Group Andrews (ANZAC Long Campaign AAR)

[vahauser]

Battle #2, 4 Dec 1940, ANZAC Advance near Bardia
Situation at the end of ANZAC turn 6.

TF-Main, in the north, has taken the two 20-pt per turn victory clusters and is now going to re-supply with ammo and consolidate the position before attempting the next phase of the advance. So far losses have not been very heavy.

TF-2, in the south, has seized the southern 20-pt per turn victory cluster on the southern map edge and is attempting to hold against repeated enemy counterattacks. Ammo is starting to run low and all the ammo trucks are with TF-Main. This was a calculated risk I took prior to the battle (I foresaw that ammo might be a problem in the south), but I felt that any ammo trucks I assigned to TF-2 would be isolated and vulnerable. I’m counting on TF-2 to hold on in the face of adversity.

GENERAL COMMENTS
1. This battle has been going much easier than I anticipated. I attribute this mainly to several errors in the Italian defense. First, evidently the computer AI has set all ranges of his defending units to 1 hex. This has so far proven disastrous for the AI because as long as I can spot enemy units at 2 hex range or greater, then I can not only maneuver my units to advantageous firing positions I also get the first shot. This has proven an enormous advantage so far for Group Andrews. Second, the AI has chosen to deploy a majority of his AFVs stacked with his infantry and spread out. This means that I can tell how big the stacks are when I spot an AFV even if I don’t spot the infantry in the same hex (I have my spotting % reduced to 70% per the FlashFyre template). And this means that if and when I kill the AFV in a hex, then I am suppressing all the nearby infantry. And this means that after I do this several times in small area, then all the Italian infantry is suppressed so much that they cannot effectively close assault my advancing forces, even if I don’t spot said Italian infantry until I’m right on top of them. This has also proven to be an enormous advantage and has kept my losses relatively light so far. Third, the terrain that the AI has chosen to defend is very favorable to my attack since the map is broken by a series of ridges and valleys into small “compartments”. This means that the Italians cannot support a given “compartment” using fire from nearby “compartments” due to the broken terrain. Thus, so far the Group has been able to overwhelm the Italians “compartment” by “compartment”, so to speak.
2. So far, Italian fire support has been limited to off-map 75mm howitzer fire. I’ve seen no Italian mortars, no Italian heavy artillery, and no Italian aircraft. The Italian 75mm howitzer fire has proven as ineffective in stopping the Group as my light mortars were in stopping the Italians in the previous battle. I am not complaining.
3. SPECIAL NOTE: For those of you who have never tried the Enhanced PBEM/Long Campaign Mod, there is no “willy meter” (the asterisk * that lets you know whether enemy has seen you). Having no “willy meter” takes a lot of getting used to, and if the Italians in this battle had been handled differently by the AI, then I would be having a far more difficult time of it.

Now, on with the battle.

[vahauser]

The screenshot didn't post correctly... Trying again.
TF-Main end of ANZAC turn 6.

[vahauser]

Situation in the south, end of ANZAC turn 6.

[vahauser]

Battle #2, 4 Dec 1940, ANZAC Advance near Bardia
Situation at the end of ANZAC turn 11.

TF-Main, in the north, has re-supplied a portion of its force which has re-commenced its advance into the Italian rear. The other portion is holding the two victory clusters it captured and is resupplying.

TF-2, in the south, has gone into static positions. Italian attacks in the area seem to have petered out.

GENERAL COMMENTS
1. The first Italian antitank guns announced their presence by knocking out two of my tanks. The antitank guns are more dangerous than the Italian tanks. They are harder to spot and eliminate. Good thing for the Group that there aren’t many of them and they are scattered in the rear without much support.
2. Still no sign of Italian heavy artillery or air support. If they haven’t appeared by now, I don’t think they will.
3. The inability of my infantry to keep pace with my mobile troops is getting on my nerves. I must remedy this at the first available opportunity. I think some scout teams and ATR teams and LMG teams are going to become truck drivers very soon.

The battle continues.

[vahauser]

Battle #2, 4 Dec 1940, ANZAC Advance near Bardia
Situation at the end of ANZAC turn 11.

TF-2 in the south:

[Riun T]

Va, could u post the "Battle results" screens for your fights,and also maybe the support purchase screen too?
I like to see what fellow posters get for purchase points. between these battles that I've also fought recently, its interesting to see what differant randomnesses pop up between generated AI ong camps.

[Alby]

ORIGINAL: vahauser

Alby,

Those are British support troops from 7th Armored. I used British support troops for this battle. But all core units are pure ANZAC. I mentioned in my campaign introduction that I was allowed to use support troops from different nationalities so long as I could justify it historically due to date and location and theater and battle, etc.

