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I overworte my game grrrr... So i have been forced to start over back up to the assult to split the 64 and 69th armies. I am tinkering with my core force swapping out my Pnzrjgr 38's for stug 33's and changing my infantry into engineers. (going for an assult engineer feel) I have also begun slowly changing my infantry recon platton ( forgot to list it) into a 2x waufrahmen and an another ammo carrier. Once I get back to the towns sqaure battle I will let you know.

I don't mid using engineers as core force because as long as they stay under the cover of the stugs they make a damm near unstoppable force. The satchel charges and flame throwers are also ideal for ambush situations.

ORIGINAL: pappasmurf

I don't mid using engineers as core force because as long as they stay under the cover of the stugs they make a damm near unstoppable force. The satchel charges and flame throwers are also ideal for ambush situations.

Indeed. The flamethrower seems to be the SPWAW close combat uber-weapon. [:D]

Thats becasue the flame thrower is the close assult uber weapon.

Sorry this thread has taken a backseat to my PBEM play. My apologies.

After putting this game game down for so long, Turn 10, halfway through the scenario, is spent in review
of the state of the battle and my forces. Losses seem light and I'm halfway across the board on all fronts.

Ivan is nowhere to be seen, except for two KV heavy tanks. The northern heavy tank is shelled by practically every Panzer in range to no avail. It's crew does bail during Ivan's move however. The southern heavy tank is close assaulted by every infantry able to reach it, whether on foot or via halftrack. Again, the tank remains and the crew bails.
My troopers are close enough the the village to receive ordance fire during Ivan's countermove.

Time to come up with a winning halftime strategy for the end of this one.

This DAR has been a really enjoyable read. It gives me half a mind to start something similar for my own "Italy at War" campaign......

Half a mind anyway [:D]

Nice! It sure is cool to see how others fare in a campaign. This one's popular isn't it?

If you don't mind I'll chip in a little DAR myself.

My core force consists of and FO and two Mortar sections in the HQ group, and although the campaign said I'd be provided with transport, I bought some trucks and an Opel anyway just to make sure the HQ had wheels. An infantry company, stripped of its mortar and AT sections, was up next, as was a platoon of Engineers. My armoured load-out consists of a platoon of five PzIVf2's to take on Russian armour, and a platoon of four PzIVe's to support the infantry, as well as a StuG section intended for upgrade to the heavier StuG models as tank killers. I formed a fairly heavy recon / vanguard group consisting of a Mechanized Scout platoon (three recon teams and three recon sections mounted in three recon halftracks) and a section of PzII. A couple of Flammpanzer II's would certainly prove useful in dense fighting. The remaining points were spent on a Kübelwagen (because it's not a German kampfgruppe unless it has a Kübelwagen).


The First Battle, escorting the truck convoy, went quite smoothly. I bought a platoon of cavalry to aid in clearing the village, and started with some mortar shelling of the houses flanking the road, and the shoulder of the hill. Motorcycles and Cavalry went into the town first, together with my mechanized recon platoon, supported by the PzII's. I sent two of the infantry platoons off to pick their way across the hill and secure the far side so I could have a smooth ride through once the village was secured, accompanied by their company HQ. The third platoon went up after the recon to secure the village, and the engineers stayed with the convoy providing close escort, along with all the armour and the HQ group.

The ambush by Soviet Partisans on the stagnant column was unexpected but the Engineers and armour managed to deal with it quite nicely. Unfortunately, one Soviet squad managed to molotov a StuG into oblivion, costing me a Decisive [:@] Recon cleared out the village efficiently and the rifle platoon held the north-western corner against a Soviet push. Across the hill, the rifle company performed a textbook infantry assault aided by mortar fire and secured the farmstead at minimal losses. The first units to come around the bend and aid them were a couple of PzIVe's and the Flammpanzer, who secured their first kills roasting Soviets squads. The convoy was rushed through and picked up the rearguard from the village along the way.

Marginal Victory due to that stupid StuG getting popped[:@]


The Second Battle, advancing along a road to Jefrossinowka. From my points allowance I fix a recon team that got peppered and upgrade the StuGs to the effective AT model (G?). I have to say that bypassing the first village would have been a stroke of brilliance. I did not. Weary of the stupid way in which I lost that StuG during the ambush, I carefully pick my way into the village. It is a textbook assault - Recon goes first, infantry follows close, tanks move up where the enemy resists. I suffer practically no losses securing this village, but it takes more time than I have available. I leave a platoon to garisson the village and race the rest of my force through in convy, headed towards Jefrossinowka as fast as wheels will roll. It's not fast enough. What little resistance I meet is dealt with quickly, but in the end I only manage to snatch two VH's in Jefrossinowka with recon units. Worse, the Partisan infaltrators that counter-attack the village manage to stumble onto a VH and switch it to Soviet before I can react. Seems an 18-turn battle ends on turn 17[:@]

Another Marginal Victory - I had a good kill rate and suffered practically no losses, but he VH's did me in.

The Third Battle, going head-to-head with a Soviet counter-attack. I do some cosmetic updates on my force but nothing of consequence. I decided to deploy the bulk of my Kampfgruppe in Sector B, on the western flank. Sector C is left to a handful of Snipers just to see if here's something going on there. I buy trucks and HT's, as well as a section of 88's for Sector B. Sector A looks well-stocked with AUX forces and I deploy my HQ group there for mortar support.

