Counterstrike at Dorogobush

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UP844
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Counterstrike at Dorogobush

Post by UP844 »

Counterstrike at Dorogobush - Russian

Deployment: the Russians set up along the west edge of the map. The 1st line infantry squads set up in the northern sector, the Conscripts in the south. All units are within 1 hex of a leader to minimise C&C effects. Most armour will enter in the south, and attack the city from the south.

---

Turn 1 Russian
All Russian units move forward; some of them go OOC and remain back.

Turn 1 German
Nothing happens

---

Turn 2 Russian
A T-34 approaches the village from the south and spots a Pz IVE (showing its rear)(*), which fires smoke on the Russian tank. The T-34 returns fire but – as expected – misses.

Turn 2 German
The tank duel continues: the Pz IV fires smoke again, the T-34 misses.

---

Turn 3 Russian
The T-34 dueling with the Pz IV goes OOC.
Russian infantry continues moving in the woods, in increasingly disordered formation.
Another T-34 moves from the south and is subject to ATR fire.

Turn 3 German
The first T-34 and the Pz IV continue to exchange fire (AP vs Smoke) with no effect at all
The other T-34 fires at a SS squad, that replies with ATR fire (maybe they hope for a critical hit)

---

Turn 4 Russian
Fire Segment:
The T-34 finally manages to kill the Pz IV
Movement Segment:
A T-26 and a BT-5 move east in the northern sector and spot two Pz IIIG in the village square (they are also pointing NE)(*). Other BTs climb the hill west of the village.
The KV-1 moves towards the villlage from the southern road
A BT-7 recons the southern objectives and finds them empty. (**)
The infantry continues moving forward; the Conscripts move towards the unoccupied southern objectives.
Advanced Fire Segment:
The KV-1, a T-34 and some infantry fire on the ATR-armed squad with no effect

Turn 4 German
Defensive Fire
The KV-1, a T-34 and some infantry fire on the ATR-armed squad, Casualty Reducing and breaking it.

---

Turn 5 Russian
Movement Segment
The T-34s and the KV enter Dorogobush and discover several HMG/MMGs and a 88 (which also points NW and is set up in a wooden house, so it will not fire)(*).
The infantry deploys on the hill (outside German loss), preparing to launch a massive human wave attack.
Defensive Fire Segment
The Pz IIIs fire at the KV-1 with no effect.
Advanced Fire Segment
The KV-1 fires at a Pz IIIG and breaks down its MA.

Turn 5 German
Fire Segment
The Pz IIIs fire at the KV-1 and immobilise it
Defensive Fire Segment
The KV-1 breaks a MMG-armed squad
A T-34 hits a building (possibly with a critical hit) and breaks/casualty reduces a large stack including a HS w/HMG, a squad w/LMG and the leader and ATR-armed squad who routed there. Only a B** leader with radio survives.

---

Turn 6 Russian
Fire Segment
A T-34 and a BT-7 break a LMG-armed squad in the SE edge of the village.
Movement Segment
Russian infantry launches a massive assault against the village (see image). At the end of the Russian turn, the Germans lost a PzIII, the 88mm and its crew (in CC), a C* leader, 2 HS and 1 squad (with a HMG, a MMG and a LMG)

Turn 6 German
Fire Segment
The surviving Pz III kills a BT-5.
Movement Segment
I hear some infantry is moving, but no Germans are sighted.

---

Turn 7 Russian
The Russians spread through the village. A Russian squad enters CC with the Pz III, but fails to kill the AFV and is eliminated.
A T-26 goes scouting in the North area and discovers a MMG-armed squad and a A** leader with an ATR-armed squad.

Turn 7 German
Fire segment
The Pz IIIG fires at point-blank range on a T-34 with no effect.
The ATR fires to the T-26 in the north with no effect

---

Turn 8 Russian
Fire Segment
A BT-5 kills the last Pz IIIG.
The KV-1 and a BT-7 break a HMG-armed HS at the East edge of the village
The T-26 breaks the MMG armed squad.
Movement Segment
Russian infantry continues occupying VP hexes and surrounding German broken units, killing them through Failure to Rout.

