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The name of this turn is "I hate American
artillery and all who serve it."
Kampfgruppe Eberbach:
Well it looks like I was only hit with small
calibre artillery but boy has it hurt. This turn I’ve had
one SPW 251/1 which had just reached the first bend in the track
immobilised. Effectively this blocks my entire advance since the
code for pushing immobilised vehicles off roads etc isn’t in
yet. Still, the good aspect is that this gives me an excuse if I
lose ;-).
Seriously though this means that the StuG and 3
remaining SPW 251/1s are trapped in the clearing and of no use to
me… It looks like that Panzergrenadier platoon is going to
be walking into battle. On the plus side it killed a Bazooka team.
Not much of an exchange for one StuG and 5 SPW 251/1s though.
Still, all but one of the SPW 251/1s will be able to fight again
(if this game was part of a campaign the damaged SPW 251/1 would
be removed by the next battle and I’d be able to advance..
Also, if the "pushing vehicles" code was present I’d
be able to push the damaged SPW 251/1 off the road and continue
the advance. I can’t wait to see that code when it’s
put in as I think it would just be extremely cool to see that
happen. Especially, hearing the crunch as one vehicles hits the
other and begins to force it out of the way will be awesome I
expect.)
I’m going to try to push some SPW 251/1s
through to the side of the immobilised SPW 251/1 but I’m not
hopeful that this will be successful. It appears that 1 bazooka
team, 1 MMG and 1 infantry squad were all that the American
commander had to defend this clearing. Normally I would find this
criminally negligent insofar as that force simply isn’t
sufficient to withstand a platoon-strength attack. Of course,
given the effectiveness of the American artillery I must admit
that the American gamble has paid off well. For the loss of only
17 men and the usage of a vast amount of mortar ammunition they
have managed to stop Kampfgruppe Eberbach.
The infantry will continue to push through the
forest and link up with the SPW 251/1s of Kampfgruppe von Kelly
and will continue to advance on foot. Along the southern flank. I
expect that they will encounter anti-tank and machinegun ambushes
set up on every hill, clump of trees and reverse slope along this
road. It’ll be a tough not to crack but I simply can’t
afford to leave MGs in place on either flank which could hit my
forces with grazing fire from their flanks as they advance down
the main road.
Kampfgruppe Carius:
There is very little to report here. Carius’
StuG continues to engage enemy machinegun positions with his main
gun at long range so as to clear the route of advance a little
whilst the 2 platoons of Volksgrenadiers and the Puma continue to
push slowly down the northernmost road. It is slow going and I’m
growing very frustrated as I want to push harder and advance more
quickly but I know that to do so would be to fall into the
American trap.
I have begun gathering some Volksgrenadiers
around the StuG to provide some infantry support if I decide to
advance it to the wall line.
Kampfgruppe Eberbach:
DAMN THE ARTILLERY !!! DAMN IT ALL TO HELL !!!
The American artillery barrage falls directly
onto the chokepoint as my forces traverse it. SPW 251/1s are
stunned by the barrage and one stops in the middle of the road
causing a traffic jam to build up behind it. Just as I feared
this resulted in further loss.
An enemy shell lands directly onto my SPW 251/1
and immediately brews it up immolating the crew and the entire
Panzergrenadier squad riding in the SPW 251/1. Ten men die in the
blink of an eye. DAMN IT !!!
Fortunately the forest path is not blocked as
there appears to be ample space to bypass the knocked out SPW 251/1
but I fear further casualties. If one of the bypassing SPW 251/1s
is knocked out then all vehicles waiting to pass through the
chokepoint will be trapped.
Just when you think things can’t get worse
they do. :-(.