Ok I just wanted to make sure there wasnt an error in the oobs I needed to look into...[:)]

[vahauser]

Battle #2, 4 Dec 1940, ANZAC Advance near Bardia
Situation at the end of ANZAC turn 16.

TF-Main, in the north, is becoming strung out and disorganized. I might need to re-group and issue new objectives soon.

TF-2, in the south, remains in static positions holding the southern victory cluster. No further screenshots will be taken here unless the situation changes from what it was on turn 11.

GENERAL COMMENTS
1. The Italian artillery is wasting salvo after salvo shooting at a single recon squad that retreated out into the open. If that recon squad makes the Italian artillery use up any more of its precious ammo, then I plan to give each of those soldiers a medal.
2. The Italians seem content to remain sitting in their foxholes and waiting for me to come to them. This gives me total initiative over the battlefield. Since I control all the 20-pt per turn victory hexes, the Group is starting to accumulate an enormous victory score (260 points per turn for those 13 victory hexes alone). This means that now the Group can advance at a more methodical and cautious pace for the next 20 turns. I expect to achieve a very high score in this battle.

The battle continues.

Note: Unless the situation warrants it, I will post screenshots every 10 turns hereafter for the rest of this battle since the pace of operations has slowed down considerably.

[vahauser]

Battle #2, 4 Dec 1940, ANZAC Advance near Bardia
Situation at the end of ANZAC Turn 26.

At this point the battle is basically over. Group Andrews has either captured or is prepared to capture all the victory hexes and the Italian force morale has been broken. I could end the battle at any point from this turn on, but I will hold my current positions until Turn 36. The reason for waiting until Turn 36 is because I want to accumulate as many points as possible from the points-per-turn hexes. Since I cannot know if I have achieved a Decisive Victory at this time, I have to wait to score high just to be sure. Honestly, I do believe I have a Decisive Victory right now, but I cannot be 100% certain so I will wait until Turn 36.

GENERAL COMMENT
1. The Italian artillery ran out of ammo around turn 21 which means my units can just sit out in the open and trade long-range potshots with the few surviving Italians. My losses have been heavy enough that I don’t want to go chasing around after a few Italian units scattered around the map. Lots of risk for little reward and so it’s not worth it to me.

I will post the final screenshot on Turn 36 when I end the battle.

[vahauser]

Battle #2, 4 Dec 1940, ANZAC Advance near Bardia
Situation at the end of ANZAC Turn 36.

END OF BATTLE. No significant change since Turn 26. A few more firefights. A few more casualties. A few more square yards of desert sand under Allied control.

POST-BATTLE COMMENTS
1. Once again, the inability of the infantry to keep pace with the Group’s mobile units proved costly. Col. Andrews got the go-ahead from HQ and converted all 10x of the Group’s scout teams into truck drivers. These 10x trucks were immediately attached to the Engineer Company, thus completely motorizing the company. This is now the only motorized foot company in the Group. Col. Andrews hopes that complete motorization of the Group can be accomplished very soon.
2. Small units in the Enhanced PBEM/Long Campaign Mod are now a distinct liability. Every time a unit is eliminated, whether vehicle or non-vehicle, it affects nearby units by increasing suppression as well as marking them with the # “fired on” status. This means that all LMG teams, and scout teams, and ATR teams, etc., are now dangerous to have near your main combat formations since losing even one of them can slow down and reduce the fire percentages of all your AFVs nearby. Col. Andrews has ordered all small units in the Group be changed/upgraded at the earliest opportunity.
3. Col. Andrews is still very concerned about what he sees as the inadequacy of the Group’s AA defenses. He got the go-ahead from HQ to convert the last 4x ATR teams organic to the AA platoons into 4x 40mm AA Portee units. This increases the total AA strength of the Group to 8x 20mm AA and 8x 40mm AA. Col. Andrews still feels that this is inadequate (16 total AA units out of 167 units in the Group is less than 10% AA coverage), but it will have to suffice for the time being as other priorities must take precedence (such as upgrading the Group’s AFVs, motorizing the Group’s infantry, upgrading the Group’s mortars, etc.).
4. The Group’s light mortars have proven to be nearly worthless in combat. Until they can be upgraded, Col. Andrews has ordered that in future battles all light mortars in the Group are to be used in a direct-fire capacity. He believes that this will at least provide some minimal suppressive value since using the light mortars in an indirect-fire role have proven so useless to date (due to time delays, short range, inaccuracy, lack of hitting power, etc.).