Turn 8 German
The KV-1 repairs its MA, but unfortunately it is immobilised and there are no targets in sight any more.
The German ATR-armed squad fires the ATR the T-26, but does not fire its inherent FP to the many Russian squads on the other side of the road


---

Turn 9 Russian
The German ATR-armed squad is broken and casualty reduced, and routs away (with its intact A** leader); all VP hexes are now in Russian control.

Turn 9 German
Fire Segment
Just to confir that the only good opponent is a dead one, the SS HS rallies and breaks a whole stack of Russian 1st line squads.
Movement Segment
A C* leader and a SS squad appear near the three southern objectives. The Conscripts occupying them are all OOC and do not fire.


---

Turn 10 Russian
Fire Segment
The Conscripts, in a sudden surge of patriotic duty, remain in Command, fire on the German units and break them both.
Movement Segment
A T-34 and another Conscript squad surround the broken German units and eliminate them through Failure to Rout.

Turn 10 German
Movement Segment
The German A** and his HS advance; the squad is eliminated, but the leader survives fire by three three-squad stacks at 1 hex (24 FP each at -1 DRM).

---

Turns 11 and 12
Russian units occupy a perimeter along the village edge, just in case there are some other Germans out there, but nothing happens in the last two turns.



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Siegfried Sassoon

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RE: Counterstrike at Dorogobush

Post by UP844 »

The game ended in a Russian Major Victory, with all the VP hexes controlled by the Russians.

The low loss ratio in infantry squads (3 Russians vs 8.5 Germans) is mostly due to Russian armor, which killed or broke most German units before they could fire on the Russian infantry.

A couple notes about scenario design:

(*) unless a CA is specified for a set-up hex, all units that have a CA (in this case, the three Panzers and the 88) will point NE. In this scenario, this meant the Panzer showed the Russians their weakly armored rear.

(**) the AI will set up units in the most protective terrain for that type of unit. In this scenario, this meant that no German units were set up in the three southernmost objectives, since they are located in wooden buildings (TEM+2) and there are plenty of VP hexes in stone buildings (TEM +3) in the northern area of the map.
Another effect of the AI preferences in the set-up segment was the placement of the 88mm in a wooden building, a location from which it cannot fire. In fact, I approached it very cautiously (for a Russian human wave [:D]) expecting to take heavy losses, but only the crew fired at me.


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Siegfried Sassoon

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RE: Counterstrike at Dorogobush

Post by UP844 »

Deployment:
The 88mm is the only German gun that can reliably kill a KV or a T-34. In the north, I can attempt attacking Russian tanks in CC and placing it there will make it extremely vulnerable to infantry attacks. So I decided to set it up south of the village,where it could deal with Russian units at (relatively) long ranges.
The Panzers will wait in reserve, ready to move where they can ambush any advancing Russian AFV: they can face all the Russian tanks (with the exception of the KV) with an excellent (BT, T-26) to fair (T-34) chance to kill them.
Infantry squads will set up with in forward positions, with MMGs / HMGs enfilading the east-west streets of the village. A small force (a leader, 2 LMG-armed squads and a Lt Mtr-armed squad) will garrison the southern objectives

Turn 1 Russian
Engine and marching infantry sounds

Turn 1 German
Nothing happens

---

Turn 2 Russian
Engine and marching infantry sounds

Turn 2 German
Nothing happens

---

Turn 3 Russian
Movement Segment
The KV-1 appears on the southern road!
Defensive Fire Segment
OBA request on the KV fails to obtain Battery Access

Turn 3 German
The German FO is OOC
Movement Segment
Infantry in LOS of the KV-1 retreats to hide from the beast.
Defensive Fire Segment
KV-1 breaks HMG-armed HS
Advance Segment
Another HMG-armed HS moves away from KV-1’s LOS

---

Turn 4 Russian
Movement Segment
No Russian units in sight except the KV-1, which moves in the LOS of the 88mm.
Some Russian squads appear North of Dorogobush
Defensive Fire Segment
The 88mm misses the KV-1

