A Storm Over Iraklion

[Tzar007]

Hello guys,

I like doing some AARs and since I did some for HTTR, I decided to do the same for COTA. So here's mine about the Storm Over Iraklion scenario. Feel free to comment as I am going along, when completed I will made it into a single PDF document.

[Tzar007]

D1 - 16h15

Well, here we are. I just paradropped SW of Iraklion with 1st Bn/LuftLande Sturm Rgt, an elite Fallshchirmjäger unit. The skies are clear and sunny, the temperature is comfortable at 20C. The drop went OK, but the troops are as usual, disorganized. I order an immediate Reorg in-situ while I discuss again objectives and strategies for the next coming days with the companies commanders.

We have 3 objectives: two are the main approaches for Iraklion, the third one is the airfield which is 5 km east of Iraklion. All have identical VPs, however, the airfield does count sooner as an objective since it is the only one with no completion VPs.

The enemy seems especially weak in and around Iraklion, especially on the western side of the city. The airfield and SE/E of Iraklion is better defended.

I still have battalions 2,3, and 4 of the Rgt to drop in the next half-hour, as well as 2 flak companies and an artillery battery. The regiment base should paradrop tomorrow afternoon.

[Tzar007]

D1 - 16h45

All the regiment is on ground now. We are all still reorganizing and getting to know our surroundings, but we will soon be ready to enter action.

The plan of attack I have decided upon is very simple:

• 1st Bn will march straight into Iraklion and clean it of enemy troops.
• 2nd and 3rd Bns will attack NE of their dropping zones to seize Khrisoply.
• 4th Bn will be kept in tactical reserve south of Iraklion to support either attack of Iraklion or Khrisoply if something goes wrong.
• Later on, 4th Bn will be used as fresh forces to attack and seize the airfield once Khrisoply is cleared, with 2nd and 3rd Bns as support.
• The regimental support units will be kept as base protection and as a last resort reserve south of Iraklion.

[Tzar007]

D1 - 17h50

Everybody is on the march. 1st Bn has penetrated in the SW outskirts of Iraklion and is encountering resistance from 3 Greek companies. 2nd and 3rd Bn proceed almost unopposed for now, but face what seems to be British troops a few hundred yards away.

[Tzar007]

D1 - 20h00

1st Bn is inside Iraklion now. The Greeks have not resisted very strongly so far in front of the 1st Bn determined assault. I hope that by nightfall the eastern part of the city will be in German hands. Thanks to help of our Luftwaffe comrades and their airstrikes, 2nd Bn is also progressing as expected towards the western part of the city.

However, 3rd Bn is being impeded in its advance by an enemy artillery barrage since the last 20 minutes. 9th Coy has especially been hit hard and reports about 25% casualties at this time. The mortar platoon also lost a gun.

[Tzar007]

D1 - 21h00

Dusk has arrived. All 3 Bn have their hands full. The 1st Bn has made its way into downtown Iraklion (no bars open for the night though [:)] ) and are surrounded by Greek units, some of them on the rout, some others still in their defensive positions. 2nd Bn has reached the outskirts of Khrisoply and is engaged into vicious street fighting by British units. 3rd Bn is moving up slowly. It is still affected by the damn British artillery barrage, and although we pinpointed where it was and I ordered 3 airstrikes and quite a few mortars rounds on top of it, its guns are still thundering...

[Tzar007]

D1 - 22h00

The night has fallen and the temperature is now dropping. No real progress since 21h00, except for 1st Bn which seems to have vanquished most of the resistance around it. I order them to setup defensive positions. I also call off the attacks of 2nd and 3rd Bn and order them to defend in-situ to try to get some rest. 3rd Bn is overall down to 75% of men and equipment because of that goddamit British artillery barrage, morale has been hit also... It might be a long night, and tomorrow will bring its share of pain and sacrifice (and hopefully of some victories too...)

[Bane_MatrixForum]

Good read!!  One thing to say though - more!! [:)]

[JudgeDredd]

I LOVE AARs!!! [&o]

[Tzar007]

D2 - 4h30

My adjutant woke me up an hour ago after a few hours of sleep in the farmhouse I have setup as regimental command post. All my forces were able to get some sleep and lower their fatigue levels to less than 20% since the night has been pretty quiet finally, except for some light bombing of 3rd Bn, and a couple of skirmishes in Iraklion. I discussed by radio ...
So the orders are:

• 4th Bn to attack NE and enter Iraklion. Link up with 1st Bn, clean up Iraklion of enemy troops. 3rd Flak Coy will be attached to 1st Bn, and 5th Flak Coy to 4th Bn.
• Once 1st and 4th Bn have linked up, they will move westward towards Khrisoply (the hammer part).
• 2nd and 3rd Bn will attack NE also and link up just west of Khrisoply and stay there (the anvil part), awaiting 1st and 4tn Bn coming from Iraklion. Any enemy units caught between the 2 groups should be eliminated.
• Regimental staff will stay put and await the arrival of supply base. Later, I will need to check and make sure supply lines are open.

