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Section Leaders:
Riesberg American – Riesberg American Commander - Jason
McGrody Turn
21: Orders:
I have four almost full strength platoons facing a mortar, three
squads, and an MG42. Best
take care of these units now while I have the advantage before
continuing on into more hiding Germans.
I
can’t think of anything useful to do with Platoon ‘F’ so they are
just going to sit tight this turn.
As
it turns out, some of my squads in the front of the town have LOS to
the mortar and a squad in the trees at the rear of Riesberg. Although the range is far, I think it is worth it to bring
fire on a unit from opposite directions. Plus, there are only five
visible German units and I have over fifteen units firing so I can
afford to ‘spread the wealth’, so to speak.
The
support MGs and the Sherman in front of the town have nothing at which
to fire. The three MGs are
ordered to move towards various positions in the first row of houses. When they get there they can support the next wave of
movement by the infantry squads. I’m
afraid that there is another AT gun just waiting until I get closer to
fire at me. In order to
protect my Sherman in front of the town, I order it to fire smoke
between two buildings and then drive through it. I
forgot to mention last turn that the artillery barrage started at the
very end of the turn so I’ll have the pleasant sound of exploding
105mm shells on my side. Despite
not having a HQ, Platoon ‘C’ is not in bad shape. It has only taken one casualty and the condition of the
squads is ok, ok, and alerted. Two
of the squads are in the scattered trees opposite the Germans so I
cancel their movement orders and target the Germans.
The third squad is out in the open a few meters in front of the
trees so I order the squad to scamper back into the cover of the trees. The
gun damaged Sherman is now nothing more than an armored MG.
If I were playing an operation I’d pull the tank out of the
battle. Instead I decide
to swing it around one of the buildings and position it directly in
front of the two German infantry squads. Now
that I have a leaderless platoon, I decide to end my picnic with the
other members of the Company HQ. I
am going to hop on the nearby Sherman and move at top speed to take
control of Platoon ‘B’. Action:
Overall, a good turn. At
the front of the town, one squad takes three casualties while I dish
out nine to the Heavy SMG squad and the MG42.
The Heavy SMG squad goes is eliminated in twenty seconds and the
MG42 is immobilized ten later. An infantry team is spotted moving towards one of the stone
buildings, probably to get a shot at my Sherman. At the end of the turn an infantry unit of unknown type is
spotted in some heavy woods in front of one of the stone buildings.
By the end of the turn it is under fire from all of Platoon
‘D’. The
leaderless platoon, Platoon ‘C’, doesn’t do all that badly.
Suffering eight casualties, the platoon doesn’t break but
varies between ‘alerted’ and ‘pinned’ status.
Squad C-1 fares the worst taking five casualties and being
pinned most of the turn. If
it weren’t for the covering fire this platoon would no doubt have
fared much worse. An
interesting thing to notice is the status change of the bazooka team. The team becomes pinned from simply firing.
Also of note, the Sherman gets off one burst from its remaining
.30 cal MG and the MG team moves into position in the top floor of the
building as the turn ends. The
Germans put up a decent fight but by the end of the turn one squad has
broken. It looks like I
cause about half a dozen casualties to the two squads.
Assuming the two squads were full strength at the beginning of
the turn, I probably outnumbered him five to one.
The
artillery barrage continues but the only noticeable effect is that is
causes a squad to break and run. Turn
22: Orders:
Platoon ‘F’, which sat out last turn, gets to take another
step closer to the town this turn. As I don’t want to run into my own artillery barrage, they
are going to take a round about way into town.
Angling towards a large patch of woods, they will, when in
place, be behind the town and I will be able to pull off an
encirclement of the village. I
also suspect he has units in the objective building the platoon will be
running past. If he does,
I really, really hope he shoots at my platoon so that I can spot them.
Two
squads of Platoon ‘G’ have no targets so I want them to run to the
spot formerly held by the Heavy SMG squad.
The other two units in the platoon have LOS to the pesky mortar
so that is what they get to shoot at until something better comes up.
All of Platoon 'D’ voluntarily decided to fire at the unknown
infantry unit spotted at the end of last turn and I see no reason to
alter their good decision. I
also see no reason to charge forward with this platoon when they have a
perfectly good target in front of them.
