A Load Of Horrocks - From the Meuse to the Rhine AAR

[TK421__]

Groesbeek - Day 5 05:05

No real change here so no pic

3/505 are still getting a hammering while trying to pull out

7SLI have pushed into west of Grosbeek with great difficulty and 5DO are still moving into Berg en Dal

[TK421__]

Nijmegen - Day 5 0505

3/504 plus 6th & 7th GH continue to push on NJ Centre with 3/508 and 1/508 completing the ring

5EY, 3/504 1/505 have been pulled out of line to rest

1 WO are ready to close sack on NJ Centre

2 GR Gds + the 4 WI are almost at the Sth end of Highway bridge

[TK421__]

The Island - Day 5 0505

8th Armd Bde + 5 WI and 4SLI are pushing out to the East of Hells Highway and North To Elst

D Sqdn Household Cav plus 2 Guards AT Rgts have moved across Polder using the minor roads via Valburg and Homeot to almost reach the Rhine South Bank with no Germans in sight

Welsh Guards Group plus the 3 XXX Corps Bridge units are following as fast as possible

1 CO and 1 GR Grds continue to try and slowly clear the Nth end of highway bridge

[TK421__]

Arnhem D5 0505

2 Para are completely cut off and surrounded in city centre but not really being hit

1 Para & Borders are taking more of a beating a little further to the West

KOSB and 2nd Staffs pocket is still fairly quiet

3 Para and 10 Para holding the line to SW of landing zone

11 Para are trying to clear Bilderberg crossroads

156 Para are holding Oosterbeek ready to move against any elements in that area

[TK421__]

Groesbeek - Day 5 14:30

AI has pulled forces from Mook and seems to be trying to break through North of Groesbeek

Therefore I've thrown 5CO Gds into Reithorst for the VP's

Rest of units are are holding ground they had overnight

3/505 have finally got clear but are at about 1/3 of strength

Newly arrived 130th Bde are assaulting through back areas to clear out any infiltrators

[TK421__]

Nijmegen/South Island - Day 5 1430

69th Bde, 1 WO , 4 WI (5 batts) have completed ring and are assaulting to destroy the 2000 or so troops there

1/508 & 3/508 are holding part of ring but I will pull them out as soon as I can

3/504 & 2/508 are resting - I intend to use them to garrison NJ once the pocket is pinched out

2 GR Gds have cleared out South End of Highway Bridge and are heading North

1 CO and 1 GR Grds have gained North End of Highway Bridge and are just destroying the last 100 or so troops - they have both taken heavy losses

4SLI & 5WI are holding to East of Hells Highway to allow 8th Armd Bde to attacking North and South to clear HH south of Elst

[TK421__]

North Island - Day 5 1430

XXX Corps Bridging Units have arrived at Ooesterbeek and are starting to build

2nd Wl Gds hold Elst

2nd Ir Gds are moving up through Leinden to hold Snoedenhoek

Plan is to use the Gds Armd batts to hold Elst in the open polder while the Gds Inf Batts get ready to cross the Rhine!!

[TK421__]

Arnhem D5 1430

Pockets in Arnehm are still holding out

3 Para and 10 Para still holding the line to SW of landing zone

11 Para still trying to clear Bilderberg crossroads

156 Para drive north from Oosterbeek to clear out stragglers

Large number of German units are flooding in from NW toward LZ

Trying to pull out the Bases plus Arty into Oosterbeek, but they just don't want to get moving as they are under threat

[TK421__]

Groesbeek - Day 6 00:00

Objectives have completed so some reorganization going on

5CO Gds are moving up to Elst to join rest of Gds Div and 3/504 are moving down to replace them

7SLI have been pushed out of Groesbeek and 5DC are trying to push back along forest road

130th Bde are defending north End of ridge with some ease

[Phoenix100]

Give me more! Can't wait to see how you do. Loved it. Thanks for posting. I have given up playing this scenario every time I've tried (about 6 times, so far), partly because of a bug (see 'Locked up' thread in tech forum) which Dave says he will fix (it is really irritating me and messing things up because formations just seem to halt all the time when I give bypass commands), partly because it looks impossible to win. It's inspiring that you continued and turned the tide, because about where you were going to give up is where I do give up, every time (ie fairly early on) when it seems all DZs will be overrun, niether bridge can be taken and help is still 36 hours away (with the historical result always leering over your shoulder)! But now I'll try again and persist maybe. Please be sure to post the conclusion.