Gehen Wir, Soldaten !

[Tzar007]

D2 - 6h00

Everybody's in assault mode now. 3rd and 4tn Bn were the first to get moving, but let's say they were kind of spurred ahead by the - again - goddammit British artillery barrage falling on their heads at 5h30. They had to cut their morning coffee short and move their asses out of here. As you can see, there seems to be significant concentrations of enemy units in the Khrisoply area.

[Tzar007]

D2 - 7h00

The going is getting tough for 2nd Bn. Continued bombing and strong resistance from an enemy coy of the Royal Leicester Rgt has made them retreat almost back to their starting positions. The battalion HQ has been routed. Hopefully, 1st Bn should come relieve the pressure on them very soon since they are coming right into the back of the enemy positions facing the 2nd Bn. Meanwhile 3rd Bn has been making better than expected progress on the right flank, and 4th Bn is moving OK but is affected by the enemy bombardment. A couple of Greek routed units are wandering south of Iraklion. Not a danger really.

[Tzar007]

D2 - 9h00

Both 2nd and 3rd Bn are making definite progress as you can see. The British guns have stopped since 8h00, probably out of ammo I guess. Just about time, they were driving everybody crazy since they also hit 1st and 4th Bn.

[Tzar007]

D2 - 10h37

Yeah !1st Bn reports we have finally secured Iraklion! This is great news, the first objective of the day is accomplished. I have ordered 4th Bn to now assault west towards Khrisoply to help 2nd and 3rd Bn. 2nd Bn has been especially battered hard by an enemy counterattack and by fire coming west from Point 134.02

[Tzar007]

D2 - 13h25

Well, taking Khrisoply is a tough job. Determined resistance of some Lancaster and Leicester companies dug in between Iraklion and Khrisoply is making it hard for 4th Bn. I support with mortar bombing, but all guns units are almost out of ammo now. Also, many units are almost out of basics by now. We'll all be happy when we will see the supply base paradrop.

As you can see below, 2nd Bn HQ has routed very far and is now down to only 8 people. In fact, it has been decimated by an enemy counterattack at the end of the morning and has been on the run since then. I only had infrequent radio contact with it, and I believe Major Stentzler, the battalion commander, is dead.

Consequently, I have decided to assign all companies of 2nd Bn under the command of 3rd Bn HQ (Major Scherber). This will increase the load of the Bn HQ but I have no choice otherwise the 2nd Bn is paralyzed due to the MIA status of its HQ.

[MarkShot]

Ugo,

You should play an MP game against Yakstock as the two of you do such excellent AARs. I am sure a two sided AAR done by both of you would make a fascinating read.

[GoodGuy]

Word ! Nice idea MarkShot.

[Tzar007]

ORIGINAL: MarkShot

Ugo,

You should play an MP game against Yakstock as the two of you do such excellent AARs. I am sure a two sided AAR done by both of you would make a fascinating read.

Indeed, that could be much interesting [:D]

The problem is that I don't have many windows of opportunity to play online, but if Yakstock is on the East Coast (I don't even know if he's American), perhaps we could manage to get a night or two of gameplay per week.

[Tzar007]

D2 - 14h04

Wow ! Just got news that the supply base has landed on ground. Talk about keeping up the schedule tight (the supply base was scheduled to paradrop sometime between 14h00 and 16h00) ! I will move it as well as the regimental staff up north, in an orchard about 1km SW of Iraklion. My concern however is that 2nd and 3rd Bn might have their supply lines quite disrupted for a while unless we manage to clean the area between Iraklion and Khrisoply clear.

[Tzar007]

D2 - 18h45

Well, the day is going to end soon and Khrisoply most probably won't be in our hands. There are too many enemy units scattered and dug out all around to prevent full control of the area. In mid-afternoon, 1st Bn started pushing good towards Khrisoply, and the reinforced 3rd Bn with 2nd Bn units was doing not too bad also. However at the end of the afternoon, 3rd Bn HQ got routed in a manner very similar to 2nd Bn HQ. You can see it is now down south of Iraklion. It has come back to its senses however but I fear now I might be out of determined commanding officers for 2nd and 3rd Bn units.

The base has started dispatching columns of supplies at 18h00, but it did not paradrop with much on hand obviously since all supplies levels are at zero already except for fuel. But it dispatched 23 columns out of 27 requests so hopefully we will have enough in this round of supplies to support adequately tomorrow's operations.