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Section Leaders:
Riesberg American – Riesberg
American Commander - Jason
McGrody Turn
11: Orders:
Something shot at me last turn and I want to find out what it
is. I unhide Platoon
‘F’ and its attached mortar so that they can return fire if they
spot anything. Shermans
V-1 and V-4 are ordered a little farther forward again.
I still want to keep them behind Platoon ‘G’ which is
ordered to continue forward. The
Shermans on the right are going to take positions directly on top of
the hill so they can get a better view towards the center of the town.
My Company HQ along with a MMG and mortar are still having a
picnic in the woods at the base of the hill.
On the right it should be two more turns until the platoons are
fully in position. Action:
I’m surprised I’ve made it this far without encountering
opposition. From here on
in I expect to have constant contact with the enemy. Platoon
‘F’ unhides and it doesn’t take long (five seconds) before they
spot an enemy unit. Two
squads begin firing at long range (280m).
Not enough to cause much damage but maybe enough to keep his
head down so I can maneuver to a better position.
Soon, my 60mm mortar joins the chorus and I get what I had hoped
for, a treeburst. It
causes a few casualties.
While
I haven’t identified the German by the end of the turn, I’m
confident it’s a mortar as one more mortar shell lands amidst my
troops. Watch the status
of Sgt. Dorn’s squad (F-1) to get a look at how units react to
incoming fire. The previous turn a mortar shell landed nearby and the Green
squad had a ‘Cautious’ status – even without taking casualties.
This turn the squad is ‘Shaken’ by one shell – again
without taking a casualty. Thankfully,
no other surprises occur. Turn
12: Orders:
The only real objective this turn is to neutralize the enemy
mortar. Platoon ‘F’ is
going to rush forward to get in closer.
In order to get good timing, I give the two Regular units a 15
second pause so that their command delay will be 35 seconds, pretty
close to a Green squads 33. One
Green squad is also given a pause order so that it, along with the
mortar can provide cover fire while the other three units advance.
The Shermans again are ordered to creep forward and disgorge
their passengers after a 75m crawl.
I really, really don’t want my tanks to get ahead of my
infantry. Action:
No German units come out of hiding to assist the poor mortar.
After a few seconds, the mortar breaks/retreats right into LOS
of an advancing Sherman, which takes a potshot at it.
By the time I fully identify the mortar it only has three men
left, a number that is quickly reduced to two.
The
easy dispatching of the first enemy unit they have ever encountered
heartens the Green troops, but Lieutenant Brown knows not to let them
get too cocky. Because Lt.
Brown does not have a command bonus two squads have moved just out of
the 50m command radius, not a good sign. The
units in the center encounter no opposition to their cautious advance.
The two platoons on the right are finally in position.
Turn
13: Orders:
I said at the beginning that getting into the head of the enemy
is important. I’m
surprised my opponent has shown so much restraint in not exposing
himself. I’m going to
have to pry him out like taking a claw hammer to a rusty nail.
He HAS to know where my units are.
Come out and show yourself so I can kill you!! Since
Platoon ‘F’ is stuck in the open, it needs to continue forward to
cover mopping up the mortar as it goes.
The units in the center continue their cautious advance with the
support units mounting up again.
I continue to sit and have a picnic with a mortar and a MMG
being looked over by Ma and Pa Sherman but I order the MMG to mount up
on a Sherman and go to support the two platoons on the right now that
they are in position. Rather
than mount up this turn and move the next I give the Sherman a couple
pause orders and hope to get moving this turn. The units on the right get to sit tight and play tourist with
a nice view of a quaint German village. Action:
The battle has definitely begun as the sound of a high velocity
shell pierces the air in front of Platoon ‘F’.
A second shot is fired, knocking out a Sherman before I spot the
AT gun. My units are advancing right at it!
An AT gun is a little scarier than a mortar.
I hope my units remember their lessons from Assaulting an AT Gun
101. Thankfully,
the Sherman doesn’t brew up, allowing the passengers to disembark
safely The MMG is pissed
for now having to walk and begins returning fire, albeit at very long
range. Not surprisingly, the AT gun draws fire from everything that
can see it. It is also the
only German unit I can see so my units have nothing else to fire at,
anyway. J Sgt.
Dorn’s squad is just unlucky. The
squad drew fire from the 81mm mortar and now it is being fired at close
range by an AT gun. The
squad becomes Shaken from the first shot and takes one casualty.
The second shot Routs him even though it causes no casualties!