Turn 4 German
Fire Segment
The 88mm kills the KV-1
Movement Segment
German units that moved away to hide from the KV-1 go back to their previous positions

---

Turn 5 Russian
Movement Segment
A T-34, a BT-7 and a BT-5 appear south of the village.
Defensive Fire Segment
The 88mm fires at the T-34 and misses
Advance Segment
More Russian infantry appears over the hill

Turn 5 German
Fire Segment
88mm kills a T-34
A Pz IIIG breaks a whole stack of Russian infantry but MA breaks down
Movement Segment
The Panzer IV moves south to engage the BTs
Two SS squads move to assault a BT tank
Advancing Fire Segment
The Panzer IV fires at a BT tanks and exhausts its AP round supply
Close Combat Segment
The two German SS squad immobilise the BT-5 but one of them suffers Casualty Reduction

---

Turn 6 Russian
Fire Segment
A BT tank fires at the Pz IVE and Shocks it
Movement Segment
A T-34 and a T-26 appear North of the village
88mm fires at a moving BT-5, and misses
Infantry North of the village is stopped by infantry/MG fire and by a Panzer III, which breaks down its BMG.
Infantry comes out of the woods in the centre: the whole stack is broken, but the 2 SS squads are also broken because one of them is OOC and attempted FPF, failing its MC.
Close Combat Segment
SS squads and BT-5 continue in their CC: no effect

Turn 6 German
Panzer IV becomes an Unconfirmed Kill
Fire segment
88mm fires and kills the BT-5 engaged in CC
Movement Segment
German infantry redeploys to the West edge of the village to better face the Russian attack
The Pz IIIG with its MA and BMG broken down retreats to attempt repair in a quieter place
The SS squad and HS previously engaged in CC with the BT-5 move south to engage a BT-7 in CC
Close Combat Segment
The SS squads in CC with the BT-7 suffer a CR without harming the Russian tank

---

Turn 7 Russian
The Panzer IV is no more an Unconfirmed Kill
Movement Segment
Another BT-7 comes from the south; the 88mm kills it.
The T-34 and the T-26 continue advancing in the northern part of the city
Russian infantry continues attacking from the West, but all of them are broken by infantry/MG fire, even though they manage to take a VP hex.
Several Conscript squads appear in the south, moving towards the three southern VP hexes.
Defensive Fire Segment
Pz IVE kills BT-7 with a HEAT round. So far, 6 Russian AFVs have been destroyed: the KV-1, a T-34, two BT-5 and two BT-7. If no extra AFVs have been allowed to the AI, the Russian still have a T-34 and two T-26.

Turn 7 German
The Panzer III G repairs its MA
Fire Segment
The Panzer III G kills the last T-34 with an APCR shot
The other Panzer III and the infantry kill/break all Russian infantry in sight
Movement Segment
The Panzer IVE moves south to block the Conscript attack.
Defensive Fire Segment
The T-26 kills the Panzer III that just killed the T-34.

---

Turn 8 Russian
Movement Segment
Other Russian infantry attacks towards the centre of Dorogobush, but all the squads are killed/broken by tank/infantry/MG fire
Conscripts slowly advance towards the southern objectives
Advance Segment
Other Russian infantry with a B** leader and a MMG appears

Turn 8 German
Fire Segment
All Russian infantry is broken by HMG/infantry fire.
The FO calls OBA (a risky business). It does not hit the intended hex, but at least it wouldn’t fall on my troops.
Movement Segment
The Panzer IV moves slightly to have a clearer LOS to the Conscripts

---

Turn 9 Russian
Defensive Fire Segment
OBA kills two Russian squads (a 1st line and a Conscript) and Casualty Reduces two 1st line squads
88mm, Pz IV and Lt Mtr fire break many Conscripts and the only leader close to them.

Turn 9 German
Fire Segment
OBA kills two Russian 1st line squads and a HS, destroys a LMG and Casualty Reduces two 1st line squads
88mm, Pz IV and Lt Mtr fire break the remaining Conscripts in sight.

