Huib's "A Key Position"

[cw58]

The score at the end of Allies' Turn 17 (of 18):
(The other nearby objective is worth 500 pts)

[cw58]

Turn 18:
One last assault and the Brits capture a second objective. It's just enough for a minor victory if they can hang on.

[cw58]

Axis Turn 18:
The Germans were unable to mount an assault on the last turn as most of their nearby units were disrupted, thus giving the Brits a hard-earned minor victory.

[Jason Petho]

Well done, very well done indeed!

Jason Petho

[cw58]

A few thoughts about some of my mistakes during the battle. The armored foray off to the north was a tactical blunder. The 2 engineer platoons I sent with the tanks, I could've really used for assaults. And that's not counting the tanks that were out for a Sunday drive. From what I could tell, the British had good numerical superiority but I was unable to use it to full advantage due to the fact that I tried to mass too much firepower, especially near the end. I had infantry tripping over each other, trying to get to the Germans and all the while tanks were running over them. It was more like Russian human wave tactics rather than something the British might do. Also, with that many units together near the end, I suffered quite a few overstacking penalties. But by then, I was getting desperate.

Throughout the scenario, I found myself unwilling to sacrifice APs for assaults that I thought were doubtful. In the few assaults I tried, I found them unpredictable. At times, when I thought the odds were good, the assault failed. Near the end of the battle, when the assault seemed doomed to fail, it succeeded. If not for the lucky assault on the bunker, I would have suffered a major defeat. Go figure.

As for indirect fire, in this scenario, I found it fairly equal. By that, I mean the casualties were about what I would expect, with no advantage for me or the AI. I had about 6 tanks disabled by IF, but there were numerous hits on tank-filled hexes. Some losses were due to mortar fire, but the Germans had both 81mm & 120mm units. Most of those losses occurred in the last few turns, when I was surely receiving over-stacking penalties. I did not destroy any German tanks with IF, but they only had 2 StuG IIIGs which I hit maybe 4 times. That still leaves unexplained the problems people are having in DCGs. I wish I had an answer. [&:]

As for the scenario, obviously I found it tough. The Germans had good defensive positions and enough mines to force their opponent right onto those defenses. As Huib promised, the AI did fight a very aggressive defense without being fixed in place. Neat trick, that. The one thing I would question is the supply. I didn't check beforehand to see what the supply level was, but to have almost 40 units out of supply when my HQs were relatively static and in range, seems extreme. But that may have been what the designer intended. Of course, that made the firefights that much harder because most of the time, my troops were firing at half-strength. Overall though, an excellent design. Nice work, Huib. [&o] Thanks!

[Huib]

Thanks a lot for this excellent AAR. This kind of stuff is really helpful for the designer.
A few points:
- You are right about the relatively low supply level. This is intended in the first place to slow the pace of the game, secondly to reduce # of casualties to a more realistic level. Note that the AI also has a low supply level, in this case the human player has 50% and the AI 60%. Rather than increasing the supply level I would probably increase the # of turns if needed.
- Very interesting to see you venture north on the east side of the map, but the "key position" obviously is the crossroads at Loon op Zand. Any secondary roads are of little use in the wet autumn of 1944.
-Historically 2 attacks of the 7 Armoured were repulsed, although they did make it into the village. Eventually the 51st Highland Div. was ordered to drive the Germans out. They succeeded although the Germans managed to retreat in an orderly way.
-Another option in this scn could be a left hook... oh well don't want to give away too much...
-I guess the new assault rules make the scn more difficult for the human player, but since you won, I don't think I would need to change anything.

Huib

[cw58]

That explains a lot about the supply level. I don't believe I have ever played a game with supply so low.

As for the Group N tactic, I had hoped to come across some artillery positions and maybe some high-level HQs. And maybe to slip into one or both of the northern objectives if they had been lightly defended, as they were far from the front. The muddy roads I could have handled (the group was all tanks with engineers riding) but the 2nd set of mines was the real deal-breaker. Two of the tanks managed to come down the road to the north of the southern objectives and contribute some firepower, but overall, it was a waste of time and manpower.

I had no knowledge of the history of this battle, but it would seem that my results were similar to what actually happened back then. And I think that's key to a good design, at least for historical scenarios. Great job!

[junk2drive]

Thanks for the entertaining and well done AAR. Good use of screenshots.