1st AAR: Operation Market Garden

[GaryChildress]

Looks like this will be the 1st AAR for the forum. Basically I'm playing a solo game as Allies. Grand Campaign, 1 hour battles. Pics of the first battle to follow...

[GaryChildress]

OK. Here are the opposing forces for the first engagement at Valkenswaard. I sold a Sherman V to get a Stuart and added a sniper to the default battlegroup.

[GaryChildress]

The enemy I left with their default configuration. I didn't touch a thing with their group, and I couldn't anyway, there are no reserves in the pool for them.

[GaryChildress]

Thinking that the Stug IIIG would be deployed on the other end of the map as it always has been so far I put my Staghound car near the bridge ready to engage the German team which is usually just across the stream. I put the Stuart next as a backup. I figured the German infantry would be easy to take out and then I would have to run to the other side of the map to set up for the encounter with the Stug.

[GaryChildress]

So much for Plan A! The Stug and most of the Germans were right on TOP OF ME!!! Right across the stream at the Crossroads! The Staghound was blasted to pieces quick. The Stuart V fired probably 10 shot at the Stug which all went PING! Then BANG! The Stuart was blown to a junk heap. I had to think quick. I was losing my forces fast! So I laid down my artillery barrage on top of the Stug while it was engaging the Stuart. Sure enough the artillery barrage tracked the Stug and left it facing at an angle. So I moved my Sherman Firefly up to the side away from the Stug's gun and after about 5 shots blew the Stug up.

Battle over! German force moral collapsed after the Stug and about half their infantry was shot up.

[Q.M]

Nice stuff Gary.  Where did he have the PaK 40?

[GaryChildress]

The results of the 1st battle. The Allies are off to a fairly decent start, although it was costly. One more turn at Valkenswaard should get me to the next map...I hope.

[Southernland]

Nice AAR. Don't you love it when you get complacent around the AI and suddenly out of no where it up's it's game?

[GaryChildress]

ORIGINAL: Q.M

Nice stuff Gary.  Where did he have the PaK 40?

I'm not sure. I never encountered it. I'm guessing it was probably at the edge of the town up north where the Stug usually is or else maybe near the victory point at the far edge on the road to Eindhoven. I think that's where it's usually set up.

This battle turned out a lot differently than the last time I played it. Last time I played the Stug was at the edge of the town up north. I snuck a sniper around the back side of the Stug to make it turn around to engage him. While the Stug was turned I moved a Sherman Firefly up to engage it while its back was turned. Unfortunately the Firefly failed to hit the Stug on the first couple shots and by that time the Stug had turned to engage it and after a couple shots blew up the Firefly. [:(]

[GaryChildress]

ORIGINAL: Southern_land

Nice AAR. Don't you love it when you get complacent around the AI and suddenly out of no where it up's it's game?

Thanks. Yeah, that last setup took me totally off guard! I was ready for a long drawn out battle again and was in the heat of battle in 5 seconds from "begin". I didn't even have time to call up an air strike. [X(]

[squatter]

Are you guys acually praising a feature of the game which means that tanks can be deployed just yards away from each other, as if they had both driven up to each other with blindfolds on before the whistle to start was blown?

This is one of the several plain silly features of Close Combat that has been a bugbear for years. After one battle on a map, you can find both sides deploying anti-tank guns into buildings across the street from each other, as if they'd called a truce to manhandle the heavy equipment into place.

And by the way, the AI never ups its game in Close Combat, it just does dumb random stuff.

[TAIL GUNNER]

Something's definitely borked with units that should have "Vehicle" as their classification..

Notice in your Battle Debrief you've lost two armored units....the Stag and Stuart..
Stag should be listed under Vehicle..

[Andrew Williams]

Vehicles can be coded

Type of vehicle: 0 = NONE, 1 = AFV, 2 = Halftrack, 3 = AC, 4 = Towed gun, 5 = Truck, 6 = Aircraft,  Range = 0 -6

Staghound is coded as 3

[TAIL GUNNER]

So why is the destroyed AC showing up as a kill in the Armor row?
(from Gary's AAR)

[Hard Sarge]

well, depending on your view, a AC is not a truck, it is a AFV

(of course, it could also be called a Not Very Armored Fighting Vehice, but it is a AFV)

[Hard Sarge]

odd my run though, the Gerry hid, picked off a squad close up, then one  in the end area (Arty fire killed one squad, damaged the Stug, Stug took out my Sherman, my AC took out the Stug, 3 Incher, got the AT, then morale broke and they ran)

I lost one trooper and had a Leader killed, lost one Tank, but crew got out

(looks like I got a George Medal and the GE got a Iron Cross)

not a lot of action, but still kind of tense trying to find them

[chiroho]

I'm playing the Grand Campaign as the Germans, with 15 minute battles, and when I set up I had everything pulled back right up into the top right corner. I figured I just didn't have enough to really hold the rest of the map, as the Allies could too easily flank me.

I've played two battles on the map so far, and on both occasions I've seen very little of the Allies - apparently they really aren't in a hurry to reach Arnhem! In the second encounter I destroyed a Sherman V which was sitting out in the open, and have shot up a couple of infantry squads, but that's it.

I guess I'll see how the next battle goes, as it's the night one. I'm kind of expecting to be rushed by a whole bunch of infantry squads I don't have the depth to hold off.

ETA

Turns out the night battle was very quiet - saw just a couple of Allied squads, one of which I destroyed completely. No other action at all, which is very strange. No idea what the main Allied assault is supposed to be doing, but it's still sitting at Valkenswaard come 0600 on September 18. [:)]

[GaryChildress]

NEXT BATTLE: Best

My battle group: I swapped out a 60mm mortar team in place of the bazooka group in the original OOB.

[GaryChildress]

And the bad guys... [:D]

[GaryChildress]

Wasn't much of a good place to deploy my forces. I just put them in the forest and set them to run to the edge as fast as possible to get ready to sneak up on the enemy.

I put two rifle teams to the right side of my formation to try to sneak to the bridge along the little irrigation ditch running beside the river.

A command team and a rifle team will try to sneak to the village on the left side of the map.

The 60mm mortar team will try to take out the 88s stationed near the bridge.

That's my battle plan and I'm sticking to it! [:D]