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!!!!

Intro

Bil Hardenberger and I have been playing PBEM games of Combat Mission since probably last December of November. We’ve played over a dozen games to completion and had a lot of fun discovering various new possibilities and testing various tactical concepts. Most of our games are finely balanced and hinge on one or two pivotal decisions or exchanges. This game was finished several months ago and still remains my most enjoyable PBEM game ever played using any game system.

I think it will definitely show some of the tension which can be engendered in CM when infantry formations clash. Personally I’ve always found commanding infantry in other wargames a little bit boring but I greatly identify with the infantry in Combat Mission and feel a sort of visceral thrill as I hurl them at the enemy and watch them fight for every foot of ground they capture or re-capture.

That this game also featured some horrid and bloody tank vs infantry combats and contains many salutory lessons for those who feel the tank is the king of the battlefield are plusses as these instances add a certain dramatic tension IMO. Lastly, I think this AAR will show how any terrain can be turned to any side’s advantage and how any player can take advantage of even tiny lapses in tactical doctrine to inflict stunning losses on an enemy. I’m also glad to say that it also shows a real fighter’s spirit as one of the players comes back from an early catastrophic mauling to inflict trauma after trauma on the other.

My orders for the scenario were formulated and delivered as follows:

“Strategic Situation:                   

Our division, 12^th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend is tasked with defending Point 102.

Mission:                                

Point 102 is extremely vital ground. It gives us clear fields of view to the east and to the south. We want to reinforce its defence before the British figure out its importance. Use the terrain to its fullest advantage in your defence.

Intelligence:

Elements of an Infantry Battalion have been seen in the area. Also, tank activity has been reported.

Forces:

You have a Battalion of two SS Panzergrenadier Companies (Motorised) with two Panzerschreck teams attached.

Reserves:

Expect your third SS Panzergrenadier Company in 10 to 15 minutes.”

As I was playing the creator of the scenario I insisted upon full transparency and, with his agreement, looked in the editor to determine what forces he had at his disposal and what reinforcements he would receive and where and when they would arrive.

This is necessary when playing the designer of a scenario as, otherwise, the designer’s intimate knowledge of your forces can be used to simply annihilate you.

Because the force structure and size I found was instrumental in determining my strategy for the game I will discuss it in some detail here.

Allied forces on-map at the start of the game comprised :

2 Companies of Infantry. (Experienced and with experienced commanders),

4 Sherman IIs ( 75mm guns),

2 Sherman Fireflies ( 17 lber guns, limited HE ammunition),

Vickers MMG Platoon ( 4 Vickers MMGs plus Platoon HQ),

Bn HQ,

3 Inch Mortar FO.

Each Infantry Company comprised 120 men organised as follows:

3 Infantry Platoons

1 Company HQ

Each Infantry Platoon comprised 38 men organised as follows:

1 Platoon HQ ( 4 men) ,

3 Infantry Squads ( 10 men each, FP at 40 metres = 162 )

1 Piat Team ( 2 men)

1 Two Inch Mortar Team ( 2 men)

Thus, I was facing a mobile attack force of 248 infantry backed by 6 tanks, a machine-gun platoon and a Battalion HQ.

My own forces comprised two Motorised SS Panzergrenadier Companies organised as follows:

1 Battalion HQ,

2 SS Panzergrenadier Companies

1 x 120mm Mortar FO

2 Panzerschreck teams.

Each of my Panzergrenadier companies was at, least, a match for the equivalent British company and comprised 148 men organised as follows:

1 Company HQ

3 SS Panzergrenadier Platoons,

1 Heavy Weapons Platoon

Each SS Panzergrenadier Platoon comprised 34 men organised as follows:

1 Platoon HQ

3 SS Panzergrenadier Squads ( 10 men each, FP at 40m = 252 )

Each SS Panzergrenadier Heavy Weapons platoon comprised 40 men organised as follows:

1 Platoon HQ

4 HMG 42s

2 x 81mm Mortar Teams.

Thus I had a force comprising 224 defending infantry backed by 8 HMG42s, 4 x 81mm mortars, 2 Panzerschreck Teams and 1 x 120mm Mortar FO.

On turn 10 the British forces were to be reinforced by another two infantry companies ( another 240 highly mobile infantry) and another three tanks ( two Sherman II's and a single Sherman Firefly.

My reinforcements, comprising a single SS Panzergrenadier Company would only arrive on the 20^th Turn and would, thus, be unable to intervene before the full weight of four British Companies and nine tanks smashed into my line.

It was entirely too clear to me that I would have to basically plan my fight so that my six platoons of SS Panzergrenadiers would have to take on and defeat in detail twelve platoons of British infantry, nine tanks and all their supporting heavy weaponry. I calculated that for victory to be achieved each of my Panzergrenadier platoons would have to destroy, to the last man, two entire British platoons and one Sherman II. I could afford to ignore the Sherman Fireflies since they carried so little HE ammunition and weren’t much of a threat to my main battleline.

Furthermore I realised that if I allowed Bil to set up his forces in their staging areas unmolested and launch a single, concentrated blow at a time of his choosing, no amount of heroic resistance would hold him back. I reasoned that given Bil’s knowledge of the scenario it was entirely possible that he would simply march his troops up to the area of bocage within 80 metres of my setup zones, line all his troops, tanks, mortars and FOs up behind the bocage and lay down a devastating fire until turn 7 or 8 to which I could not reply for fear of exposing myself to a barrage of 75mm HE. I then reasoned that if he simply advanced along the entire front on turn 8 that he would reach my lines on turn 10, engage in bloody hand to hand fighting with my defenders and that even if, by some miracle, my infantry withstood the combined infantry/tank assault supported by MMGs set up less than 100 metres from my trenches that Bil would, meanwhile have brought his two fresh companies forward on the double and, if I looked like repulsing his assault anywhere would simply commit two fresh and full strength companies. My line simply would have broken like a rotten branch and all my heavy weapons crews and Panzergrenadiers would have been slaughtered. At that stage I knew that Bil would simply occupy the VLs and wait for my last company to show up before descending on them with a combined tank and infantry assault ( I figured that he’d outnumber my reinforcements by at least 2 to 1 at that stage and that he’d have at least 5 to 6 tanks left and knew that there was no way my forces could survive such an onslaught).

Given the realisation that any static defence was simply doomed to failure given Bil’s lavish tank support I decided that the only option for me was to hem Bil’s forces in and aggressively drive them back towards their start lines such that my reinforcements could move forward and occupy my MLR before his turn ten reinforcements could effectively attack it.

In short, I decided to attack straight into the face of his tank guns and rely on blood, brawn and a few fausts to overcome both the enemy tanks and his numerical advantage. In the end it turned out to be a most instructive and bloody battle which, in many places, had bodies from both sides literally heaped on top of one another as though in some grotesque sculpture. Oh, and the story of what happened to the tanks is quite exciting also. More of that soon!