Although the range is a little beyond what I would like (~125m)
an entire full strength platoon can bring a good amount of fire to bear
on one unit. Another
reason not to move the units in the front of the town too much is that
the support MGs and Sherman are still making their way into town. On
the left side, I want to mop up the two squads and mortar before
continuing on. While I
give all my units on the left targeting orders, I really don’t care
what they fire at. This
turn as well as the last could be termed ones of consolidation. Action:
Nothing particularly unusual happens and that is a good thing.
The less surprises the better.
Platoon
‘F’ runs to the woods without incident.
If there are any Germans that can spot them, they don’t show
themselves.
In
the front of the town, the unknown infantry unit is eventually
identified as a machine gun. Platoon
‘D’ and the artillery effectively suppress the unit, and it
eventually breaks and retreats. On
the left, the two squads go down meekly, only getting off one burst of
fire. The squad that was
running away at the end of last turn continues to run away.
The other squad stands its ground until it is wiped out. The
infantry team spotted last turn continues moving towards the gun
damaged Sherman, turning into a cross as it disappears into the woods
halfway through the turn. I
honestly expected more to happen this turn. I was expecting that
somewhere the German commander would attempt something to disrupt my
assault. Turn
23: Consolidation is over; it is time to move out again.
Orders:
Sort of. Platoon ‘F’
moved last turn and, as they are not quite in place, they are only
going to move a little bit to the edge of the woods and see what turns
up. The
two platoons in front of the town are going to move forward and to the
right. The support MGs
should be in place or almost so by the end of this turn Platoon ‘D’
is going to move into the spot that the Heavy SMG and MG42 were in.
At the end of last turn, and unknown something caused three
casualties to each of two squads in Platoon ‘D’. One
.30cal MG, the .50cal MG and the surplus HQ will take up residence in
the two story building that will be vacated by Platoon ‘D’. The other .30 cal MG will take up residence in the other two
story wood building where a squad from Platoon ‘G’ will join it.
The Sherman will finally make its way through its own smoke
screen where it will park itself next to Platoon ‘D’. Platoon
‘G’s HQ and a squad are going to run across the street and into a
wooden house. On
the right, both platoons will be moving to take out the infantry team
and the mortar. One of the
squads in Platoon ‘C’ already has LOS to the mortar so it will stay
put while the other two charge forward.
Platoon ‘B’ is going to rush forward to take out the
infantry team as well as move into position to fire on the two stone
buildings across the street. In order to get better firing angles and not bunch up the
platoon one squad, B-1, will be moved to a solitary patch of woods
across the dirt path from the rest of the platoon. Action:
Well, in a word, ick. Eleven
German units appear in places that I didn’t expect, including an 88mm
gun that inflicts a fair beating on Platoon ‘G’. A
squad from Platoon ‘D’ loses two men and panics (but, thankfully,
does not get the dreaded ‘!’) before it can even exit the building.
Another squad takes two casualties as it runs into position.
Despite these setbacks, the platoon does manage to get to where
I had ordered them. The HQ and a
squad of Platoon ‘G’ that were ordered to run across the street
encounter unexpected and unpleasant trouble.
Two German squads pop up in neighboring buildings and open fire.
The two units suffer eight casualties and the HQ is down to one
lone man at the end of the turn. It’s
a good thing the building the units ran into didn’t have Germans in
it as the HQ and squad would probably have been wiped out. I forgot to
mention in the orders section that a mortar and bazooka team had been
ordered to move forward into scouting positions.
Using a bazooka and mortar aren’t the wisest things to use for
scouting, but I can only use what is at hand.
And it’s a good thing I did, too.
One (or both) manages
to spot an entire platoon camped out in front of one of the objective
buildings. I wonder if
they’ve taken any damage from the artillery barrage?
By the look of the terrain, Platoon ‘F’ was shielded from
their view by the hill so maybe it wasn’t spotted by these units. The only thing
good that I can see from all the unexpected units that have popped up
is that my units are in pretty decent covering fire positions. On the right
side things don’t go nearly as I had hoped.
A platoon essentially appears out of nowhere and the same thing
happens to Platoon ‘B’ as happened to Platoon ‘C’ – the HQ is
wiped out. And for the
same reason, too. The HQ
was on the ground floor and thus was in the front of the platoon’s
charge. Two squads were on
the top floor and so took longer to exit the building.