Note: HE shells are scary to inexperienced units.
On
the right side I’ve mistimed things and the Sherman begins moving
before the MMG boards. One
extra Pause would have done the trick. Turn
14: Orders:
Losing a Sherman to an unspotted AT gun obviously isn’t what I
had in mind. The good news
is the AT gun doesn’t have any support so it should be easy prey.
Luckily, I had already plotted movement paths for two squads the
previous turn while assaulting the mortar.
The orders are to a perfect flank position about 50m from the AT
gun. My hope is that the
squads can outrun the traverse of the gun. They certainly have the motivation to do so.
I’ve
decided to disembark the two MGs riding on the other Sherman and
position them on the same firing line as the other MMG.
This is really gamey and takes advantage of the fact that the
beta demo doesn’t track grazing fire or whatever it is called. On the right, I give the Sherman three pause orders so that
the MMG can catch up. Action:
The AT gun opens fire at one of my squads and only causes one
casualty. Large explosions
are scary! The unit fired
at, a regular squad, is shaken and the unit nearby becomes cautious.
The
AT gun is theoretically under fire from five units at the start of the
turn, but none are particularly effective.
The MG is too far away. The
HQ doesn’t have much firepower.
The two squads only get one shot off each before they take off
running. The only unit
that does any good is the trusty 60mm mortar.
It fires off ten shots in the turn, one of which pins the AT gun
just before it fired at one of my squads.
The mortar even kept up its fire even when fired upon by the AT
gun. I’m happy that
I’ve managed to get my squads to close range without taking many
casualties. Turns out the
AT gun is an 88mm and I’ve only caused one casualty.
I
finally manage to catch a glimpse of movement of German units.
The Sherman on the left spots an infantry unit dashing between
buildings at the rear of the town.
The Sherman fires off one burst of MG fire before the German
unit disappears. Sadly, I
didn’t notice this when I was playing the game initially, only when I
went back through for this AAR. Overall,
I’m happy with the way the turn went.
No surprises and little damage. Turn
15: Orders:
Now that I’ve managed to get my units so close to the 88 with limited
casualties I’m pretty sure the 88 is doomed.
Everything that fired it last
turn is targeted at it this turn.
The Regular squad is going to charge the 88 if it is still there
after the requisite command delay (higher because the squad is out of
command). The Platoon
‘F’ HQ is going to move back and bring the broken squad under
command and attempt to rally it. Two
of the squads in Platoon ‘G’ are out of command so I am going to
move them closer and within the HQs command radius.
The HQ has combat, morale, and stealth bonuses but right now I
wish he had a command bonus. The HQ and the other squad are going to
move forward to the scattered trees where they will wait before they
make a dash for the first row of houses.
The reserve HQ is ordered to move into the woods and bring all
the MGs under command. On
the right, the MMG is on the Sherman and the Sherman is on its way
around and through the woods to link up with the two platoons in the
wooden buildings. Action:
Well, this turn
turned out much, much better than I had hoped.
The 88 goes down quickly without putting up much of a fight.
Each burst from the assaulting squads brings another casualty to
the 88 until the 88 is no more ten seconds into the turn. The
Platoon in the center manages to stumble across some Germans hiding in
foxholes. The first unit I
spot is hiding in the trees behind the first row of houses. How on earth I spotted him I don’t know.
The Platoon ‘G’ HQ is the first to fire quickly followed by
a squad in Platoon ’G’ and my Company HQ so perhaps it’s not too
surprising considering the German unit can be spotted by at least three
of my units. The unit in
the town is in LOS of the three units left near the hill and they’ve
been sitting there for ten minutes
In
rapid succession I spot three units hiding in the forward ambush
position and they are all quickly brought under fire. By the end of the
turn I have caused a few casualties.
Since the units that I spotted were hiding they don’t return
fire. I
must say I got incredibly lucky to stumble on units hiding in foxholes.
The German units in front of the town are in their initial setup
position but I never expected that they would actually still be there.
Everything that the enemy has done indicated to me that his
units were all pulled back into town.
Needless to say, I am very surprised not only that I spotted the
units but that I spotted the units where I did. What
isn’t luck is that my units were in position to immediately provide
support fire from multiple positions when I spotted the enemy.
It was no accident that Platoon ‘G’ had spread out or that I
left a Sherman on the hill with a mortar even though I had yet to see
an enemy. I don’t know
what the best way to have done things would be, but it has worked out
in this case.
Movie Files American
Turn 11
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