To my extreme south a platoon of infantry is
moving into position and should be ready to advance within 2
minutes UNLESS THE DAMNED ARTILLERY KILLS THEM ALL !!! I know I’m
getting paranoid about the American artillery but at this stage
of the battle it has killed 1 platoon of infantry and destroyed
or rendered ineffective 8 SPW 251/1s.. EIGHT !!! That’s
close to half of my initial force. Only one HT was destroyed by
enemy direct fire and that one already had its gunner killed by
artillery fire thus making it easy prey.
The worst thing about his artillery is that I
can’t fight back against it. Unlike an enemy rifle platoon I
can’t hit back and get the satisfaction of doing some damage.
Once his artillery is firing I just have to sit and pray and,
given the run of terrible luck I’m having, I think there’s
a LOT of sins that must need atoning for ;-)… Did I mention
that I hate artillery? Damn it all !!!
As a sop to my indecision I ordered a single HT
to advance at full speed down the main road towards the town to
see if it would be feasible to rush an entire mounted platoon
into the town to bolster the defence. He is making good progress
so far and has only been fired on by a single machinegun. No
enemy anti-tank guns have opened fire from the far tree line and
I see no evidence of other teams along the wall line.
Could the American commander have been
attempting to stop my armoured schwerpunkt with a single platoon
of tanks and a few scattered MG and bazooka outposts? To do so is
either sheer lunacy OR extremely audacious. By posting only a
thin line of MGs and tanks he frees up his entire infantry force
for an assault on the town (the main objective) and ensures he
can take it before my relief force can intervene.
Admittedly I haven’t passed through the
wall line yet but all the evidence points to only scattered
machinegun and bazooka emplacements being arrayed there. It
certainly isn’t the way I would have organised the defence
but given that I see at least two companies of infantry hitting
the town and no signs of any other movements I’m beginning
to believe that the American defences up to the river are
eggshell-thin. I can expect some infantry squad on the extreme
south flank (comrades of the infantry squad in the wood) but
apart from that I bet I only see scattered bazooka and MG teams.
Good, that means I can conserve my artillery
for a barrage on the town which I hope will shatter his infantry
force when the time for my attack comes.
Kampfgruppe Student:
*Sigh* … Study it and weep. That single
weak platoon I wanted to rout and destroy with an audacious
assault has now grown into a three platoon juggernaut which is
simply going to steamroller the half-platoon of FJ survivors.
Furthermore that platoon which crossed the river is ready to join
up with them. Just on this ONE flank the Americans have over
double the force available at my disposal for the defence of the
village.
It looks like there are at least two platoons
of infantry and quite possible another entire company of infantry
to my front and north… That makes 2 companies + versus 2
platoons of effectives (and most of my squads have suffered some
casualties due to the artillery barrage). Seeing as I am
outnumbered 3 to one and holding a line which is far too large I
am ordering the only thing possible. I am ordering a fallback to
the apartment complex which forms my last stand position. By
concentrating my forces I ensure that I can put up at least a
token resistance and as the enemy close and suppress my positions
I intend to withdraw deep into the buildings forcing the enemy to
actually enter them and winkle my defenders out one by one. It
will be brutal and savage fighting and there is NO thought in my
mind of my men holding out at all but it is the best way to
maximise American casualties.
Also, another squad of fallschirmjaegers have
broken and are running through my positions panicking and being
picked off by at least a platoon’s worth of fire.
Conclusion:
A sensation of helplesness, impending doom and
inevitability is settling over me. American artillery strikes
have hugely damaged my ability to get anywhere quickly and the
blocking of a perfectly good armoured thrust in the clearing
sickens me to my stomach.
The village will be American very soon. There
is no doubt about this at all in my mind. The only hope I have is
that I can thin the American ranks. If I can destroy or seriously
damage 2 platoons of infantry I will have bought my assaulting
forces a priceless numerical advantage (assuming the Americans
aren’t being heavily reinforced … I have a suspicion
that some of the platoons I am seeing to the south of my position
are reinforcements. I simply cannot believe that the Americans
would feel the need to have 4 platoons assault from my south
whilst only 1 is assaulting the centre and one the north.
