managed in one turn to reduce the building he was in to rubble and his 3 man marker shows as 1 man and it is running away at speed from the Town. I have the edge of the wood where he will have to run out marked with an ambush marker and the men in the church are all set waiting for his last rush.

The tank helped by his stealth infantry squad spot my green Zhreck team hidden in their foxhole. After a few rounds of HE my men have had enough and leave. I still have a hidden Zhreck in a building in the town and a Vet unit on the edge as yet unspotted. If the tank moves a bit closer I should get some good odds on him. At this rate I could get moral auto surrender especially if he loses his last tank.

The next few turns not a lot happens as the action is dying down and there is less than ten turns left. I finish off his Vet HQ in the woods above the church and my Volks platoon run into his pistol armed mortar teams near the small flag on that hill.

155mm rounds continue to fall in the Town and finally put the panic on my men at the front. I also notice that the Sherman has thrown a track and is now stuck in position. This is good news, as it will surely put the dampers on any attack. His platoon at the wire stay put and is waiting for the 155 to finish. I am continually staggered at the amount of rounds he has got and how he has wasted them.

His BHQ and CHQ make a mad rush towards my 88 on the far left. I guess he did not realise I had men covering that gun. He runs right across my Crack HQ and Volks squad plus a LMG. His CHQ is wiped out and the BHQ is down to one man. I was told that these units had ignored or lost orders and it would have been perhaps best that they had stayed put.

On the right flank I use the last few smoke rounds from my 88’s to try and hide the forth-coming battle between my fresh SS platoon and his remaining men. This might not be necessary as he rushes his men across the open into some woods closer to my middle 88. These woods seem to be outside his protective cover of the Sherman.

I see another Infantry marker (maybe a straight HQ) heading towards the Town. It is a tad unfortunate that he is on a path to run over my hidden Zhreck man. The battle is in decline now and his main force is a badly reduced platoon in the woods near my 88. I estimate this to be maybe a 10-man squad, a HQ squad and a 4-man squad.

At the front of the Town I estimate he has a HQ unit with an 8-man squad and maybe a full 12-man squad as well. I notice that a 2-man squad has recovered and is being raced up the hill towards the small flag above the Town. He seems to have not spotted my lone Zhreck, which is moving around the rear of the Sherman.

The SS platoon near my 88’s will finish off his platoon there and then head back for his rear line units. My SS platoon in the Town while damaged still has plenty of ammo and is TRP’d onto where his platoon will run into the open to get into the Town. My Crack engineers (4 man HQ, and 3 man squad) will move up the hill to help deal with those pesky mortar crews with pistols. If they have no HQ then they should break. I hope my 4 man Volks HQ and 4 man Squad can hold them off until my Engineers get up there. The engineers still have two satchel charges. If I get any more reinforcements then that will be a welcome bonus.

The next turn his BHQ is wiped out and my men there are sent over to the Town. The Crack Engineers sent up the hill help deal with the three-crew units and they start to break. It is a tad unfortunate that one of my engineers takes a bullet and he happened to have both satchel charges with him. I have enough men up there to finish him off. He has no HQ unit (visible) and he should start running up against my two HQ units and remaining men.

Down in the Town the long waited push into it has started. His reduced platoon makes a run through the wire. This is fatal as the wire is in sight of my men in the Church and the HMG’s and SS men open up on the three units. Within a turn he loses the HQ unit and the other two are down to less than 4 men each, stuck in the wire.

The other Americans in the woods move closer but again there are few of them and my men at the front of the Town keep their heads down. A Zhreck man at the rear is stalking the Sherman. He panics as several 88 rounds over shoot a MMG team and land in his section of the woods. I guess he will not be taking out the Sherman.

An American HQ unit running towards the Town passes my Zhreck team hidden in the valley. He then starts taking 6% shots on the Sherman who spots him and responds with HE. I have to pull him out next turn and he has one round left. Bugger I guess he will not be taking out the Sherman. I have a full team in the Town and he will have to start moving forward.

On the right flank the reduce platoon of Americans wrong foots my SS men and moves to another section of woods. I can not rush him as there is too much open ground and the Sherman covers it. I pull the SS men back the long way through some woods to try and get in front of the Americans. As a holding measure my CO HQ is in front and I rush him into HTH range. He loses two men in the process but ID’s an American unit with just one rifleman. The other unit will be a HQ and the third must have in the region of 10 men left. If my HQ can hold them for a few turns the SS men will finish them off.

