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German Commander - Fionn
Kelly German Setup Force
Purchase and Setup After
a previous game in which I had to defend a very long position with few
forces against a determined and concentrated armour and mechanised
thrust by Murray I expressed an interest in replaying him in a
situation where I’d have sufficient forces to do more than create a
front characterised solely by isolated strongpoints. Murray, no doubt,
felt somewhat savaged by the long-range flanking fire which butchered
his tanks, recon vehicles and half-tracks and wanted to play me in a
battle where such long-range lines of fire would not exist. The
end result of those two wishes is the PBEM game you are about to
follow. Murray created and sent me this map with the German setup zones
already chosen. I, for my part, looked at the setup zones and modified
them slightly so as to take in terrain I wanted to use for defensive
positions… e.g. if a 60 metre wood front was just outside of a German
setup zone by 20 metres then I shifted the setup zone to include it
since by agreeing to Murray’s suggestion that I would limit my forces
in the first two defensive belts to non-mobile units I was already
gifting him enough of an advantage. I then sent him the file with my
proposed setup zones which he modified a little and that then
represented our agreed German setup zones. The
rationale behind the German position is as follows: a 6000 point German
force ( it ended up being 6003 points) has set up to defend the railway
tracks at the eastern edge of the map. The German commander must
prevent the enemy from taking these railway tracks and, if possible,
prevent the enemy from establishing positions with LOS to the railway
tracks.
The
German commander has three setup zones: 1. Black… The German CO can ONLY place light combat units in this setup zone. 2. Yellow… Only non-mobile assets can be set up in this zone. 3. Green… No limit to what assets can be placed here. I
have interpreted this as follows: Black:
Fallschirmjaeger, FOs, schrecks, HMGs and mines are allowed in this
zone. Yellow:
Fallschirmjaeger, FOs, Schrecks, HMGs, ATGs and mines. Green:
Any and all forces. Additionally
I have reserved, and availed of, the right to place obstacles,
including mines, anywhere to the east of the black setup zone. The only
fortifications which I explicitly stated I would not use are pillboxes.
Murray seems to have interpreted that as meaning no bunkers either.
Whilst a part of me considered taking advantage of that to show him the
need to CAREFULLY read the EXACT conditions stated I found that bunkers
didn’t fit in with my plan really so I didn’t purchase any. Force
Purchase: 26
anti-tank minefields, 2
Veteran PAW600s 2
Veteran Jpz IV (lang) 2
Veteran Hetzer 2
Regular FJ Bns 5
Reg Kompanie ( 3 with Veteran leaders, 2 with Regular leaders) 1
Elite Kompanie for skirmishing) 5
TRPs, 4
Veteran x 81mm FOs 3
Regular x 81mm FOs 2
Regular x 150mm FOs Rationale
for force purchase… The
map features massively short LOS in many places. Tanks will have a huge
amount of difficulty in advancing quickly and cheaply on any but a few
easily identifiable axes. I
could quickly see that I needed 4 Infanterie Kompanie to create a
strong Main Line of Resistance. I wanted a 1 Kompanie Reserve and
wanted a nice, strong skirmishing force out ahead of my Main Line of
Resistance. Add
that up and it comes to a requirement of 6 Kompanies. I placed the
Regular Battalion with Veteran leaders on my left and centre, where I
expected the main attack to come, placed one Kompanie from the Regular
Bn with regular leaders on my extreme right, one other fully Regular
Kompanie in reserve ( 1 platoon behind each flank and one roughly in
the centre of my line) and then scattered the Elite Kompanie in the
black setup zone such that it could attrit the enemy scouts as he
advanced. I
closed off my right flank and centre to vehicular advance by laying
anti-tank mines along all routes of advance. I determined to annoy
Murray by bringing 150mm arty to bear on the two bridges which he would
need to use if wishing to advance speedily towards my right flank in
strength. Further TRPs are located on the fords of the river there.
None of these TRPs will cause serious casualties BUT they will force
Murray to detour and slow and frustrate him.. The
Hetzers are located so as to be in position to move up and bring fire
to bear on enemy vehicles on either flank ( I do not expect any
serious, strong enemy thrusts to appear on either flank… The
minefields on the right will stop any thrust while the terrible terrain
on the left will slow down any advance along that flank.) My Jpz IV (lang)
are to take care of any enemy thrust along the central valley. The
terrain is very woody so tree-bursting 81mm mortars should come in
handy. I’ve got enough 81mm FOs to support every platoon in the MLR.