All I would have had to do was give the HQ a pause order and it
would probably still be around to command the platoon.
The platoon takes a total of ten casualties – four to the HQ
and two each to the three squads.
On the right side I now have two leaderless platoons and a
useless Sherman. A
concerted counterattack would likely wipe them out. The only upsides are that I, riding atop a Sherman, am on my
way to re-establish command and the six squads still have a bunch of
men left (56 total. I love
12 man squads).
I can’t say
that I expected to find any of the German units where I did.
The German commander doesn’t know that and I plan to keep it
that way. If only the
German commander knew just how clueless I really am about his force
disposition… I feel kind
of like a sixteen-year-old trying to unhook the bra of his girlfriend
for the first time while drunk in the dark in the back seat of his car.
He is trying to act like he knows what he is doing but really he
is just fumbling around in the dark. Turn 24: Orders:
While I was surprised at the appearance of all the German units,
one plus is that I have a lot of men in good condition.
I have 153 line infantry available of which 103 are of ‘OK’
status. The German
forces are in roughly three clumps of men.
With only a minor adjustment of fire the FO can reach two of
them. One of those,
though, is close to my own men. So
I have decided to adjust my 105mm fire to the platoon on my left.
I could assault this platoon from both sides with Platoons
‘D’ and ‘F’ but I can use harassing fire from a Sherman and a
mortar this turn and the remaining ammo from the 105 next turn to free
up both platoons to assist in assaulting the other two German
positions. My two
leaderless platoons need help so I want Platoon ‘F’ to charge
across and enter one of the stone buildings by the road.
Since two squads are green and one has the ‘!’ status, any
fire while likely suppress these men but it is a risk worth taking.
The platoon has only lost two men so they should be able to
effectively return fire if any Germans shoot at them. My Sherman in
town has LOS over a rubbled building to a German squad and will target
it this turn until the arty arrives. Platoon ‘D’
will shift right to provide support for the units across the street.
The HQ and squad of Platoon ‘G’ took eight casualties last
turn and they are in no shape to defend themselves with only six men
total (and the squad only has six ammo left). Two squads and the HQ will dash across the street into a
stone building at the front of the town.
One squad each can be shoved into a corner of the building and
the HQ can stay behind them. The
other squad will stay on the other side of the street and take position
in the two story wood building in a support position.
By keeping the HQ in the back of the stone building it should be
able to keep all three squads under command (having a +2 command bonus
doesn’t hurt). Why did the
platoon of GIs cross the road? To
help their buddies out on the other side. I could send
squad G-2 dashing across the street to assist its HQ.
It wouldn’t take very long for the squad to get there.
On the other hand, from where it is it can fire on the AT gun
and I think suppressing the AT gun is more important.
That leaves squad G-3 to help out its HQ and I dutifully plot an
order for it to run across the street. As it turns out,
by sheer good fortune, the 60mm mortar on my right has LOS to a German
squad in one of the wood buildings.
Well, I’d like to think it was a little more than luck as I
left him there in case something popped up. On the right my
two leaderless platoons need only slight readjustment to bring full
firepower on the German units. Since
my Sherman is pretty much useless now, I plan to use it as a decoy. The AT gun is currently targeting units in front of the town
and if I move the Sherman behind the AT gun that should cause the gun
to retarget the tank. The
hope is that I can destroy the gun while it swings around 180 degrees. Action:
Platoon ‘F’ leads a charmed life.
By the end of the turn the platoon is halfway to the stone
building and there is no response from the Germans.
I had to give two of the regular units a pause order so that
there command delay would be closer (35 seconds) to that of the two
green squads (33 seconds). The
delay wasn’t all bad as it allowed the platoon to get off some pot
shots at long range on a German squad. At the front of
the town, a MMG which was assigned to fire on the AT gun holds its
order for one second before switching to the German squad on the left
that is already targeted by a Sherman and a mortar.
I’m glad this kind of disobedience has been fixed.
After fifteen seconds or so the squad turns around and runs
away. It’s hard to tell
whether the squad broke voluntarily or involuntarily. The squad under
fire from the AT gun does a pretty good job holding itself together
helped by its HQ having a +2 morale bonus.