SPECIAL NOTE: Unless somebody specifically requests to the post-battle screenshots of my core, then I would rather not post the 6 screenshots it takes to show my core after every battle. Let me know when you want to see post-battle screenshots of my core.

[vahauser]

Battle #2, 4 Dec 1940, ANZAC Advance near Bardia
Situation at the end of ANZAC Turn 36.

END OF BATTLE REPORT

[vahauser]

Early Spring, 1941
After nine months in the desert, Group Andrews has advanced all the way across Cyrenecia, helping to drive the Italians out in the process. At the start of 1941, the Group was attached to the British 2nd Armored Division and stationed near the village of Agedabia to rest and refit prior to conducting further operations.

Recently, word has reached the Group that German forces have landed near Tripoli under the command of some General named Rommel.

The 2nd Combat Support Group (of the 2nd Armored Division) has stationed some 3x companies of dismounted infantry, whose trucks have been sent off to depot for maintenance, some distance away from the main coast road and in the Group’s assigned area of responsibility.

Suddenly, news reaches the Group that the Germans are unexpectedly advancing into the area. The Group is hastily ordered to delay the German advance as long as possible and then withdraw up the coast road towards Benghazi.


Battle #3: 6 April 1941
Group Andrews Delay vs. German Advance near Agedabia, Libya
Time = 1600 hours (late day)
Weather = Clear
Visibility = 24
Game Length = 34 turns

AAR to follow within the next few days. . .

[Riun T]

Excellent smashing u gave them in Bardia,VA I especially like how many of those italian tin cans u poped 140/4 !!!! don't think they should bother fielding any tanks!! i usually don't leave lye by the last group of VH's to force their remaining units to come and try a last ditch effort to reclaim them,, an interesting tactic I've never applied, i just try to claim ALL the flags as soon as possible.{usually use incursurers or Paras to grab rear VH's to get them to leave their entrenchments,but have never made my front line advance wait}Thank u for posting this camp. buddy,,, thats all i really wanted!![;)]

[vahauser]

Battle #3, 6 April 1941, ANZAC Delay near Agedabia
Situation at the end of ANZAC Turn 1.

Col. Andrews is uneasy about the Group’s dispositions. Defeating Italians is one thing. Defeating the Germans is quite another. The Group is deployed behind the supporting British with the Group’s AA guns in the rear on the hills overlooking the forward zone. The Group’s tanks, AT guns, and ATR teams are poised to strike at the German flanks if possible. The Group’s infantry is within close support distance of the supporting British infantry. The Group has no artillery to speak of (only a few light mortars), and this is very troubling to Col. Andrews.

SUPPORT FORCES
3x companies of British infantry (dismounted), from British 2nd Armored Division
3x sections of 2pdr AT guns (6 guns, dismounted), from British 2nd Armored Division
3x sections of Cruiser IVa tanks (6 tanks), from British 2nd Armored Division
1.5x sections of Cruiser IIa CS-tanks (3 tanks), from British 2nd Armored Division

GENERAL COMMENTS
1. Col. Andrews is concerned that his force is too light to stand in the face of a determined German advance.
2. Col. Andrews is worried that the clear skies could mean German air strikes.

The battle is joined.

[vahauser]

Battle #3, 6 April 1941, ANZAC Delay near Agedabia
Situation at the end of ANZAC Turn 6.

The Germans seem to be massing their entire force against the two northern victory clusters and ignoring the southern victory cluster completely. Col. Andrews issues orders for several troops of tanks to head north in the hopes of hitting the German north attack in the flank. As feared, the Luftwaffe struck on turns 4 and 5. The air strikes left the small hill to the north of the British infantry in shambles, knocking out several tanks, damaging several more, knocking out all the AT guns and ATR teams in the vicinity, and routing a number of nearby units. Col. Andrews takes small consolation that if the air strikes had hit the British infantry, then the entire position might be lost. As it stands now, the German advance has collided with the British infantry and looks as though it might overrun the position by brute force anyway.

GENERAL COMMENTS
1. The Group’s AA guns proved almost totally ineffective in stopping the Luftwaffe air strikes. Of the 12 enemy sorties flown, all 12 attacked their targets, only 2 aircraft were hit, and none of the 12 sorties were prevented from attacking their targets. Col. Andrews is outraged by this dismal performance.
2. Col. Andrews is surprised to see the obsolescent tanks being used by the Germans in this attack. Mostly Pz IVCs and Pz IIFs, with a few Pz IIIEs and StuG IIIBs. The Group has identified only a few newer Pz IIIHs so far. And even though the Group’s 40mm AA guns performed miserably against the Luftwaffe, they are creating great devastation against the forward elements of the German ground attack. Col. Andrews has ordered all ammo trucks and all remaining AA guns to the large hill to the rear of the British infantry. These AA guns might be the only thing standing between defeat and victory. Col. Andrews is thankful that the thin armor of the advancing German AFVs might give the Group a fighting chance.

