Section Leaders:
Madmatt & Fionn
Kelly
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Combat Mission Scenarios and Operations
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...Road to
Marseille (ASL PP01 Conversion) by:
Berlichtingen
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Download Scenario HERE
French
Analysis
by Fionn Kelly
The Allied force in this scenario appears, at
first sight, to be quite powerful when facing anything less than a main
battle tank. However, the scenario designers have been quite crafty
since they have crafted a force which has significant strengths but
also significant weaknesses.
Simply put the Allied force comprises of:
7 Stuarts ( including 2 early-arriving
reinforcements)
5 M5A1 half-tracks and
3 platoons of infantry.
There are also a couple of bazookas, an HMG and
a 60mm mortar. The Allied forces are attacking through relatively
closed terrain. Closed terrain is perfect for anti-armour ambushes and
you, as the Allied commander, don’t, quite frankly, have sufficient
infantry to screen your tanks and half-tracks as much as you should.
In other words you have a force packing a strong
punch BUT you don’t have enough infantry to prevent that force
falling prey to quick ambushes. What does this really mean for you?
Well, it means that you don’t have a choice of avenues of attack.
Let’s take a look at the map…
Now, the terrain
to the bottom of the map ( on your left flank) is quite open just
before it reaches the German setup zone. Once it reaches it there are
many houses within faust distance of the road. This approach route,
therefore, combines two big no-nos for an attacker:
1.
Great, open terrain ( perfect anti-tank gun and HMG country) leading to a...
2.
Choke point where you can bet your house the
Germans will be waiting to ambush any disorganized remnants which have
made it that far.
If you attack on your left flank your armoured
vehicles will advance quickly, your infantry will be pinned by mortar
and HMG fire and, by the time you reach the chokepoint, your armoured
vehicles will be separated from your infantry and the enemy will easily
destroy your armoured vehicles if you choose to press the attack
without dismounted support nearby. IF you decide to withdraw your
armoured vehicles due to the lack of infantry support than all the
casualties you will have incurred will be for nought and you will have
fewer dismounts to support your next attack.
You COULD attack through the forest. On the
other hand it is almost certain that the enemy will have infantry in
the forest and, since you are very weak in infantry terms, you will
HAVE to commit armoured vehicles to support your infantry in order to
reduce casualties to the minimum possible. Once you commit armoured
vehicles to the forest fight and the clearing they will be within the
effective engagement envelope of German hand-held AT weapons and are
going to start suffering heavy casualties. In short I would advise
against attacking through a location which is definitely going to
feature heavy infantry fighting ( remember how few infantry you have)
AND is going to require the commitment of vehicles to combat at
extremely close ranges ( another bad thing to even think about).
So, where should you attack? Simple. The OBVIOUS
avenue for attack is along your right flank. Mount two platoons of
infantry, place your half-tracks 20 or 30 metres in front of the tanks
and launch your entire force en masse along the great tank country
along your right flank. Your aim will be to take the two-storied
building at the end of the “channel” on your right flank. You will
set up your mortar, HMG and bazooka teams in that house in order to
provide intelligence as to enemy dispositions and prevent enemy
movements. Certainly you may lose a vehicle or two if the house is held
by the enemy BUT this is war and it is the best option available to
you. Casualties are inevitable. Your job is merely to ensure you
inflict the maximum number possible on your enemy.
After taking the house you should begin to move
your infantry out as quickly as possible. Your infantry and vehicles
will form a “wide pincer” which swings out widely to the right and
rear of the enemy and seeks to come up through the woods behind them.
Your half-tracks and Stuarts will be placed so as to provide the
maximum amount of interdiction fire so as to prevent the enemy from
re-deploying to meet this new off-axis threat.
A little bit of dash and acceptance of losses
can have your forces coming at the enemy from an unexpected direction
and will give YOU the initiative. I’ll also note that the terrain
around the house provides many opportunities for long-range AFV fire
AND provides the Allied commander with many LOS blockers. Used properly
you can utilise these blockers to shield you from any dangerous enemy
fire whilst keeping your own fields of fire as effective as possible.
Basically a tanker’s dream is to catch
infantry in the open whilst re-deploying to meet a new threat. YOU are
going to force the enemy to re-deploy or die. Whilst re-deploying you
must be aggressive and tough enough to ensure that the enemy dies
anyway ;).
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