Force Structure:
SPW 251/1 Obg Hemper 2
SPW 251/1 Obg Holschneider 2
SPW 251/1 Obg Hermanns 1-1
SPW 251/1 Obg Osterhaus 2
A1 Hsf Backe 6
H0 Osf Nolting 4
Mg42 Rot Wolff 6
FO Osf Schulist 1-1
Green Volksgrenadier Platoon.
D0 Lt Janz 1-3
D1 Unt Schumacher 3-5
D2 Unt Beck 7-1 (Was not involved in the fight for the US hilltop)
D3 Unt Blank 5-3
Vet PanzerGrenadier Platoon.
E0 Osf Frich 4
E1 Unt Sheaffer 7-1
E2 Unt Altmann 7-1
E3 Unt Frantz 7-1
Vet PanzerGrenadier Platoon
G0 Osf Kanther 4
G1 Unt Geiser 2-6 (This unit charged the hill and captured 8 enemy.)
G2 Unt Stein 8
As Martin’s Sherman continues to fire at my re-organising troops I have ordered them to take even better cover as a couple of the near misses have startled my men and some of the US prisoners I am keeping safe with me in cover.
My Volksgrenadiers move deeper into the hollow to take cover from the American harrassing fire as my Panzergrenadiers lie prone trying to look inconspicuous.
One of my main aims with this halt is to re-organise and with that aim in mind I am bringing together all the constituent units of the three platoons on this flank so that my next push will be strong enough to blow through any enemy opposition.
Since I don’t want to simply sit here and give Martin 5 or 6 minutes to prepare his next line of defence I am pushing element of a veteran Panzergrenadier unit forward (Platoon G). Unteroffizier Geiser’s squad is moving forward and so far has not come under any fire. It is accompanied by Obergefreiter Hermann’s SPW 251/1 which is being used as an ambush tripwire since its gunner is dead. A short distance behind them Unteroffizier Stein’s full-strength squad is riding into battle aboard Obergefreiter Osterhaus’ SPW 251/1 (which still have an active gunner) and, behind that but catching up rapidly, is Obersturmfuhrer Kanther’s platoon HQ unit. It is my aim to slowly advance the lead units of platoon G and give Kanther time to catch up. Once he has caught up I intend to use Platoon G to clear the western bank of the river as far north as the bridge. In so doing they will get close enough to Unteroffizier Ferner’s squad (G3) to bring it back into command and control and recombine to form a strong, 22 man veteran SS Panzergrenadier squad again. I will then have, overall, a slightly depleted company on the eastern bank of the river to the south of the bridge. That, at least is the plan.
If only I’d kept my units under command and control at the beginning of the scenario then I wouldn’t have to spend this time re-organising them and I’d probably have suffered fewer infantry losses BUT this is one of the first large-scale offensive scenarios I’ve played in Combat Mission so I’m still learning.
This magnified shot shows the re-organistion of my Volksgrenadier squad. The two red circles in the slight hollow mark the general locations of the two platoons I have placed into shelter there. I have also drawn a line linking the newly arrived and previously isolated Volksgrenadier squad which is part of the green Volksgrenadier squad. It has just run from the killzone in the woods (where it was left) all the way to this dip to rejoin its platoon headquarters. Also note the presence of a third red circle and the letters G0. This designates the position of the platoon leader of my skirmishers which are advancing ahead. He still has a lot of catching up to do but I’ve ordered him to run forward as quickly as possible so as to regain command and control as quickly as possible.
This shot shows the disposition of the skirmishers of G platoon. Note how far back Obergefreiter Osterhaus’ SPW 251/1 carrying Unteroffizier Stein is. I want to be very sure that it won’t be caught up in any ambush which might befall the Hermann’s SPW 251/1 ahead. If you look closely you can spot for yourself that that SPW 251/1 has no gunner.
The scattered trees ahead look clear so I order Unteroffizier Geiser to clear the house next. That seems a location with great LOS which martin might choose for another of these annoying bazooka ambushes.
Force Strength:
1 Puma
Platoon B, Green Volksgrenadiers:
B, Leutnant Grotz, 2-2 (A platoon HQ with 2 men alive, 2 dead)
B1a, Unt Faustle, 1-3 ( A half-squad with only 1 surviving member)
B1b, Obg Terborg, 4 (The other half-squad formed when squad B1 split)
B2, Unt Oldendahl 7-1
Platoon C, Green Volksgrenadiers:
C1 Unt Scheiner 8
C2 Unt Poppe 3-5
C3b Obg Diller 1-3
Volksgrenadiers begin to advance again after the mauling they’ve just received. However, being out of C&C they are advancing slowly and hesitantly and, if fired upon again, I have no doubt they would break again.