He must be close to auto surrender as my morale is 44% and he has suffered far worse than I have. For the competition he really should be trying to minimise losses and all he is doing is giving me more points. His artillery has finally stopped and my ears have stopped ringing. Time to move my SS men out of the Church.

The next turn the two units left in the wire break and run back through the wire. The HQ unit on the right flank enters a light building, which is promptly dropped by my 88 and AT gun. My defenders then finish off the HQ unit.

The units in the woods near the wire lost a couple of AT teams and a new MG showed up. These will be wiped out by my SS platoon, which has now moved forward out of the church.

On the right flank I see that he is moving his mortars forward towards the Town. His final threat is dealt with quickly and he loses another HQ unit and squad while the remaining squad of 12 men is cut down to 4 and pulls out of the woods for his rear lines. Some of my SS men give chase, while others head for the Town.

My Zhreck team lets loose its last shot and misses while the green team in the town gets into a decent position to let loose. They have a 26% chance of a hit. So maybe the tank is soon to be doomed. My team at the rear of the tank recovers from the 88 rounds but is removed by a tank crew in the area before he can get into position.

On the hill above the Town a futile game of cat and mouse is being played. Tero is using his crews to try and dispute the flag. My men without ammo are trying to get them to break and run. My Crack HQ and intact Volks squad are sent running up the hill to try and short that situation out. I get some e-mail saying that he is working to greater plan. I can see no advantage to this unless he does manage to dispute a flag. However this in my opinion is outweighed by the chance that he will trip an auto surrender which will cost him more than he can gain by disputing a small flag.

My moral is now 40% and there are two turns left. This will be a victory for me but by how much depends on if I can trip a surrender or he manages to get a disputed flag or two. Of course he might have sneaked some men close to a flag but I will have to live with that.

The penultimate turn finally brought the game to an end. My Zhreck team in the woods near the wire managed to top the stranded Sherman. It took 3 shots but finally it cooked off. The flag above the Town I finally managed to get my Crack CO HQ up there with the Volks squad with ammo this put paid to his game of crew dispute.

My SS platoon from the Church came behind the MG and mopped up what was left attacking the town while the other SS troops moved in to finish off the mortar teams running towards the Town.

The final result saw all the remaining Americans throw up their hands and walk my way saying “Don’t Shoot, Don’t Shoot”. It would have been far better for them to have walked off the map quite a few turns ago.

Result a Major victory to the Germans.

Allied .......vs .....Germans

388 (86)................208 (51)

69 Captured

6 Mortars

1 Gun...................3 Guns

5 Vehicles..............1 Vehicle

Men OK

0.......................140

Score

27......................72

[John Kettler]

Holien,

And I thought I wrote long AARs! Quite a read of a victory won in a fight I lost.

Regards,

John Kettler

[Holien]

Hi JK,

This time I wrote as I did each turn trying to put down the thought process.

It is a long read and I am surprised that anyone reads them as they can be boring if you don't have any knowledge of the map etc...

Anyway I see you did heaps better in this tourney and you had some great victories.

I do think this scenario favours the Allies but as always the results prove otherwise.

H

[von Lucke]

Originally posted by CombinedArms:

I got (so far, I think) the top score in this scenario as an Axis defender, and I did it in large part because my opponent underused his artillery. EFFECTIVE use of artillery is one of the main differences defining stronger players. In this case, the artillery is a potentially effective counter against both the 88s and the infantry in the woods: possibly the only effective counter.

Yes, I took out every one of my opponents 88's (except the one I forgot about --- until it nailed my last Sherman) with artillery fire. And yes, I moved one FO upt to the edge of the woods on the hill overlooking the town. He had a commanding view of every German gun emplacement from there. I was a bit nervous about it, because there was a broken VolksSturm squad hiding in some scattered trees not 75m away (though without LOS), and I kept expecting him to be taken out any second.

IMHO, the American plethora of artillery (81mm / 105mm / 155mm) was the key to winning this scenario.

Oh, and I would like to mention that, in an ironic piece of pay-back, I nailed my opponents one AFV (the Marder), with my one field gun (the 57mm).

[ October 05, 2002, 01:35 PM: Message edited by: von Lucke ]

[Kanonier Reichmann]

OK, I know, I know, this drags on but once I got started with this AAR I couldn't stop. And you thought War & Peace was long!

