First clash at Veve (German side)

[Westheim]

Battle of Veve – Conquest of the Aegean AAR by Westheim – German side

I have never played this scenario before, so there is no previous knowledge I can fall back to. I’m completely blank as to what the opposing Allies will or could do. This can not end well.

The battle starts at 16:00 on D1 with the recon bataillon of the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler entering the greater Veve area from the north west. The first objectives to achieve will be to dislodge the Allies from Veve and the mountain pass to the south, and – according to the briefing – take everything apart whenever an opportunity will present itself. By 23:00 on D6, I have to exit several bataillons to the south of the map, about 70km from where I am now.

On the first two days, only very small parts of the LSSAH will be available to me. For the moment I can’t do much more than scout the area a little and maybe probe the defenses at Veve, if the town is defended at all. If not: take it. The recon bataillon should be sufficient for that.

[Westheim]

17:30 – I didn’t see that coming. Not only Veve is heavily defended by Allied troops, but the village north of it as well. As the recon bataillon closes in on this settlement, it is abandoned by the enemy, but the defenders of Veve remain where they are. At the same time the I/L bataillon arrives. For the next 24 hours I will only receive very minor additional reinforcements and will have to make do with what I have.

19:20 – A probing attack is on the way. The I/L probes Veve from the main road from the west, while the R/L joins on the left flank. Some fighting. The enemy has artillery in the area, while I don’t. This ain’t gonna work.

20:15 – A lot of artillery seems to be around. I/L has been pinned down on the highway and can’t advance anymore, while they spot at least three artillery batteries. R/L has advanced well on the east of the road, but has not reached Veve. Darkness is falling. I consider falling back a little to try and come up with a different plan, but do I have any options?

[Westheim]

23:30 – The push still continues, since the infantry is retreating. R/L is just 500 metres away from Veve. An Allied tank company counterattacks along the main road.

D2, 0:00 – Artillery fire stops. The tank company is identified as A Sqd 3rd RTR and is cut off and hammered with ATG fire, greatly decimating it.

2:20 – R/L enters Veve. A Sqd 3rd RTR is in rout recovery will-o’-wisping through the village after losing more than half it’s strength.

[OlegHasky]

Hey,
Good luck on your drive.. Always a honour to command something like SS.

Seem like another briliant move from the AI with those tanks.. Alone tank Coy charging at hords of SS´s .. yeah [8D]. Just like Taco´s..
After Ive tryied with Allies I was thinking, that the the scenario might be better, when on the attack, Because German Ai was just bouncing its "head" continuously straight. I had held Veve till D3 - 21Pm[>:] without any problem. -Simple as spreading line - long range tank fire, + all the arty, and single puppet stepouts. (Ive lost the taste of it by the way) I assume it would not be that easy with propper human opponent.

Here I can see that, the limit of 5min AI arty projection its just marking its ridiculness. Allied have enough arty avaliable to lay a wall of fire - all the time (when managing good).
I hope you will pull out a fun from this anyway.
If youll be interested in realistic expierience though. PM me ,see maybe we can arrange a game.

regs,
Oleg

[Westheim]

Thanks for your comment.

Well, I don't know whether I'm a 'proper' human opponent. Some of my decisions could be considered brain dead... more below.

-----

The British tank squadron would surrender after 4:00 later in the night. Veve was in German hands by 4:30, but no reinforcements would arrive for at least 12 more hours and the Allied artillery would definitely hurt my troops as soon as the sun rises. The only thing even remotely close to artillery I have on the field are eight 7.5cm infantry guns. The plan for the day was for I/L to hold Veve and for the R/L to screen the right (western) flank with my lines of supply and communication although I doubt the Allies would risk another attack like that of the Royal Tank Regiment anytime soon.

9:30 – The day began with a surprise, when Greek infantry was spotted having advanced up to 3km north of the hills they were thought to be defending. When the R/L bataillon began it’s movement to the west, they however quickly retreated back into the hills. The I/L was under artillery fire for most of the morning. Still at least seven hours for reinforements, but even then the bulk of the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler won’t arrive for about 20 hours. At the moment, my forces are outnumbered by about 3:1 and an attack on Klaidi pass is self-prohibitive.

[Westheim]

11:20 – Attempts to bring the infantry gun company in place to take Allied artillery under fire were unsuccessful. An airstrike became available and bombers were directed to the suspected concentration of artillery.

13:00 – The infantry gun company was taken under intense artillery fire itself and two guns were lost. What a stroke of genius on my side. At Veve, several Allied companies try to retake the village by probing it from the east, but I/L bataillon has no problems to repulse every single approach with heavy fire.

14:30 – For the last 90 minutes, elements of R/L bataillon have spotted a number of Greek companies entering Kleidi pass from the west.

