CFNA 1940-43 devoncop (Axis) vs warspite1 (CW) - no devoncop please

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Szilard

Operation Half-A-League?

Operation Let's-Be-Beastly?

warspite1

[:)] - half a league sounds appropriate [:D]

[warspite1]

Turn 171
6th May 1942

I want to expand the breach yet further but I really don't like the predictions being given. I then decide to hold fire in the east but to continue the attack in the west. This way I at least get the support of 5 artillery regiments.

Sadly this was an attack too far - the Germans bring in a panzer battalion to ensure the hex ownership does not change....

So to gain three pieces of sand I lost way more than the enemy. I guess when the computer says the attack is excellent it means for the enemy....[:D]

[warspite1]

Turn 172 - Axis Turn (in real time)
9th May 1942

The turn starts with lots of reinforcement in the Mersa Matruh area

Then the enemy start moving along the coast, retreat an AA unit, then another to the south, then the third and fourth.

A ton of artillery as per usual fills the second row – and others – and now the front row too. This will be a big attack

More reinforcements are coming up all the way back to the Jebel and all points along the coast

The bombardments start – there are a hell of a lot of them, particularly – but not limited to, the coastal plain

I see more artillery now, heading south

This is a general advance – there are probes south of Quattara too

A battalion of South Africans is wiped from the OOB by the shelling (with this amount of artillery there is simply no need to attack) but of course attacks will come….

The Axis (Germans particularly) really stuffing the front line now and an attack is launched on El Hammam. Three more CW units evaporate

More enemy move up and the bombardments recommence

A Hurricane squadron evaporates

The shelling intensifies – in the south and the north


The fighters lost were those reorganising at El-Hamman airfield. The turn was bad - the South Africans permanently lost, too much artillery lost too. But while bad it was not quite as bad as I feared this time

[warspite1]

Turn 172
9th May 1942

You couldn't make it up [&:] There's a first. ALL six Wellington squadrons decide en masse, in a wonderful display of brotherly solidarity, to reorganise... oh and the they take a Boston squadron with them too. So I'm trying to launch an offensive and I lose just shy of 50% of my bomber force.... great.

So the offensive needs to be postponed but I will try and fight for El Hammam if I can.

I also need to decide what to do about the southern front, where two very powerful panzer-led formations have built up on the southeastern slopes of the mountains

[warspite1]

Turn 172
9th May 1942

The probes south of Quattara did not amount to anything more at this stage, but there are forces south of the main position (exact size and make-up unknown) threatening the back door to Cairo. I can only afford company-sized units as temporary road blocks.

[warspite1]

Turn 172
9th May 1942

So with too few aircraft I limit myself to try and make the defenders of El Hamman feel less than comfortable with their new surroundings. I also give some attention to the large panzer columns in the south. These take up three rounds and I then decide to withdraw my precious artillery before the turn ends. There is no chance of a successful attack on El-Hammam. I would simply lose more units and then those units - in over-sized stacks - would be ripe for pummelling into the ground next turn.

Meanwhile in the south. With the panzers lurking, I decide to withdraw from the salient created last turn but sadly some bad terrain has meant that an infantry battalion, two AT batteries and a similar number of AA batteries are stuck out on their own. I've given them orders that will hopefully allow them to retreat - but I suspect they will just be ground into dust by enemy artillery instead...


I've no idea what the enemy replacement rates are like but that wasn't too shabby. Unfortunately apart from a self propelled gun, there was no damage to any panzers... The CW lost 4 rifle squads, 2 field guns and other odds and ends to counter-fire

[warspite1]

Turn 173 - Axis Turn (in real time)
13th May 1942

The turn starts with 345 invisible moves and then the sound of aircraft from the Jebel area - and that's a new one - aircraft (Ju-88D) from Crete too.

Then its my old friends the Axis artillery moving along the coast road near Sidi Barani...

Artillery and panzers move up to the front along the coast road and an RAF base unit evaporates - artillery now threatening my main airfields - I hope I haven't mis-judged this

Looks like I have - loads more artillery moving in - that's more aircraft dead.

Bombardments start up in the south now and then all along the line a South African AA retreats and the Axis move in south of the coast road - I don't know what happened to the unit it was with? More retreats just to the south and more German units moving up. The bombardments then start up again.

