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Section Leaders:
Riesberg American – Riesberg
American Commander - Jason
McGrody Riesberg
offers multiple possibilities for a potential attacker as well as
defender. Getting into the
head of your enemy is the key to this scenario. Objective:
As the American commander I am tasked with taking the rather
nondescript town of Riesberg. It’s nearing the end of the war and my men are anxious to
end the fighting and go home. I
intend to make sure as many of them go home alive as possible. Intel:
Intel is sketchy. Reports of a VG division in the area indicate that I am
likely facing a low quality Volksgrenadier unit.
On the other hand, we’ve had many enemy units not even put up
a fight. So I am wary
about the quality of any units still willing to fight.
No reports either way about the presence of AT units. Static AT units aren’t large problems as they can be taken
out by my infantry or simply gone around.
Mobile AT units will significantly alter my strategy, though.
Mobile AT units will severely hamper my ability to move where I
want as well as providing a tough challenge to my Shermans. Forces:
I have a typical company of GIs with an attachment of ubiquitous
Shermans. This is probably
about as standard a force structure as I’m ever likely to have.
An American commander should probably become familiar with the
ins and outs of these units. Enemy
forces: (Since I’ve played this before I know exactly what the
enemy has. For sake of
analysis, I’ll pretend I don’t).
I’d much rather face a company of Volksgrenadiers than
Panzergrenadiers. And
I’d much rather face static AT units than mobile ones. Force
analysis (friendly): 12 Rifle-45 Squads.
2 Green, 8 Regular, 2 Veteran.
Nothing spectacular experience wise so I don’t have an
advantage here. The 12 men
per squad are a definite plus, though.
I can sustain a few casualties without seriously impairing a
squad’s ability to fight. The
additional BAR a Rifle-45 squad has boosts its firepower 10-25% over
the earlier Rifle 44 squad. 3
Bazooka teams. 1 Green, 1
Regular, 1 Veteran. These
units will either be the most valuable units on the map or the least
valuable. It all depends on the presence of mobile AT units.
Unlike my first time playing this map, I don’t plan to use
them to flush ambushes. J 3
60mm mortars. 2 Regular, 1
Veteran. I’ve got one
word for you, treebursts. All
the trees should provide some decent target opportunities for these
dinky mortars. Their blast
firepower is a miniscule 7 (less than a bazooka).
But they can at least keep up with the troops and have a high
rate of fire, which should aid in suppression.
The high rate of fire, though, means I’ll only get two or
three minutes of sustained fire out of them. 3
.30cal MGs and 1 .50 cal MG. All
regular. Having four
Shermans with their vast amount of MG ammo lessens the importance of
these as direct fire support weapons.
Useful but certainly not vital to victory.
I actually think these will be less important than my mortars.
The .30 cal MG is nothing compared to the .50cal or the MG42,
but it does move faster than the snails pace of the other two.
In any case, I plan on transporting these by tank as much as
possible. 5
platoon commanders and me (the company CO).
One platoon HQ is surplus and will function as support weapon HQ
and I (company CO) will be a reserve HQ.
The most important bonus an HQ can have is the command bonus.
This increases command radius 50% for +1 and 100% for +2.
If units are not under command the rest of the bonuses are
worthless. And loss of
command seriously impairs a unit’s effectiveness, especially if it is
under fire. Platoon
commanders ‘B’ and ‘D’ have command bonuses of +2 and +1,
respectively. I have a
command bonus of +2. 4
Sherman 75s. 3 Regular, 1
Veteran, 2 with extra armor. I
love Shermans. These are
fabulous support vehicles. Vast
quantities of MG ammo and HE ammo means I can pretty much fire at will
at anything I choose. Good off road performance, good speed, good frontal armor,
and good turret traverse speed make for a decent all-around tank.
Its only drawback is its pathetic AT performance (which won’t
be a problem if the enemy has no armored vehicles). 1
105mm FO. My ace in the
hole. I probably have 4
minutes of fire from him. I
hope to use the 105mm arty to coincide with an assault on the town
proper. Whether or not I
succeed in placing effective fire, at least the sound of the explosions
should hearten my men. There
also are some reinforcements that will be arriving soon.