I am extremely discouraged at the fact that as
soon as I establish a new defensive line it must be abandoned due
to more artillery-induced casualties. This will stop as of now
since my fallback positions are the positions my troops will die
in.
As for my relief force I’m rattled, I’m
afraid to advance quickly and afraid to sit still in case even
more artillery is on call. I don’t know whether to rush
forward methaphorically shouting "damn the torpedoes"
or whether to hang back and continue my slow, deliberate advance
and trust that the enemy can’t have any more (or much)
artillery left in reserve.
I have a massive urge to target his positions
with all three batteries of on-call artillery in an attempt to
even the odds in the battle for the town but I know that my
artillery will be most effective AFTER the Americans have
concentrated their forces to defend the town from my advance and
once my troops are in position to launch the final attack. I am
going to cancel my 210mm mortar barrage and will simply allow the
American procession to continue.
Part of my reason for doing this is to retain
the advantage I will gain due to the sudden, en masse use of
artillery to support my attack. I’ve already begun planning
how I will arrange my artillery to achieve maximum effect on the
defenders as I feel that the clearance of the land to the east of
the river is only a matter of time.
One example of how concentrated the American
artillery barrage has been is to look at the very first picture
shown in this Battle Report. In it one can count roughly 30
mortar-calibre shellholes. This is a zoomed in view but I can
assure you that if one includes the immediate surroundings of the
clearing the number of shell holes is well over 60 to which must
be added the number of shells which detonated in trees (which I
didn’t estimate).
Sixty shells in 3 minutes is an absolutely
devastating barrage no matter what calibre they are. I am
heartened by the fact that, in my estimation these shells are 81mm
mortar shells.
I’m presuming that he has 2 x 81mm mortar
battery and 1 x 155mm battery since he hit my town with mortars
and artillery during the same time when he was shelling the
clearing.
At this rate I believe that all the American
artillery will be used up by the time he has taken the town which
suits me perfectly as I really don’t want him to be able to
call it in on my troops as they assemble for the assault on the
village. Given the effects his artillery has had on me so far I’d
hate to see what it would do to concentrated bodies of troops out
in the open.
Given that his 81mm mortars were definitely
sufficient to suppress troops and cause some casualties and that
his 155mm artillery has been able to panic at least two of my
veteran squads and totally destroy one house I feel that if I hit
him with my 105mm battery, my 120mm mortar battery and my 210mm
rockets I should do some awesome damage.
I expect the American forces to deploy in depth
to defend the village with at least one squad per house. I expect
to see 1 platoon spread amongst the first 4 houses facing east. 1
Platoon immediately behind them, in the houses just in front of
the apartment complex and 1 platoon in the apartment complex.
Furthermore I expect to see at least 1 platoon guarding each
flank..
I figure that if I lay down my 210mm rocket
barrage right into the middle of his positions, drop 120mm
mortars on the right of his second line and 105mm arty on the
left of his second line and, once the 210mm rockets have stopped
landing but before the 105mm or 120mm barrages have finished,
advance a company of Panzergrenadiers and Volksgrenadiers to
occupy his first line positions supported by long range MG and
tank fire that I should be able to get a sufficient foothold to
grind him down.
As you can see I want my artillery to avenge me.
I want the Americans to feel the pain of massive artillery
strikes blasting his defensive positions apart and, whilst his
forces and he himself, are still in shock I want to smash into
his lines with a concentrated blow.
That’s my plan. It isn’t a bad plan.
It’s not subtle but it should work and on any normal day I
would have confidence in it. Now, however, I don’t. I will
try but if the Americans receive any further tank or infantry
reinforcements, if they have more infantry platoons or companies
in reserve and/or they are supported by tactical air support I
fear my plan will unravel quickly.
One thing I have decided is that I won’t
be taking any of his artillerymen captive if I ever come across
them. They can set up a warcrimes tribunal later but right now I
want satisfaction.
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