The AA in the centre retreats now - this is a big attack

A South African battalion retreats - I can't see where yet - ah its along the coast and then more artillery move in

More land unit too - its just metronomic and there is no answer for it - the bombardments commence once again

[warspite1]

Turn 173
13th May 1942

My fears are once again realised. Any counter-attack is severely compromised by the 4th Indian Division deciding to reorganise. Playing the Commonwealth is such a joy.

Next turn Amiriya airfield is put out of use. Game over (although to be fair with the move bombardment move attack bombardment cycle that devoncop is employing that is probably the case regardless of what I do) - and he still have his bonus to come starting on turn 77.

So, 4th Indian and various aircraft on reorganising notwithstanding, its kitchen sink time.

[warspite1]

Turn 173
13th May 1942

The Commonwealth launch 3 attacks. The first is in the south where the 5th Indian and 50th Infantry Divisions - supported by elements of 7th Armoured and 1st Army Tank Brigade - attack a German infantry regiment and a company of Bersaglieri. The Italians retreat but, as expected, the Germans hold their ground.

Then the action switches to the north and an attack by elements of the two Free French Brigades, supported by the tanks of 1st and 10th Armoured Divisions. The assault, south of the coastal road sees a German regiment retreat and two Italian infantry companies evaporate.

To the south the tanks of 2nd Armoured and 32nd Army Tank Brigade give support to the South Africans (elements of 1st and 2nd Divisions) and the Indians of 10th Indian Division. A German MG battalion and HQ retreat, while an Italian infantry HQ and a German infantry company are evaporated.

The air war remains very difficult to understand or rationalise. The CW continue to get beaten despite the numerous advantages they have due to proximity of air fields.

[warspite1]

Turn 173
13th May 1942

For the next round I limit the attacks to two in the hope that I get a final (or better) round. I decide to proceed with a 'very poor' attack on the basis that I don't understand the prediction. The CW massively outnumber two Italian infantry units and have tanks, artillery and infantry. I decide to cross fingers and see what happens.

In the north a panzer battalion comes to the rescue and holds ground for the Axis but I am losing patience with the whole air war thing. The RAF just get creamed once again. Bit the CR.42 biplane remains pretty bullet proof... The losses are pretty horrendous generally, but nothing compared to the losses incurred in trying to defeat two weak Italian infantry battalions in the second attack [&:] One Italian battalion holds its ground against my especially-picked-for-the-operation Matilda II tanks....

Well I've gone all out and so there is no backing out now. The air force is shot but I'm not retreating from Amiriya - they might as well be destroyed on the ground for all the use they are in the air. Pretty much all artillery is stacked in only a couple of hexes but there is no room for anything else.

I go for 8 assaults all along the line.

Attack 1 in the extreme south of the line is a total failure and costs three times the casualties as those of the Italian infantry.

In the north a Free French Brigade evaporates and although most of the Axis units retreat, one (as always) is on hand to stop any advance....

The third attack in the centre of the line sums up the hopelessness of the CW situation, losing 111 infantry and SMG squads, 30 tanks and other equipment and causing less than 20 infantry squad losses to the enemy.

Its a similar story - but even worse - to the south where 151 squad losses compare with 30 of the enemy.

The second attack in the centre sees the heroic Italian infantry battalion evaporate

The third northern most attack sees the German retreat - although the CW losses are 4 times higher and only 1 battalion advances in this ignore losses attack.

To the south of that the enemy retreats again - although the program thought is sensible to advance with one HAA units and an air base unit. No idea what that is all about.

The final engagement takes place in the north - just south of the coast road and the Axis easily hold the position.

Time to tot up the scores on the doors [:D]


I think it fair to say the numbers speak for themselves [;)]

[700851McCall]

What is your airshock percentage compared to the enemy's? I'm guessing there is quite a big difference which accounts for the poor performance of your airforce. Likewise with your ground troops. You don't really want to be attacking until Monty arrives and your shock level increases.

I appreciate that in the current situation you have little option, but I think most of your woes are due to not taking that into account. It makes a big difference to the combat outcomes.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: 700851McCall

What is your airshock percentage compared to the enemy's? I'm guessing there is quite a big difference which accounts for the poor performance of your airforce. Likewise with your ground troops. You don't really want to be attacking until Monty arrives and your shock level increases.