They are maybe half a mile behind. Enemy
force analysis: Intel says there is a VG division in the area so
I’ll look at the Volksgrenadier squads. Unlike
the homogenous US Rifle company, a Volksgrenadier company consists of
three types of squads. This
is to their detriment I think. All
three suffer from only having 8 men per squad, leaving them fragile in
heavy combat. Offensively
they match up with the US squads. The
Volksgrenadier squad is the weakest in firepower. Roughly equal to a Rifle-44 squad in firepower, it is
outclassed by the Rifle-45 in both manpower and firepower. The Volksgrenadier SMG squad is devastating up close but
virtually worthless past 100m. Identifiable
by the distinctive sound of the MP40s they carry, I plan to stay out of
range of these units if I can. The
VG Heavy SMG squad is easily the most powerful squad in the VG company.
A good combination of close in SMGs and long range MG42s.
Topographical
analysis: There are two hills and about a jillion woods of varying
densities to hide in and behind. Not
to mention a dozen or so buildings, some of which are nice big, stone
ones. The Germans could be
hiding just about anywhere. Battle
plan and setup: There are multiple ways to attack Riesberg.
I can attack with a frontal assault, up the left flank, the
right flank, or try an envelopment. I can attack quickly or methodically. My choice is a methodical envelopment. I’ll briefly discuss the others before launching into my
battle plans. A frontal
assault is likely the quickest and easiest to execute, but unless I can
provide flank protection as my units storm the buildings I’m
vulnerable to having my units flanked and caught off guard.
The left flank lacks good maneuver room for my tanks except for
the alley to the left of the road.
The right flank is a good option as it has better room for the
tanks to move and the hill provides a good overwatch position.
I’ve
chosen the methodical envelopment for two reasons. One, I’m just not a fast player.
I’ve got thirty turns; I might as well use them.
Two, by using an envelopment I can scout out large areas of the
map and by the process of elimination I can figure out where the enemy
is. The
basic plan is to drive forces down both sides of the map.
The tanks and supporting MGs and one mortar will stay in front
of the town to provide fire support and will move to provide close
support for the town assault as needed.
The reinforcement platoon will be my reserve and will move up
the center. Its arrival
will signal that the assault on the town proper can commence.
Once my units are in place I will assault the town from all
sides simultaneously. Setup:
The setup zones are not exactly to my liking, but I’ll have to live
with it. My initial setup
from left to right. Platoon
‘F’, my most inexperienced platoon, is setup as far left and as far
forward as he can go. This
platoon will move forward and stop to engage any enemies it finds.
Once the town assault begins it will assault to take the stone
buildings at the back of the town so it has to move fairly far across
the map. It has a mortar
attached to it. Platoon
‘D’ will function as ‘F’s backup in case they encounter stiff
resistance. The setup zone
didn’t allow me to place it very far to the left so it will be a few
minutes behind ‘F’. It
has a bazooka attached in case any armor appears. The 105 FO and a 60mm mortar are positioned with Platoon
‘D’. They will move
forward slowly and try to get in good firing positions.
The 105 will try to sight in on the stone buildings at the rear
of the town. Two Shermans
along with two .30cal MGs, one .50cal MG and the support Platoon HQ are
positioned to the left of the road in the open space with direct sight
to many of the buildings on the left.
The Shermans will area fire the buildings but basically the job
for these units is to sit around and look for enemy units to shoot at.
Platoon ‘C’ is positioned as far right as it can get.
It will move up the right side and head for one of the wood
houses near wheat field. It
will wait there for the final assault.
A Sherman is with them carrying a .30cal MG and my HQ unit.
It will make for the hill on the right and take up position and
wait. My final Sherman is
on the far right. It will
also make for the hill. Accompanying
it will be a 60mm mortar on foot.
The mortar will not be transported on the Sherman because if it
comes under fire the mortar crew may jump off and abandon its mortar.
Finally, platoon ‘B’ will also move up the right side for
one of the houses by the wheat field. The
plan is pretty simple. Move
forward and engage whatever I find.
Wipe it out as quickly as possible so I don’t get
counterattacked.
I
have some general rules I use when I play games of strategy. 1.
Don’t get rattled 2.
Make a plan and stick to it 3.
Know the capabilities of your units 4.
Keep a reserve 5.
Don’t get rattled And
so, with these five things in mind, the assault on the quiet village of
Riesberg begins. My forces
are basically divided into four groups: left, center-left,
center-right, and right. I
will use these to refer to my forces. Turn
1: Orders:
My infantry platoons are given long movement orders up the sides
of the map with maybe half a dozen waypoints for each unit.
Long movement orders mean less time delay.
You can always cancel or modify them later.