All goes reasoanble. As recon picks its way south from Sector A, a Soviet light tank company comes rumbling across the plains. The German armour decides to stay on the ridge for now and knocks out the company from distance, suffering no losses. The lend-lease armour moving up along the western flank causes some trouble for the soft recon, but a tactical retreat leads these tanks into the fields of fire of a PzIVf2 platoon, where they are soon reduces to wrecks. T-34's arrive on either flank in the North and the Sector A forces fight hard to fend them off. In the north-east the close proximity of the T-34's, and their supporting KV-1's, cost me a tank or two from the AUX forces. Most of the time in the north is spent knocking off Russian armour. When the tank assaults wear out, the infantry moves up under mortar support to secure both wood copses. Soviet infantry dug in there proves tough, but not tough enough - although German casualties are heavy the VH's are secured. An unspotted AT gun on the northern edge of Jefrossinowka (as I later learned) knocks out several AFV's moving around the woods to aid the infantry.

In Sector B, the German forces find themselves on the flank of an approaching column of T-34s. A long-range firefight ensues and my PzIVf2's rack up their first kills. Meanwhile, the recon group, the rifle company, engineers, PzIVe's, StuG's, and Flammpanzer all advance on the central town. The fight there gets close and deadly as the Engineers leading the assault cross the stream, backed up by the rifle company. Some unexpected KV-2's take their toll and knock out two Engineer squads. A careless PzIVe gets assaulted as it tried to enter the village from a different flank without infantry suppot. Stupid! On the whole, though, the assault on the village proceeds well and the kill rate is highly favourable. The Flammpanzer especially prove their worth in street fighting, roasting squad after squad of Svoiets.

Another Marginal Victory due to the loss of several AFVs. Core losses are low; a PzIVe and some recon. The loss of two Engineer squads stings though. Still I am left with enough repair/upgrade points to bring my Kampfgruppe back up to full strength for mission 4.

I'm a bit worried about not stacking up enough repair points to buy me some heavier armour later on in the game. T-34s and the KV series are already giving me a headache. Fortunately the Soviets can't shoot for shit and I can take them out at a distance - but it's still iffy. I would like some Tigers when they become available but don't know if I can spare the points by then. We'll see.

Right now I have to start grinding into heavy Soviet defensive positions. I have a heap of support points to spend on killy goodies, but the terrain looks nasty - defendable, fortified positions, overlapping fields of fire, excellent AT kill zones and enough open space for tanks to race about. I'm guessing a northern hook would be best, as that route leads to the most VH's, and a good mix of artillery prep and smoke should allow me to take the postitions by storming them with infantry. I'm worried about AT guns picking off my beautiful tanks.

We'll see!

--MMonkey

Y'know, I've never tried to save any upgrade points for later battles.

Does this really work in this campaign? I've never noticed unused points to carry over.

Guh [&:]

Now that you mention it, I'm not so sure either.

Ah well, I spend most points on repairs and essential upgrades anyway, so there's not much which goes to waste[:D]

In this campaign it isn't possible to accumulate build points from battle to battle, so I concentrate on getting the most out of each batch. This is the opposite of the long campaign, where I often accumulate several battles' worth of points to splurge on the latest tank model when it finally becomes available.

The Stalingrad Campaign has a big point allocation for the fifth scenario; I remember using that batch to promote two panzers and several arty/AA units from kuebels. After that the build points go down again until well into the city fighting.

Whelp - finally finished Scenario Four - Breakthrought the Enemy Lines.

Dunno about the scenario notes saying this would be a moderatly easy battle to win - Ivan's offboard artillery took a heavy toll on my troopers.

In retrospect - I probably would have done better if I had taken a definate break around turn 8-10 to reorganize my scattered troops and spent a few turns reloading my mortars and rockets.

Oh well - 'bout time I got my nose bloodied I guess.

Final Score: Germany 8799 points vs. Soviet 4133 points.
I lost 346 men and 19 AFVS, and inflicted 824 men and 32 AFVs in casualties.

DRAW [:(]

ORIGINAL: KNomad

Dunno about the scenario notes saying this would be a moderatly easy battle to win - Ivan's offboard artillery took a heavy toll on my troopers.

This was a tough one. I didn't have KNomad's 8.2 scenario notes, so I had Rarity OFF and perhaps overspent on AUX arty: a 150mm off-board battery, an on-board rocket battery, and an ammo dump. Combined with the scenario artillery and my core tubes, they gave me quite an artillery park. Warned to expect "heavy tanks", I also brought a pair of 88s which earned their keep by nailing 2 KV and damaging 2 others.

I limited losses by advancing methodically behind heavy suppressive barrages and smoke screens. Soviet artillery was annoying, but generally hit behind my advancing forces or landed among AFVs (tanks and HTs), which suffered suppression but little damage. The Stukas were invaluable, killing 3 mortars and 2 ATGs at critical points in the battle. The ammo dump also earned its keep: the Nebelwerfers kept up a lively fire, and the mobile mortars were still full of ammo when they had to move forward to continue supporting the advance.

It was a long, painstaking scenario, and I was glad when it was over.

ORIGINAL: Hunpecked

ORIGINAL: KNomad

Dunno about the scenario notes saying this would be a moderatley easy battle to win.
Ivan's offboard artillery took a heavy toll on my troopers.

<snip>

This was a tough one. It was a long, painstaking scenario, and I was glad when it was over.

I love that last line - illustrates exactly how I feel ... [:o]

Scenario 4 was the first of the new scenarios I hadn't played through before under 7.1 H2H.
Really got my toast burnt on that one. Ivan taught me an important lesson about artillery.

[&o]Nothing Excedes Like Excessiveness.