The squad, like the MMG, breaks orders and changes targets from
the higher priority AT gun to a nearby German squad. I was not the
only one who suffered targeting woes this turn.
Upon checking my two units across the street that were battered
last turn for eight casualties and finding no losses this turn, I
wanted to find out why. The
answer, simply, was that they had not been fired on.
Targeted initially by two German squads 40m away, my squad
manages to escape unscathed as the Germans inexplicably switch to
unimportant targets over 100m away.
I say again, it is a good thing these kind of targeting problems
were fixed months ago.
On the right,
things go surprisingly well. Despite
having no leaders, both platoons put up a good fight eliminating three
units. Another unit
surrenders (and then un-surrenders) leaving only the AT gun
(subsequently identified as an 88mm gun) on this side of the road.
In the buildings appear to be another squad and a MG that
appeared this turn. By the
looks of things I massively outnumber him now.
By the end of
the turn all of my units are in good positions and my artillery is only
five seconds away. Turn 25: Orders:
German defenses are crumbling under my troops determined
assault. Platoon ‘F’
will continue its charge into the stone building taking up positions in
various places. One squad
will move to the front of the building where it will be able to fire on
the 88 (if it is still around).
Little
adjustment is needed in the front of the town as most of the movement
was done last turn. I
decide to swing the Sherman around and park it right in the middle of
the road. From there it
can either fire on the 88 or the nearby German squads.
Also, by staying on the road it will enable the tank to move to
other locations faster should that be necessary.
One squad of Platoon ‘D’ will run across the street to join
its comrades from the battered ‘G’ platoon.
A squad form Platoon ‘G’, which was originally on its way to
join its HQ, ended last turn in the middle of the road.
I decide to keep it there so it can fire on the 88.
It is safe from fire from the nearby German squads as a house
blocks LOS. On the right, a
little movement forward should bring the 88 in sight of two squads.
Three others target the pesky German squad that surrendered and
changed its mind last turn. Another squad targets an infantry squad in the stone building
hoping to suppress it before the boys from ‘F’ enter the building.
Only one squad can actually see the 88 and that becomes its
target. Action:
The artillery comes raining down and causes a few casualties
with its remaining rounds (one of which is a nice tree burst – look
for it). Shermans are
great tanks versus infantry. Having
three MGs, it can fire in three different directions at once. While the Sherman in front of the town didn’t quite do
this, it did manage to fire its .50 cal MG to one side, fire its co-ax
.30 cal at the 88, and drive in a third direction.
I know of no German AFV that could do this.
For the turn, it fired six bursts each of .50 cal and .30 cal
bullets. The two German
squads in front of the town come under heavy fire.
The first time I watched the movie I was surprised to find one
house demolished at the end of the turn.
With his next to last shot, the 60mm mortar brought the house
down and eliminated the squad inside.
On the right my
two pronged attack works great. Except
for my Sherman being knocked out by the 88.
I’ll just chalk that up to the fact that its main gun was
taken out by the uber-sniper. A
squad from Platoon ‘F’ delivered the killing blow to the 88.
This means that my most inexperienced platoon has taken out two
88mm FlaK guns. In
addition, this platoon captures the Company HQ and the MG42 in the
adjoining building.
By the end of
the turn all that is left are a few scattered remnants. Turn 26: Orders:
I and the rest of my Company HQ staff have finally arrived
to take control of the two leaderless platoons.
As it turns out, I wasn’t needed.
My men were well trained and performed bravely under fire. Basically, it is
just mop up time. So I
plot orders for my men and tanks to charge what remains of enemy
forces. Action:
Two things worth looking for.
Yet another hidden enemy unit appears this turn at the front of
the town. Also, the same
Sherman that I mentioned last turn uses its MGs to good use again this
turn. I sent it back along
the dirt road to shoot up the remaining platoon.
While rotating its hull to drive down the road it maintained
tracking of a fleeing German squad.
When it spotted a new target, it rotated its turret about 135
degrees in about six seconds and got off a .50 cal MG burst before
finally bringing the turret around.
Turn 27: There is no turn
27 as the computer forced the German surrender.
I’d like to
extend a big thanks to Robert for agreeing to do this AAR. I had only
played one previous PBEM game of CM when I started this one. In fact, I had only played one PBEM game of any kind ever
before this. My
first game, this game, and all my other PBEM games I have played (or am
playing) have been great fun. I
think it is a testament to the type of game CM is that it attracts such
good players. Looking back on
the game, the biggest thing I would work on is timing.
