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.

German Turn 19:

Orders Phase:

I’m going to simply bring all the forces which have finally destroyed all resistance on my right flank ( the two tanks excepted) towards my left flank. Bil’s human wave style assaults pack a tremendous punch when they hit my line but casualties are intense and they leave his flanks intensely vulnerable. My orders this turn are relatively simple:

1.                  Sehmel and Bertram are ordered to advance along the road towards my left flank. By following the road they will inexorably head towards Bil’s rear areas and force him to either moderate his attack or will simply surprise and crush him.

2.                  I order the machineguns and mortars which I’d ordered towards my extreme left flank to move rightwards again since Bil’s attack is coming in one field to my right of where I expected it to come.

Action Phase:

My machinegun trap has worked better than even I anticipated due to a combination of luck and Bil’s haste to attack. It turns out that my two HMG42 teams have perfect LOS to exactly the point where Bil’s leftmost units are seeking to cut through the bocage. What’s more, his units are bunching up as they enter the bocage and my machineguns are simply pouring burst after burst into this clump of soldiery. Already I can confirm that my machineguns have killed or wounded another 5 or 6 British soldiers this turn and several squads have definitely panicked and run to the rear due to the fire from my HMG42s. His units appear so bunched up that any burst aimed at any unit is also scattering and hitting other units in their close proximity. It would appear that this thrust, being made by the survivors of the 1^st reinforcing company, has been fully stopped by these two HMG42 teams. A combination of haste and the coming together of two or three unlikely factors has allowed these HMG42 teams to really just stop these survivors in their tracks.

I can identify two platoons of British troops charging my defensive position. My units take them under fire but are too weak and too low on ammo to decisively check this rush. One of Duve’s squads is wiped out in mere seconds but again Bil is bunched up too much and I can see that some of his squads are missing. Presumably they have broken and run to the rear.

On my extreme right flank Sehmel and Bertram quickly force the Battalion HQ to surrender and then begin moving to attack the rear of Bil’s current thrust. As they move they come under fire from four British troops ( probably left over from the first two companies). In a way I’m glad they’ve been spotted since this will let Bil know of the threat to his flank and hopefully draw off some of his men from his frontal assault on my position.

At the end of this turn Bil and I hold a discussion about the current situation and we agree to call a cease-fire. We both realize that my current forces on-map are more than sufficient to destroy his remaining company and that with the arrival of an entire reinforcing company next turn I won’t have any trouble pushing his forces back and off the map.

The battle is decided and there is no point prolonging it just for the sake of playing out a known result. Tomorrow I’ll post the casualty reports, shots of the end-game positions and a platoon by platoon tabulation of casualties caused/sustained. Some of the results were very surprising insofar as I had some platoon which had been in the thick of the action in which one squad accounted for close to 30 casualties while another squad in the same platoon and occupying the same positions had caused only 3 casualties. I’ll also post a discussion of what lessons can be drawn from this game and my own thoughts about my errors.