Wiggum Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 Hi, i will post a small AAR about the Demo scenario "Closing the Pocket". I play as German against the US AI in WEGO / Iron. I will report back every 3 turns and refer to the overall situation and cool actions that happen. Also i will provide informations about what commands i use and for what specific purpose. ---------- My Mission: 1. Kill as many Amis as possible 2. Capture the small village in the middle of the map 3. Capture the crossroads in the east of the village My Units: I command a understrengh PzGren. Kompanie that lacks one of his Rifle Platoons that got annihilated during an earlier attempt to campture the village. - Rifle Platoon - Rifle Platoon - Heavy Platoon (4 HMGs, two 81 mm mortars) - 1 FO (10.5 cm leFH 18) - 4 PSW's Reinforcements: - 2 Panther tanks - 4 Marder tank-destroyers The enemy: Most likely a US infantry company reinforced by 75mm AT-Guns and Shermans. Oh, and artillery for sure... The plan: I will start with a pre-planned smoke screen that will be provided by my 10.5 cm leFH 18. This smoke screen should help the 1.Zug to cross the open ground infront of them unharmed. The HMG's will supress enemy ATG's and infantry as will the PSW's to while being hull down in the small clearings. If the smoke screen is deployed i will move the 1. and 2.Zug forward. 1.Zug will advance through the ocharde in the middle and infiltrate the village. 2.Zug will advance on the right flank and capture the crossroads and dug in there to provide flanking fire into the village. My mortars will supress any spotted enemy threats. Most likely this will be enemy ATG's in the tree line behind the village... I put my HMG's into hide mode, just like the two Rifle Platoons. My FO has a short cover-arc so he not opens up while still spotting. The same goes for the HMG Section leader and a Panzerschreck team of the 1.Zug. I have positioned the Company HQ close to the mortars, the FO is in radio contact with this HQ, so he can spot for the on-map mortars too. Let the battle begin... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noltyboy Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 I tried to flank on the right with my inf. However the guys wouldnt jump the hedgerow of the square field but ran round to the gate and got shot to **** by the MG's in the village. Can you make them jump the hedge or is it impassible? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nidan1 Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 Has anyone ever heard of a spoiler warning....there maybe someone who has not played this yet, and might stumble in here and get information that might ruin the battle for him. You should at least warn of spoilers in the title of your post. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wiggum Posted May 13, 2011 Author Share Posted May 13, 2011 Turn 1-4: While my pre-planned smoke screen was in incomming i moved 2.Zug forward, using two scouting teams as spearhead. I also ordered my mortars to prepare a strike, knowing that this will take same minutes. After a few minutes the smoke screen was dense enough end i ordered 1.Zug to run over the open ground infront of them into the orchard while my HMG opened fire on expected enemy positions. My PSW drove into hull down positions and looking for targest (i gave them cover-arcs). 2.Zug get stuck because of a hedgerow that could not be crossed so that plan of the flank movement has to be canceled, they now will dug in in the woods and provide supressive fire from there. Not a single enemy spotted so far... A HMG supporting the assault from 1.Zug: 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baneman Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 Has anyone ever heard of a spoiler warning....there maybe someone who has not played this yet, and might stumble in here and get information that might ruin the battle for him. You should at least warn of spoilers in the title of your post. Doesn't "AAR" kinda imply this ? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostRider3/3 Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 Nice.... Good Mission, very fun. I preped up the middle area... to rattle or destroy some most likely positions down the middle, then I used smoke. 1.zug up the middle like you... then 2.zug.. using them in bounding... lots of firepower right down the middle. I did a recon to the right...not a good area. used all PSW with their 20mm and HMG's in overwatch. Total Victory! Cant wait to see the results here. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sirocco Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 If I'd had a third platoon I would have gone right with a single platoon to put flank fire into the buildings. But with just two platoons I felt it was asking too much for one platoon to establish a foothold and push on to the flags. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agua Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 Nice.... Good Mission, very fun. I preped up the middle area... to rattle or destroy some most likely positions down the middle, then I used smoke. 