I appreciate that in the current situation you have little option, but I think most of your woes are due to not taking that into account. It makes a big difference to the combat outcomes.

warspite1

The current bonuses are as follows:

CW Theatre reconnaissance capability is 0%

The 4% shock level penalty/bonus still remain in place - 96% CW and 104% Axis

- The 4% Commonwealth Shock Penalty lasts until Turn 185 (The Auk)
- At that time recon goes to 5%

- The 4% Axis Shock Bonus lasts until Turn 201 (Monty)
- At that time recon goes to 15%

AIR
The Axis air force get an (unspecified in the scenario briefing) air bonus between 177-181. We are on Turn 174.

So yes, I have taken into account the above. There is currently no air bonus for the Axis. I should have the advantage here given the massive number of aircraft that I've based at Amiriya - and indeed this is borne out by the nos. of aircraft that fly whereby generally I have more (and overall better quality). But the story is always the same. I husband my air units so that I have good nos. readiness, proficiency and supply. They also have the benefit of proximity. Then, the first time they fly they get shot out of the sky, many immediately go into reorganisation and then in the Axis turn the remainder are mopped up. Every time.

Land
You said:

You don't really want to be attacking until Monty arrives and your shock level increases.

If I don't do anything attack-wise then long before Monty arrives the Germans will be in Cairo. The monumental number of Axis artillery makes a dig-in and stand impossible. Without attacking in many cases (as you can see from previous posts) the enemy are gaining roughly one hex line per turn without even needing to attack. Just bombard and evaporate. Just like at Tobruk so the same everywhere since; if the CW stand then they die in their trenches. The CW can attack the Axis front screen to try and get to the artillery and.... well you've just seen what happens. When two weak Italian infantry battalions can easily repulse an a massed combined arms attack of infantry, tanks and artillery then there is little hope for the CW making headway against panzer battalions - let alone reaching the artillery that is causing all the grief.

You (rightly) added

I appreciate that in the current situation you have little option

so I am not really sure what you are saying I should do here. You said

but I think most of your woes are due to not taking that into account. It makes a big difference to the combat outcomes.

As shown, I've taken this into account... but I've still got to do something - as you recognise. The fact there are shock bonuses and penalties does not mean attacks can't be made (as per my successfully driving the Axis back earlier in the game - before losing the Kiwis and most of 7th Armoured to withdrawal). The trouble is that tactic is no longer possible. The Axis appears to be able to bombard turn after turn. The CW artillery very quickly turns to red even though I'm practically in the Delta and so supply shouldn't be so much of an issue. Then when you have panzer battalions operating in the interior of the Sahara....

[warspite1]

Turn 174 - Axis Turn
16th May 1942

Sadly its more of exactly the same. I lose two more aircraft squadrons to evaporation - and a ton of bombers. This presumably is to do with interdiction (these do not appear to be part of the land combat actions) despite the interdiction range meaning that only those German units on the coast could be interdicted and they would then be in range of all my fighters. However I can't be certain what happened because the program doesn't tell me anything about the whole interdiction phase [8|]. [PLEASE game designers you really need to fix this].

Two Free French battalions and a South African simply evaporated along with a few AA units. This was not the result of attacks - just bombardments alone.

A large number of CW units have now gone into reorganisation too.....

Losses for that turn (this does not include the results of the interdiction. According to the air briefing the CW lost another 46 aircraft that Axis turn).

That's another 174 infantry squads, 30 tanks and 51 artillery pieces and the Axis made not one single land attack.

[warspite1]

Turn 174
16th May 1942

Before deciding on the next step I best have a look at what this last couple of turn have done to nos..... for those of a Commonwealth persuasion look away now......[;)]

INFANTRY + SMALL ARMS

That's a lot of infantry lost....

[warspite1]

Turn 174
16th May 1942

Artillery

The AT and, in particular, the AA pieces have reduced as expected. Interestingly the field gun situation has actually improved. In the last couple of turns I received an artillery regiment for the 3rd Indian Motor Brigade and also for the 10th Armoured Division. These must account for the increase because (as seen in the posts above) the 25-pounders have taken something of a hit and there are only 5 replacements per turn.

[warspite1]

Turn 174
16th May 1942

Tanks

In 5 turns there is a net loss of 122 tanks including the elimination of 2 regiments of the 10th Armoured Division (this despite the reinforcement of an HQ and two regiments). One shows as coming back later, the other as eliminated (presumably permanently). The 10th Armoured is effectively just one brigade now - 2 HQ but only 3 regiments.