The battle rages.

[vahauser]

Battle #3, 6 April 1941, ANZAC Delay near Agedabia
Situation at the end of ANZAC Turn 11.

Col. Andrews senses that this is the critical moment of the battle. Wave after wave of German armor and infantry have crashed into the British infantry, finally overrunning it and capturing the northern victory cluster. They are now pressing hard for the second victory cluster in the north. Several troops of the Group’s tanks have managed to get on the northern flank of the German advance and are starting to inflict significant losses on the Germans. The Group’s infantry is heavily engaged, trying to relieve the British infantry, and suffering high casualties. Almost all of the supporting British tanks have been either knocked out or abandoned.

GENERAL COMMENTS
1. The Germans have greater staying power than the Italians. Col. Andrews believes that the Italians would have broken by now after the enormous losses they have suffered, but the Germans keep coming.
2. The swirling smoke and dust in the main battle sector has reduced many firefight ranges to 1 or 2 hexes. Very bloody fighting taking place.
3. Col. Andrews is using combined arms to defeat the mass of German armor. First, the infantry fires on a target AFV causing some suppression, then the Germans retaliate, causing infantry losses in return. Next the AA guns on the big hill fire on the target AFV, German retaliation is much weaker in response due to further suppression as well as long range as well as smoke and dust precluding many German units from retaliating. If the AA guns don’t knock out the target AFV, then the Group’s tanks use some of their dwindling AP ammo to finish the job. The Group’s tanks can defeat the armor thickness of all AFVs the Germans are using in this battle except the front of the Pz IIIHs and StugBs. The good news is that all German AFVs have been very generous in exposing their flanks and rears to the Group’s attacks. German losses have been enormous. Col. Andrews wonders how much longer can they keep this up?
4. The ammo trucks on the big hill have done a marvelous job keeping the AA guns well supplied with ammo throughout this fight, even in the face of enemy fire (they are on the forward slope facing the German advance). Col. Andrews has received reports of their bravery under fire and is very proud of those men. The Group’s tanks meanwhile are running low on AP rounds and have to be very careful of each shot they take, they do have sufficient HE and MG ammo remaining so far. Col. Andrews cannot afford to pull the Group’s tanks out of the battle to re-supply because that would take too many turns (and it would cost a lot of orders since I’m using C&C ON), and the battle is at the crucial stage. They must remain and fight.

The battle has reached a crescendo.

[vahauser]

Battle #3, 6 April 1941, ANZAC Delay near Agedabia
Situation at the end of ANZAC Turn 16.

Group Andrews has prevailed. Just barely. This has been the most difficult battle Group Andrews has fought so far in the war. The German AFVs have pretty much all been knocked out and the surviving German infantry is retreating. The battle ended on the following turn (Turn 17) since all victory hexes had been re-captured by the Group and the German force morale was broken.

GENERAL COMMENTS
1. The German infantry has superior equipment and firepower than the Group’s infantry. Unfortunately, nothing can be done to improve the Group’s infantry any time soon.
2. The Group’s tanks are woefully inadequate. Even the light German Pz IIF has better armor and speed, and more ammo with better penetration. Col. Andrews is pulling his hair out trying to figure out a way to upgrade the Group’s tanks as soon as possible.
3. The Group wanted to pursue the retreating German units, but they could not do so because under the conditions of a Delay Mission, the Group had to prepare for their own withdrawal (which would have been mandatory if the battle had lasted past Turn 20).
4. Col. Andrews noted that a large number of the German AFVs knocked out were not destroyed, they were only abandoned (see the screenshot). This means that because the Germans will re-establish control of the battlefield after the Group withdraws toward Benghazi, then the Germans will likely be able to repair many or most of their AFVs. Which means that the Group could face many of these same German AFVs in future battles.

The battle ended the following turn.

[vahauser]

Battle #3, 6 April 1941, ANZAC Delay near Agedabia
End of Battle Report.

The Battle Score posted below is not telling the whole truth. As noted previously, since many of the German AFVs were abandoned and not destroyed, then they can be repaired and returned to action. Also, the Group got lucky. There is no denying the factor that luck played in this battle. If the German Stukas had attacked the British infantry defending the victory clusters instead of bombing the small hill a few hundred yards to the north, then the Group would quite possibly have lost this battle. Lucky. If the German AFVs were of 1941 manufacture instead of the 1939/1940 models that were actually used in this battle, then the Group could probably not have stopped the Germans. Lucky again.