1.zug up the middle like you... then 2.zug.. using them in bounding... lots of firepower right down the middle. I did a recon to the right...not a good area. used all PSW with their 20mm and HMG's in overwatch. Total Victory! Cant wait to see the results here. Same approach up the middle here. Expended all the 105 arty on the little village pre start barrage, rushed the two infantry platoons up the middle to the edge of the orchard while that was going on. HMGs on the flanks took opportunity fire as the US started getting a little uncomfortable with the fire coming down. Met contact at the far end of the orchard then ordered linear barrage from 81mm. and brought the PSWs up to suppress. By that time, the defenders were pretty well beat down. Assaulted a couple squads at a time into the hedgerow with perimeter security, then pretty much walked into the village. Panthers sat in overwatch, hull down, back on the hill. Lost 3 marders and 3 PSW to the 57mm AT and US TDs. By the time the village was taken and secured, HMGs had nothing to shoot at so sent them over to the crossroad hedgerows to set up. 81mm mortars had expended their rounds so sent them, their HQ and ammo team to the bridge with my remaining PSW dispatched from the village for overwatch. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wiggum Posted May 13, 2011 Author Share Posted May 13, 2011 Turn 5-10: Just as the first mortar rounds were falling into the village my 1.Zug was receiving MG fire from the buildings only 100m away. A few seconds later the first casualties were taken. The smoke screen was already gone and my MG's and PSW had finally LOS to the village and started firing at the buildings. My 2.Zug was now in position on the right flank covered by dense trees and joined the party. A enemy halftrack was spotted and took some hits by small arms but that could not stop him. A Panzerschreck team missed him only by one or two meters... Some men of 1. Zug were already in panic, but the defenders got more and more supressed by mortar and MG fire. Suddenly one of my PSW got hit ! Like i expected...the tree line behind the village. I ordered a artillery strike of my 10.5 cm leFH 18 and pulled the other PSW back. The situation is critical, without the PSW's i maybe will not have enough firepower to rout the enemy. Mortar of Heavy Platoon firing: Soldiers of 1.Zug running for cover after incomming MG fire: The KO'ed PSW, the crew survived: 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostRider3/3 Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 Same approach up the middle here. Expended all the 105 arty on the little village pre start barrage, rushed the two infantry platoons up the middle to the edge of the orchard while that was going on. HMGs on the flanks took opportunity fire as the US started getting a little uncomfortable with the fire coming down. Met contact at the far end of the orchard then ordered linear barrage from 81mm. and brought the PSWs up to suppress. By that time, the defenders were pretty well beat down. Assaulted a couple squads at a time into the hedgerow with perimeter security, then pretty much walked into the village. Panthers sat in overwatch, hull down, back on the hill. Lost 3 marders and 3 PSW to the 57mm AT and US TDs. By the time the village was taken and secured, HMGs had nothing to shoot at so sent them over to the crossroad hedgerows to set up. 81mm mortars had expended their rounds so sent them, their HQ and ammo team to the bridge with my remaining PSW dispatched from the village for overwatch. We must think similarily.. LOL Had the Panthers and Marders in Overwatch as well. Although I kept the Marders back until I really needed the support, then crept them up to bring more Fire superiority at the same time. (I have to admit I did watch the VAAR of this scenerio before and sort of new what was coming) I did lose 1 marder to one of the M10's. My infantry ended up taking the stubborn 57mm AT gun. I did have enough 105mm shells left to give the M10's a nice barrage... never saw the tank, but I figured one was destroyed when I saw flames... I guess one landed inside the tank or on the back decklid. Fun scenerio... I think I will do that one again tonight. Cheers.. oh and thanks for sharing your perspective Wiggum... pretty freaking awesome! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisND Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 RE: the bocage on the flank. There are no gaps in it except for the entrances, so it is indeed impassable. Like the river, it is to prevent edge-hugging past either side. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nidan1 Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 Doesn't "AAR" kinda imply this ? What does that matter? Common courtesy dictates that if you are going to post a detailed commentary of a battle that everyone is about to play for the first time you should at least put a spoiler warning somewhere on the post. We are all playing this demo for the first time and and feeling our way through it as if on a first date with the hot chick from high school. Who needs someone giving a blow by blow discription of the battle anyway? Its like telling us the hot chick wears falsies. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knaust1 Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 My side German Army Skill Level Iron German Total Victory 1000 113 uhmmmm...weak AI? Trying now US Army side 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wiggum Posted May 13, 2011 Author Share Posted May 13, 2011 Turn 11-18 My worst fear during these turns was that the guys from 1.Zug get hit by artillery fire while still unable to move away from the hedgerow where they took cover. But the noise of the gunshots got quieter over a few minutes, i think the defense inside the village only consists of 5-10 men. Ah, and after the smoke of the battle was gone it looks like i was able to knock out the halftruck...most likely a mortar shell killed him. Explosions occured in the area between my 2 Platoons and my HMG's inside the forest. Rifle grenades or light mortar...i dont know. But i scared me enough so that i pulled the 2.Zug back into a more save position. Finally my Panther tanks arrived and i ordered them into the clearance and gave them cover-arcs so they will engage advancing enemy tanks on the other side of the map. Only a few seconds after the Panthers arrived there, enemy Sherman tanks were spotted and attacked by them. At least 2 kills so far. My artillery strike on the tree line behind the village started and some shells exploded into the village...not a bad thing at all. One thing is clear, i need more man close to the village to finally assault it, the hedgerow on the right flank make it impossible for the 2.Zug to move to the crossing without being a bit to long in a kill zone. A Panther in overwatch position: Enemy Sherman tanks advancing: M10 tank destroyer searching for targets Reading a AAR before playing the battle is always a bad idea. At least i force no one to read it although this would be possible, you know... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wiggum Posted May 14, 2011 Author Share Posted May 14, 2011 Turn 19-26 My Panther killed one more Sherman and at least one M10. One of the Panther got hit multiple times but most of the rounds bounced off. Two Marders also went into overwatch and one of them soon got hit by cal.50 that wounded the crew and let them bail out... Shermans advanced closer to the village and can not be spotted by my tanks, i will have to take them out with my Panzerschreck teams. A well aimed rifle grenade (?) took out one of my HMG's on the righjt flank and a artillery strike killed another one at the left flank. 1. Zug is still in position infront of the village but i saw americans running away from the village so i suspect that i now can infiltrate the village and capture it finally. I will try to move 2.Zug closer to the village, at the moment they are pretty much useless for me. Giving a Marder a cover-arc seems to be a bad idea, you have to use the facing command to let him point his gun into the right direction. A smoke screen provided by my mortars in in place but way off target and useless too. But im sure i will win by capturing the village in the remaining turns ! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dhasso Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 I personally enjoyed the AAR as I got my arse handed to me by a crafty opponent in MP last night. Thank you for sharing. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bimmer Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 Seems like most have had similar ideas about how to approach this one, myself included. I pre-plotted my 105s in a slow area barrage covering the entire village in hopes of keeping it suppressed while I swung one platoon down the right with a pair of PSWs. This seemed to work fairly well, and I was able to reach the small wood behind the crossroads and the adjacent fields with no losses. I brought the two HMGs from the right side down as well to set up flanking fire on the village. Once this was accomplished (~10 minutes) I began moving the second platoon down the orchards in the middle behind a rolling smoke screen (two linear smoke missions, one behind the other, one mortar each, 3-4 minutes apart). This got them in relatively cleanly, though a few losses occurred as the smoke cleared. The remaining American infantry seemed largely unaffected by the barrage and was putting up a fight, though they were badly outnumbered. The tank battle evolved very slowly and sporadically, as the Shermans and M10s seemed quite reluctant to come out under the guns of the Panthers. By the end of the battle I had killed most of them, but they'd taken down two Marders and a PSW as I pushed them forward. I continued to push the second platoon forward into the buildings, but they began to take losses from unsuppressed infantry firing from the CP area. I was unable to get effective suppressing fire on these with the assets I had in the area, and I wanted to hold the Panthers guns ready to deal with any tanks that might appear. I tried to run two Marders into the village through the orchards; one made it, and proceeded to demolish the CP buildings from 40m. The second platoon had no further difficulty mopping up that area. Meanwhile, first platoon had reached the wood with the small stone bridge. I now assaulted along the dry streambed into the rear of the village, sweeping though the remains of mortar teams and stragglers from the barrage. A plucky bazooka team killed three with a single shot before being felled themselves, but otherwise this was merely tying up loose ends. I was very happy with the result, and more happy that it played out authentically. All the basic rules that should apply seemed to do so. Play it smart and get fire superiority and you're likely to be able to move forward; rush into things hoping for the best and you probably won't like the result. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wiggum Posted May 14, 2011 Author Share Posted May 14, 2011 Turn 26-35 1.Zug was still not able to move, some GI's are still defending very stubborn. But i also saw some of them routing... After some spotting rounds hit my right flank i withdraw my HMG and 2.Zug from there and minutes later artillery hammered this position. I had to use more aggresiv tactics to kill the remaining US tanks in overwatch. I ordered my Marder and my Panther to attack them simultaneously. One M10 soon started burning after a Panther hit him in the front, another M10 took 5(!) hits but was still able to fire at one of my Panthers and he managed it to kill his main gun so that Panther is useless for the rest of the time. One of my Marders on the right flank hit the Sherman at the bridge but was not able to kill him. Another Marder hit the Sherman behind the village but also was not able to kill him finally. With only 10 minutes left i have to attack the village now ! I ordered two PSW to the right flank to provide even more covering fire for the final assault of 1. Zug. I will try to move 2.Zug into the village too but first the M10 has to be destroyed. A Marder open fire: 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunnersman Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 Excellent AAR so far. Thanks! That is the luckiest M10 ever! Your plan pretty much followed mine. Except I did not go up the middle until later. I held my guys back until the right side was pretty much secure (with the help of a Panther and two PSW's) Hug those tree lines with your armor! It seemed to help me tremendously as I moved my armor up on the ridge line I would have them hug the tree line and get as deep as possible in the woods. Panthers, Marders and PSWs alike. Played Elite. Totaly Victory with a couple of minutes to spare. Although I lost all of my PSWs and one Panther. Got a little zealous towards the end. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
para Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 I have been playing this as the Americans in Iron mode. The Shermans and M10's do ok but the Panthers and the rest of the german armour keep beating me. The best i have managed against the Panthers is one killed and one immobilised and a tactical defeat. Any tips on how i should use my armour? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bimmer Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 My approach to using the armor on the American side was to split it up, send half to each exit from the covered road, and rush it quickly toward covered positions closer to the town. I expected to lose about half; I did a little better than that, but losses are inevitable if the Panthers are up on the ridge. Next time through I may try a heavy smokescreen dropped on the Panthers' position (assuming they do the same thing) with the 105s, though they have proved quite useful in slowing down the German hordes with HE. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wiggum Posted May 14, 2011 Author Share Posted May 14, 2011 Ok, now i need a break from that action... At least for me as player these last turns were better then "Band of Brothers" and "The Pacific" together. The Action and the tension was unbelievable ! Although i had different intensions for this weekend a few days ago i will end up playing this demo the hole time. Thanks to Battlefront, this game is just freakin' awesome ! Be prepared for those last turns, the outcome will be determined in the last seconds...its that close. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
para Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 My approach to using the armor on the American side was to split it up, send half to each exit from the covered road, and rush it quickly toward covered positions closer to the town. I expected to lose about half; I did a little better than that, but losses are inevitable if the Panthers are up on the ridge. Next time through I may try a heavy smokescreen dropped on the Panthers' position (assuming they do the same thing) with the 105s, though they have proved quite useful in slowing down the German hordes with HE. I'm thinking of getting my tanks into the rear of the town next see if i can play a bit of hide and seek. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 I'm thinking of getting my tanks into the rear of the town next see if i can play a bit of hide and seek. The key for the American armor is to avoid fighting the German armor at long range. Race your tanks to the village and keep an eye out for the Panthers. Position your tanks within the village or hull-down in the ditch behind the village. Strike the Panthers when they present their vulnerable flanks. If possible, try to have more than one tank shooting at a single target at the same time. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
De Savage Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 Just finished this mission as German (iron): 92 - 1000. Sweet! 7 men kia, 3 wounded, lost 3 of my light vehicles. Nice mission. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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