Add my 150mm FOs to take out any large concentrations forming up for
assaults and my artillery should play a large part in this battle ( so
long as the 150mm FOs don’t get killed in the first turn or two…
I’ve deployed them VERY far forward. ) That’s
really all there is to say about my force purchase and setup. I’ve
simply thrown a skirmish line up in front of my main positions. Each
main position sector is held by a Kompanie backed by a reserve platoon
and several Fos. My HMG42s are assigned to cover open terrain with
massed fire. My
position is strong. Once I see where Murray is making his main effort
I’ll shift forces and thin un-threatened sectors of the line to
reinforce those where the main effort is going in. Enemy
intentions: I
expect Murray to choose one of four primary routes ( and have put a
single Kompanie along each of these routes). 1.
He could move along my extreme left, moving tanks and infantry over
very hostile terrain but rely on the fact that I am likely to only
weakly hold such difficult terrain since I will discount any
possibility of him taking tanks over such close and difficult terrain.
I can shift Jpz IVs to my left very quickly along the roads though and
I wager that my infantry are stronger along that avenue of approach
than he would like. My
left flank defences look as follows:
Key: Red: Skirmish
Line Troops ( 1 Elite Platoon split into half-squads) Dark
Blue: MLR Troops. (Split into half-squads so as to create fall-back
foxholes) Grey: Reserve
Platoon in reverse slope, covered positions. Light
Blue: Positions of HMG42s. Black
: Flank
Support Anti-tank Asset ( In this case a hull-down Hetzer.) As
you can see this 500 metre wide by 800 metre deep defensive position
comprises 5 platoons of Infanterie, 1 HMG42 platoon and a tank
destroyer. In essence, if one ignores the depth of the position I am
placing a platoon every 100 metres of my front. That is quite a good
density for such close terrain. If
Murray tries to bring tanks across the major hill they will have to
pass through one of two gaps in the woods along the hill-crest. The gap
nearest his jumping off positions lies within the positions of my
skirmish line Elite Fallschirmjaeger platoon (with attached Crack
Panzerschreck team) whilst the second gap lies squarely in between two
platoon strongpoints. Forcing either gap will be costly in terms of
infantry (since I know Murray isn’t dumb enough to run his tanks
right through these gaps without strenuously sanitising them in width
and depth with his infantry first) AND in terms of time. Once
he meets my skirmish line they will begin a fighting withdrawal seeking
to wipe out his recon half-squads at each of their stopping points and
thus weakening his force as they fall back. The units circled in dark
blue will fight where they currently stand and will only fall back when
under the most extreme of pressures. Basically they will stand and die
where they stand. I have placed all of my units in the skirmish and
main lines with care and many are actually in reverse slope defensive
positions which should prove particularly tough nuts to crack in this
kind of close-in fighting. When
a strong enemy assault is seen I will move the reserve platoon up to
occupy the secondary position foxholes of the platoon in combat whilst
the skirmish platoon will spread out to either flank attempting to
dissuade flanking and encirclement attempts. In this way a
platoon-sized strongpoint will quickly become the focal point for a
company-sized defence. The time gained by this stand should allow me to
shift laterally and create more reserves and a second belt of defences.
All in all, if things work as I expect I’ll continually recycle my
reserve just as I did in the original Bocage AAR against Bil. As units
enter the fray lateral displacement will allow me to free a new reserve
almost immediately. The
HMG42 platoon’s positions are quite strong and cover a lot of the
ground in front of their positions and to the right side, along the
slopes of the hills with fire. I expect the HMG42 platoon to be a major
thorn in Murray’s side if he attempts flanking maneuvres on “my
side” of the hillcrest. Any infantry assault on the HMG platoon will
have to be supported by either tanks or a large amount of smoke to
succeed. Either way, if a large attack appears on my left I’ll want
to get a platoon of infantry and a Hetzer into position to fight off
either a dismounted or tank attack on the HMG platoon’s positions. 2.
He can advance directly up the valley road into the teeth of my
position. By deploying an infantry Battalion to sweep the trees to each
flank he can secure his tanks against flank anti-tank attack whilst
advancing his tanks slowly up the valley. His two Bns will be chewed up
but he would definitely be able to advance. 3.
He could advance up some small dirt tracks roughly in the centre of my
position. These dirt tracks would provide some concealment for his
advance but would, eventually, run into very poor tank country and
impassable terrain which could halt any vehicular advance. A strong
infantry thrust along this route as a supporting attack would bear
fruit though. Perhaps that is what will be done.
Key: Red: Skirmish
Line Troops Dark Blue: MLR Troops. (Split into half-squads so as to create fall-back foxholes) Grey: Reserve
Platoon in reverse slope, covered positions. Light
Blue: Positions of HMG42s. Black
: Anti-tank
Asset. Skirmish
Line: Apart from the upper-rightmost red circle the red circles here
show another Elite Skirmish Platoon split into half-squads in positions
from which they will delay the enemy advance ( except for the Platoon
HQ and one schreck team who are going into the enemy rear looking for
trouble). The upper-rightmost squads are on a mission to set up astride
the enemy route of advance I expect Murray to take if I manage to down
the bridges and block the fords across the river on my right flank.