Head for the Hills AAR by Kanonier Reichmann

When I first opened up this scenario I became instantly suspicious due to it being described as an “assault” rather than an “Allied assault”. With the meagre forces at my initial disposal consisting of one ’45 pattern Infantry company, 1 Engineer platoon, 3 75mm Shermans, a pipsqueak 57mm AT gun, 105mm & 81mm spotters, M3 halftrack and a highly useful unarmed Jeep I thought this was a joke! There was not a snowballs chance in hell of assaulting the battlefield with this paltry force and I firmly believed that the game would develop into a trap with a troop of Panthers probably appearing at some stage to decisively turn the battle into an Allied rout.

So, with conspiracy theories firmly held I cautiously advanced my three Rifle platoons eastwards on the right flank, under cover of 60mm smoke and the 3 Shermans blasting any patch of woods that looked like possible places for an ambush. The Engineer platoon was held back a bit and more centrally located so that aligned with the patches of woods that partially extended towards the American jump point and to the south west of Serrig. On turn 5 I received overwhelming reinforcements on my far left flank consisting of 2, not 3 but 2 squads with their HQ, a Bazooka team and a flamethrower team. Well, I just knew that this force would be sufficient to overwhelm any German opposition found in its path towards Hill 182…NOT! My initial suspicions of a trap gave way to an absolutely firmly held belief!

Luckily, by turn 7 the rest of the Infantry company found its way onto the map as a reinforcement on my left flank but inexplicably, no third squad for my depleted initial reinforcement platoon. At this point I started to consider that perhaps the scenario designer was not about setting up the Allies for a big fall since I now possessed a force that at least had a chance to assault the map with a modicum of confidence. By turn 9 my right flank company had reached positions within the initial patches of woods. One platoon was in the woodline roughly south west of the large patch of scattered trees that marked the beginning of the southern pass through the woods. The 2nd platoon was cautiously making its way through the large wooded area to the north east of the scattered trees while the 3rd platoon was reaching the top of the more centrally located smaller patch of woods that is roughly aligned to the Hill 178 objective area. My losses at this stage were 1 man from an Engineer squad while Tabpub’s scouts consisting of a VS sharpshooter and a Green LMG team had been encountered and destroyed. The unfortunate part from my point of view was that my opponent pretty much knew exactly where my main force was while I knew sweet FA about where his was.

I had decided at this point to send my Shermans through the southern pass in the woods as I was hoping Tabpub would not expect that seeing as the bottleneck was mined by daisy-chain mines. Luckily, my forces had spotted these mines fairly early on so I had dispatched one Engineer squad onto the back of a Sherman to be rushed over to the spot where the mines were placed. In the meantime, my infantry company on the left flank was steadily advancing towards the initial woodline to their east for the loss of one man from 1 of the 2 flamethrower teams while dealing with 2 LMG teams with extreme prejudice. Unfortunately, once again Tabpub knew pretty well exactly what I had on that flank and therefore, how best to deal with it as it attempts to drive towards Hill 182. Mind you, at this stage my intention was to use most of this left flank force to swing right into the northern reaches of the town under a smokescreen, once the heights around Hill 178 had been secured for a simultaneous push from the south towards Serrig. I still had no great hopes about securing Hill 182 with what I had on that flank minus any armour support while I would have settled for control of Hill 178 and the town of Serrig to try and secure a minor victory through inflicting greater casualties.

On turn 10 was pretty much when it started to get hot and heavy. A platoon of VS SMG’s were waiting to greet my infantry platoon working their way up the more isolated patch of woods and roughly aligned with the Hill 178 objective on the right flank. One American squad was severely dealt with from fires from all 3 VS squads located within the edge of the western most treeline near the heights of Hill 178. Fortunately, my other 2 squads in the platoon were able to give a good account of themselves by punishing one of the VS squads while causing a casualty each in the other 2. While this firefight was going on I was able to advance the 2nd platoon immediately south of the battle further eastward so that it was not far from shooting and on the southern flank of it. The next turn I predicted that the VS wouldn’t hang around due to their nature so I rushed my initial platoon forward into the enemy foxholes while advancing the 2nd platoon towards the fighting from the south.