[Westheim]

16:30 – 8.L motorized infantry company of the II/L bataillon enters the battlefield and is ordered to the left flank of I/L at Veve on the Mermeitsa River. There, one of the NZ companies harassing my position has surrendered after being repeatedly failing to gain any ground with costly attacks. Apart from these good news, more Allied formations have moved from the west into the pass. I have a bad feeling they could abandon their positions and stuff everything into the pass before I have sufficient strength to force my way through.

17:30 - 7.L company has arrived and is ordered to join 8.L on the left. I have taken a little time to study the map and have noticed a possible route for flanking the enemy positions. It looks very risky, the terrain is not suitable for attack by mobile formations, and I’m a coward, so ... hum.

19:30 – Some more reinforcements come in, including some artillery, finally: four 10.5cm howitzers, which is better than nothing, some more infantry guns, and also self propelled anti tank guns – captured Czechoslovakian equipment, but, hey, let’s not be Nazis about this...

[Westheim]

21:45 – Before nightfall my new artillery already wreaked havoc among elements of the 1st Bn Rangers which were probing my left flank. 7.L and 8.L companies attacked up the hill on my left to further decimate the already torn units that tried to take back Veve all day long. The 3rd AC company of the R/L bataillon has been ordered to drive west and then south to see whether Phlampouron on my possible flanking route is unoccupied. If so, they shall take and hold it until I can muster a force to send over the mountain there.

22:50 – Phlampouron is occupied by 3.R/L company. No enemies sighted, but it’s a rainy night and visibility is poor. Fighting has largely stopped since nightfall.

The next day will be important. I’m not sure yet whether I want to attack through Kleidi pass or whether I want to exploit the Phlampouron route. In the morning hours most of the remaining forces of the Leibstandarte will arrive, plus two infantry bataillons, a recon bataillon, and other forces. Elements of Panzerdivision 9 will not arrive until afternoon. I wonder whether a flanking threat with the new recon bataillon and an infantry bataillon would be strong enough to break through the hills east of Phlampouron, maybe bolstered with one or two infantry gun companies. On the other hand I don’t think I even have a chance at attacking through Kleidi pass with less than four bataillons given the masses of Allied artillery and the shifting movements I watched all day. Meh, hard decision. Good thing I can take a little sleep now.

[Westheim]

D3, 5:30 – Things will get more interesting now. The HQ of the Leibstandarte has arrived, along with the III/L bataillon and the I/11 Schützenbataillon, plus support weaponry. All these troops will move to the Veve area as quick as possible. III/L will take the position of the R/L bataillon on the right wing. R/L and some support weapons will then join it’s 3rd company in Phlampouron.

7:00 – I have five artillery batteries on the field now and they immediately make a difference. The increased fire has shoved all advanced Allied companies back into the hills or the Kleidi pass. III/L will progress to Phlampouron now. The 9th recon bataillon has arrived, as well as more support weapons.

7:40 – 1.86 Panzerpionier company has arrived and will be joining the Veve group. They come with 12 Panzer IIs and I hope they can provide additional bang to the planned attack on Kleidi pass.

9:15 – The III/L and R/L bataillons plus their supporting infantry gun companies and a battery of self propelled assault guns have received orders to go on their 12km drive through rough terrain into the rear of the Allied positions around Kleidi pass. If this works, and the two reinforced bataillons can take Xynon Neron on the highway out of the pass, it would cut the Allied left off from supply and could force a hasty retreat. IF.

[Westheim]

10:15 – The assault of I/11, 9th recon, I/L, and support weapons on Kleidi pass has been ordered. With another artillery battery on the field now I should be able to soften the defenses pretty well before they will start their attack. I normally would have waited for more reinforcements, but it seems that I won’t get more troops until the late afternoon, which is too late given that I still have a 40km way to battle through and only have 3 ½ days left. Meanwhile the right wing moves unopposed across the rough terrain and is only a few kilometers away from Xynon Neron.

11:15 – Xynon Neron seems to be only lightly defended. Only a single apparently understrength Greek company has been spotted near the village – they should have had a good surprise by suddenly seeing more than two bataillons storm at them out of the mountain road. An assault through the village up to the highway has been ordered. The left wing has also started to attack, but at least the I/11 bataillon on the left flank of this battle group faces strong opposition. I can’t monitor the Allied artillery in this area at the moment.

[Westheim]

12:30 – Both attacks do not go too well. Especially the Xynon Neron attack has come under heavy artillery fire, but on the other hand the village (and victory location) was taken already. There can’t be much infantry in the area. The attack on the pass is going a little better. The British 1st Infantry Bataillon has been for the most part overran.

13:20 – The self propelled Panzerjäger company attached to the southern force has been disbanded after all heavy equipment was destroyed by artillery fire. I’m more and more convinced that this attack was a bad idea. In the last two hours these two bataillons have been under so much artillery fire, they didn’t even progress 1km.