---

Turn 10 Russian
Movement Segment
A T-26 appears on the southern road

Turn 10 German
The Panzer IV is Out Of Command
Fire Segment
The 88mm kills 3 Conscript squads with 3 consecutive shots
Movement Segment
The leader and the Lt Mtr-armed squad go away from the T-26 LOS and join the two other HS in the southern woods

---

Turn 11 Russian
The Panzer IV is OOC again [:(]
Movement Segment
The T-26 moves forward, but not enough to be in LOS of either the 88mm or the Pz IV
A lone Conscript squad appears in the woods, adjacent to the SS HS’s. A brief and bloodless exchange of fire ensues (in the Defensive/Advancing Fire Segments)

Turn 11 German
The Panzer IV is still OOC [:@]
Fire Segment
The SS HS fire at the adjacent Conscripts with no effect
Defensive Fire Segment
The T-26 fires at the SS HS in the woods, breaking the leader and 2 HS out of 3. The last one is Pinned and cannot escape.

---

Turn 12 Russian
Fire Segment
The T-26 and the Conscript fire at the lone SS HS without effect; the HS cannot reply as it is OOC.
Advance Segment
Two Russian 1st line squads; they stop adjacent to a VP they have no more chances to take.
Another Conscript squad appears in the south woods.

Turn 12 German
Fire Segment
The two 1st line squads that advanced last turn are broken by HMG/infantry/Pz III fire
The lone SS HS breaks the adjacent Conscript squads in the south woods
Movement Segment
A HMG-armed HS moves to retake the only VP the Russian took
Defensive Segment
The T-26 breaks the SS HS in the south woods

The game ended in a German Major Victory, with an almost embarassing 24:1 loss ratio (Russian 24, Germans 1).

The human wave might not be the most sophisticated tactic in the world, but it must be carried out so that it overwhelms the opponent [;)]: a diluted human makes numerical superiority meaningless and only leads to defeat in detail and horrendous casualties with zero return (as in this case).


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Siegfried Sassoon

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RE: Counterstrike at Dorogobush

Post by technikzauberer »

Thanks for the great AAR.

The scenario was taken basically nearly as is from the ASL version.
Appreciate the design observation/advice. Agreed there needs to be tweaking to facilitate good AI setup [or forcing it]. Still learning the AI tendencies with setup and play.

I was also finding on several play throughs on both sides the same type of outcome [easy human victory vs. AI].
I'm thinking it would play out completely different HvH.

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RE: Counterstrike at Dorogobush

Post by UP844 »

Unfortunately, I had little time, so I did not take the usual large number of screenshots.

As far as I have been able to ascertain, the AI sets up units
with the following priorities:
1) in VP in their deployment area hexes and in the most protective terrain.
2) in non-VP hexes in their deployment area and in the most protective terrain.

For some units, the AI takes care to avoid certain hexes, i.e.
- AFVs are not placed in terrain where they can become bogged (Woods, building, rubble)
- "Ordnance" mortars are not placed in hexes from which they cannot fire (buildings); this is not true for "SW" Lt Mortars (by way of example, in the "Le Hamel" scenario from the Normandy Pack, German Lt Mtr are often set up in stone builldings; this never happened for the 8cm GrW 34 that is also present).

Within this frame, however, the AI considers two set-up hexes with the same terrain as exactly equal regardless of their tactical importance. I suspect the German leader and squad that appeared in the last turns of the game I played using the Russians came from some stone building farther south.

For this scenario, a GE setup zone should be specified for the 88mm and another for the southern group of VP hexes (not necessarily including the VP hexes).

As regards to obtaining an endless string of Major Victories, a possible corrective action (within current rules) is to add extra AI-only forces.
Basically, the AI lost because it launched a series of small-size attacks that were easily repulsed by the German units, heavily armed with MGs. It does not have - and I doubt it will ever have - the capability of taking a pause to reorganise its units after they crossed the forest.

Chasing Germans in the moonlight is no mean sport

Siegfried Sassoon

Long Range Fire (A7.22)........1/2 FP
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