Multiple waypoints means that altering or canceling orders can
be more fine-tuned. I want
my platoons to be as far to the edge of the map as possible so he will
have a hard time spotting me. I don’t want it to be impossible; I
actually want him to spot me. I just don’t want him to be able to get a precise fix on my
platoons’ locations. I
want him to see me and react to me so that I, in turn, can spot him. The
Shermans on the center-right and right (V-2 and V-3) are given orders
to move to the hill. The
center-left Shermans (V-1 and V-4) target two houses on the front row. Their riders are ordered to disembark and wait for targets.
The mortar and FO are ordered to move forward to a copse of
heavy woods. Action:
After the requisite command delay my units move out.
Cries of “Get movin’. Let’s
go!” are punctuated with the pleasant sound of sputtering .30cal MGs
and the boom of 75mm guns. Thirty
seconds in I get a report. “Enemy
sighted 500 meters!” The
report comes from the units on the center-left.
“Platoon
strength, sir! Crawling
towards one of the buildings.” My
men don’t need me to tell them what to do.
The Shermans and dismounted MGs open fire on the Germans.
Is first blood mine? I
hope so. (If you listen
you can hear a German go ‘Arrggghhh’ but could I hear that at
500m?) Also the
distinctive sound of a ricochet and a closing of a hatch punctuates the
air. Sniper!
The mortar and FO move forward to the copse of heavy woods.
My four infantry platoons make their way through the various
patches of woods without incident. Turn 2: Orders:
Shoot the Germans before they make it to safety.
Pretty elaborate, huh? The
movement of the German units into the town is a good thing.
Fewer units to oppose my movement up the left flank.
Action:
The fire from my units seems to have ‘encouraged’ the
Germans to move a little faster to cover.
Within a few seconds I lose all contact.
Then all I hear is the drone of Shermans’ engines.
No other contact is reported.
Good. The less
surprises the better. My
platoons continue up their slow march and Shermans V-2 and V-3 continue
motoring towards the hill. Turn 3: Orders:
My center-left Shermans are given orders to area fire on two
stone building objectives, the church and the building I suspect the
platoon scurried into. My
infantry platoons don’t need any attention because I’ve plotted
such long waypoints for them and nothing has caused me to adjust them. Action:
No enemy activity reported. My
platoons continue forward. The
center-left Shermans fire away. On
the center-right, though, the Sherman ahead of me has to back up and go
around some trees. So it
and the Sherman I’m riding on do a little dance.
‘You first.’ ‘No,
after you.’ ‘Pardon me.’ Arrrgghhh!
Turn 4: Orders:
On the left, the mortar attached to Platoon ‘F’ is ordered
to stop in some heavy woods while the platoon continues forward.
The mortar on the center-left is ordered to move forward a bit.
The two Shermans are told to continue firing.
I yell at the Sherman ahead of me to get the hell out of my way
and get moving towards the hill.
Action:
Yawn! Will the
enemy ever show up? Nothing
to report except that the center-right Shermans have ended their mating
dance. Platoon
‘F’ is almost to its initial stopping point.
Support Platoon ‘D’ is about a minute or so behind.
On the right, Platoon ‘B’ is still about four minutes from
the wooden houses and Platoon ‘C’ is about two minutes behind them.
Of course, if the point platoons encounter trouble the support
platoons can just run to catch up.
Turn 5: Orders:
Platoon ‘F’ is just about in position and platoon ‘D’
will move into the woods to the right of ‘F’.
The
center-left Shermans change targets.
One targets some woods and the other targets the two-story wood
building in the first row. I’m
beginning to think the enemy HAS no units in buildings.
The
center-right tanks have been ordered to move to (I hope) hull down
positions on the hill. The
platoons on the right don’t have orders all the way to the wooden
houses by the wheatfield, which is their final objective.
The reason is I want them to pause before continuing on.
Kind of a ‘Stop and look both ways before crossing the
street.’
Action: Platoon ‘F’ on the left has reached its first stopping point in the woods with Platoon ‘D’ following behind. The mortar in the center-left continues forward. It and FO nearby are trying to scout out decent spotting positions. I’m confident that, even if spotted, the enemy won’t fire at one lone unit. It doesn’t seem worth it for him to give away his position. I and the .30cal MG I’m riding with disembark from the tank as it reaches the hill. We take up position right in the open on top of the hill tempting the Germans to shoot at us. Seems like a nice place for a picnic – if there wasn’t a war going on.
Movie Files American
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