As expected, the VS platoon broke off the engagement but not before I was lucky enough to rush my company HQ forwards to a point where it could fire at a previously unseen enemy VS HQ so that when it ran back to the next large patch of woods formed around the objective, it was gunned down the moment it was on a small patch of open ground between the woods it was exiting and some scattered trees it was about to cross. Also on the same turn, I rethought my strategy with having all 3 Shermans down the right flank so reversed and turned around one of the Shermans to move quickly back towards the centre of the map to provide a 2nd option in attack. By turn 13 I had two platoons located in woods near Hill 178 but separated by a strip of scattered trees from the objective’s woods area. A 2nd firefight had erupted between what seemed like a fresh platoon of VS SMG squads in foxholes located at the edge of the woods east of my position and across from the strip of scattered trees. Luckily I hadn’t rushed my 1st platoon recklessly across the poorer cover of the scattered trees so an exchange of shooting took place between 3 squads of 1st platoon, my Coy. HQ & 1 squad from the 2nd platoon, augmented by a later arriving 30 calibre MG. After 1 turn of exchanging fire it seemed pretty clear that this new group of Volksturm had also had enough, judging by their keenness to vacate their cover and head east.

Towards the end of turn 13 I noted a third platoon of unidentified enemy infantry appear to the south east of the firefight in a different tract of woods separated from the objective flag by the previously mentioned scattered trees as it extended over the hill to the east. Their arrival was greeted by return fire from the 2nd squad of my no. 2 platoon located in woods to the west plus their accompanying HQ and 30 cal. MG located on a small patch of rough terrain nearby. Although my squad took a beating by fire from all three enemy squads I could tell that the riposte was also hitting its mark as one enemy squad was down to 2 figures and the other two had both reeled back at least once from hits as far as I could tell. Next turn I tried to flush them out with area fire from a nearby flamethrower but it couldn’t quite reach the tile they were on so I was simply hoping for a scatter into their woods location. It proved fruitless as this enemy platoon were bugging out right from the opening of the turn, no doubt from retreat orders. I was able to pin down one of the retreating units however and reduce it down to 3 men from a 9 man SS squad as I found out towards the end of the turn. By this time I was pretty confidant that Hill 178 would be mine as I was advancing quickly towards it from the west and south west with enemy infantry continually pulling back from dug in locations. In addition, I had my 3rd platoon working its way in a north easterly direction through the forest south of the objective to reach a position behind the flag and attempt to trap any retreating forces that may appear as they head east. As it turned out they were too late on the scene but it was worth a try.

Progress on my left flank had been slow but steady to reach a point roughly in line with the roadblock with one platoon close to the northern edge and the other 2 platoons making their way into some forest on top of a hill with a good view of Serrig to the south east. Come turn 14 I planned to move both platoons to a patch of forest below it which formed one side to a twin wire obstacle, constricting movement through a small lightly wooded pass. This is when all hell broke loose with 81 mm mortar shells raining on my relatively concentrated forces as they attempted to sneak through some intervening scattered trees to the woods below. On top of this, 2 unidentified guns opened up, one from the woods in front of Hill 183 to the east and one from across the valley beside the north/south dirt road that links up with the main paved road. Judging by the casualties these guns were causing I guessed they were 88’s since what was once a fully functioning platoon became a quivering mess of panicky squads as they tried to get out of harms way. In the space of 2 turns, one platoon was down to 6 men, another 7 men with the third relatively unscathed at 10 but the real blow was the HQ being reduced to 1 man and therefore this force had suddenly been reduced to a marginally effective unit in a very short space of time. I had also lost a 60mm mortar from 81mm airbursts while an accompanying 6 man Coy. HQ was also down to 4 effectives.

To counter this unexpected turn of events I had all of 2 60mm mortars that could get some sort of LOS to the 2 enemy guns. One was located on the high patch of woods where the troops were being pounded to the north east of Serrig but further back into the forest with a very vague LOS to a point only nearby the 88 across the valley by the dirt road. My other 60mm mortar was still near to the western edge of the map placed in woods, with some sort of view of the valley and Hill 182 but under the command of an excellent HQ with stealth, firepower, command & morale bonuses. I opened up with both mortars on each gun not expecting much and lo and behold, the mortar by the map edge scored a direct hit with its 3rd or 4th round silencing the enemy gun near Hill 183. The other mortar in the hills without the direct LOS to its target managed only to land some rounds in the general vicinity of its target but to no great effect. At the same time I was attempting to suppress the roadside located 88 with 30cal. MG fire from a position closer to the edge of the woods from where the mortar was. This turned out to be a good idea as it sufficiently distracted the 88 to retarget it on the next turn (15) so my pinned down infantry squads could try and make the woods located below and hopefully out of harms way from the gunfire. Although my MG paid the ultimate price for its suppression attempt it probably saved more men from my squads than the loss of the 5 man team plus, I was able to knock out this 88 from a lucky explosion nearby to its foxhole towards the end of the turn.