15:25 – Still little to no progress. A major artillery barrage of my batteries has enabled the northern force to advance a few hundred meters, but they are still well short of taking the pass.

[Westheim]

17:20 – Elements of Panzerdivision 9 have arrived, including the 59th Kradbataillon. The 11th Schützenbataillon is also part of this division and is still fighting with a bulk of Allied forces south west of Veve. The 59th will join them there. Meanwhile elements of the 9th recon bataillon have occupied Kleidi, but resistance to the east of the village is still fierce. The way to the south appears to be open from here, but so far I lack forces to exploit the highway to the south here.

19:10 – I/33 plus support units of Panzerregiment 33 have arrived. They were immediately ordered to drive through Kleidi pass and see if they can still mob up a few Allied units on the southern exit.

[Westheim]

At nightfall, the offensive at Kleidi comes to a halt. Artillery is low on ammunition and can’t properly support the troops there anymore. I made some troop shifts during the night. The I/11 bataillon will leave the Veve area and join the forces in the south now that the pass is traversable. I/33 crossed the river at the bridge at Amyntaion at about 2:00 on D4. I won’t get many reinforcements today: the remaining units of Schützenregiment 11 and Panzerregiment 33 will be available to me by about noon. Apart from these, only a few engineers and anti tank guns will join my forces, both of which of little use to me right now, since I haven’t seen any Allied tank in two days, and there are no engineering duties to be conducted.

I need to come up with a battle plan now. Once the new day dawns, I will have four bataillons available in the south: R/L, III/L, I/11, and I/33. The main problem is that I can’t bring artillery over the hills right now since there are still a few units at the southern exit that could pose a threat to them. The plan calls for R/L to cover the right flank. III/L and I/11 will have to force the highway bridge, while the tanks of I/33 will move south along the river to fall into the flank of the defenders there and/or quell any resistance on the way. The three bataillons would then move south together. I have three days left to exit units to the south, but have still 33km to travel there. The goal for today will be the town of Perdika. Failure to reach Perdika will probably mean failure overall. Should I fail to capture the city, I will probably fall too far behind to complete the scenario goals.

I feel pressure. I feel I’ll fail.

[Westheim]

D4, 5:00 – I/11 was delayed in the pass in the night by scattered New Zealand infantry seeking to recover there and will not make it to the southern front until late morning. I hate to start a day this way. The other three bataillons will have to make it work on their own then. The I/33 has routed an Allied supply base, but was naturally slowed down immensely this way. An attack on the highway bridge will not be possible for a few more hours.

5:40 – III/L has immediately come under enemy artillery fire again. The attack has broken down.

7:20 – The I/33 was successful in opening the highway bridge from the southern bank with a hard attack against the defenders, identified as past of the 2/4 NZ bataillon, plus some Greek support. Unfortunately, the fight in Kleidi pass does go even less well, where the I/L maneuvred in the wrong direction in the rough terrain and lost some ground again to the defenders.

8:00 – With the bridge open, I can launch the next attack further to the south, although this requires a partial crossing move of my three bataillons here. I/33 has to attack on the highway. I/11 and III/L will attack in the center and on the left wing.

[Westheim]

9:50 – Things go wrong. The well advancing southern force was hit in the rear by Allied infantry. The HQ of Panzerregiment 33 was overran and routed. And all of a sudden a considerable Greek force has attacked my very left flank at Veve, where most of my HQs and support artillery are positioned. I/L is ordered out of the pass to protect Veve. I’m running out of troops to direct here. Now only the 9th Recon Bataillon will be left in the pass.

[Westheim]

12:00 – Nothing works as it should. The remaining units of Infanterieregiment 11 are delayed. Greeks still threaten Veve. Where the hell did those come from?? And the highway bridge in the south was blocked again by a pesky New Zealand company, and my thin reserve there is unable to open it again. I/33 had to assist the infantry in clearing the eastern side of the highway. 2.33 company guards the highway to the south, a few kilometers north of Perdika.

12:40 – II/11 has finally arrived. They are ordered to race south immediately. They will be tasked with opening the highway bridge again. I also sent a PAK company through the pass just now and it seems to be clear now. This is the time to send three batteries of the LSSAH to the southern front, which so far had lacked any heavy artillery.

14:00 – The artillery is in place, II/11 will be soon to open the bridge again. What worries me is the growing concentration of enemy units to the east of the river down there. III/L will have to deal with them once they got a little rest. I/33 is scheduled to assist in reopening the highway bridge again. They may detach a company to the III/L bataillon to give that unit some additional bang. In the south, I/11 and a panzer company are already in place at Perdika, which does not seem heavily defended, but I thought so before ...

[ulisin]

good work!
Im'reading you AAR
bye