Charge of the Centaurs

[GoodGuy]

I'll play Axis (Italian troops), as this will allow to form one or another pincer movement, also, the armoured units (although weak and lacking penetration/stopping power) and motorized units will be valuable assets for the task of conducting a fast push into Greece.

This mission is pretty much about speed, and about the need for several sub-operations to envelop enemy units stubbornly defending vital crossings/crossroads.

I lost the first 2 screenshots, due to a HD crash, so I'll just post a new screenshot of the starting position, giving an idea of what set of tasks we're going to be confronted with, within the next 24 hrs.

But first things first - the sat view:

The map had been rotated, but you can still see that the road from Pogoniani (to Vissani area, and further east....) to Kalpaki is the only "tank-friendly" road-network in this area.
That means that Inf/non motorized units will have to deal with any upcoming threat from Meropi.

The jellow spot marks one of the main goals, the Kalpaki crossroads.

I might just cover the first days, as this is supposed to demonstrate rapid advance and proper deployment of arty/mortar assets, so don't expect an "uber"-detailed AAR.

There are several areas on the scenario map which just don't look right, the hills south of Vissani aren't drawn correctly, distance and formation seems to be wrong, for example......I'll ignore this for now.......

[GoodGuy]

The starting point:

I decide to detach the Inf Bns and send 'em to the first road hub further left. The current supreme HQ and elements directly attached to it will perform rear-guard duties for now (task: rest order with in-situ formation = do it here, right now), which will also give the arty time to deploy.
This should be done right after the operation starts, plus a reasonable amount of arty units or mortar units (IF motorized) that could be spared should follow the Inf to this road hub further left, as there's a slight chance that the enemy attacks from the woods south of Oholos, where an attack would hamper the movement of bigger units.

Looking at the (rare) intel, it looks like the enemy might have some defending units south of Meropi, across the river, and at Delvinakion - maybe with more units joining the defense line (from the SE) , so arty support might come in handy. [:D]

[GoodGuy]

Ok, I couldn't resist here:
The yellow paw-symbol (panther's paw [;)]) and yellow arrows display the movement of armoured / motorized units, while green arrows display Inf movement.
I lost several screenshots of Day 1, but I'll display the routes and movement tasks issued on Day 1 and respectively the first night. Also, substantial ground in the East (south of Meropi) could not be gained, yet.
I am lucky, though, as the 4th Arm Bn (attached to the 23rd Ferrara Inf Div HQ) appeared early on Day 1........so, I sent it to the road hub on the left, going along the river on the south bank, searching for a ford allowing to cross the river, in order to make it to more "tank-friendly" terrain.

Once available, I sent all troops of the 48th Inf Rgt (excluding the 3rd Bn, which has been sent to the road-hub) to Meropi, where the enemy has collected a serious amount of troops, trying to deny the crossing of Thiamis river.

Also, single enemy elements have been sighted moving towards Oholos (west), which might compromise the supply lines / columns moving out from Pogoniani.

The Meropi issue calls for a 2-step-operation:

1) 48th Inf Rgt received orders to secure Meropi and deny any crossing to the north,
2) the 2nd Inf Bn of the 47th Rgt performed a flanking move across the hills/river east of Meropi and finally reached Palaiopirgos, south of Meropi, in order to cut the supply lines and form the south side of what might be called the "Meropi pocket" later on.

The flanking move had been executed at night, so 2nd Bn reached Palaiopirgos b4 first daylight on Day 2, putting pressure on the north end of the village already.
Mortar units - I deployed one further north, and the other one on a major hill overlooking the river valley - and several arty units up north "zero'ed" in on the enemy, and have just started hammering the enemy aggressively with rapid-fire bombardments (in intervals) around 4 a.m.
Several additional arty units have been grouped + ordered to rest until 6 a.m., in order to be able to carry out fully fledged concentrated barrages where enemy units dug in or where relatively strong units appear to be executing relief assaults.

Because some ground could be grained in the west (pls see the screenshot in the following post), 1st Bn of 47th Rgt was able to make a bold move, marched through the woods (initially appearing in the top NW corner), and attempts to help transforming the pincers into a solid pocket.