Also on this turn, a third 88 opened up from its position closer to Hill 183’s objective flag and higher up than its defunct companion 30 metres away. My squirming troops received further casualties as they crawled their way through scattered trees to the woods below, desperately trying to get out of LOS however my 60mm mortar by the western map edge under the excellent supervision of its accompanying HQ managed to knock it out through direct targeting early into the 16th turn. Despite copping significant casualties to at least 4 squads within 2 platoons (one was down to 5 men from the original 12) I was still relatively happy with the exchange as I felt at the time that all of Tabpub’s major gun assets had been dealt with. The only downside was the fact that I felt there was now a big question mark whether I could use the remnants of these 2 platoons to storm Serrig from the northern approaches so I gradually formed the opinion (after some more turns elapsed) that they really needed to be switched to heading for Hill 182 which I considered much more “doable”.

By turn 17 my lone Engineer squad had finally managed to remove one of the two daisy-chain mines to allow my 2 Shermans through the pass unscathed while I scouted ahead with a spare Company HQ to be followed up in due course by the Engineer squad. Hill 178 was showing in my possession with my 2 platoons trying to mop up VS stragglers as they swept through the heights. A couple of VS squads with their accompanying HQ were still able to mete out some punishment from their fall back foxhole positions but in the end, weight of numbers and superior elan of the American squads won the day.

It was at the commencement of turn 17 that I received a further rude shock when my trailing Engineer platoon on the right flank (minus 1 squad on mine clearing duties) tried to work its way across to some woods on a slope just to south west of Serrig that links up to the main body of woods located west of the town. A 4th bleedin’ 88 took one of squads under fire and very quickly reduced it to 4 men in no time flat from its position across the valley in woods to the south east of Hill 182, in effect firing across the roofs of the town buildings. Unfortunately that same turn I had decided to move fast my halftrack along the open heights to the south west of the town roughly where the Engineers were, with the intention of moving it through the scattered trees pass that allowed access to Hill 178 but not much further. Naturally, this halftrack did not last long but it did provide some useful information before dying. A 5th “gun” revealed itself from across the valley as well but some 40 metres or so south east of the previously revealed gun, in order to nail my halftrack.

With this new information I was finally able to use my puny 57mm AT gun to good effect. It had been sitting around in a patch of woods south of the main paved road ever since the beginning of the scenario (awaiting the troop of Panthers perhaps?) and now it had an opportunity to target a spot right alongside the first revealed 88 but not quite able to directly target it. By about the seventh round of continuous harassment in the one turn from 57mm explosions the gun crew were finally driven from its position. I was somewhat chuffed as I felt there was no way that particular asset was ever going to prove useful but it just shows how wrong you can be. Unfortunately for me however, I had absolutely nothing that could take out the 5th probable 88 gun across the valley except for my 105mm spotter that had been accompanying the Engineer platoon. Praying all the time that it hadn’t been ID’d as it moved into the woods above Serrig to the south west I commenced targeting the woods where the offending gun was located. However, I had a 2 minute time delay before effective fire could be brought to bear.

In the meantime a VS Panzerschreck team had appeared close by the spotter but on the other side of a crest with a 30cal. MG I had moved just before in between both units. It became almost a comedy for the next 3 turns or so when my 30cal. under the command influence of the Engineer HQ with a firepower bonus blasted away at the Panzerschreck team from about 30 metres away. Due to the closeness of the enemy the MG crew were furiously hammering away at the team with rapid bursts but all to no effect! Finally, after 3 turns had elapsed with a gun jam in between the enemy team was finally eliminated but in the process the 30 cal. only had about 6 bursts of ammo left from a virtual full load to start with.