My attack just took too long to form up. Two platoon HQs were lost because of bad timing.
Getting a good estimate for how long units take to move through
various terrain features is important for keeping units together.
Going down stairs, for instance, takes about five or six
seconds. The game seemed
to boil down to a big game of chicken.
Which one of us was going to break first?
The answer was – neither.
I was waiting for him to show himself so I could destroy him
and, except for the fatal mistake with his mortar, he didn’t show
himself. I, for the most
part, didn’t run blindly into ambushes unsupported.
I proceed cautiously (perhaps overly so) and when I encountered
the enemy I attempted to bring overwhelming firepower on him.
Notice during the movies that many of his units have two or more
of my units targeting them. Combat Mission
isn’t a race. There are
no bonus points for beating your opponent quickly.
Sit back and let your units move into position before
proceeding. Let your units
sit around if they aren’t needed.
The mortar on the hill sat there for twenty turns before firing.
I also didn’t run my units places unless they were under fire
or absolutely had to get somewhere.
No use having tired units when the firing starts.
I spotted the forward ambush because my units were moving at a
walk instead of sprinting. Ultimately, what
made this game fun was that neither of us broke rules one and five that
I wrote of in my setup. Neither
of us got rattled. Here is a
finally casualty tally as best I could muster after watching the movies
from both sides. Designation Type
Casualties Caused
Total Casualties
Caused
Taken Caused Taken
(Unit)
(Group) A-0
Company HQ
0
0
0 0 B-0
Platoon HQ
1 Platoon HQ
1
4
B-1
Rifle 45
3 VG 1 Company HQ
6 4
1 Sharpshooter 1 88
FlaK
21
14 B-2
Rifle 45
4 VG 1 Schreck
5 4 B-3
Rifle 45
5 VG 3 Platoon HQ
9 4
1 Company HQ C-0
Platoon HQ
0
4 C-1
Rifle 45
7 VG 1 SMG 1 81mm
mortar
9 5 C-2
Rifle 45
8 VG 1 81mm mortar
11 4
24
14
2 88mm FlaK C-3
Rifle 45
4 81mm mortar
4
1 D-0
Platoon HQ
0
0 D-1
Rifle 45
1 VG 4 Hvy SMG 1
Platoon HQ
7 5
1 MG42
16
14 D-2
Rifle 45
4 VG 2 Hvy SMG
6 4
D-3
Rifle 45
2 VG 1 Schreck
3
5 E-0
Platoon HQ
0
1
0 1
F-0
Platoon HQ
0 1 F-1
Rifle 45
3 88 FlaK
3
1 F-2
Rifle 45
1 SMG 1 MG42
1 81mm mortar
6
0 15
4
3 88 FlaK F-3
Rifle 45
1 SMG 1 Company HQ
6
2
4 88 FlaK G-0
Platoon HQ 2 SMG
2
3 G-1
Rifle 45 HQ
8 VG 6 SMG 3 Platoon
17
7 G-2
Rifle 45
2 Hvy SMG 4 MG42
6
3
28 13 G-3
Rifle 45
1 Hvy SMG 2 MG42
3 0
T-1
M1919 MMG
0
0 T-2
M1919 MMG
0
1 T-10
M1919 MMG
0
0
0 1 T-3
M2 .50cal HMG
0
0 T-4
Bazooka
0
0 T-5
Bazooka
0
0
0
2 T-6
Bazooka
0
2 T-7
60mm mortar
0
0 T-8
60mm mortar
3 81mm mortar
3 2
5
2 T-9
60mm mortar
1 VG 1 MG42
2
0 T-11
Spotter 105mm 5
SMG 1 Hvy SMG 2 Platoon HQ
8
0 8
0 V-1
M4A3(75)W
3 SMG 1 Hvy SMG
4 1
V-2
M4A3(75)W
3 VG 1 MG42
4
2 V-3
M4A3(75)W+
1 Platoon HQ 2 Schreck
3
0
21 3 V-4
M4A3(75)W+
1 VG 2 SMG
5 Heavy SMG
10 0
1 Platoon HQ 1 88
FlaK
Movie Files American
Turn 21
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