[TK421__]

Nijmegen - Day 6 0000

69th Bde, 1 WO , 4 WI (5 batts) continue to reduce NJ pokcet - down to about 700 troops now

1/508, 2/508 3/508 are resting ready to occupy NJ and 3/504 and 1/505 have been marched South and East to hold Groesbeek Heights

1 CO and 1&2 GR Grds spent rest of day 5 clearing North side of bridge but are now resting - final unit being pursued by Engineers

[TK421__]

The Island - Day 6 0000

4SLI & 5WI + 8th Armd Bde are to attack East from HH at dawn

2IR + 2 Wlsh Gds are holding Elst - no real attempt to push down HH from Arnhem during the day

[TK421__]

Arnhem D6 0000

Pockets in Arnhem have defended in place all day - they are out of basics but not being pressed that hard so still have ammo

10 Para + Div troops have been pushed back a bit on SW

11 Para are at still contesting Bilderberg crossroads

3 Para are trying to clear Oosterbeck centre from more units that have infiltrated in from north

156 Para Hold NW of Oosterbeek to try and clear out route for bases but are too tried to really achieve anything

Arty managed to pull out into Oosterbeck (with no ammo) but the bases and HQ's just refuse to move

South of the river the Bridge units are about 2 hours away from completing bridge

I have 3 Pol Para plus a couple of other units to defend the south side of the bridge if Germans decide to cut it off

2 Wlsh, 2 IR and 2 Pol Para will cross as soon as bridge is completed - Guards will go into Arnhem to relieve units there and 2 Pol Para will help out to NW

[TK421__]

So about halfway through the scenario and I now feel pretty confident

NJ is almost clear which will release a lot of UK Inf

Groesbeek is pretty secure and I hope to be able to get the remaining VP's there

The route to Arnhem for XXX corps via rail bridge will soon be open and I feel that if I can rescue the paras, clear and hold West Arnhem and secure some more of HH over next 4 days , I'll count that as a victory- th erhine will be well and truly crossed

NJ pocket has helped me push up the German losses to date, althought they have lost a lot of (low class) units in 1st Airbonre area

[Phoenix100]

Are you getting these AARs by saving then surrendering?

[TK421__]

ORIGINAL: phoenix

Give me more! Can't wait to see how you do. Loved it. Thanks for posting. I have given up playing this scenario every time I've tried (about 6 times, so far), partly because of a bug (see 'Locked up' thread in tech forum) which Dave says he will fix (it is really irritating me and messing things up because formations just seem to halt all the time when I give bypass commands), partly because it looks impossible to win. It's inspiring that you continued and turned
the tide, because about where you were going to give up is where I do give up, every time (ie fairly early on) when it seems all DZs will be overrun, niether bridge can be taken and help is still 36 hours away (with the historical result always leering over your shoulder)! But now I'll try again and persist maybe. Please be sure to post the conclusion.

Thanks for the feedback!!

I did have some frustrations with some units just refusing to move but it seemed to be limited to Regimental or higher HQ's and bases so it did not affect me that much and it "felt" more like I was a real commmander so I lived with it

Thing to remember is that is a LONG scenario - the MOST important thing for me is to take Grave and Honitujie unblown - If you do this you can get XXX corps into action so much quicker

I'll try to complete AAR over the next few days - its almost as much fun replaying it like this

[TK421__]

ORIGINAL: phoenix

Are you getting these AARs by saving then surrendering?

Yes - I've completed the scenario already so this AAR is just going back through the saves I made and trying to remember my thought processes at the time!!

[TK421__]

Groesbeek - Day 7 09:00

Had a long session without saves so a big gap here!

2 main points of interest here

Major counter attack by Germans in South has left the defensive line a bit dog legged so 7HA are assaulting in front of Mook to straighten line

But to make this attack they seem to have pulled everything out of Groesbeek so I'm jumping forward the UK Batts to hold it

[TK421__]

Nijmegen - Day 7 0900

NJ pocket was cleared late on Day 6

1WO went South to rejoin rest of 214 Brigade

4WI went North and they plus rest of 129 Bde + 8th Armd are continuing to push NE

This attack while not toward any objective per se is doing a lot of damage - I already have 15 grey crosses in their path

5EY are resting before they join the rest of 69 Bde in Arnhem

508 PIR are in place to defend NJ with 1/505 & 3/505 holding North End of Groesbeek heights

[TK421__]

Arnhem D7 09:00

Brit Para units are all pretty much holding in place as they are too tired to do anything else

2 Pol Para + 1& 2 Gr Gds are clearing out area around para bases which have been stuck all day

2 Wlsh Gds are attacking a Bilderberg Crossroads

1 Wlsh & 3 Irsh Gds are pushing into W. Arnhem since bridge was completed but not getting anywhere fast

6 & 7GH are arriving to help out with assault

This is second big mistake AI made in my opinion - aside from a single assault by a weak para batt (being beaten of in this pic), they never tried to cut off the route to Rail bridge, so I could move units all the way from NJ to Arnhem at will


South of River I have Coldstream Gds + 2IR holding Elst - planning to release them into Arnhem as soon as I can