The Volksgrenadiers are still so shaken by the ambush that they barely move at all during the turn. They should be recovered a little by next turn though, I hope, and I have ordered them to advance towards the forest to the west on which the enemy MG is emplaced. I aim to have it out of service before they advance though. These guys are so fragile now that they simply won’t be able to survive any more losses.
Since I’m trying to conserve my manpower I have ordered the Puma to engage the fleeing Americans with its main cannon and machineguns. It is pummeling them as they run but doing too little damage. Well, one of the nicest things about the Puma is that it is an incredibly fast vehicle. One minute is more than enough time for it to move southwards, around the little river in front of it and race towards the American positions to pour machinegun fire into Martin’s troops from close range. I am only doing this since I cannot see any evidence of a bazooka ambush in this location and since there is no reason for Martin to have placed one here since he would have expected the river to the front to prevent vehicles from attacking this position. Martin also likes creating defensive positions bereft of leadership so I doubt there is any leader there ready to rally and lead the defenders. This shouldn’t take long at all.
Losses:
L3, Unt Elm loses one man due to long-range MG fire. L3 is now a 6-man squad.
Force Structure:
Tanks:
PzIVJ, Unt Heubaum, 5, 31 HE, 35 AP, 1 SMOKE.
PzIVJ, Unt Wiesenhofer, 5, 36 HE, 30 AP, 3 SMOKE.
StuG, Unt Carius, 3-1, 4 HE, 5 AP, 2 SMOKE.
Pz V, Unt von Kelly, 4-1, 13 HE, 13 AP.
APCs:
SPW 251/1 Obg Mertens, 2.
SPW 251/1, Obg Taus, 2.
SPW 251/1, Obg Schultz, 2.
SPW 251/1, Lederer, 2.
Veteran Panzergrenadier Platoon:
F0 Osf Gowojy 2-2
F1 Died in dismounted assault on wall line.
F2 Unt Altschuler 2-6
Green Volksgrenadier Platoon:
L0 Lt Woehler 4
L1 Unt Welt 7-1
L2 Unt Vogel 8
L3 Unt Elm 8
Miscellaneous
Mg42 Rot Hoffmann 5-1
FO 210mm Rockets 2 ( 1 minutes worth of ammunition)
FO 105mm Tube Arty 2 ( 2 minutes worth of ammunition
The American position has fallen. Kampfgruppe von Kelly suffers absolutely no casualties this turn as the four Panzergrenadiers who made it into the enemy position accept surrenders left right and centre.
If you look carefully you can see that both Panzergrenadier units are co-located with shell craters. Well, these craters are actually giving them cover from enemy fire and are acting much like foxholes. When I move the cursor for movement plotting over the terrain it tells me what terrain it is over and, once I saw craters were present, I knew I wanted to get my units into them to help give them some cover.
The Volksgrenadier charges towards the wall are, uniformly, beaten back by LONG range enemy MG fire. These green soldiers have no stomach for a fight. Simple, harrassing fire from 500+ metres away can break up their assaults. It makes you really appreciate your veteran Panzergrenadiers when you see this.
Well, my Volksgrenadier squads prove their cowardliness again.
In reality it is not that they are cowardly. It is simply that they require a lot more coddling and need to have care taken to not expose them to too much enemy fire. Given the situation my forces are in though I can’t afford such coddling yet. Once the wall line is taken and I move towards the river I will try to spare my Volksgrenadiers as much as possible though as they really are in a fragile state now.
After the reduction of their shelter to rubble another American squad surrenders to me. Only four men from this twelve-man squad survive the battle. They fought well and hard.
Enemy units are fleeing from the wall line towards the trees to the north. I’m determined not to allow them to escape and emerge, later, on my flanks or, worse yet, ambush my Volksgrenadiers again. So…
I order my Panther to race after them and engage them at a range of just over ten metres with its machineguns..