2 squads of Elite Fallschirmjaeger at a range of not more than
60 metres in wooded terrain could really bloody Murray’s forces. The
payback mightn’t, strictly speaking, be worth it but it is always
better to be aggressive and probing and seeking to instil fear into the
enemy and convince him of your utter unpredictability than it is to sit
back and take what he is planning to throw at you. In open terrain
aggressive counter-attacks, and pre-emptive counter-attacks are much
more difficult to mount. In the bocage and this type of closed terrain
an aggressive defender can really have some fun. Main
Line of Resisance: 4 Infanterie platoons are located along likely routes of advance
for enemy tanks and infantry. The leftmost platoon forms part of my
leftmost Kompanie. The three other circled platoons are from the
central defensive Kompanie. Behind their position one can easily see
the grey circling the reserve infanterie platoon ( again in a
well-hidden, reverse slope position). Each platoon is support by its
integral panzerschreck team) The
HMG42 platoon denoted by the 3 pale blue circles near the bottom of the
picture are positioned such that they are out of LOS for distant enemy
tanks but can bring fire to bear on the flanks of any enemy units
seeking to advance along “his side” of the hill-crest.. Also, any
frontal assault on the hill-crest housing my ATG will have to be
supported by a lot of smoke to block the LOS of these HMG42 teams.
Apart from their “flanking fire to the left” role they also can
bring fire to bear on ANY enemy units seeking to attack the MLR
platoons to their front or right. If it wasn’t for his artillery
I’d love to put another HMG platoon or two into this position as it
really gives great fields of fire secure from any but the closest of
direct fire HE missions. One
forward slope PAW600 and two Jpz IV (lang) flesh out my central defence. It’s
a strong but not an extravagant position with a lot of opportunity for
thinning the line and drawing new reserves or holding the current
positions successfully after extensive ( up to 50%) casualties. 4.
Murray can advance to my right of the small lake on my right flank.
Key: Red: Skirmish
Line Troops ( 1 Elite Platoon split into half-squads) Dark
Blue: MLR Troops. (Split into half-squads so as to create fall-back
foxholes) Grey: Reserve
Platoon in reverse slope, covered positions. Light
Blue: Positions of HMG42s. Black: Flank
Support Anti-tank Asset ( In this case a hull-down Hetzer.) Strong
anti-tank minefields should successfully prevent enemy vehicles and
tanks from gaining close access to the Victory Location on my right
flank unless Murray disposes of considerable engineer assets with which
to breach the minefields. The
defence in this region is quite conventional comprising simply of two
Kompanies in the MLR and a single reinforcing Kompanie in a reserve
position. The far left is supported by a Hetzer and a PAW600 operating
in the anti-tank role whilst HMG42s are dispersed along the front in
such a way as to cover any infantry movement to my right of the lake. The
key to the whole defence is quite simply its simplicity and
mutually-supporting nature. No position can be easily flanked without
first annihilating its neighbours by costly and time-consuming frontal
assault. No HMG platoon can be attacked without first passing through a
supporting rifle platoon, no tank can be engaged from an unexpected
angle unless all the infantry covering that axis are removed from the
battle. My
usage of reserves has sometimes come in for comment. Until recently
I’ve been unaware that my use of reserves struck some people as
unusual. To these people I’ll point out that Soviet and German
doctrinal views are central to my entire outlook. Soviet
forces always feature many independent sub-units under the sole command
of higher HQs which can be committed at the total discretion of these
Higher HQs and placed under the command of the “Sector Commander” (
a position equivalent to Kampfgruppe Kommandeur in the Wehrmacht). I
view my reserves in this manner and,
therefore, divide my front into sectors and try to arrange for a small
portion of my reserves to be available to each sector. In
this battle my force is divided into 4 sectors. Each of these sectors
has an anti-tank vehicle in close attendance. The two most threatened
sectors also have an anti-tank gun in position whilst the three most
threatened sectors have infantry platoons in close reserve. During
the battle you can expect to see me committing the local reserves very
early on with a view to blunting the schwerpunkt of the enemy advance
and immediately seeking to free a platoon from a non-threatened sector
with a view to replenishing the reserve
in that particular sector. Certainly this weakens the donating
sector but as this sector is only chosen once the main thrust of the
enemy attack is chosen the likelihood of the enemy having major forces
still available for a subsidiary or main thrust into the donating
Kompanie’s sector are minimal. I
often envisage my reserve policy as being somewhat like a revolving
door. I continually cycle rested units into the front line and seek to
pull attrited units back into close reserve to catch their breath and
allow them to re-deploy into the next set of blocking positions. When
the enemy advances towards these new positions this depleted unit ( now
rested and back in full C&C) is ready to meet the thrust whilst the
unit which replaced it in the front line is now pulled back to catch
its breath, be re-organised as necessary and assigned a new defensive
position. Certainly this is an extremely simplified view of what
happens but as you can see my view of reserves owe far more to Eastern