0628 on Day 2 hrs, starting with good news: the initial number of enemy units being trapped amounted to 1600 +-, few enemy units moved away at night - to unknown locations - b4 2nd Bn could form the south part of the pincer, also, other enemy elements had been driven away, forcing them to detach.
Routing and retreating enemy units inside the pincer try to escape to the east + west (red arrows), but a detached element (6th Coy) from 2nd Bn 47th Rgt, spearheading units from 48th Rgt, and the mortar unit on top of the hill will crush the eastern excursion, which will have to deal with my concentrated barrages, for sure.

There's a chance that the pocket, it's just a pincer yet, will be closed soon.

[Crimguy]

Good luck on this one! I've tried it once, and was unable to break the line at Kalpaki fast enough. I agree in hindsight that it should be possible to surround the Greek forces, cut off their supplies, and mop them up. Possible, but very difficult.

Keep the AAR going - this is a very challenging scenario.

[Grotius]

I'll be following this with great interest! Good luck.

[GoodGuy]

Adding a couple of symbols will make it easier to display what's going on, but let me know if things get too colorful (had to hold my horses [:D]).

The legend:

[GoodGuy]

The advance in the west, Day 2 - 0628 hrs

3rd Bn 48th Rgt caught an enemy arty rgt off guard, at the crossroads south of Pondicate, and it looks like that arty was supposed to support the night assault coming from the woods (towards Oholos, red attack-symbol), or it was ordered to bombard the Meropi pincer. Whatsoever, it seems that its HQ kept it in the area.
The entire 3rd Bn will have to chase it for a while, as I'll not accept a situation where a unit with 300+ troops is sitting on/near my supply line, even if it's not a combat unit.
I decide to withdraw 3rd Bn within the next hrs, where a detached coy will have to finish the battered arty rgt.

The bold march of 1st Bn 47th Rgt appeared to be an evil move for the enemy, as it was able to smash a small formation, retreating from the Oholos area, on its way to the Meropi pincer.

The only formation having trouble right now is the 3rd Bn 47th Rgt: Although I ordered to attack using a "covered" route (which should've been a route through the light woods, maybe even down to a rally point east or south of Delvinakion), the AI chose a too bold approach, right from the north, all the way through open terrain.

So, the first attack failed, all units are retreating, with relatively low losses atm, though.

Alright, I'll have to define waypoints next time.......I've just been a bit too busy with setting up things at Meropi.
Heavy shelling coming from my grouped Artys should do the trick here for now, which will give 3rd Bn a chance to regroup for another attempt.

An enemy inf coy ran into my MG coy NW of Delvinakion, maybe in an attempt to occupy the road hub further north, or to regroup near that arty unit. Whatsoever, my MG coy is deployed and issued to hold/defend this section of the road.
Any attempt to march through has been rejected by the MG coy, so far.

As there is still intel about enemies coming from the SW (red lines), maybe to reinforce the group at Delvinakion, it will be vital to cut off the road to Delvinakion.

[GoodGuy]

Back to Meropi:

Day 2 1820 hrs.

It looks like my first guess (estimating the number of troops being trapped in the pincer initially - 1600+ troops) was a pretty good one: If the actual intel info (on this screenshot) is correct, my pincer pinned down most elements of VIII Frontier Sector, a Frontier Guard Rgt amounting to 1736 troops, early on Day 2.

The trapped forces struggled all day, but even with my Ferrara Legion joining the frey from the north, and putting more pressure on the northern part of the pincer, the enemy still managed to escape - routing or retreating, though.

Only 5 or 6 enemy units surrendered in and around the Meropi/Palaiopirgos area, but the remaining units have been extremely battered while they were being on the run. The remaining bulk (9 units north of the woods) had been reduced to approx. 541 troops,

Several units managed to reach the woods, as 1st Bn 47th Rgt appeared a bit too late to perform a timely cut-off.
1st Bn just reached a position to perform clean-up duties, where it leaves behind depleted enemy units, all over the place - decimated to platoon-size (20 troops max.).

The pincer could never be transformed into a pocket, but the enemy formation (I'm still assuming it featured most of the Frontier Sector Rgt) ceased working as a healthy/organic formation.
With few troops having reached the woods, and one unit still being on the run (mortar unit, ca. 16 troops) in the east, my guess for the total number of remaining units is that there are at most 700-750 enemy troops that survived the massacre, there might be some additional 2-4 units retreating (S/SE of the 1st Bn), but the intel info is too vague to make a guess here.

Conclusion: This sub-operation was pretty successful, and, IF I'm doing my math correctly here, the enemy Rgt lost around 57% of its troops, equipment not even counted, based on (given) recent+vague intel.
I intended to smash the Rgt in a pocket, but with most of its companies being severely battered, and still being chased, it just ceased to be a major threat in this sector, so some of my Bns can be redirected soon.

