Section Leaders:
Fionn Kelly & Madmatt

The Sunken Lane

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German Commander - Fionn Kelly

NOTE: SPOILER INFORMATION. This After Action Report contains detailed information regarding units and  terrain disposition to a scenario that may be included in the release version of Combat Mission. If you wish to play this game Blind or partake in a Double Blind match then READ NO FURTHER!!!!

Graphics Note: While the events in this AAR were played on a very recent Beta Build of Combat Mission. The graphics, at that time, were not finalized. For Final Graphics please view the POTD Feature which runs daily here and various features on the CMHQ-Annex site.

Turn 11:

Thought Processes:

1.                  I’ve got a good fix on one of Bil’s reinforcing companies. It basically appears to be orienting towards Giesey’s platoon.

2.                  I don’t know where the second company will be committed and therefore I’ve decided to have Giesey’s platoon fight it out alone against the entire, fresh British company bearing down on it. I am going to need at least 1 platoon to slow down/counter-attack the second British company wherever it appears and I don’t want to be left without any reserve in case the platoon I commit to slow his 2^nd company gets wiped out quickly. Basically my plan is to use Bertram to counter-attack into the flank of Bil’s second company ( which I expect him to commit to the fight on my extreme right, ridge-line flank) and keep Wittenberg as a reserve. Probably once Bertram moves out I’ll have to commit Wittenberg to an assault into the flank of the company on my left flank but I want to maintain my reserve for as long as possible so I can commit it when it will have the greatest impact.

3.                  Giesey has 20 combat-capable men and the four survivors of his Kompanie HQ in his little defensive position. I’ve set them up in a shallow semi-circular defensive perimeter. I’ve chosen the location for their initial defensive stance carefully. It is a position which cannot be charged by tanks. Any tank which attempts to get into position to fire on Giesey’s position will have to maneuvre to do so and at the first sign of such a maneuvre I will pull Giesey’s survivors back. They can’t fight back against a tank so, at that point, there will be no point keeping them in a position where they are nothing but targets any longer.

4.                  A British rifle company comprises roughly 120 combat infantry plus support weaponry (MGs, FOs etc). Giesey is facing an entire rifle company PLUS 3 tanks. The odds are considerably greater than 6 to 1 in favor of the British attackers. This is the first example of how Bil could use his concentrated reinforcements ( and the local numerical advantage they give to his position wherever he chooses to use them) to simply sledgehammer into and through my line. In Combat Mission an attacker with a 2:1 numerical superiority will usually win through unless the defender is truly in formidable defensive positions with MG bunkers, pillboxes and plentiful artillery support. A 6:1 numerical superiority is just a bad joke.. I doubt Giesey and his men are laughing though.

5.                  Bil’s attack on my right flank is bound to occur either this turn or next turn. I estimate that he will push his infantry into the clump of scattered trees in between Sehmel and Duve’s platoons, create a bridgehead there and then use this “safe ground” to prevent my infantry from firing on his reinforcing company as they cross the open ground to the “safe ground” and then roll up the 1.5 platoons I have assembled in this sector with his 3 to 1 local superiority in infantry and minimum of 3 tanks in support.

6.                  The situation on each of my flanks looks extremely dire BUT that is only because I have kept 1/3^rd of my total starting combat strength ( and closer to half of my current combat strength) in reserve and pretty much out of the fight. This reserve force is centrally placed and can either split and create a 1 platoon counter-attack into the flanks of each of Bil’s  reinforcing companies or can, if one of Bil’s assaults is stopped cold, smash into the side and rear of his other thrust with two full, combat-ready platoons of Panzergrenadiers. It’d be a slaughter if I manage to do that. My basic thinking is a little similar to that prevalent in Desert Storm. Keep their attention to their front and then kick them in the ass with a force they didn’t think existed ;).

Orders Phase:

I let my artillery barrage on the forming up area of Bil’s surviving infantry go ahead. If they attack this turn it’ll still catch their mortars and MG teams and if they don’t attack this turn then a few salvoes of 120mm mortars ought to really ruin Bil’s day.

I order one of Duve’s squads to crawl up the reverse slope of the ridge a little more until it is in position to bring some fire to bear on the location where I believe Bil’s attacking infantry will try to head. With a little luck this squad ought to be able to get in a few SMG bursts just as Bil’s troops are nearing the tree line on the other side of the ridge and should really screw up the timing of his movement PLUS I’m sure it’ll rattle him to come under fire and know that I’ve anticipated his move. IF he doesn’t move forward this turn then my move isn’t a risk since the infantry squad will still be on the reverse slope of the ridge and so can’t be hit by DF HE. In other words there’s a significant upside to this move if my hunch pays off and no downside if my hunch doesn’t pay off.

Action Phase:

Bil attacks this turn. The picture below shows the main thrusts of his assault and shows the locations of my forces attempting to hold them back.

Bil makes a very smart move here. As he rushes his infantry straight towards Giesey’s platoon, no doubt hoping to overwhelm it with sheer weight of numbers, he has a Sherman lay down smoke along the road thus isolating Giesey from any long-range fire support which Wittenberg’s platoon might have provided. (Last turn Wittenberg’s squads provided a little long-range fire support to help Giesey out.) Bil is now isolating my tactical elements and is probably going to bring overwhelming force to bear on each of them in turn. Perhaps his second company is planning to take Wittenberg and Bertram on at the crossroads? He probably only thinks there is a single platoon in position there. It’d be nice to ambush him again. Next turn I’ll give the appropriate orders and set up a forward ambush. The same smoke that screens his movements from me can now be used to screen mine from him.

Oh boy !  Yes, the ENTIRE damn company is heading Giesey’s way along with at least one Sherman 75mm in support. Giesey’s men hold their ground though and managed to catch the Brits in a nice fire sack just before they reach the cover of the woods on the other side of the road. Giesey’s platoon loses a man but Bil loses eighteen. Not a bad exchange rate even if I do say so myself ;). Still, I’m not fooled by this exchange rate. Bil was always going to have to pay a high price to close with me but once he has closed his preponderance in numbers and firepower will win the day for him. I am going to redirect my 120mm artillery to this location in order to catch his infantry with some tree bursts. I estimate I’ll need to hold Bil’s company of infantry off for three full turns using only Giesey’s men before the artillery arrives. It looks like a very tall order and I don’t know yet if I’ll be able to do so or not.

Bil’s three tanks are lined up like ancient cannon battering away at city walls. His tanks are pumping shell after shell into the front slope of the ridge but not really killing any of my men. The men nearest the ridgeline (within 5 metres or so of it) are getting a little spooked by all this HE exploding near to them but they’re Veterans and so are holding up well.

It would appear that Bil has been able to gather roughly 25 infantry for this attack. They comprise a one man squad, a two man squad, a seven man squad, a one man platoon HQ, a full strength company HQ and what appears to be an eight man squad. That’s all that was left of roughly 120 men who marched into battle only 11 minutes ago. At the end of this turn another four or five of them are down at no cost to my ambushing squad.

Next turn I’ll pull the ambushing five-man squad back into cover on the reverse slope and lure Bil’s men over the slope into the kill sack created by Duve and Sehmel’s platoons. There will be no survivors from this plucky little group within two minutes. Of that I’m certain.