POST-BATTLE COMMENTS
1. Col. Andrews wanted to strangle the AA gun crews after they miserably failed to stop the Luftwaffe on Turns 4 and 5. Ten turns later Col. Andrews wanted to kiss them and give them all medals for proving decisive in stopping the German ground attack. Without those AA guns, and the brave ammo trucks that supported them, Group Andrews would have certainly lost this battle. They provided crucial fire support to the front-line infantry, and they allowed the Group’s weak tanks to maneuver into favorable flanking positions. Even the small 20mm AA guns proved valuable in suppressing the advancing German infantry. Col. Andrews wishes there was a way to increase the AA strength of the Group, but there are now higher priorities.
2. Col. Andrews has asked HQ to devote all immediate resources into upgrading the Group’s mobile forces and mortars. HQ has granted this request which means that no build points were spent after this battle for unit upgrades or unit changes (since no better AFVs or mortars are currently available to the ANZAC OOB at this time). Only unit repairs were performed after this battle, all remaining build points are being saved until such time as better units are available for upgrades/changes.
3. Col. Andrews again stressed to HQ that the Group’s small units (LMG teams, ATR teams, etc.) are hurting the Group and not helping. Every time a small unit is destroyed, that loss suppresses and puts a # marker on all nearby units within 2 hexes (this is one of the aspects of the new PBEM/Long Campaign Mod). Only large/tough units are actually helpful to the Group under these conditions. It simply is not worth having small units. HQ has given Col. Andrews permission to convert all of the Group’s small units into truck drivers as soon as the build points become available.


SPECIAL NOTE: Unless somebody specifically requests to see the post-battle screenshots of my core, then I would rather not post the 6 screenshots it takes to show my core after every battle. Let me know if you want to see post-battle screenshots of my core.

[Goblin]

Cool DAR, vahauser! More! [:)]



Goblin

[vahauser]

MAJOR CAMPAIGN FORMAT CHANGE ANNOUNCEMENT

It has occurred to me that one of the reasons the Germans did not employ more modern AFVs in the battle at Agedabia is because the computer AI did not have enough points to spend on newer equipment. After thinking about how to give the computer AI more points to spend, I have come up with a possible solution that I am going to implement immediately.

As of this moment, I am turning “country training” OFF and manually setting the ANZAC Troop Quality to 65 and setting the Axis Troop Quality to 69.

The default “country training” ON TQ for Germany in 1941 is 70/70/75 (experience/morale/leadership); the default TQ for Italy in 1941 is 60/70/55. The default “country training” ON TQ for ANZAC in 1941 is 65/70/65; the default TQ for Britain in 1941 is also 65/70/65.

Turning “country training” OFF and setting the ANZAC (and British) TQ to 65 results in 65/65/65 which is worse than the 65/70/65 they would get if I left “country training” ON. So, turning “country training” OFF and manually setting the ANZAC TQ to 65 only hurts Group Andrews and does not help the Group in any way.

Turning “country training” OFF and setting the Axis (German and Italian) TQ to 69 results in 69/69/69 which is a BIG improvement to the 60/70/55 the Italians would get if I left “country training” ON. So, turning “country training” OFF and manually setting the Axis TQ to 69 helps the Italians enormously. The German case is not so clear.

Leaving the Germans at 70/70/75, which is what they get with “country training” ON, means that the Germans have to pay full price for all their units. However, turning “country training” OFF and setting the Axis TQ to 69 means that the Germans get units almost as good as with “country training” ON (69/69/69 is almost as good as 70/70/75) but they only pay 75% as much for their units. And this means that they will have 25% more points to spend on their units. That 25% increase in battle points is far more important than the slight decrease in German TQ. However, I am going to go even further to help the computer AI.

Even if you disagree that manually setting the Axis TQ to 69 actually helps the Germans (since they get 25% more battle points to spend and can buy a more powerful force), I am also going to increase the Axis Sighting to 110%, the Axis Hitting to 110%, and the Axis Rout/Rally to 110%.

Since 110% of 69 is 75.9, then by manually setting the Axis TQ to 69 and by raising the Axis Sighting and Hitting and Rout/Rally percentages to 110%, I am in effect giving both the Italians (don’t forget the Italians) and the Germans an effective TQ of 75.9/75.9/75.9 as well as giving the Germans 25% more battle points to spend on their forces.

I am absolutely convinced that the campaign format changes I’ve just announced will hurt Group Andrews (since it actually lowers their effectiveness) and will help the computer AI enormously (since it provides 25% more battle points to spend as well as giving an overall net increase in battle performance).

See the new Preferences Settings below. These changes are going into effect immediately.