Turn 17 also saw my first engagement with enemy infantry on my left flank as my full strength third platoon cautiously made its way towards Hill 182. On reaching the western edge of the wooded area that covers the hill, one squad came under enemy fire from a VS SMG squad. My other 2 squads were out of position to the south of this firefight so I quickly had to relocate them, one to head north east into the woods on the hill and the other to make a beeline north and then hook up to the east in a flanking attempt. This worked fine in a fashion when I saw the VS squad turn tail from its entrenched position as well as a 2nd squad alongside it that I didn’t even know about but was no doubt waiting in ambush. Unfortunately I let the blood rush to my head and charged my squad that attempted the left hook towards the recently vacated foxhole, thinking to exploit the situation. Sure enough, he ran slap bang into an ambush on his left and closer to the northern map edge. Although making the foxhole position, the squad had been reduced to 4 effectives from its previous complement of 11.

This left me with only 2 decent squads, the untouched HQ & a flamethrower to tackle this position against god knows how big an enemy force. Due to my desperation I decided to also throw in a 5 man crew that was once my 60mm mortar before having its tubes blown away from an earlier 81mm airburst. I was hoping that Tabpub would think that it’s a full blown infantry squad and consider discretion the better part of valour by withdrawing. One final ace up my sleeve was my lone Sherman over on the other side of the valley but in a nice hull down position in heights to the south west of Serrig. I ordered it to area target any troop concentrations seen on the heights of Hill 182, which it did to fairly good effect.

In order to start to wrap up this AAR the bottom line from this engagement around Hill 182 was that 2 platoons of Volksturm were pretty much wiped out for the total loss of 1 squad and about 8 men between the remaining 2 squads. The flamethrower helped out by panicking a couple of enemy squads with a withering burst of flame to allow my 2 ammo depleted squads, HQ and crew team to mop up the remnants of the enemy force. By turn 19 or thereabouts my 105mm artillery had managed to hit their mark and take out the 5th 88 across the valley while my two platoons around Hill 178 completed their mopping up of the two VS platoons with the third platoon working its way to the east of the hill into a separate patch of woods. Now was the time to attempt a sweep from the heights above the town while simultaneously attacking form the west with a newly arrived Engineer platoon complete with a 155mm spotter.

By turn 24 or so my reinforcing Engineer platoon had made their way into the woods west of the town while the remainder of my infantry company in and around Hill 178 had made their way down the woods line to the east of the flag with 2 platoons in one section of woods roughly south of the Church while the third relatively untouched and underutilised platoon was further east in an area of woods on the eastern face of the hill close to a largish patch of scattered trees. Fierce resistance was met by a full platoon of infantry in woods immediately to the south of the church with one squad gunned down from multiple fires. While this was going on a 2nd platoon of enemy infantry had formed a fire line in woods further east of Hill 178 but lower down the eastern face of the hill. In order to reach their position would require crossing open ground so my 2 platoons in the woods above simply had to slug it out with these 2 forces. What certainly didn’t help my cause was the arrival of enemy mortar fire onto my position in the woods with numerous airbursts either wounding or pinning a number of men.

To complicate things even further, a 6th bloody great “gun” (no doubt an 88) began to shell a squad from my third platoon located to the east of the intense firefight and ready to jump off into some scattered trees to sweep up the left flank of the enemy forces. By the end of the turn one of my previously fully intact squads was reduced to 5 viable men in a broken state. More good fortune befell me however as that very same turn I had finally brought my 2 Shermans all the way through the southern gap and placed them in hull down positions in a patch of scattered trees just before the north/south dirt road. From their vantage point, one of the Shermans almost (thank god) had a LOS to this 6th 88 located in woods on the raised approaches to Hill 183. The following turn I was able to area target the Sherman to a spot just short of the 88’s foxhole and by the end of the turn this nasty piece of work was history. Turn 25 saw the strong enemy force in platoon strength retire from its woods to the south of the Church back into the Church building itself and probably just as well since my 105mm spotter had plotted fire to rain down on them if they hadn’t moved from their position. As it happened, the initial fall of shot did manage to catch a couple of his squads as they exited the woods just near the end of the turn so I wasn’t too unhappy about that. While this platoon withdrew from its positions, the other more beaten up platoon to its left also beat a hasty retreat across the road and towards a patch of woods located low in the valley before the approached to Hill 183.