All enemy attempts (althrough the day) to cross the river south of Palaiopirgos have been rejected, as they didn't love these heavy bombardments coming from my grouped Arty units. These enemy units, attempting to cross the river, must have been really battered, as these Artys (3-5) put up some fierce cross fire.
The enemy is retreating/withdrawing to the south in numbers, without any casualties on my side, and even without the need to direct troops to that location. Great.

[GoodGuy]

Day 2 1820 hrs.

Same area, same time, but with a focus on the terrain to the south and SE.

The 2nd Bn of the Ferrara Legion received orders to leave the main bulk (before that started to chase VIII Frontier Sector), and advances fastly towards a river valley NE of Kefalovrison. This formation crushed several enemy units (crosses near 13.48 mortar) on its way, the remains of the eastern excursion from the pincer, early on day 2, there's only one enemy mortar unit left in the area.

This is a special task: It features another bold move, along the eastern bank of Voidhomatis River (via Sanovon) this time, in order to reach the Ferry crossings SE of Yeroplatanos.
The initial Intel on Day 1 showed units moving towards these crossing, so I suspect this to be one of the enemy's main routes, which are being used to bring in fresh troops.

The task will carry 2 goals:

1) secure at least 2 Ferry crossings (the 2nd would be right to the east of Aristi)
2) put pressure on the enemy columns witdrawing from Kato Meropi, and screen the defense setup in Roupsia by occupying the city and heights of Vasilikon, for future Arty engagements.

[GoodGuy]

The target: The Ferry crossings way south. It will be a 17km march to the first crossing. As you can see, this will be a tough one, as I don't know what's going on down there, and no tanks/mot. recce units will be at my disposal in this area.

Once they have passed Vasilikon, the marching troops might get exposed to some heavy fire, mainly Arty, as they will have to cross open terrain. I'll try to set a route that will make use of the few forts in the area, to make sure that they can reach the first crossing, at least.

I decided to make another risky move: I'll order a supply base to follow this Bns' trails closely, in order to deliver a minimum of supplies for the blocking-task, to avoid that the enemy hampers the effort to block the crossings, just by occupying vital roads in the rear.

[GoodGuy]

Day 2 2020 hrs.

Alright, no need to place many shiny layers + gfx here.....this formation is toast

*evil laughter, just like Count von Count's laughter, in Sesame Street*.

Time for a break :p

[GoodGuy]

Day 2 - 2036 hrs.

The operations in the West:

Delvinakion area: Delvinakion had been cleared, with minor opposition coming from the city + heights of Kerasovon. I will keep operating on a Bn level, Rgt. level max., to ensure rapid advance. The supreme HQs, notably the Tsamouria Army Corps HQ + the 23rd Inf Div along with its direct subordinates, received orders to keep performing rear guard duties, as I don't want to slow down the advance - I can do without a command overhead right now.

The tanks that were assembling further north, had been called to assist in clearing Delvinakion, and the enemy started to retreat/dismantle right after they showed up. One or 2 tanks got lost in the process though, which might hamper operations in the south, later on.....we'll see.

47th Inf Rgt has been ordered to perform a forced march to Vissani, as there are intel reports about enemy stragglers retreating from the woods from the NE - I assume that most of these units were supposed to support the VIII Frontier Sector - , stragglers that had been pushed away by 1st Bn 48th Rgt + 2nd Bn 47th Rgt. Also, the units that survived the pincer-operation might use the same route.

Whatsoever, I'll try to reach Vissani area a.s.a.p., in order to block their "fallback-routes".

The tanks near Kerasovon have been ordered to bypass the main road, in order to perform a flanking operation SE of the enemy assembly points / supply routes.

As you can see, only THIS set of waypoints made the tanks use that route, once only ONE waypoint was being moved, the formation would keep changing the entire route, avoiding the river and using the main road , instead. The pathfinding is good but it still carries bugs[/b]. Too bad. It took 5-10 mins. to recreate this route, after only one WP had been moved slightly.....plus, you have to toggle between "fast", "normal", and "pause" in order to SEE the effects of your adjustments. This would be impossible if playing with painfully realistic delay AND any other formation than "in-situ" (means: a regular attack task ->> the adjustment would take hours here, I guess). EVIL !!!!!!!. I would love to see this fixed

The motorized Inf Bns (2) in front of the tanks will have to clear the first sector of the road, which will then be used to start the flanking operation. The mot. Bns will be redirected to the south soon, as an AT unit has been sighted further south, threatening to slow down the tanks.