[warspite1]

Turn 174
16th May 1942

Aircraft

A net 140 aircraft lost that turn alone (despite a new squadron coming in so the actual loss was considerably worse). I guess on turns 177-181 the RAF and co should just simply fly to Aden or somewhere....

[warspite1]

Turn 174
16th May 1942

The situation is as below. From what I can see 1st Armoured, 22nd Armoured Brigade and 32nd Army Tank Brigade are all reorganising along with 8 squadrons.

[700851McCall]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: 700851McCall

What is your airshock percentage compared to the enemy's? I'm guessing there is quite a big difference which accounts for the poor performance of your airforce. Likewise with your ground troops. You don't really want to be attacking until Monty arrives and your shock level increases.

I appreciate that in the current situation you have little option, but I think most of your woes are due to not taking that into account. It makes a big difference to the combat outcomes.

warspite1

The current bonuses are as follows:

CW Theatre reconnaissance capability is 0%

The 4% shock level penalty/bonus still remain in place - 96% CW and 104% Axis

- The 4% Commonwealth Shock Penalty lasts until Turn 185 (The Auk)
- At that time recon goes to 5%

- The 4% Axis Shock Bonus lasts until Turn 201 (Monty)
- At that time recon goes to 15%

AIR
The Axis air force get an (unspecified in the scenario briefing) air bonus between 177-181. We are on Turn 174.

So yes, I have taken into account the above. There is currently no air bonus for the Axis. I should have the advantage here given the massive number of aircraft that I've based at Amiriya - and indeed this is borne out by the nos. of aircraft that fly whereby generally I have more (and overall better quality). But the story is always the same. I husband my air units so that I have good nos. readiness, proficiency and supply. They also have the benefit of proximity. Then, the first time they fly they get shot out of the sky, many immediately go into reorganisation and then in the Axis turn the remainder are mopped up. Every time.

Land
You said:

You don't really want to be attacking until Monty arrives and your shock level increases.

If I don't do anything attack-wise then long before Monty arrives the Germans will be in Cairo. The monumental number of Axis artillery makes a dig-in and stand impossible. Without attacking in many cases (as you can see from previous posts) the enemy are gaining roughly one hex line per turn without even needing to attack. Just bombard and evaporate. Just like at Tobruk so the same everywhere since; if the CW stand then they die in their trenches. The CW can attack the Axis front screen to try and get to the artillery and.... well you've just seen what happens. When two weak Italian infantry battalions can easily repulse an a massed combined arms attack of infantry, tanks and artillery then there is little hope for the CW making headway against panzer battalions - let alone reaching the artillery that is causing all the grief.

You (rightly) added

I appreciate that in the current situation you have little option

so I am not really sure what you are saying I should do here. You said

but I think most of your woes are due to not taking that into account. It makes a big difference to the combat outcomes.

As shown, I've taken this into account... but I've still got to do something - as you recognise. The fact there are shock bonuses and penalties does not mean attacks can't be made (as per my successfully driving the Axis back earlier in the game - before losing the Kiwis and most of 7th Armoured to withdrawal). The trouble is that tactic is no longer possible. The Axis appears to be able to bombard turn after turn. The CW artillery very quickly turns to red even though I'm practically in the Delta and so supply shouldn't be so much of an issue. Then when you have panzer battalions operating in the interior of the Sahara....

Ah well I just don't know then. I've played this one as both sides against the PO, easy victory as both sides but it is a tough situation for the PO to handle so not that surprising. I'd get my ass handed to me against a human opponent.

[warspite1]

Turn 174
16th May 1942

For all the reasons mentioned previously I have no choice but to carry on with the attack. With the effects of bombardment alone I have simply run out of units to defend the road to Alexandria.

Matters are not helped by the fact that Alexandria is unusable as an airbase as all the RN (nine ships) are there and I've not been able to move them since El-Alamein fell. This means nothing else can stack in that hex [8|]

With Amiriya in artillery range and no more airbases locally, I start to move my unreorganising bombers to distant airfields. The state of the air forces - after one turn (Axis and Allies) of flying is dire. Of those not reorganising, that one turn seems to have made them unfit for operations. Proficiency (typically less than 60%) and readiness (slightly higher) has just dropped off a cliff. I have no choice but to keep them out of the way. When they are in good shape, in good numbers and close proximity to the action they get creamed. One can only guess (three guesses not required) what would happen if they fly in the state they are in.