By turn 26 I was rushing the remains of my two platoons from Hill 178 to the woods recently vacated by the enemy to the south of the Church while advancing the 2 good squads from the third platoon into the same patch of woods but from the eastern side of the hill, all done under some withering fire from 2 HMG positions located around Hill 183 that I could never pin down their exact location as all I ever saw were sound contacts. The 105mm F.O. was pounding the Church n order to keep the occupants heads down and to try and cause enough damage to the structure to cause a collapse. While this was going on my Engineer platoon from the west were making good progress into the town from that direction, meeting only light opposition from a couple of LMG teams that were probably low on ammo. A Panzerschreck team was thankfully revealed in its ambush position behind a wall and quickly dispatched before my 1 Sherman there rounded the woods to enter Serrig while hugging the western woodline. More artillery rained down on the beaten up remains of my company to the south of the Church with further casualties and pinning alike. The only compensation was the knowledge that the enemy platoon trapped in the Church would not be happy with all the artillery raining down around them with the building steadily weakening with each salvo.

On my left flank I had managed to clear away all the Volksturn around Hill 182 but still had to reach the objective behind it. When I switched the 2 platoons that had been shot up by the 88’s earlier on towards the minor objective on its flank I had encountered a third enemy platoon laying in ambush in the woods to the south west of the flag. This platoon quickly withdrew after the initial firefight but not before I was able to pin down one squad before it bugged out and identified it as a veteran SS rifle squad with 3 casualties.

Turn 30 saw my Engineers reaching the eastern outskirts of the town with the enemy Pioneer platoon (as I later discovered) having vacated the Church the turn before due to its imminent collapse. These poor sods were now caught in the open with 105mm artillery raining down on their heads, being fired at from the heights to the south with a Sherman taking pot shots at them from the west as it moved through Serrif accompanied by the Engineers. My other 2 Shermans on the southern edge of the map had meanwhile dealt with a Marder that had appeared on the southern approaches to Hill 183 as it seemed to be attempting to reach a position to fire on my Shermans. Due to the 2 to 1 ratio I was able to deal the killing blow with the first shot from my 2nd Sherman but not before the Marder had managed a track hit with its first shot at my lead Sherman. The remaining mobile Sherman I had left out of the two I then moved quickly along the north/south dirt road to a position almost beside the knocked out 88 that lay by the road. Nearby was the sole engineer squad that had cleared the minefield but was now at a bit of a loose end due to not =being close enough to the town fight.

It was at this point that I thought what the hell, I might as well make a play for the major objective as I still had two mobile tanks with almost full strength squads alongside. I loaded 1 engineer squad on the back of each tank 7 charged towards Hill 183 at full pelt while the nearest company HQ was directed to hoof it by foot across the valley accompanied by an assortment of shot up, low ammo’d squads with assorted HQ’s. I felt reasonably confident there wouldn’t be much left on the hill as I had been bombarding it pretty relentlessly with 155mm artillery from my late arriving F.O. that I was sure would be hurting anything up there yet strangely, it never seemed to be effective enough to silence the two impossible to spot HMG’s somewhere up there.

In the meantime, my push towards the small objective behind Hill 182 had hit a snag, there was far more infantry around the objective than I anticipated and all I had was an reduced 2 squad and ammoless platoon moving up along the far left flank, a reduced 2 squad platoon coming from the west and the 88 shellshocked platoon at about two thirds strength coming at it from the south west. I did still have my 2 flamethrowers in the vicinity but both were down to 1 man and therefore extremely fragile. An initial push to the objective directly from the west was easily repulsed with the loss of the remanants of 1 squad, one of the flamethrowers and the second squad reduced to half strangth. I foolishly kept my pitiful platoon on the far left flank in the vicinity of the objective where Tabpub, realising they would be desperately short of ammo, charged at them with a full strength platoon of SS to send them packing with large loss of life. After this setback I realised that al I could hope for was to contest this objective by manouevering my shellshocked platoon to the south east into a position where it could gain LOS to the objective. This I managed to obtain right at the end and with my last flamethrower with his final 2 shots able to flame an area just to the north west of the objective which was enough to cause one of the SS squads to break while the other 4 or so squads I the vicinity were being pinned down by the remains of my 105mm salvo’s.

To finish up, I was able to get both my Shermans as close as possible to the large objective with one of the Engineer squads able to debark onto the rough terrain below the flag with its fellow squad somewhat shot up as it debarked into woods south of the rough terrain in order to provide some sort of covering fire. Overall, it was an Allied Tactical Victory with both Hill 182 and Hill 183 objectives in dispute and the remainder under American control .....and still no sign of any Panthers either!

Regards

Jim R.

[ October 05, 2002, 01:52 PM: Message edited by: Kanonier Reichmann ]