[GoodGuy]

I'm not going to cover the night (Day2-Day3), as it involved a lot of micro-management of those troops that were supposed to destroy the remains of what was left of VIII Frontier Ssector up north, and forced marchs to the south.


Day 3, 0843 hrs.
The body count: 10 enemy units had been destroyed/captured during the Meropi-operation, and 4 enemy units (pls see the attack symbols) should be finished within the next hour. I still assume that they were all part of the "Frontier"-formation, if so, it would look like I got 14 of its 17 units. Approx. 82% (1432) of 1736 troops killed or captured, as a rough guess, with the remains being battered and on the run, chased + harassed by elements of the 48th Rgt further south[/b].

Great news !

The enemy artillery unit top left, N of Pondikate, has been wiped out: 300+ troops killed/captured. The enemy lost one of his assets.

Since Delvinakion had been secured, and with only one enemy unit putting up some resistance SE of Kerasovon, I changed plans and gave order to 47th Inf Rgt (with one Bn attached, the 1st Bn) to ignore and bypass the stragglers, in order to reach Roupsia early on Day 3.
While it just reached the northern river bank near Roupsia (pls see next post), 48th Inf Rgt and one of its detached elements, the 1st Bn, are on a force march to take care of the enemy stragglers further south, a task that was issued to 47th Rgt initially.

Rapid advance will be ensured that way, with the side-effect that 48th will be able to deny any enemy attempt to assemble in the Vissani area.

Many of my arty units (those who didn't perform on-call duties) have been ordered to move/deploy further south, in order to be able to cover the rapid advance.

[GoodGuy]

Day 3 , 0844 hrs.

The advance south + the special operation in the east:

As mentioned before, 47th Rgt reached the northern river bank (north of Roupsia), and will commence operations shortly. A detached Coy is ordered to provide some rear cover, and will attack the units which are being targeted by some of my artys atm.

The tanks spearheading at Dholiana (pls see the selected objective on the left) ran into trouble, notably into a cluster of deployed enemy arty units, and a couple of Inf units defending the city.

Even worse, there is a strong mot. Inf unit in the city/fort up north, with a big Base unit on its coat-tails. If this turns out to be a real Base unit (still vague info yet), it will be a major advantage as escape routes could be cut easily. I still don't like the idea of having a fully fledged mot. Inf Coy in the back of my tank Bn though, as the tanks' guns are really weak.
Most tank units are retreating atm, so the only thing I can do right now is to assist with concentrated arty bombardements, to force the deployed enemy arty units to retreat to safer places (further away from my tank units, hopefully).

The special operation in the east:
There are good and bad news.
The bad news are that my initial assumption (that the enemy brings in reinforcements from the east - using the ferry crossings) was spot-on, and that there are fresh intel reports about the appearance of a bigger formation way east.

I could not select the strongest Bn, or the Bn with the highest morale, as it had to be THE unit that would reach the valley first (to start the forced march of 17km), in order to intercept the next bulk of reinforcements in time.

Furthermore, intel indicates that there are strong forces E of Ano Ravenia. Bypassing those troops won't be easy, as my Bn will have to move through open terrain, all the way down to the 1st ferry.

So this will be a tough one, as it's a race for the ferry crossing where the winner would gain some major advantage:
if the enemy wins he would be able to strengthen the defense lines south of Roupsia, if I'd win I'd be able to cut off or delay some badly needed troops.

The good news:
The 2nd Bn Ferrara Legion, which conducts this mission, made good progress and is expected to reach the 1st ferry soon.

So I'm confident that they'll win the race.

[MarkShot]

That's some pretty graphics you got there. Kind of puts my use of MS Paint with jagged shaky lines to shame! I think the next AAR I do, I am just going to go out to the backyard with my digital camera and scratch some lines in the dirt with a stick and place a few stones here and there for objectives. Your AARs may have sizzle, but mine will then have that feeling of realistic ambience.

{all said in jest, of course}

[GoodGuy]

OK! Let's see what you got!

The next jpg you gonna post has to be one that features the realistic ambience you just promised ! You should not of come up with that...now you gotta bring it ! [:)][:D][8D]

PS: Thanx for the flowers, btw.....like we say. :p