strategic thought than it does to any of the Western views popular
during this century. Perhaps
the closest easily recognisable and similar view was that taken by
Genghiz Khan and his descendants whereby their soldiers would return to
the rear to transfer to a new pony as soon as their first became tired
by the exertion of battle. This continual re-cycling of their
front-line strength and replenishment with fresh horses from the rear
during battle was often misinterpreted by Western
and Middle-Eastern leaders as proof of immense reserves when it
was no more than ensuring that each soldier would continue to fight as
near to his full potential as possible. Rest breaks are essential for
this as it is impossible for a unit in combat for twenty minutes to
remain combat-capable. A unit which fought for two five minute periods
during any given twenty minute period can easily be seen to be more
likely to be less fatigued and less generally attrited than a unit
which had no break from the front line. In
this battle I have disposed roughly 80% of my infantry in the front
lines and so the opportunities for recycling the reserve will be
reduced. I thought I should explain it though so that when it happens
you will all realise it for what it is. The “Sunken Lane” AAR is a
good example of my continuously recycling my reserve although, even
there, I didn’t do it very
much as I could only reduce my front-line strength to 66% of my force. Some
day I’ll have to write this all up properly with the proper
references to various doctrinal works and explanations from history,
battles and hypothetical scenarios but for right now I am satisfied
with just getting the gist of the issues across to you all. So,
how do I see the battle unfolding? 1. Murray won’t place his tanks in OPEN terrain at the beginning
of the battle. He’s too experienced to make a rookie mistake like
that. 2.
I expect Murray will recon intensively. Murray will have taken
pains to do his research before this battle. His research will
obviously weight my behaviour in the “Sunken Lane” AAR far more
heavily than my conduct in the Open Terrain Attack AAR or the AAR of my
Artillery Defence against Chris Carnes. 3. Bearing in mind the massive casualties I inflicted on his forces
during the reconnaissance phase last battle I expect Murray will seek
to minimize the reconnaissance phase both geographically and
chronometrically. One of my prime objectives will be to maximize both
the time and space over which the reconnaissance phase takes place as I
feel that this is a phase in which I can inflict massively
disproportionate casualties. 4. Murray should be VERY unwilling to lead with his tanks. I showed
him just how much hurt I could put on his forces by wiping out roughly
half of his tanks in one turn last game and I expect him to bear this
in mind this game. Leading with your infantry is also just sound
tactics. 5. He knows his artillery hurt me last game. I didn’t fear his
tanks or infantry at all and easily defeated them when I faced them
with something approaching parity. His command of artillery is
extremely, extremely good though and I expect to be badly hurt. I’m
going to try and split units into half-squads as much as possible to
help guard against annihilation by artillery if at all possible. Murray
will advance on a wide front to prevent flanking counter-attacks and
flanking harassing fire. He will call in artillery early and often and
seek to massively prepare any position he seeks to attack with
infantry. Support and heavy weapons will follow the assaulting units
closely during the approach march so as to be in place ready to support
an assault ASAP. I can expect him to approach along the wooded natural
avenues of approach. Good solid tactics rule his play although he is
more given to “surprises” than I am. When he first played me he
expressed surprise at the stolidness and uninspired nature of my
tactics but, as I said to him then, “ It’s by doing the simple
things right that you win often. Surprise and tactical innovation only
guarantee the occasional victory and are fine when joined to solid
doctrine but are worthless if one can ONLY rely on them.” My
skirmish line will inflict massive casualties before falling back to my
MLR and being recycled into the reserve ( obviously, if Murray launches
a weak probe the skirmish line will hold if possible but I expect a
strong general advance along the entire front.. Murray tried a very focused
assault last game and it didn’t work out as well as expected for him
so I doubt he’ll blitz a single route this game. Given the terrain it
wouldn't make sense either.). I expect the skirmish line to inflict
twice its full complement in casualties during the reconnaissance phase
and lose half of its complement. In other words I’m expecting a 4 to
1 exchange rate ( although this includes casualties caused by artillery
spotted for by the skirmish line also). Since Murray will have a Bn
more than me I estimate that taking out two to three Kompanie during
the reconnaissance phase will stand to me when our main bodies finally
meet. When
our main forces meet his artillery will wreak fearful havoc. Once it
lifts I’ll begin recycling my reserve or, if unavoidable, replacing
entirely destroyed formations with rested skirmish line troops from the
rear.. Unthreatened sectors will cough up reserves for use in the
threatened sector and, generally, I’ll hope to keep my front-line
strength in the most threatened sector relatively constant despite my
losses. If I can do that longer than Murray can keep his own strength
constant then I’ll win. If he can keep his front-line strength high
for longer than I can then he’ll win. It’ll
be that simple.
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