While the Puma and Panther advance to the north to machinegun the escaping soldier my StuG and Pz IVs are advancing along the central road with a view to taking the town under fire and destroying the last remaining Sherman so that my infantry can advance once more without the worry of HE shells being flung at them. All in all I think that with another turn I can capture the last survivors of the wall line and begin to re-organise. As my infantry re-organises I will move tanks forward to destroy Martin’s last Sherman and then, once it is destroyed, I will use HTs and tanks to destroy Martin’s machinegunners and infantry on the east side of the river.
Once I have cleared the eastern portion of the river I will begin phase III (the final assault) with an artillery barrage and an armoured dash across the bridge.
Prisoner Report:
New Prisoners taken this turn:
G2, Sgt Truppner, 4-8
G3 Sgt Partridge, 2-10
Crew, Sgt Dorn, 2-3
Prisoners taken this turn: 8 prisoners. 21 men had died in the units which were taken prisoner prior to their capture.
Prisoners previously taken: 33 prisoners. 14 Men killed in those units prior to capture.
Total: 41 prisoners, 35 men killed in those units prior to capture.
Of note: I’ve captured G0, Lieutenant Rost and now G2 and G3 so it looks like I have just one more rifle squad to capture and probably a few bazooka and spotter teams and then this area will be cleared of enemy resistance.
Morale:
My global morale now is only 62%. Global morale determines how easily units surrender (and I think it also determines how easily they panic and get suppressed). Basically I want to keep my morale higher than Martin’s so that his units are more likely to surrender to me than mine are to him.
As I understand global morale it is determined by global casualty rates. E.g. If you lost half of your men than your global morale is reduced to 50%. That’s only a VERY basic rule of thumb but since I’ve noticed how low mine is I want to try to retrospectively estimate what Martin’s might be. It might be of importance in the upcoming battles.
My force estimate for Martin, including reinforcements, is that he has had 9 platoon of infantry, 1 heavy weapons company, 5 tanks and 3 or 4 FOs. I’m going to assume that each tank equals one platoon of infantry for morale purposes. So, overall this gives Martin 9 + 3 (heavy weapons company) + 5 (5 tanks) + 1 (he must have some miscellaneous units out there too so this is an attempt to account for that) = 18 morale units. (Where one morale unit = 1 platoon equivalancy.)
My total force was 10 platoons of infantry, 5 tanks and about 16 HTs. I’m going to guess that 4 HTs approximate one platoon of infantry for morale purposes. This gives me 10+5=4 = 19 morale units.
Now, I’m down to 5 platoons of infantry, 5 tanks and about 8 SPW 251/1s. This equals 12 morale units. My morale is 62% and my estimated global morale (given my assumptions) should be roughly 63%. Well, it looks like my assumptions are relatively accurate so I will apply them to Martin now.
He has lost 50% (roughly) of his heavy weapons company. He has lost 1.5 platoons of infantry as blocking forces (I’m assuming here that his fleeing infantry will surrender next turn). He has also lost 4 tanks. Thus, in the blocking force battle Martin has lost 1.5 + 1.5 + 4 = 7 morale units.
In the attack on the town I estimate he will have lost roughly 2 platoons if all his casualties are added together. I got some good shots in with my tank cannon as he advanced and the room fighting looked like it really hurt two of his platoons. This would result in Martin losing 2 more morale units.
Overall then I think Martin should be down to somewhere around 9/18 morale units. This is about 50%. If all of this is correct THEN this scenario is still winnable for me. I’ve been having my doubts BUT if I can get the last Sherman and most of the rest of his heavy weapons company on this side of the river I’ll reduce his global morale by another 2 morale units AND then, if my artillery barrage kills approximately two platoons of his men (which it should be easily capable of doing) then Martin will lose another two morale units AND his global morale might be down to only around 25%..
If I have DOUBLE the global morale he does when the vicious cityfighting occurs then that will be a decisive advantage. I’d be VERY interested if someone could ask Martin what his global morale is as of the end of Turn 16 so that I can check my assumptions once the game is over. Be sure not to tell it to me though. Fog of War and all that eh? ;-)
I also want to state that I have NO idea of all the variables taken into account by CM to calculate global morale and I know it is bound to be far more complex than simple unit counts BUT I’m just looking for a rule of thumb to apply to the game here. I hope my rule of thumb is accurate since Martin having a VERY low global morale is probably my best chance for getting a good victory since his troops will be far more likely to surrender if their morale is rock-bottom. I also hope that I’m reasonably close to Martin’s global morale level at the moment since, otherwise, it’ll be a bit embarrassing to have gone on and on about this ;-).
