I set up a battle in may 1943, large map, US attack vs. German delay. The map turned out to be wooded, but all the VH clusters were along roads, and the south was fairly open. My purchesa was a HQ/Mortar unit of the HQ, FO, and three 4.2" mortars in gliders. Then, two Airborne rifle companies in Dakota's, and a Ranger company in Gliders. The airborne companies and HQ/Mortar would drop in the North and move south-east through the woods, capturing two VH Clusters, while the Rangers would drop in the south and capture the clusters at the base of a hill there, then set up to defend them. A fourth cluster in the south-east of the german zone was ignored.
The operation went like clockwork; I ran into absolutely minimal resistance. The airborne in the north took out the lone German HQ, and once some 81mm mortar shells started falling, I could trace their positions by the smoke plumes and set the Mustangs on them. In the north-east, the platoon on the outer flank was fired upon by an MG34 but the 4.2"-ers dropped smoke and nothing else came, except for a stray rifle squad (company HQ perhaps?) that was destroyed. In the south, not a SINGLE German showed up. After the battle, I had suffered 16 casualties to German 56. Only a marginal victory because I hadn't captured the last VH cluster, but it was a try-out anyway.
My question is - where were the bloody Germans? I was expecting a fight! I ran into two combat units and a handful of 81mm's, lost 16 men in no concentrated way, that was it. Is the AI incapable of turning its units around and move off the line to defend their rear? Although the operation was, for me, a good excercise in airborne operations and command-control, I would have liked to see some more action... Maybe next time I